Author: Chakrian Hovsep

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Center for National and International Studies
75 Yerznkian Street
Yerevan 0033, Armenia
Tel: (+374 – 10) 52.87.80 or 27.48.18
Fax: (+374 – 10) 52.48.46
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Website:

April 17, 2008

ACNIS Looks Into Armenia’s European Integration Prospects

Yerevan–The Armenian Center for National and International Studies
(ACNIS) today convened a foreign policy roundtable to examine
Armenia’s policy on European integration and the country’s commitments
made and actions taken to that end. The meeting brought together MPs,
foreign embassy and mission personnel, leading analysts, policy
specialists, public and political figures, and media representatives.

ACNIS research coordinator Syuzanna Barseghian welcomed the audience
with opening remarks. "The current analytical observations carry the
objective of shedding light on the challenges that are dependent on
today’s geopolitical realities," Barseghian said. "These observations
seek to provide answers to the key questions concerning the political
course Armenia has chosen on its road to integration into Europe and
the priority measures planned for that purpose."

The day’s first speaker, chairman Karen Bekarian of the "European
Integration" NGO, reflected on the policy of European integration in
terms of its real and demonstrative manifestations. He drew attention
to the fact that there is no clear-cut and common view in Armenia
regarding this process and therefore European integration has no
societal demand in our country. "All the political players are simply
exploiting the notion of European integration, making it serve their
individual interests. They are disregarding the true interests of the
state and the people," Bekarian stated. In his viewpoint, Armenia’s
current coalition government is a prime example that bespeaks the
absence of a shared outlook with respect to the country’s European
integration prospects. Bekarian argued that two of the political
parties in power consider EU membership as an ultimate goal, whereas
according to the other two ruling coalition parties–who even though
place a huge emphasis on partnership with the European
institutions–accession to the European Union is not a final objective
for Armenia.

In his intervention, member of the Armenian National Assembly Armen
Ashotian examined the priority measures for Armenia’s integration into
Europe. In his view, the need for European integration is primarily
dependent on the factors which secure a rapid progress in Armenia with
respect to democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms, poverty
reduction, and reforms within state governance. According to Ashotian,
this need also heavily depends on the expectation of a peaceful
resolution to the Karabagh conflict, regional integration, financial
support, and adoptation of a civilized value system. "The prospects
for Armenia’s European integration, and specifically our involvement
in the ‘European Neighborhood Policy,’ allows us a wonderful
opportunity to implement those qualitative and systemic reforms that
are fixed in the government’s and the newly elected president’s
agenda," Ashotian maintained.

In his turn, member of parliament Stepan Safarian explored Europe’s
reaction to the electoral processes in Armenia and looked at the
priorities of the political course to be adopted by our country. In
his opinion, the imperative for European integration demands on the
flawless execution of the commitments that are assumed in line with
the international accords, treaties, and other formal documents. As
Safarian argued, despite the fact that in their evaluations the
European institutions mostly encourage and rarely criticize the
electoral processes in Armenia while in terms of relations between the
authorities and the opposition they uphold a balanced approach, during
the recent presidential elections, this picture was quite different.
"Today the main target of European criticisms are the authorities and
this, in my opinion, is because of the concern toward strengthening
the divided political opposition and as a result of a more approving
demeanor by the opposition," Safarian said, not ruling out this time
the possibility of European sanctions against Armenia.

The policy roundtable concluded with an exchange of opinions and
policy recommendations among political scientist Edward Antinian; Vahe
Gevorgian from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; independent analyst
Manvel Sargsian; Suren Movsisian of the Noravank Foundation; ACNIS
analyst Hovhannes Manukian; and several others.

Founded in 1994 by Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs Raffi
K. Hovannisian and supported by a global network of contributors,
ACNIS serves as a link between innovative scholarship and the public
policy challenges facing Armenia and the Armenian people in the
post-Soviet world. It also aspires to be a catalyst for creative,
strategic thinking and a wider understanding of the new global
environment. In 2008, the Center focuses primarily on civic education,
democratic development, conflict resolution, and applied research on
critical domestic and foreign policy issues for the state and the
nation.

