Author: Nalbandian Eduard

OSKANIAN: ARMENIA INTERESTED IN DEVELOPING COOPERATION WITH UN

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.03.2008 18:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian government and UNESCO signed Thursday
an agreement on cooperation in education, science, culture and
telecommunications.

The document was signed by Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian,
UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia Consuelo Vidal and Director of
the UNESCO Office in Moscow Dendev Badarch.

"I am pleased with the current level of relations with Armenia. Today’s
event proves this republic’s interest in implementation of UN
programs," Mr Badarch said.

Programs have been worked out. An investigating group has visited 6
Armenian regions to study the perspectives of developing cooperation
in culture and tourism."

For his part, the Armenian Minister stressed the importance of
cooperation with the UN and realization of its projects.

The present document supplements the agreement concluded by Armenia
and the UN for 2005-2009 and aims at creation of a common system for
all UN subdivisions throughout the republic.

BROWN UNVEILS SECURITY STRATEGY

BBC
KarabakhOpen
19-03-2008 10:52:33

Prime Minister Gordon Brown is set to outline the major threats facing
Britain in the country’s first ever national security strategy.

As well as terror attacks, it will focus on the risks from climate
change, scarce energy supplies, migration, flooding and pandemic
diseases.

The PM will address the issues and what the state and citizens can
do to confront them in a statement to MPs.

Security Minister Lord West says it is vital to look at a range
of threats.

The drawing up of such a document and getting Whitehall departments
to agree on it has not been an easy task – the strategy is four months
behind schedule.

Threats as diverse as failed states and extreme weather are expected
to rank as importantly as terrorism.

BBC Security correspondent Gordon Corera said there would be "an
emphasis on the new, complex, interrelated nature of risk and the
need for greater public awareness.

"The challenge for government will be transforming this ambitious
framework into effective action."

Lord West, the former head of the Royal Navy, rejected suggestions
that it will be no more than a "worthy" study.

"There are some areas which we have got very well under control; there
are other areas where a lot of work is needed and what this is doing
is identifying that and giving us a focus as a way to move forward,"
he told BBC1’s Politics Show.

‘Vigilance’

"If there was an easy answer to all of this we would not have had to
go down this route.

"It is highly complicated and it is very difficult, but we are leading
the world on this.

"Rather than anything in the past which was produced – very much
defence, foreign policy, a bit of Home Office, the threat to the
state – we are now much more looking at the citizen and tying the
citizen into this.

"Let’s think of their vigilance, how does this involve them."

However, a report by think-tank Demos warned recently that the
government was "lurching from one crisis to another" and leaving the
country vulnerable to attack.

It said: "The forthcoming national security strategy is a step in
the right direction but its aim must be to transform our outdated
and compartmentalised national security architecture.

"Unless we have joined-up government of national security, we will
be vulnerable through the cracks."

Armenian National Committee – Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918
Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected]

PRESS RELEASE
March 19, 2008
Contact: Ani Garabedian

ANC-WR Attends Luncheon honoring Assembly Speaker-Elect Karen Bass

– Hundreds of Women Participate in Support of First Woman and
First African American Woman to be Speaker of California State
Assembly

Los Angeles, CA – Several Armenian National Committee – Western Region
(ANC-WR) board and staff members attended a luncheon honoring
California Assembly Speaker – Elect Karen Bass on Monday, March 17,
2008. The event took place at the Ebell of Los Angeles and was
attended by hundreds of women marking this historic occasion with the
newly elected California Assembly Speaker.

"Karen Bass is an inspirational, influential and strong woman who
serves as a great role model for all American women and the
accomplishments they can achieve," remarked Souzi Zerounian, ANC-WR
Board member. "Her efforts in advancing important state issues such
as foster care are truly admirable," she added.

During the luncheon Bass shared her insights regarding current issues
within the State of California and how she plans on improving current
conditions such as the California deficit and financial cuts made to
the California Education system.

Karen Bass represents the 47th Assembly district of California and has
been a member of the State Assembly since 2005. Bass is the first
African American woman to be elected to the position of Assembly
Speaker. A long time advocate on several important issues including
education and foster care reform, Bass, a Democrat, has also served as
a California Co-chair of Barack Obama’s Presidential Campaign as well
as California African Americans for Obama. The Armenian National
Committee of America announced its endorsement of Presidential hopeful
Barack Obama in January 2008.

The Armenian National Committee – Western Region is the largest and
most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in
the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of
offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States
and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANC-WR advances
the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of
issues.

###

Photo caption: Speaker-Elect Assembly Member Karen Bass (center)
joined by Rose Nazarian-Fagerian, Aida Dimejian, Souzi
Zerounian-Khanzadian and Ani Garabedian (from left to right)

Armenian National Committee of Canada
Comité National Arménien du Canada
130 Albert St., Suite/Bureau 1007
Ottawa, ON
KIP 5G4
Tel./Tél. (613) 235-2622 Fax/Téléc. (613) 238-2622
E-mail/courriel:national.office@anc-canad a.com

PRESS RELEASE
March 17, 2008
Contact: Roupen Kouyoumjian

ANCC Condemns the Use of Violence in Tibet

Ottawa – The Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC) has
condemned the use of violence against the unarmed monks and civilians
in Tibet.

The heavy-handed use of force to quell the Tibetan people’s attempt to
express their dissatisfaction with the Chinese government and the
suppression of basic civil and human rights in Tibet is unacceptable,
said ANCC.

As a member of the international community, the Chinese Government has
an obligation to provide more religious and political freedom to the
people of Tibet. ANCC called on the Chinese government to size its
arbitrary arrests of civilianise.

Restraint, dialogue, and negotiation to grant Tibet autonomy will put
an end to the troubled Chinese-Tibetan relationship of the past 50
years. A peaceful settlement would honour the aspirations of the
people of Tibet and help the people of the region to achieve peaceful
and civil coexistence.

`The ANCC would like to express its deep sorrow and condolences to the
Tibetans and to the Dalai Lama, their spiritual leader, for the loss
of innocent civilian lives,’ stated Dr. Girair Basmadjian, ANCC
president. Basmadjian said that he hoped `wiser and cooler heads will
prevail and put and end to the bloodshed and unrest.’ -30-

The ANCC is the largest and the most influential Canadian-Armenian
grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a
network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout Canada and
affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCC actively advances
the concerns of the Canadian-Armenian community on a broad range of
issues.

Regional Chapters/Sections régionales
Montréal – Laval – Ottawa – Toronto – Hamilton – Cambridge –
St. Catharines – Windsor – Vancouver

RA FM: KOSOVO ISSUE IS THE MAIN REASON FOR BRINGING UP RESOLUTION ON NAGORNO KARABAKH BY AZERBAIJAN FOR DISCUSSION BY UN GA

arminfo
2008-03-18 11:23:00

ArmInfo. Kosovo issue is the main reason for bringing up Resolution
on Nagorno Karabakh by Azerbaijan for discussion by UN General
Assembly, RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan told "Kentron" TV
channel yesterday.

The minister recalled that it has been about 2 years already there
is an issue on bringing the Resolution on Nagorno Karabakh in agenda,
however, EU-cochairs and countries succeeded yet to persuade Azerbaijan
to remove it from the agenda. As a result of consultations with
theses countries, Azerbaijan came to the conclusion that it is of
no benefit for it to "pass" this Resolution with the help of 20-25
Islamic countries, and such a version would be a defeat. "However,
this year, they weighed the circumstance of Kosovo precedent and such
a "defeat" and decided that it is worthy to pass the Resolution even
in such a way as to compensate the inspiring of Armenia or Nagorno
Karabakh in view of Kosovo precedent", RA FM said. He recalled the
earlier-expressed official position of Armenia, which does not consider
Kosovo as a precedent. The minister emphasized that the issue of
self-determination is very important for the Armenian party, however,
"we did not contribute and oppose to solution of such an issue in other
countries, we support self-determination as a principle". However,
irrespective of Kosovo solution, we think that the negotiations on
Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement should be continued in a normal
stream and finally reach fulfillment of the NKR people’s right for
self-determination, Vardan Oskanyan said.

NOT A SURPRISE

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
March 18, 2008

"Nagorno Karabakh resolution passed by UN, was not a surprise for
us. It was definitely going to happen. It is not the first case,
when the UN passes a document without legal consequences. That is why
there is no reason for Armenian side to worry." Presidential Press
Secretary said, commenting on the resolution on "The situation in the
occupied territories of Azerbaijan" submitted to the UN by Azerbaijan,
on March 14.

Victor Soghomonyan considered it inspiring that many countries
abstained from expressing their attitude towards the resolution,
knowing that they will not help the negotiation process and the
settlement of the issue.

"At present there are different questions regarding the seriousness
of Azerbaijan towards the negotiation process. Similar steps won’t
contribute to the settlement of the issue." The presidential Press
Secretary underscored.

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS LAW TO LIMIT DEMONSTRATIONS

Agence France Presse
March 17, 2008 Monday 10:20 PM GMT

The Armenian parliament Monday adopted laws aiming to ban
demonstrations "in certain cases", following violent protests after
elections earlier this month that left eight people dead.

The law states that local authorities cannot permit a demonstration if
the police or the national security service have "reliable" information
that the demonstration could pose a threat to public order, security
or the constitutional rights of Armenian citizens.

The law also states that if the information is doubtful, those who
provided it could face legal charges.

In any case those organising the protest have the right to appeal
the decision banning their event.

A 20-day state of emergency was declared on March 1 after deadly street
battles in the capital Yerevan between riot police and opposition
supporters who had rallied for 11 days against the result of a
presidential election officially won by Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian.

The violence also injured dozens, many from gunshot wounds. More than
50 people were arrested, police said.

"We have revised the law (on demonstrations) to prevent
anti-constitutional actions… and a repeat of such tragedies,"
said lawmaker Rafik Petrosian.

However, opposition members of parliament said such restrictions on
demonstrations were not the answer to resolving the country’s crisis.

"This repressive approach is going to threaten the fragile stability
that exists today in our country," said independent deputy Viktor
Dallakian.

Opposition supporters claim the election was rigged to ensure
Sarkisian’s victory over former president Levon Ter-Petrosian, though
foreign observers said the vote was mostly in line with international
standards.

The mountainous country of about three million people — wedged between
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran and Turkey — has seen repeated political
violence and post-election protests since gaining its independence
with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

PACE Monitoring Committee concerned about continuing arrests in Armenia

Strasbourg, 18.03.2008 – Meeting in Paris on 18 March 2008, the
Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe (PACE) expressed its deep concern about the arrest of more than
one hundred people in Armenia and the conditions in which such arrests
took place, following the events of 1 March during which eight people
died and some two hundred persons were injured.

In the opinion of the committee, the arrest of large numbers of
opposition leaders and of three Members of Parliament is inevitably
perceived as a crack-down on the opposition by the authorities and will
do nothing to ease the tensions in Armenia. The committee called on all
sides to refrain from any action that would increase the tensions and to
commit themselves to a genuine dialogue to resolve the current crisis.

The committee was informed by its envoy John Prescott of the main
conclusions arising from his fact-finding mission to Yerevan, on 7 and 8
March 2008, and called on all sides to accept Mr Prescott’s proposals
aimed at resolving the current crisis, in particular:

* the recognition by all sidesof the authority of the Constitutional
Court and its ruling on the outcome of the Presidential elections;

* the lifting of the state of emergency and the restoring of individual
human rights and freedoms;
* the release of all jailed activists who have not committed violent
crimes;
* the establishment of an independent inquiry into the circumstances
that led to the events on 1 March 2008 and the monitoring of the
on-going investigation process;

* the initiation of a dialogue between all political forces, in the
following areas:
– reform of the electoral framework with a view to regaining public
trust in the conduct and outcome of elections;
– reform of the political system with a view to providing a proper place
for the opposition in the decision-making process and governance of the
country;

– media reform, especially aimed at the creation of a truly independent
public broadcaster.

The Monitoring Committee noted that the dialogue between all political
forces could be initiated in the form of round tables under the aegis of
the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly.

The committee welcomed the fact that all political group leaders in the
Assembly have requested that a debate under urgent procedure be held on
the functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia during the April
part-session of the Assembly (14-18 April 2008).

PRESS RELEASE
Parliamentary Assembly Communication Unit
Ref: 199a08
Tel: +33 3 88 41 31 93
Fax :+33 3 90 21 41 34
[email protected]
internet:

The Parliamentary Assembly brings together 318 members from the national
parliaments of the 47 member states.
President: Lluís Maria de Puig (Spain, SOC) ; Secretary General of the
Assembly: Mateo Sorinas.
Political Groups: EPP/CD (Group of the European People’s Party); SOC
(Socialist Group); EDG (European Democratic Group);

ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe); UEL (Group of the
Unified European Left).

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
March 16 2008

New UN Resolution is Next Victory of Azerbaijan’s Diplomacy:
Department Head of Azerbaijani Presidential Administration
16.03.08 17:08

Azerbaijan, Baku, 16 March / Trend News / Official Baku assesses the
UN General Assembly’s adoption of the Resolution on Situation in
Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan as strengthening of Azerbaijan’s
position in the international arena, said the Head of the Foreign
Relations Department of Azerbaijani Presidential Administration,
Novruz Mammadov, in his interview with AzTV channel. He described the
new UN Resolution as Azerbaijan’s victory.

According to Mammadov, the Resolution will positively affect the
negotiations process as well. He considers that the issue that some
39 UN member-countries supported Baku’s position means that
Azerbaijan may strengthen its position on this issue in the future as
well.

According to Mammadov, the Resolution will bring Armenia into a
desperate situation. `If to compare this Resolution with the previous
decisions on Azerbaijan, their difference is clearly seen. The
document helps strengthen Azerbaijan’s position, expand its
influence, as well as is a factor of influence on the negotiations
process,’ Mammadov said. In addition, he said that after UN General
Assembly’s adoption of a new Resolution, the OSCE Minsk Group
Co-Chairmen should demonstrate a concrete position on the conflict
settlement because the document says that the Co-Chairmen should
conduct their activities based on the norms and principles of the
international law and principles of territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan. Mammadov said that it is a serious message to them.

Mammadov considers that the position of Armenia and the forces
supporting it weaken. `Armenian Armed Forces occupied Azerbaijani
lands and the UN Resolution requires their withdrawal from the
occupied Azerbaijani lands. The Armenian government should correctly
understand this message and demonstrate a constructive position and
take steps directed towards settling the conflict,’ he said.

According to Mammadov, the Resolution will strengthen the internal
tension in Armenia and will not allow the country to continue its
unconstructive position for long.

KOCHARIAN: STATE-OF-EMERGENCY MITIGATED TWICE DUE TO QUIET SITUATION IN YEREVAN

ARKA
March 14, 2008

YEREVAN, March 14. /ARKA/. Quiet situation in Yerevan allowed
mitigating the state-of-emergency provisions twice, Armenia’s President
Robert Kocharian said at his meeting with CE Commissioner for Human
Rights Thomas Hammarberg.

Kocharian pointed out the failure to prevent undesirable developments
when the authorities had to take measures to settle the situation.

The sides addressed the status of human rights’ protection in the
country under the state of emergency and stressed the importance of
measures to settle the situation as soon as possible.

On March 1 Armenia’s President imposed a state of emergency on
Yerevan, effective for 20 days, under item 6 paragraph 14 of Article
55, Armenia’s Constitution (threat to the country’s security and
population) in connection with the opposition protest actions
against the outcome of the presidential elections developing into
mass disturbances.

Thursday Armenia’s President Robert Kocharian lifted a number of
restrictions on mass media under state-of-emergency. On March 10 the
President signed a decree on lifting the provisions on "temporary
interruption of activities of parties and other public organizations,
which hinder the elimination of the conditions, which became a reason
for imposing the state of emergency" and "sending out the people,
who violated legal order of the state of emergency and who do not
reside in the zone of its effect".