Author: Hunanian Jack

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 14 2008

Prosecutors to seek permission from president for 301 cases

The infamous Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which has
even caused troubles within the government, recently underwent
another retouch of its proposed amendment text that would require
prosecutors to seek presidential permission to take any action under
this article.

The government says that the change to the amendment text will bring
more protection for the principle of impartiality.
In the draft revision text, set to be discussed at Parliament after
the process to implement recent constitutional amendments to lift a
headscarf ban at Turkish university campuses is completed, the phrase
`Turkishness’ is replaced with `Turkish nation.’

Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek had argued that empowering justice
ministers to give permission for trials under this article would make
them targets of criticism and that therefore a commission should be
charged with the task instead. The ruling Justice and Development
Party (AK Party) had postponed parliamentary deliberation on the
article to allow time to ponder Çiçek’s reservations. However,
Çiçek’s proposal for a commission went unheeded.

The new text has been submitted to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdoðan, who will examine it at the meeting of his party’s Central
Executive Board (MYK) and make a final assessment. It will then be
introduced to Parliament.

The text adopted by the Justice Ministry was initially proposed by
Sami Selçuk, former chairman of the Supreme Court of Appeals, and
reads as follows:

`Public denigration of the Turkish nation, the State of the Republic
of Turkey, the legislative, executive and judicial organs, military,
security and forces concerned with security in a manner to undermine
public credibility and respectability (and outside the objective
criticism criteria) shall be punishable by imprisonment of six months
to two years. Expressions of thought intended to criticize shall not
constitute a crime. The prosecution of above-mentioned crimes shall
be subject to permission of the president, who will decide in
consideration of the public good.’

Many of Turkey’s artists and writers, including slain
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, novelist Elif Þafak and Nobel
Literature laureate Orhan Pamuk, have been tried under 301 for
allegedly insulting Turkishness. Since it went into effect on June 1,
2005 as part of a package needed to start full membership talks with
the EU, charges have been brought against writers, intellectuals and
journalists in more than 60 cases.

14.02.2008

ERCAN YAVUZ ANKARA

HERITAGE SEATS ARE FEW BUT ARE OCCUPIED BY GOVERNMENT

Lragir
Feb 12 2008
Armenia

The Heritage Party which is one of the five political parties
which appoint members of election commissions reasserted through
its political secretary Vardan Khachatryan and spokesman Hovsep
Khurshudyan on February 12 at the Friday Club that they enable the
opposition running in the presidential election to appoint members of
election commissions, that is Vazgen Manukyan and Levon Ter-Petrosyan
whose parties do not have representatives to election commissions.

The representatives of the Heritage Party declined to tell how many
seats the Heritage Party has provided to Manukyan and Ter-Petrosyan,
but they say most seats remain vacant since Manukyan and Ter-Petrosyan
did not have enough licensed members to appoint to the election
commissions, as required by the law. And since the Heritage Party
provided the seats to the other forces because it lacks licensed
members for about 2000 polling stations, it turns out that most
of the seats of the Heritage Party will remain vacant, which are
therefore appointed by the chairs of commissions. And the chairs
of commissions are representatives of the ruling wing, with all the
stemming consequences. For instance, at some polling stations of the
region of Gegharkunik Republicans have been appointed to some election
commissions instead of the Heritage Party members. The spokesman and
the secretary say there are such commissions but they are not many.

PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN DOWNPLAYS CANDIDATE’S ARGUMENTS

ARMENPRESS
Feb 12, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 12, ARMENPRESS: Parliament chairman Tigran Torosian
downplayed today the arguments of a presidential candidate, Arman
Melikian, who would repeat that a legislation amendment banning
Armenian expatriates from participating in national elections was
unconstitutional, albeit the Constitutional Court rejected earlier
to consider Melikian’s appeal against the amendment.

During a meeting with Melikian today the parliament speaker cited
legal, technical and moral reasons to ground why Armenians living
abroad should not be allowed to participate in Armenia-held elections.

Torosian said from the legal perspective holding elections in Armenia
is invulnerable and this, he said is not in conflict with international
requirements.

>From the technical perspective, he said in view of the fact that
Armenian expatriates are living in dozens of foreign countries it is
impossible to organize elections for all of them.

Melikian argues that the ban has affected as many as 500,000
expatriates banning them from taking part in the February 19
presidential election. He would also say many of them would vote for
him. But Torosian said in the past elections few precincts were opened
in embassies and consular buildings.

>From the moral perspective, Torosian said elections actually define
the country’s course for the next several years and will effect the
lives of those who choose to stay here. "Armenia exists thanks to
people who live in it and therefore, it is they who should decide
its fate," he said.

