Author: Khondkarian Raffi

NKR Adheres to Supreme Values – Freedom and Democracy

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.07.2006 18:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
responded today to a July 17th speech on the House floor by Congressman
Dan Burton (R-IN) that seriously misrepresented Nagorno Karabakh’s
history, status, and right to self-determination.

The Indiana legislator took to the House floor yesterday in an apparent
attempt to undermine the growing Congressional support for Nagorno
Karabakh – as demonstrated by the successful recent Washington, DC
visit and U.S. Capitol reception for the Parliamentary Speaker and
Foreign Minister of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh. Commenting
on what he perceived as a pro-Nagorno Karabakh tilt among U.S.
legislators, Rep. Burton stressed that: "Any outside influence, any
shift in neutrality can only result in a false peace. That is why I
am deeply concerned when I hear some of my colleagues throwing barbs
at the Azeris and attempting to lay all the blame for this complicated
issue at their doorstep."

In a factually incorrect statement, he sought to call into question
Nagorno Karabakh’s right to self-determination, asserting that:
"So far as I know, the Nagorno Karabakh region has never been a part
of Armenia. To suggest otherwise, and to suggest that the problems
in Nagorno Karabakh are caused solely by Azerbaijan seems to me to
distort the facts and potentially undermine our good faith efforts
to see this conflict resolved; and to see peace and prosperity come
to the people of both Azerbaijan and Armenia."

In a three-page fact sheet sent to every Congressional office, the
ANCA challenged Congressman Burton’s inaccurate description of the
Nagorno Karabakh issue as well as the biased and counter-productive
advice he offered to his House colleagues. The key points addressed in
the ANCA document included: 1) Nagorno Karabakh’s commitment to peace;
2) Azerbaijan’s threat to regional stability; 3) Nagorno Karabakh’s
economic growth; 4) Nagorno Karabakh’s right to self-determination;
5) Nagorno Karabakh’s commitment to democracy; 6) Nagorno Karabakh’s
pivotal role in ending the Soviet threat to America

In addition, the ANCA provided a one-page update on Azerbaijan’s
post-Soviet evolution into an increasingly corrupt and autocratic
petro-state, characterized by leaders who seek to bridge the growing
gap with their own population by demonizing their Armenian neighbors,
ANCA press release says.

"BELATED FOX" OR WHO AND WHERE IS GOING TO SEND "ARMORED TRAIN" OF REPUBLICANS

Lragir.am
20 July 06

More people are starting to realize that the criminal community
"reigning" for over a decade now under the flag of the "Karabakh
warlords" has led itself to the gibbet. Something is going on in the
"king’s family".

The native criminal has started preparing its squad for the
political fancy dress party of 2007, which is usually referred to
as parliamentary election in Armenia. It is supposed that from this
ball the defense minister Serge Sargsyan wearing a "white jabot"
will pass to the ball of 2008. Just like in a fairy tale.

Armenia has already seen something like this, in 1998 or in 1999. The
Republican Party lent itself to the lords at that time, the army
oligarchy. Then the oligarchy flew and plunged to death. Instead,
one or two of the Republicans stayed next to the power summit. It
appeared interesting. And the political party was happy because already
nobody of the pioneers remained there by that time. Only those people
remained who adhered to the government camp. And they quickly started
accepting official-comrades.

Perhaps they are not mistaken to say that bad things are learned
fast. The Republican leadership could not even dream of such a
successful scheme. And they decided to try it out again. Especially
that there are a number of people who are eager to rent the
Republican "camouflage". Probably, Andranik Margaryan and Galust
Sahakyan had a talk, and invited Tigran Torosyan too for the sake of
politeness (camouflageness) and recalled the good old days and past
adventures. There was no time to think hard, for there are traditions,
and they should act in accordance with these traditions.

They attracted Serge Sargsyan and his criminal corps. Perhaps they let
themselves for a song. They did not tell Serge of course what they
really thought. How they could say to him, "we will fly together,
and the borrower will plunge in any case". And the cunning troika
will get on well with the president, the present or future, it does
not matter. And since Serge Sargsyan considers himself more than the
former defense minister Vazgen Sargsyan, they make him appear even
better to himself. Perhaps they also told him that they would make
him president if he could promote them as much as possible.

Serge Sargsyan and his corps have no place to go. He dreamt for a long
time that Robert Kocharyan would admit him and make him president. He
did not think out everything. He did not think that Robert Kocharyan
needed him as long as he served his government. Now that Robert
Kocharyan meets other problems and Serge Sargsyan has no role in the
settlement of these problems (he only hinders), he became a "fifth
wheel" and even began to disturb Kocharyan.

They say Kocharyan told him for a number of times but "his formerly
obedient boy" would not listen to him. He would not listen because
he is eager to rule and order the ball he arranged with a bleeding
heart and would not like to give it away. He is not a fool to "give
Armenia to Armenians". Especially that this Armenia may become so
fragile without its ambitious father Kocharyan. Dream on!

It seems that severe Kocharyan already starts disliking seriously the
spoilt "errand boy’s" behavior. That is why he sent Vardan Oskanyan to
explain Serge in simple language that he should behave himself. Perhaps
he personally continues explaining to Serge who Republicans are and
why Armenia needs them. No way. The "boy" would not understand. He
even started going up to the Harsnakar to persuade Kocharyan from the
top of the hill how big and powerful he is. He went to Karabakh as
well. He even showed that he is Fouchet, and has files on everybody,
even on the father himself (this was already unnecessary, he should
not have done this, Daddy does not like such things). He also said
that the businessmen are with him, and he does not need money.

In fact, something is underway in the government camp. It seemed they
are experienced people, they saw a lot and said enough. But look how
narrow their thinking is. An ordinary citizen cannot understand how
a person can be so blind as to fail to notice everything around. But
Serge Sargsyan perhaps is not the most foolish and mean person. One
looks around and sees terrible faces. But processes have started in
the country that these figures are unable to understand. They led
themselves to a place where there is no way out. Therefore, they
are blind.

The government will stand this of course. They will promote whoever
they want, they will check out who needs to be checked out and will
send them to the famous place. Especially that the armored train of
the Republicans is ready. They only need to place wise Andranik at
the wheel to take this important transport back to the depot. How
will the citizens of Armenia benefit from this? People are tired
and they want to decide how to live. And all those "impostor lords"
would not realize that times have changed and they cannot act only
the way they want. They end up similarly as the others ended up not
long ago, who did not realize either that they need to walk with
time. For the armored train may turn over on the way. It is wrong
to make false conclusions looking only at the faces of Sadoyans and
Geghamyans. It is necessary to look around as well. Even Oskanyan
understood this. How about you, glorious guys in Karabakh camouflage?

MELIK AVANYAN

P.S. We congratulate Serge Sargsyan on his membership to the Republican
Party.

THE OSCE MINKS GROUP TRIED TO EXERT PSYCHOLOGICAL PRESSURE, SAYS
OPPOSITION DEPUTY

Yerevan, July 18. ArmInfo. The statement by American Co-Chair
Matthew Bryza about Minsk Group resigning mediation between Armenia
and Azerbaijan was a mere attempt to exert psychological pressure
upon the conflict sides, says Vazgen Manukian, leader of the
‘National-Democratic Union’ party.

To the opinion of the party leader, Armenian politicians usually
exaggerate the influence of the OSCE Minks Group on the authorities
of Armenia and Azerbaijan. He said that there was only once in the
history when the international structures forced a state to cede
territories to another: Adolf Hitler was given the Sudet region of
Czechoslovakia so as to prevent the war, but nevertheless it broke out
a year after. He added that even if ex-President Levon Ter-Petrosian
had ceded the security zone territories, still Azerbaijan would not
stop claiming Karabakh for its own, and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil
line would still go round Armenia.

Vazgen Manukian admitted that the new suggestions by the Minsk Group
are more profitable for Armenia than the previous ones, about to be
signed by President Ter-Petrosian. He assured that in any case none of
the project could insure peace in Karabakh, as they do not provide for
the determination of the status of Nagorno Karabakh, the cornerstone
of the conflict. The new project contains another dangerous term –
return of Azeri refugees to Karabakh, which can promote new skirmish
among the population.

NKR FOREIGN MINISTER: "ACHIEVEMENT OF SOLUTIONS IS POSSIBLE ONLY
WITH PARTICIPATION OF LEGALLY ELECTED AUTHORITIES OF THE NKR"

Lragir.am
18 July 06

Nagorno Karabakh Republic Foreign Minister Georgy Petrossian commented
upon the statements of IA REGNUM, made during the summit of the Great
Eight countries in Saint Petersburg.

"One may only welcome a statement of the Great Eight countries on
maintenance of the intermediary efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group and on
necessity of co-ordination of the core principles of the conflict’s
peaceful resolution. Nagorno Karabakh has always come out in favor
of peaceful resolution of the problem and is ready to exert every
effort to achieve the agreement on establishing long-term peace in
the region. Unfortunately, it is not everything that depends on the
mediators. Considering Azerbaijan’s extremely destructive position
and its unwillingness to be in any contact with Nagorno Karabakh
it is very difficult to find an acceptable and correct solution to
date. The President of the Russian Federation has fairly noted that
Russia is not going to impose any solutions on the parties to the
conflict and that the compromise must be reached by people.

Taking into account the Russian Federation’s readiness to become a
guarantor of the agreements’ fulfillment we remind once more that the
achievement of solutions directly concerning the future of our country
and our people is possible only with participation of representatives
of legally elected authorities of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic,
the main and the most suffered party to the conflict".

G8 Calls to Modernize ANPP

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.07.2006 15:25 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The G8 members called upon Armenia to allocate funds
and implement measures for modernization and secure operation of the
Armenian Nuclear Power Plant. Armenia is offered to undertake measures
until the ANPP can be stopped and put out of operation. "We take into
account the measures Armenia has already taken in this direction,"
the report says.

The authors of the report call on Armenia to prepare and implement
multisided program for raising the level of the ANPP safety, ensure
the proper number of employees and render them the essential level
of authority essential for efficacious performance of duties in
accordance with international standards, reported Rosbalt.

Gholam Shire’i praises Iranian Armenians’ role in Iran’s construction

Persian Journal, Iran
July 17 2006

Mullah-run majlis speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel known as "Gholam
Shire’i" for his addiction to opium, said Iranian Armenian scientists
and experts have played an important role in the country’s construction
and progress.

According to Majlis Media Department on Monday, Gholam Shire’i,
in a meeting with the Armenian head of Iran-Armenia parliamentary
friendship group Galvest Sahakian and his accompanying delegation,
explained Iran’s Armenian community role and status in the country.

Mullah-run majlis speaker also expressed pleasure with expanding
trend of bilateral ties in all fields and said friendly relations
between the two countries are based on old and historical ties and
interests of the two nations.

Gholam Shire’i called the role of parliamentary friendship groups
in deepening mutual ties "very effective", and added parliamentary
groups have a positive role in closeness of viewpoints and stances
of the governments and nations.

The Armenian parliamentary official, for his part, expressed pleasure
over his trip to Iran and evaluated his visit "very good", and said
"All Armenian groups and political parties emphasize the expansion
of ties with Iran."

Referring to his visit and talk with Iranian Armenian community,
Sahakian said Iran’s Armenians enjoy a very suitable position in
the nation.

Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World

Library Journal Reviews
July 15, 2006

by Nadine Cohen-Baker

Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the
World 2 vols. Springer 2005. 1242p. ed. by Melvin Ember & others.
index. ISBN 0-306-48321-1 . $475. REF

Diasporas and emigration lie at the heart of many vital world issues
past and present and therefore figure heavily in high school and
undergraduate research. While there are other reference works on the
topic, this two-volume work is unique in that it provides a worldwide,
comparative perspective on forced and voluntary mass migrations and
the refugee cultures they engender. Thirty-one diasporas, both well
known (e.g., Jewish, African, Palestinian, Armenian) and lesser known
(e.g., Chilean, British, Tuareg), are covered in Volume 1, as well
as 28 relevant topics (e.g., arts in diasporas, diaspora politics
and identity, and types of diaspora).

Volume 2 provides sociocultural descriptions of 58 diaspora
communities. Entries are authored by a team of international
academics and researchers and compiled and edited under the auspices
of Yale’s Human Relations Area Files, the preeminent international
research organization in the field of cultural anthropology. Given
the massive scope of the topic, this work is admirably wide-ranging
and inclusive. Diasporas that do not appear in section titles can
almost invariably be found in the index. Bottom Line One can always
quibble over the amount of attention given to specific topics (e.g.,
pogroms are only fleetingly mentioned in the chapter on the European
Jewish diaspora, and the term does not rate an entry in the glossary,
yet "horticulture" does), but this does not detract from the overall
quality of the work. While the majority of entries are written for the
general reader, a few of the topical entries may be a bit heavy going
for high school students. Nevertheless, this is highly recommended
for high school, college, and public libraries.- Nadine Cohen-Baker,
Univ. of Georgia, Athens

Only receiving half of the story

Belleville Intelligencer (Ontario)
July 15, 2006 Saturday

Scott Taylor is the editor of Esprit de Corps magazine, the author
of several books, and a member of the Osprey Writers Group.

In May of this year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a public
statement reaffirming his support for the controversial Bill M-380.

Essentially, this motion brought forward by Bloc MP Madeleine
Dalphond-Guiral was a formal condemnation of the mass deportation of
Armenians from eastern Anatolia in 1915. According to M-380, this
tragedy was recognized as a deliberate genocide on the part of the
Ottoman Empire.

On April 21, 2004, the motion was approved after a free vote in
the House of Commons. However, as the procedure was non-binding,
the then-Liberal cabinet voted against it because it would be an
impediment to current Turkish-Canadian relations. Two years later,
Harper’s revival of the subject did indeed spark an immediate response
from the Turks, who temporarily recalled their ambassador in protest.

While some may question why Canadian parliamentarians would spend their
time passing historical judgment on events that transpired 90 years
ago, it is even more puzzling when you realize that a humanitarian
crisis is currently taking place in this very region that is receiving
no consideration from our government.

The ongoing situation comes in the aftermath of the Azerbaijan-
Armenia border war of 1992-1994. With the international media focused
on the break-up of the former Yugoslavia and the genocide in Rwanda,
this border dispute in the Caucasus region garnered very little press
coverage in North America. It was a brutal clash that spanned 24
months and left 30,000 killed (mostly civilians), 100, 000 wounded
and nearly one million people "ethnically cleansed."

Armenia and Azerbaijan were both former republics of the Soviet
Union and formally granted (along with Georgia) their independence
with the signing of the Tashkent Agreement in May 1992. Under
the terms of the agreement, all three republics were allocated
the same amount of Soviet military material from which they could
constitute their own independent armies. A sizable Armenian minority
resided in a mountainous region known as Nagorno-Karabakh within the
recognized borders of Azerbaijan. Taking advantage of Azerbaijan’s
post-independence internal political disorder and using the Nagorno-
Karabakh Armenians as a pretext, the Armenian army entered the
territory in 1992.

After completely securing the Nagorno-Karabakh region, the Armenians
continued to push into the territory controlled by Azerbaijan –
securing not only a land corridor with Armenia proper, but also
extending into seven Azerbaijani provinces to create a buffer zone.

In the wake of these military operations some 800,000 Azeri citizens
were forcibly removed from the newly-occupied territories.

However, within 12 months the Azeris had managed to train and field
six full infantry brigades and their deployment to the front contained
the Armenian advances. The establishment of a balance between the
combat forces turned the campaign into a stalemate and eventually a
ceasefire agreement was signed in 1994.

Despite this, the root causes for the conflict still remained
unresolved. The Organization of Security and Co-operation in Europe
established the Minsk Group to oversee and monitor the 1994 ceasefire
agreement. The United Nations has passed a total of four resolutions
calling upon the Armenians to withdraw their military forces from the
occupied territories as a first step to resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh
self-determination question. The second phase of these resolutions
is the immediate resettlement of the 800,000 Azerbaijani displaced
residents into their former homes. However, with no realistic threat
of any international military force being deployed to enforce these
resolutions, the Armenians have steadfastly refused to pull back
their forces.

If Canada wishes to retain a reputation of neutral peace-broker,
it seems ludicrous that we would recognize an historical injustice
perpetuated against the Armenians in 1915 while ignoring the UN
violations that the Armenians are perpetrating upon the Azerbaijanis.

A first step might be for Ottawa to establish a diplomatic presence
in Azerbaijan. We presently have a permanent consulate office open
in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, but Canada has only sent two
small official delegations to visit Azerbaijan since its independence
in 1991.

Perhaps the fact that we are only getting one side of the story in
this complex conflict is leading to an apparent imbalance in our
foreign policy.

To comment please send e-mail to [email protected]

FABULOUS BODY. .AND THE GIRL’S NICE TOO!
by ROSS KANIUK

Daily Star, UK
July 12, 2006 Wednesday
U.K. 1st Edition

A MYSTERY blonde brought a busy street to a standstill when she pulled
up in her GBP 1.1million Bugatti Veyron.

Everyone in the road stopped to admire the motor, the world’s fastest
and the rarest car in Britain.

Office workers and shoppers rushed outside to see what was causing
the commotion And they couldn’t help wondering who was the sexy beauty
in shades who stepped from its leather driver’s seat in Manchester.

Bugatti would not say who owned the 253mph car. Only 16 have been
delivered worldwide, three to Britain.

But spokesman Georges Keller added: "I do not believe any of the
original British buyers are celebrities."

One well-known owner is multi-millionaire Bob Manoukian, who bought a
Veyron in a charity auction for GBP 1.1million – GBP 350,000 more than
the GBP 750,000 list price. It is not known where the former agent for
Prince Jefri, brother of the Sultan of Brunei, 59, keeps his Veyron.

A spokesman for the 58-year-old Armenian’s British company refused
to comment on the car Bugatti plan to make only 300 over five years –
meaning the motors’ value will be far higher than the original price.

Prospective buyers have to place a deposit of 300,000 euros (GBP
208,000) to join the year-long waiting list.

The Veyron’s eight-litre engine with four turbochargers can take the
curvy dream-car to 60mph in 2.5 seconds.

Inside is a hand-finished leather-andsuede cockpit and door pulls
made of polished aluminium.

But the fabulous motor hides a secret – the engine is made by
Volkswagen.

If you know the blonde driver call the Daily Star newdesk on 0871
5207373.

RA MFA: Armenia Extremely Concerned about Military Actions in Lebanon

PanARMENIAN.Net
14.07.2006 18:25 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Armenia is extremely concerned about the military
actions in Lebanon and their escalation, as well as the great
loss of civilian life," says the statement by the Armenian Foreign
Ministry. "Armenia condemns any violence whether it be abduction or use
of force. We particularly denounce the use of such disproportionate
force intended solely to collectively punish civilians and damage
infrastructure. This kind of reaction by Israel is particularly
difficult to understand given the fact that the Lebanese government
has clearly distanced itself from the abduction incident. We hope that
there will be restraint in the region and also hope there will be an
immediate ceasefire so that the issues can be addressed by peaceful
means," the statement says.