LEVON ARONIAN GAINS 4.5 OUT OF 6 POSSIBLE POINTS AT AMBER INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT
Noyan Tapan
Mar 20 2007
MONTE CARLO, MARCH 20, NOYAN TAPAN. Levon Aronian first was defeated
then defeated Boris Gelfand (Israel) in the Amber international speed
and blind chess tournament on March 19 in Monte Carlo. L. Aronian
gained 4.5 out of 6 possible points and is in the second place. And
the leader is Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) with 5 points.
ARMENIANS PLAN TO SPEND $120,000 ON ARCHEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS IN OCCUPIED AZERBAIJANI REGION
Today, Azerbaijan
March 19 2007
Armenians plan to spend $120,000 on archeological excavations in
the occupied Azerbaijani region of Aghdam within coming two months,
Armenian archeologist Hamlet Petrosyan.
Petrosyan said that $50,000 was allocated by Switzerland Armenian
Union. Negotiations are being held with the Diasporas for allocation
of the rest sum.
Petrosyan claims that during the excavations carried out in Aghdam by
Armenia Ethnography Institute under this leadership, the expedition
discovered a settlement established by ancient "Armenian tsar Tigran."
Petrosyan said that virtual model of the village Tigranakert has
already been preparedsaid, APA reports quoting Armenian press.
URL:
PRESS RELEASE
Sacramento- Assemblymember Paul Krekorian (D-Burbank)
Contact: Adrin Nazarian
Thursday, March 15, 2007
(818) 512-4045
KREKORIAN TAKES ON STREET GANGS WITH BILL TO SHUT DOWN WEAPONS STOCKPILES
Sacramento- Assemblymember Paul Krekorian (D-Burbank) announced today he
has introduced a bill that will assist law enforcement in shutting down
the weapons stockpiles that street gangs use to terrorize our
neighborhoods. Krekorian was joined at the press conference by Los
Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, who is sponsoring the bill, as
well as several other members of the State Legislature.
Krekorian’s bill, AB 1013, will make neighborhoods safer by authorizing
prosecutors to bring eviction actions against gang members who use their
residences to stockpile illegal weapons and ammunition. AB 1013 is part
of a broad package of bills that have been introduced by Democratic
lawmakers, in partnership with City Attorney Delgadillo, to combat
street gangs.
In announcing introduction of the bill, Krekorian discussed the murder
of Burbank police officer Matthew Pavelka by gang members in 2003, and
the destructive impact that terrible crime had on the entire community
of Burbank. "Sadly, many of our state’s neighborhoods must endure the
oppressive fear of gun violence on a daily basis," Krekorian continued.
"Too often, a small number of people committed to a life of violence and
crime destroy entire neighborhoods. In many cases, these criminals rent
houses and apartments which are not so much homes as they are ammunition
dumps and weapons stockpiles, but landlords are too fearful to evict
them."
"AB 1013, which I have introduced in collaboration with Los Angeles City
Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, will make neighborhoods safer by authorizing
prosecutors to bring eviction actions against those who use their
residences to stockpile illegal weapons and ammunition. Enactment of
this law will give law enforcement another important tool to ensure that
gang members have no safe haven and nowhere to hide."
Specifically, AB 1013 provides that the illegal possession of weapons or
ammunition is a nuisance for purposes of Civil Code section 1161.4 and
adds Section 12041 to the Penal Code to allow city attorneys and city
prosecutors to bring unlawful detainer actions against persons who
possess illegal weapons and ammunition and persons who illegally possess
weapons.
AB 1013 is set to be heard before the Assembly Judiciary Committee on
April 10, 2007.
# # #
Adrin Nazarian
Chief of Staff
Office of Assemblymember Paul Krekorian
620 N. Brand Blvd. Suite 403
Glendale, CA 91203
(818) 240-6330
(818) 240-4632 fax
[email protected]
TURKEY PREPARES FOR CEREMONY TO MARK RENOVATION OF ARMENIAN CHURCH
Selcan Hacaoglu
AP Worldstream
Published: Mar 14, 2007
Turkey may host Armenian officials at a ceremony marking the renovation
of the 1,000-year-old Akhtamar church, one of the finest surviving
monuments of ancient Armenian culture, Turkish media and sources
close to the project said Wednesday.
Turkey has invited Armenian officials to attend the ceremony but it
was not clear whether any of them would show up, sources involved
in the renovation said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity
because authorities had not announced or confirmed the invitations.
Turkey’s foreign ministry said preparations for the ceremony were
continuing. It denied reports in the Turkish media that the government
would allow direct flights between the Armenian capital Yerevan and
the Turkish city of Van for the ceremony.
Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic ties and border crossings
remain closed, but there are regular commercial flights between
Yerevan and Istanbul.
The ceremony will be held on March 29 on the tiny island of Akdamar,
situated on a lake in the eastern city of Van, bordering Iran.
Turkey, under pressure from the European Union to improve its treatment
of minorities, began restoring the church in 2005 after a century of
neglect and decades of political wrangling.
