Author: Hambardsumian Paul

ISRIA , DC
June 21 2008

Armenia: `insufficient progress’ on PACE demands, an urgent debate
therefore warranted (COE)

An urgent debate on Armenia at the plenary session of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is warranted,
according to the head of PACE’s Monitoring Committee.

Progress made so far by the Armenian authorities in meeting the
Assembly’s demands following the February 2008 post-election violence
has been judged insufficient by the committee’s co-rapporteurs Georges
Colombier (France, EPP/CD) and John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC),
its chair Serhiy Holovaty said in a letter today to the Assembly’s
President.

The two parliamentarians made a two-day visit to the country (16-17
June) to assess progress, in line with an earlier decision taken by
the committee in Kyiv.

NO INCIDENT OCCURS DURING MONITORING OF THE CONTACT LINE OF TROOPS OF AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA

Azeri Press Agency
June 20 2008
Azerbaijan

Terter. Teimour Zahidoglu-APA. Monitoring was held at the contact
line of troops in Gapanli village of Terter Region in accordance with
mandate of personal representative of OSCE Chairman-in-Office today,
APA Karabakh bureau reports.

No incident occurred during the monitoring. The monitoring was held by
Peter Ki and Irji Aberle, field assistants of OSCE Chairman-in-Office’s
personal representative on Azerbaijani side, but Imre Palatinus and
Antal Herdich, field assistants of OSCE Chairman-in-Office’s personal
representative on the opposite side.

LEVON TER-PETROSIAN: DIALOG WITH AUTHORITIES CAN BE ONLY ABOUT THE EARLY ELECTIONS

Noyan Tapan

Ju ne 20, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 20, NOYAN TAPAN. On June 20, the National Movement led by
the former President Leovon Ter-Petrosian held a meeting in Yerevan,
the first since March 1st, as the authorities had so far prohibited
the opposition leader to hold meetings.

In his speech before some 20,000 people, Levon Ter-Petrosian said
the only worthy subject he sees in the PACE Resolution 1609 is
the demand to free all political prisoners, according to him, now
86 people. He blasted the authorities who claim that there are no
political prisoners in Armenia, and applied in a friendly manner to
Serge Sargsian encouraging him to free the prisonners ("Serge, you
used to be my friend, I allow myself to apply you in an non-formal way,
you have the same right. Why not to stop this madness?").

He called the PACE not to apply any punitive measure against Armenia
if the political prisoners are freed by the time of the PACE discussion
on Armenia.

Ter-Petrosian said two other major demands of the said Resolution
are not very important, including that of creating an independent
body for examining the events of March 1st. He declared that under
these authorities no fair investigation is possible. As an evidence,
he presented that fact, that up to now, no criminal cases were opened
for those killed on March 1st, no one guilty for vandalism and robbery
was even accused. "This is because those who committed such crimes,
were the men of Robert Kocharian and Serge Sargsian, and not those
who were in the opposition meeting", he said. He declared that the
former president Robert Kocharian was to blame for the killings of
March 1st and that Kocharian may be brought to the Hague court for
crimes against humanity.

As for the "dialog" with the authorities, Ter-Petrosian said the
dialog may be only about holding early presidential and parliamentary
elections as the Movement does not recognize the current authorities
as legitimate. "Every opposition has two roles. First, trying to
go to power. Second, to force the current authorities to make good
things. We would be happy if these authorities do good things,
nevertheless they have not done any so far," the former president said.

Although the authorities had previously banned holding the meeting
near the Matenadaran hill (a usual site for meetings), the Movement
had said it would ignore this ban and called the people to gather near
the Matenadaran. The hill was initially blocked by police, however,
after brief negotiations, the block was removed and the people was
allowed to go to the hill. No incidents were reported.

ATOM EGOYAN’S ADORATION IN THE INTERNET AGE
by Karin Badt

MovieMaker Magazine
rticle/atom_egoyan_adoration_at_cannes_20080619/
J une 20 2008
NY

The press alternately booed and applauded the Cannes premiere of Atom
Egoyan’s new film, Adoration, and few came to greet the director at his
press conference. Granted the film, which tells of a boy who reinvents
the mundane story of his parents’ death as an international terrorist
conspiracy only to face the truth at the end, falls as flat as the bomb
that never went off on the plane. Still, the high-minded intellectual
ambitions of the director were apparent and intriguing throughout,
echoing the themes of his more successful films such as Exotica and
Felicia’s Journey. The boy constructs his myth of his parents by
borrowing the story of an Arab who arranged for his pregnant wife
to detonate en route to Tel Aviv.The boy’s French teacher becomes
obsessed with the boy’s construction.The scenes are contrived, the
acting stilted and yet one cannot help but busily think during the
screening: What inspires us to construct stories about our lives?

Can one story ever contain the conflicts between a family, let alone
between rival groups?

In the end, there is a "true story" that seems to wrap up all the
threads, bringing the disjointed characters–the boy, the teacher and
his strange uncle–into a harmonious web. Yet even this satisfaction
seems like a momentary pause in the ongoing journey of narrative need.

Atom Egoyan, a sincere-looking intellectual with boyish dark eyes
and a warm regard, leaned forward at the podium with an excited air
as he explicated the sub-topics of his film–many of which were more
captivating, unfortunately, in his telling than in the production. He
explained that the various "props" in his movie–a Christmas nativity
decoration, a violin, a burka–were "fetish objects for something else,
ways of dealing with loss." The film’s title, Adoration, alludes to
how the characters adore each other, but sublimate this adoration
into objects, the director explains.

Fetishism is also true of our attachment to technology. Egoyan’s films
obsess over modern methods of communication–cell phones, chat rooms,
video cameras. In this film, the boy puts his constructed story
on the Web, and it becomes the subject of a chat room. While many
critics assume that Egoyan is celebrating our technological ease,
the truth is quite the opposite. "The issue of the Internet is that
we are saturated with intimacy, but the film is about the boy’s own
journey. It is not about the Internet, but about the way the Internet
is used to draw him out. But he becomes overwhelmed by the multitude
of responses in the chat room. All that noise does not solve his
issue. The film is ultimately about finding that one person who can
help us understand our history… I am more concerned with emotional
concerns of people rather than technologies."

We continue the conversation the next day at lunch…. or a sort of
lunch. We journalists had already eaten, and Egoyan, in his enthusiasm
to respond to our questions (one intuits his generous approach to
students in his sideline as a university lecturer), barely connected
his fork to his plate.

Fork suspended, he admits that the issue of our attachment to history,
to cultural props, was personal to him, as an Armenian who grew up
in Egypt and then moved to the west coast of Canada. "We were the
only Armenian family in Victoria, while the rest of our family had
moved to Montreal. What aspects of tradition my family held on to
were very particular. I am obsessed with identity and what I hold
onto to construct identity."

The punchline: We are "burdened by traditional artifacts that we feel
pressured to conserve, but they have lost meaning".

Yet Adoration has a happy ending. The props are dispensed with
(the violin sold) and the boy, his uncle and his teacher convene in
the teacher’s home, agreeing for the first time on one story—and
creating, Egoyan explains, "a new nuclear family."

Perhaps the story of this film does not ultimately work, but stories
themselves can.

OSCE MISSION NOT ACCOMPANIED TO FRONT LINE

Panorama.am
20:39 20/06/2008

Today the OSCE Mission has held a planning monitoring in the front
line of Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh at Martakert region. The
arrangements to conduct the monitoring was made with the authorities
of the NKR the other day, reported the press service of the Foreign
Affairs Ministry of NKR.

The Mission group has not registered any case of violation of the
armistice. Though it should be mentioned that Azeri side did not
accompanied the Mission group to the front line and they had to study
the territory from a distance.

SERBIAN PRESIDENT REJECTS PLANS TO TRANSFER SOME RESPONSIBILITIES FROM UN MISSION IN KOSOVO TO EU

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.06.2008 14:35 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Serbian President Boris Tadic on Friday again
rejected plans to transfer some responsibilities from the UN mission
in Kosovo to the European Union after the newly-independent state’s
constitution entered into force.

Tadic told the UN Security Council that Belgrade "cannot endorse"
UN chief Ban Ki-moon’s recent plans to reconfigure the UN mission
in Kosovo (UNMIK) by transferring responsibilities in the areas of
police, justice and customs to an EU mission.

"Reconfiguration must be decided by the Security Council. It is the
only institution endowed with the power to legitimate changes in the
composition of the international presence in Kosovo," Tadic noted.

Russia’s envoy to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, stated that Moscow describes
as "unacceptable any actions that transferred the functions or
property of the UNMIK" to the European Union Rule of Law Mission in
Kosovo, EULEX.

For his part, Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu said that Kosovo has
completed status talks with Serbia.

"Territorial integrity of Kosovo is protected internationally and
secession of the Serb-inhabited northern part of Kosovo is not a
subject for discussion," he said, the UN news center reported.

PRIME MINISTER: SMALL AND AVERAGE BUSINESS SHOULD BE SUPPORTED BY STATE

Panorama.am
19:55 19/06/2008

Today the Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan invited a
briefing to make four announcements on reforms of customs and tax
administration. According to the Prime Minister those announcements
are based on the meeting-discussion at president 20 days ago.

Today the Prime Minister announced that one of the points is to form
a council dealing with the reforms.

The council has already been formed and the ministers of finance
and economy are involved in it, also. The objective of the council
is to coordinate the reform, to control them and be in contact with
the public representatives and business ones.

T. Sargsyan said that a monitoring group will be formed leaded by
Aram Gharibyan. According to the Prime Minister the group is ready
to hear all the recommendations and observations of people and to
direct the reforms based on the discussion round them.

The third announcement made by the Prime Minister concerns the support
of the state to the small and average business representatives. And
the fourth one is about support and trust from public and mass media
in general.

PRESS RELEASE
ARMENPAC, The Armenian-American Political Action Committee
Contact: Jason P. Capizzi
Tel: 972-635-5347
Fax: 972-635-5406
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

ARMENPAC COVERS THE HILL, ATTENDING A GALA WITH MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND A
RECEPTION FOR BRAD SHERMAN (D-CA)

Washington, DC – In its ongoing efforts to broaden the base of support for
Armenian issues, ARMENPAC Co-Chair Annie Totah and Executive Director Jason
Capizzi recently crisscrossed Capitol Hill in a bipartisan fashion to
educate new friends on Armenian-American issues by attending the Jewish
Historical Society’s annual gala as well as a reception in honor of
Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA), a loyal and committed friend of
Armenians.

The Jewish Historical Society event was attended by several Members of
Congress including Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Arlen Specter (R-PA), as
well as House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Democratic Caucus Chair
Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), House Minority Leader John Boehner, House Minority Whip
Roy Blunt (R-MO), Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Representative Eric
Cantor (R-VA). Members of the Bush administration were also present,
including Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Tevi D. Troy, who
learned about Armenian issues from Co-Chair Totah.

Following the gala on Capitol Hill, Co-Chair Totah and Executive Director
Capizzi attended a reception for Representative Brad Sherman at the
Democratic National Committee Headquarters, where Totah thanked
Representative Sherman for his steadfast support of Armenian issues.
Co-Chair Totah also had a chance to meet and greet a number of other
congressional friends who were in attendance, namely Representatives Diane
Watson (D-CA), Barney Frank (D-MA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA), each of whom are
cosponsors of the H.Res.106 relating to United States reaffirmation of the
Armenian Genocide, for their advocacy work. Co-Chair Totah specifically
thanked Representative Adam Schiff for his leadership role on Armenian
issues and also apprised him of ARMENPAC’s ongoing good work.

Representative Brad Sherman is serving his 6th term in Congress representing
the 27th District of California. Representative Sherman is a member of the
Financial Services, Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees; Chairman of
the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Non-proliferation and Trade; and a member of
the Congressional Caucus on Armenian issues. While leaving the Democratic
National Headquarters, Co-Chair Totah ran into Representative Joe Crowley
(D-NY) and took advantage of the moment to once again thank him for having
introduced H.Res.102 condemning the assassination of Hrant Dink.

"ARMENPAC receives an inordinate amount of requests for contributions from
our friends in Congress, who expect our ongoing and consistent support of
their reelection campaigns. As such, we need and count on the Armenian
community’s generous financial support to enhance our electioneering efforts
in support of Armenian-American issues," said ARMENPAC Co-Chairs Annie Totah
and Edgar Hagopian.

"Furthermore, 2008 is an election year and it is imperative that we make our
voices heard by attending as many events as possible in support of our
friends in Congress so that they can continue to advocate for our cause,"
added Totah. For more information on how to make a contribution to ARMENPAC
please call (877) 286-1026 or visit

ARMENPAC was formed in 1999, and is an independent, bipartisan,
multi-candidate, nonconnected political action committee with a nationwide
membership. ARMENPAC raises awareness of, and advocates for, candidates
that support policies that help create peace, security and stability in the
Caucasus region. ARMENPAC provides financial support to federal
officeholders, candidates, political action committees and organizations
that share our philosophy and understanding of Armenian-American issues.
For more information and how to contribute to ARMENPAC, please call (877)
286-1046 or visit <; .

###

HOWARD BERMAN: "TURKEY’S BLOCKADE OF ARMENIA CONTRADICTS INTERESTS OF ANKARA"

NOYAN TAPAN.

JUNE 19
WASHINGTON

ARMENIANS TODAY

"It’s baffling why Ankara would want to pursue the blockade of Armenia,
which also harms the economy of eastern Turkey, and is therefore
clearly contrary to its own interests." This statement was made by
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, opening the
hearings on Armenia in the Committee on June 18. He mentioned that
the blockade of Armenia by Turkey holds the Armenian economy and
Armenia’s trade with other nations back.

During the hearing, which lasted two hours, the Chairman’s statement
and questions were followed by powerful remarks and in-depth inquiries
by Congressmen Adam Schiff, Frank Pallone and Joe Knollenberg, as
well as Committee members Brad Sherman, Diane Watson, Ed Royce, and
Jim Costa, among others, who questioned U.S. Assistant Secretary of
State for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried on
the U.S. position on the Armenian Genocide, the blockade of Armenia
by Turkey, as well as the escalating threats of war by Azerbaijan.

NKR DELEGATION SATISFIED WITH THE VISIT TO BERLIN
By Kim Gabrielian

AZG Armenian Daily
19/06/2008

Nagorno Karabakh

Members of NKR delegation coming back from an international conference
under heading "The role and significance of Nagorno Karabakh" organized
by Berlin European Academy on June 2-7, held a press conference on
June 17 to share their impressions of the conference.

Head of the delegation, Chairman of NKR National Assembly Ashot Ghulian
positively qualified the results of the conference. He mentioned that
the report of Hamburg University Professor Otto Lukhterhandt where
the latter expressed highly valuable viewpoints on the main essence
of Karabakh issue is worth translating and spreading.

What about the themes of the speeches delivered at the conference,
most of them were about Karabakh, but there were also speeches where
comparisons were made with Kosovo that is very important to perceive
the real nature of the conflicts, according to NA Speaker.

To the question of the journalists about the reaction of the Turkish
community of Germany against the conference Ashot Ghulian informed
that an anti-Karabakh demonstration was held the same day and though
the demonstration was permitted the Police of Berlin secured the
safety of the delegation.

In the framework of the visit, negotiations of economic sphere were
also conducted. Member of the delegation, Chairman of the Commission
on Financial-economic issues of the National Assembly Benik Bakhshiyan
mentioned that German partners are interested in herbs of Karabakh.

The NA Speaker informed the journalists that after the Berlin
conference he left for Moscow on June 9-14 where he met with several
Members of Russian State Duma. He didn’t detail the names of the MPs
but mentioned that reforms in Artsakh, legislation regulation and other
issues were discussed during the meetings. In the NKR representation of
Moscow NKR NA Speaker had meetings with several experts and discussed
possible variants on settlement of Karabakh conflict