MIKHAIL HAROUTIUNIAN APPOINTED RA PRESIDENT’S ADVISER
Noyan Tapan
April 16, 2008
YEREVAN, APRIL 16, NOYAN TAPAN. By RA President Serge Sargsian’s
April 16 decree, reserve Colonel-General Mikhail Haroutiunian has
been appointed the Senior Military Inspector of the RA President,
by signing a contract for three years’ term.
According to the report provided to Noyan Tapan by the RA President’s
Press Office, by President’s another decree, M. Haroutiunian was
appointed RA President’s Adviser.
A PROTEST ACTION AT FRENCH EMBASSY
A1+
15 April, 2008
A regular protest action was staged by March 1 detainees’ wives,
relatives and sympathizing citizens at the French Embassy today. The
protestors carried posters with the inscriptions "Set free the
detainees", "My son has been arrested", "My friend is a political
prisoner" and waited for a response from the French Embassy.
"They are not criminals. They are political prisoners", shouted
the women.
"Look, I hold Grigor Voskerchian’s picture. He is a scientist, an
Armenologist but now he is arrested for being at his people’s side and
protecting them. We are not going to withdraw. We are not going to give
up struggle", said citizen Anahit Grigorian. Another participant of the
protest action, Tamara Manukian, stated: "I have no detained relatives
but all the political prisoners are my brothers. Like anyone else I
want to live in a free country, in free and independent Armenia. My
children must be sure they can live, work and study tomorrow. I want to
be an owner of this land, not a tenant." detainee Hovhannes Ghazarian’s
wife, Tsovinar Samsonian, declared: "All the brave Armenians are now
in prison. We are all imprisoned today. If you can’t express your
thoughts freely you are kind of imprisoned."
After waiting for half an hour the protestors rang the Embassy bell
but there was no answer. Even the people behind the gates went into
the building when the protestors approached. Getting no reply the women
went away with the hope to meet at the German Embassy the next day.
ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT WILL STOP SUBSIDIZING GAS CONSUMERS FROM MAY 1
armradio.am
15.04.2008 17:31
Starting from May 1 of 2008, the Armenian Government will stop
subsidizing gas consumers, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan
said in Yerevan today.
Tigran Sargsyan reminded that, starting from 2006, the government
has been subsidizing individuals and legal entities to prepare them
for transition to new tariffs, caused by the growth of prices for
the Russian gas.
According to the Prime Minister, in May the Chairman of the Board of
"Gazprom" OJSC Aleksey Miller will arrive in Yerevan to negotiate
the conditions of purchases of Russian gas for the next 3 years.
BAKU EYES U.S. POSITION ON UN KARABAKH RESOLUTION "ERRONEOUS"
PanARMENIAN.Net
14.04.2008 17:14 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The U.S. did much for settlement of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict and we appreciate it, said the head of Azerbaijani
Foreign Ministry’s press office.
"However, Azerbaijan thinks the position of the U.S. on the UN
resolution on Karabakh erroneous," Khazar Ibrahim said, Day.az reports.
On March 14, with 39 votes in favor, 7 against and 100 abstentions, the
UN General Assembly adopted a text that called for "continued respect
and support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the
Republic of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders."
In favor: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei
Darussalam, Cambodia, Colombia, Comoros, Djibouti, Gambia, Georgia,
Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Moldova,
Morocco, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Turkey, Tuvalu, Uganda,
Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen.
Against: Angola, Armenia, France, India, Russian Federation, United
States, Vanuatu.
EDWARD NALBANDIAN APPOINTED ARMENIAN FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER
ARMENPRESS
April 14, 2008
YEREVAN, APRIL 14, ARMENPRESS: Armenian President Serzh Sargsian
signed today a decree on dismissing Edward Nalbandian from the office
of Armenian plenipotentiary and extraordinary ambassador to France,
Vatican, Israel and Andorra.
Governmental press service told Armenpress that with another decree
of the president Edward Nalbandian has been appointed Armenian Foreign
Affairs Minister.
Edward Nalbandian was born in 1956 in Armenia. In 1978 he graduated
from Moscow International Relations State Institute.
He carried out his diplomatic mission in Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco,
Oman, France, Israel, Vatican, Andorra.
He is married, has a daughter.
CSTO Secretary General congratulates Tigran Sargsyan
armradio.am
12.04.2008 12:20
The Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
Nikolay Bordyuzha congratulated Tigran Sargsyan on his appointment as
Armenian Prime Minister. The message says, in part:
`Accept my sincere congratulations on the occasion of your appointment
to the high position of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia.
Being an active member of the Collective Security Treaty Organizations,
the Republic of Armenia plays an important role in the joint formation
of the political and military potential in the CSTO zone of
responsibility.
I hope that as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia you will
have your contribution to raising the efficiency of the Organizations’
activity and reinforcement of its image.
Let me wish you sound health, wellbeing and great success in your
activity on this high state position.’
PanARMENIAN.Net
Responsibility is forgivable while guilt persists over generations
12.04.2008 16:29 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Guilt in history – we speak about guilt of genocide
and war when we can ascribe it to certain political elites, says a
statement PanARMENIAN.Net received from the Armenian community of
Berlin.
The statement reads as follows, `When considering the difficult
question of guilt, it helps to replace "guilt" with the notion of
"responsibility". For when we speak about "responsibility", then it’s
a matter of conditions, perhaps even being forced to make a
decision. That is not the case with the difficult concept of
guilt. Guilt bears evidence to the direct intention of the individual
and his will. Responsibility is "forgivable". "Guilt" persists over
generations.
Today in Germany, studying characteristics of the perpetrators is the
focus point of the endeavors to come to terms with the past. Yet the
historical research in South Africa or in Rwanda is also conducted in
the hope of being able to name those responsible. In this pursuit of
the examination of one’s own perpetrator history, it’s also a matter
of shaping a new Germany, a South Africa, a Rwanda, which specifically
commits itself to tolerance. Lastly, it is also a matter of not
remaining in the depths of guilt; of lessening the burden of guilt.
On April 24, when we commemorate worldwide the 1.5 million victims of
the genocide caused by the regime of the Young Turks in 1915-16, we
are confronted with the unprecedented position of Turkey, which
vehemently prevents discussion about guilt in history, attempts to
accuse the genocide victims for having provoked the "escalation of
violence", and replaces examination of the genocide with
denegation. This not only calls for an awareness of the continuity of
national narratives in Turkey, but also leads us more to a discussion
of the specific form of guilt in genocide.
Genocide is a crime that effects all levels of society, touches all
generations, and excludes no one. Those who are not perpetrators are
bystanders. But can one really speak of bystanders when such a
large-scale deportation occurred of which everyone was a witness? The
perpetrators of a genocide are certain that they have the consent of
the bystanders. Their ideological goals – a co-existence of old
prejudices against the "Christian infidels " with a new hate of modern
Armenians and a nationalistic ideology of the creation of a new
Turkey- knowingly include the bystanders as an active, consenting
populace. The perpetrator of genocide doesn’t fear the resistance of
his victims; he fears only the intervention of bystanders. Hence the
attitude of the bystander bears the blame for the absoluteness and
radicalism of the act of genocide.
This is why coming to terms with a genocide is so important. That’s
why such an examination in Turkey is so vehemently and systematically
contested: because it affects not only a chapter of elapsed history,
but also every individual today: his prejudices, his national images
and his national identification.
The day of remembrance on April 24 commemorates a day on which the
deportations reached the capital, Constantinople. On this day, public
figures were arrested and murdered, among them politicians, writers
and lawyers.
The day of remembrance commemorates not only the deep rupture that the
genocide created in Armenian life in its homeland. It commemorates
first and foremost the suffering of those deported and the barbarity
with which they were murdered.
"Like Jeremiah, I became like a rotten cloth, and, as the preacher
said, my name is erased from the book of mankind", wrote the Armenian
Monk St. Grigor Narekatsi (951-1003) in his Book of Prayers. But the
medieval tale of suffering, oppression and violence still knew the
hope of God.
The philosopher Hans Jonas described the withdrawal of God from the
modern world in his work, "The Imperative of Responsibility". And
while Hans Jonas deduced from the experience of the Holocaust the
necessity of an ethics of responsibility, April 24 calls upon us to
reflect on guilt in history. This broader question looks not only at
the perpetrator, but also identifies the role of the bystander and
therefore us and our actions – as actors and responsible individuals
in modern societies and with modern policies. Such examined
responsibility inquires after the perspective of today’s states with
regard to denegation, oppression and violence and insists that we face
up to the blameworthy consequences of being a bystander.’
PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version: nian.htm
HIS HOLINESS ARAM I EMPHASIZES THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN PEACE
BARCELONA – The interfaith meeting organized by the "Foundation for a
Culture of Peace" started its activities yesterday in Barcelona. Senior
representatives from various religions and delegates from human rights and
peace NGOs are participating in the meeting. Among the participants are such
high level delegates as the former president of Iran Khatemi, the former
Prime Minister of Norway Kjell Magne Bondevik, the former Director of UNESCO
Federico Mayer and others.
Catholicos Aram I, who is also attending the meeting, met with a number of
senior officials discussing with them the role of religion in peace, the
need to transform interfaith dialogue into active cooperation and the role
of religion in human rights related issues. The Pontiff and his discussants
also talked about the statement to be adopted by the meeting. His Holiness’
input was crucial in the writing up and editing of the statement.
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View the photo here:
tos/Photos231.htm#3
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The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Ecumenical
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.
NAGORNO-KARABAKH EXPECTS RUSSIA TO BE FIRST TO RECOGNIZE ITS INDEPENDENCE
DeFacto Agency
April 10 2008
Armenia
YEREVAN, 10.04.08. DE FACTO. "We expect Russia and other CIS countries
to be the first to recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence",
the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic President Bako Sahakian stated in an
interview with Polish "Rech Pospolita" newspaper (21.03.08.). The
Nagorno-Karabakh’s head noted there were all grounds for the NKR’s
recognition – historical, ethnic, human and legal.
Touching upon the possibility of the Kosovo option of the Karabakh
conflict settlement, the NKR President stated, "If Kosovo becomes a
precedent we’ll be satisfied with the fact". Bako Sahakian said the
Nagorno-Karabakh people were aware of the processes going on in the
world and realized that immediate recognition of the Nagorno-Karabakh’s
independence would hardly follow Kosovo’s recognition. At the same
time the state’s head added that Nagorno-Karabakh had chosen a path
of independence long time ago.
"We do our best to achieve the goal, including development of our civil
institutes. We hope that one fine day the international community
will appreciate our efforts and recognize our independence", Bako
Sahakian noted.
Commenting on the possibility of granting wide autonomy to Karabakh
within Azerbaijan, Bako Sahakian stated, "Such a possibility is
ruled out. We have repeatedly stated it". He mentioned that during
the period of the Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence new generation had
been born and grown up, and they do not even know what it means to
live in Azerbaijan.
MILITARY OFFICER SEES ARMENIA AND NKR IN INTER-STATE STRATEGIC COOPERATION
ARKA
April 8, 2008
YEREVAN, April 8. /ARKA/. Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia could use the
universally recognized principles and provisions of international law
to institute an inter-state cooperation, Mayor General and doctor of
political science Hayk Kotanjyan, Head of the RA Defence Ministry’s
Institute of National and International Studies, stated in an interview
to the Defence Ministry’s Press Office.
"An inter-state commission could be set up to develop and implement
a strategy of partnership for maintaining peace, as well as stable
and secure development for their countries. The commission could be
chaired by the two countries’ leaders. Authorized delegates of the
two presidents, parliaments and governments could become commission
members," Kotanjyan said.
The products of the commission activity, including draft contracts,
could be submitted for the approval of both the government institutes
of both sides, and the influential Diasporan and International
organizations.
Kotanjyan said, the commission could later transform the mutual
strategic understanding between the two countries into a soft
confederative partnership between two sovereign countries.
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict started in 1988 when Nagorno-Karabakh with
dominantly Armenian population declared its withdrawal from Azerbaijan.
Large-scale military operations followed in which Azerbaijan lost
control over Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.
On May 12 1994, a ceasefire agreement was signed putting an end to
the military operations in which 25,000-30,000 people were killed
and about one million people were forced to leave their homes.
Since 1992 peaceful settlement talks have been held under the auspices
of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the USA, Russia and France.