Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

NO CHANGES EXPECTED IN RA GOVERNMENT

ArmRadio.am
06.04.2007 12:50

"I don’t think there should be serious changes in the government, since
only 40 days remains to work, and our primary task should be the normal
work of the government," RA Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan said after
participating in the annual meeting of RA National Academy of Sciences.

According to him, no change is envisaged at this point. There
will be no changes in government agenda, either. Nevertheless,
the agenda must be sent to the National assembly. "In my opinion
after the parliamentary elections the political force to form the
government will send a new agenda to the parliament," RA Prime
Minister mentioned. Serge Sargsyan underlined that normal work will
be the primary task of the government.

Mr. Sargsyan refused to predict who will become RA Defense Minister
and the Secretary of the Presidential Council on National Security.
From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN PEACEKEEPER UNDERGOING TREATMENT IN THE US

ArmRadio.am
06.04.2007 14:41

Georgi Nalbandyan, Armenian peacekeeper wounded in Iraq, is receiving
a course of treatment in one of US military hospitals, Head of the
Engineering Corps of RA Defense Ministry Vostanik Adoyan told ArmInfo.

Georgi Nalbandyan was taken to the US on March 9. After treatment
he will return to Armenia and will continue his service, Vostanik
Adoyan added.

Let us remind that senior lieutenant Georgi Nalbandyan was wounded
from mine blast in November 2006, as a result of which his leg was
amputated. He was immediately taken to Germany and later to the US.
From: Baghdasarian

ELECTIONS STALL NABUCCO PIPELINE PLANS
By Vincent Boland in Ankara, Kerin Hope in Athens, and Peggy Hollinger in Paris

FT
April 6 2007 17:11

Plans to build the â~B¬4.6bn ($6.2bn) Nabucco pipeline to transport
Caspian gas to western Europe have almost ground to a halt after
becoming embroiled in electoral politics in France and Turkey.

Turkey has refused to approve extending the construction project to
include Gaz de France, the French utility. The move, which officials
said might be revised after the French presidential elections in May,
reflects simmering anger in Ankara over France’s support for Armenia’s
claim of genocide by Ottoman Turks during the first world war.

A threatened boycott of French goods in Turkey after the French
parliament voted last year to make denial of the genocide claim a
crime has not had much success. But the Turkish government warned at
the time that it might exclude French companies from contracts. The
face-off with GdF may be a result of that, some diplomats in Ankara
said on Friday.

The 3,300km Nabucco project is designed to bring gas from the Caspian
region to Europe through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and
Austria. It is backed by the European Union and the US as a way of
reducing Europe’s dependency on Russian gas supplies, but has hit a
series of hurdles that have delayed the start of construction.

The dispute over the participation of GdF, the favourite to join the
consortium building Nabucco, could complicate matters further. Industry
observers said the negotiations with a new investor had taken longer
than expected, with some blaming the strained relations between Ankara
and Paris.

Extracting the project from politics could take some time. Turkey
is holding a general election later this year, and the Armenian
issue has exploded onto the political agenda. But some analysts said
the stand-off between Turkey and GdF could have as much to do with
negotiating tactics as with politics.

Turkey is keen to sell its part of its excess gas supply to western
European buyers, in addition to receiving transit fees for shipping
central Asian and perhaps Middle Eastern gas through Nabucco.

"The Nabucco project is an opportunity for Turkey to unload its
excess supply," a Sofia-based analyst said. "But if talks with a
French buyer aren’t going well, it doesn’t cost anything to bring up
the Armenian issue."

