Author: Toneyan Mark

The Public TV and Public Radio will do everything possible to maintain
the positive evaluation
14.01.2008 18:08

Alisa Gevorgyan
"Radiolur"

President of the Council of Public Television and Radio Company of
Armenia Alexan Harutyunyan told a press conference today that
everything possible will be done to maintain the positive assessment of
the activity of the Public Television and the Public Radio by
international organizations after the two previous countrywide
elections. Alexan Harutyunyan also turned to the main programs of the
Council for 2008, most of which are targeted at shooting films.

On the whole, the assessment of the activity of the Public Television
and the Public Radio during the previous elections was positive.
According to the President of the Council of Public Television and
Radio Company of Armenia Alexan Harutyunyan, everything possible will
be done to maintain the positive evaluation after the presidential
elections. In compliance with law, every presidential contender will be
provided with 60 minutes free and 120 minutes paid air time on Public
TV and 120 minutes free and 180 minutes paid air time on Public Radio.
Besides, in case there is a run-off, debates will be organized.
However, debates are excluded in the first round. `It’s very hard to
decide who will debate with whom. Besides, the past experience shows
that such debates are not particularly effective. Instead, both the
Public Television and the Public Radio will organize series of programs
in the shape of interviews with all nine presidential contenders,’ the
President of the Council noted.

According to Mr. Harutyunyan, during this election campaign attempts
are made to invite notorious international organizations to conduct
public opinion polls in Armenia. `We think it is very important, since
we all know that there is mistrust in the activity of the Armenian
sociological organizations, although I do not agree with that. I think
there are serious organizations here. Anyway, today we are mainly
negotiating with the famous English `Pop News’ organization and they
may possibly conduct a survey on the day of the elections and another
one following the poll. It will be very important from the perspective
of ensuring the transparency of the elections.’

Alexan Harutyunyan also turned to the main programs of the Council of
Public Television and Radio Company in 2008. In May Sirusho will
represent Armenia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade. Most
probably, the song will be elected through a TV-voting in February.
According to the President of the Council of Public Television and
Radio Company, the main programs are aimed at shooting new films. The
shooting of two television serials is underway.

According to Alexan Harutyunyan, the National Music Award has undergone
some changes. From now on it will be held in the first quarter of the
year and will be conducted jointly with the Ministry of Culture. It
will embrace not only the sphere of pop music, but also the whole
palette of the Armenian music, including popular and folk music, jazz,
rock, etc.

ARMENPRESS

BALTIC SURVEYS LTD. (GALLUP) TO HOLD EXIT-POLLS ON
FEBRUARY 19

YEREVAN, JANUARY 12, ARMENPRESS: The Baltic Surveys
Ltd. (Gallup) will hold exit-polls in Armenia on
February 19 when Armenians will go to polling stations
to elect their next president.
The exit polls will be part of a study commissioned
by the US-based International Republic Institute in
2006. It is called "Armenia National Study" and is
being carried out in Armenia by the Vilnius-based
Baltic Surveys Ltd. / Gallup Organization with the
assistance of the Armenian Sociological Association.
`The Armenian National Study is designed to be a
neutral, objective mechanism to assist political
parties in Armenia to better understand and respond to
the major political, economic and social concerns of
Armenian citizens,’ the US embassy said.
A total of seven quarterly opinion polls have been
carried out since May, 2006. The most recent poll was
taken in early December, 2007. An eighth and final
poll is scheduled for mid-January, 2008.
To ensure anonymity and objectivity of the opinion
poll, the Baltic Surveys Ltd. / Gallup Organization
uses a random sampling methodology that is the
mainstay of reputable Western polling organizations.
IRI has shared the poll results, including specific
information on respective political parties, with
party representatives. The results of all seven polls
conducted since May 2006, including more general
information on the major political, economic, and
social issues, are free for public examination on the
IRI website ().
Neither the United States government, the
International Republican Institute nor Baltic Surveys
Ltd. / Gallup Organization endorses any particular
party or candidate. Non-party specific results are
made public; candidate and party results are shared
with the appropriate political parties, the U.S.
embassy in Yerevan said.

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Jan 11 2008

Fitch ratings assigns rating `BB’ forecast `Stable’ to Armenia’s
`Akba-Credit Agricole Bank

YEREVAN, January 11. /ARKA/. Fitch Ratings international ratings
agency gave Armenia’s `AKBA-Credit Agricole Bank’ long-term issuer
default rating `BB’ forecast `Stable’, short-term issuer default
rating `B’, individual rating `D’ and support rating `3′, reports the
official site of `Fitch Ratings’.

According to the report, the ratings of the Armenian bank reflect
moderate probability of receiving support, if needed, from the
biggest shareholder Credit Agricole S.A. French group (with long-term
issuer default rating `AA’, forecast `Stable’).

According to Fitch, even through the Credit Agricole S.A. group owns
the smaller package of the Armenia bank’s shares (28%), still it can
provide support to `AKBA-Credit Agricole Bank’ if needed bearing in
mind associating the brands, and active involvement of the group in
creating and monitoring of the bank that has not much grown yet. Yet,
Fitch stress that the minor package of the group and low priority of
the Armenian market may reduce the probability of receiving support.

The agency also pointed out a limited probability of receiving
support from the Armenian authorities if needed as the bank controls
considerable segment in agricultural lending (Armenia has long-term
`BB-`, `positive’ forecast issuer default ratings both in foreign and
national currency).

Individual rating reflects small scale of `AKBA-Credit Agricole Bank’
as per the international standards, high risks of operation
environment, rapid growth of the bank’s assets and large share of
lending in foreign currency. At the same time, Fitch says, the rating
takes into account good quality of AKBA management, considerable
client database in Armenia, high profitability from the main
activities, traditionally good quality of assets, strong
capitalization and adequate liquidity position.
According to the Fitch report, the potential for improving the bank’s
long-term issuer default rating is limited and is possible only if
the share of the Credit Agricole S.A. group in the Armenian bank is
increased and/or if the group gives respective assurance of its
willingness to support the bank if needed.

Raising the country ceiling of Armenia from the current `BB’ level
would also be a requirement for improving the long-term issuer
default rating of `AKBA Credit-Agricole Bank’, Fitch says.
The long-term issuer default rating may be downgraded if Fitch
changes its opinion on the willingness of Credit Agricole S.A. group
to support `AKBA-Credit Agricole Bank’ or if Armenia’s country
ceiling is lowered (which is not expected taking into account the
current `Positive’ forecast by sovereign ratings).

The potential for improving the individual rating of `AKBA-Credit
Agricole Bank’ is currently limited due to small size of the bank and
high operation risks in Armenia. Yet, according to the rating agency,
further successful expansion of the client database, along with
maintaining the quality of assets and adequate capitalization, may be
a positive factor in the credit rating.
According to Fitch, considerable losses in credits may be a potential
reason for lowering the rating, but currently the bank has
considerable `reserve’ of own means to absorb such losses.

`AKBA-Credit Agricole Bank’ closed joint stock company is the third
biggest bank of Armenia in value of assets and lending volume. As of
the end of the 3rd quarter of 2007 the bank’s share on these
indicators was 10% and 12% respectively. Apart from that, the bank
was the leader in the rural lending segment (70% of the market). AKBA
has 21 branches in Armenia; the number of the branches is expected to
reach 47 by the end of 2009.

`AKBA-Credit Agricole Bank’ closed joint stock company (former Farmer
Mutual Support Bank of Armenia) was founded in 1995 and was
registered on March 29 1996. The bank was founded within the EU TACIS
program.
In September 2006 Credit Agricole French banking group purchased 28%
of the bank’s shares. The remaining shares belong to 10 associations
of farmer mutual support involving over 45,000 farmers.

According to the official information, as of the end of September
2007, the total capital of `AKBA-Credit Agricole Bank’ was 20.4bln
Drams, total assets were 68.9bln Drams, balance sheet profit – 3.7bln
Drams and profit was 2.3bln Drams by the end of January-September
2007 period. ($1=307.15Drams). -0–

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER URGES FAIR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Russia & CIS General Newswire
January 9, 2008 Wednesday 5:04 PM MSK

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian insisted on Wednesday that
his country ensures a free and just presidential election.

