Author: Tamamian Anna

CHAIRMAN OF CE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS: "MEETINGS BETWEEN AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS WILL BRING THE SOLUTION TO THE CONFLICT CLOSER"

Azeri Press Agency
June 23 2008
Azerbaijan

Strasburg. Fuad Gulubeyli-APA. Chairman of the Council of Europe’s
Committee of Ministers and Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt made
a report on the first working day of PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe) summer session.

He said his organization always kept the situation in the
South Caucasus in the focus of attention, APA European bureau
reports. "Elections in this region were accompanied by some
violations. It is necessary to eliminate these violations and to
achieve democratic elections". Carl Bildt said Council of Europe
gave a fundamental importance to the territorial integrity of
Georgia. "There is no doubt that Abkhazia will be granted with
the wide autonomous status in future, but it has not to shadow the
territorial integrity of Georgia, because it can create threat for
the stability in the region". Answering the question of Azerbaijani
parliamentarian Ganira Pashayeva "Why doesn’t Council of Europe demand
from Armenia to fulfill its obligation to withdraw its forces from the
Azerbaijani territories?", Bildt said the solution to this conflict
was out of authority of the Council of Europe. "I can say only that
the negotiations over the conflict solution are developing and the
presidents of both countries met in St. Petersburg recently. I have
no information about the results of this meeting, but I can say that
we should support such kind of meetings because these meetings will
bring the solution to the conflict closer".

SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN FESTIVAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA TO ARRIVE IN YEREVAN THIS WEEK

Noyan Tapan

Ju ne 20, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 20, NOYAN TAPAN. Schleswig-Holstein Festival Symphony
Orchestra will perform on June 25 at Aram Khachatrian Concert Hall. The
conductor is Christoph Eschenbach and the soloist is Daniel Muller
Schott (cello). Bernstein, Dvorzhak, and Tchaikovski are in the
concert program.

The concert is part of the Prospects of 21st annual Yerevan festival.

Schleswig-Holstein Festival Symphony Orchestra consists of the 100
best young performers of the world, who are selected in advance
every year. The orchestra travels about several cities of Europe
on tours every year, and Yerevan has been chosen as one of the six
cities this year. The orchestra will leave Dresden for Yerevan,
then for Vilnius, from where it will leave for Saint Petersburg to
Valery Georgiyev Festival. It is an exclusive fact that one of the
greatest conductors of the century, Christoph Eschenbach, arrives in
Yerevan with the orchestra along with superstar soloist Daniel Muller
Schott. It is the first time in festival’s history when a symphony
orchestra consisting of 100 members arrives in Armenia.

The Prospects of 21st festival was founded in 2000. Its Chairman is
composer Stepan Rostomian. The festival has reached an unprecedented
art quality and was first in the whole region to become a member
of the European Festival Association. Among festival’s guests in
different years were: Yuri Bashmet and Moscow Soloists Orchestra, Gidon
Kremer and the Kremerata Baltika Orchestra, Vienna Boys Choir, London
Symphonietta, Kronos Quartet, Tokyo String Quartet, Borodin Quartet,
Hilliard Ensemble, Hortus Musicus ensemble, Amadinda Percussion
Instruments Orchestra, soloists Misha Mayski, Boris Berezovski,
Steven Isserlis, Christoph Poppen, David Geringas, and other famous
performers.

The 9th Prospects of 21st festival of 2008 was opened in April with
days of Krzysztof Penderecki in Armenia (five concerts), which was
followed by Days of Rodion Schedrin in Armenia (four concerts) on
June 11-14. Both of them were a success.

The festival’s sponsor is the RA Ministry of Culture. Its main partner
is the Yerevan magazine. The festival is held under the high patronage
of RA President Serge Sargsian.

DOCUMENTARY ABOUT HRANT DINK TO BE SCREENED IN YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.06.2008

Armenian Cypriot writer Nouritza Matossian’s "Heart of Two Nations"
has been chosen for screening at Golden Apricot Film Festival due in
Yerevan from July 13 to 21.

