Author: Jagharian Tania

OFFICIAL STEPANAKERT CONDEMNED STATEMENTS BY COE SECRETARY GENERAL

PanARMENIAN.Net
08.11.2007 14:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The NKR National Assembly Standing Committee
on Foreign Relations commented on the statement of CoE Secretary
General Terry Davis running that "there is a great number of
distinctions between the Nagorno Karabakh and Kosovo conflicts, there
is no separatist regime in Kosovo, the region is governed by the UN,
security is guaranteed by the EU servicemen, which is not peculiar to
Nagorno Karabakh". The statement was made at a joint press conference
with Armenian FM Vartan Oskanian in Yerevan.

"Upon completion of negotiations in Yerevan, the CoE Secretary General
touched upon the issues which did not concern his current mission. We
understand that Mr. Davis stated it while answering the journalists’
questions, but the fact that in other cases this diplomatically laconic
European official ventured to make accents, which, in our opinion,
were worthy neither of him, nor of the authoritative structure he
had honor to represent, provokes surprise", the commentary of the
NKR National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Relations runs.

The committee also noted that "all the nations striving for
independence were forced to go through "separatism" at a certain
historical period. It is not the fault of the NKR people that during
Soviet Union’s decline the United Nations Organization or the Council
of Europe by understandable reasons could not establish "external
government" in Nagorno Karabakh, which could have made the present
independence legitimate".

"Everything the UN did in Europe averting ethnic cleansings and the
threat of genocide, the NKR people realized exclusively by its own
forces using its indefeasible right for self-defense. If Mr. Davis is
not informed about the facts, we have to remind him that on November
24, 1991, by Azerbaijan Supreme Council decision the autonomous status
of Nagorno Karabakh was liquidated and the ministries of defense
and home affairs were instructed "to take measures for providing
security for the NK Azerbaijanis. If this decision was not aimed at
deportation and annihilation of the NK native population, then why
doesn’t the decision of Azerbaijan’s superior authority contain even
a word about civic and human rights of the NK Armenian population?",
the commentary emphasizes.

In sum, The NKR National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign
Relations noted that "the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, which has
successfully repelled Azerbaijan’s armed aggression, passed a
certain stage of state government and is striving for democratic
development today, has more legitimate grounds to be recognized by the
international community, than the formation indicated by Mr. Davis,"
the NKR press office reported.

HOW MUCH MONEY HAS BEEN ALLOCATED FOR NEWLYWEDS?

KarabakhOpen
07-11-2007 16:57:15

The number of marriages registered in the past few months has dropped
considerably compared with the same period of the past year. Although,
the number of weddings has gone up.

In Askeran, for instance, registered marriages were down by 13
compared with the past year, in Hadrut by 21, in Martakert by 19,
in Stepanakert by 100, the heads of the Civilian Registry offices
reported in a recent consultation with the minister of justice.

The point is that after the election pledge of Bako Sahakyan to give
"congratulation" 300 thousand drams most young people decided to
postpone registration until January 2008.

The head of the Civilian Registry of Martuni said over this period
there were 90 weddings but the newlyweds are not hurrying to register
their marriage. The same is in other regions.

The minister of justice is trying to figure out the exact number
of married couples to allocate the necessary sum in the next year’s
budget.

RPA AND BH PROPOSE WITHDRAWING ORDER OF NOMINATING CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENCY AND DEPUTY BY PARTIES’ BLOCS FROM ELECTORAL CODE

Noyan Tapan
Nov 5, 2007

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. At the November 5 special
sitting, the RA National Assembly started discussing the bill On
Making Amendments and Addenda to the RA Electoral Code in first
reading. According to the bill authored by a group of deputies
of the RPA and Bargavach Hayastan (Prosperous Armenia) factions,
amendments and addenda are envisaged in 47 out of 141 articles of
the Electoral Code.

