Author: Boshkezenian Garik

GEORGIA THREATENS RUSSIA WITH EUROPEAN COURT
A1+
[06:43 pm] 09 October, 2006
Georgia can turn to the European Court of Human Rights about national
discrimination against Georgians in Russia. “We are indignant at
the facts of ethnic filtrations which are incompatible with the
21st century and remind us about the terrible incidents in the 20th
century. That’s why the Georgian Government discusses the possibility
of turning to the European Court of Human Rights”, announced Georgian
President Michael Sahakashvili.
As for the fact that the Georgians are taken to Georgia from Russia by
the planes of the Emergency Administration, Sahakashvili mentioned that
if Russia does not have normal planes, “Georgia will support them”.

Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant. Netherland
October 6, 2006
Binnenhof in greep genocide Armeniers
door Wierd Duk
De boze geesten van de Kaukasus zijn de Nederlandse politiek
binnengeslopen. In het debat rond het standpunt van Turks-Nederlandse
politici over de Armeense genocide gedurende de Eerste Wereldoorlog
botsen twee werkelijkheden op elkaar.
Wie door de Kaukasus reist, leert snel de historische gevoeligheden
kennen die in deze regio worden gecultiveerd. Net als op de Balkan is
de geschiedenis hier niet weggestopt in musea, maar leeft ze verder
in verhalen en herinneringen, die van generatie op generatie worden
overgeleverd. Met de feiten neemt men het niet zo nauw. Legenden en
mythen hebben in deze folklore dezelfde waarde – en soms meer
betekenis – als concrete historische gebeurtenissen. In deze context
wantrouwen hele bevolkingsgroepen elkaar: Russen en Tsjetsjenen,
Georgiers en Osseten en ook Armeniers en Azeri’s, welke laatsten door
de Armeniers gemakshalve ‘Turken’ worden genoemd. Voor de Armeniers
geldt ‘de Turk’ (die zijn woongebied niet alleen in het huidige
Turkije heeft, maar in grote delen van de Kaukasus en Centraal-Azie)
als de aartsvijand. De Turkse volkerenmoord op de Armeense minderheid
is voor de inwoners van het straatarme, christelijke Armenie een
reeel bestaand trauma. Zelfs de oorlog met buurland Azerbeidzjan
wordt beschouwd als een strijd tegen ‘de Turken’ omdat de Azeri’s
taalkundig en cultureel nauw aan de Turken verwant zijn. De Turken
steunden de Azeri’s, onder meer door een economische blokkade tegen
Armenie in te stellen. In de jaren ’90 leidde het Armeense isolement
tot schrijnende toestanden. Naast armoede en een gebrek aan voedsel
en medicijnen leden de Armeniers onder een ernstige
energiecrisis. Woningen werden verwarmd met kaphout en na enige tijd
waren de bomen uit het straatbeeld van de hoofdstad Jerevan
verdwenen. Vele bejaarden, kinderen en zieken overleefden deze
ellendige situatie niet. Het Armeens-Turkse conflict af te doen als
louter historisch is dus onjuist. Getuige de economische blokkade is
de vete hoogst actueel. En ze houdt nu ook de Nederlandse politiek in
haar greep. Het debat over de Armeense genocide dreigt te leiden tot
een boycot van de Kamerverkiezingen door oorspronkelijk Turkse
kiezers. Zij zijn kwaad omdat drie aspirant-Kamerleden van Turkse
afkomst van de kieslijsten van CDA en PvdA werden geschrapt omdat
deze kandidaten de volkerenmoord op de Armeniers niet bewezen achten.
Eigen mening
Dit druist in tegen het officiele standpunt van alle partijen in het
parlement. Volgens de Turkse critici hebben de kandidaten ‘recht op
hun eigen mening’. In hun beleving, waarin mythevorming en nationale
trots concrete historische gebeurtenissen kleuren, is deze eis
waarschijnlijk legitiem. Het rationele Westen echter is gewend om te
oordelen op basis van feiten. Van Turks-Nederlandse politici te eisen
dat zij volmondig erkennen dat een geplande volkerenmoord werd
uitgevoerd, is voor een aantal van hen een brug te ver gebleken. Dat
andere politici van Turkse afkomst, onder wie Nebahat Albayrak, de
nummer 2 van de PvdA, niet bezwijken onder de druk uit eigen kring
laat zien hoezeer zij in de westerse samenleving zijn geintegreerd.
Toch wordt Albayrak, die niks anders beweert dan haar partijleider
Wouter Bos, verweten moedwillig ‘te schipperen’. GPD

Armenian National Committee of New Jersey
461 Bergen Blvd
Ridgefield, NJ 07657
(201) 945-0011
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 6, 2006
Contact: Ani Tchaghlasian
[email protected]
ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF NEW JERSEY
ENDORSES BOB MENENDEZ FOR U.S. SENATE
— Calls on Garden State Armenians to
Vote for Menendez on November 7th
RIDGEFIELD, NJ – The Armenian National Committee of New Jersey (ANC-NJ),
the grassroots voice of over 50,000 Garden State Armenian families, has
endorsed the candidacy of Senator Bob Menendez.
“Bob Menendez, a true champion for Armenian Americans in New Jersey
and across the country, is our clear choice for U.S. Senate,” said
ANC-NJ Chairwoman Ani Tchaghlasian. “We value Bob Menendez’s
principled leadership on Armenian issues – most notably his firm
stand against the Hoagland nomination – and will encourage all
Armenians – Democrats, Republicans and independents – to go to the
polls in support of his candidacy on November 7th.”
Last month, in a powerful show of moral courage and solidarity with
New Jersey’s Armenian American voters, Senator Menendez placed a
“hold” on the nomination of Richard Hoagland as U.S. Ambassador to
Armenia over the Administration’s deeply flawed policy of denying
the Armenian Genocide. His stand was welcomed statewide as a
reflection of the Senator’s uncompromising commitment to core
values and his strength in fighting for his beliefs.
During his tenure in the U.S. House, before joining the Senate
earlier this year, Bob Menendez served on both the House
International Relations Committee and the Congressional Caucus on
Armenian Issues. While in both the Senate and the House, he
consistently received “A” ratings from the ANCA for his effective
leadership on the full range of Armenian American issues.
#####

Turkey Pressures France Over Armenia Genocide Bill
Reuters, UK
Oct 6 2006
Turkey told France on Friday a draft bill that would punish anyone
denying Armenian genocide during World War One would seriously damage
bilateral economic and political ties.
The French parliament is due to debate the bill, proposed by the
Socialist opposition, on October 12.
“Approval of the law will have very negative effects on economic
ties,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan told a weekly
news briefing. “There have been important investments between Turkey
and France through history. With this decision these investments,
built up over years, will be ruined in one (parliamentary) session.
France will, in a manner of speaking, lose Turkey.”
Though the conservative majority in France’s parliament opposes the
bill, Turkey fears many opponents will not vote against it for fear of
upsetting France’s 400,000-strong Armenian diaspora ahead of elections
next year.
Tan said Turkey, too, faces presidential and parliamentary elections
in 2007. “The people of Turkey will perceive this development as a
hostile attitude on the part of France,” he said. “This draft will
deliver a heavy blow to bilateral relations and to the momentum
previously achieved.”
Turkey’s president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, sent a letter this week to
French President Jacques Chirac on the issue and Prime Minister Tayyip
Erdogan will discuss the problem on Saturday with French businessmen
in Istanbul, Tan said. A delegation of Turkish lawmakers also warned
of harm to French trade during a visit to Paris earlier this week.
France, which has already passed a law recognizing the 1915 massacre
as genocide, had 4.55 billion euros ($5.9 billion) of exports to
Turkey last year, French Trade Ministry data show.
Turkey is stinging from comments by Chirac last weekend in the Armenian
capital Yerevan that Ankara must recognize the Armenian massacres as
genocide before joining the European Union. Turkey began EU entry talks
last year, though is not expected to join for many years. Recognition
of the Armenian genocide is not a condition of its EU membership,
though some other EU politicians apart from Chirac want to make it one.
Ankara says it is ironic that France is preparing to punish those who
express a particular view of history at a time when Turkey is under
heavy EU pressure to change some of its own laws which are viewed as
restricting freedom of expression.
Last week, Ankara reacted angrily to news that two Dutch political
parties had dropped three election candidates, all of Turkish origin,
for denying the Armenian genocide. The Netherlands, like the European
Parliament and some other countries, has urged Turkey to recognize
the genocide claims.

ERDOGAN: “TURKEY IS DETERMINED FOR FULL EU MEMBERSHIP”
Turkish Press
Oct 5 2006
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday said that Turkey
was determined to become a European Union member and to fulfill
the bloc’s requirements. Erdogan received visiting EU Commissioner
for Enlargement Olli Rehn. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and chief
EU negotiator Ali Babacan also attended the meeting, where Cyprus
and the EU were discussed. Erdogan conveyed his uneasiness over the
so-called Armenian genocide claims being brought up by the EU.
Rebutting Rehn’s claim that Turkey had slowed down the reform process,
Erdogan summarized his government’s work on the EU over the last
four years. Rehn’s meeting at Parliament was tense. Meeting with
Parliament’s EU Harmonization Commission head Yasar Yakis, Rehn spoke
harshly about Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

CONFERENCE ARMENIE, JEUDI 5OCTOBRE AU HAVRE
par Cheval Genevieve
Paris-Normandie
2 octobre 2006 lundi
Cap sur l’Armenie des forts, vallees et canyons
Lors du voyage en Armenie, propose par Marie-Dominique Masso, le
spectateur est convie a une aventure etonnante a travers les forts
profondes, les vallees encaissees, les canyons vertigineux, les sommets
dechiquetes, le lac Sevan, la douceur des cônes volcaniques, sous
l’ombre protectrice du mont Ararat qui pourtant se trouve aujourd’hui
en Turquie.
Sur ce territoire, jalonne de katchkars, ces pierres croix
brodees, surgissent des forteresses accrochees aux pitons rocheux,
des monastères tailles dans la roche qui defient les hommes et
s’offrent a Dieu. Ici, la vie et la mort s’entremlent lors de rituels
ancestraux. Malgre son histoire douloureuse, ce peuple de grande
culture possède une langue, un alphabet, une religion uniques et sa
principale richesse reside dans sa matière grise.
Nous partagerons le quotidien de ces Armeniens qui se sont racontes
avec pudeur et sincerite. Nous degusterons des lavatch et porterons
tant de toasts au Grand Charles et a l’amitie avec la France que vous
n’oublierez pas la legendaire generosite.
Marie-Dominique a voulu comprendre la douleur karabagh et s’est rendue
dans cette enclave chretienne en terre musulmane. Les larmes de la
guerre entachent encore les paysages et les âmes, mais le Karabagh
fait preuve d’un dynamisme surprenant.
La diaspora n’est pas etrangère aux changements qui s’opèrent en
Armenie, surtout dans les villes. Gumri, efface peu a peu les traces
du terrible seisme. Erevan, la ville rose toute de tuf vtue est un
grand chantier.
En un an et demi, la realisatrice a vu les buildings pour hommes
d’affaires presses, les cafes pour jeunesse branchee, se multiplier.
l A 14h15 et 18h30 au theâtre de l’Hôtel- de-Ville. Tarif: de 8 a 4 Û
(abonnements: 35 et 28 Û). Tel.02.35.46.26.60.
–Boundary_(ID_FjyAJpHulmINoG F7qyRF8Q)–

“LET THE STUBBORN GROUPS WORK AND NOT MAKE REQUIREMENTS”
A1+
[08:47 pm] 02 October, 2006
Today the Parliament did not put the RA draft law on “Amendments to
the Regulations of the National Commission on Television and Radio” to
vote. Tigran Torosyan called on the “”stubborn groups” not to complain
and to demand to take back the draft but to make clear-cut suggestions.
As for whom Tigran Torosyan meant by saying “stubborn groups” – “All
those who demand to take the draft back instead of making suggestions
about them”.
Let us remind you that the amended Constitution demands to amend
the law. According to the previous law, the members of the National
Committee on Television and Radio were appointed by the President.
According to the new Constitution and the new Law, they must be
appointed by the President and the NA.
Nevertheless, according to some provisions of the Constitution, the
members of the Committee stay there till the end of their office,
that is, even if the Law in amended, the new one will come into
force only in 2011. Today, the oppositional deputies mainly offered
to organize public hearings before putting the draft to vote.
“I have an impression that the draft was written by Grigor
Amalyan. Besides, I think that the Minister of Justice is more
professional and would not make mistakes which are present in the
draft”, Stepan Zaqaryan from “Justice” told “A1+”.
Co-author of the present Law on Television and Radio Shavarsh
Kocharyan found several grave mistakes in the draft and called on
all the deputies to vote it down.
Nevertheless, NA Speaker Tigran Torosyan said that the best time to
improve the draft is the time period between the first and second
hearings. But as far as the NA Speaker is to leave Armenia tomorrow
morning, it’s hard to say whether the draft will ever be voted.

AZNAVOUR FASCINATED ONCE AGAIN
A1+
[12:56 pm] 02 October, 2006
more images The “traces” of the concert “Aznavour and friends” are
still present in the Republic Square.
The deconstruction of the equipment is still under way reminding
the passers by about the unprecedented concert which will place two
days ago.
Those who were present, will never forget the sensations of the day;
nor will they forget the mood of the square, and the voice of Charles
Aznavour will echo in their ears every now and then.
Although some people complained that the sound of the concert was not
as loud as promised, it can’t be denied that the chance to listen to
the world-famous chansonnier could not be missed.

ARMENIAN PM: TOTAL VOLUME OF FRENCH INVESTMENTS IN ARMENIAN ECONOMY EXCEEDS $160 MLN
ARMINFO News Agency
September 30, 2006 Saturday
The total volume of French investments in the Armenian economy exceeds
$160 mln, Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan said during
a meeting with a group of French businessmen who came to Armenia
together with French President Jacques Chirac.
The press service of the Armenian Government reports Margaryan to
say that there are 111 companies with French capital in Armenia –
among them such world renowned companies as Pernod Ricard, Castel,
Credit Agricole. Margaryan said that there are good opportunities
for organizing joint ventures in industry, agricultural processing,
power engineering, telecoms and IT.
The Armenian community of France is a good basis for economic
cooperation and is very helpful in joint projects.
Margaryan told the French businessmen that in the last 5 years the
macro-economic situation in Armenia has been stable and predictable.
In 2005 the economy grew by 14%, industry by 7.5%, export by 31.5%,
foreign investments by 31%. The foreign trade turnover between Armenia
and France is successfully developing. There are wide opportunities
for commodity turnover growth. Margaryan is sure that the conduct of
the Year of Armenia in France will open up new prospects for friendship
and cooperation between the two nations and states.
The French businessmen expressed interest in investment in health care,
agricultural light industry and IT.
To note, in Jan-June 2006 the volume of French investments in the
Armenian economy totalled $4.6 mln – 48.1% less than in Jan-June
2005. The foreign trade totalled $25.3 mln – 52.4% more than a
year before.

PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV RECEIVES OSCE MG CO-CHAIRS
Azeri Press Agency
Oct 2 2006
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev today received the Co-Chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia), Bernard Fassier
(France) and Mathew Bryza (US). President’s press service told the APA.
The sides exchanged views on current state of and prospects for the
negotiations on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict
over Nagorno-Garabagh.