Author: Emil Lazarian

IFES INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION JOINTLY WITH RA CEC AND RA POLICE CARRY OUT PROJECT FOR ‘SPECIFICATION’ OF VOTING LISTS

Arminfo
2007-03-05 15:56:00

The IFES International Organization jointly with the RA CEC and the
RA Police carry out a project for "specification" of voting lists on
the eve of parliamentary elections in the country.

During today’s discussions in the "Armenia" hotel, the Head of the
Programs, being realized in Armenia by IFES Organization, Chedomir
Flego, informed that the IFES has been implementing a three-year
program "Reformation of Election Processes and the Electoral
Administration" in Armenia since October 1, 2005, under financial
assistance of USAID. The Program is aimed at assisting in reformation
of the country’s election system. The main directions of the Program
are the registration of voters, their information and the electoral
administration. The key task of the Project is assistance in compiling
the most complete and objective register of the domestic voters,
Chedomir Flego noted.

In his turn, the U.S. Charge d’Affairs to Armenia Anthony Godfrey
said that the American Government highly appreciates the readiness
of the Armenian governmental structures for cooperation in "putting
the voting list in order". "I hope the lists will be finally edited
and will enjoy the society’s confidence", A. Godfrey noted. He also
informed that groups of volunteers will work in all the regions of
Armenia and in Yerevan. They will visit the voters’ houses and work
with them over the lists.

In his turn, the first deputy Head of RA Police, Lieutenant-General
Ararat Makhtesyan called the work over the voting lists a first step
in holding fir and free elections in the country. According to him,
the Armenian policemen are set a task to release the lists of the "dead
souls" and of the citizens absent in the country. The chairman of the
Armenia’s Central Election Committee Garegin Azaryan emphasized that
Armenia is presently the only country in the South Caucasian region
which possesses a single register of voters placed in Internet. He
also expressed hope that a Consultative Commission for compiling the
voting lists, being formed within the frames of IFES, will contribute
to their final "putting in order".

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VARTAN OSKANIAN TO MEET WITH CONDOLEEZZA RICE

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.03.2007 18:30 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Yesterday Armenian Foreign Minister left New York for
Washington. During the visit the RA FM is scheduled to hold several
meetings in the Congress. On March 5 Vartan Oskanian will meet with
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the RA MFA press office told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CHILD MERCHANDISER ENJOYS STATE SUPPORT

A1+
[03:44 pm] 05 March, 2007

Court of First Instance of Kentron and Nork-Marash sent Gyulnara
Manvelyan to two-month custody. To remind, in 2006 Gyulnara Manvelyan
gave her new-born son to a doctor of obstetrics department at the
cost of $2000.

The most striking is the fact that the court didn’t take Doctor Mher
Engibaryan under arrest.

This can be explained by the fact that Engibaryan has a permanent
dwelling place and has never been sentenced before. Besides, the
bargain was guaranteed by Deputy Samvel Sahakyan and S. Hakobyan,
mayor of Masis.

We managed to find out that Mher Engibaryan enjoys the support of RA
high-ranking officials. As for Ekaterina Aroustamyn, the go-between,
she was set free on condition not to leave the city.

We could also reveal a few details; Mher Engibaryan performed cesarean
operation and helped the mother to give birth to the child. He had
given Gyulnara Manvelyan 1500 USD prior to the operation. Doctor
Engibaryan had also given money to Aroustamyan, the go-between and
taken care of some minor expenses.

After the delivery, a false document was made with the name of another
woman stating that she was the mother of the child. Later the doctor
took the infant to the orphanage of "Elen" charity foundation. To note,
the orphanage was founded by Mher Engibaryan.

Why should a doctor taking such inhumane steps stay in freedom
today? This can directly affect on the investigation as the doctor
may conceal the tracks, official documents and have influence on
the witnesses. It is not excluded that Engibaryan has made suchlike
bargains beforehand.

