Author: Tumanian Talar

L’ARMENIE ET SES CAPITALES, DU TEMPS DE LEUR GLOIRE
Par Anne-Marie Romero

Le Figaro, France
25 decembre 2006

LORSQUE les Armeniens racontent leur histoire, ils remontent loin,
très loin, jusqu’a l’Ourartou, cette nation mentionnee dans la
Bible, où l’Arche de Noe s’arreta sur le mont Ararat, aujourd’hui
situe derrière la frontière turque. Ils remontent jusqu’aux temps
où l’Armenie etait dix fois plus grande que ne l’est aujourd’hui
la petite republique caucasienne. C’est pourquoi les magnifiques
photographies de Zaven Sargsian nous entraînent au-dela des frontières
actuelles, en Turquie, en Azerbaïdjan et a Sis, en Cilicie (petit
Etat chretien dont le dernier roi fut un croise, Leon de Lusignan),
qui fut la dernière capitale royale d’Armenie, hors d’Armenie. " Le
point commun entre toutes les premières capitales de ce qui etait
alors un immense Etat, ce sont les enormes forteresses, les nids
d’aigle que les rois de l’Antiquite ont fait construire ", explique
Sylvie Clavel, commissaire de l’exposition.

C’est le cas a Van (aujourd’hui en Turquie), au IX e siècle avant
notre ère, a Armavir et a Ervandachat, situees sur la frontière
actuelle. Si Van, redevenue capitale au X e siècle, a conserve une
citadelle impressionnante bardee de plusieurs rangees de courtines
et de tours, les deux autres sont en ruines, bastions fondus comme
des blocs de savon. D’Artachat, qui marque le passage a notre ère,
et de Tigranakert, qui fut sa rivale, fondee par le grand roi Tigrane
au bord du Tigre, l’Armenie hellenisee n’a rien conserve des palais
somptueux, entoures de murailles et s’etalant sur des centaines
d’hectares. L’oubli est aussi retombe sur Dvin, Bagaran, rasee par
Tamerlan, Chirakavan, detruite volontairement au XX e siècle, et Kars,
où seule demeurent l’eglise des Saints-Apôtres et une formidable
muraille au sommet d’un pic rocheux. Car meme les villes d’avant la
christianisation ont ete reoccupees et conservent toutes les eglises et
monastères fondes par les rois. Tous temoignent de l’evolution de l’art
religieux, des fresques polychromes de l’epoque paleochretienne au
denuement actuel des sanctuaires, où les " khatchkars ", ces crucifix
sculptes sans christ, forment l’unique decor. Vous en verrez trois,
magnifiques dentelles de pierre, a la Conciergerie. Ainsi en est-il
de la cathedrale d’Edchmiadzine, aujourd’hui siège du Catholicos
d’Armenie, vestige du temps où Vagharchapat, a un quart d’heure
d’Erevan, en etait la capitale (163-428). Patrimoine en ruine Mais
c’est Ani (capitale de 961 a 1045), la ville " aux mille eglises ",
qui est la plus chère au coeur des Armeniens. Situee desormais en
territoire turc, elle a conserve une cathedrale et sept eglises ou
jamatouns, des edifices mi-civils, mi-religieux situes a l’exterieur
des sanctuaires. Helas ! tout ce patrimoine est en ruine. Eglises
circulaires decorees de fresques, aux facades ciselees de decors
animaliers, que les Turcs abandonnent aux injures du temps. Reste
Erevan, capitale depuis 1918, l’ancienne Erebouni du royaume
d’Ourartou, qui peut se targuer de posseder encore sa plaque de
fondation ecrite en cuneiforme. La ville actuelle est le resultat
d’un plan d’urbanisme elabore par l’architecte Alexander Tamanian,
en 1924. Un plan circulaire representatif de l’urbanisme sovietique
dont il n’a pourtant pas la lourdeur. Les très belles photographies de
Sargsian montrent une cite agreable, aeree, verte, qui doit en effet
beaucoup a l’emploi de la pierre, le tuf aux degrades de couleurs
allant du violet a l’orange. Meme les monuments les plus emblematiques
du communisme, comme le Monument a la mère patrie ou le Memorial du
genocide, conservent une rondeur, une elegance relativement discrète
qui montrent a quel point ce petit pays a su rester lui-meme a travers
toutes les epreuves de l’histoire.

–Boundary_(ID_Th67oT+3BCfEG4uXJ/ED3A )–

A 23-YEAR OLD NEO-NAZI HAS BEEN SENTENCED TO SIX MONTHS IN PRISON
FOR VANDALIZING AN ARMENIAN CHURCH

Yerevan, December 23. ArmInfo. A 23-year old neo-Nazi has been
sentenced to six months in prison for vandalizing an Armenian church,
according to a December 20, 2006 report in the local newspaper
"Gazeta Dona."

The defendant, identified in the report only by his last name
Mishchenko, has a long criminal record and admitted his membership
in a skinhead gang. The court found that on July 31, 2006 he entered
the Surb-Khach museum of Armenian culture, which includes an Armenian
Apostolic church, and set a fire. He also painted racist graffiti.

Within two weeks he was arrested and charged with vandalism. It
appears that no hate crime charges were brought against the defendant.

SOME ANTI-IRANIAN PUNISHMENT MEASURES WERE STOPPED AT RUSSIA’S DEMAND
By Petros Keshishian

AZG Armenian Daily
22/12/2006

The European member states of the UN Security Council submitted a
new draft on Iran’s nuclear program for discussion. The draft takes
into account the requirements of Russia concerning the issue. France
Press informed that the discussion of the new version of the formula
on Iran’s nuclear program will take place on Friday.

Vitali Churkin, Russian Ambassador at the world organizations, said
that the point that prohibited the travel of 12 Iranian officials
engaged in the nuclear program are withdrawn from the document. It
is suggested that the states should be only very cautious about them
and inform the commission about their visits.

The new draft also excludes the financial restrictions envisaged
for the participant companies and physical entities engaged in the
program. Churkin stated that there are only 2-3 unsettled issues,
at present. Five permanent members, as well as Germany, participate
in the discussion of the document.

The Security Council isn’t sure that the Iranian nuclear program is
of exclusively peaceful character.

Thus, they demand from Tehran to stop the program.

While Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinezhad keeps insisting that
his country has the right to independently concentrate uranium and
create the relevant industrial bearers.

BILL ON ELECTORAL FRAUD BY ONE PERSON

Lragir, Armenia
Dec 21 2006

On December 20 and 21 the Electoral Code of Armenia finally "reached"
the agenda of the National Assembly and was discussed. Hardly twenty
out of 131 members of parliament attended the meeting, mainly members
of the opposition or independent members of parliament. 5-6 members
of parliament from the three majority parties were present, only 3
made speeches. According to the opposition, by these amendments to
the Electoral Code the majority is likely to create conditions for
electoral fraud in 2007. The pro-government forces think that the
electoral code is not perfect but ensures progress.

Member of Parliament Hovanes Margaryan, Orinats Yerkir Party, said
the code worked out in a year and a half was changed within 4 days.

Alexan Karapetyan, National Solidarity, stated that the code which
is constantly amended should work perfectly but our law does not.

The provision which does not require quorum for the meetings of the
electoral commissions added to the fears of the opposition on parity
of the staffs of electoral commissions, a proportional system of
election, etc. "We are discussing a bill which can be described as
a bill for electoral fraud by one person. There is no country in the
world which would allow holding a meeting of the electoral commission
if only one member is present," stated Victor Dallakyan and noted that
the figures are speaking about free, fair and transparent elections
who are specialized in electoral fraud.

U.S. VOICES ‘SOLIDARITY’ WITH ARMENIAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Dec 20 2006

A senior U.S. diplomat on Wednesday heaped praise on Armenia’s leading
human rights defenders, saying that the United States believes their
activities are "critical" for the country’s democratic future.

Anthony Godfrey, the U.S. charge d’affaires in Yerevan, voiced
Washington’s strong backing for human rights advocacy at a special
lunch with the state Ombudsman Armen Harutiunian and three independent
campaigners.

"In Armenia, the United States stands in solidarity with you — the
country’s brave men and women who are doing such essential work as
supporting a free press, fighting against trafficking in persons,
advocating for freedom of religion, and supporting women’s rights,"
Godfrey told them, according to the U.S. embassy.

"We thank you for your efforts to further Armenia’s democratic reforms,
and for your dedication to fighting for those people who often don’t
have a voice," he said.

The U.S. State Department has described the Armenian authorities’ human
rights record as "poor" in its annual reports released in recent years.

A statement by the U.S. embassy said the lunch meeting, apparently the
first of its kind, was dedicated to International Human Rights Day that
was marked around the world on December 10. Two of its participants,
Avetik Ishkhanian and Mikael Danielian, are outspoken critics of the
Armenian government that have long accused it of condoning police
torture, violations of due process and other human rights abuses.

Ishkhanian, who leads the Armenian Helsinki Committee, said the U.S.

and the West in general have done "more than enough" to highlight
these problems and press the authorities in Yerevan to tackle them.

"The reasons why the situation with human rights in Armenia is
disastrous are purely domestic," he told RFE/RL. "We have only
ourselves to blame for that."

But Danielian disagreed, saying that Western powers "could and should
have done more" to bring Yerevan to task. "I expect tougher action
from them," said the chairman of the Armenian Helsinki Assembly.

Interestingly, the meeting at the U.S. mission in Armenia coincided
with the professional holiday of the employees of the National Security
Service (NSS), the Armenian successor to the Soviet KGB. It marks the
establishment on December 20, 1917 of the VChK, Bolshevik Russia’s
infamous secret police which historians blame for the deaths of
millions of people. The agency changed several names before becoming
the KGB in 1954.

President Robert Kocharian, who reinstated the Soviet-era holiday
after coming to power in 1998, used the occasion to award medals to
the entire leadership of the NSS. Among the 17 decorated officers
were the agency’s director, Gorik Hakobian, and the head of a hitherto
unknown NSS directorate tasked with protecting "constitutional order"
and combating terrorism. Kocharian’s office said they were decorated
for their "considerable contribution" to Armenia’s national security.

Ishkhanian scoffed at the official explanation, saying that the
ex-KGB’s main function is to help the Kocharian administration stifle
dissent and hold on to power. "This ceremony only testified to the
deplorable state of human rights protection in Armenia," he charged.

In a rare newspaper interview given two years ago, Hakobian said
his agency is learning and drawing inspiration from the "glorious"
experience of its Soviet predecessor. He also described former KGB
informers as "patriots" who honestly served their country.

RA CB CHAIRMAN: ARMENIA NOT TO BE ABLE TO KEEP PRESENT HIGH ECONOMY RATES IF STRUCTURE OF REPUBLIC’S NATIONAL ECONOMY DOES NOT CHANGE

Yerevan, December 20. ArmInfo. Armenia will not be able to keep the
present high rates of economy if the structure of the Republic’s
national economy does not change, RA CB Chairman, Tigran Sarkissyan,
said at today’s Round Table devoted to the creation of a Center of
productivity and competitiveness in the Republic.

According to him, to qualitatively change the structure of the
country’s national economy, it is necessary, first of all, to accent
the attention on the development of intellectual abilities of the
nation. An army of managers, able to increase the productivity and
competitiveness of the Armenian economy both in the home and foreign
markets, should be created. The CB Chairman called up the businessmen
to increase the level of knowledge and working skills as to regulate
the modern production.

By T. Sarkissyan’s forecasts, many enterprises of Armenia will close
within the next 5-7 years if they cannot organize the production of
new more competitive goods and services. He supported the creation of
more favorable conditions for the development of entrepreneurship and
export. At the same time, T. Sarkissyan does not accept the proposals
of some Armenian exporters to fix the Armenian dram to the American
dollar as to avoid its further strengthening and, thus, reduce the
profit from export. He noted that the dram is strengthening since
the country’s economy is growing.

ARMAN BABAJANYAN’S CASE CANCELLED AGAIN

A1+
[06:38 pm] 19 December, 2006

"The Prosecutor’s Office, courts and Defense Minister use other
criteria in Arman Babajanyan’s case which greatly differ from other
cases. The difference is so great and apparent that we have got an
impression that it is rather retribution than a trial", Hayk Aloumyan,
Arman Babajanyan’s advocate, announced in the RA Cessation Court on
Criminal and Marshal Issues today.

Mr. Aloumyan made a defending speech during the court sitting. Prior
to his speech, Hayk Aloumyan and Zarouhi Postanjyan, Babajanyan’s
advocates made mediations. They pledged to cancel the court sitting by
the time the interdepartmental commission studied Arman Babajanyan’s
claim but the court turned down their mediation.

Hayk Aloumyan mentioned in his speech that all courts display
discrimination. Namely, the Prosecutor’s Office brought an action
on false accusation. "How dares the Prosecutor’s Office to accuse
Arman Babajanyan of documents forgery when it has used and attached
false document (belonging to a non-existing "Artak Khachatryan")to
Arman Babajanyan’s case ? Are they guided by the principle – the aim
justifies the means?"

The advocate claims that Babajanyan’s case is not so much
complicated. "Thousands of suchlike cases have been studied and
are still being studied whereas Babajanyan’s case has aroused so
much noise!"

At the end of his speech Mr. Aloumyan asked the court to dismiss the
case and cease pursuit of Mr. Babajanyan.

The court sitting was postponed till December 29.

OECD URGES ARMENIA TO CRACK DOWN ON TRADITION OF BRIBERY

Agence France Presse — English
December 18, 2006 Monday 11:29 AM GMT

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development urged
Armenia to crack down on a "tradition of bribe-giving" in a report
on Monday which passed severe judgement on the handling of corruption.

The OECD said: "To tackle the pervasive tradition of bribe-giving
in Armenia, the leadership of the country needs to lead and support
anti-corruption efforts through a combination of law enforcement,
further legal reform and public education campaigns."

Armenia had taken several steps to improve action against corruption,
the OPECD said, but "the number of convictions for corruption is low,
especially for high-ranking officials, and more efforts must be made
to investigate allegations and bring cases to court".

Agencies responsible for enforcing the law and for controlling
financial activities had to improve their co-operation and measures
were needed to "cut abuse of the system for declaring gifts and assets
by public officials".

However, the report, by the OECD anti-corruption network for Eastern
Europe and Central Asia, said that since 2004 Armenia had taken steps
to improve its criminal laws, adopting a broad definition of who was
a public official and making bribery a criminal act.

Controls on money laudering had been strengthened.

Procedures for the award of public-sector contracts had been improved.

"However, many of the above measures are only initial steps in the
right direction and much remains to be done to ensure integrity in
the civil service and to reduce the burden of corruption in various
spheres of public and business life."

PRESS RELEASE
The Heritage Party
7 Vazgen Sargsian Street
Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 10) 27.00.03, 27.16.00 (temporary)
Fax: (+374 – 10) 52.48.46 (temporary)
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Website:

December 18, 2006

The Subsequent Authority-Commanded Roadblock Placed Against Raffi
Hovannisian’s Public Meetings

Yerevan — On December 16, the Abelian State Dramatic Theater of the
town of Vanadzor was to become the venue for the civil gathering
between the town’s residents and the Heritage Party founder Raffi
K. Hovannisian. However, despite the prearrangement that was reached
with respect to the renting of the premises, the theater’s management
refused to allocate the space. To "justify," it initially argued that
they were awaiting the arrival of the Sundukian Dramatic Theater’s
cast from Yerevan. Subsequently, it claimed that the theater’s stage
was in the process of renovation, and finally contended that its hall
lacked electricity.

These "excuses," however, did not discourage the Vanadzor locals
as they assembled around the nearby square, and an impromptu
citizens’ meeting followed with Heritage board chairman Vardan
Khachatrian. Answering to the people’s numerous questions, Khachatrian
specifically elucidated as to why the authorities are attempting by
every means to hinder Raffi Hovannisian’s public contacts. "Whether
or not the theater’s assistant director Hovhannes Azizbekyan keeps
his word with regard to allocating the hall, Raffi Hovannisian,
nonetheless, will fulfill his right as a citizen of Armenia, and
will speak–either in Vanadzor or anywhere else in the country–with
the people in a noble and honest manner," Khachatrian assured those
present.

This episode comes to refute once again the deceitful and hypocritical
assertions made by the ruling powers that all Armenian political
figures, supposedly, enjoy equal conditions and rights. What is more,
the presidentially-conceived "black list" wholly forbids access for
Heritage’s founder to the television media, both state and private,
which all are under strict supervision and vertical control.

There can only be one explanation for such actions of the authorities:
the incumbent regime is in deep fear against its own people, and can
no longer look at the truth in the eye.

Founded in 2002, Heritage has regional divisions throughout the
land. Its central headquarters are located at 7 Vazgen Sargsian Street,
Yerevan 0010, Armenia, with telephone contact at (374-10) 580.877,
fax at (374-10) 543.897, email at [email protected], and website at

EurasiaNet, NY
Dec 15 2006

ARMENIAN PRESS GRAPPLING WITH NEWSPRINT SHORTAGE
Emil Danielyan 12/15/06

Armenia’s vibrant print media are struggling to remain afloat due to
a serious shortage of newsprint which government officials and
private publishers blame on external factors such as Russia’s
continuing transport blockade of Georgia. Some newspaper editors,
however, wonder whether the shortage is, in fact, politically
motivated.

The country’s largest printing house, which publishes some 30 local
periodicals, claims to have been unable to ship paper since the
closure of the main Russian-Georgian border crossing last summer. The
privately owned company, Tigran Mets, announced late last week that
it has run out of stock and will not accept printing orders from
clients until further notice.

Virtually none of the affected publications has suspended publication
so far, however. Some have temporarily switched to other, smaller
printing houses. Others continue to be produced by Tigran Mets on
thicker and more expensive paper which is normally used for books.
They have had to reduce their already small printing runs to offset
the extra publishing costs involved.

Tigran Mets owner and Chief Executive Officer Vrezh Markosian told
EurasiaNet on November 12 that the crisis will likely end by the
December 16-17 weekend. "We expect to get a fresh batch of newsprint
on Friday or Sunday at the latest," he said. "It is on its way to
Armenia."

Tigran Mets has for years imported Russian-made newsprint to Armenia
via neighboring Georgia, usually by trucks. The company says the
Russian government’s decision in June to "temporarily" shut down the
sole functioning Russian-Georgian border crossing at Upper Lars left
more than 200 tons of its newly purchased paper stranded in southern
Russia. The all-out Russian transport blockade subsequently imposed
on Georgia forced it to divert the cargo consignment to the Ukrainian
Black Sea port of Ilyichevsk, which operates a regular rail ferry
service with Poti, Georgia.

Markosian and government officials in Yerevan say the ferry link,
heavily used by Armenia in its external trade, was not operational
during most of November because of stormy weather. The explanation
seems less than convincing to Armenian newspaper editors and leaders
of media associations. In particular, they wonder why Markosian took
six months to reroute the newsprint deliveries and why he warned
customers of the problem at short notice.

"I can’t say for certain that there is no politics involved here,"
said Aram Abrahamian, editor of the independent daily Aravot. "I can
only hope that the reasons [for the shortage] are really economic."

Boris Navasardian, chairman of the Yerevan Press Club, voiced similar
suspicions, arguing that imports of other commodities have barely
been affected by the Russian-Georgian confrontation and other
problems complicating landlocked Armenia’s transport communication
with the outside world. "In countries like ours, the authorities can
take any step to restrict freedom of speech and dissemination of
information," he told a November 6 roundtable discussion in Yerevan.

The Armenian print media have not faced serious government
restrictions until now, with many newspapers routinely making harsh
attacks on President Robert Kocharian and other top officials. Most
of the country’s five national dailies and a dozen other major
publications are highly critical of the authorities. They are
tolerated by the latter not least because of their small circulation
and the resulting limited impact on public opinion. The best-selling
local daily, Haykakan Zhamanak, sells less than 6,000 copies a day
and is only eight pages long.

Instead, Kocharian maintains a tight grip on the far more accessible
electronic media. The presidential administration is believed to
control the news coverage of dozens of big and small television
stations operating in Yerevan and across the country. The only TV
channel that regularly aired criticism of the Armenian president and
his cabinet was controversially pulled off the air in April 2002. The
de facto closure of the popular A1+ station was condemned by local
and international media watchdogs. One of them, the Washington,
DC-based Freedom House, has described the Armenian media as "not
free" in its annual reports released since the closure.

Another watchdog, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), put Armenia in a
lowly 101st place in its latest list of 168 nations ranked in terms
of press freedom protection. The Paris-based group pointed not only
to the de facto government control of Armenian broadcasters, but also
to periodical physical attacks on local print journalists. In the
most recent of such cases reported in September, unknown men ambushed
and beat up Hovannes Galajian, editor of the opposition-linked
Iravunk weekly. Also in September, another newspaper editor critical
of the government, Arman Babajanian, was sentenced to four years in
prison for dodging military service. While Babajanian pleaded guilty
to the charge, the sentence was unusually harsh by Armenian
standards.

The newsprint shortage, coupled with Babajanian’s imprisonment and
violence against other journalists, is raising fears among media
professionals that the authorities have decided to get tougher on the
defiant print press ahead of parliamentary elections next spring.

"We will somehow overcome this crisis, but what is going to happen
next?" asked Hagop Avedikian, the veteran editor-in-chief of another
daily, Azg. Avedikian is particularly worried about newspaper
distribution in Armenia, which he believes could become an even more
serious problem. Private distribution agencies that owe considerable
sums to Azg and other papers, he explained, are increasingly facing
bankruptcy.

"What is happening now is extremely dangerous," said Nune Sargsian,
head of the Yerevan office of the US media support group Internews.
"What will we do if the same situation arises during the election
period? That may happen and we must be prepared for that."

Editor’s Note: Emil Danielyan is a Yerevan-based journalist and
political analyst.