Author: Dabaghian Diana

ROBERT KOCHARIAN: WHEN SAYING "INDEPENDENT INQUIRY", EUROPEANS MEAN CONDUCTING, FOR EXAMPLE, A PARLIAMENTARY INQURY IN PARALLEL WITH CRIMINAL CASE

Noyan Tapan
March 20, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 20, NOYAN TAPAN. When speaking about an independent
inquiry into the March 1 events in Yerevan, Europeans rather
mean conducting, for example, a parliamentary inquiry which
never substitutes the investigation into a criminal case, the
Armenian president Robert Kocharian said at the March 20 press
conference. Whereas, investigation into a criminal case cannot be
conducted in any other way: the case is being investigated by an
independent body – the Special Investigation Service, while the
prosecutor’s office, which is also an independent body, supervises
this investigation.

R. Kocharian underlined that in order to increase trust in the
investigation, the RA prosecutor general’s office has applied to a
number of organizations with the request to assist with invitation
of independent foreign experts. "We also need that. There were 8
victims, and we also want some international experts to reconfirm or
to express their opinion about what the cause of their deaths was,"
the Armenian president said, pointing out that invitation of experts
does not contradict the Armenian legislation, and the opinion of the
experts will be included in the criminal case to go to court.

According to the Armenian president, the law enforcement bodies
are well aware that if there is not enough evidence, the case will
finally go to the European Court of Human Rights. "No one wants
to get into such a situation," R. Kocharian said. In his opinion,
Armenia’s law enforcement system is a credible one, it is another
matter that attemps are constantly made in the press and speeches to
sow people’s distrust of this system.

RA PRESIDENT CONSIDERS ILLOGICAL AND NOT UNDERSTANDABLE PROPOSAL TO HOLD SPECIAL PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

Noyan Tapan
March 20, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 20, NOYAN TAPAN. RA President Robert Kocharian
considers illogical and not understandable the proposal to hold
special parliamentary elections in Armenia. "I do not accept that
approach for a simple reason: special parliamentary elections are held
only in one case, if the parliament is not able to form government
and to make majority inside itself, we do not have such a problem,"
Robert Kocharian stated at the March 20 press conference. Besides,
according to the RA President, "we know very well that no election
has resulted in calming down the passions in RA," therefore it would
not be right "to enter some new cycle, new process that will further
complicate the current situation."

BOYAJIAN: BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD HAS AN UNHEALTHFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH ‘NO PLACE FOR HATE’
By David Boyajian

Watertown TAB & Press
festyle/columnists/x1059915943
March 20 2008
MA

WATERTOWN – With health insurance now compulsory in Massachusetts,
and premiums high enough to cause altitude sickness, it’s inexcusable
that the state’s largest insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield, is still
misusing its subscribers’ money by sponsoring the alleged anti-bias
program known as "No Place for Hate."

Eleven municipalities – Arlington, Bedford, Belmont, Lexington,
Medford, Needham, Newburyport, Newton, Northampton, Watertown and
Westwood – recently gave their NPFH program the boot. They discovered
that its creator and sponsor, the Anti-Defamation League, denies
the factuality of the Armenian Genocide committed by Turkey and
doesn’t want America to recognize that genocide. And they understood
that NPFH – the name is a federally registered ADL trademark – was
violating its own human rights principles by being affiliated with
a genocide-denying organization.

The ADL has hypocritically opposed acknowledgment of the Armenian
holocaust to win political points with Turkey, which has close
relations with Israel. In actuality, the ADL is a highly controversial,
ethnic-specific organization known to be focused on political lobbying,
not universal human rights.

So why hasn’t Blue Cross Blue Shield followed the lead of towns that
have severed ties to NPFH?

Here’s what we know. Several years back, Peter Meade, the recently
retired Blue Cross Blue Shield vice president, "was instrumental in
mobilizing Blue Cross" to become the state’s first official NPFH
corporation. And Meade sits – amazing coincidence No. 1 – on the
board of the New England ADL and received its Chairperson’s Award.

