Author: Kanayan Tamar

TO INFLUENCE BAKU ARMENIA SHOULD WITHDRAW FROM KARS AGREEMENT AND RAISE NAKHICHEVAN ISSUE

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
02.12.2009 20:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey and Azerbaijan are trying to link
Armenia-Turkey relations to NKR conflict, RPA parliamentary group
member Gagik Melikyan said.

"It’s natural, but they won’t be allowed to do so," he stressed at the
joint news conference with former NKR Foreign Minister Arman Melikyan.

Yet, the latter disagreed, noting that though there’s no formal link
between Armenia-Turkey protocols and NKR conflict settlement, still
there is a procedural one.

"Armenia-Turkey border is unlikely to be opened until the spring 2010.

All the while, Turkey will be convincing the international community
of the impossibility to open the border without some progress in
Karabakh conflict settlement," Arman Melikyan emphasized.

"To influence Baku, Armenia should withdraw from Kars agreement and
raise Nakhichevan issue," Arman Melikyan noted adding that withdrawal
from agreement and Protocols’ ratification will allow Armenia to turn
over a new leaf in relations with Turkey.

THE FMS OF RA AND ESTONIA TOUCHED UPON THE NKR ISSUE

Aysor
Dec 2 2009
Armenia

The agenda of the Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian who
was in Athens for participating in the 17th sitting of the OSCE
Ministerial Council was full also with bilateral meetings.

The Armenian and Estonian ministers Nalbandian and Urmas Paet expressed
their gratitude for the periodic contact and have noticed that they
are giving a nice opportunity for controlling the implementation
of the achieved agreements and to highlight the new steps for the
development of the relations.

As the Press and information service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry
informs Urmas Paet has reconfirmed the invitation for Tigran Sargsyan
to Estonia made by the Prime Minister Andrus Ansip.

The Armenian FM has presented to his Estonian counterpart the latest
developments concerning the NKR issue taken place in Munich on November
22 during the meeting of the two presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The Ministers have discussed also issues concerning the cooperation
in the sphere of retraining of diplomatic staff.

INTERVIEW WITH REV. STAN LUCYK
By Noelle Boughton

United Church Observer
tan_lucyk/
Nov 30 2009

A retired United Church minister who has led pilgrimages to the
Holy Land for 30 years explains why Canadian Christians should make
the journey

Q Why do you think Christians should visit Israel and Palestine?

A Is there a Palestine? There’s a Palestinian Authority. But I
don’t think there’s a UN-recognized state of Palestine. It’s called
the Occupied Territories. It’s occupied land under dispute. [The
Palestinians are] allowed to sit at the UN, but the state has not
been put in place by the United Nations. The State of Israel is the
state recognized by the United Nations.

Q Okay, why do you think Christians should visit Israel and the
Occupied Territories?

A Because our boss was a Jew. Because Israel was the Christians’
homeland. Christianity is a historic religion that comes out of
Judaism. As [Old Testament scholar] George Ernest Wright said,
God is the God who acts — historical acts in historical places
and in historical times. To pick up those acts within the place in
which that history occurred is to underline the historicity of what
underlies Christianity.

Q How has seeing the land influenced your understanding of the Bible?

A Most of the United Church theology I had was mediated through
Scotland. Most of my teachers had their PhDs out of Edinburgh. When
you go and experience the land, it’s quite different in that you see
interpretive links. For example, if you think "Jew" in the Bible,
think Bedouin. So much of the folk stuff of biblical times was part
of Bedouin culture, which is still there, among Arabs and Palestinians.

Take Psalm 23: "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of
mine enemies." You don’t understand that until you realize the outside
ropes of the Bedouin tent were a refuge for anyone pursuing a person
for blood vengeance. The whole perspective on biblical interpretation
is changed when you experience that world.

Q What do Canadian Christians learn on these trips?

A If they learn anything, they should learn that beneath the surface
are countless subsurface stories. It’s always the first-time visitor
who has the solution for the Israeli-Arab issue, but the more you
visit, the more you learn about the complexity of the Middle East. It
should make us cautious about damning one side or the other. Sure,
the fence is a dirty, nasty thing. But, in 2002, there were 400
homicides in Israel. That’s counting terrorism. In 2008, after the
fence was put up, there were four. I haven’t heard any Jew who hasn’t
said that fence is terrible, but it has proven necessary. Another
thing Canadians learn is that 98 percent of the Christians in that
world are Palestinians. Our brothers and sisters in Christ in that
land are Palestinian Arabs.

Q How do you choose what people see on your tours?

A Normally the tour builds to Jerusalem. That’s the goal of the
pilgrimage. Then, one has to do basic homeland stuff for the Christian:
Nazareth, Galilee, around the Sea of Galilee. There’s also the question
of experiencing the vast range of that tiny country. So I take them
to Mount Hermon, the Dead Sea, and out in the wilderness, from which
the prophets came. It’s also a question of going to places associated
with the biblical story. We go to the sea coast, so they understand
that Pilate usually lived on the coast. He came into Jerusalem only
at Passover to make sure the Freedom Festival didn’t get these guys
thinking about freedom. And our guy from the Galilee, who talks about
a kingdom of God, ends up crucified.

I think part of our tour is also to break down "social distance." I
have a couple like Nadja and Issam Habash, Coptic Palestinian
Christians, come in. They allow us to understand something of their
world, like having to get up in the morning to get their kids through
that security fence. I often hire someone from [the Jewish non-profit
organization] Melitz, and on Saturday morning, we go to four synagogues
to experience the Yemenite, the Italian and the Reform [services].

I also want them to experience the totally different mosaic of
Christianity in Israel. Who’s a Melkite? Who’s a Maronite? Who are
the Armenians? Part of this is to open them to what author Philip
Jenkins calls "the lost history of Christianity."

Q What do they learn about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

A That depends on whom they talk to and what they read. Take the
Gaza conflict. War is dirty. Neither side was right. Hamas with their
rockets, and Israel with its attack. But, as a sovereign state, are
you allowed to protect yourself? When the State of Israel was formed,
the only one who made sense to me was theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. He
said that under a great historical necessity — namely the Holocaust,
but also the fact that countries like Canada were unwilling to help
refugees — one could justify the establishment of the State of
Israel, but there would never be a clean solution to this. At most —
in settling land claims and removing Palestinians from their land —
we will "approximate justice."

Q What opportunities are you able to build into the tour to help
participants assess the current conflict?

A We meet with Palestinians. We also go back and forth between
the Palestinian Authority and Israel. We know there are different
standards for different people. We whisk through without our passports
even being looked at most of the time because we have a trustee who
takes us across. The other thing I usually do is have a group meet
with the Palestinian Lutheran bishop of Jordan and Israel, Munib
Younan. He spends about an hour with us talking about the dilemma of
his people. Often, when we go to Bethlehem, I have the guide in the
Authority tell us what life is like. We see the shabbiness of the
Palestinians’ clothing, cars and buses when we go into Jericho.

Q The United Church has 19 partners in Israel and the Occupied
Territories. Do you include visits with any of them?

A I don’t know who the partners are. I am aware of the Middle
East Council of Churches, but I choose the partners I know. Bishop
Younan is a Palestinian. In Jordan and Syria, we meet with a Melkite
archbishop. It brings back some of that lost history of Christianity.

Q Most of your tours focus on Israel with only a few stops at
historical West Bank sites. How do you respond to critics who say
this does not provide an adequate representation of the struggles of
Palestinians today?

A Most sites germane to the biblical story are on the Israeli side:
the Galilee, Nazareth, Jerusalem, the wilderness. Bethlehem and
Jericho are in the Palestinian Authority, and we go there. Qumran is
in Palestinian territory, even though it’s under the Israelis. So we
visit Palestinian territories that relate to the biblical story. If
you want to tour only what goes on in the Palestinian-Israeli fight,
fine, do it, but it’s the biblical story that I’m after.

The sacramental nature of geography — the linking of word to place
to bring the past into the present — is the theological rationale for
why I do tours. I don’t make money. I’m not in it as a tour person. I’m
not in it to push the Israeli side. I’m in religious education.

Noelle Boughton is a Toronto writer and editor.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PETER SEMNEBY

armradio.am
01.12.2009 11:59

"Yerkir" Union of NGOs for Repatriation and Settlement addressed
an open letter to EU Special Representative of the South Caucasus,
where it denounces the European uNion for shutting eyes to the
discriminatory policy of the Georgian authorities towards ethnic
minorities. The letter reads, in part:

"Dear Mr. Semneby,

In the interview published in the Russian daily newspaper "Vremya
Novostey" on November 2, 2009 you, among other issues, touched upon
the problems of ethnic minorities of Georgia and, in that context, the
problems of the Javakheti Armenians, making the following observation:
"The issues of national minorities in Georgia are important. We must
pay more attention to them, than we – on our part, and the Georgian
authorities – on theirs used to. This is a difficult issue. … The
problems there are largely social; those are problems of economic
development."

The very fact of your statement can be considered as positive,
even if it is only viewed from the standpoint of public recognition
of the existing problem by such a high-ranking official of the
European Union. However, to what extent does it reflect the real
situation, reducing the problems of Javakheti Armenians to only their
socio-economic component?

Of course, the socio-economic component is present in the complex of
the problems of the Javakheti Armenians, but it does not occupy the
central and decisive position. The Armenian population of Georgia,
and the part, compactly inhabiting the south-western regions of the
country in particular, suffers from violation of their political,
civil, cultural, educational and religious rights, the rights that
are guaranteed by numerous international obligations undertaken by
Georgia and aimed at protection of ethnic minorities.

The main problems facing the Georgian and the Javakheti Armenians
can be summed up as follows:

The Armenian population is disproportionately represented in the
administrative and governing bodies of the regions of their compact
residence;

The Georgian authorities impose mandatory legislative and
administrative measures to compel the minorities in the places of their
compact residence to use exclusively the Georgian language in all
spheres of public life, although the vast majority of the Javakheti
Armenians by objective circumstances do not speak the language of
the titular nation;

The Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia has no legal status, and
the Georgian authorities refuse to return to it the Armenian temples,
confiscated during the Soviet era.

The very fact that you avoided mentioning in your interview
the existence of these issues, which are far from being only
socio-economic, becomes even more bizarre, considering the fact that
numerous reputable international organizations have addressed the
issue of discriminatory policy implemented by the Georgian authorities
towards the ethnic minorities in Georgia.

Thus, for example, the UN Human Rights Committee in its recommendations
adopted on October 16, 2007, proposes that the Georgian authorities
take steps to ensure freedom and equality of religion. The Committee
recommends that the Georgian authorities solve the problem of
restitution of the property, confiscated during the Soviet era to the
religious minorities. The Committee, expressing concern about the low
level of political representation of minorities, suggests that the
Georgian authorities implement measures to eliminate discrimination on
the basis of language. To this end, the Committee proposes to consider
the possibility of allowing minorities to use their own language
at the level of local government and administration and to take all
appropriate measures to ensure adequate political representation and
political participation of ethnic minorities.

Serious shortcomings regarding the compliance of Georgia with
the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National
Minorities were reflected in the report submitted in spring 2009
by the Advisory Committee of the Council of Europe. The Advisory
Committee recommends that the Georgian authorities make sure that the
policy of promoting the Georgian language is not detrimental to the
right of using the minority languages, mentioning that this requires
more resolute measures reflected both in law and in practice. The
experts of the Council of Europe, noting that national minorities
are underrepresented in the country’s political, cultural, social and
economic life, recommend that the Georgian authorities take vigorous
measures to remove legislative and practical obstacles the national
minorities come across, so that they can participate in the elected
bodies and in the executive, and work in the public service.

In addition to the above, authoritative international organizations
in 2005-2009, the Public Defender of Georgia, a number of Western
countries and international organizations in their respective reports
and statements touched upon the various manifestations of the policy
of violation of the rights of the Armenian minority of Georgia,
expressing their concern about these facts.

The President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan in his speech on September
1, 2009 also addressed the issues of concern of the Georgian and
Javakheti Armenians stating in particular that the logic of the
policy towards Javakhk should rest on the premise of "integration
without assimilation", and that the recognition of the Armenian as a
regional language, the registration of the Armenian Apostolic Church,
the steps undertaken to protect the Armenian monuments in Georgia
will only strengthen the Armenian-Georgian friendship and enhance
the atmosphere of mutual trust and understanding.

However, the Georgian authorities ignore the recommendations of the
international community and continue implementing a discriminatory
policy towards the Javakheti Armenians. Moreover, in recent years this
policy has achieved the level of repressions against the Javakheti
political activists through law enforcement agencies and judicial
authorities. During the period of 2007-2009 as a result of direct
and indirect pressure from the power structures of Georgia dozens
of political activists emigrated from Javakheti, many were tried for
fabricated criminal charges, some of them "bought" their freedom at
the cost of admission of guilt in their alleged "crimes", others were
tried in absentia and sentenced to various prison terms.

On July 21, 2008 the Georgian Special Forces stormed the house and the
office of the prominent Javakheti political activist Vahagn Chakhalyan,
"found" weapons there and on this basis immediately arrested him
as well as his father and his under-age brother. Later on Vahagn
Chakhalyan was charged with "organizing and active participation in
activities that disrupt public order" and "hooliganism"- charges
solely based on his political activities in 2005-2006, when the
Armenian population through demonstrations and protests put forth
their legitimate claims to honor their linguistic and educational,
socio-cultural and religious rights.

On April 7, 2009, as a result of proceedings accompanied by flagrant
violations, the Javakheti political activist was sentenced to 10
years’ imprisonment in the Court of First Instance. On October 30,
2009 the Court of Appeals upheld the verdict intact.

This retaliatory act by the Georgian authorities against Vahagn
Chakhalyan has caused wide public resonance in Armenia and in the
Diaspora. A number of Armenian non-governmental organizations,
international human rights institutions, European parliamentarians
have adopted statements and taken other steps aimed at protection
of the rights of the Javakheti Armenian activist. On April 14, 2009
the Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations of France held a
protest demonstration before the Georgian Embassy in Paris against
this unjust sentence; two days after this action Vahagn Chakhalyan
was severely beaten in prison.

Meanwhile, Georgia is a member of the "The European Neighborhood
Policy" and "Eastern Partnership" EU programs and through them the
country receives substantial financial assistance. At the same time
Georgia openly violates the basic human rights and the rights of ethnic
minorities. Under the circumstances, by ignoring the existing problems
the EU actually authorizes the Georgian authorities to continue their
discriminatory policy towards their ethnic minorities, authorizes new
manifestations of police repressions in the Armenian-populated areas,
and authorizes new irresponsible acts that deepen day by day the
mood of fear, frustration and alienation in the Armenian-populated
regions of Georgia. Thus, the European Union involuntarily assumes
the role of an accomplice of the Georgian authorities, sharing the
responsibility for a possible aggravation of the situation.

Dear Mr. Semneby,

Based on abovementioned facts, we call upon You to take more
decisive and effective stance in this issue in order to "explain"
to the Georgian authorities that the communication with the Armenian
citizens of their country from the position of rude force, police
repression and deprivation of rights leads to a deadlock, and only
through recognition, effective protection and enjoyment of fundamental
rights and freedoms of individuals and minorities, as well as the
actual planting of democratic procedures is it possible to create
stable guarantees for the development of the country.

We firmly believe, that only by exercising principled position with
respect to these issues is it possible to help the Georgian authorities
in creating a functioning democratic system, which will be the real
guarantee of stability for the country and the entire South Caucasus
region as a whole."

REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARGSYAN RECEIVED A DELEGATION LED BY REPUBLIC OF POLAND NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTER BOGDAN KLICH

gov.am
Nov 30 2009
Armenia

Greeting the delegation, the Prime Minister said to be hopeful that
"the visit will help strengthen bilateral relations, especially in the
strategic field of military cooperation." Tigran Sargsyan expressed
his appreciation of the Polish Seim’s passing a resolution on Armenian
Genocide recognition.

Bogdan Klich conveyed warm greetings on behalf of Polish Prime Minister
Donald Tusc who is scheduled to visit Armenia shortly.

Getting down regional problems, the head of the Armenian government
outlined the Karabakh peace process and the latest developments in
Armenia-Turkey relationship. The Polish Defense Minister said his
country is a partisan of peaceful settlement of disputes in South
Caucasus: "We highly value the process of signing the protocols."

The parties also spoke about the Partnership for Peace program
as implemented in NATO frameworks. The Republic of Poland was
said assuming EU chairmanship next year and concerned with the
implementation of the Poland-Sweden-initiated Eastern Partnership
Program.

Summing up the meeting, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan extended warm
greetings to his Polish counterpart and expressed hope that Mr. Tusc’s
upcoming visit will give a boost to economic ties: "Poland may well
be represented on a higher level in our region, and we are interested
in it."

ZURAB NOGHAIDELI: THE REGIONAL SECURITY ARCHITECTURE SHOULD BE REESTABLISHED IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS – EXCLUSIVE

APA
Nov 26 2009
Azerbaijan

Moscow. Roman Agayev – APA. APA’s exclusive interview with former
Prime Minister of Georgia, leader of opposition party, "Movement for
Fair Georgia" Zurab Noghaideli

-Traditionally, there has been friendship, peaceful neighborhood
between Azerbaijan and Georgia, and these relations are continuing.

How do you assess the present state of the relations between the
two countries?

-No doubt, Azerbaijan-Georgia relations will improve and strengthen.

Unfortunately, there are a number of problems in these relations,
though at first sight they seem to be positive. Tomorrow there will
be real strategic relations between our countries. Speaking of the
problems in Azerbaijan-Georgia relations, I mean Mikhail Saakashvili
led Georgia to war and destroyed the regional security architecture.

This architecture should be reestablished.

-Do the problems in the relations between the two countries also
include the problems of the Azerbaijanis living in Georgia?

-Like other nations, the Azerbaijanis living in Georgia also share out
problems and achievements. Speaking about the problems I mean that
the August happenings destroyed the regional security, it should be
reestablished. Georgia-Azerbaijan relations should always be on good
level. These relations will be on high level when we come to power.

-The regional security architecture was destroyed not only by last
year’s war, but much earlier – it was destroyed as a result of
Armenia’s aggression against Azerbaijan that is still going on…

– Certainly. I agree with you. Speaking of the security architecture
of the Caucasus I did not mean that at present it is ideal. Of course,
security architecture was destroyed because of a number of reasons,
including Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. There are a number of unsolved
problems in the South Caucasus. I think we should strengthen our
efforts to solve these problems. It is impossible to establish
transparent, stable security architecture in the Caucasus unless
these problems are solved fully. I am glad that Armenia and Azerbaijan
continue negotiations on the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Unfortunately, the process of settlement is going slowly, but it
should be noted that there are promising signs in this process.

RA NA PRESIDENT HOVIK ABRAHAMYAN RECEIVES THE AMBASSADOR OF KOREA

National Assembly of RA
Nov 26 2009
Armenia

On November 26, President of the National Assembly Mr. Hovik Abrahamyan
received Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic
of Korea to Armenia Mr. Le Kyu-Hyung (residence in Moscow).

During the meeting the sides discussed in detail the issues connected
with the upcoming official visit to the Republic of Korea of the
RA NA President from December 2 to December 6 of this year. Taking
into account the circumstance that it will be the visit of the first
Armenian high-ranking official to the Republic of Korea during the
recent period, the interlocutors expressed confidence that it will
promote the development of the bilateral cooperation. In that context
they especially highlighted the expansion of the trade-economic
cooperation, for which they considered necessary the encouragement
of the contacts between the businessmen of the two countries.

Mr. Abrahamyan noted that despite the distance dividing Armenia and
Korea, the visit gives opportunity to more strengthen the relations
between the two peoples resembling each other with their history and
spiritual image. The Head of the Armenian Parliament also highlighted
the implementation of the programmes of the exchange of experience
with the Parliament of the Republic of Korea.

HAYASTAN ALL-ARMENIAN FUND’S TELETHON IN LOS ANGELES RAISES $16 MILLION

ARKA
Nov 27, 2009

YEREVAN, November 27. /ARKA/. About $16 million were donated and
pledged in the course of the telethon Hayastan All-Armenian Fund held
Thursday in Los Angeles, the press office of the fund reports.

The raised money will be spent for recovering social and economic
infrastructures, such as water pipelines, schools and roads, in
Shushi, Karabakh.

Along with that, rural communities in Armenia and Karabakh will
be developed.

According to the press release, 5,290,000 U.S. dollars of the mentioned
amount have been pledged at the benevolent supper held in Moscow
ahead of the telethon.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Russian entrepreneurs of Armenian
descent were present there.

Another $1.8 million of the total amount has been raised during
European phonethon.

Hayastan All-Armenian Fund was established in 1992.

The fund implements national projects and develop Armenia and Nagorno
Karabakh’s infrastructures.

The president-headed council of the fund’s trustees is made up of
prominent representatives of Armenian communities worldwide.

AZERBAIJAN FM: ARMENIAN’S FUNDRAISING ACTIONS SHOW THEIR OCCUPATION POLICY OVER AGAIN

APA
Nov 27 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku. Lachin Sultanova – APA. "It is not the first time that
Armenians do this. Such step taken by Armenians expose their policy
of occupation," Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Elkhan
Polukhov told APA, commenting on Armenian’s telethon in the United
States to raise funds for the alleged restoration of Shusha, the
illegally occupied land of Azerbaijan.

According to him, after all the lands occupied by Armenia are
liberated, and Azeri and Armenian communities return to the homeland to
live in peace, the Government of Azerbaijan will carry out restoration
and rebuilding activities there and raise the standard of living in
Nagorno Karabakh to the level of living in Azerbaijan.

"With such actions, Armenians will not be able to really improve the
living conditions of the Armenian community there," he added.

Shusha is a town in Nagorno Karabakh, an internationally recognized
territory of Azerbaijan, illegally occupied by Armenians amid the
chaos after the fall of the Soviet Union.

IRAN TESTS NEW MISSILE

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.11.2009 20:47 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi announced the
country had successfully tested its Shaheen medium-range ballistic
missile as well as TOR-M1 air defense missile systems, MIGnews.com
reported.