Author: Toganian Liana

Nagornyy Karabakh expert criticizes Azeri statement on district
occupation anniversary

Sources:

Azartac news agency, Baku, in Azeri 1700 gmt 30 Aug 07

Arminfo news agency, Yerevan, in Russian 1000 gmt 31 Aug 07

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issued a statement on 30 August in
connection with the 14th anniversary of the occupation of Azerbaijan’s
Qubadli District by Armenian forces, the Azerbaijani state news agency
AzarTAc has reported.

The statement said that the district was occupied by the Armenian armed
forces on 31 August 1993, as a result of which more than 31,000
residents of the district became refugees. The ministry said that the
Armenian side is ignoring the UN Security Council resolutions regarding
the immediate withdrawal from the occupied territories and added that
Azerbaijan will continue making every effort to restore the country’s
territorial integrity on the basis of international law, AzarTAc said.

In turn, an expert in Nagornyy Karabakh, David Babayan, described the
statement as another diplomatic step that confirms Azerbaijan’s
"nonconstructive position on the Nagornyy Karabakh settlement", the
Armenian news agency Arminfo reported on 31 August.

Babayan expressed his regret that Baku officials have not taken any
steps to settle the conflict, Arminfo reported. He denied that Armenian
forces occupied part of Azerbaijan, saying that they were forced to
neutralize Azerbaijani forces as they threatened Karabakh’s security.

INSURANCE MONEY BEING RETURNED

Yerkir
31.08.2007 15:29

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – US-based Vardges Yehiayan law firm president Armen
Baghdoyan says the lawsuit against the L’union vie, Caisee paternelle
and La confiance companies has been settled with the AXA company.

Baghdoyan presented details of this process as well as the results
of the case with the New York Live Insurance at a news conference in
Yerevan today.

The representatives of the law firm said that the deadline for
applications has been extended until January 7, 2008, according
to a court ruling. More information is available on the site

The total amount has been calculated to be about $11.5 million.

Baghdoayan said that L’union vie had the lion’s share among the
banks operating in the Ottoman Empire. He said that unlike before,
the names of people will be mentioned in the lists to make it easy
for people to find their ancestors.

As for the New York Live Insurance, he said that about $4 million has
been left unclaimed and the money will be given to Armenian charities
in the US.

In case of AXA, about $3 million has bee allocated for the same goal.

Baghdoyan also said that 2,515 Armenians from 26 countries have
received the compensation money, which is 50 per cent of the total
amount of applications.

Most compensations were received by Armenia Armenians – 1,254 people
with a total amount of $3.675 million, followed by the USA with 869
people, then France with 141 and Canada with 68.

Eight people living in Turkey got a total of $14,000.

WHO HAS A RIGHT TO REALIZE AN OPEN-AIR TRADE

Azat Artsakh Tert
Aug 31 2007
Nagorno Karabakh Republic NKR

On August 28th the session of the NKR Government took place, headed
by the Prime Minister Anoushavan Danielian, where some legislative and
sublegislative questions were confirmed. The executive established the
list of prohibited food additions, as well as technical regulations of
demands made for milk, dairy produce and their production. By another
decision, the Government approved NKR bills about making changes and
additions in NKR "Law about trade and services", which will be sent
to the Parliament for discussion.

Particularly new demands are made for an open-air trade. According to
the law, only juridical persons and individual owners got permission
in accordance with legislation can realize an open-air trade. Let’s
add that those who realize an open-air trade must create conditions
for securing commodity look, safety and quality of selling goods.

Resolutions were passed about advertisements on state car roads,
establishing technical regulations of demands made for beer and its
production, grain and its production, preservation and recultivation.

Placing of traffic advertisements is realized in accordance with NKR
laws "About advertisement", "About car roads" and demands of such
order. The Prime Minister Anoushavan Danielian summerized the works
of the Government’s session (press service of the NKR Government
reported).

SUMMARY OF AZERI TV "I SERVE AZERBAIJANI REPUBLIC" MILITARY PROGRAMME 5 AUG 07

AzTV Baku
5 Aug 07

1. 0025 Video report from an unidentified military unit, soldiers
in trenches. Video shows ruined residential buildings close to the
cease-fire line; soldiers saying that they are ready to liberate
Armenian-occupied territories.

2. 0437 Video shows archive footage from the Karabakh war; residents
of Goranboy District sharing their memories of the war.

3. 1149 Video shows an anti-aircraft unit in training using heavy
guns; an officer saying that servicemen are improving their military
skills successfully.

4. 1500 Report on tanks: Video shows tanks in drills at an unidentified
military base.

5. 1758 Video shows a reconnaissance unit in training; a music video.

6. 3013 Azerbaijan’s air forces make up the elite of the country’s
army.

Video shows helicopters; pilots speaking about their experience;
archive footage from an air show attended by President Ilham Aliyev.

7. 3923 Report from an artillery unit. Video shows cannons.

8. 4344 Azerbaijan’s military vessels in the Caspian Sea protect the
country’s territorial waters. Video shows vessels; a music video.

OYP DOES NOT SUPPORT RAFFI HOVANNISIAN’S LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE ON RECOGNITION OF NKR

Noyan Tapan
Aug 29 2007

YEREVAN, AUGUST 29, NOYAN TAPAN. The "Orinats Yerkir" party does not
support Raffi Hovannisian’s legislative initiative on recognition of
Nagorno Karabakh", the deputy chairman of OYP Mher Shahgeldian stated
at the August 29 press conference.

In his words, the current negotiation process is proceeding within the
framework of international structures as well, and it should continue
from this point of view. "We see the solution of the Karabakh problem
through negotiations, compromises, in a peaceful way," M. Shahgeldian
said.

To recap, the leader of the "Heritage" party’s parliamentary faction
Raffi Hovannisian on August 28 presented the bill on recognition of
the Nagorno Karabakh Republic in the RA National Assembly. According
to the author of the bill, this law will form a basis for regulating
the relations (proceeding from the official recognition of the NKR)
between the Republic of Armenia and the Nagorno Karabakh Republic,
for clarifying the rights and obligations of the RA in ensuring and
strengthening Artsakh’s independence, defining Armenia’s national
interest and state policy, and for Armenia’s participtaion in
post-conflict restoration activities.

Jewish, Armenian leaders strive for healing

By April Simpson, Globe Staff | August 30, 2007

Political and religious leaders from the Jewish and Armenian
communities will launch a concerted effort today to heal rifts opened
by complaints that the Anti-Defamation League did not recognize
Armenian genocide.

The leaders will join survivors of both the Jewish and Armenian
genocides in a display of solidarity at the State House this
afternoon. Organizers said they want to send a message that the
slaughter of Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks in 1915 is
acknowledged by many Jews as genocide, despite decades of refusal to
do so by the ADL.

"In our community we use the phrase, ‘never again and never forget,’
and that doesn’t just refer to the Jewish community," said Councilor
Michael P. Ross, a member of the Boston City Council who organized the
event with state Representative Rachel Kaprielian of Watertown. "It
refers to the acknowledgment of all humanity and all genocide and all
intolerance. So it’s very important that we show the Armenian
community that there’s support."

It’s an important step, organizers said. "The most significant way to
stop genocide is to acknowledge it," said Representative Peter J.
Koutoujian of Newton, a Democrat whose grandparents immigrated to the
United States from Armenia to flee the massacres there.

The ADL found itself embroiled in controversy after the Town Council
in Watertown — home to one of the largest concentrations of
Armenian-Americans in the United States, with about 8,000 — voted
this month to withdraw from the league’s No Place for Hate program.
Watertown officials cited the league’s refusal to recognize the
Armenian genocide.

When the ADL’s regional executive director, Andrew H. Tarsy, defied
the national organization and publicly acknowledged the genocide, he
was fired. Then this week the ADL’s national leader, Abraham H.
Foxman, reinstated Tarsy and acknowledged that the mass killings were
genocide.

Today’s press conference at 5:30 on the State House steps is intended
to soothe ongoing animosities. But Watertown officials, citing ongoing
ADL resistance to an Armenian genocide resolution in Congress, said
they are not prepared to rejoin No Place for Hate.

Clyde L. Younger, president of the Watertown Town Council, said that
he will work to continue a similar program under a different name and
that he plans to contact local civic organizations and students for
help.

So far, the Town Council does not intend to rejoin the ADL program, he
said, because the league must do more to support the Armenian
community, including encouraging Congress to pass a genocide
resolution.

"That’s one reason why we revoked our association with the ADL,"
Younger said. "They’ve done some wonderful things in the past . . .
but what has happened now is a very significant issue for this
community."

Another council member, Angeline B. Kounelis, said Watertown will
continue as a tolerant and diverse community without the ADL program.

"The town of Watertown, the councilors, have enough to do without
having to delve into the national and international politics of the
ADL," Kounelis said.

Foxman, the ADL national director, maintained this week that the
genocide was an issue that Turkey and Armenia should address, not
anyone else.

Kaprielian said her Watertown constituents are deeply troubled by the
ADL’s refusal to support the congressional resolution.

She said many people in her community know Armenian genocide
survivors. The league’s acknowledgement of the genocide is a step in
the right direction, she said.

"To have that wholesale affirmation as we feel we’ve gotten has been a
positive turn of events on an otherwise bleak subject," Kaprielian
said.

Steve Grossman, a former ADL board member and a recognized leader in
the Jewish community, said today’s event will confirm ties between the
groups.

"Both of our peoples have been through genocides in the 20th century,"
he said, "and those experiences bind us more closely than ever
before."

April Simpson can be reached at [email protected].

(c) Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

Source: 30/jewish_armenian_leaders_strive_for_healing/

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER TO BECOME NEXT PRESIDENT OF TURKEY: ARMENIAN SCIENTIST AND TURCOLOGIST

arminfo
2007-08-28 16:45:00

Turkish foreign minister Abdulah Gul’s victory in presidential election
is doubtless, Director of Oriental Studies Institute, National Academy
of Sciences of Armenia, turcologist Ruben Safrastyan said at a briefing
in Yerevan.

He said it will be possible if Kemalists and Islamists arrive at a
compromise. Moreover, when the Armenian community in Turkey voted for
the Justice and Development Party during the parliamentary elections,
it’s hoped for a breakthrough in the Armenian-Turkish relations,
which was quite reasonably.

ROBERT FISK: EVEN I QUESTION THE ‘TRUTH’ ABOUT 9/11

Belfast Telegraph
Published: Aug 27, 2007

He has turned up in corporeal form in Stockholm and in Oxford, in Sao
Paulo and in Yerevan, in Cairo, in Los Angeles and, in female form,
in Barcelona.

No matter the country, there will always be a "raver". His – or her –
question goes like this. Why, if you believe you’re a free journalist,
don’t you report what you really know about 9/11? Why don’t you tell
the truth – that the Bush administration (or the CIA or Mossad, you
name it) blew up the twin towers? Why don’t you reveal the secrets
behind 9/11? The assumption in each case is that Fisk knows – that Fisk
has an absolute concrete, copper-bottomed fact-filled desk containing
final proof of what "all the world knows" (that usually is the phrase)
– who destroyed the twin towers.

Sometimes the "raver" is clearly distressed. One man in Cork screamed
his question at me, and then – the moment I suggested that his version
of the plot was a bit odd – left the hall, shouting abuse and kicking
over chairs.

Usually, I have tried to tell the "truth"; that while there are
unanswered questions about 9/11, I am the Middle East correspondent of
The Independent, not the conspiracy correspondent; that I have quite
enough real plots on my hands in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Iran, the Gulf,
etc, to worry about imaginary ones in Manhattan. My final argument –
a clincher, in my view – is that the Bush administration has screwed
up everything – militarily, politically diplomatically – it has tried
to do in the Middle East; so how on earth could it successfully bring
off the international crimes against humanity in the United States
on 11 September 2001? Well, I still hold to that view. Any military
which can claim – as the Americans did two days ago – that al-Qa’ida
is on the run is not capable of carrying out anything on the scale
of 9/11. "We disrupted al-Qa’ida, causing them to run," Colonel David
Sutherland said of the preposterously code-named "Operation Lightning
Hammer" in Iraq’s Diyala province. "Their fear of facing our forces
proves the terrorists know there is no safe haven for them." And more
of the same, all of it untrue. Within hours, al-Qa’ida attacked Baquba
in battalion strength and slaughtered all the local sheikhs who had
thrown in their hand with the Americans. It reminds me of Vietnam,
the war which George Bush watched from the skies over Texas – which
may account for why he this week mixed up the end of the Vietnam
war with the genocide in a different country called Cambodia, whose
population was eventually rescued by the same Vietnamese whom Mr Bush’s
more courageous colleagues had been fighting all along. But – here we
go. I am increasingly troubled at the inconsistencies in the official
narrative of 9/11. It’s not just the obvious non sequiturs: where
are the aircraft parts (engines, etc) from the attack on the Pentagon?

