Author: Khoyetsian Rose

ACCREDITATION OF OBSERVERS STARTED

Azat Artsakh Daily, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]
16 April 07

The NKR Central Electoral Commission has started accreditation of
reporters and observers for the NKR presidential election on July 19,
2007. The political parties and NGOs whose bylaws include human rights
and democracy and which will not support a candidate can observe the
election. The accreditation of the local observers will last till July
9, the international observers till July 18. DEMOGRAPHIC INDICES FIRST
QUARTER 2007 The NKR National Statistics Service reported that 468
children were born in NKR from January to March 2007, which is up by 3
or 0.6 percent compared with January-March 2006. The rate of death was
335, and is down by 24 or 6.7 percent compared with the first quarter
of 2006. The rate of natural growth was 133 and increased by 27 or
25.5 percent. In the first quarter of 2007, 162 marriages were
reported against 153 in the first quarter of 2006, the rate of divorce
was 25 against 31, the NSS reported.

16-04-2007

Michigan Daily, MI
April 15 2007

I Influence the NY Times . . . just kidding

By Jared Goldberg, written on Apr. 14, 2007

Two weeks and a day after my column on the Armenian Genocide, The New
York Times runs an interesting editorial on it. A nice little quote:

`It’s odd that Turkey’s leaders have not figured out by now that
every time they try to censor discussion of the Armenian genocide,
they only bring wider attention to the subject and link today’s
democratic Turkey with the now distant crime. [Emphasis added, ed.]’

It’s that one line that got me. It definitely addressed something
that I did not, and which further demonstrates my point that it is
frivolous, even for the Turks, to continue to deny the genocide.

The government that carried out the genocide was a different one than
Ataturk’s, and certainly different than that of the present day
Republic of Turkey. As the NY Times pointed out, the more the current
government denies the genocide, the differences between that old
government and this new one diminish.

If you happen to wander over to the Daily’s site and look at the
comments for my column, they now number about 50. Many of those who
have posted negatively, demonstrate the absurdity of denial. A little
FYI, I did do my research. I’ve probably read and studied more on the
subject than the jackasses who wander over to the site to deny the
Armenian Genocide. There will come a time when Turkey will recognize
the genocide. It’s a just a question of when.

um/?p=262

ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
April 13, 2007 Friday

Kocharyan calls for broader contacts among CIS border guards

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has gone on record for still
broader cooperation among the border guards of the CIS countries.

“It is necessary to make cooperation among CIS border guards still
broader,” he stated here on Friday, while receiving the participants
of the meeting of the Council of Commanders of CIS Border Guard
Forces, which is under way in the Armenian capital.

First Deputy Director of the Russian Federal Security Service General
Vladimir Pronichev, who also heads the Russian Border Guard Service,
led the group.

According to Kocharyan, cooperation among the CIS border guards “is
especially timely today because the border guard services have to
deal now with numerous new challenges, besides the growing danger of
terrorism and illicit drugs circulation”.

The participants of the reception informed Kocharyan about the
problems that were discussed during the Council meeting and about the
approaches to their solution.

Panorama.am

18:08 14/04/2007

HOVANISSYAN SAYS HE HAS TO CLOSE HIS HEADQUARTERS

Hovannes Hovannisyan, chairman of Liberal Progressive Party, who has
nominated his candidature at election community 5, said he had to
close his pre-election headquarters in Davitashen because the owner of
the premises was threatened with a demand to take the premise away
from Hovannisyan.

Speaking about the incidents of collecting passports, the party leader
says it has a sole purpose `to exert psychological pressures on
people.’ He said those who gave their passports and promised to vote
for this or that candidates are afraid that they will have real
problems in case they do not keep to their word.

Source: Panorama.am

CASSATION COURT CHAIRMAN ARGUES IN FAVOR OF TENFOLD INCREASE OF JUDGES’ SALARIES

Armenpress
Apr 13 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 13, ARMENPRESS: Chairman of Armenia’s Court of Cassation
Hovhannes Manukian admitted today that the country’s judiciary system
has yet to do a great deal of job to become independent and win the
confidence of people.

Speaking to a news conference he blamed the lack of people’s trust
in the country’s legal system on the remnants of the Communist-time
psychology, inherited from the previous regime.

Another reason, according to him, that plays a role is that the image
of an Armenian court judge is far from being ‘perfect."

He said one of the main objectives of the second stage of judiciary
reform, to be backed up by a World Bank credit, will be to find
solutions to these problems.

He said the relevant legislation sets clearly ethical norms for judges
to obey. "The people’s trust in judges must be anchored on their high
moral standing," he said.

Manukian also argued that as a guarantee of independent administration
of justice judges’ salaries should be raised ten times from the
current 250,000 Drams and admitted that a segment of judges, who do
not fit the necessary requirements, must be sacked, but added that it
should be done cautiously ‘not to make the entire system dependable
on people who have decided to purge the system."

U.S. Department of State
Press Roundtable With Edward R. Murrow Journalist Exchange Participants
Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
Washington, DC
April 11, 2007

Question: I have two questions. We [Armenia] have parliamentary elections
coming in May, and I would like to know if there is [inaudible] how it will
impact our relations with U.S.
And the second question is that Ankara actually blackmailed the United
States, saying it will block the supply channel for the American troops in
Iraq [inaudible] resolution or the Armenian Genocide [inaudible] from the
congress agenda. I wonder can you consider Turkey to be a good ally if they
blackmail to suppress freedom of opinion and action in the U.S.? Thank you
very much.
Assistant Secretary Fried: The Turkish Government has never blackmailed or
threatened the U.S. Government. They have never said that they will take
retaliatory steps if this resolution passes.
The Turkish government has said that Turkish opinion would be inflamed and
outraged by this resolution and that they, the Turkish government, fear what
the Turkish parliament might do in reaction to something our parliament
might do. So it’s a little bit different than what you described.
Turkey is a good ally. It is also a country which is undergoing a profound
democratic transformation itself. Turkey has for decades had the formal
elements of democracy, but in the last 10, 15, 20 years it has deepened this
democracy, and especially in the last 5 to 10 years. The boundaries of
freedom of expression are now much greater than they were before. Civilian
institutions are much stronger. The role of the military is much more
circumscribed. These things are advancing, and as this happens there is a
growing discussion in Turkey about their own past, and in particular the
past of the Ottoman Empire and its relationship to the Armenian community
there and the mass killings that took place in 1915 and afterwards. Turks
are beginning to discuss this.
We encourage them to examine their history and the painful, what can be
called dark spots, and they’re not the only country that has them. The
United States has plenty of our own: slavery, treatment of American Indians,
treatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. We have a lot of things
in our history of which we’re not proud.
We think that Turkey and Armenia need to discuss their shared past in a
serious way. This needs to be a discussion that historians have. The United
States doesn’t deny any of the killings. They’re an established historical
fact, but historians need to discuss the details of what happened, why it
happened, who did what. This needs to happen, and it needs to happen as a
process of genuine national reconciliation.
We also think that Turkey ought to open up the border with Armenia and
restore normal relations. We’re pleased by recent steps Turkey has taken,
like restoring the Armenian church in Eastern Turkey, even if as a museum.
That’s still something. And there is in Turkish society a constituency for
this kind of reconciliation. Hrant Dink was murdered by an extremist
nationalist, but then 100,000 Turks were in the street saying we are all
Armenians, we are all Hrant Dink. It didn’t mean literally that they’re
Armenians, but it means we reject nationalism. We embrace a Turkish identity
which is tolerant. That’s very hopeful. That’s a very good thing. That’s
what we want to encourage.
You keep asking complicated questions. I can’t answer in a sound byte, but
I’ll try.
Question: What about the first one? Parliamentary elections –
Assistant Secretary Fried: Look, we want to see an improvement in the
Armenian parliamentary elections. That is important. We don’t expect
perfection. We don’t expect to go from deeply flawed to perfect, but we do
expect to see substantial forward progress. That is important.
Armenia, given the strength of the Armenian Diaspora and given Armenia’s
links to the West, frankly, you ought to be way ahead of Georgia. But I ask
you, are you in terms of democratic reforms? That’s a rhetorical question.
I’m not asking for an answer. But think about that.
Armenia should be doing better. It should be a leader. It should be a
prospering country. It has all the ingredients. And lack of oil and gas is
not necessarily a curse.
Question: What about closing borders?
Assistant Secretary Fried: Yes, but a lot of countries – Armenia is not
blockaded. It has access through Georgia. It’s not as if it has no access to
the outside world. We hope that more is done.
Question: I would like to ask a question about Azerbaijan and its continuous
advice against [inaudible]. Also the fact that 20 percent of Azerbaijan
territory is occupied by Armenia.
Assistant Secretary Fried: I’ll try to make these answers shorter. We could
talk all day about Nagorno-Karabakh. It is important to try to find a
peaceful settlement. War will destroy everything Azerbaijan is trying to do.
We have been working very actively with France and Russia to help broker a
settlement. We’ve made some progress, and we hope we can succeed this year.
Azerbaijan has made some progress in democracy, but it needs to make much
more. It has a leadership which is poised to take the country into a much
more prosperous, democratic future, and I hope that it does.
A strong country has a strong free press and a strong opposition as well as
strong central institutions, and Azerbaijan has every opportunity, like
Armenia, although the economies are very different, to have a very good 21st
Century.

Rwanda genocide exhibit to ‘open very soon’

New York – The United Nations has apologised for postponing the
opening of an exhibit marking the anniversary of the 1994 Rwanda
genocide over Turkish objections to a reference to the killing of
Armenians in Turkey during World War 1, the Rwandan ambassador said on
Wednesday.
"We were contacted by UN Under Secretary General (for public
information Kiyotaka Akasaka) who told me they are reviewing the text
(of the exhibit)," Rwanda’s permanent UN representative Joseph
Nsengimana said. "He apologises. The exhibit will (officially) open
very soon."
The exhibit, which was to have been inaugurated by UN chief Ban
Ki-moon Monday, is meant to commemorate the 13th anniversary of the
Rwandan genocide during which Hutu extremists killed about 800 000
people, most of them ethnic minority Tutsis.
Farhan Haq, a UN spokesperson, said the controversy arose when a
Turkish diplomat walked by the exhibit as it was being put up last
week and complained about a reference to the killing of several
hundred thousand Armenians in Turkey during World War 1.
He said the reference was on a small panel with a quotation from
Raphael Lemkin, the Polish-born Jewish lawyer who coined the word
genocide in 1943, had earlier shown interest in the Armenian
"genocide" and campaigned in the League of Nations to ban what he
called "barbarity" and "vandalism".
Turkey, the successor of the Ottoman Empire, categorically denies
claims of genocide and says thousands of Turks and Armenians were
killed in civil strife during 1915-1917 when Armenians took up arms
for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with Russian troops
invading the crumbling empire.
Much to Turkey’s ire, many countries have recognised the killings as
genocide.
Haq said a review panel made up of officials of the UN departments
of public information and political affairs as well as those with
expertise in genocide affairs would now look over the photographs and
the text of the exhibit ahead of the inauguration.
"This is what they were supposed to have done," he said. "I am
hoping it will be very quick."
The exhibit is partly organised by Aegis Trust, a British-based
international organisation lobbying to prevent genocide worldwide. –
Sapa-AFP

Published on the Web by IOL on 2007-04-12 00:33:20

© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this
article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused
by reliance on the information it contains.

SUPPORT H. RES. 106 AND S. RES. 106 RECOGNIZING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Gene Rossides

Hellenic News of America, PA
April 11 2007

If you want to support the rule of law in international affairs;
if you want the U.S. Congress officially to recognize the Armenian
Genocide, the first holocaust in the 20th century; if you want to
publicize genocides so as to help stop current genocides and help
prevent future genocides, then support H. Res. 106 and S. Res. 106,
the bipartisan resolutions in the House and Senate which recognize
the Armenian Genocide.

H. Rees. 106 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives
on January 30, 2007 by Representative Adam Schiff (D-29th CA) for
himself and co-sponsors Representatives George Radanovich (R-19th
CA), Frank Pallone (D-6th NJ), Joseph Knollenberg (R-9th MI), Brad
Sherman (D-27th CA), and Thaddeus McCotter (R-11th MI). H. Res. 106
was referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Chairman Tom
Lantos (D-12th CA) has not scheduled a vote.

As of April 5, 2007, there are 184 co-sponsors of H. Res. 106. House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has indicated she will seek a vote on H. Res.
106 but has not set a date. In my judgment, if a vote is allowed in
the House, H. Res. 106 will pass.

S. Res. 106 was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Richard J.
Durbin (D-IL), Majority Whip, with 25 co-sponsors as of April
5, 2007. Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) is one of the original
co-sponsors. S. Res. 106 was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee.

In previous years, the Bush administration and the previous Clinton
administration were, unfortunately, able to convince Congress not
to allow a vote. This year Speaker Pelosi, with bipartisan support,
hopefully will allow the Congress to act on H. Res. 106.

The Turkish government is going all-out to prevent a vote. Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates have
written a joint letter to Congressional leaders, including committee
chairs, opposing the Armenian Genocide resolutions by Congress.

Representative Adam Schiff

The appeasement of Turkey, a disloyal ally, by Gates and Rice
is embarrassing. On March 21, 2007 there was an exchange between
Representative Adam Schiff and Secretary Rice during a hearing before
the Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and
Related Programs. Secretary Rice repeatedly refused to state that
the murder of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923 by Turkey
was genocide.

Mr. Schiff asked Rice: ?Do you have any doubt in your mind, that the
murder of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923 constituted
genocide? Is there any doubt about that in your mind?? Rice responded
with the standard State Department response: ?Congressman, I think
these historical circumstances require a very detailed and sober look
from historians and what we?ve encouraged the Turks and the Armenians
to do is to have joint historical commissions that can look at this,
to have efforts to examine their past and, in examining their past,
to get over their past?.?

Mr. Schiff then asked: ?Is there any historic debate outside of
Turkey? Is there any reputable historian you?re aware of that
takes issue with the fact that the murder of 1.5 million Armenians
constituted genocide??

Secretary Rice again refused to directly answer this and several
other questions and gave the evasive State Department position.

The French Parliament last year passed a law stating that denial of
the Armenian Genocide would be a crime. The French Parliament did
not give in to the Turkish threats of economic retaliation and stood
tall. The U.S. should do the same.

Time Magazine

In the June 6, 2005 issue of its European edition, Time Magazine ran
a four-page advertisement, placed by the Ankara Chamber of Commerce,
promoting tourism in Turkey, together with a DVD which contained a
70-minute segment that completely denied the Armenian Genocide and
distorted the facts. The DVD also contained numerous false allegations
against the Armenian people.

Following protests by Armenian National Committee branches worldwide,
Time Magazine published in its October 17, 2005 European edition a
letter to the editors of Time-Europe by leading French, Armenian,
Jewish and human rights organizations. The publication was required
by France?s ?right to reply? laws for those unfairly attacked in
its pages.

Time also ran a brief apology alongside the letter stating: ?Time
regrets distributing the dvd and we are very sorry for the offense
it has caused. The so-called documentary portion of the dvd presents
a one-sided view of history that does not meet our standards for
fairness and accuracy, and we would not have distributed it had we
been aware of its content. Unfortunately the dvd was not adequately
reviewed by anyone at Time because it was believed to be a benign
promotion piece. We have since changed our review process so as to
guarantee more vigilance in future. We apologize to the Armenian
community and to our readers.?

In December 2005 the French organizations together with the
Switzerland-Armenia Association (SAA), the French Association of
Armenian Lawyers and Jurists (AFAJA), the European Armenian Federation
for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) and the California Courier newspaper
?reached an amicable agreement with Time executives ensuring the
facts of the Armenian Genocide are not distorted again in the pages
of the magazine.?

Thereafter, Michael Elliot, editor of Time International stated in
a letter to California Courier publisher Harut Sassounian: ?Please
be advised that, in common with other leading news organizations, it
is Time?s policy and practice to refer to the Armenian genocide as a
historical fact. Accordingly, I will be informing our correspondents
and editors that the term ?Armenian genocide? should be used without
qualification.?

And most recently and by continued effort of Armenian organizations
and non-Armenian organizations, Time Magazine in its February 12,
2007 European edition carried a full page factual announcement on
the Armenian Genocide, together with a complimentary dvd in English
and French ?which contains a compelling 52 minute documentary on
the Armenian genocide by French director Laurence Jourdan? and ?a 46
minute interview with Dr. Yves Temon, a leading expert on the Armenian
Genocide.? The full-page statement and the dvd were provided free of
charge by Time Europe (circulation 550,000).

Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee
of America (ANCA) said ?We welcome Time Magazine?s judgment that ? in
the interest of its readers? right to accurate reporting- the Armenian
Genocide should be reported as a fact, without qualification. This
announcement by Time, along with similar policy statements by the New
York Times, the Boston Globe, and many other leading publications,
only increases the pressure on the administration to abandon its
morally bankrupt complicity in the Turkish government?s denial of
its crime against the Armenian nation.?

The above actions by Armenian and non-Armenian organizations
demonstrate that actions by groups, their individual members and by
citizens at large do have an impact.

I urge our many Greek American organizations, their members and Greek
Americans at large to support our fellow Armenian American citizens
with political action. Specifically, I urge them to contact Speaker
Pelosi and their own Representative and two Senators and urge their
full support of H. Res. 106 and S. Res. 106 and particularly urge
them in the interests of the U.S. to have a vote on these resolutions.

It is easy to call your Representative and two Senators by dialing
the central Capital switchboard telephone number 202-224-3121 and
ask for your Representative and Senators. Also make sure to write them.

The addresses for letters to House and Senate members are:

The Honorable ___________

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable ____________

U.S. Senate

Washington, D.C. 20510

They should also contact Secretaries Rice and Gates and express
disappointment and disagreement with their basically denialist position
on the Armenian Genocide.

The address for Secretary Rice is:

U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520

Main Switchboard: 202-647-4000

The address for Secretary Gates is:

Secretary of Defense 1000 Defense Pentagon Washington, DC 20301-1000

Finally, call and write to President George W. Bush and urge him to
support the Armenian Genocide resolutions.

To call the President:

Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414

To write to the President:

President George W. Bush

The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500

Please take action- it can help.

Gene Rossides is President of the American Hellenic Institute and
former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury

l?newsid=6657&lang=US

UN REMOVES GENOCIDE EXHIBIT AFTER TURKEY COMPLAINS
by Warren Hoge – The New York Times Media Group

The International Herald Tribune, France
April 11, 2007 Wednesday

The United Nations dismantled an exhibit on the Rwandan genocide
and postponed its scheduled opening by the UN secretary general,
Ban Ki Moon, after the Turkish mission objected to references to the
Armenian genocide in Turkey at the time of World War I.

The panels of graphics, photos and statements had been installed
in the visitors’ lobby Thursday by the Aegis Trust, of Britain. The
trust campaigns for the prevention of genocide and runs a center in
Kigali, the Rwandan capital, memorializing the 500,000 victims of
the massacres there 13 years ago.

Hours after the show was assembled, however, a Turkish diplomat raised
objections to words in a section titled "What is genocide?"

The passage said that "following World War I, during which one million
Armenians were murdered in Turkey," Raphael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer
credited with coining the word genocide, "urged the League of Nations
to recognize crimes of barbarity as international crimes."

James Smith, the chief executive of Aegis, said he was told by
the United Nations on Saturday that the sentence would have to be
eliminated or the exhibition would be struck.

Armen Martirosyan, the Armenian ambassador to the UN, said he had
sought out Kiyotaka Akasaka, the UN under secretary general for public
information, and thought he had reached an agreement to let the show
go forward by omitting the words "in Turkey."

But Akasaka said, "That was his suggestion, and I agreed only to take
it into account in finding the final wording."

Baki Ilkin, the Turkish ambassador to the UN, said, "We just expressed
our discomfort over the text’s making references to the Armenian
issue and drawing parallels with the genocide in Rwanda."

There were widespread killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks, beginning
in 1915, in which an estimated 1.5 million died, but Turkey has always
vehemently rejected claims of genocide.

Smith said he was "very disappointed because this was supposed to
talk about the lessons drawn from Rwanda and point up that what is
happening in Darfur is the cost of inaction."

"ROCK AND DRAM" FESTIVAL TO TAKE PLACE IN YEREVAN ON INITIATIVE OF CENTRAL BANK

Noyan Tapan
Apr 10 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 10, NOYAN TAPAN. The Rock and Dram festival will take
place on April 13 at the Yerevan Hovh. Tumanian Puppet Theater on the
initiative of the RA Central Bank (CB). As CB Press Secretary Zaruhi
Barseghian informed the Noyan Tapan correspondent, best rock groups of
Armenia, Empyray, The Kings Cross, Strife, Bambir and Vostan Hayoc,
will participate in the festival. It was mentioned that the action
will be of continuous character: a festival entitled Jazz and Dram
will also be organized in future.