According to the main reporter Samvel Nikoyan, the Secretary of the
RPA faction, the proposals made by international observers aimed
at improvement of the Electoral Code were taken into account in the
draft law. The international observers took into consideration the
shortcomings noticed in the May 12 parliamentary elections when making
the proposals.

According to the bill, it is proposed restoring the provision withdrawn
during the previous amending of the Electoral Code, according to which
citizens not being in the place of their registration on the day of
voting receive the right to vote in the place of their location. At
the same time the possibility of being included in two electoral rolls
simultaneously should be prevented. It is also stipulated that RA
citizens cannot be registered as international observers and foreign
citizens as local observers.

The amounts of electoral security for candidates of presidency and
deputy by the majoritarian system are also increased. The security
for candidates for presidency is established in the amount of 10m
drams against the current 5m drams and for candidates for deputy by
the majoritarian system 1m drams against the current 100 thousand
drams (nearly 300 USD). The amount of the sum of the RA President’s
preelection fund is also envisaged to be increased. It is planned to
establish it in the amount of 140m drams against the current 70m drams.

The order of nomination on civil initiative and by parties’ blocs of
candidates of deputy by the majoritarian system, as well as candidates
for presidency is withdrawn. This order is replaced by the principle
of candidates’ self-nomination.

DANIEL FRIED: KOSOVO MODEL CANNOT BE A PRECEDENT FOR KARABAKH SETTLEMENT

armradio.am
05.11.2007 15:44

US Deputy Secretary of State Daniel Fried declared in Baku that the
"Kosovo model of settlement is not and cannot be a precedent for
the resolution of the Karabakh or other conflicts." "The US stands
for the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict," M. Fried
said. He refused to comment on the proportion of military forces in
the region, adding that "establishment of peace in the given region
is very important."

The US Deputy Secretary of State said solution of the conflict will
help Azerbaijan become an economically and politically strong country."

CONSIDER EMPIRES IN ASSESSING U.S. SITUATION
Sonny Scott

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, MS
Nov 4 2007

After the First Gulf War, an acquaintance questioned President
Bush’s decision to let the beaten remnant of Saddam’s army retreat
to Baghdad." There is a reason," I suggested. "This was not merely
a umanitarian decision.’ Someone has a strategic reason for leaving
Saddam in power."

Well, now I guess we know what that reason was. It’s a shame the
current president didn’t ask Poppy.

I don’t know who coined the term, "power vacuum," but it is the
most apt of political metaphors. Just as any gas will rush to fill
a physical vacuum, so are political entities "sucked into" regions
where there is no established political power. Those of us here in the
Bible Belt learned that in Sunday School. Remember how the Egyptians,
Assyrians, Chaldeans, Persians, et al, swept into the Holy Land as
the political stability of the area failed? In politics, the play
never changes – only the actors.

Now we have Turkey preparing to go into Iraq to stabilize the
situation with the Kurds. This must terrify those in the Kurds who
remember Turkey’s way of dealing with the Armenians, which supposedly
inspired Hitler’s "Final Solution." Americans should be circumspect
in discussing this. After all, the deportation and massacre of the
Armenians by Turkey came only a quarter-century after Wounded Knee.

"Those who live in glass housesE", etc. I wouldn’t count on it,
however. New England’s great families plied the slave trade for great
profit for generations, but quickly turned into abolitionists scolds.

Our statesmen fumed about British imperialism, until we got our own
after picking a fight with Spain and taking hers. Yessir, when it
comes to hypocrisy, Americans can play with the best.

Growling in ‘Foggy Bottom’ The administration continues to growl at
Turkey, but surely the Foggy Bottom crowd knows that Turkey cannot sit
on its hands with a chaotic Iraq on its borders, Kurds raiding across
the border, terrorist sheltering Syria to the south, manic Iranians
playing with nuclear matches across the gulf, and chaos threatening
Pakistan. Clearly, we must gain control in Iraq, and quickly, or
prepare to deal with the inevitable partition of the region. The Kurds,
the Sunni, the ShiasEall will want self-determination.

