Author: Tigranian Ani

"ARMENIANS AND PROGRESSIVE POLITICS" CONFERENCE TO TAKE PLACE IN GLENDALE IN JUNE

Noyan Tapan

Ma y 22, 2008

GLENDALE, MAY 22, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. The ARF
Dashnaktsoutiun Western USA is hosting an "Armenians and Progressive
Politics" Conference on June 6 and 7. The conference will be a
critical examination of subjects pertinent to Armenians’ political,
social, and economic situation within a global context. The panels’
topics are Raising Social Consciousness Through Art and Music, Women’s
Issues, Social and Democracy Issues in Armenia, and Media Democracy
and Reform to name but a few.

Some of the noteworthy speakers who will be participating in the
conference are: Vahe Berberian, Levon Marashlian, David Barsamian
and Roger Waldinger.

The two-day conference will take place in the Glendale Public Library.

ROSGOSSTRAKH-ARMENIA COMPANY GRANRED NONLIFE INSURANCE LICENCE

Noyan Tapan

Ma y 20, 2008

YEREVAN, MAY 20, NOYAN TAPAN. At the May 20 sitting of the Central Bank
of Armenia (CBA) Board, which was conducted by the CBA deputy chairman
Artur Javadian, a decision was made to register Rosgosstrakh-Armenia
company and grant it a licence for nonlife insurance of the following
types: accident insurance, cargo insurance, overland transport
insurance (except for railway), fire and natural disaster insurance,
insurance of other damage to property, insurance of responsibility
for the use of overland transport means, insurance of overall
responsibility.

According to a press release of the CBA, the CBA Board approved
the execution of the 2007 annual program and the 2008 1st quarterly
program on expenditure budgets and capital investments of the CBA,
as well as the CBA’s financial report for 1st quarter, 2008.

By the CBA Board’s decision, Depi Tun LLC was provided permission
for participation in Faster and Blizko payment and account systems,
MG Pay System CJSC was granted a licence for money transfers, and
Mitra Insurance and Reinsurance Broker LLC – a licence for insurance
brokerage.

‘HERITAGE’ PARTY PRESENTS ITS PROPOSALS FOR FULFILLMENT OF PACE RESOLUTION ON ARMENIA

arminfo
2008-05-19 13:09:00

ArmInfo. ‘Heritage’ party presented its proposals and initiatives for
fulfillment of PACE Resolution 1609 from April 17, 2008, by Armenia
and concerning Armenia.

According to the "Heritage" information, spread today, the party
offers to form election committees for the power and the opposition
to have equal number of representatives in the election committees,
the ballot-papers to be printed in one of EU countries, the election
to pass by the principle "one voter-one vote" and the voters’ fingers
to be marked by special ink.

Moreover, "Heritage" party offers to form a National TV and Radio
Commission for the power and the opposition be represented in the
Commission by equal number of participants, the candidacy of the
head of the Public TV and Radio Company Council to be agreed with the
opposition without fail, the authorities to fulfill their liabilities
concerning the previous PACE resolution on Armenia and give an air to
"A1+" and "Noyan Tapan" TV companies, the parliamentary opposition
to get 1 hour of TV and Radio air per week during the most popular
time for watching by TV audience.

"Heritage" party also offers to "stop any attempts of carrying out
a telephone justice", initiating of a constitutional reform aimed
at granting a right to the opposition to nominate its candidacy
of a prosecutor of special importance, introduction of fundamental
amendments to the law on operative investigation, implementation of
reforms of the judicial-legal system, with consent of the opposition.

"Heritage" party also offers to present a draft Law On opposition to
the Parliament, reform the Law On regulation of the Parliament’s work,
entitle the opposition to hold a post of one of the vice speakers,
the posts of the heads of 4 out of 9 permanent commissions and deputy
heads of five permanent commissions, as well as the post of the head
of the Audit Commission and the post of the human rights defender
("ombudsman"). The oppositional factions in the parliament should
be provided with the following rights: assurance of the opposition’s
representatives in all the parliamentary delegations, the right for
convocation of an extraordinary session or RA parliament session,
drawing-up of the agenda of sessions of the second four-day sitting
of each session, the right to appeal to RA Constitutional Court, as
well as an urgent convocation of parliamentary hearings dedicated
to the changes to the law on political parties and the parliament
regulations, as well as discussion of the draft law on the opposition.

"Heritage" party offers to create a "Democratic Center on development
of initiatives concerning implementation of democratic reforms". The
Center will be formed from well-known public figures, human rights
defenders, representatives of non- governmental organizations and
business circles , experts and ordinary citizens. The Center should be
aimed at forming a dialogue and partnership among the governmental
structures and the civil society and its activity should cover
development of proposals concerning the problems of the municipal
power, youth, education and science, health care, priority of the law,
gender equality and other spheres.

S. SARGSYAN: "REFORMS, THIS IS HOW WE WORK"

Panorama.am
21:04 19/05/2008

Today the president of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan invited the members of
the working group to discuss the recommendations made by PACE "about
the democratic institutions in Armenia" article 1609. The working
group presented to the president the main directions and activities
for the implementation of the article.

All the member of the working group was present at the meeting
discussion.

The president stated that the recommendations made by the PACE in
the article 1609 feat with president’s pre-election campaign plans,
they feat with the political coalition’s plans and their announcements.

He added that Armenian authorities do follow those recommendations
as they fall under our interests. "In general, reforms, this is how
we do work," said the president.

The working group presented the main principles directed to the role
of the opposition in the political field. The president greeted
the proposals and order to take appropriate measures to implement
them. The president signified the adoption of legislative right
matched for the opposition.

Another point mentioned in the article about the election reforms
was presented to the president. A working group has bee formed by
the NA chairman where all the political bodies received invitations
to take part, the non-governmental bodies have also accepted the
invitation. It was presented that a package of reforms is being
drafted for the electoral code. The president recommended to involve
local experts in the discussion of those reforms and only after to
send them to the Venice Committee.

The other point was about the committee of the TV and Radio, Public TV
and Radio Council. It is planned to insert pluralism in the working
style of the Public TV and Radio. The group presented another point
of the article which considers to "Holding meeting, demonstration,
marches and rallies", they said that a project of changes has been
drafted, which was sent to European correspondent bodies and soon it
will be presented to the parliament.

In the meeting discussion where the points of the article 1609 were
presented to the president the working group members talked about the
court system reforms, March 1 events and the dialogue which should
be held among the political bodies in Armenia.

The head of the Heritage Party Raffi Hovhannisyan made a speech and
said that the party leaded by him has drafted another package of
the reforms which he would like to match with the one done by the
working group.

The president Serzh Sargsyan said that the one presented by the working
group is not a dogma and that they could feat the one recommended by
Mr. Hovhannisyan.

POPE MEETS WITH ARMENIAN CATHOLICOS

Spero News
=15272&t=Pope+meets+with+Armenian+Catholicos
M ay 16 2008

Catholicos Karekin II of the Armenian Apostolic Church spoke of the
"genocide" suffered by Armenia at the hands of the Ottomans in the
early 20th C. "The denial of these crimes is an injustice that equals
the commission of the same", said Karekin.

Catholicos Karekin II of the Armenian Apostolic Church, visiting Pope
Benedict XVI in Rome, has spoken of the "genocide" suffered by his
compatriots in the Ottoman empire, and said that those with power
should ensure that justice prevails. "We … appeal to all nations
and lands to universally condemn all genocides that have occurred
throughout history and those that continue through the present day,"
Karekin said in St Peter’s Square on 7 May, where he had been invited
by Pope Benedict to speak at the pontiff’s general audience.

"The denial of these crimes is an injustice that equals the commission
of the same," noted Karekin, who holds the title of "Supreme Patriarch
and Catholicos of All Armenians".

Armenia says 1.5 million of its people died between 1915 and 1923
in a systematic genocide initiated by the Young Turks’ government
ruling then in Istanbul. Turkey, however, rejects the term "Armenian
genocide" and says mass removals were intended to clear people from a
war zone. It acknowledges that people died, but holds that the number
was far less than that given by Armenia.

Karekin was accompanied by Armenian bishops from North and South
America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East for his 5-12 May visit to
Rome, which followed an earlier visit to the Vatican in 2000, when
he met Benedict’s predecessor, Pope John Paul II.

