Author: Frangulian Shushan

Minister Nalbandian met with the President of the French Senate

armradio.am
10.05.2008 12:08

On May 9 the President of the French Senate Christian Poncelet received
the Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian. The President of the
French Senate warmly congratulated Edward Nalbandian on assuming
office, highly appreciating his activity in the direction of deepening
the Armenian-French relations as Armenian Ambassador to France.

Edward Nalbandian informed that it was a great honor for him to
represent Armenia in France – a country that has been standing next to
Armenia ever since the first day of its independence and with which an
effective cooperation has been launched both on he bilateral level and
within European and international levels.

During the meeting Edward Nalbandian presented to Mr. Poncelet the
priority directions of the activity of the coalition Government formed
as a result of the presidential elections in Armenia, as well as the
positions of the Armenian leadership on a number of regional and
international issues of bilateral interest.

DEMONSTRATION OF SHUSHI CHRONICLE-DOCUMENTARY HELD IN NATIONAL LIBRARY
OF ARMENIA

YEREVAN, MAY 8, NOYAN TAPAN. The demonstration of the Shushi
chronicle-documentary film directed by Ashot Gevorgian, which is
dedicated to the 16th anniversary of the liberation of Shushi, was held
in the National Library of Armenia on May 8. The foundation history,
the military actions for the liberation of Shushi and the stories of
the freedom fighters, who have taken part in it, are presented in the
45-minute film.

In the words of Ghukas Sirunian, the editor-in-chief of the Information
Department of the RA Ministry of Defence, enormous work is being
conducted in the direction of summarizing all the films shot during the
liberation war of Artsakh on the initiative of the Ministry, so as the
real picture of the war actions is introduced to generations in future.
"The Artsakh war brought us a victory and we are obliged to tell the
current and further generations about that victory," Ghukas Sirunian
mentioned.

David Sargsian, the Head of the National Library of Armenia, stated
that demonstrations of films about the Karabakh war will be organized
in the library until the end of May. "The films are being demonstrated
for the collaborators of the library, students, and representatives of
different departments. This way we are trying to introduce to the young
generation the triumphant pages of our history," David Sargsian
stressed.

Kataweb, Italia
7 maggio 2008

Papa: Difficoltà e divisioni non fermino dialogo

7 maggio 2008 alle 12:46 ‘ Fonte: repubblica.it

“Pur di fronte alle difficolta’ e alle divisioni, i cristiani non
possono rassegnarsi né cedere allo scoraggiamentò`.

Lo ha detto Benedetto XVI nel discorso all’Udienza Generale di oggi,
trasformata dalla presenza del patriarca degli armeni Karekin II in
una coinvolgente celebrazione ecumenica. I cristiani, ha spiegato,
“devono perseverare nella preghiera per mantenere viva la fiamma
della speranza e l’anelito verso la piena unita’. “L’odierna sua
presenza ‘ ha aggiunto rivolto al patriarca ‘ ci ravviva nella
speranza della piena unità di tutti i
cristianì`. Secondo Benedetto XVI, “questi giorni di immediata
preparazione alla Solennita’ di Pentecoste ci stimolano a ravvivare la
speranza nell’aiuto dello Spirito Santo per avanzare sulla strada
dell’ecumenismò`.

“Noi abbiamo la certezza ‘ ha affermato ‘ che il Signore Gesu’ non ci
abbandona mai nella ricerca dell’unità, poiché il suo
Spirito è instancabilmente all’opera per sostenere i nostri
sforzi tesi a superare ogni divisione e a ricucire ogni lacerazione
nel vivo tessuto della Chiesà`. Dal giorno della discesa dello
Spirito Santo sui discepoli riuniti nel Cenacolo, ha assicurato
Benedetto XVI, “la Chiesa e’ sempre, per così dire, in stato
di Pentecoste, e non teme di annunciare il Vangelo sino agli estremi
confini della terrà`. Tra gli applausi dei 30 mila fedeli
presenti il Pontefice ha poi ricordato “l’indimenticabile visita che
il Catholicos compi’ a Roma nell’anno 2000, appena dopo la sua
elezione, quando Giovanni Paolo II, gli consegnò una insigne
reliquia di San Gregorio l’Illuminatore e in seguito si reco in
Armenia per restituirgli la visità`.

