Author: Kafian Jirair

Turkish Press
March 16 2007

Armenian Resolution At U.S. House Of Representatives
Published: 3/15/2007

-BAGIS: "TWO MEMBERS OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES REVOKE THEIR
SIGNATURES"

WASHINGTON D.C. – "As a result of Turkey`s endeavors, 2 members of
the U.S. House of Representatives supporting the draft resolution on
so-called Armenian genocide (submitted to the U.S. House of
Representatives) revoked their signatures," Turkish Justice &
Development Party (AKP) Istanbul MP Egemen Bagis said on Thursday.

Bagis is a member of a Turkish parliamentary delegation currently in
Washington D.C. to lobby against the Armenian draft resolution.

In an exclusive interview with the A.A correspondent, Bagis said
Democrat Party Congressman Dennis Moore and Republican Party
Pennsylvania Congressman Phil English revoked their signatures from
the draft, indicating that, "we are more optimistic that the
resolution would not be passed from the House of Representatives."

"USA is aware of the importance of the situation. They don`t want to
lose an ally like Turkey," Bagis remarked.

On the other hand, Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) submitted a
draft resolution to the U.S. Senate asking Armenian incidents of the
last century to be acknowledged as "genocide".

21 of the 100-member Senate supported the draft resolution.

Similar to the draft at the House of Representatives, this resolution
is also not binding.

IN RESPECT OF ECOLOGY YEREVAN’S BAD EXAMPLE SPREADS IN ANOTHER TOWNS OF ARMENIA, ECOLOGISTS STATE

Noyan Tapan
Mar 15 2007

YEREVAN, MARCH 15, NOYAN TAPAN. Yerevan has serious ecological
problems: the development is carried out with serious violations
of urban development and ecological norms, with destruction of
green zones, parallel to which the number of population and cars
increases year by year. Karine Danielian, Chairwoman of For Stable
Human Development Association, stated this at the March 15 discussion
dedicated to ecological problems. In her words, from point of view of
ecology Yerevan’s worst part is Kentron community where "tall buildings
are built side by side at the expense of green zones." In ecologists’
opinion, "the elite buildings built in Yerevan are not fit for living:
one can only spend a few days there for having a good time."

K. Danielian said that destruction of green zones continues. "Currently
we witness destruction of Pushkin Park, park near Sundukian theater,
one third of which is being developed," she said.

In her words, another Armenian towns already follow Yerevan’s "bad"
example.

"Harmonious development is carried out only in Gyumri, as a result
of which both old cultural structures and green zones are destroyed,"
K. Danielian said.

WATER SUPPLY OF DAVITASHEN TO STOP DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS ON MARCH 14-16

Noyan Tapan
Mar 14 2007

YEREVAN, MARCH 14, NOYAN TAPAN. Water supply of the dwelling districts
of Davitashen 1-4 will be stopped from 10:00 to 18:00 on March 14-16,
connected with construction works. Noyan Tapan was informed about it
by the "Yerevan Jur" (Yerevan Water) company.

MURDERS OF ARMENIANS IN RUSSIA ARE NOT MANIFESTATIONS OF XENOPHOBIA, RF AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA ASSURES

Noyan Tapan
Mar 14 2007

YEREVAN, MARCH 14, NOYAN TAPAN. Murders of Armenians in Russia
are not manifestations of xenophobia or phobia of Armenians. RF
Ambassador to Armenia Nikolay Pavlov stated this at the March 14
press conference. In his words, these crimes have a social ground. The
Ambassador also mentioned that sometimes criminal brawls in Russia with
participation of Armenians are presented as xenophobia in media. In
N. Pavlov’s words, the last two murders of Armenians, in Ivanteeevka
and at Pushkinskaya Moscow underground station, were disclosed and
the criminals were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. The
Ambassador assured that the Prosecutor General’s Office and Ministry
of the Interior of Russia will do their best to fight these crimes.

YURI MERZLYAKOV: THE CO-CHAIRS DISCUSSED MEETING OF AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS TO BE HELD TOMORROW

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
March 13 2007

Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza (US), Bernard Fassier
(France) and Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia), mediators in the settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, met in Geneva today, Yuri Merzlyakov
told the APA exclusively.

He said that French co-chair Bernard Fassier informed the co-chairs
of his latest visit to the region.

The co-chairs also discussed the meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian
Foreign Ministers Elmar Mammadyarov and Vardan Oskanyan, which is to
be held in Geneva tomorrow. Merzlyakov noted that the co-chairs are
preparing for the meeting.

Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers will have the next round
of negotiations for the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with
the participation of the co-chairs.