–Boundary_(ID_myRr4k9rxnUn7hHeWnEho g)–
From: Baghdasarian

IRAN-WEST CONFLICT TO TELL ON WHOLE WORLD

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.04.2007 15:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A conflict between Iran and West over the nuclear
program will influence not only on the South Caucasus but also on
the whole world, said Azer Mursaliyev, the head of the political and
economic department of Kommersant daily. Presently it’s impossible
to give a detailed forecast on the conflict’s possible influence
on the region, according to him. "The nature of the conflict is not
known yet as well as the kind of attacks," he said adding that some
Russia media furnished information on the facilities to be bombed in
Azerbaijan and Georgia. "I don’t think it will help Iran. The scenario
with closing the Strait of Hormuz is more likely. It will be enough
to sink a couple of tankers or barges. Any rebel in American’s rear,
i.e in Iraq, is also senseless. U.S. has the only military power to
fight against Iran – the navy," he said.

"If the U.S. operation leads to change of power in Iran, the
significance of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan will sharply lower. "Presently
Azerbaijan and Georgia are eyed as the only narrow corridor relatively
free of Russia and Iran’s influence. In case of change of power Iran
will no more be an anti-America state and the corridor will become
unnecessary," the expert considers.
From: Baghdasarian

SPEAKING OUT IN THE SHADOW OF DEATH: WHY TURKISH INTELLECTUALS NEED ARMED GUARDS
Nicholas Birch in Istanbul

The Guardian
Saturday April 7, 2007

· 20 offered protection after murder of editor
· Activists urge end of ban on insulting Turkishness

Abdurrahman Dilipak, an Islamist columnist and outspoken advocate
of freedom of speech, has been tailed by the police for years. But
these days, they shadow him for his own protection.

"Death threats come with the job," he said. "But I take them seriously
now."

Following the murder in January of Turkish-Armenian editor Hrant Dink,
who was shot on a crowded Istanbul street by an ultra-nationalist
teenager, he is not the only dissident getting used to life with a
personal bodyguard.

It seems clear now that the Turkish security services knew of the plot
against Dink. His death spurred them to offer protection to about
20 journalists, writers and academics. One of them is Atilla Yayla,
a political scientist who was branded a traitor by the press last
November for questioning the cult surrounding Turkey’s founder, Kemal
Ataturk. Though the death threats have now slowed to a trickle, he
faces up to three years in jail for "insulting the legacy of Ataturk".

"It’s a strange feeling, living with a bodyguard," he said. "He
protects me and I look after him. He is so much a part of me that I’m
planning to buy him and his family presents." He points to the books
lining the walls of the liberal association of which he is president:
volumes of John Locke and Friedrich Hayek. "He’s improving himself
here," he said.

Other Turkish intellectuals find it harder to see the funny side.

Best-selling novelist Elif Shafak, one of the most well known of 50
people taken to court by ultra-nationalists last year on charges of
"insulting Turkishness", now makes few trips outside her house .

Dink "was a close friend, and I haven’t got over the shock of his
death", she said in a recent phone conversation. She declined to talk
at length.

Interviewed by the daily Hurriyet in February, her husband, Eyup Can,
said she was so upset that she was unable to breast-feed her daughter,
born last September.

Meanwhile, Orhan Pamuk, the novelist who won last year’s Nobel
prize for literature, left Turkey under police escort on February 1,
days after the man believed by police to have organised Dink’s murder
threatened him as he was taken into custody. Turkey’s tourism ministry
has since said it plans to use Pamuk in a campaign to attract tourists
to the country.

When more than 100,000 people attended Dink’s funeral procession,
many hoped his death might mark the end of what one columnist called
"the ultra-nationalist tsunami" sweeping Turkey since the start of
efforts to join the EU.

In fact, the mourners and their slogan, "We are all Armenians",
further angered nationalists. And one of their key demands, that
the law criminalising "insults to Turkishness" should be changed,
has been ignored by a government afraid of losing nationalist support
in elections due this autumn.

But despite the risks they face, Turkish dissidents say they have no
intention of shutting up. "Such a thing has happened that you cannot
be cautious any more," said Etyen Mahcupyan, the Turkish-Armenian
columnist who took over as editor of Hrant Dink’s weekly newspaper,
Agos, after his friend’s murder. "It is immoral to be cautious."

Unprotected until January, Agos’s offices are now under police guard,
and a new CCTV camera surveys the patch of street where Dink died.

