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03/21/2006
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1) ARF Condemns Lyon Demonstration Calls for Action from French Government
2) Armenian And Turkish Ambassadors to Italy Exchange Views on Armenian
Genocide
3) Turkish Army Refuses to Investigate Allegations against Top General
4) Aliyev Says Azeri Territorial Integrity Is Not Subject for Discussion
5) Armenian President Meets with Agriculture Minister to Discuss Bird Flu

1) ARF Condemns Lyon Demonstration Calls for Action from French Government

YEREVAN (Yerkir/PanArmenian.Net)–The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF)
Western Europe Central Committee condemned Tuesday the Turkish protest against
the construction of an Armenian genocide memorial in Lyon.
The ARF condemned the decision by the regional government of Rhone to
sanction
this demonstration of hate and denial even though they were informed in
advance
about its real goal and that the Turkish government had secretly
contributed to
this demonstration through the Turkish embassy in Paris and Turkish consulate
in Lyon.
The regional government was also aware of the contribution the Grey Wolves, a
fascist organization that threatens France and the French people.
The March 18 demonstration is one of the first instances of the Turkish
government’s decision to organize the Turkish communities in Europe. The
protests in Berlin were also organized with help from the Turkish government.
The Lyon demonstration was an example of Genocide denial, something
unacceptable in a country like France.
The prefect of Rhone, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, announced Monday that he will
prohibit all further gatherings of Turkish associations which may result in
denial of the Armenian genocide.
Lacroix said that he understood the anger of the French Armenians.
“But, from a legal point of view, we could not prohibit it. At present, we
have evidence and I will prohibit any other gathering of this type,” he
said at
a news conference.
Several Armenian organizations have decided to address Minister of the
Interior Nicolas Sarkozy so that this type of ashamed gathering “is not
held in
our country any more.”
“Mr. Sarkozy must take the necessary steps to complete the January 2001
law on
the recognition of the Armenian genocide by France,” said affirmed Martine
David, mayor of Saint-Priest (Rhone).
According to of the Coordination Council of the Armenian organizations of
France (CCAF), “the law on recognition of the Armenian genocide lacks an
article necessary for punishing those who, on our land, deny the Armenian
genocide.”
The ARF has also demanded that an investigation be launched to find the
organizers of the demonstration and to unveil the involvement of the Turkish
government in the demonstration, as well as to put an end to anti-Armenian
expression against French Armenians.

2) Armenian And Turkish Ambassadors to Italy Exchange Views on Armenian
Genocide

YEREVAN (Yerkir/PanArmenian.Net)–The Armenian and Turkish Ambassadors to
Italy, Ruben Shugaryan and Ugur Ziyal, discussed the Armenian genocide Monday
on Italian TV.
The five minute dialogue was broadcast on RAI Italian TV Channel.
Turkish Ambassador Ugur Ziyal initiated the discussion. He stated that the
Italian channel often features programming about the Armenian genocide.
He called these programs one-sided, because they only reflect the stance of
the Armenian party.
“We want Turkey’s stance to be presented as well,” Ziyal said.
He also noted that the Turkish party wrote to Armenian Ambassador Ruben
Shugaryan asking him to participate. Shugaryan agreed.

3) Turkish Army Refuses to Investigate Allegations against Top General

ANKARA (AP)–Turkey’s military rejected a prosecutor’s call to investigate a
top Turkish general for allegedly creating a secret force to fight Kurdish
rebels, saying the accusations against the military commander were politically
motivated.
Earlier this month, a prosecutor demanded that a military court investigate
whether head of land forces General Yasar Buyukanit set up a secret group to
fight autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels. Such a move could undermine the
country’s bid to join the EU.
The accusations raised fears of a new conflict between Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted government and the country’s secular military,
which has led three coups since 1960.
Buyukanit, who will become the military’s next chief of staff, is considered
more of a hardliner than the current chief of staff. Some newspapers and
politicians have called the prosecutor’s accusation an attempt by the
government to block Buyukanit from becoming the next chief of staff. Many
observers have speculated that Buyukanit would be more likely to clash with
the
Islamic-rooted governing party.
The military statement said the accusations against Buyukanit were “more
political than legal and aimed at harming the Turkish Armed Forces.” It said
there was no need for an investigation into the general.

