LATEST REVIEWS: SCREAMERS

LA City Beat, CA
Dec 7 2006

Heavy metal isn’t just mindless noise. Sometimes, maybe – but, in the
hands of the band System of a Down, it is a storm of sound and ideas,
a collision of wild intelligence and genuine rage. Nothing fuels that
rage more than the Armenian Genocide, a World War I-era atrocity
committed by Turkey that entailed the slaughter of one-and-a-half
million Armenians. It is a personal matter for the L.A.-based metal
quartet, all of whom are descended from genocide survivors. Screamers
is a primer for hard-rock fans on the first genocide of the last
century, arguing how denial that it took place has contributed to
other crimes against humanity in Darfur, Iraq, Bosnia, and elsewhere.

Director Carla Garapedian presents the crime through the eyes
of the band, which has used its notoriety and success (Grammys,
platinum albums, etc.) to educate the world about an atrocity that
remains unrecognized by the U.S. government. There are stirring
firsthand accounts, concert footage, and grainy historical images
of severed heads and hangings. In Washington, D.C., charismatic
singer Serj Tankian corners House Speaker Dennis Hastert beneath the
Capitol dome, but the Republican comes off as vaguely bumbling and
uninterested. Hastert hardly seems worth the trouble. But the mission
of one hard-rock group to correct the record on a piece of modern
history is a frequently moving, high-volume journey. (Steve Appleford)
(Mann Criterion 6, Mann Chinese 6)

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ARMENIA BLASTS GUAM CRITICISIM OF KARABAKH VOTE
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep
Dec 7 2006

Armenia condemned on Thursday Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova for
joining Azerbaijan in strongly criticizing Sunday’s referendum
in Nagorno-Karabakh on a constitution that declares the disputed
territory an independent state.

In a joint statement issued earlier this week, the foreign ministers
of the four ex-Soviet states making up the so-called GUAM grouping
expressed serious concern at the holding of the referendum, saying
that it will undermine international efforts to resolve the Karabakh
conflict. The vote can not be legitimate because it runs counter to
Azerbaijan’s constituion and international law, they charged.

Foreign Minister denounced the GUAM statement as "misguided." "Once
again, Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova are playing into the hands of
Azerbaijan by meddling into an issue which does not concern them,"
he said in written comments released by his office.

Oskanian said that the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has
built a "lawful, well-regulated internal governance system" and
therefore has a legitimate right for a basic law. He also insisted
that the vote will not roll back considerable progress made in recent
Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks.

"Just the opposite. At the core of the negotiations to reach a peaceful
resolution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is the right of the people
of Nagorno Karabakh for self-determination," argued Oskanian.

VETERAN GOVERNORS SACKED
By Ruben Meloyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep
Dec 7 2006

The longtime government-appointed governors of two Armenian regions
were dismissed and expected to be replaced by other loyalists of
Prime Minister Andranik Markarian’s Republican Party (HHK) on Thursday.

Albert Heroyan of the southern Armavir province and Henrik Kochinian of
Lori, northern Armenia were relieved of their duties during a weekly
cabinet session chaired by Markarian. A government statement on the
meeting gave no clear reasons for the move.

Heroyan and Kochinian have been known as staunch supporters of
President Robert Kocharian. Kochinian, who had served as transport
minister in the early 1990s, accompanied the Armenian leader during
his April 2001 peace talks with Azerbaijan’s then President Heydar
Aliev on the Florida island of Key West.

The two gubernatorial posts are controlled by the HHK in accordance
with a power-sharing agreement signed by Kocharian and his leading
political allies in June 2003. It is not clear if the HHK leaders and
Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian in particular were unhappy with the
work of Heroyan and Kochinian. Senior Republican lawmakers claimed
to have not been informed of their dismissal beforehand.

Contacted by RFE/RL, Heroyan claimed that he himself tendered his
resignation after deciding to retire. "There are no political reasons
behind this decision," he said. "I am not a member of any party,
and have not engaged and will not engage in politics."

Kochinian, for his part, declined comment.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA REMEMBERS 1988 QUAKE VICTIMS
By Satenik Vantsian in Gyumri

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep
Dec 7 2006

President Robert Kocharian led on Thursday low-key official
commemorations of the 18th anniversary of a powerful earthquake that
killed some 25,000 people and devastated much of northwestern Armenia.

The main official ceremony took place in the country’s second largest
city of Gyumri where thousands of people continue to huddle in
temporary shelters despite considerable reconstruction carried out
in recent years. Kocharian and local government officials observed
a minute of silence by a memorial to earthquake victims before an
open-air liturgy was served by representatives of the local diocese
of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Kocharian was confronted after the religious service by scores of
local women with a litany of grievances, most of them relating to
their wretched housing conditions. His bodyguards were at pains to
hold back the crowd.

"I have supported a disabled child for 18 years, it’s impossible to
continue like this," a middle-aged pleaded with Kocharian.

"Mr. Kocharian, please help us solve the problem of our hostel,"
screamed another woman who claimed to be facing eviction from a
ramshackle building that houses dozens of impoverished families.

Kocharian promised to address the complaints as he left the square
to inspect the new building of the Gyumri mayor’s office which is
currently under construction. He also pointed to the scale of mostly
Diaspora-funded construction work that has been carried out in the
town and the broader earthquake zone since the late 1990s.

According to the local authorities, at least 2,000 Gyumri families
still lack decent housing despite past government pledges to completely
rebuild the area by 2002. Unofficial estimates of the number of such
people are much higher.

The Armenian government did not finance construction of new homes in
the earthquake zone this year and is unlikely to do so in 2007. It
is due to spend instead 700 million drams ($1.9 million) on buying
new apartments for over 300 Gyumri families.

Kocharian discussed the matter at a two-hour meeting with senior
officials from the municipal and regional administrations. His planned
news conference was cancelled for unknown reasons. The Armenian leader
likewise avoided any contact with local reporters during his previous
December 7 visit to Gyumri.

HEAD OF PRESIDENT ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT: "REFERENDUM" IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH PREJUDICES PEACEFUL NEGOTIATIONS
Author: A. Ismayilova

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Dec 7 2006

The so-called "referendum" in Nagorno-Karabakh scheduled for December
10, 2006 prejudices the negotiations on the peaceful resolution of
the conflict in this region, and once again proves that the position
of the Armenian party is insincere, said Novruz Mammadov, Chief
of the External Relations Department of the Azerbaijan President
Administration, Trend reports.

According to Mr. Mammadov, it is a proof of the fact that Armenians
are playing a multisided game.

"Irrespective of the games they play, they can not win and gain
dividends. Already some countries and international organizations
have expressed their opinion towards this issue. The international
community will never acknowledge this show as a serious legal act",
said Mr. Mammadov.

FAMILY PROTESTS MEMBER’S KILLING WITH SELF-IMMOLATION
By Karine Kalantarian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep
Dec 7 2006

An elderly woman and her three grandsons were reportedly in a serious
condition on Thursday after setting themselves on fire in protest
against what they see as a government cover-up of the recent killing
of a family member.

Eyewitnesses said Gyulizar Avdalian, 68, and the three teenage boys
tried to burn themselves during a demonstration outside President
Robert Kocharian’s official residence that was staged by over three
dozen residents of their village of Zovuni in northeastern Armenia.

The protesters, most of them Yezidi Kurds, demanded a fresh criminal
investigation into the violent death of Avdalian’s son Kyaram.

The 42-year-old farmer was beaten to death on November 6 in still
uncertain circumstances. His relatives say he was attacked by several
men led by the ethnic Armenian mayor of the neighboring village of
Lchashen, who is said to have been locked in a bitter land dispute
with the Avdalian family.

However, law-enforcement authorities arrested and prosecuted another
man who the angry protesters say had nothing to do with the crime.

Two members of the extended Avdalian family were received by
Prosecutor-General Aghvan Hovsepian following the attempted
self-immolation. A spokeswoman for Hovsepian said he promised to
order prosecutors in Yerevan to take over the inquiry.

Still, the Office of the Prosecutor-General stood by the official
theory of the crime in a statement released later in the day. It said
the dispute broke out after Kyaram Avdalian grazed cattle on a land
belonging to a Lchashen family.

The dead man’s mother and children were hospitalized immediately
after the desperate action. "I’ve just visited them. Their condition
is critical," the leader of Armenia’s Yezidi community, Aziz Tamoyan,
told RFE/RL.

Tamoyan, who had earlier appealed to Kocharian and Hovsepian in
connection with the case, backed the family’s demands and warned that
failure to punish the "real perpetrators" of the crime would further
escalate the situation in Zovuni. He also said that the alleged
cover-up the result of government corruption and ethnic discrimination.

The Yezidis are Armenia’s largest ethnic minority, numbering between
30,000 and 50,000, most of them rural residents. There have been Yezidi
protests in Yerevan in the past against alleged land grabs carried
out by local government officials and wealthy farmers connected with
the latter.

"In general our relations with the Armenian people have always been
good," said Tamoyan. "We consider Armenia to be our homeland. But
there have always been some cases [of discrimination.]"

"People just don’t want to keep quiet anymore," he added. "That is
why four of them burned themselves."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NATO: ARMENIA SIGNS AGREEMENT ON EMERGENCY TRANSPORT

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation)

Dec 7 2006

Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian visited NATO Headquarters on
7 December to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on the Facilitation
of Vital Civil Cross Border Transport.

The Memorandum is a multilateral instrument aimed to improving the
speed and efficiency of bringing assistance to victims of humanitarian
crises and disasters on the territory of NATO and partner countries.

Armenia is the first country signing this Memorandum.

The agreement remains open for signature to all NATO member and
Partner countries. At the Autumn 2006 session of NATO’s Senior Civil
Emergency Planning Committee Plenary more countries declared their
readiness to sign it in the near future.

Foreign Minister Oskanian also met with NATO Secretary General Jaap
de Hoop Scheffer.

US CONGRESS BLOCKS LOAN FOR CAUCASUS RAILWAY PROJECT
By Cihan News Agency

Zaman, Turkey
Dec 7 2006

The US House of Representatives has approved a resolution to prevent
the US Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) from financing the construction
of a railway project which would connect Turkey with Georgia and
Azerbaijan.

Armenia, which is not included in the project, is said to be the
reason for the denial.

Joseph Crowley, Democrat congressman from New York, presented a
resolution barring Eximbank from financing the Caucasus railway
project.

Crowley, who is well known for his support of the Armenian lobby,
said that the project would not be passed because the 258-kilometer
railway bypasses Armenia.

"This is an illegal economic blockade towards an important country
in the Caucasian area", he stated.

The amendment was approved without opposition in the House of
Representatives, the lower house of the US Congress.

A statement from Crowley’s office said that the Senate would receive
a similar bill as well and the amendment was expected to become law
before the end of the month.

MENSUR AKGUN: ARMENIA IS BETTER THAN TURKEY FOR EU

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Dec 7 2006

Though Turkey has offered to open a port and an airport, it was
possible for Greeks to accept this offer. Because, according to their
view point, their recognition by Turkey side is more important than
opening the port and airports," the executive director of Turkey
economic and Social Studies Foundation, one of the main specialists
of Turkey in EU told the APA Turkey bureau.

He said that Greeks tries to rescue from the restriction of Annan
plan. Greeks consider that they will be able to make Turkey adopt
it in the period when EU membership process continues. Turkey is
fair to settle this problem in the frame of EU. But Greece part of
Cyprus insists to solve this problem in the frame of EU. " Mensur
Akgun also said that he does not believe that Turkey will step back
on Cyprus problem.

"The problem will be settled in the frame of UN. The problem will
continue if EU does not lift the isolation policy applied to Northern
Cyprus republic. I do not believe that Turkey will step back, though
EU delays some issues in the discussions with Turkey," he said.

Mensur Akgun stressed that Cyprus problem does not detain Turkey’s
EU membership.

"Turkey will not be the member of EU early than 10 years. That is
why EU can discuss the issues concerning Turkey’s membership," he said.

Saying that Karabakh and Cyprus conflicts are alike, Akgun stressed
that UN resolutions on both conflicts did not find its settlement.

"Security Council has several resolutions concerning Nagorno
Karabakh conflict. No-one, even EU does not put pressure on Armenia
for execution of the resolutions. It has two reasons. First, Armenia
is not a country willing to be member of EU, second, EU has special
sympathy to Armenia. No-one can deny that Armenia is better than us
for EU," he said.

U.S. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE JIM MACDOUGALL: SECTION 907 RESTRICTS US-AZERBAIJAN COOPERATION

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Dec 7 2006

Today, Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev received the
delegation headed by U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Jim
MacDougall, Defense Ministry press service told the APA.

In the meeting, Safar Abiyev noted that Azerbaijani-US cooperation
is developing according to the definite program. Touching upon
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict the minister said that this conflict is
great restriction for development of Azerbaijan-US and Azerbaijani-NATO
cooperation.

"We will not reconcile with Armenia because of occupation of our
territories. If the conflict is not solved peacefully, Azerbaijani
Armed Forces will liberate our territories," he said.

The minister said that section 907 to the Freedom Support Act restricts
Azerbaijani-US cooperation.

MacDougall agreed with his colleagues and said that it is true that
the articles of the section 907 restrict the partner sip of both
countries.