The documentary is about assassinated Armenian journalist Hrant Dink
and his interviews with Nouritza Matossian.

Nouritza Matossian is a writer, actress, broadcaster and human rights
activist. She writes on the arts, contemporary music, history and
Armenia.

Matossian published the first biography and critical study of the Greek
composer Iannis Xenakis, the source book on his life, architecture and
music based on ten years’ collaboration with him. She later adapted
it into a 50-minute documentary for BBC2, entitled Something Rich
and Strange.

Matossian’s 1998 book Black Angel, A Life of Arshile Gorky was written
after a twenty-year research.

Ararat, the award-winning film by Atom Egoyan and Miramax, was partly
inspired by Black Angel. She acted as consultant to Egoyan who modeled
the female lead role Ani on her. Matossian also wrote and performs
a solo show on Gorky’s life from the viewpoint of his four beloved
women with images and music, Gibrahayer reports

PARLIAMENT SPEAKER TIGRAN TOROSIAN RECEIVES UNHCR REPRESENTATIVE

ARMENPRESS

ARMENPRESS
June 17

Parliament Speaker Tigran Torosian received today Bushra Halepota,
a representative of the UNHCR.

According to the parliament public relations department, the meeting
was centered on a draft Armenian law on Refugees and Asylum, which
the government has submitted to parliament’s consideration. It will
be put to parliament debates, after going through several parliament
committees, when the parliament convenes for autumn session.

Tigran Torosian said that he had studied the proposals of Mrs. Halepota
saying also that UNHCR experts will be invited to attend the discussion
of the bill by parliament committees.

Tigran Torosian said the problem of refugees emerged after Armenia
regained its independence when hundreds of thousands of Armenians
had to flee Azerbaijan.

He said little time is left before all problems of refugees will be
solved. He added that nevertheless this is a global problem needed
to be regulated by legislation.

Mrs. Halepota said the UNHCR helped to develop the bill and is
interested in its adoption so that Armenia, which ratified in
1993 the 1951 Convention on Refugees, has a new law complying with
internationally accepted standards.

PAINTER VALMAR IS IN TEHRAN ON TEN-DAY VISIT

Noyan Tapan

Ju ne 17, 2008

TEHRAN, JUNE 17, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. RA Merited Painter
Valmar was received at Alik’s editorial office on June 11. A creative
exhibition dedicated to his 60th anniversary had been organized in
May in the National Gallery of Armenia.

The intimate talk with the artist being in Tehran on a ten-day visit
was a convenient occasion for getting to know closely the views of
the modern Armenian artist, whose works have been shown at Armenian
and many foreign exhibitions for over 36 years and have received many
diplomas and prizes.

U.S. RECOGNIZED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Harut Sassounian

KarabakhOpen
12-06-2008 15:53:07

In 1951, World Court Document Reveals

While President Bush and several of his predecessors have avoided
characterizing the organized mass killings of Armenians in 1915 as
genocide, it has recently come to light that 57 years ago the United
States government officially recognized the Armenian Genocide in
a document submitted to the International Court of Justice (ICJ),
also known as the World Court.

This half a century old reference to the Armenian Genocide was
discovered by Prof. William A. Schabas who posted it on the website
"PhD Studies in Human Rights," on June 4, 2008. Prof. Schabas, a
world renown expert on genocide and international law, is director
of The Irish Center for Human Rights at the National University of
Ireland, Galway.

This document, filed by the Government of the United States with ICJ,
is included in the May 28, 1951 ICJ Report titled: "Reservations to the
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide."

The specific reference to the Armenian Genocide appears on page 25
of the ICJ Report: "The Genocide Convention resulted from the inhuman
and barbarous practices which prevailed in certain countries prior to
and during World War II, when entire religious, racial and national
minority groups were threatened with and subjected to deliberate
extermination. The practice of genocide has occurred throughout human
history. The Roman persecution of the Christians, the Turkish massacres
of Armenians, the extermination of millions of Jews and Poles by the
Nazis are outstanding examples of the crime of genocide."

This is a very significant statement as it was made by the
American government of that time with the sole intent of telling
the truth, without taking into account any political or other
considerations. Neither Armenians nor Turks had lobbied for or against
the U.S. statement. In other words, it was simply made on the basis
of historical facts.

How different is the situation today when the White House readily
caves in to threats and pressures from the Turkish government to
prevent the House of Representatives from passing a commemorative
resolution on the Armenian Genocide!

Now that this critical filing by the United States government before
the International Court of Justice has been discovered, it is no
longer necessary to exert excessive efforts to try and reaffirm the
facts of the Armenian Genocide by the U.S. Congress, particularly
since the House of Representatives adopted Resolutions 247 and 148
in 1975 and 1984 respectively, to commemorate the Armenian Genocide.

Furthermore, there is no particular reason to insist that the next
President of the United States acknowledge the Armenian Genocide since
President Ronald Reagan, back on April 22, 1981, issued Presidential
Proclamation Number 4838 which stated: "Like the genocide of the
Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians which followed
it – and like too many other such persecutions of too many other
peoples – the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten."

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT TO GIVE MORE RIGHTS TO OPPOSITION
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ARKA
June 12

The RA Parliament is considering a package of amendments to the RA Law
"On regulations". The amendments give more rights to the parliamentary
opposition.

Presenting the bill, Chairman of the Standing Commission for State and
Legal Affairs David Harutyunyan said that the amendments assign a clear
role to the parliamentary opposition, enhancing its responsibility.

According to Harutyunyan, the amendments contain a definition of
opposition parliamentary factions.

The second most important amendment is the principle of
distributing the posts of Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of standing
commissions. Harutyunyan pointed out that it is the parliamentary
majority that plays a decisive role in this matter. "However, the
opposition must have guarantees," Harutyunyan said.

He stated that the amendments will enhance the role of the
parliamentary opposition and create favourable conditions for its
activities.

BILL HALTS DEPORTATION OF HIGH SCHOOL VALEDICTORIAN
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Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, GA
June 12 2008

The father of the Bullard High School valedictorian who had faced
deportation to Armenia will be released Thursday from a detention
facility in Arizona so that he can be reunited with his family in
Fresno, federal officials said Wednesday.

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced a Senate bill Tuesday
evening that halts the deportation of Arthur Mkoyan, 17, his mother
Asmik Karapetian and Ruben Mkoian, Arthur’s father.

Arthur, a 4.0 grade-point average student, learned of Feinstein’s
bill shortly after his graduation ceremony Tuesday.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had ordered Arthur and
his mother to leave the United States in late June and return to
Armenia. Arthur’s 12-year-old brother, a U.S. citizen, would have
had no choice but to leave with the family, family members have said.

Ruben Mkoian is in a detention facility in Eloy, Ariz., but because
of the bill, he will be released Thursday, said Virginia Kice,
a ICE spokeswoman.

"We are preparing to release him," Kice said.

The private bill would grant permanent legal residency, but private
bills rarely pass. As long as the bill is pending or is reintroduced,
however, it protects its beneficiaries from deportation.

Arthur’s family, who entered the United States on tourist visas,
had fled the former Soviet Union and had been seeking asylum since
1992. Ruben Mkoian’s application for asylum was rejected.

Mkoian, who spells his name differently from his son, appealed to
the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The court
rejected his appeal, saying he hadn’t demonstrate that Armenian
officials would be unwilling to protect him or that he would be
tortured if he returned to Armenia.

Once Asmik Karapetian learned her husband was coming home, she said
she was in shock.

"Everything is happening so fast. Oh, my God. It’s like a dream,"
Karapetian said.

THE ARMY OF POLITICAL SCIENTISTS REPLENISHED AGAIN KIMA YEGHYAZARYAN

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
June 11, 2008
Armenia

"Of course I wouldn’t like any political speculations over my quitting
Dashnaktsutyun party. Because I held and continue holding the viewpoint
that Dashnaktsutyun is one of our national values; it is one of the
values of our political thought. It existed in the past, exists today
and will exist in future. No divergence of opinions is possible in this
regard. At least as far as my personality is concerned, I really can’t
imagine our political thought without Dashnaktsutyun. I possibly can’t.