"An election that does not meet international standards would have a
negative effect on Armenia’s international image," Oskanian told a news
conference in Yerevan in reference to a poll scheduled for February 19.

"It is our priority task to carry through a normal, dignified
election," said Oskanian.

Oskanian claimed there were political groups that are plotting street
violence in the run-up to the poll in order to split society up.

"Armenia should do everything possible to rule out clashes, to make
political forces in the country realize that this not the method to
solve political problems," he said.

GENERAL MANAGER OF "ARMENTEL" RESIGNS

A1+
09 January, 2008

The General Director of Armenian "ArmenTel" Telecommunications Company,
Oleg Bliznyuk, resigned office on December 29, 2007. On January 9
"VimpelCom" officially confirmed the information.

"Bliznyuk received an interesting offer from another company
therefore he left "ArmenTel," the Company’s Public Relations Service
reports. "Under Oleg’s guidance, our business in Armenia developed
quite dynamically. Firstly, we are pleased with our financial
results. Secondly, a large volume of work was carried out on renovation
and replacement of equipment and development of infrastructure,
which will allow the networks of "ArmenTel" to correspond to modern
standards. "ArmenTel" is seeking for a candidate for the position
of the General Director," said the Senior Manager of "VimpelCom"
Public Relations Service Artem Minayev.

HEIKKI TALVITIE : NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT SHOULD BE SOLVED TO ACHIEVE STABILITY AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE REGION

Azeri Press Agency
Jan 9 2008
Azerbaijan

"I am one of the persons who interests in the peaceful solution to
Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Steps should be taken for the settlement
of conflict," Heikki Talvitie, European Union special Representative
for South-Caucasus told the correspondent of APA’s Georgia bureau
in Tbilisi

Mr. Talvitie has observed the presidential elections in Georgia with
the delegation OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human
Rights. He mentioned that co-chairs will pay an official visit to
region in the middle of January and appreciated the activity of OSCE
Minsk Group.

"We should try to solve the conflict to achieve stability and
development in the region. It is difficult to say that when it will
be solved because this is very protracted, difficult and confused
conflict," he said. Mr. Talvitie stated that both Armenia and
Azerbaijan tried for the solution to the conflict.

GENOCIDE DICTIONARY PROVIDES COMPREHENSIVE LOOK
Samuel Totten, [email protected]

University of Arkansas Daily Headlines, AR

Jan 9 2008

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Samuel Totten, a University of Arkansas professor
and genocide scholar, began work five years ago with an Australian
colleague, historian Paul Bartrop, on a dictionary of genocide. Sadly,
between the many incidents of genocide throughout history and the
current state of world affairs, the project turned out to be more like
an encyclopedia – covering well over 600 terms in more than 500 pages.

"It’s three times the length we originally planned," Totten said,
"so the publisher put it into two volumes."

Dictionary of Genocide was released late last year by Greenwood Press
and is the first such work of its kind. Totten and Bartrop co-wrote
each entry and then honed and revised every one three more times. The
majority of entries are significantly longer than you would expect
in a typical dictionary.

"Context is necessary," Totten explained. "Without context, the
resultant entry is bound to be simplistic. The issues behind any case
of genocide are extremely complex. Take the crisis in Darfur, Sudan.

We couldn’t just describe the conflict between rebels and government
troops that has resulted in hundreds of thousands killed and millions
displaced. There are at least five significant antecedents to the
genocide: drought, famine, disenfranchisement, implementation of
Islamic law, and physical attacks carried out by government of Sudan
troops and Arab militia against black African villages.

"In addition to important dates of events, we included information
about actors involved, explanation of key events, decisions (or lack
thereof) that affected the situation and much, much more."

