Author: Emil Lazarian

SHOTS FROM AZERI SIDE REGISTERED DURING REGULAR OSCE CONTACT LINE
MONITORING

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 12. ARMINFO. A regular OSCE monitoring was held
westward from Verin Chailu, Nagorno Karabakh republic, Monday, reports
the press service of NKR FM.

>From the NKR side the monitoring was held by Miroslav Vimetal (Czech
Republic) and Oleksander Samarsky (Ukraine), field assistants to the
personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office Andrzej
Kasprzyk; from the Azeri side by Kasprzyk himself.

During the monitoring the NKR DM and FM representatives accompanying
the OSCE mission registered shots from the Azeri sides – northward
from Verin Chailu. The monitoring was continued after the sides got
reconfirmed security guarantees and was held according to the
schedule.

Journal of Turkish Weekly
April 12 2005

Turkish Prime Minister Addresses anti-Turk Sentiments in Europe

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan currently on a state visit to
Norway, met with Turkish citizens at the Oslo Military Museum Meeting
Hall, Monday. Speaking at the meeting Erdogan addressed the
“anti-Turk sentiments” that have been felt across Europe recently.

“We regret to see negative attitudes against Turkish and Muslim
people in some European countries recently. it is impossible to
understand such attitudes against Turks and Muslims in a period when
the world focuses on dialogue among different civilizations and
cultures.”

“We saw similar attitudes before December 17th. However, we overcame
them. the EU is not a Christian club. It is the outcome of compromise
among civilizations.the EU is a whole of political values.”

On the subject of the so-called Armenian genocide the Turkish PM said
that the issue would be addressed in a special session April 13. and
will be debated in parliament, the outcome of which will be a
statement signed by 550 MPs that will then be sent to several
countries including Britain.

The PM also addressed the issue of sensationalized domestic events,
in comparison with domestic events within EU countries. “Students
held demonstrations in France and in other European countries. Police
used force to disperse demonstrators and beat some of them. none of
these events in Europe are mentioned or criticized.”

Erdogan also reiterated Turkey’s stance on a peaceful and fair world.
“We have been advocating since the very beginning that a peaceful
world cannot be established on hatred and enmity.”

Source: Hurriyet, 12 April 2005

AZG Armenian Daily #064, 12/04/2005

Cooperation

ARMENIA-GERMANY-COUNCIL OF EUROPE

Cooperation in Urban Construction Sphere

Various officials have often touched upon the issue of the urban
construction in the capital and in the republic as a whole. There are many
problems in this sphere that are mainly caused by the fact that there is no
general layout, at present. The majority of 930 RA communities doesn’t have
this main document for urban construction.

It has been already a year that RA Urban Construction Ministry is
cooperating with the German Transport and Construction Ministry in order to
elaborate the models of the general layouts of the dwelling places. A two
day’s conference was held within the framework of the abovementioned
cooperation, recently. The conference was entitled “National, Regional and
Local Stable Territorial Development of Armenia.”

Ruzan Alaverdian, RA deputy urban construction minister, emphasized that the
general layouts of 12 communities were submitted for the competition
announced within the framework of the conference. Iris Gleicke,
parliamentary state secretary of German Transport and Construction Ministry,
said that each of the layouts deserved a prize, but it’s impossible to award
prizes to everyone. She added that the German government is glad to help
Armenia in its integration to Europe, as well as in its determination to use
the contemporary norms of urban construction and stable territorial
development.

The German side will allocate 100 000 Euros to achieve these goals. It’s
worth mentioning that the cooperation is carried out within the framework of
the European ministerial conference of regional-territorial planning of 45
CE member countries.

Aram Harutyunian, RA urban construction minister, informed that, as a
probation project, they are going to restore the historical exterior of one
street in Goris, Martouni and Ashtarak towns.

By the way, the program includes preservation and reconstruction of
historical-cultural buildings and monuments. This last factor is extremely
actual today.

By Nana Petrosian

A1plus

| 14:13:41 | 11-04-2005 | Social |

THE HEADMASTERS WILL CONTROL THE MONEY

Starting from this year a new system of educational institutions development
indices is put into execution in the Yerevan municipality. The educational
institutions and the state non commercial organizations have been given the
possibility to master their own budget. 8.5 billion drams will be
distributed to the schools and other educational institutions under the
control of the Yerevan municipality. Kamo Areyan, the first deputy mayor of
Yerevan informed about it today.

He said that the sum will be distributed according to the quantity of
pupils. «This year the approach to the financing of schools has changed
crucially. The schools have attainted self-dependence and responsibility for
the budget», says Kamo Areyan. The special monitoring group will monitor the
«positive» step every year. Besides, every year the schools will be subject
to inner audit the graphic of which has been formed by the Government and
the Ministry of Finance.

According to Kamo Areyan, the municipality has decided to restore the
contracts of the ex soil users of the Dalma gardens 256 hectares of soil.
After the restoration the contracts will enter into vigor.

Kamo Areyan also announced that April 16 is a day of volunteer labor.

Armenian leader rules out revolution in his country

Mediamax news agency
11 Apr 05

YEREVAN

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan urged the opposition not to be
“preoccupied” with their failure to stage a revolution like in
Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan in reply to questions of the students
of Yerevan State University’s Economic Department today.

“They have failed to do so not because they did not do enough for
this, but because our country is better and the authorities are
working more effectively,” Kocharyan said. He added that “one should
seriously analyse the events in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan since,
despite obvious similarities, they were different in terms of their
nature and also the cultural environments where they happened”.

“All these revolutions took place when these countries had elections
and the weakness of the authorities was obvious,” the Armenian
president said. “For instance, in Georgia, people could not get their
pensions for years. They received electricity only three hours a
day. Kyrgyzstan was in the same economic situation. The state budget
of this country in 2004 was smaller than in 2003. Generations changed
in all three countries – younger and more dynamic leaders replaced old
Soviet leaders. The same kind of change of generations happened twice
in Armenia, in 1991 and 1998.”

Kocharyan also said that those who came to power in Georgia, Ukraine
and Kyrgyzstan had occupied senior government positions several years
before. He said the reason the people who are currently in top
positions in Tbilisi, Kiev and Bishkek had resigned and opposed their
governments was that they aspired to more intensive reforms, which led
to conflicts within the governments.

The Armenian president said an analysis of the aforementioned factors
clearly shows that the situation that led to revolutions in Georgia,
Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan “has nothing in common with what we have in
Armenia today”.

Pan Armenian News

US CONGRESSMEN MARK FOLEY URGED TURKEY TO FACE ITS OTTOMAN PAST

11.04.2005 03:12

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian Assembly commended Congressional Caucus on
Armenian Issues Member Rep.
Mark Foley today for urging Turkish officials who are calling for an
investigation into the

Armenian Genocide to instead use the opportunity to come to terms with their
Ottoman legacy, the AAA reported. Foley, in a statement issued before
Congress, said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s calls for a
`political settling of accounts with history’ appeared to be a delaying
tactic meant to escape the judgment of history. `That accounting has already
been done,’ Foley said. He added that experts in Holocaust and Genocide
studies, as well as foremost authorities on WWI, have attested that the
crime of genocide was committed by Ottoman Turkey. Foley also added that if
Turkey is prepared to acknowledge the truth, its leaders should immediately
engage in direct dialogue with their Armenian counterparts. If Turkey is
still unwilling to take this essential step with Armenia, it could take a
number of intermediate actions to demonstrate its shared values with
countries of the European Union. The EU agreed last December to open
membership talks with Turkey. Foley called upon the government of Turkey to
consider the following preparatory steps: decriminalize speech on this
subject within Turkey, destroy all monuments, museums and public references
to the specious notion that the Armenian minority committed genocide against
the majority Turks, end denial within Turkey, specifically within textbooks
& reference books, officially condemn attacks against any Turk that
acknowledges the facts of history, end the global campaign of threats
against any nation that is in the process of affirming the Armenian
Genocide.

GEORGIAN MP REFUTES INFORMATION OF GEORGIAN NEWSPAPER

Arminfo

AKHALKALAKI, APRIL 8. ARMINFO. Gergian MP Van Bayburyan has refuted
information published in a Georgian newspaper “Alia.”

According to the publication in the above newspaper, in the course
of April 5-6 negotiations between Armenian and Georgian presidents,
the issue of the Armenian President’s contribution to dispersal of
demonstration sentiments in Akhalkalaki and easing the situation
in Samtskhe-Javakhetia was discussed. The newspaper says that in
return Robert Kocharyan allegedly asked Mikheil Sahakashvili to
activate Abkhazian railway branch in direction Sochi-Yerevan as soon
as possible.

A-INFO reports today that Van Bayburyan participating in the meeting
of Armenian and Georgian presidents says in connection with the
publication in the above newspaper that it does not correspond to
reality. He does not rule out that activation of the railway section
was discussed by the presidents tete-a-tete. However, he categorically
refutes the information of the Georgian newspaper. “No bargaining
was and could be between the two presidents as ‘Alia’ writes,”
Bayburyan says.

Genocide Claims Offensive: Sezer

4/9/2005
Source: NTV

Claims that the Ottoman Empire had committed genocide against its
Armenian citizens were offensive and hurt the Turkish nation, the
country’s President said Thursday. Addressing a conference at the
Turkish War Academy in Istanbul, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said
scientific objectivity should be used when assessing historical events.

Research should be conducted into the allegations by making use of
documents that were objective and unbiased, the President said.

Turkish citizens of Armenian origin were and indispensable part of
Turkish society who have equal rights and responsibilities in the
modern Turkish Republic, said Sezer.

A1plus

| 15:44:20 | 08-04-2005 | Politics |

NOT YET TIME FOR CHANGE OF AUTHORITIES

“We consider the developments in Kyrgyzstan undesirable. We are against
bloodshed, but the authorities do everything to realize the Kyrgyz
variant in Armenia”, said Viktor Dallakyan, secretary of the Justice
bloc in the today’s press conference in the club “Azdak”. This was said
in answer to the questions what the opposition will do on the threshold
of the 1st anniversary of the events on the Baghramyan avenue.

As we have already informed, on April 12 or 13 the opposition will
not take any drastic measures. Only a forum will be organized in
which representatives of the political powers will take part. Asked
why this variant was chosen Rouzan Khachatryan, press secretary of
the Armenian Democratic Party explains: meetings with the society
prove that the people are decisive, and if we once again go out to
the streets the problem will be solved once and for all.

“We will choose the proper moment to realize change of authorities
as a result of the public movement”, says Viktor Dallakyan.

A1plus

| 17:31:42 | 08-04-2005 | Sports |

COMPETITION OF JOURNALISTS IN ODESSA

The Armenian football team of journalists will leave for Odessa to take
part in the Football International mini Competition. It will be devoted
to the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and will be held on April
10-13. Other National Teams of the CIS countries will take part in the
competition which was organized by the Odessa Sport Journalists Union.