Author: Tadevosian Garnik

Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis encourages Armenia and
its neighbours to reconcile
Excerpts from the speech delivered at Yerevan State University

Yerevan, 05.11.2007 – "Today, Armenia has several unresolved issues with
its immediate neighbours. These disputes originate from the past, but
they are a liability for the future of both Armenia and its neighbours.

History has not been kind to your country, and there are many painful
memories of past injustices and sacrifices. But it is important to
remember that the other side has its own and different perception of the
past. You may not agree with it, but you need to recognise and even
respect it.

An example which immediately comes to mind is the conflict in Nagorno
Karabakh. When Armenia joined the Council of Europe, at the same time as
Azerbaijan, both countries committed themselves to pursue efforts to
settle this conflict by peaceful means. Unfortunately, the fact remains
that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is still the greatest obstacle to
peace, stability and co-operation in this part of Europe. I am not here
to apportion blame, but I do want to encourage your Government in
Yerevan and the Government in Baku to do more – not because they both
gave a promise to the Council of Europe – but because a settlement of
this conflict is in the interest of everyone in both Armenia and
Azerbaijan.

Another example is your relationship with your neighbour to the west –
Turkey. This relationship is still difficult because of the events which
took place not ten years but more than nine decades ago. I understand
your pain. Of course you remember the victims, but time is an important
factor. It does not erase the past, but it should be given a chance to
heal the wounds. Everyone must accept that history can be neither
ignored nor legislated. We all know that many people died, but the time
has surely come to pay respect to the victims but also look to the
future. Everyone in Armenia and Turkey should do so not only for your
sake but even more for the sake of your children.

Reconciliation is difficult, and it takes much more courage than
confrontation. It is especially difficult, and therefore even more
important, to make the first step. But reconciliation is the only way
forward. This is the real message of Europe today, born out of our long
history of wars and confrontations. Understanding, respect and
reconciliation. There is no other way."

Link to the full version of the speech
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PRESS RELEASE
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A political organisation set up in 1949, the Council of Europe works to
promote democracy and human rights continent-wide. It also develops
common responses to social, cultural and legal challenges in its 47
member states.

DAVID NALBANDIAN BEATS RAFAEL NADAL TO WIN PARIS MASTERS

armradio.am
05.11.2007 12:15

Argentinean Armenian David Nalbandian beat Rafael Nadal, 6-4, 6-0,
to win the Paris Masters, clinching his second straight Masters title
after winning in Madrid last month.

Nalbandian broke Nadal in the ninth game of the first set and three
times in the second. He won the match with a forehand that bounced
off the net and landed inside the line.

Nalbandian, who beat Roger Federer in the Madrid final before knocking
out the world No. 1 en route to the final here, claimed his second
title of the Masters Series and was rewarded with a return to the
top 10 at No. 9.

PRESS RELEASE
Wales-Armenia Solidarity
Contact: E. Williams
Cardiff, Wales
Tel: 07870267447
Email: [email protected]

WALES AND ARMENIA

Address at the Unveiling of the Memorial to the Victims of the Armenian
Genocide 1915

Temple of Peace, Cardiff, 3rd November 2007

[The passages in italics were delivered in Welsh and have been translated]

It is a special privilege to be part of this historic occasion to pay
tribute to those who suffered in the Armenian genocide during the First
World War.

In Wales we are familiar with the idea of being air-brushed out of history.
The old encyclopaedias used to have the advice ‘for Wales, see England’.
School text-books jump straight from the Romans to the Saxons, forgetting
the native British, who became Welsh. Cultural historians ignore poets and
novelists who wrote and write in Welsh. Church historians right as though
Christianity first came to Britain with Augustine in 597, at a time when our
glorious ‘Age of Saints’ in Wales was in fact drawing to a close.

That may be painful and irritating at times, but there is nothing in our
experience that is as appalling as the genocide that systematically
destroyed a million and a half Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during the
First World War and the years immediately afterwards. And whatever
historical air-brushing we have on occasion suffered from in Wales, it is
quite trivial in comparison with the repeated denial of the Armenian
genocide and the attempt to discount or relativize such unspeakable
suffering.

One of our familiar sayings in Wales is ‘Y Gwir yn erbyn y Byd’ (‘The Truth
against the World’), and it’s fitting and appropriate that our small nation
stands side by side with our Armenian brothers and sisters to acknowledge
the hideous suffering of the past and to deny the lies that seek to hide the
uncomfortable truth of the genocide.

When we are faced with the statistics of genocide – with numbers of deaths
running into six or seven figures – it’s often easy for those of us who are
outside the tragedy to forget its intense human dimension.

A memory comes back to me of a visit to the Genocide Memorial in Yerevan.
What left an indelible impression on me there was the single skull of one of
the martyrs of the genocide, brought back to Armenia from the sands of the
Syrian desert where so many died in such agony. It was a reminder that each
one of those who died was an individual – a precious person made in the
image and likeness of God, with a family and loved ones and a potential for
life that was brutally and cruelly snuffed out.

And another memory – of a party of schoolchildren, laughing and smiling on
the steps of the Matenadaran, as they visited that wonderful shrine to
Armenia’s astonishingly rich culture. Seeing them, I thought, ‘Children like
these were those who were murdered, brutalized, enslaved, starved or
orphaned during those horrendous years between 1915 and 1923.’ Again I was
reminded of the need for a respectful acknowledgment of all that pain.

The idea of ‘parch’ (‘respect’) is something else that is important to us in
Wales: respect for those who deserve respect. And who is more worthy of
respect than these sufferers who have been scorned and swept away by those
who want to forget or deny the terrible reality of their suffering?

One of those small children spotted an ancient cross-stone by the entrance
to the Matenadaran and shouted excitedly "Khatchkar! Khatchkar!" – and today
we have unveiled and dedicated Wales’ first khatchkar, with its Armenian
cross that is such a powerful sign of suffering and hope.

In Wales we are used to our Celtic cross which is a symbol of the world made
whole and redeemed through the sacrificial suffering of Christ. The Armenian
cross also represents Christ’s suffering and its four corners embrace the
four corners of the world. In the version of it on many ancient khatchkars
the branches of the Tree of Life grow from the cross – that tree whose
leaves, the Bible tells us, are ‘for the healing of the nations’. So the
Armenian cross is not only a sign of the suffering of a Christian nation
which has known more than any other what it is to be crucified with Christ.
It is also a sign of hope for the future of all humanity.

So the khatchkar can teach us in Wales to rediscover the true meaning of our
Celtic cross as a sign that offers hope to our world. It also reminds us of
the way in which the Christian gospel has shaped the history and culture and
identity of our two nations across the centuries.

The monastery of Geghard in the mountains of Armenia, with its extraordinary
churches carved out of the living rock, is one of the most remarkable and
powerful architectural and spiritual masterpieces in the world. And in one
of those churches, right in the heart of the rock, there is a unique and
very moving khatchkar. Instead of leafy branches growing out from the foot
of the cross, there are two doves: signs of the Holy Spirit and of peace,
recalling that dove which Noah released from the Ark.

They reminded me of the dove that I held between my hands outside the church
of Saint Gayané in Holy Etchmiadzin, sensing its vulnerability and its
beating heart. There is a tradition that goes back to the teaching of St.
Grigor himself, and which seems to surface again and again in Armenian
thought and writings, which describes the souls of the faithful departed,
winging like doves towards heaven. And in his final article that courageous
journalist Hrant Dink, murdered at the beginning of this year, wrote ‘I feel
like a dove’.

The dove is vulnerable – a reminder of the innocent defenceless martyred
dead – and yet it also stands for freedom and hope. The dove which I
released with a prayer on that Sunday morning outside Saint Gayané flew
towards Mount Ararat – Masis.

Think for a moment how we Welsh people would feel if Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon),
our special symbolic mountain, was controlled by foreigners and we were
prevented from going there by watchtowers, high fences, minefields and armed
soldiers. That is what it is like for the Armenians. They can see the beauty
and wonder of Ararat – but they cannot get close to it.

My prayer today, remembering that dove and the beauty of the snows on Ararat
shining in the sun, is that a time may come not only when the government of
Turkey will admit the truth of the genocide of 1915, but also when Armenians
will once again walk freely on that holy mountain Ararat, Masis – as a salve
to help to heal a wound that has been open for far too long.

Patrick Thomas
(The Reverend Canon Dr) Patrick Thomas
The Church in Wales / Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru
Vicar of Christ Church, Carmarthen and Canon Librarian of St Davids
Cathedral, Pembrokeshire

Panorama.am

22:14 02/11/2007

20th century evil doesn’t want to back off

This year, 84 new cases of AIDS have been registered in Armenia. From
1988 to September 30, 2007, 513 cases were registered. According to
the AIDS center’s statistics, the number of cases of those infected
with AIDS has risen in recent years, with 383 men infected (74.7% of
the total) and 10 children (1.9%). Nearly 73% are in the 20-39 age
bracket.

The AIDS infection center director Arshak Baboyan, talking with a
Panorama.am journalist, said, `In general, the number of AIDS cases is
rising. Part of this is due to the advancement of laboratory
equipment, which allows us to reveal more cases, and the creation of
advice and assistance centers.’ The first instance of an AIDS-related
death in Armenia was in 1989. In 1990, the first case of AIDS
spreading due to narcotics use was registered.

Baboyan says that treatments for AIDS exist, in concurrence with the
government’s program in this area. The program’s main purpose is that
by 2007-2011 the existence of effective treatment should exist,
including centering on those groups of society more at risk for the
disease. Concerning these groups, the `We are all equal’ method is
taught, with advice and treatment offered to those afflicted, as well
as educational materials.

We add that psychological and legal advice is offered by the `Global
Foundation,’ with treatment, care, and social assistance.

Source: Panorama.am

HULIQ, NC
Nov 3 2007

Armenian Genocide Monument to be Unveiled in Wales

Several hundred Armenians from across the United Kingdom will gather
at the Temple of Peace, Cardiff at 1.00 p.m. on Saturday for the
unveiling of the first public monument to the Armenian Genocide in the
UK.
Permission has been granted by the United Nations Association Wales
and the monument will stand on land owned by the National Assembly of
Wales. The monument will be unveiled by the presiding officer of the
National Assembly, Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas and the Armenian
Ambassador, Dr Vahe Gabrielyan.
Welsh and Armenian choirs as well as Armenian dancers will take part
in the unveiling. Canon Patrick Thomas, a well-known Welsh writer,
will speak on the topic of "Armenia and Wales" and Mike Joseph, a
highly respected Welsh-Jewish historian and academic will speak about
Member of Parliament Aneurin Williams, the Welsh lobbyist for Armenia
in Parliament during the time of the Genocide. Prayers will be said in
Welsh, Armenian and Aramean.
The Monument is a "thank you" to the people of Wales for the
Recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the political cultural and
religious representatives of the nation.
Wales has distinguished itself by being the first country within the
UK to recognize the Armenian Genocide at both national and regional
levels.
This event is unique for a number of reasons. This is the first time a
plot of land has been allocated in a public area within the UK for a
memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
The stone is Welsh, the design is Armenian, the stonemason is Welsh
and the inscription is by the hand of a Bishop of the Armenian
Apostolic Church. The commemorative words are in Welsh, Armenian and
English.

FIRST PART OF GRANT TO BE GIVEN TO ARMENIA IN 2008 WITHIN FRAMEWORK OF EU NEW NEIGHBORHOOD PROGRAM INCLUDED IN DRAFT STATE BUDGET

Noyan Tapan
Nov 1, 2007

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, NOYAN TAPAM. The first part of the grant of
15 million euros or 6.9 billion drams to be given to Armenia in 2008
within the frameweork of the EU New Neighborhood program is included in
the draft state budget of the coming year. Pavel Safarian, the First
Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy of the Republic of Armenia,
said this at the November 1 joint sitting of the National Assembly
standing committees.

According to him, financing of 3.2 billion drams out of this sum is
envisaged for vocational educational institutions as the development
and modernization of those institutions is the only event requiring
financing among the list of events envisaged by the EU program. The
rest sum of 3.7 billion drams is included as assistance to RA state
budget.

