Author: Zakarian Garnik

International recognition of NKR – the primary issue of the Armenia’s foreign policy agenda

ArmRadio.am
20.04.2006 17:05

Vice-Speaker of the National Assembly, member of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation Vahan Hovhannisyan said today that the
primary issue in the foreign policy agenda of Armenia, i.e. the
negotiations with Azerbaijan, should yield its place to another
question – recognition of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic by Armenia.

Turning to the opinions that Armenian-Russian cooperation is living
a troublous period, Vahan Hovhannisyan said that the question has
two faces – economic and political.

“In political respect there is really reason for trouble,” Vahan
Hovhannisyan said, adding that economically the most efficient solution
has been found.

RA President received teh EU Trio delegation

ArmRadio.am
20.04.2006 17:58

RA President Robert Kocharyan received today the EU Trio delegation,
headed by Foreign Affairs State Secretary of Austria Hans Winkler.

The parties exchanged views on the cooperation between EU and South
Caucasus.

Positively assessing EU’s growing interest in the region,
the President attached importance to the final adoption of the
Individual Partnership Actions Plan with Armenia in the framework of
the European New Neighbors Policy and noted that it will make our
further collaboration of the European Union with our country more
simple and clear. “We consider the Actions Plan a certain route of
bilateral relations, which provides a new opportunity for implementing
targeted and coordinated reforms,” the President remarked.

Later Robert Kocharyan presented the latest developments in the
peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict and Armenia’s approaches
regarding the issues of energy security and cooperation.

ARMENIA NOT AFRAID OF WAR, AND DOESN’T WANT IT EITHER: RA DM

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
April 19 2006

YEREVAN, April 19. /ARKA/. Armenia is not afraid of a war, and does
not want it as well, Armenian Defense Minister Serj Sargsyan told
the newspaper “Red Star”.

He also said that the ceasefire agreement was reached through the
mediation of Russia. “Today our troops are at an advantageous defensive
position, and we have properly equipped our positions during 12 years,”
Sargsyan said.

He said that the Karabakh issue has been raised for a long time in
Azerbaijan, with an attempt to solve other domestic political problems.

According to Sargsyan, Azerbaijan’s president and defense minister used
to say and say now that if Armenia does not agree to their conditions,
then Baku will have to resolve the problem by a military way. Moreover,
Azerbaijan has doubled its military budget, and the Azerbaijani
president recently stated that he will increase it to $1bln.

“However, I must admit that it means blackmail,” Sargsyan said.

According to him, “billions of dollars will not help in this case”.

“But if large military budgets could determine military efficiency
and preparedness of troops, then, I think, all the oil countries
have had the most efficient armies. However, it is not like that,”
Sargsyan said.

FILM “SEVAN: THREADS OF HOPE” TO BE DEMONSTRATED DURING FESTIVAL IN SLOVAKIA

Noyan Tapan
Apr 19 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 19, NOYAN TAPAN. The documentary films “City Becoming
a Desert” and “Sevan: Threads of Hope” on environmental problems
of Armenia (author – journalist Inga Zarafian) were demonstrated at
the Innovative Experimantal Art Center on April 18. “City Becoming
a Desert” shows the danger threatening Dalma gardens of Yerevan,
the poor state of Hrazdan gorge and the destroyed forests in the Nork
residential district. According to I. Zarafian, if things go on like
this, Yerevan will no longer be suitable for normal life. The same
is true with respect to Lake Sevan which is facing the threat of
becoming a swamp. “It is impossible for humans to live in concrete
surroundings, we must protect our nature,” she is convinced. To recap,
“City Becoming a Desert” won the main award of the competition of
journalist works on environmental protection held by the OSCE Yerevan
Office in 2005. “Sevan: Threads of Hope” will be demonstrated at a
festival in Slovakia on May 2-7.

THERE ARE CANDIDATES OF THE OPPOSITION OF THE RA PRESIDENT AND PRIME MINISTER
Naira Mamikonian

Aravot.am
19 April 06

But those candidates don’t know anything about it.

Blocs and formats of the opposition field “Justice”, “17+” etc. seems
to have exhausted themselves after Constitutional referendum of
last year. Now the opposition looks for new “formats”, the union of
right powers, civil movement etc. It became known lately that a new
public organization would be formed in the near future. According
to some information that new organization which consists of some
politicians of “17+” format, try to form a new format on the eve
of upcoming parliamentary elections. And the members of the format
will be famous figures in the “17+” format. The oppositionists are
going to form a new format the core of which will be two politicians
famous in the society; the NDU leader Vazgen Manoukian and “Heritage”
leader Raffy Hovhannisian.

These two politicians can lead the people. It is even spoken that it
will be an ideal version if V. Manoukian and Raffy Hovhannisian join
in the coming parliamentary and why not, presidential elections as
the candidates of the RA President and Prime Minister. Yesterday we
tried to find out how these conversations are true and whether such
a close collaboration is possible between above -mentioned parties.

The secretary on political issues of “Heritage” party Vardan
Khachatrian said that it is too doubtful. “I can’t say, there are
such certain discussions.

There have been contacts in general”. As regards V. Manoukian he
said that information about possible bloc between his party and
R. Hovhannisian’s are from the sphere of fantastic, especially when
it is too late to speak of those elections. “These are unserious
conversations”. Anyway Mr. Manoukian said; “There are different
correlations inside the opposition. Speaking of the elections is
meaningless now but there are discussions of different configurations
among the oppositionists. There are discussions in which I take
part. I can’t say anything more.”

