Author: Karakhanian Suren

ERDOGAN CONTRADICTS MINISTER ON REFORM

Gulf Times
Jan 9 2008
Qatar

ANKARA: Turkey’s prime minister, contradicting his justice minister,
said yesterday that parliament would not this week consider planned
changes to a law used to prosecute writers that the European Union
wants amended.

The EU, which Ankara hopes to join, says tackling article 301 of
Turkey’s penal code is a litmus test of the large Muslim but secular
country’s commitment to political reforms.

The article makes it a crime to insult "Turkishness" and has been
used to prosecute dozens of writers and journalists, including Nobel
Literature laureate Orhan Pamuk.

Asked whether the article would be changed this week, Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters: "No. At the moment our work
(on the article) is continuing. After the work has finished … At
the moment there is nothing."

Earlier, Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said the work on the new
text had been completed. On Monday, Sahin said the revised article
would be sent to parliament this week.

The apparent delay is a measure of the sensitivity of the issue for
Erdogan’s ruling AK Party government as it fends off attacks from
nationalist parties and tries to avoid the impression it is bowing
to EU pressure.

"To discuss changing this article will create new tensions in today’s
conditions," Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist People’s Party
(MHP), said yesterday.

"For us, changing this article means blackening the honourable history
of Turkey … and rewarding those who are seeking a chance to insult
Turkey’s national and moral values."

The article has been used especially against writers such as Pamuk
commenting on the massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915-16.

Turkey denies claims by Armenians and many Western historians that
the killings constituted a systematic genocide.

Under the government’s proposal, officials say, the justice ministry
will in future have to give permission for cases to be opened under
article 301, a move that should prevent nationalist prosecutors with
their own political agenda exploiting the law. – Reuters

TEEN THREATENS MASSACRE BUT IS RELEASED
Ýsmaýl Akduman

Turkish Daily News, Turkey
Jan 9 2008

The teenager who threatens to kill a pastor and massacre the
congregation is released pending trial

A teenage boy who had threatened a Protestant pastor in the city of
Samsun and had reportedly asked his friend to watch out for him on
TV because he would massacre the congregation was caught a day before
the alleged attack and has been released pending trial.

The 17-year-old from Ordu on the Black Sea coast reportedly phoned
and threatened 37-year-old Mehmet Orhan Pýcaklar, a pastor at the
Agape Hause Church, last week and told a friend of his that he would
carry out a massacre at the church, asking him to keep an eye on TV
last Sunday.

The teenager was taken into custody Saturday. He just wanted to scare
the pastor and had been influenced by no one, he told the court.

The teenager called the pastor three times on Dec. 29-30, 2007, telling
him he would die. The teenager was arrested on Jan. 5 and the police
subsequently seized a laptop, many CDs and a gun with blank cartridge,
according to reports.

The suspect told the court that he had found the church on the
Internet: "I saw the church on the Internet and called the number on
the Web site, telling the person who answered the phone that he would
die. When the person who answered said everyone would die one day,
I hung up the phone. I also called the Catholic Church in Trabzon,
but hung up when a woman answered."

The teenager said he did not know where the church was located and
maintained that he only aimed at intimidating the pastor.

The court rejected the request for the arrest of the suspect because
of his age, the crime and the penalty that it entails. It has, however,
banned him from traveling overseas.

"Will he be arrested after I am dead? These kids are influenced by
shows on television and local leaders and decide to go forward with
such attacks. They want to be famous. What I am angry about is the
fact that the boy admitted it but was still released. From now on, I
won’t lodge complaints about threats." Pýcaklar said as he criticised
the court decision.

Pýcaklar, who has worked as pastor at the Agape Hause Church
Association since 2003, said they have been attacked from time to
time and their building’s windows were smashed last year. "After this
attack, the police are keeping a 24-hour watch on our premises."

Pýcaklar said he and the church were being targeted at certain Web
sites, adding that he didn’t understand how the court could release
the suspect because of his age when teenagers of that age were the
main culprits of attacks against churches and priests.

