Author: Chatinian Lara

Agence France Presse — English
January 26, 2007 Friday

Two more suspects in court over journalist’s murder: report

Two more people suspected of involvement in the killing of
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink were brought to court here
Friday to face possible charges, the Anatolia news agency reported.

One of them, Erhan Tuncel, is a university student close to an
ultra-nationalist group who reportedly agitated young people in the
northern city of Trabzon, where the suspected assailant, 17-year-old
Ogun Samast, comes from.

The second person who was to appear before court allegedly sent an
e-mail to Samast, congratulating him for Dink’s murder.

Samast, a jobless secondary school graduate, and four other suspects
were charged over Dink’s January 19 shooting in Istanbul and jailed
pending trial on Wednesday.

One of the accused, Yasin Hayal, 26, is believed to have frequently
met with Tuncel and allegedly instigated Samast to kill Dink, giving
him money and the gun.

Hayal served 11 months in jail over a 2004 bomb blast outside a
McDonald’s restaurant in Trabzon.

The investigation so far has suggested that the suspects, most of
them from Trabzon, did not belong to any known underground
organisation and wanted to take the matter in their own hands against
what they believed to be rising threats to Turkey’s unity.

Trabzon, a nationalist stronghold, has come under the media spotlight
with a series of violent incidents, including the shooting of a Roman
Catholic priest by a 16-year-old boy last year.

Dink, editor of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos and one of
Turkey’s most prominent ethnic Armenians, was branded a "traitor" by
nationalists for calling for on open debate on the massacres of
Armenians under the Ottoman Empire — a taboo topic until recently —
which he labeled as genocide.

He was last year given a six-month suspended sentence for insulting
"Turkishness."

But Dink also won respect as a sincere campaigner for
Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and was critical of Armenian
fanaticism.

Some 100,000 protestors marched at his funeral Tuesday in one of the
largest public gatherings in Istanbul in recent years, brandishing
banners that read "We are all Armenians."

The murder of Dink, shot three times from behind outside the Agos
office in downtown Istanbul, has sparked a heated debate over rising
nationalism in Turkey.

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Jan 26 2007

Armenians hold Tofig Hajibabayev in capture for 15 years

[ 26 Jan. 2007 15:11 ]

It was defined that the soldier of Azerbaijani Army Tofig Hajibabayev
who was missing during Dashalti operation in 1992 is in Yerevan for
15 years, soldier’s relative Gulnara Ahmadova said.

She noted that they considered him to be dead, but recently they knew
that he is being kept in Yerevan for 15 years.
`The chief of social unity for of `Hasrat Yolu’ Esmira Orujova said
that Tofig is in Yerevan. Up to now any of international
organizations did not take measures to find him,’ she said. /APA/

The Occidental Experts say a USSR reunion is possible

Moldova.org
Publication date: 23 January 2007

Moldova.ORG — The occidental experts suppose that USSR will be
reunified in the coming future. That is the conclusion of the "Novaia
Vremea" Russian newspaper which writes about the World Economic Forum
experts’ report issued at the end of January in Davoce.

"This may happen if the gas prices suddenly go up to $ 150 for a
barrel. This type of price increase corresponds to the actual world
situation," the report authors say.

"The lack of security in the coming future, the continuous struggle
with the international terrorism, the instability of the world economy,
all these can affect the sudden price raise of the energy resources,"
the report mentions.

According to the experts the possibility of a partial USSR reunion
is real due to the historical and cultural connections of the
ex-soviet countries. They consider the Union is real based on two
main principles.

"First of all, those countries which will need gas during the
gas crisis will unify back with Russia. They will be ready to
risk their countries’ sovereignty just to provide the population
with gas and energy. Uzbekistan, Armenia and Georgia are among
those countries. Besides that, there are a lot of chances for a
Russia-Ukraine union and the creation of a Russia-Belarus alliance
is 100 % real," the Russian newspaper says.

According to the same report, those countries as Kazakhstan,
Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan will be ready to enter the new union
having the goal to firmly establish their positions on the gas market
and to use freely the ways of delivery.

The occidental experts qualify the possibility of a USSR reunion as
"the one of the 15 global risks".

ARMENIAN LADY CHESS CHAMPION TO BE DETERMINED IN ANDRIASIAN-AGHABEKIAN
ADDITIONAL GAME

YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenian ladies chess high league
championship ended on January 24 at Tigran Petrosian Chess-player
House.

Siranuysh Andriasian (Etchmiadzin) and Liana Aghabekian (Vanadzor)
gained 7 out of 9 possible points. An additional game will be held
between them for determining the winner. And Lilit Galoyan (Yerevan)
took 3rd place with 6 points. Karen Asrian gained 6 out of 8 possible
points in men’s tournament.

