Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

PanARMENIAN.Net

Mubarak: Karabakh conflict resolution to bring about stability to Central Asia
16.04.2007 14:51 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met with his
visiting Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian Saturday to probe the
developments in the Middle East and Central Asia, a senior Egyptian
official said.

Mubarak and Kocharian discussed the Iranian nuclear file, situation in
Iraq and the Gulf, Presidential spokesman Suleiman Awwad
said. Armenia, which shares its southern borders with Iran, was
particularly interested in Tehran’s nuclear file, he added.

Turning to the situation in Central Asia, the two leaders focused on
the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh and Mubarak called for a peaceful
settlement for the dispute to bring about stability to Central Asia,
Awwad added.

In addition, the two presidents discussed means to promote bilateral
cooperation, especially in fields of trade exchange and joint
investments. Egypt and Armenia are expected to sign a number of
agreements and cooperation protocols in various sectors, the spokesman
said.

Kocharian, who arrived here earlier in the day, is on a three-day
visit to Egypt, during which he will also meet with Arab League
Secretary General Amr Moussa on regional issues, including efforts to
make a breakthrough in the stalled Mideast peace process, Middle East
News Agency reports.

Agence France Presse — English
April 14, 2007 Saturday

Detained chess champ plots next move against Putin

by Sebastian Smith

MOSCOW

As chess champion Garry Kasparov was almost unbeatable, but from the
Moscow police station where he was held Saturday the great tactician
pondered a much tougher game — how to bring down Russian President
Vladimir Putin.

Kasparov, who made mincemeat of his opponents for 15 years after he
became World Chess Champion in 1985, is one of the disparate figures
leading The Other Russia coalition that held a banned protest march
Saturday in central Moscow.

Some 200 people were detained, among them the former chess king, when
they defied a police warning and attempted to march on the capital’s
Pushkin Square.

Kasparov, a famously aggressive chess player, clearly thought the
risk of arrest worthwhile — particularly given the huge
international media presence at the rally.

"I’m not surprised, I think Kasparov wanted that, so now he’s happy,"
commented another opposition leader, Irina Khakamada.

The same strategy of peaceful disobedience was used at two previous
Other Russia marches in the former imperial capital Saint Petersburg
and Nizhny Novgorod, east of Moscow, resulting in beatings and
arrests. Moscow police were furious.

Kasparov was arrested because "he came and began to provoke police
into taking harsh action, while knowing that the demonstration on
Pushkin Square was forbidden," a police spokesman was quoted as
saying by Interfax.

This intense man of 44, recognisable by his bushy eyebrows and dark
features, makes an unlikely political leader in today’s Russia.

Half-Jewish, half-Armenian and born during the Soviet Union in
Azerbaijan, he is automatically a hate figure for Russia’s
significant number of ultra-nationalists. And his fierce opposition
to Putin is out of step with the vast majority shown by polls to
admire the former KGB officer.

But Kasparov’s main talent seems to lie in coordinating Russia’s
fractured and marginalised opposition.

The Other Russia, which he helped found, includes figures as
disparate as a little-loved former premier Mikhail Kasyanov, the
enigmatic writer and radical left leader Eduard Limonov, and a series
of youth groups.

Their stated goal is to ensure that the March 2008 presidential
election, in which Putin is to be replaced, will be fair.

"Our demands are simple," Kasparov said when he announced his
retirement two years ago. "It’s about putting pressure on Putin’s
regime to restore democratic institutions."

Life on the political chessboard has been far from easy.

After the brutal murder in Moscow of investigative journalist Anna
Politikovskaya, a fierce Putin critic, in October Kasparov said he
feared for his safety.

"I try to protect myself and my family as much as possible but I am
aware that no protection is possible," he said in an interview
published in a Portuguese daily.

During a 2005 tour to meet grass roots groups in the troubled North
Caucasus region, Kasparov found his way repeatedly blocked.

Planned venues for meetings were mysteriously closed ahead of his
arrival and police stood by as youths hurled eggs and tomato sauce.

Kasparov gives the impression of being angry, but he apparently
retains a sense of humour.

After being hit by a member of the public with a chess board, he
quipped: "I’m glad that in the Soviet Union the popular sport was
chess and not baseball."

DATA SHOWS INCREASED RADIOACTIVE LEAKAGE FROM METSAMOR
Ercan Yavuz Ankara

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 11 2007

Turkey has turned to the international community once again to pressure
neighboring Armenia to close down a decrepit nuclear power plant
after data collected in border areas revealed increased radioactive
spillage from the plant.

In a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Ankara
demanded action and stronger international pressure on Armenia to shut
the old-fashioned Metsamor nuclear power plant. The plant was built
in the 1970s, but the technology installed at that time is no longer
acceptable by modern safety standards. It was closed due to a 1988
earthquake in Armenia, but the Armenian government decided to reopen
the damaged plant in 1993, citing an energy shortage in the country.

According to the data which the Turkish Atomic Energy Agency (TAEK)
gathered from 13 early warning stations established in Iðdýr and
nearby Kars province, there is an increase in radioactive leakage in
the region, which the TAEK attributes to the Metsamor plant.

The plant does not have an external dome to contain radioactive
leakage and its cooling water is insufficient, and as its technology
is outdated and it is located in an earthquake zone, all these factors
makes it a perfect candidate for a second Chernobyl-type incident.

Moreover, the plant is located just 19 kilometers from Iðdýr and 40
from Yerevan, in clear violation of internationally accepted standards
that require nuclear power plants to be at least 90 kilometers away
from human settlements.

Another concern which Turkey has with respect to the plant is that
the nuclear fuel which Armenia buys from Russia is transported by
air. Russian-made Antonov and Tapolov airplanes, both of which have
a record of frequent crashes, are used to transport nuclear fuel
to Armenia.

Noting the dangers the plant poses, Turkey requested that the EU urge
Armenia to close the plant in 2005. Following investigations conducted
by an EU delegation, the EU requested Armenia shut down the plant.

In 1999, the EU sent a delegation to Yerevan to conduct on-the-spot
examinations in the plant. Simultaneous probes by the IAEA concluded
that the plant should immediately be shut down. Before becoming a
member of the European Council on Jan. 25, 2001, Arme-nia pledged to
close the plant by 2004. In return the EU would reimburse Armenia’s
losses up to 100 million euros. Armenia found the EU’s proposal
insufficient and requested 1 billion euros instead. Later the EU
increased its pressure and Armenia declared that it would not close
the plant.

In the face of escalating international pressure Armenia has
transferred part of the plant’s shares to Russia. Russian Industry,
Science and Technology Minister Ilia Klebanov had declared that
the transfer did not include property rights, but rather that the
financial responsibility of Metsamor was given to Russia.

Some claimed that Russian Electric Systems seized Metsamor’s shares
due to Armenia’s default with respect to the overdue payments for
$40 million worth of enriched uranium purchased from Russia. Analysts
say that Armenia’s move served to relieve international pressure on it.

–Boundary_(ID_DpJGjYth3YsV013uI78cew)–

2007 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY ESSAY CONTEST AWARDING CEREMONY TO TAKE PLACE ON APRIL 12

ArmRadio.am
11.04.2007 10:15

The 2007 International Women’s Day Essay Contest announcing and
awarding ceremony will take place on 12 April in Yerevan. The event is
organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan, the Centre for the Development
of Civil Society in co-operation with the US Peace Corps.

The competition commenced on March 8, the International Women’s Day,
and finished on April 7, Motherhood and Beauty Day in Armenia. The
high school students from 8 regions of Armenia participating in the
contest were to answer to the following questions:

1) What is the role of your mother at home, in the community, in
Armenia and her activities?

2) Do you want to change the role of a young Armenian woman in Armenia?

3) If you believe that the role of the woman will change, what changes
would you like to see (personally, at the community and governmental
level)?

Sven Holdar, Democratization Officer at the OSCE Office in Yerevan,
Patrick Hart, Country Director of the Peace Corps Armenia and Svetlana
Aslanyan, President of the Centre for the Development of Civil Society
will present awards and certificates to 3 national and 24 regional
winners of the competition.

Tamara Gevorgyan, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Issues and
Nora Hakobyan, President of the Women’s Republican Council, will also
welcome the participants.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version:

CONGRATULATORY VISITS TO ANTELIAS ON THE OCCASION OF EASTER

Following the Holy Mass in Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in
Antelias on Easter Sunday, on April 8, His Holiness Aram I received
congratulatory visits from diplomats, government, political, religious and
charity officials in the Veharan (residence of the Catholicos).

