Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

AMBASSADOR OF VIETNAM IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

National Assembly of RA
March 27 2008
Armenia

On March 26 Mr. Tigran Torosyan, Speaker of the National Assembly of
the Republic of Armenia, received the newly appointed Ambassador of
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to Armenia Mr. Bui Dinh Dinh.

Welcoming the Ambassador, the NA Speaker noted that though the
diplomatic relations with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam were
established after the independence of Armenia, nevertheless comparing
with the trade-economic ties they are not developed, and expressed
hope that the Ambassador’s activity will promote the development of the
inter-state relations. Mr. Torosyan stressed the establishment of the
inter-parliamentary relations, noting that the parliamentarians of two
states cooperate with each other in the international structures, and
that will promote the development of bilateral ties. As the first step
of the establishment of inter-parliamentary relations the NA Speaker
proposed to set up parliamentary friendship groups in two parliaments
and ensured that in the National Assembly such a group will be set
up in the nearest future, and the staff will he handed over to the
parliament of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Touching upon the role
of Vietnam in the Southeast Asia, the NA Speaker noted that declaring
the European integration as a foreign political supremacy Armenia also
pays great attention to the development of the friendly relations with
the Asian regional countries, and in that row the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam has its important place with its stable developing economy.

The newly appointed Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam to Armenia Mr. Bui Dinh Dinh ensured the NA Speaker about
the friendly attitude of his state and people towards Armenian
people, noting that in his country they stress and highly assess
the assistance of the Armenian people in the liberation struggle of
Vietnam, and they are thankful for that. As he assessed Armenia is
a really sustainable developing friendly country for Vietnam, and
the continuously registering economic growth in two countries opens
great opportunities and perspectives for cooperation, and there is
great wish for it in Vietnam, and only the geographical distance by
now hampers the increase of the goods turnover and the development
of the trade-economic, scientific-cultural ties. Highlighting the
creation of the parliamentary friendship groups, Mr. Bui Dinh Dinh
also proposed to use the mutual visits for the awareness of each
other as much as possible and for the exchange of the experience
accumulated during these years, which is mutually useful.

During the meeting both sides stressed the elaboration and
implementation of certain programmes. The Ambassador ensured that the
goal of his mission will be the development of inter-state relations.

The NA Speaker expressed willingness to assist in his activity and
expressed hope that at the next meeting they will discuss not only
new ideas and programmes, but also their results.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version: nian.htm

HIS HOLINESS ARAM I RECEIVES TWO BISHOPS DELEGATED
BY PATRIARCH ZAKKA

His Holiness Aram I received on Tuesday the two Bishops representing His
Holiness Patriarch Zakka Iwas I. During the meeting, the Bishops discussed a
number of important issues with the Armenian Pontiff on behalf of the
Patriarch.

Having listened to the Patriarch’s message, His Holiness Aram I expressed
his viewpoints on the issues presented. He also asked the Patriarch’s
delegates to convey to him his brotherly wishes on the occasion of Easter.

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View the photo here:
tos/Photos227.htm
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Ecumenical
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.

RA PRESIDENT SIGNS DECREE ON CONDUCTING SPRING CALL-UP AND DEMOBILIZATION

Noyan Tapan
March 25, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 25, NOYAN TAPAN. On March 20, RA President Robert
Kocharian signed a decree on conducting 2008 spring call-up and
demobilization. Noyan Tapan was informed about it by the RA President’s
Press Office.

According to the decree, the RA male citizens, who have turned 18
before the day of call-up, as well as the citizens, who have lost the
deferment right from compulsory military service they had received
before, will be called up for compulsory military and alternative
services in April-June of 2008.

The servicemen, who have done compulsory military service in the
established term, will be demobilized in April-June of 2008.

VARDAN OSKANIAN: IN CASE OF NECESSITY WE WILL ADOPT NEW POLICY FOR PURPOSE OF PROVIDING SELF-DETERMINATION AND SECURITY OF KARABAKH

Noyan Tapan
March 24, 2008

BEIRUT, MARCH 24, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Vardan Oskanian,
the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, had an interview with
the director of "Azdak". Minister Oskanian touched upon the recent
pressing events in a national sense and introduced the points of
view of the diplomatic leadership of his homeland with regard to the
recent aggressive approaches of the Azerbaijani side and the domestic
political situation of Armenia in his interview. Below is the complete
contents of the interview with Minister Vardan Oskanian.

Azdak: It is true that the UN vote results carry a message to
Azerbaijan, as you mentioned. But do not you think that the event
conveys a message to the Armenian side as well? It is obvious that
official Baku wants to take full advantage of the internal turmoil
in Armenia.

