Author: Vardanian Garo

DENNIS SUMMUT: "NOT MUCH WAS EXPECTED FROM THE ST PETERSBURG MEETING AND NOT MUCH WAS ACHIEVED"

Today.Az
politics/45720.html
June 17 2008
Azerbaijan

Armenpress interview with Dennis Summut, chief executive of British
NGO LINKS.

– How could you assess the June 6 meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani
Presidents in Russian Saint Petersburg and what can it give to the
process of the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?

– It was very important that the two presidents could meet so soon
after the Election of Serzh Sargsyan as President of Armenia. President
Ilham Aliyev and President Serzh Sargsyan now have a historic mission
to make the peace process work and to achieve peace for future
generations of Armenians and Azerbaijanis. I think both men have the
capacity to achieve this historic mission.

I was asked in Azerbaijan if I felt that because President Sargsyan
has his political roots in Karabakh that may make it more difficult
for him to be a constructive partner to the peace negotiations. I do
not think so. The fact that he has a good understanding of the problem
will make finding a solution easier. The recent experience of Northern
Ireland has shown us that even persons with hardline positions can,
at the right moment, become the biggest advocates of peace.

Not much was expected from the St Petersburg meeting and not much
was achieved. However the negotiations are back on track. Now what
is needed is that they be speeded up and the process improved.

The OSCE Minsk process provides a good framework for the
negotiations. However there are many ways in which it can be
improved. And a sense of urgency needs to be introduced to the
process. Time is on nobody’s side. The two sides have channels of
communication. They need to use them efficiently.

– Since 2002 you and your organisation facilitated a process called
the South Caucasus Parliamentary Initiative. How did this initiative
start and what was achieved?

– The South Caucasus Parliamentary Initiative is a framework for
dialogue, exchange of views and joint analysis established by an
agreement between the parliaments of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia
and facilitated by LINKS. We held many meetings from 2002 to 2007 and
around a hundred pages of documents were discussed and approved. This
is not a decision making framework. It is however a unique space for
discussions that can be helpful in a number of situations, including
in support of the work of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan
on Karabakh. For this reason I think this initiative should continue.

– Why has no meeting of the Initiative taken place this year, and is
there one planned soon?

– We have not had any meetings within the framework of the South
Caucasus Parliamentary Initiative for the last ten months. This
was a period of intense political activity in the South Caucasus,
including a period of elections at least in Armenia and Georgia. I
will be travelling to the three countries soon to discuss how we can
continue the work. But of course the decision will depend not on us
but on the three parliaments concerned.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FINISHES DISCUSSION OF DRAFT DECISION ON CREATION OF INTERIM COMMISSION, AND POSTPONES VOTE

NOY AN TAPAN
June 12, 2008

The RA National Assembly on June 12 finished the discussion of the
draft decision on creation of an interim NA commission on examination
of the March 1-2 events in Yerevan and their reasons. At the suggestion
of the main reporter, co-author of the draft, independent deputy Victor
Dallakian, the vote has been postponed until the special session of
the NA scheduled for June 16. According to him, this postponement
will provide deputies with an extra opportunity to submit proposals,
while the co-authors will have time to discuss these proposals and
amend the draft.

As for yesterday’s proposal of "Heritage" faction that the interim
commission should be composed of an equal number of members of the
opposition and the political coalition, V. Dallakian said that this
party received 5,4% of votes at the 2007 parliamentary elections and
did not dispute the election results, so it accepted the legitimacy of
the elections. However, as NT correspondent was informed by political
secretary of the party Vardan Khachatrian, "Heritage" faction’s voting
will be conditioned by the acceptance of the faction’s proposals by
the co-authors.

Yesterday the NA speaker Tigran Torosian expressed an opinion that
"of course, the draft can be improved a little, but the work of
the commission will depend not on this improvement but on the
responsibility and work of each member of this commission and each
NA deputy". "The activity of the commission is not an occasion for
someone’s ambitions, it is responsibility so that we will be able to
give answers to the questions and move forward," he noted.

