ARKA News Agency, Armenia
April 28 2006
IMF SATISFIED WITH ARMENIA’S BASIC MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS
YEREVAN, April 28. /ARKA/. The IMF is satisfied with Armenia’s basic
macroeconomic indicators, the IMF permanent representative in Armenia
James McHugh stated during the presentation of the book “Growth and
Reduction of Poverty in Armenia. Achievements and Challenges”.
“Last time the IMF council discussed Armenia’s macroeconomic
indicators in December and gave positive evaluations, stating that
the country carries out a rather circumspect tax and budget policy
and system reforms,” he said. According to him, the IMF expects high
rates of economic growth in 2006 as well.
He pointed out that rather high economic indicators were recorded in
Armenia over the last two years. In particular, the economic growth
amounted to 13.9% in 2005 versus 6% in 2000, the inflation was left
below 3%, the budget was well-consolidated, and foreign debt factors,
testifying to foreign vulnerability considerably decreased.
McHugh said that the deficit of the account current, which is now 5%
of GDP, was considerably reduced. R.O. –0–

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
April 28 2006
ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT DECIDED TO EARMARK 586.5THND SQUARE METERS OF
YEREVAN AREA FOR EXPANDING GREEN SPACES IN CAPITAL
YEREVAN, April 28. /ARKA/. Armenian Government decided to earmark
586.5thnd square meters of Yerevan area for expanding green spaces in
the capital.
The Government says it was guided by Land Code in making this
decision.
In particular, 435thousand square meters were given to
Malatia-Sebastia district, 12thnd square meters to Erebuni, 19.5thnd
square meters to Arabkir and 120thnd square meters to Nor-Nork.
These areas are to receive special care and special protection. M.V.
-0—
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
April 28 2006
HEAD OF WB YEREVAN OFFICE: SALE OF HRAZDAN-5 TO RUSSIA IS VERY
PROFITABLE FOR ARMENIA
YEREVAN, April 28. /ARKA – Novosti-Armenia/. The Hrazdan-5 (5th
power-unit of Hrazdan heat and power plant) sale transaction is very
profitable for Armenia, as the Head of the WB Yerevan Office Roger
Robinson told journalists in Yerