Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

MOTHER WILL GO TO THE EXTREME

A1Plus.am
06/05/10

Participant of the protest held today near the government building
Anahit Kirakosyan announced that she would go to the extreme and
even declare a hunger strike as a sign of protest. Pointing toward
the government building, she exclaimed: "I can’t explain to them in
any other way after they killed my son. Perhaps a hunger strike won’t
help either, but at least I’ll die and free myself from this hell."

Anahit Kirakosyan is the mother of Andranik Hayrapetyan who was killed
in peaceful conditions in one of Armenia’s military units. According
to official data, Andranik died from the shot of the opponent, but
his mother is certain that his son was killed by the military unit
commanders. The Minister of Justice informed her today that the two
culprits guilty for his son’s murder have been released by amnesty
and are back to their posts.

This was strange for Anahit Kirakosyan because the RA Cassation Court
had acknowledged them as guilty. "The more we fight to reach justice,
the more these authorities find a way out to impede and close our
road," said Kirakosyan.

Gohar Sargsyan, mother of another victim Tigran Ohanjanyan, was
also participating in the protest. Her son was also said to die from
electrocution. However, his mother is certain that her son was killed.

A trial on Tigran Ohanjanyan’s murder began and reached the RA
Cassation Court. However, RA Military Prosecutor General Armen
Khachatryan recently demanded sending the case back to the first
instance court, which the dead soldier’s mother finds nonsensical.

Let us remind that the head of the military unit’s communication point
and the junior sergeant were charged with Tigran Ohanjanyan’s murder.

The parents of the victim were against their sentencing, while
Armenia’s two court instances justified them.

Among the protesters were the parents of Karine Atoyan, 25, and Sos
Ghukasyan, 32, who died as a result of the clumsy work by general
doctor at the hospital in Berd city of Tavush province. According
to them, there would be no murders if at least one of the murders
committed by that doctor was condemned.

Among other protesters were the families of victims of the plane crash
that took place on May 17, 2001 in Iran. They still haven’t received
their 23-month compensation and their issue remains unsolved to this
day. Every morning the families of the victims go the RA presidential
residence and then silently hold signs near the government building.

ARMENIAN PM LEAVES FOR CZECH REPUBLIC

Panorama.am
16:01 06/05/2010

Politics

The Armenian Government delegation headed by Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan has left for Karlovy Vary, the Czech Republic, on two-day
visit, to attend the sitting of the European People’s Party Group
Bureau, the information department of the government reported.

Within the framework of the visit Tigran Sargsyan is due to meet with
the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Jan Fischer in Prague.

OSCE HELPS PROMOTE TRIAL AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM IN ARMENIA

ARMENPRESS
MAY 5, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MAY 5, ARMENPRESS: The Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan,
Ambassador Sergey Kapinos, met Armenia’s Prosecutor General Aghvan
Hovsepyan May 4 to discuss justice sector reforms, including
implementation of recommendations contained in the trial monitoring
report recently released by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions
and Human Rights (ODIHR).

An official from the OSCE Yerevan Office told Armenpress that a
workshop on ODIHR’s trial monitoring recommendations, as they relate
to pre-trial proceedings, was also held on 27 April. In March, ODIHR
published a report on the trials that took place in the aftermath of
the March 2008 post-election violence in Yerevan.

Kapinos noted the Prosecutor General’s constructive approach to
the recommendations. "We were glad to learn that some of ODIHR’s
recommendations were immediately accepted, and we understand that
certain recommendations will need time for implementation. The
OSCE Office stands ready to assist and support the endeavors of
the Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Court of
Cassation," he said.

Hovsepyan said: "We highly appreciate the support from the OSCE
to reveal shortcomings and find comprehensive solutions to help
advance the rule of law and efficiency of the justice system in
Armenia. We hope that further support will be provided to increase
the efficiency of ongoing reforms; already a number of actions are
planned to implement the recommendations in the report."

Kapinos commended actions taken by the Prosecutor’s Office to
investigate the case of Vahan Khalafyan, who died while in police
custody on 13 April. He also welcomed the Prosecutor General’s pledge
to investigate cases of alleged violence against journalists, and
to promote Prosecutor’s role in police accountability mechanisms,
a challenge addressed in a recent report by the OSCE Office.

The OSCE Office has supported the Prosecutor General to upgrade its
website to promote interactive communication and help users learn
about the activities of the Prosecutor’s Office. The OSCE Office
is also working with the Prosecutor’s Office to identify potential
areas for improvement with criminal data collection and will organize
an assessment visit by an international expert from the Gottingen
University of Criminal Law.

IS TURKEY’S CONSUL UNHAPPY THAT NOT ALL ARMENIANS WERE SLAUGHTERED LIKE SHEEP?
Harut Sassounian

Panorama.am
04/05/2010

Hakan Tekin, the young and inexperienced Turkish Consul General in
Los Angeles, is trying hard to earn brownie points with his bosses in
Ankara by countering any reference to Armenians in the U.S. media. He
went overboard last week by sending an offensive letter to the Los
Angeles Times.

Tekin was displeased with Patt Morrison’s interview with me published
by the Times in its op-ed page on April 23. The article was titled,
"Harut Sassounian: True to the Past."

In his brief letter, Consul General Tekin made several misjudgments.

The first was to criticize the L.A. Times’ Pulitzer-Prize winning
veteran journalist Patt Morrison, alleging that there were "many
misleading elements" in her interview, without naming a single one.

Judging from the text of the Consul General’s letter, it was probably
drafted by one of the many American public relations firms hired by
the Turkish government at great cost. While the words may have been
written by Americans, the thoughts are definitely those of a Turkish
denialist! P.R. firms don’t really care how silly their letters
sound, as long as their employer is satisfied and compensates them
handsomely. Here is a piece of free advice that the Turkish government
and the Consul General should keep in mind before taking on again
the free press in a free country: "Never pick a fight with someone
who buys ink by the barrel."

Tekin is behaving as if he is still in Turkey, where the media is
routinely suppressed by such fascist tactics as throwing journalists
in jail or physically eliminating them. He is vainly trying to import
Turkey’s undemocratic "gag rule" into the United States by trying to
silence the L.A. Times!

The Consul General goes on to attack me for the photograph that
accompanies the L.A. Times article, in which I am holding the
picture of my grandmother "garlanded with a bandolier of bullets." I
am very proud of grandma Gadar, because at a time when more than a
million Armenians were being marched to their deaths by the genocidal
rulers of Tekin’s ancestors, she and her fellow Zeitountsis — men,
women and children — defended themselves valiantly and refused to
be slaughtered like sheep. Had she not fought to save her life, I
would not have existed today, which may have made the Consul General
happier! Is Tekin upset that the Turkish government was unable to
finish the job of exterminating every last Armenian?

Consul General Tekin then criticizes me for my "relentless opposition"
to the infamous Armenia-Turkey Protocols. He has no one else to blame
than his own government for not ratifying these Protocols which have
been collecting dust in the Turkish Parliament for more than six
months. Armenians are indeed fortunate that Turkey’s leaders have
inadvertently protected Armenia’s national interests by not ratifying
the Protocols, so that they could extract more concessions from the
Armenian government!

Incredibly, Tekin ends his pathetic letter by admonishing me to
be more like William Saroyan, who he claims was "compassionate"
toward Turks! May I remind the Turkish Consul of Saroyan’s well-known
statement castigating the Turks for having destroyed Armenia and its
people. Here is the original version of that quotation, as it was
published in Inhale & Exhale, New York: Random House, 1936: "Go ahead,
destroy this race. Let us say that it is again 1915. There is war in
the world. Destroy Armenia. See if you can do it. Send them from their
homes into the desert. Let them have neither bread nor water. Burn
their houses and their churches. See if they will not live again. See
if they will not laugh again. See if the race will not live again when
two of them meet in a beer parlor, twenty years after, and laugh, and
speak in their tongue. Go ahead, see if you can do anything about it.

See if you can stop them from mocking the big ideas of the world,
you sons of bitches, a couple of Armenians talking in the world,
go ahead and try to destroy them."

Could it be that the Turkish Consul General is trying to denigrate me,
because I have rejected his repeated invitations to get together, and

TATEV TOURISM CENTER ESTIMATED $40MLN

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 3, 2010 – 11:55 AMT 06:55 GMT

The works for reconstruction of Tatev tourism center are rapidly
progressing.

"Construction of aerial tramway proceeds within the schedule and will
be finished by October 16. It will be the longest aerial tramway
meeting all international standards," executive director of the
National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia Bekor Papazyan told
a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

"Tourism products, including organization of walking tours and
establishment of an oil mill, will be launched. Paths will be laid
towards the cave of Khndzoresk, where national dishes will be offered
to the tourists," he said.

The investments have totaled $20mln, with the whole project estimated
$40mln. "$10lmn was invested for the aerial tramway construction
and $10mln for the reconstruction of the monastery. A part of extra
expenses will be covered by the government," Mr. Papazyan said.

ARMENIAN MUSIC WAS PLAYED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN TURKISH PARLIAMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 29, 2010 – 10:26 AMT 05:26 GMT

Great Armenian composer Sarkis Efendi’s music was played during a
break between Grand National Assembly of Turkey conferences. This was
the first time it happened in Turkish parliament, more accustomed to
classical European music, Milliyet reported.

Sarkis Efendi was born in 1885 to a family of Istanbul-residing
Armenian musician. In 1930 he emigrated to Paris, where he died
in 1944.

Fraud nets man 7 years

He deprived state of $3.2M by smuggling cigarettes from North Carolina.

By Max Zimbert

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

A Glendale resident who was convicted of cigarette fraud and tax evasion in
April 2008 was sentenced Wednesday to more than seven years in a federal
prison.

Between January 2002 and June 2005, Avedis Djeredjian, now 41, bought more
than 367,960 cartons of cigarettes from North Carolina without adequate tax
stamps from California regulators, depriving California of $3.2 million in
tax revenue, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

U.S. District Court Judge George King also ordered Djeredjian to pay back
more than $6.4 million. And upon completing his prison sentence, Djeredjian
will have three years of parole.

"With the outcome of this case, it should be very clear that there is no
state line that will insulate illegal traffickers of cigarettes from our
vigorous investigation and prosecution," Zebedee Graham, the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms special agent in charge, said in a statement.

In 2008, the jury did not convict Djeredjian’s wife, Carmen Badrian, or
Roobik Ohaniansaki, whom authorities had tried to tie to the scheme. Both
lived in Glendale at the time.

John Torres, the special agent in charge of the Los Angeles Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said the sentencing vindicated the
inter-state and undercover investigation.

"This sentencing clearly shows that trafficking in contraband tobacco
products will not be tolerated," he said in an e-mail. "This is a great
conclusion."

George Holding, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina,
said in a statement that the verdict upheld the federal government’s role to
ensure that people do not thwart state taxing authority.

Copyright © 2010 – Glendale News Press

A NEW SYSTEM OF PROVIDING TEXTBOOKS TO BE WORKED OUT IN 2011

ARMENPRESS
Apr 29, 2010

YEREVAN, APRIL 29, ARMENPRESS: The system of providing textbooks
published by state funding must be changed, Chairman of the Oversight
Chamber of Armenia Iskhan Zakaryan said at today’s governmental
session. According to him, though a great sum of money is extended
for publishing textbooks for junior classes, which must be provided
for free, their sale in the market is continued.

I. Zakaryan said the studies have shown that the demand of books
through state means is satisfied in 100 %. In that case it is not
clear why more books are published, as a result of which the textbooks
appear in the market. According to him, one of the issues is that
there are selective textbooks, and the other issue is that the books
do not reach to schools from governor offices.

Armenian Education and Science Minister Armen Ashotyan noted that the
current system of providing books does not justify itself. He said
that in many cases the applications received from schools and governor
offices do not correspond to the wish of a school director or teacher.

He noted that the mechanisms and approaches must be changed for
the next year; the selection of books must not depend only on the
governor office or school. According to the minister, special oversight
mechanisms must be worked out, in order it becomes clear which books
to provide to children.

FINDINGS FROM YEREVAN STATE UNIVERSITY IN SCIENCE REPORTED

Journal of Mathematics
April 27, 2010

According to recent research published in the journal Symmetry
Integrability and Geometry – Methods and Applications, "The Lieb-Mattis
theorem on the antiferromagnetic ordering of energy levels is
generalized to SU(N) extended Hubbard model with Heisenberg exchange
and pair-hopping terms."

"It is proved that the minimum energy levels among the states from
equivalent representations are nondegenerate and ordered according to
the dominance order of corresponding Young diagrams. In particular,
the ground states form a unique antisymmetric multiplet," wrote T.

Hakobyan and colleagues, Yerevan State University.

The researchers concluded: "The relation with the similar ordering
among the spatial wavefunctions with different symmetry classes of
ordinary quantum mechanics is discussed also."

Hakobyan and colleagues published their study in Symmetry Integrability
and Geometry – Methods and Applications (Ordering of Energy Levels for
Extended SU(N) Hubbard Chain. Symmetry Integrability and Geometry –
Methods and Applications, 2010;6():24).

For additional information, contact T. Hakobyan, Yerevan State
University, Alex Manoogian 1, Yerevan 375049, Armenia.

The publisher’s contact information for the journal Symmetry
Integrability and Geometry – Methods and Applications is: National
Acad Science Ukraine, Institute Math, 3 Tereschchenkiv Ska St.,
Kyiv 4, 01601, Ukraine.

ARMENIAN NGOS SET UP GROUP TO PROMOTE NORMALIZATION OF TIES WITH TURKEY

Mediamax
April 28 2010
Armenia

Yerevan, 28 April 28. Four Armenian NGOs announced establishment of
a consortium on normalizing Armenian-Turkish relations.

Mediamax reports that the memorandum was signed by the Union of
Manufacturers [Industrialists] and Entrepreneurs (Employers) of Armenia
(UMEA), Yerevan Press Club (YPC), Eurasia Partnership Foundation and
International Centre for Human Development (ICHD).

Executive Director of ICHD Tevan Poghosyan stated that the memorandum
aims at coordinating programmes [being] realized for normalization
of Armenian-Turkish relations. "The sides of the memorandum attach
importance to Armenian-Turkish relations and want to make their
contribution to this important process for Armenia," Tevan Poghosyan
stated.

UMEA Chairman Arsen Kazaryan stated that he does not consider
establishment of the consortium "a belated initiative" against the
background of the suspension of the process of Armenian-Turkish
protocols’ ratification in the Armenian National Assembly
[parliament]. According to him, "civil initiatives should be next to
political processes in order to achieve the desired results".

According to him, each of the four organizations has a circle of
Turkish partners, jointly with whom they will be elaborating projects.

Chairman of YPC Boris Navasardyan stated that he does not agree to
[with] the opinion that "the process of normalizing Armenian-Turkish
relations has been exhausted".

"The first stage of the dialogue might have been described as
constructive indefiniteness, and now the sides try to make analysis
of the reasons, which hindered achieving a result," he noted.