Author: Harutyunian Christine

ARTASHES GEGHAMIAN’S RATING RISES MORE AND MORE, NATIONAL UNITY
VICE-CHAIRMAN ASSURES

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 1, NOYAN TAPAN. The election campaign of Artashes
Geghamian, a candidate for presidency, the Chairman of the National
Unity party, proceeds successfully. Sargis Muradkhanian, the party
Vice-Chairman, the head of the candidate’s Yerevan headquarters, said
at the February 1 press conference. He is convinced that A. Geghamian
will be elected RA President, as the latter’s rating rises more and
more.

At the same time, S. Muradkhanian said that though their candidate’s
election campaign proceeds successfully, some "good-for-nothing
politicians" with their speeches try to distract him from his main
business. "I mean the discrediting statements voiced by presidential
candidate L. Ter-Petrosian’s supporters addressed to A. Geghamian," he
explained adding that "these people hearing L. Ter-Petrosian’s name
imagine new time for robbery."

In A. Muradkhanian’s opinion, looking at the people standing near the
first RA President one may suppose that this candidate will lose the
elections. In his words, "L. Ter-Petrosian is the project of the
authorities," and his goal is to destabilize the situation. In the
opinion of the National Unity Vice-Chairman, L. Ter-Petrosian always
instigates the people for conflicts, in which the authorities do not
interfere. He said that they are against conflicts and do explanatory
work among the population to exclude them.

124 VOTES FOR SERGE SARGSYAN AND NO BARTERING

Lragir
Feb 1 2008
Armenia

On February 1 the Armenian society learned which presidential candidate
the United Labor Party led by Gurgen Arsenyan endorses. As it had been
announced, the ULP held a secret ballot to decide which candidate to
endorse in the presidential candidate or whose program they endorse,
as the process of ULP stance is officially defined.

As a result of the voting of the political board, the ULP decided to
endorse Serge Sargsyan. 124 members of the political board voted Serge
Sargsyan, 47 voted Levon Ter-Petrosyan, 14 voted Vazgen Manukyan,
5 voted Arthur Baghdasaryan, Artashes Geghamyan, Arman Melikyan and
Aram Harutiunyan got 1 vote each, and Tigran Karapetyan got 0 vote.

Hence, the ULP political board decided to endorse Serge Sargsyan’s
program, instruct the structures of the party to notify the members
of the party, and urged the members of the party to vote Serge
Sargsyan. It is not compulsory, though. Gurgen Arsenyan said so, who
says every citizen has freedom of choice. The ULP leader also assures
that the voting of the party was democratic, without any obligation.

The structures of the party are free to decide how they are going to
support Serge Sargsyan. The ULP will not participate in the election
campaign, and will only endorse publicly.

Gurgen Arsenyan declines to say which candidate he voted for.

However, he says that he is for sustainable development. For him,
the solution of demographic problems is important. Gurgen Arsenyan
says hopeful the election will be calm, and the Armenian people will
have a legitimate president.

According to the ULP leader, endorsement of the program means
responsibility for the program. Hence, if Serge Sargsyan does not
fulfill his pledges, the ULP will criticize but Arsenyan does not
even want to imagine any presidential candidate to be a liar. In
answer to the question whether they expect to participate in the
implementation of Serge Sargsyan’s program, Gurgen Arsenyan says any
political organization is ready to participate in the implementation
of a program which stems from their system of values. The reporters
asked Gurgen Arsenyan if the liberal values of the ULP and the
conservative values of the Republican Party correspond. He said
they did not endorse the ideology of the Republican Party but Serge
Sargsyan’s election program which is rather liberal.

In answer to the question whether the information that Serge Sargsyan
has promised the post of president of the Central Bank to Grigor
Ghonjeyan, the deputy leader of the ULP, in return for endorsement
Gurgen Arsenyan says the ULP does not barter decisions.

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:

PRESS RELEASE

Friday, February 1, 2008

Internships, Youth Trips & Scout Camps: AGBU Offers Superb Lineup of
Armenia Summer Programs

As summer 2008 rapidly approaches, AGBU is offering a wide variety of
opportunities for Armenian youth to journey to Armenia for a memorable
experience of cultural enrichment, service and travel as well as
professional and personal growth. The AGBU programs include the Yerevan
Summer Intern Program (YSIP), the Youth Trip to Armenia and–the newest
project to galvanize youth–a Scout Camp in the Dilijan-Vanadzor region.

