ARMENIANS COMMEMORATE ANNIVERSARY OF TRAGIC EVENTS OF 1915
ABHaber, Belgium
April 25 2006
Demonstrators marched in Yerevan, Armenia on Sunday to commemorate
the Armenians who died ib 1915 due to forced deportation and ethnic
conflict in the Ottoman Empire.
The Armenian diaspora also took to the streets in various cities in
the U.S. and several capitals in Europe over the weekend demanding
recognition for so-called genocide claims, while Turkish and Azeri
diaspora made counter-demonstrations.
Over the weekend New York’s famous Times Square played host to
Turkish counter-demonstrations. Turks living in the US organized a
rally entitled “End to Armenian Lies.”
Many Turks including Turkey’s Consul General to New York Omer Onhon and
Turkish Americans attended the demonstration held by the Federation
of Turkish-American Associations (FTAA) and Association of Young
Turks. “This march is Turkish society’s reaction to the constant
repetition of the Armenians’ baseless allegations,” said Onhon.
In related news, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in a letter
to Armenian diaspora members backed the genocide claims.
“In recent years the Senate of Canada adopted a motion acknowledging
this period as “the first genocide of the twentieth century,” while
the House of Commons adopted a motion that “acknowledges the Armenian
genocide of 1915 and condemns this act as a crime against humanity.”
My party and I supported those resolutions, and continue to recognize
them today,” Harper said.
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.

ARMENIAN YOUTH WANT FRESH START WITH TURKEY
By Selahattin Sevi, Yerevan
Zaman, Turkey
April 25 2006
Armenia leaves behind an eventful April 24 marking the 91st year of
the so-called genocide. There were traditional scenes of commemorative
ceremonies in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. Chairman of the “Union
against Genocide,” a Turkish organization in Germany, Ali Ertem’s
declaration calling on Turkey to recognize the so-called genocide is
being congratulated.
The Turkish flag is being set fire to at demonstrations organized
by the Armenian Tasnak Party Youth Branches in Opera Square, but the
opinions of Armenians about Turks and Turkey vary dramatically.
“Imagine you live in an apartment building where you speak with all
your neighbors except with one. Your relations with this neighbor are
not good and you do not know exactly why except that our grandfathers
had problems with each other years ago,” says Ali Ozinan, who was born
in Istanbul and came to Yerevan to complete his university education.
Ozinan is actively involved in the New Neighbors project aiming at
securing news and information between Turkey, Armenia, and Georgia.
“Our grandfathers were upset with each other, but at least we greet
each other… even if it is sometimes secretly.”
“They sometimes called us ‘infidels’ in Istanbul, and sometimes we miss
this because at least we remembered who we were. The identity of our
children living in France is disappearing,” 61-year-old philosopher
Agop Ardic complains.
The conscience test that asks, “Do you know the Armenian genocide?”
ends before it starts, Ardic harshly warns his friends. Zafer Atajanov
Nabijanovich, who came to Yerevan from Uzbekistan to study at a
university, is also saddened by the situation.
Everyone we met in Yerevan talks of their pleasant memories of Turks.
Offering us Turkish coffee at his house overlooking the only mosque
in Yerevan, Gok Mescit, 32-year-old Vazdges Abovyan says Armenians
prefer Turkish food stores over Russian’s in Moscow.
“Look at the shops in Yerevan, without fear, they clearly show that
the products they sell are from Turkey. That is because people are
aware of the quality of Turkish goods,” Abovyan says.
Harutyun Chilingarjan Azmenakovith, whose grandfather immigrated to
Abkhazia from the Turkish city of Ordu and who came to Yerevan to
study, talks about how Turkish youths saved him during an argument
with Russian youths in Moscow. Harutyun, who was taught that Turks
are bad and hostile, said, “But as an Armenian, I favor improving
our relations with Turkey.”
A 22- year-old master’s student at Yerevan State University
International Relations Department, Anna Kartashyan gives her
impressions about Turkey.
“It is weird, but I had positive impressions. Attitudes were kind,
and I was told that all the roads and cities were in the style of
European. I suppose however that Turkey will not become a European
Union member country if it does not recognize the so-called Armenian
genocide.”

