Author: Nargizian David

Turkish Press
Jan 20 2007

Davis: I Feel Deep Sad Over Killing Of Dink
Published: 1/20/2007

STRASBOURG – "I feel deep sad over assassination of Hrant Dink,
(editor-in-chief of bilingual Turkish- Armenian weekly Agos)," said
Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

Stating that he was shocked by killing of Dink, Davis noted that he
strongly condemned the assassination.

Davis indicated that Dink became the target of those who hated that
he used freedom of expression to strengthen tolerance and democratic
values of Europe.

"Dink will always be remembered with his contributions to freedom of
expression in his country," Davis underlined.

AZG Armenian Daily #010, 20/01/2007

THE LATEST VICTIM OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE & DEMOCRACY: HRANT DINK

A year ago this writer and some friends were actively involved in
collecting signatures for a petition that was being circulated by the
Workshop of Armenian and Turkish Scholars. It was sent to the Turkish
authorities who would try Hrant Dink for insulting "Turkish identity
". Subsequently Orhan Pamuk, Elif Shefak, Taner Akcam and a host of
others would face the same charge.

Since then a warm friendship developed through emails, phone calls and
eventually we had the opportunity to meet each other at the
Armenia/Diaspora Conference this past September. We shared thoughts,
and despite differences of opinion we parted with the deep feeling
that our friendship would prevail for years to come. Unfortunately it
was short lived and terminated by a fanatic. Hrant Dink was
assassinated today.

Personal feelings and emotions aside, Hrant Dink is the latest victim
of the Armenian Genocide. The atmosphere of hatred, intolerance and
deplorable stance of the Turkish establishment regarding Human Rights
and Freedom of Speech paved the way to such a tragic end. Dink, as a
tormented and true citizen of the World, fought fervently primarily
for Democracy in Turkey.

It’s not the first time that a friend is brutally silenced by an
assassin. I hear Hrant Dink’s message along others who paid the
ultimate price. It’s the message of peace, democracy and respect of
Human Rights.

Dikran Abrahamian,
241.stm

BEGINNING OF CLASSES IN CAPITAL OF ARMENIA POSTPONED FOR TWO MORE WEEKS BECAUSE OF SEVERE WINTER

Yerevan, January 18. ArmInfo. The winter holidays of the schoolchildren
of the Armenian capital will be postponed till January 31, Lilit
Galstyan, the press-secretary of the Armenian Ministry of Education
and Science, told an ArmInfo correspondent.

According to her, the strong frost causes emergency conditions
in most of Yerevan’s schools. Besides, the research held by the
Yerevan Municipality shows that electric appliances fail to heat the
classrooms at a minus temperature. The pupils will have to fill the
gap of the missed lessons by attending additional classes till May
25. The classes of junior school will start from February 5, i.e. in
accordance with the schedule planned by the Ministry of Education.

In his turn, Onik Vatyan, the head of the Education Department of
the Yerevan Municipality, told ArmInfo that out of about 200 schools
in Yerevan only 50 are provided with local centralized heating,
and classes will start from January 22 in these schools. The
administrations of the rest of the schools are taking measures to
organize the education process from January 1. O.Atyan added that
by the end of the current year, 50 more schools may be provided with
centralized heating.

WESTERN REGION PARTY LEADERS ISSUE JOIN ANNOUNCEMENT

ASBAREZ
1/18/2007

The regional executive boards of the three Armenian political
parties–the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, the Armenian Democratic
League (Ramkavar Party) and Social Democratic Hunchakian party–met
in Altadena on January 9.

During the meeting the party representatives discussed issues of mutual
interest to the community, especially the unfolding developments
surround the Armenian Genocide issue, as well as the importance
of presenting a united front on efforts to garner recognition of
the Genocide.

Similar meetings have occasionally taken place and have always served
as a guide for our national aspirations and interests. We believe that
such meetings will also benefit the strengthening of our independent
homeland.

ARF Western US Central Committee

ADL Western US Executive Board

Social Democratic Hunchakian Party Western Regional Executive

ARONYAN SHARES 3-7 PLACES IN THE CORUS CHESS TOURNAMENT

ArmRadio.am
17.01.2007 12:26

In the fourth round of the Corus Chess Tournament held in the Dutch
city of Wijk an Zee Armenian Grand Master Levon Aronyan played a draw
with Russian Grand Master Alexander Motilyov. With 2.5 points Aronyan
currently shares 3rd-7th places with David Navara of Czech Republic,
Vishvanatan Anand of India, Pyotor Svidler and Vladimir Kramnik of
Russia. In the official list of the tournament evon Aronyan currently
ranks 5th. Teymur Rajabekov is the leading with 3.5 points. Vesellin
Topalov of Bulgaria occupies the second position with 3 points.

In the fifth round of teh tournament Levon Aronyan will meet with
Mangus Karlsen of Norway.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT APPEALS TO RECTORS OF UNIVERSITIES TO PURPOSEFUL WORK

Yerevan, January 16. ArmInfo. The dynamic and purposeful work of
rectors of the country’s universities will accelarate the reforms in
the Armenian educational system, Armenian President Robert Kocharyan
said at his meeting with rectors, Tuesday.

The presidential press-service told ArmInfo that the meeting covered
the issue of Armenia’s joining the Bologna Process, as well as the
three-stage educational system and introduction of credit system in
the country’s universities. R.Kocharyan pointed out the necessity
of specifying and solving possible problems within a short period
of time, which will not only considerably contribute to ensuring
a qualitative and wide system of education, but also will help
students and future entrants to find their bearings in the possible
innovations. The President also pointed out the importance of providing
the universities with specialized literature, and emphasized that
only structural educational reforms will not give positive results.

STRONG QUAKE ON KURIL ISLANDS – TSUNAMI POSSIBLE

Yerevan, January 13. ArmInfo. A 7.9-point earthquake took place 500 km
south-west of Severo-Kurilsk, Kuril Islands, Russia, today 8:13 AM.

The National Seismic Protection Service of Armenia reports that in the
epicenter the magnitude was 10-11 points on 12-point MSK-64 scale. The
epicenter was in Pacific Ocean so there is a threat of
tsunami. Population is being evacuated.

COOPERATION WITH CIS MEMBER COUNTRIES REMAINS AMONG ARMENIA’S FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES

Arka News Agency, Armenia
Jan 10 2007

YEREVAN, January 10. /ARKA/. Cooperation with fellow CIS member
countries is among Armenia’s foreign policy priorities, Armenian
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said Tuesday in his annual report.

He said events dedicated to the Commonwealth’s 15th anniversary were
staged in 2006. Some events were staged also in Armenia. As an example
of these events, Oskanyan singled out a conference held in Tsakhkadzor.

CIS prime ministerial meeting was held in May, foreign ministers met
in October and presidents in November.

Oskanyan said 17 documents were signed in the frames of the CIS in
2006 and additional steps taken for the Commonwealth reformation.

DUTY CALLS FOR MINORITY GROUPS IN CYPRUS
By Natalie Aoun

Cyprus Mail, Cyprus
Jan 10 2006

MEMBERS of the Maronite, Armenian and Latin communities in Cyprus may
now be forced into compulsory military service after the Permanent
Secretary of the Defence Ministry, Petros Kareklas, met with
representatives of the religious minorities yesterday.

The government intends to change the law, with a final decision to
be taken by the Council of Ministers.

The authorities believe that if approved, the new law will immediately
overturn a 1994 ministerial decision which confirmed the exemption
of minority groups, allowing them to enlist only if they so wished.

Deputies Antonis Hadjiroussos of the Maronites, Vartkes Mahtesian
of the Armenians, and Benito Mantovani of the Latins were yesterday
notified by Kareklas of the new proposal.

Speaking to the Mail, Hadjiroussos said that Kareklas had expressed
some strong opinions as to the necessity for change. Hadjiroussos
stated that he, along with Mahtesian and Mantovani, had never been
negative towards the proposal, but felt that the current need for
change was unjustified with the reasons given by the government.

He added that Kareklas has called for the change as a result of numbers
not being adequate, which has been caused by the significant amount
of Greek Cypriots requesting exemption from the service, claiming to
be suffering from psychological problems.

The Maronite deputy reiterated that no member of a minority group in
Cyprus had been forced to enlist in the service over the past 40 odd
years, with the reasons cited by previous governments as "security
and language issues".

He repeatedly wondered what had caused the recent u-turn.

The government is reported to have been contemplating the change since
last February, when Ombudswoman Iliana Nicolaou received complaints
from young Greek Cypriots who had appealed to her, saying they felt
discriminated against as members of minority groups were excused from
military service.

It is hoped that the proposed change in the law will promote equality
in a democratic system.

Another issue set to be discussed is the long-running saga concerning
those who try to get out of entering the National Guard by claiming to
be suffering from psychological problems. According to the President
of the House Defence Committee, EDEK leader Yiannakis Omirou, the
Committee has agreed on a proposal for another change in the law,
which will ensure that those objecting to serving will instead be
forced into community service.

It is not yet clear as to the length of community service, with some
calling for it to exceed the 26 months currently spent in military
service.

According to Omirou, "the aim will not be to punish those in question
but rather to offer them an alternative".

SERBIAN MILITARY ANALYST FAULTS FOREIGN MINISTRY FOR ARMS BAN TO ARMENIA

Beta news agency, Belgrade, Serbia
8 Jan 2007

Belgrade, 8 January: Military analyst Zoran Dragisic said today that
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs committed a "terrible gaffe" over
the problem of issuing a permit to export arms to the Caucasus region.

"I think that this is a very poor political assessment, but it is
important to figure out who is behind that assessment. (…) [as
received] That is a question for the minister of foreign affairs
(Vuk Draskovic)," Dragisic told the Beta news agency.

Dragisic, who is also a professor at the Security Faculty, added
that Russia’s interests were misinterpreted, because that country
has nothing against arms being exported to Armenia.

"If Russia were opposed to that deal, I would understand the state
turning down a 2m dollars deal, because our relations with Russia
are worth much more than that. This way leaves the impression that we
are a Russian colony, a state that is not sovereign and obeys foreign
dictates," he said.

The Serbian defence industry exports arms, ammunition, and military
equipment worth some 300m dollars each year, whereas the former SFRY
[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia] exported arms worth some
2.5bn dollars.

The arms exported to Caucasian countries are most often rifles,
automatic rifles, and 7.62-mm machine guns.

The latest domestically made automatic rifle, the M-21 with a NATO
calibre of 5.56 mm, is exported to Macedonia, African nations, and the
new Iraqi military and police forces, as well as to British private
security forces working in that country.

The domestic defence industry’s most successful export product is
the Nora long-range self-propelled howitzer, which Serbia exports to
one Asian country and which beat out similar products of the French,
Swedish, Israeli, and South African military industries in competitive
bidding.