Author: Chatinian Lara

AZG Armenian Daily #024, 08/02/2008

Regional

INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE CONFERENCE

Organized by the World Armenian Congress

Yesterday at the Armenia-Marriott Hotel was opened an
international science conference, entitled "Caucasian
and Middle Eastern States. Possible Partners in
Development of Regional Security System". In the
conference, organized by the World Armenian Congress,
took part a number of remarkable scientists from
Austria, Egypt, Russia, China, Iran, Azerbaijan and
Turkey. Foreign Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
Georgy Petrosian and councilor at NKR representation
in Moscow Seda Vermisheva also took part in it.

The conference was held on a rather high level. The
opening was made with the messages of Catholicos of
All Armenians Garegin II and head of the World
Armenian Congress Ara Abrahamian.

The activities of the conference were divided into
three parts. The second part was lead by Austrian
scientist Hans Kohler and the third part was lead by
Garnik Asatrian, head of Iranology Department of the
Yerevan State University.

Representative of "Fatih" university, Istanbul,
Gyokhan Bacik, intercultural dialogue platform
secretary and founder of the Istanbul Witiers and
Reporters Foundation Cemal Usak took part in the
discussion.

The present state of the Armenian-Turkish
relationships were thoroughly represented by Mr.
Safrastian, head of the Oriental Science Institute.

Today is to be adopted the concluding bulletin, after
which the conference shall be closed.

By H. Chaqrian, translated by A.M

ARMENIA’S NEW NUCLEAR PLANT MAY BE PRIVATELY OWNED

Lragir, Armenia
Feb 7 2008

During the question and answer session of the National Assembly on
February 6 Prime Minister and presidential candidate Serge Sargsyan
touched upon the prospect of nationalization of strategic sectors,
answering the question of Member of Parliament Larissa Alaverdyan,
Heritage Party, whether denationalization of communication, railways,
energy grid does not jeopardize the security of Armenia. Serge Sargsyan
answered with the example of the nuclear plant saying that many think
it is dangerous to have a privately-owned nuclear plant in Armenia.

"I assure you there is no difference between generating energy
from atoms or water. It is business, and it makes no difference
whether the government or the private sector runs this business,"
Serge Sargsyan says. According to him, safety regulations are to be
observed, independent from the form of property.

"I think when these sectors were run by the government, they were
more badly managed than now," Serge Sargsyan says, adding that it
does not jeopardize the security of Armenia in any way.

RUSSIA SEEKS TO BLOCK INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF KOSOVO

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.02.2008 17:52 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russia will try and block Kosovo’s independence at
an international level, if the Serb province announces its sovereignty,
a senior Russian MP said on Monday.

"Russia should use every opportunity at its disposal to block
Kosovo’s admission to the UN as an independent state," said Konstantin
Kosachyov, head of the international affairs committee at the lower
house of Russia’s parliament. "As for the OSCE, it operates on the
basis of consensus, so Russia will also be able to block a decision
on Kosovo’s admission to the OSCE."

Asked whether the problem of Kosovo’s self-proclaimed independence
could be considered at the European Council, he said: "Hypothetically,
such a decision could be made, but I suppose that would be extremely
deplorable for the Council of Europe, since it would be taking a
political stance, which is inappropriate for this organization."

He also said Russia would review the principles of its relations with
other self-proclaimed republics should Kosovo declare independence.

"If Kosovo proclaims its independence – and there is little doubt
it will – this will influence Russia’s approach toward developing
relations with other self-proclaimed republics," the MP said.

He said responsibility for the development of the situation around
Kosovo "is entirely and completely borne by the U.S. and EU,"
suggesting that the decision on the province’s independence would be
made in Washington and Brussels, not in Pristina, RIA Novosti reports.

REFEREE RUINS GORRES-DARCHINYAN BOUT
By Dong Secuya

PhilBoxing.com
Feb 3 2008
Philippines

Cebu City — New Zealand referee Lance Revill ruined what could have
been a good night of boxing as last night’s explosive Gorres-Darchinyan
bout at Waterfront Hotel & Casino here totally went out of control.

Revill gave a mandatory 10-count for a knockdown on a slip by Gorres
in the first round that triggered a bottle-throwing spree and ticked
off a series of serious lapses by the totally intimidated referee.

Revill, who came in as a replacement of Australian referee John Wright,
appeared to be in shock when plastic bottles rained from the audience
during the remainder of the first and through the second round and
was never on his element.

Darchinyan, the power-punching Armenian-born Australian who was clearly
the more stronger fighter, never got warned for pushing and shoving
Gorres throughout the fight which resulted in Gorres being thrown to
the canvas many times over. What appeared to be a legitimate knockdown
by Darchinyan over Gorres in the 11th round was ruled a slip by the
inept referee.

An accidental headbutt by Darchinyan that cut Gorres’ head in the sixth
round which could have resulted to a point deduction for Darchinyan
and which had caused blood to continuously bleed from Gorres’ head
throughout the remainder of the contest never got the attention of
the referee nor was it referred to the ringside physician.

All in all, because of the referee’s lousy and rotten performance,
the main attraction of the beautifully organized event came down as
an ugly, controversial and forgettable fight.

Darchinyan’s promoter Gary Shaw has called for the permanent banning
of the referee from boxing after the fight as some boxing pundits
called the referee’s performance the worst they’ve ever witnessed.

The three judges’ scorecards resulted in a split draw which probably
could have just been right for the situation.

Both camps were open to do a rematch with Darchinyan’s manager Elias
Nasser saying that he is going to lodge a protest to the IBF first
thing on Monday but he also said he was open to a rematch to be held
in a neutral country. ALA President Mike Aldeguer, on the other hand,
said Team Gorres is also open to a rematch but they are also looking
at other options for Gorres.

AZERBAIJANI POLITICAL SCIENTIST: "LEVON TER-PETROSYAN WILL BECOME THE PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA"

Today
tics/42863.html
Feb 4 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani political scientist Rustam Mamedov considers that Levon
Ter-Petrosyan will become the next president of Armenia.

"He has chances to win, as the people of Armenia are tired of the
"Garabagh dynasty" led by Robert Kocharyan, while Ter-Petrosyan
is somewhat familiar and at the same time new for most Armenians",
R.Mamedov explained, according to Novosti-Azerbaijan.

The political scientist also hopes for improvement of relations
between Armenia and Azerbaijan, including in the settlement of
Nagorno-Garabagh conflict.

"Ter-Petrosyan has demonstrated an inclination towards the West.

Therefore, he will conduct a flexible pro-western policy, aiming
to improve relations with all neighbors of Armenia, including
Azerbaijan. In this case we should expect serious progress in the
resolution of the Garabagh conflict in our favor", R.Mamedov noted.

However, he considers that Armenia will not be able to westernize
completely in the near future, as it is hindered by the presence of
a Russian military base on its territory.

RAFFI HOVANNISIAN: FESTIVITY DEDICATED TO ARMENIAN ARMY WAS TURNED INTO A LOCAL PARTY ELECTION CAMPAIGN

Noyan Tapan
Feb 4, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, NOYAN TAPAN. "For me as a citizen it was very
humiliating that the state festivity dedicated to the RA army was
turned into a local party election campaign," Raffi Hovannisian, the
Founding Chairman of the Zharangutiun (Heritage) party, stated in his
February 4 interview to Noyan Tapan and Radio Liberty. In his words,
the festive event organized on January 28 at the Opera and Ballet
Theater was "just shameful both for RA and for its each citizen
irrespective of the fact whom that citizen will elect on February
19." The Zharangutiun party’s leader expressed the hope that RA Prime
Minister, presidential candidate Serge Sargsian "will move himself
away from that policy and approaches, as it is disgraceful for our
country and our citizens."

Working Group of Armenian Ombudsman visits town of Talin to study
details of incident during meeting presidential candidate Levon Ter-
Petrosyan

2008-02-01 14:25:00

ArmInfo. Rapid Deployment Group of Armenian Ombudsman left for the town
of Talin, Armenia, to study the details of the scuffle that happened at
pre- electoral meeting of RA first president, presidential contender
Levon Ter-Petrosyan. Ombudsman Armen Haroutunyan told journalist that
all the facts of the incident will be carefully studied on the spot.
The media will be informed of the results shortly.

To recall, after a number of speeches of Ter-Petrosyan’s supporters, an
outcry was heard from the crowd saying that the first president is not
so much waited for in Talin. All this resulted in a scuffle, which
lasted for several minutes. The local investigation department
initiated criminal case on Article 188 of the Criminal Code, Ombudsman
said.

OMBUDSMAN OFFICE STAFF IN RALLY

Lragir
Feb 1 2008
Armenia

Ombudsman Armen Harutiunyan presented the renewed activities of the
office of human rights defender on February 1. The officers are going
to participate in mass public events to get information directly.

Besides, the office has set up a hot line to enable voters to report
human rights violations during the election. The voters can call
537651, 539271, 538831, 537634, 538577, 091 008817, 091 280206 or
email [email protected].

The human rights defender begs the citizens to report only definite
cases rather than abstract information. On the day of voting the staff
of the office of ombudsman will be on duty from 7 am of February 19
to 9 am February 20. Armen Harutiunyan underlines efforts against
election fraud and especially bribes because the ombudsman thinks
bribes will abort the process of democratization of Armenia.

Armen Harutiunyan urges citizens to reject bribes because otherwise
the political force which will be elected in this way will have no
moral obligations before voters.