ROBERT KOCHARYAN: I SEE NO RELATION BETWEEN IRAN AND KARABAKH
Lragir.am
25 April 06
Answering the question of the Lithuanian national TV channel reporter
in Yerevan, Armenian president Robert Kocharyan refuted the suggestion
that the United States is trying to please Azerbaijan in case of a
possible campaign against Iran, and presses Armenia for the Karabakh
issue. “There is no additional pressure, directly related with the
settlement of the issue. There are negotiations, and the work of
the co-chairs, which is not only the United States but also France
and Russia, is coordinated and cooperative. And the mandate of the
mediators suggests steps at facilitating the talks and not pressure
for resolution,” said Robert Kocharyan. He said the contacts and
the process are quite active now, but the president of Armenia
does not connect it with the plans of the United States concerning
Iran. “I have not noticed any relationship between the talks for
the settlement of the Karabakh conflict and the problem of Iran,”
stated Robert Kocharyan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARTUR BAGHDASARIAN: ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IS A CRIME NOT ONLY AGAINST ARMENIAN PEOPLE BUT AGAINST WHOLE MANKIND
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 25 2006
YEREVAN, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. RA National Assembly
Speaker Artur Baghdasarian sent a message on on the occasion of the
memory day of the Armenian Genocide victims. The message provided
to Noyan Tapan by RA NA Public Relations Department read: “Dear
compatriots, On April 24, the day of memory of the Armenian Genocide
victims, all Armenians and progressive mankind bend their heads before
the memory of 1.5 million innocent victims. The Armenian Genocide is
a crime not only against the Armenian people but also against the
whole mankind and the recognition and condemnation of the Genocide
is important not only for Armenia but also for all countries of the
world. Only through condemnation of such crimes it will be possible
to avoid their recurrence. The number of countries recognizing
and condemning the Armenian Genocide increases year by year, which
speaks about mankind’s realizing their responsibility towards the
generations. Only the realization and condemnation of the crime by the
international community, as well as by the Turkish state can exclude
its recurrence. Parliaments of different countries have adopted laws
and resolutions condemning the Armenian Genocide and we are grateful
to all the countries that support us in this issue. Again we bend our
heads before the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims and address
word of support to our compatriots that have experienced the Genocide”.

NKR FOREIGN MINISTER BLAMES INTERNATIONAL STRUCTURES FOR NOT RESPECTING NAGORNO KARABAKH PEOPLE’S RIGHT
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 25 2006
STEPANAKERT, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. At the April 21
parliamentary hearings on the subject “Prospects of Nagorno Karabakh
Settlement” held at NKR National Assembly with participation of RA and
NKR MPs, government members, representatives of NGOs, scientists and
experts, journalists, NKR Foreign Minister Georgi Petrosian blamed
the international structures for ignoring and not respecting the
Nagorno Karabakh people’s right. He said that in response to the
political demand addressed to the Azerbaijani authorities Artsakh
was exposed to ethnic cleansings by Baku. According to the Minister,
the official Azerbaijan has always tried to remove the issue of
self-determination from the legal plane to the military one. The head
of the NKR foreign political department emphasized that the current
proposals on the negotiations table more envisage liquidation of the
conflict consequences than all-embracing solution to the problem. “We
form an impression that the mediators try to solve the Nagorno Karabakh
problem within the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity,
which completely contradicts the interests of our people and, to put
it mildly, is not moral,” Georgi Petrosian declared. He regretted
to say that in the settlement process the international mediators
factually neglect the results of the referendum held in Nagorno
Karabakh in 1991. The Foreign Minister came up with a proposal to sign
an agreement among all parties of the conflict, which will enable
to give up the intention to apply force and it will become clear
for the international community, who is indeed against the peaceful
settlement of the conflict. The same day, as Noyan Tapan was informed
from NKR Foreign Ministry Information and Analytical Department, NKR
National Assembly’s Democracy, Homeland factions and ARFD-Movement-88
group have come up with a statement about the Azerbaijani-Karabakh
conflict. In the statement the NKR NA groups and factions fix that the
proclamation of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and all legal-political
steps of the republic proceeding from the NKR Declaration were
implemented in correspondence with the basic principles of the
former USSR legislation. The Artsakh parliamentarians emphasize that
Azerbaijan did not use the opportunity to solve all problems with the
proclaimed Nagorno Karabakh Republic through a dialogue but carrying on
a policy of ethnic intolerance, undertook illegal application of force
and does not give up the policy of solving the conflict in a military
way up to this day. Stating that they are loyal to the principle of
all-embracing settlement of the current problems through negotiations,
which will enable to exclude any hostility and attempts to change the
reached agreements through application of force in the future, the
Artsakh parliamentarians “qualify the 1991-1994 Azerbaijani-Karabakh
armed conflict as the aggression of the Republic of Azerbaijan against
the proclaimed Nagorno Karabakh Republic, NKR’s further steps as
application of the non-alienable law to undertake self-defence by a
people exposed to aggression, envisaged by Article 51 of UN Regulations
and the current events in the conflict zone as the consequences of this
aggression”. The authors of the statement consider that Azerbaijan as
an aggressor country bears responsibility for the war unleashed by
it and for its consequences, for the fate of the conflict parties’
hundreds of thousands of people who as a result of the warfare have
become refugees or internally displaced people, so it is obliged to
compensate the material and moral loss inflicted to them taking into
consideration the factor of loss of homeland by them, irrespective
of their nationality. Taking as a basis the 1994 Bishkek protocol
on ceasefire regime and the currently operating agreement adopted
in the same year, that were ratified by the signatures officially
recognized by authorized representatives of mediators of Nagorno
Karabakh, Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the final and other
documents of OSCE Budapest Assembly where Nagorno Karabakh was
recognized as a conflict party, the Artsakh parliamentarians “apply to
OSCE Council of Ministers with a mediation to respect Nagorno Karabakh
Republic’s competent participation in the negotiations process of
conflict settlement, without which no agreement achieved can have
a legal force”. The authors of the document give assurance that
the recognition of the independent, democratic and viable Nagorno
Karabakh Republic established as a result of the 1991 December 10
national referendum completely fits into the modern reality and will
become an important factor of regional stability and security. NKR
parliamentarians notify OSCE Chairman-in-Office, parliaments of
member-states of OSCE Minsk Group, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly,
Council of Europe, NATO, European Parliament about the adoption of
the statement.

HAMLET GASPARIAN: NO VISIT OF ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TO WASHINGTON ENVISAGED
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 25 2006
YEREVAN, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. No visit of the
Armenian President to Washington is envisaged. RA Foreign Ministry
Spokesperson Hamlet Gasparian declared this commenting upon the report
of Turkish “Zaman” newspaper, according to which in the interview
given to “Zaman” some days ago Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister
Arman Kirakosian said that, allegedly, the Armenian President will
probably pay a visit to Washington soon. “Drawing such a conclusion
from Deputy Minister Kirakosian’s answer I think is the consequence
of partial distortion of either the translation or his words,” Hamlet
Gasparian mentioned. According to him, “in the interview to “Zaman”
last Friday Mr Kirakosian spoke not about the visit of our President
after the visit of Azerbaijani President Aliyev to Washington but
mentioning very good relations with U.S. spoke about the possibility
of such a visit in general”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RAFFI HOVHANNISIAN: IT IS NECESSARY THAT REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA INSIDE ITSELF ALSO PURSUE ITS NATIONAL INTEREST ON THE FAIR BASIS
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 25 2006
YEREVAN, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Though the Republic
of Armenia makes certain, separate efforts for involving as many states
as possible in the issue of recognition of the Armenian Genocide,
this is not at the proper height. Raffi Hovhannisian, Chairman of
the Zharangutiun (Heritage) party, expressed such an opinion in his
interview to Noyan Tapan correspondent on April 24, at the memorial
complex to the victims of the Armenian Genocide. According to him,
this is not only a day of the memory of the past, but also a day when
we should assume commitments towards the future. And these commitments,
according to him, belong to the whole Armenian people, be it in the
Republic of Armenia, in Artsakh, in Spyurk and everywhere. “This
day is not only a day of estimating our losses, learning lessons
from the past but also a day when we should look in the direction
of the future,” R.Hovhannisian said. According to R.Hovhannisian,
we should build the modern Armenian history so that henceforth no
one, neither our enemy nor our neighbor, can “play on” the security,
sovereignty of Armenia and on the lives of its citizens. “This is
the problem of our generation, the problem of the whole Armenian
people. If our generation is able to fulfil this commitment, Armenia
and the Armenian people will be together, will be strong and legal,”
he mentioned. Meanwhile, according to R.Hovhannisian, it is necessary
that the Republic of Armenia inside itself also pursue its national
interest and commitment towards the future on the fair basis. “Thus,
the political, scientific and legal ways should be perfected, we
should unite our efforts and be higher than dissociation, we should
build our country proceeding from the national interest, sovereignty
of the state and the rights of the citizens,” the Chairman of the
Zharangutiun party added.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ON APRIL 24, ARMAVIR RESIDENTS ORGANIZE PROCESSION TO MEMORIAL TO GENOCIDE VICTIMS
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 25 2006
ARMAVIR, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. On April 24,
the population of Armavir, regional and municipal authorities,
representatives of organizations organized a procession to the town
park and laid wreaths to the memorial to the victims of the Armenian
Genocide. The same day divine services took place in all the churches
of the region.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

POLITICAL SCIENTIST DOES NOT EXCLUDE THAT DAYTON VARIANT CAN BE USED IN KARABAKH SETTLEMENT
Noyan Tapan
Apr 25 2006
YEREVAN, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN. The considerable activity observed in
the process of Nagorno Karabakh settlement in the recent 4-5 months is
connected not only purely with the Nagorno Karabakh problem but also
with processes taking place in the world. Stepan Grigorian, Chairman
of the Board of the Analytical Center for Globalization and Regional
Cooperation, expressed such an opinion in his interview to Noyan Tapan
correspondent. According to him, even the failure in Rambouillet
“did not sober the most active participants, U.S. and a number of
European countries”, which, by the way, are interested in the quick
settlement of the problem. Such a position has its reasons. Thus,
the role of the South Caucasus increases day by day: a number of
gas and oil pipelines pass through the South Caucasus, in addition,
problems connected with the neighboring Iran and Iraq are set very
sharply, even serious actions against Iran are not excluded. On the
other hand, Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s positions lack common verges,
the authorities of the two countries do not show a political will
of making concessions, the societies of the conflict parties are
not ready for a reconciliation and do not perceive the fact that
the concessions should be made by both of the countries. And the
most important circumstance showing that the problem will not be
solved soon, according to S.Grigorian, is that Karabakh is not a
part of the negotiations process up to this day, whereas in cases
of Abkhazia, Transdniestria and Southern Cyprus the non-recognized
parties took part in the negotiations. Stepan Grigorian said that
all these arguments show that indeed the parties of the conflict
are not ready for the settlement of the Karabakh problem. He gave
assurance that neither Aliyev nor Kocharian will sign any agreement
at the coming meeting. Thus, according to the political scientist,
the same old story will recur: a series of meetings that will not
yield any result, either. The political scientist expressed anxiety
that such processes can lead to a situation when the Dayton variant
will be applied towards the parties. The latter is known to be a
variant of forced peace, when the decisions are made by the powers
outside of the parties of the conflict. Stepan Grigorian does not
exclude that the pressure currently being exerted in the Nagorno
Karabakh process will lead to this variant.

RESIDENTS OF VANADZOR PAY TRIBUTE OF THEIR RESPECT TO MEMORY OF VICTIMS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 25 2006
VANADZOR, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Early in the morning
of April 24, a liturgy was served in the Vanadzor Surb Astvatsatsin
Church in commemoration of the victims of the Armenian Genocide. A
divine service took place before the khachkar (cross-stone) in front
of the church. The ruling officials of the region, many collectives,
student and working groups laid flowers and wreaths to the khachkar.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress