Author: Madatian Greg

Iran proposes to mediate in Karabakh

press tv
Sun, 05 Oct 2008 09:22:46 GMT

The Islamic Republic has offered to mediate between Azerbaijan and
Armenia to resolve the Karabakh conflict, an Iranian official says.

`Iran has proposed to mediate between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the
resolution of the conflict,’ Iran’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Nasser
Hamidi Zare’ told Trend News.

`Iran has held discussion on this issue with both parties of the
conflict, " he added.

The Iranian mediation offer comes as other regional countries have
proposed other plans to resolve the issue.

"There are certain processes ongoing in this region. Iran and other
neighboring countries are interested in finding ways out of the
situation," said Zare.

Both Azerbaijan and Armenia claim the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh,
which has a population mostly of Armenians but is located within
Azerbaijan.

Ethnic Armenian forces took control of the Nagorno-Karabakh along with
seven surrounding regions during a war in the early 1990s. The war left
thousands killed and forced nearly a million people on both sides to
flee their homes.

A ceasefire was signed in 1994 but the dispute has so far remained
unsettled. Clashes often erupt along the ceasefire line and
negotiations have so far proved fruitless.

The Minsk group, which consists of 13 members of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), h
as provided a forum for
negotiations to settle the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh since 1992.
So far, there has been no settlement of the dispute.

The Iranian ambassador hoped that Azerbaijan and Armenia would soon
express their opinion about Tehran’s proposals.

Zare’ said that Iran was willing to do its best to establish mutual
relations between countries in the region so that they would find a
common ground.

DON’T THEY TRUST CO-RAPPORTEURS?
Karine Asatryan

A1+
[01:55 pm] 03 October, 2008

Head of the Albanian delegation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary
Assembly (PACE), Aleksander Biberaj, has proposed that "the Monitoring
Commission Co-Rapporteurs be regularly changed," Armenian delegate
to the PACE Raffi Hovannisian informed A1+.

Raffi Hovannisian also expressed support for the draft proposal. He
says the project is already a must as many of the delegates have
voiced concern that the structure applies double standards.

During the current PACE session Raffi Hovannisian also suggested
controlling and averting the possible clash of Co-Rapporteurs’
interests, especially in the Monitoring Commission.

The Armenian delegate states that before each monitoring the
Co-Rapporteurs should assert that they "pursue neither financial nor
personal or national interests."

SHOULD WE EXTRADITE HOLOCAUST DENIERS?

Guardian
03 oct 08
UK

What should we do about Dr Fredrick Töben, detained at Heathrow
this week under a fast-track EU arrest warrant issued by the district
court in Mannheim?

Dr who? I know, it’s been a busy week, and I hadn’t heard of him
either until he popped up to be remanded in custody by Westminster
magistrates. By the time you read this he may be on a plane to Germany
– or home to Australia.

Töben is a 64-year-old German-born historian who runs something called
the Adelaide Institute. He denies frequent accusations that he is a
Holocaust denier, but judging by some of the things he says and writes
he makes a pretty good job of passing himself off as one. Phrases like
"Holocaust racketeers, the corpse peddlers and the Shoah business
merchants" characterise some of his scholarship.

In other words he believes that the six-million-dead German Holocaust
which took place during the 1933-45 Hitler regime, a well-documented
narrative accepted by most historians, did not occur, or did so on
a much smaller scale. If you challenge the Holocaust you must expect
persecution and abuse, he says.

Well, plenty of people, not all of them Jewish, have pursued him
during a teaching career on three continents – from New Zealand
to Nigeria. In 1999 he served nine months in a German prison for
breaching the Holocaust law there that forbids the "defaming of the
dead" in this way. Needless to add, Töben attended the Holocaust
revisionist conference held in Tehran in 2006.

A nasty piece of work by the sound of it, and some nasty websites
are exercised on Töben’s behalf.

Why should we care? Two strands of the affair trouble me. One is the
restriction on free speech inherent in the laws that some countries
– not Britain – have against Holocaust denial. We have broader laws
against racial incitement in general, which seems acceptable to me,
though not to those who believe that older public order laws would
have proved sufficient.

I can see why the Germans felt the need to enact such specific
legislation.

After all, they did it, and have an obligation to discharge the
historic debt, something, incidentally, they have done pretty well –
at least in the old West Germany – over the years.

In other countries, several across Europe, such law smacks of
"exceptionalism", special pleading in a world where diverse historic
injustices abound. In Turkey you can get into trouble for saying there
was a holocaust against the Armenians in 1915. In Iran they call us
hypocrites for being selective in our championship of free speech.

The other problem I have with this is process. When the European Arrest
Warrant came into force in 2004 to help police fight cross border
crime – and post 9/11 terrorism – more effectively it abolished the
"dual criminality" principle.

That had meant that a suspect could not be extradited for an alleged
offence that was not an offence in the country where he/she had been
detained. When Britain joined the new procedure ministers assured
critics who feared Kafkaesque possibilities that no one would be
extradited for actions legal in Britain, let alone crimes they didn’t
know existed.

But here we have it: Töben taken off a plane at Heathrow and quick
to protest that he is the victim of a legal ambush, an abuse of
process in a country which has not – yet – succumbed to Germany’s
"witch-hunt mentality" in this matter. Food for thought there that
makes me uncomfortable.

I am also aware of German courts, in cases involving disputed custody
cases where one parent is German, behaving pretty badly towards the
claims of a non-German spouse. Catherine Meyer, wife of Chris Meyer,
former British ambassador to both Bonn and Washington, did not see her
"kidnapped’ children for years.

Holocaust denial is a lesser offence than involvement in war crimes
themselves. Britain has a different problem here in that, in the chaos
after 1945 when it was often hard to sort victim from persecutor, a lot
of bad people slipped into this country and led quiet, guilty lives.

In 1991 Margaret Thatcher used the parliament acts to override the
House of Lords, which had thrown out her war crimes bill, passed=2
0by the Commons. The average age of current MPs in 1939 was six,
one peer remarked during the debate: let it go. But some 300 suspects
live on in the UK, countered the bill’s supporters.

At the time I sympathised with the critics. It was all a long time ago,
witnesses and accused were old, far away or even dead, their memories
faulty at best. We should not forget, but it smacked of retrospective
legislation, pandering again.

Last time I looked there had not been a single successful
prosecution. Other more recent war crimes dominate the headlines. Who’s
right?

–Boundary_(ID_6qeGeBgw4VmxzSXXv8EVK A)–

RA PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARGSYAN RECEIVED THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE FLETCHER SCHOOL OF LAW AND DIPLOMACY AND TAVITIAN FOUNDATION

n_centre_8/official_news_en.php?&date=12227148 00
Tuesday, 30th of September, 2008

Highly appreciative of these organizations’ efforts, the Prime Minister
thanked them for sustained focus on education in Armenia and went
on to discuss cooperation areas. Tigran Sargsyan highlighted the
educational reform from the perspective of education quality. The
head of the Armenian government advised that on the initiative of
RA President Serzh Sargsyan, the Republic of Armenia is prepared
to finance educational expenses for all those students admitted to
reputable foreign universities. He mentioned that no pre-conditions
are set for the eligibility of students and academic fields: the only
criterion is the high ranking of host universities. Tigran Sargsyan
noted that the number of eligible students may fail to live up to the
expectations. Nevertheless, what matters most is to realize that the
possibility of getting through with the help of "relatives and friends"
is inadmissible. "Qualified specialists are required in any field and
the State is ready to support those capable of serving their homeland,"
Tigran Sargsyan has underscored.

President of Tavitian Foundation Aso Tavitian and his partners said to
be prepared to go on with the 6-month educational programs in various
fields, as well as to come up with new cooperation-related ideas in
the near future.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Center for National and International Studies
75 Yerznkian Street
Yerevan 0033, Armenia
Tel: (+374 – 10) 52.87.80 or 27.48.18
Fax: (+374 – 10) 52.48.46
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Website:

October 1, 2008

ACNIS Explores the Prospects of Armenian-Turkish Relations

Yerevan–The Armenian Center for National and International Studies
(ACNIS) today convened a foreign policy roundtable to consider all
aspects of the future of Armenian-Turkish relations. The meeting
brought together leading analysts, policy specialists, public and
political figures, NGO representatives, members of the press, as well
as a group of students and teaching staff from Istanbul’s Bilgi and
Fatih Universities who are visiting Yerevan on the invitation of the
Civil Society Institute.

Welcoming the audience with opening remarks, ACNIS research
coordinator Syuzanna Barseghian underscored the imperative of reaching
new agreements, based on mutual interests, toward normalizing
Armenian-Turkish relations. "Our current relations are more emotional
and less rational and therefore many issues seem irresolvable. And the
objective of such discussions is to reveal the whole potential for
partnership and its resources which, I believe, can serve toward
historical reconciliation and building of the best common future,"
Barseghian said.

The day’s first speaker, director Haik Demoyan of the Armenian
Genocide Museum-Institute, reflected on the media’s role in the
normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. According to him, the
media coverage of this extremely sensitive topic needs a serious
methodological adjustment and it is not a coincidence that certain
demands periodically were made of the media as to their method of
covering the events of war and genocide. "The media have a great
import and specifically in the process of reconciliation. They either
can play a negative role and cause problems and hinder the
reconciliation process, or be a part of it," Demoyan maintained. And
as case in point, he made note of the compulsion to use quotation
marks when using the term genocide and to refer to the Armenian
Genocide as "the events of 1915," the deliberate dissemination of
false information, and the taking of comments out of their general
context and presenting as separate information.

In his turn, deputy dean Þammas Salur of the Department of Political
Science of Istanbul Fatih University looked at the historiographical
phases and the changes in the modern historiography of Turkey. "Even
though the Turkish-Islamic synthesis in history writing has some
canonical views, and especially a staunch defense against the
transformation and liberalism in Turkish policy, the 1980s have
brought a more dynamic cultural atmosphere to Turkey," Salur noted,
also adding that through serious discussions regarding the talks with
the European Union, a new type of history writing is emerging in
Turkey. According to the speaker, this new type is more tolerant
toward others and–albeit difficult to be accepted by a large part of
the public–even accepting of others as equal citizens, "and history
writing is evolving toward that end," Salur argued.

The day’s final speaker, Ambassador Ara Papian, director of the Modus
Vivendi Social and Scientific Research Center, delved into the
unclaimed pages of Armenian-Turkish relations. He presented those
pages against the backdrop of the de jure boundary between Armenia and
Turkey that was determined, at the turn of the 20th Century, by US
president Woodrow Wilson’s Arbitral Award. As stated by Papian, this
document was signed and sealed on November 22, 1920 and officially
entitled: "Decision of the President of the United States of America
respecting the Frontier between Turkey and Armenia, Access for Armenia
to the Sea, and the Demilitarization of Turkish Territory adjacent to
the Armenian Frontier." Pursuant to the Arbitral Award, the title and
rights of the Republic of Armenia were recognized on the provinces of
Van, Bitlis, Erzerum, and Trebizond of the former Ottoman Empire.
"President Wilson’s binding and irreversible Arbitral Award went into
force the day it was reached and remains in effect to this day,"
Papian asserted.

The roundtable discussants also included students Erman Bakýrcý, Emel
Güner, and Çaðla Gür from the Department of International Relations of
Istanbul Bilgi University; students Kevser Kandaz, Ümit Kurt, Mustafa
Özdemir, and Zafer Özkan from the Department of International
Relations of Istanbul Fatih University; director Artak Kirakosian of
the Civil Society Institute; Ruben Mehrabian from the Armenian Center
for Political and International Research; coordinator Armen Aghayan of
the "Defense of Liberated Territories" social initiative;
director-announcer Gayzag Palanjian of "The Road for the Enhancement
of Armenia-Diaspora Relations" television program in Los Angeles;
journalist Gayane Arustamian; and several others.

Founded in 1994 by Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs Raffi
K. Hovannisian and supported by a global network of contributors,
ACNIS serves as a link between innovative scholarship and the public
policy challenges facing Armenia and the Armenian people in the
post-Soviet world. It also aspires to be a catalyst for creative,
strategic thinking and a wider understanding of the new global
environment. In 2008, the Center focuses primarily on civic education,
democratic development, conflict resolution, and applied research on
critical domestic and foreign policy issues for the state and the
nation.

For further information on the Center call (37410) 52-87-80 or
27-48-18; fax (37410) 52-48-46; email [email protected] or [email protected];
or visit

DEFENDING PIUS XII
Edward Pentin

National Catholic Register
9/30/08 at 11:20
CT

Foundation Paves the Way for Better Catholic-Jewish Relations

Gary Krupp is a Jewish-American entrepreneur on a mission: to clear
the name of Pius XII.

As founding head of the Pave the Way Foundation, an organization
helping to promote religious tolerance and cooperation, he wants to
debunk the myths that accuse Eugenio Pacelli of not doing enough to
save Jewish lives during World War II. So Krupp brought his campaign
to Rome in mid-September and held a three-day symposium, made up of
first-class historians, both Jewish and Catholic.

Krupp says it’s time to clear up this major obstacle that has seriously
hindered Jewish-Catholic relations for too long. He spoke with Register
correspondent Edward Pentin.

What were the most important things to come out of this symposium?

The most important thing is that we’ve brought these issues to the
front burner. We’re going to be criticized for it. I expect that. But
it’s too important an issue to leave to historians to deal with. We’ve
come to the conclusion that the opposition will never go away.

We can anticipate that the Vatican archives will be open and everyone
will then claim that the documents were destroyed — that’s just going
to continue. We said, "Here is a major issue, separating probably
2 or 3 billion people, and Pave the Way is about overcoming these
obstacles between the faiths."

So we needed to push this to the front burner, and we’re hoping this
will pave the way to a little more meaningful cooperation between
these two religions.

On a scale of one to 10, how serious would you say this issue is in
Catholic-Jewish relations?

Ten. It’s very high. Growing up, we thought Pius XII was "Hitler’s
Pope."

It’s like a wound that won’t heal. So we need to bring it forward, to
understand the truth of what happened, and we’ve discovered enormous
amounts of information which is available to everybody.

For the interviews [used in the symposium], I had to go to France
and London and meet with people in order to find this stuff out,
but it’s absolutely essential [to improved relations].

So what more needs to be done to clear Pius XII’s name?

Well now, hopefully, the media will pick this up, and the Holocaust
museums, memorials and scholars will be pushed towards bringing this to
light. Let them come to Rome. I invite them to come here and meet the
world’s experts and challenge them one by one. Ask them the question:
"Well, what about this document?" We need to do that next. That needs
to happen. We need them to come and go to the Vatican archives.

Someone said at the end of the symposium that debate was hampered
because there wasn’t a strong enough case made for the prosecution …

Of course not, but it’s not for lack of trying. I can show the receipts
and copies of the letters we sent out. I am going to be delivering
all of these symposium documents to these people, including all the
pontifical institutions.

Will you be naming those scholars who didn’t come, to perhaps show that
their nonappearance indicates they are unsure of their own positions?

I’d rather not name them, just that we invited them, those principal
people who, at least, would be recognized as legitimate historians,
but not those who have been discredited and institutions involved.

Because I know that as far as Yad Vashem [Israel’s official Holocaust
memorial] is concerned — they’ve told us, and I’ve had meetings with
them — that they desperately want information we can gather. So they
are trying to discover the truth, built around accuracy and integrity,
and they want this information. Everybody was sort of afraid to get
involved. This was the first entrée into this area. And I’m a big guy;
I can take it.

At least we’re opening the door and paving the way. But certainly I
encourage everybody to go to our website (PTWF.org) and look at all the
original DVDs and videos that are on that site, most of the important
ones. And look at the book of documents. It’s free to everybody to
see. Let them start learning about this; let the institutions see it.

Would you say this symposium has shown there’s nothing to fear from
investigating further into this history?

There’s nothing to fear. What we’ve really done is debunked
this impression. And I can guarantee that if you also asked the
Holocaust museums, "Do you think he was anti-Semitic or a Holocaust
collaborator?", they would say No. But the Jewish world does think
this, without question; and as far as I’m concerned, it’s up to
historians now to at least change this part of history.

Let them understand that this man is not who they accuse him of being.

Regarding the controversial Yad Vashem caption, which falsely accuses
Pius XII of not intervening to save Jews, how confident are you that
it will be removed as a consequence of this symposium?

I think that not only will it be removed, they’re going to have
to remove it — because they’re going to look like fools if they
don’t. What we’ve discovered plainly disproves this [the caption’s
contents].

It’s going to have to be removed and rewritten. And I asked them to
call Sir Martin Gilbert in London and ask his advice on how to write
this properly, because it’s clearly written incorrectly historically,
and in a practical sense, it clearly doesn’t make any sense. So it
does need to be adjusted.

It is an interesting coincidence that the 50th anniversary of the
death of Pius XII and the Jewish Day of Atonement are taking place
the same day this year, Oct. 9. Do you think that is providential?

Absolutely. That’s why I did this.

And do you think it will mark a time to draw a line under this
controversy?

Yes, and I think we’ve done that. I certainly think so if we get all
the information out to the public. That’s a providential day: both
the Jewish Day of Atonement and the 50th anniversary of Pius XII’s
death are happening on the same day. It’s a very, very unusual thing.

What are your own personal motivations for this campaign?

I love Israel. I love the Jewish people. I love the Vatican. I love the
Catholic Church, the Catholic people, the Protestants, Anglicans. I
love Muslims, the Armenians; I love the Greeks. I love all of the
Orthodox. I love everybody. And when I see two people whom I love
fight, just like a brother and a sister, I have to step in and say,
"Wait a minute, let’s get this thing settled." And it saddens me
very deeply.

Also, it’s true that many Jewish people don’t know the true sentiment
of the Catholic Church, because they go by what they perceive is
history. This is incorrect history. So we want to show that we have
to come together, all the good people of all faiths — which is the
essence of Pave the Way — to stop the illegal use of religion by
private agendas, of making wars on one another and using the tools
in God’s name. This has to stop.

–Boundary_(ID_GPYLdbIUQ0lF4YZBbsEEGQ)–

RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES BLAME INTERNET FOR INCITING ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS STRIFE

Pravda.Ru
01.10.2008

The Office of the Prosecutor General of Russia blames the Internet
for the distribution of extremist and racial hostilities in the
nation. Deputy Prosecutor General Viktor Grin said in his speech at
the Russian State Duma Tuesday that about 500 websites in the Russian
zone of the World Wide Web incite international strife.

The official said that such websites contain tips on making explosives,
and provide detailed descriptions on how to place the bombs properly
for a successful attack. The official added that the criminals,
who conducted terrorist attacks with the use of bombs in different
cities and towns of Russia, used the information of those websites.

In addition, one may find whole books on the subject of terrorism on
the Internet too. Viktor Grin also pointed out that violent computer
games propagate hostility against people of other nationalities.

The official said that the Internet activity must be subjected to
legal regulations to cease the use of latest technologies in the
propaganda of terrorism and racial hatred.

Moscow is the ultimate leader in Russia on the number of hate
crimes. Nineteen crimes (with lethal outcomes) have been committed
in Russia on the base of the national or religious hostility during
the first half of the current year. Seventeen of those crimes have
been committed in Moscow. All of those 17 grave crimes have been
committed by groups of young men aged between 16-22 years old. The
men attacked nationals of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia
and Kyrgyzstan.

Two hundred and fifty extremist crimes have been reported in Russia in
total during the first six months of this year. Moscow is the leader
at this point with 73 hate crimes.

It is worthy of note that local authorities have already denied
access to several websites, which the Office of the Prosecutor General
considered extremist-oriented. Such measures have been taken in the
Novosibirsk region of Russia, for example.

There is a number of websites which contain appeals to change the
constitutional organization of the Russian Federation and conduct
terrorist acts against Russia. They also contain the materials to
justify the humiliation of the national dignity and the incitement
of racial and religious strife.

The popularity of the Internet has doubled in Russia during the
recent three years. However, more than a half of Russian citizens –
69 percent – do not use the World Wide Web. Twenty percent of Russians
used the Internet this year as a source of information only.

The Internet does not take the lead in Russia yet in comparison with
other sources of information, opinion polls say. Only eleven percent
of the polled said that they use the Internet daily. Nine percent of
the polled said that they use the net several times a week, whereas
seven percent said that they use it several times a month.

