Author: Tumanian Talar

"WE SHALL NOT RETURN LIBERATED TERRITORIES"

A1+
[07:08 pm] 21 May, 2007

"May 21 made history. We have assembled here to recall the glorious
events of May 21 and our heroes’ struggle for the liberation of Shushi
and Lachin. They sacrificed their lives to connect Artsakh with Mother
Armenia. No one is going to return Kashatagh to Azerbaijan. The
rumors are fabricated. Do not believe them! We did not liberate
the territories to return later on. We must reconstruct and develop
Kashatagh.

Armenian and Karabakh officialdom should attach great importance to
Kashatagh. We are to restore all the liberated territories," Arkadi
Ghukasyan, the President of Nagorno-Karabakh said during the 15th
anniversary of the Lachin corridor opening.

Under a decree of the NKR President, some residents were awarded
prizes during the ceremony.

It is noteworthy that Lachin corridor is the only bridge between the
NKR and Armenia.

Tufts Daily, MA
May 20 2007

There really isn’t any rush

by Edward Casabian

Three years ago now, the reality of my impending graduation began to
set in. Friends were getting jobs at law firms, banks and in
commercial real estate. I panicked, found myself a career counselor,
spent way too much money at Men’s Wearhouse, and started applying for
jobs. I had a couple of interviews, but there was a mutual feeling of
disinterest between the employers and myself.

A week or so before graduation I took a deep breath and realized that
getting a "real" job was not what I wanted. I decided to go home for
a summer on Cape Cod and reevaluate. I worked hard that summer
bartending, waiting tables and interning with a stock broker. When
the fall came, I had money saved and decided to spend a month in
Lucca, Italy studying the language, spending time with extended
family and enjoying my favorite cuisine.

After Italy, I moved to Steamboat Springs, Colo. for the winter and
skied for 59 days while working at an upscale restaurant. The
mountain closed an hour before the restaurant opened so if I wanted
to ski all day, I could. While in Colorado, I applied to Birthright
Armenia, a program that allows people of Armenian descent to
volunteer in Armenia. Before I knew it I was driving across the
country back to Massachusetts to fly to Armenia by way of Istanbul
and the Greek Islands.

Cape Cod brought me back to the States, where I spent another summer
at restaurants making money for my next adventure. That next
adventure would take me to Istanbul, Turkey to teach English and
obtain a CELTA certificate for teaching English as a foreign
language. My girlfriend had a Fulbright grant there, and through her
connections I met such people as the consul general, the ambassador,
and a woman who knew Fidel Castro well enough to call him "Fidelito."

Cape Cod brought me home once again. This time I thought I would be
home for good, working for the summer and looking for a job in
finance. That sounded like a plan until I got an e-mail from a friend
in Cambodia. He was living there and really enjoying himself. I
thought it might be worthwhile to go visit. After an evening that
moved into the wee hours of the morning, I had planned out a route on
airtreks.com that involved a lot more than visiting my friend in
Cambodia.

That fall I set off for a five-and-a-half-month trip that took me to
London, Italy, Turkey, Dubai, India, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia,
Vietnam, China, Hong Kong, Hawaii and California. I did all of this
for about $6,000, flights included. That was a small price to pay for
the experiences I had. It is also the price for five months’ rent in
Manhattan.

That is where I’m moving next. I just received a job offer for a
position in equity research that I would consider ideal. While I
don’t know that my travel experiences landed me the job, I know that
they didn’t hurt. If nothing else, my experiences were different, and
I think any employer sees some merit in that.

The point of all this is not to tell you how fantastic my three years
since graduation have been, but for you to realize there are
different paths to take. For some people, a job after graduation is a
necessity. For others, it is what they really want. But if you have
even the slightest inkling to travel or feel that a nine-to-five job
isn’t for you, at least take a summer to figure it all out.

Please find my blogs at and
, and feel free to contact me
at [email protected].

Edward Casabian (LA ’04) majored in economics.

BAKU SAYS THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE TO PEACE TALKS ON KARABAKH, BUT PREPARES FOR WAR

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.05.2007 15:23 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today there is no alternative to the negotiations on
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, President of Azerbaijan Ilham
Aliev stated during a meeting with residents of Mehdiabad district
of Baku. He said this is the cause of continuing peace talks on the
conflict settlement.

"War is an alternative to negotiations and Azerbaijani must be ready
for it," the head of the Azeri State stated. He assured "economic
potential of Azerbaijan strengthens day by day, the country will
get big money, which in their turn will be spent on strengthening
political and military potentials".

"Azerbaijan will never make a decision, which will contradict national
interests," Aliev stated.

He also noted "Azerbaijan was on the same level with Armenia on
economic development before. However today the situation in Azerbaijan
has ignificantly changed for the better". At the same time Aliev stated
that "Azerbaijan relies only on its own power," Azeri media reports.

Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918
Fax. (202) 775-5648
Email [email protected]
Internet

PRESS RELEASE
May 18, 2007
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

ANCA WELCOMES INTERNATIONAL PRAISE FOR
FREE AND FAIR CONDUCT OF ARMENIAN ELECTIONS

WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
welcomes widespread international recognition that Armenia’s
recently concluded Parliamentary elections represented a marked
both an improvement over previous votes and yet another step in the
continued strengthening of Armenia’s democratic institutions.

"We appreciate the uniformly positive statements affirming the free
and fair conduct of Armenia’s Parliamentary elections," said ANCA
Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "This vote – as an expression
of the commitment to democratic self-government long shared by the
American and Armenian peoples – strengthens the resolve of
America’s leaders to stand by our fellow democracy – an island of
freedom and stability in a challenging and troubled region."

"These Armenian elections were an improvement over previous
elections and were conducted largely in accordance with
international standards," said Tone Tingsgaard, a leader of the
OSCE election monitoring team. Some 300 election monitors worked
under the umbrella of the International Election Observation
Mission (IEOM), a joint undertaking of the OSCE Office for
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR), the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe (PACE) and the European Parliament (EP). The
IEOM preliminary report, the OSCE said improvements include a
"dynamic" election campaign "with extensive media coverage," few
irregularities on election day and increased transparency in vote
counting.

Similarly, the European Union Presidency noted "with satisfaction
that the Parliamentary elections held in Armenia on 12 May were, on
the whole, conducted fairly, freely and largely in accordance with
the international commitments which Armenia had entered into. The
Presidency welcomes the fact that, compared to previous elections,
significant progress has been made."

In a separate statement, EU High Representative for Common Foreign
and Security Policy, Javier Solana, praised the Armenian people for
having "demonstrated greater political maturity through these
elections." He went on to state that he is "confident that Armenia
and the EU will continue to develop relations in a spirit of
partnership."

A May 14th statement issued by the U.S. Embassy congratulated "the
Armenian people on a more successful poll than previous elections,"
and went on to note that, "our judgment so far is that this
election was an improvement toward international standards."

The Armenian Parliament consists of 131 seats, 90 of which are
elected by proportional vote for parties and 41 are majoritarian
district votes. Some 1.3 million or 60% of Armenian voters
participated in elections, where 5 political parties met the 5%
vote threshold necessary to be represented in the 131 seat national
assembly, including the Republican Party (32.9%), Prosperous
Armenia Party (14.7%), Armenian Revolutionary Federation –
Dashnaktsutyun (12.8%), Rule of Law Party (6.9%) and Heritage Party
(5.8%). Presidential elections in Armenia are set to take place in
June of 2008.

#####

HUNGARIAN FM DOES NOT RULE OUT POSSIBLE EXTRADITION OF RAMIL SAFAROV TO MOTHERLAND

arminfo
2007-05-18 13:44:00

Foreign Minister of Hungary Kinga Goncz does not rule out possible
extradition of the Azerbaijani officer-murderer Ramil Safarov to
the Motherland, the Hungarian diplomat said at today’s meeting
with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in Baku, the
Azerbaijani Mass Media report.

To recall, the Hungarian court sentenced the Azerbaijani officer Ramil
Safarov to life imprisonment, without the right for pardon within
30 years, for murder of the Armenian officer Gourgen Margaryan in
Budapest on February 19, 2004.

