WILL HAKOB HAKOBYAN MANAGE TO DIVIDE REPUBLICANS?
Lragir.am
22 May 06
Member of Parliament Hakob Hakobyan, People’s Deputy Group, has
taken up the job of nominating the leader of the Republican faction
Galust Sahakyan as speaker of the National Assembly. Galust Sahakyan
announced May 22 that if he is nominated, he will reject.
Galust Sahakyan said the Republican Party will nominate their
candidate, and on the upcoming days he will nominate our candidate
which is not going to be him. He also denies the possibility
of becoming deputy speaker. Despite Galust Sahakyan’s attitude,
Hakob Hakobyan is nevertheless likely to persuade the leader of the
Republican faction.
“Within the upcoming five days we’ll be trying to negotiate with
Galust Sahakyan, and to find out how many members of parliament would
endorse the candidacy. We’ll try to see the correlation and try to
nominate,” says Hakob Hakobyan, ignoring that his step is against
the intention of the Republican faction, which is likely to nominate
Tigran Torosyan. Hakob Hakobyan thinks Galust Sahakyan will rule
better the parliament, which is going through a transition.
“In other words, in private talks many people suggest nominating Galust
Sahakyan as speaker. But when there is a political decision, personal
decisions are set aside,” says Hakob Hakobyan from Echmiadzin. He
assures that the nomination of Galust Sahakyan is his personal
initiative, and the People’s Deputy Group has not discussed this issue.

FM: “WE HOPE THE ARMENIAN BILL WON’T BE PASSED BY THE FRENCH PARLIAMENT”
Star
Turkish Press
May 22 2006
Press Review
A bill to criminalize denial of the so-called Armenian genocide
submitted by France’s Socialist Party is set today to be debated and
put to a vote by the French Parliament. Speaking at a weekly press
conference, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Namik Tan yesterday said
that Turkey’s expectations were clear, adding, “We hope that the
Armenian bill, which could seriously damage deep-rooted historical
relations between Turkey and France, won’t be approved by the French
Parliament.” Tan expressed Turkey’s satisfaction that the bill
aiming to introduce prison terms and fines for those who question
the Armenian genocide claims is opposed both by circles in the French
government and among the public. While declining to publicly comment
on announcements over the controversial issue in order not to attract
criticism from the Armenian lobby, French President Jacques Chirac,
the French Prime Ministry and the French Foreign Ministry are silently
lobbying to convince ruling Union for Popular Movement (UMP) deputies
to vote against the bill.

ARMENIAN, GREEK CYPRIOT EFFORTS TO BLOCK MISSILE SALE TO TURKEY FAIL
Cumhuriyet
Turkish Press
May 22 2006
Press Review
Attempts by four US congressmen close to the Armenian and Greek
Cypriot lobbies to prevent the US selling air-to-ground SLAM-ER
missile systems have ended in failure. Pentagon officials said that
the congressmen’s objections weren’t enough to block the sales of
the missile systems. The Pentagon made an announcement to Congress
on April 28 about selling 50 AGM-84K air-to-ground SLAM-ER missile
systems to Turkey for the use of Turkish Air Forces. The planned sale
of the project is worth up to $162 million.
From: Baghdasarian

FRENCH PARLIAMENT ENDS SESSION ON BILL CRIMINALIZING DENIAL OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WITHOUT VOTING
Anatolian Times, Turkey
May 22 2006
PARIS – French parliament ended today’s session on a draft law which
proposes “any denial of Armenian genocide to be considered a crime”
without bringing it to voting.
French National Assembly President Jean-Louis Debre closed the session
without voting on the draft law. The issue will be taken up later.
French parliament sources said that a possible voting on the draft
law would not be held until new legislation term began in October.

