Author: Nahapetian Zhanna

OSCE CHAIRMAN-IN-OFFICE CALLS ON ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN TO SETTLE NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

TREND News Agency, Azerbaijan
June 4 2007

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel
Moratinos, said to Ìediamax agency in an exclusive interview that
Armenia and Azerbaijan have to use the present opportunity for
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"I know that both countries seek to overcome current difficulties.

So, I am in an optimistic mood. Both sides have to use this
opportunity. It is time to make the move," the Chairman, who begins
his visit to Baku and Yerevan on 4 June, said.

Miguel Angel Moratinos said in the interview that his meeting with the
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen in Madrid at the beginning of May was very
fruitful. "I congratulate the Ambassadors Mr Facier and Merzlakov,
and the US Assistant Deputy Secretary of State, Mathew Bryza, on
perfect work and express my gratitude to Armenian and Azerbaijani
authorities for their willingness to cooperate with the mediators
for a settlement to the conflict," Moratinos said.

Speaking on whether he believed in the willingness of Azerbaijan to
agree on holding a referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh, Moratinos said,
"It is not easy to balance sovereignty and territorial integrity with
the right to self-determination. Both of them are universal principles
used in different circumstances. I am confident that Azerbaijan and
Armenia can find a way out through principles more convenient for
settlement of the situation which harms thousands of people who have
the right to a worthy, peaceful and happy life."

Commenting on the fact that one of the OSCE Minsk Group’s co-chairmen,
Russia, states that possible independence of Kosovo can become
a precedent for other lingering conflicts, while the other two
co-chairmen, France and the United States, stick to the opposite,
the OSCE Chairman-in-Office said, "The conflicts in the OSCE territory
greatly diverse. France, Russia and the United States being co-chairmen
do not consider it expedient to use providential formulas as the
diverse situations will make the formulas unable to function."

–Boundary_(ID_cjmFrSCM7r5q78TFHm eP0g)–

PRESS RELEASE
The Heritage Party
31 Moscovian Street
Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 10) 53.69.13
Fax: (+374 – 10) 53.26.97
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Website:

June 6, 2007

HERITAGE TO TOROSYAN

Yerevan–This morning Raffi K. Hovannisian, chairman of the Heritage Party,
sent the following text to the Honorable Mr. Tigran Torosyan, chairman of
the National Assembly.

"The first session of the fourth National Assembly has not to date taken
place pursuant to the Constitution. As of this writing, Heritage has not
received, in a manner reflective of the rule of law, due notice of that
session, its invitation and holding, or any other details connected
therewith.

What is more, the Constitutional Court currently is considering the issue of
the validity of the parliamentary elections, and is required to issue its
final judgment on or before June 10 of this year.

Based on these facts, and until such time as the aforementioned matters are
resolved, Heritage respectfully informs you of the impossibility of its
presence at any National Assembly session that might be held."

Founded in 2002, Heritage has regional divisions throughout the land. Its
central office is located at 31 Moscovian Street, Yerevan 0002, Armenia,
with telephone contact at (374-10) 536.913, fax at (374-10) 532.697, email
at [email protected] or [email protected], and website at

WILL ARF DASHNAKTSUTYUN LEAVE IT UP TO ITS MINISTERS TO DECIDE?

Lragir.am
04-06-2007

We have learned that the Republican Party failed to persuade the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun to take up government posts in return for supporting
Serge Sargsyan and not putting up a candidate in the presidential
election of 2008. The intensive negotiations lasting for a few
days now have produced no result. The ARF Dashnaktsutyun will make
a statement on these days, if nothing changes over this time, and
reject the coalition. However, the party may also give freedom to the
ARF members who worked minister with the quota of the party until May
12, i.e. Levon Mkrtichyan, Davit Lokyan, Aghvan Vardanyan and Norair
Davidyan. The party will leave it up to them to decide to remain at
their government posts, if the Republican Party agrees to appoint
them without the ARF’s agreement regarding the election of 2008.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Kocharian-Aliyev meeting to produce no effect, Alexander Iskandaryan says
04.06.2007 16:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Nothing will happen during the forthcoming
Kocharian-Aliyev meeting in Saint Petersburg, political scientist
Alexander Iskandaryan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

The sides will depart with no decision on the issue, according to him.

`They will issue meaningless statements like in Ramboullet and
Bucharest. The settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict may take a
lot of time. Presently, nothing predicts an agreement and there is no
document two Presidents could sign,’ Iskandaryan said.

The Kocharian-Aliyev meeting will take place in the framework of CIS
informal summit in Saint Petersburg June 9-10.

FOREIGN NAMES OF MORE THAN 20 POPULATED AREAS CHANGED IN SYUNIK

KAPAN, JUNE 4, NOYAN TAPAN. By government’s decision, foreign names of
more than 20 populated areas of Syunik were changed and this process is
still underway. Names of two populated areas are still to be changed.
They are Musalam and Okhtar. This was not done previously, as the
villagers did not agree to the new names offered by the government. The
issue of renaming of populated areas having the same name is not solved
yet in the region. They are three: town of Agarak and village of
Agarak, town of Kajaran and village of Kajaran, villages of Vorotan in
regions of Sisian anf Goris.

In the words of Seyran Avetisian, Deputy Head of Department of
Coordination of Activity of Territorial Services of Local
Self-government and Republican Executive Bodies of Regional
Administration, when choosing new names for populated areas they took
into consideration the historic names of those places, as well as
community’s opinion. As he reported, the new names of villages are
already being used, but signboards of the populated areas, seals of
regional administrations have not been changed yet, which requires some
expenditures and time.

Press TV, Iran
June 3 2007

Iran-Armenia pipeline in progress
Sun, 03 Jun 2007 03:37:27

Iran-Armenia gas transfer pipeline is to be completed by early 2008
Armenia’s national gas company has pledged to build the second and
final segment of a natural gas pipeline from Iran by the end of 2008.

Iranian Shana news agency quoted the Armenian daily Armenia Liberty
making the announcement.

The Iranian and Armenian presidents inaugurated the first
40-kilometer Armenian section of the pipeline stretching from the
Iranian border to Armenia’s southeastern town of Kajaran in March.

Armenian officials have said their country would be able to import
large volumes of Iranian gas only after the construction of the
pipeline’s second, much longer segment that would extend it from
Kajaran to the southern Ararat Valley.

The Arminfo news agency quoted chairman of the ArmRosGazprom (ARG)
operator Karen Karapetian, as saying that his company, which is
controlled by Russia’s Gazprom, has already begun work on the
197-kilometer segment and plans to finish it late 2008. He said ARG
would invest USD 149m in this stretch.

Armenia currently imports approximately 1.2 billion cubic meters of
Russian gas each year, which generates about 40 percent of national
electricity needs and serves as the main source of winter heating for
Armenian households.

Construction of the first 40 kilometer-long section of the pipeline
by Iranian experts began in November 2004.

The pipeline will transfer some 36 billion cubic meters of Iranian
gas to Armenia over the next 20 years.

The pipeline will transfer some 2.5 billion cubic meters of Iranian
gas to Armenia per annum once it is completed by early 2008.

A total of USD 33m has been spent on the project thus far.

MESROP MUTAFIAN: 1.5 MLN ARMENIANS DIED IN DESERTS

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 31 2007

ISTANBUL, MAY 31, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Armenian Patriarch
of Constantinople, Archbishop Mesrop Mutafian met with members
of delegation of U.S. Congress working group for affairs of
Turkey. According to Milliyet, the participants of the meeting
spoke about the draft resolution on Armenian Genocide in Congress,
murders of editor-in-cheif of Agos newspaper Hrant Dink, Catholic
clergyman Santoro in Trapison, as well as cruel murders committed
lately in Malatia.

Speaking about the draft resolution N 106 about Armenian Genocide
in Congress and the events that happened in 1915, Mesrop Mutafian
stated: "From point of view of Turkey-Armenia bilateral relations,
as well as current relations between Armenians of Turkey and Turkish
people we do not treat positively the resolution on Armenian Genocide
submitted to U.S. Congress. We cannot exclude the painful events,
which happened during the history. The history will never forgive the
policy of Unity and Progress (Ittihat ve Terrakki) Party, which was
shown not only to Armenian groups making armed attacks on the state,
but also to all citizens of Armenia."

The Patriarch also said that 1.5 million Armenians died in the deserts
of Syria. While, only 70 thousand Armenians have remained in Turkey
at present.

"We should not also forget our Armenian citizens who adopted
Mohammedanism for avoiding deportation," the Armenian Patriarch of
Constantinople stated.

LES TAVIANI REVEILLENT LA MEMOIRE ARMENIENNE
Par Brigitte Baudin

Le Figaro, France
30 mai 2007

CINEMA Le Mas des AlouettesDrame de Paolo et Vittorio Taviani. Avec
Arsinee Khanjian, Tcheky Karyo, Andre Dussollier, Angela Molina, Paz
Vega. Duree : 1 h 58. Palme d’or a Cannes en 1977 pour " Padre Padrone
", les realisateurs de " Good Morning Babylon " s’interrogent sur
le genocide armenien. APRÈS AVOIR transpose Goethe dans leur Toscane
natale (Les Affinites electives), realise une variation pirandellienne
sur la violence (Kaos II), Paolo et Vittorio Taviani, les duettistes
du cinema italien, adaptent cette fois librement Il etait une fois
en Armenie (Editions Robert Laffont) , le roman autobiographique de
Antonia Arslan sur sa famille d’origine arme­nienne, massacree par
les Turcs.

1915. Le patriarche de la riche famille Avakian vient de mourir. Tous
les amis d’Aram (Tcheky Karyo), le fils cadet, et de sa femme
Armineh (Arsinee Khanjian) defilent devant la depouille mortelle
du vieux notable. Le colonel Arkan (Andre Dussollier), representant
les autorites turques, vient aussi lui rendre hommage. La guerre et
les persecutions perpetrees contre la communaute armenienne semblent
bien loin. Nunik (Paz Vega) poursuit aussi une relation secrète avec
Egon (Alessandro Preziosi), un militaire turc. Quelques jours plus
tard pourtant, tout bascule. Alors que la famille Avakian prepare
l’arrivee d’Assadour (Mariano Rigillo), le frère aîne d’Aram, au mas
des Alouettes dont il a herite, des ­militaires turcs debarquent et
tuent tous les hommes et enfants de sexe masculin. Les femmes, quant
a elles, sont deportees via Alep en Syrie, avant d’etre eliminees
a leur tour. Une fresque romanesque puisee dans l’histoire " Nous
avons decouvert l’ampleur et l’horreur de la tragedie armenienne il
y a trois-quatre ans en lisant le livre d’Antonia ­Arslan, explique
Paolo Taviani. Nous nous sentions d’autant plus coupables de l’avoir
ignore que j’ai eu a mon service, a Rome, Melanie, une domestique
d’origine armenienne. Une femme d’une autre epoque qui avait perdu
toute sa famille. C’etait une rescapee du genocide. Lorsqu’elle
nous racontait son drame personnel nous ne la croyions pas. Elle
nous decrivait l’horreur. C’etait insoutenable. Nous pensions alors
qu’elle affabulait. C’est seulement lorsque nous avons prepare ce film,
vu des documents, lu des temoignages, que nous avons realise qu’elle
disait la verite. Nous avons surtout ete conscients, Vittorio et moi,
d’apporter notre modeste pierre a l’edifice, a la cause armenienne
qui attend toujours que justice soit ­faite. Ce film a ete aussi
pour nous la possibilite de traiter d’une tragedie contemporaine a
l’instar du genocide en ex-Yougoslavie et en ­Afrique. " Paolo et
Vittorio Taviani n’ont cependant pas voulu realiser un documentaire,
mais une fresque romanesque puisant ses racines dans l’histoire. "
Nous sommes partis de l’intrigue du livre mais très vite nous avons
bifurque vers la fantaisie precise Paolo Taviani. Nous avons change
les noms et invente certains personnages.

Nunik est aussi devenue le pivot de l’his­toire : une adolescente
qui devient une femme responsable, protectrice qui se sacrifie pour
sa famille. Elle vit aussi une belle histoire d’amour impossible, du
fait des circonstances, avec Youssouf (Moritz Bleibtreu), un soldat
turc, gardien du camp dans lequel elle est retenue prisonnière avec
les autres deportees armeniennes. " Les frères Taviani ont renoue
aussi avec la grande tradition du cinema italien en faisant appel
a des acteurs francais, europeens, canadiens d’envergure comme :
Tcheky Karyo, Paz Vega, Angela Molina, Moritz Bleibtreu et ­Arsinee
Khanjian d’origine armenienne et la femme du realisateur Atom Egoyan.

–Boundary_(ID_Znh2tth6mBjxTUhj2S5Kyg)–

EDUCATION MINISTER AGAINST IMPOSING SCHOOL UNIFORM

ARMENPRESS
May 29 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 29, ARMENPRESS: Education and culture minister Levon
Mkrtchian denounced today authorities in some Armenian regions,
who force parents of secondary school students to collect money for
buying mandatory uniforms.

Particularly, the decision of authorities in Armavir province,
to force all school students to wear uniforms beginning from next
academic year that starts in September, caused a public outcry.

Speaking to a news conference the minister said the question of
mandatory uniform should be decided by parents council, but not be
enforced by the authorities.

"When urban and rural authorities decide that schoolchildren must
wear uniforms they must also think how to help families which can
not afford it," he said.

ARMENIAN INTERNET COMMUNITY: ARMENIAN POLITICIANS ENDANGER EXISTENCE OF ARMENIAN NATION

Regnum News Agency, Russia
May 29 2007

"Any politician or civil servant, no matter what his previous merit to
the country is, is traitor of his home country and enemy of his nation
if he proposes to surrender Armenian territory," says a statement by
Armenian online resources received by REGNUM.

The authors of the text say: "Today, we claim that Armenian leadership
and political parties stop any discussions of the readiness to
surrender liberated Armenian territories of Artsakh. We also
claim that contents of the talks are made public, as we find it
inadmissible to conceal information that directly concerns future
of the Armenian nation." "Territorial bargaining and an attempt
to surrender the liberated territory are in now way capable of
resolving the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and are fatal not only for
Artsakh future, but for the Armenian statehood in general. Armenian
politicians mired in the ‘constructive dialog’ endanger existence of
the Armenian nation. Practically, what is happening today is a new
‘Munich agreement,’ which pushes us into a strategic deadlock and
encouraging a new aggression against the Nagorno Karabakh Republic
and the Republic of Armenia," the statement says.

OpenArmenia, ArmenianHouse.org Administration, NKR Community,
Karabakh Community, Artsakh.info Community, Genocide.ru staff,
Portal.Am, VIP Multilingual Forums, Mitk Analytical Center,
, Hayastan.com, the city of Dilijan ,
sirumem.com, KarabakhOpen, Andranik Youth Club "Aliance", Sumgait.info
Civil Initiative, Haylife.ru, Merhayrenik.narod.ru, Miatsum.ru,
Armiane.spb.ru, Haytun.com, , Nver.ru, Jugend-und
Studentenfoderation "Nor Serunt", Armenian Knowledge Base photo blogs
signed the statement. Colelction of signatures continues.