04.17.2006 Monday – ISTANBUL 16:58

‘Kurds are Falling into the Same Trap Armenians Fell into’
By Osman Asilturk, Istanbul
Published: Monday, April 17, 2006
zaman.com

[dink_b.jpg] The Agos daily’s Editor in Chief, Hrant Dink, said some
Kurds are now being deceived by the same Western trick that Armenians
fell into in the past. Armenians made the mistake in the past of
believing the British, German, French, and Russians, claimed Dink,
who asked the Kurds not to believe the promises made by the US to set
up a Kurdish state in Northern Iraq. A conference on Malatya, an
eastern Turkish province, was held with the participation of famous
people from the city as part of the Malatya Businessmen Association’s
(MIAD) 3rd Intellectual Platform meeting. Dink, noting that he is
from Malatya, maintained that the Armenians fell into a trap when
they tried to get rid of the Ottoman State in the 1915s. “The
British, French, Russians and Germans are repeating the same game
they played on this territory in the past. The Armenian people
believed in them in the past. They thought they would be rescued them
from Ottoman persecution. However, they were deceived because the
superpowers made their own calculations, they encouraged brothers to
kill each other on this territory and then left,” Dink said. The
Editor in Chief claimed that Kurds are now being deceived using the
same trick, and defended that America uses Kurds on the pretext of
establishing a Kurdish state in Northern Iraq. “The US came in order
to set up a Kurdish state in Northern Iraq” the Armenian origin
journalist said, “and we are reminded of the games of the past
that are being played out again today”. “Political calculations
and party differences must be put aside. This is the US. It will
come, deal with its own initiatives and leave as soon as its job is
over. In the aftermath, those left behind will fight against each
other,” Dink said.

GROUP OF POLICE EMPLOYEES REWARDED WITH RA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SPEAKER’S LETTERS OF THANKS

Noyan Tapan
Apr 17 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 17, NOYAN TAPAN. On April 14, on the occasion of the
5-years jubilee and the professional holiday of the Police, RA National
Assembly Speaker Artur Baghdasarian rewarded police employees with
NA Speaker’s letters of thanks and nominal watches for dilligent
and faultless implementation of service responsibilities. Noyan
Tapan was informed about this by the RA NA Public Relations
Department. Congratulating the policemen and wishing them the best,
A.Baghdasarian mentioned that the Police has had its important
contribution in the affair of building the independent statehood.

KYIV RESIDENTS PROTEST AGAINST ARMENIAN CHURCH CONSTRUCTION

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.04.2006 21:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In 1992 the Kyiv authorities decided to grant
1022 square meters of land to the Armenian community of Ukraine for
the construction of an Armenian church. The community collected the
essential funds and launched the construction. However, not long ago
the residents of Podol (one of Kyiv districts) broke the fence and
said they will not allow any construction in the green zone. They say
the garden can be spoiled and they do not care who builds, let it be
Armenians, Muslims or Ukrainians. Even the Jews, who have lived in
Podol long since, did not build Synagogue here, the people say.

Business manager of the Ukrainian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic
Church Vahe Stepanyan said he is ready to defend the interests of
Armenians in all court instances. “The community possess the essential
documents and some funds have been already spent on the preparation
works,” he said, reported RFE/RL.

SYMPOSIUM ON OTTOMAN TURK-ARMENIAN TIES TO BE HELD IN TURKEY

Anatolia news agency, Ankara
16 Apr 06

Kayseri, 16 April: Plenary discussion panel on: “The Art of Living
Together in the Ottoman Society: The Case of Turkish-Armenian
Relations” will be organized in Erciyes University (EU) in Central
Anatolian city of Kayseri, it was reported on Sunday [16 April].

EU Rector Prof Cengiz Utas held a news conference and said the
university will host the symposium between 20 and 22 April Utas said
125 scientists from various countries and Turkish Armenians Patriarch
Mesrob II would attend the symposium where social dimensions of the
Turkish-Armenian relations would be examined rather than political
dimensions.

Prof. Metin Hulagu, the Chairman of the Symposium Organization
Committee said they hoped the symposium to be a new start in
Turkish-Armenian relations, stating that issues based on documents
would be discussed.

“We want the symposium to establish a new bridge between Turkey and
Armenia. We hope to organize the second symposium in Armenia.

Peace, tolerance and dialogue between Turks and Armenian will be
taken up,” he noted.

Panorama.am

15:44 14/04/06

LONG LIVE THE MOST UNBIASED COURT!

`The European justice delivered the right judgment in both cases: when
justifying Tehleryan and when condemning safarov,’ today at the
briefing the head of ARF grouping Levon Lazarian introduced his
position about the verdict of the Azeri murderer delivered in Budapest
yesterday. The above mentioned verdict allows the Deputy to say that
`we deal with justice on strong European basis.’

Moreover all parliamentary groups-groupings agreed to the point of
view that the verdict of Budapest Court is of moral and political
importance to us. The head of the Committee of state-legal affairs
Rafik Petrosyan did not exclude the possibility of extradition, yet he
considered it almost improbable. Moreover, he mentioned that there is
no such agreement between Hungary and Azerbaijan, and if one is signed
it will not have any backward force. /Panorama.am/