Sona Truzyan, press secretary of the RA General Prosecutor, refused
revealing the details. She only informed us that a criminal action
was brought against Gyulnara Manvelyan under Article 168 of the
Penal Code, Mher Engibaryan under Article 314 /official forgery/
and Ekaterina Aroustamyan under Article 38-168 /accomplice/.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VISITE TURQUE A LA VEILLE DU PROCèS PERINCEK

Le Temps, Suisse
5 mars 2007

GENOCIDE. Christoph Blocher a recu son homologue turc.

Curieuse coïncidence. Christoph Blocher a recu vendredi et samedi
son homologue turc, le ministre de la Justice Cemil Cicek, alors que
s’ouvre mardi a Lausanne le procès de Dogu Perincek, pour negation du
genocide des Armeniens. La delicate question armenienne a provoque par
le passe de vives tensions entre Berne et Ankara. Micheline Calmy-Rey
a par exemple fait les frais de la colère turque en automne 2003:
Ankara l’avait alors declaree persona non grata a la suite de la
decision du Grand Conseil vaudois de reconnaître le genocide des
Armeniens. La socialiste n’effectuera finalement son voyage qu’en
mars 2005. Cette meme annee, c’est une visite de Joseph Deiss qui
est annulee, quelques mois plus tard, en raison de l’ouverture d’une
procedure penale contre Dogu Perincek pour negationnisme. Le Conseil
federal ne cesse pourtant de rappeler aux Turcs qu’il ne reconnaît
lui-meme pas le "genocide" des Armeniens.

Officiellement, la venue de Cemil Civek n’a aucun lien avec le procès
du president du Parti des travailleurs turcs. Les deux ministres
ont, selon le Departement federal de justice et police, surtout
evoque la question de l’integration des jeunes Turcs et la lutte
contre le terrorisme. La rencontre etait placee sous le signe de
"l’amelioration et de la consolidation des relations bilaterales",
souligne encore le DFJP. En octobre, Christoph Blocher, parti avec ces
memes intentions en Turquie, avait provoque colère et incomprehension
au sein du monde politique suisse pour avoir critique, a Ankara,
la norme penale suisse antiraciste. C’est precisement en vertu de
cet article que Dogu Perincek et l’historien Yusuf Halacoglu sont
poursuivis pour avoir nie le genocide des Armeniens.

Si rien ne filtrera sur ce que Cemil Civek et Christoph Blocher ont
pu se dire a propos de Dogu Perincek, une chose paraît certaine:
les autorites turques surveilleront son procès de très près…

–Boundary_(ID_EUwulZKC+RQr+WrTK4XBu A)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CONCERT DEDICATED TO ARMENIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC HELD IN TBILISI

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
March 5 2007

TBILISI, MARCH 5, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. A concert of Caucasian
Chamber Ochestra dedicated to Armenian classical music was held on
February 27 at Tbilisi Royal district’s theater. Works of E. Mirzoyan,
A. Haroutiunian and S. Aslamazian were on the concert program.

According to the report provided to Noyan Tapan from RA Foreign
Ministry Press and Information Department, First Lady of Georgia Sandra
Ruloffs, ambassadors and diplomats accredited in Georgia, leader of
Armenian Apostolic Church Diocese in Georgia Vazgen Mirzakhanian,
representatives of Armenian community listened to the works of
Armenian composers.

RA Ambassador to Georgia Hrach Silvanian made a greeting speech before
the concert. He, in particular, said that the magic world of music
liquidates racial, ethnic differences and prejudices, destroys state
borders, disregards national hatred and conflicts.

The concert organized on the initiative of RA Embassy in Georgia
and Orchestra head Uwe Berkemer passed successfully and found a wide
resonance in Georgian cultural circles and press.

The Caucasian Chamber Orchestra was founded in 2005 by German
conductor Uwe Berkemer with the support of First Lady of Georgia
Sandra Ruloffs and Marie Anne Isler Beguin, Chairwoman of European
Parliament’s delegation for issues of cooperation with South Caucasian
countries. The main idea of Orchestra’s creation is to show art’s
force and abilities in the issue of unification and consolidation of
Caucasian region’s peoples. The Orchestra’s staff is international
and consists of Armenian. Georgian and Russian musicians.

