Author: Khondkarian Raffi

Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918
Fax. (202) 775-5648
[email protected]
Internet:

PRESS RELEASE
October 10, 2007

Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

HOUSE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE ADOPTS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

— Clears Way for Full House Consideration of the Human Rights
Measure

WASHINGTON, DC – With a vote of 27 to 21, the influential panel of
the U.S. House of Representatives took a major step toward ending
U.S. complicity in Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide,
adopting H.Res.106, the Armenian Genocide, over in intense campaign
of threats and intimidation by the Turkish government and its
lobbyists in Washington, DC, reported the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA).

The Committee decision opens the way for full house consideration
of the measure.

"The Foreign Affairs Committee’s adoption today of the Armenian
Genocide Resolution represents a meaningful step toward reclaiming
our right – as Americans – to speak openly and honestly about the
first genocide of the 20th Century, free from the gag-rule that
Turkey has, for far too long, sought to impose on nation’s elected
officials," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA.
"As Americans, we must always remain free to speak openly about
human rights and should never outsource our nation’s foreign policy
– or our morality – to another nation."

Voting in support of the measure were Representatives Gary Ackerman
(D-NY), Howard Berman (D-CA), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Steve Chabot
(R-OH), Jim Costa (D-CA), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), William Delahunt
(D-MA), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Eni F. H. Faleomavaega (D-SM*), Elton
Gallegly (R-CA), Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), Gene Green (D-TX),
Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Ron Klein (D-FL), Tom Lantos (D-CA),
Donald Manzullo (R-IL), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Donald Payne (D-NJ),
Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Edward Royce (R-CA), Linda Sanchez (D-CA),
Brad Sherman (D-CA), Albio Sires (D-NJ), Christopher Smith (R-NJ),
Diane Watson (D-CA), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), and David Wu (D-OR),

Voting against the measure Gresham Barrett (R-SC), Roy Blunt (R-
MO), John Boozman (R-AR), Dan Burton (R-IN), Russ Carnahan (D-MO),
Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), Luis Fortuno (R-PR),
Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX), Bob Inglis (R-SC), Connie Mack (R-FL),
Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Brad Miller (D-NC), Mike Pence (R-IN), Ted
Poe (R-TX), Illeana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), David Scott (D-GA), Adam
Smith (D-WA), Thomas Tancredo (R-CO), John Tanner (D-TN), and
Robert Wexler (D-FL). Representatives Ron Paul (R-TX) and Joe
Wilson (R-SC) did not vote.

"We want to thank Chairman Lantos, who scheduled this measure for
consideration by the Foreign Affairs Committee and voted for its
passage, Representatives Adam Schiff and George Radanovich, the
lead authors of this legislation, Representatives Brad Sherman and
Ed Royce, who spearheaded the panel’s adoption of the legislation,
Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone and Joe Knollenberg, who
generated the broad-based bipartisan support for H.Res.106 and
Armenian American Congresswoman Anna Eshoo – all of whom have
worked tirelessly as the resolution moves toward passage by the
full House of Representatives."

Introduced on January 30th by Rep. Adam Schiff along with
Representative George Radanovich (R-CA), Congressional Armenian
Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI),
Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) and Rep. Thaddeus
McCotter (R-MI), the Armenian Genocide resolution calls upon the
President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States
reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning
issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide
documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian
Genocide. The resolution is cosponsored by 226 Members of Congress
from 39 states. A similar resolution in the Senate (S.Res.106),
introduced by Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sen.
John Ensign (R-NV) currently has 31 cosponsors, including Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and presidential candidate
Hillary Clinton (D-NY).

Over the past nine months, Armenian Americans and human rights
advocates have joined with Members of Congress in educating their
colleagues about the Armenian Genocide and the importance of proper
recognition of this crime against humanity. The ANCA has mounted
several national grassroots initiatives including the highly
successful "Click for Justice" and "Call for Justice" campaigns as
well as the "End the Cycle of Genocide" Advocacy Days, cosponsored
with the Genocide Intervention Network.

Expanded coverage will follow.

#####

NOTE TO THE EDITOR: Photos sent under separate cover.

A CASINO IS A PUBLIC PLACE

Lragir
Oct 9 2007
Armenia

The Republican Party is aware of its propaganda resource and rejects
black PR by any political force. Republican Member of Parliament
Armen Ashotyan declared this tolerance on October 9 at the Tesaket
press club and also spelled out his definition of black PR. Political
criticism of the Republican Party against other forces is not black PR,
he says. "If I say I disagree with this activist’s idea because of
this or because of that, it is not black PR. If I say this activist
was seen in one place or another at three, four, five o’clock in the
morning, it is black PR," Armen Ashotyan said.

The reporters wanted to make sure if it is black PR if one Republican
activist or another is said to visit a casino at three o’clock
at night.

"If casinos, or any other types of entertainments, were out of
law, going to casinos would be illegal, so a reprimand would be
appropriate. But if it is not illegal, I am sorry to say that it is
a violation of the constitutional provision on private life which
is often ignored by some media and political activists declaring
themselves to be democratic," Armen Ashotyan answers. Perhaps it should
be added to his answer that everyone has the right for private life
but casinos are public places, consequently, it is not a trespassing
on private life to say that one activist or another visited a casino,
especially that there is every reason to doubt that those activists
frequenting casinos are trespassing on public money, in other words,
on the private contribution of each taxpayer.

ONLY 1.5% OF YOUNG PEOPLE OF ARMENIA ENVOLVED IN PUBLIC JOBS
Author: Arev Hakobian

Noyan Tapan News Agency
Oct 8 2007
Armenia

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 8, NOYAN TAPAN. Only 1.5% of over 800 thousand young
people living in Armenia is involved in public jobs. This statement
was made by Atom Mkhitarian, the Chairman of the Youth Organizations’
Association of the World Armenian Congress (WAC), at the press
conference held on October 5. He mentioned that this index makes
20-25% in Poland and 85% in Denmark. According to Atom Mkhitarian,
only 40-45 out of over 400 youth organizations registered in Armenia
do active work.

In the observation of Arthur Poghosian, the RA Deputy Minister of
Sport and Youth Affairs, 20% of the Armenian young people is envolved
in the active public life as many young people are active, however,
they are not members of non-governmental or youth non-governmental
organizations. He also mentioned that the sum provided for the
implementation of youth programs by the state budget is increasing
year after year. Thus, if 37 million drams were allocated for this
purpose in 1998, in 2007 the sum made 342 million drams (about 972
thousand U.S. dollars). According to Arthur Poghosian, the policy
of the government in this sphere has recently been directed at the
settlement of youth problems in regions, in particular. Youth regional
centers have been created in 10 regions for that purpose.

Another five community youth centers are envisaged to be created in
Goris, Ararat, Stepanavan, Aparan, and Talin.

It was also mentioned that the RA draft Law on "The young" has been
submitted to the National Assembly for consideration.

CIS DEVELOPMENT DOCTRINE APPROVED
Lilit Poghosyan

Hayots Ashkharh Daily
Oct 6 2007
Armenia

On October 5 the Armenian delegation, under the leadership of President
Robert Kocharyan, arrived in Dushanbe, the capital city of Tajikistan,
to participate in the regular CIS summit.

The principal mission of this particular meeting was the discussion,
coordination and adoption of the CIS Development Doctrine with a
prospect of making the current economic, political and humanitarian
integration more effective. The document was elaborated by the
intergovernmental working group, with the participation of the Deputy
Foreign Ministers and approved by the Foreign Ministers in a council
session convened the previous day.

The concept paper was approved by the CIS leaders first in a narrow
circle, i.e. with the participation of the Presidents, and then – in
an enlarged session. At the same time, they adopted an action plan
aimed at it implementation of the document. The key element of the
summit was the establishment of a new intergovernmental agency, the
Institute of Coordinators of CIS Countries which is vested with the
right to follow the process of the implementation of program activities
and report on the results, Together with those pivotal issues, there
are around 2 dozen issues of mutual interest included in the summit
agenda, e.g. regulation of migration processes, anti-terrorism,
prevention of drug trafficking, prospects of economic cooperation etc.

Let’s note that all the leaders of the CIS countries, apart
from the Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko, present at the
summit. Mr. Yushchenko is currently engaged in very important tasks –
the regulation of the post-electoral processes. The representatives
of the three Caucasian Republics participated in the summit in full
staff. In the meantime, neither during the enlarged session nor in
the subsequent the press-conference there was any referral to the CIS
interstate conflicts: the Russian-Georgian and the Armenian-Azerbaijani
relations, which are, mildly speaking, unfriendly.

There were absolutely no discussions around the actual problems
regarding Armenia and the Caucasian region. The discussions were
mostly devoted to the common concerns of the CIS countries, their
problems and the ways towards their settlement.

The Presidents congratulated the Tajikistani President Emamoli Rahmokov
on the occasion of his 55th birthday which coincided with the opening
day of the summit.

This summit was not an ordinary one for the CIS Executive Secretary
Vladimir Roushaylo either. Having held the same post for 3 years,
Mr. Roushaylo ended his term of office and, receiving the approval
of the leader’s of CIS countries, he handed over the administration
to Sergey Lebedev, his legal successor.

During the enlarged session, special attention was paid to the issue
of conducting a coordinated migration policy, because employment
migration is an urgent issue not only for the CIS countries, but also
the other states and peoples of the world, as Norsultan Nazarbaev, the
President of Kazakhstan mentioned in his speech. And it is necessary
to make efforts on the state and interstate level to ensure more or
less favorable working conditions and life standards for the former
USSR citizens residing in foreign countries, as well as create relevant
legal bases for the protection of their rights.

ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Oct 5 2007

Special Representative of Europarliament offers to replace France in
OSCE MG by European Union

ArmInfo. Special Representative of the European Parliament on South
Caucasus Isler Beguin offers to replace France in OSCE Minsk Group by
the European Union, he said during hearings on South Caucasus in the
Europarliament’s Committee on Foreign Relations, the "Trend" reports.

"The European Union should participate more closely in settlement of
conflicts in the South Caucasus. This concerns Nagorno Karabakh
conflict as well", Beguin said. "I am French, however, I think that
the mandate of France in Minsk Group should be passed to the European
Union", Beguin said. He thinks that EU, thus, will be able to
regulate the conflict at a high level. He also paid attention to the
fact that the Turkish-Armenian border is closed. According to him,
this is a factor which deepens the problem. Special Representative of
the European Parliament on Nagorno Karabakh conflict Lydia Paulfer
expressed concern over two issues. "Armenia remained aside of
Baku-Tbilisi-Jeyhan oil pipeline and other regional projects. This
circumstance may lead to the country’s instability in a long-term
perspective. Moreover, extension of Azerbaijan’s military budget will
tense the situation in the region", L. Paulfer said. As deputy
Chairman of the Europarliament on South Caucasus, Slovakian
parliamentarian Duka-Zolyomi said, each conflict is specific and
requires an individual approach. He thinks that Russia, in many
cases, plays a role of a power which destabilizes the situation in
the region. It was also noted that Kosovo cannot become a precedent
for other conflicts.

Deputy of the Europarliament from German socialists Vural Oger blamed
Armenia for occupation of Nagorno Karabakh and its adjacent regions.
He demanded of EU to take an unambiguous position. "Azerbaijan is
important for Europe in the energy policy and this is limited not
only to availability of energy resources", Oger said.

POLICE OF TURKEY DESTROY FILE ON DINK MURDER SUSPECT

ArmInfo Agency, Armenia
Oct 4 2007

ArmInfo. The Police of Turkey have destroyed the important file on
the murder of Hrant Dink.

The Turkish newspaper "Zaman" reports with reference to the Turkish
private NTV station that the police file on a prime suspect in
the murder case of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink has been
destroyed on grounds that the file was a "state secret". The Istanbul
court, which is currently trying 19 suspects in the murder of Dink,
who was shot outside his newspaper’s office by an ultranationalist
teenager in January 2007, had not demanded to see the police files
on Erhan Tuncel, a former police informant facing trial for having
incited the gunman to kill Dink.

The newspaper says that the court’s request was turned down by the
Intelligence Department, where Tuncel’s file is stored, which said
the document was destroyed to protect state secrets. Yet, the source
reports that the prosecutors carrying out the investigation had seen
the police file on Tuncel, a former informant who worked for the
Trabzon police. However, the file was apparently destroyed before the

court had a chance to see the document. Erdal Dogan, a lawyer
representing the Dink family, said this was a "legal scandal." The
court rejected Dogan’s request for the file a second time, saying it
was "confidential." Dogan said their demands would continue. "This
secret cannot be hidden from the court even though it is a state
secret. This is a violation of the Law of Procedures," he said.

According to the source, prior to the second hearing of the trial,
tape recordings of a phone conversation between police officer Muhittin
Zenit and Tuncel were leaked to the media. The conversation suggests
that Zenit knew about the plot to murder Dink earlier.

However, the request of Dink’s family lawyers to start an investigation
into police officer Zenit in Monday’s hearing was overruled. The
controversy over Tuncel’s file is likely to deepen concerns over a
possible cover-up by state authorities in the murder.

Dink’s lawyers have complained that the murder has not been properly
investigated and have expressed fears for the independence of the
court, reflecting concerns about the possible involvement of Turkey’s
so-called "deep state." The "deep state" is a term coined to describe
hard-line nationalists in the bureaucracy and security forces who
are prepared to subvert the law for their own political ends.

The newspaper says that there were also reports in the Turkish press
suggesting that the teenager accused of killing Dink was probably
attempting to mislead the judges in hopes of winning a reduction
in his sentence when he told the court during Monday’s hearing that
he regretted his actions and claimed he had carried out the slaying
under the influence of drugs. "Blood tests taken immediately after
his arrest less than 24 hours after the murder revealed that he had
not taken drugs prior to the crime", the source says.

WILLIAMS REPUDIATES GENOCIDE IN VISIT TO ARMENIAN MEMORIAL

Ekklesia, UK

Oct 3 2007

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has said on a visit
to the Armenian genocide memorial that violence targeted against whole
communities is ‘one of the greatest disgraces of the twentieth century’
and must be utterly repudiated in the twenty-first.

Speaking during a ceremony last week at the Genocide Memorial at
Tsitsernakaberd in Yerevan, during his visit to Armenia, he said that
such atrocities had scarred the international community.

He declared: "This ceremony reminds us of one of the greatest disgraces
of the twentieth century … the history of brutal massacres of whole
peoples on ethnic and religious grounds; the turning away of the rest
of the world and the denial of the suffering of the victims throughout
the 20th century – this has been one of the most regular and terrible
features of international conflict."

During the ceremony, which included commemoration of the victims of
Darfur, Dr Williams said that the world needed to understand the past
and to face up to unpleasant truths:

"My most earnest prayer is that as our new century begins we shall
somehow learn to put behind us both the cruelty and the denial;
both the terrible violence that puts whole populations at risk,
that wipes out new generations that is merciless towards women and
children but also that we will learn how to tell the truth about our
past, that to stand by the side of those who suffer most and how to
build together in which such atrocities are not possible."

"In Yad Vashem in Jerusalem the text from scripture is written ‘O
Earth, cover not their blood.’ So we pray that God will help us keep
our eyes open to the reality of injustice and of suffering, that the
blood will not be covered and that also we will be given forgiveness
and strength for our journey ahead."

Dr Williams’ visit to the region included a meeting in Syria with
President Assad and also with the Grand Mufti, Shaikh Ahmad Hassun,
in Damascus.

The Armenian genocide is a matter of considerable controversy.

Churches across the world have joined other human rights campaigners
in highlighting and condemning it. But mention of the events has been
punishable by imprisonment in Turkey.

LAWMAKERS ANNOUNCE VOTE ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

ArmRadio – Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 3 2007

The authors of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H. Res. 106) expressed
their confidence that the House Foreign Affairs Committee will pass
this important human rights legislation during the Committee markup
next Wednesday, October 10th.

In a press statement Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA), George Radanovich
(R-CA), Co-Chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues,
Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) along with
Caucus Members Brad Sherman (D-CA), Ed Royce (R-CA) and Anna G. Eshoo
(D-CA), said they would work to prevent the adoption of weakening
amendments. The legislators noted in the statement:

"We are extremely pleased and very encouraged by the decision of the
House Committee on Foreign Affairs to move forward with a markup of
this critical legislation recognizing the Armenian Genocide as the
first genocide of the 20th century. We thank Chairman Lantos and
Ranking Member Ros-Lehtinen for scheduling the hearing, as well as
Speaker Pelosi for her continued support.

"This Congress’ support for the Armenian Genocide Resolution sends a
strong message that the US government will not tolerate genocide. Our
recognition of the Armenian Genocide is a vital step in helping to
prevent other crimes against humanity.

"We are confident that the House Foreign Affairs Committee will pass
this long-overdue legislation and will work to prevent the adoption
of weakening amendments. We will continue to work to ensure that when
the Resolution comes to the House floor for a vote, it will receive
the overwhelming support it deserves."

The lawmakers noted that the Resolution currently has 226 co-sponsors,
more than the 218 needed to have the support of a majority of the
435 Members of the House. This amount of support makes it possible
to pass the bill on the House floor, which is the next step after
passage in Committee. In September 2005, the House Committee on Foreign
Affairs voted by an overwhelming margin of 40-7 to pass an Armenian
Genocide Resolution with the same language as the current Resolution,
H. Res. 106.

The Armenian Genocide Recognition Resolution, which was introduced in
Congress last January, calls on the President and the US Government to
properly recognize the atrocities that occurred in Armenia beginning
in 1915, which resulted in 1.5 million deaths and countless victims
of torture, as genocide.

ABDULLAH GUL: I SUPPORT THE IDEA OF ARTICLE 301 TO CHANGE

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.10.2007 17:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Wednesday in
Strasbourg that there were problems with a contentious law that makes
it a crime to insult Turkish identity and it needed to be changed.

Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk and slain ethnic Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink were prosecuted under the law, which the EU
wants Turkey to scrap.

Article 301 has been used to prosecute journalists, writers and
academics.

"I support the idea of Article 301 to change," Gul told journalists
at the Council of Europe, the Associated Press reports.

ARMENIA REPRESENTED BY ONE DEPUTY IN BAKU

Panorama.am
13:33 03/10/2007

The Commission of Culture, Education and Social Affairs of Black Sea
Economic Cooperation Organization’s (BSECO) Parliamentary Assembly is
holding its 29th session in Baku these days. Armenian National Assembly
Chairman Tigran Torosyan informed that Armenia will be represented
by the secretary of "Zharangutiun" block of the parliament, Stiopa
Safaryan. This is his first participation in the session of the
commission and he will not come up with a speech.

The session must elect a deputy chairman of the commission and will
discuss future work.

Reminder: Twelve countries are members of BSECO: Armenia, Ukraine,
Azerbaijan, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Moldova, Turkey, Russia, Serbia,
Georgia and Romania. Thirteen other countries, among them Belarus,
USA, France, Germany have a status of observers.