Author: Hunanian Jack

FORMER SENATOR FROM RUSSIA’S KALMYKIA CONVICTED
ITAR-TASS
July 17 2008
Russia

The Moscow City Court sentenced former senator from Russia’s Kalmykia
Levon Chakhmakhchyan to nine years in prison.

The court found him guilty of a fraud that resulted in stealing 1.5
million dollars from a large air company.

Two other defendants in the case – inspector of the Russian Audit
Chamber Armen Oganesyan (Chakhmakhchyan’s son-in-law) and chief
accountant of the Russian-Armenian Business Cooperation Association
Igor Arushanov were sentenced to eight and seven years in prison,
respectively.

All three defendants were sentenced without fines.

The lawyers said they would appeal the verdict. According to
Chakhmakhchyan’s lawyer Valentina Sizova, "There is no guilty evidence
against the defendants in the case."

The trial was held behind closed doors, as some case files are
classified. The court hearings were held at the Lefortovo detention
center, where the former senator is being kept. The Moscow City Court
announced the substantive part of the verdict.

The former senator from the Russian Republic of Kalmykia was accused
of fraud that resulted in stealing 1.5 million dollars in a large air
company. The public prosecutor demanded from the court to find him
guilty and sentence to 9.5 years in prison. The public prosecutor
demanded sentence Oganesyan and Arushanov to eight and seven years
in prison, respectively.

The defendants did not plead guilty.

The investigators found out that the defendants offered to solve the
alleged tax problems in the air company for "a reward" of 1.5 million
dollars. A greater part of the sum should have been transferred to
the accounts of fly-by-night companies under counterfeit contracts,
and 300,000 roubles were planned to pass in cash. When receiving
this sum marked by the police in advance federal security officers
detained Chakhmakhchyan, Arushanov, Oganesyan and other members of
the organized criminal group.

EAFJD: ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION IS TURKEY’S MORAL, LEGAL AND POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.07.2008 17:45 GMT+04:00

Recently elected Armenian President Serge Sargyan made overtures to his
counterpart in the Turkish Government this week, inviting President
Abdullah Gul to join him in Armenia’s capital Yerevan to watch the
upcoming soccer match between Turkey and Armenia on September 6th, says
the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD).

Sargsyan also renewed the offer, made by previous Armenian presidents,
to establish normal diplomatic relations with the Turkish Government,
with no preconditions. The announcements were made in a peace of
opinion published in The Wall Street Journal earlier this week, which
also called for the creation of an inter-governmental "commission to
comprehensively discuss all of the complex issues affecting Armenia
and Turkey".

To date, Turkey has not responded to Sargsyan’s proposal. Turkey
is continuing its devastating 15-year blockade of Armenia, imposed
due to racial hostility stemming from the Armenian Genocide of
1915-1923. Turkey continues to make false accusations as to the
reasoning for the blockade – blaming everything from the Karabakh
conflict to articles in the Armenian Constitution.

The European Armenian Federation noted that Armenia’s call for the
unconditional removal of Turkey’s blockade is a matter of international
law and would be beneficial to both countries as well as the region
and international community overall. As such, the Federation calls
upon the European Union to increase its pressure on Turkey, which, as
a candidate for European Union accession, is duty-bound to peacefully
resolve all disputes with neighboring countries in compliance with
International law, as mandated in the Framework of Negotiations.

"The scholarly community has long since spoken on this issue. The
International Association of Genocide Scholars has gone so far as
to send an open letter to the Turkish Prime Minister to express the
pointlessness of such a commission. Turkey itself scuttled a similar
committee because that group properly characterized the Armenian
Genocide" said Hilda Tchoboian, the president of the European Armenian
Federation.

The Federation regrets that Turkey continues its behind-the-scenes
efforts to tie the establishment of normalized relations with Armenia
with international genocide recognition and reparations – a genocide
of which Turkey is guilty.

"The recognition of genocide and the reparations that follow is a
moral, legal and political responsibility that no State can escape,"
continued Tchoboian. "At this point, the only question that remains is
when Turkey will face that fact, stop living in the past, and rejoin
the international community by recognizing the Armenian Genocide,"
she concluded.

ANCA EASTERN REGION WELCOMES NEW MEMBER TO REGIONAL OFFICE

DE FACTO
2008-07-16 17:38:00

The Armenian National Committee of America, Eastern Region (ANCA-ER),
this week welcomed its newest addition, Ani Hagopian, who will serve
as the region’s Outreach Coordinator over the coming months to help
increase awareness of the upcoming election cycle, oversee regional
development, and assist with finalizing plans for the upcoming second
annual ANCA ER banquet.

"We are proud to welcome Ani to our team," commented Karine Birazian,
ANCA Eastern Region Executive Director. "Ani is extremely talented
and has already shown great dedication and motivation."

"I am very excited to have this opportunity to work for the ANCA. I
look forward to visiting communities and communicating with activists
throughout the region to promote the various objectives of the
organization," commented Hagopian.

AGNES M. MOORADIAN, 85, DETERMINED, KEPT FAMILY HISTORY ALIVE
Elbert Aull

Portland Press Herald
July 14, 2008 Monday
Maine

SOUTH PORTLAND

Agnes M. Mooradian and her husband disagreed about the apple tree in
their backyard.

Mrs. Mooradian thought it deprived what would be a great vegetable
garden of sunlight. Her husband thought it was a nice tree.

The way Mrs. Mooradian, who died Saturday at the age of 85, took care
of the tree became family legend, her older daughter said.

The petite, determined woman cut down the tree limb by limb, piece
by piece – slowly, so her husband wouldn’t notice.

John Mooradian was standing at his kitchen window when it finally
dawned on him.

Cynthia Young of Falmouth, the Mooradians’ older daughter, still
remembers her puzzled father’s words: "Didn’t we used to have an
apple tree in the backyard?"

That was her mother – the determined woman who pulled a sled through
the snow to deliver bread from her father’s bakery as a child and
still found time to study and take care of her siblings, Young said.

Mrs. Mooradian was born March 25, 1923, in Portland, the oldest of
John and Rose Mezoian’s four children.

Her father came to the United States with his parents in 1910, at a
time when Armenians were faced with increasing levels of hostility
in his native Turkey.

Other families would follow at the start of the Armenian
Genocide five years later. The families formed a tight-knit
community. Mrs. Mooradian’s parents were optimistic about the future.

"They knew that being here in the U.S. was an opportunity for them
to move forward and raise their children in a safe environment,"
Young said.

Mrs. Mooradian spent her youth balancing school with household chores
and work at her father’s bakery. She delivered bread from the bakery
to homes and grocery stores, pulling the food along on a sled during
the winter, Young said.

Mrs. Mooradian graduated from Portland High School in 1942.

She married John Mooradian on Aug. 24, 1947. The couple had two
daughters and, after brief stints in Portland and Cape Elizabeth,
settled in South Portland.

Mrs. Mooradian was part of the group that in 2002 founded the Armenian
Cultural Association of Maine.

She was her family’s oral historian, passing on stories about growing
up as a first-generation American to her children. One thing she
always stressed to her children was the value of an education, and
the importance of never giving up, Young said.

"My parents always felt with an education, you can accomplish anything
in life," she said.

LEADER OF AZERBAIJAN’S EXCLAVE STARTS VISIT TO IRAN

Islamic Republic News Agency
July 14 2008
Iran

Tabriz, East Azarbayjan Province, 14 July: The chairman of the Supreme
Council of the Naxcivan Autonomous Republic [of the Azerbaijani
Republic], Vasif Talibov, arrived in Iran yesterday evening [13 July]
as the head of a high-ranking delegation of the republic’s officials.

According to an IRNA report, upon his arrival via the Jolfa border
checkpoint the chairman of the Supreme Council of the Naxcivan
Autonomous Republic was welcomed by the governor of Jolfa and other
local officials.

Jolfa District has a population of 51,000, is situated 146 km northwest
of Tabriz, the capital city of East Azarbayjan Province, and borders
on the Naxcivan Autonomous Republic and the Republic of Armenia.

