Sumgait is Continuation of Armenian Genocide, Says Karabakh Prime Mi

Sumgait is Continuation of Armenian Genocide, Says Karabakh Prime Minister

YEREVAN (Yerkir)–"The tragedy in Sumgait became the continuation of
the genocidal policy against the Armenian people," the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Prime Minister Anoushavan Daniyelian told
journalists during the events, dedicated to the 19th anniversary of
Armenian massacre in the Azeri city of Sumgait.

He said that the Karabakh conflict was imposed on the Armenian people
at a time, when the nation was weak and had been reeling from other
tragedies. The Prime Minister noted that the Karabakh
national-liberation struggle was the first response to the unjust acts
committed against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh by the Azeri forces.

In response to question regarding the refugee problems emanating from
the Sumgait massacres and similar events that followed, Danielyan
explained that according to a government decision, individuals
identified as refugees were in the second year of receiving government
compensation. The government has also provided housing for the
refugees from Sumgait and other parts of Azerbaijan.

"Currently, 15 homes have been built. These homes will be put in
commission in the near future. Similar programs were realized across
the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, as well," explained Danielyan.
From: Baghdasarian

Reception held in Lyons in honor of year of Armenia in France

Arka News Agency, Armenia
March 2 2007

RECEPTION HELD IN LYONS IN HONOR OF YEAR OF ARMENIA IN FRANCE

YEREVAN, March 2. /Novosti-Armenia/. The district council of the
French Rhone-Alps province gave a reception in Lyons in honor of the
Year of Armenia in France. Local officials, senators, deputies,
mayors of cities, leaders of local cultural and Armenian
organizations participated in the event.
The Chairman of the District Council of Rhone-Alps province, deputy
of France’s National Assembly Jean-Jacques Queyranne and Armenia’s
Ambassador to France Edvard Nalbandyan made speeches at the
reception.
Nalbandyan had a meeting with Queyranne to discuss organizational
matters on "Year of Armenia in France" events that are currently held
and will be held in 30 towns of Rhone-Alps province.
Nalbandyan presented the key events under the "Year" program and
reported the success they had.
Ten towns of Rhone-Alps province are twin cities with different
settlements of Shirak, Lori, Aragatsotn, Kotayk, Tavush, Gegharkunik
and Siunik regions of Armenia, where they implement many programs in
medical, cultural, education and humanitarian spheres. N.V. -0–
From: Baghdasarian

Aram Simonian: YSU Not To Become Fulcrum Or Center Of Any Party

ARAM SIMONIAN: YSU NOT TO BECOME FULCRUM OR CENTER OF ANY PARTY

Noyan Tapan
Mar 02 2007

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, NOYAN TAPAN. It is not only forbidden to promote
political activity at the Yerevan State University but it is also
prohibited by the law on state institutions, YSU Rector Aram Simonian
stated about it at the March 1 press conference. The latter also
mentioned that the administration of the higher educational institution
seriously looks after it. According to the Rector of the higher
educational institution, every student and employee of the university
may be engaged in policy out of walls of the educational institution
and may support ideology of any party or organization. "Every person,
as a RA citizen, has his political approaches and viewpoints but it
is not encouraged to occupy oneself with it at the YSU. The University
is first of all a scientific-educational institution. The Rector also
added that he will not be nominated as a RPA member at the coming
parliamentary elections.
From: Baghdasarian

Sumgayit Massacres Were Continuation Of Turkish Plan Aimed At Exterm

SUMGAYIT MASSACRES WERE CONTINUATION OF TURKISH PLAN AIMED AT EXTERMINATION OF ARMENIANS, HRAYR ULUBABIAN SAYS

Noyan Tapan
Feb 28 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 28, NOYAN TAPAN. More Armenians were killed as a
result of slaughters in 1988 in Sumgayit lasting 3-4 days, than it
is presented by official data. Publicist Hrayr Ulubabian, head of
the Action Committee on Protection of Rights of Sumgayit Armenians,
reported this at the February 28 press conference. In his words, many
eye-witnesses of massacres told him that Azerbaijanis set cars to fire,
in each of which there was not one but several Armenians. And as a
Russian girl witnessed, they threw the corpses of killed Armenians
into pits by dump tracks. So, as the publicist affirmed, the number
of victims "must exceed a hundred."