History shows that self-determination for most tribes and nations
leads to incessant warfareEthe Bible again: "In the spring, the time
when kings go out to battle E" Wars were constant, and human progress
was stagnant until the great empires brought order and stability – at
a great cost to national pride. The Jews may have wept for memories
of Zion by the rivers of Babylon, but they found they could prosper
financially while maintaining a distinct cultural and spiritual life
by the Euphrates. They would again after their second great attempt
at sovereignty lead them afoul of the Romans. Only the horror of the
Final Solution could have elevated Zionism from an improbable dream
to historical fact.

After empires carved out their respective spheres of influence, wars
became fewer and less bloody. Most battles were border skirmishes
with the "barbarians" on the frontier. When rival empires clashed,
however, the results could be horrible. It was just such a clash
that the bumbling President Wilson decided to join in 1917. After the
infusion of fresh manpower forced an armistice, Mr. Wilson expected
to dictate peace terms. The most retrograde of his Fourteen Points
was the "right of self-determination." (American chutzpah again: this
was only 43 years since the U.S. had bloodily stamped out Virginia’s
"right to self-determination.") How much discontent in the 20th
century was inspired by this most misbegotten of Wilson’s ideas?

Little patience with limits History shows we have little patience
for protracted and limited war.

We go all out for a short total war, but the sort of war that Britain,
France, and Spain used to maintain and share control of the West for
four hundred years, Americans will not tolerate. We waged total war
with Japan for four years for our Pacific empire, but gave up after
eight years of limited war in Indo-China. Will we hold on in the
Mid-East? Not likely.

Hmm. We were in the Depression when the scrap with Japan began. Crude
oil is a C-note a barrel now. If it keeps going up, we may be in a
depression againE No; I don’t want to think about it.

Sonny Scott is a community columnist

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version: nian.htm

HIS HOLINESS UNDERLINED THE IMPORTANCE
OF A PRESIDENTIAL PLATFORM

His Holiness Aram I received the Ambassador of the United States to Lebanon,
Jeffrey Feltman in his office in Antelias on November 2. The Catholicos and
the Ambassador held talks on the current situation in Lebanon with
particular focus on the upcoming presidential elections.

His Holiness made the following statement to the press following the
meeting: "Naturally, the discussions between community, government and
political leaders these days revolve around the means to bring Lebanon out
of its current stalemate. In this context, we consider the presidential
elections to be essential. The individual to be elected is not as important
as his platform. Lebanon needs a presidential platform, the basis of which
lies on the preservation of unity and coexistence in Lebanon, the
strengthening of its independence, integrity and sovereignty, as well as its
role in the international community. All the sides in Lebanon should declare
their agreement on these basic principals, which form the basis of Lebanon’s
existence. Based on this collective decision, they should elect an
individual who has the faith, courage and commitment to pursue this platform
with full cooperation from all sides."

##
View the photo here:
tos/Photos55.htm
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.

AZG Armenian Daily #202, 03/11/2007

Social, Economy

INTERNATIONAL TOURISM EXHIBITION IN YEREVAN

Yesterday at "Moscow" cinema, Yerevan, took place the opening ceremony
of the CTS 2007 "Land of Speaking Stones" tourism exhibition. The
event is aimed at developing local and regional tourism and informing
various layers of the society (tourists, specialists, state employees,
etc) about the main tendencies of tourism development.

48 organizations are represented on the exhibition. Armavir,
Gegharkunik, Lori, Kotayk, Shirak and Vayots Dzor regions of Armenia
have their own pavilions on the exhibition.

According to a telephone survey in the American Armenian community,
more the half of the American Armenians are interested in visiting
their homeland. The tourist companies of Armenia have to make use of
the diaspora’s desire of visiting the homeland and encourage them
to come to Armenia. So as to provide Armenia’s compatibility on
world tourism market, Armenian tour agencies must clearly realize
their advantages, disadvantages and opportunities.

The international forecasts for tourism development in the nearest
future are rather inspiring for Armenia, on the other hand Armenia has
a number of disadvantages in sense of its compatibility. Russia, USA,
Italy, Great Britain and France are the state which may potentially
become Armenia’s major partners in the sphere of tourism and on
which Armenia’s PR and marketing efforts should be
focused. According to the calculations of major international
organizations, the experience of Hungary, Estonia and Israel may
become a brilliant example of tourism development in Armenia.

By Nairi Muradian, translated by A.M.

TURKISH LEADERS PRESS RICE FOR ACTION AGAINST KURDISH GUERRILLAS
By Helene Cooper

International Herald Tribune, France
Nov 2 2007

ANKARA: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice came under pressure Friday
from Turkish leaders seeking strong American action to rein in Kurdish
guerrillas in northern Iraq.

During a string of meetings in Ankara before heading to Istanbul,
Rice took pains to demonstrate support for Turkey, while at the same
time calling for restraint in an attempt to forestall any military
incursion of Turkish forces into northern Iraq.

But whatever restraint Ankara has demonstrated so far may be reaching
its limits.

"Our expectations of the United States are very high," Foreign Minister
Ali Babacan said, standing next to Rice during a press conference. "We
want action. This is where the words end and action needs to start."

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has given the United States a
de facto deadline of Monday, the day of his visit to Washington for
talks with President George W. Bush, to satisfy Turkish demands for
American action. The Turkish military has indicated that it is willing
to wait for Erdogan’s return before launching any operation into Iraq.

But with their forces already stretched thin in Iraq, American military
commanders have balked at taking action against the Kurdistan Workers’
Party, known as the PKK, which hides in mountains in Iraq and has
made cross-border attacks on Turkish forces. Thus far, the Bush
administration has done little besides call on Iraq’s Kurdish leaders
to take action against the PKK.

America’s relationship with Turkey is at perhaps its lowest point
since March 2003 when the Turkish Parliament refused to authorize
movement of American ground troops through its territory during the
initial invasion of Iraq. Things hit another rough patch last month
after a House committee, with the support of the speaker, Nancy Pelosi,
approved a resolution condemning the mass killings of Armenians during
World War I as an act of genocide. Although the full House ended up
not voting on the resolution, Turkey reacted angrily, threatening to
shut off the American military’s use of its territory as a resupply
hub for Iraq, and recalling its ambassador to Washington.

The Bush administration opposed the Armenian vote and has worked to
smooth things over since. Rice delicately referred to the Armenian
issue on Friday as "the events of 1915" but made no mention of the word
"genocide," a term the Turks strongly reject.

Still, many Turks are now openly criticizing the United States for
failure to do more to stop the PKK attacks.

Even within the Bush administration, there has been internal criticism
that the United States, in more than three years in Iraq, should have
done more to rein in the Kurdish guerillas. A retired U.S. Air Force
general, Joseph Ralston, until last month the U.S.

special envoy for countering the PKK, told McClatchy Newspapers that
U.S. inaction on the PKK issue might force Turkey to act. Ralston
resigned his post, administration officials said, because he was
frustrated with the failure of both the Iraqi government and the
United States to do more in northern Iraq.

"I think it’s fair to say that we all need to redouble our efforts,"
Rice acknowledged during the press conference. She added: "All across
the world we’ve seen that it’s not easy to root out terrorism."

But she maintained that "effective action means action that can deal
with the threat, but that’s not going to make the situation worse."

She said that Turkey and the United States "really need to look for an
effective strategy, not just one that’s going to strike out, somehow,
and not deal with the problem."

