Author: Kanayan Tamar

HALACOGLU ON A MASS GRAVE, CLAIMED TO BE GRAVES OF ARMENIANS

Turkish Press
May 24 2007

ANKARA – According to the results of the carbon tests, it has been
proven that bones in graves, claimed to have been a mass grave of
the Armenians in Nusaybin town of southeastern city of Mardin, were
in fact bones dating back to 257-597 B.C, Prof. Dr. Yusuf Halacoglu,
the chairman of the Turkish History Society (TTK), said on Wednesday.

Halacoglu and Prof. David Gaunt from Swedish Stockholm Soederntoern
University carried out researches in Nusaybin, and the samples were
underwent laboratory tests in Ankara University.

"The soil and ceramic analyses indicated that they were dating to
53 B.C-227 A.D. A third sample was dating back to 63-383 B.C.,"
Halacoglu told a press conference in Ankara.

Halacoglu noted that the tests were carried out despite the mentioned
place was a Roman grave.

PREELECTION PROCESS IN NKR ON THE WHOLE PROCEEDS NORMALLY, ARMAN MELIKIAN SAYS

Noyan Tapan
May 24 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 24, NOYAN TAPAN. "The preelection process in Karabakh on
the whole proceeds normally. But they should dispute not over virtues
and shortcomings of the candidates, but over the programs published by
them," Arman Melikian, Adviser to NKR President for political affairs,
stated at the May 24 press conference.

He said that there is nothing bad that the parliamentary forces
have decided to consolidate over one candidate, Head of NKR National
Security Service Bako Sahakian. In A. Melikian’s words, presence of
a united candidate does not deprive anothers of the possibility of
free competition and dispute. For instance, rather an active dispute
goes on between two candidates, B. Sahakian and Masis Mayilian.

Besides, in A. Melikian’s words, "all parliamentary forces first of
all took into consideration the external challenges, therefore they
decided to support one candidate. And disregarding external challenges
would be just night-blindness."

INTERNET CENSORED IN AZERBAIJAN

AZG Armenian Daily
23/05/2007

On May 20, "Trend" agency informed that the employees of the Azeri
Emergency Ministry closed the offices of "Gyundelik Adrbejan" and
"Realni Adrbejan" opposition newspapers. Recently, the situation with
the Azeri printed press aroused many concerns, but this didn’t stop
the violations against the printed press journalists in particular.

Though, the violations against the journalists aren’t carried out in
the sphere of the printed press only.

In the course of "The Global Internet Filtering Conference 2007"
conference in London, Azerbaijan was included in the list of the
countries that carries out periodical censorship in the Internet
even. It’s worth mentioning that recently, Azerbaijan was characterized
as one of the most dangerous countries among the CIS member states
for the journalists.

ERDOGAN’S PARTY MAY FACE LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.05.2007 15:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The secularist establishment in Turkey is currently
laying the groundwork to prepare the files for a case to force
the closure of the Justice and Development (AK) Party headed by PM
Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the grounds that it is encouraging Islamic
fundamentalism.

Such files are compiled at the office of the Chief Prosecutor of the
Supreme Court of Appeals. If the chief prosecutor finds sufficient
evidence to launch a case for the closure of a political party he
takes the issue to the Constitutional Court, the New Anatolian reports.

In the past the Constitutional Court has closed down several
pro-Kurdish and Islamist parties. The last Islamist party to be closed
by the court was the Welfare Party (Refah Partisi) led by former Prime
Minister Necmettin Erbakan. Most AK Party officials and ministers came
from this party and are thus branded as "people with Islamic roots."

The secularists opposed the presidential candidacy of Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul saying someone with his Islamic background should not
be head of state.

The presidential election was a test for the secularist establishment
to flex its muscle and the fact that the secularists prevented the
AK Party from electing its candidate as head of state showed the
weaknesses of the government. The secularist challenge came in the
form of a military ultimatum presented to the government on April 28
and three mass rallies in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir that hurt the
AK Party.

ALLEGED SUSPECTS DETAINED IN STAVROPOL TERRITORY FOR DESECRATING ARMENIAN GRAVES

PanARMENIAN.Net
22.05.2007 13:51 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ For about 40 Armenian graves have been desecrated
in Krasnokumsk village of Georgievsk district, Stavropol Territory
in the night of May 21.

The graves were covered with paints and swastika signs, the
Police Department of Stavropol Territory reported. The crime has
characteristics of Article 244 of the Russian Penal Code (outrage
upon bodies of dead and their burial places).

Four suspects have been detained for participating in this crime: an
18-year-old resident of Georgievsk and his three associates. The low
enforcement bodies have already established their identities. Currently
they give testimonies, IA Regnum reports.

This is not the first similar crime committed in Stavropol
Territory. More than 50 graves, including Armenian were desecrated
by vandals in a cemetery near Georgievsk December 17, 2005. 14 more
Armenian graves suffered in the cemetery of a village in Nadezhda
Shpakovskaya district December 6, 2005. Then malefactors poured acid
over marble stones, broke grave plates and put out eyes on photos
of dead.

SIZE OF STUDENTS’ DRIVE MATCHES A BIGGER CAMPUS
By Walter Yost – Bee Staff Writer

Sacramento Bee, CA
May 21 2007

In all his years as an educator, Stuart Van Horn said the dedication
of students at the Rancho Cordova Center is what makes the hairs
stand up on the back of his spine.

Van Horn, dean at the Folsom Lake College satellite campus, recalled
the student body’s reaction last fall when students were relocated
to National University for six weeks while construction was completed.

"I could’ve put them in a minivan stalled in the middle of Highway
50 and said we’re having classes here," Van Horn said. "Few others
can match their commitment."

"We are the true people’s college," Van Horn says of the nearly
600-student Rancho Cordova Center.

Located in a Rockingham Drive strip mall, the school operates out of
a leased storefront next door to the Mt. Zion Church Center and the
Toner Cartridge Testing Lab.

Even though recent expansion nearly doubled the college’s size to
10,000 square feet — adding new classrooms, offices, a conference room
and a student lounge — there are homes in Granite Bay that are larger.

The college center’s cultural diversity is a reflection of the city
surrounding it. English is the primary language for only about 40
percent of the students, and English as a second language courses
constitute nearly a third of this fall’s class offerings.

At the school’s open house earlier this year, Van Horn said the
campus multicultural club held a food fair — offering dishes from
21 different ethnic groups.

Students’ family-income levels are significantly lower than at
both Folsom Lake College’s main campus and its El Dorado Center
in Placerville.

Asmik Dallakyam, a native of Armenia and the mother of six, has taken
several art classes at the Rancho Cordova Center and wants to open
an interior design business.

Sitting in a crowded watercolor painting class last week, Dallakyam
said one of her challenges attending college is transportation.

The Rancho Cordova resident doesn’t drive and said it’s hard for her
to get to the Folsom Lake College campus.

Her husband drives her to the Rancho Cordova Center, where she’s also
taken business and computer classes.

It’s not just the center’s students who have to make adjustments at
the storefront campus.

Talver Germany teaches beginning watercolor painting in a classroom
not designed for art classes.

Approximately 25 students and their drawing pads fill the room —
which is otherwise used for academic subjects like English and math.

A small sink in the back is the only place to clean up.

"We make it work," said Germany, a full-time counselor at Folsom
Lake College.

Part of the campus’ recent expansion includes a new student services
office, where Victor Duron, Brandon Cruz and Gayane Pustovit work.

Many of the students they assist, Duron said, are juggling school,
family and work.

"We help them with selecting courses, the application process and
applying for financial aid," Cruz said.

Cruz said the center provides "equal access to higher education."

Pustovit, who speaks Armenian, Russian and Ukrainian, keeps busy as
a translator at the college.

Van Horn, who also serves as Folsom Lake College’s dean of career and
technical education, said college officials want to open a permanent
campus in Rancho Cordova by fall 2012. They’ve been shopping for a
site along Folsom Boulevard with light-rail access.

Enrollment has continued to grow since the campus opened in spring
of 2001 and the school currently offers courses in 24 disciplines.

RUSSIA FM TO ARRIVE IN BAKU

ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
May 20, 2007 Sunday 07:24 PM EST

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will arrive on an official visit
in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, on Monday. The forthcoming meetings
between the Russian minister and the Azerbaijani leadership will
focus on the problems of the CIS, the Caspian Sea and Nagorno Karabakh.

Sergei Lavrov "will be received by Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev, is expected to meet with Prime Minister Artur Rasizade and
his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov," spokesman for the
Russian Foreign Ministry Mikhail Kamynin said. The sides will discuss
"the implementation of the agreements reached on the top level bringing
interstate relations to a qualitatively new level by means of improving
cooperation in all spheres."

The foreign ministers of the two countries will exchange views "on the
possibility of broader cooperation within the CIS, higher coordination
of actions in international organisations." The interlocutors "will
attune steps for cooperation in the UN, the OSCE and the Council of
Europe," Kamynin added.

The negotiations will also focus on the Nagorno Karabakh settlement
situation. "Russia aims at assisting the parties to the conflict to
find a compromise decision," the diplomat pointed out. "Azerbaijan
and Armenia bear the major burden of responsibility for a final
choice of a settlement formula," Kamynin remarked. Russia "would be
ready to support a problem solution, which will suit all parties,
and if a compromise agreement is reached, will act as a guarantor
of settlement."

The Baku negotiations will highlight the issues of defining a legal
status of the Caspian Sea, ensuring security in the region and the
prospects of holding the second summit of Caspian littoral states.

The forthcoming negotiations will also focus on the prospects of
bilateral cooperation. "The economic aspect of cooperation is becoming
more and more important," Kamynin indicated. "A high economic growth
rate in Russia and Azerbaijan make these countries more attractive
in terms of developing mutually beneficial cooperation," the Russian
Foreign Ministry’s spokesman said.

"Prospects open up for broader cooperation in the fuel and energy
complex, science-intensive technologies, innovative activities,
and expanding direct economic ties between regions of Russia and
Azerbaijan," he noted.

"Cooperation in the humanitarian sphere makes a significant part of
bilateral relations," Mikhail Kamynin underlined. "We believe that a
valuable experience, which had been accumulated during the exchange of
the national years in the countries, should be used in the fulfillment
of the Russian-Azerbaijani programme of cooperation in the humanitarian
sphere for 2007-2009," the Russian ministry’s spokesman said.

FBI EXPERTS TRAIN ARMENIAN OFFICERS TO FIGHT CYBER CRIME

ARMENPRESS
May 18 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS: During the week of May 14 through May
18 three U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agents have
conducted a Computer (Cyber) Crime Course at the Police Academy of
Armenia in Yerevan. The attendees included eight officials from the
National Security Service, five from the Armenian Police Service
and four from the National Bureau of Expertise, the U.S. Embassy in
Yerevan said in a press release.

The Computer (Cyber) Crime Training Course is designed by computer
experts to familiarize law enforcement officers with examples of
common computer crimes and investigative methods. The course has
given participants instructions on how criminals can use computers
to commit crimes, the risk of ‘hackers,’ to computer networks and
how to trace the computer evidence that criminals have behind.

The course was funded by the International Narcotics and Law
Enforcement Affairs Office of the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan. U.S. Charge
d’Affaires Anthony Godfrey presented graduation certificates to the
participants upon completion of the course.

This project is only part of the U.S. Government’s comprehensive law
enforcement assistance program in Armenia. The U.S. Embassy in Yerevan,
through its International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Section,
has funded the renovation of such facilities as the National Bureau
of Expertise, the Police Instruction Center in Kanaker, the Border
Guards Training Facility in Yerevan and the Customs House in Vanadzor.

The Embassy has donated computer equipment to all these facilities,
as well as the computer equipment to the Police Academy classroom
where the cyber crime training course was held.

The Embassy is also working with the Government of Armenia to establish
a nationwide, computerized border management information system and
a nationwide computer network for the Armenian Police Service. The
U.S. government provides about $3 million a year in law enforcement
assistance to all these facilities.

RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM TO SHOWCASE STUDENT WORK
By Arla Shephard

Daily – University of Washington, WA
May 18 2007

Students and faculty will have a chance to learn about Cuban music
since the fall of the Soviet Union, gender differences in engineering
education and robots that detect wear in power cables, as Mary Gates
Hall hosts the 10th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium today.

Every classroom and open area in the building will be taken over
to make way for the expansive showcase, where students have the
opportunity to share their research projects with the larger University
community. There are 631 presentations this year, including five
performances at Meany Hall.

"We’re really excited; this is the first time we’ve managed to get
a performing arts session," said Janice DeCosmo, director of the
Undergraduate Research Program and associate dean of Undergraduate
Academic Affairs.

DeCosmo said the symposium is usually well attended, but it is more
useful for those who aren’t normally involved in research.

"Our primary purpose is to educate," DeCosmo said. "It’s not scary
or high-pressure."

Students obtain valuable preparation for graduate school, honors
theses or public speaking at academic conferences, she said.

Students create a poster or an oral presentation and are matched with
faculty members while working on their project. The experience can be
akin to "going to class where you have your professor all to yourself,"
one research participant told DeCosmo.

Senior Shannon Schmoll developed a critical-thinking component for
Astronomy 101 courses with her faculty mentor and astronomy lecturer
Ana Larson to help students understand the concept of parallax,
or why stars appear to shift in the sky due to the Earth’s orbit.

"I’m going to graduate school in the fall, where I will have to
teach, so [the symposium] prepares me for a career in education,"
Schmoll said.

This is Schmoll’s third year presenting research at the symposium.

"It’s really nice to get my research out into the UW community," she
said. "One of the reasons I came to UW was because of their strong
research symposium. I like how the UW showcases its undergraduate
research."

All disciplines are welcome, DeCosmo said, although the event consists
primarily of undergraduates in the sciences.

Projects range from junior Katherine Hallaian’s "Motivating Armenian
Youth Protest in Southern California" to junior Myra Aquino’s "The
Philippine Diaspora and the Medical Brain Drain."

The symposium begins at noon with poster presentations. Oral
presentations start at 1:30 p.m.

5/18/researchSymposiumToShowcaseStudentWork

MEDIA: NEW SCUFFLE TOOK PLACE IN MOSCOW BETWEEN PFUR STUDENTS, KARABAKH IS THE CAUSE

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.05.2007 16:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ New emergency case in Moscow: Students from
Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia again were fighting on the
Miklukho-Maklaya street.

The alleged organizer escaped on a car and now is in the police
list of those wanted. According to law enforcement bodies one of the
participants of the fight was taken to hospital with knife wounds.

According to preliminary information the fight was organized by
immigrants from Caucasus. And the immediate cause of the fight was
a political dispute: which country owns Nagorno Karabakh – Armenia
or Azerbaijan?

Some small brawls began during an event organized in the university
entitled "Planet South-East", where several thousands of students
and guests participated.

In the result they overgrew into a mass fight.

According to the police more than 100 students participated in
the scuffle. Law enforcement bodies managed to bring the situation
under their control only when an additional reinforcement arrived at
the scene.

Last month another mass fight took place in PFUR between foreign
students. Then the police managed to stop disorders without involving
reinforcement troops.

But during the following several days a strict control was organized
in the university and adjacent territories. Passions calmed down. But
obviously not for a long time, Russian media reports.