Author: Jalatian Sonya

ROBERT KOCHARIAN SENDS CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE TO KARABAKH

Panorama.am
20:27 01/09/2007

Robert Kocharian sent a congratulatory message to Karabakh on the
occasion of independence day celebrations.

"Dear fellow Armenians,

I congratulate you on this day’s occasion in the Republic of
Mountainous Karabakh.

We note the 16th anniversary of the republic’s declaration of
independence and its peoples’ desire to live in a free and democratic
state. These years have shown the vitality and determination of the
people of Karabakh, and has secured a free, secure, and productive
state.

Many of our sons fell to a hero’s death during this difficult journey,
dreaming of a free and prosperous Artsakh. Today, we bow to their
memory.

I again congratulate you on this day of independence celebrations. I am
convinced that, under the leadership of the newly-elected president,
that programs underway will be realized, giving life a new quality
and noticeably raising the peoples’ standard of living," stated the
president’s message.

UK GOVERNMENT: DELIVERY IS TOP OF EU AGENDA

M2 Presswire
Published: Sep 03, 2007
United Kingdom

Making people’s lives better is the right focus for the European Union,
Europe Minister Jim Murphy said today as he started a two day visit
to key European Union partners.

After attending the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) conference in
Brussels, Mr Murphy will meet Dutch Europe Minister Frans Timmermans
in The Hague. He will also meet MEPs at the European Parliament’s
plenary session in Strasbourg.

Mr Murphy said:

"I am pleased that my first trip to Brussels is for such an important
and practical event. The Neighbourhood Policy is an excellent example
of the EU delivering real change for the better for citizens across the
European Union and in its immediate neighbourhood. The EU has played
a vital role in delivering better prospects for peace, security and
prosperity to the neighbourhood.

"We and ENP partners have a wide range of common interests. ENP can
help develop joint responses to common challenges such as sustainable
development, migration, climate change and energy, terrorism and
extremism.

Commenting on the Reform Treaty, Mr Murphy said:

"The 27 EU member states have agreed the shape of a new amending
treaty which will enable us to work together more effectively and
more efficiently.

Acceptable to all members’ governments, it ends the long-running EU
debate about institutions.

"The priority for Member States’ governments now is to focus on how
the EU can move forward to tackle the big issues such as driving up
employment, combating climate change and protecting consumers."

Notes to Editors

1. The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) was developed in 2004,
with the objective of avoiding the emergence of new dividing lines
between the enlarged EU and its neighbours. It aims to strengthen the
prosperity, stability and security of the enlarged EU’s neighbours,
incentivising reform, while not prejudicing future applications for
EU membership by eligible countries.

2. Through ENP, the EU offers its neighbours a privileged relationship,
building upon a mutual commitment to common values (democracy and human
rights, rule of law, good governance, market economy principles and
sustainable development). The ENP goes beyond existing relationships
to offer a deeper political relationship and economic integration. The
level of ambition of the relationship depends on the extent to which
these values are effectively shared.

The ENP remains distinct from the process of enlargement.

3. The European Neighbourhood Policy applies to the EU’s immediate
neighbours by land or sea – Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon,
Libya, Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Syria and Tunisia to the south,
and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to
the east.

Sabah, Turkey
Sept 2 2007

Rectors: "Kurdish Institute will be founded if wanted"

Rectors responded the words of Halaçoðlu: "Kurdology Institutes
should be established in universities."

Professor Yamaç: "I do not hold any prejudices about this issue. If
there is a demand from our history professors, I will think about
it."

Universities have a warm attitude for Kurdology Institute

Referring to Kurdology and Armenian institutes, ÝTÜ Rector Karadoðan
said: "it is useful"; Yamaç said: "I will consider if there is any
demand."

The chairman of Turkish History Institute Yusuf Halaçoðlu said that
there are 80 universities in Turkey and it is necessary to establish
a Kurdology Institute and an Armenian Researches Institute in these
universities. Rectors said they do not hold any prejudices about
establishing such institutes and carrying out studies in this field.

Professor of Gazi University, Kadri Yamaç said: "I do not hold any
prejudices about this issue. It is not my field of specialty so I
have to speak to history professors. If there is a demand from our
history professors, I will think about it."

MidEastYouth.com
Sept 1 2007

List of Murderers of the Massacre of 1988 in Iran

Jahanshah Rashidian (Iran/Germany)
September 1st, 2007

A Persian list of murderers and presumed culprits of the massacre of
Iranian political prisoners in 1988 is today published in an Iranian
internet site, I recommend all Persian
speaking people to read the list.

As we read through the list, we can recognise many names who later
promoted into key positions under President Rafsanjani and President
Khatami. A number of them are now ministers of President Ahmadinejad.
Some of these psychopaths tortured and raped their prisoners,
according to the site.

>From August to September 1988, a hideous crime was taking place in
Iran. As Ayatollah Khomeini drank the `poison chalice’ and signed the
peace treaty with Saddam Hossein, he psychopathologically decided to
take revenge from the Iranian political prisoners who were spending
their prison terms. Khomeini ordered the complete massacre of them.
He wanted absolute panic to reign over Iranians to avoid any
political protest.

Exact numbers of executions of 88 and the conditions of executions
have never been officially reported by the IRI or their factions.
Different numbers are speculated by both IRI’s deserters and
rescuers, from some 4485 names published in the opposition media up
to 30000 executions, as estimated.

Iran’s political prisoners were simply asked two questions each, `Do
you believe in Allah?’, `Are you prepared to renounce your
organisation?’ The prisoners had no idea about the consequences of
their replies. In fact a `No’ to any of the above questions meant
immediate execution. Many of the prisoners had already finished their
prison sentences but were still not released; some were even brought
back after they had been released.

The victims included teenagers, whole families, men and women. During
the months of August and September, all prison visits were cancelled;
families were told not to bring any medicine or food for their loved
ones. During this time the killing inside Iran’s prisons continued.

The slaughter was efficient and relentless. All day long, prisoners
were loaded on forklift trucks and hanged from cranes and beams in
groups of six at half-hourly intervals. Others were killed by firing
squad. Those not executed were subjected to horrific torture. The
killing was an act of violence and unprecedented in Iranian history,
unprecedented in form, content and intensity,’ wrote the historian
Ervand Abrahamian in his book on Iranian prisons Tortured
Confessions.

Those executed were buried in unmarked mass graves on the outskirts
of the towns. In Tehran, one mass burial was accidentally discovered
by an Armenian priest who had become curious as to why stray dogs
kept digging there for bones.

It is a moral duty to mention that such massacres can always repeat
as soon as political Islam exists. The historical justification of
such massacres has roots in the epoch of the Prophet Muhammad when he
came up with the idea that it is perfectly legitimate to kill
`unbelievers’ -the teaching of the Koran confirms it:

`Those who resist Allah and his messenger will be humbled to dust’:
the Koran 58-5. Or: `I will instil terror into the hearts of the
unbelievers’, the Koran 8-12.

These verses like a series of radical interpretations of the Koran
justify not only Muslims’ jihad against non-believers, but also have
been used or abused for inner conflicts within Muslims, among their
different sects and power-thirsty groups who have been mutually
killing each others since the advent of Islam for being `the enemy of
Islam’.

IRI’s version of Islam justified both categories of `enemy of Islam’
namely the `Molhed’ or unbelievers and the `hypocrite’ Muslims of the
Mojahedins`, both victims of the massacre.

In the nineteenth year of the massacre, we all freedom-loving
Iranians along with the families who lost their loved children in
summer 88 want the international judicial authorities to summon the
murderers of this genocide to an international tribunal to be tried.
This is a natural right that was given to the victims of Nazi
genocides to bring the culprits to the Nürenberg Court for their
crimes against humanity.

I hope the published list of Roshangari of the culprits can shed a
new light on this forgotten massacre.

list-of-murderess-of-the-massacre-of-1988-in-iran/

RUDOLF PERINA IS UNAWARE OF TERM OF NOMINATION OF NEW CANDIDACY TO POST OF USA AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA BY WHITE HOUSE

arminfo
2007-08-30 13:55:00

Solution of the issue on the term of nomination and approval of a
new candidacy to the post of US Ambassador to Armenia depends only
on White House and the USA Congress, Charge d’Affairs of the USA to
Armenia Rudolf Perina told ArmInfo.

He said that he is unaware when the White House intends to propose
a new candidacy to this post and added that he is unable to affect
this process by himself.

Lowell Sun (Massachusetts)
August 21, 2007 Tuesday

Genocide denial ‘reprehensible’

By David Perry, [email protected]

In an offshoot of the deep rift that has alienated regional
Anti-Defamation League officials from the national governing body,
local Armenians are moving to ask Lowell’s City Council to renounce
its ties with the ADL’s "No Place for Hate" campaign.

Pearl Teague of Lowell and the Merrimack Valley chapter of the
Armenian National Committee of America, said yesterday that a move is
under way to approach councilors to make them aware of the depth of
feeling within the local Armenian community.