Intern in Armenia

New to the AGBU summer program portfolio, YSIP was an instant success
amongst participants during its first-ever season last year. College
students eager to learn about their heritage, while developing hands-on
professional experience in their field of interest, are highly
encouraged to apply. Students last summer interned at leading companies
and organizations in the capital city, including the Cafesjian Museum
Foundation, World Health Organization, and several leading medical
institutions.

In addition to eye-opening professional experience, YSIP participants
will have the chance to engross themselves in language instruction,
dance classes, history lectures, service projects and meetings with
government officials. A full educational, cultural and social schedule
also includes weekend trips to other parts of Armenia and Karabakh and
mixers with other intern groups from the Diaspora.

A very successful addition to the established AGBU internship programs
in New York and Paris, YSIP proved to be both professionally and
personally fulfilling for participants who connected with peers
throughout the world in the land where all Armenians share a common
bond. This year’s five-week program will begin on June 28 and continue
until August 2. The application deadline is February 18, 2008.

Youth Explore Armenia

Now in its fifth year, AGBU is welcoming participants for its annual
Youth Trip to Armenia and Karabakh. Youths between the ages of 15 and 18
are encouraged to join their Armenian peers from around the world to
explore the sights and sounds of our ancient culture and heritage under
the supervised care of certified tour guides and chaperones. The
program’s goal is that participants will experience the true Armenian
spirit and develop a love and understanding for our shared culture of
not only the past, but the present and the future.

Activities include a climb to the top of Armenia’s highest peak, Mount
Aragats, unearthing part of an archeological site, and side trips to
Gyumri, Garni, Geghard, Lake Sevan, Khor Virap and neighboring Karabakh.
The youth will also have the chance to make a difference by reaching out
to fellow Armenians through service projects and will see firsthand the
ongoing work of the AGBU, the largest Armenian philanthropic
organization in the world. This year’s trip will be held from August 9
to 29 and the deadline to apply is February 18, 2008.

AGBU’s Scouting Spirit

>From July 25 until August 30, AGBU is also offering a trip to Armenia
for its Scout troops. Since 1936, AGBU Scouts have been active in Egypt,
Lebanon and Syria, and more recently in other parts of the world,
proving to be one of the most popular activities for boys and girls
eager to connect with their Armenian heritage and the great outdoors.

Today, many of these troops are affiliated with local chapters of the
AGBU Armenian Youth Association (AYA) and thrive in Argentina, Brazil,
Canada, Cyprus, Uruguay and the United States. Scouts between the ages
of 13 and 18 from all over the world will now have the chance to come
together in Armenia and attend scout camp in the historic and
picturesque forests of Dilijan-Vanadzor. For the first year only, the
new Scout Camp will welcome scouts from across southwest Asia and Egypt.
By its second season in 2009, the camp will be hosting AGBU scouts from
around the world and exposing youth to the picturesque Armenian
countryside.

For more information on all three summer programs in Armenia, please
visit For specific details on each program,
please email [email protected] for the Yerevan Summer Internship Program,
email Hermine Duzian at [email protected] for the Youth Trips to
Armenia, and contact Kevork Santourian at [email protected] for
the new AGBU Scout Camp.

Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City with an
annual budget of $36 million, AGBU preserves and promotes the Armenian
identity and heritage through educational, cultural and humanitarian
programs, annually touching the lives of some 400,000 Armenians on six
continents.

XENOPHOBIA GROWING IN RUSSIA – HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS

Interfax
Jan 30 2008
Russia

Moscow, 30 January: Since the beginning of the year, 14 people have
been killed in xenophobia-related attacks inRussia, Aleksandr Brod,
director of the Moscow Human Rights Bureau and a member of the Public
Chamber, told Interfaxtoday.

"At least 25 xenophobic attacks and fights have occurred in January,
in which 14 people were killed and at least20 injured," Brod said,
citing information monitored by the Moscow Human Rights Bureau.

The largest number of xenophobic crimes was committed in Moscow Region,
St. Petersburg and Tolyatti, he said.

In 2008, four residents of Uzbekistan, two of Tajikistan, two of
Kyrgyzstan, one of Turkey, one of Dagestan, and one of Armenia were
killed in attacks, Brod said.

"The number of attacks shows that radical nationalists will continue to
remain active in 2008 and will probably break last year’s sad record
in the number of those killed and injured in xenophobic crimes,"
Brod said.

