Author: Jidarian Alex

TURKISH DELEGATION DISCUSSES ARMENIAN BILL WITH US OFFICIALS IN WASHINGTON

Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
March 15 2007

["TURKISH PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION HOLDS TALKS IN US CONGRESS" –
AA headline]

WASHINGTON D.C. (A.A) -14.03.2007 -Turkish parliamentary delegation
held talks in the US Congress in Washington D.C. over the resolution
on so-called Armenian genocide, which was earlier submitted to the
US House of Representatives.

Turkish MPs had a meeting with Mark Parris, expert at Brookings
Institution and former US Ambassador to Turkey, over breakfast today.

Turkish delegation also held talks with members of US House of
Representatives in regard to the resolution on the so-called Armenian
genocide.

Turkish parliamentary delegation consists of Justice & Development
Party (AKP) MPs Egemen Bagis, Vahit Erdem and Reha Denemec; and
Republican People’s Party (CHP) MPs Bihlun Tamayligil and Ersin
Arioglu.

NATO INFORMATION EXCHANGE NETWORK SYSTEM ACCESSIBLE TO LIMITED NUMBER OF USERS

ArmRadio.am
14.03.2007 13:05

Henceforth the NATO information exchange network system is open
to 22 subscribers from 10 Armenian agencies. Representative of the
Swiss Government Daniel Egloff noted during today’s seminar on he
electronic information network of events organized by NATO that the
NATO information exchange network system is for limited use and is
meant for those ministries and agencies, which immediately have to
do with the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP).

Dead of RA MFA Department on NATO Martha Ayvazyan noted that the
network includes information about the arrangements, programs and
seminars implemented under NATO’s "Partnership for Peace" program.

The recurrent program in the framework of the NATO week in Armenia
is financed by the Government of Switzerland.

NKR NA ADOPTED THE BY-LAW OF THE PARLIAMENT AT FIRST READING

ArmRadio.am
14.03.2007 16:51

The Parliament of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic today unanimously
voted for the draft By-Law of the National Assembly at first reading,
Mediamax agency reports.

Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on State-Legal Affairs Yuri
Hayrapetyan said the adoption of the new By-Law proceeds from the
necessity to bring it to conformity with NKR Constitution.

At the same time he noted that the draft has a number of shortcomings,
mainly connected with liabilities of the Deputies, and serious changes
should be implemented before the second reading.

Speaker of NKR National Assembly Ashot Ghulyan instructed to continue
the discussin of the draft in the parliamentary factions.

Today the Deputies also ratified the 2006 report of the Oversight
Chamber of the Parliament.

Ashot Ghulyan mentioned that in compliance with the Constitution, the
Oversight Chamber of the Parliament will turn into the NKR Oversight
Chamber and will; become an independent body. In his words, change
of the status of the Oversight Chamber envisages enlargement of its
liabilities and it will be necessary to adapt a new law to regulate
the activity of the new body.

RA CEC TO INVITE FOREIGN AMBASSADORS AND A NUMBER OF ORGANIZATIONS AS INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS

Noyan Tapan
Mar 14 2007

YEREVAN, MARCH 14, NOYAN TAPAN. At the March 14 sitting RA CEC made a
decision on inviting international observers to May 12 parliamentary
elections.

Invitations will be sent to Ambassadors of OSCE member-states in RA,
foreign Ambassadors accredited in RA and having a residence in Yerevan,
head of OSCE Yerevan Office, Special Representative of Council of
Europe Secretary General, head of International Fund of Electoral
Systems (IFES), head of Armenian Office of International Institute
for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), Nagorno
Karabakh CEC.

As CEC Vice-Chairman Abram Bakhchagulian said, earlier NA Speaker
had sent invitations to CE and OSCE Parliamentary Assemblies, CIS
Interparliamentary Assembly, European Parliament, the Foreign Ministry
had sent invitations to OSCE ODIHR, CIS Executive Committee.

SURPRISE E.U. PLAN FOR APRIL
By Mehmet Ocaktan

Turkish Press
March 14 2007

YENI SAFAK- Turkey on one hand is in an election year and on the
other is seeking an active process in its relations with the European
Union. State Minister for the Economy and chief negotiator Ali Babacan
yesterday started a tour of Europe.

In a joint meeting of the French Assembly of Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (ACFCI) and the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities
Exchanges (TOBB), Turkey’s ties with both France and the EU were
taken up. TOBB head Rifat Hisarciklioglu, ACFCI head Jean-Francois
Bernardin and Babacan all delivered speeches to the gathering.

The government hopes to accelerate its reforms for Turkey’s EU bid
without being overcome by sluggishness due to the fall elections.

Babacan said that they see EU membership as a strategic goal and that
they will declare a new EU plan next month. "We can’t wait for all
27 EU member states to approve every chapter." he said. "We’re going
to introduce a seven-year plan in April which will set our goals for
every year." He added that the government had made important reforms
— including eight harmonization packages, with the ninth one now
before Parliament — and that Turkey has become a stronger country
with a stronger economy. Lamenting how the EU’s recent attitudes
made the Turkish public lose hope and support the EU process less,
he said despite this they would continue the reform process. Babacan
also underlined that Turkey’s accession would not only be in the EU’s
interest in terms of its security and strategic importance but would
also have a global impact.

