Author: Dabaghian Diana

ZHARANGUTIUN FACTION NOT TO TAKE PART IN VOTING OF NA DRAFT STATEMENT ON NKR SETTLEMENT CONSIDERING IT BELATED

Noyan Tapan
April 28, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 28, NOYAN TAPAN. On April 28, the RA National Assembly
finished discussion of the draft statement On Settlement of the Nagorno
Karabakh Problem, which will be submitted for voting on April 29.

Draft author, NA Speaker Tigran Torosian expressed readiness to
discuss possible proposals before voting. He, in particular, agreed
to include in the draft ARFD faction’s proposal on RA’s being the
guarantor of NKR security.

The draft statement has already undergone some changes on the basis
of proposals made at the previous four-day sittings. Therefore,
RA NA proposes RA President and government the following:

– making Armenia’s policy on Nagorno Karabakh settlement more
initiating,

– making active and expanding efforts of elaboration and implementation
of events aimed at completely informing the international community
about the Nagorno Karabakh problem, by involving the all-Armenian
potential, possibilies, and means for that purpose,

– working out the legal bases within the framework of the international
law, which will ensure more efficient cooperation between RA and NKR,
as well as in case of a military aggression or other forcible measures
by Azerbaijan will give RA a possibility to ensure NKR’s complete
security and defence,

– exerting every effort for the purpose of ensuring negotiations’
efficiency to restore NKR representatives’ complete participation in
that process as an internationally recognized conflict side,

– preparing alternative possibilities of international recognition
of NKR independence, which are to be used in case of failure of the
negotiations proceeding within the framework of the Minsk Group.

Zharangutiun faction member Larisa Alaverdian said that the faction
is not going to take part in the voting, as they cannot vote for
such a belated statement having no address, which does not contain
consistency of any task set, is futile from the very start and does
not stipulate the legal bases of legitimacy of NKR independence.

JáN KUBIÅ¡: "AZERBAIJAN’S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY SHOULD BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT DURING THE SOLUTION TO NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT"

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 28 2008

Baku. Tamara Grigoryeva -APA. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov has met Chairman of the Council of Europe Committee of
Ministers, Slovakian Foreign Minister Ján Kubiš.

The ministers have held a briefing after the meeting, APA
reports.Mammadyarov stated that bilateral relations had been
discussed at the meeting. "Unfortunately, the relations between the
two countries are not on proper level. We hope that these relations
will further be developed. There is much potential for the cooperation
between Azerbaijan and Slovakia", he said. Mammadyarov noted that
he had given information to the guest about the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict. The Minister mentioned that he would meet Armenian Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandian and OSCE MG Co-Chairs on May 6. Ján Kubiš
stressed the importance of further expansion of relations between the
two countries. The guest stated that his country had potential to
cooperate with Azerbaijan on economy, energy and construction. To
him, legal base should be expanded for it. Kubiš touched upon
Nagorno Karabakh conflict and noted that Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity should be taken into account during the solution to Nagorno
Karabakh. Kubiš added that his visit to Azerbaijan aimed to discuss
the pre-election situation and freedom of press.

"We had several recommendations. We hope that Azerbaijan will do its
best to hold elections democratically and transparently", he said.

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TURKISH RULING PARTY CONDEMNS ATTACK ON TURKISH FLAG IN ARMENIA

Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
April 28 2008

ERZURUM (A.A) -A high ranking official of the ruling Justice &
Development (AK) Party said Sunday "the AK Party strongly condemns
the recent attack on the Turkish flag in Armenia".

Speaking at an AK Party meeting in eastern province of Erzurum,
Deputy Chairman of the AK Party Egemen Bagis said that "as long as
the Armenians act in such a disrespectful manner, they are destined
to live in hunger and poverty in their corner".

"We strongly condemn the tramping of the Turkish flag in Armenia. The
government of Armenia must arrest all responsible for the attack. If
the Armenian government gives its consent to the attack on the Turkish
flag, then they would be proving that they deserve to remain in the
situation they live in," Bagis also said.

Agence France Presse — English
April 25, 2008 Friday 10:09 AM GMT

Turkey slams Argentina in genocide row, cancels visit

ANKARA, April 25 2008

Turkey slammed Argentina Friday over a new parliamentary document
referring to the World War I killings of Armenians as genocide and
cancelled a visit to the country by a cabinet minister.

"The Argentine Senate has approved a new text supporting the baseless
Armenian allegations… (which) we strongly condemn and fully reject,"
the foreign ministry said, without giving details about the document.