According to the source, E. Mammadyarov expressed confidence that
the Hungarian authorities will take into account the Azerbaijani
position, that is, "fair approach" to the issue. For her part,
K. Goncz said the legal process on R. Safarov’s case continues and
the final decision on his extradition will be made upon completion
of the process. "This issue will be discussed by the two countries’
Justice Ministers during the forthcoming June visit of Azerbaijani
JM to Budapest", K. Goncz said.

It is yet unknown if the Azerbaijani party appealed the decision of
the two previous judicial instances. At the same time, Azerbaijan
and Hungary have no relevant legal agreement, by which extradition
would be possible.

However, taking into account the interest of Hungary to the Azerbaijani
gas, expressed by the Hungarian FM in Baku, possible filling of this
legal gap is not ruled out. "Hungary has problems with gas supply
and addresses Azerbaijan as an important partner", K. Goncz said,
the Radio Liberty reports.

THE 2007 IPA FREEDOM PRIZE GOES TO ZIMBABWEAN PUBLISHER TREVOR NCUBE

Issued by: Mail & Guardian
Bizcommunity.com, South Africa
May 17 2007

During the opening ceremony of the 2nd Cape Town Book Fair on 15 June
2007, Zimbabwean publisher Trevor Ncube will be receiving the 2007
IPA Freedom Prize in recognition for exemplary courage in upholding
freedom of expression and freedom to publish in his country and
internationally.

The board of the International Publishers’ Association (IPA) selected
Trevor Ncube as Prize-winner from among many highly commendable
candidates, nominated by IPA members, individual publishers and human
rights’ organisations.

Ana Maria Cabanellas, President of IPA, declares: "Trevor Ncube’s work
as a publisher and his wholehearted support of freedom of expression
have often brought him into conflict with Zimbabwean authorities and
endangered his personal safety. Despite repeated threats of violence
and attempts to strip him of his Zimbabwean citizenship, Trevor
Ncube’s newspapers have persistently continued to expose corruption
and human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, thus encouraging healthy dissent
and criticism both in the public and private sectors. We award this
Prize to Trevor Ncube in deep respect for his courage as a publisher
and as a salute to the passion, the integrity, and the steadfastness
that he so marvellously demonstrates."

On the same occasion, IPA will be awarding the "2007 IPA Freedom
Prize-Special Award" to Hrant Dink and Anna Politkovskaya. Hrant
Dink, a Turk of Armenian descent, was the editor-in-chief of the
Armenian-Turkish weekly newspaper Agos, which sought to provide a voice
for the Armenian community and create a dialogue between Turks and
Armenians. In October 2006, he was convicted and given a six-month
suspended sentence for the crime of "insulting Turkishness" under
Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. On 19 January 2007, he was shot
dead on the street in front of his Istanbul office at the age of 52.

Anna Politkovskaya was the special correspondent for the Russian
newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, who documented the horrific crimes committed
in the war in Chechnya. She was also an outspoken critic of Vladimir
Putin and of the Kremlin’s role in Chechnya. She was shot and killed
in her apartment building in Moscow on 7, October 2006, the apparent
victim of a contract killing. She was 48.

Bjørn Smith-Simonsen, Chair of IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee,
says: "The murders of Dink and Politkovskaya were vile. In giving them
the ‘2007 IPA Freedom Prize-Special Award’, we rise to celebrate their
courage, their humanity, and their witness. We rise to celebrate the
free word in the face of oppressive regimes. We also hope that this
special award will remind the Russian and Turkish authorities that
full light must be shed on all the aspects of these two cases."

More about Trevor Ncube, recipient of the 2007 IPA Freedom Prize: Born
and educated in and outside Zimbabwe, Trevor Ncube became Lecturer
in Political Science at the University of Zimbabwe. He left to become
Deputy Editor of the financial weekly, Financial Gazette before joining
The Zimbabwe Independent as Editor. He later bought the paper as well
as its sister weekly, The Standard. After a few years he also acquired
the South African based regional weekly, The Mail and Guardian. Ncube
is currently the Chief Executive of the three independent weeklies,
the only private and critical newspapers still published in Zimbabwe.

More about the IPA Freedom Prize and the Cape Town Book Fair: Created
in 2005, the IPA Freedom Prize is awarded for exemplary courage in
upholding freedom of expression and freedom to publish. It is intended
to honour, normally each year, a person, organisation or institution
that has made a notable contribution to the defence and/promotion of
freedom to publish anywhere in the world. The prize-winner receives
the sum of 5,000 CHF (approximately 3,000 EUR or 4,000 USD).

The IPA Publishers’ Freedom Prize will be presented during the
opening ceremony of the 2nd Cape Town Book Fair on 15 June 2007
by IPA President Ana Maria Cabanellas. For more on this event,
whose theme for 2007 is "More than Black on White", please see:

More about IPA: The International Publishers Association is the global
non-governmental organisation representing all aspects of book and
journal publishing worldwide. Established in 1896, IPA’s mission is to
promote and protect publishing and to raise awareness for publishing
as a force for cultural and political advancement worldwide. It is
an industry association with a human rights mandate.

IPA promotes intellectual property, fights against censorship and
currently has 65 member associations in 53 countries.

6/90/14790.html

–Boundary_(ID_eHbKWR2+nuFHLdjxhR tzfw)–

ARMENIA & AZERBAIJAN, PROGRAMME COORDINATOR DEMOCRATIZATION & PEACE BUILDING (SOUTH CAUCASUS)

Oneworld, Netherlands
May 15 2007

Functie-eisen/omschrijving :
READVERTISEMENT

ICCO / Kerk in actie

ICCO is the Interchurch Organisation for Development Co-operation
and Kerk in Actie is part of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands.

ICCO and Kerk in Actie combine their knowledge, means and policies
to enable them to do their work in developing countries better and
more efficiently. Although they cooperate quite closely, ICCO and
Kerk in Actie continue to operate as separate organisations.

Together we provide financial support and advice to local organisations
and networks throughout the world that are dedicated to improving
access to basic services, stimulating sustainable economic development
and advancing peace and democracy. We also put enterprising people
in the Netherlands and developing countries in contact with one
another. We work very closely with social organisations, including
development organisations, educational institutions and businesses. Our
assistance goes to help people in Latin America, Asia, Africa and
Eastern Europe build a more dignified existence and become financially
independent. ICCO has 250 employees.

Armenia & Azerbaijan

ICCO invites qualified candidates to apply for the position of:

ProgrammeCoordinator Democratization & Peace Building,

South Caucasus Duration: 24 months

Duty station: Tbilisi, Georgia. With frequent travel to Armenia
and Azerbaijan.

Background of the function In the past years ICCO has supported
Democratisation and Peace building (D&P) initiatives of a number of
NGOs in the South Caucasus.

In 2003 the capacity building programme for the South Caucasus
started. This programme was an intervention to support 7 peace
organizations from the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly (HCA) network in
developing their organizational and institutional capacities. The
programme was funded by PSO, through ICCO and IKV. In 2005 a mid term
review was carried out.

On the basis of the outcome of the mid term review in 2006 a second
phase for the above mentioned capacity building programme is being
developed for the period 2007-2008. The programme will be embedded in
the overall ICCO D&P programme, addressing both HCA’s as well as other
ICCO-partner organisations in Armenia and Azerbaijan. The programme
is titled "Civic Engagement in Peace building and Enhancement of
Human Rights in Armenia and Azerbaijan", and will have a focus on
civic engagement in peace and human rights issues and stimulating
constructive public debate and dialogue.

ICCO bears main responsibility for the programme. IKV/Pax Christi is
involved as an advisory party, and will support the capacity building
interventions related to the peace building programme through its
own expertise and networks.

Job Description

For the management, implementation and further development of the
programme, a programme coordinator will be based in Tbilisi in an
independent office, to facilitate relatively easy access by all
partners.

Main tasks fields

Programme development (policy and strategy) including linking and
learning between partner organisations Facilitate the process of
implementation of the programme by partner organisations Capacity
building of partner organisations Management of Capacity building funds
and raise additional funding Office management of the (small) office
in Tbilisi Monitoring and evaluation of the programme achievements
Maintain external relations with International NGOs and participate
in lobby initiatives

Requirements

The programme coordinator has several years of experience abroad,
preferably in D&P programmes and capacity building. Some experience
with personnel management (coaching and on-the-job advising) and
financial management is requested.

Knowledge based competencies

Ø Democratisation and Peace building

Ø Civil Society development

Ø Financial management

Ø PM&E

Ø Institutional Development and Organisational Strengthening (ID/OS)

Ø Knowledge of the Russian language is an asset

Behavioural competencies

Ø Cross cultural communication

Ø Diplomacy

Ø Coaching and developing others

Ø Stress tolerance

Ø Practical approach to organisation of work

Conditions The appointee will sign a labour contract with ICCO and
a supplementary contract with the backdonor PSO ().

Remuneration will be in accordance with PSO terms and conditions and
includes a supplementary salary and a social security and insurance
package.

Information / applications

For further information regarding this position, please contact: Mr.

Sjoerd van Schooneveld (+31 30 8801467) or Herman Brouwer (+31 30
6927918). Letters of application and CVs must be received before
11th June 2007 by ICCO, addressed to the Human Resources Department,
[email protected] stating "Programme Coordinator South Caucasus".

Previous applicants do not need to reapply.

ICCO
Human Resources Department
P.O. Box 8190
3503 RD UTRECHT
The Netherlands
phone: +31 30 6927914
fax: +31 30 6925 614
e-mail: [email protected]

For general information on ICCO and Kerk in Actie visit:

ld.nl/index.php?page=10&jobopeningId=1835

–B oundary_(ID_Ft1QszGUI6esEg0ZBp4RTw)–

RUMORS ABOUT SCUFFLES IN TWO DISTRICTS OF YEREVAN DENIED

YEREVAN, MAY 13, NOYAN TAPAN. The chairman of precint electoral
commission No 13/15 denied the rumors about a scuffle in front of the
polling station, saying that no such incident occured. According to
website of the RA Prosecutor General’s Office, law enforcement bodies
have received no such information.

The rumor that candidate at electoral disctrict No 25 (Nor Nork) R.
Hayrapeian hindered the process of voting, which resulted in a
scuffle, was also denied. According to the source, law enforement
bodies have not received any alarm calls in this connection, and
materials are being prepared to check this information.

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia –
May 13 2007

Armenian Justice Minister content not only by the results, but also
the process of the elections

Yerevan, May 13. /Mediamax/. Armenian Justice Minister, the
representative of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) David
Harutiunian stated in Yerevan today that he `is content not only by
the results, but also by the process of the elections’.

Mediamax reports that David Harutiunian visited today the Central
Electoral Commission (CEC). He noted that the RPA hoped to gain 33%
of electors’ votes, and the latest data of the CEC evidences that the
party gained even more votes.

David Harutiunian stated that the elections proceeded smoothly on the
whole, however, there were shortcomings noticed as well, which should
be eliminated before the presidential elections of 2008. Among the
issues, needing to be solved, the Minister noted the crowding of
citizens in the polling stations and the extreme tiredness of the
members of the polling stations electoral commissions.–0–

PROGRAM AIMED AT SETTLEMENT OF PROBLEM OF YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN ARMENIA WITH ASSISTANCE OF UNDP

Noyan Tapan
May 11 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 11, NOYAN TAPAN. Youth Career Trail program will be
implemented in June-December in Armenia with the assistance of
UNDP. Within the framework of the program unemployed leavers of
universities will get working experience, practical knowledge and
stipend of about 100 dollars.

As UNDP Resident Representative Consuelo Vidal reported at the May
11 press conference, the goal of the program is to contribute to
settlement of problems of youth unemployment offering new approaches
of their solution. In her words, this is a program of paid practice,
within the framework of which the youth for the first time will
be given a possibility to be engaged in job corresponding to their
education. In K. Vidal’s words, though unemployment level decreases
year by year in Armenia, nevertheless, it continues to be an urgent
problem among many young people. In her words, the main reason of
unemployment of youth is lack of working experience.

Coordinator of Global Compact Armenia program Arman Valesian said
that more than 60 unemployed young people aged from 19 to 25 years can
become program’s beneficiaries. They will spend their working practice
in UN agencies, companies of private sector. In A. Valesian’s words,
it is not excluded that part of best students after the end of the
practice will be engaged at the given company.