Author: Hambardsumian Paul

AGENDA OF "ROUZ-ROUT" SEMINAR WILL INCLUDE NK ISSUE
Author: J.Shahverdiyev

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Oct 10 2006

The seminar of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly "Rouz-Rout" will be
held in Kishinev on October 19-21. Azerbaijan will be represented
in the seminar by the members of the delegation Zahid Oruj and Elman
Mammadov, member of the Azerbaijani Parliament Zahid Oruj told Trend.

He noted that the seminar will focus mainly on relations between
Moldova and Euro-Atlantic structures, including the role of the
Euro-Atlantic institutions in the settlement of the conflicts. Oruj
stressed that the agenda of the seminar is already ready. He
emphasized that the seminar had been held in Baku and Georgia. "The
agenda of the last event held in Sochi included items linked with
the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We are planning
to discuss the same issues in the next seminar," Oruj said.

FRENCH-TURKISH ROW OVER ARMENIAN ISSUE ON VERGE OF GETTING OUT OF CONTROL

Arab Monitor, Italy
Oct 10 2006

Ankara, 9 October – The French-Turkish row over the Armenian issue
risks spinning out of control, as Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul
threatened his country might barr France from all economic projects if
the French Parliament adpoted a proposed bill regarding the massacres
of Armenians during World War I. The draft law, to be debated in
Parliament in Paris on Thursday, would allow to sentence to five years
in prison and to a fine of 45.000 Euros anybody who denies that the
massacre of Armenians during World War I constituted a genocide.

Gul announced that if the French Parliament adopts the bill, Turkey
would reconsider French participation in major economic projects,
such as the planned construction of a nuclear industrial facility.

French-Turkish relationships began to become clouded in 2001, when
Paris first adopted a law branding the mass killings of Armenians as
genocide. Faced with a second draft that would make the genocide-issue
Holocaust-denial-proof, Turkish parliamentarians have hinted that
Turkey might retaliate adopting a law branding as genocide the
massacres committed by French military against Algerians under French
colonial rule and by providing for prison sentences for those who
deny an Algerian genocide had taken place.

IN STRASBOURG, LEADER OF ARMENIAN OPPOSITION DEMANDED PUNISHING ORGANIZERS OF ELECTORAL FRAUD IN 2003

ARMINFO News Agency
October 9, 2006 Monday

While speaking at the PACE monitoring committee meeting in Strasbourg,
I stressed that international observers have repeatedly pointed to the
availability of necessary legislative basis for the conduct of free
and democratic elections in Armenia and that the Armenian authorities
should meet the CE requirements for punishing the organizers of
the electoral fraud of 2003 and for providing A1+ with TV air, says
the leader of the Justice opposition bloc, member of the Armenian
delegation to PACE Stepan Demirtchyan.

The Armenian authorities must take specific steps rather than
just speak about improving the Electoral Code. "We do need good
Electoral Code, but what we need the most is the political will of
our authorities who have huge resources to influence elections,"
says Demirtchyan.

He notes that the committee rapporteurs told him about the results of
their last visit to Armenia and pointed to serious deficiencies during
the Nov 2005 constitutional referendum. "In my speech I mentioned
these facts and pointed out that one can’t attain democratic goals
by non-democratic means," says Demirchyan.

PRISON PSYCHOTHERAPY MAY PROVE EFFECTIVE
Evika Babayan

Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Oct 7 2006

Civic Action Center NGO has recently held a seminar for the staff of
the prison of Shushi on prison psychotherapy. "During the monitoring
of prisons our organization helps inmates who need psychologist’s
help. Moreover, the psychologist of the CAC works with the staff of
the prisons," says the director of the center Albert Voskanian. Zoya
Mayilian, the psychologist of the center says the necessity for prison
psychotherapy occurred due to the need of inmates for psychologist’s
help, as well as the insufficiency of ordinary methods. In answer to
our question whether prison psychotherapy may have a beneficial effect
on the prisoner’s psychology, Zoya Mayilian said it may prevent clashes
between individuals and groups of inmates, suicides, as well as help
them get used to the prison life, correctional methods more easily.

