Author: Karakhanian Suren

THE FACT OF AFRICAN SWINE FEVER’S ENTRY INTO ARMENIA IS CONFIRMED

arminfo
2007-08-28 08:18:00

Russian specialists, having come to Armenia, confirmed the fact
that the African swine fever infected swine, the Head of RA State
Veterinary Inspection of the Ministry of Agriculture Grigory Bagyan
said in his talk with ArmInfo correspondent.

He noted that the tissue samples of the sick animals were
sent to laboratories in Great Britain and Russia for the final
diagnosing. According to G. Bagyan, the Ministry of Agriculture
took all the necessary measures to prevent the penetration of the
African swine fever from Lori and Tavush regions to other regions of
the republic. Mass swine die-off was recorded in the above-mentioned
regions. To recall, the virus of African swine fever was recorded at
Georgian territory and already found its way to Abkhazia and South
Ossetia. During the African swine fever epidemic more than 21 000
swine fell in Georgia. African swine fever or Pestis africana suum
was first recorded in 1903 in South Africa. In case of emergence of
African swine fever, they kill all the swine in the farm, do away
with the dead body, disinfect the pigsty and the implements. Bringing
of new swine on the farm is allowed only a year after the illness
is eliminated. Presently, according to Bagyan, the actual size of
economic damage, caused by the virus, is estimated.

EGOYAN UNLEASHES ‘ADORATION’
By Tamsen Tillson

Vareity
1117970658.html?categoryid=1237&cs=1
Thurs., Aug. 23, 2007

FILM TO STAR SPEEDMAN, BLANCHARD

TORONTO — Atom Egoyan’s Next Project Will Star Scott Speedman,
Rachel Blanchard, Devon Bostick Plus His Wife And Longtime Muse,
Arsinee Khanjian.

Egoyan Described Pic, Titled "Adoration" And Which Begins Lensing In
Toronto In Mid-September, As A Drama That Deals With Teens Navigating
"this brave new world and how people can invent themselves, or
re-invent themselves, through technology."

The script for the C$5 million ($4.7 million) feature is "fluid,"
just the way Egoyan said he likes it.

Executive produced by Robert Lantos, "Adoration" is produced by Egoyan
and Simone Urdl and Jennifer Weiss, the duo who, along with Daniel
Iron, produced Sarah Polley’s "Away From Her."

Serendipity Point Films has worldwide distribution rights, excluding
France, which ARP is handling.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE?
By Amanda McGregor

THE SALEM NEWS (SALEM, Mass.)
Published: August 20, 2007 11:49 pm

American Defamation League debate hits home

PEABODY, Mass. — Apo Torosyan said his documentaries will clear up
any doubt in the Anti-Defamation League’s dispute over recognizing
the Armenian genocide.

Torosyan lost most of his family in the killings and has spent years
chronicling survivors’ stories.

"People are fighting for the truth," said Torosyan, an Armenian from
who Turkey has lived in Peabody since the 1960s. "I have witnesses
telling with their own mouths what happened to them and their ancestors
— people shot, boys tied up together on boats and pushed into the
water to drown."

Last week, the Anti-Defamation League’s national leadership fired its
New England director, Andrew Tarsy, because he wanted the organization
to recognize the Armenian genocide. His firing prompted two regional
ADL board members to resign in protest.

The controversy is resonating on the North Shore with the families of
survivors and is prompting some local communities to re-evaluate their
participation in the ADL’s No Place for Hate Program. The organization
is primarily known for combating anti-Semitism.

"They wouldn’t deny it, but they wouldn’t affirm it, either," said
Holocaust survivor Sonia Weitz of Peabody, who founded the Holocaust
Center Boston North. "I very much agree with what Andrew Tarsy did,
because it’s unacceptable to me — the denial of genocide that is
accepted by just about any historian and most countries."

The controversy has weighed on Mary Torigian Foley of Peabody, whose
four grandparents and many other relatives were killed in Turkey
between 1915 and 1918.

"People were slaughtered left and right. To say it’s not genocide
is very, very painful," said Foley, whose brother, the late Peabody
Mayor Peter Torigian, founded the city’s annual Armenian genocide
recognition ceremony more than 20 years ago. "My hat’s off to (Andrew)
Tarsy for speaking up."

Many North Shore cities and towns have signed onto the ADL’s No Place
for Hate designation, in which communities host regular events in
conjunction with the ADL to promote human rights and religious and
racial tolerance. Salem joined earlier this year, and in light of the
controversy, the city will review its membership at its next meeting.

