Author: Chmshkian Vicken

PARUYR HAYRIKIAN: "THESE "ELECTIONS" CAN HAVE NEITHER DECISIVE NOR FATAL MEANING"

Noyan Tapan
May 04 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 4, NOYAN TAPAN. The coming parliamentary elections can
have neither decisive nor fatal meaning. Expressing such an opinion
at the May 4 press conference, Chairman of the Azgayin Inknoroshum
(National Self-Determination) union Paruyr Hayrikian added that those
are like the regular elections of the Supreme Council of the Soviet
years which did not change anything. In his words, it is still possible
to change anything if politicians, really thinking about an Armenia,
display a united position.

Characterizing today’s opposing figures, P. Hayrikian mentioned that 20
years ago, when he was the publisher of the Ankakhutiun (Independence)
weekly, "there was no prospect in Vazgen Manukian’s opinion, Artashes
Geghamian was one of those responsible for the Communist Party,
Raffi Hovannisian lived for himself, Artur Baghdasarian was a Komsomol
activist, and Serge Sargsian and Robert Kocharian were Communist Party
activists." In the National Self-Determination Union head’s words,
at the decisive stage for the nation, those people were together and
on the other side.

In P. Hayrikian’s words, Bargavach Hayastan (Prosperous Armenia) can
not be considered a party. "The Armenian National Movement founded
Shamiram, Robert Kocharian founded Bargavach Hayastan," he mentioned.

PRESS RELEASE
Blackstairs Energy plc
Gerry Sheehan
Tel: +353 86 6085345
Email: [email protected]

Petroleum Exploration & Production Sharing Agreement
Republic of Armenia

Dublin, May 2nd 2007

Blackstairs Energy plc announces the signing of a petroleum contract
with the government of the Republic of Armenia; the effective date of
the contract is April 27th 2007. The contract, in the form of a
Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), grants exclusive exploration and any
future hydrocarbon production rights over the areas designated "Blocks
4, 5 and 6". These blocks are located in eastern and southern Armenia
and extend to a combined area of 13,775 sq. km. (over 3.4 million
acres).

A comprehensive programme of geological and geophysical studies and a
2D seismic campaign will be undertaken during the initial phase of
evaluation. Blocks 4, 5 and 6 are currently very lightly explored and
the proposed work programmes will significantly enhance the
understanding of the petroleum geology of the basin.

Guide to Editors

Blackstairs Energy plc is an Irish-registered energy company. The
company was founded in 2006 by Gerry Sheehan (Managing Director) and Bob
Hamilton (Finance Director). Mr. Sheehan is a geologist and geophysicist
and has over 25 years experience in the international oil sector. Mr.
Hamilton is a chartered accountant. Both directors have previously held
senior management positions in Tullow Oil plc Dublin; Gerry has held the
positions of Chief Geophysicist, International Exploration Manger and
most recently New Ventures Manager until 2006. Bob was Tullow’s Group
Financial Controller from 1988 to 2000.

Further Information

Blackstairs Energy plc
Regus House
Harcourt Centre
Harcourt Road
Dublin 2
Republic of Ireland

For additional information please contact:
Gerry Sheehan
Phone: +353 86 6085345
Email: [email protected]

PUBLIC TELEVISION OF ARMENIA PREPARES TO SHOOT "SARDARAPAT" 10-PART TV FEATURE FILM

Noyan Tapan
May 03 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 3, NOYAN TAPAN. Those responsible for the Public
Television of Armenia will spend the 60-70 mln drams got from the paid
broadcast given to political parties for the pre-electoral campaign of
the May 12 parliamentary elections on shooting "Sardarapat" 10-part
TV feature film. Alexan Haroutiunian, the Council Chairman of the
Public Television and Radio Company informed journalists about it at
the May 2 press conference.

Besides, in A. Haroutiunian’s words, the Public Television of Armenia
will participate in 2008 in the program of the France-Germany-Armenia
three-sided film production. In his words, participation of Armenia
in this program will be small, but Armenians, including Lusine
Tovmasian who was honoured with the "Vice Miss Europe 2005" title
will be involved in the actors’ staff.

ANM ADVISES ITS VOTERS TO ELECT POLITICAL FORCES BEARING IDEAS OF LIBERALISM, POWER SHIFT AND DEMOCRACY

Noyan Tapan
May 02 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. "It does not mean that those who play
tricks on the authorities are the opposition, consequently, the great
part of the parties of Armenia play an opposition." Aram Manukian,
a Council member of the Armenian National Movement (ANM) party, who
is nominated at electoral district No4 by the majoritarian electoral
system, made such a statement at the May 1 meeting with journalists.

A. Manukian mentioned that the ANM will advise its voters to elect the
political force for which the ideas of liberalism, power shift and
democracy are primary ones. He at the same time stated that leaving
the electoral struggle, the ANM will not give its votes to a concrete
opposing force, but will stand near all the opposing forces remained
in the square.

A. Manukian mentioned that he "knocked" at 2500 doors during the ANM
electoral campaign to hold surveys and came to the conclusion that
about 85% of voters are supporters of the opposition."

In Aram Manukian’s words, the acting authorities "are the obstacle
of our country, and I feel pain for Armenia got a reputation of a
hopeless country in the international instances."

Touching upon the crimes being committed during the pre-electoral
period, A. Manukian mentioned that "the process of showing own muscles
will still continue, and just this circumstance will make the people
be more awake and active."

MAY 1 MARCH TAKES PLACE IN YEREVAN ON CPA INITIATIVE

Noyan Tapan
May 02 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. On the occasion of the International
Day of Workers a solemn march was organized in Yerevan on May 1,
on the initiative of the Communist Party of Armenia. Communists,
young communists, co-thinkers arrived from different marzes of the
republic participated in the march. The march was turned into a mass
meeting in Stepan Sgahumian square. During the mass meeting First
Secretary of the CPA Central Committee Ruben Tovmasian addressed
his greeting speech to representatives of the worker’s and peasant
structure of the country and stated that during the recent 15 years,
since the independence of Armenia, the main rights of common people,
labourers, workers are not protected in the country. In his words,
the problem of founding new working places continues remaining urgent,
and thousands of Armenians continue leaving their Fatherland, searching
a job in foreign countries to earn daily money.

Participant of the mass meeting, Secretary of the Spandarian Regional
Committee Donara Nalbandian mentioned in the interview to the Noyan
Tapan correspondent, that May 1 will have great importance for both
present and future generations of workers. In her words, this holiday
is celebrated in all over the world, and it is only in Armenia that
all other parties "wash their hands, refuse and leave the whole
preparatory weight on the communists." And the Communist Party, as
D. Nalbandian added, strives for inspiring the people by organizing
marches and various events.

22 PARTIES AND 1 BLOC TO TAKE PART IN NA ELECTIONS BY PROPORTIONAL SYSTEM

Noyan Tapan
May 02 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. 22 parties and one bloc will take part
in the parliamentary elections by the proportional system. As Noyan
Tapan correspondent was informed by CEC Secretary Hamlet Abrahamian,
in the term established for withdrawing candidatures by political
forces and candidates for deputacy, May 2, 18:00, the Armenian
National Movement and Progressive Party of Armenia officially left
the political struggle. CEC will sum up the data on candidates having
withdrawn their candidatures by majoritarian system and will publicize
them in the evening the same day as it receives information from 41
district electoral commissions.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian General Benevolent Union Inc.
Rita Kuyumjian MD
Chairperson
805, Manoogian street
Ville St-Laurent, QC H4N 1Z5
Tel: 514-748-2428
Fax: 514-748-6307
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

Baroness Caroline Cox Visit Schedule

Montreal, April 22, 2007 – The AGBU (NJRP) Nor Jraberd Project Team has
announced that the former Deputy Speaker of the British House of Lords
(1986-2005), the Baroness Caroline Cox will be the main guest of honor
during a series of events scheduled for May 18-21, 2007 in Montreal and
Ottawa.

Baroness Cox is an ardent human rights’ activist in the defense of various
threatened minorities; her advocacy work spans the globe including Bosnia,
Kosovo, Burma, East Timor, Indonesia, Poland, Armenia, Nigeria, North Korea,
Sudan and Uganda.  She has personally secured the liberation of thousands of
enslaved Africans.

Baroness Cox is also an outspoken supporter of the pursuit of
self-determination of the population of Nagorno Karabagh (Artsakh in
Armenian).  She has participated in many efforts organized by various human
rights’ groups in support of similar goals.

The following is the schedule of public events that the Baroness will
participate in.

Friday, May 18th, 2007 –  9:00 to 14:30 Visit of three Montreal Armenian Day
schools, then from 19:00 to 22:00 Visit of the Armenian Diocese at the
Cathedral of St. Gregory the Illuminator, 615 Stuart Ave. in Outremont,
Montreal. A special celebration with members of Armenian, Canadian and
Quebec scouting movements and presenting of special honors.  Reception to
follow in Mary Manoogian Hall of the Cathedral.

Saturday, May 19th, 2007 – 11:00 to 16:00, Brunch, followed with `Up Close
and Personal with Baroness Cox’, A special public interview with the
Baroness, conducted by the award-winning Canadian journalist Mr. Levon
Sevunts, of RCI. Located at the Tekeyan Cultural Association, 825 Manoogian
Street. Light brunch is served. Announcement of special writing competition
winners in Montreal Armenian schools and a silent auction of artwork of
Canadian Armenian artists.

Sunday, May 20th, 2007 – 10:00 to 11:45 attending of mass of St. Gregory the
Illuminator Cathedral, 615 Stuart Ave. in Outremont, Montreal, then from
12:00 to 15:00, Visit of Armenian Community Center and Sourp Hagop Church,
3401 Olivar Asselin, Montreal. Presentation of books by and about Baroness
Cox, book signing and sale.

Sunday, May 20th, 2007 – 18:00 to 23:00, Ceremonial fundraising banquet of
the NJRP, in J.& E. Dervishian Hall at the AGBU Center in Montreal, 805
Manoogian Street, St. Laurent. Keynote Speaker, Baroness Caroline Cox.

Monday, May 21st, 2007 – 11:00  to 16:00, Special reception honoring the
Baroness and in Celebration of May 28th, Independence Day of the First
Armenian Republic, in the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia. A tour of
Ottawa to follow.

Information about the Baroness Caroline Cox and related material can be
found at the following websites:

ox,_Baroness_Cox

x.php?title=Caroline_Cox

aragha.htm#Baroness%20Cox

/baroness_cox.htm

roline-cox-baroness-cox

For media and press interviews, please contact Viken L. Attarian @
[email protected]. For information ont he NJRP initiative, please
contact the email address [email protected]. Information can also be found
at the NKR Nor Jraberd website .

KARABAKH LEADER, ARMENIAN DEFENCE MINISTER DISCUSS CEASE-FIRE

Mediamax news agency
30 Apr 07

Yerevan, 30 April: The president of the Nagornyy Karabakh republic,
Arkadi Ghukasyan, received Armenian Defence Minister Mikayel
Harutyunyan in Stepanakert on 29 April.

Arkadi Ghukasyan congratulated Mikayel Harutyunyan on his appointment
to the post of Armenia’s defence minister, the presidential press
service told Mediamax today.

Lt-Gen Seyran Oganyan, defence minister of Nagornyy Karabakh, also
attended the meeting. The sides discussed cooperation between the
armed forces of the two Armenian republics and issues related to
maintaining the cease-fire regime.

ARMENIA AGREED TO COMPROMISE IN EXPOSITION ABOUT GENOCIDE

Arminfo Agency
2007-05-01 21:02:00

An exhibition, dedicated to the Rwanda Genocide, has opened in the UN
after three-week delay that was provoked by Turkey, which insisted
on the change of part of the exposition, dedicated to the Armenian
Genocide, "Gazeta.ru" reports. According to the representative of the
Aegis British organization, part of the exhibition, dedicated to the
Armenian Genocide, was initially opened with words "After the First
World War, during which a million of Armenians were killed in Turkey, a
Polish attorney Rafael Lemkin called the League of Nations to recognize
the barbarous crimes the international crimes". The new text reads:
"In 1993, a Polish Jew, attorney Rafael Lemkin, called the League
of Nations to recognize the massacres on grounds of belonging to any
specific group the international crime. He indicated the massacre of
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War and other
massacres in history. No one listed to him".

The Ambassador of Armenia to the UN said that the compromise
formulation is not good enough for his country, however, it is better
than the endless delay of the exhibition opening. The opinion of the
Turkish diplomats remained unknown, since they were not present at
the exposition opening. Assisted by Great Britain, USA and Russia,
official Ankara intends to take specific steps to persuade Armenia
to accept Turkey’s proposal concerning the creation of a joint
commission for the Armenian Genocide study. As the Turkish "Zaman"
reported earlier, this decision of Turkey is dictated, first of all,
by apprehensions of adoption of the Armenian Genocide Resolution by
the US Congress that, in the opinion of Turkish diplomats, will affect
the American-Turkish relations. The article author recalls that in
2005, the Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Erdogan expressed readiness
for opening all the Turkish archives for the Armenian historians,
that would help to understand "if it is possible to consider the
murders of Armenians during the First World War as Genocide". However,
Armenia offers to form an intergovernmental commission to study the
whole spectrum of bilateral relations.

Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region
104 North Belmont
Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918
Fax: 818.246.7353
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: April 26, 2007

Contact: Haig Hovsepian

Tel: (818) 500-1918

Jewish World Watch Features "Voices From the Lake" in Commemoration
of the Armenian Genocide

Encino, CA – On Monday, April 23, 2007, Jewish World Watch (JWW)
presented Dr. J. Michael Hagopian’s "Voices from the Lake" before
an audience of over 600 at Valley Beth Shalom Synagogue in Encino,
California. The Armenian National Committee of American – Western
Region (ANCA-WR) welcomed the news that over 200 Armenian Americans
from the West San Fernando Valley attended the screening.

Jewish World Watch is a coalition of over 50 synagogues in southern
California. The organization’s mission is to educate and activate
the Jewish community to help build the political will necessary to
empower leaders to take all reasonable and necessary steps to protect
innocent victims around the world from genocide and egregious human
rights violations.

With twenty-five years in research and production, "Voices From the
Lake" focuses on the day-to-day tragedy unfolding in Kharpert-Mezreh,
one of 4,000 towns and villages targeted for ethnic cleansing by
the Ottoman Empire during the 1915 Genocide. The cataclysmic events
are relived through the eyewitness accounts of American and European
officials, missionaries, educators and survivors. After the film was
viewed, Dr. J. Michael Hagopian was warmly welcomed by the entire
congregation with a standing ovation. A discussion was held with Rabbi
Harold M. Schulweis and Dr. Hagopian sharing with the crowd the common
genocidal experience of both the Armenian and Jewish peoples.

Rabbi Schulweis expressed that the Jewish people support the need for
acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide. After the film concluded,
Dr. Hagopian was again showered with a standing ovation.

Attending this event was a wide cross section of leaders from
the San Fernando Valley’s vibrant Armenian American community.
San Fernando Valley ANC member Chris Keosian, former ANCA-WR
Chairman Armand Keosian, Ara Papazian and dozens of members of
the Holy Martyrs Armenian Church in Encino attended the screening.
They were joined by members of the Valley Beth Shalom Synagogue,
members of Jewish World Watch and scores of interested individuals
from the San Fernando Valley.

"Humanity is subject to genocide and amnesia is dangerous," said
Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis, Founder of Jewish World Watch. "If you
forget or deny the first genocide of the 20th Century, you waste the
experience of the past. To die is tragic, but to be told that you have
not lived is an insult to civilization. Denial is the strangulation
of conscience. Our experience with the Jewish Holocaust makes it a
matter of conscience for the Jewish people to respond and recognize
the grief and anguish of others. It is incumbent upon us to stand up
and recognize the Armenian genocide of 1915. The Armenian and Jewish
communities are kinsmen in suffering and consolation," he added.

In a February 8, 2007 letter addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,
Jewish World Watch urged the Speaker to support passage of H. Res.

106, a resolution affirming the United States record on the Armenian
Genocide. The letter noted the importance of recognizing this tragedy
and encouraged the Speaker’s leadership on the issue.

"The ANCA-WR is pleased to be collaborating with Jewish World Watch,"
stated Andrew Kzirian, Executive Director of the ANCA-WR.

The advancement of human rights and the prevention of genocide
everywhere are goals that both or of our organizations believe in
dearly. The ANCA-WR looks forward to continuing to work in concert
with Rabbi Schulweis and his team to bring an end to the global cycle
of genocide," he added.

Jewish World Watch, along with Facing History and Ourselves hosted
a Lecture & Book-signing event on Thursday, April 26th with John
Prendergast and Don Cheadle who discussed the ongoing genocide in
Darfur and offered their insights into stopping genocide around the
world. On Friday, April 27 JWW is set to host an Armenian Genocide
Commemorative Shabbat Dinner (6:00 pm) and Service (8:00 pm) at Valley
Beth Shalom. Finally, on May 15, JWW will present the "First Annual
Jewish World Watch iWitness Awards" honoring Dr. J. Michael Hagopian
and Dr. Richard Hovannisian for their outstanding work and activism
related to the Armenian Genocide. Please visit
for more information.

The Armenian National Committee of America is the largest and most
influential Armenian American grassroots political organization.

Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and
supporters throughout the United States and affiliated organizations
around the world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns of the
Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

###

Photo Caption: Jewish World Watch.