Meade also chairs the Greenway Conservancy, which will oversee future
upkeep of Boston’s Rose Kennedy Greenway. For some strange reason –
amazing coincidence No. 2 – he opposes the Greenway’s proposed Armenian
Heritage Park, which might include a small plaque that remembers
the victims of the Armenian Genocide. It’s an obvious conflict of
interest for a member of the genocide-denying ADL to sit in judgment
of anything Armenian. But so far the well-connected Meade has gotten
away with it, aided by a major Boston paper that won’t report that
conflict of interest.

And here’s amazing coincidence No. 3: Blue Cross Blue Shield’s Boston
headquarters is hosting this year’s board meetings of the Greenway
Conservancy.

How much has Blue Cross Blue Shield been spending on NPFH programs?

It won’t give me a figure, and I can guess why. Blue Cross Blue Shield
was recently in the spotlight for the controversial $16.4 million
retirement package it lavished on ex-Chairman William Van Faasen.

Interestingly, Van Faasen declared in 2001 that Blue Cross Blue
Shield was "pleased [to] assist the ADL" with NPFH. Which brings us
to amazing coincidence No. 4: Van Faasen received the ADL’s coveted
Maimonides award.

Another Blue Cross Blue Shield executive, Vice President Fredi
Shonkoff, "helped spearhead" the company’s designation as NPFH. How
might that have happened? Amazing coincidence No. 5: Shonkoff sat on
the ADL’s board, along with Peter Meade.

Are you getting the feeling that the ADL and its board members and
friends have been throwing their weight around inside Blue Cross Blue
Shield, the Greenway Conservancy and the state’s NPFH municipalities?

Think of the powerful ADL as the hub of an enormous wheel with these
spokes: NPFH – Blue Cross Blue Shield – Shonkoff – Van Faasen –
Meade – the Greenway Conservancy – opposition to the Armenian Park –
denial of the Armenian Genocide – Turkey.

Had a Holocaust-denying organization created and sponsored NPFH,
Blue Cross Blue Shield would long ago have cut ties with both of them.

Blue Cross Blue Shield apparently believes Armenians and their genocide
do not deserve the same respect.

And, yes, the ADL still denies the Armenian genocide. Last August, ADL
National Director Abe Foxman deliberately used ambiguous phrases such
as "tantamount to genocide" and language that parroted Turkey’s line
that the mass murder of Armenians from 1915-23 was not intentional,
but rather just an unfortunate "consequence" of wartime conditions.

Blue Cross Blue Shield is squandering not only its subscribers’
premiums but also the reputations of a 70-year old health-care
institution and its dedicated employees. One hopeful sign: Blue Cross
Blue Shield told me, "Each year we carefully evaluate our commitment
to the NPFH program."

Though Massachusetts treats Blue Cross Blue Shield as a nonprofit,
the feds consider it for-profit. Since corporate contributions to
groups such as NPFH are tax-deductible, everyone is paying for NPFH.

And if you’re a Blue Cross Blue Shield subscriber, as thousands in
Watertown surely are, you’re shelling out even more.

Turkish doctors experimented on Armenians during the genocide just
as German doctors did on Jews during the Holocaust, according to
a study published in "Holocaust and Genocide Studies." Would any
network of doctors tolerate a health-care corporation affiliated with
an organization that denied or diminished the Holocaust? Of course not.

Blue Cross Blue Shield network doctors, therefore, should insist that
Blue Cross Blue Shield cease participation in all ADL programs.

Blue Cross Blue Shield needs to drop its official NPFH designation,
stop misusing its members’ precious health-care dollars on NPFH and
sever ties with the ADL.