TOP GENERAL EXPECTS FLAWED ELECTION
By Ruzanna Stepanian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
March 5 2007

A top army general who leads the largest association of Armenian
veterans of the Nagorno-Karabakh war predicted on Monday that the
upcoming parliamentary elections will be deeply flawed.

Lieutenant-General Manvel Grigorian, chairman of the influential
Yerkrapah Union, saw a "100 percent" chance of large-scale vote rigging
as he answered questions from RFE/RL. "There are lots of [vote rigging]
professionals around," he said. "So I guess there will be [fraud.]"

The comments will hardly please Armenia’s leaders and Defense Minister
Serzh Sarkisian in particular. They are at pains to dismiss opposition
concerns about a repeat of serious fraud that defined just about
every Armenian election held over the past decade.

Grigorian, who is also a deputy minister of defense, said his
organization will work hard to ensure that voting and counting
of ballots is relatively clean in individual constituencies where
Yerkrapah members are running for parliament. "We will make every
effort to minimize falsifications in places where there are Yerkrapahs
in the running," he said.

Asked how Yerkrapah plans to do that, Grigorian replied in a typically
blunt manner: "In any case, we won’t beat, we won’t kill.

We’ll just say polite things."

Among the several prominent Yerkrapah figures running in single-mandate
constituencies is Seyran Saroyan, another top army general and a
close friend of Grigorian’s who was discharged from the armed forces
to join the race last month. Yerkrapah candidates can also be found
on the electoral slates of the governing Republican Party and several
other parties.

According to Grigorian, the union wants all of them to get elected.

"It doesn’t matter if they are with the Dashnaks, the Republicans or
anybody else," he said. "We will support them."

The mustachioed general also ruled out his own involvement in the
election campaign. "I don’t participate in any elections," he said.

"If necessary, I instruct others to participate, but don’t do that
myself."

The Yerkrapah Union was particularly influential on the Armenian
political scene in the late 1990s when it was used by the authorities
against their political opponents protesting at electoral fraud.

Yerkrapah’s political clout has declined considerably since the
October 1999 assassination of its founder, Vazgen Sarkisian.

Incidentally, March 5 marked the 48th birth anniversary of Sarkisian.

Grigorian was among top military officials and prominent politicians
who visited the Yerablur military cemetery in Yerevan and laid flowers
at Sarkisian’s grave on the occasion.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

OPPOSITION LEADER SAYS WILL FIGHT ON DESPITE VOTE BOYCOTT
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
March 5 2007

Vazgen Manukian, a veteran opposition politician, insisted on Monday
that he is not retiring from the political arena despite his party’s
decision to boycott the May 12 elections to Armenia’s parliament.

"We are not quitting politics," he told RFE/RL in an interview. "We
will remain actively involved in it."

Manukian’s National Democratic Union (AZhM) decided not to contest the
elections last week after the failing to form an electoral alliance
with several other major opposition parties. The collapse of their
negotiations is widely expected to make it easier for President
Robert Kocharian and his loyalists to win a majority in the next
National Assembly.

Manukian said he believes that by contesting the elections separately,
the leading Armenia opposition forces stand no real chance of winning
a parliament majority. "Mechanisms for hiding vote falsifications have
become quite sophisticated," he said. "In these circumstances, it would
be possible to change the situation only if there emerged a broad-based
opposition movement. But even that would not guarantee success as
you also have to do a huge amount of work at the grassroots level."

The upcoming vote will therefore "not change the situation in Armenia,"
according to Manukian. "Being a deputy of this and next parliaments
is neither honorable nor makes sense."

Apart from the AZhM, the opposition talks also involved the People’s
Party (HZhK) of Stepan Demirchian, Kocharian’s main challenger in
the last presidential election, and two other parties led by Aram
Sarkisian and Raffi Hovannisian.

Demirchian agreed to team up with them on the condition that at least
half of the would-be bloc’s candidates represent the HZhK. According
to some media reports, he also demanded assurances that he would be
the bloc’s single candidate in next year’s presidential election. A
top aide to Demirchian, Grigor Harutiunian, did not deny this in a
weekend interview with RFE/RL.

The conditions were reportedly deemed unacceptable by Manukian,
Sarkisian, and Hovannisian. The three leaders failed to reach a
pre-election agreement even among themselves for reasons that are
not fully clear.

Manukian was reluctant to divulge details of their discussions,
saying only that he wanted the would-be bloc to have a collective
leadership. "I argued that if those several parties were to unite it
would be wrong to pick a leader," he said. "Even if I were offered
top the list of its candidates."

"I believe there should have been a committee made up of four or
five persons who would publicly declare the bloc’s aims, state that
they are all equal and decide who tops the list by a draw," added
the AZhM leader.

Manukian himself led the Armenian opposition in 1996 when it
nearly succeeded in unseating then President Levon Ter-Petrosian
in a reputedly fraudulent presidential election. His influence and
popularity have declined dramatically since then. Manukian fared
extremely poorly in the first round of the 2003 presidential ballot
before endorsing Demirchian for a tense runoff with Kocharian.

The 61-year-old mathematician, who headed Armenia’s first
post-Communist government in 1990-1991 and was defense minister during
the most successful period of its war with Azerbaijan, made it clear
that he will again run for president in 2008. "I will definitely
nominate my candidacy in the presidential election," he said. "Without
any arrogance, I would say that if there is anyone who can defeat
this regime, it’s me. But that could happen only if I am surrounded
by an appropriate team and trust."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA SHOWS NO INTEREST FOR U.S. ANTI-AIRCRAFT RADAR IN CAUCASUS

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
March 5 2007

Col Gen Mikael Harutyunyan, Deputy Defense Minister, chief of the
Republic of Armenia armed forces general staff, said that Armenia
has not received any proposals on installation of U.S. anti-aircraft
system elements on its territory, said.

Mr. Harutyunyan said "Armenia being a CSTO member does not wish further
armament build-up in the region". Armenia is the only Caucasus country
which accepted the Russian military base.

"The U.S. should decide where to mount the system but I do not see
any sense in it," Mr. Harutyunyan argued.

"Anyway, it’s not our business. Our business is to strengthen
our defense and to cooperate with our strategic partner – Russia
as well as with the United States and European countries. We think
it’s difficult for minor states to settle security issues solely. We
should enjoy close relations with our immediate partners and not forget
about the U.S., European states and our neighbors," he said, reports
newsarmenia.ru. According to the Armenian experts, Russia is Armenia’s
only immediate partner. Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey however have
close military and political relations with the US, the EU and Israel.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MOURNING AN ARMENIAN-TURKISH EDITOR
By James Vaznis, Globe Staff

Boston Globe, MA
March 5 2007

Both sides of debate reflect on his legacy

WATERTOWN — As the nearly century-old debate rages half a world away
about whether Turks committed genocide against Armenians, members of
both cultures came together yesterday to commemorate what some see
as the latest casualty of the conflict.

Hrant Dink, an Armenian-Turkish editor, was slain in Istanbul in
January. His newspaper columns had long demanded respect and improved
conditions for Armenians and recognition of the deep and tortured
history of Armenians in Turkey. Dink was gunned down in broad daylight
Jan. 19 on a sidewalk outside his office — allegedly by a teenage boy.

Hundreds of Armenian-Americans — and some Turkish-Americans —
gathered yesterday for a commemoration known as a Karsunk, the
traditional end of the mourning period of a person’s death and an
opportunity to reflect on a person’s legacy.

Many expressed optimism that Dink’s death will enable Armenians to
gain worldwide recognition of a genocide they say Turks began against
their people in 1915 , resulting in the deaths of an estimated 1.3
million Armenians.

"His legacy is for Armenians to live side by side with Turks without
retribution," said Tamar Barkhordarian, a nurse from Watertown. "He
risked his life for freedom of speech."

His death prompted tens of thousands people, including empathetic
Turks, to walk in silence through the streets of Istanbul on the day
of his funeral.

