Author: Kamalian Hagop

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ISSUE TRIPS POLITICIANS AGAIN
By Michael Doyle
McClatchy Newspapers

Kansas City Star, MO
Oct 28 2007

Pelosi WASHINGTON | Armenian genocide resolutions such as the one that
collapsed last week confound congressional leaders and presidential
candidates alike.

Promises come easily and are politically alluring. Delivery is
difficult, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat,
now has learned the hard way. Failure brings second-guessing and no
guarantee of when the resolution might return.

"We’ll continue to stay focused on this," said Rep. Jim Costa,
a California Democrat who is a member of the House Foreign Affairs
Committee. "We’ll await our time."

The resolution declares that "the Armenian genocide was conceived and
carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923" and "1,500,000
men, women and children were killed."

Turkish officials say the resolution twists history, and they spent
$300,000 a month lobbying against it. Bush administration officials
say the resolution undermines relations with a country that borders
Iraq and Iran.

Late Thursday, resolution supporters asked Pelosi to put it off until
a "more favorable" time. Translated: They lack the votes. Publicly,
supporters say they can still win before the 110th Congress ends
next year.

"We’re going to be working this really hard," Rep. Adam Schiff, a
California Democrat, said Friday. "When we bring it up, we want to
be absolutely confident we have the votes."

Skeptics – some of them resolution co-sponsors – are doubtful. One,
Rep. Devin Nunes, a California Republican, said Friday that there was
"zero" chance of reviving the measure next year.

"Democrats aren’t going to bring it up," Nunes said. "They’ve got
shaky feet."

Nunes speculated that the letter sent by Schiff and others to Pelosi
late Thursday afternoon amounted to political cover, a concession of
defeat also designed to shield the Democratic leader from criticism
about letting the bill die.

Undeniably, the genocide resolution puts lawmakers in a bind, and
Pelosi wasn’t the first leader to get entangled in it.

As candidates, George W. Bush and his father, George H.W. Bush,
endorsed the Armenian genocide characterization. They did so in
statements to Armenian-American voters, who are a political force in
certain regions.

As presidents, both subsequently repudiated the term "genocide."

Neither used it in annual commemorations of the 1915-23 Ottoman
Empire horrors.

story/336223.html

MINSK GROUP IS AGAIN IN YEREVAN AND WILL BE AGAIN IN BAKU
By Aghavni Harutyunian

AZG Armenian Daily
26/10/2007

Frequent visits to region remain without result

OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Yuri Merzliakov (Russia), Bernard Fussier
(France) and Matthew Bryza (USA) are again in the region. Naturally,
the Co-Chairs in Armenia, also on October 26 in Baku will discuss
issues that are not agreed yet.

On October 24, RA President Robert Kocharian and Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanian met with the Co-Chairs.

It’s worth to mention that on October 17, V. Oskanian met with French
Co-Chairman Bernard Fussier and Russian Co-Chairman Yuri Merzliakov
to discuss issues of the visit of the Co-Chairs to region on October
24-27.

The main issues are on the provisions that are not agreed yet, the
number of which is always changeable like the number of the pages of
the documents.

Anyway, according to "Azatutyun" website, on October 9 Armenian
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian, in his speech in EU Foreign Relations
Committee meeting announced that the negotiations discovered serious
perspectives in the framework of OSCE.

He also mentioned that in the three-page document of the main
principles of the conflict settlement only four issues remained
disagreed.

Underlining that the leaders of the two countries hadn’t yet reached
a compromise in those four issues, the Minister hoped that they could
overcome the disagreements before the Armenian presidential elections
in February 2008.

The Co-Chairs last time were in Yerevan on September 17, when the
Co-Chairman Yuri Merzliakov in the Embassy of France mentioned,
"We got positive impression of those meetings and at least we guess
that the leaving for Baku got additional spur after those meetings. We
hope that the meeting in Baku will also be efficient".

Similar announcements prove that only in the most desperate situation
we should expect something from these visits.

And the possibility of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents’
meeting is a manifestation of concentrating the attention to the
process and not presenting the reality.

RIGHT TIME, WRONG GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
By Garin K. Hovannisian

Los Angeles Times, CA
n/la-oe-hovannisian25oct25,1,7957860.story?coll=la -news-comment
Oct 25 2007

The grandstanding in Congress cheapens the Armenian genocide, but the
resolution exposes enmity with Turkey that the president cannot ignore.

Old promises never die; they just fade away. So it is with the House’s
Armenian genocide resolution, the delicate dream of an underdog
people who have, since their slaughter and dispossession in 1915,
struggled to bring memory to power.

When the resolution cleared the House Foreign Affairs Committee on
Oct. 10, I was in L.A. — the diaspora’s nerve center — and Armenian
schools and churches were rumbling in anticipation. All that remained
was for Speaker Nancy Pelosi to keep her promise to give the resolution
a full House vote.

Then, suddenly, the Washington machinery growled. Turkey recalled
its ambassador to the U.S., while its lobbyists caught up with
members of Congress. The political media — from National Review
to the Nation — showcased a powerful set of hostilities toward
the resolution. And within a few days, at least a dozen co-sponsors
withdrew their support. "It’s a good resolution but a horrible time
to be considering it," said Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.).

A horrible time because Turkey is a "key strategic ally," or, to
exorcise the flattery, a crutch in America’s democratic balancing act
in the Near East. As it happens, Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey
serves as a transfer point for 70% of U.S. cargo headed for Iraq.

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates cited "our heavy dependence on
the Turks" in his case against the resolution.

Many other reasonable worries have been splashed around — not all of
them by the usual troublemakers. The Armenian patriarch in Istanbul
opposed the resolution because he feared for the safety and standing
of Armenians in Turkey. Even I, the great-grandson of Armenian genocide
survivors, wrote against the resolution — not because I don’t believe
there was a genocide but because the resolution’s text and attendant
political grandstanding cheapened the reality of that tragedy.

The House has no business voting on the past. But the White House —
the conductor of U.S. foreign policy — has the obligation to face
history honestly. If the absorbed historic narrative is wrong or
politicized or incomplete — like our understanding of Baathism and
the Iraqi insurgency — foreign policy falters.

Unlikely though it sounds, the 92-year-old Armenian genocide is key
to U.S. foreign policy. It unlocks a closet of skeletons — but not
that of the Young Turks of 1915, stuffed with 1.5 million Armenian
skeletons. Instead, it opens the closet of today’s Turkey, which puts
its own Nobel laureate on trial for insulting "Turkishness"; which
has become, according to a 2007 Pew survey, the most anti-American
country in the world; where "Mein Kampf" hit the bestseller list in
2005; which denies the Armenian genocide committed by a past fascist
government probably because it retains some spiritual loyalty to it.

It is no irony, then, that in denouncing the Armenian genocide
resolution as a smear on its democratic name, Turkey is threatening
extremely undemocratic behavior. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
recently issued plan of "six reprisals" includes a shutdown of Incirlik
Air Base (a betrayal of the war on terrorism), a slow withdrawal from
NATO (a betrayal of the West) and a revamped partnership with Iran
(a betrayal of peace in the Near East). The flap over the resolution
has revealed that Turkey’s Western leanings are not based on steady
principles but on friendships of convenience.

Which is why I believe that the generally bad Armenian genocide
resolution came at precisely the right time for the United States. It
came at a time when our president could observe Turkey’s fascistic
convulsions and would be forced to choose between two historical
narratives. Would he choose the denialist fiction that would keep
afloat a rotting alliance and maybe his war? Or would he choose the
bloody truth?

At a news conference called just before the Foreign Affairs Committee
debate two weeks ago, President Bush brushed off the truth. He urged
Congress to stop the recognition, not because Congress trespassed
into Bush’s foreign policy jurisdiction but because it disrupted his
agenda. In turn, our ally responded Monday by announcing that it would
defy the pleas of the United States and cross Iraq’s northern border
to conduct military operations.

This latest breach of friendship — or, rather, revelation of enmity —
affords the president yet another chance to recalibrate the national
conscience and to reappear in the Rose Garden for two announcements:
the first, a request that Congress withdraw its resolution; the second,
a modest notice that the Armenian genocide of 1915 has not, in fact,
faded away, but quietly has been absorbed by America’s historical
narrative.

Garin K. Hovannisian is a graduate student at Columbia University’s
School of Journalism and blogs at LuckyFrown.com.

ARMENIA TO BUILD NEW REACTOR AT ITS NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

ITAR-TASS
Oct 24 2007
Russia

YEREVAN, October 24 (Itar-Tass) — Armenia has made a decision to
build a new unit at the operating nuclear power plant to replace the
one to be decommissioned, Energy Minister Armen Movsesyan said.

"An alternative to the nuclear power plant in Armenia could be
only a new nuclear unit that will meet current safety and security
requirements," the minister said in an interview with the Voice of
Armenia newspaper on Wednesday.

The decision to build a new reactor was also prompted by the fact
that the country has commercial reserves of uranium, Movsesyan said.

"While it was economically unprofitable to produce this radioactive
material before because of the low prices, now the situation has
changed," he said. "So Armenia will have its own energy supply and
its own nuclear reactor."

"Armenia has no goal of introducing enrichment technology in the
country. Especially since our reserves may not be big enough to enrich
uranium inside the country," he said.

"Preliminary estimates show that Armenia has enough uranium reserves
to meet the needs of its own nuclear power plant and export part of
them," the minister said.

In his view, the best solution would be to build a 1,000 megawatt
power unit since the republic’s electricity needs grow at about 4
percent a year.

In determining the capacity of the new reactor, the government is
taking into account not only internal needs of the republic but also
regional energy problems, he added.

"A 1,000 megawatt power unit will be able not only to meet the needs
of Armenia and reduce the country’s dependence on organic energy [gas,
oil, etc.] considerably, but will also have certain energy importance
in the region," Movsesyan said.

Armenia "will stop the operating nuclear reactor only when and if
it obtains alternative generating capacities that match it," the
minister said.

"When we speak about alternative capacities, we mean not only
physical parameters, i.e. the volume of electricity generation,
but also economic ones, i.e. its cost for the population," he said.

"The European Union is seeking to stop the reactor as soon as
possible. But since the reactor’s service life ends in 2016 and we
have no replacement for it at the moment, we cannot announce its
decommissioning," the minister said.

"If we build a new reactor sooner, the operating one may be stopped
before that date," he added.

"At any rate, we are clearly and openly showing the world our readiness
to move in parallel towards the decommissioning of the operating
reactor at the nuclear power plant and replacing it with a new,
more modern, effective and safe one," Movsesyan said.

In his words, the development of a feasibility study for building a
new reactor at the Armenian nuclear power plant is underway with the
assistance of foreign specialists. This work will be completed within
1-2 years. The document will "substantiate the optimal scenario for
us", the minister said, "from the optimal capacity of the reactor,
technology and equipment, to communications, infrastructure and
seismic characteristics."

He did not rule out that the Armenian nuclear power plant may use of
a Russian, Canadian, American, European or Japanese reactor, or it may
install a hybrid, as Bulgaria did, using a Russian reactor but European
electrical machines and mechanisms, and the American safety system.

"We hope that individual countries, private and/or state companies,
international organisations or their consortium will be able to form
a financial offer that is necessary for the construction of a new
reactor at the Armenian nuclear power plant," Movsesyan said.

The European Union insists that the operating reactor at the Armenian
nuclear power plant be stopped. "But we say, create conditions where
we could get access to long-term and low-interest (cheap) credits,
and we will solve all our problems," he said.

THE TURKS KNOW

uruknet.info
mp;s1=h1
Oct 24 2007
Italy

I recently pointed out the stunningly obvious fact – so obvious,
in fact, you won’t see it mentioned anywhere else – that it wasn’t
the ‘powerful Armenian lobby’ motivating the bizarre decision by Tom
Lantos to bring up the Armenian genocide at this particularly delicate
time. The Turks know exactly what is going on. From the JTA:

" When a U.S. congressional committee approved a resolution recognizing
the World War I-era massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as
genocide, Turkey’s reaction was swift and harsh: Blame the Jews.

In an interview with the liberal Islamic Zaman newspaper on the eve
of the resolution’s approval Oct. 10 by the U.S. House Committee on
Foreign Affairs, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said he told
American Jewish leaders that a genocide bill would strengthen the
public perception in Turkey that ‘Armenian and Jewish lobbies unite
forces against Turks.’

Babacan added, ‘We have told them that we cannot explain it to the
public in Turkey if a road accident happens. We have told them that
we cannot keep the Jewish people out of this.’"

and: "An online survey by Zaman’s English-language edition asking
why Turks believed the bill succeeded showed at one point that 22
percent of respondents had chosen ‘Jews’ having legitimized the
genocide claims’ – second only to ‘Turkey’s negligence.’"

Do you think it is a coincidence that Israel has been training
the Kurds and that the Kurds suddenly took the opportunity of this
provocation by Israeli agent Lantos to mount a big attack against
the Turks in Turkey? The Kurds, egged on by the Israelis, want the
Turks to attack Iraqi Kurdistan, as they see it as the only way to
eventually lead to the breakup of Iraq and the creation of Greater
Kurdistan. Obviously, this also suits the Israelis. The Turks are
completely aware of the trickery, which is why they are attempting
to forge an alliance with the Iraqi leaders to find a sane way
around this.

This is a typical Zionist conspiracy, utterly unconcerned with the
devastation it will cause as long as there is the tiniest prospect
of advancement for the cause of Jewish power.

ARMENIA DEFEATS SAN MARINO 1:0

armradio.am
23.10.2007 17:24

The Armenian under-19 football team defeated the youth team of San
Marino 1:0 in the second qualifier in the framework of the European
Championship.

Hayk Chilingaryan scored the only goal.

October 25 the Armenian footballers will meet with the youth team
of Poland.

BASE METALS IS FIRST MAJOR TAXPAYER

KarabakhOpen
23-10-2007 16:36:01

The Azat Artsakh published the list of taxpayers at the top of which
is again Base Metals, a mining company. It has paid 1 877 511 300
drams of taxes since the year began.

The second major taxpayer is Karabakh Telecom which has paid 552 951
300 drams over the past months. The third is Artsakh Energy which
paid 361 443 500 drams. It is followed by Artsakhbank with 296 266
000 drams and Artsakh Gas with 187 292 000 drams. Two construction
companies, Kapavor and Dorozhnik paid 159 874 300 drams and 129 719
100 drams respectively.

Armenian Watch and Jewelry paid 72.5 million drams, Artsakh Alco paid
66.7 million drams, Karabakh Gold paid 61.7 million drams, Stepanakert
Winery paid 25.7 million drams, Petrol Service paid 24.1 million drams.

CAMPAIGN IN SUPPORT OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION TO BE HELD IN US

DeFacto Agency
Oct 23 2007
Armenia

His Eminence Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate of the Western
Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and citizen-activists from
across the U.S. will be arriving in Washington, DC, this week to urge
passage of the Armenian Genocide resolution, H.Res.106, reported the
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

To remind, the adoption of the resolution by the House Foreign Affairs
Committee on October 10th sparked a firestorm of media coverage over
the Turkish government’s threats to retaliate against America, if the
measure were approved by the full House of Representatives. Turkey
has poured millions of foreign dollars into the U.S. political system,
paying former Members of Congress to make its case and public relations
firms to spin the media coverage against this human rights legislation.

In a first wave of community visits to Washington in the wake of the
panel vote, advocates for this legislation – Americans committed to
the growth of a genuine an anti-genocide constituency – are working
with their elected officials to put America back on the right side
of this fundamental moral issue. The ANCA, Armenian Assembly, and a
range of other community groups are taking part in this effort.

"We are pleased to be joined by so many friends from across the
country in helping to put America back on the right side of this
fundamental moral and human rights issue," said ANCA Executive
Director Aram Hamparian. "We welcome their devotion and energy and
look forward to working with them to encourage legislators to stand
up against Turkey’s efforts to exercise a veto over the recognition
of the Armenian Genocide by the U.S. Congress."

Activists from over 15 states, including California, Connecticut,
Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island and Texas will be meeting with Members of Congress and staff
in Washington, DC, with activists in remaining states reaching out
to their Congressional district offices. The Washington DC advocacy
effort, expands on the nationwide ANCA Call-in and write-in campaigns,
which have been underway since the Armenian Genocide resolution was
introduced in January, 2007, by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and spearheaded
by Representative George Radanovich (R-CA), Congressional Armenian
Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI),
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), Ed Royce
(R-CA), and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA). In March, the ANCA joined with
the Genocide Intervention Network in sponsoring the "End the Cycle
of Genocide" Advocacy Days, calling congressional attention to the
denial of the Armenian Genocide and the need for urgent action to
stop the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan.

This past Sunday, the ANCA hosted a special three-hour presentation
on Horizon Armenian Television, titled "ANCA Special Project: Call
for Justice", spotlighting the growing Armenian American community
activism in support of H.Res.106. The special included remarks by
His Eminence Moushegh Mardirossian, His Eminence Hovnan Derderian,
Primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church,
Glendale City Clerk Ardashes Kassakhian, and a of host community
organization leaders urging ongoing grassroots activism in support
of the Armenian Genocide resolution. Congressmen Adam Schiff (D-CA)
and Brad Sherman (D-CA) both called into the program to offer personal
insights into the path of this legislation.

Among the highlights of the program were updates from ANCA Chapters
from across the United States, documenting their efforts to pass
H.Res.106 and encouraging Armenian Americans to get involved locally
and nationally. The unified voice of the Armenian American community
in support of Armenian Genocide legislation was heard loud and clears
throughout the broadcast, as citizen-activists from Los Angeles to
New York called in to pledge their commitment to this human rights
legislation.

The October 10th House Foreign Affairs Committee vote approved
H.Res.106 by 27 to 21, despite a public call by President Bush,
announced during a White House press conference, against the measure.

In the wake of its adoption, over 5000 print, on-line and broadcast
news items have covered this measure. H.Res.106 currently has over
200 cosponsors, while a similar measure in the Senate, led by Senators
Richard Durbin (D-IL) and John Ensign (R-NV), has 33 cosponsors.

IRAN AND ARMENIA PRACTICE HAVE SIMILAR VIEWS ON RESOLUTION OF REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PROBLEMS

PanARMENIAN.Net
22.10.2007 15:28 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Iran and Armenia practice similar views on resolution
of regional and international problems, President of Iran, Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad said Monday before leaving to Yerevan.

"Iranian and Armenian people are united by a common culture. Besides,
our states practice similar views on resolution of regional and
international problems," he told reporters.

Trade and economic relations are developing. "We are cooperating in
such spheres as energy, cargo transportation and investment," he said.

"I am hopeful that my trip to Armenia will be productive for our
states," he said.

The Iranian President is accompanied by a delegation which includes
Vice President Parviz Davoudi, Defense Minister Mohammad-Najjar and
other officials, RIA Novosti reports.

IRAN, ARMENIA ISSUE JOINT STATEMENT

Islamic Rep. News Agency IRNA
Oct 22 2007
Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Armenia issued a joint
statement on Monday to express concern about ongoing developments in
Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine.

The joint statement was singed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and
his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian at the end of official
talks between the two presidents.

The statement called for restoration of stability and peace to Iraq,
Afghanistan and Palestine, non-proliferation of weapons of mass
destructions and respecting the rights of all countries such as Iran
to benefit from peaceful nuclear technology.

The statement also underlined the need for establishment and
consolidation of a stable and permanent peace in the region and
all-out cooperation for resolving regional conflicts.

It also called for expansion of economic cooperation between Iran
and Armenia and underlined the need to prepare suitable grounds for
making more investments in joint projects.

President Ahmadinejad heading a high ranking political and economic
delegation arrived in Yerevan on Monday.

The visit takes place upon an official invitation by his Armenian
counterpart.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and a number of other senior
officials are accompanying President Ahmadinejad in this visit.

He will also make a keynote address at the Armenian National Congress.

President Ahmadinejad is scheduled to deliver a speech at Yerevan
University where he will receive an honorary PhD and a medal.

On the second day of his official visit, the Iranian president is to
exchange views with Iranian nationals residing in Armenia.