Author: Nadirian Emma

BAGHDASARIAN WARNS OF VOTE RIGGING
By Karine Kalantarian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Feb 21 2007

Former parliament speaker Artur Baghdasarian on Wednesday urged the
West not to turn a blind eye to serious fraud which he believes could
mar Armenia’s upcoming parliamentary elections.

"Unfortunately, there are forces in the Armenian government that
might try to steal the upcoming elections," he said in an article
published by "The Wall Street Journal." "And there are those abroad
who might turn a blind eye to such a scam in the name of stability."

"But stability will only come to Armenia and the region through
governments supported and elected by the people," he added. "That’s
why we need international election monitors. The OSCE mission in
Armenia must be supported so that it can do its job."

Baghdasarian’s Orinats Yerkir Party will be a major opposition
contender during the elections. His comments expose opposition fears
that the United States and the European Union will more lenient towards
Armenia’s leadership now that it seems close to cutting a peace deal
with Azerbaijan. The Western powers expect the two states take the
final step towards resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict after the
Armenian elections slated for May 12.

Baghdasarian repeated in that regard opposition arguments that only
democratically elected governments in Yerevan and Baku would the
have the mandate to make painful mutual concessions. "The way to
resolve in Nagorno-Karabakh the conflict is through elections that
produce legitimate governments — first in Armenia but eventually
in Azerbaijan as well. This popular legitimacy will give the next
governments the authority to make the necessary concessions," he wrote.

President Robert Kocharian and other Armenian leaders have assured
the West that the approaching elections will be more democratic that
the ones held until now. But their political opponents dismiss these
assurances, saying that the authorities will lose power if the vote
is free and fair.

In a separate interview with RFE/RL on Wednesday, Baghdasarian
stressed that the Armenian opposition can play a serious role in
ensuring its proper conduct. "We must primarily rely on ourselves,"
he said. "We must fight for a democratic Armenia. But if there are
big falsifications, there will be big upheavals."

Visiting Washington last week, the ambitious ex-speaker, who favors
a pro-Western foreign policy agenda, likewise warned that a repeat of
serious vote irregularities could spark opposition demonstrations in
Yerevan. The Kocharian administration already faced street protests in
2003 and 2004 over its hotly disputed handling of the last Armenian
presidential election . Baghdasarian and his party were part of the
governing coalition at the time.

In his article, the Orinats Yerkir leader described Armenia as an
"undemocratic country" mired in government corruption. "The citizens
of Armenia are not free," he said. "Our media is state-controlled and
TV airtime for opposition parties during the parliamentary campaign
is severely limited."

Baghdasarian, whose is often branded a populist by his detractors,
would not say if he raised his concerns with Kocharian before Orinats
Yerkir was forced out of Kocharian’s coalition government in May last
year. He claimed that the situation with press freedom in Armenia
has since deteriorated. "Never before has there been such total
[government] control of television before," he told RFE/RL.

DIRECTOR AND STAFF OF ZVARTNOTS AIRPORT’S CUSTOMS POINT DISMISSED FROM THEIR JOBS

Noyan Tapan
Feb 20 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 20, NOYAN TAPAN. The director of Zvartnots Airport’s
customs point Karen Janoyan and the whole staff were recently dismissed
from their jobs. NT correspondent was informed from a reliable source
that smuggling of goods was the reason.

In reponse to NT inquiry, officials of the RA State Customs Committee
promised to provide detailed information soon.

TURKISH PARLIAMENT TO DISCUSS POSSIBILITIES TO INTRODUCE CHANGES INTO 301ST ARTICLE OF TURKISH PENAL CODE

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.02.2007 16:00 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Deputy from ruling "Justice and Development" party
Faruk Celik stated that this week during Turkish Grand National
Assembly the issue of 301st article of the Turkish Penal Code will
be discussed. The parliament will discuss possibilities to introduce
some changes in the article or it will remain in its current form. In
Celik’s words, the issue of full cancellation will not be included
in the agenda. Earlier Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul stated
at the interview to Turkish Daily News that "change or cancellation
of 301st article is Turkey’s own business."

The 301st article of Turkish Penal Code limits freedom of speech and
expression and supposes criminal punishment for "insulting the Turkish
nation". Slain "Agos" bilingual Armenian-Turkish editor Hrant Dink,
Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and Elif ªafak have been prosecuted
under this article.

–Boundary_(ID_ftH16xhISRiPnj1ine/kzw)–

"REFORM" PUBLIC ORGANIZATION DOES NOT ACCEPT REFORMS IN EDUCATION

Panorama.am
21:01 14/02/2007

"One of ten children partly or completely is left out of educational
programs," Karine Hakobyan, chairwoman of "Reforms" public
organization, told a discussion today.

In her words, schools are free of charge but it is only seemingly
because there are costs connected with transport, textbooks, clothes
which are unaffordable for some layers. There are problems connected
with Bologna process in the higher educational establishments, she
said. "It enables to work and continue education with our diploma in
European countries. Is it in the interests of our country now?"

she raises the question. She said without that excellent students
are leaving the country. The state must not spend money to educate
them to create favorable conditions for migration.

SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTORS PAULO AND VITTORIO TAVIANI

Der Spiegel Online, Germany
Feb 14 2007

"Why Conceal the Armenian Tragedy?"

The film "The Lark Farm" promises to be among the more controversial
at this year’s Berlin Film Festival. SPIEGEL spoke with the film’s
directors about the Armenian tragedy and how slaughtering the innocent
is part of human history.

Vittorio (left) and Paolo Taviani on the set of "The Lark Farm."

SPIEGEL: You don’t hold back in showing the atrocities committed on
the Armenians. Aren’t you concerned about shocking your audience?

Vittorio Taviani: Each scene was historically verified, even the
most gruesome. We didn’t want to hide anything. The slaughtering of
the innocent is part of human history and, since the Greek tragedies,
part of art. On Sundays our priests deliver sermons about infanticide
in Bethlehem. It remains nothing but a word when it is said in
church. It is the cinema’s job to show it — not just to emphasize
dramatic camera angles, but to quietly show it.

Paolo Taviani: The film isn’t just about Turkey in 1915, but also
about the present. There have been similar scenes in the Balkans,
in Rwanda and in Sudan. We Italians murdered, and the Germans murdered.

The horror can happen any time and any place. Why conceal the Armenian
tragedy?

SPIEGEL: The Armenian genocide remains a blind spot in Turkey’s
national identity. Hrant Dink, an Armenian-Turkish journalist, was
murdered only recently. Isn’t there a concern that the film could
trigger violent reactions among Turkish nationalists, similar to the
reactions to the Danish cartoons?

Vittorio Taviani: We didn’t think about that when we made the film.

Paolo Taviani: We aren’t calling it genocide. Whether it was genocide
or not is for the historians to decide. We call it a tragedy. This
is not a documentary film. We have no intention of supporting any
theories with our films. We relate one page from the history books
through the fates of our characters. The truth is always only its own
truth. At this point in our lives, we wanted to recount a collective
experience through a series of personal fates, each of them unique
and distressing in its own right. After all, we tell the story of the
impossible love between a young Turk and an Armenian woman. The film
ends with a trial in which Youssuf, the Turkish soldier, testifies
about the crimes. It is not a film against Turkey. On the contrary,
it is a film for everyone in Turkey who confronts history. After all,
100,000 people demonstrated in Istanbul against the murder of Hrant
Dink. I am convinced that the film will be shown in Turkish schools
within a few years.

FROM THE MAGAZINE Find out how you can reprint this DER SPIEGEL article
in your publication. SPIEGEL: Why did you cast a German actor Moritz
Bleibtreu in the role of the good Turk?

Vittorio Taviani: The director is entitled to select the faces to
go with his fantasies irrespective of nationality. Bleibtreu is
remarkable. The cinema is always illusion. Even (Italian director
Luchino) Visconti cast an American, Burt Lancaster, in his film
"Gattopardo."

Paolo Taviani: Besides, we have cast a well-known actor of Turkish
heritage, Tcheky Karyo, in the film. Karyo told us that after this
film, he knew that he hadn’t become an actor for nothing.

gel/0,1518,466444,00.html

REPUBLICAN PARTY OF ARMENIA IS A CORPORATIVE UNION, HOVHANNES HOVHANNISIAN IS CONVINCED

Noyan Tapan
Feb 13 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 13, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian opposition should
unite into several blocs at the parliamentary elections, as in case of
coming up with a united front it will become more vulnerable for the
authorities. Hovhannes Hovhannisian, Chairman of Liberal-Progressive
Party of Armenia, gave assurance at the February 13 press
conference. In his words, the party’s recent proposal on opposition
forces’ leaders’ nominating their candidatures by majoritarian system,
too, was not unanimously accepted by the latters. Nevertheless, as he
forecast, oppositionists will make "3-4 fronts for the sake of holding
of free and fair elections and formation of a normal social system." He
said that the Liberal-Progressive Party of Armenia will be involved in
one of these fronts. In H. Hovhannisian’s words, in developed countries
of the world the opposition comes to power through democratic elections
and principle of programs’ competition and the authorities become an
opposition unless they justified themselves. But in Armenia, as the
LPPA Chairman stated, the picture is different: instead of confessing
their mistakes and faults, the authorities think about reproducing
themselves at any price. It was also mentioned that for the purpose of
reproduction of the authorities, according to the "tradition" formed
over the recent years in Armenia, artificial political unions and
organizations are created on the eve of the elections: among these
unions are Shamiram party created formerly and current Bargavach
Hayastan (Prosperous Armenia) Party. In H. Hovhannisian’s words,
the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) is not a political structure
by its current nature and content. "RPA is a corporative union of
rich people," LPPA Chairman said adding that inside this party the
political factor gave up its place to the material one.

VISITING US DEFENCE OFFICIAL, AZERI MINISTER DISCUSS KARABAKH, TIES

Day.az website, Baku
12 Feb 07

Azerbaijani Defence Minister Safar Abiyev has met Peter Rodman, the
US assistant secretary of defence for international security affairs.

"The time has come to decisively demand that Armenia, which has
violated norms of international law and occupied Azerbaijani
territories, pull out of the captured lands," the minister said.

Abiyev said that neither the talks conducted between the Azerbaijani
and Armenian presidents, Ilham Aliyev and Robert Kocharyan, nor
the efforts of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group to resolve the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict peacefully have yielded positive results
so far.

Rodman said that the USA supports Azerbaijan’s sovereignty, territorial
integrity and independence.

The sides also discussed Azerbaijan’s relations with NATO and the
USA. Aliyev said that he wanted the Minsk Group co-chairs to intensify
their efforts to resolve the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict peacefully.

Rodman, who is in Baku on a visit, will also meet Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov today, said Tahir Tagizada, the head of
the ministry’s press and information policy department.

HRANT DINK ARCHIVE TO BE BUILT IN CONGRESS LIBRARY

PanARMENIAN.Net
12.02.2007 13:54 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A Hrant Dink archive is supposed to be built in the
National Library of the Congress, says the Armenian Reporter. According
to Levon Avdoyan, Ph.D., Armenian and Georgian Area Specialist of
the Near East Section, the archive will be meant for future scholars,
to leave them the primary tools they will need to analyze important
events of our days. "I firmly believe that the assassination of Hrant
Dink is one of these events, and I would like to create an archive of
hard copy materials – newspapers, broadsides, official pronouncements –
that we will keep at the Library of Congress as a collection. I would
also like to stress that I am interested in everything related to the
Dink assassination: from the texts of speeches, to memorial booklets
from churches and elsewhere, to photographs, etc," he said.

BRYZA: FREER SPEECH BEST ANSWER TO ‘GENOCIDE’ LOBBY ABROAD
Andrew Finkel

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 10 2007

A top US State Department official with responsibility for Turkey said
the administration was committed to dissuading Congress from passing a
resolution recognizing an alleged genocide of the Armenian population
in the Ottoman Empire in 1915, but said that it was difficult to
make this case while Turkey still kept in its penal code laws which
restricted freedom of speech.

"Deep introspection" was the best way to honor victims of the episode
and to prevent a recurrence of future," according to Matthew Bryza,
deputy assistant secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs. In an
interview with Today’s Zaman in Ýstanbul, he said that a resolution
of Congress would simply lead to a retrenchment inside Turkey and
a hardening of attitudes that would make internal discussion more
difficult.

He called for widespread debate on the issue among philosophers,
archival historians and ordinary people and cited the popular wave of
sympathy for the murdered Armenian editor Hrant Dink as evidence that
many in Turkey wished to achieve a reconciliation with their past. A
resolution of Congress would "kill that process," he said. At the
same time he suggested that it was impossible to convince the outside
world that Turkey could engage in a "candid and heartfelt discussion"
while people who spoke their minds were being prosecuted. "Article
301 has to go away," he said. This is the clause of the Turkish
penal code making it an offense to "insult Turkishness" under which
Dink was successfully prosecuted. Bryza was in Ýstanbul attending a
US-Turkey economic partnership commission as a member of a trade and
energy delegation which has been touring the wider region. Thursday’s
meeting was the first convening of the commission in over three
years. It occurred at a time when the Turkish foreign minister is
in the US and appears part of a mutual charm offensive to restore
relations badly strained by events in Iraq.

Those events, in particular the March 1, 2003 vote of the Turkish
Parliament’s which denied a US invasion force the right to transit
through Turkey, still colored Washington’s view of Turkey, Bryza
confessed. This was despite, he said, the current logistic support
that Turkey now provides. Ýncirlik Air Base is the major transport
hub for the US forces and many ordinary Iraqis rely on the Turkish
border crossing at Habur for food, fuel and even water.

Ankara by, contrast, is concerned that the current insurrection in
Iraq will result in the break-up of that state and the creation of
an independent Kurdish north that will stimulate insurrection inside
Turkey itself. Bryza repeated the US commitment to Iraq’s territorial
integrity and addressed concerns that that the meltdown of central
authority in Baghdad was allowing the anti-Turkish Kurdish separatists
free reign.

He said the US acknowledged that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party
(PKK) was "the most significant threat to Turkish national security"
but that even the Turkish army — "the most capable in Europe" and
which had troops operating in northern Iraq — understood that force
alone could not fix the problem.

Even so, Bryza sought to correct the record that the US was in
any way urging Turkey to be patient. He said that Joseph Ralston,
the retired US general and special envoy for countering the PKK,
understood the urgency of the problem and was "bringing together the
pieces" and that concrete results could be expected soon.

Differences between Ankara and Washington over Iran were "more
philosophical" than substantive, according to Bryza. Neither party
wanted to see a Tehran in possession of nuclear weapons. He agreed
that Turkey was still hoping to lure Iran into dialogue about its
international responsibilities; whereas the US believed sanctions
were unavoidable. Force was not the solution, however. "I have never
had a conversation about preparing for a military operation in Iran,"
he said.

–Boundary_(ID_fXp9+wLDY+jkJ5g4tf4igw)–

Turkey hopes to "back Armenians against the wall" through The Hague Court

ArmRadio.am
09.02.2007 12:37

Turkey has included in its agenda the issue of transferring own
`rightfulness ‘ about the Armenian Genocide to some international
court and for this purpose It has chosen the Justice Court of Hague.

Informing about this, the Turkish NTV reported that as part of the new
strategy to prevent the growing recognitions of the Armenian Genocide
those in Ankara consider that the answer to the question should be
searched for at the Hague Court through filing a suit against the
Armenian Diaspora.

According to the source, the `Coordination Council to fight the
ungrounded assertions about the genocide’ will take the final decision
after the consideration of the positive and negative sides of the
question.

Turkey is confident that The Hague Court comprised of 15 Courts `is
capable of resolving the problem’ and `will back Armenians against the
wall.’