Author: Torgomian Varazdat

ELECTION OF RECTOR OF ARTSAKH STATE UNIVERSITY ON JULY 1

KarabakhOpen
02-06-2008 14:48:51

The new board of Artsakh State University held its first meeting. The
board which was approved by the government recently includes 28 people,
7 from the teaching staff of the University, students, the ministry
of education and the government each.

During the meeting Prime Minister Ara Harutiunyan was elected president
of the board, Nanar Minasyan was elected secretary. The order of
election of rector was affirmed. The election was appointed on July
1. The election will be competitive, in which people with scientific
and teaching experience and academic degrees can run, who can offer
their program of development of the university, the department of
information and public relations of the NKR government reports.

Interfax News Agency, Russia
May 24 2008

BAKU TO SEE WHETHER YEREVAN HAS CHANGED POSITION on NK SETTLEMENT

Baku is determined to find out whether Yerevan has somehow changed its
position on the settlement of the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh at a
meeting between the Azeri and Armenian presidents in St. Petersburg on
June 6, Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov told journalists.

"The meeting will take place to clarify the new Armenian leadership’s
position. It is necessary to find out whether there are any changes in
the Armenian leadership’s position on the key issues pertaining to the
conflict settlement, which remain open. These very issues will be
clarified at the top-level meeting," Azimov said.

Further steps toward settling the conflict will depend on the parties’
fundamental positions, "and if these fundamental positions differ too
much, this will probably mean that there are no reasons to seek
specific results at the following negotiations, either," Azimov said.

In particular, Baku’s fundamental position is that Nagorno-Karabakh be
placed under Azerbaijan’s absolute sovereign control, he said.

"As regards guaranteeing the communities living in the Nagorno-
Karabakh region the right to self-determination, this is a compromise
on Azerbaijan’s part. Therefore, this compromise to which Azerbaijan
can agree is greatly important as such. Thus, our legitimate
expectation of a reciprocal step and a compromise from the opposing
party is absolutely justified," he said.

"I believe Armenia should abandon its extreme position, which implies
Nagorno-Karabakh’s secession from Azerbaijan," he said.

The Daily Star, Lebanon
May 31 2008

Siniora meets MPs to discuss allocation of cabinet posts

Raad confirms opposition wants to appoint sunni, druze

By Hussein Abdallah
Daily Star staff
Saturday, May 31, 2008

BEIRUT: Prime Minister Fouad Siniora began on Friday consultations
with the various parliamentary blocs in a bid to form a new national
unity government. Sources close to Speaker Nabih Berri told The Daily
Star on Friday that a late afternoon meeting between Berri and
parliamentary majority leader MP Saad Hariri was "very positive." The
sources added that Berri sees no obstacles facing the formation of the
new government.

Siniora kicked off the consultations by meeting Parliament Speaker
Nabih Berri, deputy Speaker Farid Makkari, Independent MPs Michel Murr
and Hussein al-Husseini.

After talks with Siniora, Makkari said that he told the prime minister
that the new government must take Lebanon from political confrontation
to political dialogue.

Makari added that the cabinet must adopt the inaugural speech of
President Michel Suleiman and start preparing for next year’s
parliamentary elections.

Meanwhile, Hizbullah MP Mohammad Raad told reporters after meeting
Siniora that the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc has forwarded its
requests regarding the number of ministers and the portfolios it wants
in the next government.

Raad said the bloc has requested that the opposition get a Sunni
minister and a Druze minister at the expense of Hizbullah’s Shiite
representation in the government.

The Hizbullah bloc also discussed with Siniora the prospects of the
next ministerial platform. "There were no differences between our
vision and Siniora’s vision on the issue of the resistance," Raad
said.

Media reports on Friday said that the opposition wanted to trade two
Shiite ministers for a Sunni and a Druze minister.

Under such formula, Hizbullah, the Amal Movement, and the Free
Patriotic Movement would give their Sunni and Druze allies the chance
to take part in the government.

Meanwhile, Berri’s Liberation and Development bloc insisted after
talks with Siniora that the Interior Ministry portfolio in the new
government should go to a neutral figure.

The next interior minister is likely to be appointed by the president
as he is required to remain neutral while conducting next year’s
legislative elections.

Meanwhile, Murr lashed out at the opponents of his son, Defense
Minister Elias Murr, saying that "Elias Murr is our candidate for the
government and this is the case for a big portion of the people of
Metn."

"I want to tell some lawmakers who are against appointing Elias Murr
in the new government that they would not have made it to Parliament
had it not been for the votes of the supporters of Elias Murr’s
father," he said, in an indirect criticism of members of MP Michel
Aoun’s Reform and Change bloc.

"It is up to Siniora and to the president to appoint Elias Murr in the
ministry that best suits him," Murr added.

Aoun told reporters after meeting Siniora on Friday that his bloc
wanted five ministers in the next cabinet, adding that the posts would
be distributed among different Christian sects.

Meanwhile, MP Hagop Parkradounian of the Armenian bloc, which is
allied with Aoun, told reporters after talks with Siniora that it
wants two ministers in the next government.

Pakradounian said that former minister Alain Tabourian was one of the
bloc’s nominees for the next government.

Meanwhile, the different blocs representing the March 14 Forces
maintained a low profile regarding their demands in the next
government.

Hariri only told reporters that the general atmosphere was positive,
while Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt said he
preferred not to make any comment. MP George Adwan, representing the
Lebanese Forces bloc, also declined to reveal the number of ministers
requested by his bloc.

However, the Tripoli bloc, headed by MP Mohammad Safadi, requested
that Safadi remain in his post as public works and transportation
minister.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONCERNED OVER XENOPHOBIA BOOST IN RUSSIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.05.2008 14:52 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Amnesty International is concerned over xenophobia
increase in Russia, says the Organization’s annual report.

"The Russian authorities were increasingly intolerant of dissent
or criticism, branding it ‘unpatriotic’. A crackdown on civil and
political rights was evident throughout the year and in particular
during the run-up to the State Duma (parliament) elections in
December. Given the strict state control of TV and other media,
demonstrations were the flashpoint during the year for political
protests, with police detaining demonstrators, journalists, and human
rights activists, some of whom were beaten. Activists and political
opponents of the government were also subjected to administrative
detention," the report says.

"The number of racist attacks that came to the attention of the media
rose; at least 61 people were killed across the country. Although
authorities recognized the problem and there was an increase in the
number of prosecutions for racially motivated crimes, these measures
failed to stem the tide of violence."

Serious concerns were expressed as regards the situation in the
North Caucasus.

"There were fewer reported cases of disappearances in the Chechen
Republic than in previous years; however, serious human rights
violations were frequent and individuals were reluctant to report
abuses, fearing reprisals. Ingushetia saw an increase in serious
violations, including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial
executions," it says.

"Violent racist attacks occurred with alarming regularity, mostly
concentrated in big cities such as Moscow, St Petersburg and Nizhnii
Novgorod, where the majority of foreigners and ethnic minorities lived.

While exact figures for numbers of attacks and racist incidents
were hard to verify, the non-governmental SOVA Information and
Analytical Centre reported that at least 61 people were killed and
at least 369 were injured in racially motivated attacks, an increase
on 2006. Anti-Semitic attacks and desecration of Jewish cemeteries
were also reported. The real level of such violence remained hidden
due to chronic under-reporting," says the report available on Amnesty
International’s website.

d=1/newsid=702611.html

Moldova 2-2 Armenia

Moldova came back from a goal down on two occasions to deny Armenia a
victory. Marcos Pizzelli opened the scoring midway through the first
half but Moldova levelled before the break when Ararat Arakelyan put
through his own goal. Levon Pachajyan gave Armenia the lead for the
second time early in the second half but Serghei Alexeev restored
parity with 18 minutes remaining.

"ARMENIANS AND PROGRESSIVE POLITICS" CONFERENCE TO BE HELD IN NEW YORK CITY

DeFacto Agency
May 26 2008
Armenia

YEREVAN, 26.05.08. DE FACTO. Writers, scholars, and activists from
around the world will join their East Coast colleagues in examining
Armenian issues from a progressive viewpoint as a part of the May
30-31 "Armenians and Progressive Politics" conference in New York
City, the Armenian National Committee of America, Eastern Region
(ANC ER) reports.

Seven panels on Saturday, May 31, will discuss issues
relating to Armenia, Armenian identity, gender, genocide, and
coalition-building. Notable panelists include international lawyer and
human rights activist Armineh Arakelian; journalist Florence Avakian;
poet Nancy Agabian, author and Professor Nubar Hovsepian, and others.

Armenians and Progressive Politics (formerly Armenians and the Left)
is an initiative of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Eastern
USA. The conference is co-sponsored by the Armenian National Committees
of New York and New Jersey, The Nation Institute, and CUNY’s Center
for Place, Culture, and Politics. Previous participants include Noam
Chomsky and Robert Fisk.

To note, a West Coast "Armenians and Progressive Politics" conference
will be held on June 6-7 in Glendale, California.

For more information on both conferences, visit the conference website
at:

CALIFORNIA-BASED DASHNAKS CONCERN ABOUT ACTIVITY OF AZERBAIJANI DIPLOMATS

Azeri Press Agency
May 26 2008
Azerbaijan

Los-Angeles. Husniyya Hasanova-APA. California-based Dashnaks are
concerned about the activity of Azerbaijani diplomats. "Azbarez",
an official newspaper of Dashnaktsutyun Party in California wrote
that this anxiety was expressed during the meeting with Armenian
ambassador to the US Tatul Margarian.

