Author: Dabaghian Diana

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

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: February 6, 2008
Contact: Haig Hovsepian

Tel: (818) 500-1918

ANCA-WR to Join in Advocacy Days Event in Washington

— Seminar Set for March 12-14, 2008

Los Angeles, CA – The Armenian National Committee of America – Western
Region (ANCA-WR) shall participate in the 2008 Advocacy Days Seminar,
which will be cohosted by the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA) and the Genocide Intervention Network (GI-Net). During March
12-14, 2008, activists from the western United States will travel to
Washington, DC to join constituents from across the country in
advocating on issues that concern the Armenian American community.

"This advocacy event promises to be a tremendous success," stated
ANCA-WR Executive Director Andrew Kzirian. "Building on the
remarkable progress of the 2007 March seminar is an exciting
proposition. Armenian American issues have once again come to the
fore of Washington, DC politics, and I am proud to know that the
Armenian American community will be out in full force on Capitol
Hill," he added.

In March 22-23, 2007, activists from the western United States
descended upon Washington, DC to join with GI-Net to raise awareness
of the Armenian Genocide Resolutions (H. Res. 106 and S. Res. 106),
targeted Sudan Divestment Legislation (S. 831) and to ensure proper
funding for peacekeepers to help stop the ongoing genocide in Darfur.
The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held a
hearing on October, 3, 2007 on S. 831, while H. Res. 106 passed
through the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on October 10, 2007
despite unprecedented public opposition from the President of the
United States.

The March 12-14, 2008 advocacy seminar will focus on continuing to
educate and inform elected officials on the need to end the cycle of
genocide by acknowledging, without conditions, the genocides of the
past. The partnership with GI-NET, in addition to various other
humanitarian activist groups represents a growing trend of standing up
against powerful interests that wish to oppose genocide recognition
and prevention efforts.

Please stay tuned for more information.

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) 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.

PROSECUTORS WORRIED OVER RELEASE OF CONVICTS ON PROBATION

ARMENPRESS
Feb 4, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS; In an official letter to Hovhannes
Manukian, the chairman of the Armenian Court of Cassation, the
country’s prosecutor-general Aghvan Hovsepian singled out a chain of
‘serious’ breaches of the law in the process of releasing convicts
on probation.

The Office of the Prosecutor-General says this conclusion has been
made after an in-depth look into the practice of releasing convicts
on probation in 2006 and 2007.

The letter says this process was marred by ignoring a set of procedural
and other requirements.

According to the prosecutor-general, the biggest concern is that among
the criminals set for release on probation were convicts sentenced
to length prison terms for committing serious and grave crimes.

The letter, posted on the Prosecutor-General’s official website,
says among such persons were convicts who had served 7,8 and 9 prison
terms for various serious crimes in the past.

"Fortunately, the decisions of prison authorities to discharge some
convicts on probation were prevented by independent commissions and
judges who took into consideration the protests of prosecutors,"
the letter says.

Out of 2,344 convicts released on probation in 2005-2007 some 285
were again sentenced to different prison terms for new crimes, it said.

NATIONAL TEAM FORMED BY RESULTS OF FREE-STYLE WRESTLING REPUBLICAN CHAMPIONSHIP

Noyan Tapan
Feb 4, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian Free-Style Wrestling
Championship was held on February 1-3 in the Askkhatank playground
in Yerevan. 90 representatives of different regions participated in it.

According to weight categories, the following wrestlers became
champions: Mihran Jaburian (55 kg, Yerevan), Martin Berberian (60 kg,
Yerevan), Hamazasp Hovsepian (66 kg, Artashat), Suren Markosian (74
kg, Garni), Haroutiun Yenokian (84 kg, BKMA), Edgar Yenokian (96 kg,
BKMA), and Vahan Grigorian (120 kg, Yerevan).

The RA national team was formed by the results of the championship. It
will leave for Kiev on February 10 to hold a teaching and training
gathering. The national team will take part in the International
Tournament to start on February 22 there. Then the team will return
to Armenia and will prepare for Europe Championship to start on March
30 in the city of Tampere, Finland.

Rural Development Program
THE ARMENIA FUND
Contact: Sose Amirkhanian
Tel: + (3741) 56 01 06 ext. 107
Fax: + (3741) 52 15 05
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

04 February 2008

Rural Development Program Weekly Update: Milk collection unit, small
projects

Yerevan, 04 February, 2008: After last week’s small lyrical detour we’re
back with good news on the progress of the milk collection center
initiative. We also signal the launch of the automated milking units’ small
projects that will help improve the quality of the milk produced in the
border villages.

MILK COLLECTION CENTER PROJECT LAUNCHED

The establishment of a milk collection center was one of the earliest
economic facilitation initiatives singled out for the Khashtarak cluster
communities. The idea seemed simple enough – provide the border communities
of the region with a source of constant and dependable income. Boosting the
milk collection was one of the obvious choices for a sustainable solution as
all the ingredients were in place for a successful project.

In Armenia, the milk has a ready market, an established price and above all
– people of the region are truly keen to develop this sphere. Tavush region
in general and the Khashtarak cluster communities in particular have a long
and respected tradition of animal husbandry and the majority of the
population there see themselves as cattle breeders. The sphere was hit badly
by the economic calamities of the past twenty years (according to our data
the average farmer currently has only one-two cows) but the desire is still
there and so is the capacity. All that people need is a viable mechanism
that would acquire their milk at a reasonable price and give them the sense
of stability that would allow them to develop without the fear of losing
everything tomorrow.

Developing that mechanism was quite a tricky process and it took several
months to transfer the concept to paper, taking into account and trying to
avoid the possible pitfalls. We based our research on the existing
experience of establishing similar structures in Armenia. Majority of these
projects used the cooperative model in organizing the enterprise. This
concept looks wonderful on paper but the harsh reality shows that these
models generally do not transcend well into reality and the enterprises
simply fall apart. Thus, when dealing with this project, we adopted the milk
collection center as a business approach to the problem.
Next step of the process was finding the people who would believe in this
project and help us to bring it to life. Economic facilitation initiatives
are the cornerstones of the Rural Development Program and are just as, if
not more important than the infrastructure improvement projects. It is the
economic facilitation initiatives that must carry out the practical task of
creating jobs, providing income possibilities and creating the capacity to
maintain whatever infrastructure is put in place. The one problem today is
that the impact of infrastructure improvement projects is severely decreased
because of the lack of adequate maintenance.

The Armenian community of San Francisco was quick to embrace this idea and
offer their full support to the enterprise. Most of the details of the
project were finalized during the Armenia Fund Executive Director Vahe
Aghabegians’ visit to the United States last week. With the signing of a
memorandum of understanding, the project was officially green lit and will
be up and running by the end of this year.

The designated location for the milk collection center is the community of
Azatamut. The capacity of the unit will be sufficient not only to cover the
six villages of the Khashtarak cluster but also serve the needs and provide
income for a number of neighboring villages. We see the implementation of
this project as something that will pull together and give shape to the
Program activities in Tavush region and also define our general vision of
developing border villages. We believe that only by ensuring parallel
economic and infrastructure development can we achieve real results and a
sustainable change in people’s lives.

AUTOMATED MILKING UNIT SMALL PROJECT

The small projects initiative was launched by the Armenia Fund late last
year. It has since been marked by a very positive feedback from people who
cared and wanted to help but did not necessarily have the financial capacity
to undertake a major infrastructure amendment or economic facilitation
project. The key idea here is that narrowing the scale of the project does
not lessen its significance. People who live in the border villages truly
need that stimulus, no matter how small, that life is actually improving and
there is a point in not leaving home.

The small projects tackle issues that are essentially parts of the same big
puzzle we set out to solve together. Most of the existing small projects are
aimed at breaching the information/know-how gap between the border villages
and the rest of the world, whether it is the provision of computers,
newspaper subscriptions or the TV and DVDs.

Now, with the launch of the automated milking unit small project we want to
address the issue of improving the quality of the milk produced in the
border communities. This project is an integral part of the economic
facilitation strategy which also includes the establishment of milk
collection centers, improvement of the overall veterinary service and
conducting specialized vocational trainings with the farmers.
The provision of the automated milking units should have a positive impact
on several levels: first of all, it will allow the farmer to milk the cattle
without hiring outside help. This is a real issue in the communities where
many people of working age have left their homes in search of jobs depriving
the communities of the vital human resources.
Thus, when a farming household finally gets an opportunity to break the
circle of sustenance farming and expand their production, it faces a very
real problem of not being able to find working hands that could sustain the
increased capacity. The use of the milking units requires little manual
labor, partially solving the issue.
Another benefit of the properly used milking unit is the absence of any odor
and taste which can be absorbed from the environment, thus improving the
overall quality and increasing the market value of the product. Higher
market value equals higher income for the farmer and an increased impact of
the milk collection centers on the economy of the border villages.`

Iranian Armenians circulated booklets, DVD about demolition of Armenian
cemetery in Djulfa

01.02.2008 15:35

Yerevan (Yerkir) – The Armenian community of Iran has circulated
booklets and DVD about demolition of the medieval Armenian cemetery in
Old Djulfa (Nachijevan) at the hands of Azerbaijan, said Derenik
Melikian, editor-in-chief of Tehran-based Aliq newspaper. The materials
were submitted to all diplomatic representations accredited to Iran, he
said, IA Regnum reports.

