Author: Jagharian Tania

Police forces emptied the Freedom Square in the center of Yerevan
from the participants of the protest action, held by Ter-Petrosian’s
supporters

March 1, 2008

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Early this morning the Police forces emptied the
Freedom Square in the center of Yerevan from the participants of the
protest action, which had been held by the supporters of Ex-President
Ter-Petrosian starting from February 20.

Mediamax reports that the Police forces took the participants of the
action out in the direction of the North Avenue.

At present, the Freedom Square and the adjacent streets are cordoned
off by the Police forces.

Ter-Petrosian’s supporters started a termless action of protest on
February 20 and held unapproved rallies and processions along the
central streets of Yerevan every day. They demanded holding new
presidential elections.

CATHOLICOS ARAM I RECEIVES DIRECTOR OF INTER-RELIGION DEPARTMENT OF
WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

ANTILIAS, FEBRUARY 29, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. On February 27
Catholicos Aram I received Doctor Shanta Primavardana, the Director of
the Inter-Religion Department of the World Council of Churches. The
assistants of the latter and Bishop Narek Aleemezian, the chief of
the interchurch relations, were also present at the meeting.

As they report from the Mother Church of Antilias, this important
department of the World Council of Churches is involved in developing
a dialogue between religions.

Doctor Primavardana informed His Holiness Patriarch about the work done
by the department and the coming programs. His Holiness introduced
his points of view, and touched upon the problem of the Christianity
-Islam dialogue on this occasion.

Armenia state of emergency declared after demonstrator is killed

Earthtimes, UK –
March 1 2008

Posted : Sat, 01 Mar 2008 19:43:14 GMT
Author : DPA

Yerevan – A state of emergency was declared in Armenia late Saturday
after one person was killed in continuing clashes between police
and opposition supporters of Levon Ter-Petrosian. Itar-Tass news
agency said the state emergency was declared by outgoing President
Robert Kocharian after violent protests in the capital, Yerevan,
which followed police action Friday night.

Police moved in to clear dozens of tents used in a downtown camp
for sit-ins and demonstrators loyal to Ter-Petrosian who claim the
February 19 presidential election he lost had been rigged.

Ter-Petrosian, who won 21.43 per cent of the vote, accused the
government during the election of a slew of violations including the
beating and kidnapping of supporters.

Official results from the Central Election Committee (CEC) showed
that Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian took 52.86 per cent of the vote
with the final ballots counted.

The results put Sarkisian just over the 50 per cent needed to avoid
a run-off with the second-place finisher after a bitterly contested
election campaign.

TER-PETROSIAN RESPONDS TO ARTHUR BAGHDASARIAN

A1+
[08:31 pm] 29 February, 2008

Today Levon Ter-Petrossian mounted the platform with his granddaughter
to answer reporters’ question on the shameful news of the day according
to which a person got some trifling position (he meant OYP Leader
Arthur Baghdasarian).

"I shall never utter his name and touch upon his activities. Obviously,
he is an ordinary man who betrayed his nation and joined the team of
"Tokhmakh" Mher and "Nemets" Rubo," Levon Ter-Petrossian said.

Erealier in the day, Nikol Pashinian said at Liberty Square that
"Kocharian named Arthur Baghdasarian a traitor months ago. There is
nothing else to add."

ARMEN ROUSTAMIAN: DASHNAKTSUTYUN CANNOT BE IN ROLE OF OBSERVER AND STAND ASIDE

ARKA
Feb 28, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 28, NOYAN TAPAN. The strained situation after the
February 19 presidential elections is becoming a deadlock so every
political force concerned about it must take steps in order to find a
way out, member of the ARF Armenia Supreme Body, the chairman of the
RA National Assembly Standing Committee of Foreign Relations Armen
Roustamian told NT correspondent.

In his words, the Dashnaktsutyun cannot be in the role of observer
of the process and stand aside. He said that so far there has been no
response to the ARF’s offer to act as a mediator between the opposing
sides, but there are "some signals".

According to A. Roustamian, "one of the positive signals" is the RA
prime minister, newly elected president Serge Sargsian’s call for
cooperation, which was made to the former presidential candidates
and political forces that support them. A. Roustamian said that it
only remains that "the other side will see the way of cooperation".

As for the statement of the NA speaker Tigran Torosian that the
ARF’s proposal to end cooperation in the political coalition was made
with "a bit strange" formulation, A. Roustamian said that under the
agreement signed on June 6, 2007, cooperation may be ended because of
an insurmountable disagreement in principle, based on a statement of
one of the sides or by consent among the sides. "We have proposed the
most logical way of solving the problems related to our cooperation,"
he said.

SUMGAIT TRAGEDY VICTIMS COMMEMORATED IN TBILISI

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.02.2008 15:48 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A soiree marking the 20th anniversary of Sumgait
pogroms took place in Tbilisi February 28. A documentary was screened
and a photo exhibition dedicated to the Sumgait pogroms and start of
the Karabakh Movement opened in Georgia’s capital.

The Sumgait massacre in February 1988 that claimed lives of 32
Armenians was the first mass explosion of ethnic valance in the modern
soviet history that resulted in huge refugee flows to Armenia and
Nagorno Karabakh.

The tragedy in Sumgait entailed ethnic cleansings in Baku, Kirovabad
and other Azeri towns.

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVED RESIGNATION OF VICE-SPEAKER VAHAN HOVHANNISSIAN

Mediamax
February 28, 2008

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Armenian parliament approved today the resignation
of the Vice-Speaker of the National Assembly Vahan Hovhannissian,
which was submitted on Monday.

