Author: Tambiyan Samvel

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT SENDS BIRTHDAY GREETINGS TO PRESIDENT KOCHARYAN

armradio.am
31.08.2007 18:12

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his Armenian counterpart
Robert Kocharyan on his 53rd birthday.

Russian President’s official website informs that the congratulating
message says, in part:

"I extend my sincere congratulations on your birthday.

I still remember our recent warm meeting in Sochi, where we discussed
outstanding issues of multifaceted bilateral cooperation.

You have greatly contributed to the dynamic development of
Russian-Armenian ties, doing much to promote their advance to the
current high level of strategic partnership and allied relations.

I believe that Russian-Armenian cooperation, which relies on age-old
traditions of friendship, will grow stronger in the interests of
Russian and Armenian people.

I wish you health, energy and success in your work to the benefit
of Armenia."

US JEWISH GROUP STICKS TO ‘ARMENIAN GENOCIDE’ RECOGNITION

arminfo
2007-08-30 18:09:00

The U.S. Jewish group Anti-Defamation League has confirmed its
commitment to the recognition of World War I-era Armenian killings
in the Ottoman Empire as genocide, shortly after its top official
sent a letter to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, expressing his
organization’s "deep sorrow" for causing pain to Turkey’s leaders
and people.

As Turkish Daily News from Washington says, in a controversial
shift in position last Tuesday, the ADL’s National Director Abraham
Foxman announced that his group had come to the understanding that
the Armenian killings "indeed were tantamount to genocide." "We will
not hesitate to apply the term genocide in the future,’ says Foxman.

But he added the ADL remained opposed to efforts to pass genocide
resolutions in the U.S. Congress, saying such moves would be
counterproductive. "While we continue to firmly believe that a
congressional resolution on such matters is a counterproductive
diversion and will not foster reconciliation between Turks and
Armenians, we will not hesitate to apply the term genocide in the
future," Foxman said.

Speaking about the reasons of the ADL’s position concerning the events
in 1915, Foxman noted "We had a dilemma. As an organization committed
to educating people on the dangers not only of anti-Semitism but of
hatred of all kinds, we could not ignore the terrible tragedy that
befell Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire". He added: "We
think the Turkish government should address the moral implications of
its history with the Armenians, particularly because Turkey occupies
the critical spot in the great struggle of our time, the effort to see
a moderate Islamic model triumph over Islamic extremism". Moreover,
speaking about the Turkish Government’s threats, Foxman noted "As
long as the ADL is an organization committed first to the safety and
security of the Jewish people, we cannot in good conscience ignore
the well being of 20,000 Jews in Turkey. We will, however, continue
to push the Turkish government in the right direction".

To note, the ADL’s move was a huge disappointment for the Turkish
government and caused public anger. The Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan turned to the Israeli President Shimon Perez ith
warnings and threats concerning the Jewish Diaspora in Istanbul. But
the latter, sharing the feelings of the Turkish politician, said that
the Israeli Government cannot directly influence the decisions of a
Jewish organization in another country.

RUSSIA OFFICIALLY ACCUSES GEORGIA OF A "RUDE ALLEGATION"
By Aghavni Harutyunian

AZG Armenian Daily
31/08/2007

"The August 6 missile incident was staged", announced the General
Engineer of the Russian Air Forces Pavel Akulenok., one of the Russian
military experts, who were sent to Georgia to probe into the evidence
provided by the Georgian side.

Head of the Russian Air Forces Headquarters Lt. Gen. Khvorov at a news
conference showed a daily report by a Russian military air controller,
which purportedly proves that no military plane crossed the Georgian
frontier on the day in question.

Radar records provided by the Russian side, he said, clearly showed
passenger planes were in the area concerned at that time. The
Georgian records only showed, what Khvorov termed, the so-called
intruder aircraft. "We can make only one conclusion based on this
information," he said. "No aircraft crossed the Georgian border from
the Russian Federation."

