Author: Khondkarian Raffi

AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTER TO MEET WITH OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS IN BRUSSELS
Corr Trend S.Agayeva

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
Sept 3 2007

On 3 September the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov is
scheduled to meet with Yuriy Merzlyakov and Bernard Fassier, the OSCE
Minsk co-chairs on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
from Russia and France in Brussels.

The co-chairs are expected to tour Yerevan and Baku in mid September.

The meeting will clarify the necessity of a meeting between the foreign
ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, the Azerbaijani foreign minister
stated in talks with journalists earlier.

Since 1992 the Armenian Armed Forces have occupied almost 20% of
Azerbaijani lands, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven districts
surrounding it. In 1994 Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire
agreement.

Mammadyarov is holding meetings with mediators during a conference
held in line with the European Union’s New Neighborhood Policy.

ROBERT KOCHARIAN: "PAST YEARS CLEARLY SHOWED VIABILITY OF NKR"

Noyan Tapan
Sep 3, 2007

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 3, NOYAN TAPAN. Robert Kocharian, the President of
the Republic of Armenia, has sent a message of congratulation to the
people of Nagorno Karabakh on the occasion of the Day of the Republic
of Nagorno Karabakh. The message, the text of which was provided to
Noyan Tapan by the RA President’s Press Office, runs as follows:

"Dear compatriots,

I congratulate you on the occasion of the Day of the Republic of
Nagorno Karabakh.

We celebrate the 16th anniversary of the independence of Artsakh
re-affirming the strive of people for living under free and democratic
conditions. The past years clearly showed the viability of the Republic
of Nagorno Karabakh and the decisiveness of the people in building
a free, safe and productive state.

Numerous Armenians, who dreamt to see a free and prosperous Artsakh,
died the death of a hero on this difficult way. Today we bow our
heads in front of their memory.

Once again I congratulate you on the occasion of the Day of
Independence. I am sure that the programs implemented in Karabakh will
bring forth a new quality of life and improve the living standard of
people to a considerable extent with the newly-elected President at
the head."

Armenian National Committee of Australia
The Peak Public Affairs Committee of the Armenian-Australian Community
259 Penshurst Street, Willoughby NSW 2068 ~ PO Box 768, Willoughby NSW 2068
Tel: (02) 9419 8264 ~ Fax: (02) 9411 8898
Email: [email protected]

1 September, 2007

PRESS RELEASE

MINISTER JOE HOCKEY REAFFIRMS SUPPORT OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION

SYDNEY: Australia’s Federal Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations,
the Honourable Mr. Joe Hockey reaffirmed his commitment to advocate for
recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the Federal Government of Australia,
during a meeting with the Armenian National Committee of Australia last
week.

Mr. Hockey declared: "My support for Armenian Genocide recognition is
unwavering."

ANC Australia President, Mr. Varant Meguerditchian welcomed the Minister’s
reaffirmation and leadership on this important issue, stating: "Affirmation
of the Armenian Genocide is a fundamental step toward ensuring that similar
crimes are not repeated."

As the Federal Member for North Sydney, Mr. Hockey has been a longstanding
supporter of the Armenian community and Armenian Genocide recognition. His
recent comments follow a 2005 visit to the Republic of Armenia where he laid
a wreath at the ‘Tzitzernagapert’ Genocide Memorial Monument in memory of
the victims of the Armenian Genocide.

Considered to be the first genocide of the twentieth century by historians
and academics, the systematic slaughter of an estimated 1.5 million
Armenians between 1915 and 1923 by the Ottoman Government has been
recognised by prominent legislative bodies; among these are the governments
of Germany, Canada, France, Russia, Argentina, the Netherlands and Belgium.

In 1996, the Parliament of NSW became the first legislative body in
Australia to recognise and condemn the genocide of the Armenians.

[end]

Contact: Haig Kayserian
Communications Officer
P: 0403 317 903
E: [email protected]

The Armenian National Committee of Australia is the peak public affairs body
of the Armenian-Australian community. ANC Australia advances the concerns of
the Armenian-Australian community.

Armenian National Committee of Australia
259 Penshurst Street, Willoughby NSW 2068

PO Box 768, Willoughby NSW 2068

T: (02) 9419 8264 | F: (02) 9411 8898
E: <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] | W: <;

The Armenian National Committee of Australia is the peak public affairs body
of the Armenian-Australian community. ANC Australia advances the concerns of
the Armenian-Australian community.

NKR celebrates Republic Day

armradio.am
01.09.2007 13:25

"Dear Compatriots,

I congratulate you on the 16th anniversary of the independence of the
NKR.

Today is a holiday of pride, self-reliance and unity. Sometimes more is
done at a certain point of history than during long decades. Golden
chapters are being written in the history of Armenia based on the fact
of creation, defense and development of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

The young republic of Nagorno-Karabakh is taking well-advised steps on
the way to statehood building, democratic development and economic
strengthening. The Republic of Armenia has always been and will
henceforth be the guarantor of development for the NKR and security for
the people of Artsakh.

Today we bend our heads before the memory of those Armenians whose
dedication and self-sacrifice gave birth to this holiday. I am
confident that an independent, prosperous and internationally
recognized Nagorno-Karabakh will be the best tribute to their memory.

I congratulate you once again on this nice holiday and express
conviction that your unfailing aspiration to living in freedom and
democracy will defy any challenges whatsoever.

CHARITY REACHES OUT TO HOMELESS
By Tom Washington and Rebeccah Billing

Moscow News, Russia
Aug 30 2007

Are you sick of hostile shop assistants, stifling metros and the taste
of dill? Does the convenience of cheap vodka no longer persuade you
to spend yet another winter in the cold heart of the Motherland?

If you have made the decision to pack up and flee Moscow then help is
at hand to make your packing a little easier, your suitcases a little
lighter and your conscience a little cleaner after the excesses of
the big city.

The international charity Caritas, in cooperation with a medical-social
center at metro Kurskaya, have teamed up to provide a service to
deliver expats’ unwanted clothes, shoes and blankets to the homeless
people of Moscow. The drop off point is at 4a Nizhniy Susal’niy
pereulok, but if your orienteering skills are not up to scratch
then you can email shelter­[email protected] to arrange for an expat
volunteer to pick up the clothes and deliver them for you.

Caritas first began in Moscow in response to perestroika. As companies
went bust and salaries were never paid, many found themselves on the
streets. These unfortunates quickly discovered that New Russia had
made scant provision for them. So, from 1992 Moscow’s Caritas Centre
started to provide food and basic clothing.

With each year the organization’s activities in Moscow grew and
branched into new areas: providing money for transport, local-staff
training, medical treatment and help with obtaining documents. The
charity is starting a new educational program to teach people how to
use a computer and increase their opportunities.

There is an office at Timi­ryazevskaya where various projects, such as
an aid-dispensing bus that runs at night, are organized. There is also
a workshop in Vladykino that caters to men, who incidentally make up
about 85 percent of the homeless population. Marina Perminova, Project
Director at Caritas Moscow explains: "Lots of men lost their jobs after
perestroika and losing their place in society drove many to alcoholism,
which in turn led to family breakdowns and divorce. After divorce it
is women who keep the house and men are turned out. There is also the
problem of the lack of provisions for criminals once they are released
from prison. Presently, many are simply put out onto the streets."

Marina also noted that homeless women are a lot harder to spot than
men: "I have seen homeless women who live in train stations that are
so well presented: clean and well dressed, that you would never know
they are homeless. But I think that generally women approach problems
in more creative ways and so are less likely to get to the stage of
being homeless."

At the workshop participants gather round a long table and take
part in a kind of creative group therapy, the men draw and paint
using different techniques. Above all, they talk. These are not
unsophisticated people. The prevalent image in Western Europe and North
America of homeless is of people born into a disadvantaged situation,
who then descend into still less favorable circumstances.

This is not the case with Moscow’s homeless, many of whom have received
higher education.

One of the men around the table, an Armenian named Samuel, explained
that he had owned his own business until a change in the ruble-dollar
exchange rate turned his bank-loan into a crippling debt. Samuel
went bankrupt and ended up losing his apartment: "My wife is in
Armenia, I want to return to her but I can’t get a passport. The
Armenian embassy says that I am no longer Armenian as I have been in
Russia for 30 years already. But I am a Russian without documents,
therefore I am neither Russian nor Armenian, I am no one. In order
to get a passport money is required for a bribe, but again you need
a passport in order to be able to work on Moscow."

Many homeless people in Moscow find themselves effectively outside
the law as all passports need to be registered to an address. Without
appropriate documents, homeless people are unable to travel, gain
employment or seek hospital treatment.

Samuel attends activity sessions at the center twice a week from
2 until 5 p.m.: "I enjoy these sessions, we get together, chat,
why not? It’s nice. I never really liked drawing, they asked me to
draw Mount Ararat today but it didn’t really work out. I have always
been more technically minded, I studied mechanical engineering at
university."

One of the guests around the table was Peter Litvinenko. Peter has
published four books of poetry and his wife was a successful painter
who held exhibitions around the world: "For seven years my wife and
I lived in Israel, but my wife became ill and we decided to return
to Russia. One year ago my wife died and her parents, who owned the
apartment we were living in, decided to sell it. I had no rights and
found myself on the streets."

When asked if the plight of homeless people, such as Samuel and Peter,
is improving Marina is surprisingly upbeat: "On one hand the number
of homeless people in Moscow is growing, but on the other hand the
government is paying more attention to the issue and looking for
ways to improve the situation. There is currently talk of a bill
passing through the Duma, which will ease registration restrictions
for homeless people; a change in the law will help homeless people
to feel that they are citizens of Russia again."

–Boundary_(ID_VrDsJemwFMtwWIJNYpWMI A)–

LOCAL GROUP WEIGHS ADL MOVE
By Christian Schiavone

Acton-The Beacon, MA
GateHouse News Service
Aug 30 2007

Acton, Mass. –
Members of the Acton No Place for Hate group were poised earlier
this week to become the second such group in the state to cut their
ties to the Anti-Defamation League because of the League’s refusal
to acknowledge the killing of over a million Armenians as genocide.

The decision came just hours before the ADL issued a statement
reversing its position and using the word "genocide" to refer to the
massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Muslim Turks following
World War I.

The controversy began two weeks ago when the town councilors in
Watertown, which has a large Armenian population, voted to end the
town’s participation in the No Place for Hate program because of the
ADL’s stance on the issue. Days later, the ADL fired its New England
regional director, Andrew Tarsy, for breaking with the policy by
saying the killings amounted to genocide.

Tarsy was rehired on Monday.

Acton would have been the second town to cut its ties to the ADL,
a national organization that fights discrimination.

"We really felt like it was important for ethical reasons to take
a stand," said Lauren Gilman, one of three co-chairs the Acton’s No
Place for Hate group.

Gilman said group members had been uneasy with the ADL’s position
on the Armenian genocide before, but felt that because their group’s
efforts are locally focused that they could continue their affiliation.

"When it got to the point that the regional director took a stand
and got fired, we thought it had gone to far," said Gilman.

Gilman and the other members agreed to draft a letter formally seeking
to suspend their affiliation with the ADL until the League changed its
position. Gilman said the group would not go forward with suspending
their affiliation because of the change in policy.

The ADL had previously condemned the killings of Armenians as an
atrocity, but stopped short of calling it genocide.

Following a wave of outcry after Tarsy’s dismissal highlighted the
issue, Abraham Foxman, the ADL’s national director, issued a statement
Tuesday reversing the League’s position.

"[T]he consequences of those actions were indeed tantamount to
genocide. If the word genocide had existed then, they would have
called it genocide," he wrote.

Foxman added, however, that the ADL does not support a congressional
resolution to recognize the killings as genocide, citing risks to
the relationship between Turkey, the United States and Israel that
such a move could create.

State Rep. Jamie Eldridge, D-Acton, who is a second co-chair of the
local No Place for Hate group and a candidate in the race for the
5th Congressional District, said if elected, he would support such
a resolution.

"Any holocaust, any genocide needs to be recognized so it never happens
again," said Eldridge, pointing to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, and
the current mass killings in the Sudan. "I really felt like we had
to take a stand."

While Acton does not have a large Armenian population, Eldridge said
it was important for the town to push for recognition of the massacres
of Armenians as genocide.

"It’s an important issue for any community that’s committed to civil
rights," he said.

Eldridge also praised Tarsy for breaking ADL policy regarding the
massacres of Armenians.

Acton’s No Place for Hate group holds an annual Martin Luther King
Day breakfast, and has worked to highlight the needs of the town’s
growing Brazilian population.

Gilman said that the work of the Acton group, which has been in
existence for about five years, is important as the town’s population
becomes more diverse.

"I’ve seen huge change in terms of the community and languages I hear
just standing in line at the grocery store," she said.

136425708

PAINTER GRIGORIAN DIES OF HEART ATTACK

PRESS TV, Iran
Aug 28 2007

The renowned Armenian-Iranian painter Marco Grigor (Marcos Grigorian),
has passed away at the age of 82 in the Armenian capital of Yerevan.

Grigorian who was a pioneer of Iran’s Avant-Guard art, died at home
of a heart attack.

He was better known for his coffee house paintings, a form of
religious and art. His paintings decorate many of Iran’s traditional
coffee-houses.

Grigorian’s artworks have been displayed in various art museums and
personal collections around the world.

His last exhibition was held in the National Gallery of Armenia
in 2004.

ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE DID NOT JUSTIFY ITS NAME

KarabakhOpen
29-08-2007 15:02:32

Politics is an interesting thing. One may state that black is white
only because your new allies dislike black.

Like in the case of the story of recognition of the Armenian Genocide
by the influential Jewish organization. Although this story is highly
tragic, it arouses a smile, for a few days ago the Anti-Defamation
League reneged on its statement on possibility to recognize the
Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey under the pressure of Turkey.

Anatolia News Agency reported that the Turkish prime minister Erdoghan
stated his office had received a message from the leadership of the
league stating that the Jewish organization admitted its mistake
regarding their decision.

By the way, the Anti-Defamation League fights against everyone who
denies the fact of the Holocaust during World War II. Everyone who
doubts the numbers and facts undergoes tough pressure on behalf of
the League.

It goes without saying that in the United States all the influential
media are run by ethnic Jews. Besides, it is not a secret that the
Jewish organizations influence considerably the government of the
United States.

Hence, it turns out that recognition by Jews is necessary to have
the others recognize the widely-known fact. For instance, a few days
ago they tried to justify somehow their name but again failed. More
interestingly, nobody denies the genocide itself but nobody wants to
recognize it. Here is politics.

TURKISH ELECTIONS BRING ARAB SILENCE
By Saad Eddin Ibrahim and Mensur Akgun

Ha’aretz, Israel
Aug 29 2007

CAIRO/ISTANBUL – We were both in Turkey before and after Sunday, July
22, the day of the intensely debated parliamentary elections. Given the
large-scale, contentious demonstrations and the postmodernist military
intervention – via the Internet – over the issue of secularism, there
were hundreds of eager international observers expecting something
spectacular to happen. But to their dismay, and to the dismay of many
others, balloting was calm and orderly.

No violence or irregularities were reported. It was one of the highest
voter turnouts in the history of Turkey’s democratic elections (84.4
percent). The highly debated role of the religiously-affiliated
Islamic Justice and Development Party (AKP) was put to the test for
the second time in five years; it passed with flying colors.

The Turkish political community had anticipated the outcome. The
few surprises had to do only with margins of performance of the
various actors. Though the AKP was poised to win a majority, it
did far better than even it expected with 46.7 percent of the vote,
12.4 points higher than its 2002 victory.

Among the losers was the Turkish military, which has never hidden its
deep misgivings vis-a-vis the ascendance of the AKP in the country’s
sociopolitical space. It is widely believed that the military had
blessed the pro-secular demonstration in the spring as well as the
unification of center-right and center-left parties. Though clearly
rebuffed by the voters, the military seems to be learning to manage
such public adversities, at least for the time being.

AKP leader Recep Tayyib Erdogan went out of his way in his victory
speech later on the night of July 22 to allay the fears of AKP
detractors. He assured all concerned of his solemn commitment to the
secular principle of the Turkish Republic. He equally reiterated his
drive to join the European Union, and proudly pledged to maintain
the high rate of Turkey’s economic growth.

The whole world was watching Turkey that day; some admiringly, some
cynically, looking for any mishaps to justify keeping Turkey out of
the European Club. And yet others watched nervously for fear of a
success that would put pressure on them to follow its model. Among
the latter were Arab autocrats, to whose reactions we now turn.

While Arab opposition parties, civil society and democracy activists
cheered the news from Turkey, there was official silence from Arab
governments, as if the elections had occurred on another planet.

Unlike the front-page headlines in independent media, the
state-controlled media in many Arab countries either ignored, delayed
or relegated the Turkish elections’ story to internal pages or the
tail end of their regular news.

By the third or fourth day, these media pundits went out of their way
to tell their respective audiences how different the situation in
Turkey was from that of Arab countries. Some played up the chronic
Kurdish, Armenian and Cypriot problems as if to dampen any Arab joy
for their northern neighbor.

In some ways, this was reminiscent of cool or even hostile reactions
by the same Arab autocratic regimes to Mauritania’s giant step in
transitioning to democracy. Libya’s Gadhafi, already well into his
38th year of dictatorial rule, had dismissed Mauritania’s experience
as an exercise "in backward tribalism." None of the Arab heads of
state cared to attend the April 2006 inaugural celebration of the
democratically elected Mauritanian president.

It is abundantly clear that when such developments occur in Arab
or Muslim-majority countries, it proves doubly embarrassing. This
may also explain – at least in part – why many of these regimes are
reported to be undermining efforts to democratize Iraq.

The triumphant AKP is again victorious today in the election of
the mostly ceremonial president of the republic, an event which
became controversial a few months earlier over the headscarf of the
would-be first lady. Yet a challenge for the AKP in the short run is
the army’s request to use military means to crush the Kurdish rebels
in the southeast. Erdogan has resisted so far in search of nonviolent
alternatives and support from regional and domestic players.

In the medium and the longer term, the AKP has managed not only
to become solidly mainstream in Turkish politics but also, through
its own example, it paved the way for other Muslim Democrats, in a
manner akin to Christian Democrats in the West. As a matter of fact,
a Moroccan Islamic party bearing the same name in Arabic (French PJD)
is already a major contender in the parliamentary elections being
held in the beginning of September.

Beyond the Middle East, the latest democratic election in Turkey,
coupled with the success of other religiously-affiliated parties in
recent years in other countries, from Indonesia to Mauritania, may
be putting to rest the suspect proposition of "Muslim Exceptionalism."

If countries like Turkey can survive as democratic regimes with
Muslim-majority populations, why can’t others?

Saad Eddin Ibrahim is a human rights activist and founder of the
Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies in Cairo. Mensur Akgun
is the program director for the foreign policy department at TESEV,
an independent think tank in Istanbul. This article is distributed
by the Common Ground News Service.

ON 30 AUGUST SEMINAR-DISCUSSION ‘EFFICIENCY OF MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEM IN ARMENIA’ TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN

arminfo
2007-08-29 16:26:00

On 30 August seminar-discussion "Efficiency of modern communication
system in Armenia" will be held in Yerevan.

As Arminfo was informed from the Armenian Centre for Strategic
and National Research [ACFSANR], the head of the department of
Armenian Transport and Communication Ministry Gevorg Baloyan,
technical director of the CJSC ArmenTel Natalya Shmit, scientist
Tatul Manaseryan will make reports at the seminar and present the
problems of communication, the policy conducted in this sphere and the
prospects of its development as well as the problems of information
security. Besides, within the frames of the seminar the ACFSANR will
present the result of research about the acting communication tariffs
in the republic if compared with other countries.