H. Ulubabian said that the information of Azerbaijani sources that
allegedly no child died during Sumgayit events does not correspond
to reality. In his words, a relative of one of killed Armenians
saw a corpse of burnt child among the corpses of grown-ups, as well
as corpses of new-born babies thrown out of the maternity hospital
building.

As H. Ulubabian affirmed, the tragic events of Sumgayit were
the continuation of Turkish policy aimed at extermination of
Armenians. In his words, for preventing such events in the future we
should be "wiser, more patriotic, stronger, we should have patriotic
authorities, should organize life the way so that emigration be
replaced by immigration."
From: Baghdasarian

Crisis Demands Action, Activist Says

CRISIS DEMANDS ACTION, ACTIVIST SAYS
By Waveney Ann Moore

St. Petersburg Times, FL
Feb 27 2007

The ongoing Darfur genocide requires that we shed our apathy, Ruth
Messinger emphasizes.

Those who attend Ruth Messinger’s talk about Darfur on Thursday should
prepare for an earful. Expect the educator, advocate and activist
on the genocide in western Sudan to use statistics to drive home
her points:

-The genocide in Darfur is now in its fourth year.

-Close to 500,000 people have been slaughtered.

-2.5-million people have been displaced from their homes.

-4-million now depend on the outside world for survival.

In a telephone interview, Messinger, president of American Jewish
World Service, an international development organization that has
been providing humanitarian aid to the displaced people of Darfur,
said it’s past time for people to get involved and take action.

She urges people to learn about the crisis, lobby Congress to do more
to help, write letters to the editor and contribute to relief efforts.

She also scolded the media for its scant attention to the crisis.

"It’s a complicated story," she said. Further, she said, some people
dismiss the conflict as "black people killing black people."

"People treat it as if it is far away and not related to their lives."

The genocide in Sudan’s western province began in early 2003, when
Sudanese forces and government-backed Arab militias, or Janjaweed,
tried to crush two rebel groups fighting what they described as
the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum’s marginalization of the
region’s black Africans.

International observers accuse the Sudanese forces and Janjaweed of
raping, starving, killing and displacing the civilian population.

Hundreds of thousands are now in displaced-persons camps in Sudan
and refugee camps across the border in Chad.

This week the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor
is expected to name the first of those suspected of war crimes
and crimes against humanity in Sudan’s western region, the United
Nations said Thursday. Attempts to end the conflict continue to fail,
Messinger said.

"There’s a tremendous amount of violence on the ground right now.

More people are being killed," she said, adding that international
aid workers are being pulled out for their own safety. Some have
been killed.

Those clamoring for the world to pay attention to the crisis in Darfur
point to other modern-day genocides, like the Holocaust, which took
the lives of 11-million people, 6-million of them Jews, during World
War II, or the 1.5-million Armenians killed between 1915 and 1923 by
the Central Committee of the Young Turk Party of the Ottoman Empire.

Messinger’s American Jewish World Service is a co-founder, along with
the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, of the Save Darfur Coalition –
151 faith-based, humanitarian and human rights groups.

The coalition has been running TV commercials, picketing, generating
letter-writing campaigns and raising money to ease the woes in Darfur.

Local groups have joined the effort. Last year the Jewish Community
Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Pinellas County and
the Unitarian Universalists of Clearwater sponsored an interfaith
gathering about Darfur.

In St. Petersburg, a large street-side banner that said "Call to
your Conscience, savedarfur.org," is on display on Congregation B’nai
Israel’s property.

Last fall, the Pinellas County Interfaith Coalition organized a Save
Darfur benefit concert.

Messinger’s talk Thursday at the Florida Holocaust Museum is being
sponsored by the Pinellas County Board of Rabbis, the JCRC of the
Jewish Federation of Pinellas and Pasco Counties, the St. Petersburg
Branch of the NAACP, the Pinellas County Interfaith Coalition to Save
Darfur, the St. Petersburg Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
and the Florida Holocaust Museum.

Waveney Ann Moore can be reached at 892-2283 or [email protected].

Darfur genocide

By the numbers

500,000 People have been slaughtered in the genocide in Darfur.

2.5-million people have been displaced from their homes.

4-million people depend on the outside world for survival.

Tour museum, listen to talk

What: "From Awareness to Action: Responding to Genocide in Darfur,"
by Ruth Messinger, president of American Jewish World Service.

When: 7 p.m. Thursday.

Where: Florida Holocaust Museum, 55 Fifth St. N, St. Petersburg.

