Author: Torosian Aram

ROBERT KOCHARIAN PRESENTS NEW RA DEFENCE MINISTER TO ARMY HIGHEST OFFICER STAFF

Noyan Tapan
Apr 25 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN. RA President Robert Kocharian presented
on April 25 newly appointed Defence Minister Mikhayil Haroutiunian to
the highest officer staff of the army at the Defence Ministry. Noyan
Tapan was informed about it by the RA President’s Press Office.

The President mentioned that M. Haroutiunian has actively been
involved in the affair of formation and sterngthening of the army
from the initial stage of formation of the Armenian Army till now. In
R. Kocharian’s words, the experience got during those years and 40-year
military biography allow to be sure that processes of increasing
fighting ability of the army and reforms will continue with success,
headed by M. Haroutiunian.

In R. Kocharian’s words, the circumstance that the country President,
Prime Minister and newly appointed Minister are people having close
and long-term relation with the army, inspires with confidence that
the army will continue remaining in the center of special attention
of the state. "Security issues are a supremacy for the country, and
our policy was addressed and will be aimed to future increase of the
fighting ability of the army and, in general, to special attention
towards the security issues," the President mentioned.

ROSATOM AND ARMENIA TO COOPERATE ON URANIUM ENRICHMENT

RosBusinessConsulting, Russia
April 23 2007

RBC, 23.04.2007, Moscow 14:54:18.Russia is willing to cooperate with
Armenia in uranium production, head of the Russian Atomic Energy
Agency (Rosatom) Sergei Kiriyenko told journalists today. He pointed
out that Russia was considering the possibility of forming a joint
venture on uranium production with Armenia. Kiriyenko also said that
this question would be discussed during his meeting with Armenian
Environmental Protection Minister Vardan Ayvazyan in Yerevan today.

Kiriyenko also said that Armenia would participate in the international
uranium enrichment center in Angarsk, Russia. Rosatom’s chief believes
that Armenia could provide the necessary supplies of nuclear fuel
to its own nuclear power plant and export uranium, if it increased
its investment in exploration and development of uranium deposits in
the country.

KHANKENDI PROMISES TO "DOWN TRESPASSERS"
Translated by Pavel Pushkin

Source: Echo (Baku), April 18, 2007, p. EV
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
April 23, 2007 Monday

What is the new surge of belligerent rhetoric connected?

Defense Ministry Of Nagorno-Karabakh Is Prepared To Stop Any Breach
Of The Airspace Of The Self-Proclaimed Republic;

In case of breaching the airspace of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic, the air defense forces of the republic can destroy any
trespasser. Lieutenant Colonel Senor Asratyan, director of the PR
service of the Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed republic,
released this belligerent statement.

Asratyan stated that the combat readiness of the air defense forces
of Nagorno-Karabakh is on a high level. He emphasized: "Now, as during
the years of war, when we have destroyed about 25 Azerbaijani military
airplanes and helicopters, we are prepared for parrying any attack
of the Azerbaijani air force."

In case of breaching the airspace of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic,
the air defense forces of the republic can destroy any trespasser.

Lieutenant Colonel Senor Asratyan, director of the PR service of
the Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed republic, released this
belligerent statement. Asratyan stated that the combat readiness of
the air defense forces of Nagorno-Karabakh is on a high level. He
emphasized: "Now, as during the years of war, when we have destroyed
about 25 Azerbaijani military airplanes and helicopters, we are
prepared for parrying any attack of the Azerbaijani air force."

Asratyan adds that Azerbaijani airplanes perform training flights at a
distance of 30-35 kilometers from the border of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic and this is registered by the air defense forces of the
republic.

According to the majority of experts, these loud statements of
Asratyan represent a response to demonstrations of new MiGs purchased
by Azerbaijan in the Ukraine and statements of the Azerbaijani Defense
Ministry that at 3.30 pm on April 13, airplanes of the Azerbaijani
air force performed flights above the frontline in the Agdam area
and conducted exercises above the territory controlled by Armenians,
which was observed by residents of the villages near the frontline.

Another thing is clear too. Back in the middle of the 1990s,
Nagorno-Karabakh established an air defense system with the active
assistance of Russia. It is based on the Shilka systems, missile
systems Kub, Krug and more powerful Osa. There were also Igla and
Strela portable air defense missile systems that were later dubbed
an "ideal weapon for terrorists." Air defense missile systems S-125
were added to them later. Besides, Armenia operates much more modern
systems and is waiting for supplies of Russian S-300. Since spring
of 2006, the Internet mass media started publishing the opinions of
Armenian specialists saying that in case of a war, the "efficiency
of using Azerbaijani combat aviation will be reduced dramatically
by the presence of a layered air defense system in Armenia and
Nagorno-Karabakh including long-range and medium-range air defense
missile systems (S-125, S-75, Kub), close-range air defense artillery
systems and portable air defense missile systems (Osa, SZU-23-4,
Igla, Strela). The supply of new missile systems to Armenian air
defense forces is also expected."

Against this background, the report of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry
about training flights above the occupied territories contradicts
the former rhetoric in the style of "our sky is locked."

This circumstance raises quite understandable feelings in residents
of Nagorno-Karabakh for whom this is not a matter of prestige but
security. Besides, the self-proclaimed republic is also preparing for
the election of a new president and the boiling of political passions
there has already reached its apogee. Along with this, incumbent
leaders of separatists in Khankendi understand that security is a
political product for which there is always a demand.

One way or another, the statements of Asratyan are evidently not the
best way to calm the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh. It is possible
that after the belligerent rhetoric fails, Nagorno-Karabakh may turn
from words to deeds. This is already a step towards a war, which has
always been a method of solving internal political problems for such
military occupational regimes.

WESTERN ARMENIA – Lost Motherland

Panorama.am
18:11 23/04/2007

Lost Motherland is documentary about the historical Armenian land,
now part of Turkey. It tells about the 12 main cities of historical
Armenia, their cultural and historical heritage. The film-makers
() have tried to look at the
history of Armenia from a different point of view.

The documentary features a detailed description of architectural
monuments, as well as the colorful peculiarities of each area.

Lost Motherland is another step to capture the historical truth of
Armenia, describing the historical past of the Armenian nation. In
the multi-aspect contents of this film you are sure to find something
dear to your heart!

PRESS RELEASE
The Heritage Party
31 Moscovian Street
Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 10) 53.69.13
Fax: (+374 – 10) 53.26.97
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Website:

April 20, 2007

Heritage Holds Second Press Briefing, Welcomes Annulment of "Armenian
Watergate" Ruling

Yerevan–Today at the Court of Criminal Appeals a hearing was held regarding
the "Armenian Watergate"–the theft last year of constitutionally-protected
information from the computer database of Heritage Party’s headquarters. In
the presence of party founder Raffi K. Hovannisian and attorney Zaruhi
Postanjian, the tribunal annulled the February 13 ruling of the Central and
Nork-Marash Court of First Instance. The appeals panel also decided to
return the instant case to the lower instant court for a substantive
reexamination of Hovannisian’s complaint against the Armenian Prosecutor
General’s office for its refusal to institute a criminal case with regard to
this Armenian version of the Watergate scandal.

Also today, Heritage Party spokesman Hovsep Khurshudian conducted the party’s
second press briefing at Heritage campaign headquarters. He discussed recent
developments in the ongoing election campaign and gave a high assessment of
Heritage’s two-day journey to the towns and villages of the Vayots Dzor and
Siunik marzes. Khurshudian took note of the artificial difficulties and
obstacles which the campaign still faces, specifically in the outlying
regions, with respect to the lawful public posting of campaign posters and
announcements. Accordingly, Heritage has dispatched a formal letter to the
Central Election Commission demanding a full explanation of these illegal
actions.

Tomorrow, Heritage will hold a citizens’ assembly at the Government
Conference Facility near Republic Square. The event will begin at 2pm and is
open to the public.

Founded in 2002, Heritage has regional divisions throughout the land. Its
central office is located at 31 Moscovian Street, Yerevan 0002, Armenia,
with telephone contact at (374-10) 536.913, fax at (374-10) 532.697, email
at [email protected] or [email protected], and website at

ARAM SARGSIAN DOES NOT RULE OUT POSSIBILITY OF CARRYING OUT REVOLUTION

Noyan Tapan
Apr 19 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 19, NOYAN TAPAN. "Armenia does not have an evolutionary
path because the country is undergoing a regress in all spheres,
including the spheres of democratization, economy and foreign
policy." Aram Sargsian, Chairman of the political board of the
"Republic" party, former Armenian prime minister, stated this during
the April 19 meeting at Charles Aznavour Square.

According to him, "Republic" is inclined to use the parliamentary
elections to be held on May 12 as a political means for making a
shift of power. He called on people to "carry out a revolution in
their hearts" until May 12. He said that if the authorities falsify
the results of these elections, they will carry out a real revolution.

DEPORTED ARMENIAN JOURNALIST LANDS IN MALTA
Kurt Farrugia & David Vella

Malta Star, Malta
April 13 2007

Gina and her family kept at the airport, awaiting flight to Moscow

The Armenian journalist who lived in England for five years as an
asylum seeker, was deported on Friday morning, and landed in Malta
with her family, where she will remain held at the airport until she
boards a plane to Armenia via Russia, early on Saturday morning.

Gina Khachatryan, 30, arrived in Malta on Thursday at 1505hrs on Air
Malta flight KM101, accompanied by four Maltese plain clothes police
officers. Gina had fled her homeland in September 2003, when her
family started facing threats and persecution for reporting a case
of corruption in the country’s elections. " On September 11, 2003,
Gina, her husband Vahan Boyakhchyan, and their baby daughter Elen,
landed in Malta, where they spent 10 days before flying to the UK to
seek asylum as political refugees.

But the British authorities never accepted the family’s asylum
application. In June 2006, Gina’s request was turned down by the UK’s
High Court, and a "removal order" was issued, sources close to the
British Home Office told maltastar.com on Friday. The original date
for the deportation was February 2007, but it was delayed to Friday
13 April.

Last Monday, police closed off the street where Gina lived in Salford,
and ordered her family to pack up in 30 minutes. She was then taken
to Yarl’s Wood detention centre in Bedford until she was taken to
Heathrow airport during the night between Thursday and Friday.

Maltese police to escort Gina to Russia

As she arrived in Malta, maltastar.com contacted Gina, who explained
that the Maltese police officers during the flight were very kind
to her family. "I don’t know exactly where they’re keeping us, but
now they’re taking us to eat", Gina said during a brief telephone
conversation. The Maltese authorities will accompany the Armenian
family to Moscow on an Air Malta flight that leaves Malta at 0200hrs
Saturday morning.

maltastar.com is informed that in the afternoon, a Maltese lawyer,
whose name is yet undisclosed, offered to help Gina and her family.

"The only way that Gina can avoid going back to her country is to
send an urgent appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. If Gina
accepts to nominate a lawyer to send such a request, the chances are
that her family will be stopping in Malta, at least until the European
Courts issue a definitive decision" sources told maltastar.com. Another
option is that Gina and her family apply for asylum in Malta. Yet, the
Office of the Commissioner of Refugees did not receive any application
from the family by late on Friday afternoon. Late on Friday evening,
this e-newspaper was informed that Gina decided to proceed on her
way to Armenia. Sources told this e-newspaper that she thanked all
those who helped her throughout the last days. "She never expected
to receive so much attention".

During the last 48 hours, a number of human rights groups in the
UK, and journalists’ associations in the UK and Malta, as well as
a number of Gina’s friends, were trying to find a way of stopping
the deportation. Professor Mike Jempsen, Director of the MediaWise
Trust, said that Gina is worried about what might happen if she is
returned to Armenia, where election campaigning has started again. "I
don’t know what might happen. I may not be killed, but I will end up
in prison definitely because I told another country about what is
happening in Armenia. I am afraid because they will be waiting for
me at the airport. The questioning will start right away. Why did I
run away? Why did I claim political asylum? I am scared for my child"
Gina told the organisation before she left the UK detention centre.

Maltese minister asked to intervene

maltastar.com journalists have been in constant contact with
representatives of British human rights groups, in order to try
and find ways to help the Armenian journalist. The Malta Office of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was also
working on the case throughout the day. maltastar.com, which started
following Gina’s case on Thursday, also kept international journalists’
association Reporters Without Borders (RSF) posted.

In Malta, Karl Schembri, President of the Journalists’ Committee, wrote
to the Foreign Affairs Minister and the Prime Minister, asking them
to ensure that Gina’s family will not be persecuted once she returns
to Armenia. The Journalists’ Committee also informed the International
Federation of Journalists, and the Maltese Commissioner for Refugees.

"From our perspective, Ms. Khachatryan was given adequate opportunity
to present her asylum claims in a fair and effective manner in the
United Kingdom, including a reconsideration and high court review of
her case" said Dr Neil Falzon, Head of Office of the UNHCR Malta told
maltastar.com, "In all instances, Ms. Khachatryan’s asylum claims
were rejected and UNHCR has no reason to doubt these conclusions.

Whilst this means UNHCR will not get involved in her case, it does
not preclude her from attempting to access other legal channels".

fullart.asp?an=11326

LEGAL EAGLE’S PERFECTIVE ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Orhan Kemal Cengiz

Turkish Daily News, Turkey
April 12 2007

Are human rights reforms genuine?

No one doubts that Turkey has made serious progress in the human rights
field as a result of the harmonization process with the European
Union. But, some are questioning whether these reforms are genuine;
whether they only appear on paper or if they have serious effects
in practice.

To understand and analyze the reform process in Turkey, we need a
different paradigm. I believe that the reforms are not only genuine
but also have their impact in practice. Therefore, we need a new
question and it is this: whether the reform process is irreversible
or not? And, my answer is that they are not irreversible. Let me
explain this to you with two examples. The first example is torture.

Torture, since the Ottoman era, has always been the number one
problem in the field of human rights in Turkey. It was systematic and
widespread. In the last five years, we have experienced a dramatic
shift in this notorious practice. As a human rights defender, it
was not possible for me to imagine that a terror suspect was taken
into custody and brought before a judge without having experienced
torture. Today, this happens. I am not saying that the practice of
torture has totally stopped. What I am saying is that Turkey has
taken huge steps in this regard and the situation is not comparable,
let us say, with the situation five, 10 years ago. But, the question
remains: is this an irreversible situation?

Not only in this area but also in other problematic areas in the
field of human rights, Turkey has taken very important steps but not
ones that will make all these steps final and irreversible. Let us
look at another controversial issue. As you probably know, minority
foundations[1] in Turkey have long been suffering from a lot of
problems but especially from those related to their property rights.

As a result of the interpretation of the laws by the Appeal Court
(I will not go into the details in this article but I will discuss
these matters later on in detail), minority foundations lost a lot of
real estate that they had acquired after delivering their so-called
"1936 declarations" to the General Directorate of Foundations. Turkey
has also taken important steps in solving these problems but again it
has not taken the steps that will finalize this process. Of course,
it was important to allow these foundations to acquire new property
(which was not possible before as a result of the judgment by the
Appeal Court) but Turkey has not opened the way for these foundations
to regain the properties that were taken from them previously.

Regarding torture, stopping it is important but to eradicate it forever
you need to punish those who carried out the torture. Without tackling
impunity, you cannot really fight against torture. That monster can
reawaken at any moment. This is what we cannot see. Zero tolerance,
as it is named by the government, cannot be achieved without bringing
the torturers to justice. Likewise for the minority foundations, the
final step in solving their problem would be giving them back their
properties that were taken from them in an unjust manner. I hope
Turkey will take these finalizing steps in the reform process. But,
I believe it will either take these steps on its own initiative
or it will be forced to take them. Half-formed reforms will not
be tolerated as is indicated by the European Court of Human Rights’
judgment, delivered at the beginning of 2007, in the case of Fener Rum
Erkek Lisesi Vakfi v. Turkey, in which Turkey was ordered either to
re-enter the foundation’s forfeited property into the land registry
or to pay 890,000 euros to the applicant in pecuniary damages. It is
high time for Turkey to take these finalizing steps. Q & A Legal aid
system in Turkey

Today, I would like to give you some information about the Turkish
legal aid system and what it possibly means to you. Legal aid is the
support provided by the government to those who cannot bear the costs
of a trial because of their economic situation. It benefits Turkish
citizens greatly, but I do not know whether foreigners in Turkey use
this system for their legal matters. For foreigners, there is an extra
criterion that if they want to use this resource, their country must
provide this same resource to Turkish citizens. This is known as the
reciprocity criteria. In Turkey, legal aid can be obtained for all
civil, commercial and administrative disputes. The application can
be made though the court or the bar association. Your application
should also include a certificate of insolvency given by either the
local municipality or the Muhtar in the district in which you live.

If you qualified for legal aid, it will provide:

-Temporary exemption from court charges, execution charges and all
expenses of the case concerning ancillary expense such as reports,
-Appointment of a lawyer without fee, -Temporary exemption from stamp
costs and money collected by government agencies or other public
institutions and notary public -Temporary exemption from notification
costs. -Exemption from giving guarantees.

In addition to the Turkish Civil Code of Procedure, legal aid is
regulated by the Code of Attorneys. According to Article 95/11 of
the aforementioned Code, establishment and management of a legal
aid office is one of the obligations of the Board of Directors of
Bar Association. According to Article 176 of the said Code, in every
region where a court of First Instance exists and the number of the
lawyers is more than five, a legal aid office has to be established
under the control of a lawyer appointed by said board.

The duty of this office is to appoint a lawyer to those who seek legal
aid as well as to render a Court decision regarding providing legal
aid. (Article 178) Thank you for reading the first segment of "A Legal
Eagle’s Perspective on Human Rights in Turkey." See you next week!

[1] The term minority foundations are the ones operating under
the provisions of the Lausanne Treaty (1923) and they include the
foundations Jewish, Greek Orthodox and Armenian populations.

ANKARA ‘CONCERNED’ OVER EUROPEAN INITIATIVE TO COMBAT RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.04.2007 16:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey has expressed ‘concerns’ over a new German
initiative to combat racism and xenophobia with a template European
law that could spread moves in France and elsewhere to criminalize
any denial of the Armenian Genocide.

The draft framework, essentially a recommended legal blueprint for
European Union governments to follow, is very likely to serve as
a recipe for other countries to follow the example of a French vote
last October when a bill criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide
was endorsed, the Turkish Daily News reports.

This is a very wrong draft, which excludes a UN convention and brushes
aside freedom of expression and academic studies, government spokesman
Cemil Cicek told reporters after a Cabinet meeting late on Monday.

The draft negotiating framework penalizing the denial of genocide
and sentencing deniers up to three year in prison will appear on the
agenda between April 18 and 19 under the German presidency of the
European Union, Cicek said.

He said Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul had conveyed Turkish concerns
over the draft to Germany during a visit last week, adding that Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan would bring the issue onto the agenda
when he had talks with German officials during a planned visit to
Germany over the weekend.

AZERI PARLIAMENT RATIFIED BAKU-TBILISI-KARS CONSTRUCTION AGREEMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.04.2007 17:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azeri MPs ratified Tuesday an agreement on
construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad and also approved
the Tbilisi Memorandum "On Common vision of regional cooperation"
between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.

Milli Mejlis vice-speaker Valikh Aleskerov noted that the
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project is no less important for the region
than Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline or Baku-Tbilisi-Erzrum gas
pipeline. The railroad construction promotes development of the
region’s infrastructure, he said.

"If 10 years ago a parliament of any state spoke out against the
project we would get frightened. But the rate of development of our
republic provides the possibility to implement this project despite
attitude of other states," Aleskerov said, Day.az reports.