Totten began studying genocide in 1988 and started out focused on the
Holocaust of World War II, in which Germans led by Adolf Hitler killed
approximately 6 million Jews and some 5 million others, including
the physically and mentally handicapped, Roma and Sinti peoples,
Russian prisoners of war and Poles. Totten broadened his study to the
larger field of genocide studies when it dawned on him that hundreds
of scholars around the globe were studying the Holocaust but only a
handful were studying genocide prevention and intervention.

In addition to writing numerous books and editing several publications
on genocide, Totten has traveled to Rwanda to interview survivors of
the 1994 genocide there and to the Chad/Sudan border to speak with
refugees who are victims of the genocide that continues in Darfur. A
member of the University of Arkansas faculty since 1987, Totten has
designed and taught courses about Holocaust and genocide education and
has given talks across the globe on various facets of genocide. He
is a member of the Council of the Institute on the Holocaust and
Genocide in Jerusalem and the Centre for Genocide Studies in Australia.

His partner on the project, Paul R. Bartrop, is an honorary research
fellow at Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and head
of the department of history at Bialik College, Melbourne. Totten
met Bartrop 12 years ago at a conference on the Holocaust, and they
have collaborated on several other projects, including a book the
two edited called Teaching About the Holocaust: Essays by College
and University Teachers (Greenwood Press, 2004).

However it’s described, the genocide dictionary offers a comprehensive
overview of the field of genocide studies, Totten said.

It is intended for use by undergraduates, graduate students and
other newcomers to the field of genocide studies. Totten is hopeful
instructors of the topic at secondary levels will have access to the
dictionary to supplement and strengthen their curriculum.

The book includes basic information ranging from the United Nations
definition of genocide to the mechanisms employed when genocide
occurs. It traces the history of genocide and gives details from
around the globe, from Armenian genocide in the early 20th century
to the most recent genocides in Rwanda, Srebenica and Darfur.

Totten recently received a Fulbright Fellowship and is spending the
spring semester in Rwanda. At the National University of Rwanda,
Totten will work with faculty and graduate students from the Centre
for Conflict Management, as well as faculty in history, political
science and law, to develop a master’s degree program in genocide
studies. In addition, he will conduct three research projects that
build on his previous research in Rwanda.

In 2004, Totten interviewed survivors of the genocide in Sudan as a
member of the U.S. State Department Atrocities Documentation Project
team. The team’s work led to a report by then-U.S. Secretary of State
Colin Powell to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that genocide
was being committed in Darfur.

AKP HEDGES ON KEY EU REFORM AS PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR ACCESSION CONTINUES TO FALL
By Gareth Jenkins

Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
Jan 8 2008

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has
announced plans to amend the controversial Article 301 of the Turkish
Penal Code, that provides for custodial sentences for anyone who
insults "Turkishness."

The EU has repeatedly cited Article 301 as evidence of Turkey’s
failure to internalize the concept of freedom of expression, regarded
as one of the prerequisites for eventual Turkish accession to the
union. However, not only does the AKP’s latest initiative appear
half-hearted, recent polls suggest that support for EU membership
among the Turkish population as a whole is continuing to decline.

In recent years, Article 301 has been one of the main instruments
used by the Turkish authorities to try to restrict freedom of
expression. The vagueness of its ban on "insulting Turkishness"
has meant that it has been used to try to suppress the expression
of a wide range of dissenting opinion, from criticism of Turkish
government institutions to opposing the official Turkish denial of an
orchestrated campaign to kill Armenians during the latter years of the
Ottoman Empire. In its current form, Article 301 provides for prison
sentences of up to three years, with the punishment increased by 50%
percent if the offence occurs outside Turkey and thus blackens the
country’s reputation in the eyes of the rest of the world.

Although none of the nearly 100 journalists and intellectuals
prosecuted under Article 301 in recent years has subsequently served
time in prison, several have received suspended sentences. Perhaps
more seriously, anyone prosecuted under Article 301 immediately
becomes marked for a campaign of harassment and death threats
from Turkish ultra-nationalists and can usually expect little
protection from the Turkish police. It was the publicity surrounding
his conviction under Article 301 that led to the assassination of
Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink by a Turkish ultranationalist
in January 2007. Other prominent Turkish intellectuals prosecuted
under Article 301 include Orhan Pamuk, the winner of the 2007 Nobel
Prize for Literature.

The EU has long pressed Turkey to abolish Article 301 in its
entirety. However, the latest draft amendment drawn up by the Justice
Ministry makes merely minor adjustments, such as replacing the ban
on insulting "Turkishness" with one on insulting the "Turkish nation"
and reducing the maximum prison sentence from three to two years. But
even these minor amendments have been vigorously resisted by the
ultranationalist Nationalist Action Party (MHP), the third-largest
party in parliament. "Everyone should resist the proposed amendment
to 301," said Oktay Vurul, the deputy chair of the MHP parliamentary
party (Radikal, January 8).

The AKP government now appears to be having second thoughts as well.

The draft amendment was originally expected to be raised at a meeting
yesterday (January 7) of the Turkish Cabinet, prior to being presented
to parliament for approval later this week. However, in a briefing
for journalists after the meeting, Government Spokesperson Cemil Cicek
confirmed that the changes to Article 301 had not been on the Cabinet
meeting’s agenda. He explained that the amendments would probably be
submitted to parliament privately by a number of MPs rather than as
a government proposal (Radikal, NTV, Milliyet, Vatan, January 8).

The AKP’s reluctance to amend Article 301 is indicative of a general
lack of enthusiasm for any of the reforms required to revive Turkey’s
stalled EU accession process. But recent polls suggest that the
AKP is merely reflecting a broader decline in enthusiasm for EU
membership among the Turkish population as a whole. In September 2004,
when the EU protested the AKP’s proposals to criminalize adultery,
even though he personally supported them, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan quickly shelved the proposed changes for fear of jeopardizing
Turkey’s prospects of opening official access negotiations. At the
time, opinion polls suggested that 75-80% of the Turkish population
favored the country joining the EU.

But since accession negotiations were finally initiated in October
2005, and both the AKP government and the Turkish people have begun
to understand that membership will involve not only benefits but also
sacrifices and the delegation of a measure of national sovereignty
to Brussels, support for EU accession has fallen precipitously.

According to the latest Barometer opinion poll, which is commissioned
by European Commission in all member and candidate countries, in late
fall 2007 only 49% of Turks thought that their country should join the
EU. Just 25% of the Turks questioned trusted the EU, compared with 60%
who did not, while trust in the European Commission itself stood at
17%, down from 22% six months earlier. There was also a substantial
decline in the proportion of Turks who believed that EU membership
would benefit the country. In fall 2007, 53% of Turks thought that
it would bring benefits, down nine percentage points from 62% in
spring 2007.

TWO BROTHERS HONOR THEIR FATHER’S MARTYRDOM IN AWARD-WINNING MOVIE A CRY FROM IRAN
By Michael Ireland

Journal Chretien
e6688
Jan 8 2008
France

Two brothers, a murdered father and an untold story of pain and
forgiveness are the inspirations behind a six times award-winning
documentary on the secret death of a prominent evangelical pastor in
Iran, Haik Hovsepian.

The movie is the untold story of Iranian Christian martyrs, and
Christian converts, who became the victims of their beliefs and paid
the ultimate price – their lives.

Two brothers from Iran, Joseph and Andre Hovsepian, who made the
documentary A Cry From Iran about the life and work of their father,
recently joined international journalist Dan Wooding as guests on
his for Front Page radio program on KWAVE in Los Angeles.

Their documentary is the story of Bishop Haik Hovsepian, who was the
superintendent of the Assemblies of God and, later in his ministry,
the representative of protestant churches in Iran.

Joseph Hovsepian explained : "Living with him for twenty years of
course I’ve had a lot of good memories from him, but thirteen years
ago in 1994 because of his faith and all he did for Christians and
defending them, he one day disappeared and then we found him stabbed
to death because of his faith. "

Joseph continued : " After going through all the tragedy and comfort
and different stages of forgiving (and) having a background in film
industry, the idea of making this documentary started two years after
the actual martyrdom. In 1996 we started gathering several documents
and all the clips that I had shot when my dad was alive – and at
the time we didn’t think that those clips could become so vital and
important and the world would see them – but praise the Lord with the
support of the Holy Spirit and family and churches we came a long way,
and two years ago with partnership with Open Doors we could officially
start producing this documentary fulltime working with my brother on
the board, and as a result a Cry from Iran has been born.

