Author: Vardanian Garo

MIR HOSSEIN MOUSAVI DEMANDS LIVE BROADCAST

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
17.06.2009 21:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Over 1 million people participated in Tehran
rally today to support Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi
. Mousavi said he’s ready to abandon rallies if given a chance to
make a live statement on TV.

This has been the most large scale rally in Iranian history since
Islamic revolution. Major protest actions launched in other cities
of Iran.

Well known Iranian artists Mardjane Satrapi and Mokhsen Mahmalbaf
applied to Europarliament with a closed reference of Iranian Ministry
of Home Affairs, testifying to the fact that Ahmadinejad has not
been elected as Iran President. Many of Iranian artists and sportsmen
spoke in support of opposition candidate.

RAPPORTEUR OF THE PACE COMMITTEE ON MIGRATION, REFUGEES AND POPULATION URGES THE ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES TO CONSIDER BECOMING A MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE DEVELOPMENT BANK

ArmInfo
2009-06-16 15:35:00

ArmInfo. Rapporteur of the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and
Population John Greenway urges the Armenian authorities to consider
becoming a member of the Council of Europe Development Bank, which
could offer new funding opportunities for refugee and IDP- related
programmes, says the Report ‘Europe’s forgotten people: protecting
the human rights of long-term displaced persons’ based on his visit
to the region in May.

Improvement of housing conditions and providing adequate shelter for
all is the declared key priority to the Government. Many "dormitory"
buildings, which were in repairable conditions, have been restored
with funds from the UNHCR and the Norwegian Refugee Council. Some
of these have been privatised, enabling people living there to
become homeowners. In 2004, a special programme on housing purchase
certificates (at nominal value of 30,000 USD per 2-member family) was
launched to enable those refugees currently living in most precarious
conditions in collective centres to acquire new apartments. According
to different data, 3,300 to 3,740 families were identified in 2003,
qualifying for this programme. In three years, about 900 families
from nine of the eleven "marzes" (territorial divisions of Armenia)
have solved their housing problems through these certificates. Both
government officials and civil society representatives agree, however,
that the sum does not correspond to market conditions, especially in
urban areas.

It has therefore been decided recently that in the case of bigger
cities like Yerevan, new houses will be built instead. The state is in
need of 45 million USD for this purpose. The rapporteur suggests, given
the economic difficulties the Republic of Armenia is currently facing,
that this problem be solved through international donor aid. He calls
upon the European Union in particular to consider funding this through
the new eastern partnership programme or through other applicable
programmes. He further urges the Armenian authorities to consider
becoming a member of the Council of Europe Development Bank, which
could offer new funding opportunities for refugee and IDP- related
programmes, the report says. The report touches upon the problems of
IDPs in the North Caucasus, Georia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Cyprus. The
report is put on the agenda of the PACE Summer Session on June 22-26
in Strasbourg.

ARMENIA AND RUSSIAN FMS DISCUSSED ISSUES CONCERNING BILATERAL DIALOGUE

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
15.06.2009 15:58 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On June 14, RA FM Edward Nalbandyan met with
his Russian colleague Sergey Lavrov within the frames of CSTO
Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Moscow. Two Ministers focused on key
questions and foreign policy influence in bilateral and multilateral
formats. They also touched upon international and regional issues.

The meeting was held in a constructive atmosphere of trust,
characteristic of Armenian-Russian relations, RA Foreign Ministry’s
press service reports.

AZERBAIJAN: MR. BRYZA GOES TO BAKU?

June 15, 2009

US Assistant Deputy Secretary of State for European and Eurasian
Affairs Matthew Bryza has denied a June 12 report in Foreign Policy
magazine that he may become Washington’s new ambassador to Azerbaijan.

In a June 15 interview with the Azerbaijani news service ANS Press,
Bryza was cited as saying that he had not been nominated for the
post. The citation did not include a direct quote. Bryza affirmed
that he had not "planned on abandoning the OSCE Minsk Group [which
oversees negotiations about Nagorno Karabakh between Azerbaijan and
Armenia] in July" and hopes for "more fruitful work" by the Group.

Foreign Policy did not name its sources apart from "[t]wo Washington
Russia hands." Media in the South Caucasus have picked up on the
report, but neither the White House nor Baku confirmed the information.

Interfax, Russia
June 9 2009

Karabakh settlement should be based on self-determination right,
territorial integrity, non-use of force – U.S. diplomat

YEREVAN June 9

The conflict between Baku and Yerevan has to be solved based on the
principles of nations’ right to self-determination, territorial
integrity, and non-use of force, said U.S. Assistant Secretary of
State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Gordon.

A solution to the conflict must reflect all these three fundamental
principles, each of them is important, Gordon said at a press
conference in Yerevan on Tuesday.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement solution should also include
some voting mechanism, like a referendum, he said.

As regards the settlement of Armenian-Turkish relations, Gordon said
they should be normalized without preconditions and within a
reasonable period of time.

The normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations is a separate process
that has no relation to any other processes, Gordon said. The
settlement of these relations will benefit all the parties involved
and the region on the whole, Gordon said. This process cannot last
endlessly, and the parties are perfectly aware of this, he said.

Baku lost control of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts in
a bloody conflict in the 1990s over Karabakh’s territorial status,
which turned millions of Azeris into refugees and displaced
persons. The UN Security Council condemned the occupation of
Azerbaijan’s territory and demanded the Armenian armed forces’
withdrawal.

Talks on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem are underway
with international mediation. The Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk Group, representing the United States,
Russia and France, are brokering the settlement.

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN MEETS DIRECTOR OF THE "RUSSIAN RAILWAYS" COMPANY

armradio.am
12.06.2009 17:41

President Serzh Sargsyan today received the Director of the "Russian
Railways" OJSC, the concession manager of the Armenian railway system,
President’s Press Office reported.

Emphasizing the Armenian-Russian friendly relations, President Sargsyan
said: "We view Russia as our most reliable partner and prioritize
the further reinforcement of bilateral ties," the President said.

Vladimir Yakunin conveyed to President Sargsyan the best wishes of
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

The interlocutors discussed the current state of the Armenian railway,
the perspectives of development and the process of accomplishment
of the commitments the parties have assumed under the concession
agreement. In particular, they dwelt on the modernization of the
railway, reconstruction of the rolling stock, the rails, technical
re-equipment, othher issues.

Vladimir Yakunin said to be generally satisfied with the work done in
the recent period, adding that serious steps have been taken towards
raising the effectiveness of management.

COORDINATOR OF ANC: DESPITE STOPPING OF THE WORK OF THE GROUP ON GATHERING FACTS THE OPPOSITION WILL CONTINUE INVESTIGATION OF THE LAST YEAR EVENTS

ArmInfo
2009-06-12 20:55:00

ArmInfo. Despite the fact that activity of the group on gathering
facts of the 1 March events has been formally stopped, the opposition
will continue investigation of the last year events, coordinator of
Armenian National Congress [ANC] Levon Zurabyan said at today’s rally
of the opposition near the Matenadaran.

‘Moreover, the authorities of Armenia stay against three serious
problems today – overcoming of the consequences of shameful election to
the Yerevan Elders’ Council, the summer session of PACE and stopping
of financing of the programme by the American ‘Millennium Challenges’
Corporation’, – he said.

Armenian National Committee – Western Region
104 N. Belmont Street, Suite #200
Fax. (818) 246-7353 * Email [email protected]

June 11, 2009

KFI APOLOGIZES FOR GENOCIDE COMMENT

Tune in KFI 640 AM on Friday morning, June 12th
at 6:30am PDT to hear On-Air Apology

Glendale, CA — The Armenian National Committee-Western Region
(ANC-WR), joined by community organizations and activists, met with
KFI640-AM radio show host Bill Handel and station management today
regarding offensive comments that aired on Handel’s radio show on May
13 and 14 during a discussion between Handel and Lara Hermanson.
Acknowledging that a line had been crossed, Handel, KFI and Clear
Channel management apologized to the Armenian American community. With
Handel himself being a descendent of Holocaust survivors, he also made
it clear that recognition of the Armenian Genocide is something he has
been aware of and passionate about throughout his career and promised
to continue raising awareness about the issue.

