Author: Torgomian Varazdat

24 JOURNALISTS AND BLOGGERS ARRESTED IN IRAN

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
22.06.2009 20:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Iranian authorities have arrested at least 24
journalists and bloggers since postelection protests began a week
ago, and a media watchdog says reporters are a "priority target"
for Iran’s leadership.

Among those detained were the head of the Association of Iranian
Journalists and a Canadian reporter for Newsweek. The British
Broadcasting Corporation’s correspondent has been ordered to leave
the country.

"It’s becoming more and more problematic for journalists," said Benoit
Hervieu of Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, also known by its
French acronym RSF.

The group released the names of 23 Iranian journalists, editors
and bloggers arrested since June 14, and says it has lost contact
with several others believed detained or in hiding. Hervieu said
RSF verified each arrest via its network of reporters and activists
in Iran.

Newsweek said in a statement later that its correspondent Maziar
Bahari, a Canadian citizen, was detained without charge Sunday morning
and has not been heard from since. Newsweek defended his coverage of
Iran as "fair and nuanced" and called for his release.

In most cases, the reasons behind the detentions remain unclear.

Iran’s authorities have long kept a close eye on local and
international media operating in the country, and clamped down as
protests engulfed Tehran last week over the June 12 presidential
election, the biggest challenge to the cleric-led government in 30
years. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the landslide winner,
but supporters of reformist challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi say fraud
was widespread.

Authorities have banned foreign media from reporting from the street
and allow only phone interviews and information from officials
sources such as state TV. Many Web sites have been blocked. Iran is
particularly sensitive about news reports, blogs and Internet reports
in Farsi.

"The regime has been visibly shaken by its own population and does
not want to let this perception endure," RSF said in a statement.

The BBC’s Jon Leyne has been ordered to leave the country, a BBC
spokesman said on condition of anonymity in line with company policy.

The Fars news agency said Sunday that Leyne will have to leave
Iran within 24 hours, and that Iranian officials have accused him of
"dispatching fabricated news and reports, ignoring neutrality in news,
supporting rioters and trampling the Iranian nation’s rights."

Ali Mazroui, the head of the Association of Iranian Journalists, was
arrested Sunday morning, RSF said. Overnight, husband-and-wife Bahaman
Ahamadi Amoee and Jila Baniyaghoob were arrested by plainclothes
officers who searched their home, RSF said. Baniyaghoob edits a news
Web site that focuses on women’s rights, and her husband writes for
various pro-reform publications.

Others detained include a blogger known as the "Blogging Mullah,"
a cartoonist, a TV producer, the publisher of several newspapers,
a disabled former newspaper editor and a business reporter.

Nakhle Elhage, news director at Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television
network, said authorities told them their activities have been
suspended until further notice but did not ask their resident
correspondent Diaa al-Nasseri – an Iraqi – to leave.

Last Sunday, Al Arabiya in Tehran was told by the authorities to
suspend their activities for one week.

RSF says that, even before the election, Iran held more journalists and
cyber-dissidents in jails than any other country in the Middle East.

Hervieu said blogs, Twitter, YouTube and other Internet methods are
the only way most people can convey information from the street. But
the use of anonymity by blog posters trying to avoid repercussions
makes information difficult to verify. Many of those posting "are both
spectators and activists," blurring lines of impartiality, he said.

He said small digital cameras passed from activist to activist and
then to a foreign colleague or news organization are helping spread
images, though their provenance is not always clear. He noted the
example of the much-viewed amateur video on YouTube, showing dozens
of Iranians running down a street and shouting "Allahu Akbar" after
police fired tear gas.

AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll said last week that, when controls
are imposed, "we work with those restrictions, keeping in mind our
ultimate goal is to be able to do our jobs as journalists," she said.

Reporters were also restricted during the 1979 Iranian Revolution,
which saw the installation of the Islamic regime in power today,
reported the Associated Press.

OSCE TELLS TURKEY TO STOP PROSECUTING AUTHOR OF AN INVESTIGATIVE BOOK ABOUT HRANT DINK

armradio.am
20.06.2009 12:24

Turkey should stop prosecuting the author of an investigative book
about the murder of well-known ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink,
a European media watchdog has said in a letter to Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu, Today’s Zaman reported.

Author Nedim Sener, himself a journalist, said earlier this month he is
facing up to 28 years in prison if convicted in two cases on charges
of obtaining classified documents and insulting government officials
by claiming an intelligence cover-up over the 2007 killing of Dink.

The killing led to international condemnation and a debate within
Turkey about free speech. Sener’s book, "Dink Murder and Intelligence
Lies," claims police and military officials ignored tips about the
2007 killing before it occurred. The government has launched an
investigation into the allegations.

Miklos Haraszti, the media freedom representative of the Vienna-based
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said,
"Justice must not be degraded into an act of revenge by the criticized
authorities."

"What he did was critically assess the events leading up to Hrant
Dink’s murder, and the deficiencies afterwards in the handling of the
case and in the prosecution of the perpetrators," Haraszti wrote in
the letter to Davutoglu. A Turkish government spokes man declined to
comment on the criticism.

Haraszti also urged Turkey to reform laws that restrict free
speech. "By dropping the charges against Sener, Turkey could now
stop punishing the messengers of unwelcome news, and instead carry
out much-needed legal reform to ensure freedom of expression,"
Haraszti said.

GEORGI BOSS: "KALININGRAD-BASED ARMENIANS ARE FULLY INTEGRATED IN REGION’S LIFE"

Noyan Tapan
June 17, 2009

Yerevan, June 17, Noyan Tapan. Today, President Serzh Sargsyan received
the Governor of Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation Georgi
Boss. The President of Armenia noted with satisfaction the dynamically
developing strategic partnership between Armenia and Russia and
stressed the importance of strengthening direct ties and expanding
cooperation between the administrative unions of the two countries.

Governor Boss underlined traditionally friendly Armenian-Russian
relations which become stronger and deeper year by year. Noting,
that a large number of Armenians live in Kaliningrad province, Georgi
Boss said that they are fully integrated in the life of the region,
have their own school, church and a cultural center is constructed.

As the press office of the RA president reports, President Sargsyan
expressed gratitude for creating all necessary conditions for Armenians
to preserve their language and culture.

Speaking about economic cooperation opportunities, the interlocutors
agreed that it is necessary to compare economic potentials of the
two countries, pinpointing the areas in which each side can appear
in the other’s market.

SEMNEBY: TURKEY TOOK "TACTICAL STEP BACKWARDS" ON NORMALIZING RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
18.06.2009 11:01 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey has taken a "tactical step backwards"
on normalizing relations with Armenia because of hostile domestic
reaction to the move, the EU’s envoy to the region said in an interview
with Reuters.

"A step back was taken by the Turkish side … but this is not a
U-turn," said EU South Caucasus envoy Peter Semneby. "We expect the
conversations will continue."

After decades of hostility, Muslim Turkey and Christian Armenia
announced in April a "roadmap" for re-establishing diplomatic relations
and opening their shared border.

But Ankara’s Muslim ally Azerbaijan said Armenia should first leave
Nagorno-Karabakh, a mostly ethnic Armenian enclave which broke away
after fighting a bloody war with Azerbaijan in the 1990s and claims
independence.

Turkey then offered support for the Azeri position, complicating
further progress in talks with Armenia.

Semneby said in the interview, conducted at the end of a visit to
Moscow last week, that it was important the "pause" in the peace
process between Turkey and Armenia did not last too long because of
the risk that impetus would be lost.

"The normalization (with Armenia) became the subject of quite
widespread and heated discussion in Turkey," he added in earlier
remarks to a small group of reporters. "It seems to me, this discussion
became more heated than was expected." Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip
Erdogan promised Azerbaijan during a visit to Baku last month that
Ankara would not open its border with Armenia – closed since 1993 –
until Armenia ended what he termed its occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh.

"I see this as a Turkish tactical step backwards," Semneby told
Reuters. "But fundamentally, the new foreign policy that has been
pursued by the Erdogan government, I don’t see that this policy
is changing."

Local election, national politics

Municipal elections took place in Yerevan on 31 May, "a local election
driven by a national agenda". Amidst claims of widespread fraud and
intimidation, opposition leader and former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan
called for protests

17.06.2009 From Yerevan, Onnik Krikorian

As the first significant election to be held since last year’s bitterly
disputed and highly controversial presidential vote, the conduct of the
poll to determine Yerevan’s mayor should have provided the authorities
with the sorely-needed opportunity to improve Armenia’s democratic
credentials in the international arena. However, while a small team of
European observers considered the municipal election to be `largely
conducted in compliance with European standards," local observers and
analysts were not impressed.

Speaking to Osservatorio, Armenian National and International Studies
(ACNIS) Director Richard Giragosian is one of many critical of the vote.
`It was outrageous and yet another example of the systemic abuse and
misuse of administrative resources, the power of incumbency in this
country, and yet another lost opportunity for Armenia to actually turn
the page after the 1 March fiasco. However, the real hypocrisy comes not
from the Armenian government, but from the European observers who once
again endorsed a fragrantly abusive election.’

Despite such opinions, however, one diplomatic source in Yerevan urges
caution when considering the opinion of the observers from the Council
of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities by suggesting
that critics wait until the final report is published.

Regardless, the stakes in the election were always going to be high.
Although ostensibly a local election, the importance of the vote to
determine who controls the economic and political heart of the country
had already been heightened by the candidacy of Levon Ter-Petrosyan,
Armenia’s first president and leader of the main extra-parliamentary
opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC). The coalition of over a
dozen minor political parties supporting him considered the vote to be a
`second-round’ of last year’s presidential election.

Ter-Petrosyan came in second during that vote to the current president,
Serzh Sargsyan, amidst claims of widespread fraud and intimidation. A
tense post-election standoff ended only when a state of emergency was
declared following bloody clashes between opposition supporters and
security forces which left 10 dead. Hundreds of Ter-Petrosyan’s closest
supporters and allies were detained, some still remain in custody or
prison, and a few remain on the run, location unknown.

Considering that, claims from the local affiliate of Transparency
International that the municipal vote was the `most illegal, amoral and
cynical elections in all the history of Armenia’ might be considered
somewhat of an exaggeration, but the larger concerns about
democratization in the country certainly continue to ring true. From the
outset, reports indicated that vote-buying was rampant among an
electorate which remains apathetic and unconvinced that it has the
ability to determine its own representatives and leaders.

Turnout was only 52 percent, despite probable ballot-box stuffing and
reports of bussing in of voters by the ruling governmental Republican
Party (RPA). Final results showed that the RPA won with 47.39 percent of
the vote, while Ter-Petrosyan’s ANC came in a distant third with just 17
percent, leading some in the parliamentary opposition Heritage party to
criticize the former president. Two of its MPs, Armen Martirosyan and
Zaruhi Postanjyan, said that the ANC’s poor showing indicated that it
was `not a mature political force yet.’

Giragosian agrees, but also says the vote highlighted other shortcomings
in Armenia’s fledgling democratic system. Rather than focus on local
issues of concern, much of Ter-Petrosyan’s campaign rhetoric instead
centered more on accusing the authorities of `selling-out’ national
issues during efforts to improve relations with Turkey and reported
momentum in negotiations to resolve the long-running conflict with
Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh.

`One of my fundamental criticisms across the board is that we had a
local election driven by a national agenda where this wasn’t about trash
collection, road repairs or local issues of concern to Yerevan’s
residents,’ he says. `This is a reflection on the sad state of local
politics in Armenia where discourse is already fundamentally limited
within certain nationalist parameters. However, this was a
miscalculation because it failed and is rooted in the bigger problem of
politics driven by personality rather than by policy alternatives.’

Moreover, argues Giragosian, while the two main governmental parties
could be faulted for resorting to falsification, so too can the
extra-parliamentary opposition be for preparing for what it hoped would
be huge post-election rallies on the scale of those following last
year’s presidential vote. Instead, the day after the 31 May election,
the opposition only managed to gather just a few thousand, with many of
those attending looking depressed and disillusioned. A new strategy was
only revealed last Friday at another rally attended by just 4-5,000 people.

Typically, the first three main points from the opposition’s 12-point
platform focuses on Armenia-Turkey relations and the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict, highlighting the fact that political forces on all sides
consider such issues as the only way to mobilize support.

But, if falling attendances at opposition rallies and low support at the
polls might also represent the gradual demise of the extra-parliamentary
opposition, Giragosian argues that last month’s mayoral election instead
indicates that there could be a new re-drawing of the political
landscape, but perhaps in unexpected ways. With clashes reported between
the RPA and another ruling party, Prosperous Armenia, the real changes
might occur away from the opposition and in the government camp itself.

`The only difference from previous elections is that within the monolith
of the ruling coalition we saw new fractures and fissures appearing with
members from the two parties literally assaulting and getting into fist
fights with each other. The election demonstrated yet again that there
is the lack of true political parties in this country and the lack of
any grassroots bottom-up driven policy or ideology-driven forces,’ he says.

`It was strict confirmation that things are still unacceptably bad and
we’re going in the wrong direction. Armenia is approaching a crossroads
where it might become even more authoritarian by following a Belarus
model. However, the real determinant here is not politics, but
economics. The political stalemate and polarization can sustain the
system, and it can be managed, but an economic crisis would be the
tipping point. If the government can’t handle that, then this will pose
more serious challenges.’

—
http://www.osservatoriobalcani.o rg/article/articleview/11471/1/404

‘VIVACELL-MTS’ SUBSCRIBERS TO BE ABLE TO BUILD THEIR OWN TARIFF

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
2009-06-16 12:34:00

ArmInfo. VivaCell-MTS introduces the most flexible postpaid corporate
package – "Business Flexy". Now you can build your own tariff from
a wide set of options and select the combination that is the best
adapted to your needs, the Company press service reported.