Vardan Oskanian: It is true the resolution passed although,
of course, we wish it had not. However, I am satisfied with the
number of countries that did not support it. I assess their decisions
positively. This is a non-binding, or consultative pronouncement by the
General Assembly, I do not think it will have an affect on the process,
unless Azerbaijan is engaged not just in deception but self-deception.

It was unnecessary, ill-timed, mean-spirited, both as a process
and a product. If they expect to use this for anything other than
their domestic purposes, if they have convinced themselves that the
international community truly supports the one-sided desires they
had enumerated in the text of this resolution, then this will cause
serious problems in the negotations. One thing must be clear for
Azerbaijan that no amount of resolutions will make Nagorno Karabakh
deviate from its path of self-determination.

Show me one example in history when a conflict has been resolved by the
passage or acceptance of a document by an international organization
or by third countries. There has not happened and it is not going to
happen now, certainly not in the case of Nagorno Karabakh. In 1948,
the UN General Assembly resolution to partition Palestine did not solve
anything. More recently, the Security Council resolution on Kosovo
also did not manage to bring the sides together in a meaningful way. I
remember in Lisbon when the OSCE Chairman-in-Office made a statement
about Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijan’s joy knew no limits. It took
years for Azerbaijan to understand that that document had no value.

As for the patgam to Armenia, it is not the patgam of the international
community. It is the patgam of Azerbaijan alone. By insisting on this
non-binding, non-collective statement, Azerbaijan demonstrated two
things: that it wants to retreat from the Minsk Group process, and
therefore from the content of the document on the table; and that it
is only willing to negotiate what it wants, and not a compromise. That,
unfortunately, is the batgam we have received from all this.

Azdak: There are signs that such behavior by Azerbaijan may continue
both in the form of ceasefire violations and in increased attempts
to mislead the international public in the diplomatic arena. What do
you foresee?

Vardan Oskanian: Fortunately, we will have an opportunity soon to
find out what Azerbaijan’s intentions are. There is a possibility that
Armenia’s President-Elect will meet with the Azerbaijani President in
Bucharest, in the framework of the NATO-EAPC Summit. We have stated
our readiness to participate, I know the co-chairs will make such a
proposal, and I know the Azeris have also hinted that they are ready
to continue the dialogue at the highest levels. During that first
meeting this issue can be clarified.

President-Elect Sargsyan can ask President Aliyev point blank : if
you truly believe in the content of this resolution and if that will
be your guideline, then there is nothing to talk about and let us
not waste our time. But if you are still committed to the negotiating
document on the table today, then let us get serious and go the short
distance that is left.

Indeed, the UN resolution text and the content of the negotiating
document are incompatible; most of the international community
recognized this which is why they did not support it. The international
community was also perturbed by Azerbaijan’s recent serious breaches
of the ceasefire. These two things taken together should, indeed,
make the international community think whether Azerbaijan is serious
about its commitments to peace. We are.

We will do what we must, adopt new policies if necessary, to secure
Karabakh’s self-determination and security.

Azdak: Today there is a need to change Armenia’s image, as well as
to conduct an accurate and objective assessment domestic political
developments. How do you envision that process, especially when it
comes to coordinating between the Republic of Armenia and the Diaspora?

Vardan Oskanian: Indeed, Armenia has taken a beating because of the
riots and the deaths. And when the international community comes
inquiring about the situation, they are not interested in asking
or knowing who is responsible for what. They look at this as an
Armenian mess, an Armenian tragedy, an Armenian problem and judge
us all together. It is not the government that is damaged, it is not
the opposition that is discredited, it is Armenia that is dishonored.

We must accept their criticism, listen to their disappointment,
share their frustration and try to make certain that this is not
a permanent setback, but a temporary aberration from the path to
which we are commited. I hope I am not wrong. We will be tested by
what happens in the coming weeks and monhs. What is very encouraging
is that despite all that has happened, there is a lot of good will
towards Armenia, a lot of hope pinned on Armenia, and a sincere
desire to see us come through this in a meaningful way, not just
superficially moving forward with business as usual.

This is also a challenge for the Diaspora. The Diaspora is obviously
shocked and disappointed by the way events have evolved. But we all
are. Now it is time for Armenia and the Diaspora together to navigate
through this polarized and paralyzing situation, find ways to build
faith, to encourage sustained, continuous engagement, to insist on
and support institutional change. In other words, to continue the
difficult task of nation-building.

