Author: Maghakian Mike

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
Anahit Danielyan

KarabakhOpen
28-06-2007 15:03:55

Recently four youth organizations have set up a youth election
headquarters and said to support Bako Sahakyan. The headquarters is
located at the office of Haiko Serund NGO.

We had informed that such a headquarters would probably be set up
but the initiators met us with strictures and denied everything in
their letter.

Anyway, this was followed by a statement of the representatives of
Haiki Serund during a round-table meeting held by the Unity youth
organization about their intention to set up a youth election
headquarters not to support one particular candidate but to call
the voters to vote. However, recently it has become known that the
headquarters supports Bako Sahakyan.

It is amazing why those young people denied the arrangement to
support the "common" candidate. Is there something bad about it
that they met "secretly" and discussed some questions, with only
a few youth organizations, of course. After all, it is ingenuous
to think it is possible to keep secrets in Karabakh, especially
in Stepanakert. Secrets are always revealed, and if someone does
something secretly, they must be ready to account when it becomes
known instead of "contorting" their stance.

Let the readers judge. The readers who remember from the previous
presidential election the youth organization set up on the eve
of the voting, which was provided with a large office, furniture
and computers in a few days. In other words, an attempt was made to
"bring together" young people on the eve of the election. Now perhaps
many do not remember this organization any more. Now this scenario has
been slightly modified, and instead of setting up a new organization,
an effort is made to "bring together" a few organizations to support
the common candidate besides some other NGOs, including the Union
of Azatamartiks of Artsakh, the Federation of Labor Unions, Helsinki
Initiative 92, etc.

Supporting the common candidate has affected different spheres like
a virus, including the public sector, which is amazing and funny
because the NGOs have set aside their goals and become engaged in
politics. Maybe these NGOs should be reshaped into parties. For
during the elections the NGOs are supposed to observe the election
and protect the citizens’ right to vote and not to shorten this right
by making calls for supporting the common candidate.

Dear friends, who is going to do your job? Thanks God, not all the NGOs
act similarly, otherwise no local observers would get registered with
the central electoral commission. And when an NGO tries to perform
its duties, it is asked to "mind its own business" and is nearly
declared a traitor.

For whatever reason, everything is in a mess in this pre-election
period, and everything is so illogical. Just like in Shakespeare’s
Much Ado about Nothing.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE OBSERVERS REAFFIRM ARMENIAN ELECTION PRAISE
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
June 26 2007

Observers from the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE)
have reaffirmed their largely positive assessment of the Armenian
authorities’ handling of the May 12 parliamentary elections, while
noting major irregularities in the vote count and tabulation.

"The Parliamentary elections in Armenia, held on 12 May 2007, were
largely held in line with Council of Europe commitments and standards
for democratic elections, although shortcomings remain," they said in
a report unveiled at the ongoing PACE session in Strasbourg on Monday.

"The Armenian Authorities, as well as other electoral stakeholders,
showed the political will to address previous shortcomings and to
improve the conduct of these elections, although some issues remain
unaddressed," concluded the report.

The nearly three dozen PACE members monitored the elections as part
of the International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) that also
comprised representatives of the OSCE and the European Parliament. In
its preliminary May 13 report, the IEOM concluded that the vote
largely conformed to democratic standards.

Still, the OSCE observers, who accounted for the bulk of the 400-strong
IEOM, toned down the praise in a subsequent follow-up statement. They
said counting of ballots in a large number of polling stations and
their subsequent tabulation by district election commissions was
deeply flawed.

The PACE monitors echoed the criticism, saying that the vote count was
"protracted in most cases." They reported "significant errors" in 8
percent of polling stations observed and "deliberate falsifications
of the results" in some of those precincts.

"Regrettably, the situation deteriorated during the tabulation
process," the report said, adding that the process was "generally
disorganized."

Like their OSCE colleagues, the PACE observers deplored the
"inexplicable" delay in the publication by Armenia’s Central Election
Commission of precinct-by-precinct vote results from Yerevan. "In
addition, by a decision of the CEC, the special computer network
was not used by the Yerevan [district election commissions] to enter
their results," read their report.

