Author: Kanayan Tamar

MEDICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, PEDAGOGIC CENTRE TO OPEN IN YEREVAN

ARKA
September 17 2007

A new medical, psychological and pedagogic centre will open on
September 18 in Yerevan, the RA Ministry of Education and Science
reports.

RA Minister for Education Levon Mkrtchian, Yerevan’s Deputy Mayor
Kamo Areyan, Director of a benevolent organization Mark Kellyn,
Chairman of the Armenian Office of the Mission East Humanitarian Aid
Organization (Denmark) Kim Hartzner and Chairwoman of the Bridge of
Hope NGO Susanna Tadevosian will participate in the opening ceremony.

AZERBAIJAN: JAILED JOURNALIST SEEKS PARDON
Mina Muradova, a freelance reporter based in Baku.

EurasiaNet, NY
rticles/eav100505ru.shtml
Saturday, September 15, 2007

Facing a fresh charge of tax evasion, jailed Azerbaijani newspaper
editor Eynulla Fatullayev has petitioned Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev for a pardon and appealed to the European Court of Human Rights
for a ruling on his case.

Fatullayev, editor of the now-closed Realny Azerbaijan and
Azeri-language Gùndalik Azarbaycan newspapers, was arrested in April
2007 on charges of slander, and accused of "insulting" the Azerbaijani
people. The case began after Realniy Azerbaijan published a statement
by an Armenian army officer who said that Armenian forces had kept
open an exit corridor for civilians during the 1992 Khojali massacre
in Nagorno-Karabakh. [For details, see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The most recent charge against the journalist, tax evasion, came on
September 4, after questioning of Realny Azerbaijan and Gùndalik
Azarbaycan staff by the Ministry of National Security agents. The
ministry claims that Fatullayev concealed 242,522 manats (roughly
$279,000) from Realny Azerbaijan’s income.

The charge is the third against the newspaper editor.

In July, the ministry accused Fatullayev of inciting ethnic and
religious hatred, and charged him with terrorism.

Fatullayev defense attorney Isakhan Ashurov told EurasiaNet that
preliminary investigations into the terrorism and tax evasion
charges have now ended, and that the cases are being transferred
to the Court on Serious Crimes for consideration. If found guilty,
the journalist would face a potential five to eight years in prison
on the terrorism charges and six months in prison on the tax evasion
charges, Fatullayev’s attorneys say.

Fatullayev was sentenced to 30 months in prison in April on the
original slander charges. [For details, see the Eurasia Insight
archive].

In late August, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan rejected an appeal.

Within the Azerbaijani legal system, a presidential pardon has now
become Fatullayev’s last option for release from jail.

In a September 9 appeal, the journalist asked for a pardon from
President Aliyev "because the criminal proceedings which were
instituted against him were unfair and ungrounded," Ashurov told
EurasiaNet. The likelihood of Fatullayev receiving that pardon,
however, is unknown.

In a September 7 press conference in Baku, the Council of Europe’s
visiting commissioner for human rights, Thomas Hammarberg, said that
he had discussed the imprisonment of seven Azerbaijani journalists
with government officials, but did not receive a clear response about
future intended actions. Hammarberg said that he had also asked
President Aliyev to issue a pardon for the journalists. President
Aliyev’s office could not be reached for comment.

In early August, one senior presidential administration official,
however, dismissed the contention that "bringing some individuals to
trial" constitutes media repression.

"There is no reason for concern," said Ali Hasanov, head of the
administration’s political policy department, APA news agency
reported. "The guarantors of the freedom of speech are the state and
the president. In the future, we will take actions to increase state
care for the media."

Parliamentarian Vagif Samedoglu, a member of the Council of Europe’s
Commission on Human Rights, told APA news agency on September 11 that
the next presidential pardon decree is not expected before the end
of September.

Meanwhile, Fatullayev’s attorney is appealing in the international
arena. After the Supreme Court bid failed, an appeal was submitted
to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg on September
10, Ashurov said. The lawyer claims that an "exceptional measure of
punishment" was used against Fatullayev by ordering his arrests on
grounds of alleged terrorism, while he was already under arrest on
the original charges.

