Turkish populist found guilty (in German)

9. März 2007, Tages-Anzeiger Online
Türkischer Populist Perincek verurteilt

Das Lausanner Gericht hat sein Urteil gefällt: Perincek hat gegen das
Antirassismus-Gesetz verstossen. Der türkische Populist ist damit die
erste Person weltweit, die wegen Leugnung des Völkermordes an den
Armeniern verurteilt wird.

Das Bezirksgericht Lausanne hat den türkischen Politiker Dogu Perincek
verurteilt, weil er den Genozid an der armenischen Bevölkerung durch
die türkischen Machthaber im Jahr 1915 geleugnet hatte. «Der
Völkermord an den Armeniern ist international und in der Schweiz
anerkannt», sagte Einzelrichter Pierre-Henri Winzap. Neben dem
Nationalrat und den Kantonen Waadt und Genf betrachteten auch die
Universitäten und Schulen im Land die Massaker an den Armeniern im
zweiten Weltkrieg als Völkermord.
Dass der Bundesrat es vorziehe, zu dem Thema zu schweigen, sei wegen
dessen Sorge um die internationalen Beziehungen verständlich, sagte
Winzap weiter. Der Rassist und Nationalist Perincek habe genau gewusst,
was er tue und sei deshalb zu verurteilen. Sein Motiv sei klar
rassistisch gewesen.

Er auferlegte Perincek eine Geldstrafe von 90 Tagessätzen à 100
Franken bedingt sowie zu einer Busse von 3000 Franken. Zudem muss er die
Gerichtskosten übernehmen und der Gesellschaft Schweiz- Armenien (GSA)
einen symbolischen Betrag von 1000 Franken zahlen.

Perincek sieht sich als Rassimus-Opfer
«Das ist ein rassistisches und imperialistisches Urteil», sagte
Perincek unmittelbar nach der Verhandlung. Aber das treffe nicht ihn,
sondern das Schweizer Volk, das nicht frei über die Geschichte
sprechen dürfe, sagte Perincek weiter. Er kündigte an, das Urteil
weiter zu ziehen.
Perincek sieht sich als Opfer in einer Linie mit Galilei, Robespierre
und Marx, die ebenfalls für ihre Ideen verurteilt worden seien. Der
Richter sei nicht neutral gewesen und hasse ihn. Das Urteil sei eine
Revanche des Imperialismus und folge der Unterdrückungspolitik der USA
im mittleren Osten, sagte Perincek.

Er werde seine Aussagen weiterhin machen. Wissenschaftliche
Überzeugungen könnten weder durch Drohungen oder Gefängnis
verändert werden, sagte Perincek. Vor Gericht hatte der Negationst
allerdings gesagt, dass er seine Position auch dann nicht ändern
würde, wenn eine unabhängige Expertenkommission zu einem anderen
Schluss käme als er.

Erleichterung, aber keine Freude
Perincek ist gemäss Aussagen von Vertretern der GSA die erste Person,
die wegen Leugnung des Völkermordes an den Armeniern verurteilt wurde.
Diese zeigten sich erleichtert nach dem Schuldspruch. Freude empfänden
sie aber nicht, die Ereignisse von 1915 könnten niemals dazu Anlass
geben, sagte der GSA-Co-Präsident Sarkis Shahinian.
Armenien wirft dem Osmanischen Reich als Vorläufer der Türkei vor,
in Anatolien zwischen 1915 und 1917 eineinhalb Millionen Armenier bei
Vertreibungen gezielt ermordet zu haben. Perincek hatte im Jahr 2005 in
der Schweiz mehrmals den Genozid an den Armeniern im zerfallenden
osmanischen Reich als «internationale Lüge» bezeichnet. Er war
deshalb in den Kantonen Zürich, Bern und Waadt angezeigt worden. Die
GSA war als Zivilklägerin anerkannt worden.

