Author: Toneyan Mark

TURQUIE: DEBUT LUNDI DU PROCèS DES MEURTRIERS PRESUMES DE HRANT DINK
Par Nicolas Cheviron

Agence France Presse
29 juin 2007 vendredi 11:29 AM GMT

(Avant-Papier)

Le procès des meurtriers presumes du journaliste turc d’origine
armenienne Hrant Dink, dont l’assassinat avait bouleverse la Turquie en
janvier, doit s’ouvrir lundi a huis-clos devant un tribunal d’Istanbul.

Mais les avocats de la partie civile craignent que cette procedure,
consideree par certains observateurs comme un test du fonctionnement
de la justice turque, laisse dans l’ombre des elements cruciaux
de l’affaire.

Au premier rang des accuses comparaîtra Ogun Samast, un chômeur
de 17 ans originaire de Trabzon (nord-est) et proche des milieux
ultra-nationalistes de cette ville, d’où sont originaires egalement
les 17 autres prevenus.

C’est lui qui, de son propre aveux, a abattu de deux balles dans
la tete et une dans le cou Hrant Dink le 19 janvier a Istanbul,
devant les locaux de l’hebdomadaire bilingue turc-armenien Agos,
que dirigeait le journaliste.

Le ministère public a requis de 18 a 24 ans de prison a son encontre
pour le meurtre, ainsi que de 8,5 ans a 18 ans de prison pour port
d’arme illegal et appartenance a une organisation terroriste.

Le huis-clos a ete ordonne en raison de son âge.

Aux côtes de Samast, les deux dirigeants de l’organisation et
commanditaires de l’assassinat -selon l’acte d’accusation-, Yasin Hayal
et Erhan Tuncel, encourent des peines de prison a vie incompressibles.

Hayal, qui a deja passe plusieurs mois en prison pour un attentat
a la bombe visant un restaurant McDonalds a Trabzon, qui avait fait
six blesses en 2004, est egalement poursuivi pour avoir profere des
menaces a l’encontre du prix Nobel de litterature 2006 Orhan Pamuk,
connu pour ses positions contestataires sur la question armenienne.

M. Pamuk a fait savoir qu’il n’assisterait pas a l’audience.

Des peines allant de 7,5 ans a 35 ans de prison ont ete requises
contre 15 autres comparses supposes, selon leur degre d’implication
dans l’assassinat.

Mais pour la partie civile, d’autres protagonistes auraient dû etre
poursuivis.

"Les forces de securite en activite a Trabzon, où le meurtre a
ete planifie, a Istanbul, où il a ete execute, et a Ankara, où les
renseignements sont rassembles, n’ont pas ete incluses dans le dossier,
alors que leurs liens avec les suspects, le non accomplissement de
leur devoir, leur dissimulation de preuves et meme leur apologie du
crime et du criminel ont ete etablis", a declare vendredi a la presse
l’avocate Fethiye Cetin.

L’organisation non-gouvernementale de defense des droits de l’Homme
Human Rights Watch a qualifie dans un communique vendredi le procès
Dink de "test crucial de l’independance de la justice turque".

Elle a enjoint les juges de "considerer comme penalement responsable
toute force de securite qui sera reconnue coupable de negligence ou
de collusion" avec les criminels.

Hrant Dink, qui militait pour une reconciliation entre les Turcs et
les Armeniens, s’etait attire la haine des cercles ultra-nationalistes
pour avoir ouvertement qualifie de genocide les massacres d’Armeniens
commis en Anatolie entre 1915 et 1917, une qualification rejetee par
la Turquie.

Une marche a la memoire du journaliste avait reuni en janvier, le
jour de ses obsèques, plus de 100.000 personnes scandant des slogans
tels que "Nous sommes tous Armeniens, nous sommes tous Hrant Dink".

Les amis de Dink ont prevu de manifester en sa memoire lundi, non
loin du tribunal où s’ouvrira le procès.

–Boundary_(ID_U1n5CE+Vg4mMJI/S/i/Uk g)–

CONGRESSMAN HARRY MITCHELL BRINGS NUMBER OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION COSPONSORS TO 211

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.06.2007 18:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Americans from the Grand Canyon State
welcomed this week Congressman Harry Mitchell’s cosponsorship of human
rights legislation concerning the Armenian Genocide (H. Res. 106).

Congressman Mitchell, who represents Arizona’s fifth Congressional
District, has previously served as the Mayor of Tempe, as Chairman
of the Arizona Democratic Party and had a distinguished tenure in
the State Senate.

"Our community here in Arizona appreciates Congressman Mitchell’s
cosponsorship of the Armenian Genocide resolution," commented Arizona
ANC Chairman Yervant Baltajian. "We thank Congressman Mitchell for
his principled leadership on this issue which is important to our
rapidly growing community in Arizona’s 5th Congressional District,"
Baltajian added.

Baltajian and ANC activists working with the ANCA-WR and national
ANCA offices contacted Congressman Mitchell’s local and Washington,
D.C. staff regarding the resolution back in March of this year. This
past May, Baltajian and Arizona ANC activist Salpi Demirjian met with
Congressman Mitchell’s aides in his Scottsdale office to discuss the
resolution and the Armenian Genocide.

Arizona’s 5th Congressional District, which covers Scottsdale, Tempe,
and portions of Phoenix’s northwestern suburbs such as Fountain Hills,
Camp Creek, and Sunflower, is home to a large and growing Armenian
American community. The community is composed of many legal, medical
and business professionals, along with a large number of entrepreneurs
who own their own businesses.

The resolution needs 218 cosponsors for voting in the House of
Representatives.

OSKANIAN BACKS CONTINUED RFE/RL BROADCASTS IN ARMENIA
By Anna Saghabalian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
June 29 2007

Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian spoke out on Friday in favor
of RFE/RL’s continued news reporting in Armenia, saying that it
contributes to freedom of speech and democracy in the country.

While declining to directly comment on the controversial RFE/RL-related
bill proposed by the Armenian government, Oskanian made it clear
that he is against a halt to the daily retransmission of the
U.S. broadcaster’s Armenian-language news programs by state radio.

"Right now I just don’t want to think that all of a sudden [Radio]
Liberty may be deprived of air," he told a news conference.

"It will hurt me if [Radio] Liberty stops going on air," he said. "It
will hurt me. Liberty makes its contribution to democracy. It would
be unfortunate to see Liberty deprived of air for some reason."

Oskanian, further noted that he is not the only government minister
who thinks so. "I think there are people in the government who share
my opinion," he said without elaborating.

The 52-year-old minister has frequently and readily spoken with
RFE/RL throughout his nine-year tenure. He was absent from last week’s
session of Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian’s cabinet that approved the
controversial draft amendments to the Armenian laws on broadcasting
and state duties.

ARMENIAN CCI TO CONTRIBUTE TO COUNTRY’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
June 29 2007

YEREVAN, June 29. /ARKA/. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of
Armenia (CCI) intends to make a serious contribution to the achievement
of major goals of the country’s economic development, CCI Chairman
Martin Sargsyan stated at the opening of the business conference
"Prospects of Armenia’s economic development and CCI’s role".

According to him, in the context of rapid development of the world’s
economy, Armenia’s economy has to meet new challenges.

"Processes of economic globalization not only afford new opportunities
for the development of national economies, but also pose a threat to
the countries unprepared for this rapid development," he said.

Sargsyan pointed out that Armenia’s CCI has established strong ties
with numerous European and international structures, which affords
Armenian producers many opportunities for promotion on the world
markets and for involvement in international trade and economic
processes.

"Armenia’s CCI can make a serious contribution to the achievement
of major goals of the country’s economic development and is ready
to render assistance in resolving the problems arising on this way,"
he said.

Speaking of the effectiveness of the conference, Sargsyan said that
no governmental program can be effectively implemented without being
supported by the population and business.

"All of us have a good opportunity to jointly find solutions to the
global problems facing the country by exchanging experience and making
practical proposals," he said.

In his turn, RA Deputy Minister of Trade and Economic Development
Armen Gevorgyan pointed out that the RA CCI is one of the important
links in cooperation between the Government and business.

"The Government, particularly the Ministry of Trade and Economic
Development, attaches high importance to this cooperation," he said.

Gevorgyan added that further development of Armenia’s CCI will play a
great role in forming effective business environment in the country,
particularly in the small and medium business sector.

The goal of the conference "Prospects of Armenia’s economic development
and CCI’s role" is the enhancement of the CCI’s role in Armenia’s
socio-economic development, consolidation of the CCI’s cooperation
with government structures and local government bodies as well as
discussion of urgent problems with businessmen.

