EMERGENCY STATE TO BE CANCELLED
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[07:02 pm] 14 November, 2007
The emergency will be denounced in Georgia November 16, Chairwoman
of the Georgian Parliament Nino Burjanadze announced today.
Michael Saakashvili declared a state of emergency November 7 after
dispersing oppositional demonstrators and terminating the activity
of independent media.
Reminder: the emergency state was to end November 22 before the
official offset of extraordinary presidential election campaign.
ARMENIANS EXPECT SARKISIAN TO BECOME PRESIDENT
Angus Reid Global Monitor, Canada
Nov 13 2007
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Many people in Armenia foresee prime
minister Serge Sarkisian winning next year’s presidential election,
according to a poll by Communicate Research. 38 per cent of respondents
think Sarkisian will become Armenia’s head of state.
Heritage Party leader Raffi Hovhannisian is second with 13 per cent,
followed by National Assembly chairman Artur Baghdasaryan of the Rule
of Law (OY) party with 12 per cent, Artashes Geghamyan of National
Unity (AM) with eight per cent, former president Levon Ter Petrossian
with six per cent, and former prime minister Vazgen Manukyan with
five per cent.
Armenian president Robert Kocharyan was re-elected to a new four-year
term in March 2003 in an election marred by fraud allegations. The
next presidential election is scheduled for Feb. 19, 2008.
On Apr. 4, Sarkisian became Armenia’s new prime minister following
the death of Andranik Markarian. The Republican Party of Armenia
(HHK) was headed by Markarian until his death, and is now primarily
led by Sarkisian.
In May, Armenian voters renewed the 131-member National Assembly.
Final results gave the HHK 32.82 per cent of the vote and 64 seats,
making it the strongest party in the legislature. On that same month,
Sarkisian said he would seek the presidency next year.
On Oct. 26, Ter Petrossian led a popular rally opposing what he called
Kocharyan’s "handover of power" to Sarkisian, and accused the two
politicians of running a "gangster state." Ter Petrossian-who led
Armenia to independence from the Soviet Union-said after announcing
his presidential bid: "In the last five years, the criminal regime
has stolen billions from the people."
Polling Data
Who do you think would win if the presidential election were held
this Sunday?
Serge Sarkisian 38%
Raffi Hovhannisian 13%
Artur Baghdasaryan 12%
Artashes Geghamyan 8%
Levon Ter Petrosyan 6%
Vazgen Manukyan 5%
Source: Communicate Research Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with
2,000 Armenian adults, conducted from Oct. 23 to Nov. 1, 2007. Margin
of error is 2.2 per cent.
armenians_expect_sarkisian_to_become_president
"A LEADER SHOULD BE AWARE OF EVERYTHING" /HRANUSH KHARATIAN/
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[11:22 am] 13 November, 2007
On which criteria should the Armenian people elect a president? Does
a person’s appearance, programme and adherents matter? We tried to
find answers to these questions from ethnographer Hranush Kharatian.
"Our society is polarized. Various strata of the society have different
stance to the issue. Most Armneians are politically illeterate,
they are ignorant of political developments. They think a president
must be endowed with unique qualities and capable of solving any
problem. Therefore they want to elect a person who can be available
any moment," Hranush Kharatian says.
Ms Kharatian divides leaders into two groups – ideal and practical. "An
ideal leader should be kind-hearted, unbiased and concessive while
a practical leader should be capable of tackling problems. It is
generally believed that Armenians are fond of kings but I wouldn’t
say so. If we recall our history we can see that revolts were mainly
incited from inside, by separate groups. Love for a king implies
obedience while our people lack this characteristics.
In my opinion, a real president must be apt to succeed. He must love
his people and his country. He must be aware of the country’s problems.
COLLABORATORS OF PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE RECEIVE VOLUMES OF CASE AGAINST KARABAKH COMMITTEE FROM LEVON TER-PETROSIAN
Noyan Tapan
Nov 12 2007
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 12, NOYAN TAPAN. Levon Ter-Petrosian, the first
President of the Republic of Armenia, has responded to the writing
sent by Ashot Yesayan, the Head of the personnel of the RA Prosecutor
General’s Office, on November 9 on returning the volumes of the case
against Karabakh Committee, expressing readiness to return the volumes
of the case to the archives of the prosecutor’s office. As of 17:00
on November 10, five collaborators of the prosecutor’s office were
conducting the reception of the 61 volumes of the case, a corresponding
legal deed is to be formed at the end of the process. This information
was provided to a Noyan Tapan correspondent by Sona Truzian, the
Spokesperson of the RA Prosecutor General. "The prosecutor’s office had
not received any response or writing from Levon Ter-Petrosian during
the official investigation, the statement of Levon Ter-Petrosian
on the fact that the volumes were in his hands only followed the
statement of the RA Prosecutor General on the results of the official
investigation," the Spokesperson of the RA Prosecutor General said.
It should be mentioned that an official investigation was appointed
by Aghvan Hovsepian, the RA Prosecutor General, in connection with the
disappearance of the volumes of the above-mentioned case, which found
out that the outlay of the volumes was recorded in the register of the
archives of the prosecutor’s office on November 6, 1996, however,
there was no note on the return of the volumes of the case. It
was discovered during the official investigation that the volumes
were handed to the representative of Levon Ter-Petrosian through
Suren Gyozalian, the Head of the Investigation Department of those
times, on the order of Artavazd Gevorgian, the RA former Prosecutor
General. A number of officials of the above-mentioned times, including
the Prosecutor General and the Head of the Investigation Department,
have given explanations about this during the official investigation.
IN OPINION OF CHAIRMAN OF CEC, AMENDMENTS TO BE MADE IN ELECTORAL CODE IN NEAR FUTURE TO CONTRIBUTE TO IMPROVEMENT OF ELECTORAL PROCESSES
Noyan Tapan
Nov 9, 2007
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 9, NOYAN TAPAN. The amendments and addenda of the
Electoral Code, which are in circulation in the National Assembly, will
contribute to the improvement of the holding of the elections. This
statement was made by Garegin Azarian, the Chairman of the RA Central
Electoral Commission, during the meeting with journalists held on
November 9.
In response to the question of a Noyan Tapan correspondent, the
Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission mentioned that in case
the above-mentioned amendments are soon expanded, it will be possible
to inform the members of electoral commissions about them. According
to the Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission, the flows in
the period of the holding of elections are mainly conditioned by
the circumstance of a non-sufficient knowledge of the demands of the
Electoral Code by the members of inferior-level commissions.
WHEN POLITICS TRUMPS INTEGRITY
By Jacob Victor
.html
9 Nov 07
During Michael B. Mukasey’s 18 years as a federal judge, his legal
decisions were characterized by a nuanced, responsible approach to
the law. He was tough on white-collar crime and terrorism, yet still
demonstrated empathy for new immigrants and minors. Perhaps Judge
Mukasey’s strong sense of ethical resolve stems from his Judaism and
perhaps not, but either way, many American Jews were proud when he
was nominated for the post of United States Attorney General. After
the corruption that characterized the reign of Alberto Gonzales, Judge
Mukasey seemed like the ideal candidate to restore the reputation of
the Justice Department.
Therefore, it was especially disheartening when Judge Mukasey refused
to explicitly declare the form of torture known as waterboarding as
illegal, after being repeatedly asked to do so during his confirmation
hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee over the last few weeks.
Waterboarding involves simulating the feeling of drowning by holding
a person on an incline, covering his face with a rag, and dousing
his head with water. Almost all experts and many politicians at both
ends of the political spectrum agree that the practice is a form of
torture, which would make it illegal under the U.N. Convention Against
Torture, to which the United States is a signatory. Furthermore, the
United States has prosecuted for waterboarding in the past. In 1947,
a Japanese military officer was sent to jail for 15 years for using
the practice on a U.S. civilian.
Advertisement
Judge Mukasey surely knows these things; he was even willing to
describe the practice as "repugnant." Why, then, would a person of
his ethical conviction refuse to unequivocally condemn waterboarding
and declare it illegal?
The answer is politics. According to some legal experts, if Judge
Mukasey had explicitly denounced waterboarding during his confirmation
hearings, he would have paved the way for criminal prosecution of
U.S. soldiers and intelligence agents, not to mention higher-ups in
the Bush administration, who have used or condoned the practice in
recent years.
Mukasey seems to have recognized this sticky situation. Sadly, he
seems willing to compromise ethical values in order to protect his
new political associates.
Judge Mukasey is apparently the latest victim of the malaise currently
afflicting American Jewish leadership. While Jewish leaders have
often been known for their moral fortitude, many of today’s Jewish
public figures seem all too willing to compromise their values for
the sake of political maneuvering. Jewish moral resolve has been
replaced by expediency.
Another recent casualty of this sad state of affairs is Abe Foxman, the
director of the Anti-Defamation League, who has long been a tireless
opponent of anti-Semitism, racism and other forms of bigotry. Many
were shocked when Foxman and the ADL recently opposed congressional
legislation condemning the Armenian genocide, out of fear of alienating
Turkey, which is one of Israel’s most important allies. While Foxman
acknowledged that the massacre of as many as 1.5 million Armenians by
Turkey between 1915 and 1923 was "tantamount to genocide," he still
refused to support the legislation.
Turkey’s relationship with Israel is indeed valuable, but on the
subject of genocide there should be no room for equivocation,
particularly from an organization claiming to represent Jewish values.
All this is not to say that American Jewish public figures should
embrace blind idealism irrespective of the political consequences. On
the contrary, responsible political leadership requires carefully
considered compromise.
But when political expediency trumps fundamental moral principles, or
turns on its head undisputed historical events, the integrity of Jewish
moral leadership begins to erode. The American Jewish community has
long been known – with exceptions, of course – for producing leaders
who could be counted on to defend their moral convictions to the very
end. Leaders like Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, who paved
the way for labor reform in America, and Rabbi Abraham J. Heschel,
who devoted himself to the civil rights movement, understood that
the preservation of moral principles was an essential component of
the struggle for justice and equality.
Michael Mukasey and Abe Foxman are both good people; their records
attest to that. But if they and other American Jewish public figures
do not re-embrace a commitment to maintaining moral integrity, even
at the expense of obtaining short-term political advantages, they
risk undermining everything that Jewish leaders have long stood for.
Jacob Victor is a third-year student at Harvard College. He is the
managing editor of New Society: The Harvard College Middle East
Journal, and a member of the editorial board of the Harvard Crimson.
WHAT WILL RAFFI HOVANNISIAN DECIDE?
Lragir.am
08-11-2007 14:50:49
Larissa Alaverdyan, member of the Heritage Party’s parliamentary
faction, stated in a discussion at the National Press Club on
November 8 she does not think the opposition will join to put
up a common candidate, and there will be a few poles before the
presidential election. "Stronger around one pole, the groups which
have government levers, and distinctly opposition, non-pro-government,
because sometimes it is difficult to define whether a given force
is opposition, or for the time being it is non-pro-government,"
Larissa Alaverdyan says. She gives the example of the parliamentary
election. She says the Bargavach Hayastan Party tried to appear as
opposition but time showed that "simply at that time they were not
in government yet, as a political force, not as a group of people."
"As soon as a chance occurred, this party became part of the
government.
Now I am saying that there are parties which, some parties are stating
they are "neither government, nor opposition, we are centrist." It
is difficult to understand what center is in the current situation
in Armenia," Larissa Alaverdyan says.
She says there are political forces which have rather ambitious
aspirations before the presidential election but they lack a clear
political platform.
"It is not only the All-Armenian Movement and Mr. Levon Ter-Petrosyan
but also the parties which have been presenting themselves as rigid
opposition for all these years," Larissa Alaverdyan says. She adds
however that those forces did not display the right civil stance and
braveness at the right time.
"As of today, as a member of parliament of the Heritage faction,
i should note that there is uncertainly, it is not certain what
decision Raffi Hovannisian will make and whether he will be a
presidential candidate, and the other developments are not known. The
rest seems to become clear now that some pole is nevertheless forming
in the opposition. The first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan and the
All-Armenian Movement, as well as some groups and NGOs supporting
the All-Armenian Movement are already trying to create at least one
of the poles, if not the strongest," Larissa Alaverdyan says. She
says her statement has nothing to do with her attitude toward this
pole and the slogans of this pole. "However, as a keen observer I can
see that there are ambitions, and the forces or individuals who have
these ambitions seem to lack the potential with which they could be
at least one of the poles of the opposition," Larissa Alaverdyan says.
HEARINGS ON FROZEN CONFLICTS BEING HELD IN BERLIN
ArmInfo-Turan
2007-11-05 20:01:00
On the initiative of the Monitoring Committee of the Council of
Europe, frozen conflicts will be extensively discussed in Berlin
on November 5-6, Turan reports referring to Head of the Azeri
delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE) Samed Seidov. According to him, the frozen conflicts in the
CIS, particularly, in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova will be discussed
in Berlin. The hearings on the prospects for the solution of problems
in the South Caucasus and Transdniestria will be presided over by Head
of the PACE Sub-committee on Nagorno-Karabakh Lord Russell-Johnston.
Jonathan Cohen, the Caucasus program manager at the London-based
Conciliation Resources NGO, and Nottingham University Professor Stephan
Wolf are expected to make reports. The issue of frozen conflicts
was discussed at the PACE Monitoring Committee’s session in Skopje,
Macedonia, in May, where an agreement was reached to discuss the
frozen conflicts in Berlin in November.
BEAR THE GUILT: TIME TO HEAR AN APOLOGY FOR THE GREAT TERROR IN THE SOVIET UNION
By Eric Margolis
Edmonton Sun, Canada
Nov 4 2007
This seems to be historic guilt month. Germany just opened a new
memorial to Jewish victims of Nazi persecution. Armenians demand
Turkey admit Ottoman-era massacres were genocide. Japan is being
blasted anew for denying wartime atrocities.
