Author: Zakarian Garnik

COMPLEX EFFORTS OF ALL COUNTRIES OF REGION NECESSARY TO PRESERVE POPULATION OF CAUCASIAN LEOPARD

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Aug 30 2007

YEREVAN, August 30. /ARKA/. To preserve the population of Caucasian
leopard complex efforts of all the countries of the region are
necessary, said Director of the Armenian branch of the World Wide Fund
(WWW-Armenia) Karen Manvelyan.

"Armenia takes great efforts to preserve the population of this
rare animal, however, the situation will not change if leopards are
preserved only in Armenia," he said and added that the leopard is
booked in the "Red book of Armenia" and "International Red book."

Manasyan noted that Armenia has already established successful
cooperation with neighboring Iran where there is a great population
of leopards, and they without hindrance migrate from Iran to Armenia
and settle in Khosrov forest reserve.

"However, it should be mentioned that the situation with the
preservation of Caucasian leopards in Armenia is getting worse, as
cases of poaching are not excluded. Despite this, the situation in
Armenia is not that bad as compared to the other countries of the
region," he said, and added that the main problem in Armenia is the
lack of public awareness about the good of the Caucasian leopard.

He said that the WWF-Armenia tries to fill in that gap by conducting
special seminars.

At present Armenia counts eight specimen of the Caucasian leopard.

The skin of the leopard costs $1ths on the black market of Armenia,
and the fine for the shooting of the animal makes AMD 3mln (a bit
less than $10ths). In case of shooting of the Caucasian leopard in
the forest reserve the fine will multiple five times.

CPA LEADER: COMMUNIST PARTY OF ARMENIA WAS AND STILL REMAINS THE ONLY RADICAL OPPOSITION

arminfo
2007-08-31 16:18:00

ArmInfo. The Communist party of Armenia was and still remains the only
radical opposition in the country, first secretary of the Central
Committee of Communist party of Armenia Ruben Tovmasyan said at
today’s press-conference in "Pastarq" club.

He said that the party does not take part in the recently organized
active consultations of the oppositional camp on principle. "A
pseudo-opposition gathers there, which is directed by the authorities,
Russia, Europe and the USA. The communists have their own way",
Tovmasyan said. In addition, he categorically disagreed with the
opinion that the Communist party turned out to be in self-isolation
as a result of numerous innerparty cleanups which caused split of the
party into several communist parties. "We are not in self-isolation,
we actively cooperate with the Communist parties of CIS countries,
China, Cuba, which assist us spiritually", R. Tovmasyan said.

AZERBAIJANI INVITATION CONSIDERED VOID

Panorama.am
19:53 29/08/2007

The planned visit to the Caucasus by Edward O’Hara, spokesman of the
European Union’s education, culture, and science committee, has once
again not taken place, and according to the Armenian foreign ministry’s
press secretary, Vladimir Karapetyan, this time the visit was not only
delayed, but will not happen at all. In his opinion, this is to "put a
veil on the ongoing destruction of Armenian monuments in Nakhichevan."

We remind that the purpose of the planned visit was to check and report
on the condition of cultural monuments of the region. Karapetyan
relayed that both Armenia and Karabakh had agreed to the visit,
which was to take place at the beginning of September.

LEBANESE CREDITBANK INTENDS TO OPERATE IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Aug 29 2007

YEREVAN, AUGUST 29, NOYAN TAPAN. The intention of CreditBank (Lebanon)
to operate in Armenia is welcome and fully consistent with the Armenian
government’s policy of developing the Armenian financial market. The RA
prime minister Serge Sargsian stated this on August 29 when receiving
the chairman of the bank’s board of directors Tarek Khalifian and the
delegation headed by him. According to the prime minister, the bank’s
experience may prove quite useful for Armenia, taking into account the
fact that Lebanon has always been considered as a financial center and
it has made serious progress in development of the financial market.

Expressing gratitude for the willingness to cooperate, T. Khalifian
noted that the meetings and discussions with partners of the Central
Bank of Armenia and a number of banks have strengthened CreditBank’s
intention to operate in Armenia. In his opinion, there are serious
prospects and a favorable environment for development in Armenia,
and the bank will be glad to make its contribution to development
of the Armenian economy. He attached importance to cooperation with
the Armenian government in some investment programs which include
agriculture, infrastructures and industry.

According to the RA Government Information and PR Department, the two
sides underlined the important role of the Lebanese Armenian community
in terms of attracting Lebanese capital to the Armenian market.

