Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

LAVROV VISIT TO YEREVAN TIMED TO 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF DIPLM TIES

Itar-Tass News Agency, Russia
March 14 2007

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to Armenia slated for
April 3-4 is timed to the 15th anniversary of the establishment of
diplomatic relations between the two countries, Russian Ambassador
in Yerevan Nikolai Pavlov said.

The purpose of the visit "is to confirm Russia’s commitment to
strategic partnership with Armenia", the ambassador said on Wednesday.

During the visit, Lavrov will have meetings with Armenian President
Robert Kocharyan, Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan and Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanyan. The Russian minister will give a speech at Yerevan
State University, the Russian ambassador stressed.

Russia recognised Armenia’s independence on December 18, 1991. April
3, 1992 is the day of the establishment of diplomatic relations
between the two countries. "This is one more date in the history
of Russian-Armenian relations, which remount to Ancient Russia,"
the ambassador said.

"Then the coincidence of geopolitical interests of both states
determines their wish to establish ally relations between our countries
and bring them to the level of strategic partnership," the ambassador
pointed out. Now it is based on the solid legal foundation and includes
over 160 international agreements and treaties.

"Relations between Russia and Armenia are considered ally and dynamic,"
the Russian ambassador added.

TURKISH CHAUVINIST APPEALS AGAINST SWISS COURT’S VERDICT

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Mar 13 2007

ANKARA, MARCH 13, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Chairman of Turkish
Workers Party Dogu Perincek appealed against the Swiss court’s verdict,
by which he was convicted for denying the Armenian Genocide.

According to the Cihan Turkish news agency, Turkish chauvinist’s
lawyer Loran Moreyon said that his defendant appealed against the
verdict at Vo canton provincial court.

To recap, on March 9, Perincek was sentenced to 90-day suspended
imprisonment and was fined in the amount of nearly 3000 USD bu the
Lausanne court for denying the Armenian Genocide.

PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address:  Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact:  Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel:  +374-10-517163
Fax:  +374-10-517301
E-Mail:  [email protected]
Website: 
March 11, 2007

His Holiness Karekin II Visits Madras and Oldest Armenian Church in Far East

Having arrived at Chennai Airport on the previous night, His Holiness
Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, accompanied
by his delegation visited the Armenian Church of St. Mary (Surb
Astvatsatsin) in Madras on Friday, March 2.  The church, originally built in
1712, is undergoing a comprehensive renovation and is in considerably better
condition today than only a few years ago.  On the grounds of the church is
a cemetery where Archpriest Rev. Fr. Haroutiun Shmavonian is interred.  In
1794, while serving as pastor of the Armenian community in Madras, Fr.
Shmavonian began to publish the first Armenian periodical in the world
entitled `Azdarar’.

Although there are no longer any Armenian residents of Madras, the church
remains continually open.  Many Indians from the surrounding neighborhoods
had come to the church to greet His Holiness upon his arrival and to ask for
his blessings.

His Holiness and the pontifical entourage entered the compound of the church
located on `Armenian Street’ in the center of the city and were greeted by a
number of Indian Orthodox faithful.  As the Catholicos entered the
sanctuary, he offered prayers of thanksgiving for protecting this
significant edifice in the heart of Madras, at a time where there are no
longer any Armenian faithful to care for its maintenance and safekeeping.

His Holiness Karekin II offered a solemn requiem service in the church in
memory of all departed clergymen – bishops, priests and deacons – who have
diligently served the Armenian community of India and the Far East over the
course of the past five centuries.  The Pontiff of All Armenians also laid a
floral wreath at the tomb of Fr. Shmavonian, following which he was guided
on a tour of the church grounds and the historic bell-tower, with its six
cast iron bells, renowned throughout all of Madras. 

While at the church, His Holiness also met with the historical and
architectural preservation committee for Chennai and discussed the efforts
undertaken by the Armenians of Calcutta to preserve and renovate the church
and compound.

In the afternoon, the Catholicos and the pontifical entourage traveled to
the historical St. Thomas Shrine, which rests atop a famous hill in Madras. 
According to Roman Catholic tradition, St. Thomas the Apostle was martyred
on this hill in the first century A.D.  This location was thereafter marked
with a chapel and later a church.  In 1547, the very first Armenian Church
in the Far East was built in this location on the hill.  The original church
building remains to this day as a functioning sanctuary and shrine of the
Roman Catholic faith.  However, its Armenian origin is self-evident by the
countless Armenian gravestones, paintings and inscriptions (most notably on
the Holy Altar) which ornament the interior.  Once again, the Indian
Christian faithful of the area greeted His Holiness and asked him to give
them his pontifical blessings.

Le Monde, France
10 mars 2007 samedi

ARMÉNIE; Rencontres et visites

L’architecture, la musique et la culture, illustrées à l’occasion de
l’Année de l’Arménie (), ont éveillé la
curiosité envers ce pays, l’offre de voyages s’est élargie, mais il
reste, parmi les pionniers, d’autres voies : l’association Solidarité
protestante France-Arménie organise une découverte d’Erevan, la
capitale, des excursions vers les monastères et sites religieux,
ainsi que des rencontres avec les Arméniens. Une journée est
consacrée aux actions humanitaires engagées à Gumri.

SPFA, tél. : 01.47.35.30.23. Du 23 au 30 avril. 1 200 euros par
personne, avion, hôtel, pension complète. Extension possible au
Karabakh, du 30 avril au 2 mai (supplément de 200 euros).

Turkish Daily News
March 8 2007

Turkey stops US Senate measure, for now
Thursday, March 8, 2007

Senator objects to language on Armenian genocide, prompting delay of
at least two weeks

ÜMÝT ENGÝNSOY
WASHINGTON – Turkish Daily News

Acting on concerns by Ankara and the Washington administration over
a reference to the "Armenian genocide" in a proposed congressional
resolution on Turkey, a senior Republican senator has moved to
temporarily stop the passage at a Senate panel of themeasure, which
urges the Turks, among other things, to establish normal relations
with Armenia.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee was scheduled on Tuesday to
vote on the resolution introduced by Sen. Joe Biden, the committee’s
Democratic chairman. However, after opposition by Richard Lugar, the
panel’s ranking Republican senator, it was delayed for at least two
weeks.

The non-binding measure condemns Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink’s murder and calls on Turkey to abolish a penal code article
blamed for restricting freedom of expression and to launch
diplomatic, political and trade ties with Armenia. Turkey indeed
prefers if the resolution does not pass the Senate at all, but is
particularly concerned over a reference to the Armenian genocide in
the measure’s background section. Ankara fears that a Senate approval
of the original text may act as a precedent for future congressional
action.

Although President George W. Bush’s administration, which has
strongly condemned Dink’s assassination, would like to see Turkey
repeal the Turkish Penal Code’s (TCK) controversial Article 301 and
set up good relations with Armenia, it also shares Ankara’s worries
over the resolution’s reference to the Armenian genocide. Therefore,
the administration is seeking to persuade the panel’s senators to
drop that reference, diplomats said. As a result, Sen Lugar, who is
generally known for his support for Turkey, raised an objection to
the resolution’s language when the measure came to the Tuesday vote.
According to committee rules, Biden said that the vote would be
delayed until the panel’s next business meeting, which may take place
in two or three weeks’ time. Lugar and Biden are expected to sit
together and seek to agree on a joint text before that gathering. The
measure, if passed by the panel, will move to the Senate floor.

Turkish diplomats were apparently relieved by the temporary delay.
"We really appreciate Sen. Lugar’s very responsible move," said one
diplomat. U.S. Armenians voiced dismay over the delay, but said they
would continue to actively pursue the original resolution’s passage.
"We are troubled that Senator Lugar – apparently acting at the
request of the administration – has delayed the U.S. Senate’s tribute
to the life and memory of Hrant Dink," said Aram Hamparian, executive
director of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA),
according to an ANCA statement. "We look forward to the panel, at the
next opportunity, rejecting any efforts to block or water down this
measure, and passing it in the form it was introduced," he said."It
is unfortunate that the committee deferred action on this important
resolution," said Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd, a member of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, according to ANCA.

Dink, editor of the Turkish-Armenian daily Agos, was shot dead in
front of his office in Istanbul on Jan. 19. A teenager, who has
confessed to killing Dink, and a group of ultranationalists have been
arrested for the crime. Dink received a suspended six-month sentence
under Article 301 in 2005 for insulting "Turkish identity." Turkey’s
government says it is working to amend Article 301, but that the
legislation will not be abolished altogether. Turkey officially
recognized Armenia when the latter gained its independence from the
former Soviet Union in 1991. But Ankara refuses to establish
diplomatic ties with Yerevan and open the border, saying Armenia has
been keeping the Nagorno-Karabakh region inside Azerbaijan and
another 20 percent of Azeri territory under its occupation.