The city adopted the ADL’s campaign June 26, 2003, with a
proclamation by then-mayor Rita Mercier.

"No Place for Hate" was designed to by the ADL as a community
outreach program to promote tolerance and prevent hate crimes. The
program was adopted in Lowell with the Massachusetts Municipal
Association and the Indian-American Forum for Political Education. It
followed by six months a hate crime against three Indian students who
were assaulted and called "sons of Osama bin Laden."

But in the wake of the ADL’s refusal to label as genocide the
massacre of 1.5 million Armenians during World War I, local
Armenian-Americans are wondering how the ADL can promote tolerance
while not calling what happened in Armenia genocide.

"For a group such as the ADL to work on behalf of tolerance and
against hate, and to deny the genocide and the recognition of it, is
unkind," said Teague of the genocide. "Reprehensible. No one denies
the Jewish Holocaust, or what the British did to the Irish, or what
is happening in Darfur. ‘No Place for Hate’ should be a place where
you can stand up for justice. It shouldn’t be tainted."

There is agreement that Armenians were massacred during World War I.
Historians say as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks.

But the term genocide has caused a deep chasm between regional and
national branches of the Anti-Defamation League and angered
Armenian-Americans.

The ADL’s New England regional director, Andrew Tarsy, publicly
disagreed with the national body last Thursday, calling the national
organization’s stance "morally indefensible." He was fired Friday.

Two other members of the regional group have since resigned in
protest of Tarsy’s firing and of the national organization’s refusal
to recognize the Armenian genocide.

A week ago, Watertown’s Town Council voted unanimously to rescind its
ties to "No Place for Hate," and other communities are considering
similar moves.

"I think Lowell is next," said Ara Jeknavorian of Chelmsford. "There
is a very active group of Armenian-Americans in the Merrimack
Valley."

Jeknavorian, a deacon at St. Vartanantz Armenian Church in
Chelmsford, said the genocide was "a horrific act" deeply ingrained
in the history and spirit of the Armenian people.

He estimated there are "about 2,500 to 3,000 people in the Merrimack
Valley who would identify themselves as Armenian-Americans."

The ADL, best-known for combating anti-Semitism, said in a written
statement that the group acknowledges "the massacres of Armenians at
the hands of the Ottoman Empire and called on Turkey to do more to
confront its past and reconcile with Armenia." It also said the ADL
must "protect the interest of the Jewish community in Turkey, work
for Israel’s safety and security and combat extremism."

Turkey, a Muslim nation, has been a military ally to Israel, a rare
friend to Israel in the Arab world.

While historians and others have recognized the killings between 1915
and 1923 as genocide, Turkey has refused to characterize them as
such.

"What happened is fact, in black and white," said Jeknavorian. "It is
difficult to play politics with that. No one wants to be portrayed as
being capable of such a horrific event, but national pride should not
hide such an act."

Mercier, who remains a councilor, said yesterday that "this is the
first I’m learning of this and I’m not sure what to think."

Each April 24, a solemn ceremony at City Hall marks the Armenian
genocide. The city’s Armenian organizations include The Armenian
Relief Society, which has raised money to aid those in the homeland
with education and earthquake relief.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this story.

Sabah, Turkey
Aug 22 2007

A change about genocide

Two major Jewish lobbies in the USA who kept saying "Armenian
genocide did not happen" changed their mind. Ankara is on the alert.

Anti-Defamation League, one of the major Jewish organizations in the
USA announced that they recognize the Armenian genocide. The chairman
of the organization, Foxman, who did not utter the word ‘genocide’ up
to now said: "due to the worries about the Jewish society union, we
have re-evaluated. We have concluded that it was Armenian genocide."

Jewish lobby recognizes Armenian genocide

Two major Jewish lobbies in the USA who kept saying "Armenian
genocide did not happen" changed their mind. It is announced that:
"we have resolved that the activities against Armenians in 1915
correspond to genocide."

American Jewish Committee and Anti-Defamation League, among the
eminent Jewish groups in the USA, announced that they will recognize
the Armenian events in 1915 as genocide. It seems certain that the
Armenian Genocide bill will pass in the parliament as it already has
225 supporters in the parliament and as it will be brought up on the
agenda in September.

The events in the USA led to a crisis on the Ankara-Tel Aviv-
Washington line. Turkey cancelled the contract of the lobby company
in Washington.

