Author: Chaltikian Arsine

"THEY HOPE THAT TER-PETROSYAN WILL FREE THEM…"

A1+
[04:21 pm] 09 October, 2008

The Armenian People’s Party condemns the persecution of French Armenian
liberation fighter Sargis Hatspanian. "This goes to show that the
police still abide by the commands of head of the investigative
department Andranik Mirzoian aimed at the Marz prosecutors. They
continue to follow-up on the opposition activists, organize secret
hearings of their conversations, gather data from their friends
and relatives," told A1+ member of the APP political council Ruzan
Khachatrian.

She said that proof of that was when the police surrounded
Sargis Hatspanian’s house seven months ago when he just arrived
to Yerevan. "That means that the authorities have followed-up
on Hatspanian for the past seven months. After all this, how
can they talk about the PACE resolutions and the Human Rights
Commissioner? International organizations must be scared of the
Armenian authorities."

Ruzan Khachatrian is amazed to hear some people claim that some
political prisoners have been released. "No political prisoner has been
released to date because the courts have not released any one of them."

Khachatrian knows for a fact that the authorities are not planning on
doing anything and believes that they are doing that simply to get
in the public eye. Khachatryan also believes that the people expect
immediate steps from the opposition, just to get rid of this regime.

"The only hope of the people is for Levon Ter-Petrosyan and the
national movement members to free them from these authorities."

ARMENIAN PM: ESTABLISHMENT OF GOOD NEIGHBOR RELATIONS WITH ALL COUNTRIES OF THE REGION AND FIRST OF ALL WITH AZERBAIJAN IS CRUCIAL FOR ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2008-10-07 19:10:00

ArmInfo. The establishment of good neighbor relations with all
countries of the region and first of all withAzerbaijan is crucial
for Armenia, Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan said in an
interview to Day.az.

The border with Turkey has been closed for 15 years. In the last
decade Armenia’s economy has been actively growing. So, we need to
understand what is really crucial for Armenia.

Armenia shows pragmatic attitude as it realizes that today competition
among countries is turning into competition among regions and
cooperation in the Caucasus will shortly become point N1 for all the
countries of the region.

In this context, Armenia is interested in Turkey-proposed Stability
and Security Platform.

Armenia has always said that it is ready to establish diplomatic
relations with Turkey with no preliminary conditions. It seems that it
simply benefits somebody to misinterpret this situation, Sargsyan said.

RAGIP ZARAKOLU : "TO BE MORE CREDIBLE, THE EU SHOULD BE MORE DEMANDING OF TURKEY."

AZG Armenian Daily
08/10/2008

Europe-Armenia-Turkey

Well known Turkish dissident expresses concern over the EU’s
abandonment of Turkish intellectuals.

Prosecutions have been authorized against 30+ dissidents since the
"reform" of article 301.

At the invitation of the European Armenian Federation, Ragip Zarakolu,
the well known Turkish dissident, paid a visit to Brussels after an
appearance in Amsterdam, where he was honoured with the Freedom of
Expression award, granted by the International Publishers Association
(cf speech here). On the occasion, the European Armenian Federation
organized meetings between Mr Zarakolu and several political leaders of
the European Union – Commission members, representatives of the French
presidency and European MEPs. These meetings gave Mr Zarakolu the
opportunity to share the current reality in Turkey with several members
of the EP Foreign Affairs Committee as well as the presidency of the
EU-Turkey Interparliamentary Delegation (pictures available here).

Mr. Zarakolu stated that the freedom of expression has regressed in
Turkey. He argued that Â" in 1997 and in 2000, people who published
on the Armenian genocide were prosecuted but acquitted Â" while Â"
they are nowadays condemned Â".

He shared that the 7/2 and 8 articles of the anti-terror law are
increasingly being used against the mass media, especially when
the Kurdish question is tackled in term of political, cultural
and collective rights. Regarding article 301, its history "is
intertwined with that of his trial", he reiterated the position of
Turkish intellectuals a who believe that this article is Â"completely
incompatible with democracy and must be completely abrogated".

Regarding the Turkish judiciary system, Ragip Zarakolu and Joost
Lagendijk, the chairperson of the EU-Turkey Interparliamentary
Delegation – the latter being an unconditional supporter of Turkish
accession despite the fact he was prosecuted under article 301 too –
deplored that "the European programme which aims at improving the
judiciary system have worked for magistrates from Eastern Europe but
doesn’t work for Turkish magistrates" and "those who today pronounce
indictments under article 301 are those who still had following
European training courses".

In general, Mr. Zarakolu criticized the Turkish government’s
opportunistic policy that "does not authorize prosecutions when
there is a risk of harming the international image of Turkey" but
that authorizes those against intellectuals who are not well-known
in the Western countries".

