Author: Karakhanian Suren

SOLEMN EVENT DEDICATED TO 40th ANNIVERSARY OF UNITED NATIONAL PARTY TO
BE ORGANIZED ON APRIL 24
YEREVAN, APRIL 21, NOYAN TAPAN. The 40th anniversary of foundation of
the United National Party will be marked on April 24 this year. In
this connection a solemn event will be organized at the Arno
Babajanian concert hall. Paruyr Hayrikian, Chairman of the National
Self-Determination Union, informed about it at April 21 press
conference. According to him, it is supposed that after getting
acquainted with some episodes of the history of the United National
Party founded in 1966 the participants of the event will adopt a
message in which they will call for posthumously giving the title of
the National Hero to UNP founder Haykaz Khachatrian and burying him in
the Pantheon after Komitas. Hayrikian said that starting 1965, April
24 has become a day of national awakening. According to the United
National Party’s program-regulations adopted in 1974, on April 24 the
UNP members kept the fast from morning to evening. And after the
sunset they marked the birth of the United National Party.
This year the UNP will start the series of events dedicated to April
24 from the Surb Sargis church, then the party members will visit the
Memorial to the Armenian Genocide victims, then will leave for
Echmiadzin for a liturgy, after which will visit the graves of Komitas
and Haykaz Khachatrian and will be present at the evening liturgy in
the Surb Grigor Lusavorich church.

“THERE IS NO EXAMPLE OF GENOCIDE IN OUR HISTORY WHAT I’M PROUD OF,”
PERSIAN DEPUTY EMPHASIZES AT EVENT DEDICATED TO 91ST ANNIVERSARY OF
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
TEHRAN, APRIL 21, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. An event dedicated to
the 91st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide took place on April 18
in Tehran, on the initiative of the Armenian Issues’ Research Center
(AIRC, Hay Dat Committee of Tehran). Archbishop Sepuh Sargsian, the
primate of the Armenian diocese of Tehran, two dozens of deputies of
the Islamic Parliament and representatives of deputies’ offices,
officials of the ministries of interior, education and bringing up,
Islamic culture and leadership, representatives of the Deputies’
Assembly of the Armenian diocese of Tehran, of the Diocesan Council
and Armenian cultural unions of Tehran, Persian intellectuals,
journalists and inspectors of Armenians schools participated in the
event. According to the “Alik” daily of Tehran, Gevik Mkrtchian, the
AIRC Chairman emphasized that many international circles and even Turk
intellectuals recognized the Genocide, but the Government of Turkey
has not refused yet its betrayal policy, and followers of the people
implementing the Genocide, started cultural massacre today. Then
Robert Beglarian, the Deputy of the South Iranian Armenians of the
Islamic Parliament invited the speaker of the day, Doctor Emad Afrugh,
the Chairman of the Cultural Committee of the Islamic Parliament,
Deputy from Tehran, to make a speech. The Persian Deputy emphasized
that though some historians do not call those crimes a genocide and
consider it to have been a compulsory migration, but the fact remains
a fact that such a case had taken place, it is a reality but not an
illusion. Doctor Afrugh added that though some of the people having
implemented the crime were once punished, but they did not get a
worthy punishment, until Armenians themselves subjected them to death
in different places. Doctor Afrugh called on the present authorities
of Turkey: “Let them make researches, let scientific researchers be
given necessary documents and be as brave as to congess that you had
made a mistakve and to correct the past if any deliberate crime has
been implemented.” He also attached importance to the dialogue of
religions and civilizations and emphasized: “We have no difficulties
with Christians: there is no example of genocides in our history what
I’m proud of.” Archbishop Sepuh Sargsian, the primate of the Armenian
Diocese of Tehran also sent his commandment during the event. He
particularly, said: “The human history showed that one may not falsify
or renounce the truth. Today, in the light century, nobody may build
the history on a falsification. The Armenian Genocide is a historical
reality, reality affirmed by representatives of the modern Turkish
authorities themselves and by political, church and intellectual
representatives of the western world. So, our expectation from today’s
Turkey is to have courage to recognize that crime of its fathers.”
Robert Beglarian touched upon in his speech a number of circumstances:
first, that the Armenian Genocide was not implemented only in 1915,
but has started since 1896, second, it’s a genocide as it has been
implemented towards a people in its own historic country, and Turkey
does not recognize it as legal responsibility will aslo arise of that
recognition. He cited from the “Iran, Ayatollah Khpmeyn’s Epoch” book
written by Nikolay Hovhannissian and published in Armenia: “Late Imam
attached importance to the role and place occupied by the Armenians of
Iran in different spheres and emphasized that “we are perfectly aware
of the Armenian Genocide, condemn it, and neither Iran is a similar
country not Iranians are a similar people for such a case happens in
Iran.” At the end of the event Deputy Emad Afrugh was presented a
souvenir, then a reception took place during which the Persian deputy
mentioned that it will become a start for his future researches.
During the event documentary video films about the Armenian Genocide
and presenting the Azerbaijani vandalism against the Armenian
monuments in Old Jugha were shown, and the “Zvartnots” choir had a
performance during the artistic part of the event.

