Author: Boshkezenian Garik

BRITISH AMBASSADOR TAKES A RUN IN YEREVAN

news.am
May 3 2010
Armenia

British Ambassador to Armenia Charles Lonsdale raised U.S. $700-800 as
a result of the May 2 Sport Relief Mile. About 50 people, including
Ambassador Lonsdale, took a run from the Institute of Ancient
Manuscripts (Matenadaran) to Republic Square in Yerevan.

The goal of the run was raising funds for the Para-Olympic Committee of
Armenia. Talking to NEWS.am, Ambassador Lonsdale said his companions
promised him U.S $700-800 for the run. Maria Sandoyan, Head of the
Press Service, British Embassy in Armenia, pointed out that the final
sum has not yet been specified, as each runner has his sponsor.

"Personal contributions are the focus of the event," she said.

Chairman of the Para-Olympic Committee of Armenia Hakob Abrahamyan
said that the funds will be used to hold a conference for disabled
people. "The main goal of the run was to draw public attention to
disabled people’s problems. Sport for disabled people is not financed
in Armenia, and we are trying to draw the Government’s attention,"
he said.

This is the first charity event of this kind in Armenia. The Sport
Relief Mile initiative was proposed by the Comic Relief charitable
institution (Great Britain).

This year about 500,000 people have participated in the events in Great
Britain – famous people, young and old, sportsmen and disabled people.

DAVUTOGLU: WE WANT ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN BORDER TO BE OPENED

Panorama.am
03/05/2010

"Surely, Turkey wants to open border with Armenia, since we want
friendly ties with all our neighbors. But opening of Armenian-Turkish
border isn’t enough. We want Armenia-Azerbaijan border to be opened
as well," Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoglu declared at "Turkey’s role in
changing world" conference, Turkish Zaman reported.

According to the source, scientists, mass media representatives and
officials as well attended the conference.

Davutoglu states Ankara wants to see trustworthy and secure neighbors
in the Middle East, Caucasus, Balkans. "Why do you think we’re so
active in Iran’s nuclear project? No, we don’t want to defend Iran. We
want secure region here. We don’t agree with Iran to have a nuclear
weapon, but at the same time we don’t want armed disorder here in
our region," Turkish FM said.

ARMENIAN NATIONALIST POLITICIAN CLOSES DOORS ON DIALOGUE

Hurriyet Daily News
May 2 2010
Turkey

Claims of sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh are threatening to
draw Armenia and Azerbaijan into a new conflict at the slightest
provocation.

Although international peacemakers are actively working to settle the
disputes, political experts are worried that the slightest wrong step
could fuel antagonism between the two parties.

Manvel Sargsian, who organized the Karabakh movement against Azerbaijan
in Yerevan in 1987, told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review
that Russia was fueling the problem by "supporting the Azeris" in
the policy to "remove the Armenians from the region."

Sargsian was Armenia’s Nagorno-Karabakh representative after the
armed clashes came to an end in 1994.

The Armenian politician also said it is not possible for Armenia
to make "the smallest concession" in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue,
comments that show how mired the region’s problems are in nationalism.

Blaming Turkey due to preconditions

Noting that Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 because
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Sargsian said Turkey is "imposing
preconditions" on the reopening of the border. "Karabakh cannot be
a precondition in the [Turkey-Armenia] border issue," he said. "Not
the smallest piece of land can be sacrificed."

The nationalist politician also had a different view on the Khojaly
massacres, in which hundreds of ethnic Azerbaijani civilians were
killed Feb. 25 and Feb. 26, 1992, during the Nagorno-Karabakh war. The
Armenian politician claimed Aziz Muttalibov, the former president
of Azerbaijan, had himself said the massacre was committed by the
"Azerbaijani opposition."

"The bodies of innocent Azeris murdered by the soldiers in the city
of Agdam city 15 kilometers away were carried away to Khojaly by
those soldiers themselves," Sargsian said.

Azerbaijan, along with the Memorial Human Rights Center, Human Rights
Watch and other international observers, say the massacre was committed
by ethnic Armenian armed forces.

These international sources also say the killings were carried out
with the help of Russian soldiers in the region. The official death
toll provided by Azerbaijan stood at 613 civilians, of whom 106 were
women and 83 were children.

"Everyone in Turkey says Russians aided the Armenians, but this is
a lie," said Sargsian. "On the contrary, they helped the Azerbaijanis.

We supplied our weapons from the Tashnaks."

Sargsian insisted on Russia’s role in the present stalemate in
Nagorno-Karabakh, claiming that the Soviet Union had strived hard to
remove Armenians from the region, thus fuelling the conflict.

Saying that during the conflict, Russian forces handed over Armenian
civilians to Azerbaijan, Sargsian claimed the number of such civilians
had reached 700 by the end of the clashes.