The tariff may be created according to the tariffs of calls to
each destination. After creating your tariff plan you can apply
directly from our website and our sales representative will contact
you. You can also subscribe to the "Business Flexy" package in any of
VivaCell-MTS service centers. Regardless of the tariff plan created,
tariffs for calls made to NKR and international destinations, as
well as the tariffs for SMS and MMS sent to any destination remain
the same. For "Business Flexy" subscribers, in case of changing the
tariff plan/package, the new tariff plan/package will be applied from
the beginning of next month.

MEETING OF RA AND RF FOREIGN MINISTERS HELD IN MOSCOW

NOYAN TAPAN
JUNE 15, 2009
MOSCOW

RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, who is in Moscow for taking part
in the CSTO Foreign Ministers’ Council sitting, met with RF Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov on June 14. A number of issues regarding
deepening of Armenian-Russian allied relations were discussed at
the meeting.

According to the RA Foreign Ministry Press and Information Department,
E. Nalbandian and S. Lavrov also touched upon a number of regional
and international issues at the meeting.

MARIE YOVANOVITCH TO VISIT PRELACY

NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY
JUNE 15, 2009
WASHINGTON

Marie Yovanovitch, the United States Ambassador to the Republic of
Armenia, will visit the Prelacy on June 23. The Ambassador will meet
the Prelate, Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan. The representatives of
Prelacy parishes and affiliate organizations will be present at the
reception and will have the opportunity to participate in a question
and answer session with the Ambassador. The reception will begin at
7:30 pm and will be open to the public.

ARMENIA: OPPOSITION DISTRUSTS AMNESTY MOTIVES

June 15, 2009

Armenian authorities have prepared an amnesty and scrapped a commission
that was to investigate the causes of post-election political violence
in 2008, the leader of the opposition New Times Party, Aram Karapetian,
announced during a June 15 news conference.

Karapetian suggested the government moves were part of a cover-up
designed to prevent information from coming to light on the causes
of the 2008 clashes. "Authorities are trying to hush up the issue,"
Karapetian was quoted by Regnum news agency as saying. He said that he
had received 2,000 pages and lots of video evidence collected by the
commission that could shed light on "what really happened" on March
1, 2008. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan dissolved the fact-finding group on June 6.

Karapetian added that the government’s plans to announce an amnesty
also serve the purpose of trying to keep public attention away from
thinking about responsibility for the events.

"Amnesty is a good thing, but it is bad that the president is trying
to present it as a public demand," said Karapetyan.

GREAT BRITAIN SUPPORTS TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF AZERBAIJAN AT INT’L LEVEL: AMBASSADOR

Trend
June 11 2009
Azerbaijan

Great Britain supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan at
the international level and is in favor of resolution of conflict
within the framework of international law, said British Ambassador
in Azerbaijan Caroline Brown said during his visit to Tovuz region
of the country. The diplomat also visited the village, located on
the contact line of troops of Armed Forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Brown, who visited Tovuz region at the initiative of deputy Ganira
Pashayeva, visited graves of martyrs and the mosque. The diplomat met
with Tovuz region administration officials and deputies. The ambassador
was informed about the history of Tovuz, its economic potential and
business. The possibility of investment by foreign businessmen in the
sphere of agricultural products in Tovuz, extension of cooperation
with local entrepreneurs in this field was also stressed.

Guests visited the villages of Agdam and Alibeyli village in Tovuz,
located on the border with Armenia. Ambassador met with local residents
and they informed her about the burning of the cemetery and fire,
committed by Armenians on the front, and other acts of vandalism. The
civilian population, who are engaged in agriculture, is under fire
opened by Armenians. The Ambassador also visited the homes and
schools that were damaged as the result of violation of ceasefire by
Armenians. The ambassador spoke to civilians, who were injured during
working on fields as a result of fire, opened by Armenian snipers.

Brown expressed regret that many countries, including Western,
do not know the truth about this conflict and the situation on the
contact line.

"Sometimes people call this conflict is frozen. Indeed, the phrase
"frozen conflict" is not appropriate when you see people with shrapnel
in the body, civilians who can not safely walk down the streets. UK
calls this not as "frozen conflict" but the war, which has not
been resolved. My country has repeatedly stated that recognizes the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. We are absolutely
know where start and end boundaries of countries in the region ",
Brown said.

As for the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, the
ambassador said that her country supports the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan at the international level and is in favor of solving
the problem within the framework of international law.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed
forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including
the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan
and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of
the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. – are currently
holding the peace negotiations.

Brown also met with women activists in Tovuz, NGO representatives,
as well as with students and teachers. Students asked questions
about the occupation policy of Armenia. Tovuz residents presented
to Ambassador saz (national music instrument) and kelagai (silk
scarf). The Ambassador also visited the Baltika factory in Tovuz and
acquainted with local production. Brown visited a local TV channel
Simurq-M, met with its team and together with the deputy Ganira
Pashayeva answered questions on air.