Author: Yeghisabet Arthur

April 16, 2007

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Armenia’s diaspora funds a religious revival

Armenians from all over the world are hoping to revive a church
decimated by decades of communist rule.

By Nicole Itano | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

Lake Sevan, ARMENIA

On a windswept peninsula that juts out into the blue-black waters of
Lake Sevan, the ancient meets modern. Cassock-clad young seminarians
wander through a sparkling new building wired for the 21st century and
outfitted with a contemporary gym.

But the traditions here are among Christianity’s oldest. In the
corridor, between classes at Vaskenian Theological Academy, two
students stop and bow to a bearded man with a large silver cross
around his neck.

"Father, bless us," they say, each putting a hand to their hearts.

"God will bless you," replies Father Minas Martirossian, the school’s
deputy dean, who is helping to train a new generation of Armenian
priests to repopulate the country’s depleted ranks.

Just a decade ago, the Armenian Apostolic Church was struggling to
survive at home after decades of communist oppression. Today, the
Church is undergoing a rebirth fueled by tens of millions of dollars
from the global Armenian diaspora.

"The first years were really difficult," recalls Mr. Martirossian, a
former mathematics professor who helped restart the seminary in 1990
as the Soviet Union was crumbling and Armenia moved toward
independence. "There was no electricity, no heating, no proper food
for students. It wasn’t just the seminary. It was the whole country."

Underdeveloped, politically isolated, and partially devastated by a
still unresolved war with its neighbor Azerbaijan that raged between
1988 and 1994 as the Soviet Union collapsed, Armenia depends heavily
on support from its ethnic diaspora. Hundreds of millions of dollars
have been poured into the country to do everything from rebuild roads
to renovate water systems to feed orphans.

A little help from Armenia’s friends

But perhaps nowhere has diaspora money played a more visible role than
in the Armenian Church, which has been central to Armenian culture for
centuries.

Armenia first adopted Christianity in AD 301 and claims to be the
world’s oldest Christian nation.

But under communist rule, religious life there was pushed into the
shadows. Churches were seized and shuttered, priests persecuted and
many baptisms were conducted in secret. By the time Communism
collapsed in 1991, only about 150 priests still remained to serve a
population of about 3 million people, largely because of government
restrictions on the number of new priests who could be trained.

The situation abroad was very different. Although the church played a
pivotal role in cultural life for the approximately 7 million
Armenians scattered around the world – primarily in America, Russia,
and the Middle East – during the Soviet period, the practical
influence of the mother church, located in the Armenian city of
Etchmiadzin, and its highest religious leader, the Catholicos of All
Armenians, waned.

"The Church’s primary responsibility is to lead people to God, but for
many years the Armenian church has had a second burden, the protection
of Armenianness," says Father Ktrij Devejian, a Armenian-American
architect from Fresno, Calif., who in 2004 became the first
American-born priest ordained in Etchmiadzin. "In the diaspora, the
Church was involved in every aspect of life."

Now, Armenians outside the country are helping to rebuild the church
at home. In the past seven years, diasporans have donated at least $50
million for construction and fund 85 percent of the Church’s overall
operating expenses.

Across the country, 52 new churches – and a giant new cathedral – were
constructed, and 31 have been renovated. Five more are under
construction and 10 more are being renovated.

Today, Devejian – who returned to Armenia at the current Catholicos’
request to help build the Church’s international connections – marvels
at the dramatic rebuilding and expansion underway at Etchmiadzin, the
Church’s historic headquarters. There’s a large, bustling seminary, a
new administration building, museum, and baptistery. And the original
residence of the Catholicos is being renovated.

"Etchmiadzin hasn’t seen a building boom like this in maybe 400
years," says Devejian. "There isn’t a building in Armenia under the
authority of Etchmiadzin that hasn’t been built with diaspora money."

‘The difference today is freedom’

The revival of a seminary at Lake Sevan is representative of a broader
revitalization of the Armenian church in its birthplace. Under Soviet
rule, the monastery there was shut down after more than a millennium
in existence.

In 1990, the peninsula was returned to the church. A few dozen
Armenian students and teachers from New Jersey, including Father
Minas, moved to the site to reintroduce religious instruction and a
clergy. At first, they lived and worked in a single, unheated
building.

Six years later, a wealthy Armenian from Damascus funded the
construction of a new seminary building and small church.