"We deeply regret the inappropriate comments that were made on
Bill Handel’s show last month which deeply hurt the Armenian American
community. The comments were wrong," said Robin Bertolucci, KFI
Program Director. "We take responsibility for this offense as any
genocide, including the Armenian Genocide, are serious topics that
should not be used as the basis for humor." KFI will be issuing an
on-air apology on June 12 at 6:30am. KFI also released a video apology
from Hermanson and Handel.

Click here to watch the video apology:
OPCKQWUUH/3474862986

The issue began on May 13th, during the late morning segment of the
show when Handel made an off- hand comment to "get rid of the
Armenians," as well as other groups, as a humorous solution to the
cost of healthcare in America. Greg Garabedian a local listener who
heard the comment wrote to the station to express his concern and
disappointment with the remark. However, in responding to the letter on
the air the following day, the situation was made worse when studio
colleague Lara Hermanson quipped, "what the Turks started, Bill
will finish." The statement referenced the Armenian Genocide and
outraged the Armenian American community.

"I wrote the letter because that comment immediately drew me to
the Armenian Genocide and my family’s experience," said
Garabedian. "For me, here was another situation where Armenians
were being used in the context of a joke, but on an issue that is of
extreme importance to the community."

The ANC-WR requested a meeting with KFI management to convey the
community’s outrage and ask that the situation be addressed. In the
meantime, the ANC-WR reached out to dozens of activists and community
organizations, such as the Armenian Bar Association, eager to work
together on the issue.

"Today’s meeting with Bill Handel and KFI-640AM and Clear Channel
management made it clear that genocide is not a joking matter,"
said Zanku Armenian, member of the ANC-WR’s KFI Task Force.
"Handel and station management recognized that a very serious line
was crossed in a poor attempt at humor and are truly apologetic for the
pain they have caused to the Armenian American community. In addition
to their apology, the meeting led to a constructive discussion about
the importance of educating the public about the Armenian Genocide.
This is a positive outcome to a very unfortunate incident."

In addition to Bill Handel, present at the meeting were Program
Director Robin Burtolucci, Director of Marketing Neil Saavedra as well
as Greg Ashlock, President and Market Manager of Clear Channel, Los
Angeles which is KFI’s parent company. Joining the ANC-WR for the
meeting at the KFI studios in Burbank were representatives from the
Armenian Youth Federation, Unified Young Armenians, the ANC Glendale,
and Glendale City Council Member Ara Najarian.

"Of course the comments on May 13th particularly conjure up the
emotions tied to the Armenian Genocide, but the May 14th show was an
opportunity to take a step back and address this problem but instead
bolstered our interpretation of the first day’s comments," says
Vache Thomassian, Chairman of the Armenian Youth Federation-Western
Region.

In the days following the incident, the community learned about it
through the efforts of Greg Garabedian and others such as Burbank
resident and columnist for Asbarez Daily Newspaper, Garen Yegparian who
wrote about the matter in his May 22nd commentary. As KFI was slow to
address the matter, news about the incident and the inappropriate
comment spread rapidly throughout the community spurring chain e-mails,
online petitions, and even a group on the popular social networking
site Facebook.

"Genocide is not a joking matter and this issue should have been
addressed from day one. However, this episode showed us that our
community is alert and ready to take action to counter such inexcusable
comments," notes Aroutin Hartounian, President of Unified Young
Armenians.

The positive outcome was a result of many community organizations and
supporters working together. "The message was heard thanks to the
efforts of thousands of community activists and other organizations who
voiced their indignation over the past several weeks," said Stepan
Boyajian, chairman of the ANC-WR KFI Task Force. "We deeply
appreciate everyone’s efforts."

The complete transcript of Hermanson and Handel’s video apology is
provided below.

