Author: Chmshkian Vicken

SEES NO THREATS

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on June 14, 2008
Armenia

VAHAN HOVHANNISYAN is convinced that the PACE regular session cannot
pose any threat to Armenia because the requirements of Resolution #
1609 reiterate the clauses of the coalition agreement signed before.

â??Those who drafted the resolution had the coalition agreement at hand
and made use of it,â?? Head of the ARFD faction announced. Mr.
Hovhannisyan also added that he was more interested in the
implementation of the coalition agreement rather than in the
implementation of Resolution #1609.

A1+

SEYRAN OHANIAN RECONFIRMS RESOLUTENESS
[07:01 pm] 13 June, 2008

On June 12 RA Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian
participated in the sitting of the North Atlantic
Council held in NATO Headquarters on the level of
Defense Ministers of the countries participating in
the Kosovo operations. The Armenian Defense Minister
reconfirmed the resoluteness of Armenia to continue
its support to ensuring stability and security in
Kosovo and informed his counterparts about the
doubling of the Armenian peacekeeping forces in
Kosovo.

During the conversation with NATO Secretary General
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer the latter welcomed the decision
to increase the number of Armenian peacekeepers in
Kosovo in the current complex military-political
situation.

In the framework of the visit to Brussels, Defense
Minister Seyran Ohanian met with the Special
Representative of the NATO Secretary General Robert
Simmons. Issues related to the implementation of the
Individual Partnership Action Plan, the process and
perspectives of NATO-Armenia cooperation were
discussed.

Seyran Ohanian had meetings with the Defense Minister
of Greece Evangeles Meymarakis. Issues related to
Armenian-Greek military cooperation were discussed.
The Ministers reconfirmed the readiness to expand the
bilateral cooperation. The Defense Minister of Greece
highly appreciated the mission Armenian peacekeepers
are carrying out in Kosovo.

L. TER-PETROSYAN: TRAITOR VS. A PRO-OPPOSITION FIGURE
ANAHIT YESAYAN
X-X-Sender: [email protected]
X-Listprocessor -Version: 8.1 — ListProcessor(tm) by CREN

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
June 12, 2008
Armenia

As SAMVEL KARAPETYAN is convinced "Currently we often hear discussions
on the political outcomes of achieving reconciliation between the
authorities and the opposition. What considerations do you have in
this regard?"

"The present-day opposition has a long way to pass to become a normal
opposition. We have forces which are actually traitors disguised
behind the veil of the ‘opposition’. They are not representatives of
the opposition; that’s OK, but let’s open our eyes. There is a group
of people who have fallen under their influence and become their
scapegoats not being intellectually perspicacious and far-sighted
enough to differentiate the things in between.

Do we cheat ourselves by calling him an opposition leader etc. It
is, by the way, a multi-layered opposition. There are people who
are representatives of the ‘blind opposition’; there are people
supporting the opposition but never becoming scapegoats, and there
are people who are simply traitors – a force undermining the state
behind the veil of the opposition. How can I consider Ter-Petrosyan
a pro-opposition figure?

We should just say to him, ‘you are not a representative of the
opposition, and your deeds are peculiar to a traitor rather than a
pro-opposition figure. If the time, day and hour of the liberation
of Shoushi was concealed from you, what gives you the right to
consider yourself as someone concerned by the country’s fate?’ The
most cherished and brilliant page of our history is concealed from
the President, whereas he should have organized and sponsored all that.

We call the things and phenomena by their names. We should say ‘It
was done secretly because you would have impeded the process. So,
what do you have to do in our country? Who are you and why do you
unite people around you? Why do you cheat the people?’ If the cheated
people are told all those things in an accurate manner, 100 will
immediately reduce to 20. Why don’t you say that this person is a
traitor? Are you afraid of the masters? Is it Washington or Tel-Aviv
you are afraid of? If you are afraid, then say it.

Wasn’t it under the flag of Israel that Levon was making his speech?

Would Alexander Arzoumanyan have become a Foreign Minister hadn’t he
had a Jewish wife? Who are you, after all? Who are you? What have you
in common with us? Go to your Israel. Let an Armenian live freely in
his homeland?"

"What about your friend Ashot Adamyan? In what group do you see him?"

"Ashot Adamyan is a true and extremely honest cultural figure. He
wants people to avoid cheating and eating up everything. All he thinks
about is this, ‘I don’t want to leave this country, so don’t annoy
me.’ He wants to create. The state should give that kind of people
the opportunity to create, without annoying him to such a degree that,
finding himself at a loose, he may think about leaving the country. He
is simply annoyed.

By the way, I am annoyed too. The activity we are engaged in
(preservation, measurement and inventorization of monuments) bears
no relationship to the country’s situation. A few day’s ago, one of
the representatives of the government was trying to explain to us for
an hour that the country was in a complex situation. I said to him,
‘Levon’s masters are waiting for new storms. I hope you were able
to resist.’ As regards the registration of the monuments of Western
Armenia, he gave an uncertain promise to assist in those activities
next spring.