Today the seminary houses 72 students and has helped double the number
of priests in Armenia to more than 400. For the first time in many
decades, Armenia is once again beginning to export priests to the
diaspora.

But Devejian admits there is still much work to be done to convince
Armenians inside the country to return to the church’s fold –
particularly those raised under Soviet rule.

Many of those being baptized today are adults, but Armenia’s churches
are still full of old women and young people born after the end of
communism. Many Armenians raised under communist rule see no reason to
abandon their secularism.

"The Soviets did a very good job of destroying the role of the church
as part of society," says Devejian, noting that Catholicos’ main
priority is to rebuild parish life by rebuilding churches and
returning priests to communities.

David Mangasaryan, a 21-year-old priest-in-training at Lake Sevan, is
optimistic that Armenians will return to the church.

"The difference today is freedom," says Mr. Mangasaryan. "Our
generation is free. We can choose our God and we can choose our
religion."

Copyright © 2007 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved.

Azerbaijan wants to build nuclear power station – TV

Zanura Talibova, Ruslan Mammadov, ANS.

Text of report by Azerbaijani TV station ANS on 12 April

[Presenter] Azerbaijan is going to build a nuclear power station.
Although it is going to take place in 20-25 years, experts already
oppose this idea. They raise ecological security issue as a problem.
The leadership of the Institute for Radiation Problems of [the National
Academy of Sciences] raised this problem. They are confident that the
government will give its consent to the construction of the nuclear
power station.

[Correspondent over video of nuclear power station in unidentified
area] A package of proposals for the construction of a nuclear power
station in Azerbaijan has already been submitted to the government. The
proposals were drawn up after Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov turned
to the Institute for Radiation Problems. The process is mainly aimed at
using nuclear energy when oil and gas reserves exhaust.

[Adil Qaribov, head of the Institute for Radiation Problems of the
National Academy of Sciences, speaking] Azerbaijan can use its current
oil and gas reserves to satisfy its major energy needs until 2020-25.
However, problems will occur later. [Oil and gas] prices will increase
and will exhaust as well. Major problems will arise mainly in energy
supply.

[Correspondent] Although the use of other alternative energy sources in
Azerbaijan and the construction of stations in the sphere are on the
agenda, Qaribov thinks this is not enough.

[Qaribov] It has been defined that hydropower stations in Azerbaijan
can satisfy our energy needs maximum 16-20 per cent. As we know, wind
and sun energy are not stable and they cannot generate much power.

[Correspondent] The specialist said that Azerbaijan had no way out of
the situation taking into consideration prospects for exchange of
energy with neighbouring states. The president of the International
Institute for Eco-Energy, Faqan Aliyev, thinks differently. He believes
that the construction of a nuclear power station can cost Azerbaijan
dear at least from material viewpoint.

[Aliyev] Azerbaijan has no uranium. If we start producing uranium, then
we need to vacate 10-15 districts. Azerbaijan needs to bury wastes from
the nuclear power station. We do not have such a place either. Then we
have to buy uranium from other countries. A large amount of funds are
needed for burying [nuclear] wastes somewhere.

[Correspondent] Faqan Aliyev did not also hide his concern about the
damage of nuclear wastes on a human body. He said that major European
countries, which have nuclear power stations, are going to refuse from
them. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has already discussed with the
International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] some details about the
construction of a nuclear power station. For instance, the IAEA has
promised to help any work concerning the peaceful use of nuclear energy
after a draft project for the station’s construction is worked out.

Naturally, to prepare professional specialists during seven to eight
years, to choose a suitable place and condition for the construction of
the station will be submit this body. Even though Azerbaijan has
necessary conditions for the station’s construction, this process can
start in the near six to seven years. The station’s construction at
least needs 20-25 years. Despite the construction of a nuclear power
station started near Navai settlement of Azerbaijan’s Haciqabul
District in 1984, the project was not implemented after the Chernobyl
nuclear disaster.

According to scientists, about 3-4bn dollars are required for the
construction of a nuclear power station. Qaribov assumes that the
government will take a decision regarding this project. After that, a
certain commission will be set up to deal with the station’s
construction.

