Author: Hambardsumian Paul

ArmenPress
Feb 14 2005
ARMENIANS IN JAVAKHK AGAINST PULLOUT OF RUSSIAN MILITARY BASE
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 14, ARMENPRESS: Ararat Yesoyan, the chairman of
Reforms and Democracy Center, a non-governmental organization in
Georgia’s Samtskhe-Javakhk province, that has a predominantly
Armenian population, told today in Yerevan that Armenians there will
be looking at Russia for a long time as the sole guarantor of their
physical security.
He said many people in the region still remember that had not
Russians hurried to their help in 1918 the invading Turkey should
have eliminated the Armenian population of the region, as it did in
other areas of the Ottoman empire.
He said the Russian military base in the region, which Georgia
wants to be pulled out as soon as possible, has, apart from security,
also economic importance, as it gives jobs to thousands of local
Armenians. “Two regions, Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda which have
128,000 Armenian population, receive from Georgia’s state budget 6
million laris (about $3 million, though some 70 million laris are
necessary to provide minimum life support. Many ethnic Georgians who
work for the base are also against its withdrawal,” he said.
“If there were a NATO base there, people would get higher wages,
working for it, but there is no need to talk about a third force. As
a Georgian citizen I think we have to develop out country by our own
efforts, but if Georgia joins NATO the Armenians in the region would
not be prepared to look at Turkey’s troops as their security
guarantee. We would agree rather to having French or Canadian troops
there,” he said.

DURING LAST 5 YEARS NUMBER OF OPERATIONS WITH REAL ESTATE
IN ARMENIA HAS ALMOST TRIPLED
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 8. ARMINFO. During the last 5 years the number of
operation with real estate in Armenia has almost tripled, reaching
98,345 in 2004.
ARMINFO was informed in the press office of the State committee of
cadastre of real estate, in 2000 number of deals with realty totaled
33,233, in 2001 – 44,792, in 2002 – 60,874, in 2003 – 71,797 deals.
98,345 deals with real estate were registered in 2004, their number
increased by 37% as against 2003. The monthly growth made up in
average 2.6%. The lion’s share of the bargains (38.4%) falls to
apartments. 44.4% of the deals are registered in Yerevan. Out of
the total number of the deals with real estate 41.5% (40,793) are
amortization, 16.7% – primary registration, 9.3% – rent, 7.8% – pledge,
0.4% – privatization, 8.6% – inheritance and 15.7% – other types.
As compared to 2003 in 2004 the total number of deals on amortization
increased by 27.2%. In the period under review out of 14,546 deals
on purchase and sale of apartments were registered in Yerevan. This
showing has increased by 2.8% as compared with the indicator of
last year.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KARABAKH ITSELF MUST INITIATE OSCE MISSION’S VISIT TO
TERRITORIES UNDER AZERBAIJAN’S CONTROL: YURI MERZLYAKOV
STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 7. ARMINFO. Nagorny Karabakh must initiate the
proposal on the visit of the OSCE mission to the territories under
the control of Azerbaijan. Russian Cochairman of OSCE Minsk Group Yuri
Merzlyakov stated during his meeting with refugees from Azerbaijan in
Stepanakert. Answering the question of journalists why the monitoring
group does not check the state of affairs in the territories, being
a part of former Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous republic, the Russian
cochairman of OSCE MG noted that such an initiative must be made by
Nagorny Karabakh. Besides, if the side under whose control are nine
villages of former NKAR does not agree, then the group will not be
able to work. “We should not come here if the authorities of Nagorny
Karabakh did not agree”, Merzlyakov said. To remind, the monitoring
group of OSCE has completed his activities in Nagorny Karabakh and
it intends to leave for Armenia today.

