Author: Harutyunian Christine

L. Ter-Petrosian: Artur Baghdasarian Betrayed His Nation And Stands Next To Tokhmakhi Mher And Nemets Rubo

Noyan Tapan
Feb 29 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 29, NOYAN TAPAN. "I don’t even want to pronounce
his name.

It was an act of a disgraceful man, who has received an insignificant
position". This is how the first Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosian
commented on appointment of the leader of "Orinats Yerkir" party,
the presidential candidate Artur Baghdasarian as secretary of the
National Security Council, while making a speech at a rally of his
supporters in Freedom Square.

In the words of L. Ter-Petrosian, A. Baghdasarian betrayed his nation
and now stands next to Tokhmakhi Mher and Nemets Rubo.

Commenting on the agreement on political cooperation signed between
A. Baghdasarian and the authorities, Nikol Pashinian expressed
his amazement at the fact that A. Baghdasarian, who was accused of
spying and betraying his nation only 7-8 months ago, has now been
appointed chairman of the National Security Council. In his words,
it proves once again that traitors of state and national interests
are appointed to state positions in Armenia. "Serge Sargsian is also
a traitor because he rigged the people’s votes," he said.

Member of the Forum of Intellectuals, People’s Artist of
Armenia Yervand Manarian in his turn said that the position of
A. Baghdasarian caused little surprise to him. He reminded that the
police attack on peaceful demonstrators on April 13, 2003 took place
during A. Baghdasarian’s term of office as chairman of the National
Assembly. By the way, he reminded that at that time helmeted policemen
stood in the yard of the National Assembly.

PRESIDENCY OF FORUM OF ARMENIAN ASSOCIATIONS IN EUROPE CALLS ARMENIAN ORGANIZATIONS OF EUROPE FOR CONSOLIDATION

Noyan Tapan
Feb 28, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 28, NOYAN TAPAN. The presidency of the Forum of
Armenian Associations in Europe has spread a statement, with which it
calls Armenian organizations, unions, and communities functioning
in European countries, which are not members of the Forum yet,
for consolidating around the Forum taking part in the latter’s
proceedings. The process of reregistration of organizations-members
of the Forum and joint elaboration and coordination of 2008 programs
is underway at present.

The statement emphasized that the main goal of the unification
of Armenian organizations in Europe is efficient implementation of
programs favorable for the nation, coordination of lobbyist activities,
establishment of cooperation between structures functioning in
economic, cultural, and many other spheres in Armenia and in the
Diaspora and individuals, which in its turn will result in Armenia’s
strengthening and will give a possibility to efficiently resist the
new challenges faced by the country.

The statement was adopted at the special sitting of the Forum’s Board
held lately in Vienna (Austria), presided over by Toros Sakerian,
the Honorary Chairman of the Forum of Armenian Associations in
Europe. The same day Ashot Grigorian, the Chairman of the Armenian
community of Slovakia, a member of the Forum presidency, was elected
the new Chairman of the Forum of Armenian Associations in Europe.

ACADEMICS ARRESTED IN ERGENEKON AFFAIR

Today’s Zaman
Feb 27 2008
Turkey

Academics from various universities, journalists and others were
arrested on Tuesday in Istanbul over alleged connections to the
Ergenekon gang, a deep state-linked criminal organization.

Associate Professor Umit Sayýn from Ýstanbul University, Associate
Professor Emin Gurses from Sakarya University, journalist Vedat
Yerener, retired lecturer Orhan Tunc from Balýkesir University,
Hayrettin Ertekin, a famous gold dealer, Vedat Yenerer, a TV
journalist, and Muammer Karabulut, the head of the Ayasofya Association
— who were previously detained for suspected ties to the Ergenekon
gang — were arrested by Istanbul police on Tuesday.

A police raid in June of last year uncovered an arms depot in a house
in Istanbul’s Umraniye district. The discovery sparked an investigation
that culminated in the arrests of dozens of members of the Ergenekon
gang, a neo-nationalist group that is accused of involvement in plans
to stage a violent uprising against the government.

The prosecutor in the Ergenekon case has said the gang worked to
create disorder and chaos through divisive and violent acts so the
public would be willing to accept the intervention of the military
to restore order.

The group is also suspected of involvement in the murder of three
Christian missionaries in Malatya in 2007, the 2006 murder of a priest
in the northern city of Trabzon, the murder of Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink in 2007, a 2006 attack on the Council of State and a
grenade attack on the Cumhuriyet newspaper, also in 2006. These are
only some of the accusations the prosecution has made so far in the
course of the investigation.

–Boundary_(ID_C2dP0PWmwjAYwVtUSeQ wPw)–

ROBERT KOCHARIAN: THE VERY PEOPLE WHOM LEVON TER-PETROSIAN TRIED TO INVOLVE IN HIS MOVEMENT REPORTED ME ABOUT ALL HIS STEPS

Noyan Tapan
Feb 27, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 27, NOYAN TAPAN. Several months ago Levon
Ter-Petrosian stated that his tactics is to disorganize the state
structures. Saying this, RA President Robert Kocharian mentioned in
his interview to Public Television that first Armenian President Levon
Ter-Petrosian tried to do large-scale work in that direction, meetings
with different officials were organized in different structures, he
tried to involve them, including representatives of law enforcement
bodies, in politics. "We had single cases, I was reported about all,
almost all these steps, we had a good command of the whole process,
and people, to whom they applied, said that L. Ter-Petrosian with the
ANM active uses such dangerous methods. These attempts failed and the
single cases immediately received a response," the RA President stated.

OPPOSITION LEADER TRUMPETS ARMENIA ‘REVOLUTION’

Agence France Presse
Feb 27 2008

YEREVAN, Feb 27, 2008 (AFP) – Armenian opposition leader Levon
Ter-Petrosian Wednesday said a "revolution" against the government was
under way after last week’s contentious polls, as thousands protested
in Yerevan for an eighth day.

"What’s going is a pure, classic, bourgeois, democratic revolution
to free the economy from a feudal yoke," Ter-Petrosian told around
30,000 protesters on the central Freedom Square in the capital.

Opposition supporters then marched past the prosecutor general’s
office in support of several of their comrades arrested earlier in
the week for illegal possession of firearms and plotting against
the authorities.

The protest remained peaceful but government buildings and embassies
were cordoned off by lines of riot police and the authorities have
said their patience is wearing thin.

Wednesday was the eighth day of round-the-clock protests against the
controversial victory of Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian in an election
on February 19 in this mountainous former Soviet republic.

Ter-Petrosian trailed in second place but claims massive vote fraud
and his supporters are calling for the vote to be annulled.

Protesters chanted "Levon! Levon!" at Wednesday’s rally and waved
placards in support of their candidate.

After the demonstration, protesters prepared to spend another night
on Freedom Square at an impromptu encampment of more than 40 tents
and several camp fires as two police cars stood nearby.

The tents carried the names of various Armenian regions from which
protesters came. On Tuesday, some slept in the tents while others sat
around camp fires on the asphalt, talking and singing into the night.

"It’s the fifth day I’m sleeping out here," said Styopa Sargsian,
22, a musician from the city of Vanadzor in northern Armenia.

"My friends and I brought our instruments with us. We play folk songs
at night. It’s very emotional here. It inspires us," he added.

Protesters are calling for Armenian authorities to annul the result
of the February 19 election, which handed victory to Prime Minister
Serzh Sarkisian, leaving opposition challenger Levon Ter-Petrosian
a distant second.

The opposition leader claims major fraud in the poll count and accuses
Sarkisian of using state resources to promote his candidacy.

He also says that activists campaigning for him across the country
were beaten up.

The unauthorised protests are a major challenge for the government.

On Saturday President Robert Kocharian, who backed Sarkisian in the
election, described the protests as an attempt at an illegal power grab
and promised the government’s response would be "decisive and firm."

Ter-Petrosian, a former president of this former Soviet republic
between 1991 and 1998, ran on an anti-corruption platform.

At a pro-government rally on Tuesday, Sarkisian offered to hold talks
with his rivals, saying there could be a power-sharing deal.

"We appeal to all former presidential candidates and all political
forces supporting them: let us cooperate right up to the formation
of a coalition government," Sarkisian said at the rally.

But a spokesman for Ter-Petrosian’s campaign said it had not received
any formal offer of dialogue.

"When we receive an official offer for talks from the authorities,
then we will think about it. We are not against talks in principle,"
Arman Musinian told AFP.

The Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) have called for restraint. OSCE observers said
earlier that the election "mostly" met international standards.

MEMBERS OF U.S. CONGRESS APPEAL TO SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI ON ANNIVERSARY OF KHOJALY MASSACRE

Azeri Press Agency
Feb 27 2008
Azerbaijan

Washington. Husniyye Hesenova -APA. Members of the U.S. Congress
Solomon Ortiz (Texas) and Virginia Foxx (North Carolina) appealed
to speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi on the 16th
anniversary of Khojaly massacre, APA’s US bureau reports.

