Author: Dabaghian Diana

WE PRESENT OUR STANCE BADLY

KarabakhOpen
22-04-2008 11:44:56

During his visit to Stepanakert the speaker of the Armenian parliament
Tigran Torosyan visited Yerevan State University on April 18 to meet
with the staff and the students.

With regard to the ongoing discussion of the draft statement on
Karabakh at the Armenian National Assembly, Tigran Torosyan said the
document cannot be viewed as a sign of panic or rejection of what has
been done so far. He underlined that significant progress toward the
settlement of the Karabakh issue has been made over the past few years.

A significant shortcoming of the Armenian sides is the insufficient
dissemination of information on the Karabakh issue to the international
community. The NKR National Assembly is likely to make efforts to
improve the situation.

The Scientific Board of the University awarded the title of honorary
doctor to Tigran Torosyan.

COUNTRY – IN NEED OF A NEW OPPOSITION
Armen Tsatouryan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on April 18, 2008
Armenia

The sharp and unyielding struggle of the pre-election period ended
in the formation of a quadrilateral political coalition around the
new authorities, whereas the political camp opposing the authorities
keeps preserving the mentality and status it had before February 19.

This actually is the repetition of the uncertain situation following
the 1998 and 2003 presidential elections, when the forces that united
around a particular pro-opposition figure prior to the electoral
campaign found themselves in painful and long-lasting processes.

In 1998, the role of such individual was reserved for Karen
Demirtchyan, and in 2003, it was reserved for Stepan Demirtchyan. At
present, Ter-Petrosyan has found himself in their status.

To what extent is it beneficial to the country and the political
arena to maintain the model of bi-polar confrontations resulting from
post-electoral developments?

It’s obvious that:

First: the possible dialogue within the frameworks of the continuing
confrontation may certainly alleviate the internal political tension
to a certain extent, but it can never serve as a basis for civilized
relations between the authorities and the opposition, as such relations
develop only in case the debate goes around the ways of the country’s
further development and not around some unfinished political processes.

Second: In view of the new developments taking place in the region,
prolonging the confrontations may become a mechanism of imposing
serious concessions on the new authorities of Armenia on the external
front, because the pro-opposition camp is supervised by forces favoring
a much more moderate foreign policy course.

Third: the perilous situation existing in the opposition camp will all
the time force the new authorities to think about neutralizing the
imminent danger instead of finding ways for reforming the political
arena.

Therefore, the model of a bi-polar confrontation formed in the
pre-election period has become an obstacle towards the country’s
further development.

Such obstacle restricts the country’s opportunities for further
democratization, serious economic reforms and the fair solution to
the Karabakh issue, because such tasks continue to be viewed through
the prism of disputing the elections.

That’s to say, the opposition, which suffered a defeat during the
elections, is trying to block and "conserve" the post-electoral
situation, anticipating the failure of the authorities’ policy. Whereas
being an inseparable part of the political system of the given
country, any normal opposition should shift its political steps to
the plane of criticizing the initiatives and programs directed at
the country’s future.

As a result of the presidential elections, the playing cards of
most of the political forces, which created a certain climate in our
reality during the past ten years, were mainly hit at. The field was
trampled down and suffered a great shock, creating conditions for
the formation of new political forces. The people have also divided
into two camps, one of them supporting the authorities and the others
favoring L. Ter-Petrosyan.

Therefore, the delusion of a "pro-Levon" alternative will grow weaker
in case there’s an increase in the quality and quantity of the "new
alternative" opposing the policy of the new authorities. In this
respect, the post-electoral period is the time for the formation
of a third force or forces whose existence was simply ruled out in
the pre-election period. Such forces may be formed as a result of
the consolidation of the existing small parties or the creation of
new ones.

The first tendency was observed before the elections when several
national-liberal forces united with Ramkavar-liberal party. The
temporary unification of some of the former NDU members around the
"mother party" and its leader was also an evidence of the same process.

As to the inevitability of the second tendency, it is dictated by the
following obvious reality: ex-president Ter-Petrosyan’s preferences
in the spheres of both foreign and domestic policy are alien to the
opposition-oriented citizens. More unacceptable are the key figures
of the political team with whom L. Ter-Petrosyan wanted to come to
power during the elections. That pro-opposition electorate has already
complied with the ex-President’s proposal saying "make me your tool",
and now they are experiencing a political apathy since the "potential
tool" did not serve its purpose.

We believe that there currently exist all the political preconditions
required for the formation of a new opposition next to the authorities;
an opposition which will be more radical on the external front and
which will make demands for speeding up the paces of the reforms and
increasing their social trend.

Episcopal News Service, NY
April 19 2008

At ecumenical service, Pope Benedict XVI calls for oneness of hope, faith and love among Christians

‘Prophetic actions’ leading to splintering of Christian bodies decried

By Jan Nunley, April 19, 2008

[Episcopal News Service] National and local leaders of the Episcopal
Church were among the invited guests at an ecumenical prayer service
on April 18 with Pope Benedict XVI at Saint Joseph Roman Catholic
Church on New York’s Upper East Side. The parish, founded in 1873,
grew out of the German-speaking community of Yorkville.

After greetings by Cardinal Edward M. Egan of New York and Monsignor
John Sullivan, administrator of Saint Joseph Parish, the audience
of some 250 Anglican, Protestant and Orthodox and 50 Roman Catholic
leaders in ecumenism then heard Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan, vicar
general for the archdiocese, welcome the Pope with a summary of recent
ecumenical relations between the branches of Christianity.

Speaking in soft, Bavarian-accented English, Benedict took Ephesians
4:1-6, St. Paul’s plea for Christian unity, as his text for the
evening. He expressed appreciation for the ecumenical work of the
National Council of Churches, Christian Churches Together in the
USA (CCT/USA), and the Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for Ecumenical
and Interreligious Affairs, and lauded the contribution of American
Christians to the ecumenical movement.

But then Benedict sounded the theme that has threaded throughout
his first U.S. visit as Pope: the dangers of secularism, unbridled
individualism, and relativism.

"Scientific discoveries, and their application through human ingenuity,
undoubtedly offer new possibilities for the betterment of humankind,"
Benedict stated. "This does not mean, however, that the ‘knowable’
is limited to the empirically verifiable, nor religion restricted to
the shifting realm of ‘personal experience.’"

Benedict returned to the topic of ecumenism, several times referring
to the Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis
Redintegratio ("Restoration of Unity"), promulgated by Pope Paul VI
in 1964. Citing Father Paul Wattson, a former Anglo-Catholic turned
Roman Catholic priest who co-founded the Society of the Atonement in
Garrison, New York, he expressed confidence that ecumenical efforts
would result in the "oneness of hope, oneness of faith, and oneness
of love" for which Christians seek.

Benedict decried the "splintering" of Christian churches over
"so-called ‘prophetic actions’ that are based on a hermeneutic not
always consonant with the datum of Scripture and Tradition." Such
actions, he said, cause Christian communities to "give up the attempt
to act as a unified body, choosing instead to function according
to the idea of ‘local options,’" thus losing their connections to
Christians in other times and places. Some, but not all, interpreted
that as a veiled reference to controversy in the Episcopal Church
and the Anglican Communion.

"I think he did us the honor of giving us a serious address that I
think needs to be read and reflected upon," said New York’s Bishop Mark
Sisk. Asked whether he thought Benedict had singled out the Episcopal
Church in his remarks, Sisk responded, "It’s possible–but I would
be rather surprised. I don’t think he was trying to send shots across
the bow at particular churches. I think he spoke in a respectful way
and I didn’t see that as a shot at the Episcopal Church."

(In 2003, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger sent a telegram on behalf of
Pope John Paul II to the American Anglican Council’s "A Place to Stand"
protest meeting in Texas following that year’s General Convention. The
message spoke of the Pope’s "heartfelt prayers" and said that "the
significance of your meeting is sensed far beyond Plano… in the
Church of Christ there is a unity in truth and a communion of grace
which transcend the borders of any nation. With this in mind, I pray
in particular that God’s will may be done by all those who seek that
unity in the truth, the gift of Christ himself.")