The ancient Armenian cemetery and historical monuments at the
Nachijevan-Iran border have been systematically destructed during past
15 years. In December 2005, the Azeri troops razed the cemetery to the
ground. The process was shot by priests of the Atropaten diocese in
Iran. In January 2006, the European Parliament passed a resolution
condemning Azerbaijan’s barbarism.

Now, the territory of the Armenian cemetery was transformed into a
shooting ground of the Azeri Defense Ministry.

ULP CALLS ON ITS MEMBERS TO BACK CANDIDACY OF SERGE SARGSIAN

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. The majority of active members of the
United Labor Party (ULP) expressed their approval for the pre-election
program of the candidate for RA presidency, the prime minister Serge
Sargsian. Out of 199 delegates of the 4th congress of the ULP on
February 1 who took part in a secret vote, 124 voted for the program of
S. Sargsian, 5 – for the program of Artur Baghdasarian, 1 – Artashes
Geghamian, 0 – Tigran Karapetian, 1 – Aram Harutyunian, 2 – Vahan
Hovhannisian, 14 – Vazgen Manukian, 1 – Arman Melikian, 47 – Levon
Ter-Petrosian.

Taking the position of the majority into account, the ULP political
board instructed the heads of territorial structures to inform all
political parties about the vote results and called on the ULP members
to take an active part in the upcoming presidential elections and to
back the candidacy of Serge Sargsian.

The chairman of the ULP Gurgen Arsenian stated that no pressure was put
on the participants in the vote. In particular, one of the regional
structures, whose representatives did not attend the congress because
of bad weather, have sent the results of its vote, according to which
this structure will not back the candidacy of S. Sargsian. He assured
those present that members of their party are given freedom in giving
their votes for the candidate they prefer at the February 19 elections.

In response to the question about why the ULP, a party with a liberal
ideolody, endorses the candidate of a nationalist party, G. Arsenian
replied that the matter concerns support of the program of Serge
Sargsian rather than that of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA). The
leader of the ULP added that by supporting S. Sargsian’s program, the
party also takes responsibility for its implementation.

G. Arsenian expressed his disagreement in connection with pressure put
on the owner of Sil Concern Khachatur Sukiasian. He said that in
applying pressure on businessmen for their oppositionist political
position, the authorities should take into account that this practive
may be adopted by future authorities.

"AZG" DAILY ONE OF THE MOST READ AND TRUSTWORTHY NEWSPAPERS OF ARMENIA
By Armen Manvelian

AZG Armenian Daily
01/02/2008

Local

Baltic Surveys Ltd./The Gallup organization has studied what sources
of information the population uses. According to it, the main source of
political information remains TV. All the questioned (100 percent) use
this source of information. The second source of political information
is mentioned as newspapers (46 percent). According to the survey in
December it was 41 percent, and in November – 37 percent.

9 percent growth of last months is conditioned by pre-election period
and big public interest of the processes.

As a next source of information relatives and friends are mentioned
– 42 percent, which means that gossips continue to enjoy widespread
popularity in our country. Then comes radio – 40 percent.

The list of the most read newspapers is the following – first comes
"Iravunk" weekly – 15 percent, the second place share "Azg" and
"Aravot" daily newspapers, then comes "Haykakan jamanak" daily –
8 percent. "Erkir" weekly and "Hayots ashkharh daily newspapers have
7 percent each, etc.

To the question "Whom do you trust in?" the following answers were
given – "Iravunk" weekly – 8 percent, "Aravot" daily – 6 percent and
"Azg" daily – 5 percent. The other newspapers have low rating of
trustworthiness. 43 percent of the questioned don’t trust in any
newspaper.

So, we can conclude that in Armenian press "Azg" daily, in spite
of available competition, continues to hold front line and work for
its readership.

THE GIN COMES OUT OF THE BOTTLE
by Vardan Grigoryan

Hayots Ashkharh
Jan 25 2008
Armenia

New debates at the PACE winter session

The debate on the Kosovo issue during the [2008] winter session of
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe [PACE] and the
resolution, adopted on its base on 22 January, is a manifestation of
the total impotence of the European community on reaching a coordinated
compromise on the status of this territory.

It was not occasional that on the day of the resolution’s adoption
Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci stated that the deadline for the
proclamation of Kosovo’s independence was agreed with Washington and
Brussels and will be announced in the nearest future. Thus, although
the PACE has called to continue the negotiations based on Resolution
1244 of the UN Security Council, even Russia, which has authorized
such an amendment to the document [1244 resolution] adopted by the
PACE, realizes that it is no more possible to stop the process.

The situation

The Armenian and Azerbaijani delegations, which participated in the
PACE winter session, clashed at a different time presenting to the
international community serious and essential differences in their
approaches.

Unlike the MP representing Azerbaijan, Qanira Pasayeva, who once
again reiterated as a parrot Azerbaijan’s simple point of view that
"there is no common grounds between Kosovo and Nagornyy Karabakh,
and these conflicts differ by their roots, history, causes", the
Armenian delegation this time selected a totally new strategy of
debating and did not reply to the idle talk of the Azerbaijani side.

[Passage omitted: details of the debate]

The recent statements on the issue voiced from the PACE rostrum by the
Armenian parliamentary delegation, the structure of which has been
significantly strengthened, differ qualitatively from the tactic of
simply wrangling with the Azerbaijani colleagues, in which our side
has usually lost over the last years. This time the blow was aimed at
the goals [of the Azerbaijani delegation] themselves, and we believe
the failure of separating the "Kosovo precedent" from the Earth and
presenting it as some unknown, alien phenomenon has become obvious
for participants of the PACE winter session.

It is more important that such statements on the issue by the
Armenian side were voiced on the eve of the proclamation of Kosovo’s
independence , when the international community, on one side, is trying
to create an impression of the continuation of the negotiations,
but on the other hand, realizes extremely well that it will have no
other way except for recognizing Kosovo’s independence in the future.

Kosovo’s precedent becomes the peculiar gin and the inevitability of
it coming out of the bottle forces the European Union to think from
today about preserving the unity of its political positions.

Due to the maturing of the "Kosovo precedent", we are on the eve of
radical breakthroughs in the international legal practice, which will
provide new and unprecedented opportunities for developing a certain
model for the settlement of conflicts in the post-Soviet area.

RUSSIAN DUMA CHAIRMAN ARRIVING IN ARMENIA ON FORMAL VISIT

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.01.2008 15:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On January 28, Boris Gryzlov, the Chairman of the
State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, will
arrive in Armenia on a formal visit, the RA NA press office reported.

He will meet with National Assembly President Tigran Torosyan and
Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan.

On January 29, a meeting President Robert Kocharian is scheduled.

Mr. Gryzlov will sign an agreement on cooperation with the Republican
Party of Armenia and Prosperous Armenia Party.

CONFERENCE ON PLANNING ‘COOPERATIVE LANCER/LONGBOW – 2008’ MILITARY EXERCISES OPENED IN YEREVAN

arminfo
2008-01-29 14:00:00

ArmInfo. Conference on planning "Cooperative Lancer/Longbow – 2008"
military exercises opened in Yerevan today. The exercises will be
held within the frames of "Partnership for Peace" programme. The
conference will last till 1 February.

As commander of General Headquarters of Armenian armed forces
Col-Gen Seyran Ohanyan told journalists, this is the first planning
conference of "Cooperative Lancer/Longbow- 2008". He also added that
over the conference they are going to discuss the problems connected
with holding of the exercises. Such conference will be also held in
Armenia in April and May.

And the exercises will be held in September of the current
year. Ohanyan said that these exercises will become the biggest at
the territory of South Caucasus. Their purpose is to raise security
and stability cooperation level.

Many representatives of the member-states of "Partnership for Peace"
programme are taking part in the conference. According to Ohanyan,
this is evidence of importance and significance of their holding. He
said that this time representatives of Turkey are also taking part
in the conference, but despite being invited representatives of
Azerbaijan did not arrive in Yerevan to take part in the conference.

Holding of events within the frames of "PfP" programme is becoming
a tradition in Armenia. ‘I am happy for developing cooperation
with partners within the frames of NATO, and Armenia is highly
appreciating NATO role as an effective structure of European security’,
– Ohanyan said.