Author: Bedik Zaminian

“CENTER FOR INTEGRATION OF MESKHETIAN RESETTLERS” FOUNDED IN JAVAKHK
AKHALKALAK, MAY 18, NOYAN TAPAN. The “Tolerand” union functioning in
Samtskhe-Javakhk, the goal of which is to contribute to integration
of Meskhetian Turks in Georgia, founded “Center for Integration of
Meskhetian Turks.” According to the A-Info agency, the center will be
financed by the European Commission. According to Tsira Meskhishvili,
Chairman of the “Tolerand” union, the publication of the “Pesvebi”
weekly is the program’s important part. The newspaper will represent
the life of Meskhetian Turks in Georgia. The newly-established center,
according its founders, will do its best for “Meskhetians to feel
themselves full members of Georgian society.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1plus
| 13:00:44 | 30-04-2005 | Politics |
COALITION RULED OUT CIVIC INITIATIVE
«The citizens should have the direct right to hold referenda while the
President of the republic signs the decree with the power of right but not
at the discretion of his own. Our President possesses the right to initiate
a referendum with the decision of the NA or on an initiative of 250 000
people», member of United Labor Party Grigor Khondjeyan says.
According to the ULP constitutional draft issues referring to the new
Constitution, constitutional changes, adoption or cancellation of laws can
be submitted to a referendum. However there are some issues a referendum
cannot be held on. These are territorial integrity, limitation of
fundamental freedoms, state budget, taxes, financial obligations of the
state, declaration and cancellation of emergency situations, declaration of
war or peace.
In this respect Arshak Sadoyan’s draft does not differ much from the ULP
draft. He also suggests a referendum be held on initiative of the President,
the National Assembly and on civic initiative with 250 000 signatures
available. `Laws may be put on referendum by the government, the NA and the
citizens. The issues of state importance can be initiated by the President,
the NA within the frames of its authority and the Constitutional Court’,
Arshak Sadoyan says.
As compared to the acting Constitution the coalition draft contains one
amendment: `On President’s initiative the National Assembly in the course of
3 months puts the possibility of referendum conduction to the votå. If the
majority votes «for», the President decrees to hold a referendum within the
terms established by him».
Diana Markosyan
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Council of Europe backs call for Turkey-Armenia study into genocide claims
Anatolia news agency, Ankara
27 Apr 05
STRASBOURG
The Council of Europe (COE) on Wednesday [27 April] extended strong
support to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s proposal to
form a joint commission comprised of Turkish and Armenian historians
to examine so-called Armenian genocide allegations.
The statement signed by 104 members of the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe (PACE) called on Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan to give a positive answer to Erdogan’s proposal.
“We call on Turkey and Armenia to carry out a joint search on the
incidents which occurred in the Ottoman Empire during the World War I,
using their historical documents in their national archives. Turkish
and Armenian people are interpreting this historical period
differently, and this different interpretation obstructed improvement
of bilateral relations,” said the statement.
The statement noted that Turkish and Armenian peoples had a common
history and geography for centuries, and said: “The incidents which
occurred during the World War I caused tragic results for both the
Turks and Armenians.”
On the other hand, Turkish parliamentary delegation headed by Murat
Mercan, one of the MPs of the governmental Justice and Development
Party (AKP), had an important role in this strong support extended by
the PACE members.
Meanwhile, answering a question, COE Secretary-General Terry Davis
welcomed Erdogan’s proposal and considered it as “beau geste”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pan Armenian News
TURKS OF EUROPE FOR SELF-DETERMINATION OF ARMENIANS IN HISTORIC HOMELAND
25.04.2005 07:26
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Ankara should not only acknowledge the Armenian Genocide
but also recompense its crime against the Armenian people, Turkish
International Federation of Cultural Exchange Yamal Arshar stated in Yerevan
today. In his words, his organization is for the return of Armenians, who
survived the Genocide, to their historic homeland. He apologized to the
Armenian people and stated that the Federation composed of Turks and Kurds
together with Armenians will press for the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide. `The Armenian Genocide can be recognized with consistent struggle
of the Turkish and Kurdish peoples’, he added. In his turn, deputy head of
the German Union against Genocide Bulent Gul stated that a memorial to the
Armenian Genocide victims should be inaugurated in Istanbul.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Times Herald-Record, NY
April 23 2005
Rally marks genocide date

As a lawyer, Richard Sarajian’s job is to fight for justice.
Tomorrow, his fight will be personal.
Sarajian, an Armenian from Chestnut Ridge, formerly of Monroe,
will attend a rally outside Times Square with thousands of Armenians
in hopes that the world will recognize a mass killing by the Turkish
Army that occurred April 24, 1915.
Sarajian, chairman of the National Executive Council of the
Armenian Apostolic Church of America, will be going in memory of his
grandparents, three of whom survived the genocide.
Church services will be held in the city from 9 to 11 a.m. at St.
Vartan Cathedral Church, 2nd Avenue and 34th Street, and at St.
Illuminator’s Cathedral, 27th Street between 2nd and 3rd avenues.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Chess Base, Germany
April 15 2005
Breaking news: Kasparov assaulted in Moscow
16.04.2005 We have just learnt (on Russian radio) that Garry Kasparov
was attacked after a meeting with youth activists in Moscow he was
approached by a participant with a chessboard seeking an autograph.
The young man circled Kasparov and delivered a sharp blow to the head
with the chessboard. We will update this story as news comes in.
The Russian news agency Interfax news agency quotes Kasparov’s
advisor Marina Litvinovich, who described the events as follows:
Garry Kasparov, co-chair of the Fair Elections 2008 party, was
subjected to an attack on Friday night. After a meeting with youth
activists in Moscow he was approached by one of the participants with
a chessboard. The young man asked the 13th chess world champion for
an autograph, but then suddenly went behind Kasparov and delivered a
strong blow to Kasparov’s head, yelling obscenities as he did os. The
attacker was taken out by the people present according to
Litvinovich. Kasparov suffered an acute haematoma (Russian gematoma,
hemorrhage), but declined to seek immediate medical treatment.
Litvinovich added that Kasparov was meeting with the activists of
youth movement in order to discuss tactics and strategy of creating a
united democratic front.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SITTINGS OF REPRESENTATIVES OF FM CONSULAR SERVICE OF ARMENIA AND IRAN
STARTS IN YEREVAN
YEREVAN, APRIL 14. ARMINFO. The first 2-day joint sitting of
representatives of Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and Iran
to discuss consular issues concerning citizens of both countries
started in Yerevan.
As Iran.ru informs, during the first day of negotiations,
representatives of countries’ consular services noted the
significance of regular conducting such meetings, taking into account
the neighborly relations of Iran and Armenia, as well as a great
transportation of countries’ citizens. Various social problems,
issues of residence of foreign citizens in both countries, problems
of giving visas, foreign students and bordering transportation will
be discussed during the sitting. Iranian delegation headed by IRI FM
director of consular department Rasul Mohajer is on a visit in
Yerevan. They also intend to meet with other Armenian officials. -r-
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
April 13 2005
PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV MEETS WITH PRIME MINISTER OF PAKISTAN
[April 13, 2005, 15:36:12]
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met in private with Prime
Minister of Pakistan Shaukat Aziz on April 13. The Premier said he
was pleased to see President Ilham Aliyev in Pakistan, noting there
were favorable conditions for expanding economic ties between the two
countries. He stressed the importance of organizing reciprocal visits
at various levels.
Noting that Azerbaijan is closely cooperating with many countries,
and is involved in the large-scale international projects, President
Ilham Aliyev said there were very promising prospects for his
country’s all-round cooperation with Pakistan, as well.
The Azerbaijani leader updated Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on
political, economic and legal reforms being implemented in
Azerbaijan, as well as on the serious difficulties the country has to
face with because of the Armenian aggression. He expressed gratitude
to the Pakistani government and Premier Shaukat personally for the
support of the fair position of Azerbaijan in international
organizations.
President Ilham Aliyev and Premier Shaukat Aziz underlined the
importance of the documents to be signed in the course of this visit,
and exchanged views on a number of other issues of mutual interest.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Journal of Turkish Weekly
April 11 2005
Turkish Parliament to Debate Armenian Claims
The claims of a so-called Armenians genocide will be debated by the
Parliament on Wednesday, declared Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul this weekend.
Gul also dropped some hints of a new `Turkish road mad’ to cope with
the worldwide campaign of the Armenians against Turkey, but did not
provide any details.
Admitting that Turkey’s efforts against that Armenian campaign were
late in coming, Gul said that he would have more to say about the
`new road map’ in his speech Wednesday to Parliament.
`Turkey could have been more active in the past in coping with this
campaign,’ he told reporters on his plane on Saturday en route to
Algeria. `We should make some extraordinary efforts to deal with it.
The Foreign Ministry is working on that.’
Asked about the possibility of establishing a commission within the
United Nations to deal with the Armenian problem, Gul underlined the
political character of the UN. `The UN is a political institution,
not a judicial one,’ he said. `In the UN, people raise their hands to
vote in accordance with their political aims.’
Speaking on Turkish-Greek relations after the surprise declaration of
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc last week suggesting an end to
Turkey’s `Casus Belli’ threat on the Aegean problems, Foreign
Minister Gul said that both Ankara and Athens are continuing their
efforts to consolidate peace.
`Both Turkey and Greece are countries that apply their will to
solving problems through peaceful means,’ he said.
Arinc’s surprise statement had drawn a declaration by Gul last week
that Turkey’s policy on the Aegean problems had not changed.
Meetings with Algerian officials
Foreign Minister Gul met with Algerian officials during his two-day
visit to this country, including Housing Minister Muhammed Nadir
Hamimid, Energy Minister Shekib Halil and Culture Minister Halide
Tumi. He was also received by Algerian Senate Speaker Abdulkadir
Bensalah.
Asked by journalists about Turkish-Algerian relations, Gul said that
Turkey could influence Algeria in some areas. Underlining that the
Algerian officials had praised Ankara’s reforms on democratization
and human rights, Gul explained, `Arab intellectuals and politicians
are watching very closely the progress within Turkey and praising
it.’ He added that Turkey and Algeria could benefit mutually from
each others’ experiences.
Source: The New Anatolian, 11 April 2005
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
UAAS board
Uppsala, March 22, 2005
Email: [email protected]
Tel: + 46 18 31 47 94

The Swedish-Armenian community is united unanimous as ever.

The Union of Armenian Associations in Sweden (UAAS) has close
cooperation with the Assembly of Armenians of Europe (AAE).

On March 12, the annual general meeting of the Union of Armenian
Associations in Sweden (UAAS) was convened in the city of Uppsala.
Representatives of the member associations and organizations who had
come from different cities participated in the meeting.
After the presentation of activities and financial reports, the
following subjects were examined in detail: the expansion of the future
activity of the centre within member organizations, organizing and
uniting of all capable forces and the further democratization of the
centre’s structures.

The meeting approved the renewed version of the more than ten-years-old
statutes of UAAS. The revision was necessary to meet the requirements of
the new contitions and situations.

The meeting examined a whole list of commemorating events dedicated to
the 90th anniversary of the Genocide and took corresponding decisions.
The participating representatives stressed the importance of the
Armenian language and culture and its development. Also the education of
the young generation as conscious Armenians was a topic of discussion.
The representatives of the youth organizations expressed their
viewpoints and expounded the problems encountered by the Armenian youth.

As an active member of the Assembly of Armenians Europe (AAE), the UAAS
in its annual meeting, reaffirmed its full support of the AAE and its
cooperation with it in efforts directed towards the recognition of the
Armenian Genocide, ever strengthening of the statehood of the Republic
of Armenia and towards the just resolution of the Question of Karabakh.
The representative of the Norwegian-Armenian Association thanked the
Swedish-Armenians for their assistance and emphasized the need for
cooperation between all European-Armenian communities and for the
strengthening of mutual ties between those communities.

For the months of April and May, a number of events dedicated to
Genocide such as exhibitions, lectures, conferences etc have been
organized in many cities with large Armenian communities. The 24th April
committee consist of Armenian organizations and Armenian church
representatives in Stockholm invites On 23th and 24th of April, in
Stockholm, the whole Swedish-Armenian community to commemorate the
Genocide with a joint event and demonstration. In September, a number of
events will be organized in the European level, directed against
Turkey’s membership of the European Union.

The general meeting of the Union of Armenian Associations in Sweden
(UAAS) approved the program of activities presented by the directorate
for the years 2005-2007 and endorsed their general course and direction
accordingly.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress