Author: Torgomian Varazdat

TURKISH ARMENIAN WOMAN SPEAKING AGAINST ORHAN PAMUK LIKELY TO BE
NOMINATED AS MP CANDIDATE

ANKARA, MAY 19, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. 61-year-old Turkish
Armenian citizen Verkin Arhoba applied to the "Justice and Democracy"
ruling party with the request to be nominated by this party as MP
candidate.

Verkin Arhoba is a member of the governing body of the Preservation of
Historical Heritage organization. She was born in 1946, received
education in the US and Switzerland, married to a Turk.

The Turkish press underlines the fact that Verkin Arhoba is noted for
her criticism of the Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk. As is well known, the
2006 Literature Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk said in an interview to
a Swiss newspaper that "30 thousand Kurds and a million Armenians were
killed in these lands (NT: Turkey). No one, except me, has had the
courage to speak about it." Criticizing these words of Pamuk, Arhoba
noted: "My family has lived in these lands for a thousand years and
did not go away. I raise my word of protest against the fact that he
made a show of this event in order to sell his book."

To recap, during a recent interview to "Zaman" newspaper, the Armenian
Patriarch of Constantinople Mesrop Mutafian attached importance to
representation of Armenians at the Mejlis.

DEFENSE WORLD TO GATHER IN ANKARA NEXT WEEK

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
May 17 2007

Turkey’s four-day long International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF’07),
which will host defense ministers as well as high-ranking commanders
from almost 45 countries with around 434 military companies displaying
their products, will start on May 22 at the Ankara Eryaman hippodrome.

The highest participation in the eighth edition of the fair —
organized by the Foundation for the Strengthening of the Turkish Armed
Forces (TSKGV) as well as fair organizers Tuyap under the sponsorship
of the Defense Ministry — will be from host country Turkey with
157 companies. This will be followed by Germany with 59 companies;
the US with 31; Italy with 27; the UK with 26; and France with 20.

French military companies are prominent participants in the fair
despite the fact that France as a state was not officially invited
to attend. Ankara suspended its military-to-military contacts with
the country in protest of French parliament’s approval of a bill in
October of last year, which made it a crime to deny that Ottoman Turks
allegedly committed genocide against Armenians during World War I.

France has also decided to close down its Ankara office of the
Delegation Generale pour l’Armement (DGA), the French defense
procurement agency, by the end of July as the arms deals between the
two countries have seen a decline in recent years.

According to the September 2006 report delivered to the French
Parliament by the DGA, Turkish military imports from France stayed
at around 1.5 billion euros ($1.9 billion) between 1995 and 2005,
partly due to the Armenian genocide dispute.

Meanwhile Israel, South Korea, Pakistan, Spain and Sweden — as well
as Switzerland, which Ankara included in its black-listed countries in
arms trade over the genocide dispute — are also among the countries
with companies participating in the fair.

Increase in participation

A 61 percent increase in participation at this year’s defense fair,
compared the last one held two years ago, indicates a visibly increased
interest in Turkey’s lucrative arms market after a stagnation period
following the devastating February 2001 crisis.

Turkey’s decision to change the season for holding the fair — from
September to May — has also played a role in the higher participation,
as September will witness other international defense fairs organized
elsewhere in the world, with arms companies unwilling to participate
in back-to-back fairs due to their high cost.

This year’s fair will also mark a serious change in defense industry
policy, with local shares in arms projects increased to boost the
country’s ailing defense industry.

MONITORING OF AGHDAM PART OF KARABAKH-AZERBAIJANI CONTACT LINE TO BE HELD ON MAY 16

Noyan Tapan
May 16 2007

STEPANAKERT, MAY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. NKR President Arkadi
Ghukasian received on May 15 Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk. Noyan Tapan was
informed about it by the NKR President’s Press Office.

Among othe issues, the interlocutors touched upon the program
monitoring of the Aghdam part of the Karabakh-Azerbaijani contact
line to be held on May 16.

SERIOUS CHANGES ARE EXPECTED IN THE GOVERNMENT, PM SAYS

ArmRadio.am
16.05.2007 15:13

Speaking about the formation of a coalition government is still
premature.

