Author: Tadevosian Garnik

AMERICAN TROOPS REACH THE BLACK SEA

Strategy Page
les/20070926.aspx
Sept 26 2007

September 26, 2007: There are 17,882 people still listed as "missing"
in the various Yugoslav "wars of devolution." This includes the
wars in Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo. Most (13, 500) of the missing
disappeared in Bosnia. The Serbia-Croatia war (1991-95) has 2,386
listed as missing. Kosovo has 2,047.

September 25, 2007: The U.S. and Romania completed the first month
of a three-month long military training exercise. The light infantry
training exercise involves approximately 700 troops and support
personnel located at the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base (on Romania’s
Black Sea coast). In December 2005 the US and Romania signed a ten-year
bilateral agreement that lets the US use the huge airbase and training
complex. U.S. forces in Romania, however, cannot exceed a maximum of
one brigade (roughly 3,500 troops). Still, the base gives the U.S. a
"lily pad" to support potential "deep operations" in Central Asia.

September 24, 2007: A bomb detonated in front of a nightclub in
Pristina, Kosovo killed two people and wounded 11. The night club
was located on Bill Clinton Boulevard.

Serbia now says that if Kosovo remains part of Serbia, Serbia is
willing to give it "the highest level of autonomy" to include a
"parallel, self-governing" political system. That would include the
right for the Kosovo government to collect taxes and manage its
own economic affairs. Nothing was said about police and security
arrangements, but past statements implied that the European Union
should act as the "guarantor" with a civilian and military presence
in Kosovo "to keep the peace." The Serbian term for this status is
"loose integration."

September 22, 2007: It is a small diplomatic victory for Macedonia,
but a victory nonetheless. Canada announced that it will that recognize
Macedonia as "the Republic of Macedonia." This will upset Greece,
which insists on calling Macedonia the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia (FYROM).

September 19, 2007: Kosovo and Serb police conducted a joint operation
that led to the arrest of an arms smuggler, who was shipping weapons
to what the police described as "Muslim extremists" operating in
southern Serbia near the town of Novi Pazar. The arrest took place
inside Kosovo, in the northern town of Mitrovica – a town with a
substantial Serbian community.

Kosovar Albanian political leaders said that Kosovo are drafting a
"friendship treaty" with Serbia. The treaty will include "a clause
forgiving Serbia for all crimes committed in Kosovo." This is a
signal by Kosovar Albanian moderates that while they are demanding
independence, in the long term they want a stable, peaceful
relationship with Serbia.

September 15, 2007: The United States asked Turkey to take "critical
political steps." The political moves the US wants Turkey to make
include opening the Turkish-Armenia border and "refraining from energy
deals" with Iran. The last statement refers to a natural gas deal
Turkey signed earlier this year with Iran. The US also congratulated
Abdullah Gul on his election as president.

Serbia said that it has no interest in joining NATO and intends to
"retain full military neutrality."

KOCHARIAN WARNS PREDECESSOR AGAINST COMEBACK
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Sept 25 2007

President Robert Kocharian rejected on Tuesday grave accusations
leveled against him by former President Levon Ter-Petrosian and warned
his predecessor against seeking to return to power.

Breaking his nearly decade-long silence with a speech on Friday,
Ter-Petrosian lashed out at the current government in Yerevan which he
described as "corrupt and criminal" and accused of turning Armenia into
a "third world" nation. He claimed that the Kocharian administration’s
failure to cut a peace deal with Azerbaijan is increasingly putting
the country’s future at risk.

In his first public reaction to the Ter-Petrosian speech, Kocharian
dismissed the accusations by pointing to Armenia’s robust economic
growth that has averaged 13 percent per annum since 2002. "Today
Armenia is one of the fastest developing countries in the world,"
he said in remarks broadcast by state television. "The most
effective reforms are being implemented in Armenia. And if those
characterizations [made by Ter-Petrosian] really applied to Armenia,
we would never have such success."