The newspaper says that representatives of Dashnaktsutyun Party and
the ambassador have discussed the activity of Azerbaijani diplomats
and measures for prevention of it during 90-minute meeting in Beverly
Hills. Moreover, they have exchanged views on confrontation after the
presidential elections in Armenia on March 1, damage on international
reputation of the country. Armen Livonian, Armenian Consul-General
to Los-Angeles also participated in the meeting.

Panorama.am

18:09 24/05/2008

NATURE: FORESTS SHOULD BE PROTECTED

The most valuable types of trees remained in Armenia
are beech tree and oak tree. These are the trees which
are illegally cut down, said Karen Afrikyan, the
coordinator of -Armenian Trees- NGO to the Panorama.am
reporter.

According to him the rural inhabitants are not aware
of the fact that the current types of trees are of
great importance for the protection of forests. -It
does not matter what tress the villager cuts down.
They pay attention on how well they burn. But the main
threat comes from the oligarchs who cut down the most
valuable trees,- he said.

According to K. Afrikyan now some activities are taken
to protect the forests and the trees by making some
gates but the local people complained as they have
animals who get feed from those territories.

Source: Panorama.am

NEXT TELETHON MAY BE DEVOTED TO CONSTRUCTION OF SCHOOLS

KarabakhOpen
23-05-2008 13:49:51

It is foreseen to finish construction and renovation of schools in
Karabakh in 2 or 3 years, Prime Minister Ara Harutiunyan stated. During
the meeting of government he underlined that the telethon of this year
which will traditionally be held in Los Angeles will be devoted to
construction of schools in Artsakh. We have learned that 25 schools
need reconstruction, which are located in villages and were damaged
during the war.

Government investments in education in 2008 will total 830.48 million
drams.

The government funds the construction of schools in Askeran, in the
village of Emishchan, Martuni, the village of Noragyugh which admits
300 students, the village of Maghavuz, the renovation of the school in
Martakert, the construction of the village of Harutiunagomer, 2 schools
in the region of Shahumyan. On charity money the construction of
school N 6 will continue, the new building of school 11 of Stepanakert
will start. The lavatories of all the schools of the capital will be
carried out on 57 million drams.

REAL ALTERNATIVE WITH SERIOUS PROGRAMS
Gevorg Haroutyunyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on May 22, 2008
Armenia

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsoutyun started its
30th General Assembly yesterday afternoon

The third assembly, convened in Armenia after the country’s regaining
independence, is attended by deputies and responsible activists
representing the party in 30 countries of the world.

The official opening of the 30th General Assembly took place in the
conference hall of the Government. Among the invitees were Prime
Minister Tigran Sargsyan, Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandyan, Vice
Chair of the Republican Party Galoust Sahakyan, leader of "Prosperous
Armenia" party Gagik Tsaroukyan, Vice Chair of "Rule of Law" party
Heghine Bisharyan, NDU leader Vazgen Manoukyan, Head of the National
Democratic Party Shavarsh Kochayan, Secretary of the Political Council
of "Heritage" party Vardan Khachatryan, ex-Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan, well-known American-Armenian historian Richard Hovhannisyan
and many others.

The chief speaker was HRANT MARGARYAN, representative of the ARFD
bureau. In his opinion, Dashnaktsoutyun has been an alternative both to
the opposition and the authorities during the past 10 years. "Although
in 1998-2008 we collaborated with the authorities and managed, to a
certain extent, have our participation in the progress as well as the
extremely important process developing the national policy, we also
expressed our disagreements. We didn’t agree to the economic policy,
we were dissatisfied with the fact that the country didn’t organize
a coordinated struggle against corruption; we considered the illegal
demeanor of the privileged group and criminal and half-criminal
elements intolerable. We considered that all this moved the country
towards autocracy or instability.

By participating in the presidential race, we were putting an end to
our previous cooperation with the authorities and somehow, creating a
possibility of a new beginning for us. We didn’t have the right to act
as timeservers at the last moment, by quitting our former partners."

In the estimation of Hrant Margaryan, the last four presidential
elections were held in an extremely tense atmosphere. There were bloody
clashes twice – in 1998 and in 2008. Is it by mere accident that
in both cases the chief player and participant was the same person,
acting as a representative of the authorities in he former case and
as a pro-opposition figure in the latter?

"After ten years of silence, there appeared a person on the political
arena whom society remembers with hatred. The policy course he pursued
in our country suffered a crushing defeat. Realizing this perfectly
well, the former leader returned to the Armenian Pan-National Movement,
his organization, thus hiding his supporters, all his programs and,
after all, his personality behind the dissatisfaction existing in
the country. It turned out that leading a program-based ideological
struggle was not his objective," the representative of the ARFD
bureau mentioned.