Hisarciklioglu touched upon relations between France and Turkey.

Citing France’s declaration that 2009 is the Year of Turkey, he said
that they should ensure that Turkey is presented in a realistic way.

He also urged French investments in Turkey, especially in the energy
sector.

The head of the ACFCI expressed self-criticism in a range of fields
from relations between the two countries to the last fall’s law on
the so-called Armenian genocide, but was hopeful about the future of
relations. He said that these problems can be solved through dialogue
and that he believes good economic relations would certainly affect
the course of political relations.

MEDIA COUNCIL SET UP IN ARMENIA

Mediamax news agency
13 Mar 07

Yerevan, 13 March: Twenty-one media and eight journalistic
organizations have joined the initiative of the Yerevan Press Club
(YPC) on the establishment of an institution of media self-regulation
in Armenia.

Chairman of YPC Boris Navasardyan stated today that on 10 March
there took place the session of the heads of media and journalistic
organizations, supporting the initiative, where there was the order
approved and an observation body elected on self-regulation of media.

The observation body will take up the consideration of complaints on
violations of the order by the media and will make conclusions.

The chairman of the Union of the Journalists of Armenia and member
of the observation body, Astghik Gevorkyan, noted that the idea on
establishing such an institution existed back in the 1990s, but it
assumed a material form only now, as a result of many discussions.

Astghik Gevorkyan noted that the observation body will also perform
its own monitoring and will regulate the relations between the citizens
and the media, in case there are conflicts on this or that publication
or report between them.

Other media and journalistic organizations can also join the initiative
of the YPC.

SKINHEADS SENTENCED TO 4.5-11.5 YEARS OF IMPRISONMENT

armradio.am
12.03.2007 14:22

The verdict against seven citizens of the Moscow District accused of
murdering an Armenian citizen on the ground of nationalism has come
into force.

The crime was committed on August 9, 2005. According to the
investigation data, six dwellers of Odintsovo region, aged 19-28, had
earlier agreed to attack persons of non-Slavonic nationality." They
looked for their victims in electric trains to Belarus. Seeing Armenian
citizen Samvel Tadevosyan, they "attacked the victim, hitting him
with feet, hands, metallic chain and recorded the scene on a digital
camera. After stealing Tadevosyan’s cell phone, money and documents
they made a stab on his head and neck with a piece of glass bottle,
after which the victim died," those in the Moscow Public Prosecutor’s
Office noted.

The District Court of Moscow announced the suspects guilty. They were
sentenced to 4.5-11.5 years of imprisonment.

NATIONAL THEATRICAL CREATIVE UNION COMES UP AGAINST CULTURAL PERVERSION ON TV

Noyan Tapan
Mar 09 2007

YEREVAN, MARCH 9, NOYAN TAPAN. "Though the accusation addressed to
Tigran Karapetian, voiced publicly by Armen Mazmanian is careless
and doubtful, nevertheless, we cannot but agree to the content of his
statement and to the reasons of his concern." This was mentioned in the
March 10 statement of National Theatrical Creative Union NGO. It was
mentioned that today music and speech not only insulting TV viewers’
taste, but also endangering psychical and esthetical health of children
are voiced on TV. According to the authors of the statement, one should
be either blind or extremely dishonest to refute this fact. According
to the report, this phenomenon can be called cultural perversion,
which, in all probability, A. Mazmanian meant. "We announce that we
will support all those who in some way try to oppose this disgraceful
phenomenon," the organization’s statement read. To recap, Art Director
of Goy theater, producer Armen Mazmanian named Chairman of People’s
Party, owner of ALM holding Tigran Karapetian in one of his TV speeches
a "populist parrot," "semi-literate," "pickpocket," "a person who had
been convicted in Volgograd for seducing children." On February 14,
Yerevan Kentron and Nork-Marash communities’ first instance court
by its verdict qualified the above mentioned expressions as "insult"
and "slander" and decided to fine A. Mazmanian in the amount of 300
thousand drams (nearly 840 USD).

U.S. ACTIVELY TO SUPPORT EFFORTS AIMED AT PEACEFUL SOLUTION OF KARABAKH CONFLICT

PanARMENIAN.Net
12.03.2007 18:00 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "We are for peaceful solution of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict, U.S. Ambassador to Baku Ann Dercy stated. She said, the
United States is a OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair on the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict settlement and intends to support the peaceful process
of solution.

"We shall actively support efforts aimed at peaceful solution of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The most optimal variant of settlement is
peaceful way," Ann Dercy stated, APA reports.

Genocide-lawsuit: A Turk convicted of Genocide denial

NRC Handelsblad (Dutch daily newspaper)
10 March 2007

Geneva 10 March. A Swiss court convicted a Turkish politician to a suspended
penalty of 90 days and ordered him to pay a fine of 3000 Swiss Franc,
because he denied the Turkish Genocide of the Armenians – which is a crime
in Switzerland. It is the first time that in Switzerland someone has been
punished for that offence. The convicted person is Dogu Perincek, leader of
the left-nationalist Turkish Workers’ Party, who in a speech in 2005 in
Lausanne called the genocide "an international lie". The judge called
Perincek an "arrogant instigator" an "a racist". The maximum he could have
been sentenced to was 3 years imprisonment (Reuters).