NEW NUCLEAR POWER PLANT TO BE BUILT IN ARMENIA BY 2016

AZG Armenian Daily
20/03/2008

Energy

During a round-table discussion, dedicated to Dr. Gerd Rosenkratz’s
"Nuclear Energy. Facts and Fiction" book, Deputy-Minister for Power
Engineering of Armenia Areg Galstian told the reporters that Russia,
the USA and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) not only
approve the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Armenia, but
are also working out a strategy of preferential deliveries of nuclear
fuel to the country, which will help develop Armenia’s nuclear power
engineering more actively,

According to the Deputy-Minister, the feasibility study of the new
NPP in Armenia will be completed by September-October 2008. He
also reminded that the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is to
be shut down by 2016; therefore the new one is to be ready before
that. "Economic estimations show that there is no alternative to
the nuclear power engineering in Armenia. Estimations on creation
of alternative generation sources have been made over the past 8
years. For this purpose, well-known foreign firms were involved in
the process, however, their estimations showed that the most optimal
variant is developing of the nuclear power engineering", Galstian said.

At present the Metsamor NPP generates 45% of total electricity in
Armenia. Armenia and Russia have already set up a joint venture for
prospecting of uranium in Armenian territory. Earlier Armenia ratified
an agreement on active participation in the work of the international
uranium enrichment center in Angarsk. The participation in this project
will help Armenia not only to supply its NPP with fuel but also to
export uranium (provided that the present prospecting expedition finds
sufficient uranium resources). Armenia’s total uranium resources are
estimated at 60,000 tons. Experts say that the construction of a new
1,000 MW NPP will cost $1.5bln.

"BASES OF A STATEHOOD NEED MORE SERIOUS AND STRICTER LEGISLATIVE PROTECTION", ARMENIAN PRESIDENT STATED

Mediamax
March 20, 2008

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Armenian President Robert Kocharian stated today
that the events of March 1-2 in Yerevan showed that "the bases of
our statehood need more serious and stricter legislative protection".

Mediamax reports that, speaking at a news conference in Yerevan today,
Robert Kocharian stated that this became one of the most important
lessons of the mass unrest.

"Democracy needs to be protected from the tyranny of the crowd. In
recent years we carried out many reforms in various spheres; however
the latest events showed that the protection of the bases of our
statehood is not registered in the laws the way it should be. For
example, in the process of the rallies, the representatives of radical
opposition publicly called on employees of law-enforcement bodies and
Armed Forces to renounce service. In Germany, criminal punishment for
the term of up to 5 years is provided for such urges", the Armenian
President stated.

Robert Kocharian stated that at present the specialists are studying
European experience, and he intends to initiate toughening of
legislation to improve the protection of bases of statehood and to
prevent public propaganda of violence.

"This does by no means mean that these steps will be taken up in
prejudice of democracy. On the contrary, these steps will allow
protecting democracy from political adventurism", the Armenian
President stressed.

Among other lessons, Robert Kocharian named the inadmissibility of
involving non-governmental organizations into illegal processes. The
Armenian President noted that practically all members of public
organization of veteran-volunteers "Spirit Testing" and a certain
part of the members of public organization of veteran-volunteers
"Yerkrapah" participated in the unrest.

"The prospect of repetition of such a situation should be definitely
ruled out. Not a single organization should consider itself a
"Joker", otherwise it will turn into serious problems for the Armenian
statehood", the Armenian President stated.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT ADMITTED THAT 3 HUMAN LOSSES MIGHT HAVE BEEN AVOIDED, IF THE POLICE WAS EQUIPPED WITH MODERN SPECIAL MEANS

Mediamax
March 20, 2008

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Armenian President Robert Kocharian stated today
that the law-enforcement bodies of Armenia need better technical
equipment.

Mediamax reports that, speaking at a news conference in Yerevan today,
Robert Kocharian stated that this became one of the most important
lessons of the mass unrest in the capital city on March 1-2.

"We in fact used out-of-date special means. The preliminary results
of the investigation evidence that three human losses among the
civilians might have been avoided, if the used special means were
safer", the Armenian President stated.

All in all, 8 people died in the process of the unrest, including
one police officer.

WHOLE AZERBAIJAN POPULAR FRONT PARTY CALLS TO REFUSE MEDIATION OF OSCE MG

Azeri Press Agency
March 17 2008
Azerbaijan

Whole Azerbaijan Popular Front Party has held the next meeting today,
Press Service of the Party told APA.