FACING UP TO THE PAST

Jerusalem Post
88392493022&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowF ull
Aug 29 2007

Anything from several hundred thousand to 1.5 million Armenians are
estimated by historians to have been killed by Muslim Ottoman Turks
between 1915 and 1923, in what is widely viewed as one of the first
modern instances of systematic genocide. Turkey, however, denies that
the episode should be regarded as genocide, arguing that the death
toll has been greatly exaggerated and that the deaths occurred in
the context of civil war and unrest.

The dispute has erupted afresh in recent days and weeks, in part
because of controversy within the Anti-Defamation League over how to
address the issue. The ADL has recently recognized the massacre as
"tantamount to genocide," and reinstated a regional director who had
been fired for opposing its previous reluctance to do so.

While Israel is acutely and understandably sensitive to its
relationship with the current Turkish government, a key ally,
the Jewish state, which rightly protests Holocaust denial wherever
it occurs, cannot possibly be complicit in the denial of genocide
elsewhere.

To that end, Yad Vashem, Israel’s official Holocaust memorial, has
always included the massacre of the Armenians in its educational
activities on "other instances of genocide, ethnic cleansing and
mass murder."

Similar stances have always been taken by other organizations dedicated
to Holocaust education, such as the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Dating
back to its first museum in 1979, the Wiesenthal Center has taken pains
to include presentational material relating to the Armenian Genocide.

How could it be otherwise?

The Jewish nation, the overwhelming victim of the Nazi Holocaust,
is centrally committed to learning and promulgating the lessons of
the Holocaust – to highlighting man’s capacity for inhumanity toward
his fellow man and to seeking to curb it, stressing the dangers in
order to prevent recurrences of genocide.

Unthinkably, genocide has recurred, and continues to recur, because
such lessons are not sufficiently internalized. "Never again" has
been exposed as an empty mantra, most recently in Rwanda and Darfur.

The open, good-conscience examination by affected nations of dark
episodes in their history is a key element in trying to change that
dire reality. Israel is scarcely in a position to force Turkey
to confront its dark episode, but neither can Israel signal any
acquiescence in overlooking it.

To denounce the Armenian Genocide is not to denounce Turkey and its
current government; it did not perpetrate these killings. But its
responsibilities are those of a successor government, and must not
be ducked.

Our global tragedy is that what the former Canadian justice
minister Irwin Cotler has described as a "genocide in the making"
is being perpetrated, right now, in Darfur, in an era of globalized
communication where no nation can claim to be unaware of what is
unfolding.

And the next potential tragedy is developing before our eyes as well,
similarly unobstructed by the international community. President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian regime openly call for Israel’s
destruction and are seeking the means to achieve it – in open breach of
the UN’s post-World War II "Never Again" convention. Yet the Iranian
president, far from being indicted by the global body established
precisely to counter such outrages, is instead afforded a platform
by it, and his country is allowed to retain its membership in the
family of civilized nations even as it threatens the very existence
of another sovereign member.

To quote comments made by Cotler to this newspaper several months ago:
"Ahmadinejad’s genocidal criminality is as clear and compelling as any
I’ve ever seen… This is advocacy of the most horrific of crimes,
genocide; embedded in the most virulent of hatreds, anti-Semitism;
propelled by a publicly avowed intent to acquire nuclear weapons for
that purpose; and dramatized by the parading in the streets of Teheran
of Shihab-3 missiles draped in the emblem ‘Wipe Israel Off the Map.’"

What is required in facing down those who would commit genocide, of
course, is an alliance of all enlightened nations, taking concerted
action to thwart such ambitions long before they are implemented.

Striving for a better future, however, also requires acknowledging
and internalizing the crimes of the past.

HOVANNISIAN ACCEPTS ‘UNFREE’ ELECTION RESULT
By Anna Saghabalian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Aug 29 2007

The opposition Zharangutyun party accepted on Wednesday the official
outcome of a repeat parliamentary election which its leader Raffi
Hovannisian denounced as "fundamentally unfree and unfair."

A party representative claimed that holding democratic elections in
Armenia is practically impossible at present as its citizens readily
sell their votes to the highest bidder.

The election held in a constituency in central Armenia on Sunday saw
a candidate of the governing Republican Party (HHK) easily defeat
his rivals, among them Hovannisian. The latter got only 3.4 percent
of the vote, according to the district election commission.

In a statement on Monday, Hovannisian described the vote as deeply
flawed, complaining about a "variety of government levers and
resources being applied to voters in inappropriate and often unlawful
fashion." He at the same time congratulated the election winner,
Khachik Manukian.

The official vote results were unanimously endorsed by members of
Armenia’s Central Election Commission (CEC), including Zharangutyun
representative Zoya Tadevosian. "I can not fail to agree with the
election results," explained to journalists. "You know why? As I’ve
said before, all falsifications in Armenia take place outside polling
stations."

Tadevosian claimed, in particular, that the outcome of the repeat
election was largely decided by vote bribes handed out by Manukian and
two other pro-establishment candidates. She said election officials,
most of them government loyalists, must not be held responsible for
the illegal practice.

"The socioeconomic plight of our people is such that whatever we do
now, we can’t ensure fair elections. It is wrong to place that burden
on one party," Tadevosian said.

Still, the Zharangutyun representative, who monitored Sunday’s vote,
admitted that she personally did not witness any instance of vote
buying.

Zharangutyun spokesman Hovsep Khurshudian, meanwhile, said Tadevosian’s
stance reflects the party’s position and does not contradict
Hovannisian’s statement. Zharangutyun accepts the election outcome,
he said.

Tadevosian already highlighted the ambiguity of her party’s stance
earlier this month when she voted for Garegin Azarian’s reelection
as CEC chairman. The move contrasted with Hovannisian’s earlier
allegations that the Armenian authorities and the Azarian-led CEC in
particular stole two-thirds of votes cast for his party during the
nationwide parliamentary elections held on May 12.

According to the CEC, Zharangutyun garnered about 6 percent of the
vote, earning it 7 seats in the 131-member National Assembly.

AS TURKEY’S WORLD TURNS
By Tulin Daloglu

Washington Times, DC
TORIAL/108280021/1013
Aug 28 2007

ISTANBUL, Turkey. — Some developments, good or bad, can catch us so
fully by surprise that they feel like a joke. But the best jokes are
a reflection of an emotional threat as they mirror the truth.

Today, the Turkish Parliament will appoint Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul as the country’s 11th president. Since April, Mr. Gul’s candidacy
has divided Turks. Turkey went to early elections as a result of
this unrest and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) won a
significant victory. Nevertheless, that doesn’t negate the millions
of protesters who demonstrated in order to try to prevent Mr. Gul and
his wife, who wears a headscarf, from assuming office. The protesters
fear a president with a background in political Islam. But they have
to take this day as a joke, hoping that it will bring laughter of
unity at the end. Yet they have reason to be concerned.

Recently, Bekir Coskun, a prominent secular-minded columnist, wrote
that he would not feel comfortable calling Mr. Gul "my president."

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan would not tolerate such
criticism. "Some say that [Mr. Gul] cannot be their president,"
he said. "If they can say such things, first, they need to have
their Turkish citizenship revoked. They can go wherever they want,
and elect whomever they want." Soon, Mr. Coskun received death threats.

The Turkish media rallied to his defense – supporting the right to
speak freely and criticize the government, regardless of whether
or not they agreed with his position. Mr. Erdogan’s spokesman later
issued a statement backpedaling from the attack.

Turkish government officials have blindly refused to acknowledge
that they need to watch what they say, lest their "declarations"
touch off reactionary violence. Last week, the U.S.-based advocacy
group the Anti-Defamation League announced that what happened to the
Armenians at the end of World War I is "tantamount to genocide." The
group also made clear that they "[c]ontinue to firmly believe that
a Congressional resolution on such matters is a counterproductive
diversion and will not foster reconciliation between Turks and
Armenians." Mr. Gul responded by saying that Israel would pay a heavy
price if it does not renounce the ADL’s position.

When Mr. Gul visited Washington earlier this year, he explained that
"the reason the Jewish lobby gives support to Turkey on this issue
is clear: because Turkey’s relationship with Israel is important to
them." Reading the ADL statement with this thought process in the
background, that the bill "[m]ay put the Turkish Jewish community
at risk," feels like another joke. Many Turks would never hurt
their Jewish community. But there are the reactionaries who could
be spurred to violent anti-Semitic and nationalistic action by such
comments. Turks must not allow controversy over Armenian genocide
claims to hijack their relationship with Israel. The AKP must fight
Turkish anti-Semitism. Israel and the Jewish lobby have worked with
Turkey for decades to prevent the U.S. Congress from passing such
bills. In return, Turkey failed to build its own lobby to do its
own work.

Turkey must acknowledge that a good relationship with Israel is vital
to its relationship with the West. In a recent interview, Pinhas Avivi,
Israel’s ambassador to Ankara, told me that Turkey can only benefit
from good relations with Muslim Arab states, the European Union, the
United States and Israel. "[Y]ou are not important for our state unless
you have good relations with me… If you don"t have good relations
with the U.S. and Arab states, you are not important for the EU,"
he said. The ADL statement highlights how the Armenian genocide bill
has strained Turkey’s relations with its Western alliance, though.

