Author: Nahapetian Samvel

RALLY LINKS GENOCIDES
By Melody Hanatani/ Staff Writer

Woburn Advocate, MA
April 27 2006

A new coalition of diverse local ethnic groups kicked off an
anti-genocide campaign with a rally at the State House last Friday,
following the annual Armenian genocide anniversary commemoration.

The group, called kNOw Genocide, includes 10 organizations such as
Rwanda Outlook, the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association, and the
Jewish Community Relations Council.

On his way from the ceremony to the rally, state Sen. Steven Tolman
talked about why the coalition was formed.

“Today is a reaction of a diverse group to the lawsuit about the
denial of the Turks that this [genocide] even happened,” he said,
referring to a lawsuit seeking to introduce materials denying the
genocide into the statewide curriculum.

In listing the genocides that have occurred over the past 100 years,
such as Armenia, Bosnia and Cambodia, U.S. Rep Edward Markey called
on President George W. Bush to recognize the genocides in Armenia
and Darfur.

“Don’t forget Palestine, Markey,” said one protester. “It’s been too
long for them too.”

The protester was later escorted farther down Beacon Street, where
he continued to yell at the speakers.

Attorney General Tom Reilly, a Watertown resident and gubernatorial
hopeful, said the pending case in Boston is not about limiting free
speech. He said the only way to find a more just and peaceful future
is to face the “ugly truth of our past.”

State Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham, announced new “landmark”
legislation would be filed this week to force the state to divest from
any country where genocide occurs. He said the legislation would be
the first of its kind in the country, and hopes it will be a model
for other states.

Markey said earlier that the legislation would “ratchet up pressure
on the Bush administration to take a firmer stand in Darfur.”

According to some humanitarian groups, about 400,000 people have died
in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Belmont resident Heather Krafian, a teacher at Muraco Elementary School
in Winchester, is a granddaughter of Armenian genocide survivors. She
spoke about the importance of teaching about the genocide in the
schools.

She spoke out against the denial of the genocide, and said it has
become the modus operandi of the Turkish government. She said there
is no doubt among scholars and experts that the Armenian genocide
occurred.

“The thread of lies Turkey has woven for 91 years is slowly beginning
to unravel,” said Krafian. “The fabric of denial has become torn and
tattered. The truth will not be killed, but will prevail.”

VENUE OF FOOTBALL MATCHES OF ARMENIAN AND AZERI TEAMS TO BE DECIDED MAY 12

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.04.2006 20:15 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The venue of holding the matches between the
national teams of Azerbajian and Armenai within the qualifieds of
Euro-2008 will be known after the meeting of representatiaves of the
federations of the two countries, planned in Swiss Nyon city May 12,
UEFA Executive Committee Member Mathieu Sprengers reported. In his
words, three representatives of each federation will take part in
the talks. Three UEFA officials – Sprengers, Per Ravn Omdal and Mark
Schtruder – are also expected to participate in the negotiations. The
UEFA officials will have to take the final decision on the venue of
holding the matches, reports Day.az.