"I’m actually very surprised by the ADL’s stance on this," said Salem
City Councilor Lucy Corchado, who advocated joining No Place for
Hate. "We need to promote being tolerant and respectful to others,
and that’s what (the ADL’s) mission was, so I thought."

‘Difference in policy’

James Rudolph of Swampscott is the ADL’s New England regional board
chairman, and he said he hopes that local No Place for Hate communities
won’t jump ship amid his office’s brush with the national ADL.

"Our executive (New England) committee has voted that the ADL should
acknowledge the Armenian genocide," Rudolph said. "Right now, we’re
in what I would call uncharted waters with respect to the relationship
between the national and regional board, where we have this difference
in policy."

Even North Shore residents angered by the national position don’t
want it to cast a shadow over the ADL’s work in other arenas.

"The ADL has done some wonderful, wonderful things on human rights and
against racism and bigotry," Weitz said, "and I hope the communities
can see that one thing really has nothing to do with the other."

In response to the dispute, the ADL’s national office issued a letter
this week that said its policy has been distorted.

"The controversy occurred because of the distortion of our position
on a complex issue," Chairman Glen Lewy wrote in a letter that the
ADL is running in newspapers this week and posted on its Web site,

The letter does not use the word genocide but goes on to read,
"ADL has acknowledged and never denied the massacres of hundreds of
thousands of Armenians — and by some accounts more than 1 million —
at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1918.

"We believe that the Turkish government must do more than it has to
confront its history and to seek reconciliation with the Armenian
people."

Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman
Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by
scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey, however,
denies that constituted genocide, saying the death toll has been
inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

Genocide usually refers to a systematic effort to destroy an entire
national or ethnic population.

Susan Fletcher leads the Danvers Committee on Diversity, which is
mulling whether Danvers will rejoin the No Place for Hate program after
a several-year hiatus. She said Lewy’s letter raised valid points.

"It’s an issue that really isn’t black and white," said Fletcher,
who said the Diversity Committee will meet Thursday and likely discuss
the ADL controversy. "There are valid points on both sides, and it’s
also important to consider the many wonderful ADL programs."

What’s behind it?

The debate was sparked in Watertown, home to 8,000 Armenian Americans,
where the town rejected the No Place for Hate designation.

The ADL’s recent letter called Turkey "a key strategic ally and
friend of the United States and a staunch friend of Israel. … In
the struggle between Islamic extremists and moderate Islam, Turkey
is the most critical country in the world."

Torosyan believes money and power fuel the denial. He is also a member
of the International Association of Genocide Scholars.

"This was not a civil war, but the Turkish government covers it. They
know if they accept it, it will be a financial burden," he said,
referring to the possibility of reparations. "But the Armenian people
don’t necessarily want that. They want an apology and recognition."

Foley, who lost so many of her family members, said politics should
not prevail.

"They think a stand on genocide will hurt Israel, but I don’t think
so," Foley said, "because the ADL is not the government of the United
States. It really bothers me that it’s so difficult to call this a
genocide; that’s what it is."

National ADL changes stance on Genocide

BOSTON, Mass – August 22, 2007 – Host Intro: The unexpected reversal of a
long held policy on the Armenian genocide is the subject of today’s
Anti-Defamation League New England board meeting. The ADL is now calling the
killing of more than a million and a half Armenians by Ottoman Turks in the
early 1900’s –genocide. It’s still unclear if Andy Tarsy, the Regional
Director who was fired for challenging the national policy, will be
reinstated as many local Jewish leaders want. WBUR’s Monica Brady-Myerov
reports on reaction to the changed policy.

Text: The news of the reversal was applauded by local Jewish leaders. Former
ADL board member Steve Grossman commended national director Abraham Foxman
for taking the moral high ground.

STEVE GROSSMAN: I was very pleased that nationally the ADL recognized that
their position was no long tenable and no longer the morally acceptable
position to take. I give Abe Foxman a lot of credit it takes a distinguished
leader to recognize a mistake and to recognize that a position has to
change.

The sudden reversal was sparked by a controversy that started in Watertown.
Last week the town council voted to withdraw from an anti-bigotry program
sponsored by the ADL because it refused to recognize the Armenian genocide.
ADL Regional Director Andy Tarsy broke ranks and called on the national
organization to acknowledge the genocide. He was fired. Rabbi Ronne Friedman
of Boston’s Temple Israel commends Tarsy for holding his ground.

RONNE FRIEDMAN: I think the regional board did absolutely the right thing I
can only image given their position that they must have gone through an
extraordinary difficult period trying to persuade the national director and
the national board to modify its position.

The national ADL did not change its position on a Congressional Resolution
that would recognize the World War I era killings as genocide. The ADL said
yesterday they don’t support the resolution because its quote "a
counterproductive diversion." Rabbi Friedman says the ADL should support the
resolution.

RONNE FRIEDMAN: I think its half way there it was incomplete in my eyes in
that if we recognize a genocide as a genocide then as citizens of this
country we have an obligation to stand in support of the recognition of that
historical fact by our American government.

This also bothers many Armenian Americans, who say they don’t feel satisfied
with the change in policy.

Yesterday at an Armenian bakery in Watertown, where 8,000 Armenian Americans
lives, Lauren Arakelian was skeptical about the quick turn around.

LAUREN ARAKELIAN: The ADL seems to be flip flopping about their position and
I don’t understand how they can say now that they agree and acknowledge the
genocide which they all agreed they support and yet they won’t support the
congressional resolution.

Watertown resident and Eastern Chairman of the Armenian National Committee
Dikran Kaligian says without supporting the resolution in Congress, the
reversal isn’t complete.

DIKRAN KALIGIAN: Its not a reversal, this is participating in genocide
denial and the very phrasing they use it the same phrasing used by Turkish
government in arguing why this resolution should not be considered.

The ADL says it fears supporting it may put the Turkish Jewish community at
risk and hurt the relationship between Turkey, Israel and the United States.
It’s unclear if the regional board will further press the national
organization to support the resolution. In a letter to board members,
Regional Board Chair James Rudolph said the group still has much work to do.

For WBUR I’m Monica Brady-Myerov

Source:

OBITUARY ON ZHIRAYR HOVNANIAN

AZG Armenian Daily #149
21/08/2007

Culture, Social

On August 13, after a long illness, at the age of 80, died
American-Armenian benefactor Zhirayr Hovnanian in the New Jersey
Hospital.

Zhirayr Hovnanian was born in an Armenian refugee family in the city
of Kirkuk in Iraq. He immigrated into the United States of America
in 1948. In 1952 he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He
founded Zh.S. Hovnanian & Sons construction company in 1968, which has
built over six thousand buildings mainly in Burlington, Camden, and
Gloucester during the past 40 years. Zhirayr Hovnanian was granted the
Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2006 for his services rendered to USA.

Letters of condolence are sent by RA President Robert Kocharian,
Chairman of the National Assembly Tigran Torosian and NKR former
president Arkadi Ghukasian, who mentioned in his letter: "The memory
of this true patriot will always be bright in the recollection of
all the Armenian people".

"Azg" daily also presents its condolences to the Hovnanian family.

CONVICTS’ SUPPORTERS WANT ‘UNFAIR’ PENAL CODE ARTICLE SCRAPPED
By Ruzanna Stepanian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Aug 16 2007

A committee in support of two Karabakh war veterans tried on charges
of publicly calling for a violent regime change is pushing for the
article of the country’s penal code that allowed their arrest and
trial to be scrapped or essentially modified.

In a statement issued on Thursday, a group of supporters of Zhirayr
Sefilian and Vartan Malkhasian challenge the constitutionality of
Article 301 and urge Armenia’s political forces and civil rights
groups to initiate the process.

"Article 301 is among the articles restricting freedom of speech. It
is applicable exclusively in pre-election and post-election periods
to restrict the freedom of speech and the right to public rallies
for opposition members," the statement reads.

Lebanese-born Karabakh war veteran Zhirayr Sefilian and his former
comrade-in-arms Vartan Malkhasian were tried by court on charges of
publicly calling for "a violent overthrow of constitutional order".

Early last week Malkhasian was convicted and sentenced to two years
in prison. Sefilian was acquitted of this charge, but found guilty
of a lesser offense of illegal arms possession and sentenced to 18
months’ imprisonment.

Both denounced their arrest and trial as politically motivated. They
claimed in RFE/RL interviews earlier this week the authorities
had punished them for their stiff opposition to any territorial
concessions to Azerbaijan with a far-reaching goal of eliminating
them from politics in the run-up to next year’s presidential election.

In the interview, Malkhasian, a lawyer by training, disputed the
fairness of the application of the criminal charge against him.

Article 301 of Armenia’s criminal code envisages a fine or up to
three years in prison for such an offense. According to Malkhasian,
it is difficult to measure the gravity of the ‘public call’ to pass
a commensurate sentence.

"It turns out that some calls are less dangerous than others. There
is no explanation to this," he contented.

Committee members said the unfair article should be abolished if it
is found to be unconstitutional or otherwise changed so as to become
applicable only to appeals for a violent regime change followed by
concrete actions posing a public threat.

However, a number of politicians and human rights activists attending
the roundtable spoke against abolishing or changing the penal code
article as a way of solving the problem of political prisoners.

Civil rights lawyer Vartan Harutiunian said if Article 301 is removed,
the authorities will find another way to get a disagreeable politician
imprisoned. He cited the example of former foreign minister Alexander
Arzumanian, who is currently kept in the National Security Service’s
jail on money laundering charges.

"There can be good and bad articles in the criminal code. They are
used for ill purposes only by illegitimate authorities. If Armenia
has a government formed in a democratic election, any bad article
will remain on paper, but will never be applied," Harutiunian said.

Garnik Markarian, who leads the small opposition "Homeland and Honor"
party, shared this opinion. "It is a moment before the presidential
election to get sober; it is time for those who have proved their
worth in action to unite and get rid of the regime," he said.

Meanwhile, Armenia Helsinki Committee Chairman Avetik Ishkhanian
thinks the problem of political prisoners should not be linked with
the push for a power change.

"It is up to the politicians to think about a power change. But
do not let them connect political prisoners with their struggle,"
he said. "Sometimes I get the impression that media are trying to
use political prisoners as a weapon against the government, which
I consider to be wrong. I think our job is to struggle for every
political prisoner to be released as soon as possible," Ishkhanian
said.

ANAND FACES ARONIAN IN FINAL

Hindu, India
Aug 17 2007

NEW DELHI: Viswanathan Anand scored two victories when they really
mattered and set up a much-awaited title-clash with Armenian hot
favourite Levon Aronian in the FiNet Chess960 World chess championship
in Mainz, Germany, on Wednesday.

Anand, making his debut in the Chess960 format, defeated Uzbek Rustam
Kasimdzhanov in just 21 moves in the fourth round and then nailed
Frenchman Etienne Bacrot in 35 moves to ensure his place in the
four-game final.

In the sixth round, Anand and Aronian chose to reserve their energies
for the battles ahead and drew in just 18 moves. Anand punished
Kasimdzhanov after the Uzbek blundered a pawn early in the game.

Against Bacrot, Anand held the whip and had five minutes on his clock
as against just one for the Frenchman. Bacrot saw the futility of
continuing and resigned.

Kasimdzhanov, who shared the second spot with Anand after the first
three rounds on Tuesday, lost all three rounds to finish last in the
four-man field.

In the FiNet rapid tournament played alongside, Grandmasters
K. Sasikiran, P. Hari Krishna and Parimarjan Negi won their first
two rounds to be among the leaders.

The results:

FiNet Chess960 World Championship: Sixth round: Levon Aronian
(Arm, 4.5) drew with Viswanathan Anand (4); Etienne Bacrot (Fra,
2) bt Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzb, 1.5); Fifth round: Anand bt Bacrot;
Kasimdzhanov lost to Aronian. Fourth round: Anand bt Kasimdzhanov;
Bacrot drew with Aronian.

FiNet rapid tournament (involving Indians): Second round: Oliver
Kurmann (Sui, 1) lost to K. Sasikiran (2); P. Hari Krishna (2) bt
Christian Maier (Ger, 1); Peter Luchtemeier (Ger, 1) lost to Parimarjan
Negi (2). First ro und: Josef Gabriel (Ger) lost to Hari; Sasikiran
bt Omri Schlesinger (Ger); Parimarjan bt Christiansen Sava (Rom).

DARFUR CAMPAIGN STARTS OLYMPIC TORCH GENOCIDE TOUR

.campaign.starts.olympic.torch.genocide.tour/12283 .htm
Monday, August 13, 2007

Actress Mia Farrow and fellow campaigners have begun an Olympic-style
torch relay through countries that have suffered genocide to press
China to help end abuses in the Darfur region of its ally Sudan.

Actress Mia Farrow and fellow campaigners have begun an Olympic-style
torch relay through countries that have suffered genocide to press
China to help end abuses in the Darfur region of its ally Sudan.

Farrow, a goodwill ambassador for U.N. Children’s Fund UNICEF and
outspoken critic of abuses in western Sudan, lit a torch just across
the border in Chad almost exactly a year before the Beijing Olympics
are due to open on Aug. 8, 2008.

"This flame represents and honours all those who have been lost,
and all those who still suffer," said Farrow as she held the symbolic
torch in Oure Cassoni refugee camp, 3 miles (7 kms) from Chad’s border
with Sudan.

"This flame celebrates the courage of those who survived and represents
the hope we all share for an end to the violence, and a safe return
home," she said.

During a fierce rain and dust storm which engulfed the camp, the
actress then wrapped up the ceremony by symbolically leading away a
refugee boy into the distance, still holding the torch high in her
other hand, to cheers from fellow activists.

Human rights campaigners accuse Sudanese President Omar Hassan
al-Bashir’s government of supporting abuses by his armed forces and
allied Arab militia known as the "Janjaweed" and accuse China, Sudan’s
most powerful ally and top oil customer, of shielding Khartoum from
international action.

Washington brands Darfur’s war genocide. International experts estimate
200,000 people have died in Darfur, though Sudan puts the toll much
lower at about 9,000.

OLYMPIC OPPORTUNITY

China hopes the Olympics will showcase its growing industrial and
economic might, and campaigners trying to exert pressure on Beijing
over alleged human rights abuses by it or its allies have seized on
the Games as a publicity opportunity.

Critics who accuse China of widespread human rights violations at home
against groups such as outlawed Falun Gong spiritual group began a
rival torch relay in Athens, on Friday, the same day Farrow lit the
Darfur torch in Chad.

Organisers requested details of the controversial ceremony in Chad
be published only after they had left for Rwanda, where an estimated
800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in a 1994 genocide.

"The Olympic torch travels the world before the games to represent
peace and brotherhood. We are doing this torch … to also represent
peace and brotherhood for the people of Darfur," Jill Savitt, of
organisers Dream for Darfur, told reporters.

Ruth Messinger, president of the American Jewish World Service, and
Ira Newble, an NBA basketball player with the Cleveland Cavaliers,
also took part in last week’s ceremony.

Eastern Chad is home to 230,000 Darfuri refugees as well as 170,000
more Chadian civilians forced from their homes by inter-ethnic attacks
similar to those which have plagued neighbouring Darfur.

The Dream for Darfur torch is due to continue to visit genocide
sites in Rwanda, Armenia, Bosnia, Germany and Cambodia as well as
touring nearly two dozen cities across the United States ahead of
next year’s Olympics.

PRESIDENT OF TAJIKISTAN: LATEST STATEMENT OF OSCE’S MINSK GROUP ON REGULATION NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT GIVE CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug 13 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend A.Ismaylova / Everything in settling
the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh depends on
both countries, the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, has
stated during the press-conference with the President of Azerbaijan,
Ilham Aliyev.

"Knowing the Presidents of both countries, I believe that they will
do everything to keep peace and stability in South Caucasus, E.Rahmon
noted. According to the President, there has been threat for peace
and stability both in the South Caucasus and in Central Asia.

"Tajikistan as a country, suffered all horrors of war is a
supporter of peace settling of all existing conflicts, including the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh," E.Rahmon added.

The president positively appreciated will of both countries to keep
negotiations in spite of all existing difficulties. Emomali Rahmon
considers that creation of the Institute of OSCE’s Minsk Group will
allow to active the process of peace negotiations.

Panorama.am

00:48 11/08/2007

Georgia Halts Electricity Import from Azerbaijan

Georgia has temporarily halted the import of
electricity from Azerbaijan. The Georgian electricity
agency announced that the Georgian and Azerbaijani
connection, by "Gardabani-500," has been stopped due
to the renovation of the electricity station. From
today until the end of the month 300 kilowats of high
voltage electricity will be converted by an aerial
switch, as will the system’s control and inspection.

We remind that Georgia is receiving natural gas from
Azerbaijan, at $120 per cubic meter. Starting in 2007,
Gazprom increased their price to natural gas shipped
to Georgia, from $110 per cubic meter to $235. The
price for natural gas reaching Armenia remains at $110
per cubic meter.

Source: Panorama.am