The Black Sea region has been making headlines during the past
two years mainly for being the scene of crimes committed against
Christians. A teenager and his associates suspected of shooting
Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrank Dink on Jan. 19, 2007 are all
from Trabzon.

On Feb. 5, 2006, another teenager shot and killed Catholic Priest
Andrea Santoro of the Santa Maria Church in Trabzon.

–Boundary_(ID_gAg6P8xFtsskc+/hMvqnxw)–

RA FOREIGN MINISTER CALLS ON ALL POLITICAL FORCES TO REFRAIN FROM DESTABILIZING THE SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY

armradio.am
09.01.2008 15:59

Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian urged all the political
forces of Armenia today to refrain from temptation to try to gain
victory in the presidential elections of February 19 by means of
destabilization of the situation in the country.

Vartan Oskanian stated that he considers "unacceptable" any efforts
to destabilize the situation to reach political goals. "The forces,
which strive to preserve power, or to come to power, should use
exclusively democratic tools and mechanisms," Vartan Oskanian stated.

Asked whether Armenia should count on the "indulgence" of the
international community, analogous to the one demonstrated towards the
presidential elections in Georgia on January 5, the Foreign Minister
stated: "Our task must be to hold free and fair elections without
looking at anyone."

Vartan Oskanian expressed confidence that if the presidential elections
are held at a higher level, than the parliamentary elections of 2007,
"the following 5 years will be years of upsurge for Armenia."

TER-PETROSIAN TO HOLD LANDMARK NEWS CONFERENCE
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Jan 8 2008

Levon Ter-Petrosian will hold this week a news conference for the
first time in over a decade to discuss his participation in Armenia’s
forthcoming presidential election, the former president’s campaign
headquarters announced on Tuesday.

A written statement by it said the landmark event will take place on
Friday and focus on Ter-Petrosian’s election manifesto which was made
public on Monday.

Ter-Petrosian, never known for his openness to the media, had last
held a press conference in September 1997 as part of his efforts to
drum up public support for an internationally sponsored plan to end
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The public relations campaign proved
fruitless as he was forced to resign by key members of his cabinet,
notably then Prime Minister Robert Kocharian, less than five months
later.

Barring sporadic and brief conversations with journalists,
Ter-Petrosian has avoided contacts with the media since then. He also
kept an extremely low profile, rarely making public appearances.

The ex-president, who will turn 63 on Wednesday, delivered his first
public speech since losing power on September 21. The speech came as
a prelude to the announcement of his decision to contest the election
scheduled for February 19.

Ter-Petrosian refused to answer questions from journalists even as he
held big rallies in Yerevan and addressed indoors gatherings of his
loyalists. He likewise refused to be interviewed on the record during
an October 16 visit to the Yerevan bureau of RFE/RL’s Armenian service.

RA PRESIDENT CONGRATULATED SAAKASHVILI ON VICTORY

PanARMENIAN.Net
08.01.2008 12:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President Robert Kocharian congratulated
Mikheil Saakashvili on election President of Georgia. "I congratulate
you heartily with re-election. I am confident that you will proceed
with the course targeted at stability, democracy and economic reforms,"
the message says.

"Armenia stands for strengthening of neighborly relations, development
of regional cooperation and maintenance of peace, what is a guarantee
of stability throughout the South Caucasus. I wish you every success,
good health and realization of all plans," the message says, Georgia
Online reports.

INTERNATIONAL FORUM CALLS UPON TURKEY TO RECOGNIZE GENOCIDE AGAINST GREEKS

Greek News
me=News&file=article&sid=7853&mode=thr ead&order=0&thold=0
Jan 7 2008
New York

A monumental decision by the New York based "International Association
of Genocide Scholars"

New York.- In a groundbreaking move, the International Association
of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) has voted overwhelmingly to recognize the
genocides inflicted on Assyrian and Greek populations of the Ottoman
Empire between 1914 and 1923.The resolution passed with the support
of fully 83 percent of IAGS members who voted.

The resolution declares that "it is the conviction of the International
Association of Genocide Scholars that the Ottoman campaign against
Christian minorities of the Empire between1914 and 1923 constituted
a genocide against Armenians, Assyrians, and Pontian and Anatolian
Greeks." It "calls upon the government of Turkey to acknowledge
the genocides against these populations, to issue a formal apology,
and to take prompt and meaningful steps toward restitution.

"In 1997, the IAGS officially recognized the Armenian genocide. The
current resolution notes that while activist and scholarly efforts
have resulted in widespread acceptance of the Armenian genocide,
there has been "little recognition of the qualitatively similar
genocides against other Christian minorities of the Ottoman Empire."

Assyrians, along with Pontian and Anatolian Greeks, were killed on a
scale equivalent in per capita terms to the catastrophe inflicted on
the Armenian population of the empire — and by much the same methods,
including mass executions, death marches, and starvation.

IAGS member Adam Jones drafted the resolution, and lobbied for it along
with fellow member Thea Halo, whose mother Sano survived the Pontian
Greek genocide. In an address to the membership at the IAGS conference
in Sarajevo, Bosnia, in July 2007, Jones paid tribute to the efforts
of "representatives of the Greek and Assyrian communities … to
publicize and call on the present Turkish government to acknowledge
the genocides inflicted on their populations," which had made Asia
Minor their home for millennia.

The umbrella term "Assyrians" includes Chaldeans, Nestorians, Syriacs,
Aramaens, Eastern Orthodox Syrians, and Jacobites.

"The overwhelming backing given to this resolution by the world’s
leading genocide scholars organization will help to raise consciousness
about the Assyrian and Greek genocides," Jones said on December
15. "It will also act as a powerful counter to those, especially in
present-day Turkey, who still ignore or deny outright the genocides
of the Ottoman Christian minorities."

The resolution stated that "the denial of genocide is widely
recognized as the final stage of genocide, enshrining impunity
for the perpetrators of genocide, and demonstrably paving the
way for future genocides." The Assyrian population of Iraq, for
example, remains highly vulnerable to genocidal attack. Since
2003, Iraqi Assyrians have been exposed to severe persecution and
"ethnic cleansing"; it is believed that up to half the Assyrian
population has fled the country. Extensive supporting documentation
for the Assyrian and Greek genocides was circulated to IAGS
members in the months prior to the vote, and is available at
_documentation.htm.

FULL TEXT OF THE IAGS RESOLUTION

WHEREAS the denial of genocide is widely recognized as the final stage
of genocide, enshrining impunity for the perpetrators of genocide,
and demonstrably paving the way for future genocides;

WHEREAS the Ottoman genocide against minority populations during and
following the First World War is usually depicted as a genocide against
Armenians alone, with little recognition of the qualitatively similar
genocides against other Christian minorities of the Ottoman Empire;

BE IT RESOLVED that it is the conviction of the International
Association of Genocide Scholars that the Ottoman campaign against
Christian minorities of the Empire between 1914 and 1923 constituted
a genocide against Armenians, Assyrians, and Pontian and Anatolian
Greeks.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Association calls upon the government
of Turkey to acknowledge the genocides against these populations,
to issue a formal apology, and to take prompt and meaningful steps
toward restitution.

JOSEPH PENNINGTON: IT IS AN HONOR FOR US TO LIVE AND WORK IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 26, NOYAN TAPAN. U.S. Charge d’Affaires Joseph
Pennington sent a New Year message to the Armenian people, which read:

"Dear Armenians,

On this first day of the New Year, I would like to thank the people of
Armenia for their friendship and for the support they continue to give
to the strong relationship between Armenia and the United States. Today
is a day to celebrate the many things that bring us together as
nations, and to reflect on the many achievements our two peoples have
accomplished together since Armenia’s independence. It is also a day to
look ahead to the hopes and challenges that the future holds.

As we look ahead to 2008, I would like to assure you that US assistance
to Armenia, which has now reached nearly 2 billion dollars, will
continue. The United States is committed to supporting Armenia as it
works to both establish a strong democracy, and build a vibrant
economy, that benefit all of Armenia’s people. This year represents a
particularly important opportunity for Armenia to demonstrate its
commitment to democracy by holding a presidential election that meets
international standards. The United States stands ready to support that
important effort.

I would like to express today my deep appreciation for the
extraordinary warmth and hospitality the Armenian people continue to
show me and my colleagues at the American embassy, and the wider
American community in Armenia. It is an honor for us to live and work
in Armenia, a country that has achieved so much since it gained its
independence, and which has unlimited potential to accomplish even more
in the future.

I know Armenians have a saying about the New Year’s holiday: "Just as
one spends New Year’s, so, too, will they spend the following year."

So on behalf of the American people and the entire embassy, I wish all
of the Armenian people a very special New Year’s holiday spent with
close friends and family, and every success in the promising year ahead.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!"

INFLATION TO MAKE NO MORE THAN 7% IN ARMENIA IN 2007

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, NOYAN TAPAN. By forecast of the Central Bank of
Armenia (CBA), inflation will make no more than 7% in Armenia in 2007.
The CBA chairman Tigran Sargsian stated on December 26 that Armenia has
succesfully overcome the challenge facing the country in 2007 – due to
a rise in prices in international market. According to him, about 4
percentage points of the inflation registered this year was conditioned
by external inflation pressures. Therefore, the inflation conditioned
by domestic monetary factors makes about 3% which is line with the
annual programed index – no more than 4.5%. The CBA chairman stated
that inflation in Armenia is the lowest in the CIS, particularly,
inflation in neighboring countries is twice as high.

T. Sargsian said that 2007 was an unprecedently successful year for the
banking system. The growth of credits made 72%, with the amount of
mortgage credits almost doubling. The growth of banks’ assets and
liabilities has made about 40%, and the banking system ended the year
with a high profit. The growth in non-banking credit institutions is
higher, in particular, their assets have doubled.

In the insurance sector, the year 2007 was marked by adoption of a new
law, as a result of which six companies were closed. Nevertheless, this
year the liabilities in the insurance sector have increased by 40%,
while the profit has doubled.

In the words of the CBA chairman, the most important change in the
securities market in 2007 was the successful completion of the deal
with OMX company (Sweden), as a result of which this company purchased
the Armenian Stock Exchange and the Central Depositary. It is also
important that many enterprises have started issuing their bonds, while
Ararat Bank has also issued shares. There is a hope that 2008 will be a
turning-point year for the securities market.

It was stated that this year Pro Kredit Bank (Germany), Byblosbank
(Lebanon), as well as Gazprom and Troyka Dialog banks (Russia) have
entered the Armenian market. According to T. Sargsian, it means that
henceforth Armenian banks will have no problem with financial resources.

He said that this year Armenian banks have attracted an unprecedented
amount of funds from external market, thanks to which the net foreign
assets have declined by about 80 billion drams (about 262 million
dollars). It is also significant that in 2007 the dramization process
has continued, as a result of which the share of deposits in Armenian
drams has reached 65% in the banking system. In late 2006, this share
exceeded 50% for the first time.

Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of America
3325 North Glenoaks Blvd.
Burbank, Ca 91504
Tel: 818-558-7474
Fax: 818-558-6333
Web:

Diocesan News

**Primate’s 2008 Christmas Message**

shop/messages/2008/christmas.html
Watch a video of this message in English or Armenian online
< hop/messages/2008/christmas.html>

"And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will
keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." –
Philippians 4:7
In the Christendom, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ is the
embodiment of the peace of God. The birth of Christ was the
manifestation of God’s boundless love which established a new
refuge where his radiating peace, emanating from within himself,
became the path of peace, life and truth.

The peace of God is the leading path of Christ towards God. It is
the mystery of the life of Christ. It is the truth woven in the tales
uttered from his lips. Thus in celebrating his birth, we are born
again spiritually through the birth of Jesus Christ. In other words,
the Nativity not only demonstrates the boundless love of God, but the
mirror of our lives, in which we could see our very beings more
vividly, therefore correcting the direction of our lives. Henceforth,
miraculous changes occur in the lives of the faithful.

"And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will
keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

The birth of Christ is the most miraculous event of this world. Our
Human mind is unable to comprehend the Mystery of Christmas, but the
ones who believe in the mystery also will experience the miracle of
spiritual rebirth.

We live in a time when scientific achievements and innovations occur
in every second, to the benefit of all mankind. But the question
remains whether the scientific achievements are truly valuated, in
spite of ever weakening faith humankind entrusts in God. Thus,
mankind is becoming increasingly decadent and loosing its moral
compass.

The Birth of Christ is a miraculous blessing that in depth could
turn our God-given lives into celebration when the Gospel of Jesus
Christ would emanate through our souls. There is one practical way,
for Christians, to celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ that is to
reawaken within ourselves the power of faith in God; to stay faithful
to the belief of our forefathers and the Church. Reinforce the vision
of family as a sacred sanctuary where our children are nourished
spiritually in order to gain wisdom and become useful and productive
individuals.

Dear faithful, the year 2008 has just begun, as a heavenly blessing.
It is left to us to enrich the New Year with the labor of faith, thus
perpetuating our lives as a testimony to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Living our lives as a testimony to our Lord Jesus Christ will spread
peace and love of Christ, uniting the humanity as one heart, one
soul.

"Christ was born and revealed, blessed be the revelation of
Christ."

May this be the desire of your hearts and your prayer unceasingly.
Since each time we recite our prayers figuratively speaking we take
steps towards God. Step by step we become electrified within our
existence, with the presence of God. And when we greet each other
with the same prayer, we turn into ambassadors of peace and
tranquility in our world and among our fellow human beings.

May Baby Jesus and his birth humble our hearts and strengthen the
love of God and peace among us. Thus, all hand-in-hand, from the
bottom of our hearts rededicate ourselves to the Fatherland and the
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, to the blessed United States, to our
Armenian Holy Apostolic Church, to the mission, and all this in
remembrance and reverence of our Martyrs, and as a beautiful and
justified offerings to the Glory of God.

May Christmas bring peace, long lives, health, and more prosperity
to the world, to each family and to each heart and soul.

With love and prayers,
Prayerfully,

Archbishop Hovnan Derderian
Primate

**Primate’s Schedule – January 2008
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**APN Scholarship Distribution Event
< ry.php?id=770>**

On December 17, 2007, the annual Armenian Professional Network
Scholarship Distribution Event took place at Armen Hampar Hall of the
Western Diocese of the Armenian Church. This year, 5 outstanding
students were chosen for the award. His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan
Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese, presided over the event.

VERDICT ON ANM’S LAWSUIT AGAINST SHANT TV COMPANY TO BE PRONOUNCED IN 2008

Noyan Tapan
Dec 24 2007

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 24, NOYAN TAPAN. The judicial enquiry on the case
of lawsuit of the Armenian National Movement (ANM) Party against the
Shant TV company, presided over by judge Saro Aramian, finished on
December 24 at the first instance court of Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun
communities of Yerevan.

ANM representative Karen Karapetian affirmed the lawsuit, with which
the latter asks to oblige the TV company to refute the information
discrediting party’s good reputation. According to the shorthand report
introduced to the court, during the October 30 information program
of Shant, announcer Nver Mnatsakanian said that an anonymous call was
received by the TV company, the author of which threatened that if they
give some negative information on first President Levon Ter-Petrosian,
he will explode the journalists and their relatives. After that
N. Mnatsakanian mentioned "by the way" that the TV company has invited
one of ANM Board members to its information program, but the latter
did not agree to come. Then the announcer condemned the phenomenon
with the words "no matter what political force has done it."

"What grounds do you have that this is a political force and not
a maniac?"

the ANM representative asked. It was also emphasized that the phone
number, from which they called the TV company, is known. And on
November 1 the Pakagits newspaper distorted the statements made
on air for even more, by publishing that material under the title
"ANM Threatens."

A representative of the respondent party, lawyer Aram Karakhanian said
that the information voiced by Shant does not contain any element
discrediting party’s good reputation, honor and dignity. He noted
that the law demands refuting the information and not the analysis
or opinion made on the basis of it.

Eduard Chinarian, a representative of the Pakagits newspaper, stated
that the title "is not information," that the statement made by Shant
was not distorted in the newspaper’s material.

The verdict on the case will be pronounced on January 9.