Author: Nahapetian Boris

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, April 26, 2007

AGBU Wraps Up Centennial Year with Special Series of Events in Armenia & Karabakh

After celebrating the Armenian General Benevolent Union’s (AGBU)
Centennial in over 34 cities around the world, the organization
marked the end of the yearlong festivities with a series of events
in Armenia and Karabakh from April 2 to 8, 2007. The 150-member
delegation of AGBU Council of Trustees and Central Board members,
District and Chapter Chairmen, donors, members and friends, headed by
AGBU President Berge Setrakian, converged in Yerevan to participate
in the impressive conclusion to a jubilee year.

Representatives and members from 18 countries and nine US cities came
together to pay homage to the organization that was founded in 1906
and, one hundred years later, with over 90 Districts, Chapters and
Young Professionals groups in 25 countries, has grown to become the
world’s premier Armenian non-profit organization.

The decision to wrap up the centennial year in Armenia was a symbolic
gesture to mark the solidarity between Armenians around the world.

Highlights from the closing weekend included a conference to
discuss the organization’s educational programs, a meeting of Young
Professionals (YP) from around the world, the presentation by Armenian
President Robert Kocharian of the Mkhitar Heratsi Award to three AGBU
Trustees, Sarkis Demirdjian, Nazar Nazarian and Karnig Yacoubian, and
the burial of the first ever time capsule by an Armenian organization.

KARABAKH’S STABLE PATH

On April 2, ninety AGBU members embarked on a three-day trip
to Karabakh, accompanied by members of the Yerevan media, to see
firsthand the remarkable progress the small republic has made over the
years. The last time a large-scale AGBU delegation visited Karabakh
was in 2004 during AGBU’s 83rd General Assembly and, since then,
the organization’s programs have continued to grow and expand.

At a meeting with the AGBU delegation, Karabakh Prime Minister
Anushavan Danielian recognized the organization’s visionary guidance,
"From the very beginning of our difficult days, AGBU was with us. We
built the independence of Karabakh together. We see Karabakh getting
stronger, it encourages us and gives us hope, and it encourages you
because you see that your investments were not in vain."

AGBU members witnessed the success of the organization’s work
during a half-day trip to the Hadrut region, in the southeast of
the country. Guests toured the thriving village of Norashen, which
began with 10 families in its first year and now numbers 44 families
with about 144 individuals. One of the village leaders pointed out
that, by the end of the year, the village will number 200. The AGBU
delegation also toured the newer AGBU-funded settlements of Pareshen
and Nor Jrakn, both of which continue to expand.

During the tour, Central Board Member Levon Kebabdjian spoke about
the Karabakh Repopulation Project’s original idea that has now
blossomed into three villages with the support of AGBU’s Chapters,
YPs and individual donors from Boston, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Southern
California, Sydney, Toronto, and beyond.

In a meeting with Karabakh officials in the capital later that day,
AGBU delegates asked questions about the infrastructure projects in
the Hadrut region and the government’s role in tackling water and
transportation problems that remain in the region of the AGBU-funded
villages. Prime Minister Danielian assured the visitors that the
government was solving the issues one by one and lauded AGBU’s
continuing cooperation and success.

That evening, guests enjoyed a lively performance by the AGBU-funded
Karabakh Chamber Orchestra (KCO), which was established in 2004 and
has since flourished to become the Republic’s premier musical ensemble.

During their journey back to Yerevan on April 4, the delegation
stopped in Shushi to tour the local church and met with Archbishop
Barkev Martirosyan of Karabakh.

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE

On April 4 and 5, AGBU members from Districts and Chapters around the
world participated in a series of presentations and roundtable meetings
at the Marriott Armenia Hotel and the American University of Armenia’s
Business Center, designed to elicit new ideas and formulate a future
direction for the organization. Topics of discussion included how to
best reach young Armenians, bring youth closer to both their local
communities and their heritage, and maintain the Armenian language
in the global Armenian community.

Most encouraging during the two-day conference was the enthusiastic
participation of YPs, who stood ready to take part in new
initiatives. Many of them voiced their critical opinions on the
question of identity, and their desire to see AGBU continue to keep
young Armenians involved and included in future discussions. It
became evident that the YP movement is not only the future of AGBU,
but also a crucial part of its present.

During a special session devoted to education, Central Board Member
Carol Aslanian and Education Director Artoun Hamalian presented
an overview of AGBU’s current education programs and plans for new
projects. There was a frank discussion about the importance of the
Armenian language and the increasing difficulties in developing
fluency in communities where immersion is not an option.

Hamalian pointed out that three main elements constitute the basis of
the future direction of AGBU’s educational programming: maintaining
the quality of the existing schools; streamlining curricula for all
schools; and developing resources that will reach greater numbers
of Armenians. Currently, he pointed out, there are 5,500 students in
AGBU schools in 14 countries.

Building on the organization’s interest in making its educational
resources available to more and more Armenians, Silicon Valley Chapter
Chairman Yervant Zorian demonstrated the AGBU-sponsored electronic
Armenian-language education resources currently being developed by
Yerevan State University’s Information Technology (IT) Department
and the Silicon Valley-based company, Virage Logic. Zorian guided
conference participants through a step-by-step presentation on how
distance learning can reach those both inside and outside of large
Armenian communities worldwide, and help create a user-friendly
experience that will make Armenian-language instruction both easy
and fun.

The President of the American University of Armenia (AUA), Haroutune
Armenian, spoke about the current activities and future projects
of the AUA, the country’s premier post-graduate institution. After
the presentations, AGBU President, Berge Setrakian, spoke about the
organization’s commitment to education as a crucial component of the
preservation of Armenian identity in the diaspora. He also elaborated
on the organization’s plans to build a center for diasporan youth in
Armenia, which will begin construction within the next few years and be
named for two historic AGBU benefactors, Krikor and Garabed Melkonian.

PRESIDENTIAL ACCOLADES

On April 6, 2007, Armenian President Robert Kocharian received members
of AGBU’s Council of Trustees and Central Board of Directors to review
and address issues of common interest, including the challenges
of the new century, and Armenia’s leadership role in the future of
the international Armenian community. During the meeting, President
Kocharian congratulated AGBU’s leadership and members on the occasion
of AGBU’s 100th anniversary and noted that the organization continues
to play an invaluable role in the preservation of the Armenian identity
around the world.

President Kocharian awarded three AGBU Trustees, Sarkis Demirdjian,
Nazar Nazarian, and Karnig Yacoubian, with the Mkhitar Heratsi medal
for their decades of service and generosity to the Armenian nation.

Established in 1993, the Mkhitar Heratsi Medal is awarded by the
Armenian President for services to the development of health care,
high professionalism, practical work, as well as for significant
philanthropic activities in the Republic of Armenia.

YOUNG PROFESSIONALS LOOKING AHEAD

A remarkable achievement of the Armenia Centennial Conference was
the powerful presence, the largest ever at an AGBU conference, of
the organization’s YPs. Close to 25 leaders from AGBU’s international
network of YP Groups and partners from four continents set short-term
and mid-term goals for their future during a plenary meeting,
emphasizing new YP initiatives, such as a pan-YP fundraising effort,
leadership training seminars, and outreach to Armenian university
students.

In addition, YPs had the unique opportunity to meet with AGBU President
Berge Setrakian, Central Board Members Carol Aslanian, Aris Atamian,
Ruben Kechichian, Sam Simonian and Vasken Yacoubian, and AGBU Trustee
Karnig Yacoubian, to discuss the evolving role of YPs within AGBU.

For many YPs present, it was the first occasion for them to meet
face to face. To break the ice, the delegation of YPs spent Saturday
afternoon at the AUA Business Center with Dr. Tom Samuelian, Dean
of American University of Armenia Law Department, who facilitated
a 90-minute workshop on networking. Providing an explanation of
the difference between bonding and bridging models of networking,
he emphasized the need to move towards a bridging model to increase
social connectedness among Armenians from various parts of the world.

RECOGNIZING MEMBERS

As part of the celebration dinner at Nor Dzoraberd restaurant
on Saturday, April 7, six AGBU members were recognized for their
devotion and dedication to the organization’s mission. The honored
recipients were Vahe Artinian of Sydney, Australia; Vahram Hairabedian
of Buenos Aires, Argentina; Vahe Imasdounian, Chairman of the Southern
California District Committee, USA; Sossi Kelegian of Yerevan, Armenia;
Haig Messerlian of the Southern California District Committee, USA;
and Juan Nourikhan of Cordoba, Argentina.

A CULTURAL SHOWCASE

Believing in the significant role that culture plays in the
perpetuation of the Armenian nation, AGBU sponsored a grand artistic
celebration at the Yerevan Opera House on April 8. Serving as the
official closing ceremony of AGBU’s Centennial, the program began with
remarks from Armenian political, spiritual and community leaders,
including His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians,
Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia Vartan Oskanian, Republic
of Karabakh President Arkady Ghoukassian, and AGBU President Berge
Setrakian.

Reading an official statement from President Kocharian, Minister
Oskanian added that he was not only reading the President’s message
as Armenia’s Foreign Minister but also as a proud alumnus of the AGBU
Lazar Najarian-Calouste Gulbenkian School in Aleppo, Syria. The event
then continued with performances by AGBU’s Nork Children’s Center’s
Circus Group, Haykazounk Folk Ensemble and Shoghakat Choir, in addition
to the Gevorgian and Vaskenian Seminarians and the Barekamutyun Dance
Ensemble of Armenia. Also on stage was the AGBU-sponsored Armenian
Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Edouard Topchjan, which
performed selections by Aram Khachaturian, Johann Strauss, Alexander
Harutyunian and Giuseppe Verdi. The evening’s finale included an
ensemble performance of Robert Amirkhanian’s specially commissioned
work "Ode to AGBU Centennial."

One day earlier, participants of the event visited AGBU’s Yerevan
projects, such as the American University of Armenia, Ultrasound
Center, and Soup Kitchens. Their afternoon ended with a special
program presented to a full house by the talented youth from the
AGBU Nork Children’s Center. The performance was comprised of song,
traditional and modern dance, circus acts, and an exhibition of
art. Also participating was the AGBU AYA Antranik Dance Group from
Aleppo, Syria.

TAKING PRIDE IN HISTORY

To pay homage to AGBU’s far-reaching achievements over the past
century, the Academy of Sciences in Armenia organized a conference
about AGBU on April 7 in Yerevan, which included paper presentations
by notable historians and academics in Armenia. Also on hand to speak
about AGBU’s accomplishments were Raymond Kevorkian, Head Librarian
of the AGBU Nubarian Library in Paris, and Ashot Ghazarian, Director
of AGBU’s Armenia Representation.

Kevorkian spoke in detail about the organization’s relief efforts
during the post-Genocide years in the Middle East, touching
particularly upon the refugee communities, orphanages and women’s
shelters in Lebanon and Syria starting in 1923. In addition, Ghazarian
gave an overview of the projects AGBU initiated in Soviet Armenia some
decades ago, and how the 1988 earthquake in northern Armenia brought
AGBU back to the homeland for good. He specifically mentioned the
projects that the organization currently sponsors in both Armenia
and Karabakh and how it cooperates closely with the Mother See of
Holy Etchmiadzin.

As a final tribute to AGBU’s Centennial, AGBU President Berge
Setrakian, His Holiness Karekin II, Central Board Members, District
and Chapter Chairmen and members gathered on the grounds of Holy
Etchmiadzin after Easter Sunday services to bury a time capsule,
which will remain sealed until the organization’s bicentennial in
2106. Items stored in the capsule include photos, biennial reports,
booklets, yearbooks, media publications, and other unique items that
will help the future generation gain knowledge about what AGBU had
achieved in its first one hundred years and how much the organization
will continue to have progressed until its two-hundredth birthday.

Photos and videos from the Armenia & Karabakh Conference and Closing
Event are available at:

Established in 1906, AGBU is the world’s largest non-profit Armenian
organization. Headquartered in New York City with an annual budget
of $34 million, AGBU preserves and promotes the Armenian identity
through educational, cultural and humanitarian programs, annually
serving some 400,000 Armenians in over 37 countries.

For more information on AGBU, please visit our flagship website
at

Turkish parliament may declare pre-term election

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.04.2007 13:28 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey’s powerful military said on Friday it was
watching the parliamentary election of a new president with concern,
hours after an inconclusive first round split Turkish secularists
and the Islamist-rooted government.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, the ruling AK Party’s candidate,
failed to win sufficient votes in the first round of voting after
opposition parties boycotted the session.

"The Turkish armed forces are watching this (election) situation with
concern," the General Staff said in an unusually blunt statement
late on Friday that also reminded the politicians the military is
the ultimate defender of secularism.

Turkey’s secular elite, which includes army generals, top judges and
the opposition parties, fear that Gul, a former Islamist, will try
to erode Turkey’s separation of politics and religion if elected.

The army ousted a government it viewed as too Islamist as recently as
1997. Gul served in that government. He says his views have changed
and he is now a conservative democrat.

The AK Party’s main rival, the CHP, has asked the Constitutional
Court to annul the vote on a technicality, raising the risk of
protracted legal wrangling in the strategically important European
Union candidate country.

If the court backs the CHP, a general election must be called within
90 days.

Nobody predicts an army coup in today’s Turkey, where the economy
is growing strongly and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s government
is popular, but the generals’ warning is a timely reminder of the
growing political tensions.

As an example of what it called increased "reactionary," or Islamist,
activity, the army statement cited the recent murder of three
Christians at a Bible publishing house in eastern Turkey. Turkish
media have suggested the arrested suspects may be militant Islamists.

Gul, a gently-spoken diplomat, is respected abroad as the architect
of Turkey’s EU bid but the secularists point to his Islamist past
and the fact his wife wears the Muslim headscarf.

Two weeks ago, hundreds of thousands of people rallied in Ankara in
defense of secularism and against Erdogan himself running for the
presidency. Another rally is planned in Istanbul, Turkey’s business
and cultural center, on Sunday.

Earlier on Friday, opposition parties accused the government of
riding rough-shod over parliament, where it has a big majority. The
Constitutional Court said it would consider the CHP appeal on Monday.

Parliament is due to hold a second round of voting next Wednesday,
though Gul is not expected to win the presidency until a third round
set for May 9, when he only has to secure a simple majority in the
550-seat assembly.

On Friday, Gul won 357 votes. He had needed 367 to win.

The CHP asked the Constitutional Court to rule Friday’s vote invalid
because there were fewer than two thirds, or 367 deputies, in the
chamber at the time of the vote. The AK Party says only 184 deputies
need be present for a vote to be valid.

If elections are called, incumbent Ahmet Necdet Sezer would stay as
president until a new parliament could elect his successor.

The AK Party is expected to win the next general election, which must
anyway be held by November, and is ahead of its rivals in opinion
polls. It rejects the Islamist label.

The CHP appears to be hoping for a strong surge of support from
moderate pro-secular voters worried by the AK Party’s impending
capture of the presidency, which would complete its domination of
all the key state institutions.

Turkey’s financial markets traded lower on Friday, fearful legal
battles over the election could scare investors.

In Turkey, the government holds most power but the president can
veto laws, block appointments of officials and appoint judges. The
president is also the army’s commander-in-chief.

As successor to modern Turkey’s revered founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk,
the president also carries great moral weight. If elected, Gul would
be the first ex-Islamist to hold the post, Reuters reports.

NO VIOLATIONS FIXED IN THE COURSE OF THE PLANNED MONITORING OF NKR AND AZERI ARMED FORCES’ CONTACT LINE

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
April 27 2007

Today OSCE mission held planned monitoring of the Nagorno-Karabagh
and Azeri Armed Forces’ contact line to the north of the settlement
of Talysh of the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic Martakert region.

According to the information DE FACTO received at the NKR MFA Press
Office, the monitoring passed according to the schedule. No cease-fire
violations were fixed.

>From the Azeri party the observation group was headed by the OSCE
Chair-in-Office’s Personal Representative Andrzey Kasprzyk.

BUSH AGAIN AVOIDED SAYING "GENOCIDE"

AZG Armenian Daily
27/04/2007

As it was expected, US President George W Bush once again avoided
saying "Genocide" in his yearly speech on April 24 dedicated to the
massacres of Armenians in Ottoman turkey. This year the President
used every expression in English suitable for description of such a
terrible crime: "one of the biggest tragedies in the 20th century",
"victims of mass deportation and massacre", etc, etc. Head of ANCA
Hrayr Hovnanian, expressing his disappointment about this fact, also
noted that Bush did not mention the name of Hrant Dink in his speech,
in despite of the demands of the Senate to revise the official policy
of the United States on the Armenian Genocide.

On the occasion of April 24 Prime Minister of Canada Stefan Harper
also made a statement, where the word "genocide" was used only as a
quote from a last year resolution of the Parliament of Canada.

ARSHAK SADOYAN HAS TO FILL LACK OF BROADCAST HOURS BY "HARD WORK" BY VISITING VARIOUS POPULATED AREAS FOR MEETING WITH POPULATION

Noyan Tapan
Apr 25 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN. Under conditions of "bazaar" economy
instead of market economy in the country the electoral campaign
requires huge sums.

Arshak Sadoyan, RA MP, Chairman of Union of National Democrats Party,
taking the second place on the proportional list of the Democratic
Way Party, stated at the April 25 press conference. In his words,
due to paid broadcasts’ being expensive he has to do "hard physical
work" by visiting various populated areas of the country for meeting
the population.

According to S. Sadoyan’s calculations, a sum equal to 0.5-1 mln
dollars is needed for agitation campaign and current expenditures
connected with it.

Lack of such financial resources put the opposition in a very hard
situation.

And under conditions of great social polarization in the country,
in his words, one cannot expect to raise large sums from the public.

A. Sadoyan said that he has sent an open letter to U.S. State Secretary
Condoleezza Rice with the proposal to provide to the opposition part
of the sum to be given to Armenia for the purpose of contributing
to holding of free and fair elections, but has received no response
so far.

Nevertheless, A. Sadoyan gave assurance that the Democratic Way Party
will have 10-12% in the future parliament, as the politicians taking
the first three places on the party’s list have high rating.

GUEST COMMENTARY: U.S. IGNORES GENOCIDE FOR ALLIANCE’S SAKE
By Robert Deranian, Ph.D.
Genocide Commemoration Committee of San Diego Member

The UCSD Guardian Online, CA
April 26 2007

America’s apathy over the Armenian genocide stems from a desire to
appease it’s ally, Turkey.

April 26, 2007 – Most would agree that America’s role in the world
is, of late, a bit in doubt. Our young men and women are sacrificing
their lives, and we believe, or at least hope, for good reasons.

Is it just about oil prices or even to protect America from terrorism?

Not quite.

There is something more, having to do with moral standing, that is
vitally important to America. Those of contrary opinion say that such
thinking is of little practical value and could even be detrimental
to America’s foreign interests. This is in fact just the point of
contention.

What is best for America’s interests is not always the immediate
indulgence of self-interest but rather the implications of moral
standard, what some call the high moral ground. Why is this
important? America today faces threats from those who choose terror.

They believe they are right, and by implication, America is wrong.

Their frequent argument is that America makes the wrong moral choices,
that we do not stand for what is right.

Do we have examples that prove the contrary?

One clear example of such a choice involves an issue that many have
tried to keep under the radar for 92 years, the Armenian genocide. At
first glance, the Armenian genocide seems to be just such an issue
that is not important to America’s self-interest and should therefore
be dismissed without further notice. However, much to the dismay of
those trying to keep the issue hidden, the Armenian genocide will
just not go away.

Why?

To answer this question, go back to the time of World War I. The year
is 1915, and the Ottoman Turkish Empire is fighting alongside Germany
and Austria-Hungary and against Britain and its allies, including
the United States in the later years of the war. Taking advantage of
the chaos and confusion of the war, the Ottoman government decided
to settle a long-standing problem occurring within its borders known
in those days throughout the world as the "Armenian Question."

It included human rights violations against the Armenians, a Christian
minority within the Islamic majority of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. The
method employed to settle the problem was a mass extermination of
Armenian people – an Armenian genocide. Initiated on April 24, 1915,
the Armenian genocide was implemented through forced march, burning
of towns, starvation, rape and outright massacre.

So brutal were the events, with estimates of 1.5 million Armenians
killed, that despite the ongoing war, the world at large was horrified
and demanded the perpetrators be brought to justice. At the forefront
of this demand for justice was America, as personified by then-former
President Theodore Roosevelt, calling what happened to the Armenians
the worst crime of the war.

With such a clear acknowledgment of what happened to the Armenian
people, official recognition of the Armenian genocide seems to be the
right choice. However, Turkey categorically denies that a genocide ever
took place, even paying high-priced U.S. lobbyists to work fervently
at denying the Armenian genocide. That Turkey receives significant
foreign aid from the United States and so essentially pays for such
lobbying through U.S. taxpayer money is sadly ironic and perhaps not
so surprising.

What is, however, surprising is the debate about recognition of the
Armenian genocide that rages every year in the U.S. government. For
those who oppose recognition, it’s about not offending Turkey,
a country of geopolitical significance.

The logic goes that the United States cannot risk offending Turkey
by recognizing the Armenian genocide. Those favoring recognition
counter this argument by saying that the Cold War is over, and that
Turkey performed poorly as a U.S. ally during the initial stages of
the current Iraq war.

While Turkey’s geopolitical significance is debatable, what should
not be debatable is America’s position on issues of moral justice.

>From its beginnings, America has strived for the ideal that there
is something more than just self-interest, something that makes the
world a better place – the existence of a high moral ground.

Are we now to dismiss this high moral ground for reasons of
short-term self-interest? This is the central question of debate
within the U.S. government when it comes to recognizing the Armenian
genocide. Case in point: Currently, there are resolutions making
their way through both houses of Congress that would recognize the
Armenian genocide.

In response, Turkey has sent some of its top government and military
leaders to persuade the U.S. Congress otherwise. Their efforts seem not
to be wasted as was well demonstrated by Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice’s recent congressional testimony. The following is an exchange
of that testimony between Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Rice.

SCHIFF: Is there any historic debate outside of Turkey? Is there any
reputable historian you’re aware of that takes issue with the fact
that the murder of 1.5 million Armenians constituted genocide?

RICE: Congressman, I come out of academia, but I’m secretary of
state now and I think that the best way to have this proceed is for
the United States not to be in the position of making this judgment,
but rather for the Turks and the Armenians to come to their own terms
about this.

Rice completely dodges the very straightforward question concerning the
historic reality of the Armenian genocide by asserting that the United
States is not in the position to pass judgment. Put another way, the
United States should not make judgments about issues of moral justice.

What are the consequences of the United States not making these kinds
of judgments? In Turkey at least, the lack of a strong message from
America about the Armenian genocide emboldens those who would deny its
existence, to the point of passing laws that make it illegal to say
there was an Armenian genocide. This has resulted in trials and, in
some cases, imprisonment of leading Turkish intellectuals, including
Nobel laureate writer Orhan Pamuk. Sadly this law also resulted
in the rousing of a 17-year-old Turkish boy to murder Hrant Dink,
a Turkish Armenian journalist dedicated to reconciliation between
Turks and Armenians.

Making a judgment about moral issues like this one is rarely without
cost. Throughout its history, America has had to make such choices.

These choices are not without consequence, as exemplified by the
firing of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans for just using the
word "genocide" to describe what happened to the Armenians. This man’s
career was essentially ended because he made a stand to say what was
right, to take the high moral ground. Without this high moral ground,
can we as Americans claim that we are any different than our enemies,
except that we have bigger guns?

America’s very credibility is on the line. It’s our choice.

tory=opinion03&year=2007&month=04&day= 26

STATEMENT OF LT. GOVERNOR JOHN GARAMENDI ON OCCASION OF 92ND ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

States News Service
April 24, 2007 Tuesday
Washington

The following information was released by the office of the Lieutenant
Governor of California:

Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi issued the following statement:

"We join together today to honor the memory of the 1.5 million Armenian
people who perished in the genocide that began 92 years ago this day
in the Ottoman Empire.

"Tens-of-thousands of intellectuals, poets, blue-collar workers,
wives and children, had their lives cut short. Hundreds of thousands
more expelled from their homeland. The future of a people decimated.

"This genocide was a tragedy of epic proportion. And yet, our nation
still does not officially recognize this enormous loss of life and
liberty.

"I ask you today to join with me to honor those lost; to give support
to those few who escaped and remain with us; and to the generations
who have followed. Stand with me in solidarity; in asking our Congress
to recognize this horrific episode; in saying no to future genocides
and holocausts.

"It is our solemn obligation to always remember, it is our solemn
responsibility to prevent such occurrences today and in the future.

"Let us honor and remember those souls, lest history repeat itself."

RUSSIA ACTS TO KEEP TIES WITH ARMENIA STRONG
Sergei Blagov

EurasiaNet, NY
April 23 2007

The April 23 announcement that Russia and Armenia are entering into
a joint uranium excavation venture underscores the Kremlin’s strong
commitment to maintaining Yerevan’s allegiance.

Armenia has long been Russia’s closest ally in the South Caucasus. As
Armenia prepares to hold parliamentary elections in May, Russian
officials have seemed keen to play up the close bilateral ties, while
striving to avoid creating an impression of meddling in Armenian
domestic politics.

Armenian Ecology Minister Vartan Aivazian and Sergei Kiriyenko,
a former Russian prime minister who now heads the country’s Atomic
Energy Agency, announced the uranium extraction project following
a meeting in Yerevan. The joint venture is expected to get underway
this year, Kiriyenko indicated, adding that Moscow was ready to help
Yerevan build a new nuclear energy plant, in the event that Armenian
officials opted to head in that direction. Aivazian also announced
that Yerevan had agreed to join the international uranium enrichment
center, located in Russia’s Irkutsk region.

A higher profile display of friendship occurred earlier in April,
when Russia’s first deputy prime minister and rumored presidential
successor, Sergei Ivanov, visited the Armenian capital. "I think
Armenia is our strategic partner. This is gauged not only by military
and political interest", Ivanov told journalists in Yerevan, where
he held meetings with all the country’s top officials, including
President Robert Kocharian and Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian.

No deals were signed during Ivanov’s April 11 visit. Officially,
Kocharian and Ivanov just discussed economic ties. Perhaps the most
important point of Ivanov’s visit was his meeting with Kocharian’s
perceived successor, Prime Minister Sarkisian. Officially, both
officials also focused on economic issues, including transportation
routes. Ivanov reportedly told Sarkisian that the opening of a
ferry route from Russian Black Sea ports to the Georgian coastal
city of Poti would ease transportation difficulties between Russia
and Armenia. The ferry, which is capable of carrying up to 50 rail
carriages, would improve access to Armenia, Ivanov said, without
mentioning that the ferry would also come as a move toward relaxing
Russia’s ban on transport with Georgia. [For background see the
Eurasia Insight archive].

Russia remains the top foreign investor in Armenia, Ivanov told a
briefing in Yerevan on April 11. According to official statistics,
Russia was Armenia’s leading foreign investor in 2006, pumping
about $87 million into the Armenian economy, including investments
in ArmenAl, ArmenTel and ArmRosgazprom. [For additional information
see the Eurasia Insight archive].

There are several sources of tension in bilateral relations, however.

Ivanov indicated Russia’s dissatisfaction with an agreement under which
Armenia swapped assets in return for debt relief. [For background see
the Eurasia Insight archive]. The quality of the Armenian enterprises
taken over by Russia has not met the Kremlin’s expectations, Ivanov
hinted. Sarkisian expressed the Armenian government’s willingness to
revisit the issue.

Sarkisian also echoed the Russian view that the South Caucasus should
not become the home of a possible North Atlantic Treaty Organization
base. Armenia’s neighbor, Georgia, has expressed the intent to
join NATO at the earliest possible moment. [For background see the
Eurasia Insight archive]. Sarkisian said a NATO base in the region
would dramatically increase tension in an already tense region. [For
additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive]. "The reduction
of Russia’s military presence in the region should not result in
the automatically increased military presence of another country or
organization," Sarkisian said at the April 11 news conference.

Meanwhile, some Armenian political figures have publicly questioned
the need for Russia’s on-going action to guarding Armenia’s borders.

On April 13, a former Armenian foreign minister, Raffi Hovannisian,
called on Kocharian’s administration to enhance Armenia’s
sovereignty by seeking to ease Russian border guards out, and for
Yerevan-controlled troops to assume responsibility for the control
of the country’s borders.

In Yerevan, Ivanov defended the presence of a Russian military base in
Armenia, saying it did not threaten the security of third countries,
while ensuring the security of Armenia and Russia.

Editor’s Note: Sergei Blagov is a Moscow-based specialist in CIS
political affairs.

Nicola Sarkozy and Segolene Royal are in the lead of French Presidential campaign

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.04.2007 14:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ According to the final results of the presidential
elections in France declared by Home Office, the leader of "Union
for Popular Movement" 52-year-old Nicola Sarkozy gathered 31.11
percent of votes, France Press reports. 25.84 percent of voters
supported Sarkozy’s nearest competitor – 53-year-old Segolen Royal,
representative from Socialistic party.

Together with Sarkozy she will participate in the second stage of
presidential elections on May 6.

Candidate of right centrists Francois Bayrou got 18.55 percent of
votes, and leader of National Front Jean-Marie Le Pen – 10.51 percent.

84.6 percent of those eligible from nearly 44.5 million registered
voters participated in the voting.

This is similar to the record fixed in presidential elections of
1965. This information does not include those 820 000 bulletins that
were cast French citizens abroad. These results will be published
on Monday.

According to polls in the result of the second stage Sarkozy will win
the election at a ratio of 54 to 46 percent. Earlier French media
reported 5 left wing candidates who totally gathered 10 percent of
votes, called on their electorate to vote for Royal. The main struggle
between the two candidates for the post of Jacques Chirac will develop
for those voters who have supported Francois Bayrou during the first
stage, Lenta.ru reports.

LEO PLATVOET TO VISIT KARABAKH TOGETHER WITH LORD RUSSELL JOHNSTON IN JUNE

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.04.2007 19:41 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Works over preparing the report on missing in South
Caucasus has been temporarily stopped, PACE (Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe) rapporteur on POW and Missing in the South
Caucasus Leo Platvoet stated. "It is connected with the parliamentary
elections in Armenia scheduled for May 12. During the May 25 session
of the committee in Belgrade it will be clear if the report will be
put under discussion in PACE June session," Platvoet underlined.

He also informed he is included in PACE’s subcommittee on the Nafgorno
Karabakh and will visit the region in June. "May be I will be in
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh with Lord Russell Johnston
in June.

But I cannot announce names of mission members, due to visit the
region," he said, APA reports.