Author: Khondkarian Raffi

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.

CALL FOR JUSTICE AS EDITOR’S ALLEGED KILLERS APPEAR IN COURT

Reuters
The South African Star , South Africa
Oct 2 2007

Istanbul – The chief suspect in the murder of Turkish-Armenian editor
Hrant Dink has told a court he was forced to carry out the killing.

The case is seen as an important test for Ankara’s European Union
membership bid.

Hundreds of protesters, fearing a state cover-up, demonstrated
yesterday, outside the second hearing of the case at the Istanbul court
with banners proclaiming: "We are all witnesses. We demand justice."

The EU opened membership talks with Turkey in 2005 and sees the Dink
case as a test for a judicial system often accused of conservative
bias.

Police imposed heavy security outside the court, where 19 suspects
were being tried over the killing of Dink, who gunned down outside
his Istanbul office in January by a 17-year-old who has confessed to
the killing.

The hearing was closed to the media but lawyers representing Dink
quoted the 17-year-old suspect as saying in his testimony that he
was ordered to carry out the killing by a second suspect. He also
said he took Ecstasy and hashish on the day of the killing.

The lawyer for the second suspect denied his client had given such
an order.

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 used to describe hardline nationalists in
the bureaucracy and security forces who are prepared to subvert the
law for their own political ends.

At the weekend, Turkey’s liberal Radikal newspaper published the
transcript of a conversation between one of the suspects and an
officer two hours after the shooting which it said showed the officer
was aware of a plan to kill Dink.

The Interior Ministry has launched a probe into the phone conversation.

HHK SURPRISED AT DASHNAKSUTIUN’S DISPOSITION

Panorama.am
17:24 27/09/2007

Samuel Nikoyan, secretary of the Armenian Republican Party (HHK) block
at the parliament, is neither surprised nor angry that Dashnaksutiun
that forms a part of the authorities in power will participate in
presidential elections 2008 with own candidate.

Instead, Nikoyan is surprised that Dashnak leaders announced that they
are "an alternative" both to the opposition and the authorities. "If
you are part of the government, if you have three ministers, how
can you be an alternative to authorities?" Nikoyan raised a rhetoric
question.

NKR PRESIDENT AND HEAD OF GENERAL STAFF OF ARMENIA’S DISCUSS ISSUES OF ARMY BUILDING

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Sept 26 2007

STEPANAKERT, September 26. /ARKA/. President of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic (NKR) Bako Sahakyan accepted Head of the General Staff
of Armenia’s Armed Forces, First Deputy Defense Minister Seyran
Ohanyan and NKR Defense Minister, Commander of NKR Defense Army,
Lieutenant-General Movses Hakobyan.

The NKR President’s Main Information Department told ARKA that the
sides discussed a number of issues connected with the building of
defense sphere.

ARMENIA IMPROVES ITS RANKING IN CORRUPTION PERCEPTION INDEX

ARMENPRESS
Sept 26 2007

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS: Armenia has slightly improved its
ranking in the list of 180 states in the 2007 "Corruption Perceptions
Index," released Wednesday by Transparency International, a global
NGO committed to fighting corruption.

Armenia’s ranking represents a slight improvement from 2006, when it
received a score of 2.9 out of 10, as opposed to this year’s 3. The
figures were announced today in Yerevan by Amalia Kostanian, head of
Transparency International/Armenia.

She said Denmark, Finland and New Zealand tied for first place on
the list, scoring at 9.4, and Singapore and Sweden followed them at
9.3. Britain is ranked 12th and the United States 20th, with scores
of 8.4 and 7.2, respectively.

Eastern European states including Croatia, the Czech Republic,
Macedonia, and Romania also bettered their showing, which the
organization attributed to the "galvanizing effect of the European
Union accession process".

But strife-wracked states such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and
Sudan remained stuck at the bottom of the index.

The index score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as
seen by business people and country analysts. It ranges between zero,
which is highly corrupt, and 10, which is very clean.

Armenia’s score was taken from a combination of six surveys carried out
by experts from the Asian Development Bank, Bertelsmann Transitional
Index, the World Bank, the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development, the Freedom House, the Global Insight, the International
Union of Merchants and the World Economic Forum.

The survey focuses on corruption in the public sector and among
politicians, and the organization defines corruption as "the misuse
of entrusted power for private gain."

More than half of the 180 states that were examined received scores
of three or less, which indicates that funds needed for education,
medicine and infrastructure are being pocketed by politicians.

GOOD RELATIONS SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED WITH AZERBAIJAN: PRIME MINISTER OF ARMENIA

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Sept 25 2007

The Prime Minister of Armenia, Serj Sarkisyan, reported to ITAR-TASS
at a press-conference that now is currently not the time to recognize
the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh. "The Head of Armenia states
that at present it is untimely to recognize the independence of the
Nagorno-Karabakh and I agree with this," Sarksyan said. "I do not
exclude such a possibility, maybe we will not need to resort to it,"
he said.

In addition, the Prime Minister stated that talks on Nagorno-Karabakh
are continuing and the potential of a negotiation process has not
ended. Sarksyan considers that this issue may be resolved only
through compromise.

"In my opinion, all possibilities exist to resolve the conflict
peacefully," he stated. "Currently the sides can not put those
possibilities which exist on the table of talks, but there is always
somebody who prevents this," he said.

"Armenia opposes the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh," Sarksyan said.

The situation is neither war nor peace. "I understand that Armenia
is always doomed to be a neighbor of Azerbaijan and therefore good
relations should be established in the interests of the two states
and the region," the Prime Minister said.

PRESS RELEASE
Hayastan All-Armenian Fund
Governmental Building 3, Yerevan, RA
Contact: Lusine Mnatsakanyan
Tel: 3741 56 0106
Fax: 3741 52 15 05
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.himnadram. org

25 September, 2007

Reconstruction Completed at Parakar Art School

Yerevan, September 25 – The red ribbon across the school main door and the
spirit of festivity was a witness to a big occasion in Parakar village on
Saturday September 22. With funds from the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund French
Affiliate, the Parakar Art School named after Hovik Edgaryan was
reconstructed.

The project (around US 140 thousand dollars) was carried out in the memory
of Stepan and Kayane Tiryakians. The one-storey building of the school,
severely damaged in the 1988 earthquake, was now standing new and welcoming
– with its roof, floor, doors and windows reconstructed and replaced and
interior refurbished. The school has around 200 students from Parakar and
nearby villages of Tairov, Merdzavan, Ajgek, Baghramyan, Norakert, Ptghunk,
Arevashat, Musaler who will start the academic year in improved conditions.

Under the brass band music, official guests – Hayastan All-Armenian Fund
Executive Director Vahe Aghabegians, Deputy Directors Ara Vardanyan and
Ararat Khlghatyan, Armavir Diocese Leader Sion Archbishop Adamyan, Governor
of the Province Region Ashot Ghahramanyan, Head of the Community Samvel
Vardanyan were ushered into what was now a bright and welcoming concert
hall, where the guests made their speeches. "This is a great event for all
of us. We should make sure that things are improved for this generation in
the hope that the coming generation will do the same for the generation to
come", Vahe Aghabegians pointed out in his congratulatory speech. The
occasion was celebrated by music and dancing performed by the school
students. "I am delighted that we our classes will be held in a well-lit
room and we will be able to work with no interference", Mnatsakan, a 3rd
form art class student added.

Head of the school Almast Svajian, officiating at the opening ceremony
looked thrilled and proud. "Due to the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund efforts,
eventually our students will enjoy classes in pleasant and comfortable
rooms. As for now being able to perform in a well-lit spacious concert-hall,
it feels very much like having a long-awaited dream come true. Painting,
ceramics, brass band and other art classes will have their special
classrooms; classes, such as carpet-making and tapestry are on the way. No
doubt, new conditions of the school will inspire our teachers and students
to do better".

###

Hayastan All-Armenian Fund
Public Relations Department

Messenger.ge, Georgia

Friday, September 21 , 2007, #180 (1447)

Conservative MP wants a priest in every school
By Anna Kamushadze

An opposition lawmaker is proposing Georgian Orthodox priests be
dispatched to public schools, a plan which education officials say is
discriminatory and unwieldy.

Conservative MP Zviad Dzidziguri argues that putting a priest in every
school will help keep students orderly and moral. Most Georgians, he
says, welcome the idea, particularly in the wake of widely-publicized
juvenile violence. But Nodar Grigalashvili, head of the parliamentary
Committee for Education, Science, Culture and Sport, says the proposal
would discriminate against non-Orthodox students.

There is nothing discriminatory about bringing Orthodox priests into
school, Dzidziguri insisted.

`We have five crosses on our flag and St George on our coast of arms,
but no people of foreign origin and faith living in Georgia are
protesting,’ Dzidziguri told the Messenger.

It wouldn’t be compulsory, Dzidziguri clarified; he suggested that
parents’ committees or school principals could go to the Patriarchate
themselves to request a priest for their school. There aren’t actually
enough priests in the country for every school to get one, he added.

The proposal seems to be in reaction to what Dzidziguri says are
irreligious government officials chipping away at the role of the
Church in Georgian society.

`Icons and frankincense were taken out of schools, and children are
not allowed to pray. Before [Minister of Education Kakha] Lomaia,
priests went to schools,’ he says.

Grigalashvili, the education committee head, told journalists after a
committee hearing that the proposal would necessarily be either
discriminatory or a slippery slope.

`All students have the same rights, but after instituting this
proposal these rights [would be used]…in one classroom a mullah will
cry, an abbot will enter another classroom, in a third class a tertera
[Armenian Orthodox priest] would come, and an Orthodox priest will go
to another one. Imagine what will happen if we do this,’ Grigalashvili
said

Davit Lagvilava, principal of Public School No. 51, said he would
welcome more religious education in Georgia, but is cautious about
introducing priests into public schools.

`As for religious teaching in public schools, the issue needs to be
treated carefully. In my school, there are children with different
origins and different faiths… And what about Adjara [western
Georgian province bordering Turkey], where a large part of the
population is not Orthodox?’ Lagvilava asked.

The Conservative’s first draft law died in committee; they have not
yet announced whether they will continue to push the measure.