PanARMENIAN.Net

No state can hold perfect election, Platvoet says
13.04.2007 19:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `The observers are not obliged with a task to sit in
the polling stations and watch the process of election. We will watch
the process as a whole. The most important aspect for us is counting
of votes and delivery of the ballot-papers to the Central Election
Committee,’ Leo Platvoet, head of the PACE observation mission, told a
news conference in Yerevan today. The investigation of facts of
bribing voters is not the aim of the mission, he added. `The most
important thing is trust of the people to the authorities and all
those who are responsible for holding a fair and democratic election.
No state, even a European one, can hold a perfect election. Albania,
Azerbaijan, Montenegro, Serbia can serve as an example. Violations are
fixed even in highly developed states like UK and Germany. Nevertheless
I should emphasize that specification of the rolls and complaints of
the citizens are the issues to be dealt by the Armenian law
enforcement,’ Platvoet said.

ARTUR – WE WERE HIRED TO ‘TAKE OUT’ LEADERS
Douglas Okwatch And Francis Openda

The East African Standard (Nairobi), Kenya
April 12, 2007

Mr Artur Margaryan, who Interpol describes as an international fugitive
on the run, has for the first time hinted that there was an attempt
by prominent politicians to hire him for a ‘criminal’ undertaking.

And Lang’ata MP Raila Odinga – who first blew the lid on the Artur
brothers claiming they were assassins for hire -told Parliament that
the fugitives were back and had even visited the State Lodge, Nakuru.

Mr Artur Margaryan, the fugitive whom Interpol says is an international
crook on the run, outside the Runda house in Nairobi where he lived
with his alleged brother, Artur Sargsyan, in this file picture.

Interestingly, the Government added another twist to the Artur saga
by stating that it would not release the Kiruki Commission report on
the two alleged brothers due to national security considerations.

Talking to The Standard on phone – a conversation we recorded –
Margaryan said he was not in Kenya but in Sri Lanka from where he’ll
soon release to the international press his intended book on their
exact mission in Kenya.

Margaryan claimed to possess incontrovertible evidence of how some
senior politicians in Government tried to conscript them for a
criminal act.

"My partner and I were approached. We were to be paid lots of money
as agents and there was a target. But it was a criminal act," was the
damning admission that could for the first time lend credence to the
widely held theory about the real reason Margaryan, and his alleged
sibling, Artur Sargsyan came to the country.

A top Government official, who Margaryan says he has named in his
upcoming kiss-and-tell book, The Arturs X-Files, approached the
Armenians, dropped the name of a person to be taken out and a price,
which the alleged Armenian refuses to talk about.

"(The transaction) is all on tape and forms ‘Part I’ of my book,
which you will read very soon. His voice is very clear so it’s easy
to know who is speaking to me," Margaryan said in his self-confession.

All in recorded

The tape, he says, is just one of a number recorded during their stay
in the country. Their Runda residence was the venue of high society
parties and other high profile meetings with people said to have
Government links.

"You can hear how he’s asking me and my partner to help him, but
it’s a criminal act," says the alleged Armenian, who returned to the
limelight with media reports, exclusively published by The Standard,
that he was writing a book that would expose some of President Kibaki’s
ministers as bribe-takers.

When Miss Winnie Wangui Mwai followed it up with an interview with a
local FM radio station in which she bared it all about her love for
the glitzy Armenian – whose Rambo-like figure betrays his business
executive and investor posturing – the Armenians had literally
returned.

This could be the basis of the claim by Raila in Parliament that the
Artur brothers had twice been spotted in the country.

"They were seen in Mombasa and were even at the State House, Nakuru,"
Raila said.

The Arturs once tried dragging Raila down the gutter with claims that
they had given him money "to sort out some girlfriend problems".

Revenge

Believed to have been acting at the behest of some powerful individuals
in Government, from whom they enjoyed protection, the motive of this
latest mystifying twist in the Artur saga can only be a subject of
speculation, which could include a major falling out that may have
set them on a revenge path.

Raila, who claimed the Arturs were mercenaries hired by Government
operatives to assassinate opposition politicians, first exposed the
presence of Margaryan and his alleged brother Sargsyan in the country.

Margaryan named an MP as the man their paymasters wanted them to
assassinate "using our Dubai links". Margaryan then volunteered to
play us the tape of the transaction.

Also for the first time, he told us how the Government official, who
he says was working in cahoots with a Nairobi businessman of Asian
extract, promised to pay them for a repertoire of dangerous jobs,
including forgery and subterfuge.

