GARI KASPAROV’S HEADQUARTERS SEARCHED

A1+
[07:30 pm] 12 December, 2006

Today United Civil Front headed by Gari Kasparov was searched in
Moscow.

Marina Litvinovich, Kasparov’s assistant, informed Radio Liberty that
remedial body representatives confiscated the material connected with
the launch of the so-called Disobedient’ march.

The march is scheduled on December 15 but the city authorities didn’t
approve of it.

Nevertheless, the initiatives have announced that they will realise
their plan despite the preventive measures of the authorities.

Gari Kasparov claims that the search was held on the day of the
Russian Constitution.

Gari Kasparov doesn’t approve of Vladimir Putin’s policy saying that
it is becoming more and more tyrannical.

FESTIVAL OF EUROPEAN FILMS KICKS OFF

Armenpress
Dec 12 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS: Today the festival of European films
kicked off in Armenia. In Yerevan the festival will be conducted from
December 12 to 16, in Gyumri from December 14 to 17 and in Kapan from
December 16-19. It is the third festival conducted in Armenia.

Robin Lidel, the first consultant of the European Commission in
Armenia, told today at a press conference that within the framework
of the festival three films in Gyumri and Kapan will be shown free
of charge. In Yerevan the income which will be gathered from the sale
of the tickets will be used for charity reasons. Overall, as part of
the festival 10 films from Germany, Spain, Portugal, Poland, France,
Great Britain and Holland will be shown.

Poland and Portugal have joined the festival in Armenia for the
first time. R. Lidel expressed hope that the Armenian audience will
be interested in the films and quoted "film will never be a good one
if the camera is not an eye placed in the head of a poet".

According to the German ambassador to Armenia Heike Renate Peitsch,
it is very important that such like cultural events organized by the
EU member countries are held not only in Yerevan but in the Armenian
provinces as well.

The festival was opened today by "Destroyed Art" short film (Poland,
director Tomash Baginski).

‘PROBLEM IS NOT BETWEEN ARMENIAN AND TURKISH PEOPLE’ – II

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Dec 10 2006

Mr. Wally Sarkeesian’s Second Open Letter to Dr. Sedat Laciner on
Armenian Issue

"Dear Sedat,

Thanks for your reply.

I welcome the opportunity to visit you and Turkey to see the country
and those things you mention, I would also love the opportunity to
see where my father was born being that it is now located in Turkey.

I will take your word on the Armenian literature that is available
in Turkey but I would love to read some of them outside of Istanbul
in Anatolian region?

I would like to begin this dialog by asking you some questions of my
own and then I will respond to your questions.

1- I am curious at what age you were taught about the Armenian
Massacre. All the research that I have done demonstrates that the
curriculum in the public schools do not mention the Armenian issue.

It is not until you become an adult and are subjected to alternative
publications.

2- As you are aware Orhan Pamuk, the Nobel Prize winner admitted the
massacre of one million Armenians. How come the Turkish government is
not privy to these facts? Do you think he is falsifying the information

3- Just look at information from Turkish Weekly archives. The
articles in the archives claim that there were Armenians Senators,
Ministers and Civil Servants during the Ottoman Empire. What happened
to them? Is there any Senators, Ministers or civil servants in today’s
Turkish government?

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4- Do you believe that over 50 governments around the world
including 38 states of the US recognized Armenian Genocide without
any foundational proof? Is it simply just a rubber stamp without any
fact? Why would they do that?

5- I would also like to extend to you a similar offer of travels.

Please travel to any country of the world where there is an Armenian
community I will be happy to join you. Go to the Armenian churches
or community center and I guarantee you that you will find that 95%
of there roots stem back to land now claimed by Turkey. They will all
speak of stories from there relatives about the massacre. I guarantee
this so much that if this is false I will pay for all your expenses.

Just for your information after over 90 year of the massacre today
still most Armenian in the Diaspora they refer to each other by the
city where there parents or grand parents where born not where they
where borne even though some for example if Hagop was born in Iraq
and his father was borne in VAN they call him VANEZY Hagop not Iraqzy
Hagop from Iraq. Just to tell you how much Armenian in the Diaspora
is attached to there ancestral land…

6- The last questions I have for you is, do you really believe that
Armenians in the Diaspora are fabricating the genocide? I recognize
that you admit that there were Armenians massacred at the hands of
the Turks but you still deny the atrocity is genocide. Please let me
provide you with Article 2 of the Geneva Convention, straight from
the website of the United Nations. This should clarify the dispute
as the statement is VERY clear.