The most important Armenian-related resolution pending in Congress
is a measure introduced in the House of Representatives in late
January, calling on the recognition of World War I-era killings of
Armenians during the Ottoman Empire as genocide. It may enter the
House agenda in late March or April.

Prosecutors seek fine for Turkish politician who denied Armenian genocide
AP Worldstream
Published: Mar 08, 2007

Prosecutors asked a Swiss police court Thursday to fine a Turkish
politician 3,000 Swiss francs (US$2,450; A1,870) for denying that the
killing of Armenians in the early 20th century was genocide.

Dogu Perincek, the leader of the Turkish Workers’ Party, was charged
with breaking a Swiss law by rejecting that the World War I-era
killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians amounted to genocide during a
visit to Switzerland in 2005.

He has since repeated his claim, including at his trial earlier this
week.

The case is seen as a test of whether denying that the Turks committed
genocide is a violation of Swiss anti-racism legislation. The law has
previously been applied to Holocaust denial.

Prosecutors also sought a suspended fine of 9,000 francs (US$7,360;
A5,600). A decision in the trial, which has strained Swiss-Turkish
relations, is expected on Friday.

CONFLICTING SIDES IN SOUTH CAUCASUS SHOULD BE READY FOR TOUGH COMPROMISES

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.03.2007 15:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "For there to be a resolution of the South Caucasus
conflicts all sides have to be willing to sit down at the negotiations
table and make tough compromises," said Sabine Freizer, the Director
of Europe Program of the International Crisis Group. "No government
should promise their people a quick solution to the conflicts through
a military offensive. Rather, there is a need for confidence building
and people to people contacts on both sides of the confrontation
lines. Ultimately throughout the South Caucasus all refugees and
internally displaced persons should be able to voluntarily return
to their pre-war homes. All sides should see that they will benefit
more from conflict resolution – especially with regards to economic
development and trade – than from war. If the region can function as an
economic whole, it will be much more attractive to foreign investors,"
she said, reports Trend news agency.

WOMEN HAVE BEEN DEFEATED IN POLITICAL STRUGGLE IN ARMENIA, ARZHANAPATVUTIUN PARTY CHAIRWOMAN CONSIDERS

Noyan Tapan
Mar 07 2007

YEREVAN, MARCH 7, NOYAN TAPAN. "Women have been defeated in the
political struggle in Armenia," Lyudmila Haroutiunian, Chairwoman
of Arzhanapatvutiun (Dignity) Party, stated at the March 7 press
conference adding that women should take an equal part in "politics
as collective strategy of making decisions."

In her words, "in many countries they attach great importance to women
and involve them in many spheres not because they love women very much,
but because they consider that women will do this business better." In
the words of Ruzan Khachatrian, member of Political Board of People’s
Party of Armenia (PPA), politics is business of an honest, educated
person and sexual characteristics play no role here. In her words,
maybe there would not be many problems in the country, if women’s
role in a number of spheres was greater. R. Khachatrian also said
that an Armenian woman is worthy of living in a fair, safe country
where her rights and the rights of her children will be protected.

IT IS NECESSARY TO COUNTER THE TURKISH AND AZERI ANTI-ARMENIAN PROPAGANDA
By Karine Mangassarian

Yerkir.am
March 02, 2007

Armenia is not responding adequately to Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s
anti-Armenian hysteria both internally and on the international
arena. It is necessary to take well-coordinated measures and implement
state policies in this direction. It is necessary to be pro-active
and not only take a responsive stance.

Armenian intellectuals and political leaders that participated in a
round table discussion titled "The Armenian Aspect of Turkey’s and
Azerbaijan’s propaganda" arrived at this conclusion. The discussion
was organized by ARF’s Supreme Body on February 28.

In her opening remarks member of ARF’s Supreme Body Lilit Galstian
stated that February 28 was selected for holding this discussion
because this is the day of commemoration of Armenians massacred in
Sumgait and Azerbaijan.

"Political reflections: realities"

Member of ARF’s Bureau, Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly Vahan
Hovhannissian noted that the main principles for Armenia’s information
and spiritual security are stated in the National Security Concept
even though this document in itself is not ideal.

