Author: Nalbandian Eduard

NAKHIJEVAN, NAGORNO KARABAKH, KELBAJAR AND LACHIN INCLUDED WITHIN BORDERS OF ARMENIA IN A TURKISH MAP

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 06 2007

ISTANBUL, APRIL 6, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The artistic unit of
the Turkish ministry of culture recently released a disc-collection
of national anthems of Turkish-speaking countries, which created
some tension in relations of Azerbaijan and Turkey. The map on the
disc’s cover shows Nakhijevan, Nagorno Karaakh, Kelbajar and Lachin
as included within the borders of Armenia.

Noticing this, cultural advisor to the Turkish embassy in Baku Doc
Gedikli prohibited the sale of the disc in Azerbaijan. The letter
sent by the embassy to the Turkish ministry of culture says that
what has happened can be misinterpreted by the friendly Azerbaijan
and an impression can be created that Turkey does not respect the
territorial intgrity of Azerbaijan. So the map must be changed.

According to the newspaper "Marmara" (Istanbul), the disc has been
sent to embassies of many other countries and some other addresses,
and the Turkish ministry of culture considered the concern of the
embassy advisor as exaggerated, noting that the small-scale map is
not so remarkable and contains other inaccurate details.

In response to the question if this map is a handwork of Armenians,
spokesman for the ministry of culture noted that it was prepared
not by an Armenian but by a Turkish partner with strong nationalist
feelings. "It is not a notable map, but if necessary, it can be
changed," the ministry representative said.

NKR PRESIDENT CONGRATULATES SERGE SARGSYAN ON APPOINTMENT

ArmRadio.am
07.04.2007 13:35

NKR President Arkady Ghukasyan sent a congratulating message to Serge
Sargsyan on his appointment as RA Prime Minister.

NKR President wished success to the newly appointed Prime Minister,
expressing confidence that he will use his rich experience, knowledge
and devotion in the high and responsible position of the Head of
Government of the Republic of Armenia for the sake of prosperity of
our people, successful solution of nationwide issues and implementation
of programs.

ARMENIAN OMBUDSMAN LAMENTS LACK OF COURT INDEPENDENCE
By Hovannes Shoghikian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 4 2007

Armen Harutiunian, the state human rights ombudsman, complained on
Wednesday about a continuing lack of judicial independence in Armenia,
saying that local courts were the main source of citizen complaints
received by his office last year.

Presenting his first annual report, Harutiunian said almost 13 percent
of 1,247 complaints filed with the Office of the Human Rights Defender
had to do with decisions made by various-level courts.

"The number of complaints filed against courts shows that there is a
lot of distrust in the judicial system, which is supposed to be the
main institution of human rights protection," he said. "The courts
must become as independent as possible."

The 223-page report draws the same conclusion: "Although a defendant’s
disaffection with a guilty verdict can be deemed natural, the large
number of such complaints gives us reason to conclude that the
population’s trust in the courts is far from satisfactory."

Armenian courts rarely acquit criminal suspects and hand down other
rulings going against the wishes of law-enforcement and government
bodies. Many lawyers say this fact testifies to their lack of
independence. Some blame it on Armenia’s post-Soviet constitution
that gives the president of the republic the right to appoint and
dismiss virtually all judges. That authority was somewhat restricted
by constitutional amendments enacted in November 2005.

Harutiunian, himself a constitutional law expert, specifically
faulted the courts for rejecting just about every lawsuit against
controversial confiscations of land and house demolitions ordered by
the Yerevan municipality in recent years. "The courts rule that the
mayor can allow construction anywhere he wants," he said.

Yerevan courts continued to rule against owners of houses demolished
by municipal authorities as part of redevelopment projects implemented
in the city center even after Armenia’s Constitutional Court declared
the process unconstitutional last year.

Incidentally, the municipality was the second largest source of citizen
appeals to Harutiunian’s office in 2006, followed by the Armenian
police and the Ministry of Justice. Harutiunian said he will put the
Yerevan mayor’s office under closer scrutiny this year because of
"blatant" violations of the law alleged by many city residents.

GUL CONVEYS ANKARA’S CONCERNS OVER ARMENIAN BILL TO GERMAN FM

Turkish Press
Sabah
April 4 2007

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, currently in Germany for an official
visit, yesterday met with his German counterpart Frank-Walter
Steinmeier to discuss a number of issues, including a bill introduced
by Germany to the European Parliament which would criminalize denial
of the so-called Armenian genocide. Gul briefed Steinmeier on Ankara’s
concerns about the bill, saying that it should refer to the United
Nations. He further stressed that the bill, in its current form,
worried Ankara. Commenting on Turkey’s European Union membership
bid, Gul said that he appreciated Germany’s support for Turkey’s EU
aspirations.

RUSSIA SIGNALS OPPOSITION TO REGIME CHANGE IN ARMENIA
By Karine Kalantarian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 3 2007

Russia signaled on Tuesday its opposition to regime change in Yerevan,
with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pointedly declining to deny
speculation that Moscow supports Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian’s
apparent plans to become Armenia’s next president.

Lavrov, in Yerevan on a two-day official visit, stressed the need
for continuity in policies pursued by the current Armenian leadership.

During a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian
he was asked to comment on growing assertions by Russian media and
prominent analysts that the widely anticipated handover of power from
President Robert Kocharian to Sarkisian suits the Kremlin.

"The official position of Russia coincides with the unofficial position
of Russia," Lavrov replied. "We are sincerely interested in seeing
Armenia stable and prosperous and seeing it continue to move down the
path of reforms. As far as we can see, the results [of those reforms]
are already felt in the socioeconomic sphere."

"So we wish Armenia success in this endeavor," he added. "We want the
next phase of the constitutional process to lead to the creation of
conditions for a continued movement in that direction."

Kocharian is thought to have enjoyed Russian backing throughout
his nearly decade-long presidency. Both he and Sarkisian stand for
Armenia’s continued military alliance with Russia, while seeking
closer security ties with the West. The Kocharian administration has
also helped to significantly boosted Russia’s economic presence in
the country in recent years.

The Russian minister’s visit to Armenia was officially dedicated to the
15th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between
the two former Soviet republics. The unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict was high on the agenda of his talks with Oskanian. Russia
co-heads the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe together with the United States and France.

Oskanian told reporters that he and his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar
Mammadyarov will again later this month or early next in a fresh
attempt to narrow the conflicting parties’ differences over the Minsk
Group’s existing peace proposals. "The goal is to continue to work on
the document and to prepare for the likely meeting of the presidents
[of Armenia and Azerbaijan] in June," he said.

The international mediators hope that the Armenian-Azerbaijani summit
will yield a breakthrough.

Lavrov said that Karabakh peace is facilitated by what he described as
the absence of any differences on the issue between the three mediating
powers. "This is probably the only conflict where the interests of
Russia, the United States, and the European Union absolutely do not
contradict each other and the interests of the conflicting parties
themselves," he said.

Lavrov further assured journalists that his country is trying hard
to ease Armenia’s geographic isolation which has been aggravated by
the continuing Russian transport blockade of neighboring Georgia. He
pointed to the upcoming launch of a rail ferry service between the
Georgian Black Sea port of Poti and Russia’s Port-Kavkaz. The ferry
link will be primarily used by Armenian exporters and importers.

13 Killed As Bomber Strikes in Iraq

Monday April 2, 2007 10:46 AM
By YAHYA BARZANJI
Associated Press Writer

KIRKUK, Iraq (AP) – A suicide truck bomber targeted a police station
in the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk on Monday, killing at least 13
people and wounding dozens, including many children from a nearby
school, police said.

The attacker rammed the truck into the concrete blast barriers
protecting the back of the compound at about 11:30 a.m., detonating
his explosives, which were hidden under a load of flour, local police
spokesman Brig. Gen. Sarhat Qadir said.

The Rahim Awa police compound is in a predominantly Kurdish
neighborhood in a northern part of the city, and other officials said
U.S. troops had been visiting an Iraqi criminal investigations unit
when the blast occurred.

AP Television News footage showed one U.S. soldier seen standing
nearby with a bandage around his head and blood on the front of his
uniform. The U.S. command in Baghdad said it was looking into the
report.

He said 13 people were killed and 137 wounded. He also said at least
20 children on their way home from a nearby school were among the
casualties, although he could not provide a breakdown of how many were
killed or injured. The force of the blast also devastated four
buildings in the area.

Doctors at the hospital worked in a scene of bloody pandemonium as
wounded were brought to the emergency room. There was barely room to
move.

Most of those being treated appeared to be either very young children
or schoolgirls, many crying and with blood spattered on their
clothes. Several badly mutilated dead bodies filled the back of a
police pickup truck as a U.S. helicopter flew overhead.

The attack comes days after the Iraqi government endorsed plans to
relocate thousands of Arabs who were moved to Kirkuk as part of Saddam
Hussein’s campaign to force ethnic Kurds out of the city in an effort
to undo one of the former dictator’s most enduring and hated policies.

Kurds are seeking to incorporate the city, 180 miles north of Baghdad,
and into their nearby autonomous region. But the move has met strong
opposition from Sunni Arabs who fear being isolated from Iraq’s oil
riches, which are concentrated in the north and the mainly Shiite
south.

Many have blamed a recent rise of violence in Kirkuk on Sunni
insurgents who fled Baghdad ahead of a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown
in the capital.

The ancient city of Kirkuk has a large minority of ethnic Turks as
well as Christians, Shiite and Sunni Arabs, Armenians and
Assyrians. The city is just south of the Kurdish autonomous zone
stretching across three provinces of northeastern Iraq.

Iraq’s constitution sets an end-of-the-year deadline for a referendum
on Kirkuk’s status. Since Saddam’s fall four years ago, thousands of
Kurds who once lived in the city have resettled there. It is now
believed Kurds are a majority of the population and that a referendum
on attaching Kirkuk to the Kurdish autonomous zone would pass easily.

ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
March 30, 2007 Friday 04:01 PM EST

There are no reasons to keep Armenia-Turkey border closed – FM

Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian believes that there are no
reasons to keep the Armenian-Turkish border closed.

“An improvement of bilateral relations is possible only if the
border opens,” Oskanian said.

Although they have a common border of 330 kilometers, Armenia and
Turkey still do not have diplomatic relations.

Ankara demands that Yerevan must stop seeking international
recognition of the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915
and helping Karabakh in the conflict with Azerbaijan as a term for
the improvement of bilateral relations.

According to international experts, annual Armenia’s damages from the
Turkish blockade are estimated at 500 million U.S. dollars.

US Assistant Secretary of State satisfied with cooperation with the South
Caucasus

ArmRadio.am
31.03.2007 14:23

US Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza is content with the
level of relations with the countries of the South Caucasus. In the
framework of this cooperation he emphasized the mission of the
Georgian peacekeepers in Iraq and the rearmament of the military
airport of Azerbaijan, `Trend’ reports. Bryza underlined that the
cooperation of the United States with both Armenia and Azerbaijan is
very vigorous, active and practical especially in the security
sphere. He stressed also that many planes, including American ones,
fly to Afghanistan through the territories of Azerbaijan and
Georgia. `In case of emergency we would like to have the opportunity
to use the military airport of Azerbaijan for landing of our planes,’
Matthew Bryza noted.

ARMENIA STILL RECEIVES CONDOLENCES IN CONNECTION WITH MARGARYAN’S DEATH

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
March 30 2007

YEREVAN, March 29. /ARKA/. Armenia still receives condolences from
Russian politicians, public figures, diplomats and heads of huge
companies and regions in connection with the death of the Armenian
Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan.

The RA Government’s Public Relations’ Department reported that the
telegram of Saint Petersburg’s Government Valentina Matvienko said that
"a real citizen of his country deceased".

"Being a true politician, he did a lot to implement democratic
reforms and strengthen Armenian state. Andranik Margaryan made a
great contribution to the strengthening and development of friendly
relations between Armenia and Saint Petersburg," Matvienko said.

She said that Margaryan’s death is a great loss for Armenia. "I
deeply grieve with those who knew and loved Andranik Margaryan. We
will always retain his memory in our hearts," she said.

Russia’s Ambassador to the Ukraine Viktor Chernomyrdin also sent a
telegram of sympathy. "A wonderful person, talented organizer and real
leader left this life. The loss is indeed irreplaceable. On such a sad
day I bow head before the blessed memory of Andranik Nahapetovich,"
said Chernomyrdin.

Condolences were received from Ruslan Aushev, Chairman of the committee
for the affairs of warriors-internationalists under the CIS Council
of Heads of Government, "RUSAL" Chairman of Board Alexander Livshic,
Head of "RAO UES" Anatoly Chubays, Governor of the Rostov, Sverdlov,
Astrakhan, Ulyanovskaya regions, and Secretary General of the Council
of the CIS Inter-parliamentary Assembly Mikhail Krotov.

Armenian Prime Minister, Chairman of the Republican Party Andranik
Margaryan died from heart attack at the age of 55 on Sunday morning.

His body was committed to the earth in the Pantheon after Komitas,
where all the prominent statesmen, Armenian cultural workers and
artists are buried.

TURKEY RESTORES ARMENIAN CHURCH AS GOODWILL GESTURE

PRESS TV, Iran
March 29 2007

Ankara has held a ceremony in eastern Turkey to mark the restoration
of an Armenian church, in a move to improve ties with its neighbor
Armenia and its own Armenian minority.

Among those in attendance at the opening of the Akdamar church on
an island in Lake Van were Patriarch Mesrob II, head of the Armenian
Orthodox minority in Turkey, Armenian Deputy Culture Minister Gagik
Gyurjyan and Turkish Culture Minister Atilla Koc.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mesrob said he hoped that the
Armenians could use the site as a place of prayer during a once-a-year
festival.

Despite having no diplomatic ties with Armenia, Turkish officials
decided to invite Armenian government ministers to the opening as a
goodwill gesture.

Restoration of the 1,000-year-old church, which will now open as a
museum, took two years.