Category: News

US envoy urges dialogue between Armenian authorities, opposition
Mediamax news agency
14 Apr 04
YEREVAN
The United States is interested in reducing tension in domestic
political life in Armenia, US ambassador John Ordway said today.
The US diplomat said he was in favour of dialogue between the Armenian
authorities and opposition, “which will make it possible for the
government to concentrate on conducting political and economic reforms
and achieving stability in the region”, Mediamax reports.
“We think that the release of the detained opposition activists will
ease the tension. Therefore, we call on all interested sides to use
only political means and to prevent any use of violence,” John Ordway
said.

Azeri president thanks Turkey for support on Karabakh
Anatolia news agency, Ankara
13 Apr 04
[Passage omitted: Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev gave a joint news conference after talks in
Ankara]
Sezer said that he and Aliyev discussed all dimensions of bilateral
relations in their meeting. Sezer noted that he and Aliyev searched
opportunities to further improve political and economic relations and
cooperation. He and Aliyev discussed regional issues closely
concerning two countries, Sezer stated. [Passage omitted]
Aliyev, in turn, said that the support extended by Ankara to Baku was
once more confirmed in their today’s meetings. Bilateral relations
with Turkey were improving in every field, Aliyev noted. Aliyev
recalled that Turkey was the first country which recognized Azerbaijan
and said that relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey had further
improved throughout years. Positive relations between Turkey and
Azerbaijan were important for not only two countries but also regional
peace and stability, Aliyev stated. Aliyev said that Turkey had always
been beside Azerbaijan in its dispute with Armenia. A gradual solution
to Nagorno-Karabakh dispute was adopted, Aliyev noted.
Stressing the importance of improvement of economic relations, Aliyev
said that economic cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan would
increase once Azerbaijan’s trade potential increased. Aliyev
emphasized importance of implementation of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil
pipeline and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum natural gas pipeline projects for
regional stability.
The Turkish and Azerbaijani officials signed a cooperation protocol on
civil aviation, cultural cooperation protocol, agreement on protection
of industrial ownership, agreement on cooperation in customs,
agreement on long-term economic cooperation.

Armenian defence chief, envoy inaugurate US-funded hospital
Mediamax news agency
14 Apr 04

YEREVAN
Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan and US ambassador John
Ordway attended the opening ceremony of a hospital in the town of
Talin today. The hospital was refurbished at the expense of the
European command of the US armed forces.
“This programme has become yet another symbol of the successful
US-Armenian cooperation,” the US ambassador said.
Serzh Sarkisyan said the refurbishment of the hospital in Talin was a
“result of military cooperation with the USA which allows us to
address not only military but also social issues”.
The defence minister expressed his confidence that “military
cooperation between the USA and Armenia will successfully develop in
the future”.
The refurbishment of the Talin hospital cost 236,900 dollars. It will
be the only hospital in Aragatsotn Region and will also serve the
rural communities of Shirak and Armavir regions.

Putin confident in continuing stability in Armenia
Apr 14 2004 10:11PM
MOSCOW. April 14 (Interfax) – President Vladimir Putin and Armenian
President Robert Kocharian discussed pressing issues in bilateral
relations during a Wednesday telephone conversation, the Kremlin press
service reported.
At Putin?s request Kocharian shared his opinion of the recent
developments in Yerevan that caused in an upsurge in domestic tension.
Putin expressed confidence that the leadership of friendly Armenia
would use the existing potential of democratic reforms to maintain
stability, law and order.
The two presidents also discussed further Russian-American contacts at
various levels, including the very highest.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

OPPOSITION LEADER EMERGES FROM HIDING
YEREVAN, APRIL 14, ARMENPRESS: Artashes Geghamian, the leader of
the opposition National Unity party, who reportedly went into hiding
after the police dispersed an anti-government rally on early hours of
April 13, staged by his party together with Ardarutyun alliance,
emerged today at a news conferenceto claim that the authorities had
schemed to make him disabled. This accusation was echoed by his
party-fellow who declared that the entire goal of the authorities’
plan was to harm Geghamian, “who stood by people until the end.”
Asked to comment on the United States’ concern about the “sharp
escalation” in tension between Armenia’s government and the
opposition, andits calls on both the authorities and the opposition to
engage in dialogue and avoid any actions that could lead to violence
or infringe on the right to peaceful assembly, Geghamian said “a
dialogue could be started for search of ways tocome out of the
explosive situation,” but he added that he could agree only to a
televised dialogue with president Kocharian and defense minister
Sarkisian.He added the opposition would seek for the change of power
through constitutional ways.