THE PRESIDENT OF «ARMENIA-LADA» KILLED
A1 Plus | 13:52:51 | 07-02-2005 | Social |
Rafael Shahmouradyan, the President of «Armenia-Lada», was killed in
Tolyati, Russia. It might be useful to remind that on May 24 last
year Shahmouradyan’s life was made an attempt on. He was shot from
a car of «NIVA» mark.
Rafael Shahmouradyan, whose survival was like a miracle, said after
coming to his senses that he had serious doubts that the organizer of
the attempt was Andranik Manoukyan, RA Minister of Transportation and
stockholder of «Armenia-Lada». On June 2 last year Andranik Manoukyan
had said in an interview to the newspaper “Aravot”, “The accusation
has no connection to reality”.
–Boundary_(ID_L+sU9LycJMBKiov7KC4cig)–

Senate OKs anti-piracy measure
Hollywood Reporter
Thursday, February 3, 2005
By Brooks Boliek
WASHINGTON (Hollywood Reporter) – The third time could be the charm
for legislation that would make it a federal crime to camcord a movie
and would protect the manufacturers of players that edit out
purportedly offensive content from movies.
Although the Senate late Tuesday approved the Family Entertainment and
Copyright Act (FECA) of 2005 — a package of copyright bills — for
the first time in the 109th Congress, it twice passed the legislation
in the 108th only to see it die at the end in a squabble over
unrelated legislation.
Included in FECA is the camcorder legislation, the Family Movie Act
and legislation designed to make it easier for law-enforcement
officials to combat the growing problem of music and movies being
distributed on file-sharing networks and circulating on the Internet
before they are released. FECA also contains a measure to reauthorize
an existing program for the preservation of historically and
culturally significant films.
“This important, bipartisan legislation will crack down on what has
become a growth industry in this era of rapid technological
development: the theft and distribution of copyrighted material. I
appreciate my colleagues moving this bill so quickly and urge our
friends in the House to do the same,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.
Sens. Cornyn and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and
Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., were the key boosters of the legislation in the
Senate.
While supporters of the bill hailed its passage, approval in the House
could be more problematic even though the House approved different
versions of the bill, according to industry sources. The House failed
to approve the bill last year because of a dispute between Sen. John
McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., and House Commerce
Committee chairman Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, over boxing-reform
legislation. Industry officials hope the hangover from that fight and
some resentment of the industry will not bring the current bill to a
similar fate.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, a primary author of the legislation and
chairman of the House’s copyright subcommittee, has expressed hope the
bill could move quickly there, too.
“There is no word on that yet,” said MGM chairman and CEO Alex
Yemenidjian, who has aggressively lobbied for the bill. “It’s long
overdue. I hope the House can pass it quickly so we can start
prosecuting these criminals.”
;u=/nm/20050203/en_nm/film_piracy_to_1

CONSULTATION AT THE NA
Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
04 Feb 05
After the winter holidays the first consultation of the NKR National
Assembly took place on January 31 with the participation of the
leadership of the National Assembly and the representatives of the
administration. The topic of the consultation was the preparations for
the February plenary meeting of the tenth session. During the
discussion the agenda of the upcoming meeting was outlined, the future
plans were agreed upon.
AA.
04-02-2005

Iran’s position on Karabakh problem has not changed – envoy
Regnum, Moscow
2 Feb 05
The principled position of the Islamic Republic of Iran on regional
processes and neighbouring countries has not changed. Iran has always
wished the establishment of peace, stability, security and economic
prosperity in the neighbouring countries, including in the Caucasus,
the Iranian ambassador to Armenia, Ali Reza Haqiqian, has told our
Regnum correspondent.
The Iranian diplomat said that “Iran’s position on regional events is
clear and is based on cooperation, balance and mutual
understanding. The peaceful settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict and the need to continue the bilateral Armenian-Azerbaijani
talks have always been stressed. Iran has always stated its readiness
to render any assistance in the settlement of this conflict.”
To recap, Regnum news agency asked the Iranian diplomatic mission in
Armenia to clarify the statements made by Iranian President Seyyed
Mohammad Khatami’s during Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit
to Tehran at the end of January 2005.
Within the framework of this visit, among other issues, the sides also
touched on the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. Specifically, the Iranian
president expressed Tehran’s position on this issue. “Our position on
the Karabakh issue is clear. We are one of the few countries that
totally support Azerbaijan’s position on this issue. We support
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and its jurisdiction over this
territory,” the Azerbaijani media quoted Khatami as saying.
Meanwhile, within the framework of his official visit to Armenia in
September last year, the Iranian president spoke of the same problem
and used much vaguer formulations. “Iran is ready to make every effort
for a peaceful solution to the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. We respect
the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty. We welcome
the peaceful settlement of the conflict. Iran has special respect for
Armenia and if the conflicting sides appeal to us, we are ready to
take specific steps in this direction,” he stated.
The Nagornyy Karabakh problem is a very important subject both in
Armenia and Azerbaijan. Baku and Yerevan are interested in regional
processes, first of all, in this context. Thus, the change of the
accents in the Iranian president’s statements has drawn attention.
The Azerbaijani president’s visit to Iran was important not only in
the context of bilateral, but also regional relations. The atmosphere
of the visit was replete with continuing US information pressure on
Iran and experts’ opinions that the Azerbaijani territories might be
used for possible strikes on Iran. On the eve of the visit, the
Azerbaijani media published a list of military facilities where
Americans have already been deployed or will be deployed.
[Passage omitted: the Azerbaijani media named the districts where
American defence facilities will be deployed]
Is there is a point in talking seriously about a change in Iran’s
policy on the Karabakh problem? It is impossible to give a clear
answer to this question at this stage. The only thing which is clear
is that Tehran is obviously concerned by the possible negative
development of events connected with Iran’s nuclear problem – if the
USA and Israel switch from words to deeds.
It is obvious that Yerevan realizes the depth of this problem – the
aggravation of the situation surrounding Iran will create absolutely
new realities not only around the Karabakh problem, but also in the
entire region.
As is expected, the secretary of the Armenian Security Council,
Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan, will discuss exactly these important
issues during his forthcoming visit to Iran on 7-9 February.

ARMENIAN SOCIETY IS ONE OF SOCIETIES IN POST-SOVIET TERRITORY, WHICH
TREATS MOST DISTRUSTFULLY TOWARDS COUNTRY’s LEGAL SYSTEM
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3. ARMINFO. Armenian society is one of societies in
the post-soviet territory, which treats most distrustfully towards
country’s legal system. As Washington profile informs, the
International Foundation on Election Systems (IFES) has provided
numerous questionings in various former Soviet republics within a few
last years. Answering the question if they believe that country’s
legal system protect them against illegal actions of governmental and
private persons, 67% of Armenian people, 61% – of Azerbaijani, 84% –
of Kirghizia, 62% – of Ukraine responded negatively. 23% of Armenian,
33% of Azeris, 49% of Kirghizes, 17% of Russians and 30% of Uzbeks
faced with bribery. About 65% of Estonian citizens trust in country’s
legal system.
According to the source, a considerable part of legal reforms, carried
out in the former USSR, was financed by international and foreign
organizations. They allotted tens of millions of dollars as grants
and credits to the post-soviet countries. The World Bank, an
anti-corruption organization Transparency International, the
Association of American Lawyers, the USAID and the IFES implemented
the most large-scale programs. According to published data, the
insufficient legislative and legal base, peoples’ distrust towards
both the judicial authority and the state, corruptibility and
dependency of judges, poverty of people and high state tariffs on
juridical services, inadequate professional training of judges and
their low wages are the main problems of the legal sector which the
post-soviet republics face with.
The biggest loans on legal reforms were allotted to Russia – 58 mln
USD. Armenia was allotted 11.4 mln USD, Georgia – 13.4 mln USD,
Kazakhstan – 16.5 mln USD, Kirghizia – 350.000 USD, and Latvia –
280.000 USD.

Journal of Turkish Weekly
Feb 3 2005
Turkish Parliament to Discuss Armenian Allegations
The Turkish Grand National Parliament’s committee for harmonisation
with the European Union (EU) has announced that it will investigate
allegations by Armenians that the Ottoman Empire committed acts of
‘genocide’ against its Armenian citizens during World War One.
Ali Riza Alaboyun, the deputy chairman of the Parliamentary
Committee, said that some Armenian groups have agreed to the discuss
the issues and settle the Armenian genocide claims that have been
levelled at Turkey by many groups and organisations.
`I do not believe that in our history there is anything to be ashamed
of’ Alaboyun said.
`There is lack of information. We shall take the initiative in hand
and have an unbiased assessment of events occurring away from us’ he
added.
Onur Oymen, a member of the opposition Republican People’s Party who
also sits on the committee, said that Armenians distribute
publications targeting Turkey on the genocide claims and that Turkey
should make sure to send out material refuting the allegations.
There is a vivid debate in Turkey about Turkish-Armenian relations.
Many Armenian books have been translated from Armenian and other
languages, including the pro-Armenian ones. However Turkey does not
accept the Armenian allegations about the 1915 Events. According to
Turkey there was a war in 1915, and the Armenian armed groups
attacked the Ottoman Armies. 500,000 Muslims (Turkish and Kurdish)
were killed by the Armenian armed groups. The ultimate aim of the
Armenian nationalist groups was an independent Armenia in Eastern
Anatolia. Dr. Nilgun Gulcan from ISRO said “Armenian citizens were
not loyal to their own state.”
Gulcan told the JTW:
“Thousands of Armenians changed their nationality and became Russian
citizens. In Eastern provinces they attacked the Ottoman Armies and
Muslim villages. Even they helped the occupier Russian armies. Apart
from the war curcumstances there was a severe clash between the
Kurdish and Armenian villages. Many were killed in these conflicts.
In Van Province, the Armenians rioted against the Ottoman State and
killed thousands of Turkish and Kurdish women, children and old
people. They declared a city-state. When the Russians came to the
city they dreamed of a greater Armenian state. However the Ottoman
forces recaptured the city and put an end to the Armenian dreams. It
is true, many Armenian civilians died. However the reason was not a
genocide. The bad weather conditions and war curcumstances hit the
Armenian civilians, and like the Turks and Kurds many Armenians lost
their lives. No one could blame the Ottoman Government for genocide
or mass killings.”
Nilgun Gulcan said the real problem is lack of cummunication and the
Armenian diaspora: “Diaspora prevents dialogue between Turkey and
Armenia” added Gulcan.
“You can easily discuss the problem in Turkey. Armenians, Americans,
British, etc. can question Turkish history. However no one can
question Armenian history. Armenians first must question their own
history. They must ask themselves how many Turks and Kurds killed
their grand parents? Who killed 500,000 Muslim civilians?” added Dr.
Gulcan.
Dr. Nilgun Gulcan also examined the Western World’s attitude
vis-a-vis Turkey and Armenians:
“Armenian forces occupied another European state’s about 20 per cent
territories. More than 1 million Azerbaijanis have been refugees
without any assistance from the West. The US and the EU states bombed
Serbia for its mistakes in Kosova and Bosnia. Iraq was occupied when
it occupied Kuwait. However no one did anyting angainst the Armenian
occupation. Now 1/5 of Azerbaijani country is under Armenian
occupation. And Armenia does not recognise Turkey’s national borders.
Yerevan encourages Armenian separatist movements in georgia. And the
EU and the US discuss the events happened almost a century ago. In
Khojally Armenians did a genocide. But no one discuss Khojally but
the 1915 events. France says Turkey cannot enter the EU without
questionin its history. It is strange. The EU and France do not
question its current policies, but they can ask Turkey to question
its past.The past has been abused, and the real intenations are
curtailed with history.
Armenians do not want to discuss ‘genocide’ allegations…
They do not accept any debate about the past…
Armenian politicians do not want to withdraw their soldiers from
Azerbaijani territories…
They do not recognise Turkey’s national borders…
They take no step in peace process…
They refuse to question their history…
They just accuse… they blame… they ask… they just want from
Turkey… They accuse Turkey… They accuse Azerbaijan… They accuse
Georgia… They accuse the US… They accuse the EU… They accuse
anyone, but themselves… It is a strange game, no one can
understand, including the Armenians.”
Compiled and prepared by Jan SOYKOK, JTW, 3 February 2005

Town Hall, DC
Jan 29 2005
Packed, Stacked and Ready to Whack
Doug Giles (archive)
Our Constitution is currently under a greater threat than a teenaged
boy at a Michael Jackson sleepover. Yes, this rock solid
foundational document, a major cause of our country’s amazing
success, is undergoing some serious thrashing by judges, bureaucrats,
politicians, prosecutors and police. I don’t know about you … but I
do not like the fact that the very people who should uphold our
rights are stretching them thinner than Fiona Apple on a rack.
One of the basic human rights that constantly has to be defended is
the right to keep and bear arms. Why did the original founders of
this great American experiment toss this given, no-duh, entitlement
into the Constitution? Well … it wasn’t so that we would be
guaranteed that we could hunt squirrels and woodchucks without
serving time, as great as that is. It was for the purpose of
defending ourselves against perps when the cops are running a little
late, and for the purpose of protecting ourselves against the
government should the system go south.
What concerns me is how both the Federal and State governments,
driven by rabid lawmakers, continue to be such a pain in the derriere
with respect to the right to possess a firearm. In just a few short
years, our supposed Constitution-honoring government has made it
grueling to obtain, practically impossible to carry, and God help you
if you actually legitimately have to use … a gun.
Listen … Pollyanna … it’s a bad bad day and the potential beginning
of a serious nightmare when the government forbids you to buy, or
tries to take from you, your weapon.
This is one of the major lessons history screams at us.
For those of you who missed your world history classes because you
were taking transgender sensitivity training, let me highlight a few
ignoble moments in the world’s gun-ridding record.
Take Germany for example. Soon after WWI, the liberal powers thought
that relieving citizens of their rifles would restore peace in the
streets. The general populace bought this nonsense because at that
time there were no astute bloggers, Fox News, NRA or ClashRadio.com
to shoot down such a stupid idea. And for a while, no doubt, I’m
sure everyone felt warm and fuzzy.
The warm and fuzzy feelings, however, gave way to cold hard reality
when the Austrian Jerk Emeritus goose-stepped his way into power and
began to unfold his Mein Crap. This was relatively easy for Adolf to
do. Why was his big lie easy to sell? One major reason was that the
ones who were not buying his crack really couldn’t do squat about it
… because, you see … they had allowed the government to seize their
weapons just a few short years prior to The Dipstick’s ascent.
Sure, they could and did resist as much as possible, but when dealing
with a tyrant, sometimes the only way to communicate your displeasure
with his dementia is with the crack of gun fire. Unfortunately, the
dissenters were, by and large, weaponless. The only ones allowed to
own firearms were Hitler, his wizards and the ones who danced to his
tortuous tune.
And for those who need more examples of how a disarmed populace
stands more vulnerable than Ashlee Simpson before a Bose voice
processor … let’s see … what massive slaughter of unarmed citizens
should I use to hammer the point further home? How about how the
Turks systematically disarmed and then slaughtered, plus or minus,
one million Armenians back in the early 1900’s? Or the
`disarm-oppress-and kill’ campaigns executed by bad leaders upon the
innocent people of Cambodia, the Soviet Union, China, Sudan, Rwanda,
Uganda, Indonesia, Iran, and Iraq?
How’s that?
As Judge Andrew Napolitano points out in his book, Constitutional
Chaos: What Happens When the Government Breaks Its Own Laws, nowhere
in the annals of world history do an unarmed people ever fare well.
Never has an act of genocide in the 20th century occurred where the
citizens were packing. I guarantee that if the Gestapo had been
strafed with 180 grain 30/06 lead, or pounded repeatedly at close
range with 00buck from 12 gauge riot gun … the numbers lost during
that crazy crew’s reign of terror would have been far, far less. But
the GP acquiesced in peacetime to the bad idea of giving up their
guns to quell violence, obviously never imagining that their
government would ever go bad. But it did. And once it did … the
unarmed citizens were slaughtered by the armed government. Judge
Kozinski framed it nicely: `Tyranny thrives best where the government
doesn’t fear the wrath of armed people.’
My ClashPoint is this: I’m sure some reflexively irate idealist is
thinking that that was then and this is now and there is no way such
atrocities will ever happen again, and that John Lennon’s vision for
the world will not just be imagined, but actualized.
That’s cool.
I’m ready for the lion to lay down with the lamb; however, in this
waiting period between now and when Xanadu actually manifests, I’m
not giving up my right to keep and bear arms while looking solely to
the government to cover my back. Our framers got it right: armed
people are free people. As much as I laud, appreciate, and look to
our Constitution-honoring soldiers and law enforcers to serve and
protect me and my house, I also know it is my right and my duty to be
packed, stacked and ready to whack just in case things get loopy.
Doug Giles’ provocative weekly one-hour radio program, ‘The Clash’,
has re-launched with several new features. Go to clashradio.com and
hit ‘listen live.’