Avet Adonts, the Chairman of the NA Standing Committee for European
Integration, in response to journalists’ questions, expressed
an idea that the state budget today does not fully reflect the
financing resources directed to implementation of Eurointegration
issues. According to him, besides the above mentioned EU program,
there are also other programs. In particular, a translation center is
envisaged to be created in the Ministry of Justice, the key goal of
which is to assist to bringing the Armenian Constitution in line with
European standards. It should be mentioned that 30 million drams was
allocated to the ministry by the 2007 state budget for this purpose
and 102 million drams is envisaged 2008 state budget.

GOVERNMENT ALLOWS DEVELOPMENT OF COPPER MINE IN NORTH ARMENIA

ARMENPRESS
Nov 1, 2007

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS: The government has endorsed today a
set of decisions allowing the Armenia Copper Program (ACP), a leading
Armenian mining company, to start development of a massive copper and
molybdenum deposit in the country’s north despite strong resistance
from local environmentalists.

Speaking to reporters after the government session, trade and economic
development minister Nerses Yeritsian said development of the mine
located near the village of Teghut will be one of the biggest projects
to be implemented in Armenia. Experts estimate that the mine contains
1.6 million tons of copper and 99,000 tons of molybdenum.

The company intends to extract more than 30,000 tons of copper and
800 tons of molybdenum ores there per year. The minister said if
the current price of copper-$7,000-8,000 per one ton is maintained,
the company may sell annually up to $270 million worth products.

He said the ACP plans to spend $250 million on turning the area located
in the northern Lori region into a huge mine. This make take 4 years.

Environmentalists say if implemented, the project will lead to the
destruction of 357 hectares of rich forest, including 128,000 trees,
but the minister argued that careful calculations have shown that
the benefits which the country will receive will outweigh the damages
and losses.

All the questions of ecologists have been answered in the company’s
project through a series of actions that will reduce the damage to the
environment, including large-scale works to restore tracts of forest,"
said the minister.

He added that some 1,700 jobs will be created in the economically
depressed area.

REFORMS OF ARMENIA’S SCIENTIFIC SECTOR TO FACILITATE APPLICATION OF RESULTS IN ECONOMY

ARKA News Agency
Oct 31 2007
Armenia

YEREVAN, October 31. /ARKA/. The reforms of Armenia’s scientific
sector are supposed to facilitate the practical application of results
of scientific activities in the country’s economy, President of the
Armenian National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) Radik Martirosyan stated
in his report "Scientific reforms at ANAS".

According to him, the reforms of Armenia’s scientific sector got under
way as early as 2006 and were better regulated in the latter half of
2007, after the RA Government approved a schedule of measures under
the scientific reform programs.

"All our efforts are aimed to establish structures and implement
programs which would speed up the development of Armenia’s scientific
sector and more effective introduction of scientific solutions into
economy," he said.

Martirosyan pointed out the necessity for convincing Armenia’s
industrial sector and businessmen that the results of scientific
activities.

"This is possible through practical development of materials and
equipment ready for immediate employment in production," Martirosyan
said. He added that the development of Armenia’s scientific sector
must be one of the priorities.

The ANAS President said that a considerable increase in the number
of research institute and staff members dopes not allow the country
to carry out scientific activities on as large a scale as it was in
the Soviet time.

By January 1, 2007, 3,750 ANAS staff members had been registered
in Armenia, with 2,200 of them being research workers, against
7,500 staff members in 1991. In conclusion, Martirosyan pointed out
that scientific reforms in Armenia involve a wide range of issues,
including the personnel training problem, social problems, creation
of necessary conditions for scientific activities and restoration
of the material and technical base, involvement of young specialists
and democratization of the management system.

On August 30, the RA Government approved a 3-year program of scientific
reforms. The program envisages the drafting of bills on scientific
reforms, elaboration of principles and standards for scientific
centers, a state strategic scientific development program and other
measures.

A FIGHT ON MANY FRONTS

Mail & Guardian Online, South Africa
Oct 30 2007

Jonathan Steele:

Turkey’s move towards a full-scale invasion of northern Iraq looks more
like a crab’s walk than a charging bull. The ruling party of moderate
Islamists has many foes to target, and not just the guerrillas of
the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the ostensible enemy.

