Author: Kalashian Nyrie

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF AN AZERBAIJANI PAPER ARRESTED

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
April 20 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku/ Trend , corr. K. Zarbaliyeva/ The legal proceedings
on the special accusatory suit â brought by the Chief of the
Centre for Protection of the Rights of refugees and IDPs, Tatyana
Chaladze against the founder and editor-in-chief of the Newspapers –
"Realniy Azerbaidjan" ("Real Azerbaijan") and "Gundalik Azarbaycan"
("Daily Azerbaijan"), Eynula Fatullayev, has gone on in the Yasamal
District Court of Baku City today, a source in the Court has said.

In his testifying at the Court, Eynalla Fatullayev noted that he did
not consider himself the guilt. He said that he had added nothing on
his own in the recently-published article named "The Diary of Karabakh"
by stressing that all the words which were in the article belong to
his interlocutors.

Linguist Rufat Valiyev, who has been invited to the Court as a
specialist, has said that the article does not contain any word or
expression that could insult the honour and dignity of dwellers of the
Azerbaijani Small Town of Khodjali, which was subjected to genocide
by Armenians in February, 1992.

According to the specialist, in the article, the author had written
only the opinions of the parties.

Some of dwellers of Khodjali, participating at the judicial sitting,
were gone out of the Court hall because their interrupting the legal
proceedings.

The plaintiff insisted on the Court’s sentencing Mr. Fatullayev to
a three-year imprisonment.

However, by the decision made by the Court, Mr. Fatullayev was
sentenced to two-year and six-month imprisonment, and arrested right
in the Court hall.

–Boundary_(ID_5iVUSOstZo1cHyIRSLiMFg)–

VOTER LISTS ‘PURGED’ FROM INELIGIBLE VOTERS

Armenpress
Apr 19 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 19, ARMENPRESS: Alina Zakarian, chief of an Armenian
police department in charge of passports and visas, which is also
vested with the authority to compile voter lists, said to a news
conference today her subordinates ‘purged’ the lists from deceased
and other ineligible voters, which now have overall 2,318,493 names,
by 10, 254 less than a month ago.

She said in the last 10 days lone 311 citizens exchanged their old,
Soviet passports with new ones and another 3,550 have changed their
residence.

She said also some problems were caused by inclusion of servicemen
into voter lists, but the army’s general staff has sent the lists of
young men having currently their mandatory military service to all
police departments to withdraw their names form the lists.

She said also by April 8 1,720 deceased people’s names were withdrawn
from the lists and 50 people used the hotline telephone number to
report about other inaccuracies.

GUNFIGHT ERUPTS IN YEREVAN
By Karine Kalantarian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 19 2007

A gunfight broke out in Yerevan in broad daylight on Thursday, in what
police believe was an attempt on the life of a reputed crime figure.

Witnesses said unknown gunmen opened fired and threw a hand grenade
at businessman Aram Vartanian, better known as Vstrechi Aper, as he
stood outside a cafe in the city’s southern Erebuni district with
several friends. They were said to have shot back at the attackers
and escaped unscathed.

Law-enforcement officers at the scene said the shooting left a teenage
boy injured by shattered glass.

The Armenian police immediately began a nationwide manhunt for the
gunmen, with uniformed and plainclothes officers armed with assault
rifles randomly stopping cars leaving and entering the city. No
arrests were announced as of late evening.

The chief of Yerevan’s police department, Nerses Nazarian, told
RFE/RL that he believes the attack was aimed at killing Vartanian,
who was questioned by investigators immediately after the incident.

Nazarian could not say whether the shooting might have been connected
with the ongoing campaigning for next month’s parliamentary elections.

Some Erebuni residents said Vartanian, who allegedly has underworld
connections, has a tense relationship with Mher Sedrakian,
the district’s controversial mayor who himself had survived an
assassination bid in July 2003. A senior member of the governing
Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), Sedrakian was reportedly involved
in last month’s violent dispute between local leaders of the HHK and
another establishment party, Prosperous Armenia.

The Erebuni gunfight came just two weeks after gunmen wounded the mayor
of the country’s second largest city of Gyumri, also affiliated with
the HHK, and killed three of his bodyguards in a drive-by shooting
30 kilometers west of the Armenian capital. Nobody has been arrested
in connection with that attack.

PRESS RELEASE
The Heritage Party
31 Moscovian Street
Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 10) 53.69.13
Fax: (+374 – 10) 53.26.97
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Website:

April 18, 2007

Heritage Campaign Heads for Vayots Dzor and Siunik, Receives Delegation From
the International Republican Institute

On Wednesday, April 18, 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.

Today and tomorrow, "Toward Victory" takes its message to the Vayots Dzor
and Siunik marzes and surrounding cities and villages.

Also today at campaign headquarters in Yerevan, Heritage Party spokesman
Hovsep Khurshudian, manager of the party’s headquarters Gevorg Kalenchian,
Heritage’s representative at the Central Election Commission Armen
Martirosian, and party faithful received a delegation from the International
Republican Institute (IRI). The delegation comprised director Stephen B. Nix
of IRI’s Eurasia Division, in-country representative Meri Kosian, and Rasa
Alisauskiene, an expert from the Baltic Services of the Gallup Organization.

The guests presented the latest results of IRI’s survey, according to which
Heritage’s rating registers a steady monthly growth. It is also apparent
that the majority of the Armenian public is dissatisfied with the current
situation and places its hopes on noble, untainted, trustworthy, and
patriotic political figures. The majority of the poll’s respondents still
consider Raffi Hovannisian one such person.

Founded in 2002, Heritage has regional divisions throughout the land. Its
central office is located at 31 Moscovian Street, Yerevan 0002, Armenia,
with telephone contact at (374-10) 536.913, fax at (374-10) 532.697, email
at [email protected] or [email protected], and website at

DANIEL FRIED: "TURKEY OUGHT TO OPEN UP THE BORDER WITH ARMENIA AND RESTORE NORMAL RELATIONS"

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 16 2007

"We think that Turkey ought to open up the border with Armenia and
restore normal relations.

"We’re pleased by recent steps Turkey has taken, like restoring the
Armenian church in Eastern Turkey, even if as a museum. That’s still
something. And there is in Turkish society a constituency for this kind
of reconciliation. Hrant Dink was murdered by an extremist nationalist,
but then 100,000 Turks were in the street saying we are all Armenians,
we are all Hrant Dink. It didn’t mean literally that they’re Armenians,
but it means we reject nationalism. We embrace a Turkish identity which
is tolerant. That’s very hopeful. That’s a very good thing. That’s what
we want to encourage," said Daniel Fried, US Assistant Secretary for
the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs at a daily press briefing.

The Assistant Secretary stressed that the Turkish Government has
never blackmailed or threatened the U.S. Government. They have never
said that they will take retaliatory steps if the Armenian Genocide
resolution passes.

"The Turkish government has said that Turkish opinion would be inflamed
and outraged by this resolution and that they, the Turkish government,
fear what the Turkish parliament might do in reaction to something
our parliament might do. So it’s a little bit different than what
you described.

"Turkey is a good ally. It is also a country which is undergoing a
profound democratic transformation itself. Turkey has for decades had
the formal elements of democracy, but in the last 10, 15, 20 years
it has deepened this democracy, and especially in the last 5 to 10
years. The boundaries of freedom of expression are now much greater
than they were before. Civilian institutions are much stronger. The
role of the military is much more circumscribed. These things
are advancing, and as this happens there is a growing discussion
in Turkey about their own past, and in particular the past of the
Ottoman Empire and its relationship to the Armenian community there
and the mass killings that took place in 1915 and afterwards. Turks
are beginning to discuss this.

"We encourage them to examine their history and the painful, what can
be called dark spots, and they’re not the only country that has them.

The United States has plenty of our own: slavery, treatment of American
Indians, treatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. We have a
lot of things in our history of which we’re not proud," Fried said.

LATVIA SUPPORTS SOLUTION TO THE NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT BASED ON INTERNATIONAL LAW PRINCIPLES

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 16 2007

Latvia’s Foreign Minister Atris Pabriks, visiting Baku met with his
Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov.

Elmar Mammadyarov said that regional issues, the settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict, economic cooperation, energy cooperation,
holding Azerbaijani days in Latvia and Latvian days in Azerbaijan,
interparliamentary cooperation were discussed during the meeting.

Calling Azerbaijan the economic leader of the region, Atris Pabriks
reminded that Latvia is the member of European Union and NATO and
said Azerbaijan will implement plans for cooperation with these
organizations.

Minister said Latvian investors and tourists are getting interested
in Azerbaijan.

Highly appreciating the relations between the two countries, Mr.Pabriks
underlined the necessity of extending them.

Taking a stance on ‘presidential elections’ in the occupied Azerbaijani
territories, Latvian minister said that his country supports the
solution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict based on the norms and
principles of the international law and wishes to see the South
Caucasus countries as friendly and peaceful countries. Pabriks noted
that special plans will be carried out for Azerbaijan’s integration
into NATO and the European Union.

Elmar Mammadyarov said Latvia’s 15-year practice of independence is
very interesting for Azerbaijan. He said Azerbaijan is studying the
experience of these countries.

Mammadyarov also touched upon the mass burial place of Azerbaijani
civilians killed by Armenians at the beginning of the last century.

"It is a very serious problem. The Foreign Ministry is seriously
engaged in this problem," he said.

Commenting on preparation of a general plan of Shusha by Armenians,
who have occupied Azerbaijani territories, Minister Mammadyarov
underlined that this action contradicts peace.

"If an agreement had been reached on the solution to the conflict
and IDPs returned to their places, then preparation of general plan
of Shusha would have been a positive initiative. But in this case it
is unacceptable," he underlined.

ARMENIAN CRISIS WITH GERMANY

Sabah, Turkey
April 13 2007

Germany is preparing a bill that will give a three years jail sentence
to those not only denying the Armenian genocide, but also to anyone
who says: "Armenian forced emigration."

The bill prepared by the EU term chair Germany has brought up the
greatest crisis between Turkey and this country since World War II.

Germany has prepared an unbelievable bill in regards to the claims
of genocide.

The imminent so-called genocide crisis with Germany

The EU term chair Germany has brought the so-called Armenian genocide
to the EU agenda and is attempting to make it a crime to call it an
"emigration," which is the cause of tension in the relations of the
two countries.

Turkey is struggling diplomatically against the EU term chair
Germany’s attempts to give a three years jail sentence to those not
only denying the Armenian genocide but also to anyone who says it
was an "Armenian emigration."

However, Germany remains silent despite the warnings up until to now.

The greatest crisis between the two countries since World War 2 is
coming very soon.

If the bill passes, a Turk calling it an "emigration" will be penalized
for up to three years’ imprisonment. The first counter attack from
Turkey started around 1.5 month ago with the warning sent to the
German Embassy.

UNIBANK PUTS INTO OPERATION FIRST TELLER MACHINE WITH CASH-IN FUNCTION IN ARMENIA
Author: Editor: Eghian Robert

Noyan Tapan
Apr 13 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 13, NOYAN TAPAN. Unibank has become the first
bank in Armenia to put into operation a teller machine with
cash-in function. (It is installed at the branch at 2 Deghatan
Street (Yerevan), near the building of the Central Bank of
Armenia). Presenting the possibilities of the new teller machine,
director of the bank’s plastic cards department Mesrop Hakobian noted
that in addition to the "usual" cash-out functions, the teller machine
also accepts US dollars, euros and Russian rubles.

After the checking of authenticity of banknotes to be accepted,
information about their nominal value, quantity and total amount
appears on the cash teller’s display, after which the operation
required by the customer are carried out. M. Hakobian said that besides
transferring this money to the customer’s account, the teller machine
also exchanges the above mentioned foreign currencies for Armenian
drams at the exchange rate set by the bank – also without availability
of a plastic card.

According to M. Hakobian, in the near future the teller machine will
be connected to the E-card-banking system, which will allow to repay
credits and pay interest on them through the teller machine. In his
words, cash-in functions will gradually be introduced in all teller
machines of Unibank – their number currently makes 31 and will increase
to 60 by late 2007.

As of March 31, 2007, Unibank issued 17,532 plastic cards, including
14,944 Visa cards and 2,588 ArCa cards.

ISRAEL SHOULD BREAK OFF RELATIONS WITH TURKEY UNTIL IT RECOGNIZES GENOCIDE, BELHASSEN SAYS

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.04.2007 17:00 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In a long letter addressed to the Israeli government,
former academician, specialist in eastern languages and archaeology,
author of documentaries and journalist, David Andre Belhassen voiced
indignation at the position of the Israeli government on the Armenian
Genocide recognition issue, independent French journalist Jean Eckian
told PanARMENIAN.Net.

"As son of the Hebrew people and citizen of Israeli State, faithful
to the revolutionary values of the Hebrew Movement of Liberation,
I call on the Israeli government to give up its policy in support
of negationism of Turkish PM Erdogan and of all the Turkish leaders
who preceded him. As long as Mr. Erdogan denies the crime perpetrated
by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenian people, Israel State must
break diplomatic relations with his government," he said.

ARMENIAN POWER GRID TO INVEST 75M DOLLARS IN RECONSTRUCTION

Arminfo
10 Apr 07

Yerevan, 10 April: Armenia’s Commission on Public Services approved
today [10 April] the investment plan worth 26.961bn drams (about 75m
dollars) for the Armenian power grid (an affiliate of the Unified
Energy System of Russia, RAO UES) for the period of 2007-2009.

The company specialists said at the commission’s meeting that according
to the plan, 12.2bn drams (about 34m dollars) will be invested in
the Armenian power grid in 2007; 7.405bn drams (about 20.5m dollars)
in 2008; and 7.349bn drams (about 20.4m dollars) in 2009.

The most of the fund will be channelled into the reconstruction,
modernization and expansion of the distribution networks.

[Passage omitted: details of the plan].

The general director of the Armenian power grid, Yevgeniy Gladunchik,
said that the investment plan will be funded with the company’s own
funds (about 60 per cent), as well as with loans from foreign banks,
including Russian banks.

Robert Nazaryan, the chairman of the Commission on Public Services,
said that the investment plan will increase the burden on the margin
by only 0.5 per cent.

In 2006, the Armenian power grid invested 6.5bn drams in the network
against the 3.7bn drams in 2005.

The company is a monopoly in the sale of electricity to all the
users in Armenia and services 922,000 customers. It was privatized
in 2002. In 2005, the 100 per cent of its shares was bought for 70m
dollars by Inter RAO UES, an affiliate of RAO UES.