441718/papa-difficolta-e-divisioni-non-fermino-dia logo

Armenian Parliamentarian from Heritage opposition party advises
President of Armenia to declare amnesty for those arrested on March 1
case

2008-05-07 14:31:00

ArmInfo. Armenian Parliamentarian from Heritage opposition party
faction Zaruhi Postanjyan advises President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan
to propose Parliament to declare amnesty for all the arrestees on the
case of 1 March unrest.

The parliamentarian said at Pastark Debate Club that the necessity of a
dialogue between the authorities and the opposition is much spoken off
at present. Nevertheless, not only opposition activists but also their
relatives and friends and even the relatives of the killed on 1 March
are called to the Police and subjected to tiring interrogations. Some
of the relatives of the 10 killed on 1 March intend to appeal to the
European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg. ‘If the authorities
really want to display their readiness for a dialogue, the president
should declare amnesty’, Postanjyan said.

At the request of ArmInfo to comment on the continuing verdicts on
conditional punishments on the 1 March criminal case, Z. Postanjyan
called this ‘an artificial demonstration of good will by the
authorities. Amnesty is necessary since even conditional punishments
are punishments and may become areason for appealing to the European
Court’, she said.

Z. Postanjyan stressed that Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s supporters also
intend to appeal to the European Court for Human Rights against the
official result of the presidential election in Armenia.

‘ArmenTel’ CJSC keeps on retarding development of telecommunications
market in Armenia even after refusal of monopolies: providers

2008-05-04 13:57:00

ArmInfo. "ArmenTel" CJSC keeps on retarding development of the
telecommunications market in Armenia even after voluntary refusal of
monopolies since October 1, 2007. The leaders of information and
telecommunication services of Armenia came to such a conclusion during
the forum held in Tsakhkadzor on May 1-3. The forum was organized by
the Union of IT enterprises, the Economy Ministry and the USAID
programme "Competitive Armenian Private Sector " (CAPS).

During the discussions, the forum participants said that after refusal
of the monopoly, "ArmenTel" began to refuse the Internet-providers of
letting its communication channels on lease, explaining this by the
fact that it also needs these channels for development. In fact,
refusal of monopolies released "ArmenTel" of any liabilities in
delivery of the communication channels, that incurred the providers’
displeasure. The problem is that there is one telecommunications
network in the republic which belongs to "ArmenTel" Company, which also
launched a provider business. Although the monopoly in the
telecommunications market has been cancelled de-jure, however it still
exists in fact. The forum participants call on the Armenian authorities
to impose legislative restrictions on the monopolist’s actions. In
particular, they offer to liberalize the so-called "last mile" –
connection from
"ArmenTel" network to the final user.

During the discussions, there were also other proposals on creation of
an alternative network as another way of the problem solution. The
proposals on use of the satellite and radio-relay communication were
not admitted by the forum participants, as it is more expensive and not
so reliable as the fiber-optic one. It was marked that such a
communication may be used only for the big corporate clients or in the
remote regions of Armenia, where there is no communication at all.

During the forum, the problems of the customs and tax legislation and
administration, the network security and education in IT-sphere were
discussed as well.

MANUCHARYAN: NO FUTURE AT AJAX

Virgin Media Sport, UK
May 1 2008

Ajax striker Edgar Manucharyan has admitted he does not have a future
at the club after becoming frustrated at his lack of first-team
opportunities.

The 21-year-old has not played a single minute for the first team
this campaign and does not want the same thing to happen next season.

"I have been fit for months but coach (Adrie) Koster still didn’t give
me a chance," said Manucharyan. "Another season at Jong Ajax is not
my cup of tea. If I can’t play at a higher level I will not improve."

The Armenia international has not ruled out the possibility of a
loan move.

"I hope things will change," he added. "Maybe Ajax can loan me out
for six months."

SOFIA RECOGNIZED THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

AZG Armenian Daily
29/04/2008

Armenian Genocide

Council of the capital of Bulgaria recognized the fact of the Armenian
Genocide. Sofia became the 5th Bulgarian city after Burgas, Plovdiv,
Stara Zagora and Ruse that recognized the Armenian Genocide.

To recall, last month the adoption of the Armenian Genocide resolution
was postponed in Sofia city council.

According to Turkish press, the discussions of the Armenian Genocide
draft resolution were hampered by the efforts of the Bulgarian
government during the official visit of Turkish Prime Minister Regep
Tayip Erdogan to Bulgaria.

According to the Bulgarian government, adoption of the resolution
would damage Turkish-Bulgarian relations.

PROBLEMS WON’T BE SOLVED VIA EXTRAORDINARY ELECTIONS
Lilit Poghosyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on April 29, 2008
Armenia

Speaker of the National Assembly Tigran Torosyan convened a press
conference yesterday, to clarify certain false accentuations circulated
in the press about him.

The speaker firstly refuted the rumors saying that allegedly he is the
author of the amendments in the law on "Meetings, Rallies, Marches,
and Demonstrations". Moreover, that allegedly he did his best to have
this legislative initiative adopted. Whereas, from the beginning,
Tigran Torosyan has pointed out two fundamental issues linked with
point 6 partially restricting the freedom of the massive events, and
"spontaneous rallies".

Eventually those reservations were the bases of the memorandum signed
as a result of the April discussions with the experts of Venice
Commission and OSCE/ODIHR and "later they turned into the key topic
for the new amendments. In essence the amendments once proposed by me,
will be implemented.

That is why the "ugly and futile attempts" to represent the Speaker
of the Parliament as the champion of the draft law is simply pointless.

Moreover because still before the draft law was put to discussion, he
emphasized the importance of submitting the law to the consideration
of Venice Commission and in case of need review it and bring in
compliance with the European standards.

As regards the willful commentaries regarding his response to PACE
resolution 1609, "you shouldn’t consider it arrogant, but I’m not the
last person in Armenia who has made efforts to bring our legislation
in compliance with the European standards. A huge work has been done,
there are different proofs – like laws, constitutional amendments,
etc," the Speaker said and added that he considers the speculations
saying that according to T. Torosyan PACE resolutions are "not
important" as absurd, "pointless and vain". Which means they are of
mere consultative nature, not biding and will be put into operation
inasmuch as they derive from the interests of our country.

Touching upon the attempts to represent extraordinary parliamentary
elections as a key to dialogue, the speaker said: " What we really
need, to solve our problems, is a clear formation of the issues,
complete discussion of those issues and combination of powers. By
extraordinary elections neither the parties will be accomplished,
nor can we form the structures of civil society, and we will also
not manage to shift government-opposition relations on a proper plane
and solve the existing problems. This is my standpoint.

If we think that by speaking and holding elections we will solve or
propose solutions to those problems, then I must say that it will lead
us to a worst situation, because it is impossible to solve profound
issues via elections."

Besides that: "It was only 10 months back that we hold parliamentary
elections in Armenia. Those who had desire participated in the
elections.

Those who have been elected by the society are represented in the
parliament. If some people think that we must hold parliamentary
elections every year only because this or that political power is
not represented in the parliament then I must say that there is no
logic in it. It is not only the political powers represented in the
parliament that must work, extra-parliamentary powers should also
work. There is no other way. Holding new parliamentary elections is
not the right way."

What is the attitude of NA Speaker towards the idea to set an
independent "investigating" committee under the patronage of the
Human Rights’ Defender or the Parliament?

According to the speaker: "Armen Harutyunyan’s extraordinary speech
dotted the discussions on setting a committee headed by the Human
Rights’ Defender or his office, because the Defender clearly introduced
his viewpoints regarding the before mentioned issue. So there is no
need to do something new.

But he said it is possible to discuss the proposal on establishing
a temporary parliamentary committee, in case the future members and
the head of the committee "treat the work with great responsibility."

GENDARMERIE OFFICERS APPEAR AT HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE, REJECT TALKING OVER CASE ON SLAIN JOURNALIST

Turkish Press
April 28 2008

ANKARA – Two Turkish gendarmerie officers were summoned Thursday at
a human rights committee of Turkish parliament over the killing of
Turkish-Armenian journalist, but they refused to give information
about the case until after being heard by a court of law, committee
sources said.

Col. Ali Oz, former gendarmerie commander of the Black Sea province
of Trabzon, and Capt. Metin Yildiz, Trabzon`s former gendarmerie
intelligence chief, also failed to attend to an earlier call by the
committee early in April.

"We are here today out of our respect for the parliament but we
will not make any statements before our testimonies are heard by the
court. We can brief the committee in detail after the court hearing,"
Col. Oz was quoted as saying.

Hrant Dink was shot dead outside the offices of his Agos newspaper in
Istanbul in January 2007. Police arrested the gunman and a suspected
associate who was identified as Yasin Hayal.

Acting on the testimonies of two other gendarmerie officers who were
arrested on the charges of "neglect of duty," a Trabzon court ordered
a probe against 10 gendarmerie officers, including Oz and Yildiz.