4) Aliyev Says Azeri Territorial Integrity Is Not Subject for Discussion

BAKU (Armenpress)–Azeri President Ilham Aliyev stated again that the issue of
Azeri territorial integrity will not be up for discussion at the negotiations
held with Armenia over the Karabagh conflict regulation.
“Azerbaijani territorial integrity and autonomy are not subjects for
discussion at the negotiations,” said Aliyev in his speech during Nevruz
spring
holiday celebrations in Baku.
Aliyev also pointed out that the only way they will settle the Karabagh
conflict is based on the interests of Azerbaijan and international norms.

5) Armenian President Meets with Agriculture Minister to Discuss Bird Flu

YEREVAN (Armenpress/RFE/RL)–Armenian President Robert Kocharian conducted a
working meeting Tuesday with the minister of agriculture David Lokian and
discussed a set of measures to prevent the spread of the deadly strain of H5N1
bird flu to Armenia from neighboring countries.
The minister briefed the president on the latest results of a joint study
conducted by Armenian and US experts, who have not any cases of bird flu in
Armenia.
During the meeting the sides also discussed the creation of about 200 small
and medium-sized agriculture processing enterprises. President Kocharian said
it is necessary to support the processing enterprises by giving them
opportunity to get credits with low interest rate.
Authorities in Yerevan already have a plan of action against H5N1. It
envisions, among other things, instructions on how to cull poultry in cases of
emergency, training of officials in charge of veterinary security, and
purchase
of special laboratory equipment for quickly detecting the virus.
Two experts from Armenia’s State Veterinary Inspectorate have already
undergone relevant training at the FAO headquarters in Budapest and two others
will do so next month.
Among the countries that have confirmed bird flu cases are neighboring Turkey
and Azerbaijan. The latter detected two outbreaks of the virus among wild
birds
earlier this month. Similar cases are being reported across Europe on a
practically daily basis. Government officials and disease experts say the
risks
facing Armenia will grow considerably with the start early next month of the
spring migration of wild birds, the main carriers of H5N1. Armenia serves as a
transit point for them.
Baghian repeated the government’s pledge to form and send special teams of
epidemiologists to locations traditionally used by wild birds for nesting.
“Possible cases of bird deaths and other extraordinary phenomena would be
immediately reported to local veterinary services,” he said.
The official also sought to ease Armenian consumers’ lingering concerns about
eating chickens, eggs and poultry products saying that local poultry farms are
being regularly inspected by his agency. “Those products are sold with
appropriate safety certificates,” he said.
The government imposed a near complete ban on poultry imports on January 3
following the deaths of three children in a village in eastern Turkey located
less than 60 kilometers from the Armenian border. They died after reportedly
contracting the disease from domestic chickens.
The Armenian authorities have also heightened sanitary controls at the border
crossings and carried out a mass vaccination of fowl in villages close to the
Turkish border.

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COMPACT RESIDENCE OF NATIONAL MINORITIES IN GEORGIA NOT TERM FOR AUTONOMY

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.03.2006 00:01 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “The administrative-territorial division of
Georgia includes three autonomies: South Ossetia, Abkhazia and
Ajaria. We will not form more autonomies,” Georgian Ambassador to
Armenia Revaz Gachechiladze stated in Yerevan today. In his words,
the above-mentioned autonomies will have different status to be
determined later. “The compact residence of national minorities in
Georgia is not a term for formation of an Azeri or Armenian autonomy,
for example,” he said. At the same time he underscored that all the
Georgian citizens have equal rights and obligations. To remind, a
number of Armenian organizations of Javakhetia requested the Georgian
government for autonomy status.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

COMMODITY TURNOVER BETWEEN ARMENIA AND INDIA GREW 50% DURING RECENT YEARS

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.03.2006 01:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The visit of the business delegation led by RA
Honorary Consul in Bombay Harshad Mekhta proves the wish of the
Armenian and Indians parties to strengthen cooperation, RA Deputy
FM Armen Bayburdian stated opening the Armenian-Indian business
conference in Yerevan today. The conference was attended by 36
representatives of Armenian companies and departments and 18 Indian
entrepreneurs. For her part Indian Ambassador Rina Pandei noted
that during the recent years the commodity turnover between the
two states has grown with 50 per cent. In her words, the expansion
of the economic cooperation will be discussed at the sitting of the
Armenian-Indian Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Development
to be held in Yerevan this year. According to RA Deputy Minister of
Trade and Economic Development Tigran Davtian, the potential of the
Armenian-Indian trade and economic relations is great. In his words,
both counties entered the stage of sustainable and dynamic economic
development.