6 INTERNATIONAL AND 39 LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS TO OBSERVE THE ELECTIONS ON FEBRUARY 19

armradio.am
11.02.2008 15:48

Six international and 39 local organizations have registered at
the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) to observe the presidential
elections of February 19. The international organizations include:
the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Commonwealth of Independent States
and the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.

More than 14 thousand observers are included in 39 local
organizations. The "Choice is yours" NGO will have 4,010
representatives, "The Open Society Institute" – 1,606, "Erebuni Centre
for Community Development" – 758, the "The Centre for Legal and Social
Assistance to the Young" – 647, The "National Youth Council of Armenia"
– 641, the "Justice and Law" – 616, the "Civic Academy – Centre" –
595, the "Revival and Progress" – 455.

AMOUNT OF DAMAGE CAUSED TO THE ARMENIAN JUSTICE MINISTRY BY FIRE BEING ESTIMATED

arminfo
2008-02-11 14:50:00

ArmInfo. The amount of damage caused to the Armenian Justice Ministry
by fire is currently being estimated.

Press-secretary of the Armenian Justice Minister Lana Mshetsyan told
ArmInfo correspondent that about 50% of equipment, including computers
with important information, were saved from the fire by the employees
of the Justice Ministry. In addition, 90% of archive of the Department
of registry and notary was carried out of the building. As the third
and fourth floors mainly suffered from the fire, the department
headed by Deputy Justice Minister, the authorized representative of
the Armenian government in the European Court of Human Rights Gevorg
Kostanyan was damaged to a serious extent. The documentation of the
second floor where experts’ department was, suffered less. "We’d like
to thank all the employees of the Police, who took part in saving the
ministry’s documentation and equipment from complete destruction",
Mshetsyan noted.

Through thick and thin and copper pipes

09-02-2008 14:27:24 – KarabakhOpen

Fires usually occur in summer but New Year also gave us a surprise.
Since the beginning of 2008 serious problems with water supply have
started, which were followed by fires.

According to the head of the department of public relations of the NKR
Rescue Service Armen Narimanyan, in January 12 cases of fire were
reported in the capital.

`Most cases followed after the air temperature had dropped low and
water pipes froze. Fires were caused by efforts to unfreeze pipes,’
runs the information of the Rescue Service.

Over this period people went through fire, water and copper pipes.
Besides their duties, the fire engines of the Rescue Service carry
water for people. Armen Narimanyan says in January the rescuers were
called for 41 times. There were also cases of transportation of sick
people.

Bangor Daily News, ME
Feb 9 2008

Bangor: Holocaust lecture series to begin Sunday

By Judy Harrison
Saturday, February 09, 2008 – Bangor Daily News

BANGOR, Maine – History, culture and modern politics will come
together during a nine-week lecture series titled "Hitler’s
Holocaust."
The University of Maine at Augusta series will begin Sunday and run
through June 1. Each of the programs will be held at 1 p.m. at the
city’s orthodox synagogue, Congregation Beth Abraham, at 145 York St.

"This is a way for the Jewish community and the Greater community to
hear from those who experienced the Holocaust and studied the
Holocaust," Rabbi Fred Nebel of Beth Abraham said Friday afternoon.
"The series will examine the Holocaust from a lot of different
perspectives. If you miss [one], you can catch another one."

The series will bring speakers to Bangor and Augusta from as near as
the University of Maine and as far away as Hebrew University in
Israel. The lectures are being presented in Bangor in conjunction
with Jonathan Goldstein’s UMA course "The Holocaust: Perpetrators,
Victims and Rescuers." Speakers will lecture in Bangor on Sunday and
attend Goldstein’s class on Monday.

Bringing in guest speakers "is a way of infusing real-life
personality into a classroom and community setting," Goldstein said
Friday.

They will include a concentration camp survivor and the daughter of a
man who helped 2,500 Jews escape the Holocaust, he said. Scholars and
historians will discuss why the event occurred and others will talk
about why Iran and some Arab countries deny the historical event ever
took place.

Phillip Silver, a music professor at the University of Maine, will
share the music of the Holocaust he has studied and performed at a
lecture next month.

