Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 29 2006
Samad Seyidov: `Information on existence of secret prisons in
Azerbaijan is absurd’
[ 29 Apr. 2006 17:08 ]
`Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) will discuss not
only results of May elections, but also entire November elections in
June session. This discussion is of importance and necessity to US,’
head Azerbaijani delegation to PACE Samad Seyidov told journalists
(APA).
Mr. Seyidov said that during June session it is also necessary to
organize gathering of Azerbaijani and Armenian members of PACE
sub-commission on Nagorno Garabagh.
`We should convince them that what Azerbaijan’s stance is and how our
stance is supported by international organizations’.
Mr. Seyidov also touched on possibility of amnesty act before June
session.
`We are dealing with all problems concerning human rights. As for
concrete steps, we can consider it’.
Seyidov said that information that there are secret prisons in
Azerbaijan is groundless.
`We have referred the report on this issue to Council of Europe.
Information on existence of secret prisons in Azerbaijan is absurd’.
/APA/

The New Anatolian, Turkey
April 29 2006
Armenian lobby blasts Bush over refusal to say ‘genocide’

The Armenian diaspora in the U.S. is criticizing President W. Bush
for not using the term “genocide” during his speech Monday to
commemorate the controversial events of 1915.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) accused Bush of not
keeping his promises to Armenians on April 24, the date they claim as
the commemoration of the genocide claims, in a written statement
Thursday.
“Despite the request of more than 200 U.S. Congress members for Bush
to morally clarify the issue through his statement on April 24, the
president didn’t keep his promise and declined to define the event as
the Armenian ‘genocide’,” ANCA said.
The Armenian Assembly of America (AAA), another prominent Armenian
association in the U.S., also criticized his statements, saying,
“We’re deeply disappointed because the act which aimed at
annihilating Armenians wasn’t described as ‘genocide.'”
More than 20 Congress members participated in a ceremony to
commemorate the Armenian claims of genocide held at the Congress on
Thursday and the participants accused Turkey of “denial.”
During his annual speech to mark April 24, following both his own
practice and that of past presidents, Bush didn’t use the term
“genocide,” but said instead, “Today we’re remembering one of the
horrible tragedies of the 20th century.” Describing the controversial
events as a “tragedy” for all humanity and one “that we and the world
must never forget,” Bush said, “We mourn this terrible chapter in
history and recognize that it remains a source of pain for people in
Armenia and for all those who believe in freedom, tolerance, and the
dignity and value of every human life. It’s a credit to the human
spirit and the generations of Armenians who live in Armenia, the U.S.
and around the globe that they’ve overcome this suffering and proudly
preserved their centuries-old culture, traditions, and religion.”
Bush also called on Turks and Armenians to forge a dialogue in order
to normalize their relations.
The Armenian diaspora accuses the Ottoman Empire of deliberately
massacring up to 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1919. Turkey
stresses that these figures are inflated and says that far fewer
Armenians died, due to civil unrest under the conditions of World War
I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey also claims that
during the ethnic conflict, thousands of Turks were also killed by
Armenian militants.
Ankara and Yerevan are at odds over the Armenian claims of genocide.
To break the deadlock, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
last year suggested the establishment of a committee of Turkish and
Armenian historians to study the claims, in a letter sent to Armenian
President Robert Kocharian. But Kocharian refused Erdogan’s proposal,
saying that the two countries must first establish diplomatic
relations and that committees could be formed only within the process
of normalization of relations.

Assyrian International News Agency
April 29 2006
Threats Force Cancellation of Assyrian Genocide Conference in Holland
(AINA) — A conference on the 1915-1918 Turkish genocide of
Assyrians, Greeks and Armenians was cancelled because of threats
received by the speakers. The conference, scheduled for April 27, was
organized by Foundation Assyria Netherlands and the Jewish St.
Synagogue in the city of Enschede.
In the last 10 days numerous anonymous threats were received by the
conference. Mr. Z. Alsan, a Turkish national, was to speak on why
Turkey denied the Genocide. Dr. H. Hirschfeld, from the Centrum for
Information en Documentation Israel, was to speak on why the Jewish
genocide has been recognized. Prof. Johannes Houwink ten Cate, of the
university in Amsterdam, was to speak on the nature and recognition
of genocide. Dr. M. Beth Arsan, an Assyrian from Holland, was to
speak on why the Assyrians want recognition of the genocide.
Citing the threats, the organizers cancelled the conference after all
four speakers withdrew their participation. Mr. Aslan received the
most threats. He has spoken on the genocide on previous occasions,
but this time the threats were so numerous and intense he was forced
to cancel his appearance. Some of the threats came directly from
Turkey.
The conference was largely financed by the Provincial Parliament
Overijssel, which desired to stimulate the debate between Assyrians
and Turks on this issue.