The Party condemned OSCE MG member countries’ position on resolution
on Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan adopted in UN General Assembly
.The party stated that OSCE MG member countries were not interested
in just solution of Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The Party’s statement
says that the member countries want to frozen the conflict for a
long time. Voting against the resolution on Occupied Territories
of Azerbaijan proves that they have hypocritical position," the
statement reads.

"The ongoing situation shows that member countries do not want the
solution of the conflict within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

This shadows the above-said countries’ statements on inviolability
of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity," the statement says.

The Party considers that OSCE MG Co-Chairs’ activity is unacceptable.

"We should appeal to the UN Security Council for the implementation
of resolutions on liberation of Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan as
well as solution to the conflict within international legal norms,"
the statement says.

WAPFP Management Board considered the necessity of explanation from
the countries, which were against or abstained on the resolution.

The statement covers that incomes from energy recourses should be
allocated for army building.

"Azerbaijani Armed Forces should be provided with the cutting-edge
military facilities and aggressors should be expelled from the lands
and the territorial integrity should be restored," reads the statement.

The Management Board also discussed the preparation for the next
assembly.

OSCE MG THINKS AZERBAIJAN’S RESOLUTION UNJUST

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.03.2008 13:28 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "The OSCE Minsk Group co-chair states, including
Russia, have taken a tough stand on the UN resolution on Azerbaijan,"
Russia’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Vasily Istratov said when commenting
on the March 14 vote.

"The OSCE Minsk Group co-chair states think that resolution as unjust,"
he said, Azeri Press Agency reports.

On 14 March, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Nagorno
Karabakh, in which Azerbaijan called for the immediate, complete and
unconditional withdrawal of Armenian forces "from all the occupied
territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan."

With 39 votes in favor, 7 against and 100 abstentions, the Assembly
adopted a text that also called for "continued respect and support
for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of
Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders."

In favor: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei
Darussalam, Cambodia, Colombia, Comoros, Djibouti, Gambia, Georgia,
Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Moldova,
Morocco, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Turkey, Tuvalu, Uganda,
Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen.

Against: Angola, Armenia, France, India, Russian Federation, United
States, Vanuatu

UN resolution on Nagorno Karabakh to undermine peaceful process: RA
Permanent Representative to UN Armen Martirosyan

2008-03-15 13:48:00

ArmInfo. "The Resolution of UN General Assembly on Nagorno Karabakh
with requirement of immediate withdrawal of the Armenian forces "from
the occupied territories of Azerbaijan", having been passed the day
before, will undermine the peaceful process, Permanent Representative
of Armenia to UN Armen Martirosyan said from the tribune of UN General
Assembly, the foreign Mass Media report. "The weighed and responsible
mediators in this conflict considered that the Resolution does not
contribute to peaceful negotiations. Armenia knows that it will
undermine the peaceful process", Martirosyan said before voting. The
General Assembly passed the document with 39 votes "for" and 7
"against". Total of 147 out of 192 UN members- states took part in the
voting.

According to the message, 100 UN member-states abstained during voting
on the Resolution on "the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, which
asks to confirm its right for Nagorno Karabakh and the adjacent
territories". The document emphasizes the necessity of "immediate,
complete and unconditional withdrawal of all the Armenian forces from
all the occupied territories of the Azerbaijani Republic". A.
Martirosyan qualified the document, introduced by Baku, which, as he
said, conflicts with the basic international standards, as an attempt
of "sabotage" of the negotiation process by Azerbaijan. The document
could get the official approval of the General Assembly due to support
of the Islamic Conference Organization, on behalf of which Permanent
Representative of Pakistan Munir Akram came forwards.

"We are deeply concerned over Armenia’s attempts to confirm the
status-quo of occupation, in particular, through the attempt of illegal
settlement of the Armenian population in the occupied territory", Akram
said. He called on UN states to confirm the integrity of the
internationally-recognized borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan with the
status of a wide self-government of Nagorno Karabakh in the structure
of Azerbaijan. The document, from which 100 countries dissociated, was
introduced for discussion by the nations in less than a month after the
Serbian Territory of Kosovo declared independence on February 17, which
has been already recognized by 30 states. Russia and a number of other
countries consider this a violation of the international law and feared
of the "domino effect".

The Resolution, confirming the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, was
supported by Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine.

The General Assembly claims once again that no state should recognize
the situation, developed as a result of occupation of AR territories,
legal and should not contribute to or promote preservation of this
situation", the Resolution reads. The General Assembly’s Resolutions
have no compulsory power of performance.

PROPAGANDA TERROR – NOT SOMETHING NEW
Lilit Poghosyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
March 14, 2008

As we know, under the March 1 decree on imposing a state of emergency
in the town of Yerevan, President Robert Kocharyan has, along with
other temporary restrictions, "narrowed’ the scope of the activity
of the media to a certain extent, prohibiting to disseminate false
"information" aimed at destabilizing the situation and arbitrary
"political analyses".

In accordance with the above mentioned, it was particularly prescribed
that the information on state and internal political issues should
be presented in a "pure" form, i.e. in the form of official reports,
without individual comments.

In response to the questions of the journalists, the President promised
the previous day to review the relevant clause of the decree. "In the
framework of the state of emergency, it is prescribed what publications
concerning the internal political situation may be available. The new
decree will prescribe the things that are not allowed to do. And the
restrictions will only apply to the dissemination of provocative and
obviously false information," the President said.

Considering that no incidents and violations were observed
in connection with the legal regime of the state of emergency,
R. Kocharyan yesterday signed a new decree (as he had promised) on
introducing changes in the decree issued on March 1. Accordingly,
the clause restricting the activity of the media is reworded in the
following manner, "The mass media are prohibited from publishing
and disseminating obviously false information, concerning state
and internal political issues, or any other information aimed at
destabilizing the situation, as well as calls for participating in
unauthorized (unlawful) events".

Time will show to what extent such "mitigation" will contribute to
stabilizing the situation, and to what extent it will allow us to
resist the goal-oriented lie and fraud with the help of which the
propaganda machine of the Armenian Pan-National Movement consistently
and persistently poisoned the people for several years continuously,
sowing total intolerance, hatred and hostility in relation to the
authorities and dissidents in general.

One thing is clear: the "March 1" events wouldn’t have happened had
the authorities tried to call to order the professional falsifiers
who were engaged in "propaganda diversion" against the state under
the cover of freedom of speech, who represented gossips and rumors as
100 percent "reliable information", their own desires – as "analysis"
and the fruits of their own morbid fantasy – as "political prediction".

Was it necessary to declare a state of emergency in the country so as
the media would be offered to mind their own business at last? That’s
to say, to present true information to the public with regard to the
developments taking place in the country, to have an elementary sense
of responsibility, not to tell lies or defame people and to refrain
from turning the events upside down.

After all, the pro-Levon propaganda terror, which intensified after the
elections and, having reached its peak as a results of the incessant
brainwashing continued in Theatrical Square for 9 days, surged a wave
of mass psychosis and developed into a "spontaneous massive violence",
is not something new.

The organized misinformation campaign has always accompanied us after
the 1998 shift of power. The propaganda of hatred, as a political
category, i.e. a tool and a factor of a political confrontation,
became fantastically active after the "October 27" acts, continuously
polluting the atmosphere of public confrontation with the poisonous
manifestations of mutual distrust, suspicion and spite. And today,
it is doing its dirty business from the "underground", ignoring the
restrictions envisaged by the regime of the state of emergency.

Isn’t it accounted for by the fact that instead of subjecting
the liars to liability and thus contributing to the formation of
‘liability institutions’, the law enforcement agencies ignored, for
several years, the obvious misinformation circulating in the press
supporting the Armenian Pan-National Movement and the unfounded
accusations addressed to different people?