Armenia’s CCI launched its activities in 2001 and has representative
office in all Armenian regions. It is a member of the European and
International Chambers of Commerce and Industry, World Federation
of International Chambers, Association of Chambers of Commerce and
Industry of Black-Sea countries, Business Council of the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation and the Council of Chairmen of the CIS Chambers
of Commerce and Industry.

TSOLAK ALEXANIAN AWARDED BRONZE MEDAL IN FREE-STYLE WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP OF EUROPE

Noyan Tapan
Jun28, 2007

BELGRADE, JUNE 28, NOYAN TAPAN. Tsolak Alexanian (55kg, Yerevan)
took third place and was awarded a bronze medal in the Free-Style
Wrestling Youth Championship of Europe held in Belgrade. The other
sportsmen of the Armenian representative team did not win any prizes.

JAPAN’S AID TO ARMENIA IS OF LONG-TERM CHARACTER AND IS NOT LIMITED TO ONLY GIVING MEANS

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.06.2007 13:25 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Government of Japan has granted $86 000 to 28
schools of Aragatsotn region of Armenia to buy necessary furniture,
which they need. The corresponding agreement was signed on June
28 between Japanese Ambassador to Armenia (residence in Moscow),
"Development and Prosperity" non-governmental organization and
Department of Education and Culture of the Aragatsotn region.

Second Secretary of the Japanese Embassy Yukiko Midzuno told the
PanARMENIAN.Net journalist that Japan’s aid to Armenia is of long-term
character. "We are not limited to only giving means, sometimes
we provide equipment, necessary materials for the development of
agricultural sphere, first of all.

Assistance to the development of small-scale and medium business,
as well as solution of irrigative water problem is included in the
priority sphere.

Particularly, this year we are going to realize the program of
providing villagers of Aragatsotn and Shirak with spray waters,"
Y. Midzuno underlined.

AZERI MP URGES COUNCIL OF EUROPE TO APPLY SANCTIONS AGAINST ARMENIA

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
June 28 2007

The report on "State of refugees and IDPs in South-Eastern Europe"
was debated at the session of the Council of Europe Parliamentary
Assembly (PACE), APA’s Europe bureau reports.

Rapporteur, Greek parliamentarian Nikolaus Dendias said though 12 years
have passed since the wars in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia and
8 years since Kosovo conflict there still are 1.5 million refugees in
the Balkans. The rapporteur called on the governments in the region to
give financial aid and create necessary atmosphere to ensure returning
of the IDPs.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterresas a special guest
made speech on the theme.

Member of Azerbaijani delegation to PACE Rafael Huseynov addressing
the debate said that Azerbaijan is the country which is suffering
from problems of refugees and IDPs most of all.

"The problem already requires taking concrete steps. Armenia is
here in the Council of Europe, before you. Your request is in vain,
Armenia will neither refrain from occupying, nor terrorism in state
level and ensure bringing back IDPs to their original places.

Sanctions, punishments should be imposed. Armenia, which acts contrary
to the principles of Council of Europe (CE), demonstratively violates
regulations, is indifferent to international rules, can be reformed
only by leaving it in economic and political isolation. This is the
key of solution of the similar problems. Refugee problem can be solved
in this way which can serve as example to the countries causing the
analogous situation in other regions," he said.

Azerbaijani delegation member Ganira Pashayeva addressing the session
stated that Azerbaijanis comprised more than 30% of Armenian population
70 years ago and they were the biggest national minority.

"The discrimination policy led by Armenian leadership and carried out
on the initiative of several USSR heads, particularly Stalin led to
a tragedy. Half million of Azerbaijanis were driven away from Armenia
in 1948, 200 thousand Azerbaijanis in 1988, and no single Azerbaijani
are living in Armenia at present," she underlined.

Another member of Azerbaijani delegation Gultakin Hajiyeva stated
that the great kindness shown to refugees and IDPs is to create
condition for them for bringing back to their native places in security
condition, voluntarily.

U.S.-BORN POLITICIAN RESHAPES ARMENIAN OPPOSITION CAMP
By Emil Danielyan

Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
(Aravot, June 23; Hayots Ashkhar, June 13; 168 Zham, June 12)
June 26 2007

The May 12 parliamentary elections in Armenia, swept by political
allies of President Robert Kocharian and Prime Minister Serge
Sarkisian, were a massive blow to the country’s fragmented
opposition. Most of its top leaders, including the two men who had
nearly unseated Kocharian in the last presidential ballot, failed to
win a single parliamentary seat and are now facing political oblivion.

To add insult to injury, Western election observers described the
elections as largely democratic, essentially legitimizing their
outcome. Opposition allegations of vote manipulation rang hollow
in these circumstances, even if they were echoed by local media and
observer reports. The Western stamp of approval demoralized even the
most radical of the Armenian oppositionists, who had pledged to use
the vote in another attempt at an anti-government "revolution."

Little wonder then that their post-election rallies in Yerevan were
poorly attended and quickly ran out of steam.

But amid the overall doom and gloom there was one opposition
politician who had something to celebrate. Raffi Hovannisian, a former
U.S. citizen who had served as independent Armenia’s first foreign
minister, made a much stronger showing than the more experienced
opposition heavyweights. His Heritage party got almost 6% of the vote
and earned seven seats in the National Assembly, becoming one of only
two opposition groups represented in the 131-member legislature.

Heritage did particularly well in Yerevan, home to at least one-third
of the electorate, winning over 13% of votes cast under the system of
proportional representation, according to the government-controlled
Central Election Commission (CEC). The CEC figures showed it garnering
less than 3% in the rest of the country. The sharp disparity between
the Heritage performance in and outside the Armenian capital was one
of the most suspicious things about the official vote results. Even
in Yerevan, Hovannisian’s party looked set to do even better shortly
after the closure of polls on May 12.

Early returns reported by some Armenian TV channels put it in second
place behind Sarkisian’s Republican Party in electoral precincts
across the city. In the event, the party barely cleared the 5% vote
threshold for entering the parliament under the proportional system.

Not surprisingly, Hovannisian and his associates accused the
authorities of stealing two-thirds of the votes cast for Heritage.

Still, they chose to accept the parliamentary mandates allotted to them
and not to boycott parliament sessions after Armenia’s Constitutional
Court rejected opposition demands to invalidate the elections in early
June. Hovannisian made it clear that he is ready for "horizontal
cooperation" with the parliamentary majority, expressing hope that
it will help to pass bills drafted by Heritage.

Hovannisian’s relative electoral success is widely attributed to an
enduring, if inexplicable, public sympathy that the 47-year-old has
developed ever since moving to Armenia from California in 1990. In
late 1991, he was appointed by then president Levon Ter-Petrosian as
foreign minister to oversee the newly independent country’s accession
to international organizations and first diplomatic contacts with
major world powers. Less than a year later he was unexpectedly sacked
after delivering a speech in Istanbul that Ter-Petrosian found too
emotional and hard-line. Many Armenians, increasingly disillusioned
with their first post-communist leadership, found the move unjust.

They increasingly began to associate Hovannisian with honesty and
personal integrity, even though the ever-smiling mustachioed lawyer
kept a low profile for the next ten years.

Hovannisian was among the prominent individuals who rallied behind
Kocharian after the latter came to power in 1998. But he eventually
fell out with the new president as well. Like Ter-Petrosian, Kocharian
was not in a hurry to grant him Armenian citizenship for obviously
political motives. Hovannisian got an Armenian passport only in 2001,
which disqualified him from presidential election of 2003. (The
Armenian constitution requires presidential candidates to have been
citizens of and permanently resided in the country for at least ten
years preceding an election. Hovannisian will also be unable to contest
the next presidential election due in early 2008 for the same reason.)

Hovannisian joined Kocharian’s main opposition challenger, Stepan
Demirchian, in rejecting the official outcome of that election. The
Heritage leader burned the last remaining bridges with Kocharian with
a December 2005 open letter in which he effectively implicated the
Armenian leader in electoral fraud and even political killings. A
few months later his party was controversially forced out of its
state-owned offices in Yerevan. The party unsuccessfully challenged
the politically motivated eviction in the court.

The dispute is still not over, with the Heritage leadership alleging
that government agents illegally accessed the opposition party’s
computer database and downloaded confidential information about its
members and activities. The authorities have repeatedly denied the
claims. Still, on June 22 a Yerevan court ordered state prosecutors to
launch a criminal investigation into what Hovannisian has termed the
"Armenian Watergate" scandal.

Armenians disaffected with the government voted for Heritage in
large numbers despite the vagueness of its leader’s discourse. His
pre-election speeches were largely made up of convoluted references to
patriotism, freedom, and rule of law. The lack of specifics appears to
have been offset by Hovannisian’s image as a "nice guy" and his casual
U.S. style of campaigning. In the confusing abundance of opposition
contenders, many disgruntled voters found him refreshing and more
credible than established leaders like Demirchian.

Despite the election debacle, some of those oppositionists now plan
to run for president and will be keen to be endorsed by Hovannisian,
who will almost certainly be again barred from the contesting the 2008
election. But whether Hovannisian will throw his weight behind any
of them or declare that a presidential election held in his absence
is illegitimate is an open question.

SERGE SARGSIAN: "MAIN GOAL OF GOVERNMENT IS TO UNITE SOCIETY"

Noyan Tapan
Jun 26 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, NOYAN TAPAN. On June 26 the RA National Assembly
restarted the work of the first session interrupted on June 7. Prime
Minister Serge Sargsian introduced the project of the government,
stressing, in particular, five main points: national security and
stable development, productiveness of the state government, education
and science, proportionate development of territories, and social
protection of RA citizens.

By the way, when the Prime Minister spoke about the proportionate
development of territories, he declared that a development project will
be worked out in the near future, and that it would be right to start
in the Shirak region, in Gyumri, in particular, as well as in Yerevan,
which "in its prejudice" has become a center of infrastructures:
some infrastructures will be brought out of Yerevan.

It was also mentioned that with the implementation of this program,
the government expects a real annual increase of 8-10% in Gross
Domestic Products, at least a 10% increase in the annual volumes of
contributions and in non-agricultural employment, an essential victory
over poverty, as a result of which the general poverty level will
be below 12%, as well as an annual increase in the pension level,
and in the financing of the state expenses directed at the spheres
of health and education, as well as many others.

"This project submitted for your decision is rather pretentious and
all the collaborators of the state government bodies will be under
a great strain," Serge Sargsian said. He also made assertions that
the government is ready to help with the implementation of these
projects. In the Prime Minister’s opinion, analysts estimate the
activities of the government by quantitative indices, however for him
"there is another more important index that is not submitted to a
quantitative estimation: that is the trust of people tomorrow and in
the future of our country," and the main goal of the government will
be to unite the society under the slogan "For you, Armenia."

The issue of the government’s project to be approved by the Parliament
and the NA Regulations-Law is put to vote within five days after
being introduced. The NA decision on approving the project is made
by a majority of votes of the total number of MPs, that is to say by
at least 66 votes.

It should be mentioned that the Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law)
and Zharangutiun (Heritage) opposition factions, which were absent
on June 7, are taking part in the sitting.

BSECO SHOULD ASSIST IN CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT CONDUCIVE TO RESOLVING CONFLICTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.06.2007 19:53 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Fifteen years later, each of our countries and
BSECO too, have changed. I can speak for Armenia: our economic growth
is gratifying, the collapse of the time of independence is only a
bad memory. Our economic growth is gratifying," Armenian Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian stated to the BSECO (Black Sea Economic
Cooperation Organization) jubilee summit in Istanbul. He said,
institutions are stronger, as evidenced by recent elections, which
were very positively assessed by the international community. "People
are more confident. That confidence comes not just from within,
but is buttressed by the assessment of international indices," the
RA FM underscored.

He also said broadening interaction between BSECO and the European
Union is one of the significant outputs of the organization. "As the
EU considers the benefits of a Black Sea Dimension for economic,
social, environmental and energy cooperation, and as BSECO works
to enhance its interaction with the EU, we around the Black Sea,
have much to learn from those around the Mediterranean, Adriatic,
Baltic and North seas. Our need for deeper relations is not limited
to the structural, technical and institutional expertise in the
EU space. We also have much to learn from Europe in trying to find
new solutions to old problems. BSECO could have, should have, aided
in creating an environment conducive to resolving conflicts in our
region. Resolutions are only possible through compromise, compromise
requires reciprocal trust between peoples, and cooperation is the
obvious and proven way to inculcate such trust. Rejecting cooperation
is a symptom of a misplaced desire to find one-sided solutions;
this is unrealistic. The era of one-sided solutions is over," Vartan
Oskanian underlined, the RA MFA Press Office reports.