Author: Harutyunian Christine

EUROPE SERIOUSLY FEARS "BALKANIZATION" OF THE CONTINENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.03.2008 GMT+04:00

Brussels’ announcement about the intentions of contributing to the
development of the sovereign Kosovo, gave rise to big apprehensions
among a number of EU member countries about intensified separatist
dispositions.

It seems that the US President George Bush has decided to resolve all
the conflicts during his last days of Presidency. These intentions
concern all the conflicts around the world, where the USA directly
or indirectly has its share of "responsibility". And if the Kosovo
conflict is chronologically one of the latest ones, the Near-Eastern
conflict is already 60 years old, and the conflicts in the post-Soviet
area are 20 years old.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ We will still talk about the "new" conflicts, for
now let’s remember the words of the US Vice-President Dick Cheney,
which he said a week ago during his Near-Eastern tour. "Israel is ready
to compromise for sake of stability and peace with the Palestinians,"
said Cheney. Speaking in a joint press-conference with the Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem, Cheney said that the
Palestinians are also ready to compromise, says BBC. The truth is
though, that for his words not to sound as a betrayal of the loyal
ally, he immediately promised, that "the USA is going to keep on
supporting Israel in the issue of defense and will never put pressure
on Israel in the issues, which may threaten its security." "We want
to have the conflict resolved, and terrorism, which brought so many
sufferings to Israel, to be put an end to, and we also want a new
chapter for the Palestinian people," said the US Vice-President.

Practically, in Israel Cheney made it understood for Serbia, that
it should be ready for compromises, if it wants to get something
from the EU and of course, from the USA. And as in support of the
American initiatives, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the EU member
countries and Serbia started the first negotiations since the majority
of the EU countries recognized the independence of Kosovo. The Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Serbia Vuk Jeremic met the colleagues from all
27 EU countries in Slovenia, however it is anticipated that he will
not remain for the next meeting of the representatives of other Balkan
countries, including Kosovo. "Which reasonable person could expect,
that he will be holding the same position as the Prime-Minister if
Kosovo Hashim Tachi that soon?" said the representative of Slovenia.

For the majority of EU Ministers the meeting with Jeremic, having
pro-western looks, became the first contact with Serbia on such a high
level. The EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn announced, that this
meeting is a chance to emphasize the prospective of Serbia regarding
the integration into the bloc and called the Serbs to make a choice
in favor of the joint future with Europe instead of "self-isolation"
and "the road to nowhere", says Reuters.

But, naturally, there is not and will never be any unity regarding the
status of Kosovo in the EU: the authorities of Spain, Great Britain,
Cyprus, Romania and Slovakia are afraid of the repetition of the
Balkan scenario. The recognition of independence of Kosovo by key
countries of the EU arouses the political powers in Europe, which
strive to get complete or broaden partial autonomy of its regions.

Brussels’ announcement about the intentions of contributing to the
development of the sovereign Kosovo, gave rise to big apprehensions
among a number of EU member countries about intensified separatist
dispositions.

One shouldn’t forget about the wish of the Turk’s of North
Cyprus. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia, which in 2001 avoided
the civil war between the Albanians and the representatives of the
titular nation only thanks to the EU, have to suppress the separatist
dispositions. In short, if today the EU, which now has 27 member
countries, has to go through hard times, one may imagine how hard
things will get, when it has, for instance, 38 member countries. That
time maybe the Near East may seem an oasis of peace to some people.

WHOOPI GOLDBERG DEFENDS JACK KEVORKIAN

Noyan Tapan
March 31, 2008

DETROIT, MARCH 31, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Whoopi Goldberg and
Joy Behar, longtime hosts of the chatty television program "The View,"
praised Jack Kevorkian in a recent episode.

Kevorkian, who was convicted for assisting with suicide of over 130
people and murdering a disbaled patient, made his candidacy for a
Detroit-area Congressional seat official on Monday.

Goldberg said she’s a "big fan" of Kevorkian "because he believed
that he could help people who were in a place where no one was
helping them."

"Euthanasia, like race, is one of those things nobody wants to
talk about.

It makes people very uncomfortable. I think euthanasia is, is
an important thing and it should be there for people to make that
decision if they chose to," she said.

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ADVICES AZERBAIJAN TO STOP GAINING A ROLE OF THE GENOCIDE VICTIM

arminfo
2008-03-31 15:16:00

ArmInfo. Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan advices Azerbaijan
to stop gaining a role of the genocide victim.

Asked about marking in Azerbaijan of the regular date of the genocide
"made by Armenians", Vardan Oskanyan replied: ‘We have got a good
advice for Azerbaijan – to pass through the genocide as to have such a
fact as genocide in the history of the nation is not good. Let them
not to compete with us artificially in this matter. Stemming from
our own experience we can say that genocide is a big hurt. And the
next generation will not be grateful to the incumbent authorities
for their attempts to artificially force genocide on the Azerbaijani
people. They know there was nothing of the kind. This is the result
of their imagination’. Moreover, Oskanyan added that the attempts to
have a role of the victim of the genocide are made for fortification
of hatred and for preparing to fulfill their final goal, i.e. –
to try to resolve the issue by means of war. ‘These are dangerous
games. and one should do everything possible to prevent them. The
world community should send a strict signal to Azerbaijan about the
necessity of stopping such an approach, and trying to settle the
conflict via an acceptable option at the negotiating table together
with Armenia and Nagornyy Karabakh’, – Armenian foreign minister said.

JOINT EFFORT OF ARMENIANS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF KASHATAGH

KarabakhOpen
28-03-2008 18:49:00

An international conference on the development of the region of
Kashatagh begins in Berdzor today. The conference is held by Tufenkian
Fund together with the NKR government.

The conference will last for 3 days and on these days the participants,
who are representatives of over 40 Armenian organizations and
benefactors, will present strategic justification of the development
of the given area and definite programs. The participants will have
a possibility to visit the regions.

Tufenkian Fund and the NKR government have done considerable
preparations and studied all the needs. According to the materials
of the conference, the NKR government is likely to invest immense
sums for the development of the region, however, the needs are so
many that it takes the effort of Armenians worldwide for the complete
strategic development of this strategic region.

As of now, 8700 people live in Kashatagh. There is a housing problem,
problems with schools and medical establishments, shortage of
specialists.

It is also necessary to repair roads to be able to develop business.

KNESSET PANEL TO CONSIDER RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Shahar Ilan

Ha’aretz
/968844.html
March 26 2008
Israel

The Knesset decided Wednesday that a parliamentary committee will
hold an unprecedented hearing on whether to recognize the World War
I-era mass murder of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as a genocide.

The decision to hold a hearing, which was proposed by Meretz Chairman
Haim Oron, was approved by a 12-MK margin. The government did not
oppose the motion.

The Knesset House Committee will decide whether the issue will be
handed over to the Knesset Education Committee, as Oron wants, or to
the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, as requested by Yisrael
Beiteinu MK Yosef Shagal. The latter generally holds hearings behind
closed doors.

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Oron wants the committee to recognize the Armenian genocide, pointing
out that similar recognition has been afforded recently by the French
parliament and the United States Congress. "It is appropriate that
the Israeli Knesset, which represents the Jewish people, recognize
the Armenian genocide," said Oron. "It is unacceptable that the Jewish
people is not making itself heard."

The Meretz MK added that he raises the proposal every year ahead of
Armenian Genocide Day, which falls on April 24.

Minister Shalom Simhon, who represented the government in the Knesset
debate, did not object to sending the issue to committee. Simhon
said the Jewish people have a special sensitivity to the issue and
a moral obligation to remember tragic episodes in human history,
including the mass murder of the Armenians.

Nonetheless, Simhon added that, "in the course of time this has become
a politically charged issue between Armenians and Turks ? and Israel
is not interested in taking a side."

Shagal warned that recognizing the killings as a genocide could have
repercussions for Israel’s diplomatic relations with Turkey, as well
as the fate of tens of thousands of Jews who live in Azerbaijan.