DIALOGUE THE BEST WAY TO RESOLVE PROBLEMS, PRESIDENT KOCHARIAN SAYS
YEREVAN, APRIL 14, ARMENPRESS: Armenian president Robert
Kochariansaid today that dialogue between conflicting political forces
is the best way to resolve their problems, but denounced the
opposition for “presenting ultimatums.” Meeting today with members of
the ruling board of the United Communist Party, the president recalled
that members of the ruling coalition had a series of meeting in the
last months with opposition leaders in a bid to seek their agreement
for easing the mounting standoff through a dialogue.
Kocharian’s press office said that the president has unveiled his
approaches towards the current domestic situation, putting the blame
for high tension on that segment of the opposition, which has chosen
extremism as modus operandi. The president also defended the security
forces, whose actions hesaid were aimed at restoring order and law and
were within the frames established by relevant laws.
The president argued that the ultimate goal of the opposition
should not differ from that of the authorities, which is to improve
the living standards of people. One of the functions of the
opposition, according to him, is keep under a permanent scrutiny the
government’s performance to warn against deviations from the right
path.
“Today the opposition is fully able to return to normal work, but
if it decides to take another path, the authorities possess enough
resources, setby the law, to protect people and stave off any
manifestation of illegality and extremism,” Kocharian said. The
president also said that the recent days developments have had no
impact on the country’s economy, financial market and investment
environment.
The presidential press service said the conversation encompassed
also a range of other issues, among them the best ways for giving a
new boost to economic developments, improving tax and customs systems,
reinforcement of the climate of responsibility across the country.

SENIOR POLICE OFFICER DEFENDS USE OF FORCE AGAINST RALLY PARTICIPANTS
YEREVAN, APRIL 14, ARMENPRESS: A senior police official defended
today police claims that the protesters themselves assaulted security
officers with stones and petrol bombs, despite repeated warnings that
their unlawful actions would be met with adequate reaction. Hovhaness
Kocharian, deputy head of a police department, argued today that the
crackdown on the demonstrators in early hours of April 13 did not go
beyond the boundaries, envisaged by the law on police. He was speaking
at a roundtable discussion at American University of Armenia, called
for an in-depth look into last two days’ developments.
Citing a clause from the law, the senior police officer argued that
police have the right to use physical force when arresting a suspect
or preventinga crime, but admitted that in some cases innocent people
may suffer. Kocharian said family members of all people detained on
April 13 morning were informed about the detainees whereabouts. To
conclude he again cited a provision of the Constitution that envisages
restricting some of citizens’ rights in the event of threats to other
people’s freedoms and safety.
Earlier a spokesman for president Kocharian defended the use of
force, saying that the opposition actions amounted to `political
extremism.’ He warned that further attempts to force the president
into resignation would be countered in the same way. The spokesman,
Ashot Kocharian, said the opposition disrupted `the normal work’ of
the president and the parliament, thereby `endangering the country’s
constitutional order.’ `The demonstrators did not obey the legitimate
orders of police officers,’ he said.
A senior member of Orinats Yerkir party, a component of the ruling
coalition, said today the disagreements between the opposition and
authorities erupted after the parliament majority refused to put on
its agenda an opposition motion calling for a referendum on confidence
in the president. He said only strict adherence to the rule of law
would allow Armenia to move ahead towards fuller integration with
Europe, adding also that his party stands for a dialogue between
forces to ease tension and avoid new clashes.
The discussion was mainly attended by representatives of
non-governmental organizations, who all condemned use of force on the
path of democratization.

