Author: Tadevosian Garnik

ANTHONY GODFREY APPRECIATES PREPAREDNESS OF ARMENIAN PEACEKEEPERS

YEREVAN, MAY 4, NOYAN TAPAN. During the May 4 meeting, the RA defence
minister Mikael Harutyunian and the US Charge d’affaires in Armenia
Anthony Godfrey discussed the Armenian-US military cooperation. The
sides spoke about the achievements, as well as addressed a number of
issues related to anticipated developments. Particularly, the reforms
being implemented in the RA armed forces with US assistance were
touched upon.

NT was informed fron the RA ministry of defence that A. Godfrey
expressed his gratitude for Armenia’s participaton in international
peacekeeping missions, appreciating the good preparedness of Armenian
peacekeepers.

RA PRESIDENT, FOREIGN DIPLOMATS DISCUSS THE ELECTORAL PROCESSES IN ARMENIA

ArmRadio.am
04.05.2007 10:08

RA President Robert Kocharyan had a meeting with the heads of
diplomatic missions of the OSCE member states accredited in
Armenia. The conversation mainly focused on the forthcoming
parliamentary elections and the electoral processes.

In the President’s words, the current period is a very responsible
one in Armenia’s life, the electoral process has entered the final
stage. Mr. Kocharyan reconfirmed the resoluteness of the Government to
hold elections corresponding to international standards. Noting that
the pre-election period proceeds rather calmly and civilly, Robert
Kocharyan emphasized the role of the authorities and the political
forces. The President expressed the wish to hear the opinions and
remarks of the diplomats on the electoral processes in Armenia.

The diplomats assessed the forthcoming elections as a decisive step
on the way of development of democratic Armenia. In their opinion,
our country has already registered serious progress in the direction
of conducting free and fair elections, which found its expression in
the reports of observation missions.

According to foreign diplomats, all the participants have broad
opportunities to meet with the electorate, present their platforms
and views and use TV air time.

CONFLICTS BETWEEN ISLAMISM, SECULARISM AND OTHER DOMESTIC "ISMS" FAR FROM OVER IN TURKEY

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.05.2007 18:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "I am not on the EU admission committee, but it
seems to me that Turkey is going through another fundamental identity
crisis," Van Krikorian, Co-chair of the Turkish Armenian Reconciliation
Commission (TARC) said in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net.

"I know I would be pleased if it emerges as an EU country one in which
principles of tolerance are observed. But, we should be aware of the
risks if it does not. For example, after the initial outpouring of
sympathy following Hrant Dink’s assassination, we have seen some ugly
developments. The conflicts between Islamism, secularism, and other
domestic "isms" are far from over. Turkey’s policies with respect
to the fluid future of Iraq and other regional developments all
have to be taken into account. For those in Turkey and outside, the
closer Turkey gets to respecting human rights, religious tolerance,
reconciling with its past, and good government, whether that be as
an Islamic government or as a member of the EU, the better," he said.

SAVING FACE WITH SIBLING REVELRY
By Jay Nordlinger

New York Sun, NY
May 2 2007

He had played concertos in New York, but never a recital – and Sergey
Khachatryan remedied that on Monday night. The young Armenian violinist
– b. 1985 – appeared in Zankel Hall.

And he began with maybe the mightiest of all works for solo violin:
the Chaconne from Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D minor. You hear this
so often in transcription, it was almost a relief to hear it on its
original instrument.

And Mr. Khachatryan did many things well in it: He was marked and
resolute – undoubting. And he was ever attentive to the melodic line.

But this was not exactly a spiritual experience. And Mr. Khachatryan
had technical problems, to boot.

He was sometimes flat, sometimes fuzzy, sometimes rough. A squeak
or two came out. And his sound was now and then sickly. Zankel Hall
can be an unforgiving place, its acoustics all-exposing. By the way,
the nearby subway trains seemed louder than ever. Nothing like a
solo-violin work to make them deafening. I could not agree more with
my colleague Fred Kirshnit: This situation is not "interesting" or
"funky" or "cool" or "urban." It’s a real shame.

After the Bach, Mr. Khachatryan played the Franck Sonata, joined
by the pianist Lusine Khachatryan. Mother? Sister? Aunt? Sister –
a couple of years older. She played the Franck with notable beauty
of tone – pearly – and notable smoothness. She is not just the sister
of a young star, but a musician in her own right.

SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT RULES OUT POSSIBILITY OF "COLOR REVOLUTIONS" IN ARMENIA

Regnum, Russia
May 2 2007

Withdrawal of the former ruling party the Armenian National Movement
from the election race is a demonstration of the party’s realistic
approach to the current situation, Speaker of the Armenian Parliament,
Member of the Republican Party Tigran Torosyan said at a news
conference today.

As a REGNUM correspondent reports, commenting on the question on how
the withdrawal would influence the situation taking into account that
the movement remains one of few parties having clear-cut ideology,
the speaker said each party has its ideology and so the Armenian
National Movement must not be treated as an exception. He stressed
that experience of the past years has shown that boycotting proves
no positive results.

Answering a question that many parties, including the Armenian
National Movement, predict riots after the elections, right up to
a revolution, in case of election fraud, Torosyan noted that such
developments are always a result of the elections, "so let nobody
pretend to be a clairvoyant, if it happens this time." As for "velvet
revolutions," the speaker excluded such a possibility. He noted that
Armenian public is more responsible regarding this issue, especially
taking into account experience of countries that came through "color
revolutions," where the life has not changed but problems increased.

ANALYSIS: THE HEAVY PRICE OF A FREE MEDIA
By Claude Salhani

United Press International
May 2 2007

WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) — The media, it is said, is the watchdog
of democracy.

As such, it was the press that brought down a president in the United
States because he had cheated and broken the law. And it was the
press that made it possible for a president opposed to democratic
norms to be voted out of office in a Ukraine that was still hanging
by threads onto the remains of the Soviet orbit.

It is also the press that allows the public to be informed of
irregularities at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, for which it
sometime gets blamed; or for reporting atrocities being committed
in Darfur, for which it gets praised. Or yet, for its reporting
on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, for which it gets both praise
and insults.

But all this comes with a price, a heavy price, paid in human lives.

So far this year 29 journalists and media assistants have been killed
while doing their jobs, according to the Paris-based media watchdog
group Reporters Without Borders.

RWB chose May 3, the 17th World Press Freedom Day, to remind the world
of the dangers facing the media on a daily basis. Besides those 29
who gave their lives in the service of truth, there are a further 129
media workers who are rotting in various prisons (125 journalists and
four media assistants) for having attempted to speak the truth, a truth
that offended a despotic ruler, a president-for-life or an ayatollah.

The list of offenders is sadly a long one and includes countries
such as Iran, Syria and China, or armed groups in countries such as
Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Iran; or yet,
narco-traffickers in Mexico and Colombia.

And although China has tried to better its image with the 2008 Olympic
Games due to be held in Beijing by easing restrictions on foreign
correspondents, local journalists continue to be jailed.

Among those jailed in China are bloggers or cyber-dissidents. Today
there are no less than 65 cyber-dissidents doing jail time in various
countries for expressing their opinions online in countries where
that is frowned upon.

In its yearly report on the state of the media around the world,
RWB updated what it calls "predators of press freedom."

"Last year was not a good one for press freedom around the world,"
the report states. A total of 82 journalists were killed while on
assignment, almost half of them in Iraq, a country that remains most
dangerous for the media where killings and kidnappings are common.

Around the world nearly 1,500 journalists were physically attacked
or threatened and more than 900 news media were censored. Reporters
Without Borders calls it "the worst year for global press freedom
since 1994."

And sadly, 2007 does not promise to be any better. To date 29
journalists have already been killed. Among them was Hrant Dink, an
Armenian journalist who was gunned down by Turkish ultra-nationalists
in Istanbul. His killers disagreed with his views to reconcile Turkey
and Armenia.

In Russia, Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead at her home in Moscow
last October. Both defended the right of an unpopular minority. Both
were killed because they told the truth.

And in Lebanon, journalists who dared to speak out against the Syrians
were targeted, such as Gebran Tueni, publisher of the influential
Arabic language daily An-Nahar, who was killed by a car bomb.

RWB has added to its list of leaders directly responsible for
kidnapping, harassment or murder of journalists — the presidents of
Laos, Choummali Saignason, and Azerbaijan, Ilham Ali.

The Mexican drug cartels come second to Iraq in the number of
journalists killed while on assignment.

Among the countries that require special attention for press harassment
are Eritrea and neighboring Ethiopia. And Iran, where the conservative
camp within the government does not hesitate to remind journalists
that they have no rights.

In Egypt, a blogger has been sentenced to four years in prison for,
among other things, "insulting" President Hosni Mubarak, making him
the first blogger to be tried in the Arab world. A sad first indeed.

In Cuba, Fidel Castro may not be in full control of the country, but
that does not prevent him from continuing to crack down on the press.

Twenty-six journalists are in Castro’s prisons. Their crime was
disagreeing with the government.

And in nearby Venezuela, Hugo Chavez continues to come down hard on
the leading national media that support his opposition.

The one bright spot in this rather dark report is the news from
Denmark, Britain and France, where lawsuits brought by Muslim
organizations against news media that published the cartoons of the
prophet Mohammed were acquitted.

One may only hope that next year will not be as violent for those
who risk their lives to bring you the first draft of history.

ANNUAL TRADE TURNOVER BETWEEN MOSCOW AND ARMENIA CONSIDERABLY GROWN FOR LAST TWO YEARS TO $100MLN

Arka News Agency, Armenia
May 2 2007

YEREVAN, May 2. /ARKA/. Annual trade turnover between Moscow and
Armenia has considerably grown for last two years to $100mln, Georgi
Muradov, the head of Moscow government’s international relationship
department, said Monday at Moscow House Culture Center presentation
in Yerevan.

He finds this result very remarkable, especially taking into account
the fact that Moscow has no natural resources such oil and gas.

In his words, Russia has the greater number of investments projects
with Yerevan than with other cities all over the world.

Muradov said trade turnover with Moscow totaling $300mln makes
one-third of trade turnover between Russia and Armenia.

He also pointed out that Russia was the biggest direct investor in
Armenia’s economy in 2006 and put a special emphasis on the fact that
the greatest part of these investments were made by Moscow.

The Muscovite said considerable means were spent for the Moscow House
construction from Moscow’s city budget. Russia has invested $13mln
in the construction.

"Close ties have been established with Yerevan city authorities, and
all the matters connected with space allocation here were settled very
quickly thanks to that", the Moscow official said. National Statistical
Service of Armenia says that Russian investments in Armenian economy
grew 1.3 times in 2006, compared with 2005, and reached $87.5mln. The
ceremony of Moscow House opening was held on March 23, 2007. Moscow
Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and his Yerevan counterpart Yervand Zakharyan were
present at the ceremony.

GOVERNMENT SHOULD CONTROL ARTSAKH ENERGY AND ARTSAKH GAS

KarabakhOpen
01-05-2007 14:22:30

The program of privatization for 2007-2009 was withdrawn from the
agenda of the latest meeting of the National Assembly literally at
the last moment. We have learned that Artsakh Gas and Artsakh Energy
were also included in the program.

"The privatization of state property cannot be an end in itself
although sometimes the impression is that it is perceived as such. I
think such strategic companies as Artsakh Gas and Artsakh energy must
be controlled by the government. Bu the way, the stance of our faction
Hayrenik on these two companies was the main reason why the program
was postponed," said the chair of the Hayrenik faction Gagik Petrosyan
in an interview with the KarabakhOpen. "I agree that the distribution
network should be privatized because it is in a poor state. Besides,
the experience of other countries shows that this is the right way. I
also think it is expedient to privatize 49 percent of the stocks
of these enterprises with the government holding the controlling
interest," said Gagik Petrosyan, the chair of the commission on
industry and industrial infrastructures.

Armenia Solidarity
British Armenian All Party Parliamentary Group

Nor Serount Publications

Press Release
Tel 07876561398 or 07718982732
e-mails : [email protected], [email protected]
norserount@btconnec t.com [email protected]

Human Rights issues in Turkey;
An Alternative view on Armenian Genocide Recognition

Speakers: Turkish Publisher and Human Rights activist Ragip Zarakolu and
Murat Aktas

at 4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 2nd of May 2007

in Committee Room 4 in the House of Lords

The speakers will consider democratic developments in Turkey, the
relationship with the Armenian Genocide,
the treatment of minorities and the role of Europe in these issues.

Biography: Ragip Zarakolu
Professional background
The director and owner of Belge Publishing House, Ragip Zarakolu has been
subject to a lifetime of harassment from the Turkish authorities. After
graduating college in 1968, Zarakolu began writing for magazines such as
Ant and Yeni Ufuklar, both of which focused on issues of social justice in
Turkey. In 1971, a military government assumed power in Turkey and
instituted a crackdown on writers it deemed subversive. Following a
conviction and a three-year stay in prison, Zarakolu steadfastly refused to
abandon his campaign for freedom of thought, striving for an "attitude of
respect for different thoughts and cultures to become widespread in
Turkey." Since his writings were repeatedly banned in Turkey for their
criticism of the country’s military regime, Zarakolu began to turn his
attention to abuses of human rights by governments in South America and
elsewhere.

In 1977, Zarakolu and his wife Ayse Nur founded the Belge Publishing House,
which has been a focus for censorship since its inception. Its publications
have not only drawn the government’s ire. Zarakolu’s office was firebombed
by an extremist rightist group in 1995, forcing it to be housed in a
cellar. Despite the death of his wife in 2002, Zarakolu has continued to
publish writings critical of human rights violations around the world,
especially in his native Turkey.

Case history
Zarakolu’s staunch belief in freedom of expression, his vocal campaign
against book bannings, and his persistence in publishing works that violate
Turkey’s repressive censorship laws have resulted in a catalogue of
indictments dating back to the early 1970s.

His aforementioned 1971 conviction and three-year imprisonment stemmed from
accusations by Turkey’s new military government that Zarakolu was in
cahoots with an international communist organization. In the 30 years since
his release, Zarakolu has continued to defy Turkey’s censorship laws,
especially Article 312 of Turkey’s Penal Code, which outlaws "making
divisive propaganda via publication." The Belge Publishing House operated
under a barrage of charges brought by Turkish authorities against Zarakolu
and his wife. Over the years, such charges resulted in further imprisonment
for the couple, the wholesale confiscation and destruction of books, and
the imposition of heavy fines. Zarakolu’s wife passed away in 2002.

Current status
Ragip Zarakolu is currently being tried in two separate cases for
publishing works deemed "insulting" to the Turkish government.
Representatives from International PEN and the International Human Rights
Federation were present for his most recent trial in Istanbul on June 21,
2006. At this trial, Zarakolu faced charges under Article 301 of the Turkish
Penal Code for the publication of two books by George Jerjian and Professor
Dora Sakayan, with a maximum possible jail sentence of 13.5 years.

George Jerjian’s book, History Will Free Us All, which was considered
"insulting" to the memory of Kemal Atatürk, suggested that close advisors
to Atatürk were responsible for the mass deportation of Armenians in 1915.
It has also been accused of "ridiculing the state," and its publication
carries charges of up to seven and a half years in prison. In response to
claims that "the court is trying a book which it has not read," a new
experts’ committee has been appointed to assess the offensiveness of
History Will Free Us All. In the case regarding Professor Dora Sakayan’s
book, An Armenian Doctor in Turkey: Garabed Hatcherian: My Smyrna Ordeal of
1922, the prosecutor demanded a six-year prison sentence for Zarakolu for
having "insulted the Army" and also "Turkishness" by publishing this book.
Although Zarakolu invited an expert witness to speak in his defence at the
trial, the court refused to hear him. Both cases were adjourned to June 21,
2006, then October 9, and have been now postponed again. A date has not
been set.

The news that the trials against publisher Ragip Zarakolu will drag on for
at least another four months following a prior two-month delay and eight
previous trial dates has been met with increasing alarm that, far from
improving, the state of free expression in Turkey is taking a steep downward
curve.

–Boundary_(ID_kzPJebz5vDFCLbX9a pMMqw)–

NATIONAL SELF-DETERMINATION UNION CALLS FOR NOT TAKING PART IN ELECTIONS

Noyan Tapan
Apr 27 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 27, NOYAN TAPAN. "We call all honest citizens striving
for fair, democratic and legal Armenia for not taking part in this
falsification called "elections" or going to polling stations on
May 12, marking "against all" on ballot-papers. Paruyr Hayrikian,
Chairman of National Sel0f-Determination Union, made such an appeal
addressed to his co-thinkers on April 27. In his words, May 12 could
become a decisive stage, a new September 1 for the Armenian people, if
the whole nation united and took a step towards legal democracy. "And
as this does not happen, we should use the current oportunity with
maximum efficiency," the National Self-Determination leader said.

In P. Hayrikian’s words, they have decided "not to yield themselves to
this game." "All of us know that there will be no elections, especially
as the opposition parties yielded to temptation: one dreams fo become
an MP, another to get over 5% barrier," he said.