The Russian experts said that they could find nothing of significance
at the incident site at the region of Gori as "the most interested
evidence" – the rocket crater – had already been filled in.

Lt. Gen. Khvorov said as well as this, other "crucial evidence had
also been destroyed by the Georgian side." "We had the impression
that someone did not want us to find the truth," he added.

"Rocket debris found at the site had been brought from elsewhere",
he said.

"How could Russia do that, while it had gained the opportunity to
organize the Olympic Games in Sochi, when it was interested in the
stability of the region?

There is no logic in it. It is a rude allegation against Russia",
underlined the Head of the Russian Air Forces Headquarters.It is
worth to mention that these kind of incidents cause damages to not
only Russian-Georgian relations, but also Armenia.

Moreover, taking account of the fact that there are no special
tendencies to normalize those relations, we can assure that the
history of the "not-exploded missile" will continue. In the logic of
the Russian-Georgian relations’ "performance", we can settle also the
August 29 information by Georgian media about the release of the 15
Russian peacekeepers, who were arrested by the Georgian police out
of the territory of their mission, as the Georgian side assured.

That incident also was not protected from the series of mutual
accusations, allegations and sabotages of the two sides.

In addition, we can qualify the announcements of the both sides
as unprincipled.

Anyway, if the Russian side wants to use the factor of its willingness
to provide stability in the region in the period of the Olympic Games
in Sochi to show its innocence, Georgia, in its turn, does not want
to see Abkhazia to be involved in those games.

Nevertheless, the most important issues remain the following: Why
did the two aircrafts appear in the air of the Gori region on August
6? Who launched the missile? And why didn’t it explode?

MIGUEL ANGEL MORATINOS: RUSSIA SHOULD NOT VIEW OSCE AS ENEMY

Interfax, Russia
Aug 30 2007

OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel
Moratinos believes the upcoming parliamentary elections in Russia
will be lawful and hopes that Russia will invite the OSCE to be an
integral part of the election process.

"I think the elections in Russia will be held appropriately and
observe election laws. It appears to me that the OSCE will not have
problems," Moratinos told Interfax correspondents Olga Golovanova
and Yekaterina Komissar.

"The OSCE takes part in political affairs when it is invited to a
country where elections are held. I am certainly confident that the
Russian leadership will invite the OSCE to take part in this process.

We will definitely discuss this today, and it seems to me that the
OSCE’s involvement should be considered in a constructive manner," he
said before negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The OSCE should help the institutions responsible for organizing
elections in Russia, Moratinos said. "On no account should the OSCE
be viewed as an enemy. Russia is an OSCE member; and therefore,
it should defend the common principles," he said.

There have been debates previously within the OSCE itself – between
the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the
Parliamentary Assembly – in monitoring election processes in different
countries, Moratinos said. "I think the Spanish chairmanship has
helped make sure that these two organizations work well together. In
any case, the recent elections in Armenia and Kazakhstan went fairly
well. We hope the same will happen in Russia," he said.

Moratinos, however, could not specify how many OSCE observers could
monitor the Duma elections. "Russia is a large country in geographical
terms. This is a question for experts, and they should determine how
many observers will go and to what regions of Russia," he said.

Commenting on Russia’s decision to impose a moratorium on the Treaty
on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), Moratinos said this move
should be viewed as an invitation to further negotiate the weapons
control problem.

"As OSCE chairman-in-office, I expressed my concern about this from
the very start. If we all use this moratorium as a proposal that
negotiations should be continued, this situation could be good for
everyone involved. Now that Russia has expressed its standpoint on this
issue, this could possibly help the other CFE signatories concerned
about the situation to express their positions on the issue as well,"
Moratinos said.

Moratinos said he recently made the decision to assign an official
from his ministry to deal solely with the CFE until November.

"My goal is to sign a statement during an OSCE ministerial meeting
in Madrid to make it clear that we all want [the adapted CFE] to
be ratified and that there is enough political will to resolve the
problems surrounding the Treaty’s enforcement. Definitely, we will
talk about this during the negotiations," Moratinos said.

Regarding U.S. plans to deploy missile defense elements in Europe,
Moratinos said, "Each country can settle issues related to its defense
system at a bilateral level. Therefore, Poland and the Czech Republic
can establish any bilateral relations with the U.S. This should
be respected."

"However, this problem should also be considered in the international
context, which calls for negotiations and explanations.

We have always believed that there should be dialogue between the U.S.,
the countries [to host missile defense elements] and Russia.

Therefore, the NATO-Russia Council attached particular significance
to the need for the United States to provide explanations regarding
the parameters of its decision," he said.

Moratinos also told Interfax that Spain’s OSCE chairmanship would be
discussed during Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s
visit to Russia in late September.

"Prime Minister Zapatero will arrive in Russia at the end of September
to further strengthen the wonderful relations existing between Spain
and Russia," Moratinos said.

During Zapatero’s visit to Moscow, Spain would like to discuss the
situation in Iran and in the Balkans, Spain’s OSCE chairmanship in
2007, and the bilateral agenda, including political dialogue, trade
and economic relations, as well as energy issues, Moratinos said.

"We hope that this visit will help bring closer our leaders’ positions
and promote confidence between them and that they will be able to
discuss international issues," he said.

Moratinos said preparations for the Spanish prime minister’s visit
to Moscow was among the goals of his current trip to Moscow.

Rodriguez Zapatero’s September visit will be his third to Russia,
Moratinos said. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Madrid
in 2006.

RUBEN SAFRASTIAN: "THERE IS NO PRECONDITION FOR TURKEY TO CHANGE ITS DECLINATORY POSITION WITH REGARD TO ISSUE OF GENOCIDE"

Noyan Tapan
Aug 28 2007

YEREVAN, AUGUST 28, NOYAN TAPAN. "Taking into consideration the recent
changes, which took place in Turkey, one cannot exclude that this
country will mitigate its position to some extent towards Armenia
with regard to political issues. However, there is no precondition
that Turkey will change its declinatory position with regard to the
issue of the Armenian Genocide."

This statement was made by Ruben Safrastian, the Head of the Institute
of Oriental Studies under the RA National Academy of Sciences, at
the press conference held on August 28.

As for the possibility of reopening the Armenian-Turkish border,
Ruben Safrastian mentioned that the closing of the border makes part
of the policy carried out towards Armenia by Turkey and, naturally,
this issue depends on the question of to what extent Turkey will
reconsider its position of principle towards Armenia.

In connection with the recent inter-political events happened in
Turkey, Ruben Safrastian mentioned that the Kemalistic and Islamistic
forces have arrived to a certain agreement, as a result of which
Abdullah Gul will win in the presidential elections. According to him,
a certain part of the Armenian community of that country has voted
for the "Development and Justice" party, expecting that this political
force will take concrete steps in the direction of improving the state
of religous minorities. According to the scientist, such a position
of the Armenian community is not a groundless one, since the leaders
of the "Development and Justice" party are consistently striving for
making Turkey a member of the European Union.

RAMIL SAFAROV IS 30 YEARS OLD

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug 27 2007

There was no appeal on the verdict of Budapest Court on February 22,
2007, who sentenced Azerbaijani army officer Ramil Safarov to life
imprisonment for murdering Armenian lieutenant Gurgen Markarian in
Hungary, Ramil’s father Sahib Safarov told the APA.

As to appeal on the incident between Ramil Safarov and court
inspectors, the decision will be made after appeal from the verdict of
Budapest Pest Region Court on November 17, 2006 will be investigated.

Sahib Safarov said that it is not yet known when the appeal will
be examined.

"Hungarian Courts are ending their summer vocation. This case will
be probably investigated soon.

Ramil’s father said that his son was 30 yesterday and his family
marked his birthday.

"Ramil also made us a call. We congratulated him. He has no complaint
regarding his detention condition. His mood also was good. He also
hopes that appeal will be examined soon," he said.

Ramil Safarov was sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering Armenian
lieutenant Gurgen Markarian in Hungary at the decision of Budapest
Court on April 13, 2006.

FIRES CAUSED 4 533 700 DRAMS DAMAGE

KarabakhOpen
23-08-2007 11:21:05

The high air temperature caused fires across Karabakh. The human factor
also persisted, including carelessness, arsons. The press service of
the NKR Rescue Service reported that over the months of June and July
of the current year 71 fires were reported, including 50 in July.

4 were reported in Stepanakert, 26 in Martuni, 12 in Hadrut, 11 in
Askeran, 10 in Martakert, 8 in Kashatagh. The damage caused by fires
was assessed at 4533700 drams.

Last year 2032 ha of arable crops was destroyed by fires.

WHO TREATS ARTHUR BAGHDASARYAN AS "THE BEST?"

Panorama.am
16:06 22/08/2007

Orinats Yerkir (OYeK) party has had a good rest during 20-day summer
vacations and is going to enter a new phase in politics. Heghine
Bisharyan, OYeK deputy chief of party, told a news conference today
the come back will be active and practical for OYeK. "We will actively
work in the National Assembly and outside of it. We will submit twenty
legislative acts and will watchfully follow that they are adopted,"
Bisharyan mentioned.

Speaking about the upcoming presidential elections, the deputy
chief of party said OYeK is undecided whether to go with a separate
candidate or support a common candidate. Anyway, Bisharyan is sure
the chairman of their party, Arthur Baghdasaryan, "is more democratic,
young political figure that may become the common candidate."

In her words, they also go to the gatherings of Paruir Hairikyan
and discuss the issue of nominating a common candidate. "Since
the negotiations are not over, I cannot say anything final," the
speaker said.

Bisharyan treats the nomination of Levon Ter-Petrosyan as "very
normal." "There is nothing extraordinary in that," she said.

ARMENIAN, TURKISH FOLK TUNES TO BLEND ONSTAGE

Today’s Zaman
Aug 22 2007
Turkey

Two prominent folk stars, Armenian composer and duduk player Djivan
Gasparyan and Turkish folk singer Yavuz Bingol, will share the same
stage for two concerts in Ýstanbul and Ankara next month.

The Ýstanbul concert is scheduled for Sept. 1 at the Harbiye Open-air
Theater and will be followed by the Ankara performance at the MEB
Assembly Hall in Beþevler on Sept. 2. Both concerts will start at 9
p.m. Tickets on Biletix.com.

–Boundary_(ID_jtH6VX0bNu/LwXJR11kDk A)–

CORRUPTION IS THE DANGER NOT TURKEY

Lragir.am
21-08-2007 15:53:30

Turkey is not what it used to be 15 years ago, stated Richard
Giragosian and Aspet Kochikyan, a Washington-based and a Lebanon-based
Armenian analysts, on August 21 at the Friday Club, who commented
on the outcome of the first round of the Turkish presidential
election. They say no breakthrough should be expected regarding the
Armenian and Turkish relation if Abdullah Gyul becomes president. The
reason, according to the analysts, is the ongoing global process
in Turkey, in which the role of the individual is small because the
issues under consideration concern bigger problems which stem from
the debates on the identity, the role and importance of the country
underway in Turkey. Richard Giragosian says currently Turkey tends
to face the East. However, despite the orientation of this country,
Armenia must be ready to have any kind of Turkey next door. And for our
country, according to Richard Giragosian, the internal challenges,
namely anti-corruption efforts and democratic reforms are more
important than Turkey or any other external danger. The American
Armenian analyst says he would like Armenia not to depend or rely
on either Russia or the United States but become a self-sufficient
strong and developed country.