Author: Kalantarian Kevo

The report is the result of failure of Armenian policy in the relations with
the United States

29-04-2007 12:17:51 – KarabakhOpen

The debate over the U.S. State Department Armenia country report
on human rights practices continues. The politicians are trying to
evaluate the state of things and forecast the consequences.

"From the point of view of legal force, it cannot have a direct
influence on the settlement of the Karabakh issue. On the other hand,
the report is highly important. After all, the United States has a
great importance in the world and is one of the three co-chairs of
the Minsk Group," said the chair of the Committee of Industry and
Infrastructures Gagik Petrosyan in an interview with the KarabakhOpen.

"The change in the report of the U.S. State Department is due to the
following factors: first, the failure of the policy of Armenia in the
relations with the United States, second, possible attack of the United
States on Iran, and the role of Azerbaijan as an emplacement, third,
the factor of oil, fourth, the parliamentary election in Armenia,
namely an effort to denigrate the pro-government forces of Armenia.

The confrontation of the United States and its partners on the one hand
and Russia together with his partners on the other hand in the Caucasus
is gradually outlining. In this context Russia should try to settle the
situation and set up direct relations with NKR," said Gagik Petrosyan.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version:

HIS HOLINESS
ARAM I RECEIVES MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT
DR. PIERRE DAKKASH

His Holiness Aram I received Lebanese Member of Parliament Dr. Pierre
Dakkash in Antelias on April 23. This visit was particularly important
in the as it carried a request with it. MP Dakkash asked the Armenian
Catholicos to invite a meeting of the Christian and Muslim spiritual
leaders of Lebanon with the aim of bringing the country out of its
current deadlock.

Dakkash pointed out during the meeting that he has always praised the
Armenian community, who throughout peace and conflict, continued to
play a constructive role. Referring to the increasing confrontation
in political circles, Dr. Dakkash emphasized co-habitation and
mutual understanding. The "other" will always remain the "other",
but cooperation between communities and mutual respect can provide
a solution to many difficulties, he said.

The Pontiff shared Dr. Dakkash’s concerns, underlining that the "other"
will always pursue its own interests and agenda, while Lebanon has its
interests and goals. "Lebanon should never become a means expressing
the interests of others. Lebanon is a large family where different
families live together. We should strengthen this family by remaining
loyal to its principles," he said.

His Holiness strongly criticized "the culture of political
confrontation" in Lebanon expressed mainly through the media. He called
for an end to "poisonous language" and for the use of "peace-making
language" that inspires mutual respect and understanding. He again
stressed the importance of dialogue, considering it the key to settling
many issues.

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Armenian foreign minister, EU official discuss Karabakh issue

Arminfo
28 Apr 07

Yerevan, 28 April: Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan, who
is on an official visit to Brussels, has met EU foreign policy chief
Javier Solana in the Belgian capital.

The information and press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry
reported today that the prospects of the development of Armenia-EU
relations were discussed. Oskanyan expressed Armenia’s desire to
strengthen the political dialogue with the EU. The officials talked
about a peaceful resolution of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. They
discussed the results of the Belgian stage of the talks between the
foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Oskanyan said that if there is political will from Azerbaijan, there
will be progress soon. Oskanyan confirmed Armenia’s position on the
UN General Assembly resolution which concerned the GUAM [Georgia,
Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova] initiative [to raise the issue of
frozen conflicts at the UN]. He stressed the negative impact of this
initiative on the negotiating process. Afterwards, the officials
exchanged opinions on Armenian-Turkish relations, nuclear issues,
and the latest events concerning EU-Iran relations.

‘WHERE DO YOU GO NARROW MINDED?’

A1+
[06:30 pm] 26 April, 2007

4 proponents were beaten in Zolakar village mayor’s office. To remind,
they were the proponents of communist Khoren Trchun, nominated in
the majority ticket by "National Unity" in the constituency 24.

The incident took place in the mayor’s office where Khoren Sargsyan’s
proponents had been deliberately invited to talk over some technical
issues.

‘It is a common thing in Zolakar,’ Khoren Trchun told the journalists
at the press conference. As a matter of fact NA Deputy Hakob Hakobyan
and "Alliance" member Koryun Barseghyan are competing with Khoren
Sargsyan in the same polling station. "May 12 will show who has more
respect and reputation," comrade Khoren commented on the incident.

Khoren Sargsyan reminded that the communism slogan, saying that money
was nothing but dirt which spoilt a person, was actual even nowadays.

As far as money was concerned, Khoren Sargsyan focused on the statement
made by Garnik Isagulyan, RA president councilor. "Where are you going
with empty pocket? And I dare say: Where are you going with narrow
mind?" Khoren Trchun also mentioned that Serzh Sargsyan was the first
to address to the incident. "National Unity" condemned to the case too.

The case is under investigation and Hakob Hakobyan’s brother-in-law
is one of the inspectors.

To conclude, Khoren Sargsyan intended not only to win at the coming
elections but also adopt a law to put an end to terror in Zolakar.

SPORTS ENCYCLOPEDIA COMPILED BY ARMENIAN SCIENTISTS REPUBLISHED

Noyan Tapan
Apr 26 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 26, NOYAN TAPAN. Sports Encyclopedia compiled by Doctor
of Historical Sciences Mikayel Ispirian and Doctor of Pedagogical
Sciences Vahram Arakelian was republished with some amendments and
additions. The encyclopedia includes information about all main
kinds of sports and widely-spread national sports games, big sports
structures of the world, world and continental sports organizations,
results of Armenian and Diasporan sportsmen’s performance in
international competitions, as well as sports terminology.

Biographical data about nearly 600 Armenian and Diasporan renowned
sportsmen, coaches, sports figures and well-known scientists of sphere
of physical training are included in the book.

The book is intended not only for representatives of sports sphere,
but also for wide circles of sport-loving readers.

FORMER CAPTAIN OF THE ARMENIAN FOOTBALL TEAM IN CUSTODY

A1+
[03:03 pm] 25 April, 2007

The Swiss police have detained Harutyun Vardanyan, the former captain
of the Armenian Football Team. According to the Swiss police, Vardanyan
is engaged in some financial deception.

Reminder; Vardanyan currently plays in the Swiss leading team "Bil".

Khofshteter, the President of the club, voices hope that Vardanyan
will be released soon as he hasn’t breached any law.

One of Vardanyan’s relatives, who didn’t want to divulge his name,
says the arrest is an error. "Harut is an honest person. He has always
avoided swindling. Either someone wanted to harm him or there was
some inaccuracy."

One of Vardan’s friends claims that Harutyun is a generous man. "During
one of the team meetings Harut was awarded with $1000 and he equally
distributed the sum among the team players. He didn’t forget his
friends and did his utmost to help us even from Switzerland."

Reminder; Harutyun Vardanyan played in the Armenian Football Team
for ten years and participated in 63 meetings.

MARKET RELATIONS REIGN IN ARMENIA

A1+
[08:46 pm] 25 April, 2007

Today Arshak Sadoyan, the leader of the Alliance of National Democrats
(AND) and the second candidate on the proportional ticket of the
Democratic Way Party (DWP), arrived at the Mirror Club in a new car.

Arshak Sadoyan’s car aroused great interest among the journalists. They
wondered whether the car was a gift by the acting authorities or
whether Arshak Sadoyan bought it himself.

Arshak Sadoyan gave diplomatic answers to the questions.

The club also hosted NA MP Garnik Isagulyan. The parties debated on
the pre-election campaign.

In Sadoyan’s opinion "market relations reign everywhere, namely in
election procedures. There is apparent public is polarization." To
testify to his words, Mr Sadoyan referred to the high tariffs of
political ads which exceed the tariffs of commercial ads.

To recover the mistake of the television, DWP "does assiduous work"
wandering through Armenian regions. Very often people wonder whether
Sadoyan participates in the upcoming parliamentary elections. The
reason for the public ignorance is the two-minute coverage of the
election campaign.

Garnik Isagiulyan emphasized the work of parties’ local
structures. "The parties that once opened local structures will face
fewer difficulties during the election campaign and they will overcome
the 5 per cent threshold easily," he says.

Later on, Mr Isagulyan started a series of advice which in his opinion
will be helpful to the oppositional forces during the election. Mr
Isagulyan finds the opposition’s separation a mistake but the acting
authorities aren’t guilty of it.

Arshak Sadoyan intends to send a letter to US State Secretary
Condoleeza Rice stating that no businessman dares to sponsor the RoA
opposition as it could threaten his business.

Mr Isagulyan opposed to Mr Sadoyan in this view saying that Ms Rice
can hardly do anything; the opposition must work intensively with
the local structures.

On this score Arshak Sadoyan noted that over 100-200 USD is required
to rent an area for headquarters.

In Mr Sadoyan’s opinion, DWP will enjoy 10-12% votes in May 12
elections.

‘LOOK AT DARFUR,’ ARMENIANS SAY
By Mike Elfland Telegram & Gazette Staff

Worcester Telegram, MA
April 23 2007

Genocide remembrance resonates

WORCESTER- The region’s Armenian community yesterday recognized a
genocide that for many has a meaning with an intensifying importance.

References to Darfur and the recent slaying of a journalist who defied
the Turkish government were made throughout yesterday’s commemoration
of what is known as the Armenian genocide. On April 24, 1915, hundreds
of Armenian intellectuals, notably political leaders, were rounded
up and eventually killed by the Turkish government. More than 1.5
million Armenians would later die at the hands of the Ottoman Turks,
with thousands forcibly removed from Armenia to Syria, where many
died in the desert of thirst and hunger.

"We say, ‘Look at Darfur,’ " said Richard O. Asadoorian, the host
speaker at the commemoration, referring to the region in Sudan where
black Africans are being massacred by militias supported by the
Arab-dominated government. Mr. Asadoorian urged Armenians not to let
time lessen the importance of what happened 92 years ago.

Many survivors of the genocide eventually settled in the Worcester
area. A significant Armenian population remains, and their pride
in their ancestry was evident yesterday at the Armenian Church of
Our Saviour Cultural Center on Boynton Street, where more than 200
gathered for a welcome history lesson.

Nancy Hovhanesian, Thomas Tashjian and Ara G. Asadoorian recounted
stories told to them by grandparents and other older relatives who
survived the genocide. Ms. Hovhanesian talked of the great-grandparents
she never knew and of how her grandparents’ pain was absorbed by
her mother.

Andrea Kisiel, a sophomore at South High Community School, shared
her views of the genocide in an award-winning essay. Andrea took top
honors for her take on "The Contemporary Relevance of the Armenian
Genocide," the subject of an essay contest sponsored by the Greater
Worcester Armenian Genocide Commemoration Committee.

Andrea, who is not of Armenian descent, wrote of a recent trip to
Washington, where she visited the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum and had an eye-opening experience about history.

She wrote: "Then, I saw something that astounded me, surprised me,
wrenched my heart out of my chest. There, on the wall commemorating
all of the poor souls who had been discriminated against, snatched
away from familiarity, and tortured ruthlessly until put to death,
was inscribed my family name. My name which was not from Jewish
descent. My name which was Polish and Catholic. My name that I had not
the slightest idea could possibly be connected with a mass genocide. My
very own name, there on the wall."

Although she has no known relatives who died in the Holocaust, said
Andrea, the experience in Washington made her realize the importance
of the Armenian genocide to its survivors.

Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray, U.S. Rep. James McGovern, D-Worcester,
state Sen. Harriette L. Chandler, D-Worcester, and Mayor Konstantina
B. Lukes were among the speakers at the 2-1/2-hour commemoration.

Both connected the past deaths of Armenians to the continuing genocide
in the Darfur region of Sudan. Mr. McGovern has long pushed for
increased U.S. involvement in saving thousands of refugees.

Mr. McGovern, who was greeted enthusiastically yesterday, backs
legislation that would require the U.S. government to officially
recognize the Armenian genocide. Some say the reluctance is tied to
deference to Turkey’s importance to American’s interests abroad.

Modern Turkey strongly rejects the characterization of what happened
as genocide.

Loud applause erupted after the congressmen said he would direct
naysayers to a public library where they could learn about the deaths
of Armenians. "Facts are stubborn things," he said.