"Today many countries of the world condemn the genocide made by the
Ottomans against the Armenian people, as John Paul II said when I
was in Rome," noted Karekin, who received Pope John Paul in Armenia
in 2001.

Two days after Karekin spoke at St Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict
received the Armenian delegation at the Vatican. At the meeting,
Benedict said, "The recent history of the Armenian Apostolic Church has
been written in the contrasting colours of persecution and martyrdom,
darkness and hope, humiliation and spiritual re-birth."

Still, noted the Agence France-Press in a report, Pope Benedict did
not employ the word "genocide" that had been used by his predecessor.

The Pope and the Catholicos underlined the achievements of the
Armenian-Catholic ecumenical dialogue during the past 12 years to
seek greater Christian unity.

Karekin II invited the pontiff to visit Armenia, and expressed the
hope that the international community would support the right to
self-determination of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated region
situated in neighbouring Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliev, suggested earlier during
2008 that his country could use force to regain control over
Nagorno-Karabakh. The area has been under ethnic Armenian control
since a 1994 cease-fire ended a six-year war.

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Interfax News Agency, Russia
May 16 2008

Nagorno Karabakh status cannot be decided by plebiscite – Azerbaijan
Foreign Ministry

BAKU May 16

Baku has dismissed the possibility of holding a plebiscite to decide
the Nagorno Karabakh status.

"There can be no plebiscite, this process [conflict resolution] must
continue gradually," Azeri Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Khazar Ibragim
told Interfax-Azerbaijan, commenting on the statement by Armenian
Foreign Minister Edvard Nalbandian that the Nagorno Karabakh status
could be decided by a plebiscite.

"The question of the Nagorno Karabakh status will not be resolved
unless Armenia shows the respect for Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity and withdraws its troops from the occupied Azeri territories
and returns these lands to Azeri refugees and displaced persons,"
Ibragim said.

CEASE HUNGER-STRIKE

A1+
[08:49 pm] 14 May, 2008

Today azatamartik Ashot Zakarian has released an open letter to his
brothers-in-arms from the "Vardashen" Penitentiary Institution. The
letter runs in part,

Dear compatriots-in-arms,

We have won many victories and overcome many obstacles since
1988. We have been guided by patriotism and a wish to live in a free,
independent and democratic country.

Unfortunately, following the events of October 27, 1999, the
authorities seized power and led the country to a collapse. Violations
of human rights, restriction of freedom of expression and mass media,
rigged elections have become common in Armenia. The country has
appeared in ooze. Nevertheless, people’s determination to restore
their rights and dignity has led them to Liberty Square. The Poplular
Movement headed by first President Levon Ter-Petrossian instilled
hope and belief for the future.

Over 100 activists are under arrest following the events of March
1. They are punished for their political dissent.

The trials held in different instances resemble "shows." I strongly
believe that the popular movement will achieve its peak one day. We
shall have the free Armenia we have longed for.

The path we have taken is a difficult and responsible one. And I
emphasize the will-power and physical abilities of each of us. The
way of the struggle you have chosen, hunger-strike, will not receive
adequate feedback by the authorities.

Dear companions-in-arms,

I want to thank you for your determination to struggle to the end. I
urge you to stop the hunger-strike as quickly as possible and to
choose other means of struggle. Take the call as a request.

Best regards,

Ashot R. Zakarian

"Vardashen" Penitentiary Institution

PRESS RELEASE
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)
395 Concord Avenue
Belmont, MA 02478
Phone: 617-489-1610
Fax: 617-484-1759
Email: [email protected]

ILLUSTRATED TALK ON AGHTAMAR AND MEDIEVAL ARMENIAN KINGSHIP AT NAASR

Dr. Lynn Jones of Florida State University will give an illustrated
lecture entitled "Between Islam and Byzantium: Aghtamar and the Visual
Construction of Medieval Armenian Kingship," on Thursday, May 22, at
8:00 p.m., at the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research
(NAASR) Center, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA. This lecture is the
second talk given in memory of Arshag Merguerian (1926-2005), architect
and an active member and friend of NAASR for nearly fifty years. The
expenses for the lecture will be covered by funds contributed to NAASR
in Merguerian’s memory.