Mr. Zarakolu, as the president of the Committee for Freedom of
Publication, also presented the 2008 report on freedom of expression
in Turkey published by the Turkish Association of Publishers, and
revealed that according to official figures from the Turkish Minister
of Justice, prosecutions against 36 people have been authorized in
accordance with article 301 since its "reform".

He called on the Union "to be firmer in its principles" and to demand
of Turkey "concrete improvements". Contrary to the media figures
promoted by the Turkish government, he concluded saying that "a stiffer
approach by the Union is the only solution to make Turkey progress"
by criticizing the fact that Turkey "is reluctant to make reforms"
and tries to obtain "special rights in Europe".

"We call on the European Union to give all its support to the struggle
of these men and women – dissidents – prosecuted and threatened with
the Turkish government’s complicity", commented Hilda Tchoboian,
the chairperson of the European Armenian Federation.

The European Armenian Federation is acting in Europe in support of
the important re-examination of the Human Rights situation in Turkey
and Turkey’s breaches of the European Union accession criteria

P.S. Ragip Zarakolu is a publisher and one of the founding members of
the Turkish Association for Human Rights. He was on trial under article
301 for his publications on Turkish taboos (Armenian genocide, Kurdish
question, role of the army in political life, torture…). In June
2008, he was the very first person to be convicted under article 301 of
the Turkish Penal Code, less than a week after "it had been reformed".

–Boundary_(ID_YbFHp03GYJaq35vD+A p8mw)–

OSCE MONITORING ON CONTACT FRONT LINE OF AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN ARMED FORCES RECORDS NO INCIDENTS

Today.Az
08 October 2008 [14:46]
Azerbaijan

OSCE held a monitoring on the contact front line of Azerbaijani and
Armenian armed forces on October 8, said spokesman for Azerbaijani
Defense Ministry Eldar Sabiroghlu.

The monitoring, held near Garakhanbeyli village of the Fizuli region
of Azerbaijan on the basis of a mandate of personal representative
of the OSCE chairman-in-office, recorded no incidents.

Azerbaijani side was represented by field assistants of the
representative of the OSCE chairman Peter Ki and Vladimir Chountulov.

The Azerbaijani lands, occupied by Armenia, were represented by field
assistants of the representative of the OSCE chairman Imre Palatinus,
Antal Herdich and Irchi Aberle.

YERKRAMAS: BAKU AGAIN TRIES TO DRIVE A WEDGE BETWEEN COSSACKS AND ARMENIANS

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.10.2008 17:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azerbaijan is again attempting to drive a wedge
between Cossacks and Armenians, the editor-in-chief of Yerkramas, the
newspaper of Armenians of Russia, Tigran Tavadyan said when commenting
on the interview Viktor Mereshkin, the head of Association of Cossacks
of Azerbaijan, gave to Day.az internet portal.

"Mereshkin tried to revive the rumors spread by the Azeri and
Turkish propagandists in 1990-ies about Armenians’ claims to
Russian territories, specifically the city of Armavir in Krasnodar
region. Following the instructions of the Azeri special services,
Mereshkin as if reminds of the unsuccessful attempt to set Armenian and
Cossacks of Kuban at loggerheads in early 1990-ies, when anti-Armenian
leaflets were circulated throughout the region," he said.

"However, fraternal relations between Cossacks and Armenians started
during the Russian-Turkish wars and strengthened with time. The
Cossacks take part in annual Armenian Genocide commemorating events,
inauguration of a monument to Cossacks in Yerevan and, finally, the
visit of Cossacks of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Transnistria, South
Ossetia and Abkhazia to Yerevan and Stepanakert, where a trilateral
agreement on cooperation was signed," Tavadyan concluded.

SYNOD: 253 BISHOPS FROM AROUND THE WORLD BUT NONE FROM CHINA

AsiaNews.it
10/03/2008 17:53
Italy

VATICAN

Sunday the Synod Assembly opens in the sign of the Pauline Year. The
Ecumenical Patriarch, and for the first time, a rabbi are expected
to address the gathering. Forty-one Synod Fathers are from Asia.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – The 12th General Assembly of the Synod of
Bishops opens this Sunday with a solemn Mass celebrated by Benedict
XVI. Dedicated to "The Word of God in the Life and the Mission of
the Church", it brings together 253 bishops from the Churches of the
world, except those from Communist China, Vatican Press Office Head Fr
Federico Lombardi said today at a press conference. "It was clear that
there would be no agreement [with Beijing] and they [Chinese bishops]
won’t come," he said "because the conditions weren’t there."

There will be however, as delegates directly appointed by Benedict
XVI, Card Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, archbishop of Hong Kong, Mgr José
Lai Hung-seng, archbishop of Macau as well as a Taiwanese bishop,
Mgr Peter Liu Cheng-chung.

The bishops will take part in activities scheduled to last until
26 October "to reflect", said Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, secretary
general of the Synod of Bishops, "on the Word of God, on its central
role in the life of the Church and on its dynamism which encourages
Christians in mission to announce in words and deeds the Good News
and the presence in our midst of the Risen Lord Jesus."

For the first time the Synod will open in the St. Paul’s
Outside-the-Walls Basilica, not in the Vatican, because of the ongoing
Pauline Year. and this will not be the only reference to the Apostle
to the Nations.

In the Synod Hall on 18 October, the Holy Father Benedict XVI and the
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I will preside at first Vespers. Each
will then pronounce an address on the subject of the Word of God,
with particular reference to the Pauline Year.

This will be the first time the Ecumenical Patriarch addresses the
Synod Fathers. "He will bring the greetings of Orthodox Churches
that the Apostle to the Nations founded before going to Rome where
he suffered martyrdom," Archbishop Eterovic said.

The Synod will be ecumenically important for fraternal delegates from
ten Churches and ecclesial communities will attend.

Representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate will be present along
with others from the Patriarchates of Moscow, Serbia and Romania, from
the Orthodox Church of Greece and the Armenian Apostolic Church, as
well as from the Anglican Communion, the World Lutheran Federation, the
Church of the Disciples of Christ and the World Council of Churches.

The Synod Fathers will represent 13 sui iuris Eastern Catholic
Churches, 113 Bishops’ conferences, 25 dicasteries of the Roman Curia
and the Union of Superiors General.

Of the 253 Synod Fathers 51 are from Africa, 62 from America, 41 from
Asia, 90 from Europe and 9 from Oceania. Of these 173 were elected
(72.3 per cent), 38 participate ex officio (15 per cent), 32 were
appointed by the Pope (12.6 per cent) and 10 were elected by the
Union of Superiors General (4 per cent).

Forty-one experts and 37 auditors from 21 and 26 countries respectively
will also be in attendance, including six women experts and 19 women
auditors, one more than the men.

The Synod Three will also receive three special papal guests. The
first one is Chief Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen of Haifa, Israel, who on
6 October will address the assembly on how the Jewish people reads
and interprets Sacred Scripture. As such it will be the first time
that a rabbi, and a non-Christian, has addressed the Synod Fathers.

The other special guests are Rev A Miller Milloy, secretary general
of the United Bible Societies, and Frère Alois, prior of the Taizé
Community.

–Boundary_(ID_KF1xcF YH8BuHrJYyMpd36w)–

RUSSIA WANTS TO REVIVE KARABAKH PEACE PROCESSES OUTSIDE THE FRAMEWORK OF EXISTING MECHANISMS

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.10.2008 18:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The South Ossetian crisis will not constitute a
precedent, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Federation
Council’s Foreign Affairs Committee on September 18. "We will continue
to responsibly fulfill our mediation mission in the negotiation process
and peacemaking that fully applies to the conflicts of Transdniester
and Nagorno Karabakh," he said, Eurasianet reports.

The signal the Kremlin wants to send is that "it is not restoring
its empire and that it is ready to reconcile warring parties while
playing a leading role in the process," wrote Sergei Markedonov of
the Moscow-based Institute for Political and Military Analysis in
the September 16 issue of Russia’s "Kommersant" daily.

Russia has been expending a lot of energy since the August crisis to
revive the Transdniester and Nagorno Karabakh peace processes outside
the framework of the existing international settlement mechanisms.

Concerning Karabakh, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met twice in
September with his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan and once with
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. "It seems to us that there is now
a good basis for a resolution of the conflict, which would fit with
the interests of all states and would be based on the principles of
international law," Aliyev said after his meeting with Medvedev on
September 16. He did not elaborate.

Russian diplomats are now trying to arrange a Sargsyan-Aliyev meeting
that would be hosted by Medvedev.

In its peacemaking efforts, Moscow has found unexpected support from
Turkey. In the midst of the August Georgian-Russian crisis, Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed launching a Caucasus
Stability and Cooperation Platform (KIIP), modeled on the 1999
Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. In Erdogan’s view, the KIIP
should bring together five regional states – Russia, Turkey, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, and Turkey – with a view to acting as a comprehensive
conflict prevention mechanism, as well as an instrument to foster
confidence, democracy and economic prosperity in the Caucasus.

With the exception of Georgia, all regional countries have welcomed
the Turkish initiative, and Russia has offered to help get the project
off the ground.

There is also an element of suspicion in Yerevan. Armenian opposition
leaders in particular see Turkey’s proposed KIIP as an attempt to
supplant the OSCE’s Minsk Group as the chief mediator in the Karabakh
peace process. President Sargsyan’s administration has dismissed
those concerns, insisting that it intends to keep on working with
the Minsk Group, of which the United States, France and Russia serve
as co-chairs.

In a commentary published September 24 in the International Herald
Tribune, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ali Babacan – whose country is a
member of the OSCE Minsk Group – said the KIIP was "not designed as
an alternative to any institution, mechanism, or any international
organization that deals with the problems of the Caucasus." What
Ankara is offering, he said, is "an additional platform to facilitate
communication between countries of the region, a framework to develop
stability, confidence and cooperation, a forum for dialogue."

Not everyone agrees with that view, however.

For Sinan Ogan, the chair of the Ankara-based TURKSAM think tank,
the existing international mechanism has demonstrated its inability
to solve the Karabakh conflict. "Therefore," he wrote in Turkey’s
Today’s Zaman daily, "one may expect the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk
Group in the days ahead and its replacement with a new mechanism to
be generated within the framework of the [KIIP]."

ARTHUR BAGHDASARIAN DISCUSSES COOPERATION ISSUES WITH POLISH DEPUTY FM

ARMENPRESS
Oct 1, 2008

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 1, ARMENPRESS: Secretary General of the Armenian
National Security Council Arthur Baghdasarian received today Polish
deputy foreign minister Anjey Kremer and members of his entourage.

Presidential press service told Armenpress that during the meeting
the sides discussed issues on Armenian-Polish cooperation in political
and security spheres.

Polish deputy foreign minister conveyed to Arthur Baghdasarian the
greetings of the secretary general of Polish National Security Council
and invitation to visit Poland.

With the request of the guest Arthur Baghdasarian presented the main
directions of the activity of the Armenian Security Council. An
agreement has been reached over starting cooperation between the
councils of the two countries. The interlocutors also discussed a
wide range of issues on regional security and cooperation.

Polish deputy foreign minister presented the new program of Eastern
Neighborhood developed in collaboration with Sweden, one of the six
countries involved in the program is Armenia.

Underscoring the program, Arthur Baghdasarian pointed out that one of
the goals of a commission set up by the assignment of the president
is aimed at effective cooperation with the European establishments.

‘ARMAVIA; COMPANY FORECASTS 13% GROWTH IN PASSENGER OPERATIONS IN 2008

ArmInfo
2008-09-30 22:12:00

ArmInfo. In 2008, "Armavia" CJSC, the national air carrier of Armenia,
will increase the number of passenger operations by approximately
13% (as against 572300 in 2007), Mikhail Bagdasarov, the owner of
"Armavia" CJSC, told journalists during the event dedicated to the
75th anniversary of Armenian civil aviation, Tuesday.

According to him, this is not a bad index of growth and it is the
company’s undoubted success, if one takes into account the fact
that many air carriers suffer losses due to decline in the volume of
operations. At the beginning of the year the company was planning 20%
growth, however, the international crisis in aviation caused by fuel
price boost restrained this growth, Bagdasarov said. He pointed out
that in Jan-Sep 2008 about 480 thsd passengers were carried, this index
being by 12.9% higher than in the same period of 2007. Bagdasarov said
that the growth in 2008 is guaranteed due to opening of 5 new flights.

The company’s owner thinks that the year 2009 will also be
favorable for "Armavia" as the international prices of fuel are
dropping. Zvartnots Airport is still using expensive jet fuel for
the aircrafts, but in the near future cheaper fuel will be used,
fueling prices will fall and the air ticket prices will fall, too. He
expressed hope that the ticket prices will decrease also due to the
decline or abolition of the "air tax" worth 10 thsd AMD.

Within the next two years the company is going to increase the
number of its planes to 16-17 as against present 9, as well as to
open flights to the United States, China, India, Great Britain,
Italy and Spain in 2008.

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA AWARDED ORDER OF GOLDEN FLEECE

ArmInfo
2008-10-01 14:31:00

ArmInfo. President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili granted President of
Armenia Serzh Sargsyan a state award – Order of Golden Fleece, it has
become aware during yesterday’s briefing of two presidents in Tbilisi,
"Hayastani Hanrapetutyun" newspaper reports.

For his part, Armenian President thanked his Georgian colleague for
granting him this award and expressed a desire to deepen the economic
relations with Georgia and use the existing potential to the maximum.

"From the very start we have come to a conclusion, that
Georgian-Armenian relations should be viewed as those that
are developing in positive direction and now we should say with
satisfaction, that there is more potential for expanding cooperation
between our states with the aim to integrate our economies," President
Sargsyan stated.

"We have agreed to construct a new road. This is very important matter
for us. We also agreed to do everything possible so that state borders
never hamper our communication, never prevent implementation of our
economic activities," President Sargsyan added.

Armenian President once again expressed his condolences to his
Georgian colleague with regard to the victims of tragic events in
Georgia in August