Why have the officials involved in the United 93 flight (which crashed
in Pennsylvania) been muzzled? Why did flight 93’s debris spread
over miles when it was supposed to have crashed in one piece in a
field? Again, I’m not talking about the crazed "research" of David
Icke’s Alice in Wonderland and the World Trade Center Disaster – which
should send any sane man back to reading the telephone directory. I
am talking about scientific issues. If it is true, for example, that
kerosene burns at 820C under optimum conditions, how come the steel
beams of the twin towers – whose melting point is supposed to be
about 1,480C – would snap through at the same time? (They collapsed
in 8.1 and 10 seconds.) What about the third tower – the so-called
World Trade Centre Building 7 (or the Salmon Brothers Building) –
which collapsed in 6.6 seconds in its own footprint at 5.20pm on 11
September? Why did it so neatly fall to the ground when no aircraft had
hit it? The American National Institute of Standards and Technology
was instructed to analyse the cause of the destruction of all three
buildings. They have not yet reported on WTC 7. Two prominent American
professors of mechanical engineering – very definitely not in the
"raver" bracket – are now legally challenging the terms of reference
of this final report on the grounds that it could be "fraudulent
or deceptive". Journalistically, there were many odd things about
9/11. Initial reports of reporters that they heard "explosions" in the
towers – which could well have been the beams cracking – are easy to
dismiss. Less so the report that the body of a female air crew member
was found in a Manhattan street with her hands bound. OK, so let’s
claim that was just hearsay reporting at the time, just as the CIA’s
list of Arab suicide-hijackers, which included three men who were –
and still are – very much alive and living in the Middle East, was
an initial intelligence error.

But what about the weird letter allegedly written by Mohamed Atta,
the Egyptian hijacker-murderer with the spooky face, whose "Islamic"
advice to his gruesome comrades – released by the CIA – mystified every
Muslim friend I know in the Middle East? Atta mentioned his family –
which no Muslim, however ill-taught, would be likely to include in
such a prayer. He reminds his comrades-in-murder to say the first
Muslim prayer of the day and then goes on to quote from it. But no
Muslim would need such a reminder – let alone expect the text of the
"Fajr" prayer to be included in Atta’s letter.

Let me repeat. I am not a conspiracy theorist. Spare me the
ravers. Spare me the plots. But like everyone else, I would like to
know the full story of 9/11, not least because it was the trigger
for the whole lunatic, meretricious "war on terror" which has led
us to disaster in Iraq and Afghanistan and in much of the Middle
East. Bush’s happily departed adviser Karl Rove once said that "we’re
an empire now – we create our own reality".

True? At least tell us. It would stop people kicking over chairs.

PRESS RELEASE
Date: August 28, 2007
Armenian National Committee of South Florida
931 NE 48th Street, Oakland Park, FL 33334
Contact: Albert Mazmanian
Tel: 561-628-8982

Congressional Candidate Dr. Benjamin Graber’s Calls Upon
ADL to Support H. Res. 106

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL ` Following the controversies surrounding the
Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the historicity of the Armenian
Genocide, Dr. Benjamin Graber, Candidate for U.S. Congress Florida
District 19, Democrat, in a powerful statement, welcomed ADL’s
recognition of the Armenian Genocide, but urged them to support the
current Armenian Genocide resolution in Congress (H. Res 106).
Graber also blasted opponent Rep. Robert Wexler’s justification of
his denial by invoking the position of the ADL and other Jewish
organizations, reported the Armenian National Committee of Florida.

"We welcome Dr. Graber’s statement in response to the recent
actions that have been taken by the ADL," commented ANC of Florida
Chairman Albert Mazmanian. "The ANC of S. Florida is still
disappointed that the National ADL still opposes the Armenian
genocide legislation currently in Congress."

The Anti-Defamation League, under pressure from a national campaign
of protests initiated by the Armenian National Committee of Eastern
Massachusetts, and supported by leading voices in the Jewish
American community, reversed its longstanding policy of complicity
in Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide. Unfortunately, the
National ADL still believes lobbying for legislation recognizing
this historical fact is "counter productive."

The Turkish government and the lobbying efforts of certain Jewish-
American organizations have heavily influenced politicians such as
Wexler who have notoriously opposed the Armenian Genocide
resolutions for several years. As a result, the continuous neglect
of the concerns of Wexler’s increasing Armenian constituency has
sparked an intense campaign to unseat him in the coming elections.

