Author: Vanyan Gary

PACE representative John Prescott to travel to Armenia to help defuse
current political crisis

Strasbourg, 05.03.2008 – At the request of the President of the
Parliamentary Assembly, John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC) will return
to Armenia on 6 and 7 March 2008 to assess the post-electoral situation
in the country and explore possibilities for defusing the current
political crisis and promoting dialogue.

Mr Prescott headed a group of parliamentarians from the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) which observed the Presidential
election in Armenia on 19 February 2008.

The snap visit has been arranged in co-operation with the Chairman of
the Armenian delegation to PACE, Davit Harutyunyan, following the
declaration of a state of emergency during last weekend’s violence, in
which several people died. Scores of people were injured and many,
including MPs, were arrested.

During his visit, Mr Prescott will meet, among others, President
Kocharyan, Prime Minister and President-elect Serghz Sargsyan, former
President and candidate Levon Ter-Petrossyan, Parliament Speaker Tigran
Torosyan and the Chairman of the Consitutional Court, as well as leading
political figures and members of civil society and the diplomatic
community in Armenia.

John Prescott, représentant de l’APCE, se rend en Arménie pour
examiner les moyens de désamorcer la crise politique

Strasbourg, 05.03.2008 – A la demande du Président de l’Assemblée
parlementaire, John Prescott (Royaume-Uni, SOC) se rendra une nouvelle
fois en Arménie les 6 et 7 mars 2008 pour évaluer sur place la
situation post-électorale et examiner les moyens de désamorcer la
crise politique et de promouvoir le dialogue.

M. Prescott a conduit la délégation de l’Assemblée parlementaire
du Conseil de l’Europe (APCE) qui a observé l’élection
présidentielle en Arménie le 19 février 2008.

Cette visite éclair a été organisée en coopération avec le
président de la délégation arménienne à l’APCE, Davit
Harutyunyan, à la suite de la proclamation de l’état d’urgence
après les violences du week-end dernier, qui ont fait plusieurs morts
et des dizaines de blessés et entraîné de nombreuses arrestations,
dont celles de plusieurs députés.

M. Prescott rencontrera, entre autres, le président Kotcharian, le
premier ministre et Président élu Serge Sarkissian, l’ancien
président et candidat Levon Ter-Petrossian, le président du
Parlement Tigran Torossian, le président de la Cour constitutionnelle,
ainsi que des personnalités politiques de premier plan et des membres
de la société civile et de la communauté diplomatique en
Arménie.

Press Release
Parliamentary Assembly Communication Unit
Ref: 158b08
Tel: +33 3 88 41 31 93
Fax :+33 3 90 21 41 34
[email protected]
internet:

The Parliamentary Assembly brings together 318 members from the national
parliaments of the 47 member states.
President: Lluís Maria de Puig (Spain, SOC) ; Secretary General of the
Assembly: Mateo Sorinas.
Political Groups: EPP/CD (Group of the European People’s Party); SOC
(Socialist Group); EDG (European Democratic Group);

ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe); UEL (Group of the
Unified European Left).

OKTAY EKSI: A REAL SHAME

Hurriyet
March 4 2008
Turkey

It’s a great thing to know your own history. And an equally wonderful
thing to pass the pages of this history on to younger generations.

But is the only condition necessary for knowing or passing on this
history to brutify it, simplify it, and even make it more primitive?

Isn’t there a more civilized way to do it?

Is it right to vaccinate our younger generations with hatred and
enmity, or with civilization and peacefulness?

You will know what I am talking about if you have seen the photographs
printed in today’s Hurriyet of the 90th anniversary of the liberation
of Erzurum’s Askale township from occupation.

According to news provided about the ceremonies, as part of the
program, children were shown a fake mosque being burnt, in an attempt
to depict the disrespect shown by the Armenian gangs of the period
towards Islam and of course its important symbol, the mosque. Quite
pointedly, the message of "Armenians are our enemies. Don’t forget
it!" was placed in the minds of students between the ages of 7-14.

Later in the ceremony, there was a depiction of an imam being hung
by Armenian forces.

Look closely at the photographs. You can see how frightened those
youngsters are by the tableau presented to them. Such a brutal and
primitive tableau, that you can only wonder what kind of guidance
and advice the teachers who have brought their students there are
getting. Isn’t it an embarrassment though for all of us who are
members of this society?

Don’t you see now how we have raised youngsters like the one who
murdered Priest Santoro in Trabzon, or who came to Istanbul to kill
Hrant Dink, who raided the Zirve Publishing House in Malatya and
killed 3 men there for publishing Christian books?