Solomon Ortiz in his appeal to speaker Pelosi commemorates the 16th
anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy, when on February 25-26, 1992,
the town of Khojaly in the Nagorno Karabagh region of Azerbaijan was
brutally attacked by Armenian forces.

"The town of Khojaly, which was home to 7,000 people, was completely
destroyed; a total of 613 people were killed, of which 106 were women
and 83 were children, and 56 of whom are purported to have been
killed with extreme cruelty and torture. Additionally, 1275 were
taken hostage, 150 went missing; 487 people became disabled (76 of
whom are teenagers); 8 families were wiped out; 25 children lost both
of their parents, and 130 children lost one of their parents," he says.

Solomon Ortiz says the Khojaly massacre was not an isolated incident.

"In fact, the level of brutality and the atrocities committed at
Khojaly set a pattern of destruction that Armenian troops would adhere
to for the remainder of the Nagorno-Karabakh War," he says.

Solomon Ortiz notes that no one has been prosecuted for the crimes
committed in Khojaly and, unfortunately, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
still remains.

Mr. Ortiz also cited Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov’s
article published in the Wall Street Journal.

On January 21, 2008, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov
noted in the Wall Street Journal that it has been almost 14 years
since the Armenia-Azerbaijan war ended in a Russian-mediated ceasefire,
but Armenian troops remain on Azerbaijan’s territory.

Minister Mammadyarov opined: "The so-called Minsk process, an
OSCE-led effort to find a peaceful, negotiated settlement to this
conflict, has been helpful in providing the framework for dialogue
between Azerbaijan and Armenia. It also gives an international
dimension to this conflict. But we need to urgently conclude this
process. Maintaining the status quo is just too costly.’~R Foreign
Minister Mammadyarov contends that diplomacy is Azerbaijan’s
preferred solution. The resolution of this issue would not only
improve bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, it could
also improve Armenia’s relationship with Turkey.

Member of the Working Group on Azerbaijan Virginia Foxx in her appeal
to speaker Nancy Pelosi writes that while there has been considerable
congressional attention to tragic events which took place in Somalia,
Rwanda, Cambodia, Bosnia, Darfur, and elsewhere, very little light
has shined on what happened in 1992, less than 20 years ago in the
Caucasus.

"Sixteen years later, for the people of Azerbaijan and the region,
the word "Khojaly" stirs up memories of pain and sorrow. In the
middle of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Armenian troops supported
by a Russian infantry regiment razed Khojaly, brutally murdering
613 people, annihilating families, disabling some 1,000 civilians,
capturing 1,275 persons and leaving 150 people unaccounted for. This
year, as in previous years, those residents of Khojaly, who survived
the massacre, are appealing to hold Armenia responsible for this crime.

Ms. Foxx writes that Human Rights Watch called the tragedy at the
time "the largest massacre to date in the conflict." The extent of
the cruelty of this massacre against women, children and the elderly
was unfathomable. Memorial, a Russian human rights group, reported
that "scores of the corpses bore traces of profanation. Doctors on
a hospital train in Agdam noted no less than four corpses that had
been scalped and one that had been beheaded . . . . and one case of
live scalping.

Congresswoman also mentions that such media outlets as The Independent,
Time, Reuters, Newsweek and Australia’s The Age published articles
about Khojaly massacre.

"I urge Congress to join all Azerbaijanis in commemorating the
tragedy. The world should know about and remember Khojaly," Virginia
Foxx says.

ARMENIAN CHESS PLAYERS FILLED DIFFERENT RATES

Panorama.am
14:33 27/02/2008

Armenian young chess player Avetik Grigoryan filled grand master rate
in an international chess competition held in Urmia, Iran. He filled
this rate for the second time. First Avetikyan filled the rate at an
age of 20 in Yerevan.

According to the Armenian Chess Federation, Liana Aghabekyan filled the
rate of international master in an Iranian competition. She succeeded
in filling the same rate in World Youth Championship.

Davit Kalashyan filled the rate of international master in
"Aeroflot-Open" tournament. He succeeds to fill this rate for the
third time. First he succeeded in "20 years world championship"
and the second in "Moscow-Open" championship.

SERZH SARKISIAN TURNED TO THE FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES WITH AN URGE TO COOPERATE

Mediamax
February 26, 2008

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Elected Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian turned
today to the former presidential candidates and the political forces,
which supported them, with an urge to cooperate.

Mediamax reports that Serzh Sarkisian said this during the really of
his supporters at the Republic Square in Yerevan.

"Let us cooperate – right up to the formation of a coalitional
government. One of my goals is the use of all the constructive forces
for the welfare of Armenia’s development", Serzh Sarkisian stated.

He noted that for the first time in the history of independent
Armenia we managed to hold two elections on end, which gained positive
assessments.

"Today we gathered to heal the wound that was opened on the body of
our people by the elections. We should overcome this ordeal; we should
make this wound heal quicker. I say this with pain, since I am tired
of seeing on the body of our nation only scars, because it is high time
for our country and our people to forward", Serzh Sarkisian stated.

He noted that "today we are becoming witnesses of a split in the
society, witnesses of an aggressive grouping striving at any price
to reach its aim".

"For me, today there is no question of "my people" and "others",
authority and opposition. Today we have the issue of Armenia, our
statehood, defense of our values. This is why I urge all, irrespective
of the political views, to overcome this artificial split", Serzh
Sarkisian stated.

LUSAKERT POULTRY FARM BUILDS BIOGAS PLANT

ARMENPRESS
Feb 26, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26, : The Lusakert pedigree poultry farm has
constructed a biogas processing plant. The nature protection ministry
said the plant is part of Armenia’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. Armenia is a signatory to Kyoto Protocol.

The plant will reduce the amount of biogas emitted by waste disposal
of the poultry farm. Until lately the waste and droppings of the farm
that ahs over 400,000 chickens were poured out to several small lakes
becoming a hotbed of pollution.

The plant will not only decrease the amount of greenhouse emissions and
waste disposal, but will also reduce the risk of pathogenic organisms’
spread. The droppings and waste disposals will be processed into safe,
high- quality and efficient organic fertilizer.

The plant was built on a credit from the government of Norway.

The Economist
February 23, 2008
U.S. Edition

Out of Armenia, something new?
Armenia

Armenia’s presidential election

Armenia’s new president says he is ready to talk to Azerbaijan

ELECTIONS in former Soviet republics rarely yield surprises. The
incumbent wins; the opposition cries foul; it takes to the streets.
The presidential vote in Armenia on February 19th ran true to form.
Serzh Sarkisian, the prime minister, won 53% of the vote, enough to
avert a runoff with his main rival, Levon Ter-Petrossian, with 21%.
Mr Ter-Petrossian, a former president, said Mr Sarkisian had stolen
the vote even before ballots were counted. Independent observers
talked of ballot stuffing and intimidation.

Yet, as thousands of demonstrators gathered in central Yerevan,
monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe opined that the election was "mostly in line with the
country’s international commitments", even though the vote count in
16% of stations was "bad or very bad". That verdict makes it more
unlikely that the opposition can overturn the result.

Assuming Mr Sarkisian does get the top job, he will have his work cut
out. Small and landlocked, Armenia has been blockaded by Azerbaijan
and Turkey since it won a vicious war in 1994 for possession of
Nagorno-Karabakh, a province of Soviet Azerbaijan that was mostly
populated by Armenians. Russian troops patrol some of its borders
and, though economic growth has been fuelled by a building boom and
dollops of aid from America and the Armenian diaspora, much of the
recent wealth is concentrated in the hands of oligarchs. Russia has a
huge stake in the economy.

Like the outgoing president, Robert Kocharian, Mr Sarkisian is from
Nagorno-Karabakh. Both men were commanders in the war. But unlike his
hawkish predecessor, Mr Sarkisian is "a pragmatist, a skilled
manager, and receptive to new ideas," argues Tigran Lazarian, a
foreign-policy expert in Yerevan. As defence minister, Mr Sarkisian
oversaw Armenia’s adhesion to a NATO scheme for former Soviet
colonies. This week Mr Sarkisian told your correspondent he was ready
to make peace with Azerbaijan so long as it was "an honourable one".
This might include ceding some of the conquered territories outside
Nagorno-Karabakh. On Turkey, he struck a more hawkish note, calling
Turkey’s pre-conditions for establishing diplomatic ties
"unacceptable". Yet long-stalled unofficial talks between the two
countries are expected to resume once Mr Sarkisian takes over.

What transpires between Armenia, Turkey and Azerbaijan is not up to
Mr Sarkisian alone. Clearing the government of corruption is. One
test will be the number of allegedly crooked ministers he boots out
of the cabinet. Should he flunk this, Mr Ter-Petrossian’s talk of
"criminal rule" will ring ever more true.