After a series of denials by Cabinet ministers of Raila’s claims,
matters came to a head when one of the Artur brothers pulled a gun
at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport demanding to be let through
without inspection.

National security threat

Police later raided their home in Runda, Nairobi, where they discovered
guns, bullets, communication equipment, jungle fatigues and other
gadgets.

It was at the Kiruki Commission, which investigated their activities,
that Wangui was unmasked as the person who smoothed their way at the
airport, where they once held a press conference at the VIP lounge.

The lounge is reserved for dignitaries and State guests.

The commission was told that the two, who claimed to be from Armenia,
were criminals wanted for offences in other countries.

Officially, Margaryan was deported last year alongside his alleged
brother, Sargsyan, for their criminal activities while in the country.

However, Margaryan boasted that he was never deported but was flown
out in First Class to a destination of his own choice.

On Wednesday, the Government stated it would not release the Kiruki
Commission report on the two Armenian brothers due to national
security considerations.

Internal Security assistant minister, Mr Peter Munya, dismissed
Raila’s claims as "wild allegations", adding that the Lang’ata MP
"is always dreaming of State House".

But Raila maintained that it is public knowledge that the Armenian
brothers are back and are enjoying State protection.

Biggest scandal

The matter arose after a question by Ndhiwa MP, Mr Orwa Ojode, (Narc),
asking when the Government would release the Kiruki Commission report
on the two Armenian brothers presented to the President last year.

Describing the Artur brothers’ saga as one of the biggest scandals of
the Narc Government, Raila said a lot of taxpayers’ money was spent
in the probe and members were justified to demand that the Kiruki
Commission report be made public.

Munya told angry MPs that the Government has studied the contents and
the recommendations of the report and making it public would not be
in the best interest of the country’s security.

"It contains matters on the country’s immigration centres, airport
security and clearance, which would best be handled internally by
the concerned organs instead of being made public," he said.

But unsatisfied with Munya’s answer Ojode said the Government was
not being genuine but instead wanted to hide something from Kenyans.

"Mr Speaker Sir, the hearing was heard in public and funded by
taxpayer’s money and evidence received so I wonder what is confidential
about the report?" he asked.

Terrorists on hire

The MP said the presence of the two in the country caused a disaster,
which led to the sacking of eight police officers and senior Government
officials.

He cheekily added: "What is so confidential yet one of them is going
to marry the daughter of the biggest man in the land. Will this also
be done confidentially?"

Ojode said eight police officers and senior Government officials
among them, Ms Naomi (Cidi), were sacked following the debacle at
the airport.

"These were terrorists on hire and we cannot accept this," he said.

Bumula MP Bifwoli Wakoli (Narc) said claims that the two were out to
assassinate key political figures could be true, which could be why
the Government is not keen on releasing the report.

Responding, Munya said he would not engage in speculation but
maintained that the report would not be released as this would
jeopardise national security, and the matter would better be handled
by the relevant security organs.

He said the Commissions of Inquiry Act does not stipulate that all
reports be made public as some can be used to advice the Government
on measures to take on certain issues.

More questions

Attempts by Bobasi MP Stephen Manoti (Ford-People) to have Munya
give the amount spent on the probe failed after Munya said this was
not part of the original question and the MP should bring a separate
question so that he could provide the figure.

He said he could also only give the names of those sacked and the
reasons for their sacking if Manoti filed a separate question.

Munya said those sacked were not innocent and had facilitated breach
of security at the airport.

The Shadow Security Minister Joseph Nkaissery (Kanu) said the breach of
security at the airport and the subsequent sacking of police officers
should not be treated as a national security issue and used to withhold
information from the public.

He said it is the Government’s duty to ensure the safety and protection
of all its citizens and where it fails it should not hide under the
cover of national security but instead make the findings public.

Deputy Speaker David Musila had to contend with numerous points of
order and supplementary questions from angry members but he had to
bring the matter to an end so as to give time to the other questions
on the Order Paper.

RUBEN AYRAPETIAN: WE WILL APPEAL ARBITRATION COURT ID UEFA PASSES
DECISION ON MATCHES AGAINST AZERBAIJAN TO TAKE PLACE IN NEUTRAL FIELD

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 12 2007

"We will appeal to the Arbitration Court if the UEFA passes a decision
on the encounters against Azerbaijan to take place in neutral field. I
am sure we will win this case", stated Armenian Football Federation
president Ruben Ayrapetian, APA-Sport reports.