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was invited to the service,
but was unable to attend due to a previous commitment to bless a new
diocesan center in Utah. Bishop Christopher Epting, the Episcopal
Church’s ecumenical officer, represented her.

At the end of the ceremony,Benedict greeted national and local
ecumenical leaders, including Archbishop Demetrios of America,
Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America and Exarch of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate; Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of
the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America; Archbishop Vicken
Aykazian, legate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America
(Eastern) in Washington and president of the National Council of
Churches USA; the Rev. Dr. Donald McCoid, Director of the Ecumenical
and Inter-Religious Relations Office of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America, representing ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson;
Bishop Jeremiah J. Park of the New York Annual Conference of the
United Methodist Church; the Rev. Dr. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson,
General Secretary of the Reformed Church in America and one of five
Presidents of Christian Churches Together in the USA (CCT/USA);
the Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian
Church (USA); the Rev. Dr. William J. Shaw, President of the National
Baptist Convention, USA, and one of the five CCT/USA Presidents;
Bishop James Leggett, General Superintendent of the International
Pentecostal Holiness Church and a CCT/USA President; and Dr. Leith
Anderson, President of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE).

In addition to Bishop Sisk, invited leaders from the New York area
included Bishop David H. Benke, president of the Atlantic District of
the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod); the Rev. Dr. A. R. Bernard Sr.,
president of the Council of Churches of the City of New York; Elder
Bernice A. King, daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta
Scott King; and the Rev. Jimmy Seong G. Lim, executive director of
the Council of Churches of the City of New York.

Council of Europe head wants info on political prisoners problem in Armenia

Interfax News Agency, Russia
April 18 2008

YEREVAN April 18 — Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis,
who is in Yerevan on a visit, said the problem of political prisoners
in Armenia should be considered with due account taken of the local
specific circumstances.

It is a very specific problem, Davis said at a news conference on
Thursday, when asked if there were political prisoners in Armenia.

Sometimes, journalists brand a political figure, who finds himself
behind bars, a political prisoner, although one should find out why
he had been jailed, he said.

Davis said he had met with Armenian politicians and they promised to
provide him with detailed reports on this issue.

NKR ATTORNEY GENERAL’S PRESS-CONFERENCE

Azat Artsakh Daily
Published on April 18, 2008
NKR Republic

On April 17th in conference hall of "Armenia" hotel of Stepanakert a
press-conference of NKR Attorney General Arshavir Gharamian took place.

"Having started to work on a post of NKR Attorney General, I have first
of all set about formation of the moral-psychological atmosphere in
the collective, which has been absent. Imperfect phenomena have been
appeared, which have reflected negatively upon image and authority
of law inforcement bodies", – A.Gharamian began his speech from
this critical note. The Attorney General assured journalists,
that henceforth more frequent meetings would take place with the
representatives of mass-media having for an object to make more
transparent the activity of the Prosecutor’s Office.Today’s meeting
persued just this aim, during which NKR Attorney general A.Gharamian
introduced the works of the first quarter of 2008 to mass-media and the
society. Then the journalists raised a number of important questions,
to which Mr Gharamian gave detailed answers.

MATTHEW BRYZA PUT RESPONSIBILITY FOR MARCH EVENTS IN ARMENIA ON ROBERT KOCHARIAN NOT MENTIONING HIS NAME

Azeri Press Agency
April 18 2008
Azerbaijan

Washington-APA. The US Government thinks Armenian authorities bear
responsibility for the March events in Yerevan, said Matthew Bryza,
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian
Affairs in his speech at hearings in US Helsinki Commission on the
situation in Armenia, APA quotes Armenian web-sites.

He said Washington was not informed in detail about the March 1-2
events during the protest actions in Yerevan, but thought that Armenian
elected leadership had responsibility for that. Matthew Bryza supported
unbiased investigation of cracking down on the opposition meeting by
the authorities and called on Yerevan to take resolute measures for the
restoration of democracy in the country and releasing of nearly 100
arrested oppositionists. Bryza warned Armenia about its removal from
the "Millennium Challenge" Program if it would not meet these demands.

TOP BOCA DEVELOPER PLEADS GUILTY IN TAX CASE
By Kevin Deutsch

Palm Beach Post
April 18 2008
FL

James Batmasian built his real estate empire while still in college
at Harvard, scooping up apartment buildings on the cheap and renting
them out. He reached another level of wealth, friends say, when he
found a real estate gold mine in South Florida.

Using long-term investment strategies while wheeling and dealing for
pricey real estate, Batmasian amassed significant wealth, became a
society figure in Boca Raton alongside his wife, Marta, and earned
a reputation as a shrewd businessman willing to push the limits to
make a profit.

One indicator of his massive fortune: In 2007, Batmasian was the
ninth-highest property taxpayer in Palm Beach County, dishing out
more than $3.3 million and breaking the top 10 of a list headed by
corporations including Florida Power & Light and BellSouth.

Federal authorities, who had been investigating Batmasian for more than
a year, found evidence he pushed the limits too far: They charged the
developer and philanthropist in federal court with avoiding paying
federal withholding income tax – a felony punishable by up to five
years in prison.

Batmasian pleaded guilty Thursday and is slated to be sentenced
July 11.

Prosecutors say Batmasian failed to collect and pay the federal
employment taxes for the first quarter of 2001 for his employees at
Investments Limited. As part of the plea, Batmasian admitted that he
failed to collect and pay more than $253,513 in FICA taxes from 2001
through 2003.

Batmasian agreed to pay back the outstanding taxes and to file amended
tax returns with the IRS for 2001 through 2003.

Batmasian’s attorney, Bruce Zimet, said prosecutors will ask
U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra to sentence the developer to no
more than a year and one day in prison.

Zimet will ask for a lighter sentence: five months in prison and
another five of house arrest.

"He is human, he admits to his mistakes," Zimet said of his client, who
was released on bond and ordered not to leave the country. "His company
didn’t file things they should have, and that falls on his shoulders."

Major figures in South Florida’s Armenian-American community, the
Batmasians have made major donations to cultural, educational and
philanthropic organizations.

The largest owner of commercial property in downtown Boca Raton,
Batmasian became a major player in development almost immediately upon
moving here in 1983. He and his wife came to Boca for early retirement,
but nixed that plan to take advantage of South Florida’s fertile real
estate market.

At a time when many of the region’s coastline communities were
overlooked by serious investors as nothing more than spring break
retreats and retirement havens, the Batmasians invested in local
shopping centers, amassing more than 36 properties within their first
33 months, according to Investments Limited’s Web site.

Batmasian now owns more than 100 properties in downtown Boca Raton,
including the Royal Palm Place shopping center.

Charles Siemon, a land-use attorney and close friend of Batmasian’s,
called him an intelligent investor with a knack for predicting where
the market is headed.

"He’s a classic real estate investor," Siemon said. "He’s a really
good person who’s extraordinarily generous, and that’s why he’s been
a success."

But some who dealt with Siemon professionally say he was not always
fair in business.

Artist Clara Duque sued Batmasian on an allegation of civil theft
this month because he would not return three of her oil paintings
hanging in Tulio’s restaurant after he repossessed it.

She said she was "disrespected" in her dealings with the developer.

"He said he wouldn’t return the paintings to me because they want the
place to look nice, even though it’s closed," said Duque, who still
has not gotten her paintings.

In May 2004, seven former employees sued Batmasian on claims that
he forced them to work as independent contractors and did not pay
overtime and other benefits.

The lawsuit sought class-action status to cover other current and
former Batmasian employees.

The lawsuit named as defendants other Batmasian family members and
Batmasian’s corporation, Investments Limited.

An attorney for Batmasian called the claims "nonsense." The suit was
"voluntarily dismissed," according to court records.

In June 2006, during an undercover investigation by Boca Raton police,
Batmasian was charged with hiring a prostitute. He satisfied the
conditions of his plea agreement – which included staying away from
adult entertainment establishments for two months – and the state
withheld the charge.

No matter the outcome of his tax case, Batmasian figures to play
a major role in the future of downtown Boca Raton. His properties
are a key part of the city’s plan for a walkable downtown corridor,
known as the "spine," which has been in the works for decades and
which city leaders want completed by 2010.

The city wants to create the corridor between Northeast Second Street
and Palmetto Park Road to encourage people to stroll between Mizner
Park and Royal Palm Place. Siemon said he expects either Batmasian
or his wife to continue participating in negotiations involving
the project.

ANCA EASTERN REGION ANNOUNCES HONOREE FOR SECOND ANNUAL BANQUET

armradio.am
19.04.2008 11:43

The Armenian National Committee of America, Eastern Region (ANCA ER)
has announced plans to hold its second annual banquet on September 13,
2008 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City, with honored guest,
Pulitzer Prize winner Samantha Power.

"We are proud to be honoring Samantha Power," commented ANCA ER
Chairman Dikran Kaligian. "She has been outspoken on human rights
issues and genocide awareness and has educated hundreds of thousands
throughout the nation and the world on this important issue. In her
opening chapter of her first book, she writes about the Armenian
Genocide leading to the unfortunate realities of the other genocides
that followed."

The evening will begin with a silent auction, followed by a dinner
and program, during which Samantha Power will receive the ANCA ER
Freedom Award.

This award is given to those who demonstrate extraordinary courage
and devotion to freedom and justice. Last year’s honoree was former
United States Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, who was dismissed
from his position for speaking the truth about the Armenian Genocide.

Power, author of "A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide"
and her most recent book "Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello
and the Fight to Save the World", teaches at the Carr Center for Human
Rights Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. She
was a senior adviser to U.S. Democratic Party presidential candidate
Barack Obama. "A Problem from Hell" won the Pulitzer Prize for General
Non-Fiction in 2003.

SARGSYAN-ALIYEV MEETING POSSIBLE SOON, BRYZA SAYS

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2008 15:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ President Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia and Ilham
Aliyev of Azerbaijan may meet to discuss Karabakh settlement in
the near future, the OSCE Minsk Group U.S. Co-chair said during the
U.S. Helsinki Commission hearing.

Mr Matthew Bryza did not clarify possible terms of the meeting. It’s
a matter of several months, according to him.

"The Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers can meet in a month
to arrange presidential talks," the diplomat said. "The situation
requires compromise settlement. Use of force is inadmissible."

He disagreed that the OSCE Minsk Group is not efficient. "The MG’s
work is valuable and useful," he said, ITAR-TASS reports.

DEPUTY FM OF AZERBAIJAN BLAMES ARMENIA FOR: ABUSING GOOD RELATIONS

arminfo
2008-04-17 11:52:00

ArmInfo. Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov blames
Armenia for no less than abusing good relations. In his speech at the
conference "Basic principles of settlement of the conflicts in GUAM
countries" in Baku, Azimov said: "This conference was not a simple
forum, where the countries discussed political issues and problems.

"We can bring together all experiences on the solution to the
conflicts", Araz Azimov said, APA reports. He stated that the
conference broadly discussed the solution to the conflicts. "The main
principle of the conference is that we can investigate resources
for the solution to the problems within the international law. The
conference will explain to opposite side that one cannot abuse good
relations for a long time", he said.

For his part, Deputy Minister of State of Georgia for settlement
of conflicts Dmitri Manjavidze said GUAM member-states have enough
resources to settle their problems. ‘The countries we negotiate
with would better understand that we negotiate not for a dialogue
but for specific steps. We do not need discussions in the form of
negotiations. The first legal resource we will use is the right to
inseparability and sovereignty of territories. We are ready to hold
negotiations up to the last crucial moment’, he aid.

It is not clear enough what A. Azimov means when speaking of good
relations. He is, probably, willing to forget about the pogroms of
Armenian thousands of Armenia refugees from Baku amd Sumgait and the
war unleashed by Azerbaijan.