For further information on the Center call (37410) 52-87-80 or
27-48-18; fax (37410) 52-48-46; email [email protected] or [email protected];
or visit

IMF INTENDS TO CONTINUE SUPPORT TO ARMENIA UNDER NEW PREMIER

ARKA
April 16, 2008

YEREVAN, April 16. /ARKA/. International Monetary Fund (IMF) intends
to continue its support to the new premier of Armenia Tigran Sargsian
(previously the Chairman of the Central Bank of the country) in
implementation of economic policy and reforms. This statement is
made in the letter of congratulation sent to the new premier by IMF
Managing Director Dominquez Strauss-Kann.

During the 10-year chairmanship of Tigran Sargsian in the Central Bank
of Armenia numerous important reforms have been implemented, including
the ones on mitigation of inflation, application of efficient banking
control system, development of legislation and anti-money laundering
measures, says the message.

The document says that accented loyalty of Tigran Sargsian to
continuous reforms and intellectual management principles have made
substantial contribution in successfully overcoming current challenges
faced by the Armenian Government, the document says.

Strauss-Kann stressed that the IMF have worked with the Armenian
authorities in economic policy and reforms for 15 years and expressed
confidence that the Prime-Minister will keep up high level and achieve
the targets set.

Armenian National Committee of Canada
Comité National Arménien du Canada
130 Albert St., Suite/Bureau 1007
Ottawa, ON
KIP 5G4
Tel./Tél. (613) 235-2622 Fax/Téléc. (613) 238-2622
E-mail/courriel:national.office@anc-canad a.com

PRESS RELEASE

April 14, 2008
Contact: Roupen Kouyoumjian

Ottawa – The Canadian-Armenian community and Armenians around the world will
soon commemorate 93rd Anniversary of the death of 1.5 million Armenians
exterminated during the first genocide of the 20th century by Ottoman
Turkey.

In Canada, The various commemoration events will culminate on Parliament
Hill on April 24. Religious leaders, representatives of other community
organizations, political representatives, and representatives of other
genocide victim nations will attend the commemoration ceremony in Ottawa.

Several speakers will address the gathering and a ceremony dedicated to the
disappeared will take place near the Eternal Flame.

List of Various Commemoration Events:

Montreal

What: Genocide Commemoration
When: Sunday April 20, 2008 – 7:00 pm

Where: Armenian Community Centre, 3401 Olivar Asselin, Montreal
Keynote Speaker: Aram Hamparian
Contact: Vicken Affarian
Tel: (514) 942 2717

Cambridge
What: Genocide Commemoration
When: Sunday April 20, 2008 – 2:30 pm
Where: ACC Cambridge, 15 International Village Drive, Cambridge Ontario
Keynote Speaker: Professor Kaprielian – Churchill
Contact: Mr. Jack Assadourian
Tel: 519-748-7817

Toronto

What: Genocide Commemoration
When: Sunday April 20th, 2008 – 2:00 pm
Where: Armenian Youth Centre, 50 Hallcrown Place Toronto, Ontario

Keynote speaker: George Shirinian
Contact: Mr. Khachig Karchafjian
Tel: 416 491 2900 option 1

What: Toronto Armenian Youth Candle light vigil
When: Friday April 25th, 2008 – 7:00 pm
Where: Queens Park, Toronto, Ontario
Contact: Ara Hasserjian
Tel: 416.491.2900, option 1

What: Inter-communal Requiem
When: Thursday April 24th, 2008 – 8:00 PM
Where: Armenian Evangelical Church of Toronto – 2600 14th Avenue, Markham,
Ontario.
Keynote speaker: Rev. Vahan Toutikian
Contact: Mr. Hagop Janbazian
Tel: 416 – 885-1430

St. Catharines
What: Genocide Commemoration
When: Sunday April 20th, 2008 – 4:00 PM
Where: ACC St. Catharines, 156 Martindale Road, St.
Keynote speaker: Mr. Ara Hasserjian
Contact: Mr. Setrak Khatcherian
Tel: 905-941-8991

Ottawa

What: Commemoration in front of the House of Commons

When: Thursday April 24th, 2008 – 1:00 pm

Where: Centre Block, Parliament Hill.

Keynote Speaker: Ken Hachikian

Contact: Mr. Aris Babikian
Tel: 613.235.2622

Who: Armenian Cultural Foundation of Ottawa

What: Commemorate

When: Sunday April 27th, 2008 – 11:00 a.m.