He stated that home match should necessarily take place in Yerevan.

"We are not going to agree with any decision. We have right to
protest. I cannot say anything about the visit match. But home match
will surely take place in Yerevan", he said.

Azerbaijani and Armenian federation leaderships failed to reach
agreement at the meeting in Nyon. UEFA Executive Committee will
pass the final decision on the issue at April-18 meeting in Cardiff,
Wales.

ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJAN USUAL DISCUSSION

A1+
[01:54 pm] 12 April, 2007

Yesterday Armenian and Azerbaijan delegations met in Neon, Switzerland
to talk over the permit for the matches held in September 8 and 12
in the frames of ‘Euro-2008’.

Ruben Hayrapetyan, chairman of RA Football Federation and Armen
Minasyan, Executive director from Armenia and Ramiz Mirzoev, chairman
of Azerbaijan Football Association were the parties for the discussion.

The meeting was not productive; the latter lasted an hour and a
half. Armenian party suggested the meeting to be held in Yerevan
and Baku based on the regulations, whereas Azeris were against it
and offered a neutral zone. Ra Football Federation agreed to play
just Baku match in neutral zone. What concerns Yerevan match, Ruben
Hayrapetyan was categorical as far as RA Government provided UEFA
with safety security guarantees.

Hence, the issue will clear up at UEFA executive body session on
April 18, in Cardiff.

ARMENIA’S MURKY POLITICS

>From the Economist Intelligence Unit ViewsWire
Apr 11th 2007

Campaigning begins for a rigged election

Campaigning for Armenia’s parliamentary election, scheduled for
May 12th, began officially on April 8th. The contest will be watched
closely by foreign observers, as it could predetermine the fate of the
country’s political leadership. Victory in the legislative election
is seen as crucial to President Robert Kocharian’s apparent plan to
hand over power to his most influential associate, Serzh Sarkisian,
who became prime minister on April 4th following the death in office
of premier Andranik Markarian. Mr Kocharian, in power since 1998,
also seems keen to retain a key role in government after completing
his second and final term in office early next year.

The president and Mr Sarkisian will therefore go to great lengths
to ensure that the former Soviet republic’s parliament continues
to be dominated by their political allies. The latter are tipped to
grab the vast majority of parliament seats through a combination of
vote-rigging, vote-buying and control of the media. For this reason,
there is widespread scepticism about government assurances that
the elections will put an end to Armenia’s post-Soviet history of
electoral fraud.

By fair means or foul Twenty-eight parties and about two hundred
individual candidates have filed for registration with the Central
Election Commission to vie for 131 seats in Armenia’s National
Assembly. Ninety of those seats will be up for grabs under the system
of proportional representation, with the remaining 41 seats to be
contested in nationwide constituencies on the first-past-the-post
basis.

With credible opinion polls practically non-existent in the
country, it is not easy to gauge the electoral chances of various
contenders. Popularity alone will not guarantee success. In terms of
ability to secure the largest number of votes, the clear frontrunner
is the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK).

Nominally headed by Mr Markarian until his death, it has over the
past year come increasingly under the control of Mr Sarkisian.

The HHK is a typical post-Soviet "party of power" mainly comprising
senior government officials, civil servants, and wealthy business
people dependent on government connections. It can wield enormous
administrative resources, through control of the electoral process
coupled with voter intimidation and heavy televised propaganda. The
Armenian press has been awash with reports of local government
chiefs being instructed by party bosses to earn the HHK a particular
number of votes in their respective areas at any cost or risk
dismissal. Accordingly, they have reportedly been forcing scores of
public sector employees such as doctors and schoolteachers to join
the governing party.

The HHK’s de facto takeover by Mr Sarkisian in mid-2006 has also
meant that it now enjoys the crucial backing of most members of the
country’s business elite. The so-called "oligarchs" often hold sway in
a particular part of the country and are in a position to bully and/or
bribe voters. Many of them already helped the HHK win the previous
parliamentary elections that were judged to be undemocratic by Western
observers. There are no indications that the HHK will be seeking to
prevail by more legitimate means this time around. A strong HHK showing
is vital for the realisation of Mr Sarkisian’s presidential ambitions.

Kocharian’s choice That Mr Sarkisian, widely regarded as Armenia’s
second most powerful man, is Mr Kocharian’s preferred successor
seems a given. Both men are natives of Na gorny-Karabakh who played
a major role in the Armenian-populated disputed enclave’s 1991-1994
secessionist war with Azerbaijan. They have worked in tandem and
jointly weathered many political storms since moving to top government
positions in Yerevan in the late 1990s.

The question is just how strong Mr Kocharian would like his heir
apparent to be. The 52-year-old president made it clear last December
that he will not become "Armenia’s youngest pensioner" after leaving
office, suggesting that he wants to continue to pull the government
strings in some official capacity.

There is mounting speculation that he is eying the post of prime
minister.

Whatever Mr Kocharian’s exact intentions, it is evident that he is
trying to secure his political future by covertly sponsoring another
election favourite: the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) of Gagik
Tsarukian, the wealthiest of the local oligarchs.

The BHK launched its activities little more than a year ago and claims
to have since recruited as many as 370,000 members, or 12% of the
Armenian state’s population. The party is capitalising on its leader’s
vast financial resources, which are being spent on distribution of
agricultural relief, free medical aid, and other public services
to large numbers of impoverished people. The aid, condemned as a
wholesale buying of votes by opposition and even some HHK leaders,
is earning Mr Tsarukian a populist appeal that should translate into
solid voter support for his party on polling day. BHK supporters are
too disillusioned with the traditional Armenian parties to care about
a huge disparity between Mr Tsarukian’s conspicuous wealth and modest
taxes levied from his businesses.

Expert opinion differs only on whether the BHK was set up as a
counterweight to the governing HHK or as a powerful addition to the
government camp.

Despite occasional signs of friction and mutual jealousy, the two
parties are unlikely to openly clash both during and in the wake of
the May 12th vote.

Furthermore, there is a conspiracy theory that they have already
amicably divided most parliament seats between themselves and form
a coalition government.

Divided opposition The BHK phenomenon makes it easier for the
Kocharian-Sarkisian duo to prevent their political opponents from
having a strong presence in the next Armenian parliament. Their task
is further facilitated by the failure of Armenia’s leading opposition
parties to form electoral alliances. Voters hostile to the government
will have a hard time picking one of more than a dozen opposition
contenders with virtually identical platforms. Many of them might
therefore not bother to vote at all.

The three largest opposition parties are led by Mr Kocharian’s
two main challengers in the 2003 presidential election, Stepan
Demirchian and Artashes Geghamian, and former parliament speaker
Artur Baghdasarian. The latter’s pro-Western Country of Law Party
was forced out of the governing coalition in May 2006. All three
opposition leaders feel that they are popular enough to do well
on their own. Only Mr Demirchian has considered teaming up with
several smaller opposition parties, notably the Republic Party of
Aram Sarkisian (no relation to the defense minister), a former prime
minister who is the regime’s most dangerous and uncompromising foe.

Those parties failed to reach agreement even among themselves,
reportedly bickering over who should be the would-be bloc’s top
leader. Only two of them, Republic and the Heritage Party of the
US-born former Foreign Minister Raffi Hovannisian, stand a chance
of clearing the 5% threshold for entering parliament under the
proportional system. The Armenian opposition also failed to put into
practice Republic’s idea of fielding common candidates in the 41
single-mandate electoral districts. The individual constituencies
are usually swept by wealthy pro-government candidates, and this is
likely to happen once again on May 12th.

With the election likely to follow an all too familiar pattern, there
is a strong possibility of joint opposition demonstrations in Yerevan
in the immediate aftermath of the polls. Whether or not the opposition
can pull large crowds is a different matter. Its most recent attempt
to topple the government with a campaign of street protests ended in
failure in spring 2004.

Aid in the balance The US and the EU have repeatedly warned that a
repeat of serious vote irregularities would be fraught with negative
consequences for the Armenian authorities. The US, in particular, has
tied provision of US$235 million in economic assistance to Armenia,
promised under the Bush administration’s Millennium Challenge Account
(MCA), to the proper conduct of the elections. But Washington will
likely tread carefully now that Armenia and Azerbaijan seem to
have made substantial progress towards a resolution of the Karabakh
conflict, a key US foreign policy aim in the region. US and other
diplomats involved in Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks say the
conflicting parties will try to cut a peace deal during the period
between the Armenian legislative elections and presidential ballots
due in both Armenia and Azerbaijan next year.

