Author: Kalashian Nyrie

ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER MEETS OSCE CHAIRMAN-IN-OFFICE IN YEREVAN

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
July 2 2007

YEREVAN, July 2. /ARKA/. Armenian Defense Minister Michael Haroutounyan
received Personal Representative of OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzey
Kasprzyk on Saturday.

Seyran Shahsouvaryan, the ministry’s spokesman, said that
Kasprzyk congratulated Haroutounyan on his appointment to the
defense-ministerial post.

Karabakh conflict settlement was discussed at the meeting.

Armenia’s relations with neighboring countries were discussed as
well.

LA VIOLENCE NATIONALISTE AU COEUR DU POUVOIR TURC
Par Thierry Oberle

Le Figaro, France
02 juillet 2007

L’AVOCAT stanbouliote Kemal Kerincsiz est un adepte de la theorie
du complot : il voit les services secrets occidentaux ou le Mossad
derrière la serie d’assassinats politiques et de meurtres de religieux
chretiens. Dans son bureau decore de cartes de la grande Turquie, ses
explications fumeuses lui servent de parade lorsqu’il est interroge
sur les responsabilites des nationalistes turcs dans l’elimination du
journaliste d’origine armenienne Hrant Dink, en janvier a Istanbul,
du père Santoro, l’an dernier a Trabzon, ou des trois missionnaires
sauvagement mis a mort en avril a Malatya.

Animateur de l’Union des juristes turcs, Kemal Kerincsiz est a
l’origine de la plupart des procès intentes ces dernières annees
a des intellectuels turcs pour insulte a la nation. Ses ennemis :
les elites liberales, les minorites non musulmanes et les Kurdes.

Les missionnaires chretiens ? " Des gens très dangereux dont il
faut interdire les activites. " Orhan Pamuk et Elif Safak, ces
romanciers qui osent briser les tabous de l’histoire officielle
? " Ils cherchent a faire passer les Turcs pour des barbares au
profit de mouvements etrangers ", commente-t-il d’un air inspire,
en levant le menton. L’avocat ultranationaliste mène son combat par
la voie legale dans les pretoires des tribunaux. Il porte plainte
en se referant a l’article 301 du Code penal adopte en juin 2005,
qui punit de peines de prison les auteurs d’atteinte a l’honneur de la
Turquie. D’autres ont des methodes plus expeditives. Comme Ogun Samast,
17 ans, ce jeune desoeuvre d’un village de la banlieue de Trabzon,
un bastion des ultranationalistes, juge a partir d’aujourd’hui pour
l’assassinat du journaliste Hrant Dink d’une balle de pistolet. Le
jeune a ete arrete sur le chemin du retour vers la ville des bords
de la mer Noire où fut assassine en 2006 le pretre italien. Lors de
son interpellation, les policiers l’ont photographie a leurs côtes
a l’instar d’une vedette de football. " Un plan de destabilisation "
" Qui a manipule Ogun Samast ? ", s’interroge Fethiye Cetin, amie et
avocate de Hrant Dink. Dans chaque crime, des gangs nationalistes
prônant le sectarisme religieux sont mis en cause. Mais jamais
les enquetes ne remontent aux commanditaires. Les complicites a
l’interieur de l’appareil d’Etat sont pourtant averees. Samast avait
ainsi pour complice Ehran Tuncel, un indic qui avait prevenu les
policiers locaux. Ceux-ci avaient redige pas moins de 17 rapports
sur les risques d’elimination du patron du journal Agos, mais ne
l’avaient pas protege. Après l’attentat, l’un d’eux avait demande a
son informateur au cours d’une conversation telephonique " si les
siens etaient meles a l’affaire ". Rapidement occultee, la tuerie
de Malatya rappelle les methodes du Hezbollah, un groupuscule des
annees 1980 manipule par les services de renseignement dans la lutte
contre les Kurdes. " On a l’impression qu’un plan de destabilisation
a commence d’etre execute. Ces initiateurs agissent en l’absence
de tout contrôle pour creer de la tension dans le pays ", assure
l’avocat kurde Hesip Kaplan. Il evoque l’ombre d’Evit Devlet, l’Etat
profond, une conjonction d’interet où se retrouvent des malfrats, la
mafia politico-financière et des membres de l’appareil d’Etat. " Les
nationalistes et les fondamentalistes veulent empecher l’application
des mesures liberales ", assure un dignitaire religieux chretien.

Les groupuscules d’extreme droite prospèrent sur fond de racisme, de
xenophobie et d’intolerance. " Les discours effrayants de haine que
l’on entend de plus en plus souvent relient chaque affaire. Après
Hrant, puis Malatya, maintenant on se demande a qui le tour ? ",
s’inquiète Fethiye Cetin.

–Boundary_(ID_JSW1zCqB2Odl7dGy5mtr/A)–

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT LEAVES RESULTS OF NA ELECTIONS HELD IN MAJORITY SYSTEM IN ELECTORAL DISTRICT 36 IN FORCE

Noyan Tapan
Jul 2, 2007

YEREVAN, JULY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. The Constitutional Court left the May
12 results of the NA elections held in a majority system in electoral
district 36 in force on June 29. The case was heard in court on the
basis of the application of Mushegh Saghatelian, an MP candidate.

According to the Constitutional Court, both the claimant and respondent
sides did not count the number of inaccuracies in the electoral
district in a proper way: according to the claimant’s side the number
is 9632, and the respondent side claims that it makes 134. However,
according to the calculations of the Constitutional Court, the number
of inaccuracies makes 364. Thus, the number of inaccuracies registered
in the electoral district has not, in reality, surpassed the difference
of the votes given for the first two candidates, which, according to
the Electoral Code, could be considered as a basis for invalidating
the elections.

At the same time the Constitutional Court recorded that the order
of providing extracts of the minutes concerning the results of
the elections has been violated by the electoral commission in
the above-mentioned electoral district: the applicants were given
minutes containing incomplete data, which could not reflect the
total picture of the elections. It is mentioned in the decision of
the Constitutional Court that there were mechanical and arithmetical
mistakes in the minutes and there is also the problem of a low level
of training among members of Local Electoral Commissions. The General
Electoral Commission in some cases did not check the validity of the
data received from electoral districts in a defined way despite being
obliged to.

Rye Brook economist attends national security seminar

Westmore News, Rye Brook, NY
By: Jananne Abel June 27, 2007

Rye Brook resident Vahan Janjigian, vice president and executive
director of Forbes Advisory Group, Inc. in New York City, recently
participated in a week-long national security seminar sponsored by the
U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa.

Janjigian was one of approximately 160 business, government, media and
academic leaders from across the country who took part in the seminar
from June 4-8. The fiveday annual seminar is the capstone event of the
10- month curriculum at the Army War College, the Army’s senior
educational institution.

"It was the best experience I have ever had in my life," said
Janjigian. "It was unbelievable. I have always had a positive feeling
about the military, but this reinforced it."

While the principal purpose of the seminar is to permit the War
College student body to hear a "civilian viewpoint" on defense
matters, it also gives participants an opportunity to meet and
exchange views with the nation’s future military leaders. During the
week participants were assigned to one of 20 student seminar groups to
discuss national security issues.

In inviting civilians to attend this course, "they tried to identify
people they think are influential and can express opinions on
U.S. security issues and relay how the U.S. military feels on issues,"
said Janjigian. "They are trying to improve their image. One way to do
it is to have better relationships with civilian people who would
benefit and relay that."

Unlike with the Vietnam War where people were against the military,
Janjigian said with the Iraq War he doesn’t believe people are against
the military but against the administration, largely because military
service is voluntary.

Topics covered at the seminar ranged from Iraq to the War on Terrorism
to the rising power of China, to education in the U.S. falling behind
that of other countries. It also addressed misconceptions about the
military, said Janjigian, making it clear that the armed forces are
not just full of minorities who are there because they have nothing
else to do.

Among those invited were 40 military officers from foreign countries
ranking from colonel to brigadier general, two of whom were in
Janjigian’s small seminar group, one from Saudi Arabia and one from
Botswana, near the horn of Africa. Others hailed from Great Britain,
Germany, Kuwait, India, Pakistan, Jordan and Egypt.

"The discussions we had were pretty amazing, quite passionate," said
Janjigian. "People feel strongly on certain issues."

"There was a tremendous amount of debate," he added. "I was impressed
with the diversity of opinion and how passionate these officers
are. These are people who take orders at the end of the day, but I was
impressed with how independent thinking and intelligent they are."

Several seminar participants have performed tours in Iraq and some
were returning to Iraq last week.

"Obviously I am concerned for their safety," said Janjigian. "It was
indeed an honor to have spent time with these individuals who
regularly sacrifice so much for their country and often receive little
thanks in return."

Back in October, students from the Army War College went to New York
City to call on different businesses and one of the groups visited
Forbes. Janjigian, an economist who writes a column about the economy
and the stock market, was asked to meet with them.

"I’m sure I was nominated [for this month’s seminar] through that
contact," he said.

The U.S. Army War College was established in 1901 in Washington, D.C.,
"not to promote war, but to preserve peace." The college relocated to
Carlisle, Pa. in 1951. It prepares senior officers to serve in the
highest command and staff positions in the armed forces of the United
States.

NAGORNO-KARABAKH WILL STAY UNRESOLVED AS LONG AS IT IS USED FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES: FRENCH POLITICAL EXPERT

arminfo
2007-06-29 16:42:00

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will stay unresolved as long as
it is used for political purposes, Rector of Sorbonne University
Gerard-Francois Dumont said during a scientific conference Minorities
and Conflicts in South Caucasus.

There are also problems of refugees and status. In the case of refugees
there is certain inequality as Azerbaijan refuses to acknowledge the
existence of Armenian refugees. The problem is that Azerbaijan is not
a democratic state. That’s why the Nagorno-Karabakh problem is used
for political purposes. Azerbaijan must stop spreading lies and must
recognize the existence of Armenian refugees.

The problem of status is the prerogative of the Nagorno-Karabakh
people.

Each state can be considered independent if it has institutions that
guarantee its independence. Nagorno-Karabakh cannot be considered
independent and will not be until it finds guarantors of its
independence: for example, the foreign states who have officially
recognized the independence of Nagorno- Karabakh.

One more solution to the problem is federative Armenian
state. Preservation of the status quo is also a solution but it
is not good as it cannot last for ever and is a constant source of
new conflicts.

ABDULLAH INVITED TO ARMENIA

Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates
June 29 2007

ABU DHABI – Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister,
yesterday received a message from Vartan Oskanian, Armenian Minister
of Foreign Affairs. The message was handed over by the Armenian
Ambassador to the UAE, Vahagn Melikian. In his message, the Armenian
Minister invited Shaikh Abdullah to visit Armenia.

Shaikh Abdullah discussed with the ambassador relations between the
two countries and the ways to strengthen them, besides a number of
issues of mutual interest.

Meanwhile, Shaikh Abdullah received a copy of the credentials of
Mohammed Maharaja, the new Tanzanian Ambassador. He also received
separately the out-going ambassadors of India and Yemen, C.M Bhandari,
and Abdul Wahid Mohammed, respectively and wished them good luck in
their future assignments.

TERRY DAVIS: KOSOVO PRECEDENT FOR NAGORNO KARABAKH IS VERY REGRETFUL

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
June 26 2007

"OSCE Minsk Group is dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict. The Council of Europe is not directly engaged in the
problem. I must say there exists many difficulties around this problem.

There are so many elections in the region which make it difficult to
make progress regarding the settlement of the conflict. The improvement
in the elections in Armenia might positively influence this issue,"
said Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis today, APA’s
Europe bureau reports.

Condemning the elections in Nagorno Karabakh again Terry Davis,
"Nagorno Karabakh is not recognized by the international community,
it is not a separate state, so, any elections there are not recognized
and will not be recognized."

The Secretary General also commented on recent statements that Kosovo
might be a precedent for the solution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

"I say openly that I cannot many any comments now. The UN has not
yet passed any resolution on the future status of Kosovo. But I also
understand that this situation offers inspiration to many in Nagorno
Karabakh. This concerns not only Nagorno Karabakh but also Abkhazia,
South Ossetia, Transnistria. Separatist regimes exist. And they are
not recognized by the international community. I am sure these regimes
are interested in the situation around Kosovo. They much likely aim
to derive benefit from this as a precedent," he underscored.

Terry Davis underlined that some states that stand for the recognition
of Kosovo as independent state do not want these separatist regimes
to derive benefit from such situation, "Concretely, Kosovo precedent
for Nagorno Karabakh is very regretful.

That is all I can say now. I would not like to comment on internal
intentions of Armenia."

WORLD CANNOT AFFORD NUCLEAR CLIMATE SOLUTION
By Jeremy Lovell

Reuters, UK
June 27 2007

LONDON (Reuters) – The world must start building nuclear power
plants at the unprecedented rate of four a month from now on if
nuclear energy is to play a serious part in fighting global warming,
a leading think-tank said on Wednesday.

Not only is this impossible for logistical reasons, but it has
major implications for world security because of nuclear weapons
proliferation, the Oxford Research Group said in its report "Too Hot
To Handle – The future of civil nuclear power".

The report fired a series of broadsides against the growing momentum
for more nuclear-generated electricity to help cut climate-warming
carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels.

"A world-wide nuclear renaissance is beyond the capacity of the
nuclear industry to deliver and would stretch to breaking point the
capacity of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) to monitor
and safeguard civil nuclear power," it said.

The report comes less than a week after the World Energy Council —
the global organisation of electricity generators — said nuclear
power had to be a significant part of the new energy mix both to beat
global warming and guarantee security.

Nuclear power now provides about 16 percent of a world electricity
demand that is set to at least keep pace with the growth in population
— predicted to rise by more than half to 10 billion people by 2075.

The report said that if it was to play a significant part in curbing
carbon emissions, nuclear power would have to provide one-third of
electricity by 2075.

That, it said, meant building four new nuclear plants a month, every
month, globally for the next 70 years.

Not only had top civil nuclear power France, which gets 78 percent
of its electricity from 59 nuclear reactors, never got remotely near
that rate of construction, but the implications for wholesale weapons
proliferation were overwhelming, it said.

"Unless it can be demonstrated with certainty that nuclear power can
make a major contribution to global CO2 mitigation, nuclear power
should be taken out of the mix," the report said.

Proponents say nuclear power emits little of the carbon dioxide that
scientists say is the major cause of global warming, while opponents
point to the lethal toxicity that lingers for thousands of years.

The report said there were 429 reactors in operation, ranging from
103 in the United States to one in Armenia, with 25 more under
construction, 76 planned and 162 proposed.

It noted not only major nuclear expansion plans in boom economy China
— which is already building two coal-fired plants a week — but
nascent interest across the oil-rich Middle East and the likelihood
of demand from across Africa and Asia.

Surging demand would place great strains on supplies of uranium ore —
probably leading to exploitation of poorer grades and therefore more
carbon expended on extraction and refining.

This would push development of fast breeder reactors which produce
more radioactive fuel than they consume, solving the fuel problem
but creating a security nightmare, the report said.

The report said if the 2075 scenario came about then 4,000 tonnes
of plutonium would be being processed into reactor fuel each year —
twenty times the current military stockpile.

The probabilities were large that some of this plutonium would end
up in the wrong hands and be used as a "dirty" bomb even if it was
not used to make a sophisticated nuclear device.

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT STEADFAST IN ITS DETERMINATION TO CONSTRUCT ANOTHER NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
June 26 2007

YEREVAN, June 26. /ARKA/. Armenian government remains steadfast in its
determination to construct the second nuclear power plant, Armenian
Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan said Tuesday in National Assembly.

In his words, although neither financial sources nor technologies
are clear so far, the government wants to build another nuclear
power plant.

Earlier, Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan said that Armenia
plans to construct a new 1000-megawatt block in Armenian Nuclear
Power Plant. The project, he said, will cost about $1bln.

To attract money from the outside, Armenian Parliament abolished
state monopoly on new nuclear blocks ownership.

Armenian Nuclear Power Plant was put into exploitation in 1976. Now
only the second block (407.5 megawatt) is operating.

The plant generates more than 40% of the country’s electric power.

Specialists say the plant can operate until 2016.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT AGAINST JOINING NATO

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
June 27 2007

Yerevan, 27 June: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan thinks that
joining NATO "will cause additional problems for Armenia and will
decrease its security".

Kocharyan made the remarks at the news conference held jointly with
his Greek counterpart Karolos Papoulias in Yerevan on 26 June.

Kocharyan said that "there is no issue of joining NATO on Armenia’s
political agenda".

"Armenia tends to expand its relations with NATO and works within the
framework of Individual Partnership Action Plan," he said. He added
that "joining any military bloc should give an answer to the question
whether the joining would increase the security of the country".

"Our assessment is that joining NATO will cause additional problems
for Armenia and will decrease its security," Kocharyan said.