Author: Nargizian David

CHARLES AZNAVOUR HAS WARM MEMORIES OF HIS MEETINGS WITH RA PRIME
MINISTER

YEREVAN, MARCH 26, NOYAN TAPAN. In March 26 morning telephone talk
with Ambassador of Armenia to France Edward Nalbandian Charles
Aznavour asked to present his condolences to Andranik Margarian’s
family on the occasion of his untimely death. C. Aznavour mentioned
that he has warm memories of his meeting with the Armenian Prime
Minister, the last of which took place in October last year in Paris.

According to the report provided to Noyan Tapan from RA Foreign
Ministry Press and Information Department, RA President and
A. Margarian’s family also received condolences by UN Resident
Coordinator to Armenia Consuelo Vidal, Deputy Prime Minister of United
Arab Emirates Sultan bin Zayid al-Nuhayyan, Charge d’Affaires of
Turkmenistan to Armenia Shohrat Jumayev.

Socialist International’s regional convention in Yerevan

Yerkir.am
March 23, 2007

The Women’s Organization of Socialist International held its regional
convention in Yerevan upon the invitation of the ARF Supreme Body’s
Women’s Committee.

The regional convention covered the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle
East, the Caucasus, Central and Eastern Europe. Representatives of
countries from this region discussed in Yerevan issues related to
gender aspect of international migration.

Chairwoman of the Socialist International Pia Locatelli thanked ARF’s
Women’ s Committee represented by Maria Titizian. Stressing the ARF’s
important role in creating a socialist society and empowering women,
Locatelli noted in her opening remarks that Armenia is a transition
country where Armenian women suffer from domestic violence,
trafficking, and have to survive in very difficult conditions. The
issue of women’s participation in politics is of special concern.

Locatelli stated that only 7 out of 131 members of the parliament are
women. Only 19 out of 900 community heads are women, there is only
one female minister, etc.

Armenian women participating in the convention learned that their
rights are violated in what concerns healthcare services,
reproduction, women in Armenia were presented to be victims.

Despite this statement, Locatelli stated that the Socialist
International would help us eliminate our traditions and conservative
customs, and will help us bring up a new generation in which it will
not be men who will be doing barbeque, carrying heavy weights and
ruling the country¦

Representative of ARF’s Supreme Body, National Assembly deputy Armen
Rustamian welcomed the participants of the convention and stressed the
importance of integration with European standards and protection of
women’s rights.

`We worship women as mothers, sisters, daughters but are not very
happy about their presence and representation outside the family. We
must eliminate this discrimination. Family is the cell of the society
and the women’s role should be equally important in the family and in
the public and political life,’ Rustamian said. He noted the topic of
the convention is very important since Armenia is a country with a
high rate of migration.

Socialist International unifies the women throughout the world

Secretary General of the Socialist International’s Women’s
Organization Marlene Haas is visiting Armenia for the forth time in
the past five years. She has a good understanding of the overall
situation in the country and the role of women.

Last year Haas participated in the conference organized by the ARF
Supreme Body’s Women’s Committee. She spoke with appreciation of the
education level of Armenian women. Haas believes that cooperation
between women NGOs, political parties and authorities will gradually
yield positive results and increase the number of women at all levels
of decision making.

Haas presented a brief overview of the Socialist International, `The
Socialist International is a non-governmental organization that is a
member of the UN Council on Economic and Social Affairs and an
associate member of the Council of Europe. Currently, SI has 148
member organizations. An international secretariat was formed in 1907
in Stuttgart by 58 delegates from European and other countries headed
by Klara Tsetkin. SI has contributed to liberalization of women which
in its turn resulted in a struggle for women’s rights.’

Royal gives backing to Ankara’s EU bid
By Delphine Strauss in Paris

FT
March 25 2007 19:31

Ségolène Royal has declared her support for Turkey’s bid
to join the European Union, becoming the only main contender in
France’s forthcoming presidential election to endorse an enlargement
deeply unpopular with voters.

`In the end, Turkey has a vocation to join Europe, provided that it
satisfies the membership criteria, which are not just economic and
financial but also democratic,’ the Socialist party candidate said in
a new book, extracts of which were published by Le Monde on Sunday.

Her support offers a glimmer of hope to Turkey’s troubled bid for EU
membership which, even if it clears all technical hurdles, depends on
the outcome of a French referendum promised by President Jacques
Chirac in 2004 as a condition for opening negotiations.

Ms Royal added strong qualifications, saying Europe first needed a
pause to stabilise its borders and `prove its concrete utility in the
daily life of those it already unites’.

Yet her position is sharply at odds with all other leading
presidential contenders. Nicolas Sarkozy, candidate of the
centre-right UMP and front-runner in the opinion polls, has repeatedly
insisted that `Turkey’s place is not in the EU’. François
Bayrou, the europhile centrist, has echoed that opposition, arguing
that Ankara’s membership would end the dream of EU political unity.

`We should not make an argument of geography against Turkey: Europe is
not a territory…but a political project,’ Ms Royal
said. She argued Europe would gain from a show of unity between
civilisations, while the prospect of EU entry would assist Turkish
democrats in enacting reforms and `also help them in their combat
against this state negationism that is the refusal to recognise the
Armenian genocide’.

Ms Royal has previously been pilloried for refusing to state an
opinion on Turkey, saying her position would be `that of the French
people’. But now she appears to be taking risks in departing from her
noncommittal stance.

Opinion polls show a majority of French voters oppose Turkish
membership. Many feel previous enlargements of the EU have reduced
Paris’s influence and economic edge in Europe, and there is also
widespread distrust of Turkey’s record on human rights, fuelled by
France’s wealthy, 450,000-strong Armenian community

The French National Assembly enraged Ankara last year by voting for
legislation that, if enacted, would make it a crime to deny that
Armenians were the victims of genocide in the last years of the
Ottoman Empire. Armenians say as many as 1.5m people died in
1915-1918, while Turkey says that hundreds of thousands of both
Armenians and Turks died, largely as a result of civil war and famine.

Ms Royal, who wants to revive French enthusiasm for Europe by pressing
for minimum social standards, said her reasons for delaying Turkish
membership related `not to Turkey but to Europe’. In a clear jibe at
the UK’s sponsorship of Turkish membership, she said: `Who today are
the warmest supporters of maximum enlargement? Those who reduce Europe
to a big market with the least regulation possible…’

Domestic Waste Causes Damage to Armenia’s Rivers More Than Industrial
Emissions

Arminfo
2007-03-23 16:01:00

The household rubbish causes damage to the rivers in Armenia more than
the industrial emissions. Meanwhile, the purification of sewages is
carried out in Armenia’s capital only by aeration and in a mechanical
way, while the main part of drains freely leaks into the nearest
rivulets. The whole epopee of 9480 small and big rivers of Armenia is
displayed in the "Loquacious Wealth" film, the presentation of which
was held yesterday in the UN Armenia Office.

The author of the documentary film is the chairwoman of an "Ecolur"
ecological public organization Inga Zarafyan, the producer is Haik
Kbeyan, the operator – Mkrtich Baroyan. It is remarkable that a
transboundary value of Armenia’s rivers is touched on in the film,
since 80% of waters are carried by the Armenian rivers to the
neighboring Azerbaijan, a part – to Turkey, Iran and Georgia. Based
on this, a responsibility for the "transparency" of waters for Armenia
grows more, however, the assurance of transparency of these waters
monitoring yet fails.

According to the scientific secretary of the Institute of Hydroecology
and Ichthyology of NASA Evelina Ghukasyan, despite the apparent facts
of pollution of the local rivers by domestic and industrial waste, the
mountain rivers with a unique ability to self-purify, reach our
neighbors relatively pure.

Talking of a relativity of the rivers pollution and their natural
aeration ability, the Director of the "Armwaterproject Institute" CJSC
Yuri Javadyan noted that according to investigations, carried out in
2003, the percent of lead, that could ingress in the river from the
existing toxic waste tailing dumps of the mining productions, was
equal to zero in the waters of Armenia’s rivers, while the percent of
sulfur oxide made up 5%.

By the forecasts of FAO, 1,8 bln people in 2005 will live in the
countries and regions that permanently suffer from a lack of water. In
whole, the two third of the world population will face this
problem. The rates of water consumption in Armenia have grown. Thus,
according to the specialists estimations, a degree of evaporation –
drying of sweet water sources has also increased.

Turkish Press
March 23 2007

Press Review

MILLIYET

ARMENIAN FM: `IF TURKEY WANTS TO MAKE A GESTURE, IT WILL OPEN ITS
BORDER’

Speaking at a press conference in Yerevan yesterday, Armenian Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian said that he had gotten Turkey’s invitation
to attend the reopening ceremony of the restored Akdamar Church in
Van, but that the closed border could create great difficulties for
Armenian visitors. `If Turkey really wants to make a gesture, it will
open its border,’ said Oskanian. He declined to say whether a
delegation would attend the ceremony or not. /Milliyet/

ITAR-TASS, Russia
March 23 2007

Moscow mayor opens `Moscow House’ in Yerevan

23.03.2007, 16.20

YEREVAN, March 23 (Itar-Tass) – The doors of Moscow House, which is
in the very centre of the Armenian capital, right opposite the
Yerevan Municipal Council, were flung wide open on Friday. The smart
modern building was put by Moscow building agencies in a matter of
only eighteen months. Yerevan architect Levon Vartanyan is author of
the project. `This is not only a symbol of strategic partnership
between the two nations, but also a symbol of the new principles, on
which all the relations are being cultivated on the entire
post-Soviet space, in particular, between Moscow and Yerevan,’ Moscow
Mayor Yuri Luzhkov stated. He came here a few hours before the House
opening ceremony. Luzhkov described Moscow House as a material
embodiment of cooperation between the two cities and nations’.

Yerevan Mayor Ervand Zakharyan stressed, in turn, that Moscow House
and the big apartment house, which the Russian capital was building
on the Northern Avenue of Yerevan. `will help further promote the
relationships between the two nations in economy, science and
culture’. It is one of the projects, included in the program of
Moscow-Yerevan contacts in the period from 2005 to 2007, the Yerevan
mayor noted.

The `Yerevan’ trade house, one of the largest commercial
establishments of the Russian capital, will be opened in Moscow on
Saturday, Luzhkov stated. Its purpose `is to market Armenian-made
goods, which are bound to be in high demand among Moscow shoppers,’
the mayor stressed.

The Friday talks here were devoted to the construction in Moscow of
an Armenian Logistics Centre, Luzhkov disclosed. `It will feature
technical appliances, mass consumption products, and foodstuffs,
which the Armenian side is ready to offer for sale in Russia,’ the
Moscow mayor stressed. He recalled that Moscow was `quite experienced
in setting up such logistics centres’. Luzhkov is sure that `this
will be economically expedient for the further development of the
economies of Russia and Armenia’.

`We spoke about human contacts, inter-state relations, and cultural
ties,’ the Moscow mayor divulged. `We are now working in comfortable
conditions, which the leaders of the two countries had created for
us. They have determined that cooperation between Russia and Armenia
is their strategy,’ he stressed.

Luzhkov handed to his Yerevan counterpart a symbolic gold key to
Moscow House. It will be passed over for eternal safekeeping to the
Yerevan History Museum, the new premises for which will be shortly
opened at the Municipal Council of the Armenian capital, Zakharyan
announced.

International Herald Tribune, France
March 23 2007

Turkey restores Armenian church to show goodwill
The Associated PressPublished: March 23, 2007

AKDAMAR ISLAND, Turkey: An ancient Armenian church, perched on a
rocky island in a vast lake, has become a modern symbol of the
divisions and fitful efforts at reconciliation between Turks and
Armenians whose history of bloodshed drives their troubled
relationship.

The Akdamar church, one of the most precious remnants of Armenian
culture 1,000 years ago, deteriorated over the last century, a victim
of neglect after Turks carried out mass killings of Armenians as the
Ottoman Empire crumbled around the time of World War I. Rainwater
seeped through the collapsed, conical dome, treasure-hunters dug up
the basalt floor, and shepherds took potshots with rifles at the
facade.

Next week, the church will showcase Turkey’s tentative steps to
improve ties with its ethnic Armenian minority, as well as
neighboring Armenia. Turkey completed a US$1.5 million restoration of
the sandstone building, and invited Armenian officials to a ceremony
there on March 29 to mark what Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, has called a "positive" message.

An Armenian deputy culture minister and other prominent Armenians
plan to go. Armenia’s foreign minister welcomed the restoration, but
said Turkey mistakenly believed the project would prove that it was
dedicated to better ties with its neighbor.

"A positive sign and a move on the part of Turkey … would be the
opening of the border with Armenia and establishment of diplomatic
relations," the news agency Armenpress quoted Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian as saying this week. He said the Armenian delegation could
reach the church near the city of Van in eastern Turkey by land in a
few hours if the border were open, but instead will have to fly to
Istanbul, and then take another flight back toward the Armenian
border.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 during a war between
Armenia and Azerbaijan, a Muslim ally of Ankara. The move hurt the
economy of tiny, landlocked Armenia. Also, Turkey lobbied against a
proposed resolution in the U.S. Congress that would recognize the
killings of Armenians in the last century as genocide. Some of
Turkey’s 65,000 Armenian Orthdox Christians say they endure
harassment in Turkey, whose population is overwhelmingly Muslim.

Hrant Dink, an ethnic Armenian journalist murdered in Istanbul in
January, was apparently targeted by nationalists who detested his
commentaries on minority rights and free expression.

Patriarch Mesrob II, the spiritual head of the Armenian Orthodox
community in Turkey, has asked the government to mount a cross on top
of the church, which used to have one, and to allow religious
services to be held there on occasion.

The government has yet to respond, but placement of a cross could be
sensitive for the Islamic-rooted government of Erdogan, who plans to
attend the inauguration ceremony. The symbolism could upset some
Muslims, and a parallel force, Turkey’s secular establishment, led by
the powerful military, might regard it as a concession to Armenia and
the Armenian diaspora.

"It speaks well of the Turkish government that they paid for it and
took the initiative to make it happen," said David Phillips, an
advocate of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation who helped gather
international restoration experts and architects for the church
project. But he noted that Turkey views the site as a museum rather
than a place of worship.

"It runs the risk of being viewed as an antiquity, instead of a
living symbol of Armenian culture and spiritual life," said Phillips,
executive director of The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, in New
York City.

The European Union urged Turkey in 2004 to consider registering
Akdamar in UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The EU has also urged
Turkey, a candidate for membership, to improve treatment of
minorities.

Relief carvings on the outer walls of the Akdamar church depict Jesus
Christ, barefoot and bearded, holding the book of Gospels; a sea
creature devouring Jonah as he is tossed from a ship; Abraham
grabbing his son Isaac’s hair and holding a knife as he prepares to
sacrifice him; David with a slingshot facing the giant warrior,
Goliath; and Adam and Eve, holding the forbidden fruit.

"Akdamar is an extroverted church," said Zakarya Mildanoglu, an
ethnic Armenian architect who helped restore it. "It doesn’t hide its
face."

Reliefs also show the church’s builder, Armenian King Gagik I, in an
ornate robe and crown, vines and grapes, eagles, bears, a peacock,
cockerels, a man killing a lion, and a lion pouncing on a deer.
Inside the church, deep blue frescoes show biblical scenes, though
many have been destroyed and the walls have big, blank patches.

"Both the frescoes and relief sculpture appropriate Byzantine and
Islamic visual traditions; the Abbasid caliphate was of course very
strong by this time, and Byzantine art was understood as a visual
language of prestige and power," Christina Maranci, an expert on
medieval Armenian architecture at the University of Wisconsin in
Milwaukee, wrote in an email. The church "presents a very interesting
use of both," Maranci wrote.

Renovators replaced fallen roof stones to prevent more damage to the
interior, restored the floor, strengthened walls and cleaned
frescoes. The church still bears marks of ill treatment, with
graffiti scratched next to some carvings.

Akdamar, called the Church of Surp Khach, or Holy Cross, was
inaugurated in A.D. 921. Written records say the church was near a
harbor and a palace on the island on Lake Van, but only the church
survived.

Many local residents supported the renovation because it could
generate tourism. Some Turks posted critical articles on the
Internet. A leader of an extreme nationalist party said he welcomed
the restoration as long as it is not interpreted as a political
overture.

"We are not guilty of anything," said Mehmet Sandir, associate
chairman of the Nationalist Movement Party. "Why should we be making
gestures?"

Glendale News Press, CA
March 23 2007

POLITICAL LANDSCAPE:
Focus on genocide in Congress

Rep. Adam Schiff, who represents Glendale and Burbank, pressured
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice about the State Department’s
stance on the Armenian genocide at a House Appropriations hearing
subcommittee hearing on Wednesday.

Though administration officials frequently acknowledge the mass
killings of Armenians in 1915, the State Department does not
officially recognize the events as genocide.

Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates sent a letter to chairs of
certain Congressional committees stating their opposition to
recognizing the Armenian genocide on March 7, which prompted Schiff
to broach the topic on Wednesday, he said.

"Do you have any doubt in your mind that the murder of 1.5 million
Armenians between 1915 and 1923 constituted genocide?" Schiff said,
speaking directly to Rice, who was speaking before the subcommittee
on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs on budget matters.

Without saying directly whether the events constituted genocide, Rice
stated repeatedly that the issue should be dealt with by the Turkish
and Armenian governments.

"I think that the best way to have this proceed is for the United
States not to be in the position of making this judgment, but rather
for the Turks and the Armenians to come to their own terms about
this," Rice said.

The exchange between Schiff and Rice happened on the same day that
the House Financial Services Committee debated a bill – the
Accountability and Divestment in Darfur Act – that would prohibit
United States government contracts with companies that conduct
business operations in Sudan.

Bryan Ardouny, executive director of the Armenian Assembly of
America, provided testimony at the hearing in support of the bill.

"Armenian Americans, as descendants of the survivors of the Armenian
genocide, cannot remain indifferent to the suffering of the people of
Darfur," Ardouny said.

The State Department’s recognition of the genocide in Sudan and
simultaneous opposition to recognizing the Armenian genocide sends a
mixed message, Schiff said.

"I don’t see how we can have the moral authority that we need to
condemn the genocide going on in Darfur if we’re unwilling to
recognize other genocides that have taken place," he said.

Endorsements announced

The Armenian Council of America, a federally registered political
action committee, has announced its endorsements for the April 3
Glendale municipal elections.

For the Glendale City Council, the group endorsed current Glendale
Unified School District board member Greg Krikorian and former Public
Information Officer for the Glendale Police Department Chahe
Keuroghelian.

"We need city councilmen that will listen to the people," said Peter
Darakjian, executive director of the Armenian Council of America.
"[Krikorian and Keuroghelian’s] management style is to listen to the
people and then make a decision."

For the Glendale Unified School District governing board, the group
endorsed candidate Elizabeth Manasserian. Manasserian is one of six
candidates running for two open seats on the board.

Tony Tartaglia won the group’s endorsement for the Glendale Community
College Board of Trustees race, which has three candidates vying for
two open seats.

The Armenian Council of America endorsements were made by the group’s
nine-member board of directors, Darakjian said. The group announced
the endorsements on March 7.

College Guild makes endorsement

The Glendale College Guild, which represents faculty at Glendale
Community College, has endorsed Glendale Community College Board of
Trustees candidate Christine Rodriguez.

Currently a full-time professor at East Los Angeles College,
Rodriguez is a former member of the Glendale College Guild. She is
also a practicing labor lawyer.

Senator keeps an eye on college spending

State Sen. Jack Scott, who represents Glendale and Burbank, chaired a
joint hearing of the Senate Education Committee and the Senate Budget
Subcommittee on Education on Wednesday regarding executive spending
practices at the University of California and the California State
University.

The hearing is part of an effort by the Budget Subcommittee to crack
down on state education institutions’ practice of not disclosing the
financial perks they give to school executives.

It was revealed at a Senate Education Committee hearing last year
that the University of California spent tens of thousands of dollars
in bonuses and perks for some executives without fully disclosing
them, said Wendy Gordon, press aid to Scott.

"It is the public’s money, after all, and [Scott] would like to see
the University of California and California State University make
sure that there is transparency in programs for top executives,"
Gordon said.

On Thursday, the committees heard testimony from Robert Dynes,
president of the University of California, and Chancellor Charles
Reed of California State University.

Both leaders reported changes in executive compensation practices
since last year’s hearing.

Reed reported that a California State University program that
entitled departing executives to one year’s salary when they retired
or quit, regardless of whether they started a new job, is no longer
applicable, Gordon said.

Policy changes within the University of California include a new rule
that restricts future campus presidents from sitting on more than
three outside corporate boards. Current presidents who serve on more
than three outside boards will not be bound by the rule, Gordon said.

MILITARY PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE TO CONTINUE CARRYING OUT PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION ON CASE OF MATAGHIS

Noyan Tapan
Mar 22 2007

YEREVAN, MARCH 22, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Prosecutor General’s Office
declined challenge of defence party on case of Mataghis against
Military Prosecutor’s Office, which will continue to carry out
preliminary investigation. Noyan Tapan correspondent was informed
about it by RA Prosecutor General’s Spokesperson Sona Truzian. She
considered inadmissible attempts of exerting pressure upon preliminary
investigation by rallies and actions of protest. To recap, servicemen
Razmik Sargsian, Musa Serobian and Arayik Zalian are accused of
killing two their fellow-servicemen. They had been sentenced to 15
years’ imprisonment by Syunik region’s first instance court and to
life imprisonment by Appeal Court for Criminal and Military Cases. As
the Spokesperson explained, in late 2006 RA Cassation Court’s Chamber
for Criminal and Military Cases did not justify the above mentioned
persons, moreover, it declined the cassation complaint of the defence
party. The court sustained the petition of representative of legal
successor of aggrieved party on carrying out additional preliminary
investigation. So, the charge brought to the defendants did not
change, punishment of "signature on not leaving the country" was
chosen to them.

ACTING NA HAS GOT A CHANCE TO APPOINT NCTR MEMBERS

A1+
[07:00 pm] 21 March, 2007

The order of appointing members of the National Commission for
Television and Radio (NCTR) has changed. RA President Robert Kocharyan
ratified the amendments to the RA laws on "NCTR Statute" and on
"Television and Radio". This means t half of the NCTR members will
be appointed by the RA NA and the second half – by the RA President.

Reminder, March 19 was the deadline of the office of NCTR chairman
Grigor Amalyan, deputy chairman Shamiram Aghabekyan and member Karine
Khodikyan. March 19 was the eve of the ratification of the laws. RA
Parliament endorsed the legislative amendments on February 26.

To note, no one will take place of Karine Khodikyan as the NCTR will
henceforth have 8 members instead of the present 9 under the recent
constitutional amendments.

Nevertheless, there will be two vacancies in the NCTR for the coming
ten days. We cannot predict when exactly the vacancies will be filled
taking into account the fact that NA cannot provide the necessary
quorum.