It’s quite a different matter that there is a certain disagreement
with the present-day leadership of the party in terms of political
attitudes. And this has caused us to be represented in different camps
now," former parliamentarian ROUBEN HAKOBYAN announced in "Pastark"
(argument) club yesterday.

In response to the question what disagreements he had with
Dashnaktsutyun, the speaker said, "Dashnaktsutyun would have a
better representation if it didn’t form part of the coalition. Our
political arena would be more balanced if Dashnaktsutyun weren’t a
coalition party."

What is, after all, the former RA Consul in St. Petersburg going to
do after returning to Armenia? R. Hakobyan has nothing to hide because
as a public figure, he is going to be engaged in active politics. But
already in the status of a non-partisan. And in general, he rules
out the possibility of becoming a member of any party.

Mr. Hakobyan informed that a political-analytical center will soon be
registered with the relevant state agency by his initiative; the centre
will be engaged in political analyses and issue publicistic articles.

Touching upon the internal political problems, the speaker again
insisted on his well-known proposal as the only variant for overcoming
them.

R. Hakobyan believes that, "the post-electoral struggle is not
over yet.

Both the state of emergency and the subsequent developments did not
contribute to the internal political arena to overcome the tension." As
regards the "wondering subject", i.e. the dialogue, "unfortunately it
did not descend from the heaven; it did not become a reality. In my
deep conviction, the reason was that neither of the parties actually
had a sincere desire to have a dialogue with the other."

Although the lack of desire is obvious, there is one "plane" which, if
made available, may enable the parties to start a dialogue. R. Hakobyan
makes the following conclusion-prediction: "The plane on which L.

Ter-Petrosyan and the authorities may have a dialogue is, in my
opinion, being sketched. That is, finding one culprit who will meet
the requirements of the two parties. It looks as though this culprit
were Robert Kocharyan, as the former President. And it looks as though
this might enable the parties to start a dialogue.

Why? Because during the pan-national congress they dropped a very plain
hint that the President had nothing in common with the March 1 events."

Substantiating his conclusion-prediction, the speaker also noted,
"I don’t think any representative of the authorities would be against
this scenario."

Despite the prediction, the author believes that considering
R. Kocharyan responsible for and guilty of all this is not a requisite
condition for initiating a dialogue "so as it would be possible to
make an accurate assessment on the existing situation and enable the
state to overcome the tension through a dialogue."

So, there is one way out. "To organize extraordinary presidential
and parliamentary elections and hold them no sooner than in a year
and no later than in half a year."

NATO TRAINING OFFICERS, DIPLOMATS FOR UKRAINE, GEORGIA, BALTIC COUNTRIES

Interfax News Agency
June 9 2008
Russia

Officers from Ukraine, Georgia and the Baltic countries are undergoing
training in military science and diplomacy at NATO’s leading
training center, the Defense College, the college’s commandant,
Lt. Gen. Wolf-Dieter Loeser, told Interfax-AVN on Monday.

The Defense College trains officers from Eastern Europe, including
the Baltic members of NATO, and also Georgia and Ukraine, he said. An
Armenian female student who works in the president’s office is also
undergoing training at the Defense College, he added.

The general said that the level of professional training demonstrated
by representatives of former Soviet republics is up to NATO
standards. Their level of training is no lower than that of students
from other countries, Loeser said. The lesser the country’s experience
in dealing with NATO, the more scrupulous it is in choosing the
candidates to undergo training at the Defense College, he also said.

Well-trained people with good career prospects are selected, he said.

All graduates go on to have successful careers, he added.

The general cited as an example a Ukrainian colonel who was appointed
Ukraine’s military attache to Britain after graduating from the
Defense College.

The defense College trains both officers and diplomats, and training is
provided in a wide spectrum of subjects, including military sciences,
economics, politics and modern know-how.