One is the Turkish military, who are still not fully reconciled to
the current dominance and popularity of the country’s Islamists. Army
chiefs have been beating the nationalist drum for some time, seeking
to imply that the government is weak. They were not happy a few months
ago when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said there were far more
PKK activists inside Turkey than across the border. By persuading
Parliament to give the government a blank cheque for an invasion any
time in the next year, Erdogan has won himself plenty of time to keep
the generals at bay.

Threatening an invasion of Iraq also strikes a blow at the United
States, as Turkey tries to prevent Congress from passing a resolution
denouncing the genocide of Armenians in 1915. The tactic is working,
and Congress is pulling back, fearful of undermining relations with a
country that could pull the plug on crucial support for the military
presence in Iraq.

Moreover, the hardening of the Turkish position puts pressure on
the US and the Kurdistan regional government to rein in or drive
out those PKK fighters in the mountains of northern Iraq. For Iraqi
Kurdish leaders, this is a tough proposition. No government likes to
act against its ethnic brothers, however different their ideology may
be, when they are perceived as fellow nationalists fighting for rights.

Partly because of their effort to join the European Union, Turkey’s
Islamists have made huge strides in reducing the discrimination that
Kurds in Turkey have long suffered. As a result, support for the PKK
has fallen significantly, although a new generation of activists has
emerged to renew the armed struggle after a lapse of some years.

However, Erdogan was right to say that the real battle against the
PKK has to be won inside Turkey.

The wider issue in the crisis is the question of cross-border sanctuary
for guerrilla groups, and the role of foreign governments in supporting
them. Turkey’s action in threatening an invasion of northern Iraq
highlights the double standards of other governments.

Although Turkey’s preparations for war were denounced by George Bush,
how does Ankara’s sabre-rattling differ from Washington’s threats
to attack Iran because of Tehran’s alleged military support for
anti-American insurgents inside Iraq?

What of the fact that another Kurdish guerrilla outfit, an anti-Tehran
group that operates in north-western­ Iran, uses rear bases inside
Iraqi Kurdistan just like the PKK? Some of its leaders have been
received by Bush administration officials in Washington, and are
believed to get CIA and, perhaps, Israeli support.

The simplistic "war on terror" has been used by too many governments
to obscure the fact that in many parts of the world minorities still
suffer severe repression. Whether these minorities are justified in
saying that all avenues of non-violent protest have been closed,
and they must take up arms, requires careful analysis of local
conditions. Whether, if they do resort to force, they mainly target
unarmed civilians and thereby become terrorists, also needs to be
examined before demonising them.

A Turkish invasion of Iraq would be a highly dangerous move, but
it would not be a catastrophe. The aims would be limited and no one
seriously believes that Turkish troops would be trying to occupy the
whole of northern Iraq. The invasion that has dealt the biggest blow
to stability remains the American and British attack on Iraq in 2003.

– © Guardian News & Media Ltd 2007

Jonathan Steele’s Defeat: Why They Lost Iraq is published in January

cleid=323351&area=/insight/insight__internatio nal/

–Boundary_(ID_upgvJAVD9UECRWPixUvSpg)–

Eurasia Daily Monitor

October 11, 2007 — Volume 4, Issue 188

THE KREMLIN’S CANDIDATE FOR PACE’S PRESIDENCY

by Vladimir Socor

Mikhail Margelov, a politician close to the Kremlin and prominent in
the United Russia party of power, seems set to take over the presidency of
the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), the leading democracy
and human-rights watchdog in Europe.

An inside arrangement shepherded by the outgoing PACE chairman, Rene
van der Linden, has reserved PACE’s chair for Margelov for a two-year term
starting in January 2008. The arrangement also rests on support from British
Tories in the Strasbourg-based PACE, whether ignored or condoned by the
Conservative Party leadership in Britain.

The opening of PACE’s autumn session this month has thrust this
arrangement from backstage into the open. The Russian delegation’s behavior
early in this session reflects confidence that a Margelov presidency is
irreversible. By the same token, the numerous opponents of a Margelov
presidency at PACE seem scattered and demoralized. Such conclusions on
either side are probably premature, however.

The arrangement for a Kremlin-connected figure to supervise democracy
in Europe is unprecedented in any institution anywhere. At PACE, it has
emerged partly from the political designs of some individuals, partly from
sheer bureaucratic momentum trumping democracy, and partly from Russian
heavy-handed tactics, abetted passively by some West Europeans in the
Strasbourg assembly.

Although Margelov’s party, United Russia, embodies the Kremlin’s
`managed democracy,’ Margelov managed to become chairman of PACE’s European
Democrats’ Group (EDG), a conservative caucus built by British Tories at
PACE. The EDG’s immediate past chairman, David Atkinson, helped arrange for
Margelov to take over that post in 2005 on Atkinson’s retirement. Moreover,
ambitious to increase EDG’s numerical weight relative to other caucuses in
PACE, the Tories and a few others invited the Russian delegation to join EDG
en masse. The well-disciplined United Russia duly allocated 27 members, out
of PACE’s 36 Russian members, to join EDG, thus becoming overnight the
dominant force in this 91-member Conservative group. Tories, of whom there
are only 11 in EDG, retain the posts of honorary chair, first-vice-chair,
and political officer [whip] thanks to United Russia.

Under PACE’s rules, the political caucuses rotate in holding PACE’s
presidency at three-year intervals. Van der Linden held the presidency in
2005-2007 on behalf of the European People’s Party (an alliance mainly of
Christian-Democrat parties). It is now EDG’s turn, and with Margelov in
control there, he is next in line for the PACE presidency on procedural
grounds. Although Margelov and his United Russia are wide open to challenge
on basic democracy criteria, van der Linden provided crucial help to arrange
a smooth succession for Margelov as PACE president.

Meanwhile, Russia is massively breaching the commitments it undertook
to the Council of Europe in 1996 as conditions to Russia’s membership. PACE’
s monitoring mechanism has become chronically complacent on that account,
and PACE’s credibility eroded as a result. Its credibility could now suffer
irreparable damage if PACE installs Russia, Europe’s prime offender to PACE’
s values, in this institution’s presidency.

The credibility issue would quickly come to the fore if Margelov and
Konstantin Kosachev, the head of Russia’s delegation to PACE, misuse this
institution for propaganda against the Baltic states, Georgia, the United
States, and U.S. allies The Russian delegation’s conduct seems to reflect
this intention since the opening of PACE’s autumn session in the first week
of October.

Thus, Kosachev has called for:

a) reintroducing PACE monitoring of Estonia and Latvia over `human
rights violations’;

b) discussing on PACE’s floor `political persecutions’ in Georgia,
based on former defense minister Irakli Okruashvili’s imputations of
criminal acts to President Mikheil Saakashvili (which Okruashvili failed to
substantiate and then retracted entirely on October 8 — see Rustavi-2 TV,
Civil Georgia, October 8, 9);

c) raising at PACE the issue of use of military force by the United
States `and its allies’; and

d) condemning the planned U.S. anti-missile defense installations in
Poland and the Czech Republic.

Kosachev is also a member of the Conservative EDG at PACE. Margelov
and Kosachev are acting in concert in their twin capacities as chairmen of
the Russian Duma and Federation Council committees on international affairs.

Alone among the Council of Europe’s 47 member countries, Russia has
not ratified Protocol 14 to the European Human Rights Convention, thereby
delaying by years the processing of Russian cases at the European Court on
Human Rights (ECHR). Margelov and Kosachev claim that they personally favor
Russian ratification, but since the Duma rejects it, they propose modifying
the Protocol to facilitate Duma ratification. By this logic, the 46
countries that did ratify the document would have to cancel their
ratification and redraft a weaker document in line with Russia’s goals at
ECHR.

Margelov has confirmed matter-of-factly to Russian media that Russia’s
presidential administration and Ministry of Foreign Affairs have authorized
his candidacy to PACE’s presidency (Moskovsky novosti, September 14).
Margelov’s admission reflects the absence of separation of powers in Russia.
His full equanimity about this situation should instantly disqualify his
candidacy to PACE’s presidency. It would unthinkable for a legislator from a
democratic country to depend on executive branch approval for seeking
election to a parliamentary or inter-parliamentary post. However, Margelov’s
backers at PACE seem prepared to compromise the organization’s standards for
the Kremlin-authorized candidate.

(Interfax, September 24 – October 9; Itar-Tass, October 1;
Parlamentskaya gazeta, October 2)

–Vladimir Socor