The main speaker was filmmaker Apo Torosyan, a native of Istanbul,
Turkey, who now lives in Peabody. His documentary, "Voices,"
finished this year, is based on interviews with three survivors of
the genocide. After he began making documentaries, Mr. Torosyan was
not allowed to return to Turkey.

A 15-minute version of "Voices" was shown yesterday.

Mr. Torosyan spoke passionately about the Jan. 19 slaying in Turkey of
Hrant Dink, a Turkish citizen of Armenian descent who was the editor
of a Turkish-Armenian newspaper. His enemies included nationalist
Turks who resented his use of the genocide label. He was killed
outside his office in Istanbul.

The commemoration was organized by members of the Armenian Church of
Our Saviour, Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian
Church of the Martyrs.

ticle?AID=/20070423/NEWS/704230635/1008/NEWS02

MIKHAEL HARUTYUNYAN TO BE APPOINTED RA DEFENSE MINISTER

ArmRadio.am
24.04.2007 13:37

Head of the general Staff of the Armed Forces, Acting Defense Minister
of Armenia, Colonel-General Mikhael Harutyunyan will be appointed RA
Defense Minister, governmental sources told ArmInfo.

According to the source, tonight RA President will sign he decree
on Mikhael Harutyunyan’s appointment to the position of the Defense
Minister of Armenia.

Slain evangelists were tortured: Turkish doctor
MALATYA, Turkey, April 20 2007

Agence France Presse — English
April 20, 2007 Friday 3:55 PM GMT

Three Protestants murdered at a Christian publishing house here were
tortured for three hours before their assailants slit their throats,
a press report said Friday, quoting one of the doctors involved in
the grisly case.

Dr. Murat Ugras, a spokesman for the Turgut Ozal Medical center, told
the daily Hurriyet of hospital surgeons’ fruitless efforts to save
Ugur Yuksel, one of the three victims of the massacre at the Zirve
(summit) publishing house, which distributed Christian literature.

"He had scores of knife cuts on his thighs, his testicles, his rectum
and his back," Ugras said. "His fingers were sliced to the bone.

"It is obvious that these wounds had been inflicted to torture him,"
he said.

The two others who were killed, Necati Aydin, pastor of Malatya’s tiny
Protestant community, and German Tilmann Geske, a Malatya resident
with his wife and three children since 2003, were also tortured,
press reports said.

The abuse lasted for three hours as the five men detained at the crime
scene interrogated the three on their missionary activities, they said.

"We tied their hands and feet and later gagged them," the mass daily
Sabah quoted one of the suspects as telling police.

"Emre slit their throats," said the youth, who was not named, referring
to Emre Gunaydin, the alleged leader of the gang, who is at the same
hospital in serious condition after jumping out of the publishers’
third floor office in a bid to flee police.

Gunaydin, 19, had reportedly made several visits beforehand to the
publishing house to gain the confidence of the people working there,
newspapers said.

The daily Radikal said the German was the first to die and the two
Turks were slaughtered only when police arrived at the door after
receiving a call from a member of the Protestant community who grew
suspicious when he found the office door locked.

Proselityzing is not banned in Muslim, secular Turkey, but is generally
viewed with suspicion.

Newspapers linked the Malatya massacre to other recent attacks against
minorities in Turkey, including the murder last year in Trabzon
of Italian Catholic priest Andrea Santoro and the assassination in
Istanbul in January of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

The reports said the killers were believed to be members of a cell of
nationalist-Islamist fanatics recently set up in Malatya and similar
to one based in Trabzon that has been blamed for the Dink murder.

Newspapers also said three of the five main suspects — police have
detained 10 people in all — were taken into custody two days before
the killings for shooting air guns in an empty lot, but were released
after paying a fine.

Geske’s wife Suzanna, meanwhile, told a television channel that she
"forgives" her husband’s killers and that she intends to stay on in
Malatya, where her husband will be buried.

The killings shocked Turkey and were strongly condemned by the
international community, prompting Germany, which holds the rotating
presidency of the European Union Turkey is seeking to join, to call
on Ankara to take greater measures to protect religious freedoms.