Author: Torgomian Varazdat

AMENDMENTS TO ARMENIAN CRIMINAL CODE ARE WELCOMED BY PACE CO-RAPPORTEURS FOR ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2009-04-03 12:32:00

ArmInfo. The co-rapporteurs for Armenia of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Georges Colombier (France,
EPP/CD) and John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), today welcomed
the adoption of amendments to Articles 300 and 225 of the Armenian
criminal code. The co-rapporteurs underlined that, in its opinion,
the Venice Commission considered that these amendments would be a
clear improvement to the Law, and considerably reduce the scope for
over-broad and abusive interpretation. "We note that the changes
introduced to the Law within the agreed timeframe, on the basis of
proposals by the special working group set up by the Speaker of the
National Assembly, are fully in line with what was indicated to us in
January this year. This is a clear signal from the Parliament that
it wants to avoid any politically-motivated application of these
articles. It is clear to us that this should have a considerable
effect on the cases in relation to those deprived of their freedom
in relation to the events of 1 and 2 March 2008 which are currently
before the courts," said the co-rapporteurs.

However, they stressed that it is the application of these amendments
that will ultimately count. We hope that the authorities, and
especially the Prosecutor General, will now follow the clear signal
made by the National Assembly," said the co-rapporteurs. "We repeat
that the Assembly has demanded that all persons deprived of their
liberty in relation to the events of 1 and 2 March, and who did not
personally commit violent crimes, should be released. These amendments
offer an effective mechanism for Armenia to comply with that demand,"
said the corapporteurs. "However, we want to stress that there are also
persons deprived of their liberty who are not covered by Articles 300
and 225 of the Criminal Code. We will therefore continue our dialogue
with the authorities, and the National Assembly of Armenia, with the
aim of securing their release." The co-rapporteurs will report back to
the Monitoring Committee during the April part-session on the progress
made by Armenia in implementing Resolutions 1609 (2008), 1620 (2008)
and 1643 (2009), especially with regard to the persons deprived of
their liberty in relation to the events of 1 and 2 March 2008.

ELECTIONS IN TURKEY: 6 PEOPLE KILLED, OVER 100 INJURED
Karine Ter-Sahakyan

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2009 GMT+04:00

The ruling party receives 40% of votes, which is considered a defeat
in Turkey.

Turkish municipal elections, on which the Justice and Development
Party (AKP) and its leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan pinned all their
hopes, are now over, falling short of Islamists’ expectations. The
elections revealed all the problems, which the AKP has been trying to
solve through force or empty slogans and promises. The elections also
proved that in spite of persecution and arrests, Kemalists and the Army
in particular, still preserve their positions in the Turkish society.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Its mite in the Â"defeatÂ" also had the world
crisis, though its share is smallest in the fact that Turkey is
not yet ready for Islamists’ absolute rule. We can assume with
some confidence that the main problem lies in the personality of
the Turkish Premier. Mr. Erdogan’s statements and actions did not
add to his authority. The reception of Erdogan in Istanbul airport
after the scandal in Davos was just an organized action. Moreover,
it was successful as it was firstly directed against the Jews and
only secondly to the support of Erdogan.

No one believed the elections would be peaceful, but they really
substantiated all our most horrible fears. Six people were killed and
about a hundred were injured in the most Â"problematicÂ" provinces,
populated basically with Kurds. According to Turkish media, altogether
590 people were detained in polling stations during the elections. In
Izmir, where the AKP came off second-best, the police made a list
of addresses of a number of people, 228 of whom were taken to police
departments.

In the south-eastern city of Kahramanmaras the police have pursued
a similar strategy, giving executives of polling stations names of
the people they were looking for. Most of these people were accused
of minor financial machination or of inflicting physical injuries
to other people. 183 people were detained here. Besides, 70 people
were detained in Erzerum, 30 people – in Manisa, and another 100 were
arrested for various disturbances in the southeastern city of Adiyaman.

In many election centers similar problems were also faced by the
disabled, who wanted to take part in the election. However, all these
measures did not help the authorities preserve their position of the
leader. In comparison with previous elections, the ruling Justice
and Development Party won 8% of votes less, losing in a range of big
cities, particularly in Antalya. The party received 40% of votes,
which is considered a defeat in Turkey.

The Council of Europe condemned the unlawful actions during the
municipal elections in Turkey. "I condemn the violence which erupted
during local elections in Turkey on 29 March, leaving six people dead
and some hundred injured," stressed Ian Micallef, a.i. President of
the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. In
his words, it is both tragic and absurd that the ultimate exercise
in democracy – elections – lead to bloodshed.

Prime-Minister Erdogan showed his dissatisfaction over the issue,
speaking rather roughly of the Â"ungratefulÂ" inhabitants of
Antalya. "We have done so much for them!," Erdogan said.

Be that as it may, after the elections the Erdogan government
will meet more difficulties in trying to explain its moves to its
people. It would also be hard for Turkey to justify herself to the
EU for the democratic reforms, which, in reality, have never been
carried out. Even if they have been materialized, it wasn’t done the
way it should be done by the countries eager to enter the European
family. In a word, confrontation between Islamists and Kemalists is
not yet over, and nobody yet knows what results it might have. But
one thing is clear – an Islamic country, even one as progressive as
Turkey, in no way falls into the pattern of a democratic country.

TASHNAK REJECTS HARIRI’S PROPOSAL, AND CONFIRMS HIS ALLIANCE WITH THE FREE PATRIOTIC MOVEMENT IN ALL DISTRICTS

Al-Tayyar
April 1 2009
Lebanon

The Tashnak party’s central committee issued a statement on Wednesday
confirming its participation in the upcoming parliamentary elections
and declaring its political and electoral alliance with the Free
Patriotic Movement and Agriculture Minister Elias Skaff in the Zahle
district.

The adoption of the 2000 electoral law in the 2005 elections led to an
imbalance in representation, especially in Beirut’s three districts,
the party’s statement read, adding that the party boycotted the
last elections because of the "injustice against the Christian
communities… the Armenian community, and MPs Hagop Pakradounian
and Georges Kasarji," won by only a slight margin.

"During the past four years, Tashnak was communicating with all
Lebanese political parties and also tried to communicate with MP
Saad Hariri, but these attempts did not succeed for unknown reasons,"
the statement read.

Tashnak’s statement also said that it had maintained contact with
the Hanshak and Ramgaphar Armenian parties, and had "proposed the
reactivation of the Armenian bloc, which would include six deputies,
one for each party, and the remaining three will be assigned after
consensus. The parties responded positively and said they will discuss
this issue, but then the two parties changed their mind because they
had commitments to the Future bloc."

He continued: "taken from here the Central Committee of the Party
took its decision to revive the Armenian bloc, which will include
five deputies, due to the existence of an agreement on the division
of the four seats in the second district of Beirut at Doha between
the opposition and pro-government forces, to give an Armenian seat
to the Future movement and another one to the Tashnak party".

"As it is known, Hariri, during a meeting on March 6 with Tashnak
Secretary General Hovig Mekhitarian, in the presence of MP Michel
al-Murr, proposed to exchange four parliamentary seats out of six for
us to vote in favor of the March 14 alliance in the Beirut I district,
Metn, and Zahle."

The party told Hariri during the second meeting on Tuesday night
about the formation of an Armenian bloc to include five deputies,
with a sixth reserved for Armenian parties allied with Hariri, which
would have the freedom to make political decisions, but the future
leader did not respond, according to the statement.

The statement concluded: "We would like to reaffirm our political and
electoral alliance with the Free Patriotic Movement in all circles,
and with His Excellency the Minister Elie Skaff in Zahle, with an
emphasis on the need to communicate with everyone, both before and
after the elections based on the party’s principle of convergence
and dialogue with all the Lebanese parties."

ISTC, RA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE SIGN MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.04.2009 14:53 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A memorandum of understanding between the Armenian
Ministry of Education and Science and International Science and
Technology Center (ISTC) was signed in Yerevan today.

"This is a significant step for strengthening cooperation with
the Armenian scientific society," said Ardiaan van der Meer, ISTC
executive director.

The Governing Board of the International Science and Technology Center
(ISTC) held its 48th meeting in Moscow, Russian Federation, from March
24 to 26. It approved the final Project Funding Worksheet (FS48)
and 10 new projects representing over $2,064,595 and â~B¬385,000
in new funding for activities in Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia
and Kazakhstan.

As of today, Armenia was provided with over 400 projects to the amount
of $36.5 million.

The International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) is an
intergovernmental organization connecting scientists from Russia,
Georgia and other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS) with their peers and research organizations in Canada, EU,
Japan, Republic of Korea, Norway and the United States.

"WE SHALL WIN IF WE MOVE FASTER"

A1+
12:27 pm | March 30, 2009

Business

The halfback of Armenia’s football team, Arthur Voskanyan, will not
participate in the Estonia-Armenia return match because of the traumas
received during a March 28 Armenia-Estonia meeting (2:2). Arthur
Voskanyan was substituted immediately after the first match.

"I don’t know when I shall finally recover. Doctors say I need at
least a two-day rest, then I shall likely resume training," says
the halfback.

The skillful footballer says Armenia stood a good chance to win
the match.

"As you know we had given a poor start during the qualifiers and
longed for a victory. The desire to win was so great that our team
played in a haste making mistakes in the second match. If we had
played calmly we could have kicked three goals.

During the Yerevan meeting Estonia proved to be a worthy
contestant. On the other hand, we were able to reveal their weak
and strong points. Our contender panicked every time we made quick
ball passes. I think this time we can beat Estonia. Armenia will
surely win if our team displays a quicker and literate football.""
The return match is due on April 1.

NKR PRESIDENT DISCUSSED WITH THE OSCE AMBASSADOR THE NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT PROCESS

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2009-03-30 10:13
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

The Azerbaijani-Karabakhi conflict settlement process was discussed at
the March 27 meeting of the NKR President Bako Sahakyan and Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej
Kasprzyk.

According to the Central Information Department of the Office of the
NKR President, issues related to the OSCE monitoring of the line of
contact of Karabakhi and Azerbaijani Armed Forces were also discussed
at the meeting.

GERMANY HAILS ARMENIA-TURKEY ATTEMPTS TO THAW ICY RELATIONS

ARKA
March 30, 2009

YEREVAN, March 30. /ARKA/. Germany hails the attempts of Armenia and
Turkey to thaw icy relations, said Minister of State at the Federal
Foreign Office Gernot Erler.

According to the German official, FRG wishes the meltdown in
Armenian-Turkish relations would help open the borders between the
two countries, thus opening new prospects for regional cooperation
amid the global financial crisis.

Erler arrived in Armenia on March 29. As part of his three-day visit,
the German official will meet with RA President Serzh Sargsyan, RA NA
(National Assembly) Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan, RA NA Deputy Speaker
and Chairman of the Armenian-German Parliamentary Group of Friendship
Arevik Petrosyan.

Today, RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan and Erler discussed
the process of establishing diplomatic relations between Armenia and
Turkey. According to the German official, the closed Armenian-Turkish
border has helped Armenia to stay back from the global financial
crisis.

Germany stands ready to support establishment of diplomatic relations
between Armenia and Turkey, Erler said.

No diplomatic relations exist between Armenia and Turkey, with
the Armenian-Turkish border being closed since 1993 (initiated by
official Ankara).

Official Yerevan stands ready to establish relations with Turkey
without any preconditions, whereas Turkey requests Armenia to give
up the policy of international recogniti on of the Armenian Genocide
in 1915 when about one and a half million Armenians were slaughtered.

Besides, Turkey has taken a pro-Azeri attitude towards the settlement
of the Karabakh conflict.

PanARMENIAN.Net

13 opposition parties issue Manifesto of Unity
28.03.2009 12:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Thirteen opposition political groups announced on
March 27, that they would coordinate efforts to organize peaceful
protest rallies starting from April 9 to demand President
Saakashvili’s resignation.

Eight parties have made a similar statement last month, but the recent
announcement, with the named Manifesto of Unity, marks further
increase of the group as the Alliance for Georgia, uniting New Rights
Party, Republican Party and a political team of Irakli Alasania, has
joined it. The Alliance for Georgia until now has showed reservations
about the joining the group in charge of organizing the April 9 rally,
but was holding consultations with it to, as it was saying, to agree
on an exact action plan.

Apart of the parties in the Alliance for Georgia, the manifesto has
been joined by the following parties: Alliance for Freedom (uniting
Party of Freedom; Party of Women for Justice and Equality;
Traditionalists and Party of Future); Conservative Party (leaders `
Kakha Kukava and Zviad Dzidziguri); Democratic Movement`United Georgia
(led by Nino Burjanadze); Georgia’s Way (led by Salome Zourabichvili);
Industrialists Party (led by Zurab Tkemaladze and beer magnate Gogi
Topadze); Movement for United Georgia (founded by ex-defense minister
Irakli Okruashvili); Party of People (led by Koba Davitashvili). Levan
Gachechiladze, a former opposition presidential candidate, has joined
the document as an individual politician.

`We reaffirm, that on April 9, 2009 we will launch a peaceful protest
rally through which we will achieve Mikheil Saakashvili’s resignation
from the post of the president and appointment of early presidential
elections,’ the document reads.

With the document the parties have also pledged that their action plan
`will be agreed and coordinated with each other.’

Opposition leaders said on March 27, that they will open dialogue with
the authorities only on the terms of President Saakashvili’s
resignation, Civil.ge reported.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Iran-Armenia railway construction issue might be solved this year
28.03.2009 15:23 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `We plan to study Iran-Armenia railway construction
technical and economic issues in near future,’ RA Transport Minister
Gurgen Sargsyan told a news conference in Yerevan. There are many
potential project participants needing to be considered.

There are also some issues regarding project funding that are being
negotiated with Asian Bank. `If negotiations are successful, the issue
will be solved in the beginning of the year,’ he said.

`Negotiations are being held with Iran and Russia, we also welcome
organizations interested in the project and ready to contribute to its
realization.’

APA, Azerbaijan
March 29 2009

Armenian and Azerbaijani journalists to create joint web-site

[ 29 Mar 2009 17:25 ]

Baku. Kamala Guliyeva`APA. Three-day workshop was organized in
Tbilisi, Georgia on March 27-29 for the Armenian and Azerbaijani
journalists covered the conflict within the project of European
Cooperation Fund, APA reports.

10 journalists from both parts attended the workshop sponsored by the
British Foreign Office and USAID. Chairman of New Generation
Journalists Union Arif Aliyev, Director General of
Internews-Azerbaijan Ilham Safarov and other journalists represented
Azerbaijan in the workshop. The journalists discussed the directions
and contributions for not the enmity, but peace.

According to the final decision of the workshop, both parts will
produce a film about the current situation of the war victims and will
create joint web-site to place reports of Armenian and Azerbaijani
journalists on the conflict and will publish joint articles in the
newspapers.