Kocharian also cited a substantial increase in government spending
over the past decade. "I became prime minister of Armenia in March
1997 and inherited a $300 million [state] budget with a deficit of
about $40 million," he said. "Next year, Armenia will have a budget
worth about $2.5 billion. Just compare [the two figures]."

"One has to be extremely self-isolated in order not to see what has
happened in the country," he added in a jibe at the extremely low
profile kept by Ter-Petrosian since his resignation in 1998.

Kocharian went on to emphasize that he has until now avoided publicly
attacking his predecessor out of respect for independent Armenia’s
first president. He indicated that he will no longer restrain himself
if Ter-Petrosian decides to contest the forthcoming presidential
elections.

"If the first president enters political struggle, then he will become
an ordinary opposition figure with all the consequences stemming
from that, and we will have to remind [Armenians] of many things,"
warned Kocharian. "For example, how many streets were lit in Yerevan
in 1996 and so on. There were only three [such streets.]"

Kocharian and his chief lieutenant, Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian,
have already capitalized on painful popular memories of Armenia’s
economic collapse and severe energy crisis of the early 1990s to keep
Ter-Petrosian and loyalists at bay. Political groups and electronic
media loyal to the two men have for years blamed the latter for
persisting socioeconomic problems facing many Armenians.

The government-controlled Armenian Public Television reacted to
Ter-Petrosian’s speech at the weekend with a scathing report that
accused the country’s former leadership of mismanaging the economy,
rigging elections and being responsible for several high-profile
killings of the early 1990s. Some pro-Ter-Petrosian papers hit back
on Tuesday by a citing an even longer list of such killings, including
the October 1999 terrorist attack on the Armenian parliament, committed
during Kocharian’s rule.

Ter-Petrosian’s speech at an indoor reception organized by his party,
the Armenian Pan-National Movement (HHSh), came as a possible prelude
to his presidential run sought by his supporters. He told hundreds of
them that he has not yet decided whether to enter the fray despite
touring Armenia for the past few weeks to gauge popular support for
his comeback.

The HHSh and other opposition groups sympathetic to Ter-Petrosian
say that the ex-president is the only opposition politician capable
of defeating Sarkisian, the presumed election favorite. The claim is
disputed by other opposition leaders.

Both Kocharian and Sarkisian became the wartime leaders of
Nagorno-Karabakh in 1992 thanks to their warm ties with Armenia’s
HHSh-led government and Ter-Petrosian in particular. Those ties
catapulted the two men to high-ranking positions in Yerevan later in
the 1990s. They were key players in a subsequent power struggle that
ended in Ter-Petrosian’s dramatic resignation in 1998.

ALTHOUTH CSTO MEMBER STATE, ARMENIA ADMITS COOPERATION WITH NATO

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.09.2007 16:54 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia stands for development of relations with
NATO member states, RA Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan told a news
conference in Moscow.

"Armenia, being a member state of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization, thinks fit to develop relations with NATO," he said.

"I treat positively Georgia’s aspiration to develop relations with
NATO and I say "yes" to its striving for NATO membership. As to the
other countries, each state should itself decide how to ensure its
security," the Prime Minister said.

When touching on Armenia’s role as a security guarantor in the
South Caucasus, Serge Sargsyan said that Armenia is cooperating
with all member states of the organization and is remarkable for its
constructive stand on all issues. "Being Defense Minister and Secretary
of the Security Council I took part in all CSTO sittings and I did not
have the impression that our country is passive or non-constructive. We
thoroughly consider all initiatives for regional security and support
constructive proposals," Serge Sargsyan said, Russian media reports.

PRESS RELEASE
The Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA)
65 Main Street, Watertown, MA 02742
Contact: Christie Hardiman, Public Relations & Outreach Coordinator
Tel: (617) 926-2562 ext. 4
Fax: (617) 926-0175
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

September 24, 2007

NEWS RELEASE — DEVOTION TO NATION AND TO THE CAUSE OF LIBERTY THE
ARMENIAN LEGION IN WORLD WAR I

Next year will mark the 90th anniversary an of event largely forgotten
today, the victory of the volunteer Armenian Legion over a combined
Turkish/German force at the Battle of Arara, in Palestine, on September
19, 1918.

To commemorate that Armenian victory, as well as to recall
the momentous story of the Armenian Legion during and immediately
following World War I, the Armenian Library and Museum of America has
prepared a traveling exhibit documenting, with photographs and
narratives, the formation, training, military action, and postwar
activities of this all-volunteer force.

The story of the Armenian Legion during World War I reflects
the community’s attempts to come to grips with the destruction and
devastation following the Armenian Genocide. It also represents the
successful efforts of Armenians from different social, economic and
political backgrounds to work together for a common cause. The Legion
encompassed a group of remarkable individuals – some officers, others of
no special rank or distinction – who volunteered throughout the
diaspora, overcoming tremendous difficulties in order to serve their
people and nation courageously, often at great personal sacrifice. Their
lives are well worth remembering.

One of these individuals, Hagop Arevian, provides an example of the
dedication exhibited by the Legionnaires under extraordinary
circumstances. Born in 1894 in a small village near Sebastia (Turkey),
he experienced the tragedy and dislocation that have affected so many
Armenians. His family miraculously survived the massacres ordered by
Sultan Abdul Hamid in 1894-1896, and moved to the capital of
Constantinople (Istanbul), where Hagop’s father, Nazareth, obtained work
as a port supervisor. However Nazareth was soon arrested and imprisoned
by Ottoman officials on charges of illegal political activism. Despite
repeated appeals to the authorities, even to the Sultan himself,
Nazareth remained in prison and ultimately died there.

Hagop received his education in Mekhitarist schools in the capital, and
in 1914 he went to Alexandria, Egypt, to join his older brother. With
the outbreak of World War I, he resolved to fight for the Allies and he
went to Marseilles, France, to volunteer for the French Foreign Legion.
After training in Algeria, he joined the French Army in France. On leave
in Paris, he met Boghos Nubar Pasha and learned of the plans to form the
Armenian Legion to fight with the French/British forces in the Middle
East; as part of the plan the Armenians were promised autonomy in the
regions of Cilicia, southern Turkey, which had been allocated to France,
according to World War I secret agreements between the Allies (France,
England, and Russia).

Arevian, now a corporal first class, returned to the battlefield in
France and was seriously wounded at Vitry-le-Francois. Receiving the
valued Croix de Guerre, he was detached from the Foreign Legion in 1917
and assigned to the Armenian Legion, which was then training in Cyprus.
He left France aboard the ship "Caledonia," which was subsequently
shipwrecked near Port Said, Egypt, and saved by a Japanese
counter-torpedo boat.

After helping to train the Armenian volunteers in Cyprus, Arevian joined
the Legion as it marched to Palestine to join in the campaign being
waged by British General Edmund Allenby. As a member of the Fifth
Battalion, Arevian participated in the Legion’s victory at the Battle of
Arara (near Rafat, Palestine) against a combined Turkish/German Army
commanded by Mustapha Kemal (later Ataturk). The victory marked the
collapse of the Turkish/German forces and culminated in the end of the
war in November 1918.

Marching north with General Allenby’s forces, Arevian joined other
Legionnaires in rescuing Armenian women and children who had survived
the death marches of the Genocide. The Armenian Legion was now assigned
to occupy Cilicia. Lt. Col. Louis Romieu, commander of the Legion,
granted Arevian’s request for his section to have the honor of being the
first to land in Cilicia, at the port of Mersin, but did not allow
Arevian to carry with him the flag of the Armenian Republic; instead
Arevian was ordered to take the French tricolor. Arevian was
subsequently stationed in Adana, the center of the French occupation in
Cilicia., where he served for the following two years.

By 1920 the political landscape had shifted drastically. France turned
Cilicia over to the Turkish nationalists, thus abandoning thousands of
Armenian who had returned to their homes under the promise of French
occupation and protection. France quietly disbanded the Armenian Legion,
and Arevian (now a citizen of France) returned to Egypt, where he
married and established a family and a successful business.

In 1939, Arevian became an early supporter of the French resistance
against Nazi Germany and became one of the first members of the General
De Gaulle’s Free French Forces. From 1940 to 1945 he organized a hospice
for soldiers of the resistance, a museum of the war, and created a
circle of benefactors and volunteers to assist the French military. In
recognition of these services, he was awarded the French Medal of
Resistance in 1946, and over the next decade concentrated on his
business in Egypt.

In 1956, however, his life was disrupted once again as he and his wife
were expelled from Egypt, given only 48 hours to pack and leave the
country. He moved to Paris, where he became an Officer of the Legion of
Honor and was given the privilege of rekindling the flame at the
Monument of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc of Triumph in 1959. He died
in Paris in 1965.

In recognition of the importance of remembering the Legionnaires and
their devotion to their nation and to the cause of liberty, the Armenian
Library and Museum of America has prepared a traveling exhibit,
"Forgotten Heroes: The Armenian Legion in World War I." More information
about the Legion and about the exhibit is available by contacting ALMA
at 65 Main St., Watertown, MA 02472; Tel: 617-926-2562, web:
AlmaInc.org, or email Gamavor @almainc.org.

About ALMA

Founded in 1971, ALMA’s mission is to present and preserve the culture,
history, art and contributions of the Armenian people to Americans and
Armenians alike. Since its inception, ALMA’s collection has grown to
over 18,000 books and 20,000 artifacts, making it perhaps the largest
and most diverse holding of Armenian cultural artifacts outside of
Armenia. As a repository for heirlooms, the collection now represents a
major resource not only for Armenian studies research, but as well as
for preservation and illustration of the Armenian heritage. In 1988,
ALMA acquired a 30,000 square foot facility in Watertown, MA – one of
North America’s oldest and most active Armenian communities. The
facility includes exhibition galleries, Library, administrative offices,
function hall, climate-controlled vaults and conservation lab.

ALMA is the only independent Armenian Museum in the Diaspora funded
solely through contributions of individual supporters. An active Board
of Trustees and volunteer base augments the museum’s staff. Museum’s
active schedule of changing exhibits includes the use of the library
primarily by researchers and interested general public seeking research
materials on Armenians. In addition, the museum sponsors lecture and
presentation program on related topics.

Hours: Friday and Sunday 1-5 P.M., Saturday 10 A.M.-2 P.M. and Thursday
evenings from 6-9 P.M. Admission: ALMA members are free/ $2 for
non-members. Children under 14 are free.

Directions

Driving: Take route 95 to 128 to 90 (Mass Pike East) towards Watertown.
Take exit 17- Watertown/Newton. Go North 1 mile towards Watertown
Square. As you cross the small bridge, get into the 2 left lanes. Turn
left on Main Street. Turn right on Church Street, and then turn right
into the municipal parking lot.

MBTA: Buses 71, 70/70A, 57, 52, 59, 502, 504. Please visit
for schedules and maps.

RUSSIA’S MTS TO BUY ARMENIA’S LARGEST TELECOM GROUP

Agence France Presse — English
September 14, 2007 Friday 10:21 AM GMT

Russian telecommunications group MobileTelesystems (MTS) on Friday
announced an agreement to buy Armenia’s largest mobile operator
VivaCell, putting nearly all cellular communications in the ex-Soviet
country under the control of Russian companies.

MTS, Russia’s largest mobile company, will buy 80 percent of the parent
company of VivaCell for 310 million euros (430 million dollars) and has
agreed to purchase the remaining 20 percent for an undisclosed sum,
MTS head Leonid Melamed said at a press conference in the Armenian
capital Yerevan.

VivaCell has about 986,000 users in Armenia, about 66 percent of the
local mobile telephone market, MTS said.

Russian telecommunications group VimpelCom last year reached a deal to
buy 90 percent of Armenia’s second-largest mobile operator, Armentel,
for 342 million euros (474 million dollars.)

AZG Armenian Daily #172, 21/09/2007

Genocide Recognition

NUMBER OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION COSPONSORS STEADILY GROWING

In a sign of the growing momentum toward the adoption of Congressional
legislation recognizing the Armenian Genocide, Senator Patty Murray
(D-WA) and newly elected Representative Laura Richardson (D-CA), this
week, added their names as cosponsors of this human rights
legislation, reported the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA).

"Armenians in Washington, California and around the nation are
encouraged to see Senator Murray and Representative Richardson – both
first-time supporters of federal legislation commemorating the
Armenian Genocide – join the growing Congressional majority in support
of the recognition of this crime against humanity," said Aram
Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. "We look forward for
Members of Congress – at long last – to have the opportunity to steer
America back to the right side of this fundamental issue of justice
and basic human rights."The House version of the Armenian Genocide
Resolution, H.Res.106, was introduced on January 30th by lead author
Rep. Adam Schiff, along with Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA),
Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe
Knollenberg (R-MI), Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA)
and Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI).

With Rep. Richardson’s support, the legislation now has 226
cosponsors.A similar resolution in the Senate (S.Res.106), introduced
by Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sen. John Ensign
(R-NV) currently now has 32 cosponsors, including Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton
(D-NY). Both resolutions call upon the President to ensure that the
foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding
and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic
cleansing, and genocide documented in the UnitedStates record relating
to the Armenian Genocide.The Armenian Genocide has been officially
recognized, through legislation or proclamation, by 40 U.S. states. It
is also supported by the Genocide Intervention Network, National
Council of Churches, American Values, Jewish groups including the
Zionist Organization of America and Americans for Peace Now, as well
as by a diverse coalition that includes organizations representing the
Ukrainian, Greek, Filipino, Polish, Hungarian, Arab, Bulgarian,
Latvian, Romanian, Lithuanian, Slovakian, and other communities.

ARMENIAN PATRIARCH OF TURKEY IN U.S. ON TURKISH PROPAGANDA TOUR ONCE AGAIN
By Harut Sassounian, Publisher, The California Courier

AZG Armenian Daily #171
20/09/2007

National Interests

This week Mesrob Mutafyan, the Armenian Patriarch of Turkey, is making
his second visit to the United States in the past 6 months.

During his highly controversial first visit in April, the Patriarch
participated in a conference organized by a Turkish group at the
Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, Turkey. The conference was
titled, "Turkish-Armenian Question: What to do Now?"

Despite intensive efforts by various Armenian-American groups to
persuade the Patriarch not to speak at that conference, he went ahead
with his speaking engagement. All other Armenian invitees, for one
reason or another, refused to take part. The concern was that the Turks
would use the conference as a ploy to convince the outside world that
Armenians and Turks were "reconciling" with each other, and therefore,
there was no need to pressure Turkey into genocide recognition.

Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, the Primate of the Armenian Church
of America (Eastern Diocese), was so incensed by the Patriarch’s
planned participation that he wrote to University officials objecting
to its sponsorship of this politically tendentious and one sided
"Armenian-Turkish dialogue." The University complied with the Primate’s
request and withdrew its support from the conference. Archbishop
Barsamian rightly pointed out that Patriarch Mutafyan "has a very
limited ability to freely express his true thoughts and concerns
because of oppressive Turkish free-speech laws." The Primate aptly
described the Patriarch as "a virtual ‘prisoner of conscience’ of
the Turkish government."

Interestingly, the Patriarch repeated word for word in Dallas what he
had said a year earlier during a similar conference held at Erciyes
University in Kayseri, Turkey. The April 2006 conference was entitled:
"The Art of Living Together in Ottoman Society: The Example of
Turkish-Armenian Relations."

