Author: Khondkarian Raffi

HAROUTIUN KHACHATRIAN’S FILM “POET’S RETURN” TO BE SHOWN AT WASHINGTON NATIONAL GALLERY

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Mar 27 2006

YEREVAN, MARCH 27, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Film director
Haroutiun Khachatrian’s film “Poet’s Return” will be shown at the
National Gallery of Washington on April 30, within the framework
of the program of Washington “DC Filmfest” international film
festival. Margaret Parsons, Head of the Films Department of the
National Gallery of Washington, first saw the film during the showing
organized at the Rotterdam international film festival, after which
she sent an invitation of showing the film to the film director. As
Noyan Tapan correspondent was informed from the Press Service of the
“Golden Apricot” (“Voske Tsiran”) international film festival, every
year the National Gallery of Washington selects works more interesting
in the respect of art for showing.

Numerous noteworthy and modern films have been shown at the “DC
Fimlfest” festival having a history of 17 years. Besides the special
prize of the spectator, this year the festival has also instituted
a new prize, “Capital Focus”.

In 2003, the prizes of the spectator were given to world-famous Chinese
film director Chen Kay Ge, veteran of French film making Costa Gavras,
famous Italian film maker and actor Jacques Perin.

ARMENIANS BROKE CEASE-FIRE IN GAZAKH AND TOVUZ

Azerbaijan Press Agency
March 27 2006

Armenians violated the ceased-fire in the direction of Azerbaijan’s
regions of Gazakh and Tovuz.

The Defense Ministry informed APA that the companies of Armenian armed
forces, from their positions in Mazamli village, Gazakh, fired on the
opposite positions of Azerbaijani armed forces and Mazamli village
from 15.15 till 19.35 on 26 March.

Armenian forces again fired on Azerbaijan’s positions in unnamed
mountain height in Gazakh from their positions in 2.2 km to Vazashen
village, Ijevan, from 23.20 till 23.30. The enemy forces, from their
positions in 2.7 km of Aygezor village, Berd, and 1.7 km south-east
of the mountain Lagzival, fired on the Azerbaijani Army’s positions
near Munjuglu and Garalar villages of Tovuz region.

The enemy was silenced by response fire, no loss is reported.

TELEPHONE (+374 10) 464700
FAX (+374 10) 464742
E-MAIL: [email protected]

March 24, 2006

U.S. Department of State Donates Physical Techniques Equipment to Armenian Police

On March 24, 2006 the United States Department of State donated
approximately $40,000 of physical techniques equipment to the Police of
the Republic of Armenia for the training of Armenian Police officers
at the Police Academy and Police Training Center. U.S. Embassy Charge
d’Affaires Anthony Godfrey opened the donation ceremony, which took
place at the Police Academy.

The physical techniques equipment, which was funded by the Department
of State Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
(INL), includes gym mats, Redman instructor suits, body opponent bags,
rubber training knives, guns, handcuffs, and boxing bags. The First
Deputy Head of Police accepted the equipment for the Government
of Armenia and presented Ambassador Evans with a Certification of
Gratitude from the Police Academy of the Republic of Armenia.

During the event, Charge d’Affaires Anthony Godfrey stated, “The police
force is the one democratic institution with which the population has
the most contact. That is why it is most important for the police to
change how it is perceived by the population. A fit, well-trained,
professional force gives the people of Armenia — and visitors —
the impression that Armenia is a country which cares about citizens’
rights and about citizens’ safety.”

2406.html

ON COMING TO POWER NATIONAL UNITY WILL PUNISH

Lragir.am
25 March 06

The members of the National Unity Party announced that they started
publishing information on corruption in the government of Armenia,
particularly, the bankruptcy deal of Armenian Airlines and the
corresponding agreements signed by the government and Mika Ltd., the
agreements signed by Zvartnots Airport and Mika Ltd. several years ago
on supplying fuel to the airport, as a result of which the state
budget suffered losses of millions of dollars, and Mika Ltd. is not
likely to recover these.

The members of this party have been discussing this question over the
past week; the same was in the Azdak Club on March 25, where the guest
was Alexan Karapetyan. He presented once again the contract, which
inflicted losses of millions on the state and brought profit of
millions to certain government officials and to Mika Ltd., the
president of which is Mikhail Baghdasarov, known for his close ties
with the ruling elite.

The deputy leader of the National Unity Alexan Karapetyan failed to
explain clearly, however, why they recalled the deals signed several
years ago. Karapetyan says they are presenting them in a period when
the leadership makes statements about their struggle against the
government. `We want to publish cases of corruption to show that if
they were resolved to fight corruption, they should have prevented
these cases. We want to show that the statements of the government on
struggle against corruption are mere words and populism,’ says the
leader of the National Unity.

It turns out that if the government did not speak out about struggling
corruption, the National Unity would not speak about cases of
corruption either. ` No, we have always spoken out, and if you do not
believe, you can come to the office of our party and read the book by
Artashes Geghamyan, where all his speeches are collected, and you will
see that it contains all these examples,’ says Alexan Karapetyan.

And these will remain there, or will merely serve as material for news
conferences of the Unity. The Unity members will not submit this
material and documents to the Office of Public Prosecutor. Alexan
Karapetyan says that their public addresses are enough for the public
prosecutor to investigate these cases. Their job is to announce. `We
promise that we will reveal all the cases of abuse and the guilty on
coming of power,’ says Alexan Karapetyan. When we inquired whether the
promise referred to coming to power or to punishing,

Karapetyan stated that the promise referred to the punishment. `You
should not even doubt that we will come to power,’ said Alexan
Karapetyan.

SOGHOMONIAN REFUTES REPORT ABOUT ALLEGED COMPENSATION OF INCREASE IN GAS
PRICE BY PROVIDING ARMS AT DISCOUNT

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, NOYAN TAPAN. The Russian newspaper “Kommersant”
reported in the March 24 issue that Russia allegedly agreed to
compensate Armenia for an increase in the gas price by selling arms to
Armenia at a discount. It is envisaged that starting April 1, the
price of the gas that Russia supplies to Armenia will increase from
the current 54 dollars to 110 dollars for 1,000 cubic
meters. According to the newspaper, this year Russia intends to sell
arms to Armenia at much lower prices, in some cases – almost
gratis. By the newspaper’s estimates, it will allow the RA state
budget to save 23-50 mln USD this year, thanks to which the government
will be able to compenaste for the gas price increase. The press
secretary of the Armenian President Victor Soghomonian refuted the
information of “Kommersant”. “I must say that I read today’s
information of the Russian newspaper “Kommersant” with surprise,” Mr.
Soghmonian said to NT correspondent. “I cannot judge why the
information authors made such imaginary statements and then came to
such a far-fetched conclusion. Nevertheless, I consider it necessary
to say that the part of today’s information of “Kommersant” which says
that Armenia will buy ammunition at low prices from Russia as a
compensation for the increase in the Russian gas price has no relation
to reality,” the press secretary of the Armenian President noted.

NO REPAIR WORK DONE AT BAGRATASHEN MARKET

IJEVAN, MARCH 23, NOYAN TAPAN. In response to deputy Hovik Abovian’s
inquiry about the Bagratashen market, RA Minister of Finance and
Economy Vardan Khachatrian stated in the RA National Assembly that
this border market was closed on the initiative of the Georgian
side. The minister said that repair work is underway at the market
with resources of the RA state budget. However, NT was informed that
repair work is being done neither in the Georgian section nor in the
Armenian one. A customs-quarantine building is now being constructed
at the Bagratashen customs point, 5 km from the border market.

>From the Los Angeles Times

EDITORIAL

It was genocide

March 22, 2006

JOHN EVANS IS THE U.S. ambassador to Armenia, as of this writing. But he
probably won’t be for long. Evans, a career diplomat who was selected to
receive an American Foreign Service Assn. award last year for his frank
public speaking, irked his superiors at the State Department by uttering
the following words at UC Berkeley in February 2005: “I will today call
it the Armenian genocide.” For that bit of truth-telling, Evans was
forced to issue a clarification, then a correction, then to endure
having his award rescinded under pressure from his bosses, and finally
to face losing his job altogether.

What happened in Armenia in 1915 is well known. The Ottoman Empire
attempted to exterminate the Armenian population through slaughter and
mass deportation. It finished half the job, killing about 1.2 million
people. Yet the State Department has long avoided the word “genocide,”
not out of any dispute over history but out of deference to Turkey,
whose membership in NATO and location between Europe and Asia make it a
strategic ally.

It is time to stop tiptoeing around this issue and to accept settled
history. Genocide, according to accepted U.N. definition, means “the
intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or
religious group.” Armenia is not even a borderline case. Punishing an
ambassador for speaking honestly about a 90-year-old crime befits a
cynical, double-dealing monarchy, not the leader of the free world.

Turks point out that their Ottoman ancestors considered it treason to
side with Russia at the outbreak of World War I, as many Armenians did.
But the massacres were also fueled by Muslim animosity toward a
Christian minority. When then-U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire
Henry Morganthau protested the bloodletting, he received a telling
response from Mehmed Talaat, the interior minister in charge of the
anti-Armenian campaign. “Why are you so interested in Armenians anyway?
You are a Jew, these people are Christians,” Talaat said. “Why can’t you
let us do with these Christians as we please?”

For Armenians who escaped the killing and came to this country,
inadequate recognition of their history is crazy-making. Rep. Adam B.
Schiff (D-Burbank), whose district includes the heart of the Armenian
diaspora, keeps introducing a bill to officially recognize the genocide,
only to see congressional leadership quash it each year, under pressure
from the State Department.

Some nations, thankfully, are stepping where Congress fears to tread.
The European Parliament last year passed a nonbinding resolution asking
that Turkey acknowledge the genocide as a precondition for joining the
European Union. The Turkish government, typically, was infuriated, yet
it still desperately wants to join the EU.

One day, the country that was founded as a direct repudiation of its
Ottoman past will face its history squarely, as part of a long-overdue
maturing process. Some day before then, we hope, the State Department
will too.

_____

la-ed-armenia22mar22,0,1423762.story?coll=3Dla-new s-comment-editorials
Copyright 2006 Los Angeles Times

Armenpress

ARMENIAN PATRIARCH OF TURKEY SAYS ANKARA CONTINUES
DISCRIMINATORY POLICY AGAINST NON-MUSLIMS

ISTANBUL, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS: In an interview to
a Turkish daily Hurriyet the Armenian Patriarch of
Turkey and Istanbul, Archbishop Mesrop Mutafian, said
the government of Turkey continued the discriminatory
policy against its non-Muslim national minorities.
As an example he cited a government decision that
exempts donations to Muslim foundation from taxes and
imposes huge taxes on donations to Christian and other
religious foundations. He said also the government
pays for electricity consumed by mosques, while this
privilege does not apply to Christian churches, though
Christians, like Muslims are also citizens of Turkey
and pay taxes.
Mutafian cited another example, saying the
government pays for accommodation of Muslim pilgrims
when they visit holly Islam sites. which is not the
case with Christians and Jews when they make
pilgrimage to Jerusalem. “All these manifestations of
discrimination make Christians feel humiliated,” the
Armenian Patriarch said, adding also that the
government has not responded to the Armenian
Patriarchate’s request to open a theological
department at an Istanbul University for Christian
Armenian students.

ARF DEMANDS TO END ANY ANTI-ARMENIAN EXPRESSIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
22.03.2006 00:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) has urged
French authorities to display special vigilance towards cases of denial
of the Armenian Genocide. The ARF Western Europe Central Committee
has condemned the Turkish demonstration held in Lyon on March 18. The
ARF condemns the decision by the Rhone region governor to sanction
this hate and denial demonstration, though he was informed upfront
about the real goal of the demonstration and that Turkish government
had secretly contributed to this demonstration through the Turkish
Embassy in Paris and Turkish Consulate in Lyon. He was also aware of
the contribution the Grey Wolves, a fascist organization.

The ARF notes that using the Grey Wolves threatens France and the
French people. The Turkish government on the highest level has
decided to organize the Turkish communities in Europe. The March 18
demonstrations in Lyon and Berlin were the first expressions of the
Turkish government’s involvement.

The Lyon demonstration had clear characteristics of Genocide denial,
something unacceptable to a country like France. France has to
immediately undertake adequate steps to end the development of that
damaging movement. The ARF demands that an investigation be launched to
find the organizers of the demonstration and to unveil the involvement
of the Turkish government in the demonstration, as well as to put an
end to any anti-Armenian expression in France.

RA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY RATIFIES 3 INTERNATIONAL TREATIES

Noyan Tapan
Mar 21 2006

YEREVAN, MARCH 21, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA National Assembly on March 21
ratified 3 international treaties which were discussed the day before:
– the Convention on Ciber Crimes signed in Budapest on November 23,
2001, – The Convention on International Protection of Plants, signed
in November 1951 and ratified in 1979 and 1997, – the Agreement
on Development Credit 4144 (the seconf credit on poverty reduction
assistance) signed between the RA and the International Development
Association in Yerevan on January 27, 2006. Under the above mentioned
agreement, a 20 mln-dollar credit will be allocated to Armenia on
concessional terms. The credit is repayable in 2016-2045 and carries
an annual interest rate of 0.75%. A credit of the same amount was
provided in 2004.