ZORYAN INSTITUTE OF CANADA, INC.
255 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite 310
Toronto, ON, Canada M3B 3H9
Tel: 416-250-9807 Fax: 416-512-1736 E-mail: [email protected]
PRESS RELEASE CONTACT: GEORGE SHIRINIAN
DATE: April 14, 2004 Tel: (416)
250-9807
PROF. DADRIAN’S WORK ON THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE PUBLISHED IN TURKEY
Istanbul – The Turkish Belge Publishing House has just released a volume of
studies by internationally renowned scholar, Prof. Vahakn N. Dadrian,
Director of Genocide Research with the Zoryan Institute. This collection
contains three monographs and five journal articles on the World War I
Armenian Genocide and is the first of a two-volume series Belge has
projected for publication. The translations from English into Turkish were
done by the Turkish intellectual Attila Tuygan. It is hoped that the
publication of this new book will contribute to establishing a common body
of knowledge on Armenian-Turkish history for Turkish civil society.
As far as it is known, this is the first time that a collection of Dadrian’s
in-depth and multi-faceted studies on the Armenian Genocide, with all their
extensive footnotes, have appeared in Turkey in the Turkish language. As the
publisher has stated, one of the many aspects of the significance of this
publication derives from the fact that the primary sources and data that
Dadrian relies on are mainly authentic Ottoman-Turkish documents; they are
complemented and reinforced by extensive use of the state archive documents
of Imperial Germany and Imperial Austria-Hungary, Turkey’s staunch wartime
Allies.
Another aspect to this new book’s significance is the fact that discussion
of the Armenian Genocide is still a taboo subject in Turkey. In 1995, the
same publishing house had issued a Turkish language edition of Dadrian’s
legal analysis of the Armenian Genocide, which originally appeared in the
Yale Journal of International Law under the title “Genocide as a Problem of
National and International Law: The World War I Armenian Case and its
Contemporary Legal Ramifications” (vol. 14, no. 2, 1989, pp. 221 – 334). The
Turkish authorities prosecuted the publisher, the late Ayshe Zarakolu, for
that publication. She was convicted by Istanbul’s State Security Court on
charges of “incitement to enmity based on racial and religious differences”
(Clause 2 of Article 312 of the Penal Code), and accordingly faced a heavy
fine and long-term imprisonment. However, a petition to the Turkish Appeals
Court, signed by a dozen American academics from a variety of U.S.
universities, proved instrumental for overturning the verdict of the
Security Court some three years later. The prosecution tried to have this
acquittal reversed, unsuccessfully. In that petition, the American scholars
defended the publication by emphasizing, on the one hand, the impeccable
academic credentials of the author, and, on the other hand, by questioning
“the standards of fairness and justice in democratic Turkey.”
More recently, the Turkish Government seems to be renewing its pressure on
the Armenian Genocide issue. In May 2003, it required all public employees
to attend a mandatory seminar on “The Baseless Armenian Genocide
Allegations.” When some teachers at one such seminar in Elbeyli district
simply asked questions about the Genocide, the meeting dissolved in an
uproar. The government prosecutor indicted six teachers, and one was jailed
briefly, then released on bail. The teachers were to be tried on charges of
instigating social unrest. The teachers’ union has mounted a vigorous legal
defense.
In such a highly charged atmosphere, it is hoped that such sound, reliable,
academic studies as represented in this book will help provide factual
information for rational discussion.
Several thousand copies of that publication have already been distributed in
academic circles, as well as public sectors, in Turkey’s three major cities:
Istanbul, Izmir, and Ankara. This new volume comprises the following
important studies.
1) The Convergent Roles of the State and Government Party in the
Armenian Genocide. (From Studies in the Armenian Genocide. Eds.
Chorbajian and Shirinian. 1999).
2) Party Allegiance as a Determinant in the Turkish Military’s
Involvement in the World War I Armenian Genocide. (From Revue du Monde
Arménien Moderne et Contemporain, vol. 1, no. 1, 1994).
3) The Role of the Turkish Military’s Involvement in the Destruction of
Ottoman Armenians. (From Journal of Political and Military Sociology, vol.
20, no. 2, 1993).
4) The Role of the Special Organization in the Armenian Genocide during
the First World War. (From Minorities in Wartime. Ed. P. Panayi. 1993).
5) The Role of Turkish Physicians in the World War I Genocide of the
Ottoman Armenians. (From Holocaust and Genocide Studies vol. 1, no. 2,
1986).
6) The Armenian Genocide: An Interpretation. (From America and the
Armenian Genocide of 1915. Ed. J. Winter, 2003).
7) A Textual Analysis of the Key Indictment of the Turkish Military
Tribunal Investigating the Armenian Genocide. (From Journal of Political and
Military Sociology. Special Edition on Collected Essays by Vahakn N.
Dadrian. Vol. 22, no. 1, 1994.)
8) The Turkish Military Tribunals Prosecution of the Authors of the
Armenian Genocide: Four Major Court-Martial Series. (From Holocaust and
Genocide Studies vol. 11, no. 1, 1997).

Armenian footballer stabbed and robbed in Yerevan
AFP
YEREVAN
April 14, 2004
Carl Lombe, who plays for Yerevan side Pyunik, was stabbed and robbed
on Wednesday, local media reported.
Lombe, of Cameroonian origin, who has also played for Armenia’s
national squad, was seriously wounded, when two unidentificated men
stabbed him several times in the chest and belly.
Yerevan police started an investigation of the attack, saying that
Lombe has likely became a victim of an armed robbery.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azerbaijan vows to take back disputed enclave from Armenia
AFP
ANKARA, April 14
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday vowed that his
country would never give up its struggle to recapture the disputed
enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh which has been under Armenian control for
a decade.
“Nagorno-Karabakh is Azeri territory. It has always been Azeri
territory and will always be so. Azerbaijan will liberate its own
territory whatever the price,” Aliyev said in an address to the
Turkish parliament.
Azerbaijan and neighbouring Armenia went to war in the early 1990s
when Nagorno-Karabakh, mainly populated by Armenians, seceded from
Azerbaijan at the time of the Soviet Union’s collapse, and the two
Soviet Caucasian republics became independent.
The war claimed more than 20,000 lives and made refugees of nearly a
million people.
After a ceasefire in 1994, Nagorno-Karabakh came under de facto
Armenian control.
“The Nagorno-Karabakh dispute should be resolved to make the region
more stable,” Aliyev added.
The Azeri president and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Necdet Sezer on
Tuesday had spoken out in favour of settling the dispute in a
step-by-step approach, but gave no details.
Earlier, Aliyev had said in a newspaper interview that his country was
ready to mend fences with Armenia if it returned part of the territory
it had seized during the war.
The Nagorno-Karabakh dispute is keenly watched by Turkey, which in
1993 closed its border with Armenia in a show of solidarity with its
neighbour and ally Azerbaijan, with whom it shares close ethnic and
linguistic bonds.
Turkey also has its own row with Armenia over Yerevan’s claims that
the Ottoman Empire committed genocide against Armenians during World
War I — an allegation Ankara categorially rejects.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress