Author: Emil Lazarian

PanARMENIAN.Net
Finnish PM: EU Can Hamper Talks with Turkey
30.06.2006 18:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Union (EU) can freeze talks with Turkey
on EU accession, stated Finnish Premier Matti Vanhanen, whose country
will assume EU Presidency July 1, 2006, AP reports. «There is always
an opportunity to stop the talks. I think Turkey knows it,» Vanhanen
remarked.
The Finnish Premier also underscored that official Ankara should
fulfill all conditions for continuing talks on EU accession,
specifically normalize relations with EU member Cyprus.
We note that yesterday Olli Rehn, Commissioner for Enlargement stated
that talks with Turkey may be ceased or sojourned until Ankara
fulfills all conditions of the EU.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PanARMENIAN.Net
Baku Called G8 FMs Statement on Karabakh «Scribble»
01.07.2006 14:35 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azeri Deputy FM Vaghif Sadykhov is skeptical over
the statement of G8 FMs addressed to parties of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict. «If we look at the history of the Minsk process, there were
dozens of such statements and all of these are perfectly written, they
contain great ideas. However, the matter concerns not scribble on
paper, but real outcomes,» Sadykhov told journalists. «The recurrent
statement is very good. We will put it in a file along with other
similar statements and will keep it,» Azeri Deputy FM said. The
official underscored not only presidents, but also international
organizations, dealing with the process, are responsible for the
settlement.
«Both Azerbaijan and Armenia are members of these organizations, by
entering which, we have obligations along with rights. Thus it is
necessary to activate these organizations for they protect the rights
of their individual members,» Sadykhov said, reports Day.az.
We remind that the FMs reaffirmed that G8 supports the mediation
efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group (Russia, US, France) for peaceful
settlement of Karabakh conflict, says a statement of G8 chair, made at
G8 Moscow meeting. «We stressed the need for soonest agreement over
basic principles of the peaceful settlement of the conflict to attain
it in 2006. We urge Azerbaijan and Armenia to display political will
and come to agreement over the issue this year, and prepare their
peoples to peace, not war,» the document says.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PanARMENIAN.Net
Criminal Case Cannot Be Initiated Against Catholicos of All Armenians
30.06.2006 17:54 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ It’s impossible to initiate a criminal case against
Catholics of All Armenians, since he possesses diplomatic immunity,
ARF Bureau’s Hay Dat and Political Office Director Kiro Manoian stated
in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net when commenting to the
information that the Istanbul Prosecution Office has initiated a
criminal case against His Holiness Garegin II. In his words, there are
no diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey and there is no
agreement according to which he can be called into court. `Some
political circles in Turkey aim cannons at sparrows and nothing comes
out of it,’ Kiro Manoian said.
When touching upon the statement by Constantinople Patriarch Mesrob
Mutafian, who said `he doesn’t agree with the viewpoint of Garegin II,
Manoian remarked that he couldn’t but say this. At the same time the
Hay Dat Office Director emphasized that saying that the issue should
be considered by historians and public figures Mutafian proved he
doesn’t support Turkey’s standpoint on the Armenian Genocide.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZG Armenian Daily #122, 01/07/2006

Neighbors
TURKISH `HOSPITALITY’ TO ARMENIAN CATHOLICOS
The prosecutor’s office of Istanbul has filed a lawsuit against
Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians Karekin II on charge of “insulting
Turkish dignity”. According to Turkish media, during his Turkey visit
the Armenian Catholicos “made statements insulting Turkish self-esteem
by saying that Turkey has to recognize the killings of 1.5 million
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as a genocide.”
The prosecutor’s office says that it’s impossible to take Karekin II’s
affidavit as there is no cooperation agreement between Armenia and
Turkey in the sphere of jurisprudence. But the office can take a
decision of detaining the Catholicos once he tries to enter Turkey
again.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Panorama.am
15:07 30/06/06

ARMENIAN SIDE MUST QUALITATIVELY CHANGE ITS DISPOSITION TO TALK
PROCESS: SHAVARSH KOCHARYAN
The statement of OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen must qualitatively
change the disposition of the Armenian side to Karabakh conflict
regulation, deputy of National Assembly Shavarsh Kocharyan told a
discussion today on the problems of refugees from Azerbaijan.
In his words, consistency must be observed in international relations
whereas one side is continuously attacking without supporting fact and
the other has `to defend’ itself with some documents. Sh. Kocharyan
noted asymmetric attitude of OSCE MG to the issue of refugees saying
that the Armenian side not the mediators are to be blamed for
that. The Armenian parliament thinks it obvious to suspend the talk
process on conflict regulation in relation to raising the issue of
refugees.
On June 28, 8 public organizations signed an agreement on protection
of rights and freedoms of refugees from Azerbaijan and Nakhijevan. The
organizations formed a net of civic society called `Refugees and
International Right.’
Based on the agreement, the public organizations issued a statement
saying that the problems of Armenian national refugees must be
included in the talk process of Nagorno Karabakh conflict regulation
no matter what format they will follow. The statement says in
particularly that taking into consideration that Armenians made up 8%
of the population of Azerbaijan it would be appropriate to provide
them with 8% territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan./Panorama.am/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1+
ARMENIAN REFUGEES HAVE DEMANDS
[04:48 pm] 30 June, 2006
Since 1988 about 400 thousand Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan and
Nakhijevan have found refuge in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh
Republic. Several NGOs gathered together today in order to announce
that they will fight for the rights of the refugees and appealed to
the society and the international community to support the violated
rights of the refugees.
Eight NGOs have adopted a statement and an agreement about the
protection of the rights of those people who were evicted from
Azerbaijan and Nakhijevan. According to expert Souren Zolyan, the
document is quite literate but will need explanation in future.
«The announcement states once more that the Armenian side must change
its approaches and the policy not only about the settlement of the
Karabakh conflict but also about the whole region», deputy Shavarsh
Kocharyan said. He noted that if you stop speaking about the Sumgayit
slaughters, the Azeri start speaking about the Khojalu «genocide».
That is, according to Mr. Kocharyan, the Azeris attack us without
having enough ground, whereas we don’t use the real facts we have.
By the way, the statement will be submitted to the President of RA and
NKR, as well as to the Presidents of the Minsk group countries.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Assembly of Turkish American Associations needs the assistance of
Azerbaijan

ArmRadio.am
01.07.2006 13:42
`The Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) needs
Azerbaijani assistance in order not to lose to the Armenian Diaspora,’
Head of the Assembly Vural Chengiz declared in Baku.
`75 thousand members of the Turkish-American structure can counter the
Armenian Diaspora,’ he noted, adding that due to their efforts the `
Nagorno-Karabakh’ film was shot. The movie presents the Karabakh war
from a perspective favorable for Azerbaijan. To coordinate ATAA
activity Vural Chengiz held negotiations with members of the working
group of the Azeris living abroad. The structure intends to arrange
the visit of US Congressmen to Azerbaijan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian Patriarch Karekin Investigated
Following the first visit to Turkey of the Head of the Armenian Apostolic
Church, an investigation is launched against Karekin II under article 301
of Anti-Terror Law for “insulting Turkishness”.
BI.A News Center
29/06/2006
BI.A (Istanbul) – An investigation has been launched in Turkey
against the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church Catholicos Karekin II
related to remarks he made during his first visit to the country last week.
The investigation was started under controversial article 301 of the
Turkish Penal Code for “insulting Turkishness” and is related to a criminal
complaint filed by an individual named Recep Akkus and the right-wing
Jurists Union that has pursued a series of similar complaints against
high-profile Turkish authors and intellectuals.
Akkus himself as among those who filed a criminal complaint against
Turkey-EU Mixed Parliamentary Commission co-chairman Joost Lagendijk for,
“insulting the Turkish army and judiciary organs and attempting to
influence the judiciary?.
The complaint related to a press conference held at the Armenian Patriarchy
last week where Karekin II said “genocide is not an issue of research for
our people, it is an incident that has happened and it should be
recognised”.
Turkey’s NTV channel reported that as Karekin II is currently in Armenia
and there is no judicial assistance agreement between Turkey and that
country, it is not likely for a statement to be taken from the head of the
Armenian Apostolic Church by Letter of Request.
If the prosecution deems it necessary, it can issue a warrant to all border
doors and entry points for Karekin II to be questioned and a statement
taken from him on his next entry into the country. (EO/TK/II/YE)

Galust Sahakyan: Matthew Bryza made no revelations

ArmRadio.am
30.06.2006 17:55
`Matthew Bryza made no revelations, since every day in the course of
the last two month the press was writing about the negotiations
process,’ Head of the Republican faction Galust Sahakyan declared.
Head of the Republican faction is confident that the Armenian side did
not agree to anything, and the leakage pursued one aim ` to check the
dispositions of the societies of the twp countries.
The meeting of the Republican Party scheduled July 22 is
extraordinary, but not an emergency one. According to the Republican,
the confusion around the meeting is a result of the heat in Yerevan
and the snoozing internal political life.
Turning to the extraordinary meeting of the Republican Party, Galust
Sahakyan said, `Serge Sargsyan should decide himself whether he will
become Co-President of the Party of not.’
In response to the question how the other political forces will take
Serge Sargsyan’s joining the Republican Party, Mr. Sahakyan said,
`They take it normally. I’d like to note, however, that the Republican
Party has never put an aim to conquer the whole field.’
In a interview to `Haykakan Zhamanak’ newspaper, independent Deputy
Manuk Gasparyan resolutely asserted that after Serge Sargsyan joins
the Republican Party, Andranik Margaryan will resign because of
unsatisfactory health condition, and Serge Sargsayn will replace him
as Prime Minister. The Republicans do not take such scenarios
seriously. `We do not even discuss it, it has been six years that they
are speaking about Andranik Margaryan’s resignation. At last everyone
` the politicians and the society ` should understand that Andranik
Margaryan is an important factor.
Predicting which political forces will be represented in the National
Assembly of the fourth convocation, Galust Sahakyan expressed the
opinion that the status quo will be maintained. However, if one or two
of the new parties manage to lead a clever election campaign, the
number of the factions may increase with one.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GALOUST SAHAKIAN: THE STRICT STATEMENTS OF THE US OFFICIALS ARE AIMED
TO ACHEIVEMENT OF USA’S GOALS IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS
Yerevan, June 30. ArmInfo. The statement of Mathew Bryza, US Co-Chair
of OSCE MG, who said that Armenia should follow the example of
Azerbaijan in democratic development, is merely aimed to settle the
economic interests of USA in Azerbaijan. Galoust Sahakian, head of the
Republican Party Faction, expressed such an opinion at today’s press
conference.
He said that even the most radical Armenian opposition members would
never dare to say that Azerbaijan is a more democratic party than
Armenia. “From the viewpoint of democratization, Azerbaijan can’t be
compared even to Turkey, as Turkey is a much more democratic country,”
Sahakain said.
As for the strict statement of John Danilovic, head of “Millenium
Challenges” Office in Armenia, about probable stopping of the
program’s implementation in Armenia, Sahakian emphasized that USA
tries to exert pressure on Armenia for reaching its own goals in the
region.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress