Author: Nalbandian Albert

CONSTRUCTION OF KATB RAILWAY IS NOT TOUCHED UPON AT PROPER LEVEL IN ARMENIA, HMAYAK HOVHANNISIAN THINKS

Noyan Tapan
Feb 15 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, NOYAN TAPAN. RA National Assembly deputies
are today more worried with communal problems than with issues
of national importance like, for example, construction of
the Kars-Akhalkalak-Tbilisi-Baku railway, with all dangerous
consequences for Armenia. Chairman of the Politicians’ Union of
Armenia, deputy Hmayak Hovhannisian stated about it at the February
15 press conference. In his words, on February 8, the day of signing
of the agreement on railway construction the Armenian deputies did
not touch upon that agreement during the parliamentary questions and
answers. And responding Vartan Oskanian’s answer to his question that
"the program implementation will not bring to isolation of Armenia,"
H.Hovhannisian reminded Voltaire’s hero Doctor Pangloss who suffered
from unhealthy optimism.

The deputy mentioned that he is a supporter of the Armenian-Georgian
close cooperation, but bilateral sincerity is necessary for building
such relations and keeping them. "And how much are we sincere with
Georgia if we do not arise issues we are interested in?" H.Hovhannisian
said. In his opinion, the authorities of Armenia today mask the
problems arisen in front of the country, and, particularly, the
program on construction of the mentioned railway.

In H.Hovhannisian’s opinion, the Armenians of Javakhk will never adjust
to that program. In his words, "it is only owing to delicate policy
of Armenians living in the Fatherland, that a separative movement
did not start in Javakhk what was more probable than in the case of
Abkhazia, and there were even more preconditions of Javakhk’s becoming
independent than of Artsakh."

AMERICAN UNDERSECRETARY: "IT SEEMS THAT THE ARMENIAN BILL WILL BE APPROVED"

Sabah, Turkey
Feb 14 2007

The undersecretary of the US Embassy in Ankara, McEldowney stated
that there is a high possibility of the Armenian genocide bill being
approved by the House of Representatives, during a lunch she gave
to a group of members in the Motherland Party. The main issue at the
lunch was the Armenian bill planned to be discussed in the US House
of Representative in April. Members of the Motherland Party stated
that the reactions against the USA will rise up in the case the bill
is approved. McEldowney said: "this situation should not damage our
relationships because we are putting the necessary efforts forth
to eliminate the terrorist organization, the PKK. Some events will
happen in North Iraq very soon."

WRESTLERS OF ARMENIA SERIOUSLY PREPARE FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS TO TAKE PLACE IN BAKU

Noyan Tapan
Feb 12 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 12, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian national teams
of free and Greco-Roman styles, headed by main trainers Hrant
Yenokian and Levon Julfalakian, seriously prepare for the world
championships to be held in Baku in September. Yuri Areksanian, the
Press Secretary of the RA Armenian Sports State Committee, Chairman of
the Sports Journalists’ Federation of Armenia informed the Noyan Tapan
correspondent about it. He mentioned that the Azerbaijani "APA-Sport"
agency spread information on February 8 as if Yura Vardanian, the
Secretary General of the Wrestlers’ Federation of Armenia stated
that wrestlers of Armenia refused participation in the competitions
to take place in Baku. In the words of the Press Secretary of the RA
Armenian Sports State Committee, this is a regular disinformation of
Azerbaijan as L.Vardanian has never made such a statement.

JEWELERS OF SRI LANKA INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN INTERNATIONAL JEWELRY EXHIBITION TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
Feb 08 2007

COLOMBO, FEBRUARY 8, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian Ambassador to India
Ashot Kocharian was on a working visit to Colombo, the capital city
of Sri Lanka, on February 4-7. Ambassador Kocharian attended the
parade on the occasion of Independence Day of Sri Lanka, as well as
the official reception hosted by the President of Sri Lanka Mahinda
Rajapaksa. He had meetings with the country’s Secretary of Foreign
Affairs Mr Palita Kohona and Director General of the Department of
Europe, America and CIS Countries Mr A. Vijeyratna. The opporunities
and prospects of bilateral cooperation were discussed. The ambassador
underlined that the Armenian government attaches great importance to
the extension and deepening of cooperation with friendly countries
of the Asian region, particularly with Sri Lanka. The necessity for
formation of the legal field and organization of mutual visits by
top-level and businessmen delegations was indicated. The ambassador
restated the invitation of the Armenian Jewelers Association that
invites Sri Lanka jewelers to participate in the international jewelry
exhibition to be held in Yerevan in October. He expressed a positive
opinion about the cooperation in international organizations. After
the briefing for heads of fiplomatic missions at the foreign ministry,
the Armenian ambassador had a short talk with the newly appointed
Foreign Minister Rohita Bogollagama. He congratulated the foreign
minister on his appointment and expressed a hope that bilateral
relations with Sri Lanka will develop in an efficient and mutually
beneficial way, particularly, in trade, economic, jewelry making,
cultural and educational spheres. The foreign minister in his turn
expressed the willingness of Sri Lanka’s government to further develop
cooperation with Armenia. The Armenian ambassador also met with local
businessmen. Some details of mutual visits of Armenian and Sri Lanka
businessmen were discussed.

DINK MURDER ONCE AGAIN BRINGS TO SURFACE GENDARMERIE, POLICE CONFLICT…
Lale Sariibrahimoglu

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 8 2007

Turkey’s gendarmerie forces and the police, which are both supposed
to be taking orders from the Interior Ministry, have once again
displayed their internal conflict, this time following the slaying
of the prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in early
January. Recent publication by the Turkish media of photographs and
video of police and a gendarmerie officer posing with Ogun Samast,
the alleged killer of Hrant Dink, treating him as if he were a hero,
has not only shown us again the existing problem of ultranationalism
within the two security organizations supposed to defend the country
from internal threats and also an ongoing conflict among both forces,
causing weaknesses in the internal security operations.

The photographs show the suspect in the killing, 17-year-old Samast,
holding out a Turkish flag and posing with officers, some of them in
uniform. Behind Samast a poster with another Turkish flag carries
the words of Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey: "The nation’s land
is sacred. It cannot be left to fate." A voice in the video can be
heard asking if the quote on the poster can be arranged above the
suspect’s head.

Then came also reports carried by some Turkish dailies that not only
a police informant but also some gendarmerie officers were tipped
off before Dink’s murder that he might be killed. But unfortunately
he still was killed.

Since we can’t bring back Dink, the duty of the Turkish state now is
not only to bring to justice those responsible behind Dink’s murder,
but also to rapidly put into force existing reforms that would enable
both the police and the gendarmerie forces to effectively cooperate
and share intelligence information, instead of sometimes seeing each
other as adversaries.

The only way to ensure a close cooperation among these two security
organizations is to put the Gendarmerie General Command (JGK) under
the real control of the Interior Ministry, which would take orders
from this civilian ministry instead of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK)
during peacetime.

In theory, the JGK operates under the Ministry of Interior during
peacetime, who is in charge of domestic security and public order,
while affiliated to the TSK during times of war. But in practice, the
JGK operates under the directives of the TSK during peace time, too.

Their budgets are under TSK control while their hierarchical structures
are supervised by the military. The JGK members also take orders from
the TSK while fulfilling their internal security duties, bypassing
governors and heads of districts assigned by the Interior Ministry.

Even in the treatment of the police officers and the gendarmerie
personnel, some of which were posing with Samast, the ultranationalist
alleged killer of Dink, we witnessed discrimination in their
treatment. For example, police officers responsible for the photo
scandal and mismanagement in Dink’s murder were removed from their
current posts while the TSK has assigned those responsible gendarmerie
officers to different cities of the country, instead of removing them
from their posts.

Whereas if both members of the security organizations were affiliated
to the Interior Ministry in any real sense, they would have both
been subjected to the same treatment. We should bear in mind that
this discriminatory attitude does hurt, among other things, the
public conscience.

The lack of the civilian democratic oversight of the JGK and the
existence of the ultranationalist police and gendarmerie officers
within the two organizations as witnessed during which some of them
were posing with Samast furthers weaknesses in the protection of
the country.

Thus this situation underlines the urgency of taking steps to bring
the JGK under government control too while launching programs to
train both police and the gendarmerie forces to act together and to
refrain from ultranationalist attitudes.

TURKEY MISSED ITS CHANCE WITH ARMENIA, FOREIGN MINISTER

Yerevan, February 07. ArmInfo. "Turkey misses its chance with Armenia,"
Vartan Oskanian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, said in an
article published in the Los Angeles Times today.

"Hrant Dink’s assassination provided a key opportunity for Turkey to
mend relations with its neighbor. Ankara has let a rare moment pass.

Three weeks after the assassination of acclaimed Turkish Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, it appears the Turkish authorities have
grasped neither the message of Hrant’s life nor the significance of
his death," V. Oskanian said. Armenian Foreign Minister pointed out
that, – "In the days immediately following Dink’s shocking death,
we in Armenia and others around the world wanted to believe that the
outpouring of public grief would create a crack in the Turkish wall
of denial and rejection, and that efforts would be made to chip away
at the conditions that made the assassination possible. We all hoped
that the gravity of this slaying and the breadth of the reaction
would have compelled Turkey’s leaders to seize the moment and make a
radical shift in the policies that sustain today’s dead-end situation."

"However, after those initial hints at conciliation, the message out
of Ankara has already changed. Last week, according to the Turkish
media, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said there can be
no rapprochement with Armenians because Armenians still insist on
talking about the genocide. The Prime Minister is right. Armenians
do insist on talking about the genocide. It’s a history-changing
event that ought not, indeed cannot, be forgotten. However, we also
advocate a rapprochement. And one is not a precondition for the other,"
V. Oskanian concluded.

TURKISH PREMIER PROMISES TO ENFORCE RULE OF LAW AGAINST "DEEP STATE"

Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Feb 6 2007

Ankara, 6 February: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
reaffirmed his government’s commitment to protect the rule of law
and pledged continued fight against "elements which try to create
dark holes and privileged spaces within the legal system".

Prime minister’s remarks came just days after his recent comments on a
renewed discussion about what Turks call "deep state" – a supposedly
shadowy network within the security and intelligence services, as
well as the state bureaucracy.

"The ‘deep state’ has become a tradition. It is a term that has been
used since the Ottoman period", Erdogan told reporters last Sunday
[4 February], aboard a flight bound for an African Union summit
in Ethiopia.

"We can describe it as gangs inside a state organization and this
kind of structure does exist", confirmed Erdogan.

Yet Erdogan sounded resolute on overcoming the issue in Tuesday’s
address to the lawmakers from his ruling Justice and Development Party
(AKP), "No-one can breach the law even in the name of saving the
country or the homeland. No reason can justify stepping over the law."

The debate on the "deep state" was revisited by Turkish media, as
well as political leaders, particularly after the killing of Turkish
Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

Allegations were voiced that the plot against the journalist might be
the work of a wider organization which has access to rich resources
and enjoy from protection.

"What they call the ‘deep state’ is not an institution of our state,"
Erdogan rebuked. "Those who deem themselves as unbounded by laws and
expect protection are gravely mistaken."

Massis Weekly Online

VOLUME 27, NO. 2 (1302)
SATURDAY,  FEBRUARY 3, 2007

– SD Hunchakian Party Youth Union Stages A Protest Against Anti-Armenian
Violence In Russia
– Congressmen Introduce Resolution Calling On The United States To
Fully Recognize The Armenian Genocide
– Harout Sassounian Honored By AEBU Sahag-Levon Mgrditchian College
Alumni
– Armenian Community Mounts Global Effort To Create The ?Hrant Dink
Foundation?
– Unemployment Rate Improved In Armenia???
– Opinion
Bolsohay Perspective On Dink Assassination

————-

– SD Hunchakian Party Youth Union Stages A Protest Against
Anti-Armenian Violence In Russia

YEREVAN — Student activists of SD Hunchakian Party Sarkis Dkhrouni Youth
Union have staged on Wednesday a rare demonstration outside the Russian
embassy in Yerevan to protest continuing racially motivated attacks on
Armenians in Russia.
Chanting ?No to Russian fascism,? the protesters, most of them members of
the student wing of a small Armenian party, demanded that Russian
authorities crack down on neo-Nazi skinheads widely blamed for endemic
violence against darker-skinned people living in Russia.
The protest followed the January 19 killing in Russia of yet another ethnic
Armenian teenager. The 14-year-old Artur Martirosian was stabbed to death
near his family?s Moscow apartment. Russian law-enforcement authorities have
reportedly denied racist motives behind the killing, adding to Armenian
concerns about their willingness to tackle hate crimes.
?If similar incidents happen again and if Russian officials blame them on
social disputes we will hold a sit-in here and will do everything to hinder
the work of the Russian embassy,? said Narek Galstian, a member of the SDHP
Sarkis Dkhrouni Student union. ?People keep getting killed just because they
are Armenians.?
According to Russian anti-racism organizations, at least seven Armenians and
ethnic Armenian citizens of Russia were killed last year by ultranationalist
groups openly operating in Moscow and other big cities. Faced with growing
domestic pressure, the Armenian government began to raise the issue with
Russian authorities.

Congressmen Introduce Resolution Calling On The United States To Fully
Recognize The Armenian Genocide

During a press conference on Capitol Hill a resolution was introduce
recognizing the Armenian Genocide. The legislation (H. Res. 106) was
introduced in the House of Representatives by longtime Armenian issues
supporters Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA), George Radanovich (R-CA) and
congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues Co-Chairmen Frank Pallone, Jr. (DNJ)
and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), together with Congressmen Brad Sherman (D-CA)
and Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI).
The resolution has already garnered strong bipartisan support, with over 150
Members of Congress expected to be added as cosponsors tomorrow. It is
modeled after H. Res. 316 which overwhelmingly passed the House
International Relations Committee last Congress. H. Res. 106 calls upon the
President to ?ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects
appropriate understanding? of
the ?Armenian Genocide? and to ?accurately characterize the systematic and
deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide? in the
President?s annual message. (The House International Relations Committee is
now known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee.)
Shortly after the bill was introduced, Congressmen Pallone, Schiff,
Knollenberg, and Radanovich held a press conference on Capitol Hill which
was attended by Genocide survivors Rose Baboyian and Yer. Sirarpi Khoyan,
members of the media. ?The United States has a compelling historical and
moral reason to recognize the Armenian Genocide, which cost a million and a
half people their lives,? said Schiff, the bill?s lead sponsor. ?But we also
have a powerful contemporary reason as well ? how
can we take effective action against the genocide in Darfur if we lack the
will to condemn genocide whenever and wherever it occurs? With the new
leadership in Congress, I am hopeful we can finally get this resolution
passed.?
Congressman Radanovich said he was pleased that the bill was introduced with
the strong support of his House colleagues, adding that ?the United States
has a special responsibility to ensure that the lessons of the past are
never forgotten – no matter the political discomfort or cost.?
Congressmen Pallone and Knollenberg said they would work with members of the
Armenian Caucus and the leadership of both parties to secure a floor vote.
?By properly recognizing the systematic torture and murder of 1.5 million
Armenians as genocide, we will honor America?s historic leadership and
remind the world of the democratic and humanitarian values on which our
country is founded,? the lawmakers said.

Harout Sassounian Honored By AEBU Sahag-Levon Mgrditchian College Alumni

On Saturday, January 21 the Sahag-Levon Mgrditchian College Alumni honored
Mr. Harout Sassounian, President of United Armenia Fund. The event was held
at the Rococo Room of Pasadena, CA. His Eminence Abp. Hovnan Derderian was
in attendance accompanied by Abp. Vatche Hovsepian and Fr. Arshag
Khatchadourian. The Master of Ceremonies for the event was Mr. Hampig
Sarafian who requested a moment of silence for the recently slain Hrant
Dink, following which both the American and Armenian National Anthems were
sung. The MC expressed his sincere appreciation to Mr. Sassounian for all of
the service which he renders for the community, and emphasized his trip to
Lebanon where he supported 28 schools, one of which was the Sahag-Levon
Mgrditchian College. The main speaker for the evening was Dr. Arshag
Kazanjian who said that Mr. Sassounian deserved special recognition for his
decades of service to the community as a historian and a leader, as well as
performed the duties trusted to him by the Lincy Foundation. As a token of
appreciation, the Alumni presented Mr. Sassounian with a plaque of
commendation.

Armenian Community Mounts Global Effort To Create The ?Hrant Dink
Foundation?

As Armenians throughout the world mourn the senseless murder of journalist
Hrant Dink, community leaders have vowed to keep his name and ideals alive
with the establishment of the ?Hrant Dink Foundation.? The primary purpose
of the foundation will be to disseminate the message and vision of Mr. Dink
and support the continued efforts of Agos newspaper, of which Dink was the
founder and editor-in chief.
A coalition of Armenian community organizations spearheaded by the
Organization of Istanbul Armenians met at the Western Diocese of the
Armenian Church to launch the Foundation. They are in the process of
collecting donations to fund it. Those interested in contributing to the
Hrant Dink Foundation can call 818-641-1059 or visit the Foundation?s web
site at: ?We feel it is our duty to continue the
struggle of Hrant Dink, who died fighting for the right of free speech,?
said Hovsep Tokat, Chair of the Committee establishing the Foundation. ?His
only crime was that he was an Armenian living in Turkey. The response of
hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world is a testament to the
support of his ideals,? he said.
Dink was a champion of the right of free speech. He was a fearless leader
and proponent of free expression and democracy. This stand was particularly
difficult for the native of Turkey, due to Turkey?s policy of suppressing
and punishing those who engage in free speech with ideas contrary to
government opinion.
Dink?s dream was to achieve better understanding between Armenians and
Turks. He believed he could succeed if he could reach the average Turkish
citizen. This is why he chose to stay in Turkey even when he knew that his
life was in danger.
In 2005, Dink was prosecuted in Turkey for violating article 301 of Turkey?s
penal code, which states that open reference to the Armenian Genocide equals
?insulting Turkishness? and is punishable as a crime. While Dink was
convicted under this article, he was given a 6-month suspended sentence. In
September, 2006, a prosecutor in Istanbul opened a new case against Dink for
the same crime, due to his statement to a foreign news agency that the mass
killings of Armenians in Turkey was Genocide. His trial was still pending
when he was assassinated in front of his newspaper office on January 19,
2007. Despite numerous death threats, Turkish authorities did not provide
any protection or investigate the threats.
?Of course I say it was Genocide.With these events, you see the
disappearance of people who lived on these lands for 4,000 years,? Dink
said. Despite the new charges, Dink remained determined, and vowed to
continue to speak the truth regardless of the consequences. Other Turkish
journalists have
come under fire by the Turkish government and have been prosecuted under
Article 301, including Orhan Pamuk. Despite heavy criticism none were
convicted. Pamuk went on to receive the Nobel prize in literature, becoming
the first Turk in history to be so honored. Turkey denies that the Ottoman
regime committed Genocide during World War I despite voluminous evidence to
the contrary.
?In addition to his principled stand on free speech, Dink was an advocate of
educating the Turkish population of its own history,? said Tokat. ?He did
not blame the general population for denial of the Genocide, rather he
criticized the government for not educating its citizens about the truth of
its past. His progressive thoughts and opinions are what the foundation
hopes to keep alive,? he said.

Unemployment Rate Improved In Armenia???

By Sarkis Karayan, M.D.
Let me discuss the latest official figure for unemployment rate in Armenia:
According to an article in AZG daily, and on its web page, titled
?Unemployment Level Decreases to 7.2 % in Armenia?, we read the following:
?By the end of 2006, in December, the unemployment level in Armenia
decreased to 7.2 % from 7.7 % [ from December 2005]. This is official
Armenian Government data, as given by Sona Harutunian, Head of the National
Employment Service, an affiliation of the Labor and Social Affairs
Ministry?.
The Armenian government contradicts itself terribly. The government?s Annual
Statistical Report, for 2005, published by the ?National Statistical Service
of the Republic of Armenia? gives the unemployment rate to be around 30%
for all ages that could work during 2004 . (See pages 76 and 77, in the
Statistical Booklet of Armenia, published in 2005 by ?National Statistical
Service
of the Republic of Armenia?.
The possibility that the unemployment rate of 30% during 2004, has decreased
to 7.2% is nil.
The Central Intelligence Agency?s (CIA) Fact Book for Armenia estimates that
30% of Armenians were unemployed during 2003.
For comparison, I give the unemployment rate for a few countries; USA around
5%: Turkey, 9.3% with 4% underemployed;Georgia- 12.6%; Poland -17%; Russia-
8.5%; Uruguay- 10.5%; Ukraine- 10%; Egypt- 10.3% Spain- 8.7%.
Professional Statisticians have a dictum ?A country can not be considered to
be civilized, if it does not have reliable statistics?. Authorities in
Armenia may benefit from this dictum.

Opinion
Bolsohay Perspective On Dink Assassination

By Steve Sevgulian
We knew it was coming. We wondered how long it would take, even in todays
Turkiye, where Ataturk is still worshipped. His policy of ethnic cleansing
continues today, not just for minorities but also as it did for Turks when
his dictatorship began. No longer can they wear traditional turbans, write
with Arabic script, and other post genocide Turkish norms/traditions.
They have created a new Turk, one created by this man whose ethnicity is
most likely not purely Turkish in his own blood. We also know that, unlike
diasporan Armenians, the genocide never stopped. Even in Turkish history
books there are moments of anti-Armenian campaigns and laws and
persecutions. How much worse could it have been in this society where all
information, for so long, was completely controlled by the government? How
do you think Ataturk was able to assassinate his political rivals? How do
you think he was able to manipulate certain (gusagtsagan) Armenians into
assassinating the Enver Pashas in the post-war world where they had the
rightful place as leaders of the Turkish nation? How do you think he was
able to have his pedophilic ways, and still be the man who lead his nation,
and renegotiate existing treaties with his European counterparts? Outrageous
tax against those who maintain their ethnic identities? Forced Turkification
of names, closures of the most prominent schools and hospitals because of
their ethnic / religious alleliations? State terrorism and state sponsored
terrorism to this day? Its nothing new, except in one aspect. Hrant Dink was
a man above all others. He spoke freely, not on behalf of himself or any
political party or movement, but for a society and people?especially the
Bolsohay community.
Please do not ask what he significance is, because if you?re unaware of him
being the first Armenian to represent the Armenian community of Istanbul and
Turkey, then you have no idea of the pain we (Bolsohays) feel. He said,
boldly, ?I AM ARMENIAN? in a country where that is considered treason. It
has been Ataturks policy for nearly a century.
Insignificant token gestures such as what little Armenian schools, press,
and people still exist are overshadowed by the generations of ethnic
cleansing (shame and persecution for usage of the Armenian language, for
example), suspicion (arrest and persecution during the cold war for merely
walking by the Russian Embassy and being Armenian), second class citizenship
(in courts, lawsuits, property ownerships and basic entitlements to
citizens, and of course torture (and refusal to be given the dignity of
death) for ?being out of line?. Hrant chose to be ?out of line? because it?s
the 21st century. To other Armenians, it might have just been his death that
was shocking but the grief the Turkish people publicly expressed at his
death, THAT is what shocked us. The masses chanting ?we are all Armenian?,
the funeral, the public acknowledgement that he was not a traitor (though in
death), the fact that he was a moral, honest, and good man?again, PUBLICLY.
The people of Turkey are ready for the 21 century. We look forward to the
day when the government will join them, and we are allowed to die in
dignity, or, as Monte Melkonian envisioned, a return of Armenians near
Ararat, even under a (more realistically) Turkish flag.

—
Massis Weekly Online
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RA NA INTENDS TO ACCEPT IN FUTURE STATEMENT CONDEMNING HRANT DINK’S MURDER

Noyan Tapan
Feb 05 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5, NOYAN TAPAN. By ARF faction head Hrayr
Karapetian’s proposal, the RA National Assembly will touch upon in
future adoption of the statement condemning Constantinople Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink’s murder. In the deputy’s words, by this the
RA NA will be able to express its attitude and join the voice of
complaint of the progressive mankind being continued till now.

The RA National Assembly spring session started on February 5 is the
last session of the parliament of the present convention. About 60
issues and 8 international agreements presented for certification
by the RA President are put on the agenda of the four-day sittings
to take place on February 5-8. The draft on defining tax privileges
towards employees of the Meghri-Kajaran gas pipe line contruction,
the legislative packages on amendments and additions in the acting
law on citizenship as well as on parties are particularly among the
issues on agenda.

PanARMENIAN.Net

301 article badly reflects on Turkey’s international image
01.02.2007 17:50 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Of course, the revision of 301st article is a
positive step in Turkey’s European integration way, stated director of
Caucasian Media Institute, political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan
during an interview to the PanARMENIAN.Net journalist.

He stressed that 301st article is rather tough and foresees criminal
punishment from 6 months up to 2 years not only for `insulting Turkish
national identity’, but also for insulting the state, parliament,
government, army and security services.

`It is the relic of Kemalism, which badly reflects on Turkey’s
international image. If you remember, some changes were initiated by
EU’s demand in 2002. The fact that demonstrations are being carried
out in Turkey for the favor to make amendments or fully cancel the
301st article, we only can welcome,’ stated the director of Caucasian
Media Institute.