Factory of whey solids will be located on the Iran-Armenia border

Factory of whey solids will be located on the Iran-Armenia border

07-03-2007 17:15:36
KarabakhOpen

In the recent meeting of the NKR National Assembly Member of
Parliament Maxim Mirzoyan raised the question of the Arvard Company’s
whey solids processing unit. The minister of territorial
administration and development of infrastructures ArmoTsatryan said
the government had given the permission to sell the factory. However,
the sale of the unique equipment underwent hard criticism in the
Karabakh media. On March 6 KarabakhOpen.com got a letter from Narineh
Aghabalyan, the vice president of Arvard, which contains the answers
to a few questions. The letter runs: `The dairy factory of Stepanakert,
by an order of the NKR government, is the property of Mr. and
Mrs. Anivyan, which means they can do with their property whatever
they wish. Over the past few years a number of companies have bid for
Vardges Anivyan’s factory’s expensive equipment for production of milk
powder because the factory did not work. However, the owner of the
factory disagreed to take the equipment away from Armenia and refused
lucrative proposals. The representative of the Ashtarak Kat Company
also proposed to buy Arvard’s equipment but there was no deal because
at the last moment the buyer stated that it cannot operate the full
capacity of the processing unit.

Specialists say 90-100 tons of milk is needed to operate the full
capacity of the unit. According to statistical data, an annual 33.3
tons of milk is produced in Karabakh. It means even if all the milk
produced in Karabakh in a year is used for producing evaporated milk
or milk powder, it will not be enough. Considering this, the owner of
the factory decided to sell the equipment to Segal-Hall, a company
registered in Armenia, which is likely to install the equipment on the
border with Iran to export milk from this country as well.

The equipment was sold for 200 thousand dollars, including 33.3
thousand dollars of the VAT was paid to the state budget of
NKR. Vardges Anivyan is likely to invest the rest in dairy business
and several other projects in Karabakh.

Le Juge Et L’Historien, Couple Maudit Du =?unknown?q?Proc=E8s_Du?= N

LE JUGE ET L’HISTORIEN, COUPLE MAUDIT DU PROCèS DU NEGATIONNISTE PERINCEK
Philippe Maspoli

24 Heures, France
07 mars 2007 mercredi
Edition La Côte

"GENOCIDE ARMENIEN – La première journee du procès du chef du Parti
des travailleurs turcs n’a pas echappe a un long debat historique.

Le Palais de justice de Montbenon barricade, les 80personnes
habilitees a entrer, dont une bonne moitie de journalistes, filtrees
sous l’oeil d’une escouade de policiers en tenue antiemeute, le passage
au detecteur de metal Tout semble reuni pour creer l’impression qu’une
première en Suisse se prepare: la condamnation, peut-etre, d’un homme
pour qui le genocide perpetre entre 1915 et 1918 par l’Empire ottoman
contre les Armeniens est un "mensonge international".

Dogu Perincek, 65ans, l’avait dit a plusieurs reprises en 2005,
notamment a Lausanne. Il l’a reaffirme hier face a Pierre-Henri Winzap,
juge unique d’un Tribunal de police qui ne peut pas infliger plus de
six mois de prison: "Je n’ai pas nie le genocide puisqu’il n’y a pas
eu de genocide. "

Lors de cette première journee d’un procès qui devrait se clore
vendredi par le jugement, les historiens se sont retrouves aux
avant-postes. Le procureur general Eric Cottier voulait eviter que
l’audience ne s’enlise dans un debat de specialistes. Mais pour
determiner si Dogu Perincek s’est montre coupable de discrimination
raciale en niant un genocide, le president veut "voir le fond",
examiner si ledit genocide, planifie, organise, est suffisamment
atteste.

Dialogue difficile

L’historien est-il un bon temoin pour le juge? On peut en douter a
l’ecoute de certains dialogues. Morceau choisi avec Justin McCarthy,
un historien americain de l’Universite de Louisville (Kentucky),
qui nie le genocide armenien. "Etes-vous sûr que le genocide n’a pas
existe?" "Comme c’est compris par les gens, il n’a pas existe. C’est
un mot pas precis". "Est-ce un mensonge de dire qu’il a existe?"

"Non, c’est une erreur. " "Connaissez-vous la definition du
genocide?" "J’en connais de nombreuses. Si on prend celle des Nations
Unies, il n’y a pas une guerre sans genocide. "

L’ecrivain francais Jean-Michel Thibaux a pris la nationalite turque
lorsque l’Assemblee nationale a reconnu le genocide armenien. "Les
deportations sont des crimes contre l’humanite. Mais, qu’il y ait
eu 1 ou 1,5million de morts, je bute sur la notion de genocide,
car il manque la planification et l’organisation", affirme-t-il. Ce
temoin doit admettre avoir ete sollicite par le ministre des Affaires
etrangères turc.

En debut de soiree, le specialiste francais Yves Ternon, cite a
la barre par l’Association Suisse-Armenie, plaignante, affirme que
"les deportations forment la methode meme du genocide. Un genocide a
forcement lieu dans le contexte d’une guerre. C’est la brutalisation
de la societe. " Les thèses negationnistes entendues en audience sont,
selon lui, liees au "negationnisme d’Etat" regnant en Turquie.

L’Association Suisse-Armenie se refuse a tout commentaire avant le
jugement. Pour Me Laurent Moreillon, avocat de Dogu Perincek, cette
affaire finira a la Cour europeenne de Strasbourg, quel que soit le
verdict: "Deux genocides sont reconnus par les instances judiciaires
internationales, celui perpetre par les nazis contre les juifs et les
massacres commis par les Serbes a Srebrenica. Moi aussi, humainement,
j’ai toujours parle du genocide armenien. Mais la, on est dans un
contexte penal. "

–Boundary_(ID_CNTpsI3cgQcEIvBIx+tqfA)–

Irina To Ask For Money On March 8

IRINA TO ASK FOR MONEY ON MARCH 8

A1+
[03:06 pm] 07 March, 2007

Every day one can see 57-year-old Irina vagabonding in the streets
of Yerevan begging for money. She claims she can hardly pay the
electricity bill and the house rent with the money she gets.

"live on 800 AMD. I eat nothing but macaroni and potatoes. Once a
Russian resident gave me 100 rubbles.

I decided to buy meat but no sooner had I got home than my neighbor
informed me that my light was disconnected. I had to pay the bill
with the money," she tells.

Irina lives in a hostel in Shengavit District. She has neither
relatives nor children. It is already 15 years her husband has been
in custody. Irina avoided answering the reason for his arrest; she
only justified him saying, "My husband was innocent. I don’t even
know whether he is alive or dead. I haven’t seen him for five years,
as I have had no means to visit him."

In 1988 the spouses immigrated to Armenia. "We had better stay in
Baku. We had jobs there and could suffice our bare necessities",
says Irina.

In answer to our question which candidate she would vote for during
the upcoming elections, she said, "I cannot vote as I am not a
RA citizen." "It is all the same to me. No matter who is elected,
he won’t better my conditions. Tomorrow is a holiday. People will
celebrate March 8. Everybody will get presents and have parties except
me. I shall wander in the streets asking for money as usual".

To note, she looks older because of the deep wrinkles and grey hair.

Romanian Ambassador Handed Her Credentials To President Kocharyan

ROMANIAN AMBASSADOR HANDED HER CREDENTIALS TO PRESIDENT KOCHARYAN

armradio.am
06.03.2007 14:32

The newly appointed Ambassador of Romania Mrs. Crina Rodica Prunariu
handed her credentials to President Robert Kocharyan.

Congratulating the diplomat on appointment, the President expressed
confidence that her activity will be beneficial for the further
development of relations between the two countries.

Robert Kocharyan assessed the Armenian-Romanian political dialogue as
rather active and dynamic. Underlining the importance of expansion of
collaboration especially after Romania’s accession to the European
Union, the President said sufficient contractual-legal bases exist
for it.

Robert Kocharyan stressed the importance of the cooperation between
the two countries also in the context of European integration policy
and noted that the European neighborhood Policy provides serious
perspectives for cooperation.

Turkish Politician To Stand Trial In Switzerland For Denying Armenia

TURKISH POLITICIAN TO STAND TRIAL IN SWITZERLAND FOR DENYING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

AP Worldstream
Mar 05, 2007

A Turkish politician due to stand trial for allegedly breaking
Switzerland’s anti-racism laws said he will produce documents proving
that the mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century were
"regrettable reciprocal massacres," but not genocide, according to
an interview published Monday.

Dogu Perincek, the leader of the Turkish Workers’ Party, said he had
obtained Russian documents proving the killings by Turks between 1915
and 1918 were the result of ethnic fighting that also claimed Turkish
victims, according to the interview in daily Le Matin.

The case will test whether it is a violation of Switzerland’s
anti-racism law to deny that the Turks committed genocide in the 1915
killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians.

The Swiss parliament’s lower house voted in 2003 to recognize the
slayings as genocide, but the resolution was nonbinding. Members of
the governing Cabinet have expressed concerns about the resolution’s
impact on relations with Turkey.

Perincek was charged with breaking the law after repeatedly denying
the genocide during a visit to Switzerland in 2005, and is due to
appear in a Lausanne court Tuesday.

He could face up to three years in prison and an unspecified fine
if convicted.

The law was "the result of deeply rooted anti-Turkish prejudice,"
Perincek said, according to Le Matin, adding that he hoped to end the
"witch hunt" against him. The law has also been applied to Holocaust
denial.

"Here (in Switzerland) stating your opinion is a punishable act,"
Perincek was quoted as saying.

Descendants of Armenians who survived and fled abroad have been
lobbying Western countries to label the killings genocide.

In January, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced a bill
to this effect in Congress. The bill is opposed by the White House
out of concern it could damage relations with Turkey, a vital Muslim
ally and NATO member.

Last October, the French parliament passed a bill making it a crime
to deny the killings were genocide. The bill, which still requires
approval from the French Senate and President Jacques Chirac, stands
in direct contrast with a Turkish law that punishes those who use
the term genocide to describe the deaths.

Turkish groups in Switzerland are planning demonstrations in support
of Perincek, whose hearing in a police court is scheduled to last
two days. Any decision can appealed to the country’s supreme court.

Interview Charles Aznavour S’Engage Comme Jamais Dans Son Dernier Al

INTERVIEW CHARLES AZNAVOUR S’ENGAGE COMME JAMAIS DANS SON DERNIER ALBUM "COLORE MA VIE"
Karine Vouillamoz

Le Matin, France
04 mars 2007 dimanche
Edition Demanche

"J’ai honte de la misère des autres";

La banlieue, l’etat de la planète, l’Armenie: Charles Aznavour ne
laisse rien passer dans "Colore ma vie", son dernier album, le plus
engage de sa carrière. Il nous recoit dans les bureaux de sa maison
d’edition musicale, a Paris. A notre arrivee, on nous avertit que
Monsieur Aznavour aura quelques minutes de retard: "Il doit donner
une interview telephonique sur les routiers". Soit. Un quart d’heure
plus tard, le chanteur lance: "Je dois verifier encore toutes ces
lettres. Quand on recoit du courrier, on y repond! Vous voyez,
je n’ai pas une minute a moi", poursuit-il avant de se reveler en
entretien. Pendant plus de quarante minutes.

"Les oceans sont des poubelles" chantez-vous sur "La terre se meurt",
c’est un coup de gueule que vous poussez?

Non, c’est un besoin de dire aux gens qu’il est temps de prendre
conscience que ca ne va pas et ca ne s’ameliorera pas si on ne fait
rien. Il faut le faire pour soi, pour ses enfants, ses petits-enfants,
pour la planète, pour les gens des pays pauvres parce que c’est pire
la-bas. Je suis arrive a un âge où l’on m’ecoute. Si je peux arriver
a faire bouger les consciences de 1,001%, alors j’aurais fait quelque
chose d’interessant.

Dans "J’abdiquerais", on vous decouvre un sens de l’autoderision. On
vous imaginait plutôt serieux

Je suis serieux dans ce que je fais dans la vie! Mais je ne suis pas
un homme serieux dans mon comportement. Je deviendrais ennuyeux si,
en plus d’etre serieux dans mon metier, j’etais serieux 100% dans
ma vie. Et si je devenais ennuyeux, le premier qui serait ennuye,
c’est moi!

Vous avez des côtes clownesques?

Humoriste dirons-nous.

Vous traitez la mort de pute immonde, vous la craignez?

Je ne peux pas dire que je la crains, mais je prefererais qu’elle
n’existe pas. Je l’appelle pute immonde parce qu’elle va de l’un a
l’autre, elle salit puis elle tue. Maintenant, ne sachant pas ce qu’il
y a après, peut-etre que je me trompe. Je m’en tiens aux apparences.

"On juge sur la gueule, pas sur les capacites" chantez-vous dans
"Moi, je vis en banlieue", c’est ce que vous avez vecu?

Je connais le mode de vie des enfants de l’immigration, mes parents ont
emigre eux aussi et que ce soit 80ans avant ou après, c’est pareil. Que
ce quartier soit aux portes de Paris ce qui etait le cas puisque les
banlieues n’existaient pas et que ce soit devenu la banlieue, ca ne
change rien. La seule chose qui change, c’est qu’a l’epoque on pouvait
avoir un contrat de travail plus facilement, dans n’importe quoi.

Aujourd’hui, meme avec un bac + 5, il y a des difficultes a trouver
du travail. Le gouvernement devrait faire un effort et se pencher sur
ces cas. Sinon, quand il y a des mouvements de jeunes, il ne faut pas
qu’ils s’en etonnent. Pourquoi y a-t-il des mouvements? Parce qu’ils
ont faim. Ils voient des gens qui ont tout, comme moi. Si je veux
un poste de radio, je me l’achète. Eux, il faut qu’ils le volent,
mais croyez-moi, ils prefereraient le payer.

Le gouvernement doit se pencher sur les pauvres et pas sur les
riches. Je n’ai pas besoin qu’on se penche sur moi, je me penche
moi-meme sur mon cas. Je me sens responsable de l’humanite qui
m’entoure. J’ai honte de la misère des autres et pourtant je n’ai
aucune raison d’avoir honte. J’ai honte parce que j’ai plus qu’eux.

Remarquez, je n’ai pas vole, je n’ai exploite personne puisque je
l’ai gagne. Mais ca donne une certaine honte. C’est une raison pour
laquelle je m’active pour des cas particuliers.

On dit que vous faites une tournee d’adieux, c’est vrai?

Je n’ai jamais dit tournee d’adieux, l’affiche etait marquee "dernière
tournee". Les journalistes ont prefere le terme de tournee d’adieux
parce que c’est plus porteur. On m’a presque oblige a faire mes adieux
parce que je ne voulais pas faire mentir ce qui etait ecrit. La, je
me suis repris, pourquoi je vais ecouter les autres? Je fais ce que
je veux finalement. Quand on me demande combien de temps ma tournee va
durer, je reponds entre quatre et dix ans. Comme ca, on est tranquille.

Quelles sont les limites de la scène?

Il va arriver un moment où j’aurai un visage un peu ruine, une voix
qui ne tient pas le coup, je serai fatigue en scène, et mes textes
n’auront pas la force qu’ils ont maintenant. Alors je saurai exactement
quand il faudra dire adieu. Je le dirai en 24heures, comme quand j’ai
arrete de fumer, en un jour. Je suis un garcon definitif dans ce que
je dis et fais.

Vous dites que lorsque vous etes sur scène, vous avez l’impression
de vous dedoubler

Je me vois chanter, je me contourne, je vais vers la salle en chantant
et je vois ce

que je fais. Ce qui me permet d’etre sobre en scène. Je suis le
chanteur de la

verite, je dis des choses qui ont existe ou qui existent. Je n’invente
pas d’histoire, je n’ai jamais invente un sujet. Il y a des sujets
qui me frappent dans la vie et je les traduis en chanson.

Sur scène, vous etes toujours en noir, pourquoi?

Pour passer inapercu. Je n’ai pas de bijou, j’enlève ma montre, je
n’ai rien de clinquant, rien ne doit se voir. Je dois entrer pauvre en
scène et en sortir avec du succès. Si je mets des choses clinquantes,
on ne va plus ecouter mon texte. Plus je serai anodin sur scène,
plus le texte sera aide.

Vous avez rachete les editions Raoul Breton comprenant Piaf, Trenet,
Lama, Lemay, Grand Corps Malade, pourquoi?

De nombreux catalogues, comme celui de Gilbert Becaud, ont ete
achetes par des societes etrangères qui ne pensent qu’a faire
de l’argent. Nous, on connaît parfaitement notre catalogue, on
"travaille" les artistes: les chansons sont reprises partout. Je
n’ai pas rachete ces editions pour ce que ca me rapporte. En un an,
ici, je gagne moins que dans un seul gala. Cet argent, d’ailleurs,
je le mets dans le pot pour acheter d’autres catalogues.

Quelle est votre position sur le piratage sur internet?

Tant que des ministres ou des deputes acceptent qu’on puisse
telecharger des chansons gratuitement, on apprend a une jeunesse a
voler. Je suis categorique. Si je vais chez le boulanger prendre un
petit pain en disant "On m’a dit sur Internet que je peux prendre",
on me met en prison. Pourquoi volerait-on l’oeuvre d’un auteur,
d’un ecrivain, d’un chanteur?

– Votre dernière biographie s’intitule "Destin apprivoise", le terme
est bien choisi, vous avez mene votre vie, vous ne vous etes jamais
laisse guider par la vie, non?

J’ai ete guide par mon instinct, parce que j’ai appris par mes
parents, ma manière de vivre et surtout par mon besoin de m’instruire
et mon bonheur de la perfection. Et j’ai ete très fidèle au public,
on ne m’a jamais vu en mauvaise condition. Je ne suis jamais entre
debraille en scène, ayant bu un verre de trop. J’entre en scène pour
etre parfait sur mon travail.

Mais vous avez bien des defauts?

Bien sûr que j’ai des defauts, j’en ai plein. Un homme qui n’a pas de
defaut n’est pas un homme. J’espère que j’ai suffisamment de defauts
pour m’en faire une personnalite.

– Qu’est-ce qu’il vous reste encore a faire?

Rien. C’est bien ca qui est triste. Aussi, je cherche a ecrire
mieux, des sujets plus engages, plus risques. Parce que c’est risque
d’ecrire sur les banlieues aujourd’hui. Ce qu’il me reste a faire,
c’est prendre des risques, jusqu’au bout.

Vous n’en avez pas suffisamment pris?

Oui, j’ai reussi avec ces risques mais je dis souvent une chose.

Quand l’eau reste dans une mare, elle devient stagnante. Je pense que
celui qui se repose sur ses succès, comme l’eau, il devient stagnant.

–Boundary_(ID_Bzg8fSgjPZFj8Wf2RnNhiQ)- –

Armenia’s resilient religious heritage celebrated in Louvre exhibit

Armenia’s resilient religious heritage celebrated in major Louvre exhibition

JENNY BARCHFIELD

AP Worldstream
Published: Mar 02, 2007

Mongolian dragons, Persian peacocks and Arabic stars are just some of
the motifs that embellish Armenia’s sacred Christian relics _ showing
how the oft-invaded nation has drawn on outside influences to
strengthen its own identity.

A new exhibition at the Louvre Museum showcases the resilience of
Armenian culture. "Armenia Sacra," which runs through May 21, brings
together more than 200 of the country’s most spectacular religious
objects, many of which survived _ and fed off of _ centuries of
foreign domination.

Armenia was long tucked between the rival Roman and Persian empires,
and later dominated by Russian and Soviet ones.

"They’re stuck right in the middle of things," said Ioanna Rapti, one
of the exhibit’s curators. "They borrowed foreign tastes, motifs and
symbols, adapting them to fit their own culture."

Objects in the exhibition _ which include dozens of manuscripts, a
national specialty _ come from museums throughout Armenia and
beyond. Relatively small and portable, manuscripts were often taken
abroad by Armenians fleeing the recurring invasions.

Other times, they were removed from the country for more sinister
reasons.

"When hostile powers pillaged Armenia, they often took manuscripts
hostage," Rapti said. "Armenians had to pay large ransoms to get them
back."

Thank goodness they did. The exhibit’s manuscripts, with their
intricate texts and hand-painted miniatures, are stunning. They are
also a remarkable record of Armenian thought, culture and history.

Widely considered to be the world’s oldest Christian state, Armenia
adopted Christianity as its national faith in 301 A.D. A thick, 1569
volume tells the fable of the country’s conversion: In a
color-drenched miniature, a monk appears to cast a spell over boar
draped in the purple cloak of royalty. The monk is Saint Gregory, who
would become Armenia’s patron; the wild pig represents the country’s
4th century king, Tiridate IV, who legend has became a boar after he
persecuted early Christians. He supposedly recovered his human form
upon embracing Christianity, which he made the state religion.

A miniature from a 1776 manuscript depicts a 5th century monk,
national hero Mesrop Mashtots, hunched over a desk, developing the
Armenian alphabet. Mashtots looks hard at work, though legend has it
all he did was copy down the letters God revealed to him.

The alphabet is at the heart of Armenian identity. The rounded,
horseshoe-shaped letters emblazon not only the manuscripts, but also
more unlikely objects like reliquaries, pulpits and carved doors.

Other objects testify to the imprint left by Mongolian, Ottoman and
Arab invaders.

Chinese dragons grimace from the yellowing page of a 13th century
manuscript. The dragon is thought to have entered Armenia on the backs
of Mongolian invaders, delicately embroidered on their silk gowns.

Arab-influenced stars radiate across a 12th century monastery door,
while exotic animals like elephants, peacocks and unicorns march
around its walnut frame.

The exhibit also features some 30 "khatchkars" _ massive stone slabs
carved with lace-fine crosses _ that dotted the Armenian plateau as
early as the 4th century. Some were tombstones.

One, the Djulfe Khatchkar, comes from a cemetery in Nakhichevan, an
enclave of neighboring Azerbaijan separated from the rest of the
country by Armenian territory. Armenia claims Azerbaijani soldiers
have systematically destroyed Armenian crosses there over the past few
years. The issue is sensitive, and last year, Azerbaijani officials
denied a report that the cemetery had vanished.

Rapti said the Djulfe Khatchkar is one of the cemetery’s few
survivors.

"It’s not politically correct to say this, but what makes it doubly
tragic is that the destruction is so recent," she said.

The exhibition is part of the so-called year of Armenia in France, an
initiative promoting Armenian culture. French President Jacques Chirac
and his Armenian counterpart President Robert Kocharian inaugurated
the exhibit, which Chirac called "sublime."

It "shows the singularity of Armenian civilization, which throughout
its tumultuous history gave the world masterpieces," the French leader
said.

For curator Rapti, the show is helping to boost Armenian moral.

"It shows they are not alone, although they are a little country with
very little power," she said.

52 Small Hydropower Plants To Be Constructed in Armenia in 2007-2010

52 SMALL HYDROPOWER PLANTS TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN ARMENIA IN 2007-2010

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, NOYAN TAPAN. It is envisaged to construct and put
into operation 52 small hydropower plants, including 36 ones on
natural water flow, in Armenia in 2007-2010. 47 bln 453 mln drams
(about 135 mln USD) will be spent on their construction. According to
the RA Public Services Regulatory Commission, this year 20 small
hydropower plants with the total capacity of 21,888 kilowatts will be
put into operation. At present 52 small hydropower plants with the
total capacity of 64,377 kilowatts operate in the country. According
to the same source, it is envisaged to put into operation 102 small
hydropower plants with the total capacity of 183,903 kilowatts or
annual prodcutivity of 662.2 mln kwh in 2010. Most of them will be
constructed in Lori, Syunik, Vayots Dzor and Tavush marzes. To recap,
in 2006 the amount of electricity generated by small hydropower plants
did not exeed 3%. In 2010, this index will increase fourfold and make
12%.

Amsterdam: Albayrak In Tricky Position As Immigration State Sec.

NIS News Bulletin, Netherlands
March 2 2007

Albayrak In Tricky Position As Immigration State Secretary

THE HAGUE, 03/03/07 – Nebahat Albayrak knows no better than that she
has always lived in the Netherlands. She speaks with a Rotterdam
accent, but is also proud of her Turkish passport. She rejects doubts
about her loyalty to the Netherlands as nonsense, but still, Labour
(PvdA) took a risk in putting her forward as Justice State Secretary.

Albayrak was born on 10 April 1968 in Sivas, Turkey. As a two year
old, she landed up in Rotterdam, where her father had already gone
before she was born to work in construction. She has always lived in
the port city and speaks with a slight Rotterdam accent, but she
still always maintained links with the Turkish community.

Before becoming an MP, Albayrak was on the board of the National
Islamic Women’s Organisation (LIV), from 1996 to 1998. During her
parliamentary membership, she chaired TRAFIK, a foundation to
encourage cultural exchange between the Netherlands and Turkey. She
also advised the Anne Fund, which encourages Turkish girls in poor
districts to go into secondary vocational education.

After secondary school, Albayrak joined the staff of the National
Bureau for Combating Racism (LBR), in 1990. She simultaneously
studied international and European law at the University of Leiden
and the Turkish capital of Ankara, to 1991. In the two subsequent
years, she studied at l’Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris, which
she combined with a one-year course at l’Institut d’Etudes
Francaises, again in Ankara. There she also had a traineeship at the
economic department of the European Commission office.

In 1993, Albayrak began her administrative career as policy staff
member for International and European Affairs at the bureau of the
Secretary-General of the foreign ministry. In August 1995, she moved
to the Integration Policy for Minorities Coordination directorate at
the same ministry. From this post, she landed up in the Lower House
for PvdA in May 1998.

In 2002, Albayrak was elected by the PvdA MPs to chair their foreign
policy cluster. In March 2003, she became chairman of the Lower House
standing committee for defence. In 2005, she could have left the
House to become PvdA front-runner in Rotterdam in the local
elections, but she rejected this offer.

In 2006, Albayrak was put second on the PvdA list of candidates in
the general election. It looked as though she might have to withdraw
because she did not speak out unequivocally on the Armenian genocide
by Turkey around 1915. Two PvdA candidate MPs did have to withdraw,
but the press let the matter rest after Albayrak said in Trouw
newspaper that "it is for lawyers and historians to decide" whether
the event "meets precisely the definition of genocide in
international law."

Albayrak cannot easily recognise the genocide, if she would wish to,
because this is forbidden in Turkey. She has both a Dutch and Turkish
passport. For these reasons, she could wind up with a conflict of
loyalties, declares the Party for Freedom (PVV). Lower House Speaker
Gerdi Verbeet, a fellow-party member of Albayrak’s, found this view
unconstitutional. But although a House majority criticised the
Speaker about this, nobody agreed with the PVV.

Nonetheless, it is not unthinkable that Albayrak’s loyalty will be
questioned again in the coming years. As Justice State Secretary, she
is after all responsible for aliens policy. Within this, marriage
immigration of Turks is a not unimportant component. Albayrak herself
is unmarried and childless.

http://www.nisnews.nl/public/030307_1.htm