"He had the guts and courage to speak about human rights and to speak
about the injustice that has been done to the Armenian ancestry of
Turkey," said Apo Torosyan, an artist from Peabody. "He knew his life
was in danger by speaking out."

Some Armenian-Americans declined to be interviewed for this story
in fear that Turkish government officials would punish relatives who
live in the country.

But in a show of support, some Turkish-Americans and Turks turned
out for the commemoration.

"Everybody was horrified by his murder," said Gunduz Vassaf, a former
psychology professor who was born in Boston, and later added, "It’s
a conscience of a nation bleeding, and it led to this outpouring."

During a service yesterday at the orthodox St. James Armenian Apostolic
Church, mourners compared Dink to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and
said a prayer in Dink’s honor. Then, well-wishers attended a luncheon
in a gymnasium next door, nibbling on sandwiches and some Armenian
dishes, such as grape leaves stuffed with rice and onions.

A few Armenian-Americans circulated a flier asking people to call
members of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and urge them
to pass legislation condemning Dink’s murder as well as pushing for
the Turkish government to repeal a law that hinders free speech,
especially in talking about the Armenian genocide.

The gymnasium was adorned with pictures of Dink, candlelight vigils
in his honor, and even of his body covered with a white sheet on a
sidewalk after he was killed.

After the luncheon, state Representative Rachel Kaprielian said
in an interview that Dink was a person who comes around "once in a
blue moon."

"He was a person whose values were more important than his own life,"
she said. "He knew for many years his life was in danger for saying
what he knew was the truth."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

STUDENTS "DISCIPLINED" AT UNIVERSITIES
Emine Ozcan

BÝA, Turkey
March 5 2007

University Administrations Collaborate With Public Prosecutors To
Oppress Dissident Students By Constant Inquisitions And Disciplinary
Penalties, Says Eliacýk From The New Students’ Union Initiative.

Recently,33 Students Sentenced To 3,9 Years In Edirne.

BÝA (Istanbul) – These Practices Are Simply Pristine And Totally
Unlawful, Says Kývanc Eliacýk From The New Students’ Union Initiative,
Commenting On The Increasing Number Of Administrative Inquisitions
Towards Dissident Students At Universities Around The Country.

University Administrations Continue Decreeing Disciplinary Penalties
Towards Students Who Are Involved In Political Activities.

In Karadeniz (Black Sea) Technical University (KTU) Numerous Students
Have Been Rusticated Ranging From A Week Up To A Year.

"Protestation Without Permission", "Chanting Slogans", "Participating
In Press Conference" Are Grounds According To The University Rectorate
For Disciplinary Action.

In The Last Four Months 72 Inquisitions Had Been Placed And Seven
Students Who Reacted Against The Yearly Tuition Had Been Punished.

Furthermore, Trabzon Public Prosecutor’s office filed cases against
the students demanding penalties up to five years in prison.

Prosecution and rectorate collaborate

On another accounts, Edirne public Prosecutor’s office filed
accusations against Trakya University students who participated in
a march protesting the murder of Turkish-Armenian writer Hrant Dink.

In recent days, 33 students of the university who organized an
alternative spring festival last year have been sentenced to 3,9
years imprisonment.

Lastly, several students who participated in a protest against
the Supreme Institution of Education (YOK) -which was established
following the military coup in 1980 and seen as its oppressing
prolongation at higher education- Canakkale University of March 18
received notification of administrative inquisitions.

YOK regulations

Spokesperson of the Initiative and international relations expert
at the Confederation Revolutionary Workers’ Unions (DÝSK), Kývanc
Eliacýk notes that the inquisitions are used to intimidate politically
active students.

"Their right to organization and freedom of speech are constantly
violated. Disciplinary penalties and worse still the imprisonments
keep students from using such rights"

Reminding that there’s no crime defined as "protest without permission"
in the Turkish Penal Code, Eliacýk says the YOK Disciplinary
Regulations are used vigorously to oppress students.

Special security forces shouldn’t be present at university campuses,
he added.

2579.htm

–Boundary_(ID_rh6bGy/wnjWhgC24b+ycsA)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress