Author: Torgomian Varazdat

AZG Armenian Daily #143, 26/07/2008

Armenia-Turkey

ARMENIA SUBJECT TO EVERYDAY DISCUSSION IN TURKEY

On June 23, as Azg Daily already informed, head of the Turkish
Historical Society prof. Yusuf Halacoglu was dismissed from his
office. On the previous day, as "Hurriet" informed on July 24, the
Armenian Constant Representative to the UN Armen Martirosian attended
a reception organized at the "Turkish House" in New York, organized by
Foreign Minister Ali Babacan.

As Babacan had arrived in the USA in order to ensure assistance in the
coming election of UN non-permanent members, Mr. Martirosian was asked
whether Armenia shall support the candidacy of Turkey or not. The
Armenian diplomat answered that Armenia has not received any help
request from Turkey.

On July 24 Babacan held a press conference. But the press conference
turned out to be dedicated rather to the Armenian representative’s
participation in the July 22 reception and the dismissal of Halacoglu,
rather Turkey’s chances in the UN elections.

Babacan said that Armenian representative to the UN Armen Martirosian
was invited to the reception by the Turkish side; therefore the
dismissal of Halacoglu cannot be perceived either as caused by Armen
Martirosian’s visit to the "Turkish House" in New York or by Turkey’s
willingness to improve its relations with Armenia.

The Turkish Foreign Minister underscored, "Indeed we are willing to
create atmosphere of dialog and improving our relations with
Armenia. Of course many circumstances affect appointments to different
offices in different institutions. Anyways it is wrong to see any
links between those two matters".

Babacan reminded the reporters that the after the presidential
elections the President, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister
of Turkey congratulated the newly-elected authorities of Armenia. He
said that Turkey’s number one goal in its relations with Armenia is to
minimize the controversies and complicated issues.

Then Babacan talked about flights and bus transportation between the
Armenian and Turkish towns, about Armenian employees in Turkey, about
growth of commodity turnover growth between Armenia and Turkey, etc,
etc. He said Turkey cannot neglect Armenia’s troubles with
Azerbaijan. He added that Turkey is making friendly gestures towards
Armenia and that the latter is expected to act likewise in return.

The Turkish Foreign Minister assured that all the controversies may be
settled through talks and emphasized creating a joint Armenian-Turkish
science committee to study together the 1915 events.

The speech of the Foreign Minister of Turkey causes us a great deal of
thought. It is very important that these are not vague demands, but
clear official statements. Anyways those statements themselves are not
that important as their frequency and response of the press
are. Turkey’s everyday press is full of statements and news about
Armenia, which at least makes the Turkish citizens to realize the
necessity of establishing contacts with Armenia. In the meanwhile the
Armenian questions becomes part of the daily agenda of the official
Ankara.

By H. Chaqrian, translated by A.M.

Mediamax news agency, Armenia
July 25 2008

YEREVAN SAYS ETHNIC ARMENIANS FACING "POLITICAL PERSECUTION" IN
GEORGIA

Yerevan, 25 July: The Armenian Foreign Ministry is monitoring "the
developments in [Georgia’s] Samtskhe-Javakheti Province, maintaining
daily communications at different levels and directions," an official
representative of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Tigran Balayan, told
Mediamax while commenting on the recent developments in Georgia’s
Armenian-populated Samtskhe-Javakheti Province.

Balayan expressed hope that "the situation will be settled calmly and
within the law".

On 24 July the Armenian opposition New Times Party made a statement
calling on the Armenian authorities to react to the situation in
Samtskhe-Javakheti Province.

"The situation recently again started to deteriorate in the
Armenian-populated Javakheti. Forces that try to maintain the national
identity of Armenians are facing political persecutions by the
Georgian authorities," the statement said.

TIGRAN SARGSIAN: "EVERYTHING IS DONE SO THAT NO NORM OF LAW IS VIOLATED IN ARMENIA"

NOYAN TAPAN

JU LY 24

During the July 23 meeting of the RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian
and PACE Chairwoman Luis Maria de Puig, who is on a visit in Armenia,
the interlocutors touched upon the process of the fulfillment of PACE
Resolution N1609 under the title Activity of Democratic Institutions in
Armenia and proposals of Resolution N1620 on the latter’s fulfillment.

At the beginning of the talk the PACE Chairwoman underlined that in
Council of Europe no one wants to see Armenia in a difficult situation,
so, like the Commissioner for Human Rights of Council of Europe, who
had arrived in Armenia before that, she also has come to encourage,
to stimulate so that the country moves forward and records success
in the fulfillment of the above mentioned resolutions.

Luis Maria de Puig noted the necessity of bringing out the truth about
the events of March 1-2. She spoke on such issues as the activity
of the NA Ad Hoc Commission and, connected with it, the proposal of
creating an independent working group introduced by the Commissioner
for Human Rights of Council of Europe; the arrest of the people
connected with the events of March; the legal field of regulating the
sphere of activity of the National Television and Radio Commission;
the opportunities of providing mass media with full freedom; the
enlarging of the authorizations of the opposition.

Touching upon the problem of the arrested, the PACE Chairwoman noted
that the Council of Europe can not tolerate political prisoners in
one of its member countries. "This is not acceptable for the Council
of Europe. But the thing is not about people who have committed a
crime. If crimes have been committed accompanied with violence it
should be differentiated: they have no connection with politics. What
is out of criminal sphere should be taken into account and the
prisoners having no connection with all this should be set free",
Luis Maria de Puig said.

T. Sargsian noted that in the solution of these problems the
authorities bear greater responsibility and well realize it introducing
very definite initiatives aimed at solving the existing problems. The
Prime Minister particularly spoke about wide cooperation of government
with NGOs and representatives of the opposition. "We are going to
continue our initiative of building bridges with the opposition,
and if the opposition takes this opportunity the situation in our
country will change", T. Sargsian said.

As regards the people towards whom the law enforcement bodies undertake
measures, in T. Sargsian’s belief, the authorities fully understand
the seriousness of the problem, and it is evident for everyone that
politicizing these court procedures is extremely dangerous for the
country. So, according to the Prime Minister, everything is done so
that no norm of law is violated.

According to the report provided to Noyan Tapan by the Information
and Public Relations Department of the RA government, during the the
talk the interlocutors touched upon the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
settlement process.

Taking the occasion of the meeting with PACE Chairwoman, the RA Prime
Minister expressed his concern with the formulation passed in the
Council of Europe June session, according to which, the development
of Azerbaijan’s democracy is connected with the restoration of the
territorial integrity. T.

Sargsian considered such a formulation extremely dangerous, endangering
the current negotiations process and an improper approach to European
system of values and basic provisions. The principle of territorial
integrity, according to the Prime Minister, is an equal norm of
rights, like the right of self-determination, and insisting that the
development of democratic institutions in Azerbaijan is difficult
without the restoration of territorial integrity is a step backwards
from the values adopted by PACE.

RA MFA TO GO ON PROMOTING KARABAKH DIPLOMATIC SERVICE’S DEVELOPMENT

DE FACTO
24.07.08

RA MFA will go on rendering all-sided assistance to further development
of Nagorno-Karabakh’s diplomatic service, RA Deputy FM Arman Kirakosian
stated in Stepanakert on Wednesday.

Kirakosian heads a delegation of RA MFA, which participates in the
measures arranged for 15th anniversary of Karabakh MFA.

Speaking of the way the NKR MFA had passed, Kirakosian noted that
Karabakh MFA had been established under hard conditions; however,
at present it is a completely formed structure.

Kirakosian also attached importance to joint activity and realization
of programs to resolve the issues Armenian nation faced.

The delegation of RA MFA also participated in the ceremony of unveiling
a monument to killed warriors-liberators in the town of Askeran.

A working meeting of the two Republics’ MFAs was held in the second
half of the day, Novosti-Armenian Agency reports.

MISSING BOYS MAY BE ON WAY TO SYRIA
Larry Altman

Long Beach Press-Telegram
July 23 2008
CA

WESTCHESTER: Mothers say three boys have been taken away by their
fathers.

Two Westchester brothers allegedly abducted their three boys from
their ex-wives and might be on their way to their native Syria,
the mothers said Tuesday.

John Silah, 47, and George Silah, 46, have not been seen since they
took their sons for vacations last month.

Both men had previously threatened to take their sons and move out of
the country, said the mothers, Christine Jeanbart and Zanni Meguerian.

"They have friends in Syria, relatives in Turkey, friends in Canada,"
Jeanbart said. "I would say they are either trying to flee to Syria
or they are across the border waiting to get passports for the kids."

Missing is Jeanbart’s son, Greg, who turns 10 years old today. He
was last seen June 23 with his father, John.

Also missing are Meguerian’s sons, Alex, 12, and Zaven, 8, who were
picked up that day by their father, George.

Greg attends Holy Martyrs Armenian Elementary School in North
Hills. Alex and Zaven go to school at Westchester Lutheran Church.

"I can’t even describe to you the emotions," Meguerian said.

"I went from being completely distraught and literally almost
bedridden. I was weak and crying until I just couldn’t stand on
my feet."

Slowly, she gained strength and has reached out to the media. "I’m
just praying every day."

Meguerian said she knew something was happening when her former
husband asked her repeatedly for her sons’ passports. She wouldn’t
hand them over because he had previously threatened to take the
children to Syria.

Her former husband, George, insisted that he was taking the boys on
the Disney Wonder cruise ship to the Bahamas following a trip to Big
Bear. John and his son also were going.

Both men had rights under custody agreements to have the children
for summer vacations. Meguerian said she knew they could travel with
birth certificates.

"I was uncomfortable," Meguerian said. "I told my children, `Make
sure you talk to me every day."’

Meguerian told her son Alex to call her as soon as they arrived in
Big Bear on July 2. She heard nothing. Her calls to his cell phone
went straight to voice mail.

She asked the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, which
covers Big Bear, to check on them. The Silahs and their children
never arrived.

Both women went to Los Angeles police, but were told they could not
file a report because both men had rights to their sons.

The mothers checked with the Disney cruise line in Florida. The men
and boys never boarded the ship on July 6.

Meguerian called the Syrian Embassy and has determined the men and
boys have not entered that country.

"You just never think this is reality until you are living it,"
Meguerian said. "It’s every parent’s worst nightmare."

Both women will be in court today to ask a judge to void their custody
agreements and grant them sole custody.

"I was planning to throw (Greg) a pool party," Jeanbart said. "That’s
what he wanted. I’m just going to pray that he comes back."

Los Angeles police Lt. Richard Mossler, who heads the detective
bureau at the Pacific Division, said the disappearances appear to
have been planned.

The men lived with their parents on 81st Street in Westchester. The
women said the parents flew to Syria about a week before their
children disappeared.

The Westchester house is empty.

"It was cleaned out by the landlord thinking that it was abandoned,"
Mossler said.

Police are focusing on finding the children, but are aware of
allegations against both men that they stole millions of dollars from
people in an investment scam.

Their aunt, Stella Silah, charged that her nephews stole $650,000 of
the equity on her Mar Vista home.

"The bank is going to sell it," she said. "I am going to be out on
the street. They are devils."

Neither mother believes her former husband will harm the children. They
just want them back, especially since they believe the law sides with
men in custody issues in Syria.

"I just want Greg back," said Jeanbart, who last spoke to her son
July 2, when she believed he was headed to Big Bear. "I would tell
Greg at this point, `Mommy is coming to get you, Greg, no matter where
you are. Mommy is going to get you back home. I am not giving up."’

RETURNING THE BODY OF ARMENIAN SOLDIER KILLED IN AZERBAIJAN ON JULY 19 NEGOTIATED

Azeri Press Agency
July 23 2008
Azerbaijan

Armenian Defense Ministry is investigating the fact of killing the
Armenian soldier in the territory of Azerbaijan on July 19, said
Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian, APA quotes News Armenia
agency.

He said soldier Gor Manasarian left the military base arbitrarily in
unknown direction. Ohanian said they knew about Manasarian’s death from
the information spread by the Azerbaijan Defense Ministry. Minister
said they contacted with operative shift of the Azerbaijani army and
held preparation for returning the Manasarian’s body. A reconnaissance
group of Armenian armed forces attempted to cross Azerbaijan’s borders
in the direction of Agdam Village of Tovuz region of Azerbaijan at
00.30 on July 19. Azerbaijani servicemen prevented this attempt of
Armenian reconnoiters. One of the enemy’s reconnoiters was killed
and others escaped.

EURASIAN SECRET SERVICES DAILY REVIEW

Axis Information & Analysis
July 21 2008

Armenia’s opposition would not abandon its plans for staging rally
despite ban imposed by National Security Service

Armenia’s opposition has again signaled its readiness to defy the ban
on its planned rally and press ahead with the protest action slated
for August 1, online paper ArmeniaNow reports. Last week Yerevan’s
municipality again cited security reasons to make a decision not to
allow the opposition led by first president Ter-Petrosyan to stage
a rally and a subsequent march either in downtown Liberty Square
or near Matenadaran, a nearby ancient manuscripts museum. Instead,
it advised the opposition to gather near either the city’s largest
Hrazdan football arena or the second largest stadium, Dynamo. The
opposition deems both locations situated just off the city center
unsuitable for its rallies.

In imposing the bans the municipality had invoked information from
the National Security Service (NSS) that large gatherings in downtown
Yerevan posed security risks for immediate participants and other
members of the public, ArmeniaNow marks. However, both opposition
rallies went on peacefully, with no incident reported.

Arman Musinyan, the spokesman for opposition leader Levon
Ter-Petrosyan, would not elaborate on the opposition’s further steps to
try to repeal the municipality’s decision legally. He only emphasized
that the opposition would not abandon its plans for staging the
rally. At the same time, Musinyan called the municipality’s proposal
to hold rallies in other venues "unacceptable". Meanwhile, Head of
the Organization and Inspection Division at the Yerevan Municipality
Gagik Baghdasaryan confirmed to ArmeniaNow that the decision not to
authorize the opposition rally in Liberty Square and near Matenadaran
was based on the data provided by the National Security Service and
police. "Under law, notifications about planned rallies, including
opposition rallies, are sent to police and the National Security
Service. And since I had received a reply that during the planned rally
and a subsequent march there would be participants who, according
to operative data, would attempt to instigate clashes with police
workers by means of unlawful provocative actions, I made a decision
to ban the event," Baghdasaryan explained. "The fact that there were
no incidents during two rallies does not give me reasons to disregard
the National Security Service and police information," he added.

AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA FOREIGN MINISTERS TO MEET IN MOSCOW

ITAR-TASS
July 21 2008
Russia

The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Elmar Mamedyarov and
Edvard Nalbandian, will meet in Moscow on August 1, Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry spokesman Khazar Ibragim told a news briefing on Monday.

He said the initiative of the meeting, at which settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be discussed, came from the OSCE Minsk
Group that is a mediator.

He stressed that the talks would be on proposals by co-chairmen of
the Minsk Group that were offered to the sides in the conflict at
the OSCE summit in Madrid last year.

Mamedyarov and Nalbandian last met in St Petersburg on June 6.

WE WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY TRADE IN ISSUE OF NATIONAL-STATE INTERESTS, INSTITUTE OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY STATES

NOYAN TAPAN

JU LY 21

On July 21, the Institute of Human Rights and Democracy expressed
much concern with the statements voiced by the RA authorities lately
and their initiatives over the Artsakh problem and Armenian-Turkish
relations.

According to the statement authors, since Armenia’s becoming
independent in 1991 all RA authorities have had the same defeatest
position in national-state foreign political issues. In 1996 such a
position became one of the main reasons of distrust to the authorities,
which in 1998 resulted in the first President’s resignation. It is
mentioned that the RA authorities’ duty is to rule the country by
serving the interests of Armenian people and Armenian statehood and
following the principles of human rights and democracy.

"Our current political and public elites have again opened the "gates"
of our statehood "stronghold" and each tries to certify his being a
"good servant" to "foreign rulers" by conceding the national-state
interests for receiving or retaining the power, being ready for any
step," the statement of the Institute reads mentioning as evidence
UN General Assembly’s Resolution N A/62/L.42, PACE June Resolution
N 1614 regarding Azerbaijan, as well as statements and initiatives
made by Armenian officials of highest level and foreign diplomats.

"Another manifestation of the position defying our nation’s dignity
is official steps of questioning the Armenian Genocide at the highest
level and making friendly gestures to the Turkish authorities. All this
followed the unfair February elections casting doubt on RA authorities’
legitimacy and the March 1 violence and arbitrary actions. We will
not accept any trade over the Artsakh problem, Armenian Genocide,
and any other problem contradicting the vital interests of the whole
Armenian people and statehood. We sound an alarm and warn that in
case of undertaking such a trade the Armenian people with its whole
potential and organized constructions will rise more strongly in
Armenia, Artsakh, and the Diaspora AGAINST the RA authorities and
perverted elites being their satellite," the statement read.

EDITORIAL: HOSTILITY AND CONDESCENSION FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE

AZG Armenian Daily
22/07/2008

Armenia-US

The following editorial appeared in the June 28 edition of the Armenian
Reporter, which is an English-language weekly newspaper distributed
across the United States. The chief editor, Vincent Lima, is based
in Yerevan.

On Wednesday, June 25, David Kramer, the U.S. assistant secretary of
state for democracy, human rights, and labor, held a press conference
at the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan. In his opening statement and in his
responses to reporters’ questions, Mr. Kramer exhibited a degree of
hostility and condescension toward the Armenian state that reflected
poorly on the United States.

Mr. Kramer prefaced his attacks with the observation that "the United
States and Armenia have very good, strong ties. We are friends,
and friends speak candidly with each other."

He then proceeded to deliver a far-from-friendly and far-from-balanced
discourse with advice for the government and no one else.

Freedom of media and assembly

Noting a downward trend in Armenia’s democratic development in
February and March, Mr. Kramer recalled first that the United States
"strongly recommended that the government restore all freedoms of
assembly and the media." He did not acknowledge, however, that the
Armenian government has already done so.

On March 1, then-President Robert Kocharian had invoked his
constitutional powers to declare a state of emergency and had put in
place restrictions on the media and the freedom of assembly. He lifted
the restrictions on the media in part in mid-March and in full upon
the expiration of the state of emergency on March 20. As before, the
whole gamut of voices can be heard in print and electronic media. And
there is a greater diversity of voices on television today than there
was before the elections.

Restrictions on the freedom of assembly were written into law
in mid-March. But the law has since been amended along the lines
recommended by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe. The
City of Yerevan and the Police made a set of hard-to-understand
decisions initially to ban an antigovernment demonstration scheduled
for June 20, but police relented at the appointed time and 15,000
people gathered peacefully.

Rather than noting this progress, Mr. Kramer moved the goalpost. He
said he wanted to see the television station A1+ back on the air. (This
television station lost its broadcast frequency back in 2002. Public
Television offered at the time to carry A1+’s decidedly antigovernment
news programming daily, but the owner declined. With a finite number
of TV frequencies available, and all of them taken, there can be
no question now of depriving a station of its seven-year license in
favor of A1+. And the United States is not the competent authority to
determine which businesses are best qualified – in terms of capital,
talent, their business plan, and so on – to win the next tender.)

A friendly representative of a friendly nation might have acknowledged
that Armenia had in fact restored freedoms of assembly and media and
welcomed the fact; one way to build on this progress, he might have
added, would be for the government to should ensure that the next
time television frequencies are up for licensing, the process is
transparent and free of political interference.

A credible investigation

Mr. Kramer reiterated the call for the "launch of a serious, credible
investigation of the events of March 1." An investigation has, of
course, been launched. Does Mr. Kramer believe it has the potential
to be the kind of serious and credible investigation we’d all like to
see? Hard to say, since he ignored it and made his own recommendation
instead: model the commission after the 9/11 Commission, he said,
in which notwithstanding a great deal of mutual distrust, the two
parties were represented in equal numbers. (He did not mean the United
States and Al Qaeda but the two major U.S. political parties.)

Well, it so happens that Armenia’s parliamentary parties are entitled
to equal numbers of seats on the commission that was formed last
week. That means the opposition Heritage Party with 7 members of
parliament was offered two seats and the ruling Republican Party with
over 60 members was also offered two seats. Non^_parliamentary groups
have also been offered nonvoting seats.

Prisoners

Mr. Kramer reiterated the call for the "release of those detained
for expressing their political views." Asked by the daily Hayots
Ashkharh whether he had studied the criminal cases pending against
the individuals detained in connection with the events of March 1,
Mr. Kramer said he had not but was inclined to believe the word
of U.S. Embassy staff over any documents assembled by Armenian
investigators. It is proper that State Department policy makers should
trust the professionals who are their subordinates; it is not proper
for them to cast aspersions on the professionals who staff Armenia’s
law enforcement bodies. It’s a question of respect.

As for the substance of the issue, this page too has raised questions
and concerns about the criminal investigation into the events of March
1. While there is clearly a case to be made that Levon Ter-Petrossian
and his team sought to come to power by bringing about a collapse of
the state apparatus (he was calling for and counting on defections),
charges that an armed insurrection was in the works have yet to be
substantiated. In addition, the fact that no one has yet been charged
in connection with the deaths of 10 individuals is cause for concern.

Legitimacy

Asked by RFE/RL about the U.S. attitude toward the new Armenian
administration, Mr. Kramer outdid himself: Robert Kocharian is no
longer the president, he observed, and U.S. officials deal with the
new occupant of the presidential office as the president.

***

We expect the United States to encourage Armenia in a series of
positive ways to help Armenia become the democratic state it aspires
to be. As people who care deeply about Armenia and its people,
we want to see the U.S. government continue to monitor democratic
developments in Armenia with care. Our diplomats – and indeed the
assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor –
must speak out when they see problems. By the same token, they must
also recognize progress; they must likewise recognize that all elements
of society have an obligation to play a constructive role.

The Bush administration and the State Department should reexamine
their approach to Armenia – lest their continued posturing serve
further to destabilize Armenia and Armenia’s efforts to move forward.

As we move closer to the presidential and congressional elections in
the United States and meet with elected officials and candidates for
office, we need to encourage the United States to take a constructive,
balanced, and informed approach to supporting Armenia’s transition.