Author: Chatinian Lara

Turan, Azerbaijan
April 15 2010

US embassy responds to criticism by Azeri authorities

Baku, 15 April: Turan news agency has asked the US embassy in Baku to
comment on criticism against the USA voiced today by Ali Hasanov of
the Presidential Administration.

Terry Davidson, head of the public relations department [of the US
embassy] said: "The USA has long been supporting all efforts of
peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict. As one of the co-chair
countries of the [OSCE] Minsk Group the USA understands that both
Azerbaijan and Armenia must accept the principle of settlement through
negotiations. From this point of view the USA can balance efforts".

It should be noted that Ali Hasanov accused the USA of pro-Armenian
bias and said that instead of putting pressure on Yerevan the USA
takes measures to take Armenia out of a difficult situation.

U.S. MAKES BALANCED EFFORTS IN KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

news.am
April 15 2010
Armenia

U.S. backs efforts directed to the achievement of lasting, peaceful and
fair settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, U.S. Embassy spokesman
Terry Davidson told 1news.az, commenting on the critical statement
by Azerbaijani administration official about discontent of Baku with
OSCE MG activities.

According to him, U.S. is one of OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing states
that makes balanced efforts, realizing that Azerbaijan and Armenia
should accept principles of peaceful settlement of the conflict.

Earlier, Chief of Socio-Political Department of the Azerbaijani
Presidential Administration Ali Hasanov criticized U.S.’s stance on
Karabakh peace process.

AZERBAIJANI ARMED FORCES FIRE AT POSITIONS OF KARABAKH DEFENCE ARMY

ArmInfo
2010-04-15 11:39:00

ArmInfo. As the NKR Defence Ministry reported, on 14 April in the
early morning hours the ceasefire regime violations by Azerbaijani
subdivisions were fixed at several sectors of the line of contact
between the armed forces of the NKR and Azerbaijan.

As ArmInfo correspondent reported from Stepanakert, the Azerbajani
party fired the positions of Karabakh in Nuzger, Horadiz, Jaraberd
and other directions. The enemy stopped firing after the relevant
reaction of the NKR servicemen.

AZERBAIJAN DISCONTENT WITH US AS OSCE MINSK GROUP MEDIATOR STATE

Tert.am
15.04.10

Azerbaijan is discontent with the US position as a mediator state
in the OSCE Minsk Group, Head of Public and Political Department of
the Azerbaijani presidential office, Ali Hasanov was quoted by the
Azerbaijani 1news.az news web source as saying.

"Very often the US is maintaining a one-sided approach, supporting
Armenia. We call on US to keep to a neutral position. … We are
discontent with the US activities in the framework of OSCE MG. We
are stating it openly" said Hasanov.

In his words Washington exerts pressure on Turkey demanding that it
establish political and economic ties with Armenia.

"Washington exerts pressure on neighbors, including Turkey, demanding
it to establish political and economic ties with Armenia," added
Hasanov.

ARF TO CONTINUE AS PART OF OPPOSITION

news.am
April 14 2010
Armenia

The meeting between RA President Serzh Sargsyan and Turkish Premier
Recep Erdogan once more proved that Turkey and Azerbaijan not only
display a unanimous approach to everything, but are actually one state,
Hrair Karapetyan, the Chairman of the Committee on Defense, National
Security and Internal Affairs and member of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) (ARF(D)), told a press conference.

According to him, at the Washington meeting the sides reaffirmed
their positions – the RA President reaffirmed Armenia’s commitment to
establishing relations with Turkey without any preconditions, as well
as the impossibility of linking the Armenian-Turkish process to the
Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. As regards the Turkish Premier, he set
preconditions to the ratification of the Armenian-Turkish protocols,
linking it to the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process and the issue of
Armenian Genocide. "The international community, first of all U.S.
President Barack Obama, must draw necessary conclusions from the
Sargsyan-Erdogan meeting in Washington and come to realize that
Turkey will not give up its position," Karapetyan said. He pointed
out that, with this position considered, Armenia and the Armenian
Diaspora must be more firmly united. In this context he welcomed the
Armenian leader’s speech at the Washington National Cathedral, when he
ruled out any split between Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora. "The
Armenian President’s speech was based on the principles incorporated
in the national security concept," Karapetyan said.

As regard the possibility of the ARF changing its attitude to the
authorities due to the Armenian leader’s speeches, Karapetyan stated:
"The ARF will continue as part of the opposition camp, as the party
is discontent with not only the Armenian authorities’ foreign policy,
but also domestic and socio-economic policies."

HOLY LITURGY FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 47 YEARS AT SOURP BOGHOS CHAPEL
Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra

Gibrahayer
Nicosia

Last Sunday, 11 April 2010, a "Merelotsi Badarak" (All Souls’ Mass)
was held at the chapel of the old Ledra Palace Armenian cemetery
in the presence of about 100 faithful, including representatives of
community organisations, Armenian MP Vartkes Mahdessian with whose
efforts a 155,000 euro grant was secured.

This was a historical occasion, for it was the first Badarak to
be celebrated inside the Sourp Boghos chapel since 1963! Although
according to the records of the Arachnortaran, the cemetery has
been in use since 1 November 1877, there are references to its
usage before that [and I have personally found 4 earlier tombstones:
Nata(?) Carletti-Eramian (in faded Latin script, rested in September
1858), Yeremia H. Yeramian (08/12/1823-19/11/1859), Hagop Guvezian
(1827-1867), and Sdepan Papazian (rested on 20 August 1875)].

…. when the British came to Nicosia in July 1878, the city was
entirely within the Venetian walls, and outside it were only 6
constructions: Keushk Chiftlik, a tannery, a cafe, two Turkish
cemeteries and this cemetery, the only of the six still surviving…

The chapel inside the cemetery, dedicated to Sourp Boghos, was
built in 1892 in memory of Boghos G. Odadjian from Constantinople,
Dragoman (tarkman) of the Cyprus administration, as stated in his
will and testament and immortalised on his marble tombstone beside
the chapel. It is a beautiful chapel, in which it was customary to
celebrate some services until 1963. Following the 1963-1964 events
and the proximity to the buffer zone, together with the fact that
the Ayios Dhometios cemetery was used since 1931, the old cemetery
and chapel had been neglected; a partial restoration was conducted in
1988, but the chapel was not fully restored until May 2009. In late
March 2010, a commemorative plaque was installed in the southern side
of the cemetery, containing the names of 419 persons buried there,
whose information is found in the Prelature’s archives; according to
an earlier memorandum by the Prelature, 463 persons were buried there
(the 44 others must have been Protestants and Catholics).

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Archbishop
Varoujan Hergelian and Armenian MP Vartkes Mahdessian for their joined
efforts in restoring this historical cemetery and organising the first
(of many, I hope) mass there since 1963! To realise the historical
importance of this cemetery, I will mention an unknown fact for many:
when the British came to Nicosia in July 1878, the city was entirely
within the Venetian walls, and outside it were only 6 constructions:
Keushk Chiftlik, a tannery, a cafe, two Turkish cemeteries and this
cemetery, the only of the six still surviving…

ACNIS LOOKS AT THE PROSPECTS FOR ARMENIAN-TURKISH NORMALIZATION

armradio.am
15.04.2010 15:15

At the threshold of the Armenian Genocide’s 95th anniversary, the
Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS) today
convened a roundtable discussion regarding the prospects for the
normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations against the backdrop
of the most recent developments.

ACNIS Director Richard Giragosian noted that following the
recent meeting in Washington between Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian, there are
renewed expectations of hope that the process of Turkish-Armenian
"normalization" is back on track.

"While the meeting represented the "last chance" for Turkey to meet
expectations, new obstacles are coming, including the April 24th
anniversary of the Armenian genocide, which affirms that the real test
for this latest round of Turkish-Armenian diplomacy is only beginning,"
Giragosian said.

ACNIS Senior Analyst Manvel Sargsian presented his analysis concerning
the general context of the "Washington" phase of the Armenian-Turkish
talks. He maintained that Turkey continues to act irrationally and to
posit preconditions upon Armenia, but, at the same time, its efforts
toward linking the Karabagh issue to this process are not comprehended
by the United States.

"Turkey has to reconcile with the fact that, since its obstinacy is
to its own detriment, the Western countries, and particularly the
Unites States, in the first place, have intensified the efforts to
recognize the Armenian genocide of 1915, and are using this issue as
an additional leverage to put pressure on Turkey," Sargsian remarked.

"Even Azerbaijan has come to understand that, with its absurd demands,
it is paralyzing the political policy of its ‘big brother.’" Sargsian
concluded that Turkey is now standing before the imperative of
reviewing its stand with respect to normalizing relations with Armenia.

GAGIK MELIKYAN: IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO SPEAK TO ARMENIA IN THE LANGUAGE OF PRESSURE
Karen Ghazaryan

"Radiolur"
15.04.2010 16:20

"The decisions made as a result of the President’s meetings in
Washington once again proved that it’s impossible to talk to Armenia
in the language of pressure, and that the Armenian-Turkish relations
cannot be linked to the Karabakh settlement," Republican MP Gagik
Melikyan told a press conference today.

Gagik Minasyan assessed President Sargsyan’s visit to Woodrow Wilson’s
tomb and his speech as historic. As for the President’s speech at the
meeting with representatives of the Armenian community of Washington,
Gagik Melikyan said: "It once again proved to the whole world that
any decision connected with the Karabakh issue and the international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide is the same for all Armenians."

"Turkey’s attempts to drive a wedge between the two segments of the
Armenian people will not succeed. All Armenians have been and will
be united on those issues," Gagik Melikyan said.

ARF representative Artsvik Minasyan said "the unity of Armenians is
the only guarantee that will allow us to overcome the challenges our
country and people face in the 21st century."

Artsvik Minasyan says the only correct path for Armenia is to recall
its signature from the protocols, which can be done only by the
President of the Republic.

TODAY IS HAMO SAHYAN’S BIRTHDAY

Aysor
April 14 2010
Armenia

Today is the birthday of the beloved Armenian poet Hamo Sahyan. It
was 96 years ago this day that in the village of Lor in Syunik Hmayak
Grigoryan (Hamo Sahyan) was born.

The collections like "At the bank of Vorotan", "On the height",
"Green Nairian poplar", "A mint follower" and meny other collections
brought him a fame.

In the works of Sahyan we meet his native nature with its bright
colors, his homeland, just like in his poem "How can I leave?" which
has educated and filled with love towards their homeland many
generation.

Today the members of the Union of Armenian writers will visit the tomb
of the writer in the Pantheon after Komitas and will put flowers. The
representatives of the "Hamo Sahyan" scientific cultural center,
intellectuals and other fans will also visit the great writer’s tomb.

A matinee dedicated to the poet will be held in Pantheon.

LANDSLIDE DAMAGES 100 METER SECTION OF ROAD IN TAVUSH PROVINCE

/ARKA/
April 14, 2010
YEREVAN

Armenian transport and communications minister Manuk Vardanian traveled
today to northeastern province of Tavush where a 100 meter section
of a road leading to Georgia was damaged by a massive landslide,
a spokeswoman for the minister, Susana Tonoyan, told ARKA.

She said the section is near the village Hovk in Ijevan region of
the province. She said this section had been damaged partially by
smaller scale landslides in January and February.

A rescue team of the provincial department of the ministry found
that the landslide was caused by torrential rains, generating clefts
on the road. Road police officers were deployed to the section to
warn motorists of the danger. On the early hours of Wednesday police
in Ijevan received information that a car fell into the ravine. The
driver and two passengers managed to get out of it as the car was moved
away by the river. Armenian emergencies minister Armen Yeritsian also
traveled to the area.