DEPUTY ARRESTED FOR HOOLIGANISM

A1+
[03:23 pm] 09 October, 2006

On October 8 the Masis department of the RA Police received information
about a case of hooliganism in village Hayanist. The group sent to
the village revealed that the same day at about 02:30 p.m. RA NA
deputy Hakob Hakobyan (b. 1963) quarreled with members of the RA
Full Contact Karate Federation Gevorg Sargsyan and Vardan Vardanyan
on entering the calculating station of "ArmRusGasArd" guarded by them.

The police informed that as a result of the quarrel head of the
Federation Hayk Vardanyan, coach Edgar Poghosyan and driver Seryozha
Barseghyan, the driver of the NA deputy, were taken to hospital.

A rifle has been found at the site.

Deputy Hakob Hakobyan is arrested. A criminal case has been initiated
in the Prosecutor’s Office of Ararat region.

Armenian Genocide Issue Disturbs Dutch MPs

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.10.2006 14:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Labour Party (PvdA) of the Netherlands is not yet
free of the Armenian Genocide question. Various media again cast
doubts on the position of prominent MP Nebahat Albayrak yesterday.
Meanwhile, PvdA Senator Erik Jurgens has proposed dropping the ban on
Holocaust denial. The PvdA broke with candidate MP Erdinc Sacan last
week. He is not running in the 22 November general elections because
he refuses to recognize the Genocide perpetrated by Turkey on the
Armenians. Albayrak, the highest-placed candidate on the PvdA list
after front-runner Wouter Bos, is however still refusing to provide
clarification of her position. According to Elsevier magazine, Albayrak
has been unavailable for comment since last week, when she "reduced
the debate" to a question of definition in an interview with Trouw
newspaper. Albayrak said it is not possible to take a clear position
because the historical sources are "polluted." According to Elsevier,
there are virtually no independent academics that doubt that the term
‘genocide’ is appropriate. "In the Netherlands, a report appeared as
early as 1918 by a committee of very eminent politicians which spoke
unequivocally of the ‘systematic slaughter’ of 800,000 Armenians
in Turkey."

Professor Ton Zwaan of the University of Amsterdam, specialist in
genocide studies, said yesterday in Trouw that "Albayrak, unhampered
by any knowledge, has made a series of dubious statements which are
closely related to negationism and denial politics. The question is
how she and her party think they will get away with this," Abovyan
Cultural Center reports from Brussels.

Georgian elections: Saakashvili’s party collected about 60% of votes in Akhalkalaki – local Armenians dispute results

Regnum, Russia
Oct 6 2006

Local elections are over in Georgia; about 60% of voters participated
in the elections in areas populated by ethnic Armenians; A-Info
reports.

According to data of Javakheti regional electoral commission of
Akhalkalaki area populated by ethnic Armenians, Saakashvili’s United
National Movement (UNM) Party collected here about 60% of votes in
the majoritarian vote, and opposition Industry Will Save Georgia
Party – 40%.

However, according to Industrialists’ Akhalkalaki branch leader
Meruzhan Yezoyan, his party collected over 50% of votes in
Akhalkalaki. Yezoyan expressed concern about the commission’s being
silent on the elections’ preliminary outcomes and falsifying the
results. According to preliminary data, most deputies elected by the
majoritarian system were known in Akhalkalaki by noon Oct 6. They
are as follows: Vitalik Torosyan (Khando village), Simon Manasyan
(Alastan village), Grigor Tsormutyan (Azavret village), and Norik
Karapetyan (Kadjo village).

The UNM Party was reported to collect 96% of votes in Ninotsminda
region. However, no other parties participated in the area’s
majoritarian elections. Head of the local electoral committee Seyran
Kiuregyan said that votes given for candidates in the majoritarian
vote were still being counted, and preliminary results would be
published later.

According to a source of A-Info, Simon Tumasyan (Gorelovka village),
Sedrak Shakhbasyan (Khanchkali village), Valery Antonyan (Gondura
village) were elected in the majoritarian vote. Emin Baloyan was
elected local deputy in the only village of Damale of Aspindza
electoral district.

According to preliminary reports, the UNM collected about 85% of
votes in Akhaltsikhe area. Davitashvili-Khidashvili-Berdzenishvili
Bloc collected 7.5% of votes; Salome Zourabichvili’s Georgia’s Way
Party collected 2.5% of votes.

BASESCU IN ARMENIA: ROMANIANS PAY FOR TRANSITION FROM COMMUNISM TO CAPITALISM

Rompres news agency, Bucharest,
5 Oct 2006

Yerevan, 5 October: The transition from communism to capitalism is a
decision assumed by politicians and taken to effect only if they have
the populations’ support, who pays the costs of this transformation,
said on Thursday 5 October in Yerevan the Romanian President Traian
Basescu in front of the students and professors with the State
University.

The Romanian head of state made a presentation of the transformations
occurred in Romania since the revolution in December 1989. He said that
Romanians had the power and patience to bear the transition period,
for they wanted to join Europe that they had left against their will
50 years before.

"We are aware that the EU accession is a new beginning for Romania.

Our country, as NATO and EU member, regained its dignity by coming
back home and starts the difficult process of the effective EU
integration," said Basescu. The Romanian president stressed that it
would take many years until Romania will be fully integrated into
the European structures.

Traian Basescu said that Romania grew economically and politically
since 2000, the first year when the Romania economy gave signs of
recovery and reported a 1.5 per cent growth of GDP, which proved that
the transition period was over.

The Romanian president received on Thursday the title Doctor Honouris
Causa of the state university in Yerevan, being his second such award
received since he became president. He also received the Diploma of
Honour and Merit of the same university.

MATTHEW BRYZA: ARMENIA SHOULD NOT BE LEFT OUT OF REGIONAL COOPERATION PROGRAMS

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Oct 4 2006

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, NOYAN TAPAN. Issues of regional cooperation in the
energy sector, Armenia’s energy security problems, and the necessity
to increase the country’s involvement in regional programs were
discussed at the October 4 meeting of the Armenian Prime Minister
Andranik Margarian and the US Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group
Matthew Bryza. M. Bryza, who as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
for European and Eurasian Affairs deals with Armenia-related problems,
stated that the position of the US on this issue is definite: Armenia
should not be left out of yhe regional cooperation programs.

According to him, during quite an efficient cooperation with the
former US ambassador to Armenia, considerable work has been done in
order to develop versions of possible US assistance for Armenia’s
economic development and strengthening of its security, democracy and
stability. In the words of M. Bryza, it is hard to succeed in these
issues without a close cooperation with the Armenian government.

A. Margarian in his turn noted that the Armenian government is prepared
to cooperate and support any proposal proceeding from the interests of
Armenia: the matter concerns democratization, the holding of national
elections in line with international standards, maintaining political
stability, and developing the Armenian economy.

The interlocutors also spoke about Armenia’s efficient cooperation with
the Millennium Challenge Corporation. M. Bryza noted with satisfaction
that Armenia was the first country to immediately set about its work
after signing the agreement. He wished success to the program.

ARMENIANS WITHDRAW FROM THE REGIONS BORDERING WITH AZERBAIJAN AND TURKEY

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Oct 4 2006

Armenian government asks Armenian Diaspora organizations to solve
economical problems of villages bordering with Turkey and Azerbaijan,
APA Eastern European bureau reports quoting to Armenian Diaspora
organizations in Europe.

The Diaspora demands to promote democracy in the region.

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said Armenian Diaspora
organizations allocated fund for construction of roads, schools and
restoration of irrigation system in over 50 villages. The government
hopes investors will make investment in the region and people will
come back.

The Foreign Minister said there are 159 villages to be reconstructed
each of which needs US $500-700.

In the meeting with The Diaspora organizations on September 31 Armenian
government said they will start economic struggle, because Azerbaijan’s
economic power has increased.