Author: Maghakian Mike

PACE MAKES BALANCED ASSESSMENTS

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on April 17, 2008
Armenia

Today, the draft resolution on the activity of the democratic
institutions in Armenia will be put to vote by the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe. Three months after adopting the
document, PACE will touch upon the issue during its summer session.

In a press-conference convened on April 15, J. Prescott, Head of the
PACE observation mission, J. Colombey, Speaker of the PACE Observation
Mission, and Thomas Hammerberg, Council of Europe Commissioner
for Human Rights, expressed clear-cut and balanced assessments with
regard to our country’s compliance with its commitments. They propose
civilized methods for our authorities and opposition to overcome the
existing situation.

They are based on three main principles:

First: PACE, in the person of John Prescott, Head of its observation
mission, reconfirms the international community’s fundamental
assessment with regard to the February 19 presidential elections and
reiterates that they were "mostly in line with the standards of the
Council of Europe."

Second: The major part of the proposals addressed to Armenia through
the PACE Resolution concern the investigation and the negative
consequences of the March 1-2 tragic events rather than the February
19 elections.

Third: The PACE assessments and proposals aim to create certain bases
of bilateral commitments with the purpose of restoring the civilized
relations between the Armenian authorities and opposition.

The latter principle is strictly important for the simple reason that
Ter-Petrosyan and his proponents are, by their statements, interviews
and publications, making unsuccessful attempts of "confusing" PACE’s
sincere concerns and proposals with some "punitive functions" which
are being sketched in their bright imagination. And because no such
tendencies are to be found in the PACE proposals, they are beginning
to condemn the balanced attitude of the European structures, guiding
themselves by the logic "our response to Chamberlain".

It was L. Ter-Petrosyan that laid the foundations of the propaganda
which is being actively circulated in the press supporting the
Armenian Pan-National Movement. In the interview to the Russian "Novoe
Izvestia" newspaper, the ex-President announced that by demanding
Armenia’s compliance with its obligations, the Western structures
"simultaneously forget about their obligations to Armenia".

A question arises as to how the Western structures should perform
their obligations to the Armenian people, by ignoring the authorities
of the state. It turns out that the solution of such puzzle consists
in Ter-Petrosyan’s resolution-desire saying "these authorities will
not be recognized". And as we have already mentioned, it contradicts
J. Prescott’s assessment regarding the February 19 elections.

It turns out that L. Ter-Petrosyan and his propaganda machine are
not actually interested in the democratic ways towards overcoming
the situation, as proposed by the PACE Resolution. They only want
to achieve the non-recognition of the election results and have new
opportunities for destabilizing the internal political situation.

It appears that for some people, PACE is just a "tool" for acceding
to power in one’s own country with the help of "foreigners" rather
than a means of strengthening democracy.

The Azeri members of the PACE delegation are initiating attempts of
"rotating" the same tool from another side, advancing the counteraction
of A. Herkel, co-speaker of Azerbaijan in the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe. Reiterating the contents of the dissatisfaction
voiced by the press-supporting the Armenian Pan-National Movement,
Azerbaijani co-speakers in the PACE Monitoring Committee S. Seidov,
G. Pashaev and others are laughing away the serious proposals discussed
in Strasburg with regard to the March 1-2 events.

In such conditions, there obviously emerges a certain convergence
of ideas and approaches between the leadership of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Armenian authorities in
terms of putting an end to the internal and external speculations
of the events that became a tragedy for our country and people and
getting Armenia on the path of regular development.

Implementing the proposals in the course of three months, the Armenian
authorities may leave their internal and external rivals "offside".

RA FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS STEPANAKERT

armradio.am
18.04.2008 11:51

RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian left for Stepanakert today, Press
and Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed.

The Minister is expected to have meetings with NKR President Bako
Sahakyan, Chairman of the National assembly Ashot Ghulyan, Prime
Minister Ara Harutyunyan and Foreign Minister Georgy Petrosyan.

PACE TO DISCUSS ARMENIA’S ACTIONS

Trend News Agency
April 17 2008
Azerbaijan

France, Strasburg, 17 April /corr. TrendNews A.Maherremli,
S.Ilhamgizi / PACE Bureau and other structures of the Council
of Europe will discuss the project of the Resolution on Armenia’s
actions strengthening tension in South Caucasus, member of Azerbaijani
delegation to PACE, Ganira Pashayeva, reported to TrendNews.

According to her, the project of the resolution is considered as one of
the most serious documents of the Council of Europe. "According to the
procedure regulations, this document should be signed by 20 MPs form
five Council of Europe participating countries. The project will be
discussed by PACE Bureau which will make a relevant decision. This
document was signed by the MPs from Italy, Moldova, Lithuania,
Germany and Turkey. We could gain many votes," Pashayeva said.

According to her, the document says that the Government of Armenia
contradicts the norms and principles of the international law,
obligations undertaken before the Council of Europe PACE Resolutions
1416, UN Resolution, bringing harms to the negotiations process held
via mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group and held presidential elections
in occupied Azerbaijani territories.

In addition, the document says that considering the sharp reaction
of the international organizations and community to the regime
of emergency situation, which was announced in the country after
elections, Armenia fired at Armed Forces and citizens of Azerbaijan
from their positions in occupied Azerbaijani territories to divert the
attention. As a result, many people have been reported either killed
or wounded and the situation has become more tensed in the region.

The document shows that Armenia continues taking steps strengthening
the tension, always breaks ceasefire regime and thus, brings harms
to the peaceful solution of the conflict.

According to Pashayeva, the project of the resolution also says that
during the pre-election campaign and inauguration ceremony, the new
President of Armenia, Serj Sarkisyan, made statements directed not
towards settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict but complicating
the situation, thus jeopardizing the negotiations process.

In addition, the document states that the discussions which took place
in the Parliament of Armenia serve intensification of the conflict
situation. The Parliament of Armenia considers that the Country should
as soon as possible populate the occupied territories, not providing
any opportunity for Azerbaijan and putting it as a fact of today.

According to Pashayeva, the MPs signing the Resolution Armenia’s
actions strengthening tension in South Caucasus will raise the issue
that the PACE should assess this step and take more serious measures
and mechanisms to prevent these actions.

The project of the Resolution was submitted to PACE Secretariat for
the discussions.

AZERI SERVICEMEN DETAINED IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Interfax News Agency
April 14 2008
Russia

The state commission of the self-proclaimed republic of
Nagorno-Karabakh for POWs and missing in action has reported that an
Azeri serviceman was detained in the territory of the republic.

"Servicemen of the Nagorno-Karabakh army detained an Azeri serviceman
entering the territory of Karabakh near the village of Yusifjanly on
April 11," Interfax was told at the commission on Monday.

"The detainee did not carry any ID and introduced himself as a
serviceman of the 190th brigade of the Azeri army born in 1989 in the
village of Kholmani, Shemakha district," a commission spokesman said.

"The relevant authorities are looking into the motives and
circumstances of defection of the Azeri serviceman," he added.

The offices of the OSCE and the International Committee of the
Red Cross in Karabakh have been notified about the incident, the
spokesman said.

PUPILS OF ARMENIAN COLLEGE TAKE PART IN PROCESSION ORGANIZED ON OCCASION OF ANNIVERSARY OF CIVIL WAR IN LEBANON

Noyan Tapan
April 14, 2008

BEIRUT, APRIL 14, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. Levon and Sofia
Hakobian National College took part in a procession of peace in Lebanon
calling for solidary co-existence of communities. The procession was
organized on April 13, on the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of
the Civil War in Lebanon.

The representatives of the only Armenian college taking part in
the procession carried a placard in the Arab language, which read:
Our Salvation is in Our Unity. More than 50 pupils of the college
together with hundreds of other pupils and demonstrants representing
various unions walked with large Lebanese flags, by expressing their
refusal in a peaceful and civilized way against attempts to one more
set Lebanon before the danger of a war.

CATHOLICOS ARAM I INVITED TO PAN-ISLAMIC EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION CENTER IN MOROCCO

Noyan Tapan
April 14, 2008

BARCELONA, APRIL 14, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. Aram I, the
Catholicos of the Great Cilician House, and Abdullaziz Osman Altuajri,
the Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization, had a meeting within the framework of the
proceedings of the inter-religious international conference taking
place in Barcelona on April 10.

The organization is a separate structure of the union of Islamic
countries, the center of which is in Rabat. During the meeting Altuajri
welcomed a number of suggestions made by His Holiness Patriarch at
the conference. They also spoke about the opportunities for developing
the educational and cultural sphere of Lebanon, as well as about the
necessity for giving a new impulse to the dialogue of the Islamic
world. His Holiness Patriarch welcomed the initiatives taken by a
number of Islamic countries and suggested that a common border should
be prepared by the initiative of the Islamic Educational, Scientific
and Cultural organization to facilitate the work connected with the
dialogue. On this occasion Dr. Altuajri invited His Holiness Patriarch
to visit the center of the Pan-Islamic Organization headed by him in
the spring of 2009 in order to participate at a high level and speak
about the process of the inter-religious dialogue and cooperation
started in Barcelona at the same time.

It is time for decisive steps

Vardges Ovyan
12-04-2008 12:22:58 – KarabakhOpen

The UN GA resolution and the efforts of Azerbaijan to shift the talks
for Karabakh from the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group to other
international organizations reminded of the existence of the Karabakh
issue. The first was the president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan to
respond, who stated that if Azerbaijan carries on this policy, Armenia
and Karabakh will have to correct their approaches, and the recognition
of Artsakh by Armenia is not ruled out.

This was followed by discussion of the settlement of Karabakh at the
National Assembly of Armenia. The mistakes of the Armenian diplomacy
and information agencies in responding to the initiatives of the foe
are already admitted officially. However, the problem is not admitting
mistakes, especially that not every mistake is easily corrected. The
train of the Karabakh settlement has gone too far and now decisive
steps are needed.

The Minsk Group and the authors of the UN GA resolution speak only
about the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, the return of seven
territories and Azerbaijani refugees. There is no word about half a
million Armenian refugees from Shahumyan, Getashen, Kirovabad, Sumgait,
Baku. According to the proposals, the Armenian force should be
withdrawn from Artsakh, and only after that the talks for the status of
Karabakh will start, which `must be determined through a compromise’.
It turns out that compromise is applied only to the issue of status of
Karabakh.

According to the logic of proposals offered to the sides, we must give
everything that we need for our life and security to Azerbaijan and
only after that they will bother to talk to us about the status. In
addition, they demand a compromise.

I am deeply convinced that Artsakh should make decisive steps. We
should already realize that diplomacy defies modesty. An Azerbaijani
slaughtered an Armenian at the heart of Europe, and we were silent.
Moreover, many thought that we should not get off our civilized
loftiness and be reduced to our neighbors. Our foe cleared Nakhidjevan
of the native Armenian population, defiled graves, but we did not utter
a word on how we can live side by side with a nation which destroys
even our history.

It is high time that we stand up for our right to live. And since the
proposals included in the international documents over the past 15
years do not reflect our interests, I think the NKR government, namely
the National Assembly, should discuss the recent developments regarding
the Karabakh issue and adopt a statement. The parliament must state
that it rejects the proposals of the OSCE Minsk Group because those
proposals leave out Karabakh and ignore the rights and interests of the
people of Karabakh.

It is necessary to focus on the political and legal aspects (Artsakh
was never part of independent Azerbaijan, and in the Soviet years it
was acceded by Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan) rather than the
opposition of the issues of territorial integrity and
self-determination.

It is necessary to initiate international discussions on the problem of
Shahumyan, part of Martakert and Martuni regions, which are still
occupied by Azerbaijan, as well as the fate of half a million people
displaced from the areas of Azerbaijan populated by Armenians.

Today, I think, there are favorable conditions for such statements,
namely the aspiration of Azerbaijan to change the format of the
mediation mission, the new governments in Armenia and NKR which suppose
new approaches and a new policy.

It is time for decisive steps, response to the aggressive policy and
propaganda of Azerbaijan. Especially that the Armenian political
scientists and diplomats are already talking about it loudly.

DIDN’T MANAGE TO SAVE THE SOLDIER

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on April 12, 2008
Armenia

Serviceman of the police forces Tigran Abgaryan, wounded on March 2,
yesterday passed away in Hospital Named after Mikayelyan.

He was moved to hospital in grave condition, with missile wounds of
cervical vertebrae which were caused by bullets released from
fire-arms. Since March 2, the doctors had been struggling for his life,
but they didn’t manage to save the soldier.

22 OUT OF 23 PERSONS END HUNGER STRIKE, ONLY PETROS MAKEYAN CONTINUES HUNGER STRIKE

Noyan Tapan
April 11, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 11, NOYAN TAPAN. 22 out of 23 perons, who went on hunger
strike in penitentiary institutions of the RA ministry of justice,
ended the hunger strike on April 11. NT correspondent was informed
by the spokesman for the penitentiary department Arsen Babayan that
only the chairman of "Democratic Homeland" party Petros Makeyan is
continuing hunger strike but he started to take water. To recap,
yesterday the first Armenian president, former candidate for the post
of president Levon Ter-Petrosian appealed to the indicated persons
to end their hunger strike.

NORK INFECTIOUS AND KANAKER-ZEYTUN HOSPITALS OF YEREVAN FUNDAMENTALY REPAIRED BY PROGRAMS OF HAYASTAN ALL-ARMENIAN FUND

Noyan Tapan
April 11, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 11, NOYAN TAPAN. The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has
finished the programs of fundamental repair of the Nork Infectious and
Kanaker-Zeytun hospitals of Yerevan. As Noyan Tapan was informed by
the Public Relations Department of the Fund, the 3rd and 4th floors,
the roof of the Nork hospital’s 4-storied building were repaired, a
new boiler house was built within the framework of the program. The
total amount of the program implemented with the financing of the
Fund’s Brazilian local body made 62.9 million drams (nearly 203.5
thousand USD).

Great Britain’s local body of the Fund financed the program of
fundamental repair of the Kanaker-Zeytun medical center by providing
8.3 million drams.