Who is the target of the Turkish-Azeri propaganda? Answering this
question Hovhannissian noted that there are three targets – the
international organizations, mass media and public opinion, and the
Azeri and Armenian people.

"Since they are saying different things to these different audiences
they give us an excellent tool that we do not use. They are trying
to scare the Armenian nation saying that if a new war starts Armenia
will inevitably lose it, they are trying to convince us that Armenia
cannot do anything against the 7 million Azeris and 70 million Turks,"
Hovhannissian said noting that Azerbaijan has not achieved any success
in this respect because the Armenian nation is the winning nation.

"However, we cannot do nothing against their propaganda. Our people
should understand that Azerbaijan has always been stronger in terms
of its resources, but we have managed to defeat them in the liberation
war in Artsakh," Hovhannissian stated.

Hovhannissian believes the Azeri people are told the same thing –
that they are very strong. And it is the Azeri military leaders who
are making these statements. They are saying they are ready to solve
the conflict with a new war at any time. "A question arises – if you
are ready, why aren’t you solving it?" Hovhannissian said.

The two audiences, the Armenian and Azeri people, are receiving
the same information which, however, contradicts the Azeri and
Turkish propaganda at the international level where Azerbaijan is
presented as the miserable state flooded with refugees and people
dying of hunger… "On the one hand we see threats while on the other
hand there is the victim’s image. We should be able to show to the
international community both these images and we should adhere to
two main principles.

The Kars-Akhalqalaq railway costs several hundred million dollars and
if Azerbaijan is ready to solve the Karabagh issue without taking
into consideration this factor, why isn’t it going ahead? Because
it is not ready to solve the issue with a new war. Armenians must
understand this.

We should not lobby in international organizations that this railway is
not built. We should do our best to make this process controllable,"
Hovhannissian said. It should be controllable so that the railway is
not used for transportation of weapons, and this should be the main
line of Armenian propaganda, Hovhannissian believes.

Armenia’s diplomacy should also change, Hovhannissian believes. Armenia
should stop being the peaceful and tolerant side in Karabagh
negotiations.

"We go for consensus while Azerbaijan doesn’t, and we can see that
pressure is put on us and not on Azerbaijan. Therefore, it’s high
time we state – either Karabagh participates in the negotiations,
or negotiations make no sense.

Today we are merely in the preparatory phase of the negotiations. Final
negotiations cannot be held without Karabagh. We should take a harder
line in the negotiations and demand that Karabagh is also involved
to give a new meaning and substance to the negotiations process,"
Hovhannissian stated. It is up to experts to decide how these issues
should be presented to shape the right public opinion.

It is necessary to undertake concrete measures

Director of the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences Ashot
Melkonian commented on the issue of Genocide stating that the process
of international recognition of the Genocide is completed and it is
time to raise the political and legal aspects of this issue, in other
words, it is time to demand reparations. "We should start speaking
about reparations, and this is not a task only for the Diaspora but
the entire Armenian nation," Melkonian stated.

Director of the Center for Armenian Architecture Studies Samvel
Karapetian commented on cultural issues pointing out to what happened
in Turkey 30 years ago and what is going on in Azerbaijan today.

"The entire Azerbaijan is like Jugha today, the attitude towards
historical monuments is the same everywhere," Karapetian said. He
suggested appealing to international courts to denounce the
Turkish-Azeri vandalism in the legal domain. "We should have
state-level policies to counter the Turkish-Azeri propaganda,"
Karapetian said.

Head of the Armenian History Chair at Yerevan State University Babken
Harutyunian raised the issue of creating a special information center.

Harutyunian believes even the issue of the Genocide would have been
forgotten had it not been for the Hay Dat Offices.

Harutyunian said the Armenian authorities are merely responding to
the false statements made by the Turkish-Azeri propaganda machine
while they should be pro-active. Harutyunian said it is strange that
the Armenian National Assembly has not yet recognized the Sumgait
massacres as a genocide because what happened in Sumgait can be
defined as a genocide under the international convention.

Director of the Genocide Museum Hayk Demoyan noted that the Azeri
president’s family is involved in Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian
propaganda. Ilham Aliyev’s wife and daughter are involved in
publication and dissemination of anti-Armenian literature.

President of the Journalists’ Union of Armenia Astghik Gevorgian
stressed the importance of publications and dissemination of
information that can counter Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian propaganda.

A new book as a new step in propaganda

A book titled "Against Azerbaijan’s Anti-Armenian Policies" was
presented at the roundtable discussion. The book was published by
ARF. It includes articles by non-Armenian historians which makes the
book more interesting, member of ARF’s Supreme Body Haykazun Alvrtsian
said. He believes special attention should be paid to publications
in the press since it is largely influenced by the Azeri and Turkish
propaganda. An attempt is made to transfer such propaganda to the
domain of the relations between the government and the opposition
which is completely unacceptable, Alvrtsian concluded.

PanARMENIAN.Net

The verdict of the International Court of Justice on Serbian issue
displayed the limits of the international law

The International Court of Justice in the Hague has become a very
popular place for settling old and new accounts.

01.03.2007 GMT+04:00

Over the last several years the word `genocide’ has been used so
often, that it has already become an ordinary word used in everyday
life. True some hundred thousand innocent people were slaughtered, so
what of it? And few ever ask themselves the question; how it happened
that they were all killed on ethnic grounds. And why are in one case
massacres qualified as tragic events, and in another case – as
genocide?

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The verdict of the International Court of Justice in
the Hague, according to which Serbia doesn’t carry any direct
responsibility for the genocide committed during the war in Bosnia,
has given rise to a number of questions, one of the most important
among which is; who was to blame for the slaughter of the Bosnian
Muslims? The Court admitted only one fact of the genocide in Bosnia
during the interethnic conflict of 1992-95, that is the slaughter of
the 8 thousand Muslim men and male children committed by Bosnian Serbs
in the city of Srebrenica in 1995.

But it must be admitted, that the International Court of Justice in
the Hague has become a very popular place for settling old and new
accounts. Most likely Serbia really wasn’t guilty; there was war, and
who knows who really slaughtered those 8 thousand Bosnian Muslims?
However the Court noticed that the Serbian Government didn’t do its
best to prevent the tragedy. Naturally, after the verdict was
announced spiritual leaders of the Bosnian Muslims expressed their
disappointment over the decision of the International Court of Justice
in the Hague. The Times writes; `The positive side of the ten years’
hearings was that the relatives of the victims to speak from
international platforms, however the Court didn’t have any chances to
read the verdict of guilty from the very beginning and moreover to
administer the measure of punishment. The verdict on Serbian issue
displayed the limits of the international law.’

This entire story may refer to Armenia as well. As it is known, Turkey
is considering the opportunity to appeal to the International Court of
Justice in the Hague regarding the issue of the Armenian Genocide.
The Minister of Turkish Foreign Affairs Abdullah Gul announced about
it. According to him diplomats are in retirement, Turkish and foreign
`trustees’ are carrying out detailed study of the issue. The article
published in Milliyet which is entitled `Turkish Historical Course’
states that the Turkish Government is `developing new policy’
regarding `the confirmation’ of the Armenian Genocide, which follows
the sentence about establishing a committee of scholars.

The idea of Turkey’s appeal to the International Court of Justice is
not fresh, and its initiator is the Turkish diplomat Gunduz Aktan, who
has been appointed the Turkish Ambassador to different European
Structures. According to Ruben Safrastyan, Director of Department of
Turkish Studies at Institute of Oriental Studies, Armenian National
Academy of Sciences, there were two different Turkish policies
developed towards the issue of the Armenian Genocide. `They were going
to continue implementing the denial policy or to appeal to the
International Court of Justice, mentioning that the Armenians in any
case will not be able to prove that the events of 1915 can ever be
qualified as Genocide. The decision was made on the highest level by
the Turkish General Stuff’, he mentioned. It should be mentioned that
Aktan is one of the most unyielding Turkish politicians in this issue
and as a member of Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Committee he has
always spoken against the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

However it is very unlikely that Turkey will have the courage to
appeal to the Hague Court. Perhaps Turkey will manage to give proves
against the massacre committed in the years of World War I, but
telegrams by Minister of Home Affairs Taleat Pasha regarding `the
final decision of the Armenian issue’ overbalance all the rest.

International Court of Justice is a higher judicial organ for settling
different disputes between UN Member States. Its meetings have been
held in the Peace Palace in the Hague since 1946. It is composed of 15
judges elected to nine year terms. If one of the parties doesn’t carry
out the Court’s decision, the other party may appeal to the UN
Security Council. All the decisions made by the International Court of
Justice are to be carried out, are considered final and are not
subject to any appeal. «PanARMENIAN.Net» analytical department