Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

Does Armenia’s Liberal Progressive Party assume Karabakh can be returned to Azerbaijan?
Regnum, Russia
Oct 19 2006
“In 2006, there is a chance of moving forward in the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict settlement,” leader of Armenia’s Liberal Progressive Party
Hovhannes Hovhannissyan has announced at a news conference on October
19. As a REGNUM correspondent reports, according to the party leader,
Yerevan and Baku have almost agreed on all principal questions, and
only the issue of Kelbajar is not settled yet. “According to the data
I have, the Armenian and Azerbaijani side have already agreed on this
issue too, and it will be fully settled at the upcoming meeting of
Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers,” Hovhannes Hovhannissyan
noted adding that both the USA and French President Jacques Chirac
are interested in solving the issue.
The party leader noted also that several months ago the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict was considered to be a part of the Iranian dossier,
and up to now the settlement is seen as a separate process. At the
same time, Hovhannes Hovhannissyan mentioned that in the coming years
terms of Armenian and Nagorno Karabakh presidents will expire, and
they will be trying to maintain the status quo until their terms are
over. “The soonest settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is in
Armenia’s interests,” the politician believes.
Speaking on the address of the Abkhaz parliament to the Russian
president and parliament, the Armenian party leader labeled it as
“absurd.” According to him, “Russia will never recognize Abkhazia’s
independence, because otherwise world community will recognize
independence of Chechnya.” “Abkhazia lost its chance to become a
sovereign state, and such decision was possibly made under dictation of
Russia aimed at further deterioration of the Georgian-Abkhaz relations,
as well as establishment of a reason for the Abkhaz side to force out
Georgian Armed Forces from Kodori Gorge,” the Liberal Progressive Party
leader notes adding that international community will never allow that
“a part of one sovereign state joins another sovereign state.”
Commenting to a REGNUM correspondent on the statement of the
Armenian politician, expert on South Caucasus Viktor Yakubyan noted:
“It is difficult to say, for what reasons Hovhannissyan deprives
the Abkhaz people of the right for sovereignty. As far as I know,
the Armenian diplomacy is stubbornly trying to prove that the right
of a nation for self-determination (especially, won in a war) is no
less important than the principle of territorial integrity of this
or that sovereign state. Why, following the logic of the politician,
is Abkhazia’s joining Russia (although Abkhazia did not ask for it,
they claim for independence and associate relations with Russia)
impossible, and Nagorno Karabakh’s joining Armenia possible? Well,
maybe Mr. Hovhannissyan meant a different outcome speaking on prospects
of Karabakh settlement? Say, Karabakh people yield to the will of
Azerbaijan? In this case, logic ca the Liberal Progressive Party
leader is clear. Otherwise, it is nothing but application of double
standards, in which it is difficult to suspect him, although he is
a staunch supporter of Atlantism.”
From: Baghdasarian

TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE OF SHUSHI IS 85
Svetlana Khachatrian 20-10-2006
Azat Artsakh, Reublic of Nagorno Karabakh
Oct 20 2006
The teacher training college of Shushi is 85, which is a notable event
in the life of Artsakh. The college is a long-lived and traditional
institution, which had a special role in the life of Artsakh, for
at one time all the teachers of Artsakh were trained there. The
college was set up in a period of difficult political and economic
situation in Artsakh. In 1920 a group of Armenians in Tbilisi made
a statement (which was published in the Taraz Magazine) calling to
establish a school in Shushi which would carry on the traditions of
great Armenian universities of Gladzor and Tatev, Lazarian School
in Moscow, Nersissian School, the Real School of Shushi. In response
to this call a group of alumni of the Real School working in Tbilisi
set up the college, which has had 13 thousand alumni over these years.
From: Baghdasarian

Press Release
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Father Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
A HIGH RANKING DELEGATION FROM THE FRENCH PROTESTANT CHURCHES
VISITS HIS HOLINESS ARAM I
His Holiness Aram I received on, October 16, a high-ranking delegation
of five people representing the Protestant Churches of France. Bishop
Nareg Alemezian, Ecumenical Officer, also attended the meeting, which
was held in the Antelias headquarters of the Catholicosate of Cilicia.
Various issues related to ecumenical relation, local and regional
developments and the activities of the World Council of Churches
(WCC) came up during the meeting. Given His Holiness Aram I’s active
involvement in ecumenical affairs, the delegation also discussed with
him the mutual relations between European and Middle Eastern Churches,
as well as the agendas of a number of western ecumenical organizations.
Turkey’s potential membership to the European Union was also raised
during the meeting. His Holiness was keen to point out the negative
consequences of Turkey’s accession to the EU especially in terms of
changing the union’s character.
His Holiness Aram I once again applauded the brave position of the
French Parliament in acknowledging the Armenian Genocide, interpreting
this as proof of France’s principled stand in defending human rights.
##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates
of the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the
history and mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer
to the web page of the Catholicosate, The
Cilician Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is
located in Antelias, Lebanon.
From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA NEEDS 1,700 FAMILY DOCTORS
Armenpress
Oct 18 2006
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 18, ARMENPRESS: Around 1000 Armenian family doctors
and as many hospital nurses are expected to have been trained by 2009
as part of a program designed to upgrade Armenia’s health system.
This program is supported by a World Bank credit.
Some 600 family doctors and 300 nurses have been trained
already. Samvel Hovhanesian, dean of family doctors department of
the National Health Institute, said the training of family doctors
and nurses will go on after the completion of the World Bank credit
program. He said in line with international standards Armenia needs
a total of 1,700 family doctors.
He said the institution of family doctors has been introduced already
in the majority of Yerevan clinics.
In 2008 it will embrace the whole of Armenia, he said.
From: Baghdasarian

BAKU: TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN “SHOULD JOINTLY STRUGGLE AGAINST FRENCH PARLIAMENT DECISION”
PanARMENIAN.Net
20.10.2006 13:26 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azeri MP Anar Mamedkhanov considers that Turkey
and Azerbaijan should join endeavors to press for cancellation of
the French parliament’s decision calling for criminalization of
the Armenian Genocide denial. “Turkey should act as vanguard and
undertake the resolution of the current situation. As compared to us,
Turkey has a rich experience. A state with 70-million population,
a NATO member and an aspirant to the EU can achieve a greater result
in the struggle with the Armenian lobby,” he said, reported Day.az.
From: Baghdasarian

ROBINSON LEAVES TOO
A1+
[07:20 pm] 18 October, 2006
Robert Kocharyan had a farewell meeting with Roger Robinson, the head
of the Yerevan office of the World Bank. Mr. Robinson is finishing
his mission in Armenia.
Robert Kocharyan said that the past years of cooperation with the
World Bank were very efficient in the development of the economy
of Armenia. He mentioned the reforms of state structures, the
development of infrastructures, and the programs aiming at the
reduction of poverty.
Roger Robinson said that he is glad to see the changes in Armenia
and to realize that the World Bank has its contribution in it.
Kocharyan wished Robinson success in his future work voicing hope
that it will be as effective as it was in Armenia.
From: Baghdasarian

NO IMMEDIATE IMPLEMENTATION OF FRENCH ARMENIAN BILL
By Ali Ihsan Aydin
Zaman Online, Turkey
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
A bill that would penalize those refusing the so-called Armenian
genocide in France will be discussed Thursday in the French Parliament.
The bill, a major project of the Armenian Diaspora, is expected
to easily pass the parliamentary vote due to France’s approaching
presidential elections.
The majority of deputies from the ruling UMP (Union for a Popular
Movement) who do not support the bill will abstain from voting to
prevent a possible backlash from Armenian voters.
A likely scenario is that the 30-40 deputies who backed the bill in
2001 will join the voting session.
Before Thursday’s critical assembly, the consensus in Paris is that
most of the French MPs want the bill to pass to appease the Armenians,
but they do not approve its implementation.
The draft bill submitted by the main opposition Socialist Party (PS)
calls for up to five years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros for
anyone who denies the purported Armenian genocide.
Not content with the French law in 2001 that stated France openly
“recognized the 1915 Armenian genocide,” Armenians have been pressuring
French politicians since then for a new law to penalize those rebuffing
the so-called genocide.
Deputies from both ruling and opposition parties in close ties with
Armenians had prepared four bills in recent years.
However, these bills stalled at the parliamentary bureau.
In May 2006, the Socialists used their right for the first time to
determine the agenda, allocated to political parties in proportion
to the number of deputies, and submitted the bill prepared by Deputy
Didier Migaud to the parliament.
The bill did not pass as Parliamentary Speaker Jean-Louis Debre, who
opposes “politicians writing down history” interrupted the session
twice, dropping the bill from the parliamentary agenda.
French historians, speaking out against passing a bill on a historical
issue and issuing a notice, made some attempts in parliament to
prevent the bill from passing.
The Socialists, however, following pressure from the Armenians,
used their right to determine a special agenda for a second time and
brought the draft to the parliament again.
Blocked in May, the bill is predicted to pass quite easily this time.
The Socialists want to send a political message to the nearly 400,000
Armenians in France at the threshold of elections.
Most of the ruling UMP deputies not supporting the bill will not join
in tomorrow’s vote.
The UMP Parliamentary Group Chairmanship did not issue a group decision
regarding the bill, leaving the deputies free to vote as they see fit.
A majority vote in the general assembly is required for the bill
to pass.
There were nearly 30 deputies at the general assembly during the
genocide recognition vote 2001.
The UMP has 364 seats and the PS 150 seats in the 577-seat French
Assembly.
The bill may still be rejected by the senate or vetoed by French
President Jacques Chirac
If the bill is passed in the parliament Thursday, it must also be
passed in the senate for full approval.
Pointing out that the bill may wait its turn at the senate dependant
on the order of agenda set by the government, parliamentary officials
recall the opposing attitude of the government and say the bill may
remain pending for a long time.
The bill must be passed in the senate in the same form as in the
assembly, and in the event that minor amendments are made in the text
it will be resent to the assembly, a process that risks being lengthy.
If bill is passed in the senate, it must be signed by the president
for its implementation.
Chirac may send the draft back to the parliament for a second
examination.
Though there are various views on the bill’s conformity with
the constitution, no party would likely refer the bill to the
Constitutional Council.
From: Baghdasarian

INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ERADICATION OF POVERTY
A1+
[01:46 pm] 17 October, 2006
The Council of Europe’s strategy for combating poverty is aimed at
strengthening social cohesion in Europe, and preventing and combating
social exclusion.
The Council of Europe has a number of legal instruments chief among
them the European Convention on Human Rights which establishes
rights and fundamental freedoms, and the European Social Charter
which establishes social rights, including the right to protection
against poverty and the right to housing.
Each year, the Council of Europe takes part in the celebration of
the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and organises a
ceremony in front of a replica of the Commemorative Stone, symbolising
the refusal of extreme poverty, which was laid in 1993 on the Palais
de l’Europe forecourt. The day officially recognised by the United
Nations in 1992. The day was first celebrated in 1987 by thousands
of participants at the Human Rights Plaza in Paris, France. On 17
October 1987, 100,000 defenders of human rights gathered together on
the Trocadero Plaza in Paris to honour victims of hunger, violence,
and ignorance, to express their refusal of extreme poverty.
From: Baghdasarian

STATUE COMMEMORATING ARMENIAN DEATHS STOLEN
Indianapolis Star, IN
Oct 16 2006
Chaville, France — A statue commemorating the World War I-era massacre
of Armenians in Turkey was stolen, an official said Saturday, two days
after French lawmakers approved a bill that would make it a crime to
deny that the killings amounted to genocide.
The bronze monument, installed in front of the train station in the
Paris suburb of Chaville in 2002, disappeared between Friday night
and Saturday morning, said authorities for the Haut-de-Seine region.
The police have not ruled out the possibility that the statue, which
weighs several hundred pounds, was stolen to be sold as scrap metal,
said Stephane Topalian, who serves on the board of the local chapter
of the Armenian church.
From: Baghdasarian

HOVHANNISIAN SAYS SARKOZY’S OPINION REPRESENTS THAT OF FRENCH SOCIETY
Yerkir/am
October 13, 2006
The Turkish blackmailing is quite efficient for European countries,
even for such a strong country as France, said National Assembly Vice
speaker and ARF Bureau member Vahan Hovhannisian on Tuesday when
asked by the Yerkir reporter to comment on Turkish reaction to the
known bill.
Turkey is seeking to carry out the same policies it used in the 19th
century and the beginning of the 20th – to emphasize that it (Turkey)
is more important for Europe than Armenians are, Hovhannisian went
on saying.
“In a sense they are right, as Turkey is a large market, it controls
roads and leverage,” Hovhannisian continued. “Some even say Turkey
is a secular Muslim state and could be an example for changing
fundamentalist Muslim regimes, but Turkey represents more threat to
Europe than Armenia, Georgia, Croatia or Bulgaria.
He also said that if Turkey becomes a full-fledged player on the
European scene, will completely distort the basics the European Union
stands on, and this is why some European countries, including the
Netherlands and France, voted against a European constitution that
would ease Turkey’s entry into the EU.
Sarkozy’s preconditions, thus, are symbolic, Hovhannisian said,
and taking into account Sarkozy’s influence over the French society,
it indicates that his opinion represents that of the French society.
From: Baghdasarian