NKR FOREIGN MINISTER BLAMES INTERNATIONAL STRUCTURES FOR NOT RESPECTING NAGORNO KARABAKH PEOPLE’S RIGHT

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 25 2006

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. At the April 21
parliamentary hearings on the subject “Prospects of Nagorno Karabakh
Settlement” held at NKR National Assembly with participation of RA and
NKR MPs, government members, representatives of NGOs, scientists and
experts, journalists, NKR Foreign Minister Georgi Petrosian blamed
the international structures for ignoring and not respecting the
Nagorno Karabakh people’s right. He said that in response to the
political demand addressed to the Azerbaijani authorities Artsakh
was exposed to ethnic cleansings by Baku. According to the Minister,
the official Azerbaijan has always tried to remove the issue of
self-determination from the legal plane to the military one. The head
of the NKR foreign political department emphasized that the current
proposals on the negotiations table more envisage liquidation of the
conflict consequences than all-embracing solution to the problem. “We
form an impression that the mediators try to solve the Nagorno Karabakh
problem within the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity,
which completely contradicts the interests of our people and, to put
it mildly, is not moral,” Georgi Petrosian declared. He regretted
to say that in the settlement process the international mediators
factually neglect the results of the referendum held in Nagorno
Karabakh in 1991. The Foreign Minister came up with a proposal to sign
an agreement among all parties of the conflict, which will enable
to give up the intention to apply force and it will become clear
for the international community, who is indeed against the peaceful
settlement of the conflict. The same day, as Noyan Tapan was informed
from NKR Foreign Ministry Information and Analytical Department, NKR
National Assembly’s Democracy, Homeland factions and ARFD-Movement-88
group have come up with a statement about the Azerbaijani-Karabakh
conflict. In the statement the NKR NA groups and factions fix that the
proclamation of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and all legal-political
steps of the republic proceeding from the NKR Declaration were
implemented in correspondence with the basic principles of the
former USSR legislation. The Artsakh parliamentarians emphasize that
Azerbaijan did not use the opportunity to solve all problems with the
proclaimed Nagorno Karabakh Republic through a dialogue but carrying on
a policy of ethnic intolerance, undertook illegal application of force
and does not give up the policy of solving the conflict in a military
way up to this day. Stating that they are loyal to the principle of
all-embracing settlement of the current problems through negotiations,
which will enable to exclude any hostility and attempts to change the
reached agreements through application of force in the future, the
Artsakh parliamentarians “qualify the 1991-1994 Azerbaijani-Karabakh
armed conflict as the aggression of the Republic of Azerbaijan against
the proclaimed Nagorno Karabakh Republic, NKR’s further steps as
application of the non-alienable law to undertake self-defence by a
people exposed to aggression, envisaged by Article 51 of UN Regulations
and the current events in the conflict zone as the consequences of this
aggression”. The authors of the statement consider that Azerbaijan as
an aggressor country bears responsibility for the war unleashed by
it and for its consequences, for the fate of the conflict parties’
hundreds of thousands of people who as a result of the warfare have
become refugees or internally displaced people, so it is obliged to
compensate the material and moral loss inflicted to them taking into
consideration the factor of loss of homeland by them, irrespective
of their nationality. Taking as a basis the 1994 Bishkek protocol
on ceasefire regime and the currently operating agreement adopted
in the same year, that were ratified by the signatures officially
recognized by authorized representatives of mediators of Nagorno
Karabakh, Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the final and other
documents of OSCE Budapest Assembly where Nagorno Karabakh was
recognized as a conflict party, the Artsakh parliamentarians “apply to
OSCE Council of Ministers with a mediation to respect Nagorno Karabakh
Republic’s competent participation in the negotiations process of
conflict settlement, without which no agreement achieved can have
a legal force”. The authors of the document give assurance that
the recognition of the independent, democratic and viable Nagorno
Karabakh Republic established as a result of the 1991 December 10
national referendum completely fits into the modern reality and will
become an important factor of regional stability and security. NKR
parliamentarians notify OSCE Chairman-in-Office, parliaments of
member-states of OSCE Minsk Group, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly,
Council of Europe, NATO, European Parliament about the adoption of
the statement.

Prosecutor’s office launches probe into Armenian’s murder

ITAR-TASS News Agency
April 22, 2006 Saturday 02:44 PM EST

The Moscow metro prosecutor’s office has launched a probe into the
murder of a young man in a mass fight at the central Pushkinskaya
metro station on Saturday.

“Today at about 16:47 Moscow time a group of 12 young men gathered
on the platform of the Pushkinskaya station. They knew each other
and were waiting for one more acquaintance of theirs. At this time a
group of about six to seven people disembarked from a southeast-bound
train and attacked those standing on the platform without any reason.

As a result of the attack, a student of Moscow University of Management
received a stab wound in the chest, from which he died at the scene,”
a spokesman for the Moscow prosecutor’s office told Itar-Tass.

“All possible leads are being investigated, including a murder
motivated by ethnic hatred and strife,” the official said.

Earlier, law enforcement agencies said the victim had been born in
1989 in Armenia. Police have begun a search for the attacker.

Meanwhile, Moscow’s Armenian community said it would not let this pass.

“We will certainly convene on Monday. We gathered each time an
ethnic-motivated murder occurred and thought about mechanisms
that could prevent such incidents,” the president of the Union of
Armenians of Russia and the president of the World Armenian Congress,
Ara Abramyan, told Ekho Moskvy radio.

In his view such crimes can be possible only because authorities and
society do not respond properly to the manifestations of nationalism
and because they are left unpunished.

“The ethnicity of the killed man does not matter because this concerns
everybody. This is a problem for the whole of Russia. If there is
extremism and nationalism, we must call things by their proper names
and then such incidents may not occur again,” he said.

Military exercises in Nagorno-Karabakh are over

ArmRadio.am
20.04.2006 12:55

The military exercises of the NKR Armed Forces came to an end in
Nagorno-Karabakh.

The military exercises were held according to the 2006 Army
preparedness program for the purpose of determining the combatant
preparedness of the Armed Forces.

The process of the military exercises was followed by NKR President,
Chief Commander Arkadi Ghukasyan, RA Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan,
Deputy Defense Minister, Head of the Genetral Staff of the Armed
Forces of Armenia, Colonel-General Mickael Harutyunyan. In the result
of the exercises, the best officers and soldiers were awarded diplomas
and valuable prizes.

AZERBAIJAN FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS VATICAN REP IN BAKU
Author: S. Agayeva

TREND Info, Azerbaijan
April 17 2006

Issues of cooperation between Vatican and Azerbaijan were discussed on
April 17 meeting of Azerbaijani foreign minister, Elmar Mammedyarov
and the Vatican ambassador to Azerbaijan, Claudio Guggeretti, the
ministry press-service told Trend .

Guggeretti announced the intensions of Vatican to expand the bilateral
relations and develop cultural cooperation with Azerbaijan.

The Minister informed his guest about the progress in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict regulation stressing the importance of
solving the conflict on the basis of international principles and
norms.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 13, 2006 Thursday 01:06 PM EST

OSCE Minsk group to suggest more ideas for Karabakh settlmnt

by Tigran Liloyan

The Minsk group of the OSCE on Nagorno-Karabakh will suggest to
Armenia and Azerbaijan more ideas for the settlement of the Karabakh
conflict, Bernard Fassier, the co-chairman of the MInsk group from
France, said in Yerevan on Thursday. He said these ideas would enrich
and develop the principles of peace settlement.

Fassier said the Minsk group of the OSCE with three co-chairmen –
from Russia, France and United States – would remain the format of
the talks on Nagorno- Karabakh. Despite the setback at Rambouillet,
the negotiating process goes on, and the co-chairmen act in
coordination, Fassier said.

“The three countries- co-chairmen of the Minsk group on
Nagorno-Karabakh are convinced that there is no alternative to peace,
and continue to say so,” he noted. “War cannot be a way to settle
the conflict,” he said.

The co-chairman from France said the demands of all the parties
involved cannot be fully met in settling the conflict. Compromise
usually means meeting the demands of each party 50 percent. If we
meet their demands 80 percent, this will be absolutely fantastic
success, Fassier said.

Moscow News (Russia)
April 14, 2006

KOSOVO PATH A TRAP

By Sergei Markedonov The Institute of Political and Military Analysis
Special to The Moscow News

Russia should propose its own criteria for the recognition of new
states

The status of Kosovo is in the final stages of resolution. According
to U.S. State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack, the U.S.
administration supports the efforts of Marti Ahtisaari, special envoy
of the UN secretary general, aimed to resolve the status of Kosovo
before the end of this year.

The United States and EU countries are categorically opposed to any
parallels being drawn between Albanian separatism in Serbia and the
struggle for independence by ethnic Ossetians and Abkhaz in Georgia,
Armenians in Azerbaijan, or interethnic separatism in Moldova’s
breakaway Transdnestr region. According to Sean McCormack, every
ethno-political conflict in the post-Soviet area has its own unique
specifics that must be taken into account.

Nevertheless, “Kosovization” of the post-Soviet area is well under
way. The hasty resolution of the “Kosovo problem” highlighted the
problem of the self-proclaimed entities in the post-Soviet area.

The Ukrainian blockade of the Transdnestr Moldovan Republic
effectively coincided with a massive diplomatic onslaught by official
Tbilisi against South Ossetia and the latest escalation in the
Georgian-Abkhaz conflict in Abkhazia’s Gali District. Lying behind
the strong-worded statements by Georgian, Moldovan and Ukrainian
leaders is the thinly veiled intention to resolve the problem of
rebellious territories before Kosovo’s independence is
internationally recognized.

As of now Kosovo will become a crucial factor in the domestic and
foreign policy of the “commonwealth of unrecognized states” – a kind
of CIS-2 the Commonwealth of Independent States, the loose alliance
that replaced the Soviet Union . Leaders and ideologues of the
Transdnestr Moldovan Republic, Nagorny Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South
Ossetia keep quoting Vladimir Putin’s statement about the need to
apply a universal approach to resolving ethno-political problems in
the post-Soviet and the post-Yugoslav areas. Vladimir Putin’s thesis
was unquestionably embraced by the Russian expert community.
According to Sergei Karaganov, chairman of the influential Council
for Foreign and Defense Policy, “if Kosovo is recognized as an
independent state, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and the Transdnestr
region will have a right to ask for accession to Russia.”

At first glance, the principle of universalism is logical. If Kosovo
(like Slovenia and Croatia before it) is recognized on the basis of
the principle of ethnic self-determination (“blood right”), why are
the same rights denied to ethnic Armenians in Nagorny Karabakh or to
Ossetians or the Abkhaz?

But the logic of the “universal” approach only goes so far. Kosovo is
not simply a model for the formation of a separatist state, but also
a certain settlement model adopted by the “powers that be” of this
world – Europe and the United States. They predicate the recognition
of Kosovo on the return of refugees – Serbs and Gypsies. But is this
approach applicable to all CIS-2 states? The Kosovo model could be
attractive to South Ossetia since more than 40,000 ethnic Ossetians
ended up as refugees in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict. In the
Transdnestr region, there was no “ethnic cleansing” at all. Yet
Abkhazia and Nagorny Karabakh (which so zealously supported the
“Kosovo path”) will reject this principle. For Abkhazia, the return
of Georgian refuges to the republic’s entire territory (not just to
the Gali District), without any preconditions, would drastically
change the ethnic/demographic situation. In that case, the Abkhaz, as
before the 1992-93 war, would once again become an ethnic minority.
For the Nagorny Karabakh Republic, the repatriation of refugees would
mean the elimination of the “security belt” and the appearance of
about 500,000 Azerbaijanis on their territory, as well as near their
borders.

Russian politicians and diplomats, who are striving to prevent the
recognition of Kosovo, should not draw any parallels between the
former Yugoslav autonomy and the CIS-2, but invoke such factors as
the weakness of the province’s state institutions and the threat of
international terrorism and drug trafficking (real problems for
Kosovo).

By proposing its own criteria for the recognition or non-recognition
of newly independent states, Russia could secure freedom to maneuver
both in the Balkans and within the CIS-2. Why do we not recognize
Kosovo? Because there is no viable democracy there: After all, even
the report by Kai Eide, the UN secretary general’s envoy to Kosovo,
talks about personnel policy based on clan affiliation without any
regard to competence. Why does Russia support China (the PRC)?
Because there have been several election cycles there and local
government institutions are developing.

Why is Russia helping South Ossetia and Abkhazia? Because Tbilisi
discriminates against ethnic minorities (not only Abkhaz and
Ossetians, but also Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Kurds, and Assyrians)
and because it has abolished the Adzhar autonomy.

The mastering of political jargon adopted in the West and a
diversified policy would prevent Russia from falling into the trap of
“universalism” with regard to ethnic self-determination. It must not
be forgotten that recognition of “blood right” as the main motive for
revising state borders is fraught with a new “parade of
sovereignties” for the Russian Federation – something that the
“vertical chain of command” would be powerless to stop.MN

CHAIRMAN OF ELECTORAL COMMISSION STATES ABOUT ELECTORAL VIOLATIONS
IMPLEMENTED BY HIMSELF

YEREVAN, APRIL 14, NOYAN TAPAN. Non-partizan Spartak Yeghiazarian, an
inhabitant of the village of Oshakan, the marz of Aragatsotn,
addressed to the “Azgayin Miabanutiun” (National Unity) party and
asked to give him possibility to meet with mass media to state about
electoral violations implemented by him.

Alexan Karapetian, the Secretary of the NA “National Unity” faction
informed about this at the April 14 parliamentary briefing. “Reports
of the two stages of the presidential elections and the referendum do
not correspond to the reality, I myself had violations,” was mentioned
in the application. Spartak Yeghiazarian who was also present at the
briefing informed that during the 2003 presidential and parliamentary
elections as well as the 2005 referendum, he was the Electoral
Commissions Chairman of correspondingly No 04/30 and No 14/32 polling
stations, being the RA President’s representative in the commissions.

According to Yeghiazarian, accounting of voting papers of the first
stage of the presidential elections in his polling station showed that
Robert Kocharian got 12% of votes. Artashes Geghamian, the Chairman
of the “Azgayin Miabanutyun” party was on the second place, and Stepan
Demirchian, the Chairman of the People’s Party of Armenia was on the
first place. But as a condition was made concerning securing 60% in
favour of Kocharian, votes given in favour of Geghamian and Demirchian
were also accounted in his favour. Yeghiazarian mentioned that during
the first stage not all the polling stations of the marz secured such
a result. Particularly, in No04/29 polling station votes given for
Kocharian made 29%. But during the second stage, more than 50% of
votes was fixed in favour of Kocharian in that polling station. He
mentioned that the same mechanism was used in all over the marz.

According to Yeghiazarian, during the referendum on the constitutional
amendments electoral commissions were beforehand given electoral rolls
of the polling stations where full names of inhabitants, their
passport data and signatures were mentioned. According to the
Commission Chairman, 60 people in reality participated in the
referendum, 30 of who voted “yes,” 22 “no,” 8 voting papers were
recognized invalid.

But 1649 “yes” were presented in the lists prepared beforehand. Such a
process took place in the whole marz. Responding the Noyan Tapan
correspondent’s question, Yeghiazarian stated that he was given no
bribe, and he implemented those violations as a result of pressure put
on him. He stated that he was frightened threatening that they will
harm his two children, but today he is not afraid of anything and
decided to repend. He mentioned that he is ready to bear the
responsibility for his offence. Yeghiazarian promised to make in
future public names of all those guilty, starting with the President’s
staff up to their local authorities. Yeghiazarian mentioned that he
addressed to the RA President’s staff and the Defence Ministry with
this issue, but there was no result. He also made an attempt to
address to the Prosecutor’s Office, but his application was not
accepted. Yeghiazarian also informed that he addressed to the National
Press Club, asking to convene a press-conference on this issue, but he
was refused.

Regnum, Russia
April 14 2006

5th energy unit of Hrazdan TPS has caused dismissal of head of
Armenian presidential administration?

Head of Armenian presidential administration Artashes Tumanyan was
dismissed mainly for the talks he conducted with Iran on construction
of 5th energy unit of Hrazdan TPS. Opposition MP Arshak Sadoyan is
quoted by a REGNUM correspondent as stating it during 13 April
discussion on selling of the 5th energy unit to the Russian Gazprom.

According to him, the head of presidential administration, who was
also co-Chair of the Armenian-Iranian Intergovernmental Economic
Commission, agreed with the Iranian side in January 2006, that Iran
would construct the energy unit. In connection with the question,
`problems arose with Gazprom, and the Armenian authorities decided to
dismiss Tumanyan under pretence of fact, he established party,’
stressed Sadoyan, adding there was no other way to cancel Tumanyan’s
agreement with the Iranian side.

It should be reminded, Robert Kocharyan signed a decree on Artashes
Tumanyan’s dismissal from the post of Armenian presidential
administration’s head on February 24. On March 16, the former
administration head suddenly rejected his initiative to form the New
Country Party, which aim was Armenian membership in the European
Union till 2015.