Patriarch Mutafyan will most probably repeat the same remarks during
his talk on September 20, at the Georgetown University in Washington,
D.C. The sponsors of both the April and September conferences are
affiliated with the Islamic Fethullah Gulen group.

To gain an advance insight into what the Patriarch might say this
week, here are some excerpts of his previously delivered talks in
Kayseri and Dallas which consist of some straight talk mixed with
words meant to appease Turkish officials.

"It is certainly not possible to idealize every phase in the history
of Ottoman-Armenian relations and to say that Armenians never had
any problems. Being Christians, the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire
were never first class citizens. And they certainly did suffer
discrimination. However, we know that the first acquaintance between
Turks and Armenians dates back to at least 1300 years ago…. In
this long history of commercial and political interactions between
neighbors, there are relatively few instances where we observe
exchanges of physical violence," the Patriarch said.

He then went on to say that "especially towards the end of the
19th century there was an increase in tension in relations, whether
responsibility for this was due to the Ottoman government, or the
German, American, French, British and especially Russian governments,
Armenian political parties, or even the Armenian Patriarchs of
Istanbul of that period, who discharged their obligations under the
surveillance of the Temporal Affairs Council that then consisted of
Armenian secularists in Turkey. Even if the various parties were not
all equally responsible, it is not a moral approach in view of the
painful after-effects for any one of them to deny any accountability
in the development of these events, or to place all the responsibility
on the other parties."

After several Turkish propagandists delivered their talks at the
Dallas conference, the Armenian Patriarch responded by making the
following statement outside of his written text: "Did some Armenian
political parties promote armed rebellion in the Armenian community?

They did. In some areas, did armed Armenian gangs work together
with the Russian army? They did. But the Government of the Committee
for Union and Progress, being in charge of the country, is chiefly
responsible for the painful events that occurred and the great
suffering that was endured. If you do not hold the government in
charge of the behavior of the country as responsible for that behavior,
then whom will you hold responsible? Instead of eliminating in their
local areas the armed Armenian factions who were in rebellion, the
Government of the Committee for Union and Progress sent all Armenians
in the Ottoman Empire on a sort of death march to the Syrian Desert;
it sentenced them to death. Therefore this party is chiefly culpable
for the 1915 events."

A day before his Georgetown speech this week, the Armenian Patriarch
is invited to participate at the 2nd Congressional Interfaith and
Intercultural Ramadan Iftar Dinner on Capitol Hill, where he will
speak along with several other clergymen from various faiths.

There has been some speculation as to who arranged for the Armenian
Patriarch to come to Washington, D.C., shortly before the anticipated
vote in the House of Representatives on the Armenian Genocide
resolution and less than a month before the Pontifical visit of His
Holiness Karekin II to the nation’s capital? Many see the sinister
hand of the Turkish government orchestrating the Patriarch’s speaking
engagements, using the connections of high-powered lobbying firms
hired by Ankara.

This writer has repeatedly urged the Armenian Patriarch to stay away
from involvement in political matters and instead tend to the spiritual
needs of his flock. He must at all cost resist the pressures exerted
upon him by Turkish officials, in order not to allow them to use him
as a propaganda tool serving Turkey’s denialist agenda.

In the meantime, Armenian religious and secular leaders have an
obligation to point out that the Patriarch does not speak for the
Armenian Church and that his political statements are made under
Turkish pressure and do not reflect his true views on the Armenian
Genocide.

NewKerala.com, India

Armenian archaeologists discover second pagan temple after Garni

New Delhi, Sept 16 : Armenian archaeologists have discovered the
second pagan temple in Armenia after Garni.

The temple was found 5.5 metres underground not far from the modern
town of Artashat, about 30 kilometres to the south-east of Yerevan.

Experts say it is devoted to Mihr – the God of the Sun in Armenian
mythology.

The temple – the symbol of Sun-worship was built near Artashat which
maintained its status the longest among the capitals of Armenia – from
the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD, said archaeologist Zhores
Khachatryan.

"By discovering the remains of the temple we found out that the temple
was even more gorgeous and beautiful than Garni. That means we have
found a big historical wealth that needs being kept by all means,"
said the 72-year-old Khachatryan, the coordinator of the
archaeological expedition team.

The expedition comprised of 15 workers of the Institute of Archaeology
and Ethnography. The National Academy of Sciences of Armenia had begun
the excavations of the territory of capital Artashat in the
1970s. Before that Soviet authorities prohibited large-scale
excavations in territories bordering Turkey.

Khachatryan said the findings revealed that Artshat occupied about 400
hectares of territory and had a population of about 150,000 in its
heyday, and the fortification walls of the city stretched for more
than 10,000 metres.

According to armenianow.com, the town founded on 12 hills in the
neighbourhood of Khor Virap built on the place of the temple devoted
to the goddess of maternity and fertility Anahit.

It used to be a big centre of commerce, and more than 1,000 types of
the seals have been found at the site, the report said.

"All the studies show Artashat was built in accord with a regular and
a planned design project. However, unfortunately, we cannot research
all the hills: the heart of Artashat was built on the marble ore that
has been blown up for many times and has equalled that part [of the
city] to ground," said Khachatryan.

Khachatryan said the archaeological team has also managed to find the
public bathhouse of Artshat with its seven rooms 75 square meters
each.

"There is a mosaic floor and a tiny brook, bases and pools with
beautiful ornaments have been found. Also a toilet with sewage system
with more than 2,000 years of history, something you can’t find even
in modern-day villages, was found," he said.

"We knew from the very beginning there was a temple that was destroyed
during the reign of King Tiridates in the 4th century, in times
Christianity was spread. But we didn’t know where exactly it was and
what was its size," he added.

— ANI

BOOMERANG EFFECT

Hayoc Ashkharh
14 Sept 2007

Judging by all, the activists of the Armenian pan-National Movement
are extremely nervous that Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan acts as the
undisputed favorite of the presidential elections in all the social,
political, public and behind-the-scene discussions. As to the endless
search for an alternative candidate, the process develops purely on
the following plane, "who will be his main rival." That’s to say,
the problem of the first position is resolved and the struggle is
for the second position.

How to digest such crying injustice? "Why is Serge Sargsyan
considered a predetermined pretender? For what merits?" With the
purpose of getting the answer to this "incomprehensible and extremely
strange question, one of the newspapers belonging to the Armenian
pan-National Movement has raked up the dark pages of the Prime
Minister’s biography and revealed a great number of compromising facts
"to their advantage". And, as they believe, this easily renders the
"top candidate’s" presidential ambitions harmless. Let’s enumerate
some of them.

Compromising fact No. 1: Serge Sargsyan has graduated from the
Philological Department of the Yerevan State University, studying by
correspondence. Compromising fact No. 2: after his graduation, he
immediately became an active member of the Young Communists League
and then – the Communist Party and held different posts within the
party hierarchy. Whereas, following the "first President’s" thirst
for learning, he could have furthered his education in Leningrad,
married a Jewish woman and had a relevant "presence" in the ranks of
the fathers of globalization.

Compromising fact No. 3: he became a member of the Karabakh Movement
beginning 1998, and later joined the Armenian pan-National Movement
(let’s remind you that the "pan-national movement", aiming to impart
a party-based contents to the Karabakh Movement, began with a process
of admitting large groups of people into the party, so 90 per cent
of the working citizens were willy-nilly registered as "members"
of the Armenian pan-National Movement).

Let’s go on. Compromising fact No. 4: Having joined the Republican
Party, S. Sargsyan became an adherent of Nzhdeh’s ideology and was
later elected as the Chair of its political council. "After Andranik
Markaryan’s death he became a single leader". Compromising fact
No. 5: Serge Sargsyan’s principal feature is "the absolute absence of
political principles and concepts" because he first pursued extremist
left-wing "denationalized" views, as did our parents and grandparents
many of whom were members of the Young Communist League and then
¨C "denationalized" communists. And then he became a racist after
denouncing the "moderate national and liberal-democratic" principles,
i.e. the original principles of the Armenian pan-National Movement.