Lawyers of Dink`s family have said in a petition that "the probed
gendarmerie officers had known that Hayal and his friends had been
making plans to kill Dink as early as July 2006, but they had failed
to take necessary measures in an open neglect of duty."

Armenian Genocide Museum of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600, Washington, D.C. 20036
Phone: 202-383-9009; E-mail: [email protected];
Web:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 28, 2008
Web:

CONTACT: Rouben Adalian
Phone: (202) 383-9009
E-mail: [email protected]

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MUSEUM OF AMERICA AND ARMENIA
ENTER INTO PERMANENT COOPERATION AGREEMENT

Washington, April 28-The Armenian Genocide Museum of America (AGMA) and
the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (AGMI) at the Tsitsernakaberd
Memorial Complex in Yerevan, Armenia, announced the signing in Yerevan
of a permanent agreement based upon their common goals. The agreement
anticipates the sharing of resources and expertise, the integration of
museum activities, and the promotion of each other’s programs and
projects.

The agreement reached between Dr. Hayk Demoyan, AGMI Director, Hirair
Hovnanian, AGMA Board of Trustees chairman, and Van Z. Krikorian, AGMA
Trustee and Building and Operations Committee chairman, envisions a
permanent association to allow both museums to coordinate plans and to
learn from each other’s experience in developing exhibits and other
presentations on the Armenian Genocide.

Since AGMI’s opening in 1995, the museum and the adjoining institute at
the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex in Armenia have emerged as the
principal repository of resources and information about the Armenian
Genocide. The memorial is of international significance as the site
visited by foreign dignitaries who come to pay tribute to the victims of
the Armenian Genocide. The laying of a wreath at the memorial and a
tour of the museum are a customary part of official visits to Armenia.
Many heads of state and their delegations have walked through the
memorial complex and have taken occasion to speak about the importance
of remembrance and the commitment to tolerance.

Part of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia,
AGMI, which functions as a research center, is also dedicated to the
objective of collecting the visual, textual, and artifactual evidence on
the life of the Armenian people once living in the Ottoman Empire. In
addition to managing the museum facility and maintaining the memorial
complex in the heart of Yerevan, AGMI also organizes international
conferences, publishes documentation and studies on the Armenian
Genocide, and runs a major Website that posts news on developments in
the international affirmation of the Armenian Genocide, announces
publications in the field of genocide studies, and releases newly
uncovered documentation through its research programs. The Websites of
the two museums will be linked, as well as oral history projects and
resources.

The Armenian Genocide Museum of America is an outgrowth of the Armenian
Assembly of America and the Armenian National Institute (ANI), catalyzed
by a foundational grant from Anoush Mathevosian for the purpose of
establishing an Armenian Genocide museum in Washington, D.C. The
Armenian Assembly has championed the cause of affirmation with
legislative and executive branches of the American government, while ANI
has served as a research facility documenting the Armenian Genocide on
the basis of the United States archives and other records. ANI is
presently also providing coordination for AGMA planning and exhibit
designing.

The cooperative agreement was reached in the framework of the AGMI’s
mission, which is shared by the Armenian Genocide Museum of America, to
educate a wider public about the extent of the crimes committed against
the Armenian people during the First World War and the long-lasting
effects and consequences of the gross human rights violations of that
era. The agreement was finalized after months of discussions and
informal cooperation and assistance from AGMI to AGMA as it progresses
toward opening. AGMA publicly thanks AGMI and Dr. Hayk Demoyan for the
help he has provided these past months.

As the first major institution in the Armenian diaspora dedicated to
preserving and honoring the memory of the victims and survivors of the
Armenian Genocide, AGMA will offer interactive exhibits and educational
programs incorporating the latest scholarship with state-of-the art
technology. AGMA will be a place for reflection, where memories and
emotions can be confronted in an environment filled with hope,
inspiration and a commitment to eradicate the scourge of genocide and
stopping other atrocities against humankind.

The museum in Washington has already been granted project approval and
planners have completed the schematic design phase of the exhibits. The
endorsement by a District of Columbia preservation review board of
restoration plans for the historically-designated building, which will
house the museum, and the completion of exhibit schematic designs,
concluded the second phase of the museum planning, which was inaugurated
in November 2007. Phase one planning began in August 2007. AGMA is now
entering the third phase of development and the museum is scheduled to
open in 2010.

The links to the Websites of the two museums are
and

NR#2008-03