Author: Hambardsumian Paul

TROOPS PATROL TENSE ARMENIAN CAPITAL
By Avet Demourian

Associated Press Online
March 2, 2008 Sunday 9:49 PM GMT

Hundreds of troops flooded Armenia’s capital Sunday to enforce a
state of emergency after clashes between opposition activists and
government forces left eight people dead and more than 100 injured.

The bloodshed over the results of last month’s presidential election is
the worst political crisis to hit this volatile former Soviet republic
in nearly a decade. A European envoy rushed to Armenia to mediate
the conflict, while the U.S. urged both sides to exercise restraint.

President Robert Kocharian declared the 20-day state of emergency
Saturday night following a day of violence between police and
demonstrators who claim the Feb. 19 election was fraudulently won by
Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian.

Police fired warning shots and tear gas to disperse thousands of
demonstrators Saturday after using clubs earlier in the day to break
up a tent camp where hundreds of protesters had stayed for more than
a week.

Seven civilians and one officer were killed and at least 131 protesters
and troops were wounded, officials said.

Authorities accused some protesters of shooting at police. Health
Ministry spokeswoman Russian Gevorkian said 16 troops had suffered
bullet wounds, the Interfax news agency reported. The opposition
denied using weapons.

The demonstrators support opposition candidate and former president
Levon Ter-Petrosian, who finished a distant second to Sarkisian in
the election’s official results.

Ter-Petrosian was being prevented from leaving his residence by
government forces, though no charges had been filed against him, He
called on his supporters to go home and refrain from further protests
while the emergency order is in place. He vowed to continue efforts
to force a new election once it is lifted and has appealed to the
nation’s Constitutional Court to overturn the results.

"We shall not retreat. Acting within the law, within the framework of
the constitution, we shall struggle to the end, until the removal of
this hateful and criminal regime, this bandit and kleptocratic regime,"
Ter-Petrosian told reporters in his house in central Yerevan.

Hundreds of soldiers wearing bulletproof vests and carrying assault
rifles patrolled streets littered with burned cars, broken shop
windows and looted kiosks.

Several major streets were closed. Troops were warning residents by
loudspeaker not to gather in groups.

Police said the protesters were plotting a violent coup. Opposition
spokesman Arman Musinian, however, claimed the grenades and pistols
later shown on Armenia’s state television stacked carefully in the
bushes surrounding the tent camp had been planted.

Some 15,000 protesters regrouped later in the day, only to be broken
up again by police. Groups of angry demonstrators then marched around
town, looting shops and setting cars ablaze.

At least 55 people were detained during the day’s unrest, said Sona
Truzian, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor general’s office. Fifteen
were later formally arrested. Ter-Petrosian said all those arrested
were his close allies.

The bloodshed raised concerns about stability in this country,
which borders Iran and lies on a transit route from the energy-rich
Caspian Sea region to Western consumers. Europe’s leading security
organization, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
was sending an envoy to Armenia to mediate the crisis.

The European Union said its foreign policy chief, Javier Solana,
spoke by phone with Kocharian and asked his special representative
to go to Yerevan and meet with all parties.

The State Department said a top official for the region, Daniel Fried,
spoke with Sarkisian. The U.S. is calling on both sides to restore
order, show restraint and resume a political dialogue.

The opposition says Sarkisian stole the election by resorting to
vote-buying, ballot stuffing and pressuring media to skew coverage
in his favor. Several opposition members said they were beaten on
election day to prevent them from monitoring the vote. The government
denies any wrongdoing.

International election observers issued an overall positive assessment
of the election, but noted serious flaws, especially during the
vote count.

The Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, had been
due to fly to Armenia Sunday to meet religious leaders but postponed
his visit because of the crisis, the Vatican said in a statement. He
will visit Azerbaijan later this week as planned.

AP reporter Maria Danilova in Moscow and Matti Huuhtanen in Helsinki,
Finland, contributed to this report.

DEADLY POST-ELECTION PROTESTS IN ARMENIA CONCERN UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF

UN News Center
March 3 2008

2 March 2008 – The United Nations human rights chief today voiced
deep concern at reports that at least eight people have been killed
and many others injured during demonstrations in Yerevan, the capital
of Armenia, where the results of recent presidential elections have
been disputed.

Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, issued a
statement in which she said she was particularly concerned that force
was used against peaceful demonstrators yesterday and that opposition
protesters have been detained.

Ms. Arbour called on the authorities in Armenia – where a state of
emergency has been declared – to "exercise the utmost restraint and
to ensure that due process is followed in the case of any detentions."