"Following the adoption of this resolution, the visit of State
Minister Mehmet Aydin… was cancelled," the statement said.

Aydin has been scheduled to travel to Buenos Aires on April 28-29 for
a gathering of the UN-sponsored Alliance of Civilizations initiative,
which aims to foster dialogue between Islamic and Western societies
and is co-chaired by Spain and Turkey.

Argentina is among an array of countries that have recognised the mass
killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as genocide, much to
Turkey’s ire.

Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen died between 1915
and 1917 in deportations and systematic killings during World War I.

Turkey categorically rejects the genocide label and argues that
300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when
Armenians took up arms for independence and sided with Russian troops
invading the crumbling empire.

Armenia on Thursday marked the 93rd anniversary of the start of
killings and its new president, Serzh Sarkisian, vowed to redouble
efforts to have the massacres internationally recognised as genocide.

Vice Secretary General of CSTO: Aggression against one of the CSTO
member states will be regarded as aggression against the whole
organization

2008-04-26 13:45:00

ArmInfo. The Collective Security Treaty clearly says that aggression
against one of the members of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization should be regarded as aggression against the whole
organization, the vice secretary general of CSTO Valery Semerikov said
during a press-conference in Yerevan today.

This treaty was signed on a very high level, is published and is known
to the whole international community.

In Oct the presidents of CSTO signed a protocol on provision of
military-technical support in case of aggression against one of CSTO
member states. This protocol is not secret and clearly says how the
CSTO member states will act in case of aggression. In any individual
case CSTO will pass a specific individual decision.

PRESS RELEASE
Senator Barbara Boxer
Washington D.C.
112 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3553

cfm?gpiv=1999902403.1910123.0&gen=1

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

*IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 93rd ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE*

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I take this opportunity today to solemnly
observe the 93rd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

The Armenian Genocide was the first genocide of the 20th century. From
1915 until 1923, 1.5 million Armenians were brutally killed by the
Ottoman Turks in a systematic effort to eradicate the Armenian
people. There were unbearable acts of torture; men were separated from
their families and murdered; women and children were put on a forced
march across the Syrian desert without food or water.

Henry Morgenthau, the U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1913
to 1916, recalled:

`When the Turkish authorities gave the orders for these deportations,
they were merely giving the death warrant to a whole race; they
understood this well, and, in their conversations with me, they made
no particular attempt to conceal the fact…I am confident that the
whole history of the human race contains no such horrible episode as
this. The great massacres and persecutions of the past seem almost
insignificant when compared to the sufferings of the Armenian race in
1915.’

Tragically, 1915 was just the beginning. We saw the horrors of
genocide in World War II when Jews were subjected to systematic
extermination at the hands of Adolf Hitler and his followers. Indeed,
Hitler remarked at the outset of this unbridled evil, `Who, after all,
speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?’ Unfortunately, the
phrase `never again’ turned out to be a hollow slogan. In the later
half of the last century, countries like Cambodia and Rwanda were
ravaged while the world was silent. And even now, in this new century,
Darfur is the latest place to experience such brutality and inhumanity
as the world stands idly by, either incapable or unwilling to do what
is necessary to stop the devastation and murder.

Today, the Turkish government denies what happened in the dying days
of the Ottoman Empire and thus this scar on history cannot be healed
until history is accurately spoken, written, and recalled. These are
lessons that must be told and repeated to each and every generation.

In order for democracy and human rights to flourish, we must not
support efforts to rewrite and deny history. In the United States, we
strive to make human rights a fundamental component of our
democracy. It is long overdue for our nation to demand that the truth
be told. We must recognize the Armenian Genocide in the name of
democracy, fairness, and human rights.

To that end, I am proud to be an original co-sponsor of Senator
Richard Durbin’s Senate Resolution 106, calling on the President to
accurately characterize the Armenian Genocide in his annual message
around April 24th and to ensure that the foreign policy of the United
States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning
issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide
documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian
Genocide.

It is important that we recognize the Armenian Genocide while its
survivors are still with us to tell their stories. We must recognize
the genocide for the survivors. We must recognize the genocide because
it’s the right thing to do. We must recognize the Armenian Genocide to
help shed light on the darkness and move toward a more humane world.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIANS REMEMBER THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Los Angeles Times, CA
April 24 2008

Many of Southern California’s more than 300,000 Armenians will today
gather at memorial services, protests and other events to mark the
93rd anniversary of the Armenian genocide. The striped Armenian flag
was already seen fluttering from cars earlier this week as local
Armenians prepared for the emotional and controversial observance of
the more than million people who died under Ottoman rule in what is
now modern Turkey.

The anniversary has long been denounced by many Turks and others,
who dispute the larger number of deaths or that the genocide even
occurred. Last year, the most recent effort to have the U.S. government
officially recognize the genocide triggered a bitter battle on Capitol
Hill. The animosity lives on, and one of today’s events includes a
human rights protest outside the Turkish consulate.

There are also new tensions. On Wednesday, a memorial assembly at Grant
High School in Van Nuys lead to a shouting match between Armenian
and Latino students. Several students were sent home and additional
school district police officers patrol the campus for the remainder
of the week.

Today’s memorials, however, remain a source of pride for Armenians,
including a young generation far removed from the pain and suffering
of nearly a century ago.

"A lot of people ask me why we care so much, especially the
youth because we are a few generations out from the genocide,"
twenty-year-old Caspar Jivalagian told the Times Molly Hennessy-Fisk
last year year. "Every Armenian we have it in us, under our skin."

BOOK "THE FIRST HOLOCAUST" BY ROBERT FISK TO BE SUBMITTED TO DUTCH PARLIAMENT COMMISSIONS

Noyan Tapan
April 24, 2008

AMSTERDAM, APRIL 24, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian
community of Holland will commemorate the 93rd anniversary of Armenian
Genocide at the memorial of the Armenian Genocide in Assen.

As the local Armenian websites report, the April 24 Committee of
the Federation of Armenian Organisations in The Netherlands (FAON)
will hand over a Dutch translation of the book "The First Holocaust"
by Robert Fisk on Armenian Genocide to the Permanent Commissions of
European Affairs and Foreign Affairs of the Dutch Parliament.

The April 24 Committee of FAON will submit a petition on April 22
together with the Fisk’s book to the Dutch Parliamentary Commisions
regarding lack of progress in Turkey on such issues as the human
rights, freedom of expression and rights of minorities, as well as
continuation of persecution of Armenians and other Turkish citizens. It
is also noted that there is no progress in recognising the past,
particularly the Armenian Genocide, by Turkey.

ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER: IN RECENT YEARS IT BECAME POSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE A SERIOUS TURNING POINT IN ENERGY SECTOR

Noyan Tapan
April 21, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 21, NOYAN TAPAN. It became possible to achieve a
serious turning point in the energy sector, there is a successful
controllable system, and the minister’s role was great in that, the RA
prime minister Tigran Sargsian said on April 21 when introducing the
re-appoined minister of energy Armen Movsesian to the staff of the
ministry. In his words, it is impossible not to note and appreciate
the direct constribution of the minister, whose re-appointment and
the expansion of the ministry – henceforth the ministry will also deal
with problems of natural resources – bear evidence of this fact. The
prime minister stated that the energy sector will be one of the driving
forces of the economy: serious steps have been taken and considerable
investments made in the sector which has much potential.

In response to the question about why the function of managing the
natural resources has been given to the ministry of energy, Tigran
Sargsian explained that so far no single ministry was responsible
for this sector, some problems were dealt with by the ministry
of environmental protection, others – by the ministry of trade and
economic development, while some problems were disregarded. According
to him, taking into account the fact that the forms and methods of the
energy sector’s organization are like those of managing the natural
resources, the chemical industry is closely related to this sector,
and, finally, the level of controllability is high at the ministry,
a decision was made to entrust the management of natural resources
to the ministry of energy.

CHAIRMAN OF THE STATE COUNCIL OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA CONGRATULATES PM TIGRAN SARGSYAN

armradio.am
22.04.2008 12:00

Chairman of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Wen
Jiabao has congratulated Tigran Sargsyan on his appointment to the
post of RA Prime Minister. The congratulatory message states in part:

"Over the past few years, the Government of Armenia has been
concentrating upon the development of its national economy, the
improvement of population’s living standards, the maintenance of social
stability and has had significant achievements. I am confident that
the Armenian people will have even greater achievements in future.

Over the past 16 years that followed the establishment of diplomatic
relations, the Armenian-Chinese friendly ties of cooperation have
experienced steady development: the mutual understanding in the
political field becomes stronger with gradually developing trade and
economic exchanges. There are good prospects for the development of
the Armenian-Chinese relations and I am prepared, together with you,
to further deepen the friendship between our two peoples and make
efforts in support of cooperation in different areas.

I wish you health and success in your post."