Don’t you understand now what Hrant Dink’s widow, Rakel Dink, was
talking about when she noted at his funeral last year "We cannot
do anything until we question those who are creating killers out
of babies." We always say it, and we’ll repeat it again: the most
important condition placed on all of us is to be civilized. And that
is a value which has nothing to do with how much money you have in your
pockets, but instead with the universality of the values in your mind.

Are we aware though that we move a bit further away from this state
every passing day, with the strengthening of that mentality on display
at the Erzurum ceremonies?

ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI TROOPS EXCHANGE FIRE

Xinhua

March 4 2008
China

MOSCOW, March 4 (Xinhua) — Armenian and Azerbaijani troops exchanged
fire Tuesday in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh area, Itar-Tass news
agency said.

The incident, which occurred in the Mardakert district in the northwest
of Nagorno-Karabakh region, is a "fairly serious encroachment,"
Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan was quoted as saying.

"This is different from a usual violation of the cease-fire regime"
adopted by the two sides in 1994, he said.

The territory of Nagorno-Karabakh is a region in Azerbaijan populated
mostly by ethnic Armenians.

Three Azeri soldiers have been killed in the clash, Azeri television
said on Tuesday, while the Azeri Defense Ministry declined to confirm
the casualties.

Armed conflict broke out in the early 1990s between Azerbaijan and
Armenia over the region’s status after it declared independence,
which was not recognized by the international community.

A Russian-brokered cease-fire halted the fighting in 1994, but the
dispute remains unsolved.

NA MP MYASNIK MALKHASIAN PUT UNDER ARREST

Noyan Tapan
March 3, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 3, NOYAN TAPAN. RA National Assembly MP and Yerkrapah’s
Deputy Chairman Myasnik Malkhasian born in 1961 has been put under
arrest on the indications of Article 300 of the RA Criminal Code:
appropriation of the state authority, and taken to the isolation cell
for holding those detained.

This information was provided to Noyan Tapan by the Public Relations
and Information Department of the RA Police. According to that
source, at about 05:00 on March 2 RA National MP and Yerkrapah’s
Deputy Chairman Myasnik Malkhasian born in 1961, who is suspected in
instigating the mass disorders, which took place in the capital early
in the morning of March 2. was brought to the RA Police when trying
to take to flight from the scene in a taxi from the vicinity of the
Shahumian square. A metal pole of 55.5-sm length has been discovered
about him by a personal search.

DEADLY CLASHES DURING PROTESTS IN ARMENIA ALARM SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN

UN News Centre
March 3 2008

3 March 2008 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced his deep
concern about the deadly clashes between demonstrators and police
forces in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, where the results of
recent presidential elections have been disputed. "It is his hope
that these events, during which eight people died, will be thoroughly
investigated," Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement.

"The Secretary-General calls on all parties to exercise full restraint
and to find a way out of the current crisis. He also urges the Armenian
authorities to take all necessary steps to ensure a return to normalcy,
including through a speedy lifting of the state of emergency."

The statement was issued a day after Louise Arbour, the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights, also voiced alarm about the violent
clashes in Yerevan and urged authorities to exercise maximum restraint.

She noted that Armenia is a signatory to the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which states that, even during
states of emergency, fundamental rights such as the right to life
and the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading
treatment cannot be suspended.

Protests began in Armenia after Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan was
declared the winner of the 19 February presidential poll, a result
that is disputed by the opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrosyan.

Police say 8 dead in clashes with demonstrators after presidential election results
By AVET DEMOURIAN

2 March 08
Associated Press Writer

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Eight people died in clashes between police
and opposition supporters that led the president to declare a sweeping,
20-day state of emergency, officials said Sunday.

Police fired in the air and let off tear gas to break up Saturday’s
gathering of some 15,000 protestors upset over alleged fraud in the
Feb. 19 presidential election. On Sunday, troops and armored vehicles
patrolled the main streets of Armenia’s capital.

It was some of the worst political violence to hit post-Soviet Armenia,
and it led the opposition leader to also appeal for calm.

Sustained unrest in Armenia could undermine stability in the volatile
Caucasus region. Armenia borders Turkey, Iran, Georgia and Azerbaijan
— countries important for producing or shipping oil and gas to
Western customers.

Police spokesman Sayat Shirinian said Sunday that eight people were
killed and 33 officers wounded. He did not say if the dead were police
or protesters.

President Robert Kocharian declared the state of emergency Saturday
night. After the announcement, a few thousand people remained in the
streets, some holding peaceful vigils. By morning, some streets were
littered with the hulks of burned cars and troops carrying assault
rifles and wearing bullet-proof vests stood on street corners.

The demonstrators supported opposition presidential candidate Levon
Ter-Petrosian, who was being prevented from leaving his residence. From
his home, he recorded an appeal overnight to the protesters to go home.

Aides drove through the center of Yerevan playing the recording from
loudspeakers atop cars, and most demonstrators appeared to be gone
by Sunday morning.

"Our forces are unequal, we are surrounded by troops and our president
suggests we disperse," Ter-Petrosian said in the recording.

Ter-Petrosian finished a distant second to Prime Minister Serge
Sarkisian in the official results from the election. Sarkisian is
a close colleague of Kocharian, who is stepping down because the
constitution does not permit him to seek a third term.

Opponents allege the government manipulated the vote count. They also
allege the election was fundamentally unfair, saying the government
exerted pressure on people to vote for Sarkisian and pressured news
media into skewing coverage to favor him.

Panorama.am

14:30 01/03/2008

POLICE INFORMATION

Armenian Police station spread an announcement, which says:

"After the presidential elections held on 19 February, Levon
Ter-Petrosyan and his followers started to organize meetings in the
country and intended to create artificially strained situation in
the capital.

Irrespective of the policemen warnings that what they do was
illegality, they continued to cause social disorder and harm the
security of the society.

On 29 February operative information was get that the participants of
the meetings were going to receive guns. And according to our data,
on 1 March they planned to start the global disruption and disorder.

National Security service was also informed commonly.

The policemen asked the people to let them check and be sure that what
they have heard was but falsification. But the people gathered there
and the organizers of the meetings started to smear the policemen. In
the results of which, the aggression of the policemen was rising.

Operative decision was made to stop the disorder. In the result of
the resistance some of the policemen were injured and transferred
to hospital. Some of the participants and organizers of the disorder
were arrested. Some of the organizers escaped. Police station carries
out investigation to find them as well.

The Police station of the Republic of Armenia assures that the
situation is under control in the capital, and everything is done
to find the organizers and arrest and to recover the results of the
disorder in the country."

Source: Panorama.am

DEADLINE OF PRIVATIZATION OF HOUSES IS DECEMBER 31, 2009

KarabakhOpen
29-02-2008 11:51:47

The deadline of privatization of houses has been put off for a
few times.

This year is not an exception. A few days ago the government extended
the deadline up to December 31, 2009.

According to the mayor of Stepanakert Vazgen Gabrielyan, this time
privatization will probably be completed by the deadline. Only 8
percent remain to be privatized.

NIZAMI BAHMANOV: OSCE CHAIRMAN IS AGAINST ARMENIA’S PROPOSAL ON THE PARTICIPATION OF ARMENIAN COMMUNITY OF NAGORNO KARABAKH IN THE TALKS

Azeri Press Agency
Feb 28 2008
Azerbaijan

Baku. Ulviyya Aliyeva-APA. "There will not be dialogue if Armenian
Armed Forces is not withdrawn from Nagorno Karabakh," Nizami Bahmanov,
chief of "Nagorno Karabakh’s Azerbaijani Community" said, APA reports
Bahmanov noted that he asked OSCE chairman’s position on Armenia’s
proposal on the participation of Armenian Community of Nagorno Karabakh
in the talks.

"OSCE chairman stated that he is against this proposal. I consider
that the format which was determined in Helsinki can not be changed,"
he said. Bahmanov added that Armenians should understand their defeat,
irrespective of any Presidents in Armenia.

KAREN KARAPETYAN: I THINK WE’LL CONTINUE COOPERATING WITH ARF DASHNAKSUTYUN WITHIN FRAMES OF COALITION AGREEMENT

arminfo
2008-02-27 19:49:00

ArmInfo. "I come out for continuation of ARF Dashnaksutyun’s
cooperation with the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) and the
Prosperous Armenia Party (PA)", Chairman of the RPA faction Karen
Karapetyan said to ArmInfo correspondent.

"I think that within the framework of the coalition agreement we’ll
continue cooperation with ARFD. We have been cooperating with ARFD
for many years, certainly, there were also contradictions, and this
is normal", the MP said.

"WE have already receive responses on cooperation, however, it is
too early to specify the political forces", Karapetyan noted. He
pointed out that the state’s interests demand that the political forces
supported by people during the parliamentary and presidential elections
should take part in governing. Karapetyan stressed that the agreement
with PA will undergo no changes. As regards the vice-speaker’s post
after the resignation of member of the ARFD Bureau Vahan Hovhannisyan,
Karapetyan said: "I don’t think that an RPA representative will hold
this position, this issue is being considered".