Details: The museum will open at 6 p.m. for docent-led tours and remain
open until 9. A question-and-answer session and dessert reception
will follow the talk. The event is free. For more information, call
Dawn Sullivan at the museum, 820-0100, ext. 265.

To learn more

– Save Darfur Coalition, Suite 600, 2120 L St. NW, Washington, D.C.

20037, (202) 478-6311. E-mail [email protected] Web site,

– American Jewish World Service, 45 W 36th St., New York, NY
10018-7904; (212) 792-2900 or 1-800-889-7146. E-mail [email protected]
Web site,
From: Baghdasarian

www.savedarfur.org.
www.ajws.org.

In Words Of ANM Board Vice-Chairman, Party’s Alliance With Ndu Will

IN WORDS OF ANM BOARD VICE-CHAIRMAN, PARTY’S ALLIANCE WITH NDU WILL BE VERY FAVORABLE FOR ARMENIAN POLITICAL FIELD

Noyan Tapan
Feb 26 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26, NOYAN TAPAN. Though registration for taking
part in the parliamentary elections to be held on May 12 has already
started, the Armenian National Movement (ANM) has not determined
yet the format of its participation. As Andranik Hovakimian,
ANM Board Vice-Chairman, declared on February 26, he treats the
probability of making alliance with other political forces "with
moderate optimism." In response to Noyan Tapan correspondent’s
question, A. Hovakimian said that the party negotiates with not only
Hanrapetutiun (Republic) Party, but also with National Democratic Union
(NDU) Party on taking part in the elections by a common list. In his
words, NDU and ANM are political forces generated by the national
movement and creation of alliance between these two forces will be
favorable for Armenian political field. In case of taking part in
the elections independently, ANM’s proportional list including nearly
100 persons will first of all consist of party’s Board members, led
by Chairman Ararat Zurabian. A. Hovakimian said that 6-7 members of
the party have expressed willingness to be nominated by majoritarian
system, but this issue will be determined only after affirming the
proportional list.
From: Baghdasarian

ANKARA: Parliamentary Delegation Due To Washington D.C.

PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION DUE TO WASHINGTON D.C.

Anatolian Times, Turkey
Turkish Press
Feb 26 2007

WASHINGTON D.C. – A six-member Turkish parliamentary delegation
will hold a series of talks in Washington D.C. next week to prevent
approval of a draft resolution on so-called Armenian genocide which
was submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives.

The delegation is expected to leave for the United States early
on Monday.

Members of the delegation will hold talks with U.S. congressmen and
U.S. State Department officials during their stay in Washington D.C.

Later, the second and the third delegations will pay visits to the
United States in March.

During their meetings with U.S. authorities, Turkish parliamentarians
will explain that the events during the World War I could not be
defined as genocide, and that approval of the draft would seriously
disturb Turkey-the United States relations.
From: Baghdasarian

ANKARA: A Letter About Genocide From An Argentinean Deputy

A LETTER ABOUT GENOCIDE FROM AN ARGENTINEAN DEPUTY
View By By Abdulhamit Bilici

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 25 2007

As April gradually approaches, discussions over genocide have once
again appeared on the agenda. But we have a rather different situation
now: There is the distinct possibility that the Armenian theses might
be approved of in the US Congress.

As always, the US administration is against the draft bill. But this
time, political stability is somewhat different. Tensions between
the Democrats and the Bush administration are high after it lost its
Congressional majority in the last elections over which many see as
the war in Iraq. Besides, the US House of Representatives has Nancy
Pelosi as the Democratic speaker, who has constantly approved of the
genocide thesis and who is so tough and uncompromising in her views
that she did not even accept to meet with Turkish FM Abdullah Gul.

For reasons that relate both to the significance and weight of mutual
relations for the world, a possible American approval of the draft
bill will of course lead to various interpretations. But, this will
not be the first time the draft bill gets parliamentary approval.

Unfortunately, many countries, including Russia, Canada, France,
and the Netherlands, have approved of similar draft bills. As you
may also know, Argentina joined in January the list of countries that
recognized the genocide claims. Unanimously passed by the Senate on
Dec. 13, 2006, the draft bill began to take effect on Jan. 11 after
Argentinean President Nestor Kirchner granted his official approval
to it. The Argentinean version of the bill suggests announcing every
April 24 as a day remembrance to improve tolerance and respect among
people in memory of the Armenian genocide, as well as allowing students
and employees of Armenian origin to take April 24 off each year.