Mediamax reports that the Speaker of the parliament Tigran Torosian
thanked Vahan Hovhannissian for the productive work in the position
of the Vice-Speaker and expressed hope for its successful continuation
in the National Assembly.

Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Feb. 21, 2008

TURKEY’S GUL HOPES FOR BETTER TIES IN MESSAGE TO ARMENIAN LEADER

["TURKISH PRESIDENT CONGRATULATES HIS ARMENIAN COUNTERPART" – AA
headline]

ANKARA (A.A) -Turkish President Abdullah Gul congratulated Serge
Sarkisian on his election as the new president ofArmenia on Thursday.

Sending a congratulatory message to Sarkisian, President Gul said he
hopes Sarkisian’s mission will enablecreation of a ground to
normalize relations between Turkish and Armenian people who have
proved that they can co-existin peace and harmony for centuries.

"I sincerely wish that our concerted efforts will contribute to
regional peace and prosperity and create anatmosphere based on
stability, mutual confidence and cooperation," Gul also said in his
message.

Presidential election took place in Armenia on Tuesday. Prime
Minister Serge Sarkisian won almost 53 per cent ofvotes and became
the new president of this country.

PRESS RELEASE
Huys NGO
Contact: Lala Aslikyan or Karen Hakobyan
Hambardsumyan 16, apt. 26., Yerevan
Tel: 093447643
Email: [email protected]

To International Organizations carrying out observation mission
OSCE/ODIHR observation mission
OSCE PA observation mission
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
PACE

Statement

Elections of 2008 like presidential elections in 1996, 1998, 2003
and the constitutional referendum in 2005 were distorted by official
competent bodies by using the governmental machine of repressive
measures and criminal mechanisms. The data given by NGO observing
missions and monitoring, evaluations by the political parties put
their candidacy for the presidential elections, and the society
itself, that expresses its outburst in the square of Freedom are the
evidence of those distortions.

Nevertheless, all these didn’t get their evaluation by European
structures. The evaluation on February 20 given by OSCE/ ODIHR says
that `Armenian presidential elections were mostly in line with
international commitments’ became a card blanch by the governmental
authorities for further crimes and for taking actions against the
citizens struggling for their rights. So, with such an assessment, the
consecutive process of violation of the law by Armenian authorities
gets to its logical victory with the assistance of European
structures, i.e. `democratic’ state with distorted elections.

We consider that in this situation the democratic processes are
getting to its end in Armenia. Citizens finally are deprived from the
most important right of being a citizen, freely expressing his/her
thoughts and will. One of the fundamental rights of the citizen to
elect the authorities of his/her country has an exclusively
declarative character in Armenia.

This will is defined and dictated by the government with repressive
measures to the society including criminal processes such as taking
bribes, blackmail, distortion of votes, misuse of administrative
resources, terrorizing, beating etc., which resulted in an unhealthy
situation, to which the absence of free media is even more
contributing. Moreover, authorities are already justify their
repressions against the citizens fighting for their rights. The
situation was flowing in the same way as it was in the night of April
13, 2003, when the authorities cruelly broke down the peaceful meeting
by beating defenseless people, journalists, members of parliament. In
the future the governmental bodies didn’t implement their commitment
taken against the European council- no one was punished.

In this circumstances any public action, efforts directed to the
human rights protection become nonsense, meaningless. The letters to
law protection bodies are just funny. The only way for the citizen
remains civic recalcitrance and complaints, the vivid example of this
are rallies in Liberty Square.

We under signed, with all responsibility declare that the process
of Presidential elections in Armenia went through the way of criminal
in all its stages. This is for the benefit of the Armenian society to
implement the right to express its freely will by the process of
election, independently from the political orientation. Today’s
public complaints could not be considered as a pure political struggle
or coup de tate, that is civil action against violated rights, for the
establishment of the real democracy.

From now on RA Citizen does not have any alternative but
struggling. In the means of protesting the citizens are free but the
responsibility for its consequences lays on the provoking the
situation authorities of the RA and their supporters, including
European structures.

We demand from the mission:
– Thoroughly investigate facts of infringements with the
participation of NGOs and political parties, to reconsider the
assessment;
– To use all possible tools to keep the authorities of the RA away
from the implementing repressive mechanisms of the army and police.

Huys NGO
Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly of Vanadzor
Mijnaberd NGO
Transparency International, Armenia
Asparez Journalists’ Club
Lawyers for human rights
Lala Aslikyan, citizen
Gayane Shagoyan, citizen
Zhanna Alexanyan, journalist

FERRERO-WALDNER: EC WILL CONTINUE TO ASSIST ARMENIA ON ITS PATH TO POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC REFORMS

armradio.am
22.02.2008 17:45

EU Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood
Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner stated that she commends the people
of Armenia and its leaders on the fact that these elections were
conducted mostly in line with the country’s international commitments.

"As the OSCE Election Observation Mission stated in its preliminary
statement further improvements will be necessary to address remaining
challenges, in particular strengthening of public confidence in the
electoral process," the statement of Benita Ferrero-Waldner reads.

"At the same time it is important to note that considerable progress
has been achieved with regard to the preparation and conduct of the
electoral process since the last Presidential elections in 2003 thanks
to reforms undertake," European Commissioner stated.

She added that "support for these reforms is a key priority of the
EU/Armenia Action Plan under the European Neighborhood Policy."

"The European Commission will continue to assist Armenia on its
path to political and economic reforms. The recent strengthening
of the Commission presence in Yerevan through the opening of an
EC Delegation is a clear sign of our ongoing commitment," Benita
Ferrero-Waldner stated.

Benita Ferrero-Waldner expressed confidence that "new President of
Armenia, together with the new government, will continue firmly on
the path of reform, which is vital for the Armenian people as well
as for the future of our relationship."