Author: Zargarian Hambik

BAKO SAHAKYAN: THE INDEPENDENCE OF NKR IS NOT A SUBJECT TO DISCUSSIONS

armradio.am
10.07.2009 13:18

Conference on the "Armenian-Turkish Relations and the Artsakh Issue"
was held in Stepanakert today. Addressing the conference, NKR President
Bako Sahakyan said:

"Respected participants of the conference, Ladies and gentlemen,

I welcome cordially the participants of the conference on the Artsakh
issue and the Armenian-Turkish relations and put special emphasize
on the fact that it takes place in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

This representative conference envisages comprehensive discussions of
the issues on the agenda with participation of attendees from Armenia,
Diaspora and Artsakh, who made national concerns of the Armenian
people their daily life and the essence of their very existence.

Being very much aware that those present are competent and
professional people, I would like, nevertheless, to touch upon our
recent history. It is known that in this period of the modern history
of the Armenian people, Artsakh found itself in the frontline of the
liberation movement, giving a new impetus to the revival of national
consciousness and unity of all Armenians.

Almost two decades have passed since the world-spread Armenians,
putting aside ideological and party discords, personal ambitions and
priorities, have stood by the Artsakh people fighting for restoration
of their rights and justice.

Unity became20our first victory in this struggle. It unified the will
and spirit of the Armenian people at the epoch-making and hard time,
when Armenia, having survived destructive earthquake and the influx
of tens of thousands refugees, was imposed to the blockage and found
itself on the verge of humanitarian catastrophe. We, the people of
Artsakh, will never forget all those who where with us during the hard
days of the Motherland, when the fate of Artsakh was to be decided.

The war was not our choice; it was imposed on us in response to our
peaceful and civilized call for restoration of historical truth.

Heavy and unequal battles created our Defense Army, which in a very
short period of time carried out its sacred duty of defending Artsakh
people and statehood with flying colors.

Each of you has had a personal contribution to great and small military
and economic victories of Artsakh. And this very spirit of a unified
victory has made the unshakable will and readiness of the people of
the Nagorno Karabakh Republic to live freely and independently in
their own land be heard more audible.

This spirit predetermined our past, it determines the present and
the future of our people. On September 2, 1991, the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic was proclaimed. On 10 December of the same year the people
of Artsakh carried out a nation-wide referendum and announced their
decision to live in a free and sovereign country.

Ou r position is clear-cut and unchangeable. The independence of the
Nagorno Karabakh Republic is an accomplished fact and is not is not
a subject to discussions.

Any attempt to present the Nagorno Karabakh Republic within the
framework of Azerbaijani territorial integrity is both incomprehensible
and unacceptable for us. This neglects natural development of history
and life, as well as contradicts the realities of the past.

Since the proclamation of independence we have stood behind the path of
our choice, successfully defending the borders of Artsakh, building
and strengthening our state, efficiently overcoming difficulties
on the way of recreating and developing the country. As the result
the world has got convinced that it deals with a full-fledged state
and society, which has all the necessary attributes of statehood,
embarked on the path of democracy.

For this very reason we do not consider the restoration of the
full-fledged negotiation format as an additional pretext to remind
about our existence, but because this format is indeed a deficient
one. Artsakh, being the main party to the Azerbaijani-Karabakh
conflict, is now out of the negotiations and we should restore this
important principle. Without the consent of the people of the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic any decision will be impossible to implement.

We have reiterated many times that we support equal
participation of all parties in the peaceful settlement of the
Karabakh20conflict. However, political leadership of Azerbaijan has
another vision and always speaks about its would-be right to solve
the conflict in a military way.

We cannot be indifferent towards the policy the neighboring state
follows.

The authorities of Armenia and Artsakh have made many statements
on the impermissibility of the dissemination of hatred and militant
rhetoric. The people of Artsakh have gone through all the hardships
of war and are fully conscious of the price and importance of peace
for our region. However, it does not mean that we are not ready to
repel any aggression of the enemy.

As to the Armenian-Turkish relations, this complex and multilevel
issue touches upon both political and economic spheres and to a
great extend depends on some historical and psychological factors,
which exercise influence on political reality and developments.

In any case it is very much clear that any shift in the
Armenian-Turkish relations must not and cannot be implemented to
the prejudice of the Karabakh conflict settlement. Any attempts to
interconnect these two issues lying in different realms will definitely
lead to an impasse.

Another important issue that touches upon both the settlement of
Artsakh issue and the Armenian-Turkish relations is orderliness and
unity of our people.

Today we are much more obliged to have a united front to address issues
of pan-national importance and assess the situation. This must be so
not only by words and viewpoints, but also by our united and joint
approach and towards solving issues we face. That is true for Armenia,
for the Diaspora and for Artsakh. We need work that will unify the
whole potential of the Armenian people thus creating firm foundation
for our struggle.

>From this very viewpoint we rate high the undertaking of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation to hold this pan-Armenian conference in
Artsakh, where we steadily strengthen the independence reached at
the cost of numerous victims and much hardship. On this path we
have already gained great and small victories standing behind either
successes or the issues still to be solved.

Only unity, deep comprehension of national goals and priorities it
will be possible to overcome difficulties and neutralize the threats
we face.

I am confidant that combining efforts of Armenia, Artsakh and the
Diaspora we will be able to solve all problems, build and make
prosperous our two Armenian states and create worthy future for the
generations to come."

SERZH SARGSYAN: "WE DO NOT INTEND TO ALLOW TO USE NEGOTIATIONS PROCESS TO LEAD INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY INTO ERROR"

NOYAN TAPAN
JULY 8, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JULY 8, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. There are no new
developments around the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Armenia has not
changed its approaches. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan stated
it at the July 6 joint press conference of the two Presidents held
within the framework of President of Cyprus Dimitris Christofias’ state
visit to Armenia. In his words, the conflict settlement must involve
stipulation of the right of Nagorno Karabakh to self-determination,
strengthening of the land communication of Nagorno Karabakh with
Armenia, guarantee for not starting military operations," the
President said. Armenia, as before, thinks that the conflict must
be settled without use of force, only through peaceful negotiations,
on the basis on principles and norms of the international law.

"All the involved parties know that the pivotal issue of the problem
is the issue of the Nagorno Karabakh status. It must be obvious for
everybody that any decision that will not be accepted by the Nagorno
Karabakh population, cannot be viable and practicable," Serzh Sargsyan
stated, emphasizing that the number of co-thinkers of this approach
gradually grows.

As for the relations with Turkey, Serzh Sargsyan mentioned that
Armenia wants to liquidate the borders remaining closed in Europe
and to build normal relations without preconditions. "However we do
not intend on that way to allow to use the negotiations process for
leading the international community into error."

RA GOVERNMENT DISCUSSED DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM IN NKR

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
08.07.2009 20:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan met
representatives of tourist agencies to discuss tourism-related
issues, RA Government Press Service reported. At the meeting, the
parties emphasized the importance of unified state policy of tourism
development in Armenia, expansion of internal tourism geography,
infrastructures’ improvement, provision of social guarantees,
effective implementation of tax administration, and improving the
quality of service.

CANDIDATES READY TO CHALLENGE POLL RESULTS AS DEADLINE LOOMS
Nicholas Kimbrell

Daily Star
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Lebanon

Tuesday final day to contest outcome of elections

BEIRUT: With the deadline to lodge election complaints looming,
candidates from the Metn’s opposing March 14-Independent and
March 8 lists are primed to challenge what each claim to be flawed
results. Tuesday is the last day to officially contest results from
the June 7 parliamentary elections with the Constitutional Council, the
only body with the authority to adjudicate post-election disputes, and
members from or sources close to both political blocs told The Daily
Star Monday that complaints would be filed before the deadline expires.

"We are planning to contest," said March 14’s defeated Greek Orthodox
candidate, Elias Mokhaiber. "We still have 48 hours, so any time in
the next two days. "The main idea is that there have been many causes
that would justify recourse at the Constitutional [Council]. We have
selected a few of these causes."

Among other complaints, Mokhaiber named bribery and violations of
media coverage laws as principal reasons for behind challenge.

Despite the March 14 majority’s national victory, independent
powerbroker Michel Murr and the Phalange party’s Sami Gemayel were the
only candidates to break the opposition’s Metn list. The six remaining
seats went to the March 8 opposition’s Free Patriotic Movement (FPM),
led by Michel Aoun, or its allies, including the popular Armenian
Tashnag party.

Speaking with The Daily Star Monday, Gemayel also confirmed that
losing candidates on the majority list would file complaints. "I’m
not doing it," he said. "I know my co-listers are. I don’t know if
they are doing it today or tomorrow."

The FPM also plans to contest the vote. "Ghassan Rahbani [the
opposition’s defeated Greek Orthodox candidate] will contest the
victory of Michel Murr," said a source close to the FPM.

The contestation will highlight instances of bribery and intimidation,
the source said, notably the case of Syriac priest of Elias Akari. Last
month Aoun’s OTV television station aired an audio tape in which a
voice said to be Murr’s threatened Akari over the elections and loans,
reminding the priest of his sons position as defense minister.

Murr has sued OTV over the tape and Akari has filed a suit against
Murr.

The source was uncertain over whether the opposition’s defeated
Maronite candidate Pierre Achkar would challenge Gemayel’s victory.

Following the tightly fought polls, both Murr and MP Michel Aoun
pledged to challenge the results in the Christian battleground
district.

In mid-June, Murr, citing alleged irregularities in the Armenian vote,
vowed to challenge the Metn’s results.

"Six MPs from the March 14-Independent Salvation List should win
in the Metn district," he said, noting a large jump in Armenian
participation and a number of forged IDs that his election staff is
said to have found.

Aoun offered a more direct challenge to Murr’s victory. "We will file
a contestation before the Constitutional Council against MP Michel Murr
on charges of intimidation and threats," he said days after the polls.

The Metn, Lebanon’s largest exclusively Christian electoral district,
was seen as one of the election’s most pivotal contests and was
fiercely fought over. And ahead of the polls, former alliances
broke down.

In the 2005 parliamentary elections and 2007 by-elections, Murr had
been aligned with Aoun and the Tashnag party, but that alliance ended
before June with Murr deciding to run on the March14-Independent
list. The Tashnag, having strong ties to both Murr and Aoun, opted
to support the opposition list with the addition of Murr.

Apart from the Metn, Minister Elias Skaff, an opposition leader whose
list was swept in Zahle, is also rumored to be preparing a challenge
before Tuesday’s deadline.

PETITION AGAINST SIX DENIALIST CORPORATIONS

1 July 2009

It has come to light that, contrary to their public statements of
being good corporate citizens and champions of human rights, six
American and British mega-corporations have been secretly lobbying
the United States Congress not to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

In the American system, it is customary for corporations to lobby
Congress only on taxes and trade rules related to their specific
businesses. It is however highly unusual and downright shameful for
corporations to do the bidding of their foreign clients.

BAE Systems Inc., Goodrich Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp., Raytheon
Co., United Technologies Corp. and energy producer Chevron Corp are
spending over a million dollars a week to lobby Congress.

The world-wide Armenian community cannot match this level of
expenditure. We can however raise our righteous voice by signing the
petition below. The collected signatures will be hand delivered and
emailed to the corporate heads and key stockholders of these companies.

Make your voice heard today and sign the petition by visiting the
following link!

We urge you to forward this to as many of your contacts as possible. It
is of utmost importance to spread the word and act against these
denialist corporations.

The more signatures we present to these corporations, the more
importance they give to our cause.

Please contact us at [email protected] or 818-627-2376 for any
questions regarding the following press release.

Thank you,

Center for Armenian Remembrance

EDWARD NALBANDIAN: ARMENIA WILL CONTINUE ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN OSCE ACTIVITY

Noyan Tapan
July 6, 2009

YEREVAN, JULY 3, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenia attaches importance to
its membership to OSCE and will continue active participation in
organization’s activity.

RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian stated at the July 3 meeting with
Greek Foreign Minister, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Dora Bakoyannis. He
also highly assessed Greek’s activity as a country chairing in OSCE and
emphasized the importance of Greek chairmanship’s initiatives aimed at
raising organization’s efficiency and strengthening European security.

According to the RA Foreign Ministry Press and Information
Department, at the meeting the interlocutors exchanged thoughts
over OSCE activity, touched upon issues regarding Armenian-Turkish,
Greek-Turkish relations, as well as the latest developments in the
Nagorno Karabakh settlement process mentioning Minsk Group’s role in
the process of problem settlement.

After the meeting the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Greece signed
an Agreement On Air Communication between the Republic of Armenia
Government and Republic of Greece Governments.

Ministers’ joint press conference took place after the signing
ceremony.

LEVON ZOURABYAN CONSIDERS ANC ACTIVIST’S ARREST UNFOUNDED

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
06.07.2009 18:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "As a matter of fact, the attack was organized by
law enforcement agencies. Dressed in civil clothes, law enforcers
attacked ANC activists and seized their loud speakers when the latter
were announcing about the coming meeting. One of their victims was
Tigran Arakelyan who received a head injury by a gun’s butt end,
" ANC coordinator Levon Zourabyan told today a news conference.

Let’s see what official sources report. On July 1, seeing a group
of people quarrelling with one another, law enforcers approached to
them, and after introducing themselves, tried to settle the maturing
conflict. Disobeying police orders, the group resorted to violence. One
of group members was Tigran Arakelyan.

Arrested on July 5, ANC activists was charged with Article 258 of RA
Criminal Code (offering resistance to a person carrying out a duty
of public order protection).

APPLE MAY PROVIDE WITH CAMERAS IPOD PLAYERS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
06.07.2009 20:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Apple orders telephone cameras value in such a great
quantities, which are too much for iPhone communicators. This may mean
that the U.S. company plans to use cameras not only in their phones,
but also iPod players.

