Category: News

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES AGREEMENT ON TRANSFER OF PERSONS TO
INTERNATIONAL COURTS BETWEEN ARMENIA AND USA
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 28. ARMINFO. The Armenian Parliament approves
Agreement on transfer of persons to international courts between
Armenia and the USA.
According to Armenian Justice Minister David Haroutiunyan, the
document regulates relations of the criminal authority on transfer of
the persons having inviolability status to international courts. The
agreement says that a persons of one party cannot to transferred to
the international court or to a third country without agreement of the
given party except the cases when the international court is guided by
the decision of the UN Security Council. The given point contradicts
to the Code of Criminal Proceedings of Armenia, the minister says. In
case of a necessity the parties can refuse from the agreement if its
implementation contradicts to another international agreement. The
minister notes that the Constitutional Court of Armenia has approved
the given agreement and informed that it has not come into effect in
the USA yet.

EXPLOSION TAKE PLACE AT SITE OF NEW BUILDING OF US EMBASSY IN YEREVAN
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 28. ARMINFO. An explosion took place at the site
of the new building of the US embassy in Yerevan today 4:00 pm.
The explosion took place at the power station of the site. As a result
the whole Shengavit community remained without electricity.
The press secretary of the Power Networks of Armenia company Margarita
Grigoryan says that it was an autonomous power station and belonged
to the construction project. The subsequent fire has been put
out. Electricians are inquiring into the causes of the incident. The
electricity supply of the community has been restored.

Yorkshire Post Today
03 February 2005
Pope stays in hospital but there is no cause for alarm, says VaticanMaggie
Stratton
THE Pope was last night running a fever as he spent a second night in
hospital with flu and breathing difficulties.
The Vatican insisted there was “no cause for alarm” and said the ailing
pontiff was in a stable condition.
Officials said the 84-year-old Pope yesterday received visitors, celebrated
Mass and was able to appoint two new bishops despite being taken into
hospital on Tuesday night.
Catholics around the world continued to pray he makes a swift recovery, but
the Pope is expected to remain at Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic for several more
days.
Tests yesterday showed his heart and respiration were normal, but he was
running a slight fever, his spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said. He
insisted the Pope had never lost consciousness and had not needed a
tracheotomy to help him breathe.
“There is no cause for alarm,” Mr Navarro-Valls added.
Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, head of the Vatican’s health care office,
said keeping the Pope in hospital will afford “many means to stay ready for
any complications”.
His health problems are also likely to be made worse by the fact he has
Parkinson’s disease.
Cardinal Barragan said the Pope’s inability to hold his back up straight has
left his lungs and diaphragm in a crushed position.
The Vatican cancelled all the Pope’s engagements for this week on the advice
of doctors after he came down with flu on Sunday He missed his weekly
audience yesterday for the first time since September 2003, when he was
suffering from an intestinal ailment.
He was previously said to have been in good form and had been continuing to
receive foreign leaders.
The president of Armenia visited the Vatican last week and the president of
the European Parliament was due on Friday ~V as well as appear before
pilgrims and tourists twice a week. Austen Ivereigh, Press secretary
to the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, yesterday
said: “We are relieved to hear the Pope’s condition appears to have
stabilised, and we are continuing to pray for his swift recovery.”
During the regular morning Mass at Westminster Cathedral, London, the
headquarters of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, a prayer was said
“that in the midst of his sickness and suffering, he may be consoled and
strengthened by the knowledge of Christ’s abiding presence”.
03 February 2005

Armenian charities win huge settlement
By PAUL CHAVEZ, Associated Press
Associated Press
March 1 2005
LOS ANGELES – Four Armenian charities each received $333,000 Monday
as part of a $20 million settlement between an insurance firm and
relatives of Armenians killed 90 years ago in the Ottoman Empire.
As part of the settlement, New York Life Insurance Co. also has
agreed to earmark $11 million for the heirs of policy holders. The
policy holders died in what Armenians call the first genocide of the
20th century.
Armenians contend that 1.5 million people were executed between 1915
and 1919 by Turkish authorities who believed they helped the invading
Russian army during World War I.
The genocide claim has been rejected by Turkey, which says the
Armenians were killed in civil unrest during the collapse of the
Ottoman Empire. France and Russia have declared the killings a
genocide, but the United States has not made that declaration.
“The genocide is an important issue in the Armenian community.
Everyone has some relative who perished in the genocide,” said
plaintiffs’ attorney Brian Kabateck, who said his maternal grandparents
were genocide survivors.
Kabateck also praised New York Life for acknowledging the genocide
and fulfilling its obligation to policy holders.
The settlement was approved last year by U.S. District Court Judge
Christina A. Snyder and is believed to be the first connected to the
Armenian deaths.
New York Life has admitted that about 2,400 policies were issued
to Armenians in Turkey before 1915 that were never paid. People
who believe they are descendants of policy holders have a March 16
deadline to file claims.
The settlement calls for the original policies to be multiplied by
15.5 for inflation and interest.
The four organizations who received payments Monday were the
Burbank-based Armenian Church of North America Western Diocese; the
Los Angeles-based Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church;
Armenian Educational Foundation, of Glendale, and the Armenian Relief
Society, nationally headquartered in Watertown, Mass.
The organizations were singled out because they helped Armenians
settle in the United States after the genocide, Kabateck said.
Five Armenian organizations on the East Coast last month also received
equal amounts.
Martin Marootian, the 89-year-old lead plaintiff in the case, said
he was pleased that Armenian charities received payments.
“It means all Armenians will benefit from the settlement of this case,”
he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
March 1 2005
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE CONFIRMS FACT OF RESETTLEMENT OF ARMENIANS IN
OCCUPIED AZERBAIJAN LANDS
[March 01, 2005, 15:01:30]
On February 28, the Department of State of the United States of America
has issued its annual report (the 28th) on human rights protection,
the Washington-based correspondent of AzerTAj said. The Report contains
facts and figures on human rights protection in 196 world countries.
In the preface, the Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice states that
another report to be issued shortly will deal with the steps of the US
Government to support human rights over the numerous world countries.
In the part related to Azerbaijan, the Department of State informs
on resettlement of the Armenian emigrants who came from Near East
and other regions of world in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of
Azerbaijan and surrounding areas. It is also stated that the Government
of Azerbaijan has addressed on the matter to the UN and the Council of
Europe, and the OSCE fact-finding mission is engaged in the question.
In the Report of the State Department, it is underlined that the
Armenian forces continue to keep under occupation Nagorno-Karabakh
and adjoining areas. The government of Azerbaijan does not control
these territories, and to receive information on state of affairs
with human rights, therefore, is not possible. Last year, as a result
of infringement by Armenia of the ceasefire regime, were lost six
Azerbaijanis – civilians and militaries.
In the Report, the US Administration, positively regarding signing
by the Head of the Azerbaijan State of some decrees on pardoning,
welcomes continuation by the government of Azerbaijan of the programs
directed on development of market economy. It is informed that the
last year, economic growth on the country has exceeded 10 percent,
the level of poverty was reduced, unemployment among the population
changes within the limits of 15-20 percent.
According to the American legislation, the said Report prepared
by the Bureau of the State Department on democracy, human rights
and labor affairs, will be submitted to the chairman of the House
of Representatives in Congress and External Relations Committee of
the Senate. The Report together with some other documents will be
used for definition of the state policy, directions of diplomacy,
allocation of the assistance to the countries and in other purposes.

Toronto Star
Tue. Mar. 1, 2005. | Updated at 02:47 PM
Feb. 2, 2005. 01:00 AM
Marley month shakes up Ethiopia
Rastafarians flock to country to honour singer
Locals like tourism if not `Jamaican’ residents
ANTHONY MITCHELL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia~WThroughout his life, Bob Marley looked to Ethiopia as
the spiritual home of his Rastafarian faith.
But as Ethiopia welcomes hundreds of thousands of revellers for a month of
festivities starting yesterday in honour of the Jamaican reggae legend, many
here view Rastafarians ~W some of whom settled in Ethiopia because they could
worship the nation’s last emperor ~W with deep suspicion.
At best, the tiny Rastafarian community is tolerated as an oddity in the
deeply traditional and overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian country on the Horn
of Africa. At worst, they are accused of spreading drugs and crime ~W claims
they dismiss as springing from prejudice.
Organizers of this month’s celebrations hope music will melt away tensions.
Marley’s widow, Rita, together with the African Union and UNICEF, is
organizing the $1 million (U.S.) extravaganza, dubbed “Africa Unite,” in
honour of one of his most famous songs. The highlight is Ethiopia’s
largest-ever concert, coming on Sunday, Marley’s birthday, in the capital,
Addis Ababa.
“I have dreamed about doing this for years,” said Marcia Griffiths, one of
Marley’s former backup singers, as she arrived in Ethiopia for the first
time Monday. “All my life I wanted to come here with Bob in the flesh. Now
I’m here, and I know he is here in the spirit.”
It is the first time the annual commemoration has been held outside Jamaica.
Ethiopian officials estimate 500,000 people will attend the festivities.
After the concert in Addis, celebrations will move to Shashemene, where the
Rastafarians have built their community.
Marley’s music has always been popular here, and Ethiopians welcome the
visitors ~W and money ~W the event could bring the impoverished country. The
capital’s cassette and CD stalls, which normally blare Ethiopian pop, have
switched to Marley classics like “Get Up, Stand Up” and “I Shot the
Sheriff.”
——————————————————————————–
`All my life I wanted to come here with Bob in the flesh. Now I’m here, and
I know he is here in the spirit.’
Marcia Griffiths, former Marley backup singer
——————————————————————————–
“I think the Bob Marley concert will be very good for the country,” said
Yared Kebede, a teacher. “With thousands of people coming here and spending
money, that can’t be a bad thing.”
Rastafarians worshipped Ethiopia’s last emperor ~W Haile Selassie, who died
in 1975 ~W as their living god, a belief based on a 1920 prophecy by Jamaican
civil rights leader Marcus Garvey that a black man would be crowned king in
Africa.
Selassie in turn granted Rastafarians land in 1963 at Shashemene, 250 km
south of Addis Ababa, where several hundred continue to live. But successive
governments have refused to give Rastafarians citizenship in their adopted
country.
“In any other country in the world, if you stay in the country a number of
years and have children, those children would have citizenship ~W but not
here,” lamented Ambrose King, deputy head of the Rastafarians’ Ethiopian
World Federation.
On Friday, Rita Marley said she was determined to honor her husband’s wish
for burial in Ethiopia, but she did not say when the body might be moved
from Jamaica.
She first announced the reburial plans earlier this month ~W to the chagrin
of many in Jamaica who feared losing their cultural heritage.
Historian Richard Pankhurst said Selassie never held a particular affinity
for Rastafarians. The late emperor, who ruled from 1930 until he was
overthrown in a 1974 military coup that abolished the monarchy, also granted
land to Armenian refugees, Pankhurst notes.
Regular drug busts in Shashemene ~W a dusty, wind-swept town of seedy bars
and prostitutes ~W have also fuelled local prejudices against Rastafarians.
“The problem with the Jamaicans is that they smoke drugs,” said Kebede, the
teacher, using the local expression for Rastafarians, regardless of their
origin.
For Rastafarians, who preach a oneness with nature, smoking marijuana is a
sacrament.

Russia Denies Accusations of Inaction Over Post-Soviet Conflicts
Baku Today
Politics
02/02/2005 21:18
BAKU, Feb 2, (AFP) – Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of Russia denied
Wednesday that Moscow was turning a blind eye to ethnic conflicts in
the former Soviet Union.
“It is strange for me to hear that Russia is passive in making
efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and the same goes
for other conflicts in the post-Soviet area,” Lavrov told reporters in
the Azeri capital, Baku. Azerbaijan and Armenia have been stalemated
over Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan, since Armenia
took control of the region in 1994.
Lavrov said Russia has supported the implementation of all agreements
reached between Georgia and its two separatist republics, Abkhazia
and South Ossetia, and is more active than others in pushing for
the settlement of the conflict between Moldova and the breakaway
Transdniestr region. “There is no lack of initiative steps from our
side,” Lavrov said. “What there is, is a deficit of good will between
the conflicting parties.”
Russia has come under fire from western governments and from nations
that lost territory during secessionist conflicts after the break
up of the Soviet Union, for tacitly supporting separatist regimes in
former Soviet republics.
Russia is plagued by its own separatist conflict with rebels in
Chechnya, which has raged intermittently since 1993.
Copyright AFP

BBC News
Last Updated: Thursday, 3 February, 2005, 11:55 GMT
Burning body suspect due in court
One man has already been charged with murdering Mr Amirian
A man is due to appear before magistrates charged with the murder of a man
whose burning body was found on the Cambs/Northants border.
Armenian Havhannes Amirian’s remains were found at Upton in December 2002.
Misha Chatsjatrjan, from Oldenzaal in the Netherlands, was arrested by Dutch
police on 12 January.
He is due before Peterborough Magistrates’ Court. Police worked on the case
for more than a year before identifying the dead man as Mr Amirian.
‘Unknown male’
At one stage it was feared the body, which was found in a wood, might never
be identified.
It led to Peterborough coroner Gordon Ryall taking the unusual step of
allowing the man to be buried in a grave marked “Unknown Male”.
However after the police made a breakthrough in the case the inquest was
briefly resumed for Mr Amirian’s identity to be announced, more than a year
after his death.
The inquest heard that Mr Amirian was born in Armenia and had family
connections in the Ukraine. However, most recently he had lived in Belgium
and England.

A Strong Parallel Between Lincoln and Bush is Shown in a New Documentary
Emediawire (press release), WA
March 1 2005
The Wounded Warrior, a documentary produced by X-Back Pictures
relates President Abraham Lincoln’s Vision of Freedom to the actions
promoting freedom by current U.S. President George W. Bush.
(PRWEB) March 1, 2005 — The Wounded Warrior, a documentary produced
by X-Back Pictures relates President Abraham Lincoln’s Vision of
Freedom to the actions promoting freedom by current U.S. President
George W. Bush.
The film factually proves that Lincoln was the first President to lay
down the doctrine of spreading freedom throughout the world as a
means for our national defense. The doctrine known and revived today
as the ‘Bush Doctrine.’ By a strange twist of destiny, Lincoln
expressed this thought on September 11th, 1858. The docu-drama also
shows that Lincoln was one of the most despised presidents, falsely
accused of stealing elections, dividing and dragging the country in a
war over economy and tariffs and proclaimed a social tyrant who
violated the Constitution and civil liberties.
Director Yervand Kochar, the grandson of the highly-acclaimed, yet
persecuted (by Communist regime), Armenian artist, Yervand Kochar Sr.
was disappointed at his documentary being denied an audience at the
Big Muddy Film Festival sponsored in part by the Illinois Arts
Council and the Department of Cinema and Photography of Southern
Illinois University and taking place throughout Carbondale, Illinois,
and Western Kentucky.
The director believes that it was the message of the movie that
caused the rejection of the film by the festival and not its artistic
merit.
“I feel the real issue is that the majority of film festivals that
are supposed to create an environment for young talent to blossom are
in reality creating repressive constraints, says Mr. Kochar. They put
themselves in a position to evaluate an art form; yet, they dismiss
anything that doesn’t suit their ideology. Since festivals are pretty
much the only venue for many young filmmakers to launch their
careers, filmmakers conform their movies to topics, which they know
will be accepted by the festival organizers.”
Artistically, this movie is the first time that the director’s
grandfather’s revolutionary ‘painting in space’ style, so admired by
Picasso, has been translated into film and as such the movie is
already generating buzz for its innovative style.
Mr. Kochar finishes by stating, “I encourage any organization in
Carbondale, Illinois, or in the vicinity to screen The Wounded
Warrior. A movie like The Wounded Warrior is a truthful film that has
to be seen. Take the initiative of building your culture and do not
yield it to people who speak of freedom but mean slavery.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Does Turkey Belong In the European Union?
By Antero Leitzinger
The Journal of Turkish weekly
2 February 2005.
Turkey applied for membership in the EEC as early as in 1970s, when she had
been indisputably and for a long time a democratic market economy, one of
the founding members of the Council of Europe, and a country with a decent
record on human rights, compared with the military dictatorships of Greece,
Spain and Portugal, let alone the countries of Eastern Europe. The upheavals
of Southern Europe in the mid-1970s, the intensified internal political
situation of Turkey, and the military regime of early 1980s, as well as the
surprising membership of Greece in the Western European community sidelined
Turkey for two extra decades to wait for acceptance.
Finally during Finland’s chairman period in 1999, Turkey was finally
accepted as an applicant country for the European Union. This encouraged
Turkey to make legal reforms, which have been carried out for three years
now, despite the hard economic crisis. Guerrilla war in the Kurdish
districts is past now, and on 30th Nov. 2002, even the last province was
officially returned to normalcy. The PKK has abolished itself, and the death
penalty of the PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan has been changed into life
imprisonment. Turkey’s prisons have been reformed according to the EU norms,
lots of inmates have been amnestied, and previously used parts of the
criminal law have been overruled. In allowing media and school teaching in
Kurdish languages, Turkey has exceeded France and Sweden in the progression
of her minority policy.
