Author: Dabaghian Diana

ARMENIAN DELEGATION HELD SEVERAL MEETINGS IN WASHINGTON
Pan Armenian News
28.09.2005 03:57
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ September 24-28 the Armenian governmental delegation
was in Washington for the participation in the sitting of the
Armenian-American intergovernmental working group on economic affairs
and the annual sitting of the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund. Armenian Minister of Economy and Finance Vardan Khachatrian,
RA President’s Chief Advisor on Economic affairs Vahram Nersisyants,
Minister of Trade and Economic Development Karen Chshmaritian,
Minister of Agriculture David Lokian, RA Central Bank President Tigran
Sargsian, Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosian, RA Ambassador to
the U.S. Tatul Margarian and Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance
Tigran Khachatrian served on the Armenian delegation.
Within the framework of the WB-IMF sitting the Armenian delegation
members met with the leadership of the organizations. September
27 they met with Millennium Challenge Corporation Acting Executive
Director Charles Setnes to discuss the Armenian Millennium Challenge
program. The parties agreed on proceeding with the joint activities
in order to accomplish the program. The Armenian delegates also held
meetings with Dutch Minister of Finance Gerrit Zalm and the Iranian
Minister of Finance.

THE MEETINGS OF THE PRESIDENT OF FINLAND IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
National Assembly of RA, Armenia
Sept 28 2005
On September 27 RA NA Speaker Artur Baghdasaryan had a private talk
with Tarja Halonen, President of the Republic of Finland being on an
official visit in Armenia.
The problems of Armenian-Finnish relations were discussed in the
private talk. Both sides highlighted the political, economic and
scientific-cultural relations between two countries and the development
of inter-parliamentary relations was especially highlighted. It was
noted that a friendship group with the Parliament of Finland was
established in the Parliament of Armenia. At Mrs.
Halonen’s request, NA Speaker presented the democratic reforms taking
place, and the use of the Finnish experience was highlighted.
The delegation headed by Tarja Halonen, President of the Republic
of Finland met in the National Assembly with NA Speaker Artur
Baghdasaryan, NA Vice Speaker Tigran Torosyan, chairmen of the standing
committees, heads of groups-factions. At the meeting Justice Minister
Davit Harutiunyan and the ambassadors of two countries were present.
Welcoming the guests, NA Speaker Artur Baghdasaryan expressed
conviction that the visit will be an impetus in the development
of the Armenian-Finnish relations. NA Speaker highlighted the
development of the inter-parliamentary relations, the cooperation in
international structures and the experience exchange in the sphere
of legislation. Adopting the policy of Euro-Integration, Armenia pays
great importance to the study of the Finnish experience. It was noted
that in the National Assembly a parliamentary friendship group with
the Parliament of Finland functions. The cooperation was considered
necessary in the spheres of culture, science and education. Highly
estimating the activity of the Armenological center set up in Finland,
the Parliament Speaker expressed readiness to promote the center in
getting new literature. NA Speaker Artur Baghdasaryan invited his
Finnish colleagues to Armenia.
Expressing gratitude, Tarja Halonen, President of Finland, underscored
that the existing parliamentary friendship group political relations
created good bases for the further cooperation and highlighted not
only the bilateral, but also the deepening of the inter-parliamentary
relations, noting that a parliamentary friendship group with South
Caucasus was set up in the parliament of Finland.
Mrs. Halonen invited the Armenian parliamentarians to participate in
2006 at the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the Parliament
of Finland, which will be also useful for the development of the
inter-parliamentary relations and experience exchange. The President
of Finland expressed a hope that the Constitutional amendments in
Armenia will go on in the atmosphere of consent.
At the end Tarja Halonen, President of the Republic of Finland made
notes in the book of honorable guests.

UES TO BUY ARMENIAN
St Petersburg Times, Russia
Sept 27 2005
IN BRIEF
MOSCOW (Bloomberg) – Unified Energy System, the national power utility,
will buy Armenia’s electricity network from Midland Resources Holding
for an undisclosed sum, RIA Novosti reported.
Armenia’s government approved Midland’s request to sell its 100 percent
stake in Armenian Electricity Networks to Interenergo, an offshore
venture UES has with Russian nuclear energy monopoly Rosenergoatom,
RIA reported.
Interenergo agreed in June to pay $73 million to “borrow” Midland’s
shares for 99 years, the Russian newswire said.
The Guernsey-based company paid $40 million for the stock, RIA
reported, without giving details of that transaction.

MAYOR ACCUSED
Sunday Times (London)
September 25, 2005, Sunday
THE mayor of an Armenian town was arrested after the head of a power
company was shot dead. Armen Kelishyan was said to have killed Ashot
Mkhitaryan after accusing him of inflating his electricity bill.

Financial Times (London, England)
September 23, 2005 Friday
London Edition 1
Turkish academics grasp nettle on Armenians: Bosphorus University is
hoping to avoid trouble this weekend when it finally holds a
controversial conference,
By VINCENT BOLAND
There is no moresensitive issue in Turkey’s 20thcentury history. The
country’s most celebrated writer faces jail for mentioning it. But
this weekend Bosphorus University plans to go ahead with a
conference, on the fate of Turkish Armenians at the end of the
Ottoman empire, that has been delayed for months after a government
minister accused the university of treason.
The meeting will be the first to discuss the issue outside official
control and will be closely watched for any hint that Turkey’s
democratic credentials fail to meet the standards expected of a
candidate for European Union membership.
As it prepares to begin the long process of joining the EU, Ankara
seems ready to address many contentious issues, such as Cyprus or the
plight of the country’s ethnic Kurds. But it appears paralysed on the
question of the Armenians.
Armenia claims that 1.5m Armenians died as a result of genocide by
Ottoman troops beginning in 1915, before the republic of Turkey was
created. Turkey maintains the death toll was much lower and that the
deaths were caused by deportation, war and hunger. Many historians
and some governments take Armenia’s side.
Two recent events highlight the sensitivity of the issue and what
could be at stake in this weekend’s conference, which will be
attended and addressed solely by Turkish historians. When the
university announced the gathering, to be held originally in late
May, there were fierce protests by republican and nationalist
politicians and academics at other universities and a government
minister accused the institution of “stabbing the country in the
back”.
The university capitulated, worried that hundreds of students from
universities in Anatolia, which are far more nationalist than
Bosphorus, would descend on the conference and disrupt the
proceedings. It rescheduled the conference for this weekend, with far
less publicity and a heightened sense of security.
The second event, which has given the conference proceedings added
significance, is the prosecution of Orhan Pamuk, Turkey’s most
celebrated writer. Earlier this year he told a foreign magazine that
“30,000 Kurds and 1m Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody
but me dares to talk about it”. He has now been charged with the
“public denigration of Turkish identity” for this statement, and
faces up to three years in jail if convicted in a trial set for
December.
The fact that this weekend’s conference is going ahead is a small
victory for civil rights in Turkey, while Mr Pamuk’s prosecution is a
large setback.
It is possible to discuss Armenia today in a way that was not
possible five years ago, some commentators say, but only on certain
terms. Ragip Duran, a journalist and communications lecturer at
Galatasaray University who has been jailed for his work, says: “It is
OK to talk about sensitive issues (such as Armenia), but only in a
certain national context. The Orhan Pamuk case is the best example of
the breaking of this taboo.”
The conference is not adopting Mr Pamuk’s provocative stance. Ayhan
Aktar, a professor at Marmara University who will attend, says it is
not aimed specifically at discussing or endorsing the genocide claim,
as some of its critics alleged in May, although participants may
choose to do so. The title of the proceedings – Ottoman Armenians
during the era of Ottoman decline – is neutral.
Still, it is significant that the conference is going ahead before
October 3, when Turkey begins its EU accession process.
The controversy in May rattled the government, despite the
contribution to the affair of Cemil Cicek, the justice minister, who
made the “treason” allegation against Bosphorus University.
Several participating academics say the government, which likes to
trumpet its pluralist instincts, urged the university to reschedule
the event for this weekend.
Nonetheless, ministers are being careful not to be identified too
closely with the event and the publicity it is sure to generate.
According to the university, there will be no official presence.
That is unlikely to affect the quality of the debate. But whether it
affects the public perception of the conference and its findings
remains to be seen.

STRADIVARIUS VIOLIN FOR ARMENIAN VIOLINIST
A1+
| 15:59:59 | 22-09-2005 | Official |
September 24 Armenian violinist Sergey Khachatryan will perform with
the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia in the concert hall after
Aram Khachaturyan.
Sergey Khachatryan, the awardee and laureate of numerous contests
resides in Germany . Lately in Brussels he was awarded the first
prize of the famous Queen Elizabeth contest and received the right
to play Huggins Stradivarius violin.
Today Armenian President Robert Kocharian received the young violinist.
Wishing him every success the President wished the musician gave
concerts in his homeland once a year at least.

Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Sept 20 2005
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian
X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 — ListProcessor(tm) by CREN
FOUNDATIONS OF THE CHURCH LAID
The dream of the inhabitants of the capital of NKR to have a church
in the city will soon fulfill. On September 15 the foundation stones
of St. Jacob Church near Hekimian Street in Stepanakert were laid. At
the ceremony of confirmation churchmen of Artsakh Diocese of the
Armenian Apostolic Church, officials and believers were present. The
Armenian benefactor Vache Yepremian from Los Angeles who will sponsor
the construction of the church was also present. After washing with
water and wine and anointing with chrism the 16 stones symbolizing
the 13 apostles, 2 evangelists and Gregory the Illuminator were
placed in the foundation of the church. Vache Yepremian said the idea
of building a church in Stepanakert occurred during his talks with
Archbishop of Artsakh Parghev Martirossian; he was surprised to learn
that there was no church in Stepanakert. The construction of the
church will last till next spring. And in the second half of October
the foundations of the cathedral will be laid. Its construction will
probably last for 2 – 3 years.

Noyan Tapan News Agency
Sept 19 2005
OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL EUROPEAN MOVEMENT ENVISAGED TO OPEN IN
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Henrik Kroner,
the Secretary General of the International European Movement
presented the history and the activity of the organization at the
September 16 meeting with Artur Baghdasarian, the Chairman of the RA
National Assembly. He mentioned that being a wide-spread movement in
Europe, the Internationak European Movement was in sources of
formation of the Council of Europe and the European Union.
As Noyan Tapan was informed by the NA Public Relations Department,
the issue of opening an office of the Movement in Armenia was
discussed at the meeting. It’s goal is to support formation of the
civic society and deepening democracy in Armenia. Henrik Kroner
proposed the NA Chairman to join the International European Movement
members of which are Jose Manuel Barroso, the President of the
European Commission, Valery Giscard d’Esting, the former President of
France, Helmut Kohl, the former Chancellor of Germany and many people
having high posts in Europe.
Artur Baghdasarian expressed his readiness to support Henrik Kroner
and wished successes in Armenian activities. An agreement was reached
on continuing the cooperation which can be implemented by a
successful activity of the office.

INTERNATIONAL PEN CALLS FOR AN END TO PUBLISHER RAGIP ZARAKOLU’S TRIALS
IFEX, Canada (International Freedom of Expression Xchange)
Sept 19 2005
Country/Topic: Turkey
Date: 19 September 2005
Source: Writers in Prison Committee, International PEN
Person(s): Ragip Zarakolu
Target(s): publisher(s) , writer(s)
Type(s) of violation(s): charged , legal action
Urgency: Bulletin
(WiPC/IFEX) – Members of International PEN, the world association
of writers, are protesting the decision to take to court one of
Turkey’s most well-known writers, Orhan Pamuk, for comments seen
to be “insulting” to the Turkish state. His trial is due to open in
mid-December (see IFEX alerts of 2 September and 6 April 2005). This
move has been widely condemned internationally. At the same time
other writers and journalists are on trial for commentary also seen
to be insulting to the Turkish state, its officials and institutions.
Most well known of these is the publisher Ragip Zarakolu, who has
rarely been out of the courts because of his publications since the
late 1970s.
In the next four weeks Zarakolu will be brought before courts three
times in three separate cases. On 20 September an Istanbul court will
preside over the latest in a series of hearings initiated in March this
year against Zarakolu’s publication of George Jerjian’s book History
Will Free All of Us/Turkish-Armenian Conciliation. The book is said
to be “insulting” to the memory of Kemal Ataturk by suggesting that
leading government figures close to Ataturk had been responsible for
the mass deportation of Armenians in 1915. Zarakolu is being charged
under articles of the Penal Code (art. 159/1 and art. 5186) that have
since been removed following penal revisions put into place in June
this year. The next day, another hearing will be held under the same
law – this time for Zarakolu’s publication of a book by Professor
Dora Sakayan’s An Armenian Doctor in Turkey: Garabed Hatcherian: My
Smyrna Ordeal of 1922. On 11 October, Zarakolu will yet again appear
in court to hear the latest in a series of hearings that started
in May 2004 for an article published in 2003 entitled, “Sana Ne”
(“Of No Interest”) that criticised Turkey’s policy towards the Kurds
in Iraq. As for the hearing on 20 September, he is being tried under
a law that has changed since the introduction of the new Penal Code.
Zarakolu has long been an advocate for minority and human rights
in Turkey. In 1968 he began writing for “Ant” and “Yeni Ufuklar”
magazines. In 1971 a military government assumed power in Turkey
and convicted Zarakolu of working with an international communist
organisation. He was imprisoned for three years. On his release
Zarakolu steadfastly refused to abandon his campaign for freedom of
thought, striving for an “attitude of respect for different thoughts
and cultures to become widespread in Turkey”. Unable to publish
certain works within Turkey, Zarakolu turned to the international
market, whilst he circumvented the ban on criticism of Turkey’s
military regime by turning his attention to abuses of human rights by
governments in South America and elsewhere. The Belge Publishing House,
established in Istanbul in 1977 by Zarakolu and his equally eminent
wife Ayse Nur, has been a focus for Turkish censorship laws ever
since. Charges brought against the couple – at one point there were
over thirty government-brought actions – resulted in imprisonment for
both Nur and Zarakolu, the wholesale confiscation and destruction of
books and the imposition of heavy fines. In 1995 the Belge Publishing
House offices were firebombed by an extremist rightist group, forcing
it to be housed in a cellar. Since his wife’s death in 2002 Zarakolu
has continued to face numerous prosecutions of which his current
trials are all too familiar.
PEN recognises that today the situation is much improved from when
the Belge Publishing House was first set up. But it is far from
perfect. PEN has on its records 50 ongoing court cases against writers,
journalists and publishers. Most cases end with acquittals or fines,
and rarely imprisonment, but the legal process moves slowly, often
taking months, sometimes years, before coming to a conclusion. The most
recent revision to the Penal Code, put into place in June this year,
shaved away a little more of the problematic elements that had in the
past led to sentences that included life imprisonment. Yet there still
remain laws that continue to penalise free speech. On 13 September,
the EU’s Enlargement Commissioner, Olli Rhen, agreed that there are
serious concerns about the Turkish Penal Code, adding that the trial
of Pamuk is clearly in contravention of the European Convention on
Human Rights, to which Turkey is a signatory.
International PEN, the world association of writers with centres in
99 countries, is deeply disappointed that, despite further changes
to the Penal Code, there remains repression of freedom of expression
in Turkey. PEN calls on the Turkish authorities to make further
reviews of articles contained in the Penal Code that breach the
international standards to which Turkey is committed. These standards
include Article 19 of the United Nations International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, as well as Article 10 of the European
Convention on Human Rights. PEN recommends that pending such review,
all trials against writers and publishers on charges that contravene
international standards be halted.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Send appeals to authorities: – protesting the
fact that Zarakolu is on trial in direct denial of his rights as
guaranteed under the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights, to which the
Turkish government is a signatory
APPEALS TO: Prime Minister Racep Tayyip Erdogan TC Easbaskanlik Ankara,
Turkey Fax: +90 312 417 0476
Cemil Cicek Minister of Justice TC Adalet Bakanligi Ankara, Turkey Fax:
+ 90 312 417 3954
Similar appeals should be sent to the Turkish Embassy in your own
country.

THE ICG WANTS ARMENIAN TROOPS TO WITHDRAW FROM KARABAKH
Azerbaijan News Service
Sept 9 2005
“Armenian troops must leave occupied territories around Daghlig
Garabagh.” The International Crisis Group will give this commendation
to Armenian Government on September 11 in Yerevan. Alain Deletros,
Vice-President of the International Crisis Group: Armenian troops
must leave 7 occupied regions and refugees from the territories must
return to their homes. After that the status issue of Daglig Garabagh
must be discussed. And I think the negotiations will continue
15-20 years. According to Alain Deletros these recommendations
were reflected in the reports which will be released on September
14 by the Organization. One of the reports will contain the present
situation of Daglig Garabagh. The second report is about the Conflict
settlement. The Vice-President of the International Crisis Group said
that they also gave commendations to Azerbaijan Government during
their visit to Baku. The main commendation was to stop creating
among Azerbaijanis the enemy mode against Armenians and to normalize
relations between two sides. The International Crisis Group also met
with Mazahir Panahov, the Chairman of Central Election Commission.
The International Crisis Group was appealed on receiving the List
of Azerbaijan citizens of Armenian origin under the 122 Khankandi
election Constituency. But Sabina Freizer, representative of the Group
on Southern Caucasus considers that to be very difficult. We very
highly appreciate this offer. But this offer was put forward in the
last stage. The registration is over yet. The negotiations must have
been held between Khankandi residents and Azerbaijani community of
Daglig Garabagh. Sabina Freizer said that in the Report Armenian and
Azerbaijani communities of Daglig Garabagh are advised to start talks.