Author: Taslakhchian Andranik

"THE RALLY IS OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT"

A1+
19 June, 2008

"Tomorrow’s rally will be held. It is our constitutional right and it
is not up to the criminal regime to allow or to forbid it", announced
Representative of the Pan National Movement Davit Shahnazarian noting
that it will be held near the Matenadaran at 6:00 p.m.

Shahnazarian considered the authorities’ excuse to forbid the rally in
Liberty Square a lame one, since it was not obviously the children’s
festival that prevented the Government from authorizing the rally.

"It is instigation, provocation and violation of international norms
to make use of children for political purposes. They are trying to
protect their miserable spirit under children’s disguise. We hope
the international public will take notice of it," Shahnazarian said.

"We have received 45 rejections from the City Hall since March 1. In
fact, Municipality does not have the right to change the site of a
rally. It can only offer another day or time," emphasize Shahnazarian.

"The Pan National Movement has destroyed absolutely nothing at the
rallies, whereas the authorities have managed to violate all the
Articles of the Criminal Code and all the international norms." Davit
Shahnazarian did not exclude the likelihood of the Government to impede
the meetings of the Pan National Movement and found it necessary to
state that "There are no authorized or unauthorized rallies; there
are only peaceful and violent ones."

CZECH REPUBLIC SENATE PRESIDENT’S OFFICIAL VISIT TO ARMENIA PLANNED IN SEPTEMBER

09
NOYAN TAPAN
JUNE 19

On June 19, Ivan Jestrab, the newly appointed Ambassador of Czech
Republic to Armenia (residence Tbilisi), handed his credentials to
RA President Serge Sargsian. Noyan Tapan was informed about it by
the RA President’s Press Office.

Congratulating the diplomat on the occasion of assuming his post, S.

Sargsian said that Armenia attaches much importance to both development
of bilateral relations with Czech Republic and to partnership within
the framework of European structures. Emphasizing the high level of
political relations between the two countries, he meanwhile noted that
economic contacts are still inferior to the political ones and the
commodity circulation is rather small. The sides attached importance
to activization of contacts between the businessmen, exchange of
information, which is needed for finding common verges of cooperation.

Ambassador Jestrab stressed his country’s much interest in the South
Caucasian region and in particular, in Armenia. According to him,
the Czech side attaches importance to the coming official visit of
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czech Republic Karel Schwarzenberg to
Armenia in the respect of further development of cooperation. The
diplomat also said that Czech Republic will assume chairmanship in
EU from January 2009 and wishes to further expand cooperation with
countries included in the New Neighborhood policy. Mentioning that
Poland and Sweden have already made an initiative of development of
relations with EU’s eastern neighbors, the Ambassador said that it
can be a good basis for active cooperation.

I. Jestrab also said that the official visit of Czech Republic Senate
President to Armenia is planned in September.

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT PUBLISHES NAMES OF MEMBERS OF SUPREME COUNCIL FOR INCOME ADMINISTERING STANDARDS

ARKA
June 19

Armenian Government published the names of the members of the Supreme
Council for introduction of new standards in administering standards
set up under a premierâ~@~Ys decree.

The Council is to be headed by Armenian Premier Tigran Sargsian,
the government press service reported.

The members of the Council are Minister of Economy Nerses Yeritsian,
Minister of Finance Tigran Davtian, Chief Advisor of President
on Economic Issues Vahram Nersisiants, Chairman of State Customs
Committee Gagik Khachatrian and his deputy Artak Shaboyan, Chief of
State Taxation Service Vahram Barseghian and his first deputy Aharon
Chilingarian.

The countryâ~@~Ys Supreme Council for introduction of new standards
in income administering was set up in Armenia today for discussion
and implementation of tax reforms in the country.

–Boundary_(ID_qCFzOLfN3vdpxbogFUEiFQ)–

TURKISH PASTOR FACING JAIL ON "FALSE" CHARGES

BosNewsLife
June 18 2008
Hungary

ISTANBUL, TURKEY (BosNewsLife)– An evangelical pastor in Turkey faced
a possible jail term Wednesday, June 18, just days after a prosecutor
began investigating him on charges that included to blasphemy against
Islam, Christian rights investigators said.

Pastor Orhan Picaklar of the Samsun Agape Church in the Black Sea
coastal city of Samsun found a notice Sunday, June 15, notifying
him that he was a suspect in a court case and requiring him to
come immediately to give testimony, said US-based advocacy group
International Christian Concern (ICC) with Website

When he arrived at the public prosecutor’s office the pastor apparently
discovered that charges against him had been hand-written and included
a false identity number. When he asked the prosecutor why he had
opened a case on this basis, he was allegedly told: "Because there
are crazy people around."

ICC said the "vague remark" probably means "that the prosecutor is
trying to save his own skin from Muslim radicals who would target
him if he was seen to be ‘soft’ on Christians."

There was no immediate comment from the prosecutors office. ICC said
the anonymous accuser, using a hidden camera, had also taken pictures
of a baptism and a wedding blessing ceremony at the church. Charges
against him included "Insulting the prophet of Islam, Mohammed",
"Insulting the police" and "Performing a marriage ceremony in the
church," ICC said, citing the hand-written letter.

PASTOR DENIES

Picaklar has denied the charges, saying that never insulted anyone
"because the New Testament commands Christians to respect all
people." In addition, he reportedly said that he didn’t perform a
marriage ceremony, but only a "celebration and blessing of a couple
who were already married."

ICC said it fears the pastor could receive jail time for these charges,
although it was not immediately clear how much time the prosecutor
is asking for him to serve. In published remarks, Picaklar said, "I
am not afraid as for the Lord in everything I can do everything. But
please pray for my family because they will be in desperate straits
if anything happens to me." He reportedly added that he believes,
"The Lord will not allow them to be left alone, because the Lord here
is daily growing His church, Satan is restless and creating problems."

The pastor and his church have been the target of opposition in the
past. In January this year a Turkish teenager who vowed to kill him
and "massacre" Christians in Samsun was released by a local court
because he was "too young."

The 17-year-old Semih Seymen was detained over the weekend after he
called Pastor Picaklar since late December, threatening to kill him,
said Turkey’s Taraf newspaper. It came after previous attacks against
the church, including in January 2007, when some 30 heavy rocks
were thrown through the Samsun Agape Church windows, several of them
smashing interior windows and denting walls, the pastor said earlier.

CHURCH CLOSED

Just before the latest tensions surrounding the Samsun Agape Church,
another Protestant church in the Turkish capital Ankara was ordered to
close down. Local authorities had reportedly been trying to shut down
The Batikent Protestant Church on charges of "zoning code violations."

ICC said the development are "forcing the church to fight yet another
legal battle over a case it has already won." The rights group said
founding American pastor Daniel Wickwire already asked his lawyers
to challenge the police notice they received on June 2.

Wickwire, who has been a missionary pastor in Ankara for 23 years, said
in a statement that, "It is very obvious that what is happening to our
church is a pre-meditated, continuous and jointly orchestrated…[It
is] a direct attack against the Church as a whole in Turkey by the
right-wing Islamic government that is currently in control in Turkey."

GROWING CONCERN

The incidents have underscored growing concerns among Christian
leaders in a country where at least five Christians were killed and
several others injured in attacks within the last two years. In April
last year, a German and two Turkish citizens — were found with their
hands and legs bound and their throats slit at the Zirve Christian
publishing house in the central city of Malatya.

The attack came shortly after a suspected nationalist killed Armenian
Christian editor Hrant Dink. In February 2006, a Turkish teenager
shot a Catholic priest dead as he prayed in his church, and two other
Catholic priests were attacked later that year.

The European Union has complained that Turkey, an EU applicant, fails
to fully protect the religious freedoms of its tiny Christian minority,
which numbers some 100,000 in a predominantly Muslim population of
nearly 75 million people, according to estimates. While Turkey is
officially "secular" critics say Muslim militants and nationalists
oppose Christian activities in the country. (With BosNewsLife’s Stefan
J. Bos, BosNewsLife Research and reporting from Turkey).

SHOULD IRAQI CHRISTIANS STAY, OR SHOULD THEY GO?
By Inmaculada Alvarez

Zenit News Agency
June 18 2008
Italy

Vatican Agency Discusses Aid to Eastern Churches

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 18, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The question regarding
Christians in Iraq is whether they have a future there, or if it
would be better to focus efforts on helping them relocate, says a
Vatican aide.

Father Leon Lemmens, the secretary general of the Assembly of Societies
for Aid to Eastern Churches, told Vatican Radio this week that the
agency is following "with great concern and anxiety" the fortunes of
the Christians in Iraq, especially after the February kidnapping and
murder of Archbishop Faraj Rahho of Mosul.

The assembly is meeting in the Vatican this week, and will discuss
the plight of Christians in Iraq, Armenia and Georgia.

The committee is linked to the Sacred Congregation for Eastern
Churches. Its mission is to unite material aid for the purpose of
providing assistance to Eastern Churches.

Regarding the Christians in Iraq, Father Lemmens said "various
agencies are helping, both with material and pastoral care, over
150,000 Iraqi Christians who have sought refuge in Jordan, Syria,
Lebanon and Turkey. The big question now is if these people have the
possibility of a future in Iraq, or if it would be better, instead,
to receive them in our European countries."

The priest explained that Christians who have stayed in the country
are also being helped, especially in Kurdistan in the north, where
many have sought refuge. "To enable them to remain in the country,
it is necessary to create economic activities for them which will
allow them to earn a living. Several agencies are working on this."

Rebirth

Father Lemmens said the agency is also discussion how to help
Christians in Armenia and Georgia. He explained that the collapse
of the Communist regime has made possible the rebirth of Catholic
communities in these countries, though they still need much support.

"In Armenia, the Catholic Church was suppressed. The last priest died
in 1975," he said. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1991 it has
been necessary "to identify and gather the faithful, re-purchase
or build churches, form the faithful and foster vocations to the
priesthood," the priest continued.

"Thanks to the collaboration of several agencies, among them Renovabis,
Aid to the Church in Need, l’Oeuvre de l’Orient, there are in Armenia
today 15 parishes and close to 180,000 faithful; and the Catholic
Church has the official recognition of the state," said Father Lemmens.

In Georgia, however, the Church is not recognized by the state,
and relations with the Orthodox Church is delicate.

"On the economic and social plane, the separation from the Soviet
Union was dramatic both for Georgia as well as Armenia," said
the priest. "People live in great poverty. Over these years, 20%
of Georgia’s population — mainly young adults — has emigrated,
which has made the situation in the country that much more serious."

John XXIII

The Assembly of Societies for Aid to Eastern Churches meeting opened
Wednesday with a Mass celebrated at the altar dedicated to Pope John
XXIII in St. Peter’s Basilica. Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of
the Congregation for Easter Chruches, presided.

Cardinal Sandri highlighted John XXIII’s "profound love for the
Christian East," which stemmed from its "fidelity to the Tradition
of the Church."

He said: "John XXIII always wanted to return to the sources;
in the Christian East he saw to a high degree the stamp of the
origins. Therefore, as the Christian origins were common, he learned
to familiarize himself with the whole Christian world, noting that the
vocation to holiness, namely, communion with God, should be shown by
Christians to the whole of humanity. Hence his uncontainable passion
for the unity of Christ’s disciples."

ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER VIOLATED

armradio.am
18.06.2008 16:18

Press Service of RA Ministry of Defense informs that on June 17 at
about 07:45 the alarm system of the 6th frontier post of Artashat
signaled. At 07:45 footprints were revealed in the same area, but no
one was found as a result of search works.

At 11:00 Turkish border guards reported that they arrested RA citizen,
resident of Artashat city Arsen Avagyan (born in 1971).

Currently negotiations are underway with mediation of the Armenian
Office of the International Committee of the Red Cross to return
Arsen Avagyan.

NATIONAL CARRIER ARMAVIA HAS A PROBLEM OF THE WORLD AIR TICKETS INCREASE IN PRICES

ArmInfo
2008-06-17 15:01:00

The world tendency of air tickets increase in prices because of
aviation kerosine increase in prices has not yet affected Armenian
national carrier.

Though in Russia aviation kerosine increased in price by 20% about a
month ago, it again increased by 12,3% in May. Thus, aviation kerosine
has increased in price by about 36% since the beginning of the year,
press-service of the Moscow Domodedovo airport reports.

Experts say that increasing of the prime cost at oil processing
factories caused increase in price of the aviation kerosine, which
will continue increasing. Russian pilots are going to start a strike
because of high price of the aviation kerosine, president of trade
union of air staff of Russia Miroslav Boychuk told "New region".

At present Armenian national carrier Armavia has not yet increased
air tickets in price. ‘Reduction of food on board to fruits and water
is one of the ways to fight increase in prices… Today the company
has great losses directly connected with increase of the aviation
kerosine in price’, – Director General of Armavia Norayr Belluyan
told ArmInfo correspondent.

OFFICIAL BAKU EXPECTS RUSSIA TO EXPRESSES ITS WILL ON THE SETTLEMENT OF THE KARABAKH CONFLICT

armradio.am
13.06.2008 15:55

Official Baku believes that the visit of the Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev to Azerbaijan will provide conditions for further
development of the relations between the two countries. "One of the
fundamental directions of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy is to establish
close corporation with the neighboring countries. Azerbaijan attaches
great importance to its relations with Russia," Novruz Mammadov,
head of the international relations department of the Presidential
Administration of Azerbaijan said to TrendNews.

Newly elected Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will pay his first
official visit to Azerbaijan on 3 to 4 July. The visit will take
place at an invitation of the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

"The visit of Dmirti Medvedev shows that Azerbaijan is one of the
four or five priority countries for Russia," Mammadov said.

According to Mammadov, Azerbaijan wants only one thing from Russia. "We
believe that if Russia expresses its will on the settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, it would be fair and right. The
position of Russia on the settlement of this conflict is of great
significance. If Russia takes more fair and concrete position in this
regard, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be solved soon," Mammadov said.

EDUARD NALBANDIAN HAS MEETINGS WITH A NUMBER OF AMBASSADORS ACCREDITED IN ARMENIA
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NO YAN TAPAN
June 12, 2008

Eduard Nalbandian, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of
Armenia, and Nikolai Pavlov, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation
to Armenia, have discussed issues concerning the preparatory work of
the official visit of Serge Sargsian, the RA President, to be paid
to Moscow at the end of June at the invitation of Dmitri Medvedev,
the President of the Russian Federation. According to the information
provided by the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Foreign
Affairs has had meetings with a number of ambassadors accredited in
Armenia on these days.

Minister Nalbandian and Serge Smessov, the Ambassador of France
to Armenia, particularly touched upon the Armenia – European Union
relations within the frameworks of the European Neighbourhood Policy
in the implication of the presidency of France in the European Union
in the second half of this year.

In his conversation with Hans Gunar Aden, the Ambassador of Sweden
to Armenia, the Minister of Foreign Affairs mentioned that there is
a serious potential for deepening the cooperation in the spheres of
economy, high technologies, culture and education. He also stressed
the necessity of making the political dialogue more active.

The dynamic development of the economic cooperation with the Ukraine
was highly appreciated during the meeting held between the RA Minister
of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador Olexander Bozhko. The issues
concerning the expansion of the cooperation of the two countries
within the frameworks of the international organization, as well as
of the cultural cooperation were also discussed.

Eduard Nalbandian also received Mrs. Renate Stille, the Ambassador
of Brazil. Minister Nalbandian highly appreciated the decision of
the government of Brazil concerning the opening of a regional embassy
in Yerevan, expressing confidence that the step will contribute to a
greater development and deepening of bilateral relations. Ambassador
Stille mentioned in her turn that Armenia is the first South Caucasian
country, which opened its diplomatic representation in Brazil and that
is a serious ground for the cooperation of the two peoples and states.

OSCE representative Sergei Kapinos introduced the further plans of the
OSCE Office in Yerevan and the prospective projects being implemented
in the regions of Armenia to the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

In his conversation with Krina Rodika Prunariu, the Ambassador of
Romania, Eduard Nalbandian expressed desire to cooperate with Romania
more closely within the frameworks of the European Neighbourhood
Policy. They also referred to the activities of the Armenian-Romanian
intergoverntal committee.

During the meeting with Rina Pandey, the Ambassador of India,
the interlocutors touched upon the opportunities for deepening the
cooperation in the spheres of economy, high technologies, health,
education and culture.

Eduard Nalbandian and Massimo Lavetso Cassinelli, the Ambassador
of Italy to Armenia, discussed issues concerning the further
development of the Armenian-Italian political, economic and
cultural relations. Minister Nalbandian expressed his gratitude to
the government of Italy for the assistance to the programs being
implemented in Armenia by different international organizations. They
also referred to the organization of the conference on the South
Caucasus on the initiative of the government of Italy in Rome during
this year.

PANIC

hayots ashkhar daily
June 11, 2008
Armenia

Head of Turkish Center of International Strategic Investigation Sadat
Lachiner announced, in case of a victory during the presidential
elections in the USA, Democratic Presidential candidate Barrack O’Bama
would be the first American President to recognize 1915 Genocide
of Armenians.

Regarding the impact of the before mentioned fact on American Turkish
relations Lachiner said Armenian issue: "derives from the quite process
of American-Turkish relations and can be easily stopped." "But if
a small subject emerges in those relations, Armenian issue will be
like a petrol to worsen them."