In the words of the chairman of the NA Standing Committee on
State and Legal Issues, head of the Armenian delegation in PACE
David Harutyunian, "revealing the truth in a convincing way will
help the authorities to take the next steps forward, assuming full
responsibility for the further development of the country". "Unanswered
question will result in instability," he said.

U.S. RECOGNIZED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE In 1951, World Court Document Reveals
By Harut Sassounian
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KarabakhOpen
12-06-2008 15:53:07

While President Bush and several of his predecessors
have avoided characterizing the organized mass
killings of Armenians in 1915 as genocide, it has
recently come to light that 57 years ago the United
States government officially recognized the Armenian
Genocide in a document submitted to the International
Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court.

This half a century old reference to the Armenian
Genocide was discovered by Prof. William A. Schabas
who posted it on the website "PhD Studies in Human
Rights," on June 4, 2008. Prof. Schabas, a world
renown expert on genocide and international law, is
director of The Irish Center for Human Rights at the
National University of Ireland, Galway.

This document, filed by the Government of the United
States with ICJ, is included in the May 28, 1951 ICJ
Report titled: "Reservations to the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide."

The specific reference to the Armenian Genocide
appears on page 25 of the ICJ Report: "The Genocide
Convention resulted from the inhuman and barbarous
practices which prevailed in certain countries prior
to and during World War II, when entire religious,
racial and national minority groups were threatened
with and subjected to deliberate extermination. The
practice of genocide has occurred throughout human
history. The Roman persecution of the Christians, the
Turkish massacres of Armenians, the extermination of
millions of Jews and Poles by the Nazis are
outstanding examples of the crime of genocide."

This is a very significant statement as it was made by
the American government of that time with the sole
intent of telling the truth, without taking into
account any political or other considerations. Neither
Armenians nor Turks had lobbied for or against the
U.S. statement. In other words, it was simply made on
the basis of historical facts.

How different is the situation today when the White
House readily caves in to threats and pressures from
the Turkish government to prevent the House of
Representatives from passing a commemorative
resolution on the Armenian Genocide!

Now that this critical filing by the United States
government before the International Court of Justice
has been discovered, it is no longer necessary to
exert excessive efforts to try and reaffirm the facts
of the Armenian Genocide by the U.S. Congress,
particularly since the House of Representatives
adopted Resolutions 247 and 148 in 1975 and 1984
respectively, to commemorate the Armenian Genocide.

Furthermore, there is no particular reason to insist
that the next President of the United States
acknowledge the Armenian Genocide since President
Ronald Reagan, back on April 22, 1981, issued
Presidential Proclamation Number 4838 which stated:
"Like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the
genocide of the Cambodians which followed it – and
like too many other such persecutions of too many
other peoples – the lessons of the Holocaust must
never be forgotten."

FRENCH SENATE DELIVERS BLOW TO ANTI-TURKEY PLAN
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today’s zaman, turkey
june 12 2008

The foreign affairs committee of the french senate yesterday cancelled
a planned constitutional amendment that makes a referendum on the
eventual accession of turkey to the european union compulsory and
which has been described by ankara as product of "a discriminative
approach" toward turkey by certain french politicians.

late last month, the french national assembly, the lower house of
the french parliament, passed a package of constitutional amendments
including a provision to make a referendum obligatory for accepting
new eu member countries with populations over 5 percent the bloc’s
total population, which currently stands at about 500 million. with
its population of 70 million, eu candidate turkey appears to be the
specific target of the clause.

the provision needed to be approved first by the senate and a majority
of both houses. yet a french senator had already said last week that
a significant number of senators from the french ruling party were
opposed to the amendment.

while announcing cancellation of the planned amendment in a written
statement, the foreign affairs committee said the amendment would
deliver serious damage to france’s bilateral relations with turkey.

the amendment "might be considered as being against turkey, which
is a friend and ally country, and thus might deal serious damage to
diplomatic relations between france and turkey," the statement warned.

The committee, discussing the amendment upon a proposal by its
chairman, Josselin de Rohan, proposed that the amendment be deleted
from the text. The committee decision, however, does not mean that
it will be dropped entirely from the agenda of the French legislative
body.

During a plenary session debate on the constitutional reform planned
to take place next week, a proposal for deleting the amendment
will be introduced. If approved by the Senate, the amendment will
be pulled out of the reform package without being discussed at the
plenary session. Nonetheless, any member of the Senate can introduce
a similar amendment and carry this amendment to a plenary session
debate at the Senate.

Sources from the Senate say the amendment’s eventual fate is
closely tied to the stance of Ã~Ilysée Palace as well as that of
the government. Justice Minister Rachida Dati had supported the
amendment when it was debated at the French National Assembly, while
Prime Minister Francois Fillon was reportedly annoyed by it. Sources
close to the government have added, however, that it was difficult
for the government to object to an amendment supported by President
Nicolas Sarkozy.

Sarkozy, the former leader of the UMP, is a vocal opponent of
Turkey’s bid to join the EU, saying it does not belong to Europe. The
constitutional reform package originally abolished a clause calling
for a referendum on all future accessions to the EU and left the
decision on the matter to the president. But UMP lawmakers, keen
not to lose the vote of the French-Armenian electorate, pressed for
guarantees against Turkey’s possible accession to the EU and proposed
the amendment in question.

Jean-Pierre Raffarin, a senator from the ruling Union for a Popular
Movement (UMP) and former prime minister of France, last week told
French RCF radio that a constitutional provision specifically targeting
a certain country was a mistake. "We have talked about this issue in
our group. Many members of our group are against this amendment,"
Raffarin said then. "A certain country cannot be pointed out in a
national constitution."

French State Secretary for European Affairs Jean-Pierre Jouyet has
also warned that the plan to submit Turkey’s bid to join the EU to
a referendum is an "insult" that could spark a serious rift between
Paris and Ankara.

Also last week, the Turkish capital labeled French lawmakers’ approval
of the particular amendment as "odd," while warning Paris over the
negative consequences of adoption of the clause by the French Senate on
"traditional friendship between the peoples of the two countries."

Turkey is annoyed by the "discriminative approach toward Turkey
although accession negotiations between Turkey and the EU began with
the common target of full membership and with approval of France too,"
the Foreign Ministry said in a written statement. The statement by
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Burak Ozugergin was issued in response
to an official question.

"It is inevitable that this kind of discriminative approach will
harm our bilateral relations and will also have a negative impact
on images of Turkey and France in each country as well as on the

–Boundary_(ID_rA+sh2j/u/seXJObwwbCqw)–

GURGEN YEGHIAZARIAN GOES ON HUNGER-STRIKE
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A1+
12 June, 2008

Former Deputy Minister of National Security Service Gurgen
Yeghiazarian, who is presently in "Yerevan-Kentron" Penitentiary,
went on a hunger-strike today. As Arsen Babayan, Press secretary of
the RA Justice Ministry Penitentiary Department informs, Yeghiazarian
applied to the Head of "Yerevan-Kentron" Penitentiary notifying of
his permanent hunger-strike.

According to Arsen Babayan the management board of the Penitentiary has
taken all the necessary measures and Gurgen Yeghiazarian is currently
under medical supervision.

His health state is assessed to be satisfactory.

QUESTION AND ANSWER FORUM IN U.S. EMBASSY

A1+
11 June, 2008

In response to a request from the MCA-Armenia Stakeholders’ Committee,
a presentation and discussion of the 2008 MCC Indicator Scorecard
for Armenia took place at the Embassy of the United States of America.

The Indicator Scorecard was presented by Alex Russin, MCC-Armenia
Resident Country Director. Following the presentation, a question
& answer forum was held between the MCA-Armenia Stakeholders’
Committee and Mr. Joseph Pennington, U.S. Charge d’Affaires, wherein
Stakeholders’ Committee members asked questions regarding Armenia’s
current political status and how it may impact further MCC funding.

MCA-Armenia Stakeholders’ Committee is a consultative body composed
of 15 elected volunteer members representing Armenian civil society
and relevant program beneficiaries, with the mandate of ensuring broad
participation in program implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

DASHNAK PARTY ROCKS COMMUNITY

Gibrahayer
June 8, 2008

8 June, Nicosia – Gibrahayer – A jubilant high-spirited crowd with AYF
Cyprus youth leading the way, packed the PASYDY Theater and the Banquet
that followed at the Holiday Inn for the Grand Victory Fiesta on the
occasion of the 90th anniversary of Armenian independence that took
place in Nicosia on Sunday night with the participation of Armenian
MP and Dashnaktsoutiun Presidential candidate Vahan Hovhannesian and
an incredible musical duo of Karnig Sarkissian from the United States
and his band and Sahag Sahagian (composer of Kedashen) from Armenia.

The statement from all participants of the twin events was clear. We
survived the odds. We re-established our statehood and we are here
to stay to safeguard our schools and churches, political and cultural
life and the continuity of Armenians in Cyprus.

Both events were organised by the ARF Dashnaktsoutiun Cyprus Gomideh
and sister organisations AYMA/HMEM, Hamazkayin "Oshagan" Cyprus
Chapter and The Armenian Relief Society (HOM) "Sosse" Cyprus Chapter.

NOTHING SERIOUS WILL HAPPEN DURING JUNE 20 RALLY, ARSHAK SADOYAN PREDICTS

NOYAN TAPAN
June 11

YERE VAN, JUNE 11, NOYAN TAPAN. The main goal of first RA President
Levon Ter-Petrosian and his supporters is to ged rid of the dirty
burden of the past and to become radical opposition, Arshak Sadoyan,
a former RA NA deputy, the Chairman of the Union of National
Democrats party, stated at the June 11 press conference. According
to him, it will create wide possibilities for them during the 2012
elections. "Unfortunately, my warnings that these people will not do
a revolution were not accepted," he said.

A. Sadoyan is convinced that "L. Ter-Petrosian has become opposition’s
standard-bearer and tries to preserve it." And for that, according
to him, he needs to periodically organize some events. However, in
A. Sadoyan’s opinion, nothing serious will happen during the rally
scheduled for June 20, which will deepen people’s disappointment
for even more. Or L. Ter-Petrosian and his supporters, according to
A. Sadoyan, have a goal to calm the people down.

US DEPARTMENT OF STATE: A LACK OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BETWEEN ARMENIA AND TURKEY HAMPERED ARMENIA’S ABILITY TO INVESTIGATE THE TRAFFICKING

arminfo
2008-06-10 19:36:00

ArmInfo. A lack of diplomatic relations between Armenia and
Turkey hampered Armenia’s ability to investigate the trafficking
of Armenian nationals to Turkey, the annual 2008 Trafficking in
Persons Report of US Department of State says. The document also
says that the government actively cooperated with Interpol in an
attempt to investigate trafficking crimes involving both countries;
the government located one Armenian trafficker in Turkey in 2007;
Armenian government efforts to return the trafficker to Armenia
for prosecution are underway. Although the government has bilateral
anti-trafficking agreements with the U.A.E., these instruments are
rarely used to investigate trafficking cases with ties to the U.A.E.

ARMENIAN WEIGHTLIFTERS TO PARTAKE IN THE WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP

armradio.am
09.06.2008 16:15

June 11-21 young Armenian weightlifters will participate in the
World Youth Championship to be held in Columbia. The Armenian youth
team comprises Arakel Mirzoyan (69 kg), David Galstyan (69 kg),
Aram Anrikyan (85 kg), Sevak sahakyan (105 kg) and Ruben Alexanyan
(over 105 kg).

Secretary General of RA Wrestling Federation Pashik Alaverdyan told
Armenpress it will decided later who participate in the tournament
in Columbia.

The chief trainer of the Armenian team is Olympic Champion Ogsen
Mirzoyan.