MEETING OF PRESIDENTS ELECT OF ARMENIA AND RUSSIA HELD IN MOSCOW

Noyan Tapan
March 24, 2008

MOSCOW, MARCH 24, NOYAN TAPAN. During his working visit, the RA
president elect, prime minister Serge Sargsian on March 24 met with
Russian president elect, first deputy head of the Russian government
Dmitry Medvedev.

Noting that this is S. Sargsian’s first visit to Russia in his
new status, D. Medvedev expressed a hope that the Armenian-Russian
relations, which have been put on a solid basis in recent years,
will continue under the direction of the newly elected president of
Armenia and the two countries will be able to carry out full-value
and comprehensive cooperation in various spheres for the welfare of
the peoples of Armenia and Russia.

Pointing out that D. Medvedev is known in Armenia as a skilful
politician and statesman, S. Sargsian in his turn expressed confidence
that after D. Medvedev’s assuption of the post of Russian president,
cooperation of the two countries will continue in the same spirit of
strategic partnership.

S. Sargsian and D. Medvedev discussed a wide range of issues related to
blateral relations. They also spoke about the postelection developments
and the internal political situation in Armenia. The Armenian prime
minister expressed gratitude to the Russian authorities for their
support to Armenia in the difficult postelection period and for their
assistance in the overcoming of these difficulties.

During the meeting, the sides discussed regional issues, as well
as cooperation of Armenia and Russia in the framework of the CIS,
the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the UN, the OSCE and
other organizations. They expressed satisfaction at the current level
of Armenian-Russian cooperation. It was underlined that economic
relations between the two countries are dunamically developing:
Russia is in first place among Armenia’s trade and economic partners,
to which the efficent work of the Armenian-Russian Commission on
Economic Cooperation has greatly contributed.

The presidents elect of Armenia and Russia spoke about the negotiation
process on Nagorno Karabakh conflict setllement. According to
S. Sarsgian, Armenia is prepared to continue negotiations within the
framework of the OSCE Minsk group. He stated that he as the newly
elected president of the RA is ready to resume negotiations with the
Azerbaijani side.

According to the RA Government Information and PR Department, meetings
of Serge Sargsian with Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, the Russian president
Vladimir Putin and the prime minister Victor Zubkov are scheduled
for the same day.

Modesto Bee, CA
March 23 2008

Middle East violence viewed up close

By JEFF JARDINE
[email protected]

last updated: March 23, 2008 02:24:07 AM

Sarkis Elmassian and Irit Goldman had never met until they visited
The Bee last week.

They didn’t need a formal introduction. These Modesto residents knew
why they were there and began their debate the moment they sat down.
They didn’t need any help, prodding or mediation. The bitterness runs
deep. It began in the Holy Land thousands of years ago and transcends
them both.

They were born to disagree, and it didn’t take long to figure out
that "disagree" is a pretty wimpy adjective.

Goldman, a native of Israel, and Elmassian, an Armenian from Lebanon,
graciously accepted our invitation to discuss the violence that has
long plagued the Middle East, including recent events involving the
Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Israel.

Solve in an hour or so the myriad social, spiritual and political
problems that began more than a millennium before the time of Christ?
Nobody’s

that naive or foolish — least of all Elmassian and Goldman.

Instead, it was an opportunity for two local residents with strong
opinions and strong ties to their homelands to frame the reasons why
peace never seems to be an option there. Perhaps they could explain
the issues to generations of readers who don’t know the source of the
conflict — only that it’s gone on for an eternity, with no end in
sight.

Last week, Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian farmer along a
border fence, a day after Palestinian militants fired a half-dozen
rockets into the city of Sderot in Israel, causing no damage or
casualties.

Elmassian is 59 and a Christian. Goldman is 57, a Jew whose parents
survived the Holocaust, and she comes from Ashkelon, an Israeli town
recently under attack. They share this much: They came to Modesto,
five years apart, from the same part of the world. Both are
psychologists. Both say they want only peace for their homelands.

And both believe the media, The Bee included, routinely fail to
accurately tell their side whenever the region makes the news. Such
was the case over the past month when Hamas, the Islamic Resistance
Movement voted into power in the Gaza Strip, shelled Goldman’s
hometown of Ashkelon, and when the Israelis retaliated against towns
in the Gaza Strip.

For 6,000 years, groups have fought over a region that gave birth to
three faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and they’re still
fighting over it today.

Israelis decry the violence when their people are killed by Hamas.
Palestinians decry the violence when their people are killed by the
Israelis.

The violence has gone on for so long that every attack is a response
to a previous attack. Who started it? Who remembers?

That became clear as Elmassian and Goldman talked, challenging every
statement or assertion the other made because they simply do not and
cannot agree.

Count Elmassian’s Lebanon among the nations at war with Israel at
some point. Tensions are always high among Israel and its neighbors:
Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Elmassian said he does not support Hamas, but said the Israelis’
treatment of Palestinians perpetuates hostilities.

"When a kid is being abused as a child, he’ll grow up being abusive
as an adult," Elmassian said. "It’s not surprising the Palestinian
kid grows up to be a terrorist if he doesn’t know anything else
growing up. The suffering. If you were a Palestinian living there,
you’d be crazy not to have a hatred for Israelis."

Although some Christians live in the Gaza Strip, where 1.44 million
people live on just 146 square miles, the population mainly is
Muslim.

Goldman said that when Israeli forces retook the Gaza Strip during
the Six-Day War in 1967, "they found school books that taught them to
hate the Jews," she said. "(Children) are taught from a young age,
instead of let’s make peace, they’re taught to hate."

When Elmassian questioned why Israelis are in the region at all, she
answered: "This was the promised land, in the Old Testament, when we
were brought from Egypt."

To which Elmassian replied: "If you believe that legend." He said the
Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, includes stories
that predate Abraham, the father of Judaism, by 1,500 years, in
essence challenging the Torah’s validity.

Goldman told of an Israel in which Arabs live, work and trade in
peace.

She spoke of the suffering imposed upon the Arabs by Israelis during
the attacks or responses (again, depending on one’s perspective).

"I agree, they are suffering terribly," Goldman said. "Guess who
succeeded in bombing Ashkelon? Who brings it on themselves? Hamas
does, for its own people."

Elmassian quoted former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin calling
Palestinians "insects that have to be crushed." (Begin’s actual quote
read: "We are as different from the inferior races as they are from
insects.")

Goldman spoke of the reasons Israelis must defend themselves and
criticized Hamas for destroying holy sites in Ashkelon.

"Throw rocks, and you’ll get rocks back," she said, though rockets
are more like it.

Their arguments predate them both. The question is, will it ever
stop?

"How can we solve the problem between the Palestine and Israel?"
Goldman asked. "Where no children are killed, where no holy sites are
destroyed?"

It’s continued for thousands of years. It’s something world leaders
haven’t been able to settle in the past 60 years.

Mostly, these two explained the passionate feelings that have
prevented a true peace in Palestine.

They did so without guns, rockets or car bombs. By historical
standards, it was a pretty good first meeting.

THE FLOW OF PETRODOLLAR DOESN’T ALLOW AZERBAIJAN TO TAKE THE SITUATION ADEQUATELY

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.03.2008 GMT+04:00

The Karabakh Conflict will be resolved neither by the international
community, nor by the co-chairs, but by the help of the negotiations
between Azerbaijan and Karabakh, regardless all the resistance of
the official Baku.

Most probably the flow of petrodollar and the participation in
trans-European gas consortiums have seriously effected on Azerbaijan’s
ability of taking the situation adequately. For some reasons, Baku
has decided that the "irreplaceability" in energy resource supplies
may set the conditions over the world powers, and particularly over
the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

The resolution, approved by the UN General Assembly, according
to Azerbaijan may become a more effective tool for the regulation
of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict, which is seen in annexation of
Nagorno-Karabakh by force, because there is no other way.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The latest appeal of Azerbaijan to the OSCE with
the initiative of dissolution of the OSCE MG may become the beginning
of the attempt of the resolution of the Karabakh issue with force
implementation. In this appeal a part of the blame is put on the
co-chairs and on Mathew Bryza particularly, who says one thing in
Baku, another thing in Yerevan and a completely different thing
in Washington.

Naturally the USA is interested in the oil and gas that Baku
possesses. The history repeats itself: the same happened in 1918,
when the Soviet Russia, who needed the kerosene Baku had, gave
Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan, without thinking that it was going
to become a delayed-action mine.

The Azeri political scientists have at once started to criticize and
accuse the Co-Chairs of inability of making decisions. According to
Zardushta Alizade, the OSCE Minsk Group has expired its resources
and is not capable of accomplishing its tasks, announced 1news.az.

"In fact, the OSCE Minsk Group’s responsibility is to convince
Azerbaijan to agree with the separation of Nagorno-Karabakh. Changing
the format of the OSCE MG will be possible only with the agreement of
both parties of conflict, and Armenia will not agree with it. OSCE MG
doesn’t have any particular alternative, at the same time, there is
not much depending on the Co-Chairs; they are simply mediators. In
this situation Azerbaijan only has to carry a policy, so that it is
considered to be an authority among more and more countries of the
international community.

This policy is lies in democratization of the state, establishment
of the political dialogue and contacts with the Armenian community
of Nagorno-Karabakh. We mustn’t tear away, but create economic ties
between these people and Azerbaijan," thinks Alizade.

Meanwhile the OSCE Co-chairs Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia), Bernard Fassier
(France), and Mathew Bryza (USA) came up with an announcement over the
results of the meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia
Vartan Oskanyan on March 14 and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Azerbaijan Elmar Mamediarov on March 15. The announcement particularly
said: "After these meetings the Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
declare, like they did before the voting of the resolution on "the
situation on the occupied territories of Azerbaijan" in the UN General
Assembly, that France, Russia and the USA support the territorial
integrity of Nagorno-Karabakh and think, that the status of the
Nagorno-Karabakh is the topic of the negotiations between the parties.

The Co-chairs are convinced, that any peaceful regulation of the
conflict will need inevitable compromises. They emphasize the need of
the renewal of the negotiations after a pause during the period of
the presidential elections of Armenia. In this aspect they mention
with satisfaction the fact that the Ministers of Foreign Affairs
of Armenia and Azerbaijan confirmed the necessity of continuing the
negotiations between the countries.

In fact the Co-chairs didn’t say anything new. In any case the
Karabakh Conflict will be resolved neither by the international
community, nor by the co-chairs, but by the help of the negotiations
between Azerbaijan and Karabakh, regardless all the resistance of
the official Baku. And who said that in the case with Serbia the
territorial integrity of the country may be broken and in the case
of Nagorno-Karabakh it can’t?

ABOUT THE NECESSITY OF A REAL OPPOSITION

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
March 20, 2008

As we know tensed negotiations are in process between the
President-elect and the political powers, regarding the formation of
the coalition and the new government. Later, naturally this process
"will go down" to the level of Ministers and departments, anyway the
state machinery is on the threshold of a significant innovation.

Let’s imagine an impossible situation. On the second half of April,
the President-elect, disapproved of the willfulness, corruption, and
low efficiency of the officials’ work makes up his mind to completely
change the state machinery and starts a universal recruitment among
the citizens.

Moreover the President complicates the conditions of the recruitment:
like – everyone must be recruited by contest (the parameter is:
spotless reputation), all the pretenders must pass a qualification
test, and their moral qualities must be checked by the "lie detector".

Question: Will this change the situation? Will the new state
machinery serve the society and not the authorities? Will the volume
of corruption, sponsorship, and lawlessness reduce?

At the beginning – maybe. But maximum in one year we will face the
same problems. Why?

First: because this is our tradition and psychology. Of course the
condition of the society reflects on the state machinery.

Second: because power leads to temptations. This is closer to reality.

Temptations usually lie the officials and the political figures in
ambush, all over the world. But why anarchy is not on that level
for example in Germany, Great Britain, or Sweden. Of course in those
countries as well the political figures, high-ranking officials and
even the judges appear in scandalous situations. But each of them
is well aware that scandal means resignation at best and prison –
if the worst comes to the worst.

Thus – another question? Why? Their values are different from ours.

There are national peculiarities in every country. Even democracies
in the western countries very often differ. But you will never find a
"value" due to which disgrace must be justified, if it is committed
by the high-ranking official. Such a "value" doesn’t exist.

The problem is, in the democratic countries authority is permanently
under control. How can the society control the President, the
government, and the ruling authority in general?

First of all by the help of the opposition, which means – the powers
that didn’t win the elections at this stage.

How can they control the authorities? Through their statements and
inquiries in the parliament, by drafting the state budget, by the
supervision of the expenditure of the state resources.

By revealing the gaps of the authorities opposition has all the
chances to come to power and will be interested in manifesting a
spotless behavior.

This is how they provide the selection of the state machinery. Seeing
that the "political pendulum" really works, that is to say today’s
ruling authority can turn into an opposition tomorrow the law
enforcement agencies, judges, and the state machinery will change
their working policy.

This is the scheme of the social control on the authorities. Of
course it demands concretization. But the thing is, the same way as
it is senseless to speak about the "western" and "Armenian" scheme of
the lamp, the same way it is ridiculous to make judgments about the
"western" and "Armenian" democracies.

The make the system of the political competitiveness work in our
reality we need a real classical opposition and not a crowd of
slaughterers who organized the mass disorder on March 1-2. It is only
in the existence of a real opposition that we can impose certain
conditions upon the authorities, which will provide an opportunity
to control the latter.

And only in this case can we teach the authorities respect the society
and serve them.

PRESENTATION OF "NUCLEAR POWER: MYTHS AND LEGENDS" BY GERD ROSENCRANZ HELD IN YEREVAN

ARKA
March 20, 2008

YEREVAN, March 20. /ARKA/. The presentation of "Nuclear Power: Myths
and Legends", the book of German scientist Gerd Rosencranz has been
held in Yerevan.

"The book is considering philosophic issues, as well as some aspects
that need to be globally discussed by "elite’ experts," Armenia’s
Deputy Minister of Energy Areg Galstian said.

In his turn, academician-secretary of the Department of Physics and
Astrophysics of Armenia’s National Academy of Sciences Yury Simonian
said that development of civilization and scientific and technical
progress requires development of energy sector and nuclear fusion
issues in particular. He stressed that guidelines of different
countries in energy policy are different both in the status and
in prospects.

Simonian stressed the importance of views of not only engineers,
physicists, chemists, but also legal experts and politicians on
the issue as nuclear energy is considered within a complex of
multidisciplinary issues.

Academician Yury Chilingarian expressed confidence that no alternative
exists of development of nuclear energy in Armenia and said that the
necessity to build a second nuclear power unit in Armenia is out of
question. Yet, Director of Heinrich Bolle Foundation in South Caucasus
Walter Kaufman disagreed with Chilingarian on the need to develop the
nuclear energy sector in the country saying that if Armenia considers
these issues "out of question", then it is behind the world level as
in all countries where nuclear power is still used, these issues are
being intensely discussed.

Among participants of the event are expected to be the author of
the book himself, Armenia’s First Deputy Minister of Environment
Simon Papian, expert Suren Azatian, Director of CANDLE project Vasily
Tsakanov, Head of Chair of Theoretical Physics of Armenian’s National
Academy of Sciences Eduard Chubarian, the Head of State Inspectorate on
Nuclear Safety of Environment Ministry Ashot Martirosian. International
and non-government organizations have also participated in the
discussion. The event is held by Heinrich Bolle Foundation together
with "Ecolur" information NGO with assistance of Armenian National
Academy of Sciences.