RATE OF MURDER GROWS THE MOTIVE IS LIFE
Lragir.am
24 April 06
The Attorney General of Armenia told news reporters April 24 that
in the first quarter of 2006 the rate of murder and attempts rose
highly. However, the Attorney General also stated that it is not true
that these have a political motive.
“In fact, in the first quarter the rate of murder and attempts grew,
but I disagree that these have a political context. The investigation
reveals that these have everyday motives, and statistics suggests that
these cases are not centered in a region or a community. It should be
noted that in December 2005 the rate of murder and attempts dropped
considerably,” said Aghvan Hovsepyan.
He says the statistics of murders is not stable. As to the attempt
against Member of Parliament Sasun Mikaelyan, the Office of Attorney
General attends to it. The Attorney General announced that they take
action to reveal the motives, or the real picture of this attempt.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TIGRAN TOROSYAN: NOBODY DENIES CASES OF FRAUD
Lragir.am
24 April 06
The deputy speaker of the National Assembly declined to comment on
the statements of the speaker, concerning the election 2003 and the
unacceptability of conducting similar elections in 2007 and 2008.
Arthur Baghdasaryan’s statement, made in an interview with a German
authoritative newspaper, has already received serious responses
in Armenia, even from President Robert Kocharyan, who said he was
astonished by the words of the speaker.
Tigran Torosyan declined to comment on the statements of the president
and the speaker of the National Assembly. On April 24 he told news
reporters that it would be better to wait for Arthur Baghdasaryan’s
comments after he returns. But unlike the president of the Republic,
the words of the speaker did not surprise Tigran Torosyan. “Frankly
speaking, nothing astonishes me any more,” said the Republican deputy
speaker after thinking for a while. “I think the approach that the
elections in 2007 and 2008 must comply with all the standards, it is
an idea, it is an approach, which I believe, is shared by most people
both inside and outside the political arena in Armenia. I believe that
the head of state emphasizes this. Hence, the problem is not that we
should aspire or we should not aspire to, etc. Certainly, we need to
try to achieve general compliance of the elections in 2007 and 2008,”
says Tigran Torosyan.
After these words it appeared extremely important to find out if
compliance implies the election in 2003. In other words, we tried
to enquire from the deputy speaker of the National Assembly that the
elections in 2007 and 2008 will be similar to the election of 2003.
“Of course not. Because everyone said the election in 2003 did not
fully comply with the international standards. This is also the
assessment of the international observers. Certainly, I believe, no
one denies that there was fraud, unfortunately,” says Tigran Torosyan.

SUSPECT DETAINED IN MURDER OF ARMENIAN STUDENT IN MOSCOW
RIA Novosti
24 Apr 06
Moscow, 24 April: A Moscow school student has been detained on
suspicion of murdering an Armenian student at the Pushkinskaya
underground station.
“A student of a Moscow school, born in 1989, has been detained in
connection with the murder of an Armenian last Saturday [22 April]”,
a press service official of the Moscow prosecutor’s office, has told
RIA Novosti news agency.
The suspect has admitted to the crime, he said.

THE REPUBLICAN PROMPTS GOOD WILL TO ARF
Lragir.am
24 April 06
The Republican Party of Armenia has not been informed officially about
the initiative of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation to ensure a
fair parliamentary election in 2007. “First of all, we have not been
told anything. I want to remind that there had been similar initiatives
before the previous elections. However, besides being based on a paper,
such initiatives should have other approaches, agreements, and most
importantly, good will,” said Deputy Speaker Tigran Torosyan April 24.
Nevertheless, Tigran Torosyan announced that fair elections in 2007
and 2008 depend on the standpoints of the political forces.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIANS MARK 91ST ANNIVERSARY OF MASS KILLINGS IN OTTOMAN EMPIRE
AP Worldstream
Apr 24, 2006
Hundreds of thousands of Armenians on Monday streamed to a hilltop
memorial in the capital, Yerevan, to mark the 91st anniversary of
mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
Armenia accuses Turkey of the massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians
between 1915 and 1919, when Armenia was under the Ottoman Empire.
Turkey rejects the claim and says Armenians were killed in civil
unrest during the collapse of the empire.
Crowds of Armenians as well as expatriates living abroad laid flowers
and wreaths at the vast Genocide Victims Memorial overlooking Yerevan.
“Today we are paying tribute to the victims of the genocide of
Armenians,” President Robert Kocharian said in an address to the
nation. “The Ottoman Empire and its successor state bear full
responsibly for this crime.”
The killings began before April 24, but memorial services are held
on this date because it is the anniversary of the day in 1915 when
Turkish authorities executed a large group of Armenian intellectuals
and political leaders, accusing them of helping the invading Russian
army during World War I.
The commemoration events started late Sunday when several hundred
members of youth groups staged a burning of Turkey’s national flag
and then marched through the city with torches and banners reading
“The blood of 2 million Armenians is on Turkey’s conscience” and
“Genocide is the shame of humanity, and first of all of Turkey.”
Armen Tumanyan, a computer programmer in Yerevan, took his 4-year-old
son, Karen, to participate in the commemoration ceremony. “He doesn’t
understand yet what is happening, but I am sure he will come here with
his own children _ he will never forget his visit to the Memorial.”
The former Soviet nation of Armenia has pushed for the United States
and other nations to declare the killings a genocide. Many countries,
including Russia and France, have officially recognized the event as
genocide, along with some U.S. states.

DEFENCE MINISTER INFORMS PUTIN OF FORTHCOMING CIS AIR-DEFENCE EXERCISE
ITAR-TASS news agency
24 Apr 06
Moscow, 24 April: CIS member states will hold a major air-defence
exercise on Tuesday [25 April], Russian Deputy Prime Minister and
Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov has told the Russian president.
Ivanov said that “63 aircraft, including helicopters, most of them
belonging to Russia” will be involved in the exercise. “Russian
aircraft will land at airfields in Belarus and Kazakhstan, and their
aircraft will land at our airfields,” the minister said.
The CIS unified air-defence system will hold a one-day command-post
exercise on 25 April, involving control bodies and duty units. Lt-Gen
Aytech Bizhev, deputy commander of the Russian air force, told
ITAR-TASS that air force, anti-aircraft and air-defence units of
the armed forces of eight CIS member states – Armenia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine –
will be involved in the exercise.
“More than 10 tasks of various kinds aimed at reinforcing the air
borders of the CIS will be practised during the exercise,” he said.
“These will include preventing instances of airspace violation and
hijacking of an aircraft, and preventing terrorists from seizing an
aircraft”. According to Bizhev, “three A-50 aircraft will be involved
in the command-post exercise, the crews of four MiG-31 aircraft
will carry out an air manoeuvre flying from Kazakhstan to Russian
territory and from Russian territory back to Kazakhstan, and Su-24 and
Su-27 aircraft will perform an air manoeuvre flying from Belarusian
territory to Russia and in the opposite direction”. “Duty units and
assets designed to hit supersonic targets in the stratosphere will
be employed for the first time,” the general said.
According to Bizhev, “Russian air bases in Armenia, and at Kant
[Kyrgyzstan] and Dushanbe [Tajikistan] will be used, and over 80
frontline, fighter and army aviation aircraft, including helicopters,
will be involved in the exercise”. “Long-range aviation aircraft, as
well as all subunits of radio-radar troops and missile air-defence
troops, which are part of the CIS unified air-defence system, will
also be involved.”
Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Mikhaylov will lead
the exercise from the central command post of the Russian air force.

ROBERT KOCHARIAN: OTTOMAN TURKEY AND ITS LEGAL SUCCESSOR BEAR FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 24 2006
YEREVAN, APRIL 24, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. RA President’s
Press Service provided Noyan Tapan Robert Kocharian’s address on the
occasion of the day of memory of the Armenian Genocide victims. The
address reads: “Dear compatriots, Today is the day of commemoration
of the Armenian Genocide victims. The Ottoman Turkey and its legal
successor bear full responsibility for this crime. The whole future
history of the Armenian people having experienced the Genocide bore the
hard consequences of the committed crime. The pain is stronger as we
also have to struggle for recognition and condemnation of that black
page of our history. The Republic of Armenia as the one expressing
the national interests of Armenians living both in their homeland and
spread all over the world will continue this struggle. We are grateful
to the countries, organizations and individuals who support us. The
consciousness that this is a global issue and the most efficient way
of preventing such crimes becomes deeper year by year. The struggle
of the Armenian people has no implication of revengefulness. We are
looking forward as the best answer to the negationism should be a
firm statehood, Armenia’s prosperity and progress”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ISRAELI FILMMAKER DISCOVERS TIES TO ADOLF EICHMANN IN CHILDHOOD HOMETOWN
Ramit Plushnick-Masti
AP Worldstream
Apr 24, 2006
When an Israeli filmmaker began researching his roots in Austria,
he made a shocking discovery: His brother had bought his bar mitzvah
suit at a clothing store owned by the family of future Nazi mastermind
Adolf Eichmann.
While making a new documentary, Micha Shagrir learned that his family
was closer to the Eichmanns than he ever imagined. There were business
ties, social acquaintances and mutual friendships in their neighborhood
of Linz, Austria.
Shagrir’s film, “Sight of Memory,” was being aired on Israeli
television Monday night, the eve of the country’s annual Holocaust
remembrance day. It also is being shown at a film festival in Linz
on Wednesday.
The 68-year-old Shagrir, whose parents fled Austria when he was a
baby, worked on the project for more than two years. The quest took
him to Bischof Strasse, the street where his family lived just four
doors down from the Eichmanns.
The family homes are still intact: No. 7, where he was born, and No.
3, where the Eichmanns lived. But their businesses are long gone.
Shagrir’s family owned a well-known candy factory, while Eichmann’s
father, Robert, ran an electronics store, and his mother had a
tailor shop.
Yet some of the neighbors remain. Shagrir was pleasantly surprised to
learn that the family factory _ Schwager Candies _ was something of a
town symbol. Shagrir’s family name was changed after moving to Israel.
“When I came to film on the street, people 80 and 70 years old passed
by,” Shagrir said. “Tears poured down their faces when they remembered
the candies and cookies they ate.”
Elderly people who still live on the street spoke easily of life
between the Eichmanns and the Jewish Schwager family. Such ties were
routine until the Holocaust.
Looking over town documents, Shagrir found a 1926 picture of his
grandfather being crowned president of Linz’s Jewish community.
Sitting four seats away, at a ceremony attended by about 100 of the
town’s VIPs, was Eichmann’s father, who as president of the Protestant
community was a natural ally of the Jewish leader.
“The closeness between them was understood because they were both
presidents of minority groups,” Shagrir said.
Shagrir was even more surprised to learn that his older half brother,
Haim Grunwald, bought clothes for his bar mitzvah _ a Jewish ritual
of entering adulthood _ from the Eichmann’s tailor shop. “He told me
his bar mitzvah jacket was bought there,” he said. Grunwald died two
months ago, just before the film was completed.
Most of the Schwager family survived the Holocaust by fleeing Austria
and Germany in the 1930s, narrowly escaping the systematic Nazi
extermination of six million Jews.
Eichmann, the SS leader who organized the mass murder of Jews, was
tracked to Argentina after World War II, abducted by Israeli agents
in 1960 and tried and hanged by Israel.
As part of his research, Shagrir had coffee and strudel with
Eichmann’s nephew, Hannes, and spoke on the telephone with the Nazi
killer’s youngest son, Ricardo, a professor of Mideast archaeology in
Berlin. Neither agreed to be filmed for the movie, but they expressed
personal sorrow for their relative’s actions, he said.
For Shagrir, going back to Austria was not just a professional
experience, but also the first time he confronted the roots he spent
most of his childhood hiding.
“When I was growing up, I didn’t say that I was born in Austria. It
wasn’t something to be proud of, especially coming from a city that
aside from me, Adolf Eichmann and Adolf Hitler were raised,” Shagrir
said in an interview at his cluttered Jerusalem home.
“On the eve of the establishment of the state of Israel, growing up
as someone who came from German culture _ classical music, singing _
it was shameful and embarrassing,” Shagrir said.
Shagrir is no stranger to controversy. He spent years studying
the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians in Turkey between 1915-1923,
producing a movie in 1976 that set off a diplomatic tiff that almost
led Turkey to cut ties with Israel.
The 50-minute movie, which focused on Armenian folklore, music,
dancing and culture, included 45 seconds of footage from 1917 of
hundreds of Armenian bodies hanging from trees and inside ditches,
Shagrir said. Hours after the movie’s premier showing in Jerusalem,
he received an angry call from the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Turkey, which is extremely sensitive to the Armenian killings
and insists the deaths were not a planned genocide, was demanding
Israel’s state-owned TV cancel a planned broadcast of the film,
Shagrir said. Israel TV later decided not to air the movie.
For Shagrir, the fact that Israel’s Holocaust memorial falls on
the same day as the 91st anniversary of the Armenian killings is
especially significant.
Yet Shagrir said he would like all of his films to teach future
generations that such incidents should not only be documented and
researched, but prevented at all costs.
“What does it matter if there are 1,000 people in a ditch, 100,000
or a million,” Shagrir said. “The message is that it is forbidden to
kill or expel people because of their beliefs.”

HRANT MARGARIAN: IF TURKEY HAS DECIDED TO JOIN EUROPEAN UNION, IT SHOULD BE ABLE TO CONFESS ITS FAULTS
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 24 2006
YEREVAN, APRIL 24, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. “For the Armenian
people, April 24 is not only a day of commemoration but also a day
of struggle as paying the tribute of our respect to the memory of
the innocent victims, we express our protest against the Turkish
government,” Hrant Margarian, representative of ARF Dashnaktsutiun
Bureau, declared on April 24, at the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex
of the Armenian Genocide victims. “The stronger Armenia becomes and
the more organized it is the more we will approach the recognition
of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey,” Hrant Margarian said meanwhile
emphasizing that “our goal should not be only the recognition of the
Armenian Genocide by Turkey, but we should protect our rights”. “The
Genocide violated the Armenian people’s right of life, existence,
development and by recognizing the Genocide we will restore these
rights,” ARF Dashnaktsutiun Bureau representative declared. In response
to the question, whether Turkey will be admitted into the European
Union without recognizing the Armenian Genocide, H.Margarian said:
“If Turkey has decided to join the European Union, it should be able to
confess its faults and by doing so to achieve the right to join EU. In
order to make part of EU, Turkey first of all should be europeanized”.

TIGRAN TOROSIAN: RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IS THE MATTER OF DIGNITY OF TURKEY AND TURKISH PEOPLE
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 24 2006
YEREVAN, APRIL 24, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. “Our achievements
in the issue of recognition of the Armenian Genocide are obvious:
there were countries that recognized the Genocide, there were such
where memorials were erected.
The most important is that in the course of years more countries
and more peoples understand that indeed this is a huge crime
committed against the mankind and show proper attitude towards it,”
RA National Assembly Vice-Speaker Tigran Torosian declared on April
24 at the memorial complex of Armenian Genocide victims. According to
T.Torosian, the recognition of the Genocide is the matter of dignity
of Turkey and Turkish people: “They can also not recognize, nothing
will change in the world as a result of this. The most important
is the mankind’s realizing that indeed a crime was committed and
the attitude towards it is respect not only towards the Armenian
people but also towards the mankind and human values in general,” NA
Vice-Speaker emphasized. According to Tigran Torosian, Armenia has
always looked for verges of cooperation with Turkey and has always
declared about its readiness to establish relations with Turkey
without any preconditions. According to RA Prosecutor General Aghvan
Hovsepian, not only Turkey but also the whole world should recognize
the Armenian Genocide as the crime is for all nations. “Recognizing
the Genocide they should show their attitude not only in connection
with the fact of the Armenian Genocide,” Aghvan Hovsepian mentioned.