The ombudsman considers efforts against shortening of the rights of
citizens as highly important because as a post-Soviet country Armenia
has a lot to do. Besides, Armen Harutiunyan calls for tolerance since
without it a bright future would be impossible. He condemns every
effort of hampering the activities of the election offices of the
candidates. The ombudsman also touched upon reports of breaches in
the pre-election period. The breaches are still under consideration,
and since they are caused by various interpretations of the law, for
the time being he prefers not to comment on them to avoid political
manipulations. The ombudsman promised to hold a news conference in a
week and dwell on this. On February 1 the ombudsman did not answer
any questions, saying that his purpose was to announce about the
renewed activities of the office of ombudsman.

JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES DETAINED IN CENTRAL AZERBAIJAN

Yeni Musavat
Feb 1 2008
Azerbaijan

"Missionaries linked to Armenians detained in Barda"

A large-scale operation was held in Barda yesterday [31 January] to
render harmless groups engaged in the promotion of non-traditional
religions. An operations group of the local police discovered an
illegal religious sect in a flat on 20 Yanvar Street in Barda,
a regional source of Yeni Musavat reported. The police detained 18
Jehovah’s Witnesses at the named address, the source said.

"All the detained people were taken to the police. An investigation
revealed that teachers of Barda secondary schools Nos 1 and 2 head the
religious sect. A large number of people, led by teachers identified
as Yegana and Nargiz, rented a flat at the mentioned address at a
high rate to promote a non-traditional religion," the source said.

Four of the detainees were men and the rest were women, the source
said. "The men, who were brought to the police station, offered
resistance to the police during their questioning. These people openly
said that they regarded Armenians as their brothers. They said that
their faith did not allow them to use weapons against Armenians."

We must note that one of the main goals of this sect is to discourage
young people from joining the army. This sect is said to have been
banned in Christian countries as well. The missionaries have arrived
in Azerbaijan in masses and are engaged in damaging propaganda here.

[Passage omitted: Jehovah’s Witnesses were detained in Ganca last year]

The Barda district police department confirmed the report on the
operation but said that none of the people detained in the operation
were currently under arrest.

PRESS RELEASE
ARMENPAC, The Armenian-American Political Action Committee
Contact: Jason P. Capizzi
Tel: 972-635-5347
Fax: 972-635-5406
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

ARMENPAC Launches Blog for Community to Express Opinions – Armenian Caucus
Co-Chairs Joe Knollenberg and Frank Pallone, Jr. are Bloggers

Irving, Texas – ARMENPAC is an independent, bipartisan political action
committee with a nationwide membership that raises awareness of, and
advocates for, policies that help create peace, security and stability in
the Caucasus region. For the past eight (8) years, ARMENPAC has educated
federal candidates on the issues of importance to Armenian-Americans, and
has implemented grassroots advocacy initiatives in support of same.

We’ve raised money and supported candidates that support our community.
We’ve met directly with legislators to discuss some of our important issues.
We’ve provided important services to the community, like a Presidential
candidate survey and a Congressional candidate survey that shows where our
representatives stand on the issues most important to us.

ARMENPAC stands out from other Armenian-American organizations because we
are an independent political organization not affiliated with any particular
political party either here or abroad. We also pride ourselves in addressing
all of the issues that face our community rather then just the popular ones.

At ARMENPAC we invite people to express their opinions, to share their
stories and to let us know what’s important to Armenian-Americans. Through
new technology, like our e-mail notification system and this blog, we are
attempting to invite even more people into our discussion. Whether you are
an ARMENPAC member, a part of our community or just someone interested in
Armenian issues – we want to hear from you.

This blog is an open forum of sorts, where we will be inviting a few friends
to start posting their thoughts on various topics for the community to read
and respond to. As we get bigger and build an active audience, we will
invite even more bloggers to become part of our conversation.

This blog will be run and moderated by ARMENPAC’s staff. While we do
encourage free thought and creative opinions, ARMENPAC reserves the right to
moderate any comments or posts that we feel might be insulting,
inappropriate or vulgar; any views expressed within the blog are independent
of, and not to be misinterpreted as an official statement or position of
ARMENPAC. It is our hope that this blog will be a lively vehicle for our
community to express their thoughts and feelings in a civilized, respectful
manner.

We welcome you to ARMENPAC’s Conference Call and invite you to share this
blog with your friends. Check back regularly for new posts from our team of
bloggers, which includes Armenian Congressional Co-Chairs Joe Knollenberg
(R-MI) and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ).

Let’s start the discussion!

ARMENPAC is an independent, bipartisan political action committee with a
nationwide membership. ARMENPAC raises awareness of, and advocates for,
policies that help create peace, security and stability in the Caucasus
region. ARMENPAC provides financial support to federal officeholders,
candidates, political action committees and organizations that actively
support issues of importance to Armenian-Americans. For more information
and how to join ARMENPAC, please call (877) 286-1046 or visit our website.

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