Tigran L.Petrosian and Tigran Nalbandian have 5 points each. Four
participants gained 4 points each and share 4-7th places.

MURDERER SUFFERS FROM ALCOHOLISM

A1+
[05:05 pm] 25 January, 2007

The person murdering Sonya Veranyan, a notar of Vanadzor, is registered
in the Lori insane clinic, Gayane Kalantaryan, chief doctor of the
clinic reports. She says that Kamo Papyan suffers from alcoholism.

Just immediately after the assassination Kamo Papyan was seen in
St. Mariam Astvatsatsin church. The cleaner of the church has known
Kamo for two years.

Kamo used to go to church 1-2 a week, put a candle and talk to the
priest. He was there on the eve of the murder.

While cleaning the church, she heard a shooting and rushed out the
moment Kamo had already entered the yard. Kamo had a bag with him;
he looked rather strange. The cleaner got the impression that Kamo
must have picked up a raw with his family, packed his belongings and
left the house. The cleaner saw Kamo enter the church, lit a candle
and leave it. Then he spoke to bishop Ter Sepuh Chuljyan. Only some
time later, the cleaner learnt that the police surrounded the church,
arrested Kamo who had pleaded guilty without further resistance.

Kamo was strangely dressed, there were crosses on his clothes and the
words "count Kamo" on his hat. "I was always afraid of him as he was
a queer person; he often brought letters to the priest addressed to
Pope of Rome, Catholicos, etc", added the cleaner.

There were other people who saw Kamo inside the church that day. A
woman from Vanadzor, who doesn’t want to divulge her name, was there
just the moment Kamo entered. Kamo stood in the corner and prayed
murmuring odd words. When the woman entered a separate cell and saw
a sheet of paper with the following words, "On January 24, 2007,
I killed….", a drawing of a knife, some awkward words, names,
that she didn’t managed to read. Seeing a man in strange clothes
approaching her she immediately left the cell. While leaving the
church the woman saw the stranger taking something out of the bag put
in the corner. She couldn’t see what exactly it was as she was scared
to death and wanted to leave the building as soon as possible. Then,
she learnt that the man was the murderer of Sonya Veranyan. Kamo
Papyan’s cottage where he worked as a tailor was closed. The glasses
were broken. People knowing Kamo say that he had mental drawbacks,
strange behavior, often made mistakes but they were not afraid of
him. They also mention that Kamo was the master of his work. Kamo
used to work with a woman. Kamo is married, has two children-a son
and a daughter but he always spends the nights in his workshop.

Naira Bulghadaryan

SOCIAL DISCONTENT OF SOCIETY CANNOT BECOME BASIS OF OPPOSITION’S
FURTHER STRATEGY, ARMEN AGHAYAN SAYS

YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, NOYAN TAPAN. Coordinator of In Defence of
Liberated Territories public initiative Zhirayr Sefilian had exact
programs in connection with the preelection period, which became the
cause of his arrest. Initiative member Armen Aghayan stated this at
the January 24 roundtable.

In A.Aghayan’s words, some representatives of ruling coalition long
before Z.Sefilian’s arrest knew about arms kept at Vahan Aroyan’s
place in the village of Lusarat. In A.Aghayan’s words, this makes
clear that the last circumstance was deliberately connected with
Z.Sefilian’s case. "After January 10, when they saw that they cannot
fluently turn over the case in the direction beneficial for them,
in some circles they started to whisper that indeed, the arms found
in Lusarat have no connection with Sefilian," A.Aghayan said.

In connection with opposition’s further struggle A.Aghayan reminded of
the statement voiced lately at the meeting of Forum of Intelligentsia,
that there is social discontent in the society and the opposition
should build its stratagy in consideration of this circumstance. But
as A.Aghayan affirmed, social discontent is a phenomenon controllable
by material resources: any financially powerful party can reduce it
to silence. So, in his words, it cannot be a basis for opposition’s
further strategy.

New Anatolian, Turkey
Jan 23 2007

Those who pointed the finger at Dink
Ilnur Cevik

[email protected] January 2007

Initial reports about the assassination of Hrant Dink have failed
to reveal any connections to a terrorist cell or an organized group.
There are suggestions that the suspect caught is a lone figure charged
with nationalist feelings who took matters into his own hands to
murder Dink …

If this is the case, then it is even more shocking because it means
many liberal outspoken people in Turkey are in serious jeopardy of
losing their lives at the hands of hotheads.

Whoever speaks any reason in Turkey or who voices views that do not
appease the conservative establishment are immediately slated as
enemies of the nation and unfortunately become targets.

We have two groups of people who provoke violence against such people.

The first are ultraconservatives who are charged with nationalist
views. The second are the left-wing sympathizers who are more
conservative and nationalist than the ultranationalists. They are
all over the place from the press to the political parties. They hide
behind left-wing views while they spread enmity and antagonism. They
serve in some very prominent papers pointing the finger at liberal
people making them a direct target.

Unfortunately they pointed the finger at Dink and it was only a matter
of time that a hothead would try to take matters into his own hands …

The Armenian issue, like the Kurdish problem, is a hot potato in
Turkey. Even if you make realistic assessments and evaluations
you could end up being targeted in an adverse campaign by these
conservative circles.

Now the whole nation is up in arms condemning the murder of Dink. Yet
those who are today forced to condemn the killing were the ones who
were pointing the finger at Dink a few days ago.

Let us hope they have learnt their lesson well that their actions,
which seemed harmless, have in fact cost the life of a very good
person.

Dink had his own views about the Armenian issue, which we may not
like. But he had the courage of speaking up, believing that his views
were for the benefit of this country, which he loved.

Those of us who speak up with force to tell our truth should not
be deterred by this murder. We may lose some friends on the way by
telling our nation the truth, but we are sure we will prevail.

May Dink rest in peace. May God accept him into heaven.

The Armenian woman from New York
By Tamar Gasparian-Chester

Yerkir.am
January 19, 2007

The personal exhibition of Annette Abnus’s works was opened at St.
Vardan Church in New York. The exhibition included about thirty
paintings and drawing from the painter’s Armenian series.

Annette was born in Tehran and now lives and works in the United
States. Such events are very important for a small Armenian community
like the one in New York. And the Church is always supporting such
events.

Annette’s works are characterized by bright colors and sharp
expression.

The paintings in the Armenian series are inspired by the colors
of Armenian carpets and taraz, the national Armenian dresses. The
paintings inspired by the Armenian taraz can be generalized under
the title "The Armenian Woman" – The Armenian Woman from Polis,
The Armenian Woman from Anatolia, from Istanbul, from Tiflis, from
France, Izmir…

These painting do not aim at depicting the details of the Armenian
taraz. What matters here is the colors, the mood and the image of
the woman wearing the taraz.

Another peculiarity of Annette’s work is the surface on which she
paints. She often coats the painting with lace, similar to the lace
with which women cover their heads. This lace is like a layer of
memory that underlies Annette’s series of Armenian paintings. Then
she paints on the lace with the bright and unrestricted colors.

"By covering my paintings with lace and paints I join art, culture
and history. In my paintings you can see layers of thoughts, emotions
and experiences," Annette says.

Not only members of the Armenian community but also a number of
foreigners visit the exhibition at the St. Vardan Church and admire
Annette’s paintings.

Athens News Agency, Greece
Jan 20 2007

PASOK leader condemns Turkish-Armenian journalist’s murder

Main opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) leader and
Socialist International (SI) President George Papandreou made a
statement on Friday condemning the assassination of Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink in Istanbul earlier in the day.

"Hrant Dink was an intellectual journalist who worked hard with
consistency, a profound feeling of responsibility and great energy
for democratic rights and freedom of the Press in Turkey, facing
judicial prosecutions," he said.

High-profile Turkish-Armenian editor, Hrant Dink, a frequent
target of nationalist anger for his comments on the mass killings of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War One, was shot as he left
his weekly newspaper Agos around 1300 GMT Friday in the centre of
Istanbul.

"His assassination is an act of violence that constitutes a blow
to efforts being made to strengthen the country’s European
prospects," Papandreou added and pointed out that "Hrant Dink is the
victim of the fanaticism of those forces that are pursuing
obscurantism."

Lastly, Papandreou said that "all we democratic socialists in
Greece and all over the world condemn the hideous assassination of
Hrant Dink and express the hope that the Turkish authorities will
take every necessary action to achieve the complete solving of the
crime and the sending of the perpetrators to Justice."

Levon Aronyan shares 4th-5th places in the Corus Chess Tournament

ArmRadio.am
19.01.2007 14:01

In the fifth round of the international chess tournament held in Wijk
aan Zee city of Netherlands Levon Aronyan played a draw with
6-year-old Mangus Karlsen of Norway. Levon Aronyan and Vladimir
Kramnik (Russia) share the 4th-5th places with 3 points out of 5
possible. Teymur Rajabov of Azerbaijan is leading with 4.5
points. Vesselin Topalov (Bulgaria) and Vishvanatan Anand (India)
share the 2nd-3rd places with 3.5 points.

Gabriel Sargsyan, representing Armenia in Group B, gained 2 points and
occupies the 10th position among 14 participants. In the next round he
will play with Nij Boyer (Netherlands).