Turkish Foreign Ministry officials in Argentina worked hard to prevent
the draft bill from being granted parliamentary approval.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan personally wrote a letter
to the Argentinean president to convey his concerns. But none of
this worked.

One cannot help asking: Why is it the Armenian thesis, and not the
Turkish one, that finds acceptance? There may be more than one answer
to this question, though it is difficult to cite animosity toward Turks
or sympathy for Armenians as a reason. Obviously the Armenian lobby
is working relentlessly, and it is getting the results it wants. We
cannot, however, even succeed in explaining our thesis plausibly,
accounting the real story and making clear how some Armenians were
promoted to important positions in the Ottoman system of government,
or elucidating the conditions that existed during World War I,
in spelling out the corporation of Armenians with the enemy, and in
arguing that there were Armenians living in many parts of the country
at a time when the genocide is argued to have happened, and even that
some Ottoman officials were convicted and sentenced to prison because
they made mistakes with the immigration process. Our thesis remains
so unknown across the world that some senior foreigner officials who
think about this issue do not even know that the incident happened
during Ottoman times.

After the draft bill was passed in Argentina, I asked Mauricio Bossa,
an Argentinean deputy, whom I met at an international meeting, why
they made a decision of this kind. Bossa’s letter of response showed
how the Armenian claims received acceptance and highlighted the fact
that the Turkish theses remain almost unheard-of. The following
are statements from Bosso, who left the parliament in early 2006:
"As you may know, there is a very important Armenian community living
in Argentina. In my country, there are people of Armenian descent
who occupy significant positions. A considerable proportion of those
people are wealthy. And as you may guess, the Armenian lobby here is
quite organized and powerful. The lobby has been working toward this
goal for a long time. In my view, the Argentineans are taking sides
with Armenian theses as they maintain very little contact with people
who support the Turkish theses. In fact, we had a similar draft bill
in the 1990s, when the politics at the time played a major role in
convincing former President Carlos Menem to veto it because he had
strong ties with the US administration.

"My personal approach to this subject is complex. I have many
friends of Armenian origin and, naturally, I know quite well of
their position. Besides, I have special sensitivity toward people
who were exposed to religious or political discrimination. This
is my impression of this situation: This incident took place many
years ago. And it happened before the 1920s when Turkey was not yet
politically transformed. Is today’s Turkey the same as the Turkey in
the early 20th century? Turkey is trying to become a member of the
European Union as a country with strong ties to the West. Under these
circumstances, I have difficulty in making sense of discussions over
something that happened one hundred years ago. "Most importantly,
I want to better know the Turkish thesis about the issue. I admit
that I only know about the Armenian thesis and nothing about the
Turkish one, if we don’t count the meeting we had."

Bosso concluded his letter suggesting that I speak to an Armenian
journalist who wanted to know more about the Turkish thesis.

Isn’t it obvious that we have a long way to go to make ourselves
understood? As long as we do not walk this way, will we ever have
the right to be put out with anyone else?

–Boundary_(ID_rLegdy3TzYHIGawm75cMTA)–
From: Baghdasarian

NKR President has no intention to run for 3rd presidential term

Arka News Agency, Armenia
Feb 23 2007

KARABAKH PRESIDENT HAS NO INTENTION TO RUN FOR THIRD PRESIDENTIAL
TERM

STEPANAKERT, February 23. /ARKA/. Nagorno-Karabakh President Arkady
Ghukasyan reiterated Wednesday that has no intention to run for the
third presidential term, ARKA correspondent reports from Karabakh.
In his national address aimed at denying allegations emerged recently
in media outlets about his intention to race for presidency,
Ghukasyan denounced these allegations as apparent attempts to split
the community.
Ghukasyan said in his address that despite ordinary people,
politicians, MPs, prominent diplomats and political analysts asked
him to run for the third term, he remains steadfast in his
determination not to do it.
"Expressing profound gratitude to all those citizens of out republic
who support domestic and foreign policy pursued by me and want to see
me in office, I say again that is not going to run for the third
presidential term. There nothing more precious to me than my
homeland’s image, without which Nagorno-Karabakh Republic can’t be
recognized y the world community", he said. M.V.-0–
From: Baghdasarian

Russian TV looks at ethnic crime groups

Russian TV looks at ethnic crime groups

Channel One Worldwide (for Europe), Moscow
19 Feb 07

"Ethnic crime groups are the curse of developed countries. The United
States is besieged by Chinese and Mexicans, Germany by Turks, France
by Arabs.

Russia is no exception. It is under onslaught from criminals from all
over the CIS," Channel One’s Special Investigation programme said on
19 February.

Presenter Nataliya Metlina claimed that nearly half of the offences in
Russia are committed by "international organized crime groups". Her
film put the spotlight on Georgians, Azerbaijanis, Armenian Kurds,
Dagestanis and Tajiks.

Metlina said that several thousand figures of authority and 200 made
men (kriminalnyy avtoritet and vor v zakone) were on the Interior
Ministry files, with each of the made men in charge of several ethnic
crime groups. An identified employee of the organized crime bureau of
the Interior Ministry’s Main Directorate for the Central Federal
District whose face was not shown added that only 13 of Moscow’s 67
made men were Slavs, with the rest representing Caucasian peoples.

The film profiled several Georgians, including a certain Beslan Jonua,
native of Abkhazia, gunned down in the heart of Moscow on 8
February. Speaking over hidden camera footage of a memorial service,
Metlina said that the mahogany coffin was indicative of Jonua’s status
as one of the most influential men in the criminal world. An
unidentified former police official whose face was not shown said of
Jonua: "He was highly respected not only among the Georgian clan but
also by Moscow’s Slav organized crime groups. He was a peacemaker. He
never supported war". Metlina suggested that Jonua’s death marked the
beginning of redistribution of spheres of influence. She claimed that
the majority of the Georgian made men and figures of authority went
home amid last autumn’s police crackdowns but have now come back to
Moscow to reclaim what they lost.

Metlina said that Russia’s large Georgian criminal population was the
consequence of a cunning ploy devised by the Soviet Georgian
authorities who sent local criminals to Russian prisons. After
completing their sentences, they chose to stay in Russia. Under
Georgia’s new criminal code crime bosses can be jailed merely for
having the title of made man, while for the Russian authorities could
"only prosecute them if they broke immigration laws". Consequently,
they are doing everything in their power to stay in Russia, she added.

Metlina travelled to Tambov where "thousands of ethnic Kurds from
Armenia" have "taken control of practically the entire region". Andrey
Druzhinin, head of the Tambov Region Interior Ministry’s organized
crime directorate, said a construction firm owned by members of the
local Kurdish diaspora was being investigated for misuse of government
funds. The presenter then described a series of crimes committed by
ethnic Kurds, including the employment of illegal migrants from
Uzbekistan. Aleksandr Arkhipov, former member of Tambov city council,
described Kurds as rude, provocative and disobedient.

"There is complete lawlessness in Tambov. The regional administration
is not doing anything, locals are scared, Kurdish companies continue
embezzling the region’s budget, while the leader of the diaspora, Mr
Shamoyan, is putting up leaflets in the city, promising to bring to
the region 10,000 young, healthy, non-drinking Kurds who will increase
the birth rate and facilitate the development of Tambov’s agriculture
and economy, possibly through the same criminal methods as before,"
said Metlina.

There are 30 Azeri crime groups in Russia, she said, adding that "a
large percentage of Moscow’s 1m-strong Azeri population is involved in
crime". They make a living by extorting money from taxi drivers and
imposing levies on street traders, Metlina said. She reviewed a number
of crimes committed by members of the Ganja group, "the most vicious"
Azeri crime group.

"The Azeri organized crime groups are the largest and most influential
in Russia. The threat posed by Azeri organized crime groups however
also lies in their close cooperation with other ethnic groups," said
Metlina.

Finally she discussed the role of Dagestani and Tajik groups, saying
that Dagestani organized crime groups are among the youngest in
Russia, specializing in extortion and illegal arms trade. She also
described Dagestan as the main source of counterfeit roubles and
dollars.

"Law enforcement bodies and lawmakers have only just started thinking
seriously about confronting ethnic crime groups and toughening
immigration laws.

The slogan no outsiders allowed should only be applied to foreign
criminals because Russia still needs workers, those fleeing hunger,
war and unemployment.

Our country guarantees them a living. In return it requires that they
respect its laws. When these rules are acceptable to Russia’s guests
we welcome them sincerely and whole-heartedly," Nataliya Metlina said,
concluding the 61-minute film.
From: Baghdasarian