Author: Kajoyan Gevork

AS RA PRESIDENT ESTIMATES, PREELECTORAL CAMPAIGN PROCEEDS RATHER CALMLY AND IN CIVILIZED WAY

Noyan Tapan
Apr 27 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 27, NOYAN TAPAN. "The preelectoral campaign proceeds
rather calmly and in a civilized way," RA President Robert Kocharian
stated at the April 27 meeting with lecturers and students of Yerevan
State University. He expressed satisfaction that political forces
taking part in the preelectoral process, with the exception of two
or three forces, refuse radical extremist slogans. "It is obvious
that our public does not admit aggressive manifestations, moods of
colored revolutions," he said.

R. Kocharian emphasized that the opposition has all possibilities
for criticism, the preelection meetings are held and there is no
obstacle by any governmental body. And if there are such, in the
President’s words, the government will immediately undertake measures
for liquidating them.

In RA President’s words, the authorities have rather good start
opportunities in the preelection campaign, and the stable economic
growth, as well as softening of social tension is a basis for this.

R. Kocharian expressed bewilderment in connection with overestimating
their abilities by political forces taking part in the electoral
campaign.

According to the statements made by those forces, in total, 380% votes
will be given in favor of them, at that, without RPA and Bargavach
Hayastan. The President said that this is done for a single purpose:
not gaining the promised percents, these forces without fail will speak
about falsified elections in the future and the issue of legitimacy
of authorities will be touched upon all the time in the five years
following the elections.

In connection with interim reports of international monitoring
missions R. Kocharian said that Armenia has objections in two issues
of principle. In particular, it is mentioned in the reports that
only representatives of parties making majority in RA parliament take
ruling posts in electoral commissions.

In the President’s words, this is not prohibited by the law. The
second objection relates to active coverage of activity of government
consisting mainly from members of RPA, including activity of RA Prime
Minister. RA President is categorically against this objection. In his
opinion, every weak the government convenes sittings on 35-40 issues
on agenda, therefore, even having some administrative resources,
its cannot take a full-value part in the preelection campaign.

NEWLY APPOINTED RA DEFENCE MINISTER IS NOT GOING TO BE ENGAGED IN POLITICS

Noyan Tapan
Apr 27 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 27, NOYAN TAPAN. Mikayel Haroutiunian, former Head of
RA Armed Forces General Headquarters, who was appointed as RA Defence
Minister the other day, is not going to be engaged in politics and
has not thought about joining any party. The Minister stated this at
the April 27 interview to journalists.

In connection with his retiring from military service M. Haroutiunian
said that holding a political post he cannot remain a serviceman. And
in response to the question, whether he will continue holding the
same post after the parliamentary elections, the Minister promised
to answer after May 12.

M. Haroutiunian reported that for the present, Lieutenant-General
Enrico Apriamov is the Acting Head of RA Armed Forces General
Headquarters and the new head of headquarters will be appointed by the
President after May 9. In response to the question concerning possible
candidate, the Minister said that there are many well-prepared generals
who can be head of headquarters, and one of them is Seyran Ohanian.

GATHERING OF SIGNATURES FOR PUTTING NOTE CONDEMNING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ON AGENDA STARTS AT PARLIAMENT OF BULGARIA

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 26 2007

SOFIA, APRIL 26, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. A concert dedicated
to memory of the Armenian Genocide victims took place on April 22 at
the Chamber Hall of the Bulgaria central concert hall of Sofia. The
event was organized by the RA Embassy to Bulgaria and the Sofia
General Benevolent Union.

As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA Foreign Ministry’s Press
and Information Department, the Coordination Council of Armenian
Organizations of Sofia initiated on late April 23 a mass meeting with
torch-lights at the Armenian National Club of Sofia. Representatives
of the Armenian community of Bulgaria as well as RA Ambassador to
Bulgaria Sergey Manasarian made speeches at the event at which about
100-120 people were present. A mass meeting was held on April 24 at
the Armenian graveyard of Sofia. Both representatives of the Armenian
community and political and public figures of Bulgaria were present
at the mass meeting.

Similar mass meetings also took place in Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas. All
the events dedicated to the 92nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
were widely covered by the Bulgarian press and television as well.

At Parliament Speaker Georgi Pisinski’s proposal, the People’s Assembly
of Bulgaria started its regular sitting on April 25 with one-minute
silence in memory of the Armenian Genocide victims.

Then deputy Boyko Vatev made a speech from the tribune of the
parliament of Bulgaria and presented a Declaration of his Bulgarian
People’s Union deputy group condemning and recongizing the Armenian
Genocide and at the same time demanded that it is adopted by the
parliament.

Another similar declaration condemning the Armenian and Bulgarian
genocide was read at the parliament by other deputies as well.

A gathering of signatures for putting the Declaration condemning
and recognizing the Armenian Genocide, and, correspondingly, for
involving it in the vote procedure started at present at the Parliament
of Bulgaria.

IT’S ME INTERNATIONAL YOUTH FILM FESTIVAL STARTS IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
Apr 25 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN. It’s Me (Yes Em) international youth
film festival started on April 25 at Cinema House with the showing
of Tiran Karapetian’s "Jugha" documentary film. The festival is
organized for already the fourth time on the initiative of the Union
of Cinematographers of Armenia. 105 films out of 220 films presented
in advance selected by the contest commission will be shown in the
days of the festival.

Chairman of festival, film director R. Gevorgiants greeted the
participants and said that majority of film directors who applied
for taking part in the festival are young creators. Most of them will
take part in the festival for the first time. "This fesival is held
just for them, for these creators to be able to present their works
and pave the way for themselves," R. Gevorgiants emphasized.

The festival’s steering committee has instituted 8 prizes: the best
fiction film, the best documentary film, the best student work, the
best cameramen’s work, the best producer’s work, the best musical
clip, the best animation film, the best video-art. All participants
will receive a diploma, a prize and a monetary award.

15.000 ARMENIENS COMMEMORENT LES MASSACRES DE 1915

Agence France Presse
23 avril 2007 lundi 10:14 PM GMT

Plus de 15.000 Armeniens ont defile lundi a Erevan, a la veille du
92e anniversaire du massacre de centaines de milliers des leurs sous
l’empire ottoman pendant la première guerre mondiale.

Après avoir brûle un drapeau turc sur la place de la Liberte a Erevan,
les participants, portant des flambeaux, se sont diriges vers un
monument a la memoire des victimes, où ils ont depose des gerbes.

De nombreux participants portaient les drapeaux des 22 pays qui ont
reconnu le genocide des Armeniens, dont ceux du Canada, de la Pologne
et de la Suisse. De nombreux membres de la diaspora armeniennes
etaient venus a Erevan pour prendre part a la marche.

Les massacres et deportations d’Armeniens, de 1915 a 1917, ont fait
plus de 1,5 million de morts selon les Armeniens, un chiffre conteste
par la Turquie selon lequelle 300.000 Armeniens et autant de Turcs
avaient ete tues.

–Boundary_(ID_Jtv3bHPG4O47lEZ085OeJQ)–

ARMENIA-LATVIA CIRCULATION CAN GROW 10 TIMES
By A. Haroutiunian

AZG Armenian Daily
24/04/2007

Foreign Minister of Latvia Artis Pabriks visited Yerevan, Armenia
and had meetings with severeal high-ranking Armenian officials. On
April 22 Mr. Pabriks had a meeting with his Armenian colleague Vardan
Oskanian. The Armenian Foreign Minister on a joint press conference
informed the reporters that the issues of enhancement of bilateral
relations between Armenian and Latvia, and governmental consultations,
as well as the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were discussed during the
meeting.

Vardan Oskanian also said that Armenia must take example of Latvia’s
experience in its relations with the EU and added that a couple of
Armenia-Latvia programs are to be launched.

Artis Pabriks in his turn said that the Baltic States have special
sympathy for the Caucasian states and particularly Armenia. He said
that there are no controversies between Armenia and Latvia and that
the relations between the two countries must be intensified. The
Latvian Foreign Minister emphasized establishing reliable transport
communications with Armenia. He also assured that the circulation of
commodities between Armenia and Latvia can be increased ten times.

CIS IPA OBSERVERS SAY THAR THEY WILL BE HONEST BUT CANNOT BE ABSOLUTELY
IMPARTIAL

YEREVAN, APRIL 21, NOYAN TAPAN. "We are going to be honest observers
but we cannot be absolutely impartial as we are very interested in
the upcoming parliametary elections’ promoting the lasting stability
and prosperity of Armenia." Stanislav Chernyavski, Director of the
International Institute of Monitoring of CIS Countries Parliamentarism,
Democratization and Citizens’ Suffrage Protection, made this statement
during the April 20 press conference in the RA National Assembly. At
the same time he expressed confidence that the conclusion of the CIS
Interpariamentary Assembly (IPA) will be an objective one.

Since March 1, a mission composed of about 30 representatives
of the institute has been observing the pre-electoral process in
Armenia. Parliamentarians and political figures from CIS countries
will also come to Armenia 3-4 days before the voting day in order to
implement a short observer mission. In response to NT correspondent’s
question, it was noted that the observer missions of the CIS IPA and
Executive Committee will be figuratively "two columns of our troops".

Alexander Torshin, Head of the CIS IPA observer mission, Vice
Chairman of the RF Federal Assembly’s Federation Council, said that
the delegation headed by him witnessed many interesting facts during
a two-day visit to Armenia.

Particularly, the matter concerns the availability of the voter
register at the website of the RA Central Electoral Commission, the
creation of a working group within the prosecutor’s office to deal
with shortcomings and violations revealed in the electoral process,
as well as the absence of any hostility among various political
forces participating in the elections, which, in his words, is an
unprecedented phenomenon compared with other countries, in which
their organization has implemented observer mission.

HUNDREDS JOIN ARMENIAN EVENT
By David Doyle

Ealing Times, UK
April 20 2007

AROUND 400 people will gather to commemorate the 92nd anniversary of
the Armenian genocide tomorrow.

Residents will be joined by Ealing Mayor Diana Pagan and Ealing North
MP Steven Pound at Ealing Town Hall.

The event remembers the death of hundreds of thousands of Armenians
at the hands of the Young Turk government during the First World War.

Pupils from the borough will read poetry and discuss what they know
about the genocide and there will be speeches form the Mayor and
Mr Pound.

The event starts at 7pm and takes place in the Victoria Hall.

SYRIA – ANCIENT GLORIES, MODERN CONFLICTS

Middle East Times, Egypt
April 20 2007

DAMASCUS — Syria, where parliamentary elections take place Sunday,
is a country steeped in human history that today remains embroiled
in some of the world’s most intractable dramas.

In addition to the decades-long conflict with Israel to the south and
continuing controversy over its role in Lebanon to the west, Syria
has since 2003 found itself on the frontlines of the US-initiated
war in Iraq, to its east.

A brief factfile:

HISTORY: Since ancient times what is today Syria has been ruled,
among others, by the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines,
and a series of Islamic empires concluding with the Ottoman, which
collapsed in the early 20th century.

The country is home to many historic sites, and it was on the road to
its capital Damascus – one of the oldest cities in the world – that
the Christian apostle Saint Paul "saw the light" and became converted.

Syria’s modern borders were defined after World War I, when it came
under French administration and was shorn of several territories
including what is today Lebanon.

Independence after World War II brought a series of coups, culminating
with a military regime under Hafez Al Assad, whose son Bashar Al
Assad succeeded him on his death in 2000 and is still in power today.

Under the elder Assad, Syria was for many years close to the Soviet
Union and professed strong Arab nationalism, although a split with the
dominant party in neighboring in Iraq led it to form a long-lasting
alliance with Iran.

In the 1967 Arab-Israeli war Syria lost the strategic Golan Heights to
Israel. A decade later Assad’s military intervention in Lebanon was at
first welcomed by the West but later turned sour, ending only in 2005.

Since 2004 the United States has imposed economic sanctions on Syria,
accusing it of supporting terrorism.

In recent years Syria has taken in some 1 million Iraqi refugees,
fleeing the effects of the US-led invasion of 2003.

GEOGRAPHY AND POPULATION: At 185,000 square kilometers (71,000 square
miles), Syria is slightly smaller than Britain. It has a population
of 19 million, almost all Arabs, with small Armenian and Kurdish
minorities.

ECONOMY: Syria has modest amounts of oil, and farming accounts for
around one-third of its gross domestic product (GDP). The World Bank
classifies Syria as a middle income country, with a per capita GDP
of $1,200 in 2006.

HERITAGE CAMPAIGN HEADS FOR VAYOTS DZOR AND SIUNIK

A1+
[07:08 pm] 18 April, 2007

Heritage Party candidates, party faithful, and volunteers took the
campaign bus "Toward Victory" on a two-day journey to the Vayots Dzor
and Siunik marzes and surrounding cities and villages.

During their first stop at Zangakatun, they placed flowers at the
Paruir Sevak memorial and visited the great poet’s home-museum.

The campaign journey contunied at Yegheknadzor, where Raffi
K. Hovannisian and party representatives received a warm reception
by local residents.

Successful public meetings were held also in Malishka, Vayk, Jermuk,
and Sisian. At Vayk, it is worth mentioning, the meeting was held at
an auditorium provided by the town hall.

Regrettably, however, the journey also had its share of unfortunate
incidents. At Areni, the village elder confronted Heritage
representatives, saying that no one could hold any election campaign
in his village without a 5-day notice. Raffi Hovannisian, however,
corrected the village elder. "Areni is no one’s private property. It
first belongs to all the villagers, and then to the entire people of
Armenia," he said.