Of course I agree that the country’s situation is bad; I agree that
Levon’s masters give us no peace and want to undermine and destabilize
the state. Yes, that’s true, but what does it have to do with our work.

Even if Levon comes to power, our work must be done.

Why do we go to Tsitsernakaberd on April 24 and lay flowers on the
monument?

It is for commemoration, isn’t it? What does our organization
do? We fix both the monuments and the tombs (tombstones and pieces
of khachkars) of our lost motherland and the murdered people. If we
do not want to do that, our laying flowers is nothing more than a
lie and deception.

OMBUDSMAN GIVES POSITIVE ASSESSMEMT OF PARLIAMENTARY HEARINGS

NOYAN TAPAN

Ju ne 6, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 6, NOYAN TAPAN. The June 5 parliamentary hearings
on the RA Ombudsman’s special report on the presidential election
and postelection developments in Armenia started with accusations
but ended in a constructive discussion, the RA Ombudsman Armen
Harutyunian said during a talk with reporters on June 6. In his
words, these were hearings appropriate to a representative body,
as each of those present had the opportunity to express an opinion
or wish without restriction. He noted that such sincere discussions
at the National Assembly may create a new element in the country’s
political culture, and if this practice continues, the authority of
the parliement will increase.

A. Harutyunian expressed a hope that henceforth constructive
discussions on the issues raised in his report will be held. According
to him, the society is concerned about these issues, and the ombudsman
has only officialized them. "Even if most of the report’s questions
are wrong, and only a few of them are normal, it would be correct to
answer these questions," he noted.

He expressed confidence that these questions will finally receive
their answers: "I see no other version, these are issues related
to the future of our society". In his opinion, given in any form,
official answers will help reduce the current tension in the society.

A. Harutyunian announced that none of relatives of the citizens
who died on March 1 has applied to the Ombudsman on the issue of
recognizing them a legal successor of the victim. He said that very
often people are afraid of officializing their complaints, for this
reason the law allows the Ombudsman to accept verbal complaints and
use unofficial information.

STUDY DATA FROM M.V. MIKAELYAN ET AL PROVIDE NEW INSIGHTS INTO CHROMATOGRAPHY

Science Letter
June 3, 2008

"Affinity purification of annexin V from human placenta on column
with appropriate monospecific antibodies is developed," scientists
in Yerevan, Armenia report (see also Chromatography).

"The procedure permits purification of the protein to a highly purified
state by a two stage procedure. The yield of the protein is about
5mg per 100g of wet tissue," wrote M.V. Mikaelyan and colleagues.

The researchers concluded: "Because of high homologies between various
annexins, it was supposed that this procedure can be also applied
for purification of other annexins from other tissues."

Mikaelyan and colleagues published their study in Preparative
Biochemistry & Biotechnology (Rapid purification of annexin V from
human placenta by affinity chromatography. Preparative Biochemistry &
Biotechnology, 2008;38(2):159-164).

For additional information, contact V.K. Gasparyan, National Academy
Science, Institute Biochemistry, P Sevak Str 5-1, Yerevan 0014,
Armenia.

The publisher’s contact information for the journal Preparative
Biochemistry & Biotechnology is: Taylor & Francis Inc., 325 Chestnut
St., Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA.

Middle East Council of Churches
Office of International Ecumenical Relations P.O. Box 5376, Beirut, Lebanon

Guirgis Ibrahim Saleh, General Secretary [email protected] or
[email protected]

+961-1-353-938
htt p://

Friday, May 30, 2008 5:38 AM
MECC PRESIDENTS MEET IN ANTELIAS

MECC General Secretary met with the two Presidents of the Council in Lebanon
on May 23rd, namely: His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, and His Grace
Archbishop Boulos Matar. The agenda of the meeting included a review of the
Council’s activities since its last Executive meeting, and a briefing on the
current status of the Council and its future activities, issues and projects
related to the Council’s administrative structure, and its financial
situation. The Presidents proposed that the formal partners meeting be held
in July 2008 instead of November. The General Secretary informed partners
about this proposal for feedback.

For more information contact: [email protected]

PRIME MINISTER ORDERS GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TO OFFER PROPOSALS FOR CURBING INFLATION

ARMENPRESS
May 29, 2008

YEREVAN, MAY 29, ARMENPRESS: Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian said
today that hiking prices of food and services have become number one
concern of Armenian citizens.

Speaking at a recurrent government session he said studies show that
prices flexibility is unsatisfactory. As a rule they skyrocket, but
go down slowly and insignificantly. According to him, this trend can
not be halted without government’s intervention.

The prime minister praised the operation of the state commission for
protection of economic competition saying that it will be stepped up
through involving officials from the state taxation service.

He said prices of wheat and rice are going down in global markets,
particularly, wheat price went down 42 percent against April, the
price of rice also fell 22 percent in the last 4 weeks.

Both products occupy a significant place in Armenians’ subsistence
basket creating favorable conditions for brining their prices down.

"The government will keep this issue in the limelight. It will study
pricing trends, especially in those companies whose prices of imported
goods are not adequate to global prices," he said.

