Author: Nanijanian Alex

TURKISH POLITICIANS, REPORTERS ACCUSED ON LINKS WITH ERGENEKON

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.03.2008 16:49 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Two senior officials of a Turkish political party, a
former university rector and the chief columnist of a daily newspaper –
all known for their neo-nationalism and ultra-secularism – were taken
into custody early on Friday morning over alleged links to a criminal
network with suspected links to the army and bureaucracy.

Workers Party (IP) Chairman Dogu Perincek, IP Secretary-General Ferit
Ilsever and Cumhuriyet daily chief columnist Ilhan Selcuk, as well as
a former Istanbul University rector, Kemal Alemdaroglu were detained
as part of an investigation into a criminal network that calls itself
Ergenekon, after a legend of how Turks came into being.

The ongoing investigation had previously uncovered evidence showing
that the gang was attempting to prepare the ground for a coup d’etat
in Turkey in 2009. Ergenekon is suspected of shady links to groups
hidden within the state. These groups are commonly referred to as
Turkey’s "deep state," a vague concept of a phenomenon in which
individuals and groups occupying various positions in the state take
justice into their own hands to shape Turkey in accordance with their
political convictions.

The arrests come at a time when allegations have been made that a
recent closure case against the ruling Justice and Development Party
(AK Party) was filed with the Constitutional Court to prevent further
development of the Ergenekon investigation.

The police have also raided the offices of TV station Ulusal Kanal
(National Channel) and the Aydili newsweekly.

The arrests follow the interrogation on Wednesday of Sedat Peker –
an ultranationalist underworld leader currently serving 14 years in
prison for involvement in organized crime – over his alleged links
to the Ergenekon gang. Suspects of the 1996 Susurluk affair Yasar O
and Semih Tufan Gualtay were also interrogated by the prosecutor on
Wednesday as part of the same investigation.

In January 39 suspects were arrested during raids targeting the gang,
including retired Gen. Veli Kucuk nationalist lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz,
academic Emin Gurses and press speaker of the so-called "Turkish
Orthodox Patriarchate," Today’s Zaman reports

CYPRIAN-ARMENIAN SKIER TAKES PART IN WORLD SKI STUDENT GAMES

Noyan Tapan
March 19, 2008

NICOSIA, MARCH 19, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Cyprian-Armenian
Mano Kouyoumdjian was included in the Cyprus Ski Team. As the site of
Cyprian-Armenians reports, Mano Houyoumdjian took part in the World
Student Games that took place in Grenoble – France from 9-13 March
as a member of the above-mentiond team.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version: nian.htm

Watch the video summary here:
eos/Palm%20Sunday.avi

THOUSANDS CELEBRATE PALM SUNDAY IN ANTELIAS

Thousands of Armenian children renewed the Armenian Church and the
Catholicosate of Cilicia with their strong faith as they came to the
headquarters in Antelias with their parents to celebrate Jesus Christ’s
entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

The Holy Mass in the Cathedral was followed by a procession of the children
who came out of the Catholicosate’s northern gate, made a round turn around
the Catholicosate from the coastal side and returned to the Catholicosate
>From its main gate.

Archbishop Gomidas Ohanian officiated the Mass. His Holiness Aram I
delivered his Pontifical address from the balcony of the Veharan given the
large number of people present. In his sermon, the Pontiff greeted Armenian
children in all the corners of the world, considering that Jesus Christ’s
entry to Jerusalem is the holiday of the Armenian children and Armenian
families.

His Holiness said Antelias was renewed on that occasion in view of the
strong faith of its people, their attachment towards the church and in
particular their love for and trust in the Catholicosate of Cilicia. At the
end of the Pontiff’s speech, the thousands of Armenian children lived
unforgettable moments of joy as colorful balloons were launched into the sky
and brightened the air around the Catholicosate with their lively colours
and movements.

After his sermon, the Catholicos received in the Veharan the endless queues
of children who came with their parents for Atchahampouyr. The Pontiff
distributed gifts to all the children, filling their hearts with the season’s
joy.

Soon after his election as Catholicos, His Holiness Aram I had announced
Palm Sunday as the Day of Armenian Children. Since then, the Catholicos has
annually received children in the Veharan, spread joy in their hearts by
distributing special gifts and making Jesus Christ’s entry into Jerusalem an
unforgettable experience for them.

In the afternoon, the Gate-Opening ceremony took place in the Cathedral.
This is an ancient Armenian liturgical ritual. During the forty days of lent
the curtain on the altar remains closed. On the afternoon of the Palm
Sunday, the priest kneels in the front of the closed curtain and asks for
compassionate forgiveness on behalf of the community gathered in the church.
The service was presided by His Holiness Aram I and conducted by Archbishop
Gomidas, who delivered a sermon on Jesus Christ’s second coming.

Thus, with the services of Palm Sunday and "Gate-Opening", the Armenian
Church entered the last week of Jesus Christ’s earthly life, the Holy Week,
during which the faithful live, liturgically, the events of the last week of
Christ’s life on earth and the torture He bore for the sake of saving
humanity.

##
Watch the video summary here:
eos/Palm%20Sunday.avi
###
View the photos here:
c/Photos/Photos213.htm
http://www.armenianorthodox church.org/v04/doc/Photos/Photos214.htm
http://www .armenianorthodoxchurch.org/v04/doc/Photos/Photos2 15.htm
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.

ANS TV, Azerbaijan
March 16 2008

US rejected UN resolution on Karabakh not to damage peace talks –
envoy

The USA voted against an Azerbaijani-drafted resolution at the UN
General Assembly on 14 March as it could have damaged talks to
mediate a peaceful resolution of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, ANS
TV has quoted the US ambassador to Azerbaijan as saying.

Anne Derse said that her country rejected the resolution because it
did not reflect a set of principles proposed by international
mediators.

"Had official Baku submitted a balanced resolution reflective of the
proposed principles, America would have supported it," Derse was
quoted as saying. "The White House voted against the resolution, as
it feared that the resolution could have damaged the peace process."

The ambassador reiterated the US support for Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity but said Washington wanted to see a "balanced" resolution
of the conflict.

The UN General Assembly approved the draft resolution "On the
situation in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories", demanding that all
Armenian forces immediately pull out of Nagornyy Karabakh and
surrounding districts of Azerbaijan.

The USA voted against the resolution, as did the two other countries
mediating the peace talks – France and Russia. Only 39 out of 192
members of the UN General Assembly voted for the draft. Seven voted
against and 100 abstained.

Nagornyy Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan following a separatist
war in the early 1990s. The region has remained under Armenian
control along with seven adjacent districts of Azerbaijan.

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
March 15 2008

Hungarian citizen translates website about Azerbaijani officer Ramil
Safarov into Hungarian

[ 15 Mar 2008 12:54 ]

Baku. Mahbuba Gasimbayli-APA. Website about
Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov who was sentenced to
life-imprisonment for killing Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan will
be in Hungarian language too, Authors of website told APA

They stated that Hungarian citizen Lajos Tanko, one of the readers of
the website said.

`I have heard for the first time in Hungarian history that one was
sentenced to life-imprisonment for killing a man and this is very big
unjustness’ he said. He noted that he wanted to translate our website
into Hungarian voluntarily. Three parts of website (About Ramil,
Armenian Realities, and Armenian Aggression) were translated into
Hungarian by Mr. Tanko. The website will be in Azerbaijani, English
and Hungarian,’ he said.

Another Hungarian citizen named Peter prepared a slide with Safarov’s
photo and a word written: `Political prisoner! Who hates tortures
undergone his motherland and nation by Armenians, who hates killing
of Azerbaijani children by them, who hates to be mocked. Be just to
Ramil Safarov! `, he sent it to various emails.

DM Michael Harutyunyan met with OSCE representatives

armradio.am
15.03.2008 14:31

RA Defense Minister Michael Harutyunyan met with the Head of the OSCE
Office in Armenia, Ambassador Serrgey Kapinos accompanied by Adviser of
the OSCE/ODIHR on Human Rights Robert Robert-Jan Uhl and
representatives of the OSCE Office.

The gusts wished to get information about the role ascribed to RA Armed
Forces in the post-election developments underway in the country.
Minister Harutyunyan informed that according to Article 3 of RA
President’s decree on Declaring a State of Emergency, ensuring the
state of emergency is the task of RA Police and RA Ministry of Defense.
The Minister noted that there have been no violations of the state of
emergency during the past 15 days. He stated that the role of the Army
under the conditions of the state of emergency is restricted to
defending objects of special importance.

The interlocutors also turned to the situation at the line of contact
between the Armed Forces of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and
Azerbaijan. The Head of the OSCE Office expressed concern on that
occasion and informed that he reported to the OSCE Office in Vienna
about the latest events.

During the meeting Michael Harutyunyan gave exhaustive clarifications
to various questions of the guests.

Connected with the domestic political developments in Armenia,
Ambassador Kapinos informed that the OSCE intends to continue
demonstrating a balanced approach, referring to the call of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office to the authorities and the opposition of Armenia,
which envisages normalization of relations exceptionally via political
dialogue.

SERGE SARGSIAN: "WE HAVE NEVER USED ARMY IN POLITICS"

Noyan Tapan
March 14, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 14, NOYAN TAPAN. "We have never used the army in
the politics," Serge Sargsian, the Prime Minister and newly-elected
President of the Republic of Armenia, declared in response to the
questions of citizens by the Public TV. He also mentioned that the
army has always operated and will operate within the frameworks of
the Constitution and the laws of Armenia. "If you speak about today,
the regime of the state of emergency, of course, is being implemented
by the army and this is completely in keeping with the Constitution
and the functions of the army in states of emergency," he said.

In response to the question of how he is going to treat General Manvel
Grigorian, Serge Sargsian mentioned that the circumstances should be
clarified and the problem should be settled. "General Manvel Grigorian
is my companion-in-arms. Moreover, his wife Nazik was also fighting
with us then.

I have never tried to involve Manvel Grigorian into politics and I
very much repent and feel sorry that he, I do not know why, tried to
enter politics and tried not to obey the Supreme Commander-in-Chief,"
Serge Sargsian said.

AZERI SPOKESMAN DENIES ARMENIAN PRESIDENT-ELECT’S REMARKS

Azad Azarbaycan TV
March 13 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman has dismissed as illogical
the Armenian president-elect’s remarks that economic cooperation
between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey is transforming into a military
alliance.

Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey are strategic partners, this cooperation
is expanding but the formation of a military alliance is out of
question, Azad Azarbaycan TV quoted Xazar Ibrahim as saying on 13
March. Armenia is the only state in the region which is a member of
a military bloc, Ibrahim said.

At the same time he ruled out the possibility of Armenia’s involvement
in regional projects unless the country changes its foreign policy. If
Armenia had had good neighbourly relations with neighbouring states
instead of putting territorial claims to them, the country could
have been involved in regional projects today, the TV quoted Ibrahim
as saying.

BBCM note: Armenian Prime Minister and president-elect Serzh
Sargsyan said at a meeting with the students of the Armenian
State Economics University on 12 March that the project of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki-Kars railway is directed against much larger
countries than Armenia. He also said that Armenia had been offered
to agree with leaving Nagornyy Karabakh in Azerbaijan in exchange
for laying the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline via Armenia’s territory
but did not agree.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SIGNED A DECREE ON MITIGATING THE LIMITATIONS FOR MEDIA IN THE PERIOD OF STATE OF EMERGENCY EFFECT

Mediamax
March 13, 2008

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Armenian President Robert Kocharian signed a
decree today on mitigating the limitations of media activities in
the period of state of emergency effect.

As Mediamax was told in the press service of the President today,
according to the signed decree on making changes in the March 1 decree
on imposing a state of emergency, the edited variant of sub-point 4
of point 4 reads:

"It is banned for media outlets to publish or spread by any other
means obviously false information on state and internal political
issues, destabilizing information, urges to participate in unapproved
(illegal) events".

In accordance with the decree of the President, another point of the
decree on imposing a state of emergency is also considered having
lost its force:

"The ban for spreading leaflets and realization of political agitation
by other means without the permission of corresponding state bodies".

The decree signed today by the President will come into force on
March 14 of 2008.

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF OF SOME ARMENIAN MASS MEDIA: CENSURE OF AUTHORITIES-UNDESIRABLE MASS MEDIA CARRIED OUT IN ARMENIA

arminfo
2008-03-13 14:28:00

ArmInfo. Editors-in-Chief of some Armenian Mass Media spread a
statement.

According to the statement, received by ArmInfo today, the day after
announcement of a state of emergency in Yerevan, on March 2, employees
of RA National Security Service visited newspaper editorial offices
and presented and unsigned and unsealed note, by which they warned
that if the newspaper publications contain an information diverging
from the official one, the newspaper activity of will be ceased. The
same day, NSS employees thoroughly studied the newspaper materials,
sent to printing-offices, and banned printing by an oral order.

Taking into account the fact that a so-called official information is
one-sided, does not reflect the general picture of the events and is
uninterruptedly spread by several TV channels, some newspapers just
refused of publications, while others forcedly stand idle. "All this
gives us grounds to claim that RA authorities banned the activity
of the Mass Media undesirable for them. Moreover, the terms of the
state of emergency, which ban publication of unofficial information,
did not cover "their" Mass Media.

The Internet-pages were also blocked in order to make the information
terror complete. IN addition, the programmes of the CNN and Euronews TV
channels, telling about the events in Armenia, are interrupted, while
broadcasting of the Radio Liberty has been completely stopped. We claim
that all this not only promotes reduction of tension in the society,
but also deepens the atmosphere of hatred and enmity.

The overwhelming majority of the Mass Media, spreading a so-called
official information, especially the news analysts of these Media,
only contribute, by their aggression, to excitement of unhealthy moods
and deepen mistrust with respect to the state. Our constitutional
rights for delivery and receipt of information, as well as the
generally-accepted principles of the freedom of speech and press
have been violated under the developed situation, the Mass Media bear
material losses, censure is carried out in Armenia, and our country
turned out to be in a full information blockade", the statement reads.

Editors-in-Chief of "Aravot", "Zhamanak Yerevan", "Lragir" newspapers,
deputy Editor-in-Chief of "Haykakan Zhamanak", "Hayk", "168 Hours",
"Trace", "The Fourth Power" newspapers, as well as management of the
"Internews" Company, Head of the Yerevan press-club and others signed
under the statement.