Author: Madatian Greg

Opposition stands good chance to win the election

A1+
03:33 pm | March 25, 2009 | Politics

"The opposition stands good chances to win the March 31," Heritage
Party member Vardan Khachatryan said during today’s press conference.

Heritage members Vardan Khachatryan and Hovsep Khurshudyan today
appealed to Yerevan citizens to vote for the oppoitsion during the
upcoming election to the Elder’s Council. They didn’t want to detail
the negotiations between the Heritage and the Armenian National
Congress (HAK) saying they are no longer important.

"We held the opinion that the opposition should nominate a joint
candidate for Yerevan’s mayor to gain the maximum votes but we failed
to submit a joint ticket with the HAK, hence we decided to abstain
from the election race."

The Heritage members brushed away the alleged conflict between the two
opposition wings as was reported in the press.

"Today we are all concerned about the opposition’s victory," added
Hovsep Khurshudyan. "We are well aware of the public moods and we
shall have a key participation in the election trying to secure the
opposition’s victory." With regard to the Republican candidate Vardan
Khachatryan said: "Gagik Beglaryan’s appointment to the mayoral post
on the eve of the election will weaken that candidate and raise an
unpredicted wave of protest."

Vardan Khachatryan says henceforth the `Heritage’ will participate in
all elections without exception, while this time they will act as
public overseers and will do everything possible to ensure the
legality and the fairness of the election by reducing rigging and
ballot stuffing to the minimum.

The Heritage will back the public in all events organised by the
opposition.

MINISTER : THE PLACE AND DATE OF NEXT MEETING ON THE SENTIMENT OF NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT ARE NOT KNOWN YET

APA
March 25 2009
Azerbaijan

Yerevan-APA. Armenia supports to conduct negotiations and hold meetings
on the settlement of the conflict at various levels , Armenian Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandian said, while giving an interview to Novosti
Armenia, APA reports.

Nalbandian stressed an importance of organization of the meeting
between the sides and noted that they supported peaceful solution to
the conflict.

"OSCE MG Co-chairs engaging in the settlement of the conflict paid a
recent visit to the region. The negotiations continue and the meetings
are possible at various levels. The date and place of the next meeting
on the settlement of the conflict not known yet," he said.

He underlined that the sides should try for establishment of mutual
confidence building.

"There are many reports about the violation of cease-fire in the
contact line. The sides should do their best to eliminate such kind
of impediments during negotiation process. If we want to conduct
frank negotiations, we should do our best for establishment of mutual
confidence building. I hope that Azerbaijan will also take such kind
of position toward the issue," he said.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version: nian.htm

SEMINARY STUDENTS CELEBRATE THE GREATEST SAINT AND PATRON OF THE ARMENIAN
CHURCH

On 20 March 2009, the seminary students organized a special evening to
celebrate St. Gregory the Illuminator, the founder of the Armenian Orthodox
Church in 301 A.D.

The celebration took place on the eve of the Feast commemorating the
"Imprisonment of Saint Gregory in a pit in Ararat Plain and his release
after 15 years." The date of his release from the pit is also that of the
Baptism of the King and the declaration of Christian Armenia. In the Church
Calendar the Feast is also known as the Holy Feast of Pilgrimage.

Very Reverend Krikor Chiftjian was the speaker of the day. He described St.
Gregory the Illuminator as the greatest "Revolutionary", who succeeded in
converting a whole nation to Christianity despite persecution and
difficulties. He went on to say that St. Gregory was a devout Christian who
overcame persecution and established the Armenian church, which had existed
as the underground church since the two disciples Saints Thaddeus and
Bartholomew had come to preach in Armenia.

Father Krikor then referred to the relics of the saint, and said that the
Armenian Church honours the relics because they sanctify the Church. He
added that some non-Armenian communities consider Saint Gregory the
Illuminator as their patron Saint.

The last speaker, Father Varant, who brought the evening into its
conclusion, said that the legacy of the founder of the Armenian Church
should be transmitted from generation to generation.

##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Theological
Seminary of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of the
Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.

OUR VIEW: PRESIDENT WRONG TO BACKTRACK ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Merced Sun-Star
2896.html
March 23 2009
California

It’s a dreary and familiar script.

As a senator and presidential candidate, Barack Obama voiced vigorous
support for official American recognition of the Armenian genocide.

Now, like a series of presidents before him, he has bowed to
geopolitical concerns — real or imagined — and backed off that
stance.

Maybe it’s only temporary. Maybe Obama is waiting until after his
upcoming trip to Turkey, so as not to embarrass his Turkish hosts on
a matter that’s anathema to them.

The Turkish foreign minister warned in a TV interview last week that
Obama’s visit didn’t preclude a genocide declaration at some point.

Let’s hope so. But it’s also possible that Obama is just the latest
president to backtrack on this issue once in office. That would be
a major disappointment to millions of Armenians, Armenian-Americans
and others who support recognition because it is the right thing to
do for the sake of history, justice and truth.

Turkey does indeed occupy a strategically vital spot in the Middle
East. It is a NATO ally and in a position to aid the U.S. in its
dealings with Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. But waffling on the genocide
issue is no guarantee that the Turks will support every U.S endeavor.

Ask the Bush administration: Before taking office, President Bush
pledged support for genocide recognition. He pulled back when Turkey
became a strategic conduit for U.S. actions after the invasion of
Iraq. His reward was to see the Turks forbid passage of American
forces through their country into northern Iraq.

The facts are clear: About 1.5 million Armenians were deported,
starved and murdered by the Ottoman Empire in the 20th century’s
first planned and organized genocide. The modern Turkish republic is
not guilty of those crimes, nor are today’s Turkish people.

Yet they remain intensely sensitive to any suggestion that they own
up to their own history.

And generations of State Department experts and paid lobbyists
are willing to abet them in that intransigence. Now add the Obama
administration to that list.

Official recognition of the genocide will come some day, just as
surely as history has already made its judgment. But when?

ARMAVIA CARRIES ITS 100,000TH PASSENGER IN 2009

ArmInfo
2009-03-23 20:33:00

ArmInfo. Armavia air company has carried its 100,000th passenger in
2009: it was British citizen Hue Christie, who flew from Yerevan to
Tbilisi. Mr Christie was given flowers and a special present and
his economy class ticket was replaced by a business class one. He
said that he was happy to visit Armenia as Armenians were friendly
and hospitable.

It should be noted that Mr Christie booked his ticket by internet. The
rate of online ticket booking is constantly growing and is almost
20% for the moment, says the commercial director of Armavia Tereza
Kazaryan.

To remind, the daily Yerevan-Tbilisi-Yerevan flight was opened Mar
14 2009.

In 2008 Armavia carried almost 640,000 passengers.

ISSUES RELATED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF DENDROLOGY DISCUSSED AT NKR PRESIDENT’S OFFICE

armradio.am
23.03.2009 15:37

On March 23 President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan
met president of the International Academy of Dendrology, academician
of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, professor Karlen Kocharyan
and senior staff scientist of the Central Institute of Economics
and Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, professor Levon
Beklaryan, Central Information Department of the Office of the NKR
President reported.

A wide range of issues related to the development of dendrology and
economy of knowledge in Artsakh were discussed at the meeting.

The necessity of broadening scientific ties between the Diaspora
and Artsakh, integrating their intellectual potential as well
as elaborating clear-cut mechanisms of cooperation was mutually
underlined. In connection with the Head of the State gave instructions
to heads of the interested structures.

EU LEADERS APPROVE BELARUS JOINING EASTERN PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM

RIA Novosti
17:20 | 20/ 03/ 2009

BRUSSELS, March 20 (RIA Novosti) – The leaders of the 27 EU member
countries have approved the inclusion of Belarus in the bloc’s
Eastern Partnership program, the Czech prime minister’s spokesman
said on Friday.

"Belarus is on the list," he said.

The Czech Republic currently holds the European Union’s rotating
presidency.

The group has yet to decide, however, if it will invite Belarusian
President Alexander Lukashenko to an Eastern Partnership summit
in Prague.

The program is a forum intended to facilitate the discussion of visa
agreements, free trade deals and strategic partnership agreements with
a number of countries from Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus. It
does not imply future membership of the European Union.

Apart from Belarus, the other countries in the program are Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

Belarus’s long-serving leader, once dubbed "Europe’s last dictator"
by Washington, has moved recently to improve ties with the EU, which
had long criticized his records on human rights and democracy.

The Eastern Partnership program will be formally launched at a summit
in the Czech capital of Prague on May 7.

EU foreign ministers agreed on Monday to extend the suspension of
a travel ban on top Belarusian officials, including the president,
as part of moves to encourage progress in democracy and human rights.

The ban on Lukashenko entering EU countries was imposed in 2006 in
protest against election fraud and human rights violations. However,
the 27-nation bloc suspended the ban last October, after Belarus
freed several political prisoners.

At their meeting in Brussels, the ministers opted to keep other
sanctions against Belarus, including an arms embargo, in force for
another year.

Although the ban was suspended, its end date has been extended for
a year.

5TH MEETING OF ENERGY MINISTERS OF BSEC MEMBER STATES HELD IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
March 20, 2009

YEREVAN, MARCH 20, NOYAN TAPAN. A regular – 5th meeting of energy
ministers of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC)
member states was held in Yerevan on March 20. The meeting was attended
by representatives of Russia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova,
Romania, Serbia, Turkey, Egypt and Iran. Representatives of the U.S,
the EU, the UN, the World Bank and the USAID were also invited.

The BSEC Secretary General Altay Efendiyev said that among issues
discussed were such subjects as "The Increasing Role of the Extended
Black Sea Region in the Issue of Raising Regional, EU and General
Energy Security", "Promotion of International Cooperation, including
with the EU, in Regional Energy Sector; Development of Long-Term
Action Strategy in Energy Sector", "Regional Energy Studies", etc. The
EU-BSEC joint action plan was also discussed at the meeting.

According to A. Efendiyev, studies of energy resources are currently
being conducted in the region, and a meeting will be organized in
September with the aim of summarizing the results of the studies. He
underlined that the BSEC Action PLan will form a serious basis for
further promotion of energy cooperation.

The Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Arman Kirakosian said that the
Armenian side has taken a number of important steps for integration
into the regional energy system. Armenia has also developed an action
plan aimed at strengthening cooperation with the EU and the BSEC. By
the action plan, Armenia as a possible transit country can contribute
to energy stability and security in the region.

The RA Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsisian pointed
out that the purpose of the regular meeting of BSEC energy ministers
is to work out a joint plan of EU-BSEC cooperation. "Turkey is also a
member of the BSEC, and naturally, being members of this organization,
both of us are guided by the rules and decisions taken by the BSEC,"
the minister stated.

In the words of A. Movsisian, cooperation within the framework of the
BSEC gives the opportunity to raise energy security in the region,
also to develop electricity links among BSEC member states, other
regional and EU countries and to integrate their energy markets.

TURKISH MINISTER DISCUSSES US WITHDRAWAL FROM IRAQ

Anadolu Agency
March 16 2009
Turkey

Ankara, 16 March: Turkish foreign minister said on Monday [17 March]
that USA earlier told Turkey that it might need Turkey in general
sense while withdrawing its troops from Iraq.

In an exclusive interview with Kanal 24 TV channel, Foreign Minister
Ali Babacan said USA has not yet made plans about the number of
soldiers and the route it would withdraw the troops.

Babacan said the United States would inform Turkey about its plans
and Turkey would make assessments about it.

"Iraqi people supports withdrawal of the US soldiers and they want
this to take place soon," Babacan said and noted that Iraq had given
a signal to Turkey to assist this.

Babacan said Turkey would of course consider its own conditions on
the matter.

Asked to comment on scheduled visit of US President Barack Obama
to Turkey, Babacan said this was a result of the positive impact of
Turkey’s influence both in its own region and in the world.

When asked what would be the agenda of the meeting with Obama,
Babacan said Afghanistan-Pakistan, developments in the Middle East,
Iran, the Caucasus, Balkans, Cyprus, Armenia, as well as Iraq would
be discussed during the talks.

Responding to a question about relations with Armenia, Babacan said,
"More than 1.5 years have passed since the start of talks. The process
progresses well. We target normalization of relations and important
steps have been taken in this respect."

LOCATION OF MASS DISORDER NOT ESTABLISHED

A1+
08:23 pm | March 17, 2009

Politics

"We have received the conclusion of the Venetian Commission and are
presenting it to you at ease," said today during a NA session Head
of the standing committee on state/legal issues, head of the Armenian
delegation to PACE David Harutyunyan.

The second reading for the bill on changes in articles 225 and 300
of the RA Criminal Code lasted only a couple of minutes. Articles 2,
4 and 5 of the Criminal Code were added during the second reading
and were discussed based on the regime of the first reading.

The main reporter of the bill David Harutyunyan informed that the
definition of mass disorder has been finally established in article
225:

"By the criminal code mass disorder means group activities carried
out through violence, massacre, explosions, damage or elimination of
assets, use of arson, weapons or explosives or armed assaults against
authority figures, which endanger the security of the people."

After presenting this and other changes in the bill, there was
only question heard in the National Assembly. Head of the NA ad-hoc
committee on the investigations into the events of March 1-2 Samvel
Nikoyan was interested in whether the law establishes the site for
mass disorder or not.

"The location is very important. The site of the mass disorder and
the events taking place are very important," said Mr. Nikoyan noting
the events of March 1.

David Harutyunyan informed that the word combination "location of
mass disorder" is not included in the law.

According to the changes, "Any participant of the mass disturbances
who assaults, massacres or bombs, damages or eliminates assets, uses
arson, weapons and explosives or assaults against state figures is
sentenced to 3-8 years in prison." There were no other questions for
the reporter and there were no other reporters.

Let us remind that the National Assembly is making this change by the
demand of the PACE and must make all changes by the PACE April session.