The High Commissioner noted that Armenia is a signatory to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which
states that, even during states of emergency, fundamental rights
such as the right to life and the prohibition of torture and cruel,
inhumane and degrading treatment cannot be suspended.

"Any restrictions of rights must be proportionate and may only
be applied to the extent and duration strictly warranted by the
circumstances," the statement added.

Protests began in Yerevan after Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan was
declared the winner of the 19 February presidential poll, a result
that is disputed by the opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrosyan.

Armenia president-elect welcomes rival candidate’s agreement to cooperate

Mediamax, Armenia
March 1 2008

Yerevan, 29 February: Armenia’s president-elect and the leader of
the Republican Party of Armenia, [Prime Minister] Serzh Sargsyan,
today welcomed the agreement of the leader of the Orinats Yerkir
[Law-Governed Country] party, Artur Baghdasaryan [who also ran in
the 19 February presidential election], to join a coalition government.

"I am glad that Artur Baghdasaryan has responded to our proposal to
run the country by our joint efforts, and I welcome the creation of a
coalition government by the Republican Party of Armenia, the Prosperous
Armenia party and Orinats Yerkir," Serzh Sargsyan said after signing
the corresponding agreement with Artur Baghdasaryan in Yerevan today.

"Artur Baghdasaryan has accepted my offer to appoint him secretary of
the National Security Council. This post will allow him to be involved
in running the country and to have access to full information about
all the processes, and thereby to take an active part in them,"
Serzh Sargsyan said.

"The agreement we have signed indicates the readiness of the Armenian
government to carry out positive reforms in the country," Artur
Baghdasaryan said. "We are with dignity taking the hand that has
been extended to us, and we are sure that we are starting an honest
process that will benefit the country."

Serzh Sargsyan voiced the hope that the [Armenian Revolutionary
Federation] Dashnaktsutyun will shortly agree to cooperate, which
will mean that there are four participants in the coalition.

ILKKA KANERVA DOESN’T SEE NEED TO TRANSFER KARABAKH ISSUE TO UN

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.02.2008 15:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Progress in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement
talks and prompt achievement of results is an urgent task of the OSCE,
Finnish Foreign Minister, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Ilkka Kanerva
said in Baku.

"There is comprehensive support to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
settlement," he said.

Kanerva said that the international community trusts the Minsk Group
and supports the settlement of the conflict within its framework. "I do
not oppose the UN but I do not see necessity in replacing the Minsk
Group by this organization," he said. "Resolution of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict settlement is a priority for the OSCE."

"This conflict should be resolved in the framework of international
law and in a peaceful manner," he said.

With regards to the participation of Nagorno Karabakh in the process,
Mr Kaneva said this topic remains open.

According to him, it’s not the right time for their participation yet,
Trend Azeri news agency reports.

KOCHARIAN: I TOLD A MINOR PART OF WHAT I KNOW ABOUT TER-PETROSYAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.02.2008 17:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "I kept silent because I did not want to exploit
the Karabakh topic during the election campaign. However, the first
President forced me to disclose some information. I told a minor
part of what I know about Ter-Petrosyan. Vazgen Manukyan can tell
more about Ter-Petrosyan’s activities during the Karabakh war," RA
President Robert Kocharian said at a meeting with the students and
teaching staff of Yerevan State University.

"The ex-President was not even informed of Shushi liberation. When
I resign I will tell more," he said.

"The joy of Ter-Petrosyan’s supporters when they heard their
leader saying ‘the power pyramid is collapsing’ is rather a strange
phenomenon. Those who are happy to see "destruction" of their own
country behave as though they live in another state. I often ask myself
whether these people have any connection to their homeland," he said.

As to the dismissed Foreign Ministry employees, Mr Kocharian reminded
all they were relatives or friends of the ex-President. "Those
dismissed are not traitors. They just went back to Ter-Petrosyan.

Although, I think they have already regretted their move. As you
remember, I discharged two ambassadors and one deputy minister. 6
MFA employees were dismissed by the Foreign Minister. I would like
to remind that in 1998, when I came to power, the wives of Vano
Siradeghyan and Ara Sahakyan retained their posts. The same can be
said about Shahen Karamanukyan.

I think it’s shameful to square accounts by means of families,"
the President said.

OMBUDSMAN SAYS REPORTS ABOUT TORTURING NOT TRUE

ARMENPRESS
Feb 27, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 27, ARMENPRESS; Armenia’s human rights defender,
Armen Harutyunian, said rumors claiming that opposition activists
detained by law-enforcement bodies, mainly on charges of illegal arms
possession and calls for violent change of power are being tortured
are not true.

He said his agency received many letters claiming this but employees
of the office met with many of the detained people who denied being
beaten of tortured.

Harutyunian said they are asking the authorities to provide the
detainees with lawyers, but declined to say whether these arrests were
politically motivated saying this will be clear after investigations
are over.

He said his office receives many letters claiming abuse of human
rights by the authorities, but many are not grounded and those which
are grounded are sent to prosecutors for further investigation.

In a reference to the ongoing political turmoil he said democracy is
anchored on cooperation, dialogue and tolerance. He said no segment
of Armenians must feel defeated. He also called on political leaders
to stop for a moment and listen to each other.

"No political group or an individual can claim to have the absolute
truth," he said.

SERGE SARGSYAN: WE CAN OVERCOME ANY TRIAL

armradio.am
26.02.2008 18:27

Meeting in support of RA President-elect Serge Sargsayn was held
at the Republican Square of Yerevan today. Addressing the meeting,
RA Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan said, in part:

"Dear compatriots, I welcome all of you and congratulate on the
successful conduct of the presidential elections. I assure we are
surviving historic times. For the first time in the history of
independent Armenia we managed to hold two successive elections and
receive positive assessment in both cases. Today we have a brilliant
opportunity to solve the problems we face, today we have all necessary
bases to look into future with confidence and launch struggle against
all sinful phenomena in the country. Today we are united by both the
joy of victory and the concern about the future of our country.

At this moment, when I’m uttering these words our soldiers are
defending our Motherland, the teachers are educating a generation
in our schools, the doctors are curing the wounds of our brothers
and sisters.

Today we have gatherred to cure another wound, the wound caused by
these elections. We must overcome this trial and must manage to heal
the wound as soon as possible. I’m saying this with pain, because I’m
tired of seeing only wounds on the body of our people, because it’s
time for our country and our people to go forward. I’m saying this
with pain, because some people are unable to fully realize the value
of thisachievement – the value of democracy, the value of formation
of authorities through elections, the vale of the majority’s opinion.

Dear citizens of the Republic of Armenia, I’m grateful to you for
this high trust. I pledge to do my best to justify your faith. I
assure you will not regret for giving your ballot to Serge Sargsyan.

>From this high platform I apply to the former candidates and the
political forces that support them: let’s cooperate. Let’s form a
coalition government. One of my objectives is to use all constructive
forces for the benefit of Armenia’s development."

"For me the victory of all of us is only the start, the start of
forthcoming victories, the victories of our state, new national
victories.

It’s with our joint effort that we are turning the history of Armenia
into a history of victories. Our generations will be proud of this
victory.

On these pages of our history we are writing together we shall speak
only about victories."

"These elections showed that the time has come for Armenia to go
forward, the time has come to work hard and struggle against the
sinful phenomena that spoil our lives.

I defend the right for freedom of speech. However, freedom of speech
does not mean the freedom of slander and abuse.

I defend the freedom for holding demonstrations. However, the freedom
of demonstrations does not mean the capital must be paralyzed.

I defend the right to complain, but the right to complain does
not mean that other constitutional rights of our citizens must be
violated. It does not mean that the right of the majority to form
power must be violated."

"We are not afraid of strong opposition. On the contrary, we are
confident that in case of existence of a constructive opposition we
shall be able to ensure the progressive development of our country."

The Bible says: "Everything has its time."

Today it’s not the time to play revenge and reprisal. Today it’s time
for peace.

Today it’s not the time to build new watersheds. Today’s it’s time
for unity.

Today it’s time to work.

Today it’s time for new victories.

Today it’s time for dignity and democracy.

Today it’s time to overcome the disagreements.

Today’s its time to say together: "We can overcome any trial and we
shall win."

"We can move forward and we will."

"We can have the Armenia we wish" and I swear we shall have.

Then let’s go forward, forward towards new victories.

Forward Armenia."

Interfax, Russia
Russia & CIS General Newswire
February 22, 2008 Friday 1:32 PM MSK

St. Pete investigators complete inquiry into murders of Girenko, two
foreign students

ST. PETERSBURG Feb 22

The investigative committee of the St. Petersburg Prosecutor’s Office
has completed its inquiry in the case against members of a gang
believed to have killed right activist Nikolai Girenko and two
foreign students.

There are 16 suspects in the case, some of them have been arrested,
and others are subject to travel restrictions, the investigative
committee told Interfax.

"Members of the gang are charged with criminal offences and several
counts of murder, including that of rights activist Nikolai Girenko,"
a committee official said.

After the suspects were detained in May 2006, prosecutors folded 13
criminal cases of extremist assaults into one: assaults on Armenians
in 2003, an attempted murder of a Nigerian man in 2003, and the
murder of Kim Hen Ik, a North Korean citizen, in 2003.

Prosecutors also included the case of Gofman and Golovchenko, who
went missing in 2004, the murder of Girenko in June 2004, the murder
of a Senegalese citizen in April 2006, as well as attacks on post
offices in St. Petersburg in 2005.

Ethnographer Girenko was murdered in his apartment in St.

Petersburg on June 19, 2004. He was a leading expert on racism and
nationalism and consulted law enforcement agencies in criminal
investigations.

EKHO, Azerbaijan
Feb. 22, 2008

Can Azerbaijan start actions against PKK bases?

by R. Orucov

Defence Ministry for the first time speaks about Kurdish terrorists
in the country’sterritory

One of the most remarkable news of the recent days was the Defence
Ministry’s official statement in which theministry says openly about
the presence of representatives of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’
Party (PKK) in theoccupied territories of our country.

[Passage omitted: reported statement of the Defence Ministry]

It is interesting what did force the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry for
the first time openly admit facts that publicorganizations have been
speaking about for a long time? And if supporters and representatives
of the KurdistanWorkers’ Party are being settled en masse in
Azerbaijan’s seized lands, does this mean that prospects ofreturning
them [lands] under the state’s control become even more remote?

Officials raise PKK problem

Well-known political analyst Mubariz Ahmadoglu says that indeed
various representatives of official Baku haverecently very frequently
spoke about the presence of PKK bases in the occupied territories.
"Even such ahigh-ranking official as Deputy Prime Minister Ali
Hasanov, who is very cautious in his remarks. It is known that
thisclever and restrained man always knows what he says. And even he
says that time has come to defend the rights ofAzerbaijani citizens
originating from the occupied territories from the resettlement of
Kurds that is taking place. Ali Hasanov is the head of the state
committee for refugees and IDP and speaks as though on their behalf.
That was said bythe official who has proved himself as a balanced,
imposing man who cannot be accused of duplicity. Hasanov said that
itis time to return [liberate] the [occupied] lands in order to
escape even worse consequences of what is going on. Inaddition, the
head of the Azerbaijani community of Nagornyy Karabakh, Nizami
Bahmanov, also said that time for carrying out an antiterrorist
operation in the occupied territories was approaching. They openly
spoke about the danger of theresettlement of PKK supporters. Deputy
Foreign Minister Araz Azimov is now dealing with the issue. During
recent talkswith US Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism Frank
Urbancic, Azimov said that ‘borders of the PKK’sactivity is
approaching Azerbaijan’. And the statement by the Defence Ministry
press service also shows clearlythat Azerbaijan is very seriously
inclined concerning the need to struggle against the appearance of
the bases ofKurdish terrorists in our occupied territories. I also
would like to remind that a remark by the Chief of the TurkishGeneral
Staff, Yasar Buyukanit, who said literally six weeks ago that ‘we
will fight the PKK not only in northernIraq but in all the other
adjoining regions’. In general, I think that the circle is getting
narrow ratherswiftly."

Baku may start operations against PKK bases

The issues is very sensitive for the leadership of Armenia, the
expert said. "As soon as the Azerbaijani pressraises the topic of PKK
bases in the occupied territories or in Armenia itself, the opposing
side immediately rebuffs atvarious levels. Even the Armenian
parliament makes statements, not to mention their political analysts
– they vie witheach other in saying that there are no Kurdish bases
in their territory. But responsiveness to the issue can be seen in
Baku as well. Proceeding from this I suppose that some real actions
can begin in months to come. If previously official Baku was trying
to avoid the topic, now the topic is being raised at a high level.
That speaks to the reality of things that are going on in our
occupied lands. Ali Hasanov’s statement alone is noteworthy. He could
not make thisstatement without coordinating it with the presidential
staff and the Foreign Ministry. Thus, something is in theair."

Ahmadoglu does not agree with the opinion that the resettlement of
Kurds and the appearance of PKK bases inAzerbaijani territory
aggravate the problem of the liberation of these lands. "Probably, it
seems to Armenians thatthe situation is that they can achieve
something by populating the lands by Kurdish separatists. I think the
opposite.The fact that the negotiating process [for Nagornyy
Karabakh] is not going on normally and Baku accuses Yerevan in
itsremarks concerning PKK bases is caused by the fact that Armenians
have indeed taken certain steps towards supportingKurdish
separatists. If Armenia continues moving in this direction,
resistance on the part Azerbaijan will beincreasing. And not only at
a diplomatic level. I cannot rule out that Azerbaijan can start real
actions of militarycharacter. I know officials who made their remarks
lately and I formed such an impression."

Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
Feb 20 2008

Armenia: Voting Incidents Mar Election

Presidential ballot overshadowed by polling-booth violence and other
allegations of foul play.

By IWPR reporters in Armenia (CRS No. 432 20-Feb-08)

Armenia’s leading politicians all voted at the same polling station,
No. 9/11, in Yerevan on February 19 but had different verdicts on the
honesty of the election.

Prime minister and official candidate Serzh Sarkisian – later
declared the winner in the first round of voting – said, `It’s not
important how many rounds there will be, the main thing is that the
elections go normally and there is strong trust in the results of the
elections.’

His main opponent former president Levon Ter-Petrosian said that he
had heard `the elections are going very badly, there are a lot of
definite [evidence] of violations.’

Ter-Petrosian’s campaign team said that a high number of incidents
called the whole election into question. `There are no elections in
Armenia at this moment, there was just an attempt to seize power,’
said the former president’s press secretary Arman Musinian.

Eduard Sharmazanov, press secretary of Serzh Sarkisian, went round
various polling stations, saying that the elections were on the whole
calm and fair and met European standards – a verdict that later
received qualified support from international monitors.

However, a series of incidents recorded by IWPR reporters suggested
that there were at the least several violations of electoral rules.

In polling station 13/16 in the Erebuni suburb of Yerevan, journalist
Lusine Barseghian who works for the opposition newspaper Haikakan
Zhamanak was beaten up. Barseghian said that she had asked the head
of the electoral commission there why they were not recording alleged
violations of procedure – and received a rude rebuff when several men
tried to eject her from the station.

`Armen Martirosian [a member of parliament from the opposition
Heritage Party] saw that I was being thrown out, intervened and
called the police,’ she said.

Barseghian said that when the local police chief arrived he
confiscated her camera and Dictaphone, `When I tried to take them
back, they hit me. They began to beat me and Armen Martirosian and
tried to remove us from the polling station.’ She said that another
member of parliament Zaruhi Postanjian arrived and they also tried to
confiscate her camera.

In the town of Razdan, a quarrel broke out between the head of the
electoral commission in polling station 25/12 Harutiun Khachatrian
and a representative of opposition candidate Ter-Petrosian, Jivan
Vartanian.

`People do not trust promises and Serzh Sarkisian is a man not of
promises but of deeds,’ said Khachatrian.

Khachatrian told IWPR that officially unemployment in his region was
eight per cent although in actual fact it was higher. Overhearing
this, Vartanian intervened and said that unemployment had overwhelmed
the whole district and was more than 60 per cent. Khachatrian angrily
retorted, `You should speak less! You are selling your motherland!’

Amongst examples of malpractice, IWPR correspondents saw several
instances of two voters entering the same booth and someone who was
not on the electoral list casting a ballot, but none of these
incidents was recorded by electoral officials.

Larisa Tadevosian, representative of Ter-Petrosian in the town of
Abovian, was abducted from polling station 28/07.

`They took me to some waste ground outside the town and someone hit
me in the face and said, `You shouldn’t get in the way and you should
keep silent. If you carry on, you’ll have nowhere to hide. And tell
your people that they should expect the same thing.’ They said
terrible things to me and insulted me,’ she said.

She was abandoned with a beaten face and collected by her party
colleagues. She said that she recognised her assailant as the
bodyguard of a prominent oligarch.

Anoush Afrikian, head of the polling station, did not deny that
Tadevosian had been abducted but said that it had been done by her
`friends’.

Two other opposition supporters, Erjanik Abgarian and Gurgen
Eghiazarian, said they had also been beaten up and had complained to
the police. Eghiazarian said that he later saw on television he was
being sought by the police as a `hooligan’.

Three other opposition representatives, all women, Greta Khachatrian,
Maro Minasian and Anaid Tamarian, said they were all forcibly ejected
>From polling station 28/16 by a group of young me, who, they said,
wanted to stuff the ballot boxes.

`Several big lads came in, took hold of us and dragged us out,’ said
Khachatrian. `And then eight men came in with packets of ballot
papers which they did not try to hide.’

Officials in the local electoral commission said they could not
confirm the incident.

Reporters Anahid Gogorian, Rima Garibian, Bella Ksalova and Dmitry
Avaliani are all in Armenia covering the election as part of IWPR’s
EU-funded Cross Caucasus Journalism Network.