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 29 2006
Abbas Abbasov: `Tension in Armenia-Azerbaijan talks compels
strengthening of our strategical positions’
[ 29 Apr. 2006 14:19 ]
Kazakhstan prime minister, Danial Akhmetov will also take part in the
meeting of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) to be held on May
5 in Azerbaijan. According to first deputy prime minister of
Azerbaijan, Abbas Abbasov, within the frame of the visit the guest is
expected to meet with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev and Prime
Minister Arthur Rasizadeh, as well as will participate in cornerstone
laying ceremony of grain terminal of Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan joint
venture. (APA)
Abbas Abbasov giving comment on the issues of importing Kazakhstan
grain to Azerbaijan being met with dissatisfaction by local
entrepreneurs, he said this project is implemented aimed at
regulating the inner market: `Construction of grain terminal will be
enough to Azerbaijan. We are a country living in war condition, it is
15 years that 20% of Azerbaijani lands are under occupation, and
talks’ being in tension in this direction compels us to strengthen
our positions. The government is concerned in provision of grain
resources in Azerbaijan.’
It should be noted that, today next meeting of inter-governments
committee on Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan economic cooperation was held in
Baku. Issue of paying Azerbaijani debt to Kazakhstan has also been
discussed in the meeting of the committee. According to Mr.Abbasov,
establishing of working group has been decided to investigate this
issue. `The date of the debt has already passed 13-14 years, and
financial and bank organizations of both countries should work on
this issue seriously. All documents being prepared should be
submitted to both countries’ co-chairs.’/APA/

RIA Novosti, Russia
April 29 2006
Armenia’s foreign trade turnover in 1Q06 hits $606.4 mln, up 7%
13:20 | 29/ 04/ 2006

YEREVAN, April 29 (RIA Novosti, Gamlet Matevosyan) – Armenia’s
foreign trade turnover in January-March 2006 was at $606.4 million,
up 7% on 2005, the National Statistics Service said Saturday.
Exports were worth $184.4 mln and imports $422 mln.
Armenia’s foreign trade deficit in January-March 2006 was $237.6 mln.
Germany accounted for the largest share of Armenian exports (18.3%),
followed by the Netherlands (15.5%), Belgium (13.1%), Russia (10.3%),
Israel (9%), Georgia (6.5%), and the United States (6.47%).
Most of Armenia’s imports came from Russia (13.2%), followed by
Ukraine (9.7%) Turkmenistan (7.8%), Germany (6.9%), Belgium (6.5%),
Israel (5.7%), and the United States (4.9%).

AsiaNews.it, Italy
April 29 2006
Humanitarian, exposition of human rights violations, starts today

Asia will also come under the spotlight in the nine-day event in
Valmontone, near Rome, with a focus on Cambodia (encounter with
Philip Short, the author of the books Pol Pot and Mao), China
(encounter with Fr Bernardo Cervellera, director of AsiaNews and
author of the book Missione China (Mission China), Tibet (encounter
with Ugo Papi, president of the association Friends of Tibet and
Marialaura Di Mattia Polichetti, Indo-Tibetologist).

Rome (AsiaNews) – Violated human rights will be the major theme of
`Humanitarian’, a nine-day event that will tackle genocides, women’s
and children’s rights, torture and the death penalty, arms
trafficking, wars, hunger and poverty, the struggle against AIDS and
poetry.
The manifestation will be held in Valmontone – in the province of
Rome – from today, 29 April until Sunday 7 May. It includes times of
research and reflection interspersed with theatre, music, cinema and
dance. Throughout the event, documentaries, videos, photo exhibitions
and artistic shows will be featured.
Many governmental and non-governmental organizations that safeguard
human rights in Italy and the rest of the world will take part in all
stages of the event – elaboration of the programme, interventions,
exhibitions, and video materials. Some of the organizations are:
ActionAid International, Amnesty International – Italian section,
Italian Refugee Council, the inter-ministerial committee for human
rights, the Italian Red Cross, Doctors without Borders, Hands off
Cain, Save the Children Italy, Terre des hommes Italy, Unicef Italy,
and the International Voluntary Association for Development.
The event will be opened on Saturday by Aldo Forbice, creator and
director of Humanitarian and by Giovanni Conso, chairman of the
honorary committee. The chairpersons and directors of organizations
taking part in Humanitarian will be present, together with Italian
and European MPs.
The opening will be followed by a concert of Grazia Di Michele.
Sunday will focus on genocides of today and yesterday: there will be
testimonies, film clips and commentaries about the Armenian genocide,
the Shoah, the gulag, Chechnya, Rwanda and Darfur. Space will be
allotted to Asia, with a focus on Cambodia (encounter with Philip
Short, the author of the books Pol Pot and Mao); China (encounter
with Fr Bernardo Cervellera, director of AsiaNews and author of the
book Missione China – Mission China); Tibet (encounter with Ugo Papi,
president of the association Friends of Tibet and Marialaura Di
Mattia Polichetti, Indo-Tibetologist); Iran, with testimonies of ex
political prisoners, and Iranian dissidents.
>From Monday onwards, it will be time for shows, debates and
exhibitions, like `A world of rights’ by Amnesty International that
aims to be a key to the theme of the interdependence of all human
tights, revealing links between civil and political rights on the one
hand and economic and social rights on the other. The initiative will
analyze current problems like fundamental rights, the impact of
economic choices on the world of nature and human societies, the
right to peace and how this is threatened by economic interests, the
arms trade, identity and self-determination of peoples.

Zaman, Turkey
April 29 2006
Bush Guarantees Aliyev Peaceful Iranian Solution
By Foreign News Desk, Istanbul
Published: Saturday, April 29, 2006
zaman.com
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliev, who paid a critical visit to
Washington at a time when the nuclear row still continues, met US
President George W. Bush yesterday.
Regional security, the Upper Karabag (Karabagh) under Armenian
occupation, energy issues, and the Iranian crisis were handled in the
talk that took place at the White House.
Bush guaranteed Aliyev the solving of the Iranian problem in
diplomatic and peaceful ways, as Aliyev said Azerbaijan will not join
a possible strike against Iran.
Bush appreciates Baku’s troop contribution in Iraq; stressing the
importance that US ally Azerbaijan should remain fully briefed on
developments in the region.
Azeris are grateful for the United States’ undertaking a leadership
role to support energy security in the region, said Aliyev. “I am
sure our strategic relationships will be reinforced in the future.”
According to Aliyev, President Bush and he mainly discussed the
Armenian occupation in the Upper Karabag (Karabagh) in their talks.

TREND Info, Azerbaijan
April 29 2006
PACE reporter on disappeared persons in Armenia, Azerbaijan and
Georgia arrives in June

Source: Trend
Author: R. Abdullayev

29.04.2006

PACE reporter on disappeared persons in Armenia, Azerbaijan and
Georgia, Leo Platvoet arrives to Azerbaijan in June to Azerbaijan,
Platvoet told at the press-conference in Baku on April 28, Trend
reports.
«My visit will be a part of PACE report preparation on situation in
South Caucasus, issues of displaced persons will be discussed in its
frames,’ Platvoet said.
Platvoet reminded about his visit to the head of office of the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva, where he
discussed the report with ICRC leadership.
`I will visit the region to gather information which will be later
used in my report,’ Platvoet said.

