Author: Kharatian Ani

TODAY THIRD HEARING IN DINK MURDER CASE
Erolonderoglu

BIA
Feb 11 2008
Turkey

The trial of the murder suspects of journalist Hrant Dink continues
with the third hearing today. The hearing will be recorded and might
yet be opened to the press, pending a court decision.

Today (11 February) is the third hearing of the trial related to
journalist Hrant Dink’s murder. The trial takes place at the Istanbul
14th Heavy Penal Court in Besiktas, central Istanbul.

The editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly newspaper Agos
was shot dead on 19 January 2007.

Court case monitored by Hrant Dink’s friends and supporters

A group called the "Hrant Dink Awareness Group", made up of MPs,
writers, journalists and others, has vowed to follow the case to
ensure that justice is done.

In a published statement, the group said, "We will continue this
effort until justice is done, until our conscience is clear." The
group will make a press statement in front of the Besiktas court
building at 10 am.

Trial may be opened to press The trial has been closed to the press
because the gunman suspect O.S. was said to be under age. However,
should the court pay heed to a forensic medical report which, based
on bone measurements, sets his age at 19, the trial may be opened to
the press.

If the court accepted a higher age, this would also affect the
suspect’s trial – the prosecution would then demand a life sentence
with more severe restrictions.

Hearing to be recorded For the third hearing, it is expected that
visual and audio recording technology has been prepared. The joint
attorneys had cited reforms in Criminal Procedure Law and demanded
the recording of the hearing.

This request had been granted and thus, this would be the first time
in Turkey that a hearing is recorded.

Justice needs to be pursued Fethiye Cetin, a lawyer for the Dink family
has expressed her appreciation of the public support in the trial:

"The voices who are pursuing the case and standing witness in the
case have also caused some developments to come to light. This pursuit
gives us hope. We must continue to pursue justice."

This hearing may also hear the account of Coskun Igci, brother-in-law
of murder suspect Yasin Hayal and gendarmerie informant, who stated
in the Trabzon court case against two gendarmerie officers for gross
negligence that he told the gendarmerie in Trabzon four months before
the murder that Hayal was planning such an attack.

The Hrant Dink murder trial in Istanbul began on 2 July 2007,
with the second hearing on 1 October. O.S., the young man on trial
for shooting Dink, said at the second hearing: "Yasin Hayal forced
me to do this. Out of fear, I did not understand how it happened,
I shot Hrant Dink. I regret it. If I had known that he had family,
I would not have shot him."

No prosecution of police officer Zenit The Istanbul 14th Heavy Penal
Court has decided not to open a separate investigation into police
intelligence officer Muhittin Zenit, who spoke to suspect Erhan Tuncel
hours after the murder of Hrant Dink. Zenit had displayed knowledge of
the planned murder in expressions such as "[the gunman] was not going
to run away, but he did." Tuncel said to Zenit in the conversation,
"It was clear how he was going to be shot."

It is expected that seven of the eight detained suspects in the
case, O.S. ,Erhan Tuncel, Yasin Hayal, Zeynel Abidin Yavuz, Ahmet
Iskender, Tuncay Uzundal and Mustafa Ozturk, will be questioned at
this hearing.

ARMINFO IN THE FIRST TEN OF THE ARMENIAN MASS MEDIA WHICH ENJOY CONFIDENCE

arminfo
2008-02-12 16:51:00

ArmInfo. ArmInfo news agency entered the first ten of the Armenian
mass media which enjoy confidence. Such a conclusion was made on the
basis of the public opinion poll held by Pan-Armenian Association of
Mass Media in the second half of January 2008.

Information centre "Noyan Tapan", "shant" TV company, "Aravot" and
"Azg" daily, internet site "A1+", "Kentron" TV company and others
entered the first ten. Radio Liberty enjoys the most confidence. Then
comes Yerkir Media. Public opinion poll was held among 25 active
political parties, 45 public organizations and 30 leaders of the
organizations which always use information sources.

VAHAN HOVHANNESIAN CAMPAIGNS IN ARARAT REGION

Yerkir
11.02.2008 17:23

Yerevan (Yerkir) – ARF Bureau member and National Assembly vice
speaker Vahan Hovhannesian was campaigning in Ararat Region today,
starting his trip from the town of Masis. He, however, could not hold
a rally there because the power was cut in the town.

Hovhannesian continued to Vedi, but before that, he stopped at
the Borodino food processing plant, where hundreds of farmers were
staging a protest demonstration demanding the plant paid the debts
accumulated since last year for the tomatoes the plant bought from
them. Hovhannesian settled some of the issues outright and promised
to assist them in settling the others.

In Vedi, Ruzan Arakelian, a member of the ARF faction in parliament,
told those gathered that Hovhannesian’s platform includes plans of
developing Armenian regions and remote villages. She also said that
rule of law should be imposed in Armenia.

Addressing the crowds in Vedi, Hovhannesian said that he has no plans
of forcing people to attend his rallies and that he is sure everybody
has attended this rally voluntarily. He briefed them on the case of
the Borodino plant, saying it is typical and that both farmers and
businessmen suffer from situations like that.

He said that we have built not a bad but a wrong country. A handful of
people buy land from people at a very low price, becoming feudal and
forcing people to become serfs. One of the reasons this is happening
is that there are middlemen between the authorities and the people:
Dashnaktsutyun will eliminate those middlemen.

He said that our people have found themselves between two extremes:
the old and the current regimes. "The old regime are those who want
to get the power back by seeding hatred, by ruining everything and
returning the territories.

The current regime are those who say that it would be good if things
remain as they are. Both are wrong," Hovhannesian said.

"Dashnaktsutyun is proposing the only way out. Dashnaktsutyun is
against monopolies that result in economic crises, it is against
oligarchs, who treat people like they are serfs. If winning, an ARF
president will be able to return freedom and justice to our people."

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Feb 8 2008

Finland expert on South Caucasus media: It is easy to form
independent media in Azerbaijan

[ 08 Feb 2008 20:00 ]

`The media of South Caucasus depends on economy and it has not
advertisement base,’ Salla Nazarenko, Finland expert on South
Caucasus media told APA
Existence of corruption, imprisonment of several journalists, design
of anti-Armenian mood, transition of opposite journalists to the
media of authorities is the main factors that influenced to the
activity of media in Azerbaijan. Salla Nazarenko stated the positive
sides of media in Azerbaijan. There are professional journalists and
Trade Union of Journalists in Azerbaijan. He stated that Trade Union
of Journalists was established in Azerbaijani in CIS region for the
first time. He noted that there is much salary in progovernmental
media.
`It is easy to from independent media in such society compared with
societies where journalists get little salary,’ he said. Salla
Nazarenko touched upon the Armenian media and noted that existence of
corruption, imprisonment of several journalists is negative sides of
Armenian media. The electronic media is under control of authorities
and anti-Azerbaijan mood has been designed in Armenian media. These
are also negative sides of Armenian media. But media of opposition is
enough active in this country. Existence of strong Diaspora abroad
and carrying out discussions on media is one of the positive
features,’ he said./APA/

GOVERNMENT CANDIDATE NEEDS NO ARMY

Lragir, Armenia
Feb 7 2008

During the question and answer session of the parliament on February 6
Member of Parliament Zaruhi Postanjyan, Heritage Party, asked the prime
minister about his attitude toward the fact that the celebration of the
army day had been turned into election campaign for the prime minister.

The prime minister said: "I don’t need to turn the celebration of the
armed force into election campaign. Upon my word, I do not need that
because I have doubt about the decision of the people in that hall. I
worked with those people for 15 years and I know their attitude and
I did not need that," Serge Sargsyan says.

In answer to the other question of Ms. Postanjyan if it is not a
violation of the law when the prime minister running in the election
does not take a vacation, Serge Sargsyan said the provision on vacation
does not concern people who occupy political posts.

However, Zaruhi Postanjyan objected that the law provides that the
prime minister running in the election does not take a vacation
in case he also performs the duties of the president. Meanwhile,
Armenia still has an acting president, she noted. In answer to this
Serge Sargsyan said he will ask Republican MP Davit Harutiunyan to
explain the law to Zaruhi Postanjyan who is a lawyer. Serge Sargsyan
said if anyone doubts his legal right not to take a vacation, they
can go to the Constitutional Court or any other court.

"Finally, as you know, a number of observers are observing the election
in Armenia, and if the observers say I have violated the law, as
you said, and inflicted great harm onto this country, I will think
on these issues. But if they do not say, please don’t raise this
issue after the election," Serge Sargsyan says. As to the concerns
that people are forced to participate in Serge Sargsyan’s rallies,
the prime minister says he has heard a lot of concerns that people
are forced, laws are breached, public polls are sham, etc.

"Who forces them to come if they do not come voluntarily?" Serge
Sargsyan asks. "You can meet with those people, to make sure there
is a chain of policemen or armed troops who force those people to stay.

Besides, do we need additional fifty or a hundred people? If you
bother to do a sum to find out how many schools there are in Erebuni
community and multiply by the number of teachers, you will get a
small number. Do we need that small number to cause dissatisfaction
in people?" Serge Sargsyan says.

He stated that the reputation of the new president of Armenia is dear
to him. "I will do my best for the reputation of the new president
of Armenia. However, I do not rule out that there will be members
of parliament, separate political forces which will be saying what
they want over the upcoming 5 years, independent from anything,"
says the presidential candidate prime minister.

CIS: IN 2007 MANY COUNTRIES OBSERVED INCREASE OF GRAIN YIELD

Agrimarket Consulting, Ukraine
Feb 6 2008

According to the Intergovernmental Statistics Committee, in 2007 the
CIS countries observed increase of gross grain yield in clean weight.

Armenia observed the maximal increase of gross grain yield – up 113%
as compared to 2006 (500.000 tonnes of grain in 2006).

According to the Statistics Committee data, in 2007 increase of gross
grain yield was also observed in Kazakhstan – 20.1 mln tonnes (up 22%
as compared to 2006) and Belarus – 7.2 mln tonnes (up 22%). Russia
also observed slight increase of gross grain yield – to 81.8 mln tonnes
(up 4%) as well as Tajikistan – to 900.000 tonnes (up 1%).

Azerbaijan (down 3% to 2 mln tonnes), Kyrgyzstan (down 5% to 1.5 mln
tonnes), Ukraine (down 15% to 29.3 mln tonnes) and Moldova (down 61%
to 900.000 tonnes) observed the decrease of gross grain yield.

AZTAG INVITED TO EXHIBIT ITS COVER PHOTO OF THE 9/11/2001 EVENTS OF NEW YORK CITY
by Harry L. Koundakjian

Aztag
Feb 5 2008
Lebanon

Beirut’s Aztag newspaper has been invited to exhibit its cover photo
of the 9/11/2001 events of New York City.

The International Center of Photography is considering and studying
and possibly this front page will be among the over a hundred other
front pages of the world press which is in a basement exhbition hall
on 6th Avenue, in New York.

One of the most prestigious photography centers in the world is based
in New York City. It was founded in 1974 by Cornell Capa, himself
a photographer on Fifth Avenue and presented over 500 exhibitions,
bringing the work of more than 3,000 photographers and other artists
to the public in one-person and group exhibitions and has provided
thousands of classes and workshops that have enriched thousands
of students.

In 1999, the headquarters building on Fifth Avenue was sold and its
new expanded galleries, at 1133 Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue),
provided in one location the same gallery space as the two sites
combined and bacame the headquarters of ICP’s public exhibitions
programs. The new ICP also provided an expanded store and a cafe. ICP
School is one of the world’s most extensive and best-equipped schools
of photography. It serves more than 1,500 students each year, offering
400 courses in a curriculum that ranges from dasrkroom classes to
certificate and master’s degreet programs.

Opened in 2001, the School is a large facility located at 1144 Avenue
of the Americas. Diogonally across the street from the ICP Museum
and the newly constructed New York Times newspaper’s headquarters.

The collection is strongest in its holdings of European and American
documentary photography of the 1930s to thr 1990 and comprises lagre
bodies of W. Eugene Smith, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Alfred Eisenstadt,
Lisette Model, Gordon Parks, James VanDerZee and severasl others.

But one of the most interesting selection is in the basement where
nearly 130 front pages of world newspapers are exhibited. The pictures
on their front pages, from photo agencies like The Associated Press,
Reuters, and others show the 9/11 attack in New York.

I am proud to say that of the six Arabic language newspapers, four
are from Lebanon including Al Anwar, Safir, Nahar, Moustakbel and the
French language daily L’Orient-Le Jour. The other Arabic newspaper
is from London.

The countries which participated in this are from Europe, some from
South America, some from Canadaand the Far East but most are newspapers
publshed in the United States.

The titles of nearly all neaspapers read–American Hit in Its Heart,
War on the USA, Doomsday for America, Second Pearl Harbor, Third
World War?, Apocalipse Now and others.

And the most surprising of all was that all visitors who came to the
ICP stayed longer at this newspapers exhibition than for the photos
that are exhibited at the ICP.

VANADZOR RESIDENTS THREATENED BY WOLVES

ARMENPRESS
Feb 6, 2008

VANADZOR, FEBRUARY 6,ARMENPRESS : Residents of the third largest town
of Vanadzor, which is the capital of northeastern province of Lori,
have been witnessing in late hours for several days bloody clashes
between ‘visiting’ wolves and stray dogs.

Volodya Buniatian, head of a department at the provincial governor’s
office in charge of agriculture and nature protection issues, said
members of the local union of hunters killed a huge wolf a couple of
days ago at night near a garbage tank close to the downtown mall.

Residents were told to avoid going out at late hours.

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

ANTELIAS CELEBRATES THE FEAST OF VARTANANTS

The Feast of Vartanants was celebrated during Holy Mass held in the Saint
Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Antelias on January 31.

Delivering the Sermon, V. Rev. Norayr Ashekian stressed the importance of
re-evaluating the legacy of Vartanatns in our present life. Recalling the
images so truly depicted by Yeghishe Badmitch, he talked about the general
political and spiritual life of 451 AD.

A procession of Cilician Brotherhood members and Seminary students then led
the believers to the Veharan, where the Seminary Choir, directed by Rev.
Magar Ashkarian, performed patriotic songs dedicated to Vartanants while
Rev. Torkom Donoyan accompanied on the piano. Archbishop Gomidas Ohanian
sang "Lerets Ambere" dedicated to the eagles of Avarayr. With great
enthusiasm believers participated in singing the songs on martyrdom and
ultimate sacrifice that have educated and continue to educate generations.

In his address to the people, Catholicos Aram I talked about the concept of
martyrdom, pointing out that the land on which Vartan and his soldiers shed
the blood is the pedestal on which our faith has grown. The Pontiff stressed
the understanding of faith and its strength in Vartanants and Ghevontiants.
"For them faith was not just a concept but "skin color" as Yeghishe Badmitch
tells us. They had transformed faith into life and they demonstrated this
with their actions," he said.

His Holiness then talked about the strength of faith that was expressed on
the battlefield of Avarayr and drove an entire nation into conscious death.
"It is this strength in faith that brings a nation together to protect its
Christian faith through martyrdom," he stressed. He concluded by calling for
a revival of national consciousness.

The celebration ended with "Cilicia", "Bahbanitch" and "I Veh Partsants".
The feast was marked by Holy Mass in all the Armenian Churches throughout
Lebanon. Special events were organized in Armenian schools on this occasion.

##
View the photos here:
tos/Photos191.htm
******
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission 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.

CARGO TRAFFIC IN ARMENIA IN 2007 GREW BY 6,4%

arminfo
2008-01-31 12:19:00

ArmInfo. Cargo traffic in Armenia in 2007 grew by 6,4% up to 10296.1
thsd tons as compared with 2006, National Statistical Service of
Armenia told reports.

Railroad freight activity for the last year was up 9,7% to 2983.7
ths tons.

Cargo traffic grew by 2,3% to 5864.5 ths tons. Freight air
transportation for the reporting period was up by 7.5% to 10.0 ths
tons. Natural gas supplied to the country through the gas main totaled
1437.9 ths tons, which is by 18.1% more than in the same period of
the last year. Cargo turnover grew by 21.4% to 2874.9 million t/km.

Passenger transportation for 2007 grew by 8.1% to 3769.1 mln people.

Railroad passenger transportation totaled 23.9 mln people, which is
by 13,7% less than in the same period of 2006. Highway passenger
transportation grew by 4.3% to 2669.5 mln people. Air passenger
transportation grew by 20,8% to 993.6 mln people. Electric drive
transportation grew by 6,3% to 82.1 mln people.