Another human rights organization, the Sova analytical centre, which
specializes in the problems of xenophobia,yesterday expressed its
concern in view of growing xenophobia.

The centre’s activists presented the 2007 report, according to which
69 people were killed and about 600 injuredin xenophobic attacks in
39 Russian regions.

"We have noted that xenophobia-related violence is growing in Russia.

The number of race-hatred attacks hasincreased. There are more domestic
racial attacks, and they are committed not only by skinheads," Sova
deputydirector Galina Kozhevnikova told Interfax.

"Ultra right-wing organizations are getting more active. They are
trying to hold more and more mass actions and provoke disorder. In
addition, attacks are becoming more vicious," she said.

"Since the beginning of 2008, according to our monitoring figures,
11 people were killed in race-related attacksand 22 were injured. In
January, attacks happened in seven Russian regions," she said.

BELAVIA BYELORUSSIAN NATIONAL AIRLINE ANNOUNCES NEW TARIFFS FOR KALININGRAD- YEREVAN AND WARSHAVA-YEREVAN FLIGHTS

arminfo
2008-01-31 16:02:00

ArmInfo. Belavia Byelorussian National Airline announces special
tariffs for Kaliningrad-Minsk-Yerevan and Warshava-Minsk-Yerevan
transit flights.

Byelorussian Embassy in Armenia told ArmInfo Belavia special
tariffs will be applied to the given flights from January 30 to
March 15. Kaliningrad- Minsk-Yerevan two-way ticket will cost 280 EUR
(exclusive taxes and fees), Warshava-Minsk-Yerevan two-way ticket will
cost 299 EUR (exclusive of taxes and fees). Kaliningrad-Minsk-Yerevan
flight is scheduled for 4:15pm, arrival in Minsk for 5:45pm and in
destination point in Yerevan 2:25am. On Sundays the timetable is as
follows, 7:20pm, 10:45pm and 3:30am.

Warshava-Minsk-Yerevan flight on Wednesday is scheduled for 10:45am,
12:55pm and 0:25am. On Sundays the timetable is as follows: 11:20am,
1:35pm, 3:30am.

The official representative of Belavia in Yerevan is General trade
Agent BelAviaService LTD.

LEVON ARONIAN WINS CORUS CHESS TOURNAMENT

ARMENPRESS
Jan 28, 2008

YEREVAN, JANUARY 28, ARMENPRESS: Levon Aronian of Armenia and Magnus
Carlsen of Norway drew their games and remained half a point ahead
of the field at Corus chess festival in Dutch Wijk aan Zee Saturday,
with Aronian taking first with a slightly better tiebreak score.

Behind them were Vishu Anand of India in third and Teimour Radjabov
of Azerbaijan in fourth.

In the B Group it was Armenia-born Sergey Movsesian of Slovakia ahead
of Nigel Short pf UK and Bacrot of France, and in the C Group young
Fabiano Caruna two full points ahead of everyone else.

Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian drew their games against Teimour
Radjabov and Judit Polgar respectively.

Levon Aronian has won the tournament for the second time.

PROFESSOR’S DAUGHTER FORCED OUT OF FRENCH LOCAL POLLS

Today’s Zaman
Jan 29 2008
Turkey

A Turkish candidate standing in French local elections has been
forced to withdraw her candidacy amid pressure from Armenian groups
who wanted her to publicly recognize Armenian claims of genocide in
the final years of the Ottoman Empire.

The candidate, a member of the Greens Party, was the daughter of
Professor Baskýn Oran, who himself was a candidate for Parliament
in Turkey’s July 22 elections, Today’s Zaman has learned. Professor
Oran, a liberal, campaigns in Turkey for reconciliation with Armenians
and has passionately called for punishment for those who are behind
the January 2007 murder of Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in
Ýstanbul. Sýrma Oran, who has been living in France for a long time,
had to withdraw her candidacy for the city council in Villeurbaunne
after she had been pressed by Mayor Jean-Paul Bret to visit an Armenian
"genocide" monument in Lyon and make a public statement backing the
genocide charges.

Bret, a politician from the French Socialist Party, which is
cooperating with the Greens in the local elections slated for March,
is known to have close ties with the Armenian diaspora in France. He
was the chair of the French-Armenian caucus in the French National
Assembly during his term as a lawmaker. French news reports said
he had forced Oran to make a public statement backing the alleged
genocide after an Armenian member of the city council threatened to
resign if she is elected.

Under pressure from Bret, Oran met with a group consisting of
representatives from local Armenian groups and the politicians from
the Socialist and Greens parties in a closed-door meeting and assured
them that she believed that an Armenian genocide had happened in
eastern Anatolia during the final years of World War I, as Armenians
claim. But she later came to the conclusion that she would have to
deal with constant problems due to her ethnic identity as a Turk
even if she were elected to the Villeurbaunne City Council and thus
decided to withdraw her candidacy after she had been forced to make
the same statements publicly, sources told Today’s Zaman.

Beatrice Vessilier, a representative of the Greens in Villeurbanne,
speaking with Today’s Zaman, expressed her deep disappointment over
the incident. "None of us expected the issue to come to this point.

I’m so sorry — also in regards to the political ethic," Vessilier
said. She also emphasized that Oran withdrew her candidacy at her
own initiative because she didn’t want to be on the political agenda
solely related to this issue if elected. "She [Oran] didn’t want to be
reduced to her ethnic roots as an elected person and to be constantly
annoyed because of that," Vessilier added.

Vessilier said that Bret’s demand was "not easy to be fulfilled"
by Oran, while describing Bret as "extremely engaged concerning the
genocide issue."

Richard Llung, Bret’s election director, defended Bret’s stance,
saying that nobody should look for "courtesy" when the issue is
politics. "Every politician represents himself, but also represents
the society that he belongs to. This treatment … may well be very
brutal. However, politics is not a profession that has courtesy in it,"
Llung said.

Ali Gedikoðlu, chairman of the France-based Cojep Platform — a
multicultural youth association established by Turks in France —
said the incident in Villeurbanne was not an exception, as young
politicians who are members of the Cojep have been constantly pressured
in districts where there is a dominant Armenian population.

The Socialist Party, which had in the past gained huge support
from Turks, has gradually lost this support due to these kinds of
discriminatory policies, Gedikoðlu added. "I’m calling on Armenians
to act in a responsible manner. Nonetheless, I’m also calling on
the Turkish community who has left our daughter [Oran] alone in this
struggle. The indifference of the Turkish community encourages this
kind of inappropriate treatment," Gedikoðlu said.

Relations between Turkey and France were strained after the French
parliament approved a bill criminalizing the denial of the alleged
genocide in 2006. The bill, backed by the Socialist Party, drew ire
from Ankara, which said relations had sustained a heavy blow with
the law. France’s 400,000-strong Armenian community constitutes a
formidable voter bloc. Former French leaders said that Turkey must
accept the alleged genocide to become a member of the EU, while the
country’s current president, Nicolas Sarkozy, is against Turkish
entry under any condition.

Ankara rejects outright the Armenian claims of genocide and calls for
joint research of the events of the years of World War I, a proposal
that has not been welcomed by Armenia.

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TER-PETROSYAN DID NOT OBEY

A1+
29 January, 2008

On 28 January road police submitted a report to the Yerevan Police
Department, that 150-200 vehicles escorting the RA Presidential
Candidate Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s car, ignored the traffic signals
on Demirchyan and Baghramyan crossway and continued the traffic
on Baghramyan avenue, jeopardizing lives of inspectors and other
participants of the traffic. In regard with this incident, the Yerevan
State Investigation Department prepares materials.

REGULAR PROMISE FOR GENOCIDE RECOGNITION: HILLARY CLINTON

Panorama.am
14:14 26/01/2008

U.S. presidential candidate from Democrats Hillary Clinton announced
about her intention to support the Resolution on the Armenian Genocide
and promised to recognize the genocide in case of getting elected.

Armenian Cause Commission of America (ANCA) report that senator
Hillary Clinton, elected in New York, has announced that the ethics
and truth oblige USA to raise its voice for the protection of human
rights and recognize the Armenian genocide. "The Armenian genocide
must be recognized by U.S. Congress and U.S. President," she said.

"U.S. Armenians welcome Senator Hillary Clinton for her clear
disposition on the resolution on Armenian genocide and for her
promise to recognize the genocide in case of winning the presidential
elections. Hillary Clinton’s statement reflects all those issues that
are touching the Armenian community: recognition of the Armenian
genocide, development of Armenian-American relations and fair and
democratic resolution of Karabakh issues," ANCA Executive Director
Aram Hambaryan said.

It must be reminded that another Democrat candidate, Baraq Obaman, also
promised to recognize the Armenian genocide in case of getting elected.

It must be noted that the husband of Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton,
who headed USA from 1992-2000, also gave a similar promise but he
never kept to it.

BASHIR IN TURKEY: THE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Morton Abramowitz

Century Foundation
Jan 24 2008
NY

One would think Turkey’s leaders would be a little more careful before
laying down the red carpet for the likes of President Omar al Bashir
of Sudan.

Bashir is widely viewed in most parts of the world as an illegitimate
dictator presiding over a pariah state guilty of crimes against
humanity. He is a seemingly strange bedfellow for Turkey’s AKP
(Justice and Development Party) trying to prove to many domestic and
Western observers of its balanced, well-calibrated foreign policy,
and its attachment to international norms.

Turkey has been trying to persuade the world, not very successfully,
that there was no Armenian genocide in 1915. The picture of President
Abdullah Gul smiling at a joint press conference is hardly going to
convince skeptics that Turkey even knows what genocide means, and
it will certainly raise doubts in supporters of Turkey. After all,
Bashir’s Sudan has been accused of a relentless campaign of ethnic
cleansing that has left over 200,000 Sudanese dead and more than 2
million driven from their homes. This has prompted some (including the
United States government) to suggest rightly or wrongly, it amounts
to genocide. To many around the world, Bashir whitewashes his massive
crimes against humanity and Gul and Erdoðan avert their gaze.

Bashir’s visit is hardly surprising-it is yet another step in a
developing relationship. It follows the visit of Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdoðan to Sudan in March 2006 for an Arab League summit. With a
side-trip to Darfur and relatively benign comments about the situation,
Erdoðan was perceived as issuing a statement of support for the
Sudanese government. Just two weeks ago, Turkish Defense Minister
Vecdi Gonui was in Khartoum to discuss military cooperation between
the two countries, and what some suspect to be negotiations over
Turkish arms sales to Khartoum. The AKP’s leader’s actions are in
stark contrast to the Foreign Ministry’s advice and former President
Sezer’s refusal to accept Bashir’s invitation to visit.

Put in these stark terms it is hard to find logic behind the
government’s actions, but this may be not giving the Turkish leadership
enough credit. There are some counter-explanations worth considering.

An alternative foreign policy?

Perhaps, the AKP government is carving out an alternative foreign
policy role for itself that of a genuine intermediary, even mediator,
in some of the world’s most intractable conflicts involving Arab and
Moslem factions and identity issues. It is certainly true that one
needs to be in communication with all the parties to dispute to convey
to them what needs to be done to resolve it. By perceiving to cozy up
to Bashir, Turkey is also buying much-needed credibility in his eyes,
and may position itself to become an important interlocutor for peace
in Darfur. However, there is little to support this explanation. To
date, talks between Ankara and Khartoum have been dominated by
negotiations over trade, investment, energy and military issues,
all areas that Turkey’s would-be partners in the EU are increasingly
avoiding.

Alternatively perhaps Ankara believes that support for Bashir is
the key to peace in Darfur, and that discordant rebel movements must
be brought under control. After all after four years western policy
is virtually bankrupt. Its one major achievement is helping keep 2
million displaced people alive, not in getting them home or bringing
peace to the region. Ankara could be signaling a willingness to go
down a different path to resolving the Darfur conflict real politik
overcoming morality and seeking success where the West has failed, by
bolstering Bashir and his forces to go after the rebels. That would
be a unique policy. In addition, it is conceivable that the Turkish
government believes all Darfur needs is a little more humanitarian
assistance which Erdoðan promised a gesture described as indicative
of the Turkish government’s profound humanitarian concern for the
people of Darfur. Turkish aid to Darfur’s people so far has been minor.

In some countries and perhaps in Turkey many believe the AKP government
is intent on promoting Islamic unity and perceive the Sudan as a
Muslim country being unfairly treated by the West, whatever the scale
of horrors being perpetrated.

One thing is certain: The Turkish government has taken a serious
diplomatic move, opening it up correctly for censure unless it can
better explain its intentions and policies. Failing to do so and
provide relevant details of the meetings with Sudanese leaders,
it will be condemned as a diplomacy that supports a disgraceful
dictatorship without benefiting the innocent victims of Darfur in
any meaningful manner.

No amount of expressions of sympathy for the victims of Darfur will
save Gul and Erdoðan from the pointed questions clouding Bashir’s
visit.

Morton Abramowitz is Senior Fellow at the Century Foundation and
former U.S. ambassador to Turkey. This article was first published
in the Turkish Daily News.

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