Génocide arménien et loi criminalisant l’esclavage et la traite des Noirs

INTERNATIONAL

dimanche2 mai 2010, par Stéphane/armenews

Le Sénégal a choisi l’année de ses 50 ans d’indépendance pour déclarer
l’esclavage et la traite négrière, crime contre l’humanité.

Une loi en ce sens vient d’être adoptée successivement par l’
Assemblée nationale et le Sénat, faisant du Sénégal un des tout
premier pays du monde à criminaliser ces pratiques dégradantes.

Mais aux yeux des spécialistes, il s’agit simplement d’une loi
symbolique qui n’a pas de portée significative au niveau
international.

La traite négrière, dont le Sénégal garde des stigmates, avec île
historique de Gorée au large de Dakar, désigne le commerce des
esclaves dont ont été est victimes des millions de Noirs africains
pendant près de quatre siècles.

Cette pratique a "fondamentalement" changé l’ordre économique
mondiale, estime le ministre sénégalais de la Justice, Me El Hadj
Amadou. Par conséquent, ajoute-t-il, "le devoir de mémoire impose à
tous les peuples d’Afrique et de la diaspora de ne rien laisser dans
l’oubli"

Pour le Sénégalais Karfa Diallo, membre fondateur de la fondation
européenne du Mémorial de la traite négrière, Diverscités, "cette loi
arrive tardivement mais elle est quand même la bienvenue". Sa
fondation avait convaincu le président Wade de faire adopter cette
loi, au cours d’une rencontre avec lui en février dernier.

Analysant la portée juridique de cette loi, l’avocat sénégalais Assane
Ndioba Ndiaye renseigne qu’il se pose un problème "d’ opposabilité, de
reconnaissance internationale".

"C’est une loi qui restera symbolique au niveau national et qui
servira de repère historique dans la conscience collective des
Sénégalais. Mais elle n’aura pas d’effet au niveau international. Un
peu comme la loi sur le génocide Arménien", affirme-t-il.

Selon lui, cette loi déclarant l’esclavage et la traite négrière crime
contre l’humanité peut avoir beaucoup plus d’effet au niveau
international si elle est portée par des institutions internationales
comme les Nations Unies, l’Union africain. Néanmoins, estime l’avocat,
elle servira sur le "principe de réconfort moral pour des générations
à venir".

L’historien Ibrahima Seck de l’Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar
abonde dans le même sens. Pour lui, il est important d’un point de vue
des principes de voter une telle loi qui "participe au combat pour la
mémoire".

Mais, "sur le plan juridique va-t-on pousser la lutte jusqu’à arriver
un jour à la question de la réparation?", se demande l’ universitaire
qui rappelle que la traite se faisait à travers des réseaux
d’approvisionnement bien "organisés et intégrés".Donc, quelque part,
les conséquences sont partagées à propos de ce crime. Car "il y a des
chefs africains qui ont collaboré à ce commerce", souligne-t-il.

Quoi qu’il en soit, les populations africaines ont besoin de leur
mémoire pour construire leur avenir, relève Karfa Diallo car "un
peuple sans mémoire et un peuple sans avenir".

C’est pourquoi, renseigne-t-il, "la fondation Diverscités a décidé de
lancer cette campagne en direction des Etats africains pour déclarer
l’esclavage et la traite r crime contre l’humanité".

Le choix du Sénégal par la fondation Diverscités dans cette campagne
de sensibilisation est stratégique.

"C’est un pays qui est à l’avant-garde des questions de développement
et de droit de l’homme en Afrique. C’est pourquoi nous avons estimé
que le Sénégal ferait une bonne porte d’entrée en Afrique et, une fois
qu’il vote la loi, ça peut faire tche d’ huile en direction des
autres pays africains" confie M.Diallo.

La France est le seul pays au monde à avoir légiféré en 2001 sur
l’esclavage et la traite négrière, avec la loi Taubira, du nom de la
députée Guyanaise, Christian Taubira (candidate du parti radical de
gauche en 2002).

KIM KARDASHIAN POSES TOTALLY NAKED IN UNRETOUCHED PIC

Us Magazine
April 2010

Jessica Simpson went unretouched on the cover Marie Claire, but Kim
Kardashian is taking it one step further.

In May’s Harper’s Bazaar, Kardashian, 29, poses totally nude —
without airbrushing, the magazine claims — to encourage girls to
"embrace your curves and who you are.

"I feel proud if young girls look up to me and say, ‘I’m curvy,
and I’m proud of it now,’" Kardashian says.

She wasn’t always so proud of her body.

"I was wearing a C cup by the time I was 11. I would go to bed and
pray, ‘Please, Lord, don’t let my boobs grow any bigger,’" Kardashian
laments. "I hated what was happening."

Now, she doesn’t "get why everyone is always going on about my butt.

"I’m Armenian. It’s normal," she says. "My butt is probably not as
big as you might think, because I have small legs and a small waist,
which makes it appear bigger."

UN ANCIEN RESPONSABLE DU PARTI DACHNAK REJOINT LE PARTI HERITAGE
Gari

armenews
30 avril 2010
ARMENIE

L’ancien responsable de la FRA Dachnkatsoutioun, Ruben Hakobian, a
annonce le 28 avril qu’il rejoignait les rangs du parti Jarankoutioun
(Heritage), l’autre formation de l’opposition au Parlement affichant
une ligne plus dure face aux autorites. R. Hakopian avait ete exclus
des rangs du Parti dachnak il y a deux ans, pour avoir critique
sa decision de collaborer avec le president Serge Sarkissian, elu
sur fond de controverses le 19 fevrier 2008. Le Parti dachnak allait
integrer, quoique avec reticence, la coalition gouvernementale, qu’il
quittera finalement en 2009 en raison du processus de normalisation
engage entre le president Sarkissian et la Turquie. Depuis, le Parti
dachnak se situe dans une opposition moderee au pouvoir, Mais R.

Hakopian, qui avait rallie la FRA en 1990 et qui a occupe des postes
importants au sein de la direction de ce parti, n’est manifestement pas
convaincu par l’evolution du parti, auquel il n’a pas pardonne l’accord
de cooperation passe avec le pouvoir en 2008, accord qu’il avait
denonce comme " immoral " et faisant le jeu du leader de l’opposition
non parlementaire, Levon Ter-Petrossian. Il a egalement appele a la
tenue de nouvelles elections presidentielles et parlementaires.

R.Hakobian a refuse de commenter sa decision de rejoindre Heritage,
un parti farouchement oppose aujourd’hui a M. Sarkisian comme hier a
M.Kocharian. Il a indique qu’il allait s’exprimer publiquement sur
ses motivations "dans les prochains jours." Selon Stepan Safarian,
un responsable du parti Heritage, " la decision n’a pas ete prise
en un jour" et elle procède d’un long dialogue entre sa formation
et M.Hakobian, qui " partagent les memes vues sur les questions
essentielles qui se posent au pays ".

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA: ARMENIA HAS ENOUGH POTENTIAL TO EXPORT ELECTRIC POWER TO TURKEY AND TRANSIT IT TO NEAR EAST

ArmInfo
2010-04-27 14:00:00

ArmInfo. Despite suspension of ratification procedure of the
Armenian-Turkish Protocols because of inactivity of the Turkish
Government, Armenia has enough potential to export electric power to
Turkey and transit it to Middle East countries, President of Armenia
Serzh Sargsyan said at the 11th session of the Nuclear Energy Safety
Council, an advisory body to the Armenian President, on Tuesday.

The president said that Armenia has made certain steps to normalize
relations with Turkey. Opening of the last closed border in Europe
would give an opportunity to establish economic ties, also in the
energy sector. At present, he said, the electric power market in
the region is at the stage of establishment and implies creation of
a ring energy system of the Black Sea countries and synchronization
of the energy systems of Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Iran and others.

Sahak Abrahamyan, Director General of High Voltage Electric Networks
of Armenia CJSC, told ArmInfo the company has made contracts with
two Turkish companies, Unit International and Birenerji, for supply
of electricity to Turkey. S. Abrahamyan said that Armenia is now
expecting a proposal from Turkey with a request for the date and
volume of Armenian electric power supply to Turkey. Earlier Minister
of Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsisyan said that in 2010
Armenia would be able to start electric power supply to Turkey via
the operating power transmission lines Guymri-Kars (200MW). Armenia
supplied electricity to Turkey in Soviet times. At the initial stage
Armenia will supply 1.5bln kWh electricity to Turkey yearly. In future,
the supply volume may be increased to 3.5bln kWh yearly.

BUSHRA HALEPOTA: "RECEPTION CAPACITY FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS IN ARMENIA HAS BEEN EXPANDED"

ARMENPRESS
APRIL 27, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 27, ARMENPRESS: The UNHCR Armenia Office has been
functioning in Armenia since 1992. "Armenpress" news agency spoke
with the Representative of the UNHCR in Armenia Bushra Halepota about
its activity.

Ms. Halepota, what issues the UNHCR is solving and since its
establishment in Armenia in 1992 what activity has it carried out
for helping the refugees?

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) is mandated to lead and coordinate international actions for
the world-wide legal protection of refugees and asylum seekers and
solutions of their problems.

UNHCR’s primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and the well being
of refugees and asylum seekers, as well as to seek durable solutions
to their plight.

The main focus of UNHCR’s activity in Armenia is to promote local
integration of refugees in the society, i.e. their social, economic
and cultural integration in Armenian society.

UNHCR established its presence in Armenia as a response to the request
of the Government of Armenia for its assistance in order to deal with
the mass influx of ethnic Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan.

Since the end of 2004, Armenia has also registered a steadily growing
number of asylum seekers and refugees from Iraq. Furthermore, Armenia
also hosts a limited number of asylum seekers and refugees from other
countries than Iraq and Azerbaijan.

Nowadays what kind of programs are fulfilled by the office for creating
favorable conditions for the refugees?

UNHCR, together with the Government of the Republic of Armenia
and its implementing partners, the Armenian Red Cross Society and
Mission Armenia, provides assistance to vulnerable refugees and
asylum seekers. The comprehensive intervention strategy aims at
ensuring that basic health care and social counseling is provided to
extremely vulnerable refugees, including naturalized former refugees
(ethnic Armenians from Azerbaijan), refugees from Iraq as well as
from other countries.

UNHCR, through its implementing partner, The Armenian Centre for
Health and Education, also addresses the need of an adequate response
to post trauma syndrome and signs of serious distress suffered by
many asylum seekers and refugees by providing psycho-social support,
counseling and referral to specialized institutions.

With regard to shelter, UNHCR is implementing a social housing program
with the funding provided by the Japanese government for sustainable
livelihoods. The former factory building in Kasakh village of Kotayk
marz, kindly donated by the local authorities, is being reconstructed,
through UNHCR’s implementing partner YMCA/Shelter, into a residential
building with around 20 social apartments to be allocated to vulnerable
refugees, naturalized former refugees, internally displaced persons
and locals. UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA and UNIDO are also participating in
the joint project, with an integrated approach to find sustainable
livelihoods for the vulnerable families in Gegharkunik Marz including
Kasakh in Kotayk.

Furthermore, in the current and coming years, UNHCR will ensure that
the refugee perspective is integrated into governmental, UN Agencies’,
local and international organisations’ on-going and future development
programs.

UNHCR will gradually focus on capacity building activities aimed at
the inclusion of refugees in state policies for social welfare and
universal health care systems.

UNHCR will also work with GoA on strengthening the social worker’s
network and outreach services by building the capacity of civil
society.

Armenia has ratified the Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, as
well as all relevant Human Rights instruments. In 1999 the Armenian
Law on Refugees was adopted. In your opinion, is the legislative
field sufficient?

The new Law on Refugees and Asylum entered into force in January
2009, which is in close compliance with European and International
standards. Further implementation modalities and drafting of bylaws
are being done in cooperation with SMS.

Furthermore, refugee law studies have been integrated in the curricula
of eight universities in Armenia and four Legal Aid Clinics (Yerevan
State University, Open University of Armenia, Gavar University and
Gyumri University) have been established in order to provide free of
charge legal assistance to asylum seekers, refugees and the vulnerable.

Reception capacity for asylum seekers in Armenia has been expanded
and partnership with the government on border management has
been strengthened. Training and awareness raising activities on
asylum-sensitive border management are also on going.

CATHOLIKOS OF ALL ARMENIANS: SPIRITUAL LEADERS’ MISSION WILL STRENGTHEN INTERETHNIC COMMUNICATION IN INTERESTS OF ALL MANKIND

Trend
April 26 2010
Azerbaijan

"The principles of humanism are one in all world peoples and spiritual
leaders’ mission is to strengthen interethnic relations in the
interests of all humanity," Catholikos of all Armenians Karekin II
said speaking at the Baku World Religious Leaders’ Summit today.

"Being in Baku, we give praise to the God for that the peace talks
to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict continue," Karekin II said.

He also noted the mediation efforts of the Russian Orthodox Church
and Patriarch Cyril in this matter.

"The authorities of our countries [Azerbaijan and Armenia] continue
the negotiation process to resolve the conflict, and the two countries
religious leaders’ duty is to support our presidents’ efforts in a
peaceful settlement," Karekin II added.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the
occupied territories.

Karekin II offered to hold the next summit of world religious leaders
in Armenia, and invited Caucasus Muslims Organization (CMO) head
Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade to participate in this meeting.

TURKEY SHOULD WITHDRAW FROM THE TERRITORIES AND RETURN THEM TO ARMENIA: JIRINOVSKI

Panorama.am
16:13 26/04/2010

"We will liberate Western Armenia and return to Armenia," said Vladimir
Jirinovski, vice-president of the State Duma and the president of
the Liberal Democrat Party, according to Echo of Moscow.

"Armenians, I address to you. We will liberate Western Armenia
and return to Armenia. Turkey should withdraw from the occupied
territories; we should make it do so. North-eastern Turkey belongs
to Armenia, the south-eastern Turkey – to Kurdistan. Turkey has not
existed in this territory, here was ancient Armenian state. I declare
openly: Turkey should withdraw from the territories and return them
to Armenia and you should back the return of Crimea to Russia," V.
Jirinovski said.