Author: Chmshkian Vicken

Kurdish Media, UK
Feb 2 2007

Survival of the filthiest

2/2/2007 KurdishMedia.com – By Dr Fereydun Hilmi

The New Theory concerning survival which could truly be called
Bushism is cantered around entirely new principles nothing to do with
logic evolution or biology. It is to do with the abuse of power and
the exploitation of the simple voter in the western world. We know
Russia and China have never sampled democracy and so they fall in
line with this theory quite easily.

In 1932 when Hitler was elected to the Reichstag it was the voters
who had suffered great humiliation and oppression causing great
deprivation, poverty and even starvation who elected him in what they
say was free and fair elections. He went on to take absolute power
and participated in a great war causing the death of over thirty
million people and the invention of concentration camps and the most
inhuman methods of inflicting pain and bodily harm since the reign of
Hulago Khan; the Grandson of Genghis khan in the 13th century. When
he invaded Baghdad Hulago set about destroying Baghdad’s
infrastructure. He destroyed every living thing in the city which
became derelict and abandoned while the territory became under the
control of the Mongols at Tabriz – present Iran.

Recently we have heard the stories about the torture methods
practiced in Iraqi and American prisons in Iraq and many have
wondered where the Iraqis got the method of gouging prisoners’ eyes.
I came across the text of a speech by Saddam translated to English
and published by the Guardian on January 17, 2003, part of which I
quote below:

`But Baghdad was not in a position to defend itself properly, and
therefore the eyes of Hulago’s army were not gouged out on its walls
nor was it extinguished in its face the venture of trespassing it, or
even to deny it the chance of going ahead to others from the nation
to attack them as it attacked Baghdad, till Hulago’s eyes were gouged
out at the hands of the Mameluke dynasty in Egypt at the famous
battle of (Ain Jalut)/

Are we then seeing the revenge of Hulago’s descendents today? Is
Sulago the real name of the perpetrator of the crimes so similar to
those committed by the great evil-doer of old which we saw belatedly
on Channel 4? Or is Channel 4 simply carrying on with its policy of
fielding extra-ordinary and awful programmes thus adding violence to
sex and other risky materials to compte with its sister Channel 5?

In that speech Saddam points to the role of the Zionists and New-Cons
in bringing about the forthcoming Hulago-style invasion of Iraq. A
couple of days ago I attended a solidarity meeting with the Armenians
still living in Turkey. The main Armenian speaker gave a very
detailed speech covering the crime of the murder of the Writer Hrant
Dink and went onto explaining some of the causes of Genocide which he
said the mealy-mouthed western politicians refuse to describe the
Armenian massacres as. It does not matter what you call it said the
learned Professor Pilkinina, himself an Armenian Historian. Call it
mass killing, massacre, genocide, holocaust for I do not care – It
happened and it was a great crime which must be admitted and
recognised as such to prevent it happening again.

Then he said that such act are mainly racial and to do with Darwinism
adding that the title of the Theory is often misquoted as only the
Theory of Evolution rather than The Theory of Evolution or The
Survival of the Fittest. Today we have western leaders committing the
same sort of Genocidal acts under the pretext of divine inspiration,
fighting terrorism, and several such excuses. They believe that they
have succeeded to the extent that they rule by God’s will and no
longer need to refer back to the Parliaments and the people who were
duped into electing them. Recently Tony Blair the still single-handed
ruler of Great Britain advocated Warmongering by claiming that we
need to keep wars going around the world to keep our forces in a
state of readiness to defend the Empire – a real version of `The
Empire Strikes Back’ and forwards.

I have on many occasions pointed out the Nasti methods deployed by
Bush and his little boy demonstrating the closeness of their
ideology, reasoning and methods with those of Hitler such as:
Divineness, Intensive propaganda and the propagation of lies and
deception, the foundation and use of concentration camps with all the
torture, interrogation and elimination methods – and now Channel 4
shows us the refinements of gouging eyes and drilling skulls of live
people – in their prisons and those which they helped the primitive
savages they have installed in the Green Zoo as well as in those
secret – welkl talked about – prisons in the civilised western world.
The interesting thing now is the behaviour of the 2007 world dictator
who has not only deceived and defied the entire world but is now
attempting to defy his own nation and their democratic constitution,
Congress and Senate.

In effect he has usurped all power for eight and become a dictator
just as Hitler dis with one important difference – Hitler had the
support of the vast majority of his nation right up to the last
moment while Bush has himself is reported to have said that he will
go on even if only his wife and his dog remained in his support. It
was not clear if he meant his domestic or the most well-known of his
international lapdogs.

Here I must return to my earlier warnings. I do not dislike any
nation or individual with a modicum of humanity and fairness can
agree to what is going in Iraq and around the world. I despise all
who want to introduce their Machiavellian-Freudian principles as the
new religion for all to follow and accept as their imposed way of
life. Why should Dubai and Qatar and Mecca for example be cheap
copies of London and New York? Why should all nations abandon their
long and old traditions developed over centuries and thousand of
years in favour of the Koka-Kola MakDonald Society? Why do buildings
in the middle of the desert be built in the same way as those in
Western Europe and the USA? And why should people of the desert
abandon their highly suitable way of life and adopt one suited to
colder climates and different cultures?

I despise all who wish to force any ideas down anyone’s throat – good
or bad – for liberty, freedom and fairness are the most sacred
principles as far as I am concerned. The new religion based on lies
and deception and the use of basic instincts to control peoples
behaviour and actions is not only against the good basic principles
of the three main religions – the result of thousands of years of
experiences and analyses which helped us arrive at the current day
but against all the interests of western before eastern societies.
Western societies are the more enlightened and advanced if the two
and the evil being spread around the world would boomeranging back to
his them and they should therefore reject all attempts to Globalise
those principles in the name of democracy and progress.

Extremism is the act of going to extremes and is not something which
would be tolerated always. Man was born absolutely free and went on
being so for thousands if not hundreds of years. Thus liberalism is a
natural tendency and a good one. However over the century’s man
started living in societies and the interests of these societies
became gradually more important. Rules and codes of conduct started
being laid down. Religions started being coined – the last three of
which claim divinity. There are plenty of good principles in these
religions and the competition should be about which of them offers
the best and more useful and progressive methods and principles;
weeding out the bad ones and abandoning the useless.

Religion however proved to be too restrictive for scientific
advancement and caused people to rethink about ways of avoiding
conflict while not trashing or abandoning the good principles which
help and have helped the creation of law-abiding and humane
societies. As for man’s basic instincts of sex greed love, hate,
revenge, jealousy religion has the better solutions than the new
liberalism and permissiveness. Self control and the avoidance of
sexual practices such is today being advanced by the so called
liberals is harmful from the point of view of individual health and
well-being as well as from the point of view of the society. Thus
relinquishing all controls and following a completely liberal
attitude will return us back to year zero and ultimately destroy
civilisation.

To be convinced of this one can see the diseases and malformed
children born to promiscuous people, the spread of AIDS and sexual
diseases and cancers. From the society’s point of you liberalism has
led to the break-up of the family destruction of the parent-child
bonds and relationships, the degradation of manners among children
and the young and the attempts of everything weird or unusual for the
sake of experimentation, an increase in child abuse, incest, the
seeking of same-sex relationships and last but not least crimes and
anti-social behaviour connected with all of these practices.

Murders of previously unknown qualities such as associated with White
Cannibalism, racial hatred, record cases of rapes and muggings and so
on as well as crimes which have clearly resulted from the charging of
British and US soldiers emotionally and with the induction of drugs
and psychological warfare is now returning to Britain and the US. A
few days ago we learnt of the soldier who had fought oin Iraq and
Kosovo killing in cold blood four of his family and giving himself up
because he no longer could control his actions.

This situation which could be compared with the notion of
`Constructive Chaos’ of the lady at the top of Bush’s diplomacy
machine and will produce similar results. The dog-eat-dog society we
live in today cannot last. Soon all the best brains will cease to
produce for the good of mankind and will become servants of the
rulers just as they were in olden times. Already you find that even
if you were the greatest genius on the planet you will only be
allowed to function if you toe the line. The US and Britain are
covertly following this policy at home but quite overtly practicing
it in their New Colonies as well as their existing client-states.

Mankind is therefore in more danger than it is ready to consider. In
the overseas Blair and Bush may count on their command of huge armies
and navies to control the situation but they do not have these
luxuries at home. Chaotic Liberalism will burn the wet and the dry
and fighting Communism is quite different from fighting Religious
Beliefs because these beliefs are at the very soul of human beings
and without them people would be spiritually lost. Science and
technology however advanced they may today have not yet reached a
tiny percentage of what is needed to explain the workings of the
world. Until it is people want the comfort of belief systems which at
least show them ways of life capable of making them sleep well at
night for not all can be satisfied with logic and scientific
reasoning even if they could use those techniques.

The West should learn the lesson of Communism which seemed to offer
ideas for solving the injustices of the economic relations between
Capitalists and Workers nevertheless tries to dehumanise life and
offer half-baked philosophies and quite a bit of `liberalism’ in
place of what calms the human heart and produces spiritual
tranquillity. They too depended on Freud and Machiavelli and look
what happened to them.

BUSH ADMINISTRATION TO REASSURE TURKEY OF ITS OPPOSITION TO PROPOSED GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
Desmond Butler

AP Worldstream
Feb 06, 2007

U.S. officials will reassure the Turkish foreign minister, currently
visiting Washington, that they will try to quash a proposed resolution
in Congress condemning as genocide the early 20th century killings
of Armenians.

In talks with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, U.S. officials also will
discuss Turkish worries that the United States is not doing enough
to prevent Kurdish rebels from operating in Northern Iraq.

The meetings come at a tense moment for relations between the United
States and Turkey, a moderate Muslim democracy and NATO ally crucial
to U.S. operations in Iraq.

President George W. Bush’s administration is alarmed that the
suggested congressional resolution could disrupt efforts to repair
strains stemming from perceptions in Ankara that regional instability
caused by the U.S.-led war in Iraq have harmed Turkish interests.

The administration has opposed previous attempts by members of Congress
to pass resolutions recognizing the 1915-1919 killings in Anatolia of
up to 1.5 million Armenians as an organized genocide. A resolution
introduced in the House of Representatives in January is thought to
stand a much better chance of passing a floor vote.

State Department officials say the administration will work with
members of Congress to head off the resolution.

"A congressional resolution would be a tremendous blow to our bilateral
relationship," said U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew
J. Bryza.

"We are working harder than usual."

Turkey has adamantly denied claims by scholars that its predecessor
state, the Ottoman government, caused the Armenian deaths in a
genocide. The Turkish government has said the toll is wildly inflated,
and Armenians were killed or displaced in civil unrest during the
disarray surrounding the empire’s collapse.

In meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and
National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, Gul is expected to press
the administration to block the resolution.

But Bush will have to persuade the new Democratic-controlled
congress, which does not need presidential approval for such a
resolution. Members behind the proposed bill have said they expect
a push by the administration and lobbyists working for the Turkish
government to keep the resolution from a full vote by the House.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who will decide whether to offer the bill
for a full vote if, as expected, it is approved by the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, has expressed support.

Gul also is likely to discuss with U.S. officials the question of
Kurdish rebels from Turkey using Iraq as a springboard for attacks
on Turkish territory.

Turkey has been unhappy with the level of cooperation in rooting out
militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, holed up in the
Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

Ret. Gen. Joseph Ralston, a former NATO supreme allied commander,
has been coordinating U.S. efforts for countering the PKK.

"General Ralston is working to decrease those tensions on both sides
of the border between the Iraqis and the Turkish," State Department
spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters Monday.

"We are engaging in diplomacy so that you don’t end up with an armed
confrontation in northern Iraq. I don’t think anybody really wants
to see that."

OSCE MG FORMAT CHANGE MAY SLOW DOWN KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.02.2007 15:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The format of the OSCE Minsk Group on the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict settlement should not be changed, President of the
OSCE PA Goran Lennmarker said in Yerevan. Any change of the format
may slow down the settlement process, he said adding he doesn’t
agree with statements on increase of tension in the Nagorno Karabakh
region. However, he pointed out at casualties at the front line and
stressed the necessity of an agreement.

TENSIONS RISE IN THE CAUCASUS
By Brooks Tigner, Yerevan, Armenia

DefenseNews.com
Feb 5 2007

Armenia and Azerbaijan stopped fighting over the Nagorno-Karabach
enclave 13 years ago, but long-stalled territorial talks and deepening
distrust may draw the two Caucasian nations into an arms race. And
Armenian officials say Turkey’s less-than-friendly refusal to
diplomatically recognize their country only exacerbates the tension.

Oil-rich Azerbaijan aims to boost its defense budget from the
equivalent of $300 million last year to a whopping $1 billion in
2007. Armenia can’t match that, though it is hiking its own defense
budget in 2007 by a healthy 50 percent to $272 million.

Moreover, Armenian officials said they are prepared, if necessary, to
lift national defense spending – already steep at 3.5 percent of gross
domestic product (GDP) – even higher to secure the country’s borders.

"There is a direct connection between our defense budgetary increases
and our security problems with Azerbaijan and Turkey," said Artur
Aghabekyan, Armenia’s deputy defense minister. "If Azerbaijan directs
their huge defense increase toward equipment and arms rather than
salaries and social conditions for its Army, then we will have to
increase our own spending."

He said, "There is potential risk of an arms race – yes, but it
hasn’t happened yet because I think soldiers on both sides of the
Azerbaijan-Armenia line still have fresh memories of the conflict."

The 1992-94 war for control of Nagorno-Karabach, the province
of mostly ethnic Armenians ceded to Azerbaijan after the Soviet
Union’s dissolution, left Armenia the victor over 17 percent of
Azerbaijan’s territory. Those gains were incorporated into Armenia,
and the resulting new frontier between the two countries has been
heavily armed – and mined – ever since.

"There are places where our armies are only 30 meters apart from
each other. There are casualties every year," Defense Minister
Serzh Sargsyan said. "We’re not satisfied with our security along
this border."

Azerbaijan appears to share the attitude. It recently purchased 14
MiG-29 fighters from Ukraine and is looking at other arms purchases
such as tanks. This forces tiny Armenia, a country the size of
Maryland, to maintain a relatively huge army of 45,000 and to shadow
its enemy however it can.

"Acquisition of heavy weapons systems will be expensive for
Azerbaijan," said Sargsyan, a likely contender for president in
the country’s 2008 elections. "But we’ll do the cheaper option of
counterdefense. If they buy fighters, we buy anti-aircraft. If they
buy tanks, we buy anti-tank defenses."

Can either side afford it? With 3.3 million people and a GDP in 2005
of $4.4 billion, Armenia is much smaller than the 8.3 million people
and $10.4 billion GDP of Azerbaijan. But the latter is far poorer in
relative terms, with a per capita GDP one-quarter that of Armenia,
while its soldiers are less well trained and motivated, or so officials
here argue.

"I think their government has now taken into consideration that the
quality of an army counts for more than quantity," Aghabekyan said.

It’s an argument echoed across the board by officials here: The
historical solidarity of Armenians and the patriotism of their
soldiers, combined with superior training, will win over the enemy,
as was so spectacularly the case in 1994.

New Security Strategy Despite the bravado, the government is
methodically forging security links in all directions. Aside from
the comfort of a 15-year-old Russian military base to keep an eye on
its frontier with Turkey, Armenia has submitted its newly drafted
national security strategy to NATO, U.S. and Russian officials for
their collective approval.

It buys most of its weapons and supplies from Russia, but since
2002 has expanded its military relations with the United States,
particularly in the areas of training and communications. It also is
quickly expanding cooperation with NATO via its one-year-old Individual
Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) with the alliance, and sees closer
links to NATO as part of its long-term strategy.

The new national security strategy reflects the country’s main
security concerns of energy supply, border protection and balanced
military-political relations that engage both NATO and Russia.

After its adoption by the government – expected in the coming weeks –
the document clears the way for Armenia’s Defense Ministry to begin
tackling new reforms and updating military doctrine.

The new national strategy views security in the widest sense. It takes
into account Armenia’s food and energy supplies, transport links to
the outside world, environmental concerns, potential disruptions to
the economy, integrity of its borders and, above all, threats from
its neighbors, according to government officials.

Land-locked Armenia is bound by two peaceful states – Georgia to the
north and Iran to the south – and its two hostile neighbors, Turkey
to the west and Azerbaijan to the east.

"We took into consideration that Armenia is blockaded by two of its
neighbors, and that is linked into the strategy’s foreign policy
aspects as well," said Andranik Margaryan, Amenia’s prime minister.

Armenia has a twin-track approach to currying military-security
relations with NATO and Russia. Asked if his country’s overtures to
NATO ruffles any feathers with Moscow, which sees the Caucasus region
as its traditional backyard, Margaryan said no.

"No one [in Moscow] has shown any jealousy about our approach. We
have a Russian military base on our territory and we have a growing
relationship with NATO," he said. "Our goal in cooperating with
the alliance is to contribute to our own security and that of our
partners. Don’t forget that Russia also cooperates with NATO for
similar reasons."

Getting closer to NATO, however, means reforming Armenia’s Soviet-era
defense structures and increasing its participation in international
peackeeping missions.

Some of the reforms are linked to the IPAP, which it presented to
NATO in December 2005. These call for greater transparency in defense
budgetary matters and, especially, civilian control over the military.

"Our IPAP priorities will be a critical threshold in our relations
with NATO," Aghabekyan said, noting that reforms will get under way
in the latter half of this year.

Strategic Goals Two key goals are to overhaul Armenia’s outdated,
Soviet-inspired Defense Ministry and lines of authority, and to
modernize the Army’s doctrine. Several laws will be reviewed in the
autumn to achieve these, namely to: ~U Expand the Army’s role to deal
with terrorism and natural disasters.

~U Strengthen civilian oversight of the military.

~U Shift control of the armed services to the General Staff, which
will report to the defense minister, thus giving the latter direct
control over the armed forces.

"We currently have six deputy ministers – all military – who are
in charge of the Army. After the change, there will be only one,
who will be a civilian and politically appointed," said Aghabekyan.

As for expanding Armenia’s security profile internationally, Sargsyan
said he plans to transform Armenia’s NATO-standard peacekeeping
regiment into a brigade. "I will probably sign the order in the coming
months, and it will take some time to achieve this."

Asked how long, he said "it will depend on the level of cooperation and
help from our partners and our own available finances. Our peacekeepers
are trained and equipped on a par with NATO soldiers – and they also
get bigger salaries than others in the army. This is expensive for us."

On a wider scale, Sargsyan said he wants to tighten cooperation with
the United States and other NATO countries for purposes of training.

"It’s no secret our Army has few officers who are Western-trained,
so training and re-training is very important," he said. "And next
we want to drive this down to the sergeant level, because they are
the vital links between the officers and our infantrymen."

Armenia’s specially trained peacekeeping soldiers compete and enlist
for the position, but the wider Army is based on a mandatory draft.

Sargsyan said there were no plans to shift to a fully professional army
due to financial constraints and the country’s need for a relatively
large army to man its borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Armenia is addressing its energy security needs as well, namely by
capitalizing on friendly relations with Iran. Today, only one pipeline
brings gas supplies from Russia via Georgia to Armenia. But when
Moscow-Tbilisi relations deteriorate, as they have for the last year,
"we get squeezed when Russia puts pressure on Georgia," said Sargsyan.

A new pipeline will soon open, bringing an alternative supply from
across Armenia’s southern border with Iran.

ALEKSAN HAROUTYUNYAN UNANIMOUSLY REELECTED FOR POST OF CHAIRMAN OF BOARD OF
RA PUBLIC TV AND RADIO

Yerevan, February 2. ArmInfo. Aleksan Haroutyunyan, appointed a member
of the Board of Public TV and Radio of Armenia by RA President, has
been unanimously reelected today for the post of the Chairman of the
Board for 6 years.

PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address:  Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact:  Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel:  +374-10-517163
Fax:  +374-10-517301
E-Mail:  [email protected]
Website: 
February 2, 2007

Theological Dialogue in the Vatican

ROME:  The International Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue
established five years ago between the Ancient (Oriental) Orthodox Churches
and the Roman Catholic Church has convened its regular plenary meeting from
January 28 through February 3, 2007.

The main theme for this year’s annual meeting is "The Mission of the
Church".  Due to ongoing security problems in the Middle East, the
originally scheduled presentation of the joint paper on "Ecclesiology" has
been delayed.

His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians,
has appointed His Eminence Archbishop Mesrob Krikorian and His Eminence
Archbishop Khajag Barsamian as the permanent representatives of the Armenian
Church in this ongoing dialogue.  The two bishops are currently in the
Vatican participating in the meetings.

Upon the invitation of His Holiness Karekin II, last year’s meeting of the
Joint Commission took place in Holy Etchmiadzin.

TSAKHKADZOR ANNOUNCED TOURISM CENTER

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 1, NOYAN TAPAN. At the February 1 sitting, the
Armenian government approved the 2007 program of Armenian tourism
development and the list of measures on the program’s implementation,
NT was informed from the RA Government Information and PR Department.

The purpose of the program is to develop tourism in Armenia by
improving the quality of tourist services, creating a modern
competitive tourism product and exporting it to international tourism
market. The program envisages a 20-22% increase in the number of
tourists to Armenia in 2007 compared with 2006, thus increasing the
number of tourist visits to 400 thousand.

The system of measures programmed for 2007 includes the following
directions: improvement of the information and advertizing system of
the tourism sector, development of international cooperation in the
tourism sphere, conducting marketing surveys, collection of the
necessary administrative statistical data through the introduction of
a modern information system – with the aim of creating the basis for
long-term programs.

By another decision of the Armenian government, the city of
Tsakhkadzor has been announced a tourism center. The decision was made
as a result of implementation of the program on solution of target
problems "Tsakhkadzor as Tourism Center in Line with International
Standards" in accordance with the list of measures.

The RA Deputy Minister of Trade and Economic Development Ara Petrosian
told reporters after the sitting that international experience shows
that every city declared as a tourism center is included in a number
of programs and its historical and cultural monuments are preserved.

According to A. Petrosian, it is envisaged to allocate 180 mln drams
(about 500 thousand USD) for the purpose of advertizing Armenian
tourism by CNN and Euronews channels. 70 mln drams from state
resources will be allocated for Armenian tourism agencies’
participation in various international exhibitions.

Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
Feb 1 2007

Armenians Complain of Labour Exploitation
Employees consent to illegal working conditions for fear of losing
their jobs.

By Lilit Harutiunian in Yerevan

Zara, 20, a resident of Yerevan knows that she is being exploited by
her employers – but also says that there is nothing she can do about
it.

"I work from nine in the morning till nine in the evening,’ said Zara
(not her real name), a shop assistant. `We do not have an official
lunch break or chance to relax. We eat in the small room where we
change our clothes and we get ten minutes to do so. I get terribly
tired – but it’s still better than sitting at home without money."

A high unemployment rate in Armenia – officially less than ten per
cent but generally agreed to be much higher – means that unscrupulous
employers pay scant regard to labour regulations. The country’s
labour code stipulates an eight-hours day, but in practice most
people work much longer hours.

According to Article 139 of the code, a normal working week should
last no more than 40 hours; and employees should be given breaks to
eat and rest and be paid overtime if they work more than the set
number of hours.

The reality of Zara’s life is very different. She found it very
difficult to get a job, as there were few vacancies and she had no
work experience. She had wanted to go to university but her parents
were unable to pay for her studies.

Now Zara works in a cut-price shop on the outskirts of Yerevan that
sells clothes, food, and household goods. She earns 1,500 drams (4.50
US dollars) a day for her 12-hour shift; she has only one day off a
week; and has never had any holiday leave while she has worked there.

The director of the shop where Zara works refused to comment on the
working conditions of his employees and his failure to pay them any
overtime.

Boris Kharatian, deputy chairman of the Armenian Confederation of
Trade Unions, says that cases like this are extremely prevalent.

"Employers make up for deficits by taking the money from their
employees’ salaries but, of course, shop owners deny this,’ Kharatian
told IWPR. `In the meantime, citizens come to us for legal advice on
being forced to work longer hours, but no one wants to resolve their
problems with our help or in courts.

`They do not trust the courts or they do not want to waste time,
preferring to solve their problems with the help of their own
relatives and acquaintances or just find another job.’

Karine (also not her real name) is 19. She works for more than ten
hours a day in a Yerevan shop and is given only one day off a week.
She said she had no idea that she works more hours than are legal and
that she should have signed an employment contract setting out her
rights and obligations when she was hired.

The manager of the shop where Karine works denied the allegation that
his employees work long hours and insisted the working conditions
were in compliance with the law.

Karine herself is not complaining. "I earn 1,300 drams (four dollars)
a day and I do not want to lose this job,’ she told IWPR. `I do not
care much about the contract and the fact that I will not be
receiving a pension when I am old. My grandfather’s pension isn’t
enough to buy bread."

Karine said that she spent a long time unemployed and that many of
her friends are unable to find even a job like hers.

"In a situation of unemployment people agree to any conditions to
earn money,’ said Hermine Avetisian, a lawyer with the public
organisation Against Legal Abuse. `Many people do not care about
their own health, if they manage to find a job. They are content that
they can earn the money to satisfy at least their basic needs."

Donara Nazarian, 46, says she is distressed that her two daughters
spend all day working in a shop – but concedes that she can’t see any
alternative. She has been unemployed for many years, her husband
earns only 20,000 drams (55 dollars) a month and the money the two
young women bring in is vital for the family.

"For two years now, they have come back from work so tired that the
only thing they are able to do is to sleep," said Donara.

Officials targeting exploitation by employers concede that the
sanctions they have at their disposal at the moment are quite weak.

Satenik Dabaghian, spokesperson for Armenia’s state labour
inspectorate, said they had exposed 2,300 cases of illegal employment
practices last year and fined all the employees concerned.

"Unfortunately, punishment for this violation is not very strict, a
fine of only 100,000 drams (290 dollars)," said Gurgen Malkhasian,
deputy head of the inspectorate. `I think it is impossible to fully
eliminate this in the near future due to social and economic
problems. However, I think that the creation of the state labour
inspectorate is a major step towards resolving the problem.’

The state labour inspectorate was set up 18 months ago by the labour
ministry to protect workers’ rights and provide free consultation for
employees.

Gagik Bleian, head of the labour department in Armenia’s labour and
social affairs ministry, said that his department has recently
submitted a new draft law to the government proposing tougher fines
of 1,000 dollars for employers who break the law.

However, opposition parliamentary deputy and former prime minister
Vazgen Manukian believes legislation is not the answer.

"Our legislation is not bad but the problem is that it does not
work,’ he said. `People are afraid of losing jobs, as half of the
people who are able to work cannot find jobs; the courts are corrupt;
and trade unions are idle. That’s why people agree to work like this
and keep silent or else they emigrate.’

Lilit Harutiunian is a freelance journalist based in Yerevan.

FOUR FOREIGN CITIZENS RECEIVE STATUS OF REFUGEES IN 2006 IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, JANUARY 31, NOYAN TAPAN. In 2006, 645 foreign citizens
submitted applications to RA Territorial Government Ministry Staff’s
Migration Agency’s Department of Refuge Seekers. 623 out of the
applications were submitted for receiving temporary refuge, 22 for
receiving status of refugees. As agency head Gagik Yeganian said at
the January 31 press conference, four persons were given status of
refugees. 275 out of those seeking for temporary refuge are citizens
of Iraq, 279 Lebanon, 69 Israel. It was mentioned that all applicants
seeking for temporary refuge and being in Armenia are given right of
refuge for one year.

In G.Yeganian’s words, the number of people seeking for refuge almost
doubled in 2006 as compared with the previous year.

AZG Armenian Daily #018, 01/02/2007

Hrant Dink Murder

DISCOVERY OF THE VERY DETAILS OF THE HRANT DINK’S
MURDER IS A HOLY TASK OF TURKEY’S AUTHORITIES

On Janury 24, Recep Tayip Erdogan, Priem Miniaster of
Turkey, meeting witrh the widow of Hrant Dink, Rachel
Dink, and the Constantinopole Patriarch Mesrob II
Mutafian, severely criticized the Turkish nationalists
and said that violence and murder can by no means
serve to the benefit of a nation. To this the
National-Republican Part of Turkey replied that Turkey
is a nationalistic country and nationalism is the
foundation of the Turkish statehood. "For sure we are
nationalistic and we love our nation. Let no one think
that he can humiliate the honor and pride of our
nation," declared party leader Deniz Baykal. The Prime
Minister on January 30 made a second statement, which
said that the turkish people must be vigilant of the
threat against the peace, security and the integrity
of the State. He warned that such evil intentions can
be easily hidden under the banners of patriotism. He
concluded that discovery of the very details of the
Hrant Dink’s Murder is a Holy Task of Turkey’s
law-enforcement bodies.