Author: Nahapetian Zhanna

Panorama.am

18:34 05/05/2008

`OUR DISRUPTION IS BEING BARGAINED’

`What’s going on today in our society is not common to
Armenian culture,’ said Arevshat Avagyan, the
president of Culture Armenian Fund, writer. According
to him a culture common to our national ideology is
not protected. `World thinks that we have a culture of
high quality and that we are a nation having a
psychological intellect,’ said Avagyan.

According to Avagyan, books are being written,
exhibitions opened, but the strangest thing is that
our enemies try to disrupt us. He said that Russian,
European and Western directions are the only reason to
that. `We have chosen wrong way. They bargain for our
disruption and we do it. We should try to understand
each other and be more tolerant,’ he said.

According to Avagyan, national ideology is the only
force to the development.

Source: Panorama.am

MUSIC EVENTS TO TAKE PLACE IN FRESNO ON OCCASION OF ANNIVERSARY OF
WILLIAM SAROYAN

FRESNO, MAY 6, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN.

Two musical events will take place in Fresno, the birthplace of
world-famous writer William Saroyan, on May 10 on the occasion of the
latter’s centennial. In the afternoon, Richard Hagopian and his
grandsons will perform a concert at the Fresno Art Museum and in the
evening, the Fresno Community Chorus will perform in the Concert Hall
at California State University in Fresno.

PanARMENIAN.Net

In case of war Azerbaijan will render Georgia at least
diplomatic assistance
06.05.2008 16:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ There is no real confirmation that
weapons and mujahids will be transported from Kabul to
Georgia via Azerbaijan, a Russian expert said.

`Azerbaijan and Georgia are close in their positions,
since they collaborate within GUAM and implement joint
economic (Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railroad) and
military projects. To what extent is Azerbaijan ready
to get involved in the conflict? Appearance of the
Afghan factor will play into the hands of the
incumbent leadership’s rivals,’ head of the
interethnic relations department at Moscow’s Institute
of Political and Military Analysis Sergei Markedonov
told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

`Nevertheless, Azerbaijan will render Georgia at least
diplomatic assistance, for these two states experience
similar territorial problems,’ he added.

It’s worth mentioning that on May 4, 2008, Real
Azerbaijan newspaper posted on its website an article
titled `Will Azerbaijanis help Georgia?’
( 65), telling
about the possibility of Azerbaijan’s military
assistance to Georgia in case of war against Abkhazia.
Meanwhile, a relevant publication by PanARMENIAN.Net
aroused hysteria in Baku.

Real Azerbaijan’s website was removed from the server.

However, PanARMENIAN.Net brings to the readers’
attention the screenshot of the website and a
reference in Google.

The article that aroused Azerbaijan’s confusion says
in part,

`Azerbaijan intends to assist Georgia in resolving its
territorial problems.

For the purpose, Baku-Kabul flights suspended in March
2008 will be resumed. Trained Afghan mujahids and
large lots of weapons are expected to be airlifted to
Azerbaijan and then to Georgia, Real Azerbaijan
website reports.

According to preliminary data, some 500 Afghan
commandos trained in British camps will arrive in
Georgia. In operation against Abkhazia and South
Ossetia, they will use weapons received from their
British sponsors, thus protecting Azerbaijan from
`coming into the spotlight.’

Reliable sources report that Azeris are being
recruited in Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine
and several other states with numerous Azeri diaspora.

The recruitment is conducted under supervision of
"Azerbaycan Diasporasi" chairman Fikret Veliyev,
chairman of Murmansk division of the All-Russian
Azerbaijani Congress Rafik Badirov, president of
federal national and cultural autonomy of Azeris of
Russia Sayun Sadykov. Not only ordinary Azeris but
also students of Moscow and Kyiv universities are
recruited.

Head of the department of political studies of the
Azerbaijani presidential administration Fuad Akhundov
and chief of the division of foreign policy planning
and strategic studies at the Azeri MFA Tofik Musayev
have been commissioned to coordinate the Azeri
diaspora’s work.

1.5-2 thousand prisoners, who committed grave crimes,
will be granted amnesty on occasion of Heydar Aliyev’s
85th birthday. It’s expected that half of them will be
sent to Georgia as well.

The process of Azeri units’ formation was speeded up
after Russian heavy artillery, weapons and equipment
and additional troops crossed Georgia’s state border.’

THE EAGLES INSPIRED BY THE REVOLUTION
LILIT POGHOSYAN

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on May 03, 2008
Armenia

The activists of the rallies came to partake in the `Second
Pan-Armenian Congress’ of Armenian Pan National Movement taking place
in the government session hall, yesterday.

The participants of the meetings were in high spirits, and ready to
continue their struggle. The speeches of the neo-Bolsheviks were time
and again broken by the chanting: `Levon, Levon’, `Now, Now’,
`Struggle, Struggle to the End’ `Free, Independent Armenia’.

And again: `Levon, Levon’, `Now, now’, `Struggle, Struggle to the End’,
`Nikol, Nikol’, `Freedom’, and so on, and so forth.

The `solemn event’ opened with the speech delivered by the Leader of
the People’s Party of Armenia Stepan Demirchyan, who particularly said
that the opposition is innocent and doesn’t shoulder any responsibility
for March 1 events, because the latter can never shoulder any
responsibility for anything, that the bloodthirsty regime is guilty for
everything that happened; those who shed the blood of the innocent
people.

After which `Hnchakyan Lady’ Lyudmila Sargsyan delivered her speech,
time after time spicing her words with `we are going to win’.

Newly emerged radical Norayr Norikyan was the next speaker. He said,
new elements have appeared in the arsenal of the `movement’ after March
1. Such as: the pro-Azerbaijani resolution adopted by the UN, regarding
which `Day.Az’ once reported with the same enthusiasm, `it is another
ace for Armenian patriot Levon Ter-Petrosyan’. The second ace of
Levon’s Armenian and Azerbaijani fans is PACE resolution 1609, by which
the Council of Europe intimidates: `to deprive Armenian delegation of
the right to vote’. So, the only thing left to do is to manifest
political will and `cross the Rubicon, not to fear anything, and we
will win,’ he challenged his friends.

The `chief preacher’ of `Shoghakat’ TV station Tigran Paskevichyan
spoke as: `one instead of 100′, later he announced on behalf of the
`people’: `People don’t have opponents. Opponent means alternative
power, alternative mentality, alternative morality. Whereas our people
deal with cruel powers, that can open fire on the peaceful
demonstrators (armed with iron sticks ` L.P.)

Head of the Marxist Party, appealed to the select of the nation, having
obtained 21% of the votes as: `The father of the third Republic.
Several years back, when I was the guest of the news program in `Shant’
TV station, N. Mnacakanyan asked my opinion about Artashes Geghamyan’s,
Vazgen Manukyan’s and democrat Aram’s intention to seize the power. I
said that it was ridiculous.’

The hall whistled enthusiastically. To which the latter answered with
not less enthusiastic appeals to: `seize the parliament, as they seized
Bastille, France.’

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF ARMENIA TURNS DOWN THE BILL ON RECOGNITION OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH

AZG Armenian Daily
29/04/2008

Karabakh Issue

The Parliament of the Republic of Armenia turned down the Bill on
Recognition of Nagorno- Karabakh Republic, submitted by Heritage
Party leader Raffi Hovannisian, from the general agenda with 64 votes
‘against’ and only 15 votes ‘for’

Independent parliamentarian Victor Dallakyan said the billit should
be put on the agenda to make its discussion possible at any moment,
otherwise it will mean the Armenian parliamentarians are against
recognizing NKR, ‘which will be in favor of the rival’. For his part,
Armen Roustamian, the head of the Parliamentary Commission for Foreign
Affairs, mentioned that it is the President of Armenia who defines the
country’s foreign policy. The Commission for Foreign Affairs expressed
hope that the Parliament, the presidential administration and the
Foreign Ministry would be interested in discussion of the issue,
but the Commission did not make a negative resolution on the bill.

Parliamentary Speaker Tigran Torosian said the international
recognition of NKR is more important than its official recognition by
Armenia. ‘One could hardly ever find a citizen of our country who would
be against recognizing NKR; however, there is time for everything’,
the speaker said. "If necessary, we will make the bill pass bill in
7 minutes’, T. Torosyan stressed.

L.T.P. – IN FAVOR THE RECONGITION OF NAGORNO KARABAKH
S. Haroutyunyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on April 29, 2008
Armenia

Before the elections, the members of "Heritage" faction announced
that their party had no "fundamental discords" with L. Ter-Petrosyan
and his team with regard to the settlement of the Krabakh conflict.

Yesterday we asked the leader of "Heritage" whether before putting the
legal initiative into circulation, he had discussed the issue with the
former President whom he strongly supported during the presidential
elections. We also tried to know whether it is possible for LTP to
support this initiative proposed by "Heritage" party.

R. Hovhannisyan responded to our question in an abrupt manner, "You
are asking me a hypothetical and nonsensical question. I haven’t said
anything of the kind. If, as a professional journalist, you open our
Web site, , you will find not only the program of our
party, but also my own program regarding Artsakh, which consists of
10 clauses."

And he immediately distinguished himself from LTP’s attitude as a
savior of the nation, indicating the results of the voting. "On the
contrary, we can say that the major part of the National Assembly
and LTP have no discords."

Agree with me that this gives rise to the following question: if the
leader of "Heritage" had fundamental discords with LTP in such vital
issues as the recognition of the NKR independence, how could he have
supported his candidacy during the presidential elections. Or, maybe,
he considers it a secondary issue and thinks it worthless to break off
his relations with the opposition’s united candidate because of that.

We wonder what NA Speaker Tigran Torosyan thinks in this
regard. Whether the fact that the NA majority voted down "Heritage"
party’s initiative to include the bill on "recognition" into the agenda
really means that the coalition, particularly, the "Republican" is
LTP’s "ally" and co-thinker as much as the settlement of the Karabakh
conflict is concerned.

"I believe any sensible person realizes very well what issue was being
discussed in the Parliament, and what the attitude of the National
Assembly was. During the discussion of the agenda, the answer to the
question was given in a clear-cut manner. The issue discussed in the
hall did not concern Armenia’s recognition of the NKR independence;
it was a bill which, in the opinion of the NA majority, should not
have been included in the agenda now.

Moreover, the negative results of the voting cannot, in any way, be
interpreted as an argument that the majority agrees with Ter-Petrosyan
as well as the ‘Karabakh concept’ proposed by his team."

In addition, the NA Speaker said, "In my brief speech regarding the
bill I said that I didn’t think there might be people in the hall
whose viewpoints concerning the solution of the Karabakh issue and
this particular question might be different. Unfortunately, some
speeches convinced me that I was mistaken. When a person says there
are no grounds for the RA citizen to ensure NKR security, I think this
make everything clear in terms of that person’s attitude towards the
Karabakh issue and all our problems in general.

We may advance a couple of questions which really showed that I was
very optimistic when announcing that we all shared the same views
with regard to the settlement of the NKR conflict."

ARMENIAN BORDER GUARDS TO REPLACE RUSSIANS AT RA FRONTIERS

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.04.2008 18:24 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Russian conscripts guarding some segments of
Armenia’s borders will be transferred to the reserve in May and will
be replaced by Armenian servicemen, in compliance with the agreement
signed by Armenia and Russia in 1992.

The RF Federal Security Service’s press unit said Russian border
guards will henceforth serve under contract, Vesti reports.

STEINWAY ROYAL PRESENTED TO PUBLIC

Panorama.am
16:23 26/04/2008

Today in Aram Khachatryan concert hall famous American pianist Martin
Berkofski will give a concert, said Ruzanna Sirunyan, the director
of Aram Khachatryan concert hall, in a pres conference today.

"The mission of the concert is to present to the audience Steinway
Royal which American benefactor Gerald Migllin devoted to Allan
Hovhannes international center and we disposed the piano to the concert
hall," said Alexan Zakyan, the head of Allan Hovhannes international
center Yerevan office.

The pianist Martin Berkofski mentioned that this is his fourth visit
to Armenia and every time he discovers new things for himself.

Interfax News Agency, Russia
April 25 2008

ARMENIA TO BUY GAS FROM GAZPROM ON BETTER TERMS THAN OTHER CIS …

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan has said he is sure that the
price for natural gas imported by Armenia will be better than that at
which other countries buy it from Gazprom.

Speaking with journalists on Friday, Sargsyan said Gazprom CEO Alexei
Miller is expected to visit Armenia in May to discuss the price at
which Gazprom should sell gas to Armenia within the next three years
and sign a relevant agreement.

Asked whether the prices for goods and services in Armenia would
increase, Sargsyan admitted that higher prices for gas always
negatively influence the Armenian economy. "We should make sure that
the increase in prices do not have a negative effect on our economy’s
competitiveness. The rate at which the prices will grow will not be
higher than the identical figures in the countries neighboring
Armenia," he said.

The Gazprom Board of Directors endorsed an increase in prices for gas
sold to the CIS and Baltic countries at a session on April 23. In
particular, Armenia will buy gas at $165 per 1,000 cubic meters
starting from 2009, compared to the current $110. This price will
remain the same for the next three years. For the other CIS countries,
Gazprom plans to gradually increase the price to the average European
level.

RUBEN SAFRASTIAN NOTES EXPEDIENCY OF TRANSFERING GENOCIDE RECOGNITION
ISSUE FROM POLITICAL TO LEGAL PLANE

YEREVAN, APRIL 26, NOYAN TAPAN. Considerable research is needed to
transfer the issue of recognition of the Armenian Genocide from the
political to a legal plane, director of the Institute of Oriental
Studies of the RA National Academy of Sciences, turkologist, candidate
of historical science Ruben Safrastian said during a meeting with
reporters.

Accoridng to him, scientists and lawyers from Armenia and the Diaspora,
as well as foreign experts should be involved in the development of
legal documents based on examination of a great number of hsitorical
facts.

R. Safrastian drew attention of reporters to the fact that the possible
outcome of applying to the Hague Tribunal has not so far been explored
neither in Armenia nor in the Diaspora. In his words, while carrying
out research work, it is also necessary to decide whether the Republic
of Armenia, the Armenian Diaspora and several Diasporan organizations
will apply to the Hague Tribunal. He urged to take a serious approach
to preparation of legal documents, taking a number of factors into
account, such as the role and authority of Turkey in the region, its
resources, and the fact that Turkey has struggled against the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide for decades.

Safrastian underlined the necessity of the youth’s active participation
in the process of the Genocide’s recognition. In his words, this
process is directed not to the past, as some young people believe, but
to the future: "Genocide is a mass violation of rights of a group of
people so participation in the struggle for recognition of the Armenian
Genocide will create an opportunity for our country to play a leading
role in the struggle against genocides," he said. According to him, the
Turkish side too is currently examining the expediency of transfering
the Genocide issue to the legal plane. However, the aspirations of the
Armenian and Turkish sides to transfer the issue to a legal plane
differ markedly: Armenia wants to create conditions for receiving
compensation (territorial, material or moral), while Turkey strives to
stop the recognition process.

The scientist also paid attention to the fact that today the European
Union has increased its pressure on Turkey in connection with
discussion of the issue of Turkey’s joining the EU, which has opened an
opportunity for Armenia to get concessions from Turkey in a number of
issues.