Author: Emil Lazarian

ARMENIAN OMBUDSMAN TRYING TO CLEAR THE FATE OF THE ARMENIAN PRISONER

A1plus

| 19:19:30 | 08-04-2005 | Politics |

Today RA Ombudsman Larissa Alaverdyan has sent a letter to Elmira
Suleymanova, the Azerbaijani Human rights defender, the Red Cross
International Committee, and the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Stepanakert
delegations of the Committee.

It is particularly mentioned in the letter that according to the
information spread by the International working group about the
issues of war prisoners Zohrab Tamayan who was in military service
in Noyemberyan has been taken captive my the Armenian armed forces.

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense has not confirmed the information,
whereas the Azerbaijani independent experts have, and according to
the Azerbaijani press the soldier has been take captive by the order
of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

The Armenian Ombudsman has expressed his worriedness by the fate of
the soldier especially taking into account the fact that the captive
is representative of a national minority. It is well known that the
Azerbaijanis treat the Kurd captives with special cruelty. ~SWe
have already had terrible experience ~V a Yezidi young men – an
ex-prisoner of war who returned from Azerbaijan, committed suicide~T,
says the latter.

The RA Defender of human rights asked the above mentioned organization
to wake the case into control securing the defense of Tamayan~Rs
rights and the meeting of Geneva convention commitments.

~SI think that cooperation in the settlement of humanitarian problems
will allow us to reduce e tension and will contribute to the peaceful
settlement of the Karabakh conflict for the sake of stability and
regional security~T, mentioned Larissa Alaverdyan.

Turkish President: Armenian Citizens are Indispensable Part of Turkish Society

JTW
8 April 2005

ISTANBUL (JTW) Addressing a conference at the Turkish War Academy
in Istanbul, Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said scientific
objectivity should be used when assessing historical events. Sezer
said the Armenian accusations are baseless and biased. “Research
should be conducted into the allegations by making use of documents
that were objective and unbiased”, the President said.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had called the Armenian side
to open its archives and to organize scientific meetings between
Turkish and Armenian historians. Armenia rejected Turkish invitation
and Armenian Foreign Minister Hovanisyan said “there is nothing to
be discussed”.

Sezer further added 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. There
are more than 50,000 Turkish Armenians, and about 45,000 Armenians
from Armenia work in Istanbul. Turkish Armenians publish three weekly
newspapers and have many schools and churches.

RALLIES, AIMED AT RETURN OF AIR TO A1+, TO LAST TILL APRIL 12

Arminfo

YEREVAN, APRIL 7. ARMINFO. The rallies, aimed at return of the air
to the TV company A1+, will last till April 12, Head of Meltex cjsc,
Chief of the TV company Mesrop Movsesian informed during the news
conference, Thursday.

He said that in the evening of April 12 nongovernmental organizations
will submit a letter addressed to the government of the republic. “We
suppose to receive a response till May 3”, Movsesian said. According
to him, within that period the daily rallies before the building of
Yerevan State Conservatory will be broken. However, if till May 3 the
government does not change its position and shows neutral attitude,
then the organizations will resume the rallies of protest.

To remind, the TV channel A1+ was closed on April 3, 2002 because of
the refusal of National Commission for TV and Radio to give a license
to the channel for broadcast.

THE INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN
GENOCIDE IN OTTOMAN TURKEY TO TAKE PLACE ON APRIL 20-21 IN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, April 7. /ARKA/. The international forum on “Grave Crimes,
Grave Challenges: Human Rights and Genocide”, devoted to the 90th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey will take place
on April 20-21 in Yerevan. According to RA MFA, RA President Robert
Kocharyan and Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin the Second will
welcome the participants of the forum. The ex- President of Poland
Leh Valensa and the Special Adviser of the UN Secretary General
on prevention of genocide Juan Mendes are expected to speak at the
forum. Over 20 scientists, political and public figures from Armenia,
USA, Ireland, Switzerland, Israel, Canada, Denmark, Turkey, as well
as representatives of UN will participate in it.

Under the forum on April 18-19 a conference on genocide will be held
in the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia.

On April 24, 1,5 mln. people will march to the memorial complex to
the victims of the Armenian Genocide, and ecumenical requiem in the
Cathedral of Saint Gregory the Illuminator in Yerevan will take place.

Also concerts, showing feature and documentary films, theatre
performances, and photo-exhibitions will be held. Literature on
genocide and human rights will be presented in the RA MFA library.

FRENCH ARMENIAN CONDUCTOR ALEXANDER SIRANOSIAN AND CELLIST ASTGHIK
SIRANOSIAN TO HAVE CONCERT DEDICATED TO 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF GENOCIDE
IN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, NOYAN TAPAN. The concert of Alexander Siranosian, a
French Armenian Conductor and his daughter, cellist Astghik Siranosian,
dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, will
take place in Aram Khachatrian concert hall of Yerevan on April
8. According to the information submitted to Noyan Tapan from the
State Philharmonic Orchestra, some works of Edvard Mirzoyan will be
performed at the concert to the accompaniment of the Philharmonic,
and the performance of “Italian Symphony” of Vincent D’Indi, a French
composer, will be presented to the memory of Pope John Paul II.

LITHUANIAN MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENSE TO PAY OFFICIAL VISIT TO
ARMENIA ON APRIL 5-7

YEREVAN, APRIL 4, NOYAN TAPAN. On April 5, a delegation headed by
Gediminas Kirkilas, the National Defence Minister of the Republic of
Lithuania, will pay an official visit to Armenia on the invitation of
Serge Sargsian, the National Security Council Secretary attached to
RA President, the Defence Minister. In the framework of the visit,
G.Kirkilas will have meetings with the Catholicos of All Armenians,
RA Prime-Minister, RA Defence, Foreign Ministers, Chairman of the
NA Standing Committee on Defence, National Security and Internal
Affairs. According to the information submitted to Noyan Tapan by
Colonel Seyran Shahsuvarian, the RA Defence Minister’s Press Secretary,
on April 5, the National Defence Minister of Lithuania will visit the
Military Institute after RA Defence Minister Vazgen Sargsian, meet
the Chief and the professors’ staff of the Institute, get acquainted
with everyday life of the Institute. On April 6 the delegation will
visit Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex to lay a wreath to the Memorial
to the Armenian Genocide victims. It will also visit Matenadaran,
the National Gallery. The results of the visit will be summed up at
the press-conference to take place on the same day. The delegation
will leave Yerevan on April 7.

THEATRICAL TOURS AND WEEK OF RUSSIAN FILMS TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN ON
OCCASION OF YEAR OF RUSSIA IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, APRIL 5, NOYAN TAPAN. On April 6-9, the collective of
Moscow Art Academic Theatre will perform on tour in Yerevan within
the framework of the Year of Russia in Armenia. The troupe consisting
of 20 actors will represent the “Moon Monster” performance by Richard
Kalinoski’s play. The performance dedicated to the 90th anniversary
of Armenian Genocide was staged by Alexander Grigorian, Art Director
of Yerevan Russian Dramatic Theatre after Konstantin Stanislavski,
in Moscow. The Yerevan premiere of the performance will take place
on April 7. Susanna Khachatrian, Chief of the Foreign Relations
Department of RA Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs, informed Noyan
Tapan’s correspondent that, in all probability, the Moscow troupe will
represent another performance, as well. According to S.Khachatrian,
on April 11-17, a week of Russian films will be held in connection
with the Year of Russia in Armenia. A delegation of 10 famous Russian
figures of cinematography will arrive in Yerevan on the occasion of
the week of Russian films.

Turkish press 05 April 05

BBC Monitoring Service – United Kingdom
Apr 05, 2005

The following is a selection of quotes from editorials and
commentaries published in 5 April editions of Turkish newspapers
available to BBC Monitoring

Turkey/ USA

Hurriyet [centre-right, largest circulation] “Iraq will continue to
be the most sensitive subject in our relations with the EU… We
should not wait for the USA to launch an operation against the PKK
[Kurdistan Workers’ Party] militants in Iraq… Despite that, our
[Turkey and the USA’s] interests match each other in terms of the
protection of Iraq’s territorial integrity, because the USA does not
want to allow any event that will increase Iran’s influence in the
region.” (Commentary by Ilter Turkmen)

Milliyet [centrist] “The government is getting ready to give a
positive answer to the US demand to use Incirlik [military base in
southern Turkey] as the main logistics base [of the USA for
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan]. This phase is basically over…
Work on [specifying] the rules of the undertaking and explaining
logistic equipment is almost finished… According to official
statements, detailed clarifications are being made to prevent any
future disagreements, as to allow the use of the base except ‘war
planes and war equipment’.” (Commentary by Fikret Bila)

Cumhuriyet [secular, Kemalist] “…Last week, Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan implied that perhaps not all but at least some of the
US demands on Incirlik [base] might be met… Without the approval of
the parliament, which vetoed the 1 March motion, how will the
government give the USA permission to use Incirlik with a written
decree? Will this not cause a new division in the AKP [as it has
already lost a number of its MPs]?” (Commentary by Ozgen Acar)

Aksam [centre-right] “The amount and the type of changes that have
taken place in Turkish-American relations only in one year is
surprising. In a very short time, Ankara and Washington have
unexpectedly experienced heated discussions. Still, the two capitals
are waiting and staring at each other. There is only one determining
factor of what have been experienced and what will happen afterwards:
‘Whether the expectations will be met satisfied or not'” (Commentary
by Ismail Kucukkaya)

Turkey/ EU

Hurriyet “With regard to the Armenian and Kurdish issues, the EU and
the USA have put the Wilson principles on the agenda again. After the
Cyprus issue is resolved in the way the Greek Cypriot and Greek side
desires, the Kurdish issue will be put on the table ‘under the cover
of federation’ during the EU-Turkey talks, and then if the federation
bait is caught, towards the end of the talks, the Armenian issue will
be put on the table.” (Commentary by Ozdemir Ince)

Iran bishop expects big turnout for Pope farewell

Deepika, India
Tuesday, April 5, 2005

TEHRAN, Apr 4 (Reuters) In Iran, where the ancient Chaldean Catholic
community is dwarfed by the Muslim majority, Tehran’s church leader
expect a big turnout as the faithful say farewell to Pope John Paul
on Friday.

Tehran’s Chaldean Archbishop Ramzi Garmou says it is often difficult
to get his dwindling flock to mass on Sundays, a working day in Iran.

But on Friday — as the Pontiff’s funeral Mass is being celebrated
on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica — Garmou expects Catholics to
pour into St. Joseph’s church in Tehran.

”People knew him, perhaps more than any pope before,” Garmou told
Reuters today, when asked what the Pontiff meant to Iran’s Chaldeans,
whose fast-emigrating community now numbers only around 8,000.

”I have received many calls offering condolences and asking about
the mass,” he said.

Garmou stressed the antiquity of Iran’s Christians, quoting accounts
of the apostle Saint Thomas spreading Christianity to Persia in the
first century.

Most of Iran’s Christians belong to the Armenian church which is some
100,000 strong. Most Chaldeans live in Iraq.

Chaldeans have emigrated from Iran in droves since the 1979 Islamic
revolution, mainly to Europe and the United States.

Garmou said they were driven by economic factors and fears about the
geopolitical situation in West Asia.

Christian communities are permitted to worship freely in Iran, with
around 67 million Muslims, but are banned from proselytizing

TIGRAN SARGSIAN APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF INTERNATIONAL BANK COUNCIL

04.04.2005 07:03

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Last Friday the Council of the International
Bank founded by the CIS member-states elected Armenian Central Bank
President Tigran Sargsian the chairman of the Council, the statement
issued upon completion of the sitting says. Heads and representatives
of the Central Banks of the founder-states – Armenia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Ukraine – took part in
the sitting of the council. The Council considered the activities of
the bank in 2004, confirmed the annual balance sheet, the report on
profits and losses, etc.