U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT HOPES FOR SUCCESS IN KARABAKH PROCESS IN 2007
PanARMENIAN.Net
13.04.2007 12:42 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ It’s important to find a peaceful solution to the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict, said Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary
for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. The Co-chairs of the
OSCE Minsk Group are actively working to help Armenia and Azerbaijan
to overcome the conflict, according to him.
"We hope for a success this year," the diplomat underscored.
YEREVAN SHANGHAI CLUB TO ASSIST DEEPENING OF ARMENIAN-CHINESE RELATIONS, ARAM G. SARGSIAN IS SURE
Noyan Tapan
Apr 12 2007
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, NOYAN TAPAN. The main goal of the Shanghai
Club functioning in Yerevan is to form a public opinion about
the necessity of deepening the Armenian-Chinese relations. Aram
Sargsian, the Chairman of the Democratic Party of Armenia (DPA), a
founding member of the club stated about it in the interview to Noyan
Tapan. In his words, their final goal is involvement of Armenia in
the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). In A. Sargsian’s opinion,
film director Tigran Khzmalian, Chairman of the "Hayrenik and Pativ"
(Fatherland and Honour) party Garnik Margarian, former Deputy Prime
Minister, former RA Deputy Minister of Defence Vahan Shirkhanian are
among the club members.
The DPA leader mentioned that after psychologically preparing the
Armenian society, the RA National Assembly will make a decision to
join the SCO, but it will be in the case if the DPA and forces which
are of the same opinion with it in the mentioned issue will make the
parliamentary majority.
In A. Sargsian’s opinion, China will day by day have greater role
in the geopolitical developments. At the same time, in his words,
China strives for having good-neighborly relations with Armenia. So,
in A. Sargsian’s opinion, there are all preconditions to move the
relations with that country to a higher field.
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER ANNOUNCES IN CALIFORNIA APRIL 22-29 "DAYS OF MENTIONING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE"
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 12 2007
SACRAMENTO, APRIL 12, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. California
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the period of time from
April 22 to 29 "Days of Mentioning Armenian Genocide."
It is mentioned in the statement spread by the Governor’s Office
that more than 1.5 million of Armenian men, women and children living
within the borders of Ottaman Empire during the 1915-1923 years of the
World War I chaos were killed, hundreds of thousand of Armenians were
deported by force, after having been taken their property, national
traditions and Fatherland.
"Having been proved as the first genocide of the 20th century,
the Armenian Genocide remains not recognized up to now. I am of the
same opinion with the viewpoints that all states must examine their
sorrowful history," is said in the statement spread by the Governor.
"I join the American Armenian community of California and all
Armenians of the world to mention all those who were killed and
pursued during the Armenian Genocide and demand that nobody in the
world ever forgets this terrible crime committed against the mankind,"
Schwarzenegger stated.
SERZH SARGSYAN’S APPEAL TO GOVERNMENT
A1+
[09:09 pm] 12 April, 2007
Today, before touching the agenda at RA Government session led by
Serzh Sargsyan, the latter congratulated them on re-appointment for
the post. He found changes inappropriate due to a month-term between
RA NA elections and his appointment. Besides, the government will
function successfully in this present team.
As a matter of fact, all government members are appointed but for
the Minister of Defense; it means that the government is still not
formed. The Minister of Defense will also be appointed within legal
terms; afterwards the Government program will be introduced to RA NA.
Pondering over further acts, Serzh Sargsyan mentioned,’ If we succeed
in the coming elections, and be given the chance of forming the new
government, changes are inevitable. We’ll examine and review each
member thoroughly. We need to see in what field we are able do our
utmost for the betterment of out country and economy.’
The Prime Minister asked the officialdom to be more accurate and bear
more responsibility in the coming month, as the government has a lot
to do in the forthcoming elections.
The acting Prime Minister is of the opinion that today’s accident
in Avan and Kanaker-Zeytun communities prove the fact that there are
certain powers to disrupt the NA Elections.
In the end, he turned to each member as representatives of various
political bodies to support and preach their ideology in a more
civilized way.
KARABAKH LIBERATION ORGANIZATION PROPOSES COMMISSION TO STUDY CEMETERY DISCOVERED IN GUBA REGION
Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
April 11 2007
Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr S. Ilhamghizi / Karabakh Liberation
Organization (KLO) considers it necessary to establish a state
commission to study the mass burial cemetery recently discovered in
the Guba region.
KLO voiced beliefs that the cemetery is another historical proof of
mass extermination of the Azerbaijani people by Armenian terrorists.
"The cemetery proves one more time the fact that the Armenians killed
the Azerbaijanis in Guba with extreme brutality, even taunting their
corpses. The graves are telling of the Armenians, who constantly
speak of the fictitious genocide of the Armenian people.
KLO considers that the Foreign Ministry, the National Academy of
Science, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Health ought
not to be indifferent to such facts. A special commission should
be established with the assistance of official bodies, in order to
inform the world society of the atrocity committed by the Armenians.
"If the official bodies do not wish to deal with the matter, KLO will
do its best to begin research with the assistance of the people and
participation of KLO’s experts," the organization reported.
KLO was founded in Baku in 2000, with the purpose being to organize a
civil liberation of Karabakh. The organization headed by the candidate
of History Science, Docent Akif Naghi, unites 10,000 members. There
are KLO departments in the regions of Azerbaijan and foreign countries.
ASSISTANCE
Azat Artsakh Daily, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]
10 April 07
In 2006 charity programs of 4 billion 238 million drams were
implemented in Nagorno Karabakh. NKR Vice Premier Ararat Danielian,
who is the chair of the Central Commission on Humanitarian Aid, told
De Facto that charity funds provided for social and economic programs
grew by 9.5 percent compared with 2005.
Ararat Danielian said in 2006 Nagorno Karabakh received humanitarian
aid of 66 million 85 thousand drams, which was spent on medicine,
medical equipment and computers. The chair of the commission said
currently over 20 organizations and individuals from Nagorno Karabakh,
Armenia, the United Stated, France, Germany and Russia implement
charity and humanitarian programs. Ararat Danielian said charitable
organizations and benefactors are exempt from the VAT. " Charity and
humanitarian programs are highly important for both the solution of
social problems and development of infrastructures in NKR. They help
spare considerable budget funds, which are directed at long-term
social and economic development," Ararat Danielian said.
HEAD of OSCE PA ELECTION OBSERVATION TEAM TO VISIT RA
A1+
[03:57 pm] 10 April, 2007
COPENHAGEN, 10 April 2007 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Vice-President
Tone Tingsgaard will visit Yerevan on 12-13 April as a part of
the Assembly’s observation of the 12 May parliamentary elections in
Armenia. Mrs. Tingsgaard, a Member of Parliament from Sweden, has been
appointed to lead the international delegation of parliamentarians
from the OSCE PA.
The pre-election visit will enable the OSCE PA team to gather
information regarding the ongoing campaign. In Yerevan, Mrs. Tingsgaard
will meet with representatives of political parties, the Central
Election Commission, the National Assembly, the long-term observer
mission deployed by the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions
and Human Rights, and other observer groups.
Mrs. Tingsgaard, who has extensive experience monitoring elections in
the OSCE area, will return to Armenia in May to lead the delegation
of OSCE parliamentarians that will be deployed across the country.
Since 1993, the OSCE PA has deployed more than 2300 parliamentarians
to observe elections across the OSCE region.
NEW PRIME MINISTER VISITS TOWN OF ALAVERDI, PROMISES ASSISTANCE
ARMENPRESS
Apr 09 2007
ALAVERDI, APRIL 9, ARMENPRESS: On Saturday prime minister Serzh
Sarkisian pledged 20 million Drams from the government’s budget to
the municipality of a small northeastern town of Alaverdi in the
province of Lori to help it repair the roofs of high-rise blocks
of apartments and 150 million Drams to the local branch of the
Yerkrapah Union of Nagorno-Karabakh War Veterans as an assistance to
the families of soldiers who fought against Azerbaijan’s aggression
in the early 1990-s.
Serzh Sarkisian traveled to the town for his first visit in the
capacity of interim head of the government for a meeting with local
people to learn their problems and look with them for ways to solve
them.
Alaverdi is home to the second biggest cooper smelter run by the
Armenian Copper Program (ACP) company, which the prime minister said
is of crucial importance for the country’s economy.
Sarkisian said also his government will support all businessmen who
will invest in Armenia’s economy ‘because they are creating new jobs
and pay taxes."
Valeri Mejlumian, the owner of the Armenian Copper Program, promised
to install new modern equipment in the smelter to reduce the pollution
level.
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DISPUTE BLOCKS TALKS OVER THE NABUCCO PIPELINE
Author: Olga Yoncheva
international.news.bg, Bulgaria
April 6 2007
Turkey has suspended talks with Gaz de France over a pipeline project
that would bring Caspian natural gas to Europe in reaction to a French
resolution on so-called Armenian genocide, reports The New Anatolian
daily newspaper.
The Nabucco pipeline will transport gas from Central Asia, through
Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary to Austria.
Start of the pipeline construction is scheduled for 2008. The first
gas shipments have to be made by 2012. The planned pipeline would
reduce Europe’s dependency on Russian gas.
Turkey strongly opposes the claims that its predecessor state, the
Ottoman government, caused the Armenian deaths in a planned genocide.
After French lawmakers voted last October to make it a crime to deny
that the claims were genocide, Turkey said it would suspend military
relations with France.
A top energy minister official told The New Anatolian that Ankara
would suspend partnership with all French corporations including Gaz
de France. "This move covers all public tenders.
This move also should be understood by other countries which are
planning to recognize so-called Armenian claims as genocide," the
source added.
Reports said that Ankara would suspend partnership with Gaz de France
until the French presidential elections. "We will decide according
to policies to be followed after the elections," reports quoted a
senior energy ministry official.
According to the source, BOTAS, Turkey’s official energy agency,
does not want to see French corporations including Gas de France as
partner in all energy sectors.
Energy Minister Hilmi Guler declined to comment on the issue of Gaz
de France. He stated that Ankara attaches great importance to the
Nabucco project, adding that they realized the first phase of this
project. Turkey is in an important position in meeting Europe’s gas
need and we are aware of this," he added.
Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary have already approved the partnership
with GdF.
Austrian oil and gas group OMV heads the consortium planning to build
the pipeline. Bulgargaz, Transgaz from Romania, MOL of Hungary and
and Turkey’s BOTAS are also partners in the project.
French Foreign Ministry stated yesterday that Turkish counterparts
had not yet confirmed on suspension of talks with Gaz de France.
Spokesman of the French Foreign Ministry Jean-Baptiste Mattei has
declined to give further information.
TOKAT: YOURS TO DISCOVER
Pat Yale
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 6 2007
Like Kastamonu, Tokat is a big city of more than 120,000 people that
shouldn’t really be off the beaten track at all.
Unfortunately, like Kastamonu, it lacks that one big draw that would
make it a must on a truncated itinerary. The select few who make it
here, however, discover a town whose complicated history ensures
enough monuments to occupy a day or so of their time. What’s more
it boasts one of Turkey’s best hamams, a local kebab to die for and
several traditional handicrafts that still play an important part in
Turkish life.
If you have never tried out a hamam (Turkish bath), then Tokat is
certainly the place to pick up the public bathing habit. You can hardly
miss the lovely old Ali Paþa Hamamý (1572) as it stands immediately
opposite the main square, its lead domes covered in extraordinary
glass bulbs shaped like breasts. What makes this particular bath so
special is that Tokat has been the birthplace of a disproportionate
number of masseurs who learnt their trade here before fanning out
across the country to try their hands in other baths.
The bath aside, Tokat’s other winning attraction is the 19th-century
Latifoðlu Konaðý, a splendid Ottoman house restored to its original
appearance and opened to the public. The most beautiful rooms are the
separate upstairs salons for men and women, although many people will
find the fully-equipped kitchen particularly interesting. Tokat’s
back streets, especially Bey Sokak, harbor many similarly grand
houses. The Madýmaðýn Celal’ýn Evi is one of the most splendid,
with scenes of the Topkapý Palace and Blue Mosque painted on its walls.
Unfortunately it is not currently open to the public.
Also worth a look is the lovely old Gok Medrese which dates back to
1277 and houses the Tokat Museum. The museum’s contents are only so-so,
although there is some beautiful blue tilework and an intriguing wax
effigy of Christina, a local Christian martyred for her faith during
the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian (284-305).
Also worth a look is the Kýrkkýzlar Turbesi which, from its name,
you might reasonably expect to be the tomb of 40 girls. In fact it is
a collection of 20 tombs, one of them containing the remains of Mu’in
al-Din Suleyman, not a girl but rather the male founder of the medrese
who went on to organize the murder of the Selcuk Sultan Kýlýc Arslan IV
so that he could become regent to his young son. Perhaps inevitably,
his scheming rebounded badly when he was, in turn, executed by the
Mongol invaders in 1278.
Just doors from the Gok Medrese stands the sturdy Taþ, or Voyvoda,
Han which dates back to 1631. Until the early 20th century the han
was used by Armenian traders, and as recently as the late 1990s it
used to house one of Turkey’s better collections of antiques shops.
These were then relocated to the even older Yaðýbasýn Medresesi off
Sulusokak Caddesi to make way for a hotel which has yet to materialize.
The Ali Paþa Hamamý, Latifoðlu Konaðý, Gok Medrese and Taþ Han
are all pretty unmissable, located as they are along Gazi Osman
Paþa Bulvarý, named after Tokat’s most famous son. But until the
mid-20th century this was not the main drag at all. Instead that honor
fell to Sulusokak Caddesi which, today, runs at right angles to GOP
Bulvarý and is very easy to overlook. That would be a pity because few
streets outside Ýstanbul can boast quite so many medieval buildings in
such close proximity. It’s well worth taking a turn along the road,
noting in particular the tiled Ali Tusi Turbesi dating back to 1233,
the Yaðýbasýn Medresei dating back to 1145-47, the old bedesten and
the 14th-century Kadý Hasan Camii, all of them in a terrible state
of disrepair. Here, too, you can find some of Tokat’s coppersmiths,
still hard at work turning out, amongst other things, replicas of
old hamam ‘handbags’.
These sights aside, Tokat has two other claims to fame. From the 15th
century onwards it was the main center for the production of yazmas,
originally hand-drawn and painted cloths, now usually block-printed
scarves. For a while the city actually had a monopoly on their
manufacture and a tax on sales helped support the sultan’s mother. As
recently as the 1980s it was still possible to visit the rather grim
Gazi Emir (Yazmacýlar) Haný where yazmas used to be dyed and printed.
Sadly, industrial tourism has yet to catch on in Turkey and yazma
production has now relocated to a factory in the much less romantic
north-western outskirts of town. Here the gauzy, flower-printed scarves
worn by most Anatolian women are now manufactured on a massive scale.
For gourmets, Tokat’s lip-smacking main attraction is the Tokat
kebabý, a delicious dish created by hanging skewers of lamb, potatoes
and eggplant inside a wood-burning oven. A lump of lard is added to
the skewer and as it melts it bastes the ingredients below. Beside
them tomatoes and peppers cook on separate skewers. Eventually all
the ingredients are brought together and garnished with garlic. The
result? An unforgettable taste sensation.
WHERE TO STAY
Buyuk Tokat Oteli. Tel: (356) 228 1661
Yeni Cýnar Hotel. Te: (356) 214 0066
Yucel Hotel. Tel: (356) 212 5235
Hotel Burcu. Tel: (356) 212 8494
HOW TO GET THERE
Tokat is seven hours by bus from Ankara (440 kilometers), two
hours from Amasya (115 kilometers) and 75 minutes from Sivas (105
kilometers).
–Boundary_(ID_9EJLeNN6FlGQFqnE FWZe9g)–