"Congressman Robert Wexler, who has taken the lead in Armenian
Genocide denial in the U.S. Congress, should be ashamed to use
Jewish organizations as the basis of his decision-making," stated
Graber. His statement, as a descended of Holocaust survivors and as
a moral political candidate, is welcomed with much enthusiasm by
the Armenian community in South Florida.

Citing the Scriptures for being "a light unto the nations" (Isaiah
42:6), and setting "an example of tolerance, love, respect and
conscience to all the people," Mr. Graber described Wexler’s
"illogical position" on the Armenian Genocide as "sinful."
"Most Jews in America would denounce that [Wexler’s] action as has
been so courageously demonstrated by the action in New England,"
said Benjamin Graber. Furthermore, Graber called on to the ADL to
"support H. Res. 106 in recognition of the Armenian Genocide."

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is the largest
and most influential Armenian American grassroots political
organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices,
chapters, and supporters throughout the United States and
affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA actively
advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad
range of issues.

####
====================================
Graber’s full text
When Congressman Robert Wexler tried to justify denying the
Armenian Genocide he invoked the position of the ADL and other
Jewish organizations. This in my opinion was sinful. He was using
them as an excuse for his illogical position. The Jewish people
are a people of antiquity. The scriptures state that they should be
"a light unto the nations" and set an example of tolerance, love,
respect and conscience to all the peoples of the world. As the
people who have suffered the ill will of mankind since history has
been recorded it is clear that the moral fiber of The Jewish People
has been sculpted through generations of maltreatment by the
world. Despite this history, Jews are benevolent, educated,
successful and philanthropic. I am proud to be a Jew. I am proud
that the ADL has taken the position that is right, which is to
recognize the Armenian Genocide and show intolerance to any form of
genocide against any people. The Jews as a light unto the world
should take the lead in condemning this form of behavior and help
teach tolerance and love of neighbor as the Holy Scriptures
prescribe. Congressman Robert Wexler who has taken the lead in
Armenian Genocide denial in the U.S . Congress should be ashamed to
use Jewish Organizations as the basis of his decision-making. Most
Jews in America would denounce that action as has been so
courageously demonstrated by the action in New England. I commend
the Jewish Community in Boston and elsewhere for standing up for
what is right. The Armenian Genocide must be recognized .To do less
would only encourage those who wish to erase their genocidal
histories from our memory. I strongly encourage the ADL to support
H. Res. 106 in recognition of the Armenian Genocide and work side
by side with human rights activists to see the resolution pass.
-Ben Graber, M.D. Candidate for U.S. Congress Florida District 19,
Democrat.
####

Photo Caption
Ben Graber speaking at an ANC of S. Florida function in early
August

Monday, August 27, 2007
Anti-Defamation League rehires New England director
By Keith O’Brien, Globe Staff

The national Anti-Defamation League rehired its New England regional
director today, barely a week after firing him for publicly breaking
with the national leadership and acknowledging the Armenian genocide
that began in 1915.

The move to rehire Andrew H. Tarsy as regional director marked the
second time in a week that the human rights organization has reversed
course under pressure from the Jewish and Armenian-American
communities. But Abraham H. Foxman, the ADL’s national director, said
he did not rehire Tarsy simply to appease critics.

What mattered, Foxman said in an interview with the Globe today, was
that the two men "see eye to eye." Tarsy was rehired, effective
immediately, after conversations held over the last week. Both men
said they are now moving forward together, rather than apart, and were
happy to put their public rift behind them.

"Andy’s back," Foxman said, sitting next to Tarsy today in a
waterfront office in Boston. "Andy and I talked. And after our
conversation, I decided to take him back, to reinstate him. And I’m
delighted he’s back."

The two declined to say what exactly they had discussed leading up to
today’s decision. But key to the process was clearly the regional
board’s unanimous request that Foxman rehire Tarsy and Foxman’s
decision last week to acknowledge after decades of refusal the
genocide of Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks between 1915 and
1923.

In a statement last week, Foxman said what had happened to Armenians
was "tantamount to genocide" despite his refusal to say so
before. Tarsy, 38, said Foxman’s decision to acknowledge that made him
"proud" and helped pave the way for his return.

"The ADL has confronted the moral issue and acknowledged the genocide
and I think that is something that speaks for itself," Tarsy said
yesterday. "I’m ready to move on. I’m glad to be back."

Posted by the Boston Globe City & Region Desk at 04:52 PM