ARFD HAY DAT COMMITTEES CONFERENCE OPENS IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
Mar 12 2007

YEREVAN, MARCH 12, NOYAN TAPAN. The goal of ARFD Hay Dat Committees
conference, which opened on March 12 in Yerevan, is to present
the most important foreign and domestic problems to Committees’
representatives, to touch upon ARFD Hay Dat’s strategy and tasks of its
offices. It is noteworthy that this is the second conference of ARFD
Hay Dat Committees held in Yerevan. Members of Hay Dat Committees,
in total 85 representatives of ARFD bodies, youth and student unions
from 28 countries, including Argentina, U.S., Canada, Belgium,
Cyprus, Uruguay, Great Britain take part in the conference. RA NA
Vice-Speaker, representative of ARFD Bureau Vahan Hovhannisian,
RA Minister of Education and Science Levon Mkrtchian, Chairman of
NA Foreign Relations Committee, representative of ARFD Supreme Body
Armen Rustamian and others made greeting speeches.

US Authorities Found Arsenic in Armenian Mineral Water `Jermuk’

Arminfo
2007-03-09 11:59:00

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to
drink certain brands of mineral water "Jermuk" imported from Armenia
due to the risk of exposure to arsenic, a toxic substance and known
cause of cancer in humans.

Symptoms of acute arsenic exposure usually occur within several hours
of consumption. The most likely effects include nausea, vomiting,
diarrhea, and stomach pain. Over the period of a few days to weeks,
the kidneys, liver, skin, and cardiovascular and nervous systems could
be affected. Extended exposure could lead to cancer and death.

FDA sampled 500 milliliter (mL) green glass bottles and detected the
problem. FDA is investigating whether other sizes or packaging are
involved.

FDA testing of this water revealed 500 – 600 micrograms of arsenic per
liter. FDA’s standard of quality bottled water allows no more than 10
micrograms per liter.

There have been no illnesses reported at this time. Consumers who
drank this water and have concerns are encouraged to contact their
health care provider.

FDA will continue working to remove all such bottled water products
from the marketplace. FDA may provide additional updates as more
information becomes available.

PRESS RELEASE
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research
395 Concord Avenue
Belmont, MA 02478
Tel.: 617-489-1610
E-mail: [email protected]

DR. Taner Akçam TO GIVE LECTURE AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Turkish scholar Dr. Taner Akçam will give a lecture entitled "A
Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish
Responsibility" on Wednesday, March 14, at 7:30 p.m., at Harvard
University’s Center for Government and International Studies, Auditorium
S010, 1730 Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA. The lecture will be
co-sponsored by the Zoryan Institute for Contemporary Armenian Research
and Documentation, the National Association for Armenian Studies and
Research (NAASR), the Harvard Armenian Society, the Mashtots Chair in
Armenian Studies, and the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies.

A pioneer among scholars of Turkish origin, Dr. Taner
Akçam is the author of the recently published A Shameful Act: The
Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility
(Metropolitan Books), a groundbreaking study that makes extensive,
unprecedented use of Ottoman and other sources largely unexamined in
English-language works. Drawing on all the significant evidence – in
Turkish military and court records, parliamentary minutes, eyewitness
narratives, and previous works of scholarship – Akçam has produced a
scrupulous account of Ottoman culpability.

Present-Day Denial Rooted in Ottoman Fears

The Unionists who carried out the Armenian Genocide, the
Nationalists of the early Turkish Republic, and today’s denialists have
all believed they were saving the Turkish fatherland from partition by
the West. Any attempt to open a discussion on this past has been
denounced as a covert move in a master plan to partition the country.
This tangle of past and present into a tight knot of self-defensiveness
has its roots in the breakup of the Ottoman Empire. From late Ottoman
times to the present, there has been continuous tension between the
state’s concern for secure borders and society’s need to come to terms
with abuses of human rights.

Nobel Prize winning-author Orhan Pamuk has said, "A Shameful
Act is the definitive account of the organized destruction of the
Ottoman Armenians written by a brave Turkish scholar who has devoted his
life to chronicling the events. No future discussion of the history
will be able to ignore this brilliant book."

Recent Events Give Added Timeliness to Work

The recent murder of Armenian newspaper editor Hrant Dink in
Istanbul, Turkey’s bid for entry into the European Union, and the
Armenian Genocide recognition bill in the U.S. Congress have given
Akçam’s scholarly work of historical excavation an additional
timeliness as Turkey struggles to confront its history.

Dr. Akçam is also the author of From Empire to Republic:
Turkish Nationalism and the Armenian Genocide, Dialogue Across An
International Divide: Essays Towards a Turkish-Armenian Dialogue, as
well as numerous other books and articles in Turkish, German, and
English.

Akçam was born in the province of Ardahan, Turkey, in
1953. He became interested in Turkish politics at an early age. As the
editor in chief of a student political journal, he was arrested in 1976
and sentenced to ten years imprisonment. Amnesty International adopted
him as one of their first prisoners of conscience, and a year later he
escaped by digging a tunnel with a stove leg and fled to Germany, where
he received political asylum.

In 1988, Akçam began work as a research scientist at the
Hamburg Institute for Social Research. While researching the late
Ottoman Empire and early Republic, especially the history of political
violence and torture in Turkey, he became interested in the Armenian
Genocide. In 1996 he received his doctorate from the University of
Hanover with a dissertation entitled "The Turkish National Movement and
the Armenian Genocide Against the Background of the Military Tribunals
in Istanbul Between 1919 and 1922." Since 2002 he has been a visiting
associate professor of history at the University of Minnesota.

Early Arrival Recommended

A question-and-answer period will follow the lecture. Dr.
Akçam’s book A Shameful Act will be on sale and available for signing.
It is strongly recommended that audience members arrive early as
seating is limited.

More information on Dr. Akçam’s lecture may be obtained
from NAASR by calling 617-489-1610, by fax at 617-484-1759, by e-mail at
[email protected], or by writing to NAASR, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA
02478; or by contacting the Zoryan Institute by phone at 617-497-6713 or
e-mail at [email protected].

RECURRENT DEMONSTRATION

A1+
[01:54 pm] 05 March, 2007

The members of NGOs and youth organizations held a demonstration
opposite Komitas statue with the shouts "It has launched…"

"The representatives of our young generation must pay more attention
to their country", they say.

To note; the participants showed the photos of the residents who
were forcibly displaced from their homes as new buildings were to be
built instead.

Michael Hovhannisyan, one of the initiators, claims that they want
to change something in the country.

They had two symbols; the Satan and an angel who were struggling all
the time but the angel won in the end.

One of the posters of the rally was dedicated to Zhirayr Sefilyan. Vahe
Grigoryan, Sefilyan’s advocate, shared his thoughts with A1+. He is
glad to see that Sefilyan’s arrest has aroused not only political
but also public interest.

When asked why they chose especially the statue of Komitas as a
site of the rally, Arsen Kharatyan, one of the participants said,
"Komitas went mad seeing the general picture of the country, the
everyday hustle and bustle and the chaos reigning in the country. We
put the cynicism existing in the country in the one side of the statue
and the serious information our society needs – on the other. The
meaning of our words lies behind the messages."

The messages are as follows, "Hayko will whisper in Eurovision
this year…", "Unprecedented action; once you are granted dual
citizenship you will enjoy the third one free of charge…", "NA
endorsed the law on "Exiling the residents" after passing the law on
"Property Alienation".

The rally participants promised to hold the next demonstrations in
two weeks’ time.

CREDIT EDUCATION SYSTEM TO FUNCTION FOR ALL PROFESSIONS OF YSU
MAGISTRACY FROM NEW ACADEMIC YEAR

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, NOYAN TAPAN. The credit education system will
function for all profession of the magistracy at the Yerevan State
University starting from the 2007-2008 academic year. It supposes
increase of the education quality of the magistracy and it’s
correspondence to the international standards.

YSU Rector Aram Simonian stated about it at the March 1 press
conference.

A.Simonian mentioned that the current educational year was rather full
in the sense of reforms of higher educational institutions: both
contents and staff changes were made at the higher educational
institution. The YSU Rector also stated that works on introduction of
the credit system are done in the sector of bachelor’s education as
well: it will probably be implemented in a year.

"Connected with introduction of the new system, the YSU actively
cooperated during the recent period with almost all state institutions
of higher education of the republic, particularly, with the State
Engineering University of Armenia, M.Heratsi State Medical University,
State Economy University of Armenia, Agrarian University of Armenia,"
A.Simonian mentioned, noticing that state institutions of higher
education in Armenia more cooperate with foreign universities than
with each other. In his words, it would be more effective if Armenian
institutions of higher education are able to start correct cooperation
with each other in all directions: educational, scientific, exchange
of experience, etc. At present, the State University cooperates with
the SEUA not only at the educational level but also in the sphere of
scientific-research works. There is a preliminary agreement with the
same institution of higher education for founding such a center which
will be engaged in the problem of making scientific researches
commercial which will be directly connected with production. Those
predominating directions and spheres by which it is purposeful to do
scientific-research work are already defined at the YSU. A.Simonian
also mentioned that some staff policy is carried on at the higher
educational insitution in this direction: seven new scientific centers
and two laboratories were founded. It is also envisaged to work out
scientific-educational programs in the sphere of Ottaman Studies as
there are only 1-2 specialists in that sphere.