The Republican Party is still holding negotiations and is ready to
cooperate with any political force, RA Prime Minister, Republican
Party leader Serge Sargsyan told the journalists today.

Turing to the Foreign Minister’s position, the Prime Minister
expressed the opinion that Vartan Oskanian will hold his office,
since the positions of the Foreign Minister and the Defense Minister
are controlled by the President of the country.

The Prime Minister said serious changes are expected in the Government.

EU REPRESENTATIVE PRAISES ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION

Mediamax news agency
15 May 07

Yerevan, 15 May: Armenia "has passed the test" and "will continues
to move closer to the EU", Peter Semneby, European Union special
representative for the South Caucasus, has said in an interview
with Mediamax. Semneby was commenting on his previous statements
that the Armenian parliamentary election would become an important
"test" in [Armenia’s] relations with the EU because it would be the
first election after the European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan
became effective.

"Yes, Armenia passed the test, and it is a good ground for continuing
partnership with the EU in the context of previous agreements. The
high level of interest in the election was an inspiring proof of
growing political and civic engagement," Semneby said. He, however,
reminded that Armenia "has not been given excellent marks."

"The observer missions mentioned several remaining problems that
should be eliminated before the presidential election in Armenia next
year. In particular, very often, there was no distinction between the
ruling party and the government. Also, there were too many problems
with the vote counting," Semneby said.

He expressed hope that new members of parliament would make it "a
forum for important and active debates on future directions of the
country’s development".

"The joint devotion to democracy, human rights and the rule of law
is a cornerstone for the partnership between Armenia and the EU. I
am sure that Armenia will continue to move closer to the EU," he said.

BBC Monitoring quotes from Armenian press 13 May 07

The following is a selection of quotes from articles and commentaries
published in the 13 May 07 editions of Armenian newspapers:

Reactions to the parliamentary election

Hayots Ashkharh (pro-government) "Continuous disgrace of elections is
one of the most important conditions for successful coloured
revolutions. Radical opposition, "human rights" organizations and
observers funded by international organizations work hand in hand to
achieve this goal. A well-established mechanism is put into
operation. Everybody knows what they have to do." (Commentary by
Vrezh Aharonyan)

Golos Armenii (pro-government) "It is virtually absolutely obvious to
everyone that not many have expected such a high voter turnout, no
matter what comments were made ahead of the 12 May parliamentary
election or whatever attempts to question its outcome well in advance
were made by some political forces. This said, it has turned out that
our citizens, judging by everything, have demonstrated their
positions, being aware that the current presidential election is of
crucial importance for the country as the presidential election will
follow in less than a year." (Commentary by A. Chilingaryan)

Azg (centrist) "The main conclusion on this 12 May parliamentary
election probably is that the first-past-the-post system has exhausted
itself and cannot exist without vote-rigging. Most election fraud and
shortcomings detected during the voting day in and outside polling
stations are done by the candidates running under the
first-past-the-post system." (Commentary by A. M.)

Aravot (opposition) "I have to say that while the `victory’ of the
authorities is not deserved, the defeat of the opposition is well
deserved. Both the radical and the moderate opposition forces did
their best to have the results we have today." (Commentary by editor
Aram Abrahamyan)

Haykakan Zhamanak (opposition) "Armenian citizens can calm down: the
Republican Party of Armenia has no intention of taking the 150 per
cent of the votes in 12 May parliamentary election. At least as of
yesterday, 12 May, the votes of the RPA did not exceed 100 per
cent. If speaking more seriously, we have to state that the 2007
parliamentary election was notable by the better-organized
fraud". (Editorial)

Arka News Agency, Armenia
May 10 2007

13TH CONFERENCE OF CIS MINISTERS OF EDUCATION TO BE HELD IN ARMENIA
IN OCT 2007

YEREVAN, May 10. /ARKA/. The 13th conference of CIS Ministers of
Education is to be held in Armenia in October 2007.
The press service of the RA Ministry of Education and Science reports
that this decision was made at the 12th conference in Dushanbe,
Tajikistan, on May 3-4, 2007.
The Yerevan conference will mainly focus on the quality of education.
The Council for Educational Cooperation is to hold its 20th meeting
as part of the conference as well.
RA Minister of Education and Science Levon Mkrtichyan, and the member
of the Council for Educational Cooperation, Chairman of the RA Higher
Certification Commission Armen Trchunyan participated in the 12th
conference in Dushanbe.
The participants agreed on the drafts of interstate documents: the
Agreement on common approaches of the CIS countries to the documents
on higher professional education, Agreement on coordination of
standardization of comprehensive education, interstate program of
educational cooperation until 2010, and Agreement on refresher
courses for teachers of comprehensive educational institutions in the
CIS.
The conference participants discussed issues of developing
cooperation in specialized professional and higher education,
programs of exchanging students, teachers and research workers in the
CIS, training and retraining programs. P.T. -0–

BANANTS BECOMES FOOTBALL CUP WINNER OF ARMENIA

YEREVAN, MAY 11, NOYAN TAPAN. The Yerevan Banants and Ararat teams met
at the semi-final stage of the football cup tournament of Armenia in
the Hanrapetakan (Republican) sports ground on May 9. Sportsmen of
Ararat opened the score in the first half of the game. The score
became equal after the break.

During the additional 30-minute play time, the Banants football
players, taking the rival’s gate other 2 times, won with a score of
3:1 and took the cup of Armenia.

Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918
Fax: 818.246.7353
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

PRESS RELEASE
May 9, 2007

Contact: Haig Hovsepian
Tel: (818) 500-1918

Armenian Genocide Survivor Marks 100th Birthday
By Donating Funds to ANCA-WR

Glendale, CA – Armenian Genocide Survivor Ghazaros Kademian recently
celebrated his 100th birthday by sharing a generous donation with the
Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR). The
donation will provide the ANCA-WR the resources to continue its Armenian
Genocide educational awareness programs across the Western United States.

In a May 18, 2005 statement submitted to the Congressional Record,
Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA-29) honored Ghazaros Kademian, a resident of
Glendale, California. Kademian was only six years old when his family was
forced into exile from their homeland in the village of Zeitoun. Kademian’s
mother saved him and his siblings by fleeing the oncoming slaughter of the
Ottoman Turks.

"The ANCA-WR is honored that Ghazaros Kademian, a hero of the Armenian
people, a survivor of the Armenian Genocide, has become one of our
sponsors," explained ANCA-WR Executive Director Andrew Kzirian. His
generosity reflects his determination that our common story be told, with
clarity, to our fellow Americans," Kzirian added.

Having survived the genocide, Kademian went on to marry an Armenian girl
named Azadouhi and had three children, Ohanes, Asdghig and Anahid. He is
also the proud to have seven grandchildren, all of whom know his remarkable
story of faith, dedication and survival. On April 29, 2007 the family of
Ghazaros Kademian celebrated his 100th birthday by inviting his friends and
family to mark the wonderful occasion. Among those present at the
celebration held in Glendale were Congressman Adam Schiff, Glendale Mayor
Ara Najarian and ANCA-WR Chairman Raffi Hamparian.

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

STATEMENT BY A GROUP OF ACTIVISTS OF MOVEMENT 88 PARTY

KarabakhOpen
08-05-2007 17:55:20

On May 7 a statement was signed on behalf of the Central Council of
the Democratic Party of Artsakh, the Central Committee of the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun of Artsakh, the Central Council of the Azat Hayrenik
Party and the board of the Movement 88 Party, giving their support
to Bako Sahakyan in the presidential election on July 19.

We who sign this state that the leader of the Movement 88 Party Edward
Aghabekyan was not authorized to sign such a document on behalf of
the board because the board did not hold a meeting and decide to
support Bako Sahakyan.

Gegham Baghdasaryan, deputy leader, member of the board of the Movement
88 Party

Margarita Karamyan, member of the board of the Movement 88 Party

Gagik Avanesyan, member of the Movement 88 Party