Assuming that it really sees a chance for Karabakh peace, Washington
will hardly undercut the Kocharian administration if the polls are
marred by serious fraud. The EU may likewise exercise caution, even
though it has warned that a clean vote is a necessary condition for
Armenia’s participation in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)
framework for privileged ties with the bloc.

Yet even the prospect of being left out of ENP or not receiving the
badly needed MCA funds will hardly force Armenia’s two top leaders
to finally hold an election according to Western standards–for them,
far too much is at stake.

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND STATES TRADING IN WEAPONS ARE TO BLAME FOR CONFLICTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.04.2007 18:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azerbaijani Ambassador to the U.S. Yashar Aliyev gave
a report titled "Who benefits from international conflicts?" in the
Congress during a regular conference dedicated to women Ambassadors
initiated by Congressman Eddie Johnson and Harvard University.

Conflicts bursting out in some spots are spreading throughout huge
territories and make a great number of people suffer, he said.

He put the blame on international, transnational companies and
governments of states trading in armament and called the states
and NGOs to pay more attention to the rights of women and children,
APA reports.

HOT LINE OF THE POLICE

Panorama.am
20:47 09/04/2007

Hot line of the police will operate in the RA Police from April 9
top May 12. From 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. citizens may call to 56-13-46,
53-43-91 telephone numbers and declare about the irregularities
found by them. "It is done to correct the inaccuracies", Deputy
Head of RA Police, Ararat Mahtesyan said during the meeting with
journalists. According to the deputy head of the Police, preliminary
polling lists are hung in all the polling stations of the republic
since April 2. Ararat Mahtesyan calls for the citizens preliminarily
to get acquainted with the lists and in case of revealing inaccuracies
to apply to the passport service or to the community head.

The deputy head of the Police considers more spread types of
inaccuracies the presence of died people in the lists.

Alvina Zakaryan, Head of Passport and Visa Department of RA Police,
says that the process of correction of the polling lists will be
continued, right up to May 12. And finally in the electoral districts
the lists ill be hung up 2 day before the elections. The Passport
and Visa Department head has also heard about the talks that people
take the passports by means of this or that. She has heard that some
people take the passport giving several thousands of drams for it.

Alvina Zakaryan wonders how a man can entrust his passport to another,
even against an election bribe.

Armenian Youth Federation-YOARF Eastern US
80 Bigelow Ave
Watertown, MA 02472
Tel. (617) 923-1933
Fax (617) 924-1933

PRESS RELEASE ~ April 3, 2007
Contact: Mikael Garabedian

Armenian Youth Federation to Commemorate the Armenian Genocide and
Remember Journalist Hrant Dink

WATERTOWN, MA – On April 21, 2007 hundreds of youth will gather at
Union Square in New York for a vigil/protest sponsored by the Armenian
Youth Federation (AYF) Eastern Region. The event will commemorate the
Armenian Genocide perpetrated at the hands of the Ottoman Empire’s
Young Turk government, where 1.5 million Armenians were systematically
killed between 1915 and 1923.

The event will also honor the memory of Hrant Dink, an Armenian
journalist in Turkey. Dink, the editor of the Turkish Armenian
newspaper, Agos, was put on trial three times in Turkey under section
301 of the Turkish Penal Code for, `Insulting Turkishness,’ because of
his articles dealing with the Armenian Genocide. On January 19th he
was brutally murdered outside of his office in Istanbul. Through the
event’s theme `1.5 Million +1,’ the organization considers him the
newest victim of the Turkish government’s continued genocide denial
and persecution of its Armenian minorities.

This event will draw youth and community members from cities all over
the east coast including Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Providence,
and Detroit. The schedule, running from 12:00 pm to 12:00 am, will
consist of solemn protests, speakers on the life of Hrant Dink, and a
candle lit vigil in the evening.

`The main purpose of the event is not only to commemorate and remember
those that have perished at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish
government, but also to increase awareness of these historical events,
as the current Turkish government denies the historical and well
documented facts of the Armenian Genocide and prosecutes all those who
speak of it within Turkey as criminals,’ said Mikael Garabedian of the
Central Hai Tahd Council. `The current Turkish government also has an
illegal blockade on its border with Armenia designed to isolate
Armenia and attempt to choke Armenia economically.’

For more information, visit or contact Mikael Garabedian
at [email protected] or by phone at 610.724.5327.