Turkey’s president – and all of the country’s elected representatives –
must be more mindful about the words they use when talking about such
sensitive issues. Turkey’s reactionary and violent element murdered
the beloved Armenian journalist Hrant Dink earlier this year, and
the AKP government has thus far failed to support bringing justice
to this crime.

In the end, harsh rhetoric backed with poor work has a dear
price: affecting Turkey’s most sensitive foreign policy matters in
Washington. But this debate proves that the bill in the U.S. Congress
is less about confronting history and more about politics. A public
opinion poll conducted by Terror Free Tomorrow shows that Turks want
this issue to come to a conclusion. "We found out that the Turkish
people overwhelmingly oppose any kind of resolution in the U.S.

Congress on this issue," Ken Ballen, president of Terror Free Tomorrow,
told me. Turks feel Congress is not a neutral body to judge their
history, Mr. Ballen said. The most important finding in the poll –
the first to examine Turks’ feelings on the issue – is that "three
quarters of the Turkish people said they would be willing to accept
independent historians coming up with judgments on what occurred
during Turkish history," Mr. Ballen said.

Turks’ real desire is for everyone to be open-minded on this issue, and
look at history without current judgments – offering both opportunity
and responsibility to everyone who wants to end this debate. They
believe the last chapter of their history has not been written,
but that it is up to them, not Congress, to write it.

Tulin Daloglu is a free-lance writer.

"PARTY DURING A PLAGUE" IN ELECTION COMMUNITY 15

Panorama.am
15:21 27/08/2007

"We believe the elections in election community fifteen passed under
unfree’ and unfair’ conditions.

Here the candidates have set a goal to become a deputy by all means
and were not standing against anything.

The situation resembled a party during a plague," Press Secretary of
"Jarangutiun" party Hovsep Khurshudyan said commenting on the results
of yesterday’s elections on majority contest in election community
fifteen.

In these elections, the candidate of the Armenian Republican Party
(HHK) received 16,121 votes, Talin Mayor Mnatsakan Mnatsakanyan –
10067, Dashnaksutiun candidate Gurgen Shahinyan – 7248, Chairman of
"Jarangutiun" party Raffi Hovannisian – 1220, former employee of the
ministry of finance, Vahagn Petrosyan – 96, ex-deputy head of the
National Security Service of the province of Armavir, Emin Karapetyan
– 518.

In the words of Khurshudyan, the three candidates with most votes
"were incredibly active in distributing bribes. Even those who we
were sure would elect our candidate, sold their voices against 20
thousand drams." In addition to bribes, administrative resources were
massively applied, "Jarangutiun" representative said.

WE SHALL HOLD SOLIDARITY RALLY DUE TO NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT: AZERBAIJANI PARTY’S CHAIRMAN

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Aug 27 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. E.Huseynli / Supporters of military
settling the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh
should hold solidarity rally in Azadlyg avenue and to make statement
protesting OSCE’s functioning, Ilyas Ismaylov, the chairman of the
Azerbaijani opposition Adalat Party, said to the Trend News Agency.

Only in that case world see unity of position of Azerbaijani people
and the President.

"World must see that Azerbaijani people and President stand in unity
position," Ismaylov said.

The Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliyev, noted in his statements that
if the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict not to be resolved through peace
then the Azerbaijani Government will settle the conflict through
military actions.

Azerbaijani opposition should demonstrate a single position in settling
the conflict, Ismaylov said.

The conflict between the two countries of South Caucasus began in 1988
due to territorial claims by Armenia against Azerbaijan. Armenia has
occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani land including the Nagorno-Karabakh
region and its seven surrounding Districts. Since 1992, these
territories have been under the occupation of the Armenian Forces. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time
the active hostilities ended. The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
( Russia, France and USA) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.

Opposition Adalat Party was founded in 1993. In 1996 the party
united with Democratic Party of Azerbaijan. A group of MPs left DPA
and restored their own party in 2000. Ilyas Ismaylov has been the
chairman of the party from 2001. Ismaylov was a candidate for the
presidential elections in Azerbaijan in 2003. Presently, Ismaylov is
the MP in the Azerbaijani parliament.

FOURTH PAN-ARMENIAN GAMES COMPLETED IN ARMENIA

arminfo
2007-08-27 08:57:00

Ceremony of closing of the fourth Pan-Armenian Games was held the day
before in Yerevan in the State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet
after Spendiarov. The first place by the number of medals was taken by
the command of Yerevan, followed by commands of Vanadzor and Glendale.

During the closing ceremony, RA PM Serzh Sargsyan presented prizes
and gifts to the most beautiful participants of competitions. Upon
completion of the solemn part of the ceremony, a concert with
participation of the Armenian show-business ‘stars’ was held.

The fifth Pan-Armenian Games will be held in 2011.