Having arrived in Iran, Talibov told correspondents that he was
visiting Iran at the invitation of the Iranian Foreign Ministry
officials. He is due to meet the governor-general of East Azarbayjan
Province in Tabriz, senior officials in Tehran and discuss ways of
expanding bilateral relations.

The Naxcivan Autonomous Republic has a population of 360,000 and is
located 35 km north of Iran’s Jolfa border [as published].

About 96 per cent of the population in this region of the Azerbaijani
Republic are Azerbaijanis, the rest are Russians and Tatars and 1.1
per cent of its population are of Kurdish origin.

The roads and railways of this republic had been closed by the Republic
of Armenia following the war between the Azerbaijani Republic and
Armenia over Nagornyy Karabakh.

The chairman of the Supreme Council of the Naxcivan Autonomous
Republic, Vasif Talibov, is being accompanied by a number of
high-ranking Azerbaijani officials, including the consul-general of
the Azerbaijani Republic in Tabriz.

Armenia’s president congratulates French embassy on Bastille day

YEREVAN, July 14. /ARKA/. Armenia’s President Serge Sargsian has
congratulated the Embassy of France in Armenia on Bastille Day.

The President highly appreciated bilateral relations and said he is
certain about further cooperation development, the RA President’s press
service reports. `0–

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
July 13 2008

Rationale for the coups

Two legal processes are concurrently at work. While one is put into
effect to close down the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK
Party) and put an end to its government, the other is directed against
the main opposition group that is intent on doing the same thing
through a military coup following an atmosphere of chaos it was
preparing to create.

The latest interrogations and evidence collected against the putschist
retired generals and their official and civilian associates revealed
that they were about to unleash a series of assassinations and
bombings to destabilize society and create such widespread fear that
the people would call in the cavalry to save them. What is most
striking is the way and the ease with which these people plot to
overthrow an elected government and impose their will on the majority,
believing that they know best and can run the country better. They
have neither the knowledge nor the expertise for what they envisage,
yet they surmise that they can do it better than any elected body and
its experts. What is the source of this delusion?

I believe the ideological foundations of military coups come from the
very training of the military personnel. They are not raised and
trained as professional soldiers only. They are socialized into being
"saviors" that would deliver the society from both external threats as
well as self-destructive deviations. These deviations are of course
transgressing the straightjacket forced on society via constitutions
made after each coup. So the Turkish military keeps guard over a
system by and large designed by itself. Social change and popular
demands for participation, liberalization and globalization are seen
as subversion.

Needless to say this is not a conviction shared by the entire military
establishment. Otherwise all the recent information that has surfaced
in the press would not have been leaked out by constitutionalist and
pro-democratic officers. Hence we can claim that by allowing the
search of rooms in military premises and condoning the arrest of
former commanders, the Turkish military is initiating an unprecedented
process of extracting rotten apples to save the sack.

Does this mean that the era of coups is over? This has yet to be seen,
for the proclivity to stage coups is not only a matter of professional
deformation passed on by military training. People are conditioned for
the fact of coups as a last resort to maintain law and order. Rule of
law is the last thing people heed when the cavalry rides into town to
dismiss the unruly elements that threaten law and order. Although the
nature of threats changes over time, the majority of the people are
not really interested in judging whether the crisis they are living
through is due to the deficiencies of a system that delivers neither
freedoms nor affluence. As long as the popular expectation to call in
the army to amend things during times of crisis prevails, we will
never shed the identity of being an "army nation" and choose a
deliberative-pluralist democracy over a tutelary republic.

The roots of this production flaw go back to the times of the
declaration of the republic. In the 1920s, the young Turkish Republic
was composed of two major social classes. The military-civilian
bureaucracy empowered by its grip on the state apparatus and the vast
peasant masses. The minority bourgeoisie was eliminated by population
exchanges (with Greece) or through punitive deportation (as was the
case with Armenians). There was no Turkish-Muslim bourgeoisie worthy
of mention. The small middle class was mainly of bureaucratic nature,
deriving its income, status and power from its affiliation with the
state. The peasants were traditional, poor, unorganized and
ignorant. The state treated them as its handicapped child and
figuratively locked them up in the basement. Prohibited to show up in
the public realm as they were, the rural population remained intact
and in place until the 1950s. During this time the state tried to
create a dependent bourgeoisie with subsidies, suppressed worker
wages, cheap inputs, high tariff walls for imports, favorable credits
and monopoly status in the market. Such a dependent business class
never challenged the golden hand that fed it.

However, this closed system came under the stress of expansion within
and globalization from without. Beginning with the 1980s, Turkey
opened up to the world. A new business class emerged from the
countryside (often referred to as the Anatolian Tigers) and began to
demand the same privileges that the urban state-fed bourgeoisie
enjoyed. They owed nothing to the state for their existence, growth
and international expansion. Their demands were met by resistance on
the grounds that they were too religious and conservative.

Secondly, the mechanization and commercialization of traditional
Turkish agriculture following World War II to meet the demand of
Europe under reconstruction led to massive migration from the
countryside. These former peasants became the source of parochial and
conservative new urban dwellers. They and the peasants became the
customers of the new bourgeoisie that was on the rise. So they had to
be economically and socially empowered.

The appearance of the people on the street began to change, as did
their demands and expectations. More women in conservative garb (with
covered heads) entered the university and the job market. Political
parties that answered the call of more pious citizens began to compete
in politics. These new social forces wanted more participation, a
bigger piece of the pie and more services. They had waited too long
and they had no time. All of these developments were watched with awe
and anxiety by the old elite who did not want to share power and
privilege with these newcomers who for them had no finesse in dining
and wining or dancing. They were pious and their wives did not look
"modern." These were symbolically dangerous for the secular regime and
had to be locked away once more. The problem is that they are too
numerous and the basement is not spacious enough. This is the gist of
the political crisis that looks like a regime crisis from afar.

ARMENIA IN INFORMATION AMBUSH
Anahit Yesayan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on July 11, 2008
Armenia

We continue to introduce to your attention our interview with the
Director of the Museum-Institute of Armenian Genocide Hayk Demoyan.

"If Armenian party accepts the proposal made by Turkey about setting
up a committee of historians than we must ask them whether or not they
are planning to include those Turkish historians who are persecuted
by article 301 only for recognizing the Genocide of the beginning of
the 20th century?

We can also propose to set up a trilateral committee. There should
be a neutral side represented in the committee, in the person of
international scientists and scholars specialized in Genocides,
not to judge but to control the objectiveness of the discussion.

If Turkish party made this proposal to confirm their denial policy,
then it is evidently a waste of time for both Armenian and the
neutral parties. We don’t have time to spend on similar senseless
discussions. If Turkey really intends to get additional information
about their own history (because the Genocide of Armenians by the
Turks is not only the history of Armenians but also the Turks), then
we are ready for similar discussions; we are ready to allocate various
testimonies that, for well known reasons, have not been accessible
for Turkish historians and Turkish society."

"Recently during his meeting with the employees of the National
Security when Serge Sargsyan touched upon the role of our structures in
the information warfare with our neighbor countries, he underscored
that the National Security has lots of work especially in this
sphere. In fact the President attached great importance to this
sphere."

"It is a really important issue, because it is under the support of
the state in our neighbor countries. In Turkey for example, staging
information warfare is a school, with special persons trained in NATO,
who have skills in having psychological influence. These people are
in Azerbaijan for exchange of experience.

My observations of 5-6 years brought to a conclusion that the same
school is being formed in Azerbaijan. We are really wasting time. There
is a really serious counter-action for Armenia and I’m stating that
counter-action is equal to war."

"What must we do?"

"We must deprive Azerbaijan of at least one chance. Today 50%
of Heydar Aliev’s fund (headed by the latter’s wife) is intended
for anti-Armenian advocacy. But we can’t even use the abilities of
Diaspora in this information warfare.

There is another dangerous tendency: we are not trying to compare
our resources, energy and capabilities. Everyone wants to achieve
something separately, it is not right. We must be able to compare our
forces, to allocate money to rouse intere st for the working group
to work effectively.

But this process must be continuous, and not one-off, for example to
allocate money from the budget but only for one year. We must have
serious resources: a library, computer centers, the resources attached
to the information analytical centers must work jointly otherwise we
will not record any success.