AZERBAIJAN: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CONCERNS
by Onnik Krikorian

Global Voices Online
Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 @ 06:11 UTC
MA

Following disputed presidential elections in Georgia and Armenia
earlier this year, as well as state of emergencies declared in Tbilisi
and Yerevan, all eyes are now on Azerbaijan as it prepares to go to
the polls. Few expect anything but a second term in office for the
incumbent, Ilham Aliyev, in the 15 October presidential election and
bloggers seem to agree.

Thoughts on the Road, for example, says that the vote is not so much
a contest, but more of a formality.

The election season has begun here – with posters […] plastered
on walls around the city. The posters remind me of those that I saw
in Russia before the election there, depicting "ordinary citizens"
who are apparently going to exercise their civic duty and go vote.

The president also has some posters up, just a photo of himself and
a short phrase that identifies himself as candidate. I haven’t seen
posters for any other candidates.

[…]

The last issue of Zerkalo carried on page two an article that
depicts the contrasting situations for the the New Azerbaijan Party
(the ruling party) and its opponents. YAP, as it is known from its
Azerbaijani initials, held its meeting in a stadium. Attending the
meeting thousands of government workers, who were essentially required
to attend.

The opponents of the governments, however, were only able to get
permission to meet at a remote location.

The View from Baku, however, reports that the situation is somewhat
better in the broadcast media with presidential debates being
aired each night. Nevertheless, the blog notes, that is not to say
the situation is to be welcomed, especially when the incumbent is
represented by a stand-in.

The Central Election Commission here in Baku mandated that candidates
be given three hours of debate time on television and, on alternating
days, three hours on radio. That’s six hours a week, every week,
until Election Day, October 15th! But to call it a "debate" is a
disservice to the word. […]

Each gets exactly 8 minutes and 35 seconds to speak his, or in the
case of the surrogate for the incumbent president, her mind. […]

A new blog established especially for the presidential election,
Azerbaijan’s Presidential Election, explains why there are concerns
about the likely conduct of the vote.

It is easy to say in the last election when Ilham Aliyev was elected
president, there was widespread fraud. When Haydar Aliyev was
elected president, he put his own family members into governmental
positions. So it was not surprised that after Haydar past away,
his son Ilham took power. Much of the public was not okay with this
because it was known that he was into gambling and drinking, rather
than running a country.

Fraud was noticed right for when citizens went to place their vote.

[…]

When the results were released, a war or coup did not occur, but
rather rallies so violent that there was physical brutality, arrests,
and death. On October 16, there were 15,000 opposition supporters
went face to face with 5,000 policemen, resulting in 5 deaths. […]

Quirk Global Strategies, the blog of a former head of the National
Democratic Institute (NDI) in Azerbaijan, apologizes to its readers
for not posting more about the election. However, it notes, there is
probably little point. The blog blames geopolitical interests in the
region for the situation.

I doubt anyone reads this blog anymore and it’s my fault. I really
should be posting on the Azerbaijan Presidential election because
there are few people there who were there in 2005 (just as there were
few there in 2005 who lived through 2003) and who can interpret the
spin that will emerge from both the USG and GovAZ. On the other hand,
the election matters not one bit and what anyone has to say about it
matters even less. There are forces at work in that country greater
than any of us.

Citing the failure of the West to prevent a short but devastating
war between Georgia and Russia, the blog concludes that unless the
international community changes its approach, trouble looms on the
horizon. The blog speculates that this might even include renewed
fighting between Azerbaijan and neighboring Armenia over the disputed
territory of Nagorno Karabakh.

I’m sure the "obsevers" in town for the "election" will put together
a thorough report that demonstrates how much better this election
was than the last one (that was our strategic objective in 2005, as
well). Everyone will point out how weak the opposition is and that
Aliyev would have won anyway and that he’s the best bet for regional
stability. Then, when Aliyev does something insane (a la Saakashvili,
and it doesn’t take much imagination to come up with insane moves he
might consider), or is overthrown by a gang of competing kleptocrats,
because U.S. "democracy support" programs in the Caucusus favor
personalities over institutions, everyone will panic.