DVD cover for the documentary video A Cry From Iran.

On the question of who killed Haik Hovsepian, Joseph replied:
That’s a good question. We hope that the audience, after watching the
documentary, can judge and know the answer for themselves. We haven’t
pointed our fingers at any special person or group or government but,
as we know, that our main enemy is the devil that works through people
and not people themselves. But of course it’s been very, very hard,
very sad at times. During the editing process our goal was focus,
was to see beyond our pain and memories, and see what this film can
do for the people in the west who appreciate their freedom and to
the people in Iran to see that the martyrs names still go on.

"Andre Hovsepian said he was only ten years old when his father was
martyred so he didn’t have as much memory as Joseph and the rest of
the family did.

"But I do definitely have a lot of memories still and a lot of
pictures of him in my head because I was ten years old and I lived
with him for ten years, but definitely besides memory what I heard
about – his life from other members of the church, from other family
members – really impacted me so much. And of course after making this
documentary spending sometimes twelve, thirteen, fourteen hours a day,
at times I think I saw more footage from him and clips and pictures
than I’d seen in my ten years. "

Wooding wanted to know what did Andre learn new about his father
from making the movie ? " When you started working on this movie A
Cry >>From Iran you must have been amazed that you found out all sort
of new things about him, " said Wooding.

"Yes, I did actually, and one thing that stood out I would say (was)
the amount of passion and the vision that he had, because everything
I believe starts from one person’s vision and then does something
to its community or results and is fruitful, and in the process of
making this documentary I saw that vision that my dad had and at the
end of course resulted in growing the zeal of Christians in Iran. "

Joseph Hovsepian said the documentary is narrated by a well known
award winning voice-over who did the Verizon Wireless commercial a
few years ago.

He pointed out that when some people think of documentaries they
think of boring talk and a program full of talks, whereas a lot of
audiences have already said A Cry From Iran is a docu-drama.

"We’re very glad that this film has not only won awards in the
Christian awards but also has gone beyond that and even in the scope
of human rights issues and freedom of religion, freedom of choice,
has brought a lot of interest in (the situation in Iran), and we’re
very excited about that. "

Joseph said they carried out a of reenactments, shooting about
two-hundred hours footage of his father, so in the last years of his
life they had enough coverage. But the first part of his life and in
covering the radical parts of country of Iran they had to reestablish
(through reenactment), and the brothers had to travel to five countries
and also five states in America.

"We have shot over thirty-five interviews and thirty-five hours of
reenactment and the result has been fifty-five minutes of packed
documentary, plus a lot of behind the scenes (footage). "

"Take us back to the period when there was all this trouble for your
father. What led up to it ? " Wooding asked.

Joseph responded that sadly the situation hasn’t changed that much
from that day to the present.

Bishop Haik Hovsepian seen here preaching form the Word of God.

"But going back to 1993, the church at the time had big clashes with
government officials and the church had to be closed down and my dad
as superintendent of the churches in Iran was the front person in the
battle and would always get involved in the situation. But it came
to its climax in 1993 when Mehdi Dibaj, who was a Muslim convert and
a Christian brother had served ten years in prison and he was to be
executed for his faith. The only punishment for his conversion was
basically dying for it and paying the price, and my dad stood against
that execution order and brought it to the attention of the government
officials in Iran and then took a bigger step to the Christian world
outside, to the United Nations, and even involving the congress of
the US. So as a result of his activities and campaign he was released
and this was a big victory for the church of Iran, but soon after he
had to pay a bigger price – and that was his own life. "

Wooding asked Andre to " take us the next step : what exactly happened
to your dad ? "

Andre said : "Basically what happened was that after several threats
that we got in different ways, finally one day my dad was on his way
to the airport to pick up a friend from church and he disappeared for
eleven days. We had no news of him – I mean you could only imagine
how hard it was for us – and of course I have to mention here that
the whole church was very supportive internationally, worldwide. We
received many, many support from different believers around the world
and that of course helped us a lot to cope with the situation. But
after eleven days, unfortunately, we received the call in which they
said we need your eldest son (who was Joseph) to come and identify
some pictures.

"That was from the morgue officials. Then, I won’t get into details,
but of course later on we found out that that he was killed and
actually he was buried in a Muslim graveyard in which they only bury
Muslim people."

Wooding asked Joseph, as the eldest brother, what that was like.

"As Andre said as hard as it was and even is right now to talk about
it, we have captured all these moments in the documentary and when
it gets to this part, the movie kind of slows down. You feel what a
martyr’s family goes through when such things happen. But for me,
I think it was very shocking because it was the climax and very
challenging point of my faith for the situation because I had trusted
that God would protect his children in any situation, and this was
something where we thought always and believed in, but maybe I hadn’t
seen the other side of the picture. Especially having such a faithful
father whose ministry was very fruitful for God it was the last thing
that passed my mind that in the morgue I would see the twenty-six times
stabbed face of my dad and chest of my dad covered in blood. So I went
in with the knowledge that he won’t be there and in fact when we went
through all the pictures of the albums he was not there but until the
last minute before we left they said there’s one more picture and we
have already buried this man as an unidentified person, and that was
my father."

Joseph continued : "I think at the time soon I got into this stage of
kind of challenging God, and I was alone with the two police officers
– which were not too comforting either – so I didn’t cry at that time
that much and then I walked home to my uncle’s house because I didn’t
know how to share the news with my mother and my brother Andre (at
the time was ten years old), and he was the first thing in my mind
that in Iran at the time people there are not that many divorces so
not having a father is also a very big deal there. And he came to my
mind, and I just didn’t know how to digest the situation and I think
it kind of hit me a few hours after."

So did Andre can do you remember what he said ?

"Yes, I remember exactly," said Andre. "Actually, it’s very interesting
if you saw the movie End of the Spear I saw myself in that movie when
the guy comes home and his son is upstairs and he just listens – he
puts his ear on the ground – and listens from another room. That was
exactly me in 1994 because I was in my room doing homework and then
I heard Joseph coming in and I just ran to him and I saw his eyes,
and that was enough for us to know what has happened. And then, of
course, we hugged each other – it was very emotional, very emotional –
but at the same time overall I have to say that I really do believe
that if God let something happen for a reason He also takes care
of you too. He’s not a coward God ; He’s a very caring God in fact,
and that’s why He protected us."

Joseph said it was probably God’s plan that during those eleven days
they were very calm and believed that their father would be alive,
maybe somewhere in interrogation, but were expecting him to be
coming back.

"After that shock, I think we all went through several stages of
(what) my mother calls the University of God, which you never in fact
graduate from, you always keep learning. But I think the first stage
was the hatred that we had towards the enemies, and it took us a good
couple of months to start even thinking about (what had happened)."

Did the brothers want to get revenge somewhere ?

"Yes," said Joseph, "I remember even in the very first days my mind was
working that ‘ok I have to pay them back, they have killed an innocent
person.’ But as my brother said, the support of the church and all the
prayers that were coming from outside in the west and organizations
including Open Doors that we are working now with (really helped). I
think God really touched us and things went very smoothly and as a
result it was a process of forgiveness ; it was a process of not only
forgiving and interceding and finally praising and being thankful."

The Hovsepian brothers said that one thing that always is alive and
never dies is the peaceful spirit of God that works even when your
tears are shedding. Something magical happens through the power
of prayer.

Wooding asked Andre tell some of the lessons people can learn if they
watch their movie A Cry From Iran ?

Andre replied : "One of them, as you already mentioned, I think
it stands out is the appreciation of life no matter what situation
you’re in, no matter if you have financial problems or someone in your
family has a disease or anything like that, after watching this movie
the first impact that I think that it leaves on you is that ‘wow I
have to appreciate my life. I have to appreciate this freedom that I
have’ and of course I have to make a note that Christians in the west
are persecuted too in other ways, which maybe is a whole different
topic. But at least it’s not physical – they don’t take your life.

"Other feedback that we’ve gotten from people has been just simply the
awareness, because a lot of people watch the news and they think that’s
all we need to know and that’s all that’s happening on this earth,
in this universe. But after watching this movie, people are really
more aware of what is happening in these third world countries."

Wooding wanted to know : "Are there other Christians and Christian
leaders in Iran who are suffering like your dad did?"

"Sadly, yes," said Joseph. "And I should say that even in the past
two months there were other house group leaders and Christians that
were officially executed, and still there are groups that are always
taken for interrogation and some have paid a price – whether they
lose their job or their kids can’t go to school. But the fact is
that what has changed during the past several years after the series
of Iranian martyrs are how the Christians handle their faith and
how they respond to the persecution. They pray for their enemies,
they trust in the Lord more than ever, and my dad being an Armenian
was not from a Muslim background, but defending Muslim background
believers already left a great impact on them and they all say that
if Armenians could give their lives to reach us through the message
of the Gospel how much more we are ready to pay that. So they have
become much more stronger than ever before."

How difficult is it for a Muslim in Iran to give their lives to
Christ?

"Well it is very difficult actually," said Andre."Because of security
reasons I think primarily, because once you do give your life to
Jesus you’re not only making a decision for yourself but also in a
way you are somewhat endangering your family members. So I mean it’s
a whole different world out there than here. So I think as far as
that goes it’s the security comes in to line, but God leads them to
do the right thing."

For both DVD information and screening information you can go to the
official website which is interro_liens_callback.

Radio stations interested in airing the full interview with Dan
Wooding and the Hovsepian Brothers may e-mail him at Danjuma1 aol.com
for the MP3 file. (This is for media contacts only, please).

The New Anatolian, Turkey
Dec 27 2007

Sahin: Change of 301 soon in parliament

The New Anatolian / Ankara
27 December 2007

Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said on Wednesday that an amendment
on Article 301 of Turkish Penal Code (TCK) will soon be submitted to
the parliament as a proposal.

Sahin told reporters, "work on the article has been in progress for
almost two years which is on the agenda of both EU and Turkey.
Studies are nearly completed. I think we will give a final shape to
the draft in our meeting on Friday, then we will send it to Prime
Minister’s office. It will also be debated at the Council of
Ministers."

"When a draft law is prepared, it is necessary to ask the opinions of
several institutions. This takes time. It (draft law) can also be
presented to parliament as a proposal. We have not decided yet. I
hope the Parliament will amend the article 301 within January 2008,"
he noted.

Article 301 which was used to prosecute a Nobel laureate for
insulting Turkish identity has become a serious handicap for the
government.

Turkey, which hopes to join the European Union, has been proded to
soften the law, which makes denigrating Turkish identity, or
insulting the country’s institutions, a crime punishable by up to
three years in prison. The EU has said it does not fit within the
bloc’s standards of free speech, and has been one of the stumbling
blocks to Turkish accession since talks began in 2005.

The Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk was among the highest
profile Turks hit by the law, when he commented on the mass killings
of Armenians by Turks in the early 20th century. Turkey contends the
death toll has been inflated and the deaths were the result of civil
unrest, not genocide.

In addition to Pamuk, numerous other writers, journalists and
academics have also been prosecuted under the law.
Hrant Dink, the ethnic Armenian journalist who was the editor of the
minority Agos newspaper, was shot outside his Istanbul office on Jan.
19, following his prosecution for comments he made about the killings
of Armenians. His murder revived a debate about the law, and many
said his prosecution made him a target for radical nationalists. Tens
of thousands turned out for his funeral, but many other Turks viewed
him as an irritant whose commentaries were objectionable.

Turkish leaders have said the law was damaging Turkey’s image by
portraying it as a country where intellectuals are jailed for
speaking their opinions.

Observers say given the sensitivity of the debate over the law, it is
unlikely it will be dropped entirely, but the decision to amend it
indicates it will be softened to restrict its interpretation by
prosecutors.