What the Diaspora cannot do, as some have suggested, is to boycott
Armenia, to reject Armenia-based organizations, to blame Armenia for
not being the country of their dreams. I understand the disappointment,
I do not understand the expectations or the reaction. This is when we
in Armenia need the Diaspora, this is when the Diaspora must say what
the international community is saying : we are disappointed in what
has happened and we stand ready to work with you to bring Armenia
out of this crisis. This is not the time to disown the family. This
is the time for systematic and broad cooperation.

ARMENIA STATE OF EMERGENCY LIFTED, HUNDREDS GATHER TO PROTEST ARRESTS

International Herald Tribune
March 21 2008
France

YEREVAN, Armenia: Several hundred opposition supporters rallied
across the Armenian capital on Friday after authorities lifted a
20-day state of emergency.

Friday’s demonstrators protested the March 1 arrests of dozens of
opposition activists after clashes between police and protesters.

Eight people were killed and dozens were injured in those clashes.

That was followed by the state of emergency, banning public gatherings,
which ended at midnight Thursday.

The latest demonstrators lit candles and held pictures of those
arrested March 1. Police officers approached the protesters, who
formed a chain across downtown Yerevan, urging them to disperse but
not using force.

Several protesters yelled curses at the police, but there were
no clashes.

The violence March 1 broke out after police forcibly dispersed
protesters who claimed the government rigged the Feb. 19 presidential
election and demanded a new vote.

According to the official results, the favored candidate of outgoing
President Robert Kocharian, Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian, won nearly
53 percent of the vote, while opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian
received about 21 percent. Sarkisian is scheduled to be inaugurated
April 9.

The opposition has alleged the election was affected by widespread
fraud and sometimes violent pressure on its supporters.

Sarkisian said Thursday that 106 of the scores of opposition
supporters who were detained remain under arrest, including some of
Ter-Petrosian’s former allies.

"We are demanding that the authorities explain to us why these 106
people have been arrested," said one protester, Armen Martirosian, 38.

The opposition has capitalized on widespread public anger over
poverty, which remains endemic in Armenia despite an economic growth
of recent years.

"We have nothing to eat," said another protester, Alla Arutyunian.

"I’m wondering whether Sarkisian and his family could survive on the
money they give me."

Western countries have expressed concern about the government’s
crackdown, while Russia – which has close ties with Armenia and
maintains a military base in the ex-Soviet republic – expressed
support for law and order.

YEREVAN MAYOR GETS ACQUAINTED WITH CONSTRUCTION OF TRANSPORT NODAL POINT

ARKA
March 21, 2008

YEREVAN, March 21. /ARKA/. Yerevan Mayor Yervand Zakharyan got
acquainted with the process of construction of an underground passage
at the Tigran Mets-Khanjyan crossroads, near the Airarat cinema, as
well as of a transport nodal point to connect Khanjyan and Geratsi
streets.

"This year, due to favorable weather conditions, the construction
work started earlier than last year," Zakharyan said.

According to him, the underground passage at the Tigran Mets-Khanjyan
crossroads will be put into service on June 20, and the construction
of the transport nodal point across the Getar River is to be completed
this August.

Thus, the transport nodal point running form the Davidashen bridge
to the Airarat cinema is to be put into operation in August-September.

"This project will allow us to relieve the center of traffic,"
Zakharyan said.

The Yerevan Municipality is implementing a number of large-scale
capital programs, particularly the construction of underground and
surface crossings. The construction is carried out under Yerevan’s
master plan until 2020.

ARRESTS IN TURKEY OVER PLOT TO KILL NOBEL LAUREATE PAMUK: REPORT

Agence France Presse
March 21 2008

ANKARA (AFP) – A Turkish nationalist party leader, a veteran journalist
and an academic have been arrested over an alleged plan to kill author
Orhan Pamuk, the country’s first Nobel laureate, media reported Friday.

Dogu Perincek, the leader of the Workers’ Party, senior journalist
Ilhan Selcuk and Kemal Alemdaroglu, the former rector of Istanbul
University, are in detention and are to appear before a public
prosecutor, the Anatolia news agency said.

The news agency did not specify any charges against them but said they
had been detained for their alleged role in an ultra-nationalist plot
to kill Pamuk and senior Kurdish figures.

Police also seized documents and software at a television station
partly owned by Perincek’s party, according to the IP news agency.

Thirteen other people, including a general and a retired colonel,
have been arrested over the supposed plot.

According to Turkish media reports, the suspects wanted to assassinate
Pamuk, pro-Islamist journalist Fehmi Koru and Kurdish political
figures Leyla Zana, Osman Baydemir and Ahmet Turk.

Despite his international fame, Pamuk’s vocal criticism of issues
that have long been national taboos has tagged him as renegade and a
traitor, including the mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman
Empire, and the ongoing Kurdish conflict in the southeast.

The media reports said the plans were allegedly hatched by an
"ultra-nationalist" group thought to be linked to the security forces.

AZERBAIJAN ‘SEEKING TO DISSOLVE OSCE MINSK GROUP’

Radio Liberty
March 19 2008
Czech Republic

Azerbaijan is pressing the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe to dissolve its so-called Minsk Group that has long been
spearheading international efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said on Friday.

"They are trying to start, through the OSCE Secretariat, a process
of the dissolution of the Minsk Group," Oskanian told lawmakers in
Yerevan. "They have officially appealed [to the Secretariat.]"

The group, co-chaired by France, Russia and the United States, was
set up in 1992 and has been trying to broke a compromise solution
to the Karabakh dispute. Azerbaijani has repeatedly criticized the
three nations for their reluctance to restore its control over the
disputed enclave but has stopped short of seeking a major change in
the format of Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks until now.

Still, official Baku threatened to review its relations with the
mediating powers after they voted last Friday against a UN General
Assembly resolution that upheld Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh
and demanded an "immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of
Armenian forces" from occupied Azerbaijani lands. "The UN resolution is
a serious message to Armenia and a warning for the co-chairs," Deputy
Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said at the weekend. "We will cooperate
with them on the basis of their position in the UN General Assembly."

For his part, Vilayat Guliev, a former Azerbaijani foreign minister
who currently serves as his country’s ambassador to Poland, said on
Wednesday that the existence of the Minsk Group has become "useless"
and accused its co-chairs of favoring the Armenian side. "The recent
vote in the UN on the resolution presented by Azerbaijan once again
showed their strange neutrality," he told the Day.az news service.

"It appears that the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group are more
interested in the conflict’s continuation than its fair resolution."

The Azerbaijani criticism may deal a further blow to the mediators’
hopes for the signing of an Armenian-Azerbaijani framework peace
accord on Karabakh that was formally put forward by them last
November. Diplomats involved in the talks said earlier this year that
the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed on the key points
of that accord.

ANTI-GENOCIDE ACTIVISTS VISIT HUNDREDS OF CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES DURING ADVOCACY DAYS IN WASHINGTON

armradio.am
19.03.2008 11:46

Over 100 anti-genocide activists from across the nation joined
the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and the Genocide
Intervention Network (Gi-Net) for their second annual "End the Cycle
of Genocide" campaign held in Washington, DC.

The three day program, hosted for the second year in a row by the ANCA
and the GI-Net, puts community human rights advocates directly in touch
with dozens of legislators and every single Senate and House office
in support of practical legislative initiatives to stop the genocide
in Darfur and end Turkey’s ongoing denial of the Armenian Genocide.

"It was so wonderful to participate with the Genocide Intervention
Network once again this month to advocate on these important human
rights issues," commented ANCA Eastern Region Executive Director,
Karine Birazian. "It was exciting to see new and familiar faces
throughout the region participate. We will continue to work to build
momentum and push genocide legislation forward in Congress."

Birazian, along with activists from the Eastern Region, spent three
days on Capitol Hill meeting with various members of Congress as
well as distributing informational folders on the Armenian Genocide
and the genocide taking place in Darfur, and highlighting legislation
pertaining to these matters. Eastern Region activists including those
from Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Virginia visited close to
300 offices in the House of Representatives and over 60 offices in
the Senate.

Eastern Region activists met with over 50 congressional offices,
including Members of the House Committees on Foreign Affairs,
Intelligence, and Homeland Security many of whom are cosponsors of
H. Res. 106.

Those in attendance took part in a reception on Wednesday evening
during which several representatives spoke out on this important
issue and stressed the need to continue to lobby and push forward for
genocide recognition. At the close of the Advocacy Days, activists
were invited to tour the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in
Washington, DC.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TO CONVENE A SPECIAL SITTING ON THE OCCASION OF RA PRESIDENT’S INAUGURATION

armradio.am
18.03.2008 14:48

On April 9, at 14:00 the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia
will convene a special sitting at the National Academic Theater of
Opera and Ballet on the occasion of RA President’s inauguration. A
corresponding decision was adopted at the regular sitting of the
National Assembly on March 18 with 85 pro and 5 cons and 1 abstention.

Members of the Heritage faction opposed the decision, independent MP
Viktor Dallakyan abstained.

According to the same decision of the National Assembly, the regular
four-day sittings will not take place on April 9.