Information-advocacy works should not be limited in announcements
only. We need serious resources, beginning from the schoolbooks up
to satellite TV.

There are amateurs but we don’t have specialists in this field. We
need grants to have at least 50 people working in this sphere;
otherwise we will be in complete blockade."

"We still raise the issue of opening the borders, but we can’t help
speaking about religious-cultural aggression. If in the conditions of
the closed borders Armenian’s are the prisoners of "mugham" (Turkish
music), what will happen if the borders open? Won’t we suffer more
losses, than gain something (for example Turkish goods)?"

"I understand the objectiveness of your panic, especially because
lots of Armenians go to Antalia for holidays. Of course it is their
right and I will not judge them. But each country has got a basic
document aimed at providing the security of that country. Last year we
adopted the document of Armenia’s Security Strategy and RA Military
doctrine. So it is high time to pass the documents stimulated from
the before mentioned comprehensive document: such as information,
psychology, and cultural security.

They should not remain only documents, the activity of all the
administrations must derive from those documents."

Today.Az, Azerbaijan
July 10 2008

Khazar Ibrahim: "It is not the first time that Armenian side,
commenting on Azerbaijani representatives, accuses them of ignorance
and tactlessness, without any explanations"

10 July 2008 [18:44] – Today.Az

"It is not the first time that Armenian side, commenting on
representatives of Azerbaijani authorities, Foreign Ministry,
including me, uses such terms as "diplomatic ignorance", "diplomatic
tactlessness" and so on…", said spokesman for Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry Khazar Ibrahim, commenting on the words, Tigran Balayan,
chief of the office for contacts with media under department for press
and information of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, addressed to him.

"Unfortunately, I have never seen any common sense in these
statements. The said case is not an exception. Again they say that I
am ignorant and tactless and so on but at the same time they do not
explain, why the words I express do not comply with international
law", said Ibrahim.

The spokesman noted that being a hep in international issues, he
expressed his opinion clearly, pointing at the due paragraphs of
international documents and saying that Armenia is not right.

"While Armenia in the face of the chief of department again accuses me
without any grounds and without presenting any fact. Unfortunately,
this is reflected not only in their statements, but also in real
actions. Such actions of the Armenian side will not give any positive
results and instead of accusing without any proofs, they should rather
study the situation properly and after it take due steps", noted he.

According to Ibrahim, this also refers to other issues, as for
example, issues of military occupation.

The spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry noted that Armenian
side has repeatedly stated Azerbaijan’s attempt to settle the issue by
way of war, while in reality it was Armenia which conducted military
occupation of Azerbaijani lands and, therefore, it is Armenia, which
tries to settle the conflict by force.

"I can list many examples, but I do not see any from the Armenian
side. We explain our position, while they try to react to it and do it
too unprofessionally", resumed Kh.Ibrahim.

/Day.Az/

URL:

ARTHUR BAGHDASARIAN RECEIVES DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER OF IRAN ALIREZA SHEIKHATTAR

ARMENPRESS
JULY 9

Secretary of the National Security Council Arthur Baghdasarian received
today deputy foreign minister of Iran Alireza Sheikhattar and members
of his entourage. Iranian ambassador to Armenia, Seyed Ali Saghayan,
was also in attendance.

The presidential press service told Armenpress that the Iranian
official conveyed to Baghdasarian the invitation of Said Jalili,
secretary of Iran’s Supreme Security Council, to pay a visit to Iran
and also the Supreme Council’s proposal on holding bilateral political
consultations with the Armenian National Security Council.

Thanking for the invitation Arthur Baghdasarian said the proposal
is positive.

During the meeting the sides discussed also a broad scale of
cooperation and regional security-related issues. The Iranian deputy
minister emphasized Armenia’s role and weight in the region, saying
Iran views Armenia as a very important partner and is ready to boost
cooperation with it.

The press office said the two sides discussed then security, transport
and energy cooperation related questions. It said for his part Arthur
Baghdasarian emphasized Iran’s role, especially in dire times for
Armenia in early 90-s, expressing hope that bilateral interaction
will continue to develop.