US Assistant Administrator visited NATO Information Center in Yerevan
16.02.2007 14:14
US Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia Douglas Menarchik
visited the NATO Information Center in Yerevan today.
Douglas Menarchik was primarily interested in the directions of the
Center’s activities, educational programs and initiatives, Mediamax
reports.
Employees of the NATO Information Center informed the US Assistant
Administrator that `NATO week’ will be held in Armenia in March.
PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Father Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
US AMBASSADOR JEFFREY FELTMAN
VISITS HIS HOLINESS ARAM I
The Ambassador of the United States to Lebanon, Mr. Jeffrey Feltman,
yesterday held a meeting with His Holiness Aram I. The US State Department’s
director on Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, Dr. Gina
Abercrombie-Winstanley also attended the meeting, which lasted about two
hours.
His Holiness and his visitors discussed the situation in Lebanon with all
its aspects and the possibilities of ending the continuing conflict. The
Catholicos expressed concern at the continuation of the conflict, saying
that Lebanon is on the path to self-destruction with the politicians
unfortunately not realizing the consequences of the dangerous situation.
Analyzing the current deadlock, the Pontiff said that in his view an
initiative by Saudi Arabia, in cooperation with some regional powers, is the
only serious alternative that can bring an effective and a permanent
resolution of the current conflict. This initiative should aim, according to
His Holiness, to bring together in the Kingdom the political and community
leaders of Lebanon and engage them in comprehensive and in-depth discussion
on all major problems facing Lebanon and reach agreement. Catholicos Aram I
proposed that the American government representatives pass his idea on to
Washington.
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View the photo here: #3
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The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of the
Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.
PanARMENIAN.Net
RA government to assign 90 million AMD for Charles
Aznavour house-museum construction
15.02.2007 17:02 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian government will assign
90 million AMD for the construction of house-museum of
universally known singer Charles Aznavour The
incumbent authorities took the decision during today’s
sitting presided by RA leader Robert Kocharian.
MURDER IN YEREVAN
ArmRadio.am
15.02.2007 14:55
At about 4 a.m. on February 15 a call was received from an unknown
citizen that shots were heard from the Relax disco club and there
are wounded.
Arriving at the site of the crime, prosecutor of Kentron and
Nork-Marash communities of Yerevan A. Andrasyan, head of the
General Board of Criminal Intelligence Nazaryan, acting head of the
Investigation Department of Kentron Mkhitaryan, the expert and judicial
doctor found the corpses of Artash Hambartsumyan and Mher Poghosyan
with fire wounds, ""Radioulr" was told from the Press Service of RA
Prosecutor General’s Office.
A criminal case has been launched in the Prosecutor’s Office of Kentron
and Nork-Marash communities of Yerevan. Two persons participating in
the skirmish has been identified. Measures have been undertaken to
reveal all the circumstances of the case.
FIRST SECTOR OF THE IRAN-ARMENIA GAS PIPELINE TO BE COMPLETED BY MID-MARCH
ArmRadio.am
15.02.2007 14:00
Construction of the first 40 km long sector of the Iran-Armenia
gas pipeline will be completed by March 17,2007, Director General
of the "High-tension electric networks" CJSC Sahak Abrahamyan told
ArmInfo correspondent. In his words, only 3 kilometers remain to be
constructed. The Director General noted that the works are currently
hampered by bad weather conditions. After the completion of the
construction works, the pipeline will be tested under pressure, after
which it will be possible to speak about putting into commission the
first sector of the gas pipeline.
TURKISH PRESS PONDERS PURPOSE OF "MILITARY BUILD-UP" IN NORTH IRAQ
Yeni Safak website, Istanbul
2 Feb 07
Text of report by Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak website on 2 February
[Column by Ibrahim Karagul: "The PKK Reportedly Has Airplanes; What
About These Allegations?"]
Britain’s International Institute for Strategic Studies reports
interesting findings in its "Military Balances" report for 2007. The
most dramatic of these is related to Turkey. It is so dramatic that
if any individual, any reporter, or any writer in this country made
that same claim, he or she would be the subject of ridicule. The
allegation made is as substantial as the one about a "suicide attack
on Ataturk’s Mausoleum with an airplane."
For example, I wonder what we would hear if I came out with a similar
charge. There would be no sound from the circles that are supposed
to take the allegation seriously. After all, no one remembers the
allegation when they come out to be true. However, the allegation of
this institute was certainly taken seriously.
