Author: Vardanian Garo

ARMENIAN JEWELRY PRODUCTION DOWN 50 PERCENT
By M. Alkhazashvili, translated by Diana Dundua

The Messenger, Georgia
July 25 2007

Jewelry and goldsmithing production in Armenia dropped by half between
the first half of 2006 and the same period in 2007, said an Armenian
Ministry of Trade and Economic Development official on July 23,
now amounting to just USD 71.5 million.

Gagik Lazarian, head of the ministry’s gemstone and jewelry
department, said plummeting production in the last couple of years
is due to a larger crisis on the world market. However, the jewelry
market is beginning to recover, he said, and it’s now important to
pass domestic measures to reinvigorate the industry. Armenia’s jewelry
sector can regain its 2004 heights of USD 3.3 million in production,
he predicted.

Lazarian says, according to the news agency Regnum, that the only
way for Armenia’s jewelry industry to recover is to turn its sights
on the Russian market-a process already underway, he adds.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT, JUDGES DISCUSS JUDICIAL REFORMS IN ARMENIA

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
July 20 2007

YEREVAN, July 20. /ARKA/. At his meeting with Armenia’s judges, RA
President Robert Kocharyan addressed judicial reforms in the country.

The RA presidential press service reports that the President pointed
out that the meetings are mutually beneficial.

According to Kocharyan, the initial goal of the reforms is to form a
judicial system based on principles of impartiality, independence and
efficiency. President Kocharyan emphasized the importance of steps
to ensure independence of courts. He pointed out a completely new
status of Armenia’s Constitutional Court, which is now the country’s
supreme judicial body (except for constitutional law) and is supposed
to ensure universal application of laws throughout Armenia.

Robert Kocharyan said that this practice facilitates the formation of
clear rules and reduces corruption risks. He pointed out the importance
of the new Judicial Code of Armenia for the country’s judicial system.

The President pointed out great progress, stating that necessary work
to inform the public has not been carried out.

Kocharyan expressed wish to listen to judges’ opinions on the problems
of Armenia’s judicial system, reforms and their work. The discussion
participants emphasized the importance of raising the level of
citizens’ legal awareness. The sides pointed out that reforms are a
consistent process and always need modernization.

The President also awarded the Mkhitar Gosh medal to Judge of the
minor court of the Aragatsotn region Ruzanna Barseghyan. The Honored
Judge was conferred on Judge of the Civil Court of Cassation Slava
Sargsyan and Judge of the Economic Court Larisa Sosyan.

In conclusion, the RA President called on the judges to remember
that the status of judge is a most binding one and implies great
responsibility.

Congressional Record: July 16, 2007 (House)
>From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE–PERSONAL ACCOUNT

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to
discuss the irrefutable fact of the Armenian genocide. Looking at the
history of this catastrophic event from 1915 to 1918 and the impact it
had on the Armenian people, it is impossible to deny that this was
indeed genocide by all accounts. But one way, Mr. Speaker, to bear
witness to the truth is to make reference to personal accounts when the
genocide occurred at the hands of the Ottoman Turks.
Thousands of Armenians have their own account of the horrific events
their families had to endure, but tonight I would like to tell the
story of one person, Mrs. Haigoohi Hanessian, from Syracuse, New York.
Mrs. Hanessian was born in 1906 in Taurus, Turkey. In 1909, her
family fled from their home after receiving word that the Turks were
leading a massacre on all Armenians in the area. They took refuge in an
institution, and I should say they took refuge, Mr. Speaker, in an
American institution, and finally returned to their home only to find
it burned to the ground. After traveling and staying with family in
different areas, they eventually moved back to Taurus, Turkey.
Yet, again, in 1915, the Armenians were being exiled. Her family was
forced to board a train with an unknown destination. With thousands of
others, they were herded into these trains, confined in small boxcars
for days with no food and no water. Mrs. Hanessian recalls that if
someone died on the train, they were simply thrown off the train and
were left on the side of the tracks.
When they finally arrived at their destination, they were placed in
barracks. She speaks of the sentiments towards the Armenians at the
time, stating, “They wanted all the Armenians to vanish from the
Earth. Instead of killing them, they suffered and died.”
The Armenians were then marched through desert towards Syria in
extreme heat, again with no food and no water. On the way, many died
and were left to rot. After they reached a small village in Syria, they
stayed until they were told to move again. She
remembers, “An order came from all the General Headquarters that all
Armenians either be killed or deny their religion and become Muslims.”
Many people converted to save their lives, while others died to
preserve their faith.
The Armenians were forced to relocate from village to village. They
were left with no money and no supplies, and had to find ways to
survive. She said, “You couldn’t get in touch with anybody. You didn’t
know what to do. We were hungry. It was terrible. We were all dying. We
were just skeletons, no food, no nothing.”
Unlike much of Mrs. Hanessian’s family who died or disappeared in the
genocide, she survived and was able to relocate to the United States
and rebuild her life in Syracuse, New York. She has since passed away,
but not before she left her story behind, and I am proud to be able to
retell her memories, which must never be forgotten.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to express my support this evening for swift
passage of H. Resolution 106, reaffirming the Armenian Genocide. The
resolution now has a majority of the Members of the House as cosponsors
on a bipartisan basis.
As the first genocide of the 20th century, it is morally imperative
that we remember this atrocity and collectively demand reaffirmation of
this crime against humanity. By properly affirming the Armenian
genocide, we can also help ensure its legacy and rightfully honor its
victims and survivors like Mrs. Hanessian.

BAKU FEARS ANY KIND OF ELECTIONS IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.07.2007 GMT+04:00

No matter what the international organizations announce or say,
elections in Nagorno-Karabakh will be held and unlike those in
Azerbaijan, they will be free and democratic.

Presidential Elections in Nagorno-Karabakh which are scheduled to be
held on July 19, once again became the main topic of discussion in
Azerbaijan and not only.

The European officials have already declared the elections invalid and,
which is more important, have qualified them as "having negative impact
on the peaceful process of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict regulation".

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian side has already habituated itself
to the fact that no elections can have any impact on Azerbaijan’s
stubborn unwillingness of getting used to the reality. Only Europe
and the USA have remained to get used to it. Moreover, no "statements"
made by the OSCE, EU and even the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
will change anything.

People of Nagorno-Karabakh will live on and do whatever they think
is right to do. As for Turkey, it is simply obliged not to recognize
the results of the Presidential Elections in Nagorno-Karabakh, which
"from point of view of international law are invalid".

Ankara qualifies the upcoming elections as an attempt to legalize
the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh in the violation of the decision
of the UN Security Council and the OSCE principles," it was said in
the statement of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Unlike
Azerbaijan, Ankara made it with a few words only, yet in the
neighboring country everybody took their turn to speak up about the
elections in Nagorno-Karabakh.

As always political scientist Wafa Guluzade overdid it all. "The
topic of the so-called "elections" is such a hackneyed story that
the international community doesn’t care about it any longer. Such
activities organized by separatists do not have legal or any other
bases. In fact, they do not mean anything at all; this is also
the opinion of the international organizations. The independence
of Nagorno-Karabakh is not recognized by any country," assures Wafa
Guluzade, forgetting about his rather unwelcoming role in the process
of the conflict regulation, when Aliyev Senior simply took away from
him the position of advisor for being "undiplomatic".

Another thing about the elections in Nagorno-Karabakh that is worth
mentioning is the article published in "Zerkalo" entitled "The US Human
Rights Advocates Appeal to Congress to Display Pressure on Azerbaijan".

The whole article, as usual, is full of unveiled lie, except for the
last paragraph; "Is there really anyone who seriously thinks that
negating what is evident but impossible for a country which insists on
its democratic values, and trying to find the Armenian footprints in
all our troubles will help us change the situation to the better…?"

Yet, no matter what the international organizations announce or
say, elections in Nagorno-Karabakh will be held and unlike those
in Azerbaijan, they will be free and democratic. The difference
between the voters of Baku and the voters of Stepanakert is that
people of Nagorno-Karabakh understands completely what they want
from the head of the country. And the fact that Baku fears any
kind of elections in Nagorno-Karabakh is quite understandable. "The
European Bodies are perfectly aware of the fact that the elections in
Nagorno-Karabakh are much more democratic and free than in any other
country of the region. Elections make it more difficult to influence
on Nagorno-Karabakh, and the upcoming Presidential elections in
Karabakh are just another step which takes the country closer to
independence. In no other self-proclaimed republic the President
takes its position on Constitutional bases like it happens in
Karabakh. It must be mentioned that the people of Nagorno-Karabakh
are rather politicized and always make their choice out of their own
interests. In this regard, I think, elections in Nagorno-Karabakh
may serve as example for many countries," says political scientist
Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan.

EGYPT IS OUR FRIEND

A1+
[05:32 pm] 18 July, 2007

RA National Assembly Speaker Tigran Torosyan received the Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Egypt to Armenia Abla Mohammad
Abd-el Rahman Osman on the occasion of the ambassador’s tenure
completion.

Speaker Tigran Torosyan noted that although the years of the
Ambassador’s tenure in office were productive from the perspective of
development of Armenian-Egyptian relations, the inter-parliamentary
relations were not active. He voiced hope that after the May 12
parliamentary elections in Armenia an Armenian-Egyptian Deputy
Friendship Group will be formed in the National Assembly to promote
the establishment of active inter-parliamentary ties between the
two countries.

Ambassador Abla Mohammad Abd-el Rahman Osman congratulated
Tigran Torosyan on the conduction of successful parliamentary
elections. The ambassador also attached importance to the development
if inter-parliamentary ties and informed that a Deputy Friendship
Group with the National Assembly of Armenia operates in the Parliament
of Egypt.

The parties dwelt on other issues as well.

IRAN FOREIGN MINISTER DUE IN YEREVAN FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION MEETING

ARMENPRESS
Jul 17 2007

YEREVAN, JULY 17, ARMENPRESS: Iran’s foreign minister Manouchehr
Mottaki is due in Armenia for the July 20 meeting of the
Iranian-Armenian commission for economic cooperation. At the end
of the recurrent, 7-th meeting of the commission, established to
foster bilateral cooperation, the sides will sign a memorandum of
understanding.

Seyed Mahdi Mirabutalebi, chief of economic cooperation department of
the Iranian foreign ministry, said in Yerevan today his government is
not satisfied with the current level of economic ties with Armenia
and that was why foreign minister Mottaki was appointed co-chairman
of the commission.

He said Armenia and Iran should take serious steps to raise the level
of their economic cooperation to the high level of political.

‘Both governments are speaking about increasing trade volumes, but no
tangible results have been achieved yet. We can achieve success sonly
in case of free trade and I think now is the time to get down to it,"
he said.

Seyed Mahdi Mirabutalebi said the two countries should work to raise
their trade to $1 billion.

Armenian deputy foreign minister Armen Bayburdian said five groups have
been created to explore cooperation potential in all priority areas.

HRACHYA TAMRAZIAN ELECTED MATENADARAN’S DIRECTOR

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Jul 17 2007

YEREVAN, JULY 17, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Poet, Narekologist
Hrachya Tamrazian was elected as the Director of the Mesrop Mashtots
Matenadaran-Institute of Ancient Manuscripts at Matenadaran Board’s
July 17 sitting, with a secret ballot, with 27 votes in favor,
6 opposed and one invalid.

Hracyha Tamrazian, answering the question of journalists, in
particular, of Noyan Tapan, of what development the cooperation between
the Hill Library-Museum of Manuscripts and Matenadaran will have,
said that the contract of that program has been already juridically
invalidated. He considers that Matenadaran should implement that
program on the spot, with its own resources, and the structure’s
exclusive rights should be taken into consideration: "naturally,
Matenadaran cannot cooperate with another organization on the basis
of co-ownership."

Besides, the new director said that in the future he should try to
ensure centralization of electronic copies of all Armenian manuscripts
of foreign countries in Matenadaran. And in this respect, in his words,
Matenadaran can become a center of Armenology.

H. Tamrazian said that digitalization of manuscripts has already
started in Matenadaran, through the device donated by benefactor
Pierre Guyumchian.

H. Tamrazian considers that first of all he should solve the problem
of involving young specialists in Matenadaran, regulating the issue
of change of generations.

COUNTRY USING COURTS TO CURB FREE EXPRESSION

IFEX, Canada
International Freedom of Expression eXpress
4899/
July 17 2007

Three journalists working at slain editor Hrant Dink’s newspaper are
back in court this week for "insulting Turkishness," a high-profile
example of Turkey continuing to use the judicial system to curb free
expression, report IPS Communication Foundation (BIANET) and other
press freedom groups.

Dink, editor of Armenian-Turkish newspaper "Agos", was prosecuted
under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, which makes "insulting
Turkishness" a crime punishable by prison terms, for comments on mass
killings of Armenians a century ago. Dink was later assassinated,
and 14 murder suspects are currently on trial.

Just last week, the Turkey Journalists’ Society Press Freedom Prize
announced it was posthumously awarding one of its press freedom prizes
this year to Dink in the name of the 100 academics, journalist and
writers "who have suffered under Article 301."

Although Dink’s case was dropped, two other "Agos" employees, including
director Arat Dink, Hrant’s son, are in court for republishing an
interview that Hrant gave Reuters news agency last year in which he
recognised the Armenian genocide. Another "Agos" reporter, Aydin Engin,
who criticised the incompetence of the judicial system in handling the
"Agos" trials, is charged with insulting the court. All three face
between six months and three years in prison.

Twelve other cases are currently underway under Article 301. "It has
become obvious that neither the government nor the opposition are
interested in changing controversial Article 301 of the Turkish Penal
Code, which obstructs freedom of expression and has arguably also
lead to the targeting and later murder of journalist Hrant Dink,"
BIANET says.

According to BIANET’s latest quarterly media report, 132 people
and seven media groups have been tried in court in free expression
related cases from April to June, and it appears there is no sign of
the government letting up on such cases.

Eren Keskin, former president of the Istanbul Branch of the Human
Rights Association (IHD), received a one-year prison sentence last week
for saying "Turkey has a dirty history" and using the term "Kurdistan"
at a human rights panel in 2005. She was accused of "insulting and
degrading the republic." Keskin, a lawyer, faces 12 other trials and
two investigations for her various speeches, articles and interviews.

The Associated Press reports that a music group called Deli ("Crazy")
is facing 18 months in jail for a song they wrote lashing out against
a state exam high school students must take to get into college. They
are being charged with "insulting the state" and will appear in court
on 19 July. "Life should not be a prison because of an exam," go the
lyrics of "OSYM", named after the exam of the same name.

According to BIANET, Taner Akcam, a professor of history at Minnesota
University in the U.S., who had been investigated for his claims of an
Armenian genocide, is taking Article 301 to the European Court of Human
Rights (ECHR) to protest against the law’s threat to academic research.

OFFICIAL OPENING OF 4TH INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC FORUM "BRIDGE 2007" TO BE HELD IN ARMENIA

Yerevan, February 15. ArmInfo. Official opening of the 4th
International Economic Forum "Bridge 2007" will be held on February
17 at 11.00 AM in Tsakhkadzor town.

As the event organizers told ArmInfo, over 300 businessmen from
Armenia, Germany, Kazakhstan, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, as well as the
officials, employees of the Ministries and Departments, of branch
Unions and Associations will take part in the work of the Economic
Forum. The main subject of the Forum is the "Economic Integration
under Conditions of Globalization". Moreover, a number of actual
political and economic issues will be proposed for consideration at
the Round Tables and sectional sessions. The key purpose of the Forum
is to discuss the most important political and economic problems,
to elaborate a single tactics of actions aimed at achievement of a
common purpose, that is, the economic and social progress. The Forum
organizers are the Union of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen of RA and
the International Integration Assistance Center "MASTER".

HISTORY OF GENOCIDE IS A COMPULSORY SUBJECT IN SCHOOLS OF BUENOS AIRES

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.07.2007 14:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Argentina is the second, after France, state
where the Armenian Genocide is recognized on the legislative level,
Professor of international relations and politics of the Universidad
de San Andres in Buenos Aires, Dr Khachik Ter-Ghukassian said in an
interview with PanARMENIAN.Net.

"The history of the Genocide is a compulsory subject in schools of
Buenos Aires. The Hay Dat Argentinean Office has organized a special
textbook. It also holds seminars for school teachers," he said.

"I would like to note that Venezuela, which is far enough from the
major states of South America, has also recognized the Armenian
Genocide. In the 1980-ies Armenians of Argentina and other South
American states started integration into in the society. We have
become a part of the countries, which gave us shelter.

We should proceed on this way basing on the example of the Armenian
community of France," he said.

"I should also mention that the first sitting of the South American
Parliament will take place July 21.

Three states – Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay – have agreed on forming
the structure with the capital in Montevideo. Our work will become
more coordinated," Dr Ter-Ghukassian resumed.