Author: Tigranian Ani

SPEAKER OF ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT URGES THE DEFEATED OPPOSITION "TO SOBERLY ANALYZE ITS MISTAKES"

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
May 18 2007

Yerevan, May 18. /Mediamax/. Speaker of the National Assembly of
Armenia, Deputy Chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia Tigran
Torosian expressed confidence today that the following president of
the country will belong to a certain party.

Mediamax reports that, speaking at a news conference in Yerevan today,
Tigran Torosian commented on the behavior of the parties, which failed
during the elections.

According to him, "the behavior is more like an excuse than an
impartial assessment of the elections". The Speaker stressed that "it
does not matter that some forces did not enter the parliament, as the
elections were fair and each one received the mark for the work done".

"What concerns the forces, which gave unrealistic promises and
expressed confidence in their victory, they were the ones to believe
in it", Tigran Torosian noted, adding that "now the disappointed
oppositional forces organize disputes not only at the political level,
but at the personal as well".

He expressed confidence that "if the political forces don’t try
to soberly analyze their mistakes, they will be failing in future
as well".

Tigran Torosian stressed that the Republican Party of Armenia "is
ready to cooperate with everyone, even the oppositional forces",
noting that the cooperation can have not only coalition nature.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Armenian Genocide recognition the only way to enhance Turkey’s prestige
19.05.2007 15:07 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `The most efficient way to enhance Turkey’s prestige
is to acknowledge the atrocities and apologize for them. This would
put an end to the mistakes of the past and Turks could meet the future
with an open heart,’ Director of the Institute of CIS Studies
Konstantin Zatulin writes in a letter addressed to Lala Ulker, an
advisor at the Turkish Embassy in Moscow.

In his latter Zatulin brings in the words of well-known Turkish writer
Ahmed Altan who used to say that the Armenian Genocide is a historical
fact and it must not be forgotten.

`I cannot agree with you that the investigation of the Armenian
Genocide issue is a task for historians only. As you know, atrocities
are assessed by lawyers and not by historians. That is why this
outrageous episode of the world history should be given a juridical
assessment first of all. Documents are more than enough. Turkey’s
policy towards Armenians at those times can be defined as genocide, as
it’s interpreted by article 2 of UN 1948 Convention On the Prevention
and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

According to Zatulin, Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide is the
most annoying factor in the Armenian-Turkish relations and hampers
their normalization. Ankara’s stubborn desire to force Armenia to
abandon its position on the Armenian Genocide issue in exchange for
normalization of relations cements tension between the two states. I
am hopeful that common sense will prevail in Ankara and it will take
this painful but courageous and essential step that put an end to
hostility between the two peoples,’ the Russian politician writes.

Earlier, Ms. Lale Ulker accused Konstantin Zatulin of `jaundice and
distortion of history’ in response to his article titled `The bill on
genocide will keep memory of Genocide awaken.’

PRESS OFFICE
Department of Communications
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Media Relations Specialist
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 160; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

May 16, 2007
___________________

LONG-TIME CHURCH SUPPORTER TO HELP PLAN VISIT BY CATHOLICOS

Lynn Beylerian, a long-time community leader from the St. Leon Church in
Fair Lawn, New Jersey, has joined the Diocesan staff as coordinator for this
fall’s Pontifical visit to the Eastern Diocese by His Holiness Karekin II,
Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.

"I love the Church and I enjoy doing this sort of work," said Beylerian, who
will be serving in a volunteer capacity.

>From 1979 to 2006, she was president of Treasure Island Incorporated, a
retail establishment with stores throughout the New York City/Tri-state
region. Since closing the stores, she has been a stay-at-home mom. She and
her husband Arthur have two children, 13-year-old Aline and 12-year-old
Christine.

A life-long member of the St. Leon Church, she has served on the parish
council, sung in the choir, been a member of the Women’s Guild, and is a
member of the Building Committee which is undertaking a multi-million dollar
construction project to build the Charles and Grace Pinajian Complex, named
after Beylerian’s parents.

"I grew up involved in Church. It was never a question for us, my parents
were involved so it was never a should we or shouldn’t we. We just always
were involved," she said of her community involvement.

The Catholicos will visit the Diocese throughout the month of October. His
tentative schedule includes stops in New York City, New England, Washington,
Charlotte, St. Petersburg, South Florida, Dallas, Houston, Cleveland,
Chicago and Wisconsin, Minneapolis, and Detroit.

Committees have been established at the Diocesan as well as the local level
to organize and arrange for the visit. During his stops, the Catholicos will
meet with parish leaders, parishioners, local ecumenical leaders,
politicians, and media.

"This is a very wide-spread visit," Beylerian said. "There are so many
committees involved. That will be the biggest challenge, just to coordinate
them. This is really many smaller events all wrapped up into one visit."

Beylerian, who has a bachelor’s in business administration from Pace
University, will be working out of the Diocesan Center in New York City.

"We are glad to welcome someone with her passion, energy, and background to
help us with this exciting visit," said Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate
of the Diocese. "This Pontifical visit will be an exciting opportunity for
His Holiness to see the evolution of the Diocese, to see our parish
communities and hear what our faithful are seeking from the Church."

— 5/16/07

E-mail photos available on request. Photos also viewable in the News and
Events section of the Eastern Diocese’s website,

PHOTO CAPTION (1): Lynn Beylerian, a long-time leader of the St. Leon
Church in Fair Lawn, NJ, has joined the Diocesan staff as coordinator of the
upcoming Pontifical visit to the Eastern Diocese by His Holiness Karekin II,
Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.

HOVANNISIAN RELUCTANT TO JOIN RADICAL OPPOSITION
By Irina Hovannisian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
May 15 2007

Raffi Hovannisian appeared reluctant on Tuesday to join more radical
opposition leaders in challenging the official results of the Armenian
parliamentary elections, despite accusing the authorities of stealing
two-thirds of ballots cast for his Zharangutyun (Heritage) party.

Zharangutyun and the Orinats Yerkir Party of former parliament speaker
Artur Baghdasarian are the only opposition forces that won seats in
Armenia’s new parliament controversially elected on Saturday. According
to the Central Election Commission (CEC), Hovannisian’s party won
about 6 percent of the vote and will have 6 seats in the 131-member
National Assembly.

Zharangutyun looked set to make a stronger showing shortly after the
closure of polls late on Saturday when Armenian TV channels reported
first vote results from Yerevan and other parts of the country. The
party seemed to be doing particularly well in many Yerevan precincts
where it trailed only the governing the Republican Party (HHK.) In
the event, it barely managed to clear the 5 percent vote threshold for
being represented in the parliament under the system of proportional
representation.

Hovannisian claimed that Zharangutyun polled three times more votes
than were shown in the CEC’s preliminary vote tally. "We saw those
250,000 votes [cast for Zharangutyun] shrink to 80,000 through a
miscounting and invalidation of ballots," he said.

"When European observers speak of progress [in the conduct of
Armenian elections,] they probably mean that 250,000 was not turned
into 25,000," he added sarcastically in reference to their positive
assessment of the vote.

Orinats Yerkir and virtually all other opposition parties have
similarly refused to recognize the official election outcome, alleging
widespread fraud. The most radical of those parties plan to continue
to hold anti-government demonstrations in Yerevan and hope that they
will be joined by Orinats Yerkir and Zharangutyun.

While not ruling out such possibility, Hovannisian indicated that
his party will likely accept the parliament mandates allotted to
it by the CEC and will not boycott sessions of the newly elected
parliament. He promised to clarify its stance after the publication
of the final vote results.

"Zharangutyun is entering the parliament as an opposition party,
and the fact that we will be in small minority gives us even greater
responsibility," the U.S.-born politician told a news conference. "At
the same time we appreciate the spirit of [opposition] solidarity
and cooperation. If we see that that spirit reigns and if see we
that there are no ulterior motives and parochial interests involved
… everything can be considered."

