Author: Dabaghian Diana

MAMMEDOV: WE CAN’T ESTABLISH AN ELECTORAL COMMISSION IN THE THIRD COUNTRY FOR ARMENIANS WILLING TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN AZERBAIJAN
Author: S. Ilhamgizi
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
March 13 2006
There is no chance for Azerbaijani citizens of Armenian origin living
in Armenia or in any other country to participate in the second round
of parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, the Secretary of the Central
Electoral Commission (CEC), Natig Mammedov, told Trend.
The Armenian agency Arka, linking to other Armenian mass media
sources reports that a number of Azerbaijani citizens of Armenian
origin living in Armenia have showed interest in participating in
the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan and even put forward their
candidatures for nomination. They have contacted CEC and the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan with the same intentions. In case if
it is not possible for them to participate in elections in Azerbaijan,
they have suggested opening electoral commission in the third country.
Mammedov has noted that they [CEC] do not possess this sort
of information. He also added that according to the Azerbaijani
legislature it is not possible for persons living in other countries
to participate in elections. To do so, they first have to prove their
citizenship. On the other hand, both nominations for elections and
subscription lists submission stages have already finished on March
13. This means, that no citizen, irrespective of nationality can
participate in the electoral process at this stage.
The Azerbaijani legislature does not have regulations providing
creation of the electoral commissions in the third countries and
holding parliamentary elections there, the head of CEC also added.
“The Azerbaijani Constitution identifies rights of every citizen,
irrespective of his/her nationality to elect and be elected, even if
they are Armenians. These rights are accepted and protected by the
state. However, at this stage it is too late to register those Azeri
citizens of Armenian origin willing to participate in elections. They
had to address CEC in the identified by the law legitimate for
elections time span,” CEC Secretary said.

ARMENIAN MINISTER SAYS KARABAKH SETTLEMENT HINGES ON AZERI CONCESSIONS
Noyan Tapan news agency
14 Mar 06
Yerevan, 14 March: Armenia cannot sit idle while Azerbaijan is
making official statements that if it does not get what it wants
at negotiations it will make no concessions and get what it wants
militarily, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has told
the Azg newspaper website, commenting on the Armenian president’s
statement that should the negotiations fail, Armenia will recognize
the independence of Artsakh [Nagornyy Karabakh].
“Azerbaijan must understand that if Armenia sees that Azerbaijan
has made a conclusion like this, Armenia will also take steps which
may have negative consequences for Azerbaijan – from recognizing
Karabakh to drawing up a new defence doctrine which will permanently
put Azerbaijan on the defensive,” Oskanyan said.
Asked about “the criteria for the failure of the negotiations”,
Oskanyan said: “Today the negotiations are at a stage when Azerbaijan’s
position will be crucial, i.e. we can start making decisions only after
we know whether Azerbaijan is ready for concessions. If Azerbaijan
does not make a concession on the issue discussed at Rambouillet,
it will mean that Azerbaijan continues to stick to its maximalist
position, which will not resolve the problem.
Therefore, the main criterion depends on Azerbaijan.”
Asked about what this step [recognition of independence] would give
Armenia and Artsakh, Oskanyan said: “The recognition, of course,
is a political instrument, which I think will be used on time, and
the president meant precisely this. If you remember, the president
said clearly in his interview – when Azerbaijan finally decides to
resolve the problem militarily, Armenia will reserve the right to
make changes both in the political and defence spheres.”

50 MILLION VICTIMS OF BIRD FLU
A1+
| 20:21:05 | 17-10-2005 | Social |
In 1918 50 million people died of bird flu. Today the doctors have
fears that the same will be repeated.
RA Health Minister Norayr Davidyan said that there is no danger of
the illness in Armenia, but in any case there are vaccinations. The
Ministry of Agriculture and the Tax Committee are also on the alert:
the latter has recently forbidden the import of bird meat into the
country.

Pan Armenian
Hrant Dink: I Will Alarm the Whole World
14.10.2005 22:54 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Editor-in-Chief of Akos newspaper Hrant Dinksentenced to 6
months of conditional imprisonment appealed to the Turkish Supreme Court.
Last week Hrant Dink stated, `If the stigma attached to me is not removed I
will be forced to abandon this country like my ancestors did. But I will not
leave silently like them. I will alarm the whole world.’ Hrant Dink informed
that he received a great number of supporting phone calls and letters from
intellectuals and even political figures. To remind, last week the Istanbul
court sentenced Hrant Dink to 6 months of conditional imprisonment for
demonstrating disregard towards Turks. In his article Dink called upon
Armenians not to poison their blood with hatred towards Turks but think
about Armenia’s future. However the court thought that Dink meant `the
poisonous blood of Turks.’ `I have never outraged any nation. An Armenian
will never do such a thing. We do not offend but are searching for our right
like I am doing now. I am searching for my right and the right of my
ancestors’, Dink said. Term genocide was mentioned for several times in his
article and this fact, in Dink’s opinion has become the reason of his
sentence. `However I am not punished and not sent to prison, since it will
stir up an international scandal’, he said adding that the court examination
had the purpose of making him silent. In case Dink fails to justify himself
in the Supreme Court he is going to appeal to the European Court of Human
Rights. A similar court session is expected as regards writer Orhan Pamuk
for statements on the Armenian Genocide. The well-known writer could receive
Nobel Prize in Literature, RFE/RL reported.

PRE-ELECTION VIOLATIONS IN STEPANAVAN
A1+
| 17:44:00 | 13-10-2005 | Politics |
October 16 the election of the Mayor of Stepanavan will be held. Two
candidates – the incumbent Mayor Sargis Karakeshishyan and 29-year-old
Artak Alexanyan. Several days are left before the election but the
situation is becoming more and more tensed.
October 3 election posters of Artak Alexanyan were stuck to the walls
of the town buildings. The nest morning the posters were found torn.
8 members of the election commissions took part in Sargis
Karakeshishyan’s election campaign. Artak Alexanyan’s staff produced
a complaint to the Stepanavan central commission, then to the Couth
of First Instance on Vanadzor. Violations by the passport departments
were as well fixed.
October 11 Artak Alexanyan’s made some video shots, which show how
the potential voters receive bribe on the form of wheat. There are
also rumors that on the initiative of Karakeshishyan money is being
delivered (10 000 AMD for each vote).
This information was provided by the election headquarters of Artak
Alexanyan. A1+ did not succeed in finding out the originality of the
material. However we possess some data that the incumbent Mayor not
only gives bribes but also exerts pressure upon the voters saying
that he is supported by Robert Kocharian and Serge Sargsyan.

ARMENIANS OF GEORGIA ASK MAYOR OF TBILISI TO ERECT A KHACHKAR IN MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Oct 13 2005
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 13. ARMINFO. On the initiative of the Association
of Georgian Georgian Armenians, the “Nor Serund” (New Generation)
organization has prepared a petition to the Mayor of Tbilisi Gigi
Ugulava for erecting a khachkar (cross-stone memorial) in memory of
the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
According to the report of the Assocuiation, a symbolic number of
1915 signatures has been gathered. The Association also reports that
over 1,5 million Armenians were assassinated in the Ottoman Empire in
1915, and thousands of refugees were accepted by the friendly people
of Georgia. The descendants of the refugees of 1915 now reside in
various regions of Georgia.

EUROPEANS PRAISING THE CONSTITUTION
A1+
| 20:07:36 | 12-10-2005 | Official |
Today Robert Kocharyan had a meeting with the Ambassadors of the EU
member-countries to Armenia and the representative of the European
Committee delegation.
Next week the President is supposed to visit Brussels and the European
structures. During the visit he will discuss the perspectives of
cooperation, particularly issues about the European Neighborhood
program.
The sides also exchanged thoughts about the Constitutional
referendum. They were of the same opinion that the reforms offered are
a step forward and they will allow to correspond the Constitutional
to the European standards.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKISH GOVERNMENT CAN’T INTERVENE IN PAMUK CASE: PM
Reuters
Indian Express, India
Oct 13 2005
PARIS, OCTOBER12: The Turkish government cannot intervene to help
a writer of world repute who could face prison for his views on the
massacres of Armenians 90 years ago, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan
said in comments published on Wednesday.
Orhan Pamuk has been charged with insulting Turkish identity for
supporting claims that Armenians suffered a genocide under Ottoman
Turks in 1915. He faces three years in jail if convicted.
Pamuk further upset the establishment and nationalists by saying
that Turkish forces shared responsibility for the death of more than
30,000 Kurds in southeast Turkey during separatist fighting there in
the 1980s and 1990s.
Erdogan told the French Le Monde newspaper that ” the law is
independent from the executive or the legislative authorities … the
executive authorities cannot interfere with the judiciary”.
Pamuk, best known for historical novels such as My Name is Red and The
White Castle, goes on trial on December 16. His prosecution provided
the European Union a focus for its concerns over whether Turkey’s
human rights record is compatible with the EU membership Ankara seeks.

SYNOPSYS TO ACQUIRE HPL TECHNOLOGIES’ PACKAGE OF SHARES FOR APPROXIMATELY 13 MLN USD
Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Oct 12 2005
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, NOYAN TAPAN. The US company Synopsys that opened
its branch last year in Armenia will acquire the package of shares
of another American company HPL Technologies for approximately 13 mln
USD. The shareholders of HPL Technologies must approve the transaction
in 2006. Brian Gordon, Vice President of HPL Technologies, stated at
the October 12 press conference that in case of the transaction’s
approval, the 100 specialists currently working at the company’s
Armenian branch – HPLA will be included in the staff of Synopsys
Armenia – the Armenian branch of Synopsys. It was mentioned that
merger of these two companies will allow to create new jobs, including
in Armenia.
HPL Technologies is a world leader in yield management software and
test chip solutions. The Armenian branch of the company – HPLA was
founded in 1995.
Rich Goldman, Synopsys Vice President for Strategical Development
of Marketing, noted that the use of HPL technologies will enable to
increase complex semiconductors’ design and production efficiency.
Particularly, the duration of the cycle between design and production,
currently taking 18-20 months, will be reduced. R.
Goldman did not rule out the possibility of purchase of other companies
by Synopsys.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN ENTERPRISES TRANSFERRED TO RUSSIA WILL BE ACTIVATED
ARMINFO News Agency
October 11, 2005
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 11. ARMINFO. ‘The Armenian enterprises transferred
to Russia in return for the country’s state debt will be activated.’
Armenian Presidential Security Council, Defense Minister of Armenia,
Co-Chairmen of the Armenian- Russian Intergovernmental Commission
for Economic Cooperation Serge Sargsyan told journalists, Tuesday.
He said Russian representatives of the Intergovernmental Commission for
Economic Cooperation have arrived in Armenia to take first hand view
of the problem. ‘I think, some progress is expected in the sphere,’
Serge Sargsyan said.
To note, to repay its $100 million debt to Russia, the Armenian
party transferred Hrazdan TPP, National Research Institution of
Mathematical Machines, NRI of Automatic Control Systems, “Mars” plant,
Institution of Materials Study. Factually, except Hrazdan TPP, none
of the enterprises has been activated during the last two years.