Where: 181 Donald street (Ararat Armenian School)

Keynote Speaker: Mr. Aris Babikian

Contact: Varouj Boyadjian

Tel: 613-237-7025

Vancouver

What: Genocide Commemoration
When: Saturday April 26th 2008 – 8:00 PM
Where: ACC Vancouver. 13780 Westminster HWY, Richmond, BC

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Girair Basmadjian
Contact: Jack Der Hagopian – Tel: (604) 617-6866

Vahe Andonian – Tel: (604) 240 5490

Hamilton
What: Genocide Commemoration
When: Sunday April 27th 2008 – 2:30 PM
Where: ACC Hamilton. 191 Barton St. Hamilton, Ontario
Keynote Speaker: Mr. Chris Haroutyounian
Contact: Mr. Hagop Apkarian
Tel: 905-304-4908

Regional Chapters/Sections régionales

Montréal – Laval – Ottawa – Toronto – Hamilton – Cambridge – St.
Catharines – Windsor – Vancouver

FOUR CASES ON MARCH 1 UNREST SENT TO COURT

ARKA
April 15, 2008

YEREVAN, April 15. /ARKA/. Four criminal cases in connection with
the March 1Yerevan unrest have been sent to court, Press Officer of
the RA Office of Prosecutor General reported.

>From February 20 to March 1, Armenia’s opposition political forces
led by ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosyan were holding rallies in
Liberty Square in Yerevan protesting against the results of February
19 presidential elections attributing victory to Serge Sargssyan. As
a result of public unrest and clashes between the rally participants
and the police, 265 people were injured, and ten were killed.

The Office of Prosecutor General instituted a criminal case in
connection with the mass unrest aimed at seizing the power and breaking
the constitutional order. Over a hundred people were arrested.

"Pre-trial investigation on cases instituted against four people
charged with organizing and provoking mass disturbances in Yerevan
is over. These are Soghomon Yeritsyan, Harutyun Lazarian, Yasha
Melkonyan, and Hovhannes Mkhoyan. These cases have been sent to court
now," Truzyan said.

So far, criminal cases against 20 people have been sent to court.

Investigation on three of them – David Hambartsumyan, Mesrop Zakaryan,
and Raj Petrossyan – is over. They pleaded guilty and asked for an
accelerated trial.

Truzyan also said 78 people are currently under arrest. 16 people were
given a written cognizance not to leave. Three people were detained
on suspicion of direct participation in mass unrest.

PACE SHOULD HOLD INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION IN ARMENIA – HUNGARIAN PACE MP

Trend News Agency
April 14 2008
Azerbaijan

France, Strasburg, 14 April /TrendNews corr A. Maharramli, I. Alizade/
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) should
hold independent investigations in Armenia regarding the riots
which emerged from the presidential election in the country which
involved the shooting and killing of people participating in the
opposition demonstrations. "The Armenian authorities should hold
independent investigations with the participation of the opposition
representatives. If Armenia does not carry out the investigation, PACE
will inevitably do that," Nemeth Zsolt, the Hungarian member of the
Christian-Democratic Party of Europe, said at the PACE spring session.

On 19 February, Armenia held its presidential elections. According
to the final results of the Armenian Central Election Commission,
Serzh Sargsyan, the head of the Republican Party, won the elections
with 52.82% of votes (862,369).

On the morning of 2 March, President Robert Kocheryan decreed on
proclaiming an emergency situation in Armenia for 20 days which
was caused by the continuous demonstrations by supporters of
the presidential candidate Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who accused the
authorities of gerrymandering during the elections. The dispersal of
the demonstration by the police resulted in a confrontation.

According to the Armenian Health Ministry, the number of the victims
of the riot which took place in Yerevan on 1 March totalled thousands
with 9 dead from gunshot wounds.

Zsolt said that after the presidential elections, the peaceful
demonstrators were shot and 9 people died, 200 were arrested as
political prisoners. After that emergency situation was announced in
the country.

"The worst thing is that the Armenian authorities passed the
Law on Freedom of Assembly without applying for the opinion of
the CE Venice Commission. Now, the Armenian opposition urges for
repeated presidential elections to be held and does not recognize
the legitimacy of the current head of State. The actions should be
taken at a political level," Zsolt said.

"The Christian Democratic Party of Europe believes that CE should
drastically change the election supervision system. The recent
elections in Armenia confirmed the necessity of changing and the
re-consideration of the CE election supervision system," he said.

