Author: Hambardsumian Paul

AGBU Press Office
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New York, NY 10022-1112
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PRESS RELEASE

Wednesday, June 11, 2007

AGBU YP Toronto Seminar Series a Smashing Sensation

One of the AGBU’s newest Young Professionals (YP) Groups, YP Toronto
recently launched a seminar series to better serve the development
needs of its local cadre of young Armenians, as well as provide a
constructive environment where members of the community can interact
and network.

On March 15, 2007, the first seminar, "Managing Your Career," was
conducted at the local AGBU Alex Manoogian Center by Lucy Djelalian,
YP Toronto Secretary and Scotiabank Employee Relations Manager, and
Diana Mahdessian, Scotiabank Automotive Finance and Indirect Lending
Manager. Free and informative, the seminar attracted over 45 guests
who received career consultations and coaching on how to market
themselves in today’s job market, write an effective resume, and
conduct a job search.

On May 24, 2007, the seminar series returned with its second
installment entitled "Real Estate and Mortgage Financing" with over 70
guests in attendance. Covering topics such as the local real estate
market, strategic investments, planning, and financing, the following
industry experts presented: Serge Bogosyan, TD Bank Mortgage
Specialist; Michael Hagopian, Mortgage Toronto Specialist; Aret
Kuzuian, AGBU YP Toronto Events & Fundraising Coordinator and Homelife
Romano Realty Ltd. Sales Representative; and Hagop Tchobanian, Keller
Williams Realty Sales Representative

AGBU YP Toronto is part of a growing network of 18 AGBU YP Groups and
supporters around the world who are committed to preserving and
promoting the Armenian identity and culture through educational,
cultural, and humanitarian programs. For more information on YP
Toronto and its seminar series, email [email protected] or visit

PRESS RELEASE
Armenia Solidarity
British Armenian All-Party Parliamentary Group
Nor Serount Publications
Armenian Genocide Trust

c/o The Temple of Peace, Cathays Park, Cardiff, Wales
[email protected]
baappg.bazil@btint ernet.com
[email protected]
Tel: 07718982732 Int: ++ 44 7718982732

The Number of Members of the UK Parliament recognising the Armenian
Genocide passess 150

The majority of non-Conservative eligible Members have now signed the
Genocide motion.

Another important milestone on the journey to UK Recognition of
the Genocide was passed today.
Glenda Jackson MP became the 150th Member of the UK Parliament to
signi Early Day Motion 357, recognising the Truth of the Genocide which
our parents, grandparents and other relatives endured during the years
of 1915-23.
This motion, put by Bob Spink MP, has put the Armenian Genocide
issue at the forefront of international issues on which MPs have shown
concern. Including other MPs who have signed the Genocide Motion in
previous years but unable to do so this year for parliamentary technical
reasons, the total now approaches 200
The majority of MPs who are eligible to sign the motion, and
unconstrained by their party, have now done so. Of the 460 MPs who are
eligible to sign, 180 are members of the Conservative Party who provide
a central,ready-made answer explaining why their members will not sign.
Few Conservatives have dared to break with the Party’s authority. Of the
other 280 MPs of the Labour (the party of government), Liberal Democrat,
Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) and smaller
parties just over half (143) have signed
That the past governments of the UK in recent years have
maintained a position of denial in the face of this obvious and
self-evident truth is a blemish on the reputation of this country, which
was the first to identify and publicise what happened to the Armenians
in 1915 as " New Crimes against Humanity and Civilisation"(the precursor
of the modern term Genocide). in the Joint Statement of the Allies in
May 1915). Most Armenians in the UK are able to recite their familly
stories of persecution, mis-treatment and murder, if the government and
the remainder of MPs would care to listen.
To continue with the lobbying, we shall give a copy of the "House
of Commons Conference on the Armenian Genocide" published by Nor Serount
Cultural Association, to all MPs this week.It includes contributions by
historians and other Genocide Scholars. We expect that this will enable
all MPs to have more knowledge of the issue, resulting in more
signatures in the three weeks left for the motion after the summer
recess.
We are confident now that MPs will be encouraged to force a vote
on the issue in the House of Commons after the autumn, following this
unprecedated support.
We are also hopeful of meeting with several MPs on july 24th, the
84th anniversary of the Lausanne Treaty. Gregory Topalian will address a
meeting in the House of Commons on that day on "Britain’s Responsibility
for the Fate of Western Armenia"

AZERI GOVERNMENT DELEGATION OFF TO WASHINGTON FOR SECURITY TALKS

ITV, Baku
9 Jul 07

[Presenter] Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov has
left for Washington to attend security talks between the USA and
Azerbaijan. The main subject of the talks, which will involve US
assistant secretaries of state and representatives of the Department of
Defence, is the political situation in the region and future actions.

Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov stressed that there
were a number of programmes in the security field between the two
countries, and said that an exchange of opinion would be held on
prospects for the implementation of these programmes.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Xazar Ibrahim has said that the sides will
also discuss the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.

[Xazar Ibrahim] The Azerbaijani delegation will comprise
representatives of different government bodies. Representatives of
the Foreign Ministry, the National Security Ministry, the Defence
Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the Emergencies Ministry, the [State]
Border Service and the Customs Committee will attend [the talks]. The
delegation will be led by Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov.

As part of the talks, discussions will be held on various
issues. Regional security, international issues, naturally, Armenia’s
aggression against Azerbaijan, NATO-Azerbaijan relations and the
recently topical issue of the Qabala [radar station] will be the
subject of the discussions.

We hope that this round of talks will be yet another step to take
US-Azerbaijani relations onto the next stage and to raise them onto
a higher level.

Russia set to test first serial S-400 SAM system next week

14:46 | 05/ 07/ 2007

MOSCOW, July 5 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will conduct the first tests of
its new S-400 Triumf air defense complex next week prior to its
commissioning with the Air Force, an AF air defense chief said
Thursday.

"The first serial [S-400] complex will be tested next week," Lieutenant
General Alexander Gorkov said. "It has been transported to a testing
ground together with crews."

The S-400 (NATO codename SA-21 Growler) is a new air defense missile
system developed by the Almaz Central Design Bureau as an upgrade of
the S-300 family.

It has been designed to intercept and destroy airborne targets at a
distance of up to 400 kilometers (250 miles), or twice the range of the
U.S. MIM-104 Patriot, and 2.5 times that of the S-300PMU-2.

"The first S-400 system, which will be put on combat duty near Moscow
shortly after the test, will feature missiles with enhanced technical
characteristics to sharply increase the combat capabilities of air
defense around the Russian capital," Gorkov said.

The general said Russia planned to deploy new air defense systems
primarily around all strategically important administrative and
political centers in two stages by 2015.

During the second stage, which starts in 2010, Russia will add
modernized versions of the S-400 with enhanced characteristics in
comparison to the current model, he said.

In April, Colonel General Yury Solovyov, commander of the Air Defense
Forces Special Command (former Moscow Military District Air Defense
Command), said the Triumf could be used for limited purposes in missile
and space defense, but that it is not designed to destroy
intercontinental ballistic missiles.

However, he said the system is highly capable of destroying stealth
aircraft, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles with an effective
range of up to 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) and a speed of up to 4.8
kilometers (3 miles) per second.

The Russian Air Defense Forces, which are part of the Air Force,
currently deploy more than 30 regiments equipped with S-300 (NATO
reporting name SA-10 Grumble) missile complexes, which will be
gradually replaced with S-400 systems.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Pentagon head to discuss possible U.S. lease of Gabala
radar station
04.07.2007 14:19 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The U.S. Secretary of Defense, Dr
Robert M. Gates will pay a visit to Azerbaijan July 9.
According to a source in the Stratfor intelligence
center, Dr Gates will arrive to discuss the
possibility of leasing Gabala radar station after
expiration of the agreement with Russia in 2012.

Russia-U.S. joint use of Gabala radar station is
unreal, experts say.

Robert Gates is also expected to discuss deployment of
transit military bases in Azerbaijan, Day.az reports.

AZG Armenian Daily #123, 30/06/2007

Karabakh Issue

RA FOREIGN MINISTER VARTAN OSKANIAN: ARMENIA’S POSITION UNCHANGEABLE:
DE JURE RECOGNITION OF NAGORNO KARABAKH AND PARTICIPATION OF NKR
REPRESENTATIVES IN TALKS

"Azerbaijan’s problem is the lack of political will to tell the public
about the ongoing talks on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The publics
of both states should be informed of the fundamental settlement
principles. The statements of the sides should not be mutually
exclusive," Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian told a news
conference in Yerevan.

"The international community knows the worth of Ilham Aliyev’s
statements and doesn’t always rate them as adequate," he said.

"Armenia has numerously repeated the settlement principles. These are
the status of Nagorno Karabakh, security guarantees, overland
communication with Armenia, territorial issues, refugees and displaced
persons. The negotiated document contains all these elements but
before determination of the status I will no comment on other
issues. Armenia’s position has undergone no changes since 1997. We
press for de jure recognition of Nagorno Karabakh and participation of
NKR representatives in the talks. I am ready to work with the next NKR
President," the Minister said.

When commenting on possible changes after the NKR presidential
election, Vartan Oskanian said, "This subject is mush spoken about,
however, there is no serious ground for it."

As to the regular meeting of the Armenian and Azeri FMs, Mr Oskanian
said, "The OSCE MG Co-chairs will hold separate negotiations with each
Minister. After that it will be possible to speak of
Oskanian-Mammadyarov meeting."

By Ara Martirosian

AFFAIRE DEVEDJIAN: POUR FILLON, "L’INCIDENT EST CLOS"

Agence France Presse
29 juin 2007 vendredi 2:35 PM GMT

Francois Fillon a estime vendredi que "l’incident est clos", après
les excuses du secretaire general delegue de l’UMP, Patrick Devedjian,
qui avait qualifie de "salope" l’ex-deputee UDF Anne-Marie Comparini.

"Qu’est-ce que vous voulez que je vous dise? Il ne faut jamais insulter
les gens et encore moins les elus", a declare le Premier ministre a
quelques journalistes qui l’interrogeaient a l’issue d’une ceremonie
a Nantes.

"M. Devedjian s’est excuse. Pour moi, l’incident est clos", a-t-il
ajoute.

Egalement presente a la ceremonie, la ministre de la Sante, Roselyne
Bachelot, a reagi "avec consternation" quand elle a appris le propos
de son ancien collègue du gouvernement Raffarin.

"Le mot est inqualifiable s’agissant d’une femme. C’est d’autant plus
consternant que cela s’adresse a un adversaire politique. On lui doit
d’autant plus de respect a ce titre. Ca montre que le combat pour le
respect des femmes n’est pas termine", a-t-elle ajoute.

Le president Nicolas Sarkozy a lui aussi reagi dans la journee depuis
Lyon en estimant que "ce n’est pas une facon de parler aux femmes,
ni a qui que ce soit d’autre".

Patrick Devedjian a traite de "salope" Mme Comparini (MoDem),
l’ancienne deputee UDF du Rhône, au cours d’un reportage diffuse
mercredi par la chaîne lyonnaise TLM et mis en ligne sur le site
Dailymotion.

Après s’etre excuse une première fois jeudi soir, il a dit vendredi
qu’il "regrette profondement ces propos qui etaient une exclamation
a la suite d’une parole" et qui etaient "prives". Il a reconnu qu’ils
constituaient "une faute".

Dans le reportage de TLM, consacre aux premiers pas a l’Assemblee des
deputes du Rhône nouvellement elus, Michel Havard (UMP) et Pascale
Crozon (PS), on voit Renaud Muselier, depute UMP des Bouches-du-Rhône,
presenter devant le palais Bourbon M. Havard a Patrick Devedjian,
en lui expliquant qu’il a battu Anne-Marie Comparini.

Après avoir felicite le nouveau depute, M. Devedjian ajoute:
"Cette salope!".

–Boundary_(ID_KQEySi92fHgsGV3sG9j C4A)–

CONSTRUCTING NEW BUILDING FOR REPUBLIC HOSPITAL IS PROBLEM OF VITAL IMPORTANCE FOR NKR HEALTH SYSTEM

Noyan Tapan
Jun 29, 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 29, NOYAN TAPAN. Though positive steps were recorded
in the health sphere of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh in the past
few years, there are still unsolved problems in that sphere, and the
country is not able to solve them by itself. This information was
provided to a Noyan Tapan correspondent by Zoya Lazarian, the Health
Minister of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh. She mentioned that
these problems are mainly solved due to the assistance of Diasporan
benefactors. "The fact that the country is not known lays obstacles
in making use of the assistance provided by international donor
organizations," the Minister mentioned.

According to Zoya Lazarian, the construction of a new building for the
republican hospital of Stepanakert is a problem of vital importance
for the health system of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh. "The
hospital, which is the only specialized medical center in Artsakh,
is currently operating in a building, which, according to specialists,
is impossible to repair," the Minister said.

She also mentioned that the amount of the sum allocated to the health
sphere from the state budget is growing year after year: in the past
five years it has increased by three and a half times.

NUMBER OF ORINATS YERKIR PARTY MEMBERS CONTINUES THINNING OFF

ArmInfo
2007-06-28 15:46:00

The number of Orinats Yerkir party members continues thinning
off. Yesterday the former head of the juridical department of the
National Assembly Suren Mamikonyan applied for leaving the party.

He said that the fact that the party did not fulfill its election
pledges became the reason of his and his "team" leaving Orinats
Yerkir party.

To recall, the head of the youth wing of Orinats Yerkir Samvel
Farmanyan, secretary on foreign policy issues Tigran Lazarian and
deputy chairman of the youth wing Marsel Abrahamyan have also left
the party recently. They grounded their decision by the fact that
statements of the party leaders about adherence to the European values
are false and are only of selfish nature.

SAAKASHVILI: SAMTSKHE-JAVAKHETI "COMPLETELY INTEGRATED INTO GEORGIA"
By Anna Kamushadze

The Messenger, Georgia
June 26 2007

President Mikheil Saakashvili took a tour through Samtskhe-Javakheti
on June 21, meeting with local residents and opening new facilities.

The president focused on the successes and possible future of the
province, where over half of the population are of Armenian descent.

"There are three main factors in this region: one is stability and
calm, the second is the permanent supply of electricity, which is
very important, and the third is good roads," the president declared.

Saakashvili promised that the province will not be neglected.

"During my first term as president, none of the main roads in
Javakheti…will remain in poor condition," he said. Saakashvili
went on to talk of the attractive landscape, natural resources, and
historical treasure of the area, home to Borjomi’s mineral water
springs and the Vardzia cave monasteries. These bode well for the
development of the province, he says, where the poverty rate tops 60
percent and many residents claim to be marginalized by the state.

"A very important thing has happened in this region over the past
few years which many people cannot yet see. This region has become
completely integrated into Georgia."

Saakashvili, touring a new dairy factory in the village of Spasovka,
illustrated his optimism by holding aloft a piece of cheese on
a toothpick.

"This is not just cheese," he proclaimed to journalists, "this is
the combination of stability, roads and electricity."

Saakashvili also traveled to Akhalkalaki district, where he met
students who failed to pass university entrance exams because they
did not know Georgian. Saakashvili promised that stipends would be
given to prospective university students in the province to encourage
them on their way to a higher education.

It’s proposed that from August, 100 students from the majority ethnic
Armenian districts of Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda will receive grants
to enroll in Tbilisi schools to learn Georgian. Students from the
impoverished districts now must go to Minsk, Yerevan, Kiev or Russia
to continue their education in Russian.

"I offer you a solution-stay in Georgia and learn in your home
country. We will guarantee you the best education in the whole region,"
Saakashvili told the students.

Political analyst Archil Gegeshidze doubts that there are any links
between Saakashvili’s visit to Samtskhe-Javakheti and the current
discussions on repatriating Meskhetians (most commonly referred to as
Meskhetian Turks). Rather, he sees this trip as an effort to obviate
coming disaffection in the region.

"I think the president went there to somehow bring attention to the
region. After the withdrawal of the Russian bases [Russian military
bases, slated for withdrawal in 2008, are a major employer in the
region] a lot of people will be unemployed. They need to be integrated
into greater Georgian society and treated carefully. I think that’s
why the president himself visited the region," Gegeshidze told The
Messenger.