And even more, he became a fascist because, in the opinion of this
particular "witness" of Levon Ter-Petrosyan, it is a "racist-fascist"
party with which the same Levon Ter-Petrosyan had, for some reason,
set up a pre-electoral alliance.

Compromising fact No. 6: Serge Sargysan is a "careerist with no
principles", because during the years of the Karabakh war he took the
lead of the Committee of Defense and then became a Defense Minister.

Compromising fact No. 7: he is a "traitor", because he has made
his way in life due to Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s mercy (the resource of
the Karabakh people’s trust has not surprisingly exhausted itself
up to day; naturally, it doesn’t matter whether or not it exists),
but as we see, he does not give a "warning" to all those who dare to
question the "first President’s" super-human origin and divine mission.

What’s more, he does so being well-aware that the Armenian pan-National
Movement achieved victory in the Karabakh war thanks to Levon
Ter-Petrosyan, (never mind that he is still unable to swallow the
bitter "pill" of "occupying" Shushi) but he doesn’t publicize such
news all over the world.

In the meantime, there is not a singe indication as to why Mr.

Ter-Petrosyan invited some unreliable careerist with no principles to
Armenia and entrusted him the leadership of the force structures ¨C
the Ministries of Defense and Security and, after the resignation of
Vano Siradeghyan ¨C joined the Ministries of Home Affairs and National
Security and again entrusted its leadership to Serge Sargsyan, the
"careerist with no principles".

Compromising factor No. 8: after the October 27 criminal act he was
obliged, as a National Security Minister, "to resign immediately",
but he didn’t do so, thus leaving sweet memories on the post- October
27 developments, dual power and the revolutions that didn’t take place.

Of the great number of "murderous" compromising facts discrediting
the Prime Minister, the most deadly is still to come. "Together
with R. Kochryan, this person has been busy selling Karabakh, in the
strictest sense of the word. Why do we consider his candidacy natural
at present? So that he is able to bring the process of selling Karabakh
to an end for the sake of his career and wealth?" the author of the
articles continues to remain nervous.

And we, as na§ave creatures, believe that "together with Kocharyan
this person" has sold Meghri, having saved Karabakh for a rainy day.

We were even convinced that he wanted Karabakh; alas, it was the
"first President" that didn’t want to sell it. The "careerist with
no principles" didn’t let him do that, and they have been keeping
Karabakh as an invincible castle for 10 years.

Therefore, judge yourselves: after the epoch-forming "revelations",
the native society cannot but immediately "rule out Serge Sargsyan’s
candidacy" and, as a whole nation, harness itself on the rusty cart
and make nationwide efforts, imploring Mr. Ter-Petrosyan to return.

–Boundary_(ID_xlORvVX7YvDprZVq6o1x/w)–

THE ARMENIAN SIDE SURPRISED AT ELMAR MAMMADYAROV’S STATEMENTS

armradio.am
14.09.2007 11:38

According to Azerbaijani sources, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov stated yesterday that the agreement by Armenia to the
document on the bargaining table can be a serious breakthrough in
that process.

Commenting on the statement at the request of ArmInfo agency, Vladimir
Karapetian, Spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said:

ï~^"We are truly surprised at that announcement, since in the recent
period Azerbaijan has began to stand back and resist provisions already
agreed upon regarding Nagorno Karabakhï~^’s status, which are in and
continue to remain in the document, proposed by the Co-Chairs.

If the reports in fact correspond to reality and Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister has agreed to the provisions on Nagorno Karabakh status,
we welcome the approach.ï~^"

–Boundary_(ID_aiqARDxlbM dWgemxYE8AcA)–