LYONS MAYOR FAILED TO FULFILL PROMISE

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.03.2006 01:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ March 18, when a wave of rallies shocked France
several thousands of Turks protested in Lyons against the erection of
the monument to the Armenian Genocide victims. They came across French
ralliers at the municipality. Turks attacked the French and the police
dispersed the crowd with tear-gas bombs. French and Turkish press
covered the incident widely. Hurriyet Turkish newspaper wrote that
“Armenians came to the rally to trouble Turks and three Armenians were
wounded” what later turned out as a lie. According to chairperson of
the Armenian Federation of Europe Hilda Tchoboian, the Mayor of Lyons
promised to prevent the action against the monument erection. “However
March 17 he announced that the rally was authorized despite the demands
of all the political circles of Lyons to prohibit it,” she said.

Hilda Tchoboian considers that the Mayor took the decision under
the pressure of the Ministry of Home Affairs, which said that Turks
promised to refrain from anti-Armenian posters and slogans. However
they did not keep their promise. They shouted out offences swaying
anti-Armenian posters. “The Armenian youth explained the essence of
the case to the French, who started shouting to Turks “France is not
your place”.

March 19 Armenians gathered at the editorial office of Progress
newspaper that published some anti-Armenian articles. The editor said
the newspaper will not publish articles of the kind any more, Hilda
Tchoboian said. She added that March 20 a press conference dedicated
to the recent events will be held March 20 and underscored that all
genocide denying rallies will be barred. “The Armenian community of
France will not keep silent, moreover this country and its people
have announced their position on the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman
Empire in 1915,” she said.

NO DECISIONS AGAINST ARMENIA… YET!

A1+
04:48 pm 20 March, 2006

“If we receive decisions of the European Court of Human Rights against
Armenia, the situation will be changed completely,” the head of the
Court of Cassation Hovhannes Manoukyan thinks.

The Court of Cassation organized a seminar with the theme “The European
Court of Human Rights and Armenia: the Present Practice and the
Tendencies of Development”. The first reporter was the representative
of the American University in Armenia Emil Babayan who spoke about the
cases from Armenia in ECHR and represented statistics from the Court.

In 2005 ECHR had 81 thousand applications. They were mainly about the
delays of trials, inefficient trials and non-execution of the court
decisions. According to Emil Babayan, the first five countries by the
number of decisions against the state are Turkey, Ukraine, Greece,
Russia and Italy. Last year 290 decisions were made against Turkey
by the ECHR.

Up to now there have been no decisions against Armenia, but in
this respect Emil Babayan had bad news for the participants of the
seminar. Last year 240 applications have been sent to the Court. 110
of them have already been sent to the court body making decision,
62 have been rejected, 21 have been sent to the RA Government to get
an answer, and one more will be heard this year.

Mr. Babayan was worried about the last two facts as the 21 cases
will be heard together and the facts mentioned in them will not be
investigated thoroughly.

“This means that in 2006 we will have a number of decisions against
Armenia”, the reporter said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE EU AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS

A1+
07:14 pm 20 March, 2006

Tbilisi/Brussels, 20 March 2006: To guarantee its own security,
the EU must become more engaged in resolving the conflicts in the
South Caucasus lest they ignite into full-fledged wars in Europe’s
neighbourhood.

Conflict Resolution in the South Caucasus: The EU’s Role,* the latest
report from the International Crisis Group, examines the EU’s efforts
to address tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia,
and points out how the EU can do more.

“Greater engagement is a challenge Brussels has only just begun
to address”, says Sabine Freizer, Crisis Group’s Caucasus Project
Director. “There have been a few promising steps, but there is a long
way to go”.

Thus far, others have taken the lead in promoting conflict settlement
in the region, but over a decade of negotiations led by the UN in
Abkhazia, and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) in Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia, have not produced
comprehensive peace agreements. With its reputation as an “honest
broker”, access to a range of soft and hard power tools, and the lure
of greater integration into Europe, the EU has a greater role to play,
and offers added value to compliment the UN and the OSCE.

To avoid instability on its borders, the EU seeks a ring of
well-governed countries around it. It is further interested in the
South Caucasus to ensure access to Caspian oil and gas, develop
transport and communication corridors between Europe and Asia, and
contain such threats as smuggling, trafficking and environmental
degradation.

As the EU is unlikely to offer membership to Georgia, Armenia and
Azerbaijan any time soon, it must identify innovative means to
impose conditionality on its aid and exercise influence. European
Neighbourhood Policy Action Plans are being finalised. These offer
a chance for the EU to enhance its role especially if the peaceful
resolution of the conflicts are defined as commitments.

The new EU Special Representative should observe ongoing negotiations
for the Abkhazian, South Ossetian and Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts. The
Commission has allocated significant funding to rehabilitation in
South Ossetia and Abkhazia. It should assess how it can start doing
more in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.

“The EU is trying to define its role in a new neighbourhood which is
neither at war nor at peace”, says Nicholas Whyte, Director of Crisis
Group’s Europe Program. “If the EU fails to implement its strategic
vision for a secure neighbourhood, its credibility in the region, and
generally vis-a-vis Russia and the U.S., will suffer. More troublingly,
if the South Caucasus conflicts continue to deteriorate, the EU may
find itself unprepared for responding to wars among its neighbours”.

TREES WERE CUT

A1+
08:26 pm 20 March, 2006

According to trustworthy sources, nine poplars were chopped down in the
area called “Ttujur” of the city of Gavar. The trees were sold as raw
material. A criminal case has been aroused in connection with the fact.

The Ecological administration of the Gegharqounik region does not
exclude the possibility of the repetition of suchlike cases as an
area of about 150 hectares factually does not have an owner.

“Qyavar” TV Company of Gavar.

ARMENTEL WILL APPEAL THE DECISION

A1+
08:32 pm 20 March, 2006

The State Committee of Economic Competition Defense had made a
decision to fine “ArmenTel” on the basis of the application of
“Gh-Telecom”. “ArmenTel” has not paid the fine as they are going to
appeal the decision.

“ArmenTel” has not carried out the second demand of the Committee: it
has not ceased to allot bonuses to those who remained subscribers of
“ArmenTel” during the year 2005.

The Company did not give us details about the appeal.

Let us only add that the deadline for the appeal is tomorrow.

BITTER FRUITS OF REFERENDUM

Panorama.am
14:23 20/03/06

Today the for-day sessions of the National Assembly began with
the bitter recollection of the referendum of constitutional
amendments. The Parliamentary minority, particularly “Ardarutyun”
(Justice) representative Victor Dallakyan suggested to his
parliamentary colleagues to form a temporary committee to “carry out
corresponding examination and give a political estimation to what
had happened.” Hmayak Hovhannisyan had an analogical speech. Yet the
dream of the parliamentary minority did not come true as after the
voting for the question the image was as follows: 20 for, 0 against,
and 27 abstained form voting. The result of the voting made Aram
G. Sargsyan think: “The unpunished crime is fraught with the danger
to be repeated.”

Victor Dallakyan came to the following conclusion: “In this way the
Parliamentary majority proved that they took part in falsification
of the referendum.” In reply to these ideas of the oppositional
representatives NA Speaker Arthur Baghdasaryan said: “The committee
were to give the estimation that already exists. And voting is the
right of every political body.”

“THE RAILWAY GYUMRI-KARS IS THE PROBLEM OF THE ARMENIANS”

A1+
06:20 pm 20 March, 2006

“The problem of the railway Gyumri-Kars is that of your country. One
can’t be so naïve as to think that Georgia can have an influence on
Azerbaijan and Turkey when the OSCE Minsk group cannot do it. The
railway Kars-Akhalqalaq is a sort of hostage in the Karabakh issue. If
you manage to solve the problem, Georgia will be glad, but we will
not interfere with it”, the Georgian Ambassador extraordinary and
plenipotentiary to Armenia Revaz Gachechiladze announced in the
National Press Club.

The Ambassador also mentioned that Georgia is not guilty for the
non-exploitation of the railway Gyumri-Kars and it must not become
a reason for depriving Georgia of the Kars-Akhalqalaq railway.

According to him, the Armenian must be very glad as in case the
Kars-Akhalqalaq railway is exploited Akhalqalaq will become a
transitional center, “Just fancy: the railway Paris-Beijing will
pass through Akhalqalaq. This means that there will be new jobs
in Akhalqalaq”.

According to Revaz Gachechiladze, Georgia does not have personal
dislike for the national minorities living in Georgia, including the
Armenians. By the way, the Ambassador sympathized with the Armenian
nation in connection with the Armenian Genocide. He mentioned that
after the international situation is cleared up Georgia will do
everything possible for the recognition f the Armenian Genocide. The
Ambassador also referred to the incident in Tsalka as a result of
which an Armenian was killed, “It was an act of hooliganism and has
nothing to do with the Georgian Government. Georgia will not allow
acts of hooliganism towards the representatives of any nation.”

–Boundary_(ID_sDFte1oE2Yt04j5CldV5Tg)–