—————————————— ———————-

Transcript:

Lara Hermanson-

"Hi, my name is Lara Hermanson. I’m the board op on the Bill
Handel show. And I want to apologize for something that happened a
couple of weeks back. I regret that I took so long to apologize for
this but during the course of conversation I made a really hurtful
remark about the Armenian genocide. It was meant to be satirical but I
know that as it stood, it didn’t come off that way. It came off as
hurtful and I really regret this comment. And I appreciate our Armenian
listeners sharing with me their feelings about this and I’m really glad
that I get the opportunity to apologize for it. I feel horrible for the
comment and once again I’m really, really sorry."

Bill Handel-

"Hi. I’m Bill Handel and you just heard our board operator on the
morning show apologize for a comment that simply shouldn’t have been
made, that clearly went over the line. And this is the Bill Handel
Show, it has my name on it, and inevitably the buck stops here. We
should have, I should have, cleared that up within a couple of days, if
not the following day, and it simply wasn’t done. But more importantly
than that, I want to point out something that has been part of my
entire broadcast career, frankly part of my entire life, I have always
been fanatic about not forgetting the Armenian genocide. I have been a
champion of never ever letting that be forgotten in history. My
grandparents perished in the Jewish holocaust. My dad is a Holocaust
survivor so I’m particularly sensitive to this issue. And if you ever
listened to my show, now or 20 years ago, it has never changed, I
always will, I always have, been a champion of the fact that we can
never forget, ever."

US MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION STOPS FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO ARMENIA

APA
June 11 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. US Millennium Challenge Corporation stopped the financial
assistance to Armenia. The decision was passed at the meeting of
the Millennium Challenge Corporation Board of Directors chaired by
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, APA reports quoting Armtoday.

The decision concerns only the road construction in Armenia, but not
the irrigation system.

The Board of Directors said it made this decision because last actions
by the Armenian government were contradictory to the democratic
administrative standards of the Millennium Challenge Corporation. "The
corporation regrettably reports that it can’t fund the construction
of roads in Armenia. The government of Armenia is responsible for
that decision because the government’s activity didn’t meet demands
of this program", said Executive Director Rodney Bent. He said the
decision wouldn’t be reviewed again.

The Corporation has a right to stop the financial assistance
temporarily or completely if the country doesn’t meet the required
issues, including freedom of press, transparency of the administration
and the government’s activity for prevention of corruption, democratic
power of the people.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation signed an agreement with Armenia
in 2006. According to the agreement, it must allocate 235.5 million
USD to Armenia within five years. 160 million USD should be allocated
for the irrigation system.

Azerbaijan does not participate in this program.

FROM 2013 IN ARMENIA CASINOS OR PRIZE GAMES TO BE ORGANIZED ONLY IN TSAKHKADZOR, JERMUK AND SEVAN

ARMENPRESS
June 11, 2009

YEREVAN, JUNE 11, ARMENPRESS: From 2013 in the whole territory
of Armenia casinos or prize games may be organized only in three
administrative territories of Armenia – Kotayk province, Tsakhkadzor,
Jermuk town of Vayots Dzor province and Sevan town of Gegharkunik
province.

During today’s session of the Government Armenian Finance Minister
Tigran Davtian noted that in case of the special permission of
the executive body organization of the prize games or construction
of casinos will be permitted in case of complex projects with the
investment of more than 100 million USD.

If investments are made with the mentioned sum and a hotel complex
of more than 125 places is constructed casino may also be situated
in it. Tigran Davtian noted that the draft decision has been made
based on the international experience. Selection of the mentioned
towns for the construction of such institutions is conditioned by
the involvement of these towns in the tourism projects.

Referring to this draft decision the Armenian Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan stressed that this is the Armenian President’s assignment and
the principle position of the Government according to which casinos
will function only in the mentioned territories and such institutions
located in other regions must be closed "they must be swept away from
the whole surrounding of Yerevan".

Casinos or the prize games must be corresponded to the standards set
by the executive body. Casinos may also be situated in the territory
of "Zvartnots" airport as there is such permission in its accredited
management agreement.