ILLEGAL TREE CUTTING WILL TAKE PLACE

Panorama.am
22:46 30/10/2007

This year, as always, illegal tree cutting will take place, especially
now that the cold season has just started. Such stated "Armenian
Forests" social organization president Nazeli Vardanyan while talking
with a Panorama.am journalist.

"I think that illegal tree cutting will be less this year,
since natural gas has been supplied to our villages," she
expressed. Vardanyan is convinced that illegal tree cutting lessens
each year, but that "in any event, what occurs causes damage to
the country."

According to the organization’s statistics, last year 400-500 thousand
cubic meters of trees were cut, while in 2003 the figure stood at
800 thousand cubic meters.

We note that legal tree removal is 60-70 thousand cubic meters per
year. "Armenia Forest" assistant director Ruben Petrosyan, this year
52 cubic meters of forest are set to be cut. This work is already in
progress. According to the organization’s statistics, from November of
2006 to June of this year 1,264 trees were illegally removed, which
is 1,325.39 cubic meters. "A fine is imposed for illegal cutting,
depending on how many are cut," Petrosyan said. In any event, Vardanyan
said she made a suggestion to the ministry of nature protection that
no tree be cut for 10 years, but "my suggestion was turned down."

Vardanyan also said she suggests that the importation of wood products
increase.

DIOCESE OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCH OF AMERICA SENDS LETTER TO ADL CHAIR

KarabakhOpen
31-10-2007 12:56:54

Washington, DC — The Armenian Assembly of America would like to call
your attention to the following letter sent yesterday from Archbishop
Khajag Barsamian of the Eastern Dioceses of the Armenian Church of
America to the National Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
Abraham Foxman, calling upon the ADL to condemn all genocide and
crimes against humanity.

Below is the full text of the Archbishops letter to Foxman:

Dear Mr. Foxman, I hope this letter finds you well. I know that you
are preparing for a leadership meeting of the ADL so I wanted to
follow-up on my letter of 28 August.

Again, I reiterate my appreciation for the ADL leadership taking up
the issue of the Armenian Genocide. I know that organizational change,
especially on sensitive, long-standing policy issues is difficult,
yet a further clarification will be important for our two communities.

The Jewish ethic of Tikkun Olam, perfecting our broken world, requires
us all to move out of our comfort zones, especially when matters of
justice and human rights are at stake. While the ADL’s position on the
recognition of the genocide has become clearer, I urge you and your
colleagues to take the next, necessary step and make unequivocally
clear the condemnation of the Armenian Genocide. Only by removing
any language the does not fully express uniform recognition and
condemnation in the most resolute terms possible, by the ADL and/or
any other body, can the fullness of justice be achieved.

To acknowledge the Armenian Genocide only to speak against resolutions
condemning it sets a terrible, moral precedent. Recognition leads
to condemnation and without that, there can be no steps towards
prevention.

Recognition without condemnation does not promote justice. The last
century, and sadly the first decade of this century, have seen man’s
continued assault on the fundamental right to live, most notably in the
Armenian Genocide, the Shoa, Cambodian Genocide, Rawandan Genocide,
and sadly the Genocide that now rages on in Darfur. We cannot expect
the protection of our own human rights if we are not courageous enough
to speak out in favor of human rights for all. When the rights of
our own human rights if we are not courageous enough to speak out in
favor of human rights for all. When the rights of one are diminished,
all are diminished.

As you know, in law, silence is tantamount to acquiescence, therefore
we must not condone and therefore share in preferential selection of
one race against another through our silence. We cannot allow the
political considerations that whisper today to define our resolute
condemnation of all crimes against humanity, for such a decision
would resonate for eternity. We must give full and unwaivering voice
to our commitment to humanity.

I urge you and all members of the ADL leadership, to join in removing
all objections to the condemnation of any and every genocide and crime
against humanity. Because of the good work the ADL has done throughout
the decades you have a unique ability to speak out. Please use that
voice resoundingly in this moral imperative.

With Prayers, Archbishop Khajag Barsamian Primate