Globe and Mail, Canada
April 29 2006
‘Like coming to my house’
At a tiny Beaches restaurant, hospitality, Armenian-style, knows no
bounds
IAN HARVEY
Special to The Globe and Mail
It’s Saturday night in the Beaches and Raffi Asparian is in full
stride.
“Here,” he says to a couple seated in his tiny Queen Street East
storefront restaurant, Arax, which is named after the Armenian river.
“Try this. It’s good.”
He offers one of the diners a morsel of sausage from the plate he’s
carrying, then sweeps off to set the plate down at another table in
front of the guest who had ordered it.
“You need more from the bar. You help yourself. I’m busy,” he
suggests to another thirsty customer.
It’s Mr. Asparian’s way. He’s just as likely to pull up a chair and
join you as he is to help himself to a glass of wine from your table
or extend an invitation to dance — all the while maintaining a
staccato stream of cordial conversation about life, love and
business. And that’s just during his evening shift. Fired with
restless energy, the gregarious restaurateur also owns and runs Jewel
on the Beach, a jewellery store across the street, where he begins
his workday at noon, closing up at 5 p.m. to open the restaurant.
All of this he’s been doing single-handedly, from running the
jewellery business to greeting, cooking and serving the
Mediterranean-influenced food at his 26-seat eatery.
But after years of juggling two jobs, that crazy Armenian guy, as
he’s more familiarly known in the neighbourhood, is finally taking a
break. Next month, he’ll turn the jewellery store over to son Jacob,
22. Which will leave Mr. Asparian free to finally enjoy a few
afternoons off.
“I don’t want my kids to work in the [restaurant] business,” he says.
“It’s too hard. It takes you away from your family.
“I want them to have a normal life.”
Still, it’s clear to most customers that Mr. Asparian, a fixture on
the strip for 14 years, enjoys the restaurant business. And the
lifestyle appears to suit him.
While he posts official hours for the restaurant, he often decides
when he has had enough for the night, and sometimes leaves his diners
to close up.
“He’s actually slowed down, believe it or not,” notes Charles
Farrugia, president of Datacom and a regular from the days when Mr.
Asparian’s family ran a restaurant at Avenue Road and Eglinton.
“[Arax] is not really a restaurant as much as a tourist attraction. I
love to bring people there. My parents, even, they love him.
“He has this incredible recollection and treats people like he’s
known them all his life. He loves to interact.”
“I survive because of my customers,” says Mr. Asparian, who is 52.
“They keep me in business. When they eat at my restaurant, it’s like
coming to my house.”
Whether at the store or the restaurant, he greets customers as if he
knows them, and banters brusquely, in the way old friends josh and
chide each other.
“I thought he was drunk or crazy,” says Margaret Czaja, recalling how
she met him 12 years ago when she dropped by for drinks after
finishing her shift at a Polish restaurant. “He sat down, grabbed my
wine and drank it. Then he brings another round for the table, and
the next day he sent flowers.”
It was the start of what turned out to be a long-term friendship.
Armenian by way of Lebanon, Mr. Asparian’s family opened the first
incarnation of Arax in 1975 when they arrived in Canada. The food was
much as it is today, a mix of Mediterranean, along with more Middle
Eastern Armenian dishes. Over the years, the business migrated to
different locations, some big, some smaller, at Bathurst and
Lawrence, Warden and Lawrence, and finally the Beaches.
“What a country Canada is,” he says, repeating the classic
immigrant’s mantra. “You work hard and you have success. Don’t tell
me you can’t get a job. I have two.”
But from now on, he’ll have just one, and regular diners at Arax are
glad he’s chosen to stick with the restaurant gig.
“If I did some of the things he’s done, I’d be in jail,” laughs Steve
Ferguson, who has followed Mr. Asparian across the city for 30 years.
“He gets away with it, though. It’s always a party and fun.”

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
April 29 2006
Armenia should look forward for future not keeping past memories-
PACE chairman

Source: Trend
Author: Z. Ibrahimli

29.04.2006

In order to normalize its relations with Turkey Armenia `should look
forward for future not keeping past memories,’ the chairman of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Rene Van der
Linden told in exclusive interview to MediaMax.
`The fact that both Armenia and Turkey are members of the Council of
Europe allows MPs from both countries to meet and hold joint
discussions. I think that if you live in the same region and you
don’t have any open relations in trade, economy, culture you are not
benefiting your own countries in the first place. You can not create
a stable future in the region if you are isolated from your
neighbors.’
`If you are looking for a solution you will find it. Though, you will
never find a 100% solution. Compromise is always a must as both
sides have their own arguments and if you will only stay on your own
principles and feelings it won` t be possible to find appropriate
peaceful solution for future,’ Van der Linden said.