WVU honors Holocaust victims
by Grant Smith, Staff
The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.
April 20, 2006 Thursday
Apr. 20–WVU students and community members gathered at noon Wednesday
to begin reading about 15,000 names of Holocaust victims.
And they’ll still be there at noon today.
“I think the Holocaust is a life lesson for the education person,”
said WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr., “that this could happen
in a ‘civilized’ country. It could happen to so many with so little
justification.”
Nazi Germany’s Holocaust killed an estimated 12 million people,
six million of them Jews.
Hardesty helped begin the program, reading a poem by Pastor Martin
Niemöller, and the poem “Unto Every Person There is a Name,” by the
Israeli poet Zelda. The name-reading event shares the same name as
the latter poem.
He then read the first few names of Holocaust victims. The first two
victims were just children, aged 14 and 17.
Hillel House, WVU’s Jewish student organization, first held the event
nine years ago, said member Heidi Solomon. About 30 volunteers signed
up ahead of time, and she expected about 20 to 30 more to volunteer
on the spot by the end of the event.
Hillel House co-treasurer Lauren Bergstein said that reading the
names is an effort to keep people from clumping the millions of
victims into one group.
“I think that one of the big things about this program is it’s
important to give everybody a name,” said Bergstein, a sophomore
occupational therapy student. “That kind of gives them more
personality.”
Hardesty said the name-reading is a “poignant way” of remembering
the Holocaust. “They were individuals with hopes and dreams,” he said.
Hardesty has been opening the program since it began at WVU, he said,
and read books and histories in preparation. “I think I’ve become
much better for participating in the ceremony,” he said.
He recalls an emotional moment from a previous year, at which six
names of members from the same family were read. A father, mother
and their four children were all killed on the same day, in the same
camp. He said the ages of that family reminded him of his own.
“I’ve kind of gotten better at managing that over the years,” he
said. The event is also an attempt to “make sure nothing like this
ever happens again,” Bergstein said.
Solomon’s mother, Jan Hausman, was scheduled to read names three
times during the event.
She teaches the Holocaust to eighth graders in Pennsylvania.
She said one of Adolph Hitler’s earlier speeches referred to the 1.5
million Armenians’ killed in Turkey in the early 20th century. He
said since no one remembered the Armenians, they wouldn’t remember
the Jews killed by the Nazis in 20 years, either. “He was kind of
laughing at the memory of the Armenians,” Hausman said.
She uses the Holocaust as a lesson decrying bullying.
“If we allow that, what’s next?” she said. “I show them what could
possibly be next.”
–Boundary_(ID_XklzbDX1oTk5S582Cz10hw)–

ARMAVIA AIRLINE GIVE VALUABLE PRESENT TO ITS 100,000TH PASSENGER IN 2006
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
April 20 2006
Yerevan, April 20. /ARKA/. The “Armavia” airline has given a valuable
present to its 100,000th passengers in 2006, the resident of Ashtarak
Marina Sarkisyan.
The present has been given to her in Yerevan by Director General of
the “Armavia” airline Norair Belluyan. The present costs AMD 200,000
($500).
This is an interim result of a special action announced by the airline
in 2006. According to the action terms, the first 100,000th, 700,000th
and 1,000,000th passengers can receive valuable presents.
The 700,000th passenger will receive keys of a “Peugeot” or “Renault”,
and the 1,000,000th passenger will be presented with a “Mercedes”.
The “Armavia” airline intends to exceed last year’s air transportation
index, 550,000 passengers, by October 2006.
The “Armavia” airline was founded on December 12, 1996. The airline
is currently owned by MIKA Armenia Trading. Î.À. -0–
–Boundary_(ID_8f4zKQxfPGR2ns/LVYh8hQ)–

STATE ENGINEERING UNIVERSITY OF ARMENIA WINS TENDER FOR RECEIVING $300,000 GRANT
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
April 19 2006
YEREVAN, April 19. /ARKA/. State Engineering University of Armenia won
Wednesday a tender for receiving a $300-thousand grant. The Univessity
press service says the grant is provided by American Civil Resources
and Development Fund, CRDF, jointly with Armenian National Fund for
Science and Advanced Technologies. According to the press release,
the money is intended for the university’s three-year program focused
on polymers synthesis. Armenian Government is to allocate half this
amount, of which $90 thousand will be given by Science and Education
Ministry and the remaining $60 thousand by the university.
The aim of the tender is to create university education center. The
University allocated about 200-square meter area of laboratories for
that purpose and intends to place there equipment worth $180 thousand.
CRDF is an American non-commercial benevolent organization cooperating
with Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Moldova. The
Fund was founded by the U.S. Government in 1995.

RA CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RULES LEGISLATIVE GROUNDS OF GOVERNMENTAL DECISION ON YEREVAN’S CENTER DEVELOPMENT TO BE NOT IN LINE WITH CONSTITUTION
Noyan Tapan
Apr 19 2006
YEREVAN, APRIL 19, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA Constitutional Court (CC)
on April 18 continued examining the application of the RA Ombudsman
Armen Harutyunian regarding the constitutionality of the governmental
decision on development of Yerevan’s center. Particularly, the
RA Omudsman disputed that a number of provisions of the RA Civil
Code and the RA Land Code, as the government’s decision No. 1151 on
Measures to Implement Development Programs within the Adminisrative
Border of the Kentron Community of Yerevan of August 1, 2002, are
in compliance with Article 31 of the RA Constitution. According
to the decision of the Constitutional Court, Article 218 of the
RA Civil Code and Articles 103, 104 and 106 of the RA Land Code,
based on which the government made the above mentioned decision,
do not meet the requirements of the RA constitutional provisions in
terms of regulating the legal relations on forcible alienation of
property for state and public needs. “Taking into account that the RA
National Assembly and the government are obliged to bring many legal
acts concerning the problem in question into line with requirements
of the Constitution and the decision of the Constitutional Court in
the shortest possible time and to regulate by law the legal regime
of property alienation for public and state needs in the supreme
public interests, the court sets the moment of such legal regime’s
taking effect – no later than October 1, 2006, as the deadline for
this decision’s legal norms recognized not in compliance with the
Constitution to lose thier force,” the CC decision says.

KARABAKH HOLDS MILITARY MANOEUVRES – ARMENIAN TV
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
19 Apr 06
[Presenter] The Nagornyy Karabakh defence army has started
large-scale military manoeuvres with the involvement of different
kinds of troops. Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan is also
attending the military manoeuvres. These are the first military
manoeuvres in Nagornyy Karabakh after incidents on the contact line
with Azerbaijan. The Karabakh defence minister, Seyran Oganyan,
told journalists about the main goal of the manoeuvres, the current
situation on the borders and new plans at a news conference yesterday.
[Correspondent] A balance of forces on the contact line between
Nagornyy Karabakh and Azerbaijan has been maintained for 12 years
already without the involvement of a third force. This shows that
the Artsakh [Karabakh] army is able to tackle its tasks, Oganyan
said. He also pointed out that the latest command-and-staff exercise
[on 14 April] had showed that the combat readiness of the Karabakh
army was at a high level.
[Oganyan] Today, it takes mobilized forces of the republic seven
hours to take their position on the front line, which shows that the
Karabakh army is capable of properly fulfilling its tasks.
[Correspondent] Measures taken on the front line are the main guarantee
of peace. Engineering facilities and military hardware ensure security
on the positions. The commander [Oganyan] is not worried about the
enemy’s [Azerbaijan’s] attempts to advance its positions.
[Oganyan] Even if they manage to occupy our trenches, they do not
know what awaits them in the depth of our defence.
[Correspondent] A programme for improving the social status of
servicemen is also aimed at ensuring peaceful service. Military
training and measures to reinforce the defence army are being continued
in Nagornyy Karabakh. The commander considers that the defence army
itself is a better peacekeeping force. Everything will be done to
reinforce the fighting efficiency of the defence army.
[Oganyan] We will do our best to overcome shortcomings in the army.
[Video showed news conference]

EU WOULD NOT EXPLAIN TO ARMENIA WHAT FAIR ELECTION IS
Lragir.am
20 April 06
There are standards of free and lawful elections for the countries of
the EU, the CoE and the OSCE, which are obligatory for everyone. On
April 20 this idea was stated by Hans Winkler, Chair of the EU Troyka,
Secretary of State of Austria, in a news conference in Yerevan. He
said the European Union emphasizes the importance of the upcoming
presidential and parliamentary elections in Armenia and is willing to
monitor these elections. In answer to the question of a news reporter
if there is a border, below which falsification is acceptable and
above which it is not acceptable, the state minister of Austria said
a fair and free election is clear for everyone, and did not find it
necessary to explain what a lawful and fair election is, saying that
this notion does not need an explanation.

GARNIK ISAGULYAN DOES RESEARCH
Lragir.am
19 April 06
On April 19 the story of an institute become known; its name was
announced two years ago but recently it has been served in a dish
at last. It is the Institute of Political Research, established on
the June 10, 2004 decision of the government of Armenia and operated
within the administration of the president of Armenia. The founder
and the president of the board of the institute is Garnik Isagulyan,
adviser to the president of Armenia. On April 19 he gave a news
conference to give the new address of the Institute of Political
Research. The institute occupies 6 rooms in the library building of
the Academy of Sciences of Armenia. Before the Institute existed,
if it existed at all, in the residence of the president of Armenia.
However, the institute will not stay long at this address. The
government has provided a five-storey building at 44 Arshakunyats
Street which will be ready to receive Garnik Isagulyan and experts
in six months.
“I repeat and I will be saying this quite often that the institute
does not face any problems thanks to the head of state because he
accepts all our proposals,” says Garnik Isagulyan. He also says it
is not clear when the government decision on establishment of the
institute would be implemented if the president had not attended to
it personally. Nevertheless, besides the president, Garnik Isagulyan
thanks the government, the National Assembly and all the other agencies
which contributed to the Institute of Political Research.
The major goal of the institute is political analyses for the
president of Armenia. The topics are not unlimited, but there are
topics, such as the Karabakh issue and the developments connected
with our four neighbor countries, that are under constant attention,
and reports on these are extended to the president every week. These
reports are confidential, but generally Garnik Isagulyan assures
that their activity will be open, their analyses will be open, they
will not be pro-governmental or opposition, and most importantly,
they will be independent. The institute will be funded from the state
budget, and Garnik Isagulyan finds this to be the main guarantee of
independence. In 2006, for instance, the political research for the
president of Armenia will cost taxpayers 107 million drams.
“It was extremely important for the institute not to depend on
other sources of funding in order to be independent,” says Garnik
Isagulyan. However, being a governmental agency that is funded
from the budget does not mean that the institute headed by Garnik
Isagulyan cannot accept orders. It can and is willing to, assures
Garnik Isagulyan. Any agency, both Armenian and foreign, political
and nonpolitical, opposition of pro-governmental, can order research
and, of course, pay for it. The president of the board of the IPS
Garnik Isagulyan assures that the experts are highly qualified, and
their analyses could have even enriched the desktop of Condoleezza
Rice, says Garnik Isagulyan. However, Rice would first have to order
and pay. The analyses are free for the president, the government,
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense. Garnik
Isagulyan plans to increase the members of the staff from 42 to 72.
The minimum salary is 150 thousand drams.

ANKARA PREPARES AGAINST ‘APR. 24’ WITH JEWISH LOBBY
By Suleyman Kurt, Ankara
Zaman Online, Turkey
April 19 2006
Ankara intensifies efforts against the Armenian Diaspora, which
attempts to “make the so-called Armenian genocide recognized,” as
the anniversary of “24 April 1915 events” approaches.
Turkish officials, who closely monitor the resolution drafts in the US
Congress, French and Argentinean parliaments, continue their efforts
to prevent a counter decision.
Diplomatic sources oppose claims suggesting that the Jewish lobby has
ended its support to Turkey in relation to the “so-called Armenian
genocide allegations” following the Islamic Resistance Movement’s
(HAMAS) Ankara visit. They also do not think it is possible for the
US Congress to take such a decision.
US President George W. Bush is not expected to use the word “genocide”
in his April 24 speech.
“Turkey and the Jewish lobby have always had good relations. If there
is a weakness in the relations, we will do our best to eliminate it, we
are working towards this end,” a foreign ministry official explained.
Along with the US Congress, developments in the French and Argentinean
parliaments are being closely monitored.
A draft law in the French parliament foresees the “punishment of
those deny the existence of Armenian genocide,” and another law in
the Argentinean parliament aims to “giving the Armenian genocide
issue a place in the school books.”
Ankara realized the “necessary” efforts to the Argentinean government
and asked them “not to nurture generations being hostile to Turkey”.
Political experts comment that the draft will not be passed by
parliament.
Secret diplomacy continues with Yerevan
Problems between Turkey and Armenia, including the “so-called genocide
allegations,” were handled in the Austrian capital, Vienna, by the
diplomats of both countries.
During these talks, the “commission of historian” project put forward
by Turkey concerning the Armenian genocide allegations was not adopted.
Ankara rejected the proposal of Armenia relating to the issue as well.
In order for the start of diplomatic relations between the countries,
a text should be signed by the both parties, which shows that some
of the problems between the countries, including the dispute over
borders, have been settled.
The parties have not reached such a level, it is noted. Along with
the diplomatic meetings, Turkish diplomats recently gathered with
representatives of the Armenian Diaspora defending “moderate” opinions
in the US.