The European Union urged Turkey in 2004 to consider registering
Akhtamar in UNESCO’s World Heritage List and the $1.5 million
restoration, ordered and paid for by the Turkish government, was
intended to send a positive message to Armenia.
The ceremony is expected to be attended by Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan. Cahit Zeydanli, a subcontractor who supervises the
renovation of the church said that although around 3,000 people would
attend, only 300 of them would be allowed to travel to the tiny island.
Eastern Turkey was once a heartland of Armenian culture and more
than a million Armenians lived in the area at the turn of the 19th
century. But they were driven out by what Armenia contends was a
policy of genocide by Turks.
Akhtamar was one of the most important churches of those ancient
Armenian lands.
The two countries are involved in a long and bitter dispute over
whether the killings of as many as 1.5 million Armenians by Turks at
the beginning of the last century qualifies as genocide or not.
Turkey vehemently denies that the killings were genocide, and is
currently lobbying against a proposed U.S. congressional resolution
that would recognize them as such.
WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF DEEPENING OF NATO-ARMENIA COOPERATION
National Assembly of RA, Armenia
March 14 2007
On March 13 Mr. Tigran Torosyan, the President of the National Assembly
of the Republic of Armenia received the delegation headed by Mr. Jean
Fournet, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy.
During the meeting the issues regarding the cooperation, and
particularly the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) were
discussed. Mr. Tigran Torosyan mentioned that the visit of Mr.
Fournet coincided with the interesting for Armenia period: after the
constitutional amendments and before the parliamentary elections. The
IPAP was highlighted in the context of further deepening and
development of relations with NATO: a document, which takes out the
cooperation from mere military or security frames. Mr. Torosyan
noted that a number of political issues (related to democracy,
human rights) mentioned in the first paragraph of IPAP make mutual
relations broader, more effective and complete. The NA President
touched upon the constitutional reforms, which became a ground
for having a Basic Law in compliance with the European standards,
evaluated by the European authoritative organizations(starting from
January 2006 the administrative detention is eliminated, starting from
July 1 the citizens and the NA minorities, and Human Rights Defender
as well obtained the opportunity to apply to the Constitutional Court,
there were changes in the system of local self-government, after the
adoption of the law on the City of Yerevan the position of the Mayor
of the city will be elective, the judicial system became independent
from the executive power after making amendments in the system, a new
Judicial Code was adopted). Mr. Torosyan noted that the Electoral Code
had been significantly improved and expressed hope that the upcoming
parliamentary elections would have new quality level. Already after
the elections the constitutional provisions related to the political
system will come into force: the deeds mentioned in the first paragraph
of IPAP are mainly fulfilled, and in one year it will be possible to
report that they are fully completed, which will give opportunity to
go ahead in cooperation with NATO, which is an important component
in the national security system of Armenia.
Mr. Fournet, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy,
expressed satisfaction with the meetings in Armenia, and noted that
before his visit, getting familiarized with the documents, he was
sure that during these months there were real achievements in Armenia,
and it is evident that Armenia is on the right way. Mr. Fournet also
touched upon other chapters of the IPAP as a responsible person of
public diplomacy establishment, highlighting the deepening of relations
of public diplomacy, science and culture. He noted that he had had
meetings in the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and has a task to
develop the Science for the Sake of Peace program, which will promote
the establishment of scientific, cultural dialog making countries and
people closer. There are expertise centers functioning in the NATO
member-countries, aiming at studying cultures of other countries and
setting up cultural relations by bridging different countries through
cultures. He highlighted the parliamentary cooperation: the creation
of opportunity for the contacts of the representatives of different
countries and getting familiarized with each others’ views, noting
that invitations will be sent to the National Assembly too.
Expressing confidence that the cooperation with NAS and other
structures will be successful, Mr. Torosyan noted that the National
Assembly will be involved as well by deepening the relations between
NATO-National Assembly, which are the important part of the cooperation
between the Republic of Armenia and NATO.
During the meeting other issues were discussed as well.
RA FM DOES NOT EXCLUDE POSSIBILITY OF PROGRESS IN KARABAKH PROBLEM IN 2007
PanARMENIAN.Net
13.03.2007 14:42 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today nobody can guess or predetermine real terms
for the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Armenian
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian stated in the interview to the
PanARMENIAN.Net journalist. He said, talks are not interrupted,
they continue and it is a rather intensive process. "At the same
time I must underline that the possibility of progress in 2007
is not excluded. The document on the table gives us such a hope:
there are still unsettled problems, but actually we have basis
to reach agreement on a number of principles. First of all it is
connected with the fact that those principles are not taken from
air, they are results of long negotiations and both sides realize
what they are negotiating over," V. Oskanian said. In his opinion,
"after parliamentary elections in Armenia there will be a window, and
if all sides display political will, and especially the Azeri side,
it will be possible to fix serious progress this year."
COMPROMISE WHICH DOES NOT ENDANGER SECURITY?
KarabakhOpen
13-03-2007 14:49:11
We have tried to go to an international court for a few times
but the legal and historical aspects of the issue do not interest
anyone. Everyone insists on a political settlement, which requires
a compromise, NKR President Arkady Ghukasyan said in answering the
question of a student of Artsakh State University.
"We often hear statements that the settlement of the Karabakh
issue should be based on a compromise. It is not clear to me what
compromise on behalf of the Armenian side is meant. I think we already
made a compromise on May 12, 1994. We still have to liberate North
Artsakh. What more are we going to cede?"
asked Hovik Badasyan, a student of Artsakh State University.
"I am glad that our youth thinks so – that we have nothing to
cede. But I wish we were a strong state and did not care what
others think. From the point of view of history, I agree that we
have lost much and we have the right to bring it back. However,
we will hardly become so strong in the nearest future to oppose
to the international community. In reality we are a small country
surrounded by hostile states and isolated, and we cannot afford such
a standpoint. Unfortunately, the international community does not
accept our truth.
We are told that we must make a compromise not because we are not
right but because otherwise a new war will ignite, and Armenia and
Karabakh may be left out of regional projects. They say Azerbaijan
has oil and gas, it can grow stronger and wage a war. Therefore,
our goal is to prevent the resumption of the war.
As to the compromise, they are not related to the principal issues. We
will never give away our independence, because otherwise everything
will become meaningless. We know what we can give away and what we
cannot give away. We must acknowledge one thing – we cannot be at
war for a hundred years, it is necessary to establish peace, and this
is the aim we pursue. I think we must not perceive the Azerbaijanis
as our eternal foes and we do not want the Azerbaijanis to perceive
us similarly. We need to persuade them to leave Karabakh alone, that
Karabakh won its right for independence, that it can be self-sufficient
and build a democratic state.
No international expert will argue if Karabakh is part of historical
Armenia or Azerbaijan. We have tried to go to the international court
for a number of times but nobody cares for the legal and historical
aspects of the issue.
Everyone insists on the political decision, which requires a
compromise. And it is acceptable if we are ready to give something
without endangering our independence and security," Arkady Ghukasyan
said.
AMENDMENTS TO NKR ELECTION CODE
Azat Artsakh Daily, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]
12 March 07
NKR Central Electoral Commission drafted amendments to the Electoral
Code, considering the shortcomings of the previous parliamentary
elections and proposals of the international and local observers. The
chair of the CEC Sergey Nasibian says the NKR government approved
the draft, which will be presented to the National Assembly. "The
amendments are many. They are not related to the upcoming presidential
election but are intended to improve the Electoral Code to make
it comply with the European standards. The observers and the media
will have greater authority to cover and control the process from the
nomination to counting of votes. The media will have the right to take
photographs all through the process," said Sergey Nasibian. According
to him, the election will be held 50 days after the president abdicates
power. The National Assembly will appoint the day 100 days before the
voting day. The exact date will be set in one of the upcoming meetings
of parliament. The CEC is presently getting the exact number of the
citizens of NKR abroad. They will be able to vote in the legations
of Nagorno Karabakh abroad.
TURKEY LIFTS BAN ON YOUTUBE
About – News & Issues, NY
March 12 2007
Why did they ban it in the first place? Because there apparently were
some videos on there insulting Ataturk. (For the record, there are
videos on there insulting everybody.) According to the Associated
Press, a court ordered the popular video-sharing site blocked on
Wednesday pending demanded removal of the Ataturk stuff. Then,
suddenly:
"Ahter Kutadgu, head of corporate communications for Turk Telekom,
told the Anatolia news agency his company had been notified of a
court decision to lift the ban.
Kutadgu did not elaborate on the court’s reasoning. ‘As soon as the
court decision lifting the ban reached us, we immediately opened
YouTube,’ he said."
In 2005, Turkey outlawed "insulting Turkishness" and "insulting
Ataturk"; slain Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was convicted on the
Turkishness article.
Yet in addition to the regular clamps on freedom of expression seen
in such countries, the willy-nilly YouTube ban has an ominous edge
against citizen journalists. After all, it’s not the videos of people
performing "Jackass"-style stunts that such governments fear, but the
increasing use of video-sharing sites to distribute home footage of
government activities or protests around the globe.
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ARMENIA TO BOOST NATURAL GAS IMPORT FROM RUSSIA
RosBusinessConsulting, Russia
March 12 2007
RBC, 12.03.2007, Yerevan 15:11:27.Armenia is poised to boost natural
gas acquisitions in Russia by 17.6 percent to 2bn cubic meters in 2007
against 1.7bn cubic meters in 2006, Chairman and General Director
of Armenia’s ArmRosGazprom (ARG) Karen Karapetyan told journalists
today. This increase in natural gas imports may be attributed to
a more intense installation of gas services, as well as higher gas
consumption by households, ARMINFO reported today, citing Karapetyan.
Karapetyan pointed out that there were 440,000 consumers of natural
gas in Armenia in 2006. The country planned to hike this figure by
50,000 in 2007 and another 50,000 in 2008-2009.