Like Mahcupyan, Baskin Oran knows his bodyguard will not be able to
stop a professional assassination attempt.

"This nice person is protecting me from amateur killers, like the one
who killed Hrant," said the political scientist, who co-wrote a 2004
government report on minority rights that many see as the catalyst for
today’s nationalist surge. He quoted a Turkish proverb: he who fears
birds doesn’t plant corn. "If you are afraid, you should stop. But
how can I look into the mirror in the morning if I do stop? How can
I lecture my students?"

He said that the threats and restrictions on freedom of movement were
part of the growing pains of Turkish democracy, adding: "The road to
paradise passes by hell, and we are walking."

–Boundary_(ID_QKxqhN/RQlVDLdGHMzU AgA)–
From: Baghdasarian

BECAUSE OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL TURKEY SUSPENDED TALKS WITH GAZ DE FRANCE

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.04.2007 17:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey has suspended talks with Gaz de France
(GDF) on the French firm’s possible participation in a major Nabucco
pipeline project, where key players are Turkey’s energy ministry
and the state-owned oil and gas company BOTAS, AFP reports citing
the Anatolia news agency. The cause of suspending the talks is the
bill pending in the French Senate. The bill penalizes denial of
the Armenian Genocide. The five-company consortium plans to build a
3,300-kilometre conduit that will carry natural gas from the Middle
East and Central Asia to the European Union via Turkey and the Balkans,
bypassing Russia.

The other partners in the venture are gas companies from Austria,
Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. The consortium had been in contact with
GDF for some time as part of its efforts to find a sixth partner in the
six-billion-dollar project, which is expected to become operational
in 2012. The four other partners approved GDF’s participation, but
Turkey has opposed it because of a French draft law that makes it
a criminal offense to deny the Armenian Genocide committed by the
Ottoman Turkey during World War I.

The bill was adopted by the French National Assembly in October 2006.

"We will suspend partnership with Gaz de France until the French
presidential elections. We will decide according to policies to be
followed after the elections," a senior energy ministry official,
who declined to be named, said. Energy Minister Hilmi Guler declined
to comment on the issue of Gaz de France. "We attach great importance
to the Nabucco project. We realized the first phase of this project.

Turkey is in an important position in meeting Europe’s gas needs and
we are aware of this," Guler stated to Reuters. Gaz de France had no
immediate comment.
From: Baghdasarian

PRESS RELEASE
Shahan Natalie Family Foundation
3727 W. Magnolia Blvd., Suite 215
Burbank, CA 91505
Contact: Sylva Natalie Manoogian
Tel: 818-760-5374
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

Yerevan-based HETQ.AM investigative journalist Edik Baghdasaryan book
signing April 12th in Glendale, CA

Abril Bookstore, 415 E. Broadway, Glendale, CA 91205, will host
Armenia’s investigative journalist and editor-in-chief of HETQ.AM, Edik
Baghdasaryan, on April 12, 2007, at 8:00 P.M., talking about his recent
probe
concerning the depopulation of the liberated territories of Kashatagh
(Lachin), documented in his book titled "Kashatagh – Illusions and
Reality." There will be a book signing following the talk. For
further information, call 818-243-4112.
From: Baghdasarian

NICOLAS SARKOZY: TURKEY’S MEMBERSHIP TO EU WILL DELIVER A MORTAL BLOW TO EUROPE’S IDENTITY

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 04 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 4, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. "Turkey’s membership
to European Union will kill the idea of creation of a united Europe:
it will deliver a mortal blow to EU’s identity." Nicolas Sarkozy,
candidate for presidency of French right-sided People’s Movement Union,
gave assurance in his newly published book under the title "Together."