Hovannisian also said Zharangutyun will not appeal to the
Constitutional Court against the election results but is ready to
assist in a legal challenge planned by Orinats Yerkir. "Some of our
distinguished colleagues will be appealing to the Constitutional
Court," he said. "Zharangutyun will also participate in that process
by providing concrete facts to our colleagues."

Toptechnews.com
BSA: Software Piracy Losses Are Growing
May 15, 2007 9:50AM

In its latest report, the Business Software Alliance says that although the
software piracy rate declined in 62 countries from 2005 to 2006, those gains
were offset by the growth in sales of computers in some of the most
piracy-prone areas. The report claimed 35 percent of all software installed
on PCs in 2006 was obtained illegally.

The rate of global software piracy has remained static for three years, but
the cost to companies that make the programs is rising, the Business
Software Alliance said Tuesday.
The BSA survey, conducted by the U.S.-based market research company IDC,
concluded that for every $2 spent on legitimate software, $1 went to
pirates.
"The bad news is that overall global piracy rates have remained stagnant,"
BSA Chief Executive Robert Holleyman said. "Overall dollar losses have gone
up because the overall market is growing."
Though the piracy rate declined in 62 countries from 2005 to 2006, those
gains were offset by the growth in sales of computers in some of the most
piracy-prone areas, the U.S.-based BSA said.
The report claimed 35 percent of all software installed on personal
computers in 2006 was obtained illegally. It estimated software vendors
could lose about $180 billion to pirates over the next four years.
Critics say such figures are exaggerated because those obtaining pirated
software are unlikely to have paid the full price anyway.
Holleyman said the piracy rate in China, the second-largest market for
personal computers behind the United States, had fallen 10 percent over
three years, saving software companies an estimated $864 million.
That drop was offset by an increase in piracy in the Middle East and Africa,
he said.
The report identified Armenia, Moldova and Azerbaijan as among the world’s
worst for software theft, saying only one in 20 programs used there was
procured legally. The U.S., New Zealand and Japan are among the most law
abiding — but nearly one in four programs there were pirated, it said.
Researchers examined the software market in 102 countries, comparing
software sales in each of the countries with estimates of the amount of
software in use.
The report took the difference to be the pirated amount, calculating losses
based on prices for copies of those programs.

PanARMENIAN.Net

PACE to hold hearing on `frozen conflicts’
14.05.2007 14:30 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Hearing on `frozen conflicts’ will be held Skopje,
Macedonia, within the framework of PACE monitoring committee’s
session. Delegates from the CoE member states will present their
stance on regional conflicts.

Besides, the PACE monitoring committee will consider the outcomes of
the monitoring in Bulgaria and Moldova’s fulfillment of commitments to
the CoE, Interfax reports.

Armenian leader says election irregularities to be probed

Mediamax news agency
14 May 07

Yerevan, 14 May: All the "registered shortcomings and election
violations will be thoroughly studied to take the necessary measures
and re-establish legality", Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said
in an address to the people of Armenia in connection with the
conclusion of the parliamentary election which took place on 12 May.

Robert Kocharyan said that "the election was free, fair and
transparent; the Central Electoral Commission, the law-enforcement
bodies, as well as the local and international observation
organizations confirm that".

"I congratulate us all on one more important step in the direction of
democracy," the address of the president reads.

The Armenian president noted that all the participants in the election
process – members of electoral commissions, candidates and proxies –
on the whole acted within the limits of law.

ARMENIA TREE PROJECT
65 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472
Tel: (617) 926-TREE
Email: [email protected]
Web:

PRESS RELEASE
May 14, 2007

Armenian Rock Bands Organize 4/24 Benefit For Hrant Dink Memorial Forest

HOLLYWOOD, CA–Young Armenian-Americans came forward once again to volunteer
their time and energy in support of Armenia Tree Project (ATP). When
Hovannes Donelyan and his friends in the rock group the Mercenaries heard
about ATP’s effort to plant a forest in memory of the slain writer Hrant
Dink, they contacted our Watertown office and offered to help.

Hovannes and his friends in the California-based bands Onesidezero, Red
Snow, Mercenaries (name changed to 24 Black), Vokee, Medagh, and Full Force
Rising all came together to raise funds for the Hrant Dink Memorial Forest,
by donating the proceeds of a benefit concert held on April 24 at the
Knitting Factory in Hollywood to ATP.

The concert was attended by more than 1,000 young Armenians, as well as a
small number of older but still committed supporters. Most of them came to
the concert after attending commemorations of the Armenian Genocide held in
their local communities earlier in the day.

`We were very proud that these bands decided to dedicate their time and
talent in support of ATP’s Hrant Dink Memorial Forest in Armenia,’ stated
ATP Deputy Director Jason Sohigian. `The music was great and the crowd was
full of energy and pride the entire night, and ATP was honored to be chosen
as the recipient of the proceeds from the night to create a living memorial
to Mr. Dink who was tragically killed in Istanbul earlier this year.’

The night was also a chance for ATP to connect with other supporters in the
Los Angeles area who were supporting the Hrant Dink Memorial Forest. A group
of professional women who are raising funds for this project actually
attended the rock concert to show their support for ATP and to offer further
support for the Hrant Dink Memorial Forest.

All of the bands have a strong presence on the popular My Space web site,
and the benefit convinced ATP to create its own outreach page on the site,
to link to the special page for the April 24 concert:

In addition to the volunteer efforts of the six bands, the concert was
organized by Never Say Die Records and Sean Healy, who organized the sale of
commemorative t-shirts and a guitar raffle with all of the proceeds going
toward the planting of the Hrant Dink Memorial Forest. Several organizations
in addition to ATP had informational tables at the event, including Armenian
Film Foundation, Armenian Youth Federation, Armenian National Committee of
America, and Axis of Justice. Glendale community leader Greg Krikorian was
also invited to address the audience during the evening, and the event was
promoted on Armenian television.

ATP announced its plans to plant a forest in Armenia memory of Hrant Dink
soon after he was killed in January. In a special appeal, Executive
Committee member Nancy Kricorian announced that ATP will be planting a
memorial forest of 53,000 trees–1,000 trees for each of Hrant’s 53 years of
life. The first part of the forest is being planted this spring at a special
site near ATP’s nursery in Margahovit, and the remainder of the trees will
be planted in the fall when the site will be officially inaugurated.

Armenia Tree Project (ATP), a grassroots-supported non-profit organization
based in Watertown and Yerevan, conducts vitally important environmental
projects in Armenia’s impoverished and deforested zones. Since 1994, ATP has
made enormous strides in combating desertification in the biologically
diverse but threatened Caucasus region. More than 1.5 million trees have
been planted and restored, and hundreds of jobs have been created for
Armenians in seasonal tree-regeneration programs. For more information or to
support ATP, visit the web site

ARFD HAS STRIVED FOR CARRYING OUT CIVILIZED STRUGGLE FOR NOT BURNING BRIDGES WITH ANOTHER FORCES, ARMEN RUSTAMIAN SAYS

Noyan Tapan
May 10 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 10, NOYAN TAPAN. Over the past month ARF Dashnaktsutiun
acted by one principle – to be engaged in serious agitation without
anti-agitation to another political forces. Armen Rustamian,
representative of ARFD Armenian Supreme Body, stated at the May 10
press conference. In his words, another principle adopted by the party
during the campaign was not responding to manifestations of black PR
implemented to them. These manifestations, in A. Rustamian’s words,
were aimed against ARFD from two fields – of radical opposition and
pro-governmental forces: the first tried to consider ARFD as a force
completely responsible for the situation in the country and the second
tried to accuse ARFD of "making too populist" statements and promises.

In A. Rustamian’s words, Dashnaktsutiun nevertheless did not manage
to counteract to the last accusations and to motivate its preelection
promises. He added that during the election campaign ARFD strived
for carrying out a civilized struggle in the political field "for not
burning the bridges with another forces and not causing obstacles of
working with one another in the future."

REALITY BEHIND TURKEY’S ‘DEFENCE OF SECULARISM’

Socialistworker.co.uk, UK
May 8 2007

What is behind the recent threats by the Turkish army against the
ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)?

After the recent huge demonstration and military threats against the
government, Turkish socialist Ron Margulies spoke to Socialist Worker
about the background to the crisis

At the end of April, parliament was due to elect a new president.

The prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he would stand,
which was a piece of cake, given that his party has a majority in
parliament. The army first started to grumble then.

Erdogan stepped back and put forward foreign minister Abdullah Gul.

The army screamed that it would not have a man whose wife wears an
Islamic headscarf as president and that it would do what was necessary
to defend the secular republic.

In fact, there is no threat to secularism at all. Neither from the
population at large or from the government.

The AKP has been in power for four and a half years with a comfortable
parliamentary majority, and has not taken a single step in an Islamic
direction in that time.

It has not even done anything about women not being allowed into
universities wearing a headscarf – the headscarf is banned in all
public buildings.

However, for the first time in 80 years, people who are religious
feel comfortable and not under pressure from the state.

The military’s ultimatum claims to defend the "secular republic"
in an attempt to mobilise the middle class which fears that its
Westernised lifestyle is under threat.

In fact what the army is trying to overthrow is a government which is
very open to reforms on the Kurdish issue, human rights and, perhaps
most significantly, reducing the military’s role in the country’s
political life.

"Secular" is a word widely used to describe Turkey. What does it mean
in the context of its political system?

Turkey is secular in the sense that the state and religion are
separate.

Given that 99 percent of the population is Muslim, Turkey’s secularism
and parliamentary democracy is held up by the West as an example to
the rest of the Muslim world. This is hypocritical claptrap.

Secularism is fine as far as it goes, and of course we are in favour
of it. But the image of a democratic and harmonious Turkey hides all
sorts of tensions.

As soon as a party from an Islamic tradition is elected, the military
threaten a coup.

This happened in 1997, when the military issued an ultimatum against a
coalition government led by the Islamic party and forced it to resign,
and it has happened again now.

During the recent "secular demonstrations" the crowds chanted
"we are not Armenians". What are the origins of hostility to the
Armenian minority?

The material basis for it is that the genocide of Armenians in 1915
led to huge amounts of capital and land owned by the Armenian minority
being grabbed by Turks.

There is a serious (though unvoiced) fear of demands for reparations
if the genocide is recognised.

Because modern Turkey emerged from the disintegration and collapse
of the Ottoman Empire after the First World War, it has never known
what to do with its Armenian, Greek and Jewish minorities.

They are always seen by the state as potential "enemies within".

So the state veers between attempting to assimilate them and forcing
them to leave.

What is the status of Turkey’s oppressed Kurdish population, and why
are there worries over control of the oil rich Iraqi city of Kirkuk?

The Turkish state fears the creation of a Kurdish state in northern
Iraq, for the obvious reason that it sets an example for the Kurds
in Turkey.

The US does not allow the Turkish army to invade Iraqi Kurdistan,
given that the Kurds are the main allies of the US in Iraq.

There is a Turkic minority (the Turkmens) in and around Kirkuk,
and Turkey tries to use their plight as an excuse to meddle in Iraq.

But it cannot do anything as long as the US refuses to give it the
green light.

If the AKP have implemented neoliberal programmes, why is there such
hostility from the middle classes and the wealthy?

Big business has been solidly behind the government, and it is
furious about the interruption of what was a reasonably stable
political atmosphere.

When Gul’s name was put forward, the employers’ organisation
immediately supported him.

They clearly did not want any military intervention.

When the constitutional court annulled Gul’s election, they immediately
called for an early general election, hoping that this would restore
stability.

It could, except that the AKP will win a new election and the military
will get restless again.

What attitudes have the left taken towards the military and the AKP?

They have been utterly terrible.

The most common slogan is "neither Islamic fundamentalism nor a
military coup", failing to take sides and to defend the elected
government against the unelected military.

The left has also failed to stand up for the right to wear the Islamic
headscarf, often standing shoulder to shoulder with forces of the
state against ordinary people.

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