Author: Toneyan Mark

Armenpress

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CONDEMNS HRANT DINK’S MURDER

YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS: The current EU
Presidency held by Germany expressed its "shock" over
the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink in Istanbul Friday.
"Hrant Dink was a courageous man whose journalism
was marked by a strong commitment to democracy and
freedom of expression," said an EU Presidency
statement.
It said the presidency was appalled by this
abominable killing, and called on Turkish authorities
to solve the case as quickly as possible.
Dink’s murder was condemned strongly by the Amnesty
International. The organization said it believes that
he was targeted because of his work as a journalist
who championed freedom of expression.
"This horrifying assassination silences one of
Turkey’s bravest human rights defenders," said Maureen
Greenwood-Basken, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA)
advocacy director for Europe and Central Asia.
The Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) and the
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), two
most powerful American Armenian lobby organizations,
expressed their sadness over the tragic murder of one
of the most prominent Armenian voices in Turkey.
"The Armenian Assembly condemns this blatant
political assassination and mourns the loss of an
exceptional human being and civil rights advocate who,
well aware of the personal risks to him, was
determined to serve as a catalyst for mutual
understanding, tolerance and dialogue. Hrant Dink
consistently championed democratic change in Turkey.
He will always be remembered for his strong leadership
and commitment to human rights," AAA said in
statement.
"The Armenian National Committee of America mourns
the loss of Hrant Dink, a leading Istanbul-based
Armenian journalist murdered outside the offices of
his Agos newspaper amid a growing tide of official
Turkish government prosecutions and nationalist
pressure to silence his writings on the Armenian
Genocide. Hrant Dink’s murder is tragic proof that the
Turkish government – through its campaign of denial,
threats and intimidation against the recognition of
the Armenian Genocide – continues to fuel the same
hatred and intolerance that initially led to this
crime against humanity more than 90 years ago," said
ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.
U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff has called on his
House colleagues to join with him in praising Hrant
Dink’s courage in confronting the facts of the
Armenian Genocide, and urging the Prime Minister of
Turkey to repeal the law under which Dink was
prosecuted.
Armenian president Robert Kocharian strongly
condemned the killing, saying through a spokesman that
Armenians hope that the Turkish authorities will
identify and punish the assassin.
For his part foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian
condemned Dink’s murder and called on Turkish
authorities to take swift action to identify those
responsible.
Also the Global Campaign for Free Expression
expressed its deep shock and sadness over the killing
of Hrant Dink. "Mr. Dink was one of the most outspoken
critics of Turkey’s actions between 1915 to 1923 when
hundreds of thousands of Turkey’s Armenian population
were killed or driven out of the country.
Increasingly, these events are being referred to as
the Armenian genocide by a range of international and
state actors," it said in a statement.
"I am profoundly shocked and saddened by the murder
of journalist and writer Hrant Dink. I join Prime
Minister Erdogan in condemnation of this heinous crime
and commend his pledge to bring the perpetrators to
justice" said Terry Davis, Secretary General of the
Council of Europe.
"Mr. Dink had the courage to write about a painful
period in the history of both Turkey and the whole
region. His works were always written in a sincere
spirit of reconciliation. Hrant Dink was targeted by
those who hated him for using his freedom of
expression and his freedom as a human being to help
his nation strengthen its commitment to European
values of tolerance and democracy. Mr. Dink will be
remembered for advancing the case of freedom of
expression in his country. It is important that
citizens in every country have the right to discuss
freely their national history," Terry Davis said in a
statement.
On Friday evening, thousands marched down the
street where Hrant Dink was killed, blocking traffic,
carrying posters of Dink and shouting slogans in favor
of free expression.

United Press International
Jan 19 2007

Controversial Turkish journalist killed

ISTANBUL, Turkey, Jan. 19 (UPI) — A prominent Turkish-Armenian
journalist was shot and killed Friday as he left his Istanbul
newspaper building.

Hrant Dink, the 53-year-old editor of the weekly Agos newspaper,
attracted controversy by speaking against the killings of Armenians
by the Ottoman Empire early in the 20th century, CNN reported.

A Turkish citizen of Armenian descent, Dink had been accused of being
a traitor and of "insulting" the Turkish state in his writings.

A colleague, Nuron Agan, said she heard three shots outside from her
desk at the Agos office, and told the New York Times that Dink had
requested police protection because of threats on his life.

Police said Dink was believed to have been shot four times by a young
man, perhaps 18 or 19, the report said.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the killing an attack on
Turkey, the Times reported.

"A bullet was fired at freedom of thought and democratic life in
Turkey," Erdogan said at a news conference.

EU AND USA CONDEMN THE MURDER OF HRANT DINK

Yerevan, January 19. ArmInfo. Olli Rehn, European Commissioner,
condemned the today’s murder of Hrant Dink in Istanbul.

Mr. Rehn said that H. Dink had always spoken for freedom of speech in
Turkey and defending his views was making a contribution into
establishment of the open dialogue. Ross Wilson, U.S. Ambassador to
Turkey, and Nicolas Burns, U.S. Undersecretary of State, on his visit
in Turkey also condemned the crime.

NKR MOD refutes Azeri reports on cease-fire violation

ArmRadio.am
19.01.2007 14:27

Press Service of NKR Ministry of Defense refuted the information of
Azeri media that `at 23:00 on January 17 serviceman of the Azeri Army
Shain Aliyev was killed as a result of cease-fire violation in the
direction of Ashali Abdurahmanli village in Fizuli region,’ ArmInfo
was told from the Press Service of NKR Ministry of Defense.

PARTY SHOCKED BY MURDER OF HRANT DINK

Yerevan, January 19. ArmInfo. The Party is shocked by today’s murder of
Turkish publicist Hrant Dink, the editor of the Armenian-language Party is
shocketold ArmInfo.

In Turkey Hrant Dink personified the national dignity and tolerance between
nations, the Party’s report runs. This crime threatens the freedom of speech
and may cause anxiety among national minorities living in Turkey. The Party
appeals to the Turkish Government to take all possible measures for soonest
disclosing the crime and punishing the criminals.

AZERIES BUILT A STREET IN THE PLACE OF ARMENIAN CEMETERY IN BAKU

Panorama.am
20:30 15/01/2007

Suren Zolyan, political scientist and rector of Brusov Linguistic
Institute, thinks Karabakh conflict settlement is in deadlock. Speaking
about the violence in Baku in 1990, he said Azeries have been faking
the history for 17 years and claim that Armenians killed Azeries during
"black January." The contrary has taken place. At the decision of city
building ministry, Azeries have built a street at the place of the
Armenian cemetery in Baku. Zolyan also said the fact that Armenia does
not have refugee camps does not mean that there are no refugees here.

In the opinion of political scientist Sergei Minasyan, about 80,000
people have received citizenship of Armenia and dozens of others
have received citizenship of other ex-Soviet Union states among the
forcefully dislocated people from Azerbaijan. He said we are speaking
about some 500 thousand people if we consider also others who have
left their residential areas because of Karabakh war.

Nelli Ghukasyan, a witness of Sumgait event, tells that Azeris showed
obvious hostility to her after Sumgait. "When I entered into teachers’
room, everybody went out," she is telling. An Azeri refugee family
helped her to hide in 1990. She said Armenians took the refugees
safely to the border whereas the Azeris robbed them, beat and even
threw out of windows.

ICRC REPRESENTATIVES VISITED AZERI CAPTIVES

ArmRadio.am
10.01.2007 13:27

Yesterday representatives of the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) Office in Yerevan visited Azeri captive Samir
Mamedov. They have passed Mamedov’s letter to his relatives,
representative of the Public Relations Department of the ICRC Office
in Baku Gyulnaz Gulieva told "Trend" agency. In her words, ICRC
representatives visited Mamedov four times. January 2 and 4 in Nagorno
Karabakh ICRC employee visited captive Eldaniz Nuriev. Gulieva noted
that the living conditions and psychological state of the prisoners
is under ICRC control.

Let us remind that Samir Mamedov was captured on December 25, and
Eldaniz Nuriev on December 31. According to the data of Azeri MOD,
they found themselves in the Armenian side because of losing the way.

NEXT ELECTIONS OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT BODIES TO BE HELD IN CHARENTSAVAN AND 7 RURAL COMMUNITIES IN JANUARY

Noyan Tapan
Jan 09 2007

YEREVAN, JANUARY 9, NOYAN TAPAN. The next elections of local
self-government bodies are envisaged in January in the city of
Charentsavan and 7 rural communities. Tsovinar Khachatrian, the
Central Electoral Commission Press Secretary informed the Noyan Tapan
correspondent about it.

The community head’s elections will be held on January 14 in the rural
community of Taronik, the marz of Armavir, the communities of Vahagn
and Meghvahovit, the marz of Lori, in the community of Dzorastan,
the marz of Syunik, and concillor’s elections will be held in the
rural community of Antarashat, the marz of Syunik.

The community head’s elections are scheduled for January 21 in the
rural community of Derek, the marz of Aragatsotn, the community of
Jajur, the marz of Shirak.

The Mayor’s elections are scheduled for January 28 in Charentsavan.

Samvel Petrosyan is committed to fielding Armenian
talent at Pyunik Tuesday, 9 January 2007
by Khachik Chakhoyan
from Yerevan

FC Pyunik coach Samvel Petrosyan told uefa.com that he
is committed to using local players as his club seek a
seventh successive Armenian title in 2007.

Homegrown talent
Having taken charge of Pyunik in March 2006, Armenia
Under-21 coach Petrosyan enjoyed a splendid year,
winning the league title by 16 points and helping a
new generation of locally-born players to find their
feet in domestic competition, having resisted the
temptation to bring in foreign players. "We could not
win every competition, but we won our sixth title and
that was our main target," the 52-year-old told
uefa.com.