Sarkozy who has repeatedly stated that Turkey’s membership to EU is
not expedient and Ankara should be given the status of a "privileged
partner" in relations with EU, wrote that EU’s extension "weakened
the will of Europe’s publics," as a result of which, in his words,
great obstacles emerged in the way of building European political
integrity. "If Turkey joins EU, we should have considered as buried
our activities in the direction of making the European Union a world
force," Sarkozy said.
From: Baghdasarian

SUCCESS OF THE PROGRAM DEPENDS ON EMPLOYERS AS WELL
Armine Aloyan

Azat Artsakh Daily, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]
03 April 07

About 4000 unemployed people are registered with the NKR Ministry of
Social Security. To provide them with jobs, the government worked
out and adopted the program on the order, size and conditions
of compensation for salary to assist placement of uncompetitive
labor. It means that if the employer admits someone who is registered
with the Ministry of Social Security, the ministry pays part of the
salary. The compensation is equal to 50 percent of the salary but
not more than the minimum salary set down in Article 1 of the NKR
law on minimum salary. Ara Bakhtamian, the head of the Department
of Work and Employment, said if the salary is 30 thousand drams,
the ministry compensates for half, i.e. 15 thousand drams. If the
salary is 50 thousand, 20 thousand is to be paid by the ministry. This
year 7 million 200 thousand drams was allocated to provide 30 people
with jobs. The program will include disabled persons, former inmates
of prisons and hospitals, parentless children of employment age,
the citizens who have served in the army and registered with the
Ministry of Social Security, unemployed persons who have at least
30 years of service, as well as persons who have been unemployed for
the past three years and refugees. According to Ara Bakhtamian, the
ministry will pay compensation for two or three years. The success
of the program depends on not only the relevant government agencies
but also the employers, he said. In fact, their collaboration will
guarantee the success of the program.
From: Baghdasarian

"A MUSICAL JOURNEY TO ARMENIA" ENCHANTED THE AUDIENCE!
Setrak Kazanjian, Montreal

AZG Armenian Daily
03/04/2007

March 11, 2007 will remain a memorable day for the Armenian Community
of Montreal. A capacity crowd was on hand at the prestigious
Claude-Champagne Hall to witness an unprecedented concert dedicated
to mark the centennial of the Armenian General Benevolent Union.

In her opening remarks Dr. Rita Kuyumjian, as chairperson of the
Montreal Chapter, stressed AGBU’s relentless contribution to the
educational and cultural development throughout the world.

Artistic Director Garo Nichanian conceptualized and realized a unique
program in which the FACE Symphony Orchestra played under its Musical
Director Theodora Stathopoulos. Immediately they embraced the audience
by brilliantly performing the orchestral pieces by composers such
as A. Babajanian, G. Yeghiazarian, A. Ajemian, etc. In addition,
the program included the first movement of A. Khachaturian’s violin
concerto, played skilfully by the young Robert Margaryan, as well as
selections from the popular Mascarade Suite.

For a great majority of the audience, it was the first time in their
lives to experience such beautiful Armenian orchestral works!

The second part of the program was dedicated to popular Armenian songs
accompanied once again by the FACE Symphony Orchestra, this time under
the baton of accomplished Armenian composer Konstantin Petrossian,
who also composed the orchestral arrangements beautifully for all the
songs on the program that were premiered at this concert. These were
popular estradayin songs about life, love, passion and heroism that
were interpreted tastefully, vividly and authentically by remarkable
singers Yeghishe Manucharyan (tenor), Noune Karapetian (soprano)
and Garo Nichanian (bass-baritone), all enchanting and captivating
the audience immediately by their enveloping warmth. The United
Armenian Choir of Montreal (Dir. Varujan Margaryan) participated in
the last few works which closed the event with the beautiful coral
piece Yerevan-Erebouni (E. Hovhannesian), making this concert an
unprecedented Armenian musical event in Canada, while celebrating
the centennial of AGBU.

This concert has aroused such a great interest that a member of the
audience said "this concert took us all, mentally and spiritually to
levels that I do not recall having ever reached here in Montreal,
and feel so much as being Armenian"….it will surely go down in
the annals of Canadian cultural life as an important achievement,
thanks to all the participants and the Montreal AGBU Chapter.
From: Baghdasarian