U.S. CONGRESSMEN ENCOURAGE NKR FOR INDEPENDENCE
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.09.2006 14:40 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ U.S. Congressmen Frank Pallone and Joe Knollenberg
congratulated the NKR President and people on the 15th anniversary
of Karabakh independence proclamation. The message says in part,
“Dear President Ghukasian, We congratulate the people and government
of Artsakh and you personally on the 15th anniversary of independence
of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. This historical date is an important
landmark of your struggle for freedom. September 2, 1991 the people
of Nagorno Karabakh declared their intention to build an independent
state. With this declaration the heroic people of Karabakh voiced
decision to live freely.
You asserted you right to live freely and successfully counteracted
the Azeri military aggression. Many brave sons and daughters of your
land died in the name of freedom in Artsakh. Unflinching belief in
the just cause, your persistency let you achieve greater victories
in restoring the economy destroyed by the war and forming a firm
basis for the further development and prosperity. During recent 15
years the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (Artsakh) proved its viability
and adherence to universal values of freedom, peace, democracy and
human rights protection.
We have always endorsed you in your struggle and go on supporting
you in your noble aspiration to achieve international recognition
of you independence. We assure you that we will contribute to the
strengthening of security and development of Nagorno Karabakh and we
are looking forward to the moment when the state flag of independent
Artsakh will be hoisted all over the globe as a symbol of realization
of your expectations.”

LUKASHENKO: BELARUSIAN PEOPLE FEEL WARMTH FOR ARMENIANS
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.09.2006 16:20 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Belarus is ready to develop political and economic
cooperation with Armenia, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said
today when receiving credentials from Armenian Ambassador to Belarus
Oleg Yesayan. The Belarusian President said that Armenia and Belarus
“enjoy really fraternal relations.” “Personally I and Belarusian
people feel warmth for Armenians,” he added. For his part, the new
chief of the Armenian diplomatic mission in Minsk noted the high
level of relations established between the two states.
Oleg Yesayan conveyed to personal greeting of Armenian President
Robert Kocharian to the Belarusian leader.
The Ambassador also said that his activities in Belarus will be
targeted at the development and strengthening of mutually beneficial
cooperation, reported BELTA.

ROMANIAN NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTER TO VISIT ARMENIA
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.09.2006 16:52 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ September 6 Romanian National Defense Minister
Teodor Atanasiuwill arrive in Armenia on a 3-day visit. As RA Defense
Minister’s Spokesman, Col. Seyran Shahsuvaryan told PanARMENIAN.Net,
during the visit the Romanian MOD head will meet RA President Robert
Kocharian, Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan, Minister of Defense
Serge Sargsyan and Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian. The
Romanian delegation will also attend Holy Echmiadzin, the depository
of ancient manuscripts of Matenadatan, the Armenian Genocide Museum
and lay a wreath to the Genocide victims.

NO NEW PROPOSALS ON KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.09.2006 17:01 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The precise date of meeting with Elmar Mammadyarov
has not been determined yet. It may take place either in London or in
Paris September 12-13, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said
in Yerevan. In his words, any meeting at this level should be targeted
at a result. “Presently the proposals of the OSCE Minsk Group sounded
in Vienna are lying on the bargaining table. There is nothing else,”
the RA FM said.
At the same time Vartan Oskanian underscored that recently the
Azeri media distort facts in such a way that one cannot treat them
seriously. “The latest example of the distortion of the words of
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. We do not pay attention to
Azerbaijan’s statements but this fact cannot be completely ignored,”
Oskanian underscored.
As for the Armenia-Turkey relations, the Armenian FM remarked that
Armenia’s position towards Turkey is unchangeable and was reiterated
by Armenian President Robert Kocharian and the RA Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.

SOME 2000 PEOPLE TO ARRIVE IN ARMENIA TO PARTICIPATE IN ARMENIA-DIASPORA THIRD FORUM
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.09.2006 17:16 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The participants of the Armenia-Diaspora Third Forum
will give an assessment to 15 years of Armenia’s independence and
elaborate a strategy of counteracting new challenges,” the Armenian
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said in Yerevan today. In his words,
some 2000 delegates representing the Armenian Diaspora will arrive
to take part in the forum. “We have announced that the reports of
the participants should maintain these two priority items. Presently
out nation is experiencing a very important period. It has formed
politically and the Diaspora wishes to make a contribution to the
development of the economy,” Oskanian said.
Noting the necessity of coordination of activities between Armenia
and the Armenian communities throughout the globe Vartan Oskanian said
that the World Armenian Congress (WAC) headed by Ara Abrahamyan works
in the interests of the Armenianhood. “The Diaspora is huge and its
unification is a hard work.
Thus the main goal of the WAC has not been achieved yet. Nevertheless
the Armenian government respects the WAC activities and Ara Abramanyan
was invited to the forum as a rapporteur,” he said.

JAVAKHK ISSUE TO BE DISCUSSED AT ARMENIA-DIASPORA FORUM
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.09.2006 17:26 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The discussion of the situation in
Samtskhe-Javakhetia at the Armenia-Diaspora forum is not ruled
out, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian stated in Yerevan
today. “The situation in this Armenian-populated region in not on the
agenda as a separate item but I suppose it will be discussed. As for
Yerevan’s official position, I reiterate that the issue of Javakhk
is Georgia’s internal issue, but Armenia being concerned over the
fate of our compatriots will not stand aside. This is a very delicate
matter and Armenia’s measures should be very cautious, balanced and
harmless for the Armenian-Georgian intergovernmental relations,”
Oskanian underscored.

ARMENIAN ACADEMICIANS PRESS FOR SOONEST ADOPTION OF LAW ON DUAL CITIZENSHIP
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.09.2006 17:49 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ If a unified coordinating body consisting of
representatives of Armenia and Diaspora is not formed at the
Armenia-Diaspora Third Forum, it will become an ordinary event,
Academician Karlen Dallakyan said today at a meeting in the RA National
Academy of Sciences. In his words, otherwise the Armenian nation will
not be able to counteract the challenges of the 21st century. Dallakyan
accused Armenian TV channels of narrowness of covering of the events of
the Diasporan life. “From the very beginning of the military operations
in Lebanon we were presented by the viewpoint of the editor-in-chief of
Azdak newspaper, which is a body of AFR Dashnaktsutyun,” he remarked.
For his part, Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies Nikolay
Ohanesyan emphasized that one of the major problems of out nation is
the existence of two altars of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC)
– in Holy Echmiadzin and in Antilas. “The holy altar should be one,
in Echmiadzin. The policy pursued by Catholicos Aram I leads to the
final split of the AAC,” he said. Ohanesyan also noted the necessity
of precise line of the government towards the Diaspora.
According to historian Stepan Stepanyan, at the international arena
the NKR issue should be discussed together with the Nakhichevan
issue. “Nakhichevan was also given to Azerbaijan in 1921. These
problems are bound,” he said.
The meeting participants also underscored that the law in dual
citizenship should be adopted as soon as possible.

PRO-TURKEY FORCES PRESS EURO PARLIAMENT TO RETREAT FROM ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ISSUE
Financial Mirror, Cyprus
Sept 4 2006
BRUSSELS – The European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs is
scheduled on Monday to consider a draft report on Turkey prepared by
Dutch MEP Camiel Eurlings (EPP). Over the past two months, pro-Turkish
forces with European institutions have sought to ignore or marginalize
more than 340 amendments, mostly critical of Turkey, that have been
offered to the measure.
The draft prepared by Eurling deals with the Armenian Genocide in a
vaguely worded paragraph that calls upon the Parliament to “takes
note of the proposal by Turkey to establish a bilateral committee
of experts in order to overcome the tragic experience of the past,
and the position of Armenia regarding that proposal” and “urges both
the Turkish government and the Armenian government to continue their
process of reconciliation leading to a mutually acceptable resolution.
“This formulation, which is patterned after the outright denial
position of the Turkish government, represents a retreat from the
Parliament’s traditional posture of calling on Turkey to properly
acknowledge this crime against humanity. This proposed dramatic shift
in position prompted a broad range of MEPs to offer amendments to
this measure,” said the European Armenian Federation.
With regard to Turkey’s blockade of Armenia, the draft report “urges
Turkey to take the necessary steps, without any preconditions, to
establish diplomatic and good neighbourly relations with Armenia
and to open the land border at an early date, in accordance with the
resolutions adopted by Parliament between 1987 and 2005.”
Rather than recognizing that the large number of amendments reflect
broad-based dissatisfaction with the draft’s pro-Turkey bias, the
Rapporteur and political party leaders chose to propose their own
set of proposed “compromise” changes, the Federation added.
These proposals largely ignore the vast majority of the amendments.
The managers of this process, in the place of allowing MEPs to weight
the merits of the amendments, have chosen instead to reduce these
concerns to a series of weak and basically ineffectual measures.
Collectively, the “compromise” proposals that have more in common
with Turkish government’s position than the standing policy of the
European Parliament.
“The draft and the changes being put forward by the Rapporteur don’t
represent a compromise, but rather a profound retreat from the European
Parliament’s principled position,” declared the Chairperson of the
European Armenian Federation, Hilda Tchoboian.
The European Armenian Federation encourages Members of the Committee on
Foreign Affairs to exercise their right to vote on the duly offered
amendments urging Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide as a
precondition for joining the European Union. The Federation also
calls upon MEPs to vote for amendments calling upon the Commission
to include in the Ankara Roadmap framework the necessity that Turkey
recognizes the Armenian Genocide and lifts its blockade of Armenia.
“On these vital issues, Members of the European Parliament understand
that the false compromises being put forward would both undermine the
EU’s values as well as its security interests. A retreat from principle
will not encourage progress by Turkey, but rather be interpreted as
a sign of weakness that will only embolden the Turkish leadership
in its implementation of ultra-nationalistic policies,” concluded
Hilda Tchoboian.

ARMENIA EXPO 2006 TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN SEPTEMBER 8-11
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.09.2006 18:19 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ ARMENIA EXPO 2006, the sixth universal regional
trade-industrial exhibition forum will be held in the Sports and
Concert Complex after K. Demirchyan September 8-11. As reported
by LOGOS EXPO Center, this is a unique event for the economy and
includes a number of events. Besides 6 exhibitions that will be held
simultaneously a Furniture Salon 2006 will be established.
This year the number of participants will increase with 15% (some
180 local and foreign industrial and commercial organizations and
associations); the exposition ground will be also extended with 10%
(1630 m2). The following exhibitions will function: Industrial Armenia
EXPO 2006, Story EXPO 2006, Food and Beverage 2006, Furniture Salon
2006, Trans EXPO 2006, Comp EXPO 2006 and Polygraph. Publishing.
Advertisement EXPO 2006.

SYRIAN MUFTI COMMEMORATED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.09.2006 19:07 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Sheikh Ahmed Badr-Eddine Hassun, who is on visit
to Holy Echmiadzin at the moment, has attended the Memorial to the
Armenian Genocide victims in Yerevan He wrote a note in the Honor
Book and commemorated the Genocide victims.
“If all the peoples followed their religion there would be no
pogroms. The Armenian people should overcome the pain, revive and
build Armenia with peace,” said the Syrian spiritual leader.