The seven journalists in jail currently in Azerbaijan have sparked
rising concern from international organizations. All of the reporters
are in prison on charges of "defamation" or "incitement." All work
for non-government-controlled or pro-opposition media outlets.

On September 6, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists
(CPJ) issued a statement that called on the government to stop the
"persecution" of Fatullayev. "Not content with having locked up
Eynulla Fatullayev, the Azerbaijani authorities are now attempting
to throw away the key by piling up politically motivated criminal
charges against him," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon.

In a June 2007 report to the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe Permanent Council, Representative on Freedom of the Media
Miklñs Haraszti urged that the seven journalists be released and that
"persecution of the remaining independent media" stop.

The OSCE has also pushed for changes that would make libel, defamation
and verbal insults civil rather than criminal code violations. A
draft law on the topic has been under consideration in parliament
since late 2006.

–Boundary_(ID_/CdovBUJWEElJskNB0qPoQ)–

DASHNAKTSUTYUN MAY MAKE NO DECISION

Lragir.am
14-09-2007 13:18:20

It is probable that the ARF Dashnaktsutyun will not make the decision
it has been announcing after the parliamentary election regarding
naming president. The General Meeting of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun will
make a decision, which kicked off September 14 in Karabakh. On the
same day the speaker of the Armenian president Victor Soghomonyan
held a news conference and the reporters asked him about the opinion
of the president of Armenia on the ARF Dashnaktsutyun’s decision to
name a president. The reporters noticed a hint in Soghomonyan’s answer
that the ARF may make no decision on putting up a candidate at all.

"I would not like to comment because there is no decision as such.

Dashnaktsutyun has not decided yet. Let us wait until the decision is
made to speak about the attitude of the president," Victor Soghomonyan
said.

CHAIRMEN OF CONSTITUTIONAL COURTS OF SOUTH CAUCASUS TO VISIT GERMANY

Prime News Agency
September 12, 2007, 2:18 pm
Georgia

Tbilisi. September 12 (Prime-News) – Chairmen of the Constitutional
Courts of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia will visit Germany on
September 16-22.

Prime-News was told at the Technical Cooperation Community of Germany
(GTZ) that the visit would be held within the frameworks of the
regional project "reforms of court and justice in south Caucasus",
implemented by the GTZ.

Goal of the visit is to familiarize with the constitutional court
system of Germany on the federal level. The main issue of discussions
will be the reforms held in the court system in the South Caucasus
countries, as well as exchange experience in the justice system
of Germany.

Giorgi Papuashvili, Chairman of the Georgian Constitutional Court,
Farhad Abdullayev, Chairman of Azerbaijani Constitutional Court, and
Gagik Arutunan, Chairman of Armenian Constitutional Court, will hold
working meetings in Bundestag and the Federal Ministry for Economic
Development and Cooperation.

AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTER: NEW PEACE TREATY WILL NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM, WE SHOULD TRY TO SOLVE THE CONFLICT

Azeri Press Agency
[ 10 Sep 2007 14:32 ]

OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are scheduled to visit the region in
mid-September, APA reports quoting Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov. The Minister said that the route of the visit is being
specified at present.

"I met the co-chairs during my visit to Brussels. The co-chairs
initiated on visiting the region. We accepted this proposal. Azerbaijan
is interested in the continuation of the Prague process," he said.

Commenting on the statements on the necessity of concluding a new
agreement on ceasefire Elmar Mammadyarov noted that the co-chairs
are also concerned about regular violation of the ceasefire.

"I think that a new ceasefire agreement will not solve the problem. We
should try to solve the conflict," he said.

The Minister said he approves the idea of arranging a meeting of
Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno Karabakh.

"The more meetings are held, the better it is.

Involving Azeri community of Nagorno Karabakh in the negotiations
will only have positive results.

Armenians are also Azerbaijani citizens. So, relations should be
established with them," the minister said.

MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD MIXES BITTER WITH THE SWEET
Gabrielle Glaser

The Oregonian
Sunday, September 09, 2007

L ucette Lagnado’s luminous memoir, "The Man in the White Sharkskin
Suit: My Family’s Exodus From Old Cairo to the New World," begins in
wartime Cairo, outside a sun-drenched cafe where a girl of 20 enjoys
a coffee — and the attentions of a much-older man-about-town who
favors dressing in a white sharkskin suit. The two, Edith and Leon,
would marry in the Sephardic Jewish community in which they grew up
and eventually become the author’s parents.

Lagnado, an investigative reporter for the Wall Street Journal, has a
national reputation for covering the struggles of the poor, the elderly
and the uninsured within the health care system. Her compassion for
the voiceless and the forgotten is little wonder: In this memoir,
Lagnado traces the lives and disintegrating world of her parents,
an urbane Cairo where roses perfumed the air and wealthy residents
conversed in French, Greek, Dutch, English, Italian and Armenian.

Among Leon’s consorts: King Farouk I and British Army officers,
who called him "The Captain."

Lagnado spares nothing in the retelling, portraying her father, 55 when
she was born, in all his complexities: his gambling, his womanizing,
his mysterious business practices, his deep love of his family and
his devotion to Judaism. Poor, shy Edith, young enough to be Leon’s
daughter, is bullied by his domineering family into staying in her
unhappy marriage. Tension was rife: Zarifa, the author’s grandmother,
found Edith, trained as a librarian, a poor housekeeper — a verdict
"like a death sentence" in a community where such skills were
paramount.

Zarifa’s love unfurled each day in magical, curative cooking —
aromatic chickens stuffed with apricots or olives; okra-and-lamb stews;
meatballs with sour cherries.

Meanwhile, a real death sentence looms for Egyptian Jews. Leon’s
sister, her husband and children, who lived in Italy, died
at Auschwitz. After the war, most of Cairo’s Jews emigrated to
Israel. King Farouk abdicated, and Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized
Egyptian industry. Leon hangs on, with his little princess Lucette,
known as Loulou, his constant companion. But finally doors close even
for Leon, and the family prepares to leave in 1963. "Ragaouna Masr,"
Leon cries as Alexandria’s harbor drifts out of sight.

The family lights in Paris and eventually sails to New York, at odds in
a cold new universe shared by so many immigrants from sunny climes. The
Lagnados shiver, their thin coats useless against the winter chill. The
Captain of Cairo limps along New York streets, selling ties to put
food on the table. His Egyptian princess is at his side.

When Lagnado is diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease — in Egypt,
doctors thought the symptoms were cat-scratch fever — she finds
care at Manhattan’s temple of science, Memorial Sloan-Kettering,
with a kindly patrician doctor educated at Yale. Leon and Edith hold
fast to faith, summoning an ancient rabbi said to possess special
powers. As his youngest child undergoes radiation, Leon feeds her
olives. Like the other round fruits Zarifa tucked into her meats,
the olives were life-giving: the only morsels Lagnado could keep down.

The family, though, is shattered. By the late 1980s, the four children
have scattered. Edith suffers multiple strokes, her knowledge of
literature all but erased. Leon, afflicted with Alzheimer’s and
Parkinson’s, eventually succumbs.

But for us, Leon’s youngest daughter keeps him, and his beloved Cairo,
alive, young and vital, in this tender and captivating memoir.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT MEETS REPRESENTATIVES OF POLITICAL PARTIES

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Sept 7 2007

YEREVAN, September 7. /ARKA/. Armenian President Robert Kocharyan
met with representatives of political parties on Thursday.

The president met representatives of Republican Party of Armenia,
Armenian Revolutionary federation Dashnaktsutyun and Prosperous
Armenia.

Issues related to National Assembly’s coming session scheduled for
September 10 were discussed at the meeting.

Armenian parliamentary elections were held on May 12.

Five parties – Republican Party of Armenia, prosperous Armenia,
Dashnaktsutyun, Orinats Yerkir and Heritage won seats in National
Assembly.

Republican Party and Prosperous Armenia united into a ruling
coalition. The coalition signed an agreement with Dashnaktsutyun.

OSCE HELPS ARMENIA ELIMINATE TOXIC FUEL

ARMENPRESS
Sep 7, 2007

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS: Nearly 900 tons of highly explosive
missile fuel have been neutralized and turned into fertilizer with
the support of the OSCE, it was announced at a ceremony marking the
completion of the project September 6.

"Ensuring people’s security and environmental safety is part of
what the OSCE is about," said Colonel Jesus Anson Soro, a Senior
Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, who participated in
the ceremony.

"This project is a remarkable example of co-operation between the
OSCE and Armenia to improve and protect the environmental well-being
and security of the Armenian population."

The project to eliminate the dangerous rocket fuel stocks, commonly
known as "melange", was implemented by the Ministry of Defense with
technical and financial assistance from the OSCE.

"Armenia could not make such a project on her own, as it requires
not only substantial financial resources but also the use of
environmentally friendly technologies", said General Lieutenant
Gourgen Melkonyan, Deputy Minister of Defense, " I can assure that
Armenia is eager to continue to support the peacekeeping efforts of the
international community for the benefit of the security in the region."

Ambassador Rudolf Perina, US Charge d’Affaires, speaking on behalf
of the donor community, underlined the contribution of the OSCE,
and the Office in Yerevan in particular, for achieving such an
impressive result.

"Most importantly, Armenian people at all levels participated in
the project’s successful implementation for the benefit of Armenia,"
he said.

The OSCE Office in Yerevan initiated the project in 2005 on request
from Armenia’s Defense Ministry. The recycling process of the
Soviet-era melange, stored at the Kaltakhchi military base in the
north of Armenia, began in May 2006 following a needs assessment and
other preparations, including the installation of specially designed
recycling equipment. In total, 872 tons of the highly toxic and
volatile substance were recycled into 4,972 tons of fertilizer and
sprayed on 1,243 hectares of land in co-ordination with the Ministry
of Nature Protection and local farmers.

The project was financed by Canada, Finland, Germany and the United
States.

A group of local and international experts from donor countries as
well as from Georgia and Russia closely monitored the whole process
to ensure its professional execution and environmental safety.

WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP IN BAKU: YEREVAN SENDS REQUEST, BAKU DOES NOT RECEIVE IT

Panorama.am
14:56 06/09/2007

The Armenian combined team of free-style and Greco-Roman style
wrestling will leave for Baku on September 17 to take part in world
accredited championship in the Azerbaijani capital, Armenian Wrestling
Federation Press Secretary Yura Alexanyan told Panorama.am.

Concurrently, Azerbaijani media outlets have spread information
today saying "Armenian combined wrestling team will possible not
take part in the championship since Armenia has submitted no request
for participation."

Armenian Wrestling Federation told Panorama.am that a respective
request has been sent to FILA and the latter was supposed to forward
it to the organizational committee of the contest. "We have sent the
request. We will call FILA today to find out why it did not reach
its destination," the federation stated.

TWO MORE PLAYGROUNDS PUT INTO OPERATION IN KARABAGH

DeFacto Agency
Sept 5 2007
Armenia

Two more playgrounds built at the expense of Karabakh Telecom TV
Communication Company within the frames of A Joyful Kid marathon
have been put into operation in Stepanakert and the regional centre
of Martuni.

Speaking at the playground’s opening ceremony Stepanakert Mayor Eduard
Aghabekian stated A Joyful Kid marathon announced by the Stepanakert
city hall over a year ago had become a consecutive process, which
should be welcomed, Novosti-Armenia agency reports.

"On the one hand the construction of children’s playgrounds contributes
to younger generation’s upbringing, on the other hand it becomes
a peculiar token of the capital city’s cleanness and improvement",
Aghabekian noted.

In his turn the Executive Director of Karabakh Telecom CJSC Ralph
Yirikian assured the process would be continued. "The works are being
implemented in the Republic regions as well. Playgrounds in the towns
of Shoushi, Martakert, Askeran and Kashatag (Lachin) have already been
put into operation. In the near future the playgrounds in Hadrut will
be turned over for operation", Yirikian said.

In May, 2006 the Stepanakert city hall announced the beginning of
A Joyful Kid TV marathon targeted at playgrounds’ construction in
connection with the International Day of Children’s protection.

Currently there are about 20 playgrounds on the Nagorno-Karabagh’s
whole territory.