NATO experts visiting Armenia
armradio.am
06.05.2008 14:48
The expert group of NATO arrived in Armenia today for a two-day working
visit for the purpose of holding discussions in RA Ministry of Defense
on the improvement of military-educational programs in the context of
the arrangement to continue the cooperation, Spokesman of the Ministry
of Defense, Colonel Seyran Shahsuvaryan informed.
PanARMENIAN.Net
Azerbaijan’s `delivery’ of Afghan mujahids to Georgia
is possible and even logical
06.05.2008 17:56 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The publication on Real Azerbaijan
website is very interesting, especially in the light
of close military and strategic ties between Georgia
and Azerbaijan, an Armenian expert said.
`The editor-in-chief of Real Azerbaijan, Eynullah
Fatulayev has been in prison for a long time, his
newspaper has been banned. Taking into account the
pressure of some European countries to release or
mitigate his sentence, this publication may turn out a
canard for his absolute discredit in order to deprive
him of any chance of amnesty dated to Heydar Aliyev’s
85th birthday,’ Eduard Abrahamyan, expert at Mitq
analytical center told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
`Azerbaijan’s `delivery’ of Afghan mujahids to Georgia
is possible and even logical. No one should forget
that during the Karabakh war, Azerbaijan hired
militants from various countries, including thousands
of mujahids from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Besides,
continuing recruitment of former military throughout
the CIS has become a good tradition for Azerbaijan,’
he added.
`As to Georgia, it can accept friendly assistance for
the purpose to bring to minimum its losses in
hostilities against Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Moreover, Georgia thinks over the possibility of
formation of separate military units consisting of
representatives of national minorities, including
Armenians and Azeris, who will first of all be thrown
into the bloody mess,’ he concluded.
It’s worth mentioning that on May 4, 2008, Real
Azerbaijan newspaper posted on its website an article
titled `Will Azerbaijanis help Georgia?’
( 65), telling
about the possibility of Azerbaijan’s military
assistance to Georgia in case of war against Abkhazia.
Meanwhile, a relevant publication by PanARMENIAN.Net
aroused hysteria in Baku.
Real Azerbaijan’s website was removed from the server.
However, PanARMENIAN.Net brings to the readers’
attention the screenshot of the website and a
reference in Google.
The article that aroused Azerbaijan’s confusion says
in part,
`Azerbaijan intends to assist Georgia in resolving its
territorial problems.
For the purpose, Baku-Kabul flights suspended in March
2008 will be resumed. Trained Afghan mujahids and
large lots of weapons are expected to be airlifted to
Azerbaijan and then to Georgia, Real Azerbaijan
website reports.
According to preliminary data, some 500 Afghan
commandos trained in British camps will arrive in
Georgia. In operation against Abkhazia and South
Ossetia, they will use weapons received from their
British sponsors, thus protecting Azerbaijan from
`coming into the spotlight.’
Reliable sources report that Azeris are being
recruited in Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine
and several other states with numerous Azeri diaspora.
The recruitment is conducted under supervision of
"Azerbaycan Diasporasi" chairman Fikret Veliyev,
chairman of Murmansk division of the All-Russian
Azerbaijani Congress Rafik Badirov, president of
federal national and cultural autonomy of Azeris of
Russia Sayun Sadykov. Not only ordinary Azeris but
also students of Moscow and Kyiv universities are
recruited.
Head of the department of political studies of the
Azerbaijani presidential administration Fuad Akhundov
and chief of the division of foreign policy planning
and strategic studies at the Azeri MFA Tofik Musayev
have been commissioned to coordinate the Azeri
diaspora’s work.
1.5-2 thousand prisoners, who committed grave crimes,
will be granted amnesty on occasion of Heydar Aliyev’s
85th birthday. It’s expected that half of them will be
sent to Georgia as well.
The process of Azeri units’ formation was speeded up
after Russian heavy artillery, weapons and equipment
and additional troops crossed Georgia’s state border.’
EDWARD NALBANDIAN SAYS HIS UPCOMING MEETING WITH ELMAR MAMMADYAROV WILL HAVE A CHARACTER OF ACQUAINTANCE
Azeri Press Agency
May 2 2008
Azerbaijan
Yeravan-APA. Armenian foreign minister Edward Nalbandian said he was
hopeful that his meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov on May 6 in Strasbourg would be rich in content, APA
quotes Armenian sites.
In his address to the Armenian parliament Nalbadian said it would
be their first meeting and most likely would have a character of
acquaintance. "It will be an acquaintance but I hope that the meeting
will end with the agreement to continue talks". The minister also said
that concerns over the boost of Azerbaijan’s defense expenses couldn’t
be estimated as interference in internal affairs of that country.
NEW MAYOR
A1+
[03:22 pm] 05 May, 2008
According to our preliminary data, Republican Party (HHK) member and
businessman Gagik Sahakian has been elected Mayor of Gyumri. He gained
2154 votes at yesterday’s election. The acting mayor, Vanik Asatrian,
gained 1657 votes, followed by Ashot Hovhannissian with 1265, Artyom
Makarian with 1440, Samvel Gabrielian with 881, Miran Sisakian with
613 and Serzhik Tadevossian with 30 votes, CEC press secretary Tatevik
Ohanian told A1+.
8254 eligible voters participated in the vote
UN Secretary-General’s message on World Press Freedom Day
armradio.am
03.05.2008 11:48
From the education of the youngest members of society to the full
public engagement of citizens with their political leadership, access
to information empowers each one of us to transform our lives and our
communities. Just as water is essential for life to grow, knowledge
sustains our capacity to imagine and to change. When information flows
freely, people are equipped with tools to take control of their lives.
When the flow of information is hindered — whether for political or
technological reasons — our capacity to function is stunted.
Sixty years ago, the drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights declared in Article 19 that the right of everyone to freedom of
opinion and expression `includes freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas
through any media and regardless of frontiers.’ As the rapid pace of
globalization has strengthened the development of a free, pluralistic,
independent and professional media, the significance of this right has
never been more evident. Technological advances have promoted media and
information literacy as right for all to access equally.
A free, secure and independent media is one of the foundations of peace
and democracy. Attacks on freedom of press are attacks against
international law, against humanity, against freedom itself — against
everything the United Nations stands for. I am therefore all the more
alarmed at the way journalists are increasingly being targeted around
the world, and dismayed when such crimes are not thoroughly
investigated and prosecuted.
On this World Press Freedom Day, and in this year when we mark the 60th
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I call on all
societies to spare no effort in bringing to justice the perpetrators of
attacks on journalists. I pay tribute to all who work in difficult and
dangerous conditions to provide us with free, unbiased information. And
I call on every one of us to work for the freedom — and the safety —
of the press everywhere.
FILMFEST ORGANIZED ON INITIATIVE OF PAUL KREKORIAN IN GLENDALE
Noyan Tapan
April 30, 2008
GLENDALE, APRIL 30, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. 103 short films
from a dozen schools have been formally entered into the first
FILMFEST organized by Assemblymember Paul Krekorian (Burbank). Paul
Krekorian expressed satisfaction that over 100 aspiring filmmakers
have submitted their short films to the Festival, which will take
place in the Glendale Alex Theatre on May 16.
ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTS ADOPTS DRAFT LAW ON ALTERATIONS AND AMENDMENTS TO ARMENIAN CRIMINAL CODE
arminfo
2008-04-30 19:31:00
ArmInfo. On April 30, the deputies of the Armenian parliament adopted
in the second and final reading the draft law on alterations and
amendments to the Armenian Criminal Code. As Armenian Justice Minister
Gevorg Danielyan said in his speech, the government offers to make
amendments to the Criminal Code regarding responsibility for taking
bribes. According to the acting law, only officials were responsible
for getting bribes. But a number of posts have found themselves
out of the given law, first of all, directors of enterprises and
organizations, which earlier were not considered to be officials. The
given item meets all the international standards, the minister noted.
AUSTRALIA’S SECRET GENOCIDE HISTORY
MWC News, Canada
;Itemid= 1
April 30 2008
La Trobe, "Bundoora Eucalyptus" & Black Crimes of White Australia
La Trobe University, Bundoora, Melbourne is one of Australia’s
top dozen universities with particular expertise in paramedical
training and an excellent reputation for research and teaching in the
humanities and biological sciences in particular. The main campus is
set in beautiful bushland about 20 kilometers north of Melbourne at
Bundoora. Bundoora means "the country kangaroos like" in the local
Indigenous Australian Wurrundjeri language and indeed one can often
see kangaroos grazing and hopping about in the outskirts of La Trobe
University in the evening and early morning.
La Trobe University is named after a former Lieutenant-Governor of
Victoria, Charles Joseph La Trobe (1801-1875), who administered
the colony of Victoria from 1839-1854. However there are 2 sides
to this man that reflect a continuing dichotomy of good and evil in
Australia as a whole. Thus Charles La Trobe was a gentle, cultured
man and a mountaineer, adventurer and writer. However he was a poor
administrator and his rule over the British colony of Victoria was
associated with 2 major failures: (1) the Eureka Stockade rebellion
of gold miners that was brutally put down by British soldiers and
(2) the expansion of the Aboriginal Genocide with ethnic cleansing of
Indigenous (Aboriginal) people involving the notorious Native Police
set up under La Trobe. This paradoxical good/evil duality is perhaps
behind the statue of Charles La Trobe at La Trobe University that is
exhibited standing on its head!
The beautiful La Trobe Bundoora landscape with its wonderful gum trees
(Eucalyptus species), birds and kangaroos is the inspiration for my
huge (1.3 metres x 2.9 metres) "Bundoora Eucalyptus" painting which
also illustrates the dark/light, good/evil dichotomy of Charles La
Trobe and of Australia as a whole. On the one hand Australia is a
prosperous, educated, democratic society that was one of the first
countries to have women’s suffrage, trade unions, and compulsory
State-provided education. On the other hand, Australia has a shocking
secret history of involvement in appalling genocides that continues to
this day. Thus in 2008 Australia is involved in Palestinian Genocide,
Iraqi Genocide, Afghan Genocide, Biofuel Genocide and Climate Genocide.
Before going further it must be clearly stated that the term "Genocide"
used here is "Genocide" as precisely defined by Article 2 of the UN
Genocide Convention:
"In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts
committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national,
ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: a) Killing members of
the group; b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of
the group; c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life
calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; e)
Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."
Further, in assessing deaths from particular policies of invasion,
occupation and dispossession one notes that deaths can be violent
(from bombs and bullets) or non-violent (from deprivation and
deprivation-exacerbated disease). Both kinds of avoidable death (death
that should not have happened) are included within the term "excess
death" used below (see "Body Count. Global avoidable mortality since
1950" (G.M. Polya, Melbourne, 2007: ).
The following catalogue of Australian involvement in Genocide as
defined by the UN Genocide Convention – and notably in British- and
American-imposed genocides – is given below in roughly chronological
order from 1788 (the year of European Invasion and First Settlement)
to 2008. A key reference is my book "Body Count. Global avoidable
mortality since 1950"; other relevant books are Chalk, F. and
Jonassohn, K. (1990), The History and Sociology of Genocide. Analyses
and Case Studies (Yale University Press, New Haven & London); Tatz,
C. (2003), With Intent to Destroy. Reflecting on Genocide (Verso,
London); and Blum, W. (2006), Rogue State, A guide to the world’s
only superpower (Zed Books, London).
1. 18th-19th century Aboriginal Genocide (the Indigenous Aboriginal
population dropped from about 1 million to 0.1 million in the first
century after invasion in 1788).
2. Tasmanian Aboriginal Genocide (the "full-blood" Indigenous
population dropped from 6,000 to zero in 1803-1776; however there are
several thousand "mixed race" decendants of Tasmanian and Mainland
Aborigines still living in Tasmania today).
3. British Indian Genocide (post-invasion excess deaths 0.6 billion,
1757-1837; 0.5 billion, 1837-1901 under Queen Victoria; 0.4 BILLION,
1901-1947: see MWC News).
4. European Chinese Genocide (10-100 million deaths in the European
imperialism-driven Tai Ping rebellion period; Australia was involved
in suppressing the Boxer rebellion).
5. Maori Genocide (Maori population dropped from 0.1-0.2 million in
1800 to 42,000 in 1893; Australia was involved in the 19th century
Maori wars).
6. African Genocide (scores of million perished over 5 centuries of
European slavery and colonialism; Australians participated in the
Sudan War, 1881-1898).
7. Pacific Genocide (there was a catastrophic population decline
due to introduced disease and slavery; thus 40,000 Fijians died
from measles out of a population of 150,000 in 1876; "blackbirding"
slavery was conducted by Australians in the late 19th century).
8. Boer (Afrikaaner) Genocide (1899-1902; 28,000 Afrikaaner women and
children died in British concentration camps; Australians participated
in the Boer War as immortalized in the movie "Breaker Morant").
9. Armenian Genocide (1.5 million killed; the Australian invasion
of Gallipoli as part of an Anglo-French force in 1915 helped to
precipitate this atrocity; indeed April 24 is Armenian Genocide Day
and April 25 is the day of the Australia invasion in 1915 and also a
sacred war dead remembrance day for Australians and New Zealanders –
it is called Anzac Day after the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
(ANZAC) which stormed ashore on that first Anzac Day at Gallipoli
in 1915).
10. Bengali Genocide (6-7 million perished in the "forgotten" man-made
Bengal Famine atrocity in Bengal and adjoining provinces in British
India, 1943-1945; Australians were there and indeed the Governor of
Bengal in 1944 was an Australian, R.G. Casey).
11. British post-1950 Third World Genocide (1950-2005 excess deaths
in countries subject to British occupation as a major occupier in
the post-war era totalled 727 million; Australia has the same Head
of State as the UK and continues to be a loyal military ally of the
UK in Occupied Iraq and Occupied Afghanistan).
12. US post-1950 Third World Genocide (1950-2005 excess deaths in
countries subject to US occupation as a major occupier in the post-war
era totalled 82 million; Australia participated in all post-1950 US
Asian Wars in Korea, Indo-China, Iraq and Afghanistan with Indigenous
Asian excess deaths now totalling 25 million).
13. Australian Colonial Genocide (1950-2005 excess deaths in countries
subject to Australian occupation as a major occupier in the post-war
era, namely Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands totalled 2.1
million).
14. 20th century Aboriginal Genocide (total excess deaths clearly
of the order of 1million; 0.1 million Stolen Generations Aboriginal
children forcibly removed from their Mothers in the 19th and 20th
centuries; excess deaths in the 11 years of the Bush-ite Coalition
Government totalled 90,000 for 1996-2007).
The following Australian genocide involvements in this catalogue of
horrors areongoing.
15. Palestinian Genocide (post-1967 excess deaths 0.3 million,
post-1967 under-5 infant deaths 0.2 million and 7 million refugees;
with bi-partisan agreement Australia provides diplomatic, financial and
haven support for Israeli state terrorism – even when directed against
tens of thousands of Australian citizens as in Lebanon in mid-2006 –
and up to life imprisonment for anyone giving support to the Hamas
Party that overwhelmingly won the 2006 Occupied Palestinian elections).
16. Iraqi Genocide (4 million excess deaths 1990-2008; 2 million
post-invasion excess deaths, 0.6 million post-invasion under-5 infant
deaths and 4.5 million refugees; Australia militarily involved since
1990 ).
17. Afghan Genocide (3-7 million post-invasion excess deaths,
2.3 million post-invasion under-5 infant and 4 million refugees;
Australia involved militarily since 2001).
18. Ongoing Aboriginal Genocide (9,000 excess deaths annually; 90,000
excess deaths in the last 11 years of Bush-ite Coalition rule; see
MWC News).
19. Biofuel Genocide (16 million die avoidably each year but this is
increasingly biofuel-impacted as the legislatively-mandated US, UK
and EU biofuel perversion forces up global food prices; Australia is
a major sugar cane grower and sugar exporter with 60% of sugar going
to bioethanol production worldwide; Australia has biofuel-promoting
legislation and is a major canola grower, this being a major source
for biodiesel; see MWC News).
20. Climate Genocide (16 million die avoidably each year already from
deprivation and deprivation-exacerbated disease; Professor James
Lovelock FRS says that over 6 billion will perish this century die
to unaddressed climate change; on a per capita basis Australia is
among the very worst greenhouse gas (GHG) polluters – in terms of
2004 figures for "fossil fuel-derived annual per capita CO2 pollution"
Australia is about 40 times worse than India and 160 times worse than
Bangladesh if you include Australia’s world number 1 coal exports;
see MWC News).
Yet politically correct racist Australia steadfastly "looks the other
way" and its past and present involvements in the above atrocities
are overwhelmingly not reported by racist, lying, holocaust-ignoring
Mainstream media NOR taught in Australia’s schools and universities. PC
racist White Australia just cannot see the "Elephant in the room" –
its continuing involvement in over 2 centuries of horrendous genocide.
Australians are trapped in an Orwellian dream – Australia will only
stop doing it when it is informed that it is doing it. Please inform
everyone you can.
Dr Gideon Polya, MWC News Chief political editor, published some
130 works in a 4 decade scientific career, most recently a huge
pharmacological reference text "Biochemical Targets of Plant Bioactive
Compounds" (CRC Press/Taylor & Francis, New York & London, 2003),
and is currently writing a book on global mortality —
B. O’BAMMA PROMISES TO RECOGNIZE
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on May 01, 2008
Armenia
The US democratic presidential candidate Barrack O’Bamma promises to
continue his pressure on Turkey in the issue of the recognition of
Armenian Genocide.
"I was deeply concerned, when two years back the US Ambassador
to Armenia was called back, because he used the term "genocide"
to describe the massive bloodshed of Armenians. I appealed to the
Secretary of State Mrs. Rice to examine that case in detail, which
I believe was a senseless act by the US government. I continue to
support the process of the recognition of Armenian Genocide and share
the grief of all Armenians," O’Bamma said.
SCIENCE IN ARMENIA – PASSING AWAY
Armen Vardazaryan
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on April 29, 2008
Armenia
And not absolutely for financial reasons
At its annual general meeting convened on April 25, the RA National
Academy of Sciences (NAS) again revealed the framework of the problems
that prevent the native science from overcoming the inertia inherited
from the Soviet times and reaching the level of the scientific
requirements of the modern world.
The discussions organized within the frameworks of the annual general
meeting followed the well-known logic of mutual requirements: "give
money – do work" – a dilemma that has become characteristic of all
the meetings held between the NAS leadership and the country’s top
figures. However, if the things were unchanged as much as the first
part of the requirements was concerned, there was surprise in store
for some people with regard to the second part.
In his speech delivered at the NAS annual meeting, President
S. Sargsyan not only expressed the authorities’ sincere desires for
making every possible effort to contribute to the development of
the native science but also revealed all the problems that need an
urgent solution, problems that prevent the development of science. The
overwhelming majority of those problems have emerged and continue
deepening as a result of the physical and moral depreciation of the
management of the system.
It is noteworthy that our academicians who, unlike ordinary scholars,
receive honor payments in large amounts just by virtue of bearing
titles and not for certain scientific work, complained about
insufficient funding at this annual meeting as well. They again
indicated certain percentages of the sums allocated to the sphere
of science from the Gross Domestic Product and compared them with
other countries.
But neither the report of the NAS Chairman nor the subsequent speeches
properly substantiated what exactly the National Academy of Sciences
and first of all, its leadership are doing to contribute to the
development of science. The major part of the activities receiving
basic or thematic funding are nothing more than applications for
extorting money, and they bear very little relationship to the issue
of elaborating problems which are of urgent importance for the country.
As to where their results (if any at all) are going to be applied,
and what benefits such researches will bring to our country and
society remains unknown.
Instead, they voice reproach in the address the reformers, who pursue
a goal to "destroy" the academy, and call on them to preserve the
national value. Such speeches delivered in the most recent annual
meeting of the National Academy of Sciences give rise to a strictly
actual question: what is, after all, the practical role of the National
Academy of Sciences as a national value, i.e. do its functions serve
as a "museum sample" or do they have a practical role?
And if, nonetheless, the NAS has a practical significance i.e. serves
for the solution of the problems faced by our country and society,
to what extent does it fulfill this function? It isn’t as though any
morbid organism always had healthy cells in addition to the dead ones.
The fact that the National Academy of Sciences is currently a museum
value in terms of the top of its "hierarchical structure", i.e. the
chairmanship, is beyond any dispute. However, it still has a practical
significance due the work of so many long-suffering scientists who
represent its branch institutions; unlike the titled scholars who
do nothing and only make demands, these people continue working with
meager salaries. That is, instead of the latter, complaints are being
made by the former, and the same situation is repeated every time.
In the most recent annual meeting of the National Academy of Sciences,
President S. Sargsyan also revealed the flagrant imperfections of
the system and demanded that the NAS chairmanship find specific
solutions. However, the whole problem is that this is not the
first demand made by the authorities and it’s time different public
and private organizations as well as individuals who, apart from
demanding money, are also capable of advancing a clear-cut concept
and an implementation strategy for the modernization of science,
were also involved in the process of proposing such solutions.
It’s time for the newly-established State Committee on Science
to initiate open, public and sincere discussions over the ways of
reforming the native science and bringing it in compliance with the
requirements of the 21st century.
Science is not absolutely a closed sphere belonging to a separate
monopoly.
The succession of the steps to be implemented in the course of the
coming years should be clear and acceptable for the government which
is attentive to the needs and demands of society. Only in that case
can the increased funding envisaged for the development of science
answer its purpose, i.e. lead to obtaining scientific results.
The first task, as declared by the president, is to establish an
Institute of Independent Expertise in Armenia. This will make it
possible to assess a scientist’s work not based on a degree or title,
but from the point of view of the specific importance his/her activity
for state and society.
The second task which is no less important is to suspend the process
of granting a cornucopia of scientific titles as this has become
a loophole for avoiding compulsory military service and simply
demoralizes the young people desiring to do scientific work.
And the third important task is to recover the broken ties between
science and education. It first of all demands to reform the
primitively commercialized educational system and only thereafter
start the process of merging the two systems.
It’s obvious that time no longer waits for the solution of the
problems which include but are not limited to the ones mentioned
above, because the scientific system of Armenia is falling behind not
only the world’s leading countries but also our direct neighbors,
and has turned into a museum system which takes pride in its past
accomplishments and lives with the memories of the past.