Author: Karakhanian Suren

Interfax News Agency, Russia
March 28 2008

Armenian opposition may start talks with authorities on principles
proposed by EU

YEREVAN March 28

Armenian political forces supporting former opposition presidential
candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian can enter a dialogue with the
authorities on principles suggested by the European Union.

"We reaffirm our commitment to a plan for settling the internal
political situation based on principles set out in the European Union
presidency proposals of March 4. They imply the release of all the
detainees, guarantees of equal information opportunities, and
independent international investigation of the March 1 events, and
only then can dialogue be opened with the authorities,"
Ter-Petrosian’s supporters said in a statement circulated by his
press service in Yerevan on Friday.

The document was signed by members of 20 opposition parties and one
non-governmental organization, which supported Ter-Petrosian in the
February 19, 2008 presidential elections.

Following the presidential elections, in which Prime Minister Serzh
Sargsyan was officially declared the winner, supporters
Ter-Petrosian, who came in second, started mass protests in Yerevan,
demanding that the official results of the vote be declared invalid.

On the morning of March 1, police dispersed a rally in Yerevan, but
Ter-Petrosian’s supporters gathered at another place near the city
hall.

By the evening of March 1, the protests grew into a mass revolt, in
which eight people were killed and more than 170 injured, according
to official reports.

The same day, President Robert Kocharian imposed a 20-day state of
emergency in the city.

Investigative authorities opened criminal cases against 106 people,
and four others, including parliamentarian Khachatur Sukiasian, were
declared wanted. People arrested under these cases have been indicted
for fomenting mass disorder, illegally storing or carrying weapons,
attempting to usurp power, and other crimes.

"THE VIEW" HOSTS WHOOPI GOLDBERG, JOY BEHAR DEFEND JACK KEVORKIAN’S MURDER, SUICIDES
by Steven Ertelt

LifeNews.com
March 26 2008
MT

New York, NY (LifeNews.com) — Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar,
longtime hosts of the chatty television program "The View," praised
Jack Kevorkian in a recent episode. Following news that Kevorkian
has planned a Congressional bid, they praised him for killing more
than 130 people in assisted suicides and murdering a disabled patient.

Kevorkian, a convicted murderer and assisted suicide crusader, made
his candidacy for a Detroit-area Congressional seat official on Monday.

Justin McCarthy, a news analyst at Media Research Center, noted
the comments from "The View" hosts in a recent post on MRC’s blog
Newsbusters.

Goldberg said she’s a "big fan" of Kevorkian "because he believed
that he could help people who were in, in a place where no one was
helping them."

"Euthanasia, like race, is one of those things nobody wants to talk
about. It makes people very uncomfortable. I think euthanasia is,
is an important thing and it should be there for people to make that
decision if they chose to," she said.

Goldberg did not mention her belief about involuntary euthanasia,
where patients are frequently killed by family members or medical
staff without their knowledge or consent.

Joy Behar wondered: "Why is he a bad guy? I don’t understand it…it’s
over my head somewhere."

She went further than Goldberg in defending Kevorkian’s killing a
disabled patient.

Kevorkian has admitted to killing more than 130 people, including the
televised death of Thomas Youk, netting him a 25-year prison sentence.

"He helped a guy who had Lou Gehrig’s disease, take himself out of
this world because the guy was in excruciating terror," Behar said
in defending the murder that landed Kevorkian in jail for several
years before his parole.

"The thing about Kevorkian is that I don’t consider him a bad guy,"
she concluded.

During the show, Sherri Shepherd cracked a few crass jokes — most
notably about how Kevorkian could help presidential candidate John
McCain with "an exit strategy."

As is typically the case, pro-life host Elisabeth Hasselbeck was
the only one to speak up for the moral or ethical position on the
bioethics question.

"The lines get blurry if you’re dealing with someone who’s life is
almost in control, in someone else’s hands," she said. "You know,
there are a lot of things. There are a lot of gray areas in that
whole conversation."

Hasslebeck said she was worried about people who have control of the
finances of a patient wanting to end their lives in order to inherit
their possessions.

CHALFANT TO STAR IN RED DOG HOWLS, DRAMA OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE, MAY 14 IN CA
By Adam Hetrick

Playbill.com
/article/116303.html
March 28 2008
NY

Tony nominee Kathleen Chalfant will star in the world premiere of
Red Dog Howls – a drama about family secrets relating to the early
20th-century Armenian genocide – at North Hollywood’s El Portal
Theatre in May.

The cast also includes Matthew Rauch (Prelude to a Kiss, Edward the
Second) and Darcie Siciliano (Don’t Hug Me, First in Flight). Red
Dog Howls begins performances May 14 and will continue through June 13.

Opening is May 19.

Penned by Drama Desk nominee Alexander Dinelaris (Zanna Don’t!), Red
Dog Howls "deals frankly with the terrible legacy of the Armenian
genocide, and brings to light the human toll of one of the darkest
chapters of world history… It tells the story of Michael Kiriakos,
a young man who is forced to confront his family’s most terrible
secret, in order for him to move forward with his own life."

Rauch will play Kiriakos, with Siciliano as his wife, and Chalfant
as his secret-revealing grandmother, Rose.

Michael Peretzian directs the drama with a design team including
Tom Buderwitz (set design), Bobby Pearce (costume design), Michael
Gilliam (lighting design) and original music composed and performed
by Ara Dabandjian.

Kathleen Chalfant – who currently stars in New York City productions of
Dead Man’s Cell Phone and Vita & Virginia – earned a Tony nomination
for her work in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America: Millennium
Approaches. Chalfant’s credits include her Drama Desk, Outer Critics
Circle, Obie, Drama League, Lucille Lortel and Los Angeles Ovation
Award-winning performance in Wit. Her additional credits include
I>Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell, M. Butterfly, Racing Demon,
The Vagina Monologues, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You,
Henry V, and Nine Armenians.

Tickets, priced $42-$65, are available by phoning (818) 508-4200,
or by visiting

The El Portal Theatre is at 5269 North Lankershim Blvd. in North
Hollywood.

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE ARMENIAN AMERICANS

A1+
27 March, 2008

We read with interest the joint statement of the Armenian Assembly of
America, The Armenian General Benevolent Union, the Armenian National
Committee of America, the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America
(Eastern/Western) and the Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church
of America (Eastern/Western) regarding the recent events in Armenia.

We join them in expressing our heartfelt sympathies to all families of
the victims, condemn all violent acts and expect that the perpetrators
will be brought to justice.

We reaffirm our commitment to strive "toward our shared aim of
strengthening an open and democratic Armenian homeland, based upon
the rule of law, social and economic justice, freedom of expression
and the media, and equal opportunity for all".

However, we do not understand how these noble principles could be
justly served with simultaneously "cooperating with the newly-elected
President and the government", when we have all witnessed how, for
the past 10 years, the latter have trampled those same principles.

How can we expect "rule of law" from these authorities, when they have
repeatedly violated the constitution by rigging the presidential and
parliamentary elections, falsified the constitutional referendum and
have made a mockery of the Oct. 27 legal proceedings, just to name
a few.

What kind of "social and economic justice" can we expect from these
authorities when they have created a class of oligarchs by usurping
the rights of their citizens, and monopolized the economy.

What kind of "freedom of expression and the media" can we expect from
these authorities, when they have banned independent TV stations from
the airwaves, established a public TV reminiscent of totalitarian
regimes.

What kind of "equal opportunity for all" can we expect from these
authorities, when they have unjustly exploited the resources of the
country, leading to a deep mistrust between them and ordinary citizens.

A country, where the authorities capriciously violate the law, trample
justice, and usurp the rights and freedom of its people cannot be an
inspiration to its citizens or to the Diaspora. Rather than using empty
rhetoric, we should steadfastly uphold he aforementioned principles
for the sake of an independent, democratic and prosperous Armenia.

Armenian Council of America, March 26, 2008

IN ARMENIA FOOD PRICE GROWTH SLOWER THAN IN OTHER COUNTRIES

Noyan Tapan
March 27, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 27, NOYAN TAPAN. The appreciation of the Armenian
dram against the US dollar contributes to the control of inflation
in Armenia, which in particular explaines the low inflation rate as
compared with other countries, Nerses Yeritsian – the RA minister of
trade and economic development, head of the interdepartmental working
group on studies of consumer commodity prices in domestic market –
stated at the March 26 sitting of the group.

To recap, the working group was set up on the instruction of the RA
prime minister in December 2007.

Member of the working group, RA deputy minister of trade and
economic development Vahram Ghushchian said that the prices of
6 essential goods included in the consumer basket: grain, flour,
vegetable oil, granulated sugar, butter and rice were subjected to
monitoring. According to him, the price growth in February 2008 on
February 2007 made: grain – 26.1%, sunflower oil – 46.9%, rice –
12.1%, flour – 32.5%, cheese – 5.6%. Butter and granulated sugar
prices fell by 4.9% and 16.3% respectively.

Bread prices grew by 13%, flour prices – by 9.7%, round rice prices –
by 29.6%, while prices of oblong rice fell by 15% as of March 25,
2008 on the previous month. Prices of some types of vegetable oil
fell up to 6.5%, prices of other types rose up to 5.8%, prices of
some types of butter grew up to 2.1%, while prices of other types
fell up to 3%. Granulated sugar price grew by 5.9%.

It was announced that by data of the UN Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), the prices of foodstuffs (including prices of the
goods subjected to monitoring by the above mentioned working group)
increased in international market in 2007, while the average index
of food prices made 157%, which exceeds by 23% the 2006 index. In
particular, the international price of 1 ton of wheat was about 370
dollars in December 2007 – January 2008, in February it made 446
dollars, while the price of future deals for May made 540 dollars. In
2007, the average price of 1 ton of rice made 500 dollars in Thailand,
the price of rice reached 400 dollars in the Chicago Board of Trade,
exceeding by over 75% the 2006 index. According to FAO, prices
of butter and milk products grew by 50% and 80% respectively in
international market.

The deputy minister said that in the opinion of international experts,
the main cause of the rise in international food prices is the
unprecedented growth in international prices of oil, which resulted in
a growth of the biofuel production, which in its turn has contributed
to a stable high level of grain, beet and soya prices. The indicated
price growth was also caused by the increase of food consumption,
which is mainly conditioned by a growth in consumption of foodstuffs
in developing countries, especially China and India. All indices
registered allow to forecast that inflation has a tendency to continue
until 2020.

In the words of V. Ghushchian, by FAO forecasts, about 500 mln dollars
is needed for implementation of the world food security program. It
was stated that with the aim of ensuring food security and protecting
domestic prices in Armenia, the country’s government is taking steps
for promotion of domestic production of foodstuffs. For this purpose,
in 2008 the agriculture will receive budgetary subsidies of 1 bln
600 mln drams (about 5.2 mln USD).

PREPARATIONS FOR THE CONFERENCE FINISHED

KarabakhOpen
26-03-2008 10:16:53

In the meeting with the NKR President Bako Sahakyan the director of
the Artsakh office of Tufenkian Fund Andranik Gasparyan and deputy
director Armen Sargsyan said everything is ready for the conference
on the development of the region of Kashatagh. The conference will
be held on March 28.

The Azat Artsakh reports that the head of state highly appreciated the
contribution of Tufenkian Fund to the conference, as well as the social
and economic development of the region of Kashatagh. Bako Sahakyan
said the government will continue to encourage charity and investments.

AZERBAIJAN INQUIRING ABOUT OSCE MG MEDIATORS RECALL OR REPLACEMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.03.2008 13:25 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azerbaijan has sent an inquiry to the OSCE
Secretariat for recall or replacement of the Co-chairs of the OSCE
Minsk Group dealing with the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement,
Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said.

"The MG Co-chairs were appointed during the Budapest summit in
1994. Their tasks are clear. However, if a party is discontent with
the activities of any of the Co-chairs, it can launch a procedure of
recall. We are deeply concerned that all of the three Co-chairs make
hostile statements as regards Azerbaijan. They defame our country
and oppose its territorial integrity," Azimov said.

Azerbaijan doesn’t have an intention to change the Minsk Group
format, according to him. "These rumors are circulated by Armenia
and mediators," he said.

"The Co-chairs represent their own countries but not the entire Minsk
Group. Thereupon, they are not empowered to make statements on behalf
on the MG," he said.

Azimov said Azerbaijan keeps up cooperation with the co-chair
states. "However, we have sent an inquiry to the OSCE Secretariat
about recall or replacement of the mediators. We would like to know
whether we can do it, for Azerbaijan is also a member of the Minsk
Group," he said, Bakililar.AZ reports.

KASHATAGH DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT IN BERDZOR

Panorama.am
12:34 25/03/2008

Yesterday the president of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako
Sahakyan received the representatives of "Tufenkian" foundation:
Andranik Gasparyan the director of NKR branch and deputy director
Armen Sargsyan.

According to the public relations department of the NKR president’s
administration, the sides discussed several questions about the
forthcoming summit being held in Berdzor devoted to the development
of Kashatagh. The summit will take place on 28 March.

Andranik Gasparyan informed the president that the organizational
parts are already arranged.

The president of the NKR signified the importance of holding such
meetings, discussions and summits which could positively contribute
to the development of the region.

ZUBKOV: ARMENIA CAN ALWAYS RELY ON RUSSIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.03.2008 13:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In conclusion of his working visit to the Russian
Federation, RA President-elect, Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan met with
Russian PM Victor Zubkov, the RA government’s press office reported.

Mr Zubkov congratulated Serzh Sargsyan on his victory in the RA
presidential election and wished him every success in the office. He
expressed hope that Serzh Sargsyan’s long experience in the system
of public governance will help to address effectively the challenges
ahead. "We do sincerely want our friend Armenia to continue developing
and Armenia can always rely on Russia," he stressed and added
that all the promises made by the Russian side during the preceding
meetings and the arrangements reached at the previous sessions of the
Armenian-Russian intergovernmental commission will be realized in full.

The head of the Russian government said that in his capacity of
co-chair of the Armenian-Russian intergovernmental commission Serzh
Sargsyan has made a valuable contribution to the activities of the
commission by promoting and deepening bilateral relations.

YURI LUZHKOV: MOSCOW AMONG ARMENIA’S MAJOR PARTNERS

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.03.2008 18:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Last year the commodity turnover between Moscow
and Armenia increased by 65 per cent, Moscow’s Mayor Yuri Luzhkov
said at a meeting with Armenia’s President-elect Serzh Sargsyan.

"In the initial half of 2007 the turnover amounted to $70,5 million,
increasing by 65 per cent during the year," he said, adding that
Moscow is one of Armenia’s major partners.

"We opened the House of Moscow in Yerevan where entrepreneurs can get
all necessary information for establishing their business in Armenia. A
new wholesale center will open in Moscow soon. A new Armenian Church
will be built," the Mayor said.

He also congratulated Serzh Sargsyan on election President of Armenia,
wished him every success at the post and voiced hope for further
development of the Armenian-Russian strategic partnership, Novosti
Armenia reports.