He said inflation affects also the moral-psychological atmosphere in
the country stirring up new social and economic problems.

The prime minister said special instructions were given to economy
and finance ministries, the Central Bank and the state commission
for protection of economic competition to monitor the situation and
submit their proposals about how to curb price hikes.

BAKU DOES NOT ACCEPT US CRITICISM ON SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN AZERBAIJAN

Trend News Agency
May 29 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, 29 May / corr. TrendNews I. Alizade/ The Azerbaijani
government does not accept the criticism of the State Department
of the United States on deterioration of the situation of the human
rights in Azerbaijan.

"I can not accept the criticism on the human rights in Azerbaijan
as this criticism is based on the isolates facts which occur in
any country worldwide," Elnur Aslanov, the head of the Political
Analysis and Dataware Department of the Presidential Administration
of Azerbaijan said to TrendNews.

The US State Department published a report on human rights in
Azerbaijan on 28 May. The report said that the situation of the human
rights deteriorated in Azerbaijan in 2007. The report also spoke of
the presidential elections to be held in Azerbaijan in October.

"We have repeatedly announced that the presidential elections will
be transparent, open and democratic, said Aslanov.

According to Aslanov, the indicators of Azerbaijan are improved every
year. "It concerns both economic and political spheres. Recently, we
have taken important steps on the development of the civil society in
Azerbaijan and we have been promoting the role of the ‘third sector’
in the social life of the government. Conditions have been provided
for the development of the media sources, the number of which makes
up 600 at present. The civil rights and freedoms are priorities of
the government," Aslanov said.

The report of the State Department said that there is still torture
in police departments and military units with six people dying as a
result of it in 2007. "The security forces who stand behind it, are not
punished," the document said. "The officials are detained on political
motives. There is corruption in the judicial system and restrictions on
the freedom of assembly. The situation of the mass media has further
deteriorated. The violation against women and religious minorities
is still going on. In spite o some progress, the prisons are still
source of danger for the human life," the document said.

According to Aslanov, the regulations on holding demonstration are
the same with that of the other countries where it is banned to hold
demonstrations in places with much traffic and people. "It is quite
natural. However, the parliament will discuss new Bill on Freedom of
Assembly, therefore it is pointless to speak of the restrictions,"
he said.

He said that he is surprised with the statement of the report on the
violation against women and religious minorities. "It is not true at
all. There is no violation against women in Azerbaijan," Aslanov said.

He added that he also does not accept the criticism on the religious
minorities. "There are some 500 registered religious groups in
Azerbaijan which openly exercise their rights and devotions. Azerbaijan
is a tolerant country. The tolerance of Azerbaijan is annually
indicated in the reports of the international organizations, the fact
which can not concern neighboring countries," he said.

"I also do not accept the statement that ‘the security forces are not
punished," the representative of the official Baku said. According to
Aslanov, some 443 officers of the Interior Ministry of Azerbaijan
who have violated human rights have been punished during three
years. Some 16 of them were made answerable, 98 were dismissed from
the Interior Ministry, five were demoted and 39 were dismissed from
their posts. Therefore, these statements do not reflect reality,"
Aslanov added.

"It is disappointing that the report does not include any statement
on the rights of refugees and IDPs, which was grossly violated as a
result of the occupational policy of Armenia. I think that the report
should have reminded of 1mln refugees who are deprived of the right
to return to their homelands. If we speak of the human rights, it is
important to speak of the facts. Millions of refugees, whose rights
have been violated by the neighbor country, are a concrete fact of
violation of human rights by the other country," he said.

As to the penitentiaries of Azerbaijan, Aslanov said that they are
under public monitoring of not only national, but also international
organizations. "There is no such monitoring in the prisons of other
countries where people accused with committing crimes are kept there
for years," Aslanov said.

DJIVAN GASPARYAN TO LEAD DUDUK ENSEMBLE IN LOS ANGELES

LOS ANGELES, MAY 29, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN.

79-year-old proclaimed duduk player Djivan Gasparyan will team with
composer-producer Michael Brook to perform in the Royce Hall of Los
Angeles on May 30. The additional ensemble of musicians will include
Gasparyan’s grandson, also named Djivan, playing duduk, and Brook’s
wife, violinist Julie Rogers.

Interfax News Agency, Russia
May 24 2008

NATO ready to continue cooperation with Armenia

YEREVAN May 29

Armenia attaches importance to the NATO Individual Partnership Action
Plans (IPAPs), Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian said at the
session of the NATO Council held in the 26+1 format (NATO countries +
Armenia).

Dwelling on the settlement of the Armenian-Turkish relations,
Nalbandian said that Armenia was ready to establish relations with the
neighboring country without any preliminary conditions and this was
also included in the IPAP provisions.

Armenia intends to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by talks, he
said.

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian reported on the reform
process in defense sector, on a strategic review of national military
security and legal changes in defense sector

The ambassadors of NATO countries said that Armenia had implemented
the goals indicated in the IPAP program and said their countries were
ready to continue to back up Armenian reforms.