The following programs are scheduled:

Feb. 10, "Nazi Cartoons: Anti-Semitic Caricatures and Stereotypes,"
professor Russel Lemmons, Jacksonville State University in Alabama.
Feb. 24, "My Escape from the Nazis," concentration camp survivor
Irving Roth, Great Neck, N.Y.
March 9, "Music of the Holocaust," professor Phillip Silver,
University of Maine.
March 16, "Iranian Holocaust Denial," Matthias Kuentzel, Hamburg,
Germany, Vidal Sassoon Institute for the Study of Anti-Semitism,
Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
April 13, "Arab Holocaust Denial," professor Raphael Israeli, Truman
Institute, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
May 4 (tentative), "Ambassador Fengshan Ho’s Holocaust Rescue Efforts
in Vienna, 1938," Manli Ho, independent scholar and former China
Daily, Beijing, correspondent.
May 18, "The Goldhagen-Browning Controversy on Holocaust Causation,"
professor Peter Hayes, Zev Weiss professor of Holocaust studies and
German history, Northwestern University.
May 25, "Perspectives on Genocide: Jews, Armenians, Blacks," Steve
Katz, Eli Wiesel Professor of Holocaust Studies and Jewish History,
Boston University.
June 1, "The Holocaust, the Mufti, and the Jewish Past: competing
Narratives and Arab-Israel Peacemaking," professor Asher Susser,
Crown Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Brandeis University.
The program has been funded by the Libra Foundation, Bangor Jewish
Community Endowment Associates and the Holocaust and Human Rights
Center of Maine.

The programs contain mature content and are not appropriate for
children under 15. For information, call 621-3000.

d=159960&zoneid=176

Two more congressmen join Work Group on Azerbaijan

09 February 2008 [15:20] – Today.Az

Two more U.S. congressmen have joined a Work group on Azerbaijan.

The embassy of Azerbaijan in the United States told APA that Tennessee
Congressman Steve Cohen (Democrat) and North Carolina Congressman
Howard Coble (Republican) have become members of the Work group on
Azerbaijan, bringing the number of work group members to 34.

They are members of House Committees on Judiciary, and Transportation
and Infrastructure.

ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER: PASSING ARMENIAN RAILWAY FOR OPERATION UNDER
CONCESSION AGREEMENT PROCEEDS FROM INTERESTS OF ARMENIA

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 7, NOYAN TAPAN. At the February 7 sitting, the
Armenian government approved the draft concession agreement between the
Republic of Armenia (concedent), Russian Railways OJSC and South
Caucasian Railway CJSC (concessionaire) on passing the Armenian
railroad system to South Caucasian Railway CJSC, NT was informed by the
RA Government Information and PR Department.

The RA minister of transport and communication was instructed to sign
on behalf of the Republic of Armenia the concession agreement on
passing the Armenian railroad system to South Caucasian Railway CJSC –
he will act as representative of the concedent.

The Armenian prime minister Serge Sargsian said that passing the
Armenian railroad system for operation under the concession agreement
is an important decision that proceeds from the interests of our
country. "There are problems in our railway, investments need to be
made. The state has difficulties with making investments, and if we
fail to deal with the railway problem, we will not be able to solve the
problem of rapid economic development," Serge Sargsian said in
connection with the draft’s adoption.

A1+

`YEREVAN MAYOR IGNORES PRIME MINISTER’S DECISION’
[04:09 pm] 07 February, 2008

more images `Go ahead Armenia, starving Armenia’,
the victims of state needs mocked at the presidential
candidate Serge Sargsyan’s slogan. They gathered in
front of the Government building to meet the Prime
Minister for the last time. Policemen did not allow
the gathered citizens approach the Government building
and tired to make them leave the Square. `It is cold,
go home, you will get cold, you will not solve your
problems standing here and crying’, urged the
policemen.

`We will not leave until we meet the Prime Minister’,
responded the demonstrators. Some officials arrived
from the Municipality, among them Deputy Mayor Kamo
Areyan, and offered the demonstrators to go to the
Municipality and solve the problems there.

The residents of Dalma Gardens, North Avenue,
Koghbatsi and Tigran Mets streets did not want to
leave without getting any response from the Government
and stood in front of the Government for 2 hours. They
wanted to meet only the Prime Minister, since `the
Mayor does not want to solve our problems’. `The Prime
Minister ordered the Mayor to settle our problems.
Some times later the Mayor told us: `I will not
provide you with apartments. Turn to the one who has
promised it to you”.

`Does it mean that the Mayor ignores the Prime
Minister’s decision? The Mayor tells the Prime
Minister as if he does his best to settle our
problems’, said Vachagan Hakobyan, Chairman of the
`Protection of Property Rights’ NGO. The demonstrators
noted that they did not trust anyone, since `they have
been deceiving us for 4 years’.

Vachagan Hakobyan told `A1+’ that they negotiated with
the oppositional presidential candidates Levon
Ter-Petrosyan, Arthur Baghdasaryan and Vazgen
Manukyan. `If they do not solve our problems by the
end of the week, we will join the opposition
candidates and will fight against the authorities’,
said Vachagan Hakobyan, noting that the authorities
tried to detain him. `If something happens to me, the
authorities and the police will be responsible for
it’.

Serge Sargsyan did not receive the demonstrators since
he was in the region of Lori. The participants of the
protest action left the Square warning that if the
Prime Minister did not meet them during the upcoming
days, they would join the opposition parties.