Author: Kalashian Nyrie

MORE TURKS INTERROGATED IN DINK MURDER PROBE

AP
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Feb 26 2007

Turkish prosecutors on Monday interrogated two new suspects in the
killing of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who were detained
over the weekend.

Police detained the two on Saturday in Trabzon, the Black Sea port
city where all eight other suspects, including the alleged teenage
triggerman, lived. Police, meanwhile, released another suspect in
Istanbul following his interrogation over the weekend, the state-run
Anatolia news agency reported Monday.

Last month’s killing of Dink in Istanbul prompted international
condemnation as well as debate within Turkey about free speech, and
whether state institutions were tolerant of militant nationalists. On
Friday, a group of activists invited prosecutors to press charges
against them in a protest against a law that restricts free speech
and has been used to prosecute intellectuals.

Five members of the small Powerful Turkey Party stood in front
of a prosecutor at a courthouse and repeated statements by Nobel
Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk, slain journalist Dink and other
intellectuals that were used as evidence to prosecute them under
Article 301 of Turkey’s penal code, which bans insults to Turkish
identity.

The group, including party leader Tuna Bekleyic, then asked the
prosecutor to file charges against them. Prosecutors would have to
investigate Bekleyic and his friends before opening any lawsuit,
and none of the activists were arrested. More members of the party,
which has just a few thousand adherents in a country of 70 million,
were expected to conduct a similar act of civil disobedience this week.

Article 301 makes denigrating Turkish identity a crime punishable by
up to three years in prison. Pamuk and Dink had both spoken out about
the mass killings of Armenians by Turks in the early 20th century,
an issue that remains sensitive today. Numerous other writers,
journalists and academics have also been prosecuted.

A1+

`IT IS TOO EARLY TO CONSIDER THE LAW ON DUAL CITIZENSHIP’
08:47 pm] 23 February, 2007

Today, Raffi Hovannisian, leader of the `Heritage’ Party and RA first
Foreign Minister, viewed the law on `Dual Citizenship’ from various
angles, `Being a citizen, a lawyer and former Diaspora member, I
endorse dual citizenship but the law must have distinct
interpretations; it must provide equal rights and commitments. Let’s
take the existence of obligatory and alternative military service in
Armenia as an illustration. The commitments must be viewed from this
point of view’.

All the Diaspora Armenians wishing to be granted RA citizenship, must
be reminded of the above-mentioned two types of military service. The
commitments must be reconsidered after Armenia has got professional
army ‘.

Raffi Hovannisian highlights the right to vote and be
voted. Regardless of his position, Mr. Hovannisian assumes that it is
too early to speak of dual citizenship; it is better to refer to the
law after the parliamentary elections.

Panorama.am

19:48 23/02/2007

NO OBSERVER LEFT THAT TIGRAN TOROSYAN DID NOT INVITE

Today Tigran Torosyan, chairman of National Assembly,
sent invitation to international organization to
participate as observers in May 12 elections in
Armenia. NA press services told Panorama.am that the
speaker has sent invitation to Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly,
NIS Parliamentary Assembly and the European
Parliament.

Source: Panorama.am

NATO concerned about Azerbaijan’s "slow" military reform – paper

Ayna, Baku
21 Feb 07

NATO is concerned about the "slow pace" of reforms in the Azerbaijan
military, the independent Azerbaijani-language daily Ayna has
reported, citing unnamed sources in Brussels.

Ayna said that a group of NATO experts who visited Baku on 12-16
February to look into the implementation of the Individual Partnership
Action Plan (IPAP) also expressed dissatisfaction over the
"efficiency" of Azerbaijan’s military reforms, the report said.

"NATO strategists think that Azerbaijan should cooperate with the
alliance not just for the sake of cooperation… NATO puts its
conditions: if Baku is interested in cooperation with NATO, it should
try and cooperate until the end. ‘Incomplete’ cooperation could only
harm the general process," the paper said.

According to Ayna, NATO wants Azerbaijan to bring its military schools
in line with NATO standards; adopt its national security strategy and
military doctrine; upgrade its equipment; ensure transparency in
military planning and spending; and modernize its military
infrastructure, among others.

ARMENPRESS

CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING KILLS 11 PEOPLE THIS YEAR

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23, ARMENPRESS: Armenian
emergency service has reported this year 18 cases of
carbon monoxide poisoning which have claimed 11 lives.
The number was down from 29 cases registered from
January 1 to February 22 of 2006.
Overall this year 51 people suffered from
poisoning. In Yerevan alone 9 cases were registered,
as many as between last year’s January-February. Gas
poisoning cases have been registered in all Armenian
regions.

ARTUR BAGHDASARIAN INVOLVED IN NEALY FOUNDED CAUCASUS-CASIAN COMMISSION’S CHAIRMANSHIP STAFF

Noyan Tapan
Feb 22 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, NOYAN TAPAN. The first sitting of the newly
founded Caucasus-Caspian Commission was held in the middle of February
in Brussels.

Artur Baghdasarian, the "Orinats Yerkir" (Country of Law) party (OYP)
Chairman involved in the commission’s chairmanship also participated in
the sitting. As the latter stated at the February 22 press conference
the goal of foundation of the commission is discussion of issues
relating to future of the Caucasus-Caspian region and its relations
with Europe, working out of new approaches addressed to settlement
of conflicts existing in the region, stimulation of the regional
cooperation, security of the energetic safety, etc. The commission, in
the chairmanship staff of which Foreign Minister of Slovenia Dimitrij
Rupel and Professor of one of the Ankara Universities Mustafa Aydin
are involved, consists of representatives of 14 countries.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, EBRD President
Jean Lemierre, former President of Lithuania Vytautas Landsbergis,
former President of Portugal Mario Soares and others are among
them. Missions for gathering facts will be carried out in Nagorno
Karabakh, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Trans-Dniester during 2007,
on the initiative of the commission.

‘DO NOT DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN AN ARMENIAN AND AN ARMENIAN’

Yerkir.am
February 16, 2007

Writer Aghassi Ayvazian comments on the issue of dual citizenship in
an interview given to Yerkir.

Q: Mr. Ayvazyan, a new process of consolidating the relations between
Armenia and the Diaspora has started today. Before commenting on it,
what do you think has changed in these relations after Armenia’s
independence?

A: Many things have changed and these changes started even before
repatriation. There was a necessity to unite, we understood that we
are not alienated from each other, because in 1946-1947 there was
alienation between Armenia and the Diaspora.

I could not accept this thinking. In 1990’s I was publishing
a newspaper called "Armenians". It was aimed at uniting all
Armenians. I have supported the idea of dual citizenship from the
very beginning. There can be no disagreements on this issue. We are
one nation. And there is a very subtle issue here – every Armenian
living even in Yerevan is from Van, or from Kars, or from Georgia. You
cannot say this person is from Yerevan, the other is not.

Yerevan was established in 1828, and it was established mostly by
Armenians from Persia or from Tbilisi. We are a homogenous nation,
I think dual citizenship is not an issue. There are administrative,
political issues. This is a matter to be addressed by the government,
by experts but dual citizenship should be in place.

Q: Mr. Ayvazian, you spoke about united Armenian nation but we can
notice some jealousy in the debates around dual citizenship that
implies some people’s concerns that Armenia is for those who live
here. What causes this jealousy?

What should be done to change this approach to the issue of dual
citizenship?

A: I think this is to some extent an expression of our daily
lives. Today we differentiate between Armenians from Karabagh, Tbilisi,
Gyumri, Iran. Many Armenians come to Armenian from Iran today, they
buy houses here, they start their businesses. Many Armenians live
in Russia and USA. They went there from Armenia. Who are they? What
citizenship do they have?

This is a matter of secondary importance. It is not necessary to
live in Armenia to be a citizen of Armenia. I have lived in Yerevan
for 40 years. Before that I used to live in Tbilisi. My parents
are from Erzerum. Can you see the connection? We all have similar
biographies. We are a unique nation and this makes us different from
others. We did not have a state for several centuries. We are one
nation, Armenia is the homeland for all of us, we should all come here.

Q: What results and opportunities do you think adoption of a law on
dual citizenship have?

A: I think dual citizenship is already in place, even if
informally. Many Armenians come back to Armenia. I know many people
who have houses both in Los Angeles and in Armenia.

Yes, they are citizens of America but they also live here. I think
in this case they are already citizens of two countries even though
they do not have a passport. It will be better if they are given
an opportunity to get a passport. We now have to bring all this to
the legislative domain. I want to repeat, it is a very subtle task,
and we have to negotiate with other countries as well.

Q: Do you think it is correct to view this issue of pan-Armenian
importance in the context of internal political processes and
relations?

A: I don’t know what we might gain if we leave this task for the
future.

There are the issues of army, elections, etc. Maybe some people are
not currently living in Armenia but lived here in the past.

But if he has very good knowledge and can serve our nation why not
give him this opportunity? The Prime Minister of the First Armenian
Republic Khatissian lived in Tbilisi. It was a hard time and it did
not matter where he lived.

National interests are above everything. And this interest requires
that we have dual citizenship, that we unite and become one body. I
speak here as a writer and my words might sound pompous but this is
the truth.

State officials are to deal with down-to-the-earth issues. And if
they are patriotic they will definitely find ways to solve this
problem. We should be united, we should have one homeland, we should
not differentiate between an Armenian and an Armenian. We have many
enemies and we are facing a challenge of survival today. There are
eight million Armenians in the world. This is a big potential, we
can even strengthen our army with this potential.

Interview conducted by Karine MANGASSARIAN

LEVON MKRTCHIAN: SCHOOL COUNCILS ARE FULL MASTERS OF SCHOOL AND ARE
EQUALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR IT

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. Important changes will take place
soon in the sphere of secondary education in Armenia. Their
implementation will be first of all provided by clear activity of
school councils. Levon Mkrtchian, the RA Minister of Education and
Science stated about it during the School Councils Chairmen’s
consultation held on February 15 in Al.Pushkin school No1. L.Mkrtchian
expressed a confidence that working out of the program on development
of high schools, general computerization and improvement of the
material-technical basis is urgent today. Their implementation is
directly connected with correct work of school councils. Foundation of
school councils of schools of Armenia starting from 1997 is almost
completed: those do not exist only in 45 educational institutions from
1430 ones. In Levon Mkrtchian’s words, school self-government, which
must first of all function in favour of beneficials: pupils, excluding
any type of unevennesses during the education process, is put in the
basis of management of school councils. "The council must occupy itself
with its main function, must complete school development program, give
perspectives and exclude meeting illegal actions," he emphasized. The
Minister stated that he must have meetings with Chairmen of all school
councils. Those meetings have a goal to introduce council Chairmen with
their rights: "They must understand that they are the full masters of
the school, of the policy being carried on here and are equally
responsible for it." "Today we have that structure but the councils are
in very poor state and become active only during school directors’
elections, being a fawner, by selling their votes for this or that
candidate, what, in essence, very badly influences on development of
school," the Minister emphasized. The Minister facted that the Ministry
also has its part of guilt for omissions existed in councils’ works
till now: "we must periodically hold a monitoring to reveal all those
omissions which exist in them."

Süddeutsche Zeitung
16. Februar 2007

Aus für Stallone;
Der Star will Werfels "Musa Dagh" verfilmen, hat aber nicht die
Rechte

Sylvester Stallone hat einen Traum: Er möchte gerne "Die vierzig Tage
des Musa Dagh" verfilmen, Franz Werfels Epos zum Völkermord an den
Armeniern im Osmanischen Reich (SZ vom 14. Februar). Mit der
Ankündigung vor einigen Wochen hat Stallone die Armenier entzückt,
die Türken aufgebracht – und mindestens einen Deutschen sehr
überrascht: "Stallone kann und wird den Film nicht machen", sagt der
Regisseur und Produzent Ottokar Runze. "Die Weltrechte liegen nämlich
bei mir." Ottokar Runze also wird den Film machen, das heißt, er
steckt in den Vorbereitungen dazu. "Stallone weiß, dass ich die
Rechte habe", sagt Runze. Man habe mit dem Agenten des Hollywoodstars
Kontakt aufgenommen und ihm angeboten, als Koproduzent einzusteigen.
Stallone habe abgelehnt.

Jahrzehntelang hielt das Hollywoodstudio MGM die Rechte an Werfels
Roman. "Hinter den Kulissen gab es immer starke türkische Bemühungen,
den Film zu verhindern", sagt Runze. Der vor 81 Jahren in Berlin
geborene Runze erwarb die Rechte schon 1989. Mehrfach kündigte seine
Firma den Beginn der Dreharbeiten an, im Gespräch mit der SZ gibt
sich Runze zuversichtlich, dass es bald so weit ist, auch wenn die
Finanzierung "noch nicht ganz geschlossen" sei. 22 Millionen Euro
soll der Film kosten. Runze hat das Drehbuch geschrieben und wird
produzieren, Regie führen soll Kai Wessel ("Die Flucht").

Den Rummel um das "Haus der Lerchen", den Film der Taviani-Brüder
über die Massaker an den Armeniern, der gerade auf der Berlinale
uraufgeführt wurde, schreckt Runze nicht: Die zwei Projekte
unterschieden sich stark, meint er. Der Taviani-Film werde beherrscht
von "Grausamkeit und Verzweiflung", während "Die vierzig Tage des
Musa Dagh"von erfolgreichem Widerstand erzähle: "Die Armenier
flüchten auf den Berg und werden gerettet." Vor allem in Armenien
solle gedreht werden, nicht jedoch in der Türkei, am eigentlichen
Schauplatz des Geschehens. Man könne leider nicht ausschließen, dass
"fanatisierte" Türken das Projekt bedrohten, meint Runze: "Der Gefahr
kann man seine Mitarbeiter nicht aussetzen." Aber: "In unserem Film
sollen auch gute Türken zu Wort kommen."KAI STRITTMATTER

PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS OF ARMENIA POINTS OUT NECESSITY OF SOLVING PROBLEM OF SOCIAL JUSTICE IN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Noyan Tapan
Feb 14 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The "round table," organized by
a number of public organizations joint with the Democratic Party of
Armenia was dedicated to discussion of the problem of social justice
in the sphere of higher education. Karine Hakobian, the Chairwoman of
the "Reform" organization presented results of the researches held
by the organization, according to which one among ten children has
to leave the school because of hard social state.

Much more depressing situation is noticed in the sphere of higher
education.

K.Hakobian expressed perplexity with the "radical changes in the sphere
of higher education" being continued, which made considerably difficult
getting of education for representatives of socially needy strata of
the population. In her words, it is necessary to solve the problem
of social justice in the sphere of higher education. Aram G.Sargsian,
the DPA Chairman mentioned that the problem of accessibility of higher
education gets great importance in the sense of national security. In
his words, a long-term state program with indignation of the priorities
in the sphere of education must be worked out.