However, Turkey has traditionally had dedicated enemies in Europe. As early
as in 1800s, conservative Christian and idealist liberal civil movements,
acting on behalf of the Christian minorities of the Balkans, were organising
lecture and newspaper campaigns and demonstrations against Turkey. The
ancient Greece was adored under the banners of philhellenism (1821), and
medieval myths were revived by telling horror stories of the “Bulgarian
atrocities” (1876). The propaganda war culminated in the after-play of the
First World War in 1920s, but was again revived from 1965 onwards, on the
initiative of third generation Armenian emigrants of France and America, who
were inspired and directed by Soviet Armenia.
Nowadays it is hard to believe that Turkey could anyhow get released from
the constant criticism by human rights organisations, since criticising
Turkey has become the lifeline of many of them. For many international human
rights organisations, regular campaigns against Turkey have become the most
successful kind of activity, and Turkish illegal immigrants willingly
participate them in order to base their asylum applications. International
organisations, researchers and media outlets are using Turkish extremist
groups as their sources, but the credibility and relevance of the
information they provide is very low. For this reason, the criticism against
Turkey often repeats echoes from years away. In its latest issue, Der
Spiegel (50/9th Dec. 2002) added to its article on Turkey a picture of a
Kurdish demonstration from 1992.
Turkish asylum seekers still refer to the destruction and evacuation of
frontier villages in mid-1990s. Although repatriation of these villages has
been started, the Human Rights Watch report predicts the return to fail,
because it would be too late without EU support (i.e. many who have moved to
cities, are reluctant to return to the periphery).
Neue Zürcher Zeitung (28th Nov. 2002) tells that torture became more common
in Turkey during the short military reign of 1980s. After that the
government tried to get rid of the phenomenon by sending the cruel policemen
from cities to the countryside, which, however, spread the problem
especially to the Kurdish districts. Accusing the policemen was made
difficult by a law that demanded acceptance of the superior to rise a court
case. The fact that many trials were taking more than five years caused that
many accusations became obsolete. The new government has suggested a legal
reform that would correct these problems, and enable overruling existing
verdicts on political crimes.
Against this background we have to understand the interest of the Turks in
the question, whether they are Europeans in the others’ eyes, or if they
fall outside Europe already in principle. When the Westernisation that has
prevailed in Turkey for 80 years becomes questioned by other Europeans, the
nationalist and pan-Islamic alternatives become stronger. Same kind of
development was experienced already in early 1900s, when the originally
liberal Young Turks changed into ferocious nationalists and rushed into the
First World War. In today’s Turkey, many people think that if the EU will
turn her back to Turkey, Turkey must turn towards Arab countries, Iran, the
Caucasus, and Central Asia. In co-operation with Pakistan, Turkey could
develop her own nuclear weapon. The successful military co-operation between
Turkey and Israel would be endangered. The 300-year rivalry between Turkey
and Russia over the borderlands would intensify.
Turkey is a bit poorer than Romania, when the GNP per capita is compared,
but the reason is the very rapid growth of Turkish population. It is
estimated that after 10 years there will be 90 million inhabitants in
Turkey, more than in Germany. In one way or another, that will compensate
the shrinking population of Europe and Russia. Chronic inflation plagues the
Turkish economy, but economic growth has been strong for a long time, and
there is plenty of potential. Unemployment (8,5 %) is lower than in most of
the countries of Eastern Europe, and industrialisation is more developed
than in Bulgaria and Romania. (Der Spiegel, 50/9th Dec. 2002)
Political Islamisation of Turkey would influence Europe especially through
the 2,5 million Turkish-originating immigrants residing in Germany. It is
hard to imagine how the EU could isolate herself from Turkey and the Middle
East. The EU can, however, choose, whether she will passively surrender to
be a side theatre of the problems of the Middle East and the whole Islamic
world, or whether it takes an active initiative to support moderate Muslims
and Turkey in her relations to her neighbours.
It is expected that the attitude towards Turkey, the Turks, Muslims and
foreigners in general, will become a hot election issue in the election of
the German state of Hessen in February. Both radical right and radical left
oppose the EU membership of Turkey. The present red-green government has
tried to balance between the views and the former Bundeskanzler Helmut Kohl
had a Turkish daughter-in-law. Compared to these, future seems more
controversial. Already half million of the German Turks have German
citizenship, and their votes for the left and for the Greens was decisive in
favour of the present government in last national election.
Antero Leitzinger is a political historian and a researcher for the Finnish
Directorate of Immigration. He wrote several books on Turkey, the Middle
East and the Caucasus.
Source: Global Politician, 2 February 2005.
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