Author: Vardapetian Ophelia

Ramiz Mehtiyev: "Condoleezza Rice’s statement addressed to Azerbaijan
is extremely unfounded"

03 May 2008 [14:12] – Today.Az

Condoleezza Rice’s statement addressed to Azerbaijan is extremely
unfounded.

According to it, the socio-political situation and other matters are
alright in Armenia and Georgia, and Azerbaijan is the only backward
state of the region," said Ramiz Mehtiyev, Head of Azerbaijan’s
Presidential Executive Office.

He dismissed Rice’s remarks as illogical.

"It can be deduced from Rice’s statement that March events in Armenia
should be repeated in Azerbaijan so that she say good things about us.
I view her words as an unfounded statement," he added.

TER-PETROSIAN DECLARES THAT ORGANIZED SLAUGHTER WAS COMMITTED AGAINST
PEOPLE ON MARCH 1

YEREVAN, MAY 3, NOYAN TAPAN. "The March 1 events were not clashes
between people and police, as Kocharian-Sargsian propoganda wants to
present, but the organized slaughter of the people," the leader of the
opposition, first Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosian declared at
the 2nd congress of the National Movements on May 2.

In his words, in Armenia Robert Kocharian was the only person capable
of ordering to open fire on peaceful demonstrators. As for Serge
Sargsian, Ter-Petrosian said that S. Sargsian formally had no relation
to that order but he as president elect was obliged not to allow
Kocharian to take such a step.

L. Ter-Petrosian said that Serge Sargsian can prove his innocence by
ensuring an independent and transparent inquiry into the March 1
events, "otherwise the blame for those bloody events will lie on S.
Sargsian for a hundred years".

The first Armenian president spoke about the press conferences that R.
Kocharian held on March 1st, 5th and 20th, during which there were
obvious contradictions in statements of R. Kocharian. Thus, before
imposing a state of emergency, R. Kocharian announced that troops were
not armed with fire-arms, but in this case how did it happen that 7
citizens died after receiving gunshot wounds and several policemen were
wounded before the state of emergency. Another question that
Ter-Petrosian put to R. Kocharian is that there has never been a case
in any country when 3,000-4,000-strong police went to make a search.
According to him, the main goal of Kocharian-Sargsian propaganda is to
avoid responsibility for March 1 bloody events and to do everything in
order to put the blame for this crime on the opposition.

Ter-Petrssian added that over a thousand people were taken to police
but none was charged with using fire-arms. "The citizens who fired from
guns were never found," he said.

Council of Europe and OSCE are responsible for March 1 tragic events in
Yerevan

2008-05-02 18:55:00

ArmInfo. Having said that the February 19 presidential election was
mostly complied with Armenia’s accession commitments to the Council of
Europe, the international observers assumed the responsibility for the
post-election developments in Armenia and the March 1 tragic events,
Levon Ter- Petrossyan, the first president of Armenia, the leader of
the opposition, said during the Second Congress of his supporters at
the session hall of the Armenian government, Friday. According to him,
since the previous presidential election, the CoE and the OSCE haven’t
evidently coped with implementation of their commitments before Armenia
as a CoE member. "The Armenian authorities ignored PACE’s demand to
give air to the closed TV channels "A1+" and "Noyan Tapan". Armenia’s
ruling regime demonstrated how weak these European organizations are",
Ter-Petrossyan said. Ter-Petrossyan pointed out that the CoE might
restore its authority in the eyes of the Armenian people only if PACE
insisted on the fulfillment of all the requirements of resolution 1609.
At the same time, Ter-Petrossyan noted that the Armenian opposition did
not pin big hopes on the European community and was going to change the
present regime using its own resources. These words received standing
ovation.

NAGORNO-KARABAKH GETTING READY FOR CELEBRATION OF MAY 9

DeFacto Agency
April 30 2008
Armenia

YEREVAN, 30.04.08. DE FACTO. Preparations for the celebration of May
9 – the Day of the NKR Defense Army, 16th Anniversary of liberation
of the town of Shoushi and Victory in the Great Patriotic War –
are being held in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

The celebrations will start on May 8 by holding a solemn meeting in
Stepanakert. On May 9 the representatives of the Republic leadership,
supreme commanding officers of the Defense Army and public will visit
the Memorial complex of the NKR’s capital city and honor the memory
of the killed in the Great Patriotic and Karabakh wars.

The delegation of the NKR officials will also visit Shoushi and put
flowers at the monument to the tank, which was the first to burst
into the town during its liberation in May 1992, to the Monument to
Vazgen Sargsian and visit the Khazanchetsots Church.

In the evening the NKR President Bako Sahakian will hold a solemn
reception at the NKR government.

The meetings of the Great Patriotic War’s veterans and the Artsakh
war’s participants, sport competitions and festive gatherings in the
streets will also be held within the frames of the festivities. The
celebrations will finish by a concert and fireworks at the Stepanakert
Revival Square.

ARMENIAN-IRANIAN COOPERATION UNDERGOES ASCENDING DEVELOPMENT

Noyan Tapan
April 30, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 30, NOYAN TAPAN. During the April 30 meeting of Serge
Sargsian, the President of the Republic of Armenia, and Seyed Ali
Saghayian, the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Armenia,
the two parties stressed the strategic important significance of the
relations of the two countries and mentioned with satisfaction that
due to joint efforts, the Armenian-Iranian cooperation is undergoing
ascending development.

Serge Sargsian described the bilateral relations as stable and
developing mentioning that Armenia is resolute in expanding the
framework of the cooperation. He especially attached importance
to the productive process of the programs being implemented in the
sphere of energetics, as well as considered as primary the increase
of commodity circulation volumes and promotion of cooperation between
private sectors.

According to the information provided to Noyan Tapan by the RA
President’s Press Office, during the meeting they also touched upon
regional problems and the Karabakh conflict regulation process. The
interlocutors were of the same opinion about the fact that the region
is a rather complex one and the efforts of the countries should be
directed at the regional stability and security.

Serge Sargsian welcomed the balanced position of Iran on the regulation
issue of the Karabakh conflict. He once again mentioned that Armenia
is for the peaceful settlement of the problem: within the framework
of international law and in conformity with the self-determination
right of people.

GAGIK TSARUKYAN IS WILLING TO BECOME A MEDIATOR IN A DIALOGUE WITH OPPOSITION

arminfo
2008-04-29 17:16:00

ArmInfo. Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of the ruling Prosperous Armenia
(PA) party, a large entrepreneur, is willing to be a mediator in
negotiations with the opposition.

The PA leader himself told about this to correspondents of ArmInfo
and Radio Liberty. However, he added that his party respects the
opinion of other members of the political coalition and will wait a
little in supporting the negotiations with the opposition. At the
same time, speaking of himself as a prominent public figure and
businessman, Tsarukyan expressed willingness to start a dialogue
with the opposition. "It is necessary to hold a dialogue with the
opposition by all means and discuss the tasks faced by the country",
the PA leader said meaning the tasks and problems at the international
level that Armenia has been facing since the presidential election.

GOVERNMENT PRESENTS DRAFT PROGRAMME

A1+
[01:10 pm] 28 April, 2008

On April 28 RoA Government convened a special sitting which was
presided over by Prime Minister Tigran Sarkissian. The main theme of
the discussion was the Government’s new programme.

At the beginning of the discussions, PM Tigran Sarkissian informed that
the draft programme had been discussed with all parties represented
in the coalition. All the remarks and suggestions have been included
in the programme. The draft was also discussed with the Heritage
faction. Most of the suggestions made by the force have been taken
into consideration.

Under Article 74 of the RoA Constitution, the Government of the
Republic of Armenia adopted the new programme to be introduced to
the National Assembly on April 29.

The new programme is placed in the Government’s official websites.

LARGE-SALE CONSTRUCTION WORKS EXPECTED AT YEREVAN ZOO

armradio.am
28.04.2008 15:15

The season of the Yerevan Zoo will open on May 1st. Head of the
Department of Culture, Youth Affairs and Sport of RA City Hall Kamo
Movsisyan told a press conference today that starting from this year
large-scale construction works will be conducted in the Zoo, which
has a history of about 60 years.

As a result, in three years the Zoo will have a view corresponding
to contemporary demands.

According to Kamo Movsisyan, cages will be built for big cats. The
lattices and roads of the park will be reconstructed.

Two million USD has been allocated from RA state budget for
reconstruction works.

NO OFFICIALS PROPOSALS NO DIALOGUE

Panorama.am
20:50 25/04/2008

"I think that Armenia should carry out the demands and the principles
registered in the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE)
article," said Aram Safaryan, the parliamentarian secretary of the
Prosperous Armenia party.

According to him the coalition members should cooperate in this regard
and carry out discussions directed to its implementation. Besides,
according to Safaryan, the authorities should create an agenda and
timetable for including all the spheres mentioned in the article.

As for the opposition-authorities relationship, he said "If, according
to the PACE article, the opposition accepts the decision of the
Constitutional Court: the results of the elections, then there is
no problem, and relationship is being created, for the opposition to
have its own place in the political and social life of the country."

To the question how Safaryan imagines "dialogue", he answered that
nothing for sure can be said. "If I say that no portfolios will be
offered then it means I close the door of the dialogue, so we’ll see
when it starts then," he said.

NEVER FORGET: OUR MODERN HISTORY WITH GENOCIDE BEGAN IN ARMENIA
By Kimberly Horg-Webb

Sacramento News & Review, CA
d=656737
April 24 2008

This infamous question, attributed to Adolf Hitler, is inscribed on a
wall of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. A bold
statement argued about by scholars, it represents millions of people
of Armenian descent still fighting for recognition of the murders of
their family members almost 100 years ago.

Genocide Remembrance Day, held on April 24, is a day to reflect
on those who died. Between 1915 and 1923, according to historical
accounts, around 1.5 million Armenians were systematically killed on
the orders of the Ottoman Empire.

Until the late 19th century, Armenians were living in harmony with
other ethnic groups. But the Russian victory over the Ottoman Empire,
which led to Russian control over a large part of Armenian territory,
led to problems. Russian support of Christians within the Ottoman
Empire weakened the Ottoman government’s control by leading Armenians
to believe they could regain independence. Armenian Christians were
subject to Islamic dhimmi laws, which granted them lesser status and
fewer legal rights than Muslim Ottoman citizens had under sharia
law. Resentment between the groups escalated to conflict, abuse
and violence.

Armenian survivors say that they were forced from their homes by
the Ottoman government through mass evacuations and murders. Rape,
famine and murder became so widespread that, whether an intended
goal or not, the result was to exterminate a large portion of the
Armenian population.

The present-day Turkish government disputes many facts of the forced
evacuation and mass deaths. Although the Turkish government does
not dispute that the Ottoman government ordered the evacuation of
Armenians, they reject calling it "genocide." Instead, the Turks
allege that the deaths among Armenians at the time were the result
of interethnic strife, disease and famine related to the turmoil of
World War I.

Armenians continue to work to keep their memories alive. Each year
on this day, thousands travel from all over the world to the genocide
memorial at Tsitsernakaberd Hill in Yerevan, Armenia, to lay flowers
for those who died.

American Armenians are actively pursuing efforts toward recognition
of the tragedy as well. In April of 2005, more than 1,200 people
gathered in front of the state Capitol to thank the Legislature for
passing Senate Bill 424. The bill, authored by Sen. Chuck Poochigian
and signed by the governor, marked April 24 as California’s official
remembrance date for the Armenian genocide. And last year, Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed the week of April 22 through April
29 as "Days of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide." Meanwhile, the
U.S. Senate has the Armenian genocide resolution (Senate Resolution
106) under consideration.

But genocide has been a major threat throughout the world for all
of the last century, even into the beginning of this one. From the
Armenian tragedy to the current situation in Darfur, a silent world
is the biggest block to ending genocide.