Author: Tvankchian Parkev

EUROPEAN ADVISERS DUE IN ARMENIA LATER IN MARCH
Lusine Vasilyan

"Radiolur"
03.03.2009 12:13

In March the European Union will send a group of advisers to Armenia. A
corresponding agreement was reached during the Armenian President’s
visit to Brussels in November, 2008. The group aims at providing
assistance to Armenia towards accomplishment of the Action Plan of
the European Neighborhood Policy.

According to Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosyan, "assistance will
be provided to the Government, the National assembly, the Ministries
of Foreign affairs, Finance, Transport and Communication, the State
Incomes Agency, as well as the Office of the Human Rights Defender."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already decided how it is going to
use the proposed assistance. It will be directed at the establishment
of a diplomatic academy. "We have an objective to create a diplomatic
school within the Ministry in order to prepare high-quality cadres. For
that purpose we have applied to the European Union, asking to provide
advisory assistance."

The advisory program will be financed by the European Commission and
will be implemented jointly with the UN Development Programme.

SUSPENSION OF RALLIES UNACCEPTABLE TO THE "HERITAGE"
Siranush Muradyan

"Radiolur"
03.03.2009 15:18

The suspension of rallies, even for a while, is unacceptable to members
of the parliamentary "Heritage" faction. MP Zaruhi Postanjyan told
a press conference today that she stands for the struggle through
mass rallies.

Speaking about Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s speech, member of the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun faction Ruzan Araelyan assessed it as a diplomatic
speech.

TURKS CAN BE TRIED FOR ARMENIAN MASSACRE APOLOGY – REPORT

EasyBourse.com
March 2 2009

ANKARA (AFP)–A Turkish court ruled Monday that criminal proceedings
could be launched against the authors and signatories of a petition
that apologizes to Armenians for 1915-17 massacres under the Ottoman
Empire.

The decision by the court in Sincan, on the outskirts of Ankara,
repeals a Jan. 26 ruling by the prosecutor general that bringing
charges would impinge on freedom of speech laws, the Anatolia news
agency said.

Criminal proceedings can now be launched against the organizers of the
Internet petition, which was launched on Dec. 15, and the subsequent
29,000 signatories, Turkish media reported.

The petition states that signatories regret "that we remain indifferent
to the Great Catastrophe that Ottoman Armenians endured…and that
we deny," and offers apologies.

Armenia and Turkey offer starkly different accounts of the events,
and the dispute has been a major obstacle in relations between the
two countries.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million people died between 1915 and 1917 in
orchestrated killings as the Ottoman Empire fell apart. More than 20
countries have recognized the killings as genocide.

Turkey rejects the genocide label and argues that between 300,000
and 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife
when Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and
sided with invading Russian troops.

The petition, which does not use the term "genocide" to describe the
massacres, has been signed by more than 29,000 people, among them
intellectuals and artists.

A probe was launched in January after several Ankara residents filed a
complaint asking for those involved with the petition to be punished
for "openly denigrating the Turkish nation", an offense that carries
two years in prison.

Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today’s
most important business and market news, analysis and commentary:
d=6aW4xd4LO86%2F1a0GwmErOw%3D%3D.
You can use this link on the day this article is published and the
following day.

BORDYUZHA, OHANYAN FOCUS ON CSTO RRF ESTABLISHMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.03.2009 20:24 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ RA Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan met CSTO
Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha on Mar. 2 to discuss CSTO Rapid
Reaction Forces formation-related, RA Defense Minister’s spokesman,
colonel Seyran Shahsuvaryan told PanARMENIAN.Net.

The decision to form RRF was passed on Feb. 4 at CSTO Summit in Moscow

Armenian genocide bill gets new support

The Fresno Bee
Mar. 01, 2009
By Lewis Griswold

A Los Angeles-area congressman stopped by Fresno on Sunday, vowing to
once again sponsor a bill blaming the Ottoman Empire for the Armenian
genocide of 1915.

But this time, said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, he has high hopes
that the bill will pass Congress despite fierce opposition from
Turkey, and finally will be signed into law by the nation’s new
president.

Schiff, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, told reporters
that he came to Fresno at the urging of Reps. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, and
Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced. Both have told him about the San Joaquin
Valley’s water crisis, widespread foreclosures and transportation
needs, he said.

The Appropriations Committee makes yearly money-spending decisions for
federal projects, including roads and water projects.

Schiff said he visited a family farm in Del Rey, toured an unfinished
road project in Fresno and met with community groups and elected
officials.

The Fresno City Council held a rare Sunday afternoon meeting just to
speak with Schiff, a member of Congress since 2000. The meeting was
held in a small conference room at City Hall and was attended by five
council members — Cynthia Sterling, Blong Xiong, Henry T. Perea,
Andreas Borgeas and Paul Caprioglio — as well as Fresno County
Supervisor Phil Larson.

Schiff told the gathering he is one of the "blue dog" Democrats, a
group of fiscally conservative House members that includes Costa and
Cardoza.

He said Congress is focused on the economy to the exclusion of almost
everything else, and he hopes Congress will empower bankruptcy judges
to "cram down" onto banks lower house payments so homeowners facing
foreclosure can stay in their homes.

He also acknowledged the potential harm to the California farm economy
posed by water shortages.

"It’s seen as the overshadowing crisis" in the farm belt, he said.

Larson, who represents the west side, said he was encouraged by
Schiff’s words.

"He has to listen," Larsen said. "If he doesn’t, we’ll have a
disaster."

Later, about 75 people from the Armenian National Committee Central
California Chapter warmly welcomed Schiff, whose own district boasts a
strong Armenian and American-Armenian presence. Schiff pledged to
reintroduce his genocide resolution soon.

As before, Turkey will hit Washington with "an onslaught" of lobbying
against his bill, he warned. Turkey, a key U.S. ally, regards the mere
suggestion of genocide as an affront to its national identity.

But Schiff said virtually every member in Congress knows that the
genocide is a fact of history, and that President Barack Obama
understands the issue.

"Obama spoke out against the firing of the ambassador," Schiff said,
referring to the dismissal of the American ambassador to Armenia for
publicly using the term "Armenian genocide."

Still, the Armenian-Americans in Fresno expressed frustration that
genocide recognition bills have repeatedly failed while other
genocides of the last century easily get recognized.

"We are still grieving," said Astghik Ajemian, whose grandparents were
genocide survivors. For years, Ajemian said, she has had a recurring
dream of hiding under a table with her children "so the Turks don’t
see us."

The reporter can be reached at [email protected] or (559)
622-2416.

ory/1231214.html

RELATIONS BETWEEN ARMENIA, GERMANY HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING AT A NEW PACE OVER THE PAST YEARS

armradio.am
26.02.2009 15:55

President Serzh Sargsyan today received member of the Foreign Relations
Committee of the Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany, deputy
head of the Bundestag delegation to NATO Marcus Mekel, and German
Charge d’Affaires, Mrs. Melanie Moltmann.

President Sargsyan appreciated the fact that the Armenian-German
relations have been developing at a new pace over the past years. The
President assessed his recent meeting with German Chancellor Angela
Merkel as constructive.

President Sargsyan noted that Germany is the second donor country for
Armenia in the field of development-targeted cooperation, as well as
one of its largest trade partners.

According to Serzh Sargsyan, German businessmen trust in the business
environment of Armenia and it’s not accidental that 94 companies with
German capital function in Armenia today. The commodity turnover
reached $350 million in 2008, the German investments totaled $250
million. Noting that these figures are rather impressive for Armenia
and speak about the high level of dialogue, the President said there
is still much to do.

According to Marcus Mekel, he is one of the members of Bundestag who
think that the policy of the European Union in the South Caucasus
should be more active. He noted that he had the opportunity to listen
to the Armenia n President’s speech in Munich and address questions
about the Armenian-Turkish dialogue.

At the request of the guest, President Sargsyan once again
presented the developments in the direction of normalization of the
Armenian-Turkish relations and the approaches of official Yerevan.

Reference was made to the domestic political situation in the country.

"AMENDMENTS TO ARTICLES 225 AND 300 WILL NOT PREVENT REPETITION OF MARCH 1 TRAGEDY"

A1+
[06:00 pm] 25 February, 2009

"The proposed amendments to Articles 225 and 300 of Armenia’s Criminal
Code are more tragic and menacing than the events of last March 1-2,"
Armenian parliamentarian Larissa Alaverdyan announced after the first
hearing of the disputed amendments.

"The document lacks political will to lead the country on a legal
path," she said. "The amendments avail the authorities an opportunity
to pursue their ambitions, preferences and goals especially during
the court ruling of the case against seven leading oppositionists."

No other party, with the exception of the Heritage, expressed an
opinion about the amendments. Heritage MP Zaruhy Postanjyan reminded
her fellow colleagues of the time and venue of the deadly clashes
which left ten people dead in Yerevan streets. In fact, the clashes
took place in the streets of Leo and Paronyan, and the amendments do
not clarify the exact venue and participants of the March 1 disorder.

Mrs. Postanjyan cited PACE Resolution 1920 according to which the
cases against people charged under Articles 225 and 300 on groundless
accusation should be discontinued. If you look through the indictments
of the seven oppositionists you will become convinced that they neither
called for mass riots nor killed anyone. Only Miasnik Malkhasyan had
a stick in his hand but no fingerprints were found on it.

The amendments propose solutions to the impasse. At the same time
they enable the Prosecutor General to group the indictments against
our colleagues under Article 225. The detained MPs will be taken from
the courtroom, and the trial will continue without them. Later on
they will be pardoned like our colleagues from the ARF Dashnaktsutyun.

Zaruhy Postanjyan says the amendments do not give a chance to prevent
further mass riots and to avoid repetition of March 1 clashes. She says
the National Assembly had better put the amendments under consideration
after getting the opinion of the Venice Commission.

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN, SPEAKER BAKRADZE DISCUSS ARMENIA-GEORGIA COOPERATION

armradio.am
25.02.2009 17:30

President Serzh Sargsyan today received the delegation headed by the
President of Parliament of Georgia, David Bakradze.

Serzh Sargsyan and David Bakradze emphasized the current high level
of interstate relations between the two countries, the historic close
ties and friendship between the Armenian and Georgian peoples.

Attaching importance to intensive contacts on different levels,
President Sargsyan underlined the exceptional importance of cooperation
and noted that such visits greatly contribute to the further deepening
of friendship.

The interlocutors turned to the process of implementation of
the agreements reached during Serzh Sargsyan’s official visit to
Georgia. The parties stressed that the accomplishment of the programs
in the direction of transport communication, simplification of the
crossing of the state border will enhance the further development of
Armenian-Georgian economic relations.

Underlining that there are no problems between Armenia and Georgia
that cannot be solved via joint discussions and dialogue, the parties
noted the necessity of balanced approaches on both sides.

The Armenian President and the Georgian Parliament Speaker exchanged
views on the possible ways of cooperation within the framework of the
EU Eastern Partnership Initiative, the anti-crisis measures taken by
the two countries.

PRESS RELEASE
From: Mira Yardemian
Public Relations Director
Haigazian University
Mexique Street, Kantari, Beirut
[email protected]
P.O.Box. 11-1748
Riad El Solh 1107 2090
Tel: 01-353010/1/2
01-349230/1

Raquel Dink Visits Haigazian University

Beirut, 23/02/2009- On Friday, February 20, 2009, Mrs.Raquel Dink, widow
of renowned Armenian activist journalist, editor of the Turkish-Armenian
Agos newspaper, Hrant Dink, paid a special visit to Haigazian
University.

Dink, who was in Beirut for a very short sojourn, was hosted by the
Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East, as the
keynote speaker of the joint worship service dedicated to the feast of
St.Vartan.

Dink shared with the Haigazian University staff, faculty and students,
her experiences related to the assassination of Hrant and his tireless
efforts to promote human rights and freedom of thought and speech for
all minorities in Turkey. She also briefed about "The Hrant Dink
Foundation" as a foundation that promotes universal values like,
consciousness, responsibility, and accountability in writing and
speaking, and open dialogue between cultures. She further reflected upon
the challenges of living as Armenians in Turkey.

Also organized by Haigazian University, Mrs. Dink had the opportunity to
meet with a select group of Armenian women representing different
denominations, institutions, and cultural organizations in Lebanon,
sharing with them her personal experience vis a vis the assassination of
her late husband, her faith, values and priorities in life, as well as
her new challenges.

ARMVODOKANAL CJSC PROPOSES RAISING WATER TARIFF BY 10.3% IN APRIL

ArmInfo
2009-02-24 13:01:00

ArmInfo. Armvodokanal CJSC managed by French Saur, has applied to the
Public Services Regulatory Commission for raising the water tariff
by 10.3% starting April 2009.

The company proposes raising the tariff to 154,47 drams inclusive of
VAT as against the present 140 drams. Armvodokal supplies water to
consumers outside Yerevan.

Last year, Director General of Armvodokanal CJSC Patrick Lorin declared
that water control was still the most painful issue for the company
since only 8 of 100 liters of drinking water supplied to the regions
of Armenia is paid for. The remaining part is technical and commercial
losses. P. Lorin said that there were too many illegal connections
to water pipelines in villages which were out of control.