Article 2

In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts
committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national,
ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated
to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

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Now about the 70,000 Armenians working in Turkey compare that to
the million of Turks working in the EU, does this mean Turkey is a
bad country or the Turkish population is dwindling? Why have they
left Turkey?

About the Armenia population declining; I have no idea where you are
getting this information. In fact last September was the first time
I visited Armenia and I expected to see a third world country. I was
pleasantly surprised to see the monumental progress they have made in
last 15 year despite a major earthquake, and a war with Azerbaijan,
shortage of fuel as well as the hostile environment at the two borders
Turkey and Azerbaijan. In the last 5 years Armenia’s economy has grown
12% every year and Yerevan is becoming a little Paris with tourists
from all over the world. I even had hard time finding a hotel because
they were all booked. I plead with you to stop providing misleading
information about Armenian statistics. Yes, when USSR collapsed they
lost most of there manufacturing industry.

Armenian had to come out of the wreckage and build a country pretty
much from scratch. Please do not worry about Armenia’s population with
the last 15 years as a testament to Armenian people capabilities;
they will build the entire economic infrastructure. If there is one
good thing about Armenians it is that they are great entrepreneurs.

About Karabagh: When the USSR occupied Armenia, Azerbaijan and other
countries it was to keep the Moslems happy. They too carved Armenia
and gave it to the Azeri to keep the Moslems populations in USSR
happy. When the USSR collapse occurred, the Armenians in Karabagh did
not want to be part of Azerbaijan just like the people in KOSOVO they
declared there independence, it was the Azeri who sent there mighty
military, tanks and all to crash down the Karabagh Armenians.

Unexpectedly to the Azeri, the 100,000 brave Karabagh Armenians not
only repelled the Azeri’s military force but with simple shot guns
they also occupied extra Azeri territory as a buffer zone. It was not
the Armenians who began the war in the first place and so please let
us stick to Armenian and Turkish issue.

You also claim the Armenians in Diaspora are boycotting Turkish
products and I have not found that to be true, in fact I have a bowl
of Turkish dried figs on my kitchen table.

>>From my recent visit to Armenia, as well as my consistent monitoring
of the Armenian press, I have not seen any objections to the Turkey
becoming a member of EU. In fact, if I am not mistaken, the Armenian
President has publicly stated that he supports Turkey’s entrance into
the EU but I am not 100% sure.

To answer your last statement, firstly, through all our discourse I
have never mentioned that the Turkish people hate Armenians neither
Armenian people hate Turks in contrary even during the massacre Turkish
people helped there fellow Armenian. They are unhappy with the Turkish
government but not the Turkish people. Also, you mentioned that the
Turkish people are making great efforts to be friends again with the
Armenian people like Orhan Pamuk. It is the Turkish government that
has caused such hostilities between the two nations. Karabagh would
have been the best opportunity for Turkey to have played a positive
leadership roll but instead they simply dismissed the situation and
closed its borders.

Turkey could have played a good neighbor roll and solved the issue
of Karabagh instate they close the borders build gas pipeline from
Azerbaijan by passing Armenia through Georgia, and now building
rollway in same way by passing Armenia, do you really think these
are the great efforts by Turkish government to establish a good
friendship despite objections by all EU members and US show me one
of these great effort have Turkish government done?

I strongly believe that we must keep the communication and dialogue
open between people like your self and Armenian Diaspora like my self
and others however; we cannot do it by just throwing dirt back and
fort in to each other face and mixing one issue with other you are
making this is though it is a Franco Turkish issue… Any dialog and
or discussion must lead to some where…

One thing I can assure you as an individual Armenian in Diaspora this
issue will never go away whether present Turkish government or future
government they have to deal with it you just cannot go on boycotting
other countries.

I look foreword one day meeting you face to face and hopes your next
articles will be more toward bringing these two people together then
dividing them it start with good people like your self who has great
tools to achieve it…

Have a nice day…."

Wally Sarkeesian The US

TURNOUT IN NAGORNO KARABAKH CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM EXCEEDS 80%

Interfax, Russia
Dec 10 2006

STEPANAKERT. Dec 10 (Interfax) – The constitutional referendum in
the breakaway republic of Nagorno Karabakh ended on Sunday.

Early reports say the turnout was 83.7% of the 90,000 or so registered
voters, the republic’s election commission said.

A commission spokesman added that tentative results will be announced
on Monday.

Meanwhile, a group of European observers noted that the referendum
had been conducted correctly.

"We have not complaints to make," one of them told the press.

Luciano Ardesi, an observer from Italy and head of the International
League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples, said the referendum
observed all voting standards.

"What the people of Nagorno Karabakh did today is quite legitimate.

The international community must recognize the right of the people of
Nagorno Karabakh to either establish its own state or join Armenia,"
he said.

AZERBAIJAN’S REBEL REGION VOTES ON CONSTITUTION

EuroNews.net, France
Dec 10 2006

It is a controversial ballot in a bitterly-disputed territory.

Azerbaijan’s breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region has been voting on a
proposed constitution. It comes 15 years to the day since a referendum
in which it declared independence.

But, for the international community, it is not a sovereign state.

Nagorno-Karabakh officially remains part of Azerbaijan. This, is
despite the fact that it has been controlled by Armenian separatists
since armed conflict erupted in the early 1990s.

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The fighting was the bloodiest of the separatist wars that broke out
when the Soviet Union disintegrated. Some 35,000 people died. A fragile
ceasefire has been in force for over a decade. But the conflict is
still unresolved and exchanges of gunfire continue.

PROVOCATIVE REFERENDUM IN KARABAGH
By Faruk Akkan, Cihan News Agency, Moscow

Zaman Online, Turkey
Dec 10 2006

The Nagorno Karabagh region, the separatist Azerbaijani territory
under Armenian occupation, held an independence referendum Sunday.

The referendum can be compared to those in Moldova’s Transdinyester
and Georgia’s South Ossetia regions.

Azeri foreign minister Elmar Mehmedyarov called the referendum a
disappointing move for the attempts to maintain peace in the region.

The minister warned that any referendum held prior to the return of
the Azeri population removed from the region since the occupation
would not be fair and legitimate.

Pro-Western GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova) countries
criticized the Karabagh referendum. The jointly issued statement
raised concerns that the referendum would deteriorate the overall
situation in the region.

Recalling that the referendum had no legal basis, the statement
further noted that it would constitute a beach under Azerbaijan’s
constitution and international law.

After a meeting in Minsk, Azeri and Armenian leaders had announced
their optimism about peace. This referendum held at a time when
prospects for a workable peace were most likely since the truce accord
of 1994 raises serious concerns.

The Nagorno Karabagh region declared de facto independence from
Azerbaijan after the dissolution of Soviet bloc in 1990. With its own
army, flag, and government, the region acts like and independent state.

The international community recognizes the region as part of
Azerbaijan. Russia has often threatened that if regions seeking
independence through referendums were not recognized by the United
Nations, it would veto Kosovo’s attempt to declare independence in
the U.N. Security Council.

Roughly 140,000 Armenian residents in Karabagh depend on financial
aid of the Armenian diaspora in Russia and Western countries.

No significant progress has been in the region since the truce.

People have trouble meeting fundamental needs, such as heating,
shelter and food.

The armed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan erupted in the late
1980s. While more than 35,000 died in the fighting, nearly 1,000,000
Azeri had to migrate from the region. The refugees are trying to
survive in camps under dire conditions and are looking forward to
return to their homes.

ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES DETAIN HEAD OF PUBLIC ORGANIZATION ON COUP CHARGES

International Herald Tribune, France
The Associated Press
Dec 10 2006

YEREVAN, Armenia: Armenian authorities on Sunday detained the head of
a public organization accused of plotting a coup attempt, officials
and activists said.

Zhirair Sefilian, the citizen of Lebanon who heads For Protection of
Liberated Territories organization, is facing deportation on charges
of plotting to overthrow the government, said Armen Agaian, a leading
member of Sefilian’s group. Agaian rejected the charges.

An official at the Armenian National Security Service, who spoke on
condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the
media, confirmed Sefilian’s arrest but refused to elaborate on the
charges against him.

Sefilian is a veteran of the 1988-94 war in the disputed enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh, which ended when Armenia-backed separatists drove
out Azerbaijan’s government forces.

BBC: REFERENDUM IN NAGORNY KARABAKH WAS RECOGNIZED FOR VALID

Focus News, Bulgaria
Dec 10 2006

Stepanakert. The Referendum for constitution in the non-recognized
republic of Nagorny Karabakh was declared for valid, BBC announced.

44.62% of all voted cast their ballots till 14:00 local time, the
Central Elections Commission of the republic announced. In the draft
Constitution that is voted on the referendum Nagorny Karabakh is
defined as sovereign democratic republic.

Many journalists and international observers are monitoring for
the pace of the referendum. Azerbaijani authorities consider the
referendum void.

NAGORNO-KARABAKH VOTES ON CHARTER
By Matthew Collin

BBC News, UK
Dec 10 2006

People in the former Soviet territory of Nagorno-Karabakh are voting
in a referendum on a proposed constitution.

Officials hope it will increase the disputed territory’s chances of
being recognised as an independent country.

Up to 30,000 people died in a war between Azerbaijan and Armenia in
the early 1990s which left the territory under ethnic Armenian control.

Although it has declared independence, it is still internationally
recognised as being part of Azerbaijan.

About 90,000 people are eligible to vote in this controversial
referendum, and a large Yes vote is expected.

The constitution would declare the small mountainous enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh to be a sovereign, democratic republic.

Karen Ohanjanyan, who works for a civil rights campaign group in
Nagorno-Karabakh, told the BBC that many people voting there saw this
as a historic day which they thought would take the territory further
towards independence.

"People believe that through this referendum, through adopting the
constitution which will become the main law of our life, changes will
come soon," he said.

Key oil pipeline

Armenia supports the separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh, saying they
have the right to self-determination.

But the government of Azerbaijan says the referendum is being held
under an illegal military occupation of Azeri territory.

The war drove more than a million people from their homes, and there
has been no peace agreement since the ceasefire 12 years ago.

Azerbaijan says it is prepared to offer Nagorno-Karabakh significant
autonomy, but not independence. It also wants Azeris who fled during
the war to be allowed to return home.

Concerns have been raised that any renewed violence could affect
a major oil pipeline which passes close to the ceasefire line in
Nagorno-Karabakh, and supplies oil to Western markets.

One Armenian political analyst suggested that only lasting peace in
the region could ensure energy security for Europe.

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VIVA CANADA

Ottawa Citizen, Canada
Dec 10 2006

Internet radio service gives immigrants the lowdown on what it’s like
to move here

It’s called Viva but Canada 101 might be a better description.

Radio Canada International’s newly launched Internet radio service
for new and prospective immigrants has already produced revelations
like a Viva street survey in Senegal last week when a reporter asked
people what they knew about Canada.

The most popular answers? Cold weather, nice people, Celine Dion.

VIVA is an interactive complement to Radio Canada International’s
conventional international radio service, which has been telling
the world of all things Canadian since 1945, and its multilingual
satellite radio service launched last December on SIRIUS.

RCI broadcasts in French, English, Arabic, Mandarin, Spanish,
Portuguese, Russian and Ukrainian. The SIRIUS channel provides the
first venue for RCI to reach a domestic audience.

"We needed to be more relevant," said RCI program director Roger
Tetrault. "Forty per cent of immigrants to this country speak neither
French nor English and we felt these people need a place where they
can find out about Canada and reach out to other communities. Because
we already broadcast in eight languages, it was a natural thing for
us to do."

New immigrants are more Internet savvy than many established Canadians,
added Mr. Tetrault.

"About 85 per cent of them are connected with high-speed Internet,"
he said. "They use the web to keep in touch with their families in
other countries. Viva is a way of supporting them."

Recent critics of Canada’s domestic multiculturalism policy have
complained that little is being done to educate prospective immigrants
in the ways of Canada and some of the money spent on multiculturalism
would be better spent on orientation programs before immigrants leave
their home countries to come here.

"Dancing and singing is OK, but it doesn’t fill my stomach and feed
my family," former Liberal MP Sarkis Assadorian told the Citizen last
year during an interview for a series of articles about citizenship.

Mr. Assadorian, born in Syria to an Armenian family, said the
multiculturalism program was valuable during the flood of immigration
in the 1960s and 1970s, but more pressing today is the integration
of immigrants into Canadian society.

"Our offices overseas don’t do a good job of telling people what
they’re getting into. There should be programs before immigrants
leave telling people what to expect and offering language training.

We should have a department in government to help integrate people
so they will be productive."

Through streaming audio, podcasts and — by early next year — video,
Viva is providing some of that orientation.

Programming, presented by eight hosts broadcasting in Viva’s eight
languages, includes tips on what to expect in Canada and how to
fit into Canadian society, as well as myriad shows about arts and
entertainment.

Listeners can also contribute to discussion boards where they are
encouraged to share their experiences as new immigrants — discussions
that can be read by anyone in the world with access to a computer.

It’s early days yet but Mr. Tetrault said questions to the website from
prospective immigrants or the merely curious have already started,
with people typically asking about the weather, religions, laws,
customs, social issues, sports and politics.

"They ask questions about everything," he said.

Early indications suggest that Viva may also become a two-way street.

Mayors of two small towns — Gladstone, Man., and Williams Lake
("Stampede Capital of B.C.") — have already been on shows extolling
the virtues of their communities in an effort to attract prospective
newcomers.

Montreal-based RCI has 80 employees and operates on a $15-million
annual budget within the CBC. It has co-production partnerships with
400 stations across the world — the bulk in Latin America and China
— along with its own 24/7 service. Its audience, while impossible to
measure accurately, is certainly in the tens of millions, according
to RCI.

Audience size, relatively easy to measure on websites, will be
available for Viva before the end of the year. Mr. Tetrault is
optimistic.

Viva prides itself on broadcasting the unvarnished truth about
Canada but, as yet, there is apparently no decision on whether to
risk deterring prospective immigrants by revealing that Celine Dion
has moved to Las Vegas.

A Sampling of Shows

Here are some program summaries of Viva’s shows at

Ask Nick: "Nick" Naeem Noorani answers typical immigration-related
questions, including queries to help prospective immigrants prepare
for their arrival to Canada.

Model School: We’ll visit a school in Calgary that is taking a
different approach to teaching immigrant children English.

On the Job: When it comes to getting a job, it’s all down to the
interview. Advice on how to find work.

Health: Dr. Nayeema Siddiq of Toronto discusses health issues as
they relate to new immigrants. We’re beginning to feel the chill of
winter and that means the flu season is on its way. "Should I get a
flu shot? Should I immunize my children?"

Friday Food Discovery: Every week a different restaurant or ethnic
food outlet brings stories and recipes from around the world.

Discussion Panel: Canada’s big cities draw most immigrants. Now towns
and rural communities are trying to compete. But how do you attract
people to these often remote and underdeveloped areas?

Credential Assessment: These days, the more educated you are,
the better your chance of getting into Canada as an immigrant. But
whether that education will help you get a job when you get here
depends on whether an employer can understand in Canadian terms what
your education is worth. For that, very often a Canadian assessment
of credentials is necessary.

Photographing Immigration: Indefinite detention, secret evidence and
deportation to countries that routinely use torture. An exploration
of the darker side of Canadian immigration system.

Regional Column: Life in the Maritimes is often a world apart from
what newcomers have experienced in their home country. Still, an
increasing number of people are choosing Canada’s Atlantic coast to
start afresh, away from refugee camps and in search of better economic
opportunities. The adventure — if mostly rewarding in the long run —
is often emotionally draining for these new immigrants.

Hockey Atlas: There are two things that really define us as
Canadians. First, we spend endless amounts of time discussing what
a Canadian is. And second is hockey. We love to play hockey and we
love to talk about it. Hockey historian Stephen Cole gives a primer.