Author: Khondkarian Raffi

THE FACTOR OF FORCE REMAINS DECISIVE IN THE SITUATION RELATED TO NAGORNO-KARABAKH

DEFENSE and SECURITY
March 12, 2008 Wednesday
Russia

After a few hours of intensive fighting, Azerbaijani soldiers
hurriedly retreated, leaving eight dead soldiers and ammunition
on the battlefield. Two soldiers were wounded on the side of
Nagorno-Karabakh. The Defense Ministry of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
once again warned Azerbaijan that any infringing on the security of
the republic would be "stopped decisively." Authorities of Stepanakert,
the capital city of Nagorno-Karabakh, called on the Azerbaijani party
to observe the truce regime and not to threaten peace and security
in the region.

Interestingly, on the same day President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev,
announced that his country would buy "military hardware, airplanes
and ammunition to be able to liberate its territories. The military
budget of Azerbaijan amounts to $1.3 billion and will grow further."

Aliev announced this speaking at a meeting with veterans of the
Nagorno-Karabakh war in the Hanlar District located near the
frontline. The President said, "The conflict will find a peaceful
resolution when Armenians feel the power of Azerbaijan." There
was also another illustrative phrase in his speech: "The norms of
international law are broken in the world and this has a negative
impact on resolving conflicts. The factor of force remains decisive
and we will achieve this."

Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisyan commented on the situation.

At a press conference on March 4 he announced, "The situation was
not quiet on the borders of Armenia in the last two days. Today,
Azerbaijan attacked one of our positions and nearly succeeded."

According to Sarkisyan, the Armenian party proposed the Defense
Ministry of Azerbaijan to stop provocations. Commenting on the
statements of Ilham Aliev, Sarkisyan remarked that he ruled out a
possibility of resolving the conflict in a military fashion.

According to Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan, what has
happened is the serious speculation of Baku on the current situation in
Armenia. Oskanyan adds that Azerbaijanis think that all the attention
of Armenian authorities is focused on domestic problems now and they
try to use this circumstance. However, according to the minister,
this option of events development will fail.

AVERAGE SALARY EXCEEDS BASKET OF GOODS TWICE

KarabakhOpen
13-03-2008 13:17:11

On March 12 the head of the National Statistics Service Manushak
Minasyan held a news conference and summed up the year 2007.

According to the NSS, as of January 1, 2008 138,834 people live in
Karabakh, of which 71.8 thousand are women, 67 thousand are men. 15.5
thousand children get a monthly benefit, there are 34,585 pensioners
and 10,207 people with disabilities. The population of Karabakh is
4.3 percent of the population of Armenia.

The average duration of life of women in Karabakh is 76.2 years,
men 71.8 years. Unemployment is 5.1 percent, 92 percent of unemployed
people are women.

2645 profit organizations and 399 non-profit organizations are
registered in Karabakh.

The average salary, according to the National Statistics Service, is
68.4 thousand drams which is up by 21 percent from 2006. The average
salary of public officials is 77 thousand drams.

The consumer basket 34,372 drams, the basket of goods is 22,170. In
other words, the minimum monthly wage exceeds the basket of goods
twice.

REPRESENTATIVE OF RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT: "NAGORNO KARABAKH ARMENIANS WILL NOT ATTEND HEARINGS IN THE PARLIAMENT"

Azeri Press Agency
March 12 2008
Azerbaijan

Baku. Tamara Grigoryeva-APA. The issue on Nagorno Karabakh will not
be discussed in the hearings on "frozen conflicts" in the Russian
Parliament’s Committee on CIS Affairs and Contacts with Compatriots,
head of committee’s administration Maria Lazutova told APA.

She said that issue related to Nagorno Karabakh had not been included
in the agenda of the meeting, Therefore, Nagorno Karabakh Armenians
would not attend the meeting. Lazutova said conflicts of Transdnestria,
Abkhazia and South Ossetia would be discussed in the committee,
Nagorno Karabakh conflict would not be debated.

"ISRAELI GENOCIDE SCHOLARS RESPOND TO REPORTED STATEMENTS OF AMBASSADOR GABY LEVY DENYING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE."

AZG Armenian Daily
13/03/2008

Genocide

OPEN LETTER TO MK TZIPI LIVNI, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, ISRAEL MK
Tzipi Livni, Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Jerusalem

We are writing to express our shock, disbelief and horror at the
statements attributed to Ambassador to Turkey Gaby Levy by the website
of Sabah News (Turkey) that "what we [Israel] did in Gaza is not
genocide just like there is no Armenian genocide." These statements
were reportedly in response to comments made by Prime Minister Erdogan
of Turkey criticizing Israel’s response to the terror attacks from
Gaza. We would like to believe that he was misquoted.

Ambassador Levy is insultingly wrong in denying the Armenian genocide.

There is an overwhelming body of historical evidence from many separate
and independent bodies of information to show that the mass atrocities
experienced by the Armenians were a result of an intentional policy
on the part of the Turkish government at the time. It is precisely
this evidence of intent to kill and destroy, in whole or in part,
as defined by the UN Convention on Genocide, which is why these
atrocities constitute genocide. They were adjudged genocide by Raphael
Lemkin, the person who gave the world the word-concept of genocide,
and have been so adjudged by any number of impartial commissions and
professional authorities, including the International Association of
Genocide Scholars.

Israel’s ambassador is humiliatingly further misdirected on Gaza,
where it is Hamas, an organization with a genocidal agenda, which
is carrying out terror attacks aimed at killing, destroying and
expelling the entire population. Israel is defending itself against
the perpetrators of this genocidal agenda. The Grad rockets Hamas is
now firing at population centers in Israel come from Iran which has
expressed a sworn determination to wipe out the State of Israel.

Clearly Israel has never embarked on a genocidal program or action in
Gaza, but for the ambassador to prove his point as it were by comparing
Israel’s actions today in Gaza to the known genocidal activities
of the Ottoman Turks against the Armenians and other non-Moslem
minorities in 1915 and on is self-defeating in the extreme. The
aim of Israel’s military actions in Gaza is to stop the genocidal
terror aimed at the Israeli public. To link proof that Israel is not
the aggressor in Gaza with a denial of the validity of the Armenian
Genocide is seriously harmful to Israel. Ambassador Levy’s mission is
not to revise historical truth, but to represent Israel with honor,
self-respect, competence and integrity. He has failed the test on all
counts. By publicly declaring his denial of the Armenian genocide,
he paves the way for denial of all other genocidal threats, foremost
of which are those now facing Israel.

Israel’s relationship with Turkey is a matter of vital importance
to the two countries,. But this relationship does not require public
displays of obsequiousness and participation in genocide denial.

It does require Ambassador Levy to advise Turkey of the genocidal
threats from Hamas, and from Iran, its paymaster.

We call upon the Government to repudiate the remarks attributed to him.

Sincerely,

Prof. Yair Auron, PhD, Dept. of Sociology, Open University of Israel
[email protected] Prof. Israel W. Charny, PhD (retired Tel
Aviv University and Hebrew University), Executive Director, Institute
on the Holocaust and Genocide, Jerusalem, Editor, Encyclopedia of
Genocide [email protected] Prof. Elihu D. Richter, MD, MPH, Genocide
Prevention Program, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health
and Community Medicine, [email protected]

LEARN SOMETHING: SAMANTHA POWER

Chicagoist
March 11 2008
IL

Several years ago, we read Philip Gourevitch’s powerful book on the
1994 genocide in Rwanda, We Wish To Inform You…. This led us to
eventually pick up Samantha Power’s brilliant A Problem From Hell:
America in the Age of Genocide, winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for
General Nonfiction. Power’s book is a riveting look at the United
States’ policies, approaches — and more than occasional avoidance
— to genocide during the 20th Century, beginning with the Armenian
Genocide during World War I and running through the Kosovo War of
the late 1990’s. With it, Power established herself as one of the
leading experts and writers on U.S. Foreign Policy.

Now, Power is back with a new book, Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira
de Mello and the Fight to Save the World. The book focuses on the life
and work of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Brazilian humanitarian who
was working as the U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Representative in
Iraq when he, and 21 members of his staff, were killed in the August
2003 bombing of the Canal Hotel in Baghdad.

Power will be in town on Wednesday, March 12, at the Chicago Public
Library’s Harold Washington Library Center as part of the "Facing
History and Ourselves" program to read from and discuss this new book
and, we’re sure, much more on the current state of world affairs. As
the war in Iraq reaches its fifth anniversary, we can’t think of a
better time to examine the life of a man who dedicated himself to
promoting peace and we can think of a better conduit through which
to learn about him than the gifted Power.

Of course, we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out Power being in the
news lately for her recent comments and subsequent resignation from
Team Obama, something that we’re sure will come up at her presentation
tomorrow.

Samantha Power, Wednesday, March 12, 5:30 pm, Harold Washington Library
Center, 400 S. State Street. The event is free, but a reservation is
required. Call 312-345-3203 for more information.

SOME 60 ARE CHARGED WITH MASSIVE RIOTING IN YEREVAN

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS
March 10, 2008 Monday
Russia

The Armenian special investigation service has brought charges
against 59 persons in relation to the massive rioting in Yerevan,
press secretary of the Prosecutor General Sona Truzian told Interfax
on Saturday.

"Investigators have done a big job identifying the key figures who
provoked and organized the massive rioting. As a result the groups
that organized and coordinated the actions aimed at undermining the
domestic political situation in the country were identified," she said.

"It was established that material incentives were offered to the
participants in the massive rioting in Liberty Square involving
breaches of law and order," she said.

"People were paid 5,000-10,000 drams for spending the night in the
square and they were supplied with food and drinks," Truzian said.

People were given metal bars, gasoline in 20-liter cylinders and blue-
colored inflammable liquids in bottles, she said.

"The funds to guarantee the presence in the square of the residents
of Razdan and nearby villages were provided by Sasun Mikaelian, a
wanted member of the National Assembly, and his supporters did the
recruiting," she said adding that the accomplices of the deputy have
been detained.

The investigation also identified the person who brutally beat up a
police officer.

TWO WAYS FOR THE COUNTRY’S DEVELOPMENT
Gevorg Haroutyunyan

Hayots Ashkhar
Published on March 11, 2008

Interview with SHAVARSH KOCHARYAN, Head of the National Democratic
Party

"Mr. Kocharyan, to what extent is the number of votes obtained by
the candidates as a result of the elections regular or unexpected,
and what are the political causes?"

"The ex-President received quite a large number of votes, and the fact
itself is illogical. Estimating his political activity, we can say
that during the whole pre-election stage this particular candidate
was promising to fight all the unlawful phenomena unacceptable to
the people, whereas he himself was the author of all that. I don’t
rule out the possibility that the votes he obtained result not only
from the assessment of his political activity but also from the use
of certain political technologies and psychological impact.

To properly understand what happened, it is worth remembering the
phenomenon of Arkadi Vardanyan’s. He was a citizen of the Russian
Federation who could have quite restricted ambitions, and he appeared
in our internal political life from some unknown place. But in a
short period of time, he managed to gather tens and thousands of
people and organize a protest rally.

In this case, it is difficult to speak about special technologies,
powerful financial and foreign intervention. None of these factors
can be ruled out as far as the former President is concerned, but
the general idea is that the overwhelming majority of our people do
not want to live in such conditions.

The people want to live in Armenia. They are dissatisfied and do not
tolerate shadow corrupt practices and impunity. They want to live in
a fair country and be protected."

"But as a matter of fact, the candidate you mention wanted to establish
a ‘one-man power’ and not build a ‘new Armenia’."

"This is also the result of another syndrome existing in our society.

There is a belief among the people that elections are not a way
of solving such problems. Leaning on their negative experience, the
voters just try to decide which candidate has chances to come to power,
instead of considering the given candidate’s program and the existing
situation. The other circumstances are pushed to the background,
and the factor of rebelling against the state becomes a primary task.

This was the ace used by the ex-President who, with the help of certain
technologies, simply instilled false thoughts into the people, saying
that he received support by the Army, the Police, the intelligence
services and the civil servants. There were some officials who later
confirmed such false information in their statements. Under the
influence of various impulses, his listeners obliterated from their
memories their ideas about the former President. The belief that he
couldn’t carry out the promised changes because he himself was the
author was being neutralized.

Unfortunately, this enabled him to become the leader of the protesting
electorate and gather under his banner the dissatisfied mass of people
from all the strata of society. But what happened cannot be considered
as peaceful rallies because among the people who gathered under
his banner there were also slaughterers, plunderers and ‘Yerkrapah’
members who never participated in the Artsakh war."

"Nonetheless, our society is somehow split apart. How is it possible
to overcome such internal challenge?"

"Both our society and country can no longer be the same as they were
before the elections. There are two possible ways of development. It
is possible to continue strengthening the system of one-man power
and thus, continue the activity initiated by the former President.

The alternative is the further strengthening of the all the state
institutions in order to prevent such disorders from happening any
more and move towards democracy. It requires large-scale system
reforms. This should now be the primary task of the state. And if
the system of one-man power continues to strengthen, the number of
dissatisfied people will increase.

Power in Armenia will turn out to be sitting on a mine that may go
off at any moment. But in conditions of accomplishing society, the
dissatisfied people will gradually decrease in number.

After the rough clashes that took place on March 1, slow steps are
already dangerous. The state must be able to overcome the existing
challenge, and this may lead to the formation of the upcoming
strategy."

RUSSIA TO START URANIUM EXPLORATION IN ARMENIA
By M. Alkhazashvili

The Messenger
March 10 2008
Georgia

A joint Russian-Armenian venture will soon begin exploration and
mining of uranium in Armenia, following an agreement signed between
the two countries on February 6.

Russia plans to invest USD 3 million on uranium exploration in Armenia
this year, the news agency RIA Novosti reports.

Preliminary data puts uranium reserves in Armenia at 50 000 tons,
although the total amount could be anywhere between 25 000 and 100
000 tons.

ARMENIAN POLICE HOLD ENLARGED OPERATIONAL CONFERENCE

arminfo
2008-03-10 20:26:00

ArmInfo. Today the police of Armenia held an enlarged operational
conference.

The press service of the Police reports that the conference was
chaired by the chief of the police, Gen. Hayk Haroutyunyan. The key
topic was the Mar 1 disorders in Yerevan. Haroutyunyan pointed out
the mistakes committed by the police and gave specific instructions
on how to improve their efficiency. He demanded that the police be
more resolute in detecting and prosecuting the organizers of the riots.

TURKISH POLICE FOILED ALLEGED PLOT TO BOMB U.S. COMPANIES

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.03.2008 15:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish police have foiled an alleged plot to bomb
U.S. companies in the country.

Police arrested three suspects belonging to a leftist militant group
during a raid in Istanbul. Authorities seized a remote-controlled
toy car allegedly being prepared to be used in a bombing.

Police also seized a list of U.S. companies that the DHKP-C group
was targeting, including Coca Cola, Pepsi and Citibank.

The DHKP-C is listed as a terror group by the U.S. and EU, and has
been active since the 1970s, The Associated Press reports.