The new design of iPod nano has reached Internet, there is another
indirect proof: the pictures of covers for different models of iPod
players (touch and nano), having openings for a camera.

The integration of a camera in iPod player touch is quite
justified. Asian sources insisted that, even given the iPod touch,
an order for cameras is still too large. "All the portable technology
of Apple, except the iPod shuffle, soon will soon have camera built,"
representatives of Asian companies wishing to remain anonymous, said.

Most likely, the younger models iPod camera would only be only for
a photography. In iPod touch, the function of video may appear, but
only if the player will be upgraded to the level of the same platform
as iPhone 3GS, itc.ua writes.

LUTHERAN LEADER CALLS FOR END TO ISLAMOPHOBIA

EnerPub
Sunday, July 05, 2009

Rev. Ishmael Noko of the Lutheran World Federation urged other
Christian denominations to renounce contention with Islam. Also at
the 3rd Congress of World and Traditional Religions held in Kazkhstan
was WCC leader Rev. Samuel Kobia. Muslims pleased.

Renounce Islamophobia, the general secretary of the Lutheran World
Federation, the Rev. Ishmael Noko, has urged world religious leaders
at an inter-religious congress in Kazakhstan.

Noko, a Zimbabwean, commended US President Barack Obama for reaching
out to Muslim communities and moving away from the language of the
"war against terror".

"President Obama’s overtures, while addressed to the Muslim world,
also challenge other religious communities to reject Islamophobia,"
said Noko in the Kazakhstan capital.

He was speaking at the opening ceremony of the Third Congress of
leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Astana, Kazakhstan,
on 1 July. The two-day event was attended by leaders of the world’s
main religions.

It included 77 delegations from 35 countries. The congress adopted
an appeal calling on religious and political leaders, public figures
and the mass media to "counteract the manipulation of religions or
religious differences for political ends so as to preserve the unity
of the society in the respect for legitimate diversity".

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev Samuel
Kobia, said, "The young people of today are not as burdened as we
are with the differences they see in each other. In a more globalised
society and in communities which are much more pluralistic than when
we grew up, they are getting to know people from different religions
already from a young age."

Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev opened the conference. The
Kazakhstan leader has established an inter-religious dialogue forum
in the multi-ethnic and multi-religious country, surrounded by states
that are mostly Muslim and where there is limited religious freedom.

He said that inter-confessional dialogue is the most important
instrument to counter religiously inspired violence.

Nazarbayev called on participants to unite in efforts to create
a non-nuclear world. Resource-rich Kazakhstan is a former nuclear
testing ground of the old Soviet Union, which disposed of its nuclear
arsenal 18 years ago.

President Shimon Peres of Israel hailed the recent Arab peace plan
for the Middle East brokered by Saudi King Abdallah. Peres and the
Secretary General of the Muslim World League and the Grand Sheikh of
Al-Azhar, Mohammed Sayed Tantaway, had conciliatory messages.

"We should separate religion from terror. This should be a common
effort by all believers, regardless of faith, creed or gender," Nobel
Peace Prize Laureate Peres told the gathering. He joined President
Nazarbayev’s call for the abandoning of nuclear weapons.

The Secretary General of the Muslim World League, Abdullah bin Abdul
Mohsin Al-Turki, expressed the hope that the meeting will foster
understanding.

"We should go forth addressing the world whose organisations represent
the different religious strata," said Al-Turki. "Our goals should
be to protect the efforts of the religious institutions and preserve
them from falling prey or tools in the hands of unscrupulous people
using them for personal ends, means of financial gains and wicked
thoughts that feed the spirit of transgression, thus justifying acts
of violence and terrorism.

The Christian delegation included Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Lutherans
and Armenian Apostolic churches.

Islam sent delegations from 15 countries. Other faiths represented
were: Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism, Shintoism, Zoroastrianism and
Buddhism.

ABOVYAN MUSEUM EMPLOYEES CARRY OUR RESEARCH INTO THE WRITER’S LIFE

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
02.07.2009 22:24 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian people do not know the real Khachatur
Abovyan, whose 200th birthday is celebrated this year.

"The problem is that the soviet rule represented Abovyan as a teacher
and writer whose only aspiration for annexation of Armenia to Russia,"
Hovhannes Zatikyan, director of Abovyan’s house-museum, told a news
conference today.

The employees of the house-museum have organized 3 scientific
publications, proving that Abovyan was born in 1805 in Kanaker
district of Yerevan and died under unascertained circumstances. At
that he was not missing but died in exile in 1848.

"The school curriculum should be revised. The text books contain
information which doesn’t correspond to the facts," Mr. Zatikyan said.