The report also contains a list of recommendations which its authors
believe would further improve the conduct of Armenian elections. In
particular, they urged the authorities in Yerevan to enact more
amendments to Armenia’s Election Code, ensure a proper vote count and
tabulation, investigate reports of vote irregularities, and address
"intertwinement, at all levels, of political and business interests."

The report also called on the country’s government-controlled
electronic media to set less "exorbitant" prices of campaign
advertising by political parties and individual candidates.

ARMENIA EXPECTS TO RECEIVE ABOUT TWO MILLION DOLLARS FROM MILLENNIUM CALLENGE CORPORATION NEXT QUARTER
Editor: Eghian Robert

Noyan Tapan
Jun 27 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 27, NOYAN TAPAN. The bid for the fourth allocation and
other documents to be submitted to the Millennium Challenge Corporation
(MCC) were discussed at the June 26 sitting of the Management Board of
the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) in Armenia, which was conducted
by the board chairman, Armenian prime minister, Serge Sargsian. NT
was informed by the RA Government Information and PR Department that,
in addition to the bid, the package contains the quarterly financial
reports, the report on allocation preconditions, the financial and work
plans, the report on quarterly progress, and the report on purchases.

By the fourth bid, Armenia envisages receiving 1 million 991 thousand
753 dollars from the MCC next quarter (July-September 2007). In the
indicated period, the following sums will be allocated to the program
components: 536,107 dollars for rural roads restoration, 1 million 802
thousand 405 dollars for rural irrigation, 89 thousand 490 dollars
for monitoring and evaluation, and 489 thousand 921 dollars for the
program’s management and control. Thus, according to the financial
report, the actual forecast expenses make 2 million 917 thousand 923
dollars next quarter. The difference of the sum indicated in the bid
and the actually required sum will be covered at the expense of the
balance on the bank account.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENTIAL AIDE SUPPORTS EX-SECURITY CHIEF IN KARABAKH POLLS

Hayots Ashkharh, Yerevan
26 Jun 07 p 3

Excerpt from Lilit Poghosyan’s report in Armenian newspaper Hayots
Ashkharh on 26 June headlined "This is deliberate misinformation;"

The president’s national security advisor, Garnik Isagulyan, has
just returned from Stepanakert. He presented his views on the current
stage of the election campaign [in Nagornyy Karabakh]

[Garnik Isagulyan] The election campaign is going in a very peaceful
and normal atmosphere. As you know, five candidates have been nominated
for president, and no obstacle has been created to any of them. It
is known that elections in the NKR [Nagornyy Karabakh republic] have
always been conducted in a very free and transparent environment. They
have been comprehensible to all. Even international observers have
been surprised that such elections could be held there. In this sense,
this election will be no different from the previous ones.

[Correspondent] Some commentators, however, say that the outcome
of the election is predetermined. In other words, they say that
"no election is going to be held in Karabakh".

[Isagulyan] Indeed, there have been some reports in the Armenian press.

There have also been some public speeches casting doubt on the NKR
presidential election. I simply consider this inappropriate. Everyone,
of course, is free to express his views and promote any
candidate. However, when people go further, personal create offence
and make allegations about the incumbent NKR president or the candidate
who has the biggest chances of winning, this is really unacceptable.

[Correspondent] What would you say about the candidates, their
platforms and positions?

[Isagulyan] I had the privilege of meeting Bako Sahakyan in person. I
can say that he is quite a flawless person. This is not only my
opinion.

Nagornyy Karabakh’s officials, political forces and ordinary people
also think so. I met many people in Karabakh and talked to them,
but none of them expressed a negative opinion about Sahakyan. Of
course, I am not talking about the people who have personal "enmity"
towards him or those who, because of various reasons, are trying to
cast doubt on the electoral process, the current authorities in the
NKR and the candidate who may come to power tomorrow.

Regardless of their background and their role in Armenia’s modern
history, these people should realize that by doing so they are helping
our enemies, and are damaging the images of Nagornyy Karabakh and
Armenia at a time when the international community is closely watching
the developments in Nagornyy Karabakh.

[Correspondent] Why did they decide to discredit [Nagornyy Karabakh
president] Arkadi Ghukasyan right before the presidential election,
particularly at a time when no-one in Karabakh or Armenia had voiced
any serious observations about him or his activities?

[Isagulyan] I don’t know why all this is done. I can’t
understand. Moreover, it surprising to me that a person with whom
I have worked together and have been on good terms for years is now
making such statements. I am talking about Igor Muradyan, who does not
know Bako Sahakyan, has not met him and does not know his positions
on various issues.

Why did he decide to link Sahakyan’s nomination to the future of
Arkadi Ghukasyan and put forward issues that have nothing to do with
the truth, or to find controversy between Armenia and Karabakh and
the positions of the NKR and Armenian presidents? It is unclear why
he says that Robert Kocharyan supports or indirectly does not support
Bako Sahakyan. It is also unclear why Masis Mayilyan, in whose favour
all this seems to be done, did not have courage to protest and say,
"Comrades, what you are saying is a lie."

I think this is a deliberate misinformation to foster a negative view
of a person who had the courage to establish a great environment
in Karabakh during his presidency, not only in terms of personal
relations but also in terms of relations between political forces, and
who did whatever he could to have the NKR constitution adopted. If you
remember, everybody was saying that the constitution had been drafted
to give Ghukasyan a chance to run for a third and a fourth term. And
many, including those who are now trying to discredit Ghukasyan,
joined me in trying to convince him [Ghukasyan] to run for a third
term. But Ghukasyan personally made a decision not to run. Now,
some people are trying to comment on this decision differently.

[Correspondent] They say that Bako Sahakyan’s only "value" is that
he is under total control of the current NKR authorities.

[Isagulyan] When it became clear that Ghukasyan will not run, many
would go and ask Bako Sahakyan to be nominated. Several candidates
could be seen in NKR but proposals by political forces and the reaction
of various groups in society resulted in the conclusion that Sahakyan
is the best and most acceptable candidate. He is a person, who unlike
other candidates, has participated in all the processes in Karabakh
and who is also widely respected by the liberation war veterans,
and he can settle the issues that Karabakh is now facing.

[Passage omitted: Isagulyan says Karabakh president Ghukasyan and
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan are very popular both in Karabakh
and Armenia and their opinions matter for public opinion.]

"SOPPOSITION APOLOGIZES"

A1+
[08:03 pm] 26 June, 2007

More images Today the RA Parliament ratified the 5-year program
of the Government by 94 for, 7 against and 9 abstention votes. The
"Heritage" party voted against the program, the "Orinats Yerkir party"
and Victor Dallakyan abstained from voting. All members of "Heritage"
party asked questions to the RA Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan to
which the latter asked reluctantly.

The representatives of the parties made speeches. In her speech,
Larisa Alaverdyan underlined "respectable and honorable" words
when turning to the Prime Minister. Raffi Hovhannisian apologized
himself for criticism. "I have always dreamed about such atmosphere
and I am completely satisfied with it", said Serge Sargsyan to the
journalists. "You see, they apologize and that demands great honesty".

Arthur Baghdasaryan talked about the situation in the country, the
existence of shady economy, artificial monopoly resulting in price
rise and other issues. He thanked the Prime Minister for involving
the problem of returning deposits in the Government program.

Victor Dallakyan announced that the program should have been foreseen
not for 5 years but until 2008 presidential elections, since after
that a new Prime Minister and a new Government should be elected.

Service d¹Information
Du saint siège d¹Etchmiadzin

Tel : 00 374 10 517 128
Télécopie : 00 374 10 517 301
Courriel : [email protected]
Responsable : Père Vahram Mélikian

Biographie de l¹évêque Norvan Zakarian
Primat du diocese de France de l¹eglise armenienne

1940 : Naissance à Beyrouth (Liban) dans une famille réfugiée
d¹Arménie occidentale.
Etudes primaires à l¹école Apkarian du quartier de
Bourdj-Hamoud.
1954 : Admission au séminaire d¹Antilias au Liban, puis au séminaire de Beit
Mary puis au lycée
Hovhaguimian-Manouguian de l¹UGAB.
1958 : Admission au séminaire patriarcal de Jérusalem
1957 : A la mort de son père, il doit entrer dans le monde du
travail pour subvenir aux besoins
matériels de sa famille.
1967 : Installation en France. Ordination diaconale le 24 décembre, fête de
saint Etienne.
1968 : Ordonné hiéromoine par l¹archevêque Sérovpé Manoukian.
Durant ces deux années, il apprend le français à l¹Alliance
française tout en assurant la
catéchèse et des cours d¹Arménien à l¹école « Tbrotsasser »
du Raincy.
1970 : Elévation à la dignité d¹archimandrite par Mgr. Sérovpé Manoukian.
1970-1974 : Poursuite de ses études de Théologie à l¹Institut Catholique de
Paris.
1968-1975 : Exerce son ministère à l¹église saint Jean-Baptiste de Paris et
préside le comité de
construction de l¹église d¹Issy-Les-Moulineaux.
1975- 1980 : Recteur de la paroisse de la très Sainte Mère de Dieu
d¹Issy-Les-Moulineaux.
1980 : Vicaire du Légat catholicossal pour la région Rhône-Alpes.
1982 : Ordination épiscopale par Sa Sainté Vazken 1er Patriarche suprême et
Catholicos de tous les
Arméniens.
1987- 2007 : Evêque des Arméniens de Rhône-Alpes.

Sous son impulsion est créée en 1987 la chaire de spiritualité arménienne
Calouste Gulbenkian à l¹Institut catholique de Lyon, en 1988 l¹école
bilingue Markarian-Papazian de Lyon. Participe activement au dialogue
oecuménique au plan local (co-fondateur de Radio-Fourvière /RCF, Association
Unité chrétienne, CREL) et international (représente le Catholicos Karékin
II dans de nombreuses rencontres).

Sous son épiscopat, construction de l¹église du Saint Signe de
Chavieu-Pont-de-Cheruy (Isère) et Saint Grégoire l¹Illuminateur à Saint
Etienne (Loire). Création des paroisses de Vienne et Grenoble dans l¹Isère,
Saint Nicolas de Romans-Sur-Isère (Drôme).

Monseigneur Zakarian est l¹auteur de plusieurs ouvrages dont deux consacrés
à K. Beledian : De la poésie de Krikor Beledian : au sujet de la chambre »
et Approches . Coauteur de deux ouvrages : Les Arméniens, histoire d¹une
chrétienté (1990) et Histoire du peuple Arménien (2007).Collaborateur du
quotidien parisien Haratch et de plusieurs revues en langue arménienne.

ARMENIAN SPEAKER, PREMIER JOIN BOARD OF MAJOR FUND

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
19 Jun 07

[Presenter] The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund is marking its
anniversary. For the past 15 years, the fund has implemented projects
worth 165m dollars.

They have contributed to the reconstruction and development of the
infrastructure in Armenia and Artsakh [Nagornyy Karabakh] as well as
helped implement social, cultural and scientific projects.

At the government’s House of Receptions, the 16th meeting of the
board of trustees opened today [19 June] after a blessing by the
Armenian catholicos.

The board of trustees unanimously voted to include National Assembly
[parliament] President Tigran Torosyan and Prime Minister Serzh
Sargsyan in the board based on their positions. The proposal was made
by President Robert Kocharyan, who is the chairman of the board of
trustees. In recent years, the fund has been sponsoring the Artsakh
Resurrection Project, the goal of which is to promote the economic
growth of Karabakh. In 2006, 47 projects, worth 40.2m dollars, have
been implemented. Armenia’s participation has also been significant
in the fund’s projects – about 80 projects, worth 22.82m dollars,
have been implemented.

[President Robert Kocharyan, addressing the meeting of the board of
trustees] I remember the period when the fund was established. It
was major progress, of course. There was great enthusiasm, romantics
then. All this has been transformed now into a better organized
structure, a more pan-Armenian [indistinct] structure, which has proved
over the past 15 years to be is a national treasure. This is the most
representative structure, and probably the most effective organization
among all the organizations of this type. Every time when participating
in the work of the fund, I am proud that I am not only the chairman of
the board of trustees of this structure but also an active participant,
and I believe that we all should have this feeling of pride. A lot
of work has been done and looking back the work looks more impressive.

AZERBAIJAN SHOULD DECIDE ON CONCESSIONS IT’S READY FOR

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.06.2007 14:22 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Until Azerbaijan doesn’t decide what he means by
saying compromise, there will be no progress in the talks," RA NA Vice
Speaker Vahan Hovhannisian told reporters in Yerevan. The situation
is like the Armenian-Turkish relations, he said. "We are told ‘open
the Armenian-Turkish border’. But we did not close this border. So,
let Turkey open it. We did not wage war in Karabakh. So, let Baku say
to what kind of compromise it’s ready for and whether it’s ready to
hold talks with Nagorno Karabakh. Armenia will not start hostilities
in case of signing an agreement. It’s already a compromise from the
Armenian side," the RA NA Vice Speaker said.

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: YEREVAN MUST TOUGHEN ITS POSITION IN KARABAKH TALKS

Regnum, Russia
June 18 2007

Statements that the OSCE Minsk Group for Nagorno Karabakh conflict
settlement has exhausted itself is an Azerbaijani idea and the
Armenian side must not pick up the idea, member of the Dashnaktsutyun
ARF Bureau, Armenian Parliamentary Deputy Speaker Vahan Hovhannisyan
announced at a news conference in Yerevan today. A REGNUM correspondent
quotes him as saying that the OSCE MG co-chairs have done a serious
work and none of international institutions like the Council of Europe,
or the UN or even the CIS, has such a professional and peculiar
team like the OSCE Minsk Group. "It is too early now to state the
task of the group is exhausted. We are satisfied with their activity
and we see development, a more profound understanding of the issue
and reflection of this understanding in the documents they propose,
which naturally angers Azerbaijan," the deputy speaker said.

Hovhannisyan believes that under the current condition the OSCE MG
co-chairs have done the utmost. Despite alternative statements made
by Armenia and Azerbaijan, they managed to create a document that at
least was capable of becoming a basis for the settlement. The problem
is Azerbaijan’s position, the deputy speaker believes. "I believe
that from now on Armenia must toughen its position and introduce two
tasks into the agenda: until Azerbaijan announces what concessions
it is ready to make, we shall not discuss the issue. The second task
is Nagorno Karabakh’s participation in the negotiation process,"
he stressed. By present moment, says Hovhannisyan, Azerbaijan does
not give up attempts to transfer the settlement issue from the OSCE
to the United Nations. "Azerbaijan understands it fully that more
Muslim countries are represented in the UN that do not understand
the gist of the conflict, but grounding on the religious solidarity
will vote, as it often happens, for a pro-Azerbaijani resolution,"
the politician stressed. Commenting on statements that recognition
of Kosovo independence cannot become a precedent for settling other
territorial conflicts, the deputy speaker noted that such statements do
not cost a cent as it would be impossible to explain to the Karabakh or
any other nation why they are not allowed to have what the Albanians
have. "I am sure that recognition of Kosovo independence will become
a precedent for settlement of other territorial conflicts," he noted.

Speaking about presidential election in Nagorno Karabakh, Hovhannisyan
stressed that the national interests claim for a smooth change of power
in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. He also assured that elections in
Nagorno Karabakh have always been much more democratic than in other
neighboring countries, including Armenia, and expressed confidence
that this would happen at the forthcoming election too.

AZERI OPPOSITION PARTY URGES CLOSING OF GABALA RADAR STATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
13.06.2007 18:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Musavat Azeri opposition party thinks that the
most advisable variant for Azerbaijan is to close the Gabala radar
station. Party deputy leader Mehman Javdoglu said the issue of
joint U.S.-Russia use of the radar station was in focus of the party
council sitting.

"If Russia and the United States launch talks on Gabala, our state
should participate in the negotiations as one of the hosts of the
radar station," he said, Day.az reports.