The Armenian Pontiff also received phone calls from Lebanese government
officials, the President of the Republic of Lebanon, His Excellency General
Emile Lahoud, the Speaker of Parliament, Nebih Berri, several ministers and
members of parliament, congratulating him on the occasion of Easter. He also
received congratulatory calls and personal visits from the heads of several
Lebanese communities.

##
View the photo here:

*****

The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.

RWANDA GENOCIDE EXHIBIT DELAYED
By Evelyn Leopold

Independent Online, South Africa
April 10 2007

Geneva – A United Nations exhibit on the 13th anniversary of the Rwanda
genocide has been delayed after Turkish objections to a mention of
the killing of Armenians in Turkey during World War 1, organisers
said on Monday.

The photo and text exhibit, organised in part by the British-based
Aegis Trust, was scheduled to be opened on Monday by UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

But Turkey objected to a sentence in the text, which showed how the
Armenian killings contributed to the creation of the term genocide,
according to James Smith, chief executive of Aegis, whose mission is
to prevent genocide.

‘We are committed to it. It is a very important issue’ It said:
"Following World War 1, during which one million Armenians were
murdered in Turkey, Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin urged the League of
Nations to recognise crimes of barbarity as international crimes,"
Smith said.

Organisers said they were informed of the delay by the UN Department
of Public Information, which had initially approved the exhibit in
the visitors’ lobby. The secretary-general’s office then consented
to the postponement.

UN officials confirmed that objections by Turkey and others, which
they did not mention, were responsible for the delay. One staff member
said an official in the Department of Public Information had not sent
the text to other divisions for fact-checking.

"The exhibition has been postponed until the regular review process
is completed," UN associate spokesperson Farhan Haq said.

David Browan, communications director for Aegis, told Reuters that
Armenian diplomats had agreed to the removal of the words "in Turkey,"
which was acceptable to his group. But he said, "We understand that
was not acceptable to the UN"

About 1.5 million Armenians perished at the hands of Ottoman Turks,
according to historians. Turkey denies any systematic genocide,
saying large numbers of both Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks
died in a partisan conflict raging at that time.

Aegis, however, is resisting removing references to the Armenian
killings in connection with the exhibit on Rwanda, where at least 800
000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred by Hutus. The murders
began on April 6, 1994.

The exhibit also mentions the Nazi extermination of Jews in World War
2 and has passing references to Cambodia’s killing fields and crimes
in Bosnia, East Timor and Sudan.

But a UN official insisted the exhibit would take place. "We are
committed to it. It is a very important issue," said Manoel de Almeida
e Silva, an official in the strategic communications division.

NKR PRESIDENT CONGRATULATED SERGE SARGSIAN ON APPOINTMENT AS RA PM

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
April 9 2007

The Nagorno-Karabagh Republic President Arkady Ghoukassian sent Serge
Sargsian a congratulatory message in connection with the latter’s
appointment as RA PM.

According to the information DE FACTO received at the NKR President’s
Press Office, Arkady Ghoukassian had wished RA new PM successes,
expressing assurance that being at eminence and major post of RA
PM Serge Sargsian would use his rich experience, knowledge and
devotion for the welfare of the Armenian people and the successful
implementation of national tasks and programs.

AGENCY PREPARES FOR MASSIVE INVENTORY OF FORESTS

ARMENPRESS
Apr 09 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 9, ARMENPRESS: Chief manager of Armenian Forest company,
an affiliation of the agricultural ministry with a wide scope of
independence Martoun Matevosian said today his agency is launching
a massive inventory of Armenian forests to have a clear picture of
the nation’s forest reserves and potential.

He said the inventory will take up at least five years. Last time
such inventory was held in 1988-1992.

According to Matevosian, the volume of illegal logging has reduced
more than three times since 2005, which he attributed to a wider use
of natural gas by Armenian households, especially in rural areas.

Another reason behind the fall is higher wages for forest keepers
who now receive 55,000 Drams, drastically up from 7,000 in 2000.

Historically forests covered approximately 40-45% of the current
territory of Armenia and in the early 19th century the figure was about
25%. Now forests cover approximately about 9 percent the country’s
territory. Non-governmental organizations warn that loss of forests
brings problems of soil erosion, landslides, loss of springs and
rivers, loss of fruits and other forest products, greater weather
damage, loss of productive soil, loss of biodiversity, loss of
sensitive animal habitat and additional problems.

Some of the greatest loss occurred during the energy crisis in
the early 1990’s, but cutting still continues. According to expert
estimates, at current rates of destruction Armenian forests would be
eradicated within 20 years.

However, according to Matevosian, last year Armenian imported 52,000
cubic meters of timber and exported 1,200 cubic meters. He said the
export volume fell radically from 12,000 cubic meters in previous
years.

Agricultural minister David Lokian said Armenia has to export some
kinds of timber which have no domestic demand. He said after natural
falling these trees remain in forests.

The two men spoke today at the meeting of the state forest monitoring
council. The minister said law-enforcers and foresters detected last
year 6,825 illegally cut trees, which caused a total of 173 million
Drams of damages, but so far only part of these damages-12 million
Drams- were recovered.

FRANZ WERFEL DECEIVED…
By Hakob Asatrian, Prague

AZG Armenian Daily
10/04/2007

New Turkish Insinuations with the Aid of a Rabbi

On the eve of April 24 the Turks start a new insult in an attempt
to confuse the world society about the Armenian Genocide. "Mlada
Fronta Dnes" daily newspaper, Czech Republic, published a couple
of rather interesting articles about the issue of the Genocide on
April 5, 2007. Author of the first article Liubomir Hegel analyzed
the US Congress Resolution on the Armenian Genocide and its possible
influences on the USA-Turkey relations.

The author notices that President Bush uses various word describing
the crime committed in 1915 by the Turkish authorities but is warned
against using the term "genocide".

Then Werfel describes the relations between the White House and the
Congress, Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s intention of adopting the Resolution,
the efforts of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Ministries to fail it
and the visits of the Turkish delegations to Washington. Nevertheless
the author admits that most possibly, the Resolution shall be passed,
due to the influence of the Armenian Diaspora that is three time bigger
in number than the population of the Republic of Armenia. At the same
time he thinks that the Resolution won’t have the same importance as
the French law about the Genocide.

The second article is actually an anonymous message received by the
newspaper from Los Angeles. The message says that the Austrian writer
Wranz Werfel, author of the famous novel "The 40 Days of Musa Dag"
confessed his friend, a Rabbi, that he was deceived.

Allegedly Werfel said his friend that he heard the story from an
Armenian bishop, but after having studied the works of independent
researches, realized that he was told lies and felt sorry about writing
the novel. The message also alleged that the Rabbi witnessed this at
the public notary’s office in 1989 but did not publish the document
being afraid of Armenian terrorists.

This is all the message published in "Mlada Fronta Dnes" says. If
the information is true, it could be verified by any note in Weflels’
memoirs. But there is no such note. Moreover, no Armenian terrorist
organization existed in Werfel’s time that could threaten him. A novel
is not written in an instant. It requires work of many years, during
which an author is studying all available material about the plot. So
did Werfel. In 1929 he even visited an Armenian orphanage in Syria,
heard the stories immediately from the victims of the Genocide. Our
Austrian sources assure nothing was known of the Rabbi’s witness
ever before.

A few years ago a Turkish historian in a similar manner tried to
criticize the novel, but he was paid no attention. Thus, it comes
clear that the Turks are trying to spread a lie by the means of
Jewish Rabbis, being conscious that the novel by Franz Werfel has
more influence on the European public that any resolution adopted by
governmental or international structures.

Armenian mobilization in Spain

Armradio.am
09.04.2007 13:24

Various Armenian associations in Spain counting approximately 50 000
people, including 8 000 in Valence, were constituted in a federation
to unify the criteria of intervention in the Spanish society. Among
the principal objectives of the new entity it is envisaged to create a
work group taking in con sideration the defense of its rights, and
also obligations of the Armenians residents in the Iberian Peninsula,
independent correspondent Jean Eckian informs.

In addition, the federation will present on April 22 in Madrid, two
documents to the Spanish authorities to recognize the Armenian
Genocide perpetrated by Ottoman Empire during the First World War and
to organize on April 24 commemorations in memory of the victims of
Genocide in the cities where the Armenian community is present.