Turkish Press
May 11 2006
Press Review
HURRIYET
TUSIAD SENDS LETTER TO FRENCH DEPUTIES, SENATORS WARNING ABOUT
HARMFUL BILL
The Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD)
sent a letter this week to French parliamentarians rebuffing the
genocide allegations at the heart of a new bill criminalizing denial
of the `genocide’ and also warning of the damage bilateral relations
could suffer over the measure. The letter signed by TUSIAD Chairman
Omer Sabanci was sent to 577 deputies and 331 senators, and also said
that the proposed bill would have a chilling effect on freedom of
expression and historical research. /Hurriyet/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

OSCE Secretary General: Nagorno-Karabakh belongs to the Karabakh people

ArmRadio.am
13.05.2006 13:45
`Nagorno-Karabakh belongs to the Karabakh people and I hope that they
will have the opportunity to fully demonstrate their will,’ OSCE
Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut said yesterday in
response to the request of the journalists to present his personal
stand on the Karabakh issue.
Will the referendum envisaged in 15 years become that very opportunity
for Karabakh people to demonstrate their will? `We’ll see,’ Marc
Perrin de Brichambaut responded.

New law signed by RA Presidnet

ArmRadio.am
13.05.2006 14:00
May 11 President Robert Kocharyan signed the `Law on ratifying the
report on execution of 2001-2003 state property privatization program’
adopted by the National Assembly.

Award competition for journalists announced by OSCE Office in Yerevan

ArmRadio.am
13.05.2006 15:10
OSCE Office in Yerevan together with the Public Environmental
Information Center (Aarhus Center) announces a competition for tele-
and newspaper journalists.
The aim of the competition is to attract attention of journalists to
the effects of urbanization ` removing green zones, air and water
pollution, and human health in cities.
To take part in the competition it is necessary to submit a TV film
with duration of no more than 20 min by the tele-journalists, and a
newspaper article not exceeding 1000 words by the newspaper
journalists. The works must not have already been submitted to any
OSCE competition.

Cher sells waterfront mansion Florida house was on the market for six months
canada.com
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Six months after she put it on the market, Cher has sold one of her
houses.
The singer and actress got $8.8 million (all figures U.S.) for her
waterfront mansion on Key Biscayne, about 10 miles south of Miami. The
house was listed last year for $9.75 million.
Buyers Sean and Ana Wolfington closed the deal Tuesday for the fully
furnished 6,819-square-foot house that boasts six bedrooms, eight
bathrooms and bamboo floors throughout. The couple has two children.
Cher bought the estate, overlooking Biscayne Bay, in 2003 for $5.65
million after selling her Miami Beach house to Calvin Klein executive
Barry Schwartz.
The entertainer spent more than $100,000 last year to replace trees and
plants on the property that were damaged by hurricanes.
Cher, who turns 60 this month, is scheduled to take over from Celine
Dion at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas when the Canadian singer’s contract
runs out.

A1+
THE AMBITIONS DESTROYED THE COALITION
[02:10 pm] 12 May, 2006
«Before the elections the authorities must come to an agreement about
three posts: the President, the Prime Minister and the NA
President. It was obvious last year that Arthur Baghdasaryan was not
meant for any of the three posts by this agreement», NA deputy
Shavarsh Kocharyan told «A1+».
According to him, the problem is not that Baghdasaryan must become
another Sahakashvili, neither that he can be an unwanted
rival. According to Kocharyan, Arthur Baghdasaryan was in a situation
when he had high ambitions but was not placed in the agreement of the
authorities. So he had either to perform a secondary role or to
quit. He chose the second option.
Asked the question if the fact that Arthur Baghdasaryan becomes
opposition will not ‘hit’ the opposition itself, Shavarsh Kocharyan
answered that the opposition has been ‘hit’ so many times that this
step can even contribute to its coming to its senses. According to
him, Robert Kocharyan will not dissolve the Parliament as he will not
benefit from it.

Panorama.am
13:00 12/05/06

EDUCATION MINISTER WANTS TO RESIGN
Sergo Yeritsyan, Minister of Education and Science and Orinats Yerkir
Party member thinks to resign the office. Education ministry sources
say that the most probably the minister will resign. Interestingly
enough, not Sergo Yeritsyan, but his deputy Norayr Ghukassyan talked
to the government session yesterday.
H. Margaryan, member of OYP made a statement late yesterday saying
that their party is leaving from the state coalition and that OYP
leader Arthur Baghdasaryan will resign from the chairmanship of the
National Assembly. /Panorama.am/

REPUBLICANS ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR HOVIK ABRAHAMYAN
Lragir.am
12 May 06
Hrant Khachatryan, the leader of the Constitutional Right Union, said
in a news conference on May 12 that the attempt of breaking up the
faction of the Orinats Yerkir through businessmen, who proved
instrumental to this, may similarly be applied to Dashnaktsutiun and
the Republicans if the latter also try to play an individual game or
become more democratic. `At least over the past two years I have heard
separate members and influential members of Dashnaktsutiun and the
Republican Party say that the conditions of the clan for the
government parties are becoming increasingly severe,’ says Hrant
Khachatryan. He says a situation has occurred when owners of big
businesses, who are members of some political party, tend to look for
an exit.
The majority of owners of big businesses, who entered the government
with some political force, is in fact departing from their political
parties, their interests and name, and seeks to draw closer to the
president administration. I heard similar complaints from the
Republican Party, namely Hovik Abrahamyan. When we blame the
Republicans for this or that activity of Hovik Abrahamyan, they always
deny him. They say Hovik Abrahamyan is no more a Republican, it has
been a long time he is not with us,’ says Hrant Khachatryan. He
mentions that the existing reality reveals the imperfection of the
system:the government does not view political parties as a basis for
forming a systemof governance.

DON’T PEOPLE NEED HONEST PEOPLE?
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian
X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 — ListProcessor(tm) by CREN
Lragir.am
12 May 06
The developments involving the Orinats Yerkir Party fit the logic of
pre-election developments, stated Member of Parliament Hrant
Khachatryan, the leader of the Constitutional Right Union, in a news
conference on May 12. According to him, the government is facing a
problem of keeping what it has, and, considering the pressure on
behalf of international organizations, holding elections concealing
electoral fraud.
Under these circumstances, Hrant Khachatryan thinks that the
government will try to render neutral the forces in the parliament,
which are a more or less independent, trying to shape a National
Assembly with more controllable members. Hrant Khachatryan views the
campaign against the Orinats Yerkir in this context. Hrant Khachatryan
says the Orinats Yerkir may not only secede from the coalition but
also find a more effective strategy. `We would not secede, we would
stay and fight,’ says Hrant Khachatryan. He says it is possible that
what happened is a game. According to Hrant Khachatryan, the game may
alsobe determined by the upcoming elections, calculated to win over
votes. But the member of parliament also says that there are a lot of
arguments that thisis not a game. One of these arguments is
long-lasting contact with the members of the coalition; Hrant
Khachatryan says the coalition colleagues of Orinats Yerkir have
always disliked this political party. Hrant Khachatryan also gives the
example of Artashes Tumanyan, which in the beginning appeared as a
game, but now obviously Tumanyan is having serious problems.
Besides, Hrant Khachatryan emphasizes that as a part of the
government, the Orinats Yerkir has always had its standpoint on
certain issues. At any rate, even if this is a game, people may accept
it, says Hrant Khachatryan, seeing that Arthur Baghdasaryan can make
changes in the country’s life. Hrant Khachatryan says there is no need
for confessions. `I cannot even feel the public demand for
confessions. The society does not need an honest person. It needs fast
changes,’ says Hrant Khachatryan. He also thinks that the future place
of the Orinats Yerkir in the political sphere and in the opposition is
determined by the opinion of the same people. `I am deeply convinced
that the opposition is not a hangout of losers or the repressed, a
temporary shelter, where they can stay, have a rest and try to take
power in one way or another. There are political parties which
expected and even prepared for the entrance of Arthur Baghdasaryan to
the opposition, and there are political parties to whom the secession
of Orinats Yerkir from the coalition means weakening of the coalition
and not strengthening of the opposition,’ says the leaderof the
Constitutional Right Union.
He believes that in the beginning people, and especially the ordinary
members of the Orinats Yerkir must evaluate, either accept or decline
the Orinats Yerkir Party. Hrant Khachatryan says personally he is not
happy about the weakening of the coalition or the prospect of
strengthening of the opposition.
Hrant Khachatryan is concerned by the impact of these developments on
the political sphere.

NOWHERE WAS ORINATS YERKIR WELCOMED
Lragir.am
12 May 06
Orinats Yerkir becomes opposition, stated Speaker Arthur Baghdasaryan
in a press conference on May 12, after he announced about his
resignation and the secession of his political party from the
coalition.
`Certainly, we become opposition. We become an opposition. We become
with our notions, our approaches. People recognize us. People know
us. They know what took place. Today the majority of the society has
oppositionist moods. Each has their place, we are not going to take
someone else’s place, wehave our own path,’ said Arthur
Baghdasaryan. He does not think that they will be welcomed it the
opposition. Arthur Baghdasaryan even believes that they may receive
blows, as always.
`I should tell you that we have never been welcomed anywhere. Did the
government welcome us? We received blows since the first day we
entered the coalition. Now if you think that we will not receive blows
in the opposition, we will. For us, however, people’s opinion is
important,’ says the leader of the Orinats Yerkir. He mentions that
they will follow their own path. This path, according to Arthur
Baghdasaryan, involves the ideas, programs and values that the Orinats
Yerkir bears. However, the leader of the Orinats Yerkir believes that
they will have allies.
`There are always allies, there are always political forces, figures
who accept our system of values, our vision,’ says Arthur
Baghdasaryan. He emphasizes a straightforward behavior before people
for the party members and other citizens to believe in the honesty and
frankness of the Orinats Yerkir. Arthur Baghdasaryan mentioned that
their slogan during the campaign for parliament is still up to date:
`With people, for people.’
`We could keep silent, we could shut an eye on a scandalous
sell-off. We could say nothing. If you think that as a speaker of the
National AssemblyI could not take one or two buildings for myself, you
are mistaken. I did not want. We did not live that way. We thought
there are problems, we must tryto solve the problems for the country
and people,’ said Arthur Baghdasaryan.