ACCORDING TO HRAYR KARAPETIAN, IT IS NOT EXCLUDED THAT ARFD CAN NOMINATE NON-PARTISAN CANDIDATES FOR SOME POSTS

Noyan Tapan
April 11, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 11, NOYAN TAPAN. Newly appointed Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsian is able to head the coalition government. Hrayr Karapetian,
the head of the RA National Assembly ARFD faction, expressed such an
opinion during the April 11 press briefing mentioning that he has known
T. Sargsian at least for 20 years and is of high opinion about him
"especially as an economist." The MP affirmed that when nominating
the non-partisan candidate for Prime Minister’s post RPA also took
into consideration his "qualities," which speaks for T. Sargsian.

The deputy from ARFD also said that no negotiations on the staff of
the government to be formed have been held yet. "It is clear that
each political force would like to have more levels and would like
them to be more influential, which is natural. However, it is also
natural that as a result of mutual consent both the government’s staff
and the leading staff of the rest of departments should be formed,"
H. Karapetian said. According to him, after clarification of quotas
of posts due to the parties it is not excluded that ARFD will nominate
non-partisan candidates as well.

TURKISH LEGISLATION FILLED WITH ANTI- DEMOCRATIC PITFALLS

Today’s Zaman
April 11 2008
Turkey

A penal code article that threatens free speech has been in the
spotlight since Turkey began talks with the European Union for
eventual membership in the bloc nearly three years ago, but a good
deal of Turkish legislation contains provisions that are inherently
anti-democratic.

Laws that limit freedom of thought and expression — abundant in the
Turkish Penal Code (TCK) — are not necessarily too different from
their counterparts in other countries, says Ergun Ozbudun, a professor
of constitutional law. "The problems we are having stem from the way
our judiciary interprets these [laws]. What we can hope for here is
that the judges, as dictated by the principle that international law
should be superior to domestic law when the two are in conflict,
take the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights as the
basis for their own decisions. Sometimes you get investigations and
convictions that do not live up to those standards. I believe this
is basically a problem of the culture of the judiciary and not the
text of the legislation."

However, laws that do not govern what you say or how you express
yourself and laws that do not depend on interpretation to be
anti-democratic can still be a violation of democratic rights. In
other words, laws that do not restrict freedom of expression or the
press might still have restrictions on your life.

Turkey has many of these outside the criminal code. One such law is
the Law on the Trial of Civil Servants and Other Public Officials,
many experts point out. Under this law, individuals holding public
office cannot be subject to legal investigation and tried without the
permission of their superiors for crimes they committed related to
the office they hold. Ergin Cinmen, one of the lawyers representing
the family of Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist shot dead by
a nationalist teenager in January 2007, underlined that despite an
abundance of evidence of police negligence in Dink’s killing, those
responsible could not be brought to justice due to this law. Cinmen’s
painful example refers to the police investigation and the ensuing
trial of the Dink murder, in which one of the 18 suspects in the
Dink murder trial, a former informant, testified a number of times
that he had tipped off the police on more than one occasion about a
plot to kill Dink. Although police officials in Trabzon, the hometown
of the murderer, and Ýstanbul, where Dink was shot, admitted that a
note of information about this piece of intelligence was exchanged
between them, superiors have protected the officers thought to have
been responsible.

Another law that is not only anti-democratic but also simply unfair to
the taxpayer, the Law on the Supreme Court of Accounts, imposes serious
restrictions on the inspection of military spending by civilians. EU
officials have often criticized this law as a serious obstacle to
the democratization of military-civilian relations and auditing
transparency. A similar law which limits civilian oversight over the
armed forces is the Law on the Organization of the Gendarmerie Force
in Turkey, giving this security unit power and authority unparalleled
in any other European country.

"Ninety percent of Turkey is accepted to be under the sphere of
responsibility of the gendarmerie!" Umit Kardaþ, a retired military
judge, said, pointing to the gravity of the problem. The gendarmerie
being given the status of a force that ensures domestic security is
simply not compatible with democracy, Kardaþ noted.

Lawyer Meryem Erdal notes that in its latest progress report
released on Turkey on Nov. 6, 2007 the EU harshly criticized the
country because no expected reforms were passed to amend the Law on
the Turkish Armed Forces Internal Service and the National Security
Council Law. Civilian audit of the gendarmerie, detailed parliamentary
audit of the military’s budget and spending on specific programs and
projects remain as major problems, according to the report.

Military position needs transformation

The problem with any legislation regarding the military or the
gendarmerie, Cinmen points out, does not lie in the nature of the
relationship between the military and civilian governments in Turkey.

According to him, the issue here is not the law: "This [role of
military] is an issue in itself. The only remedy for this is increased
demilitarization of the country and bringing the military in Turkey
to the status of any other state agency." Cinmen noted that this was
difficult in Turkey due to specific conditions including more than
two decades of separatist violence, which he said was a platform
where the presence of non-military elements — such as politicians
or governments — was too weak. "Even the most militaristic country
in the world does not have an agency like the Turkish Armed Forces
Assistance Center [OYAK]," he said, referring to a body set up by
members of the military and their families for solidarity but which
acts like a business holding and is active in the construction,
automotive and iron and steel sectors and until very recently was
also involved in cement production, banking and insurance.

In other words, Cinmen said, unless the military’s relationship with
the civilian administration is clearly defined — as an entity under
the authority of the civilian administration — such legislation will
always remain a grim reality for Turkey.

Last but certainly not least, the Constitution itself is a law that
is implicitly anti-democratic, merely because it was installed by a
coup d’etat staged in 1980. "This Constitution was one forced upon
the people in a referendum; they were given only a single option. A
new constitution should be drafted," Cinmen noted.

"The fundamental problem is the Constitution. If the Constitution
is the roof in this, everything else, say the penal code or the law
on political parties or any other law, are the columns holding that
roof up," agrees Kardaþ.

"First, the philosophy of the Constitution should be made harmonious
with the concept of democratization. And everything standing in
front of democratization should be dealt with as a full package,"
Kardaþ said.

–Boundary_(ID_+GIXqSeb4MkklRfVWO08Aw)–

TRAGIC EVENTS IN NKR VILLAGE OF MARAGA AVAILABLE ON A WEBSITE

arminfo
2008-04-11 14:24:00

ArmInfo. NKR Via Lactea Company with state support, created a website
(in English) telling about Maragha, one of the
largest countries of Nagorno Karabakh. It was, because on April 10,
1992, the Azeries’ "omon" forces invaded the village and set it to
fire, threw into fire people alive and tortured peaceful population,
part of them took into hostage which are still lost. Those survived
escaped in the forests and later spread throughout the world, ArmInfo
correspondent to Stepanakert reports.

The website contains photos of victims and eyewitnesses, video
materials, eyewitnesses account, documents to certify real existence
of persons and events mentioned, certificates and other materials
of international organizations on the events mentioned, post-event
evidences of direct and indirect victims, mass media materials. The
Russian and Armenian language pages will be available shortly. The
author of the project is an NKR journalist Narine Aghabalyan.

RESIDENT OFFICE OF ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK TO BE OPENED IN ARMENIA

ARKA
April 8, 2008

YEREVAN, April 8. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Constitutional Court validated
the agreement signed with the Asian Development Bank on opening a
resident representative office of the bank in Armenia and confirmed
the compliance of the agreement with the country’s constitution.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy said in its note the ratification
is advisable as the agreement does not imply any additional financial
liabilities

Armenian Ministry of Justice established certain conflict between the
agreement provisions. Yet, it said the ratification will not lead to
passing new laws or amending the existing ones.

Under the Asian Development Bank program on rehabilitation of rural
roads, Armenia is to receive a $30.6mln loan. The works are to start
in 2008 and to be completed by 2010. Under the program, total of 228
kilometers of rural roads are to be reconstructed in Kotayk, Ararat,
Armavir and Gegharkunik regions.

The Asian Development Bank is also to extend a $45mln credit for
water supply modernization program in rural areas of Armenia.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) was founded in 1966 and embraces 63
countries.

Armenia joined ADB on September 20 2005.

BRYZA: KARABAKH MAY JOIN TALKS ONE DAY

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.04.2008 20:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Stepanakert may join talks on the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict settlement one day, said Matthew J. Bryza, U.S. Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs,
Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.

"However, presently, there is no need to speak about change of format,"
he said.

Mr Bryza said high-ranking Azeri officials have no intention to
reorganize the Minsk Group. "There are forces both in Yerevan and
Baku willing to find a common ground. The MG has made considerable
progress but there is still much to do. The document at the table
needs further elaboration," he said