Author: Karabekian Emil

BARROSO: SERBIA AND KOSOVO MIGHT BE PROPOSED EU MEMBERSHIP

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.03.2008 14:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Serbia and Kosovo might be proposed EU membership,
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in Athens
after a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.

"We discussed the situation in Balkans, whose future is immediately
bound with the European Union.

Concerned about stability and security in the region, we should
propose EU outlook to both Kosovo and Serbia," he said.

For his part, Mr Karamanlis said Greece would support all bids if
the essential commitments are fulfilled by the aspirant countries,
the AP reports.

Meanwhile, on April 7, Kosovo’s parliament will vote on the
Constitution.

The breakaway province of Kosovo proclaimed independence from Serbia
on February 17. It has been already recognized by majority of EU
member states and the U.S. Greece said it will announce its decision later.

RANDOM OBSERVATION OF THE DAY
Alex Knapp

Outside the Beltway
2008/03/random_observation_of_the_day/
March 26 2008
VA

I have noticed that if a political figure or pundit makes the
observation that one political obstacle in changing our foriegn
policies regarding Israel is the influence of the American Jewish
population, then you are labled a "bigot" or "anti-Semite."

However, if you make the observation that one political obstacle
in changing our foreign policies regarding Cuba is the large Cuban
population in Florida, you are labeled "Captain Obvious."

I find the dichotomy interesting, because of course large populations
of Americans with ties to a foreign country are going to have some
influence towards our policies towards that country. So why is it
okay to notice that some times and not others? After all, noting the
imprudence of the Armenian Genocide Resolution doesn’t cause one to
be labeled an "Anti-Armenian bigot", even if you go so far as to note
that the Armenian-American lobby had a lot to do with it.

UN EXPERTS CLEAR LEDRA OF MINES

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.03.2008 13:41 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A team of experts of the United Nations Peacekeeping
Forces in Cyprus (UNFICYP) began sweeping the area in the buffer zone,
at Ledra street, one of Nicosia’s main commercial streets, dividing
the Turkish and Greek areas of the republic.

UN sources have said that a six member team is on site, wearing special
uniforms and trying to locate mines and remove them to ensure safe
passage for pedestrians, once the crossing point opens.

The work is a first step in efforts to see if Ledra street can
open. The procedure is expected to be completed within the day,
Euronews reports.

The opening of a crossing point at Ledra street was decided by Cypriot
President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali
Talat on 21 March during their first meeting since the former assumed
the presidency of the republic.

Cyprus has been divided and some 17 thousand mines have been planted
since 1974.

SERGE SARGSIAN: "GOAL OF FORMING COALITION IS IMPLEMENTATION OF MOST SERIOUS CHANGES IN COUNTRY"

Noyan Tapan
March 21, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 21, NOYAN TAPAN. The goal of creating a coalition is
to implement reforms, and most serious changes in the country. This
statement was made by Serge Sargsian, the Prime Minister and the
newly-elected President of the Republic of Armenia, after the signature
of the coalition agreement between the four parliamentary parties in
the RA government.

According to him, those changes will be large-scale and "painful"
for many people, and the assistance of mass media, as well as society
is necessry for their implementation.

Armen Rustamian, the representative of the ARF Supreme Body of Armenia,
mentioned that that document is a result of long-lasting negotiations.

According to him, the memorandum is, first of all, a political
document, and the agreement of political approaches on the problems
set in front of the country has been considered as primary. Armen
Rustamian mentioned that by signing this document, Dashnaktsutiun
pursued three main problems, including: to do everything to quickly
discharge the current domestic political tension, for which a political
will and conscience for moving forward is necessary.

In the words of Gagik Tsarukian, the Chairman of the Bargavach Hayastan
party, the agreement once again obliges to justify the expectations
of the people and implement the promises given to them by joint work.

Arthur Baghdasarian, the Leader of the Orinats Yerkir party, mentioned
that it is the first time that such a comprehensive document is
being signed in the political reality of Armenia. In particular, the
political forces, which sign the document, have received many votes
both in the parliamentary and presidential elections, which means
that the future political coalition of Armenia has the political
confidence of the overwhelming majority of the population of the
country. The second important peculiarity, according to him, is that it
is mentioned in the document for the first time that the signing parts
assume political responsibility for the activities of the RA authority.

CONGRATULATION FROM THE PRESIDENT OF KOREA

armradio.am
21.03.2008 11:35

On behalf of the government and people of the Republic of Korea,
the President of the Republic of Korea Lee Myung-bak congratulated
RA Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan on his victory in the presidential
elections. The message says, in part:

"Let me express confidence that under your wise guidance the Republic
of Armenia, which has achieved high economic growth and democratic
development, will continue moving along the path of political,
economic and cultural development.

Ever since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992 our
countries have been deepening the friendly ties, and I hope that our
relations will continue developing in the direction targeted at future.

I wish you sound health and further prosperity to the Armenian nation"

ISSUE REFERRING TO CONDUCT OF CONFERENCE DEVOTED TO 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF KARABAKH MOVEMENT DISCUSSED IN STEPANAKERT

DeFacto Agency
March 21 2008
Armenia

YEREVAN, 21.03.08. DE FACTO. March 20 a sitting of the state committee
for organization and coordination of measures devoted to the 20th
anniversary of the Karabakh national-liberation movement was held
in Stepanakert.

The sitting’s participants discussed the issues referring to the
organization and conduct of the international conference on the subject
"20th Anniversary of the Karabakh Movement: Realities and Perspectives"
to be held in Stepanakert.

The committee Co-chair, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Parliament speaker
Ashot Gulian mentioned the important significance of the conference for
the presentation of historical-legal bases of the Nagorno-Karabakh’s
self-determination to the international community.

A decision to hold the international conference after May 20 was made
in the course of the sitting.

ULTRA-NATIONALIST MOBSTER QUESTIONED OVER ERGENEKON

Today’s Zaman
March 21 2008
Turkey

An ultranationalist leader of the underworld who is serving 14 years
on organized crime charges was interrogated for several hours over
alleged links to a crime group with suspected links to the army and
bureaucracy, unearthed by the police as part of an investigation into
an arms cache found in Ýstanbul in June of last year.

Ultranationalist Sedat Peker was interrogated on Wednesday in Ýstanbul
for 10 hours over his links to a retired general who was detained as
part of an investigation into a gang that has shady links to groups
secreted within the state. These groups are commonly referred to as
the deep state in Turkey, a vague definition of a phenomenon whereby
individuals and groups occupying various positions in the state take
justice into their own hands to shape Turkey in accordance with
their political convictions. The investigation of the gang, which
calls itself Ergenekon after a legend of how Turks came into being,
has resulted in evidence showing that the gang was preparing the way
for a coup d’etat in Turkey in 2009.

With the purpose of creating chaos in the country and thus an
atmosphere suitable for a military takeover, the group staged a number
of attacks and murders whose perpetrators remain unknown as well as
others in which the assailants have been found. They are also suspected
of being behind the murder of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

In January of this year, 39 suspects were arrested during raids on the
gang, including retired Gen. Veli Kucuk, who the two prosecutors on the
case say has connections with Peker. On Wednesday, Peker was brought
to Ýstanbul from Kandýra Prison in Kocaeli to answer prosecutors’
questions about his 15-year relationship with Kucuk and whether it
is mere coincidence that a real estate company owned by Peker is
named Ergenekon.

Kucuk in his interrogation had said Peker is the "son of a friend."

The prosecutors say the two became acquainted between the years
1993 and 1996, when Kucuk was serving in the military as a regiment
commander of the gendarmerie in Kocaeli, where a number of mysterious
and unresolved murders were committed during the aforementioned
time period.

–Boundary_(ID_4mGcTp4H6dKl4kY1SbobuA)–

KOCHARIAN: I AM NOT GOING TO SERVE IN STATE STRUCTURES

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.03.2008 15:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "It’s hard to enumerate all achievements and
failures of the past ten years. But one thing is clear: I failed to
prevent the March 1 events, although tough measures helped to avoid
graver consequences" Armenian President Robert Kocharian told a news
conference today.

"Armenia can’t have a President elected with 80 per cent of
votes. 50-52 per cent is a normal index in all countries. It’s normal
that there are oppositionists discontent with the election results
but it doesn’t mean that they should lead people into the streets and
destroy the state. As you remember, Stepan Demirchyan garnered more
votes in 2003 than Levon Ter-Petrosyan in 2008. But Demirchyan did
not provoke clashes. The investigation into the March 1 events proves
that it was a thoroughly planned action, the organizers of which will
face trial," he said. "106 of 800 suspects have been arrested. There
were people willing to help the investigation."

As to his future work, the President asked journalists to be
patient. "I am not going to retire but have no intention to serve in
state structures either. I’ll have a little rest and then proceed to
work again," Mr Kocharian said.

AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT HAILS U.N. RESOLUTION ON KARABAKH

Interfax News Agency
March 19 2008
Russia

The recently approved U.N. resolution for Nagorno Karabakh is
Azerbaijan’s political success, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said.

"We regard the resolution as another diplomatic and political
achievement of Azerbaijan. Once again the United Nations, the biggest
and most important international organization, confirmed the principles
on which the Nagorno Karabakh conflict should be settled," he said
in an exclusive interview with Interfax on Wednesday.

The resolution "fully meets all the norms and principles of
international law. In my opinion, it also fully conveys the spirit
and essence of the negotiating process," Aliyev said.

He expressed gratitude to the countries that supported Azerbaijani
at the United Nations.

At the same time Baku "is surprised by the attitude of the countries
that voted against, especially as cochairmen of the OSCE Minsk group –
France, Russia and the Untied States mediating the conflict settlement
– were among them ." ml dp

Azerbaijani president hails U.N. resolution on Karabakh (Part 2)

BAKU March 19

The recently approved U.N. resolution for Nagorno Karabakh is
Azerbaijan’s political success, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said.

"We regard the resolution as another diplomatic and political
achievement of Azerbaijan. Once again the United Nations, the biggest
and most important international organization, confirmed the principles
on which the Nagorno Karabakh conflict should be settled," he said
in an exclusive interview with Interfax on Wednesday.

The resolution "fully meets all the norms and principles of
international law. In my opinion, it also fully conveys the spirit
and essence of the negotiating process," Aliyev said.

He expressed gratitude to the countries that supported Azerbaijani
at the United Nations.

At the same time Baku "is surprised by the attitude of the countries
that voted against, especially as cochairmen of the OSCE Minsk group –
France, Russia and the United States mediating the conflict settlement
– were among them ."

"The explanations that official representatives of these countries
gave after the voting were positive, of course. The three countries
confirmed the territorial integrity of Karabakh. They again declared
that they do not recognize Nagorno Karabakh as an independent state
which was known in advance," Aliyev said.

"However, we regard this as an attempt to neutralize the ill feelings
remaining in the heart of the Azeri people as a result of the ambiguous
and I think thoughtless move in the process of voting. I think that
as mediators these counties should have abstained," he said.

He said that the future negotiating process will depend among other
things on the degree of confidence between the countries involved in
the negotiating process and mediators. "I must say that the voting
against the resolution did not add confidence, but on the contrary,
seriously undermined it," he said.

"The question that in five, ten or 100 years from now Nagorno
Karabakh will be separated from Azerbaijan has never been raised,"
Aliyev said. "Russia, France and the United States as cochairmen of
the Minsk group know that and support the approach. If that is not so,
they should say so, but it is so," Aliyev said.

"Thus the voting showed who is who. It also showed that even though
some of the mediator countries actively lobbied and canvassed
among U.N.

members to join them, their efforts failed," he said.

Aliyev said that Armenia’s stance on the issue on whether the Armenian
leadership will be loyal to the peace process is not clear to Baku.

"The Armenian side attempted to distract the attention of the world
public from domestic processes by fanning tension on the separation
line. But it failed. Therefore we cannot say anything definite about
the negotiating process now," he said.

Aliyev said the economy in Azerbaijan is much more advanced than
in Armenia.

"In its volume our economy is at least four times bigger than the
Armenian one. Today we have currency reserves of about $8 billion
and they will at least double within a year. We have development
prospects, we have a program, we have access to world markets, we
are not an isolatable or self-isolating country," he said.

SERGEY KHACHATRYAN, FINE-TUNING HIS TALENT

The Washington Post
March 20, 2008 Thursday

Armenian violinist Sergey Khachatryan (born 1985) is hot. By age 20
he had won both the Sibelius and Queen Elizabeth competitions. He
has released several recordings of major concertos, appeared here
in 2006 at the Kennedy Center with the London Philharmonic, and has
already soloed three times with the Cleveland Orchestra. Given such a
résumé, expectations were high for his recital Tuesday night at the
Harman Center for the Arts with his pianist sister Lusine Khachatryan.

This young artist is undeniably talented. There was never the
slightest sense of difficulty on the instrument, even in the thorniest
passage-work. His slacker persona seemed to perfectly capture the irony
and alienation in Shostakovich’s late violin sonata. But for the rest,
this is a violinist who still has a lot of studying, listening and
growing to do. His style is often plodding, almost sullen (jet lag?),
and he seems at times unaware or indifferent to basic musical details.

In the Bach Sonata in C, he kept admirably precise rhythm (without
speeding up) in the Adagio, but there was no variation in character or
articulation in the extended Fuga. Voice-leading was almost nonexistent
in the Largo, and he didn’t bother with the repeats in the Allegro
assai. In the Brahms Op. 78 Sonata, his vibrato began to grate —
tense, but stopping and starting on each note. His sister had trouble
with repeated notes in the Brahms finale, but otherwise played with
accuracy and sensitivity.

–Boundary_(ID_gAses6G6yKOlz2ISKeRYo A)–