Author: Boris Nahapetian

PAIN WITH SPAIN
Michael Soltys

Buenos Aires Herald, Argentina
al/editorial_english.jsp?idContent=490343
April 30 2008

A seminar on "Women in the Alliance of Civilizations" sounds supremely
abstract but somehow the Monday event contrived to become the focus
of a cluster of problems with Spain, coinciding with the Spanish
courts’ refusal to extradite ex-president María Estela "Isabel"
Martínez de Perón on the same day. The event itself suffered from
various absences, including an extremely weak presence on the part
of the Turkish co-sponsors of the "Alliance of Civilizations" series
(perhaps hypersensitive over the Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
administration’s love of the term "genocide" in general and its
application to the Armenian massacres of 1915-23 in certain Argentine
official resolutions in particular) and the absence of Spanish deputy
premier María Teresa Fernández de la Vega (despite sharing both
the gender and surname of her presidential host). Instead the reasons
for the latter’s absence became the issue and was used by President
Cristina Kirchner to continue her domestic feud with the press in
contempt of the international occasion — the Spanish socialist was
quoted as being affronted by the alleged misreporting of Clarín
in giving as the reason for her suspension of the trip her presumed
ire over the Argentine government’s pressures to "Argentinize" the
Spanish-owned Aerolíneas Argentinas.

Yet this denial is belied by the concern over these pressures
explicitly transmitted by Spanish Ambassador Rafael Estrella to
Transport Secretary Ricardo Jaime and in any case Aerolíneas has
some very serious problems quite irrespective of attendance at the
"Women in the Alliance of Civilizations" seminar. With only half of
its fleet in the air and interminable union problems, Aerolíneas
is rapidly sliding back to its parlous state of 2002 when it was
the object of what can only be called a privatization in reverse —
i.e. the Argentine state paid the Spanish tourism company 700 million
dollars to take charge of the airline after selling 90 percent of
the shares for a single dollar. The current "Argentinization" (this
clumsy term must be used because the government is not attempting any
direct nationalization of the airline but rather an acquisition by
crony capitalist interests) is flying in the face of world trends —
do the Kirchners really want to take a leaf out of Silvio Berlusconi’s
book with his anachronistic bid to keep Alitalia national?

Even if Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos dutifully
painted the brightest picture of bilateral relations, Spanish
concern extends not only to Aerolíneas but to all Spanish-owned
utilities and their artificially low rates. And then there is the
refusal to extradite Isabel Perón — the Spanish courts not only
seem unconvinced of the evidence of her direct links with the Triple
A far right terrorist organization but also whether the Triple A
qualified for state terrorism and hence crimes against humanity. The
refusal to extradite Isabel Perón is less hostile than it seems and
possibly even a favour to ex-president Néstor Kirchner since the
return and trial of his predecessor would undoubtedly create rifts
in the Peronist movement he is set to chair. The problems with Spain
certainly should not be exaggerated but neither can they be ignored.

–Boundary_(ID_a7VvALxom1N2DPyR94iNYg)–

The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute
Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex
RA, Armenia Yerevan 0028
Contact: Arevik Avetisyan
Tel.: (+374 10) 39 09 81
Fax: (+374 10) 39 10 41
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

"And Those Who Continued Living in Turkey after 1915"
18.04.08

The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute presents the book titled "And
Those Who Continued Living in Turkey after 1915" by Rubina Peroomian,
which issued under the auspices of the AGMI publishing-house.
The book is about people, who continued living in Turkey after the
Armenian Genocide.
In the atmosphere of the precariousness of minority rights in Turkey and
government’s persistence in denying the existence of the Armenian issue
as well as its continuing policy of pressure and selective approach to
history, a prescribed national identity covering all ethnic groups in
Republican Turkey was enforced and the Armenian collective suffering of
the past was buried in silence.
With the recent political developments in the world, the wall of silence
is breached. The events of 1915 and the plight of the Armenian survivors
in Turkey, be they Christian, Islamized, or hidden, are espoused and
fictionalized in literature produced in Turkey. Artistic expressions
echo the continuing trauma in the life of these "rejects of the sword,"
a Turkish moniker for Armenians, having "undeservedly" escaped from
death. The stories that Turkish writers unearth and the daring memoirs
of Turkish citizens with an Armenian in their ancestry, as well as
obscured references to these same stories and events in Turkish-Armenian
literature, have unveiled the full picture of survival, with an
everlasting memory of the lost ones, but also of forced conversions, of
nurturing the "enemy" in the bosom, and of the dehumanization and sexual
torture of men and women. A multifaceted image, an identity, of what is
broadly generalized as Turkish-Armenian, thus emerges, a phenomenon that
contradicts the long-researched and explored concept of the
Diasporan-Armenian post-Genocide ethnic identity. Nevertheless, the
sociopolitical and religious impositions and the hegemony of Muslim
identity have not been fully challenged yet. Outside pressures may
influence the metamorphosis of Turkish state of mind, but the change
should come from within the Turkish society. The change may be underway.

This annotation was taken from the book "And Those Who Continued Living
in Turkey after 1915" by Rubina Peroomian.

NAZIK AVDALYAN AND MELINE DALUZYAN ALL-ROUND CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE

armradio.am
17.04.2008 13:20

Nazik Avdalyan (69 kg) of Armenia showed the result of 2 42 kg in
clean and jerk combination and achieved the champion’s title in the
women’s competition in the framework of the European Weightlifting
Championship held in Lignano Sabbiadoro (Italy). Natalya Matveeva of
Russia came second with the result of 239 kg. Slaveyka Ruzhinskaya
of Bulgaria won the bronze with 219 kg.

Nazik Avdalyan had the best result in the snatch, showing the result
of 106 kg. She registered the result of 136 kg in the jerk, becoming
the all-round champion of Europe and gaining three gold medals.

Meline Daluzyan (63 kg) of Armenia achieved her second subsequent
title of the European Champion and became the all-round champion
of Europe in the European Weightlifting Championships underway in
Lignano Sabbiadoro (Italy).

Showing the result of 235 kg in the snatch and clean and jerk
combination, she outran Sibil Sismek of Turkey with 9 kg. Sismek came
second with the result of 235 kg. Milka Maneva of Bulgaria won the
bronze with the result of 223 kg.

Meline Daluzyan won in the separate snatch and clean and jerk events,
thus becoming an all-round champion of Europe, gaining three gold
medals.

The Armenian women’s team has already achieved 6 gold medals and is
the leader of the competition.

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER TO MEET WITH OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS

Trend News Agency
Nov 16 2007
Azerbaijan

The Foreign Minister of Armenia, Vardan Oskanian, will meet with the
OSC Minsk Group Co-Chairs, the Ambassador Yuri Merzylakov – Russian
Federation, Ambassador Bernard Fassier – France and Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State Matthew Bryza – United States.

The Armenpress reported that the sides will discuss issues to continue
negotiations in regulation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh and a range of unsolved conflicts.

According to the Armenian Foreign Minister, if the Co-Chairs to propose
to meet with the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, Elmar Mammadyarov,
Armenia is ready to meet.

The Armenia and Azerbaijan Presidents will not meet before the
presidential elections in the both countries in 2008.

PERFORMANCE BASED BUDGETING AND MID-TERM BUDGET FRAMEWORK

Trading Markets, CA
Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX
Friday, September 14, 2007; Posted: 11:46 PM

A four-day workshop "Performance based budgeting and mid-term budget
framework" took place at Panorama-Grand hotel in Samarkand on 10-13
September.

It was organized by the World Bank Institute and UNDP Projects
"Public Finance Reform in Uzbekistan" and "Support to Uzbekistan’s
Welfare Improvement Strategy".

Fiscal and social policies currently implemented in Uzbekistan
should bring about sustainable development, improved efficiency and
effectiveness of public expenditures, growth in real income of public
employees and pensioners. Their implementation should improve social
protection and quality of health care and education services.

Citizens of the Republic being both the taxpayers and public services
consumers must be confident that the money they give to the Government
is used transparently and efficiently and has a positive impact both
for the society as a whole and for each citizen in particular.

Clearly established targets and performance criteria for budget
formulation and execution as well as transition to the mid-term
budgeting are the gist of new approaches in public finance
management. This means that expenditures of the Uzbekistan’s state
budget should be planned for three years using concrete and measured
results. Many transition countries, including some CIS countries, have
already introduced the system of mid-term budgeting and performance
based budget.

Bakhrom Ashrafkhanov, Head of Treasury of Ministry of Finance of
Uzbekistan, said in his opening speech "…public finance reform is
a powerful resource of Uzbekistan in achieving competitiveness in the
world market, ensuring sustainability and efficiency of the national
economy. Eventually, the way Uzbekistan will look in the next decade
depends on the success of the current state fiscal policy and reforms."

Leading international experts who possess both theoretical and
practical experience led the workshop.

Presentations were made by leading specialists from the World Bank
Institute, government officials and researchers from Albania, Armenia,
Georgia, Russia, Slovakia, and Kazakhstan.

International consultants presented to participants international
experience in transition from cost-based annual state budget
planning to mid-term budgeting based on ultimate performance of
state-financed organizations. In particular, they presented methods
of cost estimation and prioritization of state national programs
and gave a situation analysis using the budget systems of Russia and
Kazakhstan as examples. Health care and education sectors were used
for more detailed review.

During the workshop, representatives from the Uzbekistan’s Ministry of
People’s Education and Center for Economic Research made presentations
on the development and improvement of monitoring and evaluation
instruments for state education programs.

Open discussions that followed presentations showed that there
existed some debatable issues in the understanding of transition to
new budgeting methods.

The session on Albania’s experience in transition from annual
to long-term budgeting was of special interest to the seminar
participants.

The workshop was attended by senior officials from key Uzbek ministries
and agencies involved in the state budget preparation.

As noted by the participants, the workshop contributed to improving
the qualification and practical skills of fiscal policy experts,
particularly in performance based budget preparation. The knowledge
gained from presentations, experience sharing and exchange of views
will ensure that many problems and mistakes will be avoided in the
process of mid-term budget development and introduction in Uzbekistan.

RESIDENTS OMITTED FROM THE POLLING LISTS

A1+
[06:58 pm] 18 April, 2007

"We are deprived of the right to vote as being the victims of
the "alienation zone," we are loyal to our principles. The acting
authorities and the pro-government forces are certain that they will
gain nothing from our votes. That’s why they have deprived us of the
right to vote," says Sedrak Baghdasaryan, a resident of Buzand Street
and Chairman of "Victims of State Needs" NGO.

Mr. Baghdasaryan claims he has come across numerous violations on
the eve of the parliamentary elections.

He visited electoral district 10 and got familiarized with the lists
of 10/26 polling station. It turns out that over 17 residents of
Buzand are left out of the lists. He countered the same scene in
polling stations 9/16 and 9/18.

"Under the recent anti-constitutional order, the citizens of Buzand
have been deprived of the property.

This implies that they are also deprived of the right to vote, the
right of education and free replacement.

Let me remind that the citizens are granted these rights under the
European conventions."

The most striking is fact that the citizens of Buzand who are already
out of registration have appeared in the polling lists. I have come
across 50 suchlike cases. We have spread the news via press but so
far we have found no response.

To note, the members of the NGO have applied to the European
structures, embassies and OSCE institutions in Armenia with the
request to see to the matter.

TAMASH AYAN IN YEREVAN

A1+
[07:14 pm] 02 April, 2007

April 2 – RA President Robert Kocharian received Tamash Ayan,
president of International Weightlifting Federation. The sides dwelt
on the development of Armenian sport and the possibilities of holding
international tournaments in the Republic of Armenia.

Robert Kocharian maintains that there are already tendencies to
expand international co-operation which will contribute to the
Armenian sports.

Tamash Ayan noted that the Armenian Olympic Committee carries out
large-scale work to enhance professional sport and has expressed its
readiness to assist the Armenian side.

Panorama.am

17:02 03/03/2007

RAISING KARABAKH ISSUE IN UN TO HARM THE PROCESS

Vardan Oskanyan, Armenian foreign minister, met with UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon yesterday on the day of 15th anniversary since
Armenia’s membership in UN. The minister reiterated Armenia’s
readiness to contribute to the international organization as a full
member.

The Secretary General and Oskanyan discussed the recent development in
Caucasus and Karabakh conflict settlement process. Oskanyan briefed
the present pace of developments based on the principle of Karabakh’s
self-determination. The minister said any contracting statement in UN
about the conflict will harm the process and postpone its solution.

Source: Panorama.am

ANCA CALLED ON U. S. CONGRESS TO EXPAND NAGORNO-KARABAGH HUMANITARIAN AND DEVELOPMENTAL AID PACKAGE

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Feb 14 2007

February 13, 2007 the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA) called on key Congressional foreign aid appropriators to
maintain current levels of U.S. assistance to Armenia, expand the
Nagorno-Karabagh humanitarian and developmental aid package and keep
in place the agreement to ensure parity in U.S. military assistance
to Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The ANCA’s roll-out of the Armenian American community’s foreign aid
priorities comes in the wake of the Administration’s recent release
of its fiscal year (FY) 2008 proposed budget request. The President’s
request would reduce U.S. assistance to Armenia from $75 million to
$35 million, breaks military assistance parity between Armenia and
Azerbaijan and makes no specific mention of U.S. assistance levels
for Nagorno-Karabagh.

According to the information DE FACTO got at the ANCA, in February 13th
letters to each of the members of the House and Senate State-Foreign
Operations Subcommittee members, ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian
highlighted Armenia’s growing relationship with the United States:
"We are, of course, very proud that Armenia has been a good friend
to America, providing strong and consistent support to the global
war on terror, taking part in the NATO Partnership for Peace,
and contributing forces to Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as for
peacekeeping operations in Kosovo."

The ANCA argued for maintaining U.S. economic assistance to Armenia
at least at the current level of $75 million, noting that "in great
measure as a result of reforms supported by U.S. economic development
programs, Armenia’s economy has grown by more than 10% in each of
the past six years, more than doubling the size of Armenia’s Gross
National Product. Sadly, however, the people of Armenia are still
faced with the devastating impact of Turkey and Azerbaijan’s illegal
dual blockades – estimated by the World Bank as costing Armenia at
least $720 million on an annual basis."

In urging a shift in U.S. aid to Nagorno-Karabagh from humanitarian
to developmental programs, Hamparian stressed that this expansion
"would reflect our success in leveraging local efforts to dramatically
reduce Nagorno-Karabagh’s once-daunting humanitarian challenges. The
time has come to support Nagorno-Karabagh’s young democracy and its
efforts to expand its free market economy by funding programs aimed
at supporting democratic governance, encouraging sustainable economic
development and creating conditions conducive to greater stability
and lasting peace in this strategically important region."

Citing the agreement struck between the Congress and the
Administration in 2001 to maintain U.S. military aid parity to
Armenia and Azerbaijan, Hamparian argued that any retreat from this
principle would "destabilize the region and embolden the Azerbaijani
leadership to act on their threats to impose a military solution
to the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict." He added that, "more broadly,
the ANCA has underscored that breaching the parity agreement would
reward the leadership of Azerbaijan for obstructing the peace process,
while at the same time undermining the role of the U.S. as an impartial
mediator of the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict."

THE ARMY OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH IS READY FOR FACING NATURAL DISASTERS
By Kim Gabrielian, Stepanakert

AZG Armenian Daily
18/01/2007

In connection with the forest fires on the Azerbaijan-Karabakh
frontline the OSCE mission conducted a monitoring of the area and
qualified them as a "natural disaster". Azerbaijani authorities
and mass media spread rumors that Armenian troops were demanded to
leave the region so that to free space for taking nature protection
measures. To this Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Ministry representative
Senor Hasratian replied that those rumors are just another provocation
of the Azeris. In fact, the fires were extinguished by the servicemen
of the Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh armies, located in the region,
said Mr. Hasratian. He added that the army of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic is always ready to face natural disasters and take measures
to reduce their consequences.