Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE: HONORING MEMORY OF 1.5 MILLION ARMENIAN LIVES LOST DURING OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Congressional Quarterly
CQ Federal Department and Agency Documents
REGULATORY INTELLIGENCE DATA
April 24, 2007 Tuesday

AGENCY: DEPARTMENT OF THE US WHITE HOUSE
SIC-MAJOR-GROUP: 09 – General Classification
CONTACT: 703-695-0192

Each year on this day, we pause to remember the victims of one of the
greatest tragedies of the 20th century, when as many as 1.5 million
Armenians lost their lives in the final years of the Ottoman Empire,
many of them victims of mass killings and forced exile. I join my
fellow Americans and Armenian people around the world in commemorating
this tragedy and honoring the memory of the innocent lives that were
taken. The world must never forget this painful chapter of its history.

All who cherish freedom and value the sanctity of human life look back
on these horrific events in sorrow and disbelief. Many of those who
survived were forced from their ancestral home and spread across the
globe. Yet, in the midst of this terrible struggle, the world witnessed
the indomitable spirit and character of the Armenian people. Many of
the brave survivors came to America, where they have preserved a deep
connection with their history and culture.

Generations of Armenians in the United States have enriched our
country and inspired us with their courage and conviction.

Today, we remember the past and also look forward to a brighter
future. We commend the individuals in Armenia and Turkey who are
working to normalize the relationship between their two countries. A
sincere and open examination of the historic events of the late-Ottoman
period is an essential part of this process. The United States supports
and encourages those in both countries who are working to build a
shared understanding of history as a basis for a more hopeful future.

We value the strong and vibrant ties between the United States and
Armenia. Our Nation is grateful for Armenia’s contributions to the
war on terror, particularly for its efforts to help build a peaceful
and democratic Iraq. The United States remains committed to working
with Armenia and Azerbaijan to promote a peaceful settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We are also working to promote democratic
and economic reform in Armenia that will advance the cause of freedom
and justice.

Laura and I express our deepest condolences to Armenian people around
the world on this solemn day of remembrance. We stand together in
our determination to build a more peaceful, more prosperous, and more
just world.

GEORGE W. BUSH
From: Baghdasarian

DEVELOPPEMENT L’ARMENIE COMMEMORE LES MASSACRES DE L’EMPIRE OTTOMAN DE 1915

Schweizerische Depeschenagentur AG (SDA)
SDA – Service de base francais
24 avril 2007 mardi 5:50 PM CET

Les Armeniens ont celebre mardi le 92e anniversaire des massacres
commis par l’Empire Ottoman, qui assombrissent les relations avec
la Turquie voisine. Ces evenements sont reconnus comme "genocide"
par une vingtaine de pays.

Sous une forte chute de neige, des milliers d’Armeniens se sont rendus
vers le monument a la memoire des victimes dans la capitale armenienne.

Après avoir brûle un drapeau turc sur la place de la Liberte a Erevan,
les participants ont depose des gerbes de fleurs au pied du monument
où brûle une flamme eternelle depuis 1965, date de sa construction
a une epoque où l’Armenie faisait partie de l’URSS.

De nombreux participants portaient les drapeaux des pays qui
ont reconnu le genocide. Des responsables politiques, dont le
president armenien Robert Kotcharian, ont assiste a la ceremonie de
commemoration. "La memoire de ces actions demoniaques va toujours
rester dans nos âmes", a declare M. Kotcharian.

"La communaute internationale a pris conscience que le genocide
n’est pas seulement un crime contre un peuple en particulier, mais
contre l’humanite, et qu’un deni et une dissimulation d’un tel crime
sont aussi dangereux que sa preparation et son execution", a estime
M. Kotcharian.

Presence de la dispora

Comme chaque annee, de nombreux membres de la diaspora armenienne
se sont rendus a Erevan pour prendre part a la marche. Parmi eux,
il y avait la realisatrice americaine d’origine armenienne, Carla
Garapedian, qui tourne "Screamers" (les hurleurs), un film documentaire
contre le negationnisme du genocide armenien et de tous les genocides.

Hrant Gazarian, 24 ans, est arrive de Turquie pour deposer une gerbe
au pied du monument, en l’honneur de Hrant Dink, un journaliste turc
d’origine armenienne abattu en janvier a Istanbul.

"Cela fait 100 jours et ceux qui sont derrière ce meurtre ne sont
toujours pas identifies et punis (…) La Turquie doit reconnaître
le genocide, afin qu’il n’y ait plus de victimes, comme Dink", dit
Hrant Gazarian.

Les massacres et deportations d’Armeniens de 1915 a 1917 ont fait
plus de 1,5 million de morts selon les Armeniens, 250 000 a 500 000
selon la Turquie, qui recuse categoriquement la notion de genocide.

Pas de relations diplomatiques

Erevan et Ankara n’ont aucune relation diplomatique en raison de ce
differend. Cette question complique egalement les negociations de la
Turquie pour son entree au sein de l’Union europeenne.