The chairman of Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, stated:
"because of the latest debates and the worries about the union of the
Jewish society, we have reviewed the tragedy that Armenians have gone
through. After re-evaluation, we have seen that the activities
against Armenians in 1915 correspond to genocide."

Panorama.am

17:29 24/08/2007

SADOYAN’S PREELECTION CALCULATIONS AND ELECTORAL `SELECTION’

`Levon Ter-Petrosyan is quite experienced political figure and
realizes that coming back into politics after so long break is a very
serious process of inertia, which requires a long time to prepare the
comeback,’ Chairman of National Democrats’ Alliance (AJD) told a
meeting with reporters today speaking about the comeback of the first
president into politics.

Sadoyan believes if Ter-Petrosyan wants to get nominated, the
preparatory process should have started late 2005 or early 2006.

In the words of Sadoyan, the `key’ candidate will come out in `natural
selection.’ The candidate who will manage to `solve’ the problem of
control in the polling stations, will become the `key’ candidate, he
said.

Source: Panorama.am

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION PARTY LEADER RESIGNS

Arminfo, Yerevan
23 Aug 07

Yerevan, 23 August: National Revival party leader Albert Bazeyan
has resigned.

Bazeyan told Arminfo that he tendered his resignation back in June
"due to tactical reasons and the disagreement with the policies
carried out by some members of the party’s governing council". But his
resignation application has not been answered thus far and the issue
of the party’s leader is still open. Bazeyan said that the National
Revival party’s congress scheduled for September 2007 will settle this
and other issues. When asked whether he will stay in politics after
his resignation is accepted, Bazeyan answered that "time will show".

Bazeyan was the deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament in 1998-99
and served as Yerevan mayor in 1999-2000. In 2003-07, Bazeyan was a
member of parliament from the [opposition] Justice bloc. In the 2007
parliamentary election, he ran for parliament under the proportional
representation system from Stepan Demirchyan’s People’s Party of
Armenia, but was not elected since the party lost the election after
it received less than 5 per cent of votes.

DO BRITISH THINK KARABAKH WANTS TO RETURN TO AZERBAIJAN?

Lragir.am
24-08-2007 14:24:32

Stephen Pound, a British member of parliament, is visiting
Karabakh. The member of the House of Commons has met with NKR officials
and representatives of NGOs.

The British parliament discusses Karabakh and the Karabakh issue often
but few know what it is. Meanwhile, Karabakh is important to Britain,
Stephen Pound told the reporter of Karabakh-open.com.

Why is Karabakh important to Britain? In answer to this question
the British member of parliament first emphasized that his country
participates in the Minsk process for the settlement of the Karabakh
issue. He said the relations of Armenia and Great Britain are marred
by disgraceful events, first of all, the massacres of Armenians in
Shushi in the early 20th century when Britain was present in the
region. Second, the United Kingdom has not recognized the Armenian
genocide of 1915 yet. At the same time, according to the MP, the
Armenian community is one of the most sustainable and hard-working
communities. The community is not big but has considerable contribution
to the British economy and culture. Meanwhile, he says Britain conducts
a pro-Azerbaijani policy which needs to be balanced and therefore it
is necessary to witness what is going on here.

Mr. Pound says what he saw is Armenia except the name. He says he did
not witness protesting people who want to become part of Azerbaijan. He
witnessed a normal country where people do not want to change anything.

In answer to our question the British think Karabakh wants to join
Azerbaijan, whereas Armenia prevents it, he says there is too much
propaganda. In answer to our question what he is going to do after
he returns home, Stephen Pound said he is going to tell what he
witnessed. He thinks it is necessary to change the attitude of the
members of parliament toward such important issues and possibly bring
them closer to the reality, and in this he expects the support of
the Armenian community, particularly the ARF Dashnaktsutyun, which
is well-organized, and with which he has close links. The member of
parliament says he has addressed the House of Commons for a few times
regarding the genocide and there is already a group which endorses
him. According to him, if there is an adequate attitude toward the
Genocide, the policy on Karabakh cannot contradict to it.

In his opinion, the British policy on Karabakh must acknowledge
that Karabakh is part of Armenia and it only needs a legal
recognition. Besides, the country needs to reconstruct infrastructures,
for a small investment in the energy sector and transport may generate
considerable profit. The member of parliament wishes trade links
between our countries, with a strong Diaspora. He says the world is
unstable in the 21st century, and the European countries including
the UK need stable partners. He says Armenia for them is a stable
neighbor. The history of Armenia is older than the history of many
other European states, and he thinks close relation is good for both
Armenia and Great Britain.