Author: Chilingarian Babken

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
May 12 2007

`Impeachment’, `New Times’ and `Republic’ accused the pro-authority
forces of using `all the known methods of falsification’ during the
elections in Armenia

Yerevan, May 13. /Mediamax/. Oppositional `Impeachment’ bloc and `New
Times’ and `Republic’ parties made a joint statement today, accusing
the pro-governmental forces of using `all the known methods of
election falsifications’.

Mediamax reports that the statement reads that the pro-authority
forces – the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), the `Prosperous
Armenia’, `Dashnaktsutiun’ and the United Labor Party `used all the
known methods of election falsifications – illegal ballot-box
stuffing, bribery distribution and others’.

`During the whole process of elections, there was a billow of reports
on falsifications received from all over the territory of the
republic, based not only on the operative information of proxies and
observers, but also the reports of various Radio and TV-Companies’,
the statement reads.

`Impeachment’, `New Times’ and `Republic’ declared that `almost the
whole public transport of Yerevan and other settlements was removed
from the routes and used for transportation of the electors’.

`In many polling stations, there were cases of threatening, violence
and beatings of proxies and journalists, at that, such incidents
often took place among the representatives of the ruling parties –
RPA, `Prosperous Armenia’ and `Dashnaktsutiun”, the statement reads.

`One may not doubt that during the nearest hours the final steps for
falsifications, related to summing up the results of the elections,
will be made. However, one can argue even now, that all this had
considerable influence on the final results of the elections’ –
`Impeachment’, `New Times’ and `Republic’ declared.–0–

Today, Azerbaijan
May 11 2007

OSCE Chairman pledges full support for mediators’ Nagorno Karabakh
peace efforts

11 May 2007 [13:31] – Today.Az

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel
Moratinos, met the three Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group today and
pledged Spain’s full support for their intensive mediation efforts to
assist the parties in finding a resolution to the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict.

Ambassador Bernard Fassier of France, Ambassador Yuri Merzlyakov of
the Russian Federation and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
Matthew Bryza of the United States briefed Minister Moratinos on the
state of the negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"The three Co-Chairs have worked extremely hard and in close
co-operation to bring the sides closer together," said the
Chairman-in-Office. "I urge Armenia and Azerbaijan to do all that is
in their power, in this political context, to take the necessary
steps in order to reach a solution to this conflict, which has lasted
so long. I intend to make absolutely clear my full support for the
Co-Chairs on the occasion of my forthcoming visit to Baku and
Yerevan".

Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk of Poland, the Chairman-in-Office’s
personal representative for this conflict, also attended the meeting.

Later this week the Co-chairs will hold talks with the Foreign
Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Strasbourg. Ambassador
Kasprzyk will also attend. OSCE

URL:

Jerusalem Post
May 12 2007

Armenia chooses new parliament amid worries
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
YEREVAN, Armenia

Armenia voted for a new parliament Saturday in elections dominated by
concerns about economic issues in the poor and landlocked ex-Soviet
republic and by opposition fears that officials will falsify the
results.

All 131 seats in the National Assembly are to be filled – 90 to be
chosen according to proportions that parties get nationwide and 41 in
single-mandate contests. Preliminary results were expected Monday.

The last parliamentary election, in 2003, was assessed by
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe observers as
falling short of international democratic standards. But a
preliminary report from the OSCE’s elections-monitoring office on
this year’s campaign did not point to significant problems.

National media reports on the campaign have been "generally devoid of
negative reporting," the report said. The OSCE frequently criticizes
elections in post-Soviet countries for media reports that either
ignore opposition forces or portray them unfairly.

The Herald (Glasgow)
May 11, 2007

Turkey and tolerance

"TURKEY has shown the world how Islam can cohabit with a secular
regime", writes Harry Reid (May 10).

It does indeed, forAtaturk’s attitude to Islam was one of repression
and control – an arrangement which continues to this day.

The presidency of religious affairs still prescribes the content of
weekly sermons – an arrangement which Scotland left behind in the
days of King James VI. The Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and
Armenian Churches are "recognised" but heavily restricted, while
other religious bodies have no official standing at all.

Turkish Christians hope that their country’s entry to the European
Union will improve their lot, and they may perhaps be right. But a
fudge on the principle of liberty of conscience would be disastrous –
which is why the cautious and principled stance of Germany offers
better hope than the ill-informed eagerness of our own government.

John Coutts, 138 Ladysneuk Road, Stirling.

HARRY Reid, in his enthusiasm for Gordon Brown to give a higher
foreign policy priority to Turkey, adduces in its favour that it has
– almost alone in the Middle East – maintained friendly relations
with Israel.

One of the reasons for this friendliness is that it is, in fact, an
unholy alliance in which Israel consistently opposes any attempt to
require Turkey to acknowledge the Armenian holocaust, in return for
which Turkey consistently supports, in the UN and other forums,
Israel’s argument that no other genocide merits public commemoration
or academic study to the same degree as the European Jewish
Holocaust.

William Dalrymple has shown, in his From the Holy Mountain, how
Turkey has a policy of obliterating – literally, with the bulldozer –
evidence of the ancient roots in Turkey of the Armenian people.

Until Turkey accepts and atones for its genocidal crime – as Germany
has done – and ceases the political and cultural persecution of its
Kurdish population, there should be no question of its admittance to
the European Union, however militarily useful its airfields.

J W Morrison, 9 Bryce Road, Currie, Midlothian.

ARMENIAN JUSTICE MINISTER APPARENTLY UNDERESTIMATES HIS COLLEAGUES IN THE GOVERNMENT

Arminfo
2007-05-09 21:07:00

According to Armenian Justice Minister David Haroutyunyan, the Global
Gold company’s statement that the government, in the person of the
nature protection minister extorting bribes from the foreign investor
for extending the licence for exploring and exploiting gold deposits,
poses obstacles in the way of the American company is a political
statement.

At a press-conference at the Yerevan office of the REGNUM news agency,
the Justice Minister noted that he sees no reasons for investigating
this incident. "The Global Gold company has never stated who
exactly demanded a bribe. And if you study various publications on
this topic, you’ll see that different people are mentioned there,"
he said. If there appears a distinct statement about "a specific
person demanding a bribe in a specific amount for a specific action",
the Public Prosecutor’s Office will immediately take up this issue,
the Minister noted. He considers that the statement was so delicate
that it resembled a political statement.

To note, it would be naive to suppose that a minister would
personally express a desire to get a bribe. Probably, D.Haroutyunyan
underestimates his colleagues in the government.

ARMEN RUSTAMYAN: REFUSAL OF VISAS TO TURKISH OBSERVERS WAS A CORRECT STEP

ArmRadio.am
10.05.2007 14:25

Armenia maintained its national dignity by refusing to grant visas
to 7 Turkish observers from the OSCE, Chairman of the NA Standing
Committee on Foreign Relations Armen Rustamyan said at today’s press
conference in Friday Club.

In his words, with this step the Armenian drew the attention of
the international community to the fact that it’s not allowed
to keep the border closed and refuse from establishing relations,
simultaneously pretending that everything is normal and send observers
to Armenia. It was completely right on the part of the Armenian side,
the parliamentarian said.

SINGLE CANDIDATES REGISTERED IN SOME PRECINCTS

Panorama.am
17:24 08/05/2007

It’s Your Choice NGO has published a report on observation mission
saying the elections in 7 precincts, with only one single candidates
registered, are predetermined. In these precincts, the single
registered candidates will win. Elections with no alternative will be
held in 7, 8, 13, 20, 27, 28, 32 precincts. The registered candidates
are Samvel Alexanyan, Hakob Hakobyan, Armen Purtoyan, Hrant Grigoryan,
Melik Manukyan, Gagik Tsarukyan, Surik Poghosyan respectively.

It’s Your Choice says "elections with no competition and with
absence of alternative are against the principles of democracy." The
organization says "candidates with no rivals are mainly big businessmen
who have excluded unwanted competition from the outset applying their
influence and massive resources."

TWO CHURCHES WERE CONSECRATED IN KARABAKH OVER THE PAST WEEK

KarabakhOpen
09-05-2007 12:30:34

On May 6 St Jacob Church was consecrated in Stepanakert. The first
liturgy was dedicated to the army. The money for the construction was
provided by Vache Yepremian from California in honor of his killed
brother Hakob. The parents and relatives of Hagob Yepremian arrived
from California.

Several days before the reconstructed St Stephen Church had been opened
in the village of Khachen. The church is over a century old. The church
was first consecrated on May 5, 2007. The church bell rang again on
May 2, 2007. The reconstruction of St Stephen Church was sponsored by
SPFA (Solidarite Protestante France-Armenie). Jacques Matossian said
the first sponsor was a citizen of Nice. The Armenianos organization
also supported the construction. There were private donations as well,
and the repair in the church and the adjacent territory was finished
by Samvel Sahagian, chair of SPFA.

AMERICAN ARMENIAN ATTORNEYS PURSUE THE RECOVERY OF MONEY DEPOSITS

ArmRadio.am
08.05.2007 15:13

In 2004, American attorneys of Armenian origin, Mark Geragos (former
business partner of Bill Clinton and pop star Michael Jackson),
Vartkes Yeghiayan and Brian Kabatek, representatives the interests
of the Armenians in the world, launched a vast procedure against
several banks and insurance companies to recover the money deposits
and life insurances to which the victims of the Armenian Genocide had
subscribed in Ottoman Empire before 1915, independent correspondent
Jean Eckian informs from Paris.

On Monday May 7, 2007, in a living room of Ritz Hotel in Paris,
attorneys informed the French and Armenian Press on the conditions
which must meet the descendants of the victims of the Genocide to
be able to profit from a compensation poured by French insurance
AXA. At the end of agreement, USD 11 million will go to establish
a fund designed to pay valid claims of heirs of policyholders and
beneficiaries of policies issued by AXA Group subsidiaries that did
business in the Turkish Ottoman Empire before 1915.

Today, the attorneys are in Berlin (Germany) to take action in justice
against Deutsche Bank which illegally holds USD 20 million.

RUSSIA WILL REPLY TO AZERBAIJAN’S SECOND NOTE SOON – AMBASSADOR

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
May 7 2007

"Russia last week replied to Azerbaijan’s first note. We will present
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Russia’s reply to the second note as
soon as we receive it. I think the second note will be replied soon,"
said Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Vasili Istratov.

The procedure of responding to the notes is not offended. "Do not
think that Azerbaijan responds to our notes immediately as well
as other states. Sometimes the replies to the notes may delay and
sometimes the notes are not replied."

As to the Great Russian Encyclopedia’s introduction of so called
"Nagorno Karabakh Republic" as independent, the ambassador said he
does not agree with the publication’s view.

"I have read the Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia is published by private
editorial office. So it can not be censored. Soviet Glavlit does not
function in the current Russia to censor the publications. Azerbaijan
has right to express its views and I respect this right. It means that
the Russian Federation has no power to influence private publication
in any form. The book gives the simplified position on the issue. It
is forgotten that Russia does not recognize Karabakh republic and
holds the position that Karabakh is Azerbaijan’s territory," the
ambassador underlined.