Plus de 20 pays ont officiellement reconnu les tueries commises
entre 1915 et 1917 comme un genocide, dont la Belgique, le Canada,
le Pologne, la Russie et la France. En Suisse, le Conseil national et
le Grand Conseil vaudois ont reconnu le genocide. Le Conseil federal
parle lui de "tragiques deportations et de massacres".

Mais des puissances comme la Grande-Bretagne et les Etats-Unis refusent
d’utiliser ce terme, soucieuses de garder de bonnes relations avec la
Turquie. Israël, qui a des liens très proches avec la Turquie, un des
rares pays musulmans avec lequel il a des relations diplomatiques,
a rejete en mars une motion reconnaissant implicitement la realite
d’un genocide armenien.

La Turquie a suspendu sa cooperation militaire avec la France en
novembre, en raison de l’adoption par l’Assemblee nationale francaise
d’une proposition de loi reprimant la negation du genocide armenien.

NOTES: actualise et entièrement remanie

–Boundary_(ID_GVLscqUilvnILpKy94Jc+w)–
From: Baghdasarian

MARXIST PARTY NOT LEFT OUT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY RACE

ArmRadio.am
23.04.2007 17:52

The Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Armenia took the decision
not to stop the participation of the Marxist Party of Armenia in the
parliamentary elections.

The given issue was included on the agenda of the CEC session after
April 14, when the Leader of MPA David Hakobyan let majoritarian
candidate Tatul Manaserian use the free air time, allocated for him,
which is a violation of the Electoral Code of the country.

The leader of the Marxist Party David Hakobyan noted during the session
"he did not know that he was violating the law, and he will agree
to any decision the Commission takes, as he always highly assessed
the work of the given body and does not question the lawfulness of
its actions."

CEC President Garegin Azaryan stated that this time the Commission
will not apply sanctions against MPA, as this is the first case of
legislation violation by the given party. However, next time the
commission will have to turn to the court with a suit on cessation of
the participation of the Marxist Party in the parliamentary elections.
From: Baghdasarian

ASA VOICES PROTEST TO CONDOLEEZZA RICE

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 23 2007

Azerbaijan Society of America (ASA) has written a protest letter to the
US State Secretary Condoleezza Rice. The ASA president Tomris Azeri
told APA’s US bureau that the society protests against the change to
the Department of State’s 2006 Report on Human Rights Practices.

Tomris Azeri stressed that Azerbaijan’s territorial is recognized
by international organizations, US and OSCE Minsk Group co-chair
countries. Reminding about State Department spokesman, Sean
McCormack’s statement on Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, ASA
demanded confirmation of the previous variant of the report which
states that "Armenia continued to occupy the Azerbaijani territory
of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding Azerbaijani territories"
The change to the report was made after the interference of Armenian
National Committee of America.
From: Baghdasarian

TURKISH ISLAMISTS FACE CHRISTIANS’ DEATH TRIAL
By Damien McElroy in Malatya, Turkey

The Telegraph, UK
April 23 2007

A gang of suspected Islamic nationalists was facing the possibility
of trial for the torture and murder of three Christians at a Bible
publishers in Turkey last night after investigators called for their
prosecution.

A judge was considering whether the group – 11 men and one woman –
should face trial after they were questioned for eight hours over
the deaths of two Turks and a German, who were bound to chairs and
had their throats slit in Malatya on Wednesday.

As the victims sat dying, police, acting on a tip-off, burst through
the door. The alleged ringleader, Emre Gunaydin, the 12th member of the
gang, was critically injured after leaping from a fourth floor balcony.

The murders came amidst an upsurge in extremist violence as Turkey
struggles to join the European Union.

As European leaders repeatedly postpone a target date for Turkish
entry, resentment at the reforms being enacted to meet EU criteria
is building.

The attack was the third against Christians in Turkey in a year. In
the first case a Roman Catholic priest was stabbed at the altar in
the Black Sea port of Trabzon, then an Armenian journalist was shot
dead in central Istanbul. The common link was that the killers claimed
they were defending Islam from Christian proselytising.

However, many Turks reject that they are a sign of a rising Islamic
militancy that is sweeping the Middle East.

At first glance, Malatya appears far distant from any form of
extremism. Its streets are lined with modern clothing and furnishing
shops at the forefront of Turkey’s economic renaissance. Its young
population cheerfully lines up for buses to private universities that
specialise in technology studies. Placards sell the dream of owning
your own house.

On the journey between the Ilhas Vakfi Yurdu hostel and the publishing
house there are at least five shops with prominent hoardings for Tuborg
lager and Efes pilsner. If this were Baghdad and Islamic radicals were
exerting their grip, the owners of the alcohol outlets would be dead.

Emine Cemal, a middle-aged Turkish woman nursing a beer in a bar,
rejected the idea that the attacks were linked to a rising militant
Muslim orthodoxy.

"I don’t think this has a religious root, it’s about nationality,"
she said. "To be Turkish is to be Muslim and so Christians are here
working against Turkey."

In fact, Christians are a fraction of one per cent of Turkey’s 71
million people but it is common for Turks to complain that evangelical
churches are proliferating at an alarming rate. Courts continue to
prosecute converts for insulting "Turkishness". Three members of the
Turkish Protestant Church are currently standing trial.

Missionary activity, while not an offence, has been placed on the
list of threats to the nation by the National Security Council.

The fusion of extreme nationalism and anti-Christian activity has a
long history in Malatya. The city is the birthplace of Mehmet Ali Agca,
the Turk who attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1982. It
was also the home town of the slain journalist Hrant Dink.

The city’s once large Armenian Christian population has been squeezed
out. The only surviving remnant of the community is a derelict
church. Yet the association lingers as a term of abuse. Rivals taunt
supporters of Malatyaspor football team with "Armenian Malatya".

The secular Turkish Republic established after the fall of the
Ottoman Empire does not fit easily into Brussels prescriptions of
democracy. To meet European demands, Turkey is rapidly dismantling
the rules established to purge religious influence from national life.

"Turkey is in a state of transition," said Hussein Ali Karacan,
a leading nationalist. "The speed of transformation is shocking to
the mindset of nationalists."
From: Baghdasarian

ZHARANGUTIUN PARTY INTENDS TO GAIN MAJORITY OF MANDATES

Noyan Tapan
Apr 23 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 23, NOYAN TAPAN. "We should hold the upcoming
parliamentary elections properly and show that the mentality of
Armenian public is based not on the striving for falsifications, but
on the truth and morals." Raffi Hovannisian, Chairman of Zharangutiun
(Heritage) Party, stated at the April 21 press conference. In his
words, the party headed by him goes to the elections with an exact
intention to gain the majority of mandates and on the basis of this
to form the government of national consent.

He warned that if the authorities again try to falsify the results
of elections, "they will incur people’s anger, which is able to turn
over mountains."

Raffi Hovannisian called for taking part in the elections and
protecting their votes by all means. "Unless we are able to protect
our right of choice, we will witness much greater flourishing of
corruption, lawlessness and arbitrariness," the leader of Zharangutiun
Party stated.
From: Baghdasarian

TURKEY WILL NEVER RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WITHOUT INTERVENTION OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, YSU RECTOR CONVINCED

Noyan Tapan
Apr 24 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 24, NOYAN TAPAN. The solution of the Armenian Cause
is first of all the duty of our people. Professor Aram Simonian,
Rector of Yerevan State University, expressed such opinion in his
interview to journalists on April 24 in Tsitsernakaberd. In his words,
only with Armenian people’s unity and striving for seeing country’s
free future it will be possible to achieve international recognition
of Armenian Genocide.

As A. Simonian affirmed, Turkey will never recognize the crime
committed by it of its own free will. "The international community,
the European superpowers should exert pressure even if proceeding from
their interests, which in that issue may coincide with the interests
of Armenia," he said.
From: Baghdasarian

NUMBER OF ACUTE INTESTINAL DISEASES GROWS BY 102 IN ARMENIA IN FEBRUARY 2007 ON SAME MONTH OF 2006

Noyan Tapan
Apr 24 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 24, NOYAN TAPAN. 19 cases of contagious diseases were
registered in Armenia in February 2007. According to the RA Ministry
of Health, 307 cases of acute intestinal diseases, 248 cases of flu,
12 cases of salmonellosis were registered in February of this year,
which is more by 102, 3 and one case respectively compared with the
same month of 2006.

8,594 cases of acute respiratory infections, 96 cases of viral
hepatitis and 80 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis were registered in
February 2007, which is fewer by 893, 49 and 17 cases respectively
compared with February 2006.
From: Baghdasarian

BAD WATER REMOVED

Cyprus Mail, Cyprus
April 22 2007

IMPORTED bottles of water have been removed from the market after
Health Services found they contained arsenic levels 30 times above
the legal limit.

During a chemical analysis of the product, imported from Armenia by
Jermuk Group – Mineral Water of Armenia, the state laboratory found
the water contained 300mg of arsenic per litre, when the legal limit
is 10mg per litre.

The Health Services said drinking water with arsenic posed a series
of health risks including bladder cancer and said consumption of the
product should be avoided.

According to the head of public health services, George Girogallas,
2,520 bottles of the water had been imported to Cyprus through Greece,
though if any and how many bottles had been sold he was unable to say.

The bottled water, which carries a batch number 15/11/2006, is bottled
in green, glass, half litre bottles with a use by date November
15, 2008.
From: Baghdasarian

Two apply to run for NKR President

ArmRadio.am
21.04.2007 12:33

NKR Central Electoral Commission (CEC) has received the applications
of two presidential candidates, Head of the NKR National Security
Service Bako Sahakyan and Lecturer of the Artsakh State University
Vani Avanesyan.

ArmInfo correspondent informs from Stepanakert that CEC will accept
applications up until the 5th of May, after which the submitted
documents will be reviewed to prepare the registration of candidates
from May 30 through June 9.

Let us remind that the presidential elections in Nagorno Karabakh
are scheduled for July 19.
From: Baghdasarian