Yet the greatest crime in modern history, and bloodiest genocide,
have almost vanished from our collective memory. Last week marked
the 70th anniversary of the Great Terror in the Soviet Union in which
tens of millions were murdered or imprisoned.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, at least commemorated for the
first time what he termed "colossal" Soviet crimes by attending a
memorial this week for its victims.
It was interesting watching Putin, former head of the FSB security
service, denouncing crimes of its direct predecessors, KGB and NKVD.
The same Putin who recently called the Soviet Union’s collapse
a "tragedy." Still, we applaud his long-overdue recognition of
Communist-era crimes.
The Soviet terror began in the 1920s when Lenin ordered the
extermination of Cossacks and opponents of the Bolsheviks. Next came
Catholics of White Russia, and resisters to communism in the Baltic
states and Moldova. Stalin then ordered liquidation of two million
small farmers, known as "Kulaks."
In 1932-33, Stalin unleashed genocide against Ukraine’s
independent-minded farmers.
Six to seven million Ukrainians were shot or purposely starved to
death. The man who directed this genocide, Lazar Kaganovich was made
Hero of the Soviet Union and died in Moscow in 1991.
ATTENTION GRABBER
When Communist Party bureaucrats delayed Stalin’s plans to transform
the Soviet Union from a backward rural society into a modern industrial
powerhouse, "Koba," as he was called, had NKVD shoot 700,000 party
members. Thereafter, his orders were promptly obeyed.
Almost all the party and military hierarchy were executed during the
Great Purges of 1937-38, which culminated in the Moscow Show Trials.
>From 1934-1941 alone, some seven million victims were sent to the
system of concentration camps known as the "gulag," including one
million Poles, hundreds of thousands of Lithuanians, Latvians and
Estonians, and half the entire Chechen and Ingush people. Volga
Germans, Crimean Tatars, Bashkirs, Kalmyks followed. Stalin’s gulag
did not need gas chambers: Cold, disease and overwork killed 30%
of inmates yearly.
To this day, Russian and foreign historians are unsure of the full
number of Lenin and Stalin’s victims. Estimates range from 20-40
million total deaths from 1922 to 1953.
Stalin committed his worst crimes well before Hitler’s major atrocities
got under way.
We have forgotten that Germany alone did not spark the Second World
War. Germany and the U.S.S.R. jointly invaded Poland in 1939; Stalin
then attacked Finland. Two years later, Britain and the U.S.S.R.
invaded neutral Iran. History indeed remains the propaganda of the
victors.
If we keep hectoring Germany and Japan to admit guilt for events of
the 1940s, is it not time the United States, Britain and Canada admit
their own culpability in allying themselves to Stalin, a monster who
killed over four times the number of Hitler’s victims?
After all, Stalin’s concentration camps were up and running a decade
ahead of Germany’s. The murder of millions of Ukrainians and Balts
took place before the world’s gaze — six or seven years before the
Second World War.
‘UNCLE JOE’
The foolish Roosevelt, who hailed Stalin as "Uncle Joe," and the
cannier Winston Churchill both knew they were allied to the biggest
mass murderer since Genghis Khan.
They used a larger devil to fight a smaller, less dangerous one —
then paid his price by handing over half of Europe to Moscow.
Remember this when today’s warmongers wax poetic about the glories
of World War II — and call for WW III.
Western powers should practise what they piously preach to Germany,
Japan and, lately, Turkey, by at least apologizing for their sordid
deal with Stalin, which was every bit as immoral as if they had made
a deal with Hitler, as Stalin long feared they would, to destroy the
Soviet Union.
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FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: GEORGIA UNLIKELY TO RECEIVE NATO INVITATION IN NEAR FUTURE
PanARMENIAN.Net
02.11.2007 17:32 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Pro-American President of Georgia, Mikhael
Saakashvili insists on joining NATO fervently hoping for Washington’s
support. Integration into the western power alliance is called to
drive Georgia away from influence of Russia, which is not going
to reconcile with it and openly demonstrates its confrontation,"
Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper said.
"Georgia and Ukraine enjoy a special NATO attitude.
Meanwhile, member states still debate on advisability on introducing
the issue of Georgia’s accession in the agenda in the near
future. Germany, France and Italy are against the measure, since
unwillingness to provoke Russia doesn’t seem to be a weighty argument.
Georgia’s incapability to settle conflicts in Abkhazia and South
Ossetia. A state, which is incapable to control a part of its own
territory can’t hope for accession to NATO," the newspaper said,
Deutcshe Welle reports.