During the period of 884-1045 AD, Armenian rulers had loosened the ties
that subjected them to the Arab caliphate, but by the end of this period
the Byzantine empire had instead become dominant in the region. Dr.
Lynn Jones will provide a thorough analysis of the development of the
visual expression of medieval Armenian rulership during this era, based
on her recently published book Between Islam and Byzantium: Aghtamar and
the Visual Construction of Medieval Armenian Rulership. In this
lecture, Jones will focus on the famed Church of the Holy Cross at
Aghtamar.

Broad and Complex Interactions

Setting the art and architecture of the period more clearly in its
original context, Jones reveals the messages works were intended to
convey by those who created and viewed them. Her analysis provides a
new perspective on the complex interactions between a broad range of
nationalities, ethnicities, and religions, shedding fresh light on the
nature of medieval identity and adding to a growing literature on the
eastern neighbors of Byzantium.

Lynn Jones received her Ph.D. in Art History from the University of
Illinois. In addition to Florida State she has taught at a number of
other universities, including the University of Maryland, the University
of Minnesota, Cornell, and Yale. In 2006-2007 she served as President
of the Byzantine Scholars Association of North America. She has
published on medieval Armenia, Byzantium, Georgia, and Islam. Between
Islam and Byzantium: Aghtamar and the Visual Construction of Medieval
Armenian Rulership is her first book.

Admission to the event is free (donations appreciated). The NAASR
Center is located in Belmont opposite the First Armenian Church and next
to the U.S. Post Office. Ample parking is available around the building
and in adjacent areas. The lecture will begin promptly at 8:00 p.m.

More information about the lecture is available by calling 617-489-1610,
faxing 617-484-1759, e-mailing [email protected], or writing to NAASR, 395
Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478.

FOR THE FIRST TIME BRITISH MINISTER USES WORDS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

DeFacto Agency
May 13 2008
Armenia

YEREVAN, 13.05.08. DE FACTO. The U.K. government has strongly condemned
the desecration of the Armenian Genocide Monument in Cardiff, Wales,
which occurred on Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27, 2008, Armenia
Solidarity, supported by Nor Serount Cultural Association, indicates.

In a reply to Mr David Burrowes MP, (who had taken up a complaint
by B. Nazarian of Armenia Solidarity about the desecration of the
Armenian Genocide Monument), the Secretary of State for Wales, the Rt
Hon Paul Murphy, replying for the UK government specifically referred
to "the desecration of The Armenian Genocide Memorial in Cardiff in
January 2008", a French journalist Jean Eckian told DE FACTO Agency.

He continued: "I wholeheartedly condemn this violent act of
desecration. It is distressing that this is yet another example of
how we must all continue to be vigilant against such acts of racism,
violence and hatred; and that we all need to stand united against
them. This attack, like many similar crimes, is often unprovoked and
undertaken under the cover of darkness. I hope that when the persons
are caught and prosecuted for this crime, this will go some way to
easing the pain and distress that has been caused by this terrible
act", he said.

"This is a most significant development" said a spokesman for Armenia
Solidarity. "In the past government ministers have made strenuous
efforts to avoid using the phrase the Armenian Genocide".

ARMENIA AND TURKMENISTAN INTERESTED IN DEVELOPING ECONOMIC RELATIONS

armradio.am
13.05.2008 13:13

RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan today received the newly appointed
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkmenistan to
Armenia Shohrat Jumayev.

Congratulating the Ambassador on starting his diplomatic mission
in our country, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that the
development of Armenian-Turkmen relations will acquire new dynamics,
using the positive experience of cooperation between the two countries
in different spheres, especially the energy sector.

Noting the high level of political relations between Armenia and
Turkmenistan, the parties underscored the necessity to foster the
economic relations and have these reach the level of political
ties, especially considering that good preconditions exist in
both countries. Among the important spheres of cooperation the
interlocutors specially noted the fields of construction, healthcare,
energy and tourism. To promote the economic cooperation the parties
attached importance to the establishment of the Armenian-Turkmen
Intergovernmental Cooperation Commission.

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan assured that the Armenian Co-Chair of
the Commission will be appointed in the near future. The interlocutors
expressed confidence that the creation of the Intergovernmental
Commission will serve as a new impetus for further development of the
Armenian-Turkmen economic ties and relations, will contribute to the
discussion and implementation of programs of reciprocal interest.