The report alleges that "the PKK is planning terrorist attacks on
selected targets using remotely controlled model airplanes." The
allegation is based on information obtained from Turkish intelligence
agencies. That means Turkish intelligence have raised the same
allegation as the institute. However, is it true? Is this allegation
well-founded? For now, we do not know.
What I am trying to say here is this: Why are not allegations at
least as important as the PKK airplanes not taken seriously? Are
those allegations more far-fetched? What were they? Let me recall
some of the allegations I reported at different times.
"Special operations squads are entering northern Iraq from Sirnak.
Peshmergas are being deployed in large numbers in regions near the
Turkish border. Specifically, 6,000 peshmergas have been deployed in
Kirkuk, 2,000 in Mosul, and 3,000 along the Turkish border.
Interestingly, US and Israeli commanders are in charge of the
peshmergas here. Military equipment is being moved to the region.
Weapons for short-range combat are being moved into the area.
Peshmergas will also be reportedly moved from Baghdad to the Turkish
border in the near future. The Kurds are being driven to the fireline
in the civil war in Iraq and against Iran and Turkey."
"Certain persons from Turkish special squads went to Israel.
Subsequently, missiles and weapons were sent from Israel to northern
Iraq. Israel and peshmergas are known to have stockpiled missiles in
northern Iraq, but nothing is done about them."
Here is one from another article:
"Turkish special operations units have been conducting cross-border
operations and monitoring developments, but the military build-up
continues in the same regions. Three days ago, missiles, night-vision
binoculars, thermal cameras, and weapons were delivered to the
Kurdish units in the region. Who delivered them? The United States
and Israel. These materials are also being distributed to [Kurdish]
units Kirkuk, Mosul, Arbil, and other areas. Soon, new missiles and
heavy weapons will arrive and be distributed."
Here is another:
"A military build-up has begun on the northern Iraqi side. Foreign
forces have been airlifted to the area around the Turkish border and
they have taken up positions. Indeed, foreign military units were
dropped just on the border in the Altintepe area of Sirnak a few days
ago. Actually, not on the border, but on the Turkish side. In other
words, on Turkish soil. Let us say that this is a joint operation
between Turkey and the United States and Israel. Then, why the
military build-up?"
Let me go on:
"The increased agitation in northern Iraq, deliveries of heavy
weapons, deliveries of missiles, construction of missile launching
sites and military bases, US soldiers airlifted to Turkey’s border,
various land surveys and explorations conducted in the border area –
are these preparations for Turkey’s intervention in the region?"
"What should we think when we see Ankara’s two allies airlift
military units to the Turkish border, conduct land survey operations,
determine the coordinates of certain locations, pinpoint targets
using satellites, and report the information back to their countries?"
"Is there a connection between the units airlifted around Cukurca and
Senoba and the sham US inspection of the Makhmur Camp? Conversely,
is the United States trying to mollify Turkey?"
Now let me make a few additions. Were US troops and peshmergas
airlifted with helicopters to a location near the Zap River two nights
ago? Land survey operations are under way in the region. Some people
need to answer certain questions. It is not just the Turkish-Iraq
border. What is the purpose of the border measurements and land survey
operations conducted by the United States and Israel from Iraq as
far as the Armenian border? Are these reports true or false? Why as
far as the Armenian border?
The northern Iraqi side of Turkey’s border with Iraq is being
fortified with missiles. Why are these heavy weapons moving to these
areas? Why are peshmerga units and US troops deployed in regions near
the border? For what purpose are peshmergas given satellite control
over these regions with technical support from Israel and the United
States? Why are high-technology satellite devices being installed
in these regions? If this continues, Turkey cannot intervene in the
region even if it wants to. Are some circles scheming to start a war
between Turks and Kurds? Or are there other scenarios?
There was only one question that Joseph W. Ralston, the PKK coordinator
of the United States, should have been asked when he came to Ankara:
What is the purpose of this military build-up and preparations? What
is the purpose of these weapon deliveries and against whom will they
be used?
It seems that there is nothing we can do. We have to wait until these
allegations are published in US or British media.
SwissInfo, Switzerland
Feb 10 2007
Couchepin addresses Armenian murders
Swiss Interior Minister Pascal Couchepin has ended his five-day trip
to Turkey by meeting Archbishop Mesrob II, the Armenian Patriarch of
Constantinople.