In the meantime, it will be interesting to see how the Azerbaijani
blogosphere responds to the election. With blogging coming of age
in Armenia after its presidential election and in Georgia after
its war with Russia, the same might also be true for Azerbaijan. In
Armenia, blogs became the new samizdat, and that might also happen
in Azerbaijan too.

ARMENIANS DON’T NEED TO BEG U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES TO SAY GENOCIDE AGAIN AND AGAIN

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.09.2008 15:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The U.S. House of Representatives has already adopted
two congressional resolutions on the Armenian Genocide – the first was
in 1975 and the second in 1984, Harut Sassounian, the Publisher of The
California Courier newspaper said in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net.

"Armenians do not need to demand that every newly-elected Congress
recognize this fact which has already been recognized twice. The same
thing is true for U.S. Presidents. Pres. Reagan issued a Presidential
Proclamation back in 1981 which mentioned the Armenian Genocide. In my
opinion, another presidential statement or congressional resolution is
unnecessary. Armenians do not need to beg U.S. presidential candidates
to say Genocide again and again," he said.

THE MOUNTING GAS PRICES TO INFLUENCE THE TARIFFS
Vasak Tarposhyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
26 Sep 2008
Armenia

As you know from April of the coming year the prices of the gas
supplied from Russia will raise, from 110 to 154 dollars. How will
this fact influence the internal tariffs of gas and electricity? The
vice-Chairman of the Committee Regulating Public Services Nikolay
Grigoryan answers the questions of "Hayots Ashkharh" daily.

"If the prices of the imported gas raises from 110 to 154 dollars
naturally it will have impact on the final tariffs of gas, which will
definitely influence the inhabitants and all the other consumers.

At the moment I don’t want to give any number, because the prices
will be clear only after certain calculations. But we must take
into account that while reviewing the tariffs lots of factors are
considered. As we know there are lots of expenses, which should also
be taken into account.

The tariff doesn’t depend only on gas, so we shouldn’t observe only
that factor. There are certain investment programs, which we have
already approved and we can’t overlook them. During the calculation
of the tariffs we will take all this into account. So the tariffs
will also raise but I can’t say to what extent."

"What is the impact of all that?"

"From 110 becomes 154 dollars, which means 4 0%. Though if we compare
with other countries our situation is better. In such circumstances
the average rhythmical tariff will be much higher."

"Anyway will the increase be essential or not?"

‘What do you mean by saying essential? For some people one dram is
also essential. For some cases it is essential for some it is not. So
I can’t give any assessment. "ArmRusGasIndustry" must first of all
place an order to the Committee Regulating Public Services. Most
probably the increase of gas prices will not have essential impact
on the final tariffs."

"Taking into account the fact that after the calculation of the working
tariff dram has become stronger, what influence can this fact have
on the formation of the new tariffs?"

"Most probably taking into account that fact it is announced that the
increase of gas prices won’t have any essential impact on the final
tariffs. But before the order is placed we can’t tell you what will
be the role of that factor."

"The gas price imported in 2007 was 40 thousand dram. After the
increase of prices it becomes 46 thousand dram. Is it an essential
impact on the internal tariffs?"

"Of course no, if we take into account the processes taking place
in the world gas market. But in order to assess its influence on the
internal tariffs we must take into account=2 0many other factors as
well, their role on the formation of final tariffs."

"Are you going to maintain the differentiated approach of the gas
prices for the inhabitants and big consumers?"

"Frankly there are different approaches in the committee regarding that
issue. Certain changes are not excluded because today the deference
in the gas tariffs between those who use 10 thousand square meters
and more gas is very big. So certain activities are in process in
that regard. In my view it must be changed but I don’t know when."

"In your view is it justified that the inhabitant-subscribers pay
two times more for gas than the big consumers?"

"It is not accidental. The expense of the gas-supplier is much more
in case of the inhabitants. The gas supply to the small consumers is
much more expensive. This is the problem."

"Will the increase of the imported gas influence the tariffs of
electricity?"

"Of course. If we take into account the fact that 30% of our
electricity is produced in the Electric Stations of Hrazdan and
Yerevan and they work by gas."