TURKEY EXPECTS BILL NOT TO BE BROUGHT TO FRENCH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY NEXT LEGISLATION TERM
Anatolian Times, Turkey
May 22 2006
ANKARA – Turkey expects that French draft law which proposes that “any
denial of Armenian genocide shall be considered a crime” will not be
brought again to French National Assembly during next legislation term
and hopes that its proposal on establishment of a joint commission
to investigate the incidents in 1915 will be supported.
Turkish Foreign Ministry released on Thursday a statement after French
National Assembly ended its session on the mentioned draft law without
bringing it to voting today.
The statement recalled that draft law caused several discussions
in France, noting that prominent French historians reacted to the
draft law in principle, so did French Foreign Minister (Philippe
Douste-Blazy) during discussions over the bill at French National
Assembly.
“Turkey expects that the international community including France will
support the proposal it made to Armenia last year regarding creation
of a joint commission comprised of Turkish and Armenian historians
to investigate historical facts regarding 1915 incidents in detail
and disclosure of the results of this research to the world public
opinion,” it added.

KOCAK SUBMITS DRAFT RESOLUTION ON GENOCIDE AGAINST ALGERIAN PEOPLE
Anatolian Times, Turkey
May 22 2006
ANKARA – Mahmut Kocak, a Justice & Development Party (AKP)
parliamentarian, has presented a draft law to Turkish Parliamentary
Speaker’s Office on Thursday on genocide against Algerian people.
The draft resolution proposes that the acts carried out by French
troops in Algeria shall be accepted as “genocide” and asks that May
8th shall be declared as “commemoration day of Algerian genocide”.
The draft law also proposes that any denial of “this genocide” shall
be considered as a crime.
The draft law describes the inhumane acts which France did in several
Algerian cities on May 8th, 1945 as “genocide”.
The draft resolution asks for punishment of individuals who reject
“genocide” in Algeria, with imprisonment terms and fine.
Kocak told a news conference that reciprocity principle was valid
in international relations, stating that the draft resolution was
prepared to “retaliate” French proposal.
He said Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika also had a request
in this direction.
Last week, Motherland Party (ANAVATAN) parliamentarian Ibrahim Ozdogan
prepared a draft law envisaging 3 years of imprisonment for individuals
who make claims of Armenian genocide.
The draft requests imprisonment terms up to three years for individuals
who allege (through article, picture, or cartoon) that Turks committed
genocide against Armenians.
French parliament ended Thursday’s session on a draft law which
proposes “any denial of Armenian genocide to be considered a crime”
without bringing it to voting.
French parliament sources said that a possible voting on the draft
law would not be held until new legislation term began in October.

ARMENIA: IPO PLANNED FOR ARMROSGAZPROM
Stratfor
May 22 2006
The Armenian-Russian energy company ArmRosgazprom is planning to hold
an initial public offering (IPO) in 2007-2008 in order to increase
resources for developing the company, ArmRosgazprom’s CEO Karen
Karapetian said May 22. ArmRosgazprom is owned 45 percent by the
Armenian government, 45 percent by Gazprom and 10 percent by Russian
private firm Itera. Karapetian said that Itera might sell its stake
in the company. Gazprom has stated that it is planning to increase
its shares in the company.

TURKEY CAN’T BULLY HISTORY
The Chronicle Herald, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
May 22 2006
1.html
WHY would you resettle hundreds of thousands of people in a desert,
without providing for their basic needs – unless you meant to murder
them?
How could up to 1.5 million people of a single nationality – or even
500,000, if one accepts the current Turkish government’s figures – lose
their lives simply due to “civil unrest,” as Turkey now tries to claim?
The answer, as historians from countries around the world have
documented – with evidence that is simply overwhelming – is that the
Ottoman governments ruling Turkey during and just after the First
World War set out to exterminate Armenians as a people.
The Armenian genocide – or Armenian Holocaust, as it’s also known
– became an international scandal when news of massacres and mass
starvations of Christian Armenians inflicted by Muslim Turks in the
tottering, war-ravaged Ottoman Empire first hit Western newsstands in
1915. That Turkey continues to deny the magnitude of the slaughter,
or the full complicity of the country’s former governments in the
mass killings, remains a scandal today.
More than denial, in fact. For Turkey actively, and shamefully,
continues to attack anyone who speaks the truth about what happened
to the Armenians more than nine decades ago. After Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement last month commemorating
a sombre anniversary, the beginning of the genocide in 1915, Turkey
recalled its ambassador to this country for consultations, and warned
that Canadian-Turkish relations could be seriously damaged. It did
the same to France, where lawmakers are set to pass a law making it a
crime – punishable by five years in prison or a fine of 45,000 euros –
to deny the existence of the Armenian genocide, similar to a current
law on the books there referring to the Nazi Holocaust of about six
million Jews during the Second World War.
Turkey has criminally prosecuted its own countrymen for saying the
genocide ever happened.
The Turks, however, cannot bully history. Dozens of countries –
including Canada and France – have officially recognized the Armenian
genocide. Those responsible were indicted by the international
community for crimes at the end of the war. Many were tried in absentia
and found guilty.
And although it is not a formal requirement, several EU officials
have stated that Turkey’s pending membership in the European Union
may depend upon that country finally acknowledging what most of the
world already knows to be true – the Armenian genocide, at the hands of
the Turks. Turkey’s continued defiance of history, and world opinion,
is a road leading nowhere but upon itself.
Mr. Harper did the right thing in acknowledging what historians note
was the 20th century’s first holocaust. Turkey’s butchering of the
Armenians – whose pre-war population of some two million people
was reportedly reduced by three-quarters – eventually led to the
international community’s decision to set up an independent Armenia,
which, to this day, faces a completely closed border along its Turkish
frontier. If Turkey wishes to move ahead in its relations with other
countries, it should acknowledge what is one of the darkest stains
in its history.

VLADIMIR KAZIMIROV: BACK DISCUSSIONS AND DEBATES, NOT DISGRACEFUL COMMENTS
Tatul Hakobyan
“Radiolur”
22.05.2006 17:25
May 20 the Pyotor Burdikin, Russian Charge d’Affair in Baku, was
called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan. Deputy
Foreign Minister Khalif Khalifov expressed his complaint over
“the latest intentional statements” of Vladimir Kazimirov, Former
Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group on the Karabakh conflict,
Head of the Foreign Relations Department of the Presidents Office
Novruz Mamedov said at a briefing today. He called attention to ”
Kazmirov’s statements about the Presidnet of Azerbaijan, which are
far from being diplomatic.” Particularly, the question refers to
Kazimirov’s statement that Aliev’s “military rhetoric distorts the
moral foundations of the society, exerts pressure over the psychology
of the young generation.” “Such statements about the leader of a
country are not permissible and exceed the limit of diplomatic ethics,”
Mamedov complains.
As it is known, May 17-19 the former Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE
Minsk Group Valdimir Kazimirov was in Yerevan to participate in the
scientific conference on “The dialogue of Civilizations” organized
by the World Armenian Congress.
Commenting upon the response from Baku, Vladimir Kazimirov said in his
interview to “Radiolur” correspondent, “The question has two faces:
first, since 2000 I have been a resigned diplomat and whatever I
say, I express my personal opinion, which has nothing to do with the
opinion of official Moscow.
Secondly, the reporter of “Panarmenian” Agency was not recording
the interview, but was working with a pencil. When the material was
issued, I asked to withdraw it from the website since the reporter
had understood many things incorrectly.”
Kazimirov refused to comment on the complaints of Baku. “It is a
question, which does not concern me and should be addreesed to Baku. I
back discussions and debates and I oppose making disgraceful comments,
This is all I can say.”

NATO SECRETARY GENERAL’S SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE TO ARRIVE IN ARMENIA
ArmRadio.am
22.05.2006 11:05
NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for South Caucasus and
Central Asia Robert Simmons will arrive today in Armenia. During the
two-day visit he is scheduled to meet RA President, Prime minister,
NA Vice-Chairman Tigran Torosyan, Deputy Foreign Minister Arman
Kirakosyan and other officials.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress