Author: Nanijanian Alex

CHRISTIAN LEADERS DENOUNCE MISSIONARY GROUPS POSING AS CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS
by Taylor Luck

Jordan Times
Feb 17 2008
Jordan

Amman: Denouncing missionary groups that present themselves as
charitable organizations, the Council of Churches in Jordan refuted
[denied] a recent article claiming the government was cracking down
on foreign Christians living in the kingdom.

An article published last month by Compass Direct News alleged
that the government expelled and refused residency permits to 27
expatriate Christians from the US, South Korea, Egypt, Sudan and Iraq
for belonging to evangelical groups.

It also claimed that the government deported Jordan Evangelical
Theological Seminary (JETS) students and denied residency applications
of JETS students in the 2007-2008 academic year.

In a statement released earlier this month, the council, the country’s
highest Christian body, highlighted the long history of peaceful
interfaith coexistence in the Kingdom.

"It is puzzling that certain small groups, whose members number only
a few hundred people and which are foreign to Christians in Jordan
and to the history of Muslim-Christian relations, permit themselves
to speak in the name of all Christians and act as protectors of
Christianity as if it were in danger," the statement read.

The statement, which was signed by the Bishops of the Greek Orthodox,
Greek Catholic (Melkite), Roman Catholic and Armenian Orthodox
Churches, stressed that Jordanian Christians do not fear the government
will move away from its long-held policy of religious tolerance.

Christian citizens are free to serve in the army, the police,
security forces or any other government institution on par with Muslim
nationals, they pointed out, adding that Christian leaders enjoy good
relations with both Muslim religious leaders and government officials.

The law preserves a number of seats in the lower house of parliament
for Christian citizens, and many Christians serve as senators in the
upper house and as cabinet ministers, the statement added.

The council denounced the growing number of missionary groups that
come to the kingdom under the guise of educational, social or cultural
organizations.

The church leaders accused many foreign missionary groups registered
as humanitarian organizations of declaring themselves churches and
proselytizing among Jordanians, giving rise to religious animosity
and threatening Christian-Muslim relations.

"We hope these groups stop acting as self-appointed guardians of
Christians and Christianity in Jordan, stop describing themselves as
churches and respect the Jordanian state, its laws and its citizens,"
the Christian leaders stressed.

On the issue of deportation, the council said that the government is
exercising its right to protect citizens from harassment by foreigners,
and that visitors must respect the kingdom’s laws and residency permit
regulations, regardless of religion.

Noting that the Arab Anglican Episcopal Church and the Anglican
Lutheran Church do not recognize these organizations as churches, the
council appealed to the missionary groups to end their proselytizing.

"We do not need their religious extremism or activities that harm
national unity and historical Christian-Christian and Christian-Muslim
relations," the statement said, adding that such activities have
become a threat to national security.

The church leaders went on to accuse certain missionary groups of
attracting poor and unemployed youth and implanting them with "their
own radicalism and aspirations" before sending them across the region,
causing difficulties for native Christian communities.

Jordanian Christians have never been exposed to violence or terrorism,
the statement stressed, adding that the government protects Christian
religious sites with "total care" and even provides plots of land
free to churches.

Noting that Islam is the state religion, the church leaders underlined
personal status laws that stem from Islam are only applicable to
Muslims

Denying the existence of "split" Muslim and Christian communities,
the council pointed out that the constitution grants the right of
churches to establish courts with their own jurisdiction – on par
with the shari’ah courts – in personal status matters.

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Feb 17 2008

Sarkisian Says Will Win

By Ruzanna Khachatrian

Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian spoke of himself as the next president
of Armenia and pledged to ensure the proper conduct of Tuesday’s
presidential election as he rallied tens of thousands of people in
Yerevan on Sunday.

`We will win. That victory will belong to everyone, every citizen of
the Republic of Armenia,’ Sarkisian told the crowd that gathered in
the city’s Liberty Square the day after a similarly big rally staged
there by his main challenger, former President Levon Ter-Petrosian.

`I will be the president of all people. I will be the president of
both my voters and those of my compatriots who voted for other
candidates,’ he said, adding that he enjoys the support of a `silent
majority’ of Armenians opposed to `upheavals.’

Sarkisian would not say if he intends to win the election already in
the first round of voting. Western news agencies quoted him as saying
this week that he will garner more than 50 percent of the vote and
avoid a potentially risky run-off with one of the eight other
candidates. When asked by RFE/RL after his speech to confirm the
comments attributed to him, Sarkisian said: `Have you ever seen such
rallies in Armenia?’

As was the case during other campaign rallies held by Sarkisian
across the country, many in the crowd were civil servants and other
public sectors. Also, a large part of rally participants appeared to
have been bused from various regions of Armenia and even Georgia’s
Armenian-populated Javakheti region.

According to Javakheti Armenians present at the rally, the Georgian
nationals were brought to Yerevan overnight in at least 50 buses and
minibuses. `We are citizens of Georgia,’ one of them told RFE/RL. `We
Georgian Armenians can’t vote but have come to rally for him because
we think that he can help Javakheti Armenians.’

In his speech Sarkisian also pledged to ensure that the February 19
ballot is free and fair. `I will do everything to ensure that the
elections take place in accordance with democratic standards and
laws,’ said the prime minister regarded by his radical opponents as
one of the architects of Armenia’s culture of electoral fraud.

`We will not let some people discredit the elections. We will not let
the malice and ambitions of some people become decisive,’ Sarkisian
said.

STATEMENT BY ARF SUPREME BODY OF ARMENIA

Yerkir.am
13.02.2008 14:50

The ARF Supreme Body of Armenia issued a statement on 13 February in
connection with the presidential election in Armenia.

Below is the text of the statement.

The forthcoming presidential election will have a great significance
for our statehood. Some tensions of the political environment are
social polarizing are normal and inevitable during elections but it
is unallowable when the struggle gets out from the frame of civilized
behavior.

It is with a regret that we have to state that the election struggle
is exactly like it today. The unhealthy trends that were noticeable
in the beginning of the race have been escalating on daily basis.

The atmosphere of intolerance being seeded in the society, the
violation of elementary norms of civilized struggle, the personal
insults addressed to contesters and their teams that are voiced
mutually, open calls for reprisal, the seeding of hostility and mutual
hatred in the society have reached a very dangerous point.

All this gives a green light to non-political elements and external
forces to intervene, and this bears unpredictable consequences.

Realizing the entire danger of this situation, we condemn any attempt
of unhealthy race. We call on all the forces to observe the rules of
political ethics, conduct their campaigns strictly based on ideologies
and programs during the race, refraining from the provocative attempts
to make the situation uncontrollable.

We declare that we will not allow endangering the country’s stability
and the future of our independent statehood.

We declare that excluding all the election fraud and conducting free,
fair and transparent election is the only way out from this situation.

The Gold Coast Bulletin (Australia)
February 15, 2008 Friday
B – Main Edition

Mano’s dishes it up at Coombabah

A restaurateur with a prolific record on the Gold Coast has stepped
into a new setting – in the middle of a garden centre.

Mano Karo, who in the past 19 years has owned 14 restaurants, has
leased the restaur-ant-cafe at the Ross Evans Garden Centre at
Coombabah.

The business, in a water-themed building, has previously been
operated by the garden centre’s owners.

Mr Karo, a 67-year-old Armenian who has lived in Australia for 45
years, has named the new business Mano’s Watergarden Cafe.

Gerard Coorey, of CB Richard Ellis, has negotiated a five-year lease
with a five-year option for Mr Karo.

“The garden centre’s owners have had first-hand experience of Mr
Karo’s capabilities, having been diners at his restaurants,” said Mr
Coorey.

“They are confident that he is the right person to maintain the
cafe’s enviable reputation.”

The leasing rate for the premises has not been disclosed.

Mr Karo was a restaurateur in Tasmania before moving to the Gold
Coast 20 years ago.

His first venture was the Raphael Char Grill, at Paradise Point,
which he opened in November, 1988, and he has since operated
restaurants as far south as Broadbeach Today, in addition to the
garden-centre cafe, Mr Karo operates Mano’s Kitchen, at The Atrium
resort at Biggera Waters and Bistro 3, and Mano’s Pizza at Chirn
Park.

His restaurants specialise in home-style Mediterranean cooking.

NEW COLGATE PODCAST SERIES FEATURES WRITERS AND THEIR CRAFT
Tim O’Keeffe

Colgate University News & Events
Feb 13 2008
NY

Colgate professor Peter Balakian, whose book The Burning Tigris:
The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response was a New York Times
bestseller, is the first guest for a new podcast series produced
on campus.

The series – Colgate Conversations: Writers and their craft – features
authors talking about their unique writing styles and their latest
works. Faculty members, alumni, and visiting authors are among those
to be interviewed by Matt Leone, organizer of the annual Colgate
Writer’s Conference.

The podcast series is a new way to share a passion for writing that
is such an important part of the Colgate tradition.

During the podcast interview (mp3), Balakian answers questions about
his life as a poet who matters both as an artist, and steadily and
increasingly powerfully, as a voice in the political and cultural
life of the United States and of Armenia.

Last year, Balakian was awarded the Movses Khorenatsi Medal, one of
Armenia’s highest civilian honors that is presented to individuals
for their prominent contributions in the fields of culture, arts,
literature, education, and humanities.

Balakian is the author of eight books: most recently June-tree: New
and Selected Poems, 1974-2000. His memoir, Black Dog of Fate won the
1998 PEN/Martha Albrand Prize for the Art of the Memoir, and was a
best book of the year for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times,
and Publisher’s Weekly.

Balakian is the Constance H. and Donald M. Rebar Professor in the
Humanities and professor of English at Colgate, and he heads the
university’s creative writing program.

The university’s original podcast series, Colgate Conversations,
features faculty, alumni, and administrators talking about research
projects, higher education issues, and careers. Go here to see the
most recent episode of that series.

OSKANIAN: "LEVON TER-PETROSIAN WILL STAND IN FRONT OF NOTHING ON WAY OF BECOMING PRESIDENT"

Noyan Tapan
Feb 13, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 13, NOYAN TAPAN. "There has been no word with
regard to handing over Meghri as a territory to Azerbaijan in any
official or semi-official document concerning the regulation of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict," Vardan Oskanian, the RA Minister of Foreign
Affairs, who was the guest of the Shant TV company, stated on February
12. According to him, the recent statements of Levon Ter-Petrosian,
the RA first President and a candidate running for the post of the RA
President, and the proclamings appeared in press about the variant of
handing over Meghri by the authorities were, all in all, the program
of political scientist Paul Goble, an American analyst, which was
put into circulation at the beginning of the 90s and was finally and
flatly refused in 2000. Vardan Oskanian specially stressed that the
co-Chairmen of the OSCE MInsk Group, who are officially involved in the
regulation of the conflict, have never come up with such a suggestion.

"What Levon Ter-Petrosian is doing in connection with this issue, is
really a cheapest method. That is not right, that is a speculation. I
should say with sorrow that this is a real immorality, as this
is the speculation of one of the most important issues for us,
especially, when that issue is linked with the October 27 cases. If
he could speculate that issue this way, I am really sure that he
will stand in front of nothing in order to implement his political
program, which is to become president of the Republic of Armenia,"
the Minister of Foreign Affairs stated. He also mentioned that he
consideres the "most sorrowful side of immorality" the fact that Levon
Ter-Petrosian is speaking on behalf of late Vazgen Sargsian and Karen
Demirchian. According to him, the first President of the country has
not met with Vazgen Sargsian after his resignation, whereas Vazgen
Sargsian and Robert Kocharian, the current President of the country,
"had fine relations up to the end." "Let us not abuse, let us leave
the dead alone, let us argue with each other, with those, who are
alive," Vardan Oskanian called.

By the way, he mentioned that still in 1994 the RA authorities
discussed the program of Paul Goble within narrow frameworks, at
which Vardan Oskanian was present as the Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs. Levon Ter-Petrosian expressed opinion that "if we add to it
and they give us the northern part of Nakhijevan, that is the directly
adjacent part of Armenia up to the border of Iran, that will be a good
variant for us. That is the continuation of the Ararat field and that
can be more useful for us than the stony region of Meghri." However,
Vardan Oskanian mentioned that he will not allow himself to declare
that "Levon Ter-Petrosian wanted to hand over Meghri to Azerbaijan,
in spite of expressing such an opinion, as it is not that way, that
will be absurd, that will not be correct, Levon Ter-Petrosian would
not do such a thing," the RA Minister of Foreign Affairs declared.

Attaching importance to Meghri for Armenia, he mentioned that the very
region has currently become a symbol of Iran-Armenia cooperation:
the Iran-Armenia gas main, the interstate road pass here, in the
near future there will also be the oil refinery. Those programs are
10 years old.

"We really live in a very critical period and if the people makes a
wrong decision, we, at least, I even do not know what losses will
suffer," the Minister made assertions mentioning that "the people
should have a right idea of the situation: who says what, what kind
of speculations there are."

Not doubting the wisdom of the people, Vardan Oskanian, however,
considered a number of the statements made recently by Levon
Ter-Petrosian as preoccupying, particularly, that they have already
won, that, all in all, ten days are left, as well as "all the
preparations that are being made, and applying to the Constitutional
Court." According to him, all this brings to the conclusion that
nothing good expects us on February 20." "I call to our people for
being sober," Vardan Oskanian declared.

MEMBER OF REPUBLICAN PARTY OF ARMENIA EXPELLED BECAUSE OF BETRAYAL

arminfo
2008-02-13 11:25:00

ArmInfo. The Republican party of Armenia (RPA) expelled RA
parliamentarian Sasun Mikaelyan from the party. To recall, during
February 9 meeting in Yerevan, Sasun Mikelyan claimed of his support
of RA presidential contender Levon Ter-Petrosyan.

As RPA spokesman, MP Eduard Sharmazanov told ArmInfo today, a
decision was made at yesterday’s session of RPA Executive body to
expel S. Mikaelyan from the party "for non-fulfillment of the party’s
Charter requirements". The "political behaviour" of RPA faction members
Hakop Hakopyan and Myasnik Malkhasyan, who are not the party members,
was also condemned at the same session, Sharmazanov said.

To recall, during the regular meeting of RA presidential contender
Levon Ter-Petrosyan, MPs Hakop Hakopyan, Sasun Mikaelyan and ex-deputy
Myasnik Malkhasyan claimed of their support of Ter-Petrosyan’s
candidacy at February 19 presidential election.

"ARMENIAN DIPLOMACY LOSES TO TURKISH ONE," RUBEN SAFRASTIAN BELIEVES

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 8, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian-Turkish relations are
the victim of the created wrong idea of the status-quo in these
relations. In fact, the situation, which is called status-quo, is
created and is the result of the actions of the Turkish diplomacy. This
statement was made by Ruben Safrastian, the Director of the National
Academy of Armenia (NAA) Institute of Oriental Studies, at the
international press conference titled "The countries of the Caucasus
and the Near East as possible partners in the formation process of a
regional security system", which was held on February 7.

In his words, the important details of the created status-quo are: the
refusal of Turkey to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia, the
establishment of a special regime by Turkey on the border with Armenia,
the nomination of preliminary conditions towards Armenia by Turkey,
after the implementation of which the normalization of relations will
become possible. In the estimation of the scientist, unfortunately, the
Armenian diplomacy is losing to the Turkish one. For the past few years
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia has not taken active steps
in the direction of a positive change in the created situation on the
one hand, and in the direction of introducing this situation to the
international community in the appropriate light on the other.

In the estimation of Ruben Safrastian, in fact, Turkey is not
interested in the establishment of diplomatic relations and the
normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations at the official level. The
completely different status of the two governments in economical,
military polical, as well as geopolitical respects plays a role here.

On the other hand, Turkey in Armenia is considered to be a real threat
for security. The factor of the not recognized Armenian Genocide by
Turkey and the external-political situation, when the Turkish
leadership threatened Armenia by the use of military forces in 92-93
(in the heat of the Karabakh war) at the highest level, play a role in
this respect.

At the same time Ruben Safrastian pointed out the ways out of the
created situation. In his opinion, different international
organizations should play an important role of a mediator in the
normalization of the relations between the two countries. He mentioned
that the possibility of providing "international squares or forums" for
the arrangement of a direct dialogue between the two societies is the
most possible one. In fact, there is no dialogue between Armenia and
Turkey at a public level, except for isolated cases. However, in his
words, there exist structures, within the frameworks of which normal
work between the two governments is poceeding. In particular, that is
the organization of the Black See Economic Cooperation, within the
frameworks of which it is possible to create "a square", where a
constant dialogue would be made between the representatives of
different public and political forces.

In the words of the scientist, here not only the establishment of a
dialogue is important, but it is also necessary to understand the
processes, which are taking place in the neighbor country. "Processes,
connected with the deepest bases of the Turkish identicity, are
currently taking place in Turkey. This is the moment, when Turkey has
started looking for its identicity and this moment is favourable from
the point of view of the establishment of a large public dialogue
between Armenia and Turkey," Ruben Safrastian stated.

Panorama.am

20:17 08/02/2008

INVESTMENT RISES BY 19.7 PERCENT IN MAIN CAPITAL

The size of the investment goes up by 19.7 percent in
the main capital of Armenia in 2007. The indicator was
20 percent in average in NIS. The size of the
investment in the main capital of the country has
totaled 667 billion drams in last year prices, NIS
statistics committee reports.

According to the source, in the reporting time the
main capital investment size was the larges in
Tajikistan, 103.6 percent. This country is followed by
Russia, 21.1 percent, Moldova, 19.9 percent,
Azerbaijan 17.8 percent, Byelorussia, 15.1 percent,
Kazakhstan, 8.2% and Ghrghzstan, 3.7 percent.

Source: Panorama.am

Diaspora should not be used `only for raising quality of life’

08-02-2008 12:02:03 – KarabakhOpen

`I think the establishment of the State Center for International
Cooperation happened on time. The coordination of activities of funds
in Karabakh is necessary, since often different funds do the same
thing, without awareness of one another,’ said the director of the
Rehab Center of Stepanakert Vardan Tadevosyan. The head of the NGO was
invited to the ceremony of dedication of the State Center for
International Cooperation of the NKR foreign ministry.

The heads of NGOs invited to the ceremony said the Center may
facilitate fundraising and relations with the government.

The director of the center Janna Krikorova says `it is time to move
beyond Diasporan, peace building programs.’ `These are very important
programs but we already need to present NKR to the world and give our
culture to the world,’ Janna Krikorova says.

She said the Center will publish materials, have a board of experts and
set up an online journal about the international activities of NGOs.

As to relations with the Diaspora, Janna Krikorova says it is time to
stop using the idea of the Diaspora `only for raising quality of life.’