‘Main target’
"Pyunik beat all our closest rivals in head-to-head
matches and in the process we managed to give a
run-out to many youngsters who will be playing more
important roles next season." With Petrosyan’s young
national squad winning three of their four UEFA
European U21 Championship qualifying games in 2006,
just missing out on a place in the play-offs, the
coach feels that his policy of supporting young
players at Pyunik is being vindicated, and he has no
intention of changing tack.

Pyunik duty
"Among other things, I think the club has a duty to
provide better players for the national teams," he
said. "If we rely on foreign players then how can we
expect our youngsters to gain skill and experience?
Today’s young players are the spine of tomorrow’s
Armenian national team." The only concern for
Petrosyan is that, in the event that Pyunik’s more
experienced players – the likes of Sargis Hovsepyan,
Rafael Nazaryan and Arsen Avetisyan – are lured
abroad, he would be left to defend the title with a
very young side. "We will have problems if that
happens, but we have talented players, who will become
decent replacements in time," he said.

Foreign rivals
League rivals FC Banants, FC MIKA and FC Ararat
Yerevan have threatened to bring in foreign talent to
crush Pyunik’s youngsters in 2007, but Petrosyan is
unconcerned. "Last season, most clubs had plenty of
foreigners, but we won the league comfortably without
them," he said. "If we don’t win the cup or the title
we will not make a tragedy out of it. Our main task is
to prepare youngsters for the future. We are building
a new team, and if two or three top class players
emerge, that is a result in itself."

©uefa.com

Turkish prime minister warns sectarian tensions in Lebanon will affect
region

International Herald Tribune
The Associated Press
Wednesday, January 3, 2007

BEIRUT, Lebanon

Turkey’s prime minister warned that growing sectarian tensions in Lebanon
will affect the entire Middle East if left unchecked and offered to mediate
in the political crisis if asked by rival factions.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived here on a one-day visit
for talks with feuding Lebanese leaders on the country’s deepening political
crisis.

Shortly after his arrival, Erdogan met with Lebanese premier Fuad Saniora
whose Western-backed government is facing increasing pressure in the form of
street protests led by Hezbollah and other opposition groups.

"I told Saniora that sectarian differences will leave repercussions on the
region," Erdogan told reporters.

"I also told him that all parties in Lebanon and all states in the region
must act to solve this problem," Erdogan said, stressing that a solution to
the Lebanese crisis should be reached through dialogue.

Erdogan’s visit came as the growing political and sectarian tensions among
Lebanese factions threaten to tear the country apart. It also came more than
a week after Arab League chief Amr Moussa said that his efforts have failed
to reach a solution to the crisis.

Tensions between pro- and anti-Syrian groups erupted when six pro-Hezbollah
Cabinet ministers resigned in November after Saniora rejected their demand
for a new national unity government that would give Hezbollah and its allies
a veto power on key Cabinet decisions.

Erdogan met Saniora who has been living at his office complex in central
Beirut amid a tight security cordon near the thousands of Hezbollah
supporters and allies camping nearby.

Erdogan, speaking in Turkish, said Turkey was not mediating in the Lebanese
crisis but was ready to do so if asked to help by feuding parties.

Saniora said because of its close ties with the Arab world, Turkey can play
"an important role" in promoting a solution to the Lebanese crisis.

"We stressed on stability in Lebanon and its impact on the region," he said.

Before meeting with Lebanon’s president and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri,
a Hezbollah ally, Erdogan flew by a Turkish military helicopter to southern
Lebanon where he inspected Turkish troops serving with the U.N. peacekeeping
force known as UNIFIL. He reviewed an honor guard, thanked troops for their
service and had lunch with military officers.

Some 260 Turkish troops, deployed near the southern port city of Tyre, are
helping rebuild bridges and roads damaged in last summer’s war between
Hezbollah and Israel. Turkish officials said that the total number of
Turkish personnel in Lebanon would ultimately reach 681, including sailors
and engineers.

Erdogan also said he will meet later Wednesday with legislator Mohammed
Raad, head of Hezbollah’s 11-member parliamentary bloc.

While Erdogan was meeting Saniora, thousands of Armenians, raising Lebanese
and Armenian flags, gathered in the streets north of Beirut shouting slogans
against the Turkish premier’s visit, witnesses said. All shops in the
Armenian neighborhood of Bourj Hammoud north of Beirut closed for a couple
of hours.

"Turkey, Israel’s strategic ally, cannot keep peace in Lebanon," read a
placard by the protesters. The protesters dispersed peacefully but the
demonstration caused a traffic jam on Beirut’s northern highway.

Ahead of Erdogan’s arrival, about 100 Armenian citizens, waving Lebanese
flags, also gathered outside the Beirut airport to protest his visit.

In October, thousands from Lebanon’s 80,000-100,000 strong Armenian
community rallied in downtown Beirut to protest Turkish participation in the
U.N. peacekeeping force because they blame Turkey’s Ottoman rulers for the
mass killing of Armenians in the early 20th century.
Turkey, a U.S. ally and NATO’s only predominantly Muslim member, has close
ties to both Israel and Arab states.

hd-aj
/01/03/africa/ME_GEN_Lebanon_Turkey.php