The pair discussed the recent murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink, as well as the controversial "Armenian question" –
whether Armenians suffered genocide at the hands of Turks almost 100
years ago.
Couchepin’s visit to Turkey came at a tense time. On January 19 Hrant
Dink, a Turkish-Armenian editor who wrote articles referring to a
"genocide" of Armenians, was murdered in Istanbul. Eight
ultra-nationalist suspects, including the alleged teenage shooter,
are under arrest.
Armenians say Ottoman Turks slaughtered up to 1.8 million Armenians
in a planned genocide between 1915 and 1919. Turkey vehemently denies
that the mass killings were genocide, saying the death toll is
inflated and Armenians were killed in civil unrest as the Ottoman
Empire collapsed.
Dink’s murder prompted international condemnation as well as debate
within Turkey about free speech and whether state institutions were
tolerant of militant nationalists.
The killing also served as a catalyst for questions about whether
Turkey should pursue Western-style values such as free expression –
as embodied in its bid to join the European Union – or cling to
nationalist pride that views outside influence with suspicion.
More than 100,000 people marched at Dink’s funeral, many of them
chanting for Turkey to abolish a law which makes it a crime to insult
the country or the Turkish national character.
Mesrob II told Couchepin the 90,000 Armenians in Turkey were a
"peaceful minority" and Dink’s murder had triggered a sense of
unease.
He said he would like to see the Turkish authorities make a "moral
gesture" – admitting regret, for example, would diffuse the tension,
he told Couchepin.
Nuanced approach
Couchepin had previously said an important step would be the creation
of an international commission that would "examine the issues and
look for the causes of the events of that time – including the
massacre". The Swiss government does not officially speak of
genocide.
On his visit, Couchepin broached issues of freedom of expression and
human rights and said a "nuanced" approach in this area was necessary
for progress to be made.
"The negotiating partners should not be provoked," he said.
Before his return to Switzerland on Saturday, Couchepin planned to
meet four Turkish authors on Friday night.
Among the authors is Ipek Calislar, who went on trial and was
acquitted in December of charges that she insulted Turkey’s founder,
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, by claiming in a biography of Ataturk’s
estranged wife that the leader fled an assassination attempt dressed
as a woman.
Earlier in the week, Couchepin, who holds the culture portfolio, met
Atilla Koç, the Turkish minister for culture and tourism, in Ankara
and agreed to pursue a bilateral accord aimed at returning cultural
goods.
On Tuesday Couchepin met Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan,
with whom he discussed the Armenian killings.
He then spent two days in the southeastern part of the country,
populated mostly by Kurds, where he visited projects supported by
Switzerland.
Tense time
Hürriyet, Turkey
Feb 9 2007
Another video emerges of Hrant Dink killer Samast with Samsun police
The Hurriyet has obtained a second video cassette showing images of
Hrant Dink’s 17 year old killer, Trabzon resident Ogun Samast,
chatting and smiling with security force members in Samsun just hours
after his arrest there on the evening of January 20.
Some of the images show Samast being offered a cigarette in the
station; there is also videotape of officers asking Samast to remove
the small Turkish flag he is carrying in his pocket, after which the
officers then pose with Samast behind the flag. After posing with the
officers, Samast brings the flag to his forehead, kisses it, and puts
it back into his pocket.
The images from this second video cassette are shot in the tea room
of the Samsun Police Headquarter’s Anti-Terror Bureau. The video
itself lasts a total of 10 minutes and 27 seconds, and includes a
number of surprising moments on it, as described above.
Though Ogun Samast himself appears frightened and nervous during the
video, the security officers speaking with him appear very friendly,
engaging him in casual conversation, even patting him on the back
from time to time and commenting "Aslanim benim," or "My lion" to
him. At one point during the video, Samast is shown a video of him
that was taken on an unidentified officer’s mobile telephone; he
smiles with appreciation as he watches it. During the course of the
taping, voices can be heard assuring Samast many times that none of
the video or camera images being recorded in the police station will
be released to the media, one officer even telling Samast "this is
for our own archives, you understand?"
ARMENIAN SECURITY STRATEGY APPROVED
By Emil Danielyan
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Feb 8 2007
President Robert Kocharian has approved Armenia’s comprehensive
national security strategy that declares democracy and good governance
a top priority and reaffirms the "complementary" foreign policy
pursued by his administration.
The presidential press service said on Thursday that Kocharian
signed the strategy almost two weeks after it was approved at an
unpublicized rare meeting of his National Security Council. The
secretary of the council, Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian, is the
head of ad hoc government commission that drew up and unveiled its
main points last November.
The 27-page document identifies what its authors see as the threats
and challenges facing Armenia and suggests ways of confronting them.
It concludes that the "main guarantee" of the country’s sustainable
development is a democratization of its political institutions coupled
with respect for human rights and a rule of law.
"Conscious of that necessity, the Republic of Armenia shall adopt
a strategy of continuous reforms," reads the document. It calls for
specific legal, institutional and socioeconomic reforms that would
lead, among other things, to the "formation of a civil society."
But there is no word on what many see as the number one obstacle to
democratic change: the failure by the Armenian authorities to hold
elections recognized as free and fair by the international community.
Kocharian and Sarkisian are held responsible by their political
opponents for a culture of electoral fraud that has taken root in
Armenia over the past decade. Both leaders have said that the upcoming
parliamentary elections and the presidential ballot next year will
meet democratic standards.
Their national security strategy lists the perceived dangers facing
the country’s security and territorial integrity, singling out
Azerbaijan’s growing threats to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
by force. Armenia’s strained relations with neighboring Turkey are
listed as another security threat. The Kocharian administration,
according to the document, believes that international recognition
of the 1915 Armenian genocide is essential for eliminating that threat.
The strategy also makes a case for a continued "complementary" policy
of maintaining simultaneously good relations with Russia, the West
and other regional players. "The principle of complementarity does
not mean maintaining a balance at any cost," it says.
The document underlines the "strategic character" of the
Russian-Armenian relationship and its military component in particular,
saying that membership in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty
Organization will become even more important for Armenia in the
coming years. It says at the same time that closer ties with NATO,
the United States and the European Union are another key guarantee
of the country’s security.
The document has separate sections on each of the four neighboring
states. Only one of them, Georgia, is described as a "strategic
partner," not least because of its status as Armenia’s main conduit
to the outside world. It also points to the existence of a sizable
Armenian community in Georgia and its Javakheti region in particular.
"In that regard, any destabilization of the situation in Georgia
would be a cause for concern for Armenia," says the policy guideline.
"It would endanger Armenia’s economic and transport communication
with the outside world, while inter-ethnic tensions could create
anti-Armenian sentiment and threaten the security of the Javakheti
Armenians."
The document goes on to express Yerevan’s concerns about the Georgia’s
multimillion-dollar energy and transport projects with Azerbaijan
and Turkey, saying that they are contributing to Armenia’s regional
isolation.
PAPER NOTES ARMENIAN CONCERN AT PROPOSED GREATER US FUNDING FOR AZERI MILITARY
Haykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
7 Feb 07
Excerpt from report "Breaking of parity" by Anna Akopyan in Armenian
newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak on 7 February
Yesterday American President George Bush presented the draft federal
budget for 2008, according to which military aid to Armenia and
Azerbaijan will not be equal with more going to the latter. Military
aid to Armenia is 3.3m dollars, while Azerbaijan will receive 5.3m
dollars, i.e. 2m dollars more. This has caused serious anxiety
in Armenia as well as among the Armenian diaspora in the USA. In
particular, the executive director of the Armenian Assembly of
America, Bryan Arduni, said that unequal military aid to Armenia
and Azerbaijan goes against the decision of the US Congress that aid
should be equal. Representatives of the Armenian diaspora said that
they are going to take action so that the US Congress rejects the
point on military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan.
[Passage omitted: The author recalls that the same thing happened
last year, but Congress did not approve the unequal military aid to
Armenia and Azerbaijan.]
Armenia and Azerbaijan are in a war situation. And if the USA
gives more military aid to one of the states in a war, this may be
interpreted incorrectly. Moreover, it is noteworthy that Azerbaijan
is raising its military budget year by year, and it is several times
greater than Armenia’s. In this context, it is less important exactly
how many more dollars Azerbaijan is getting from the USA, but the
political "message" this step sends. For this reason, there is a view
that breaking the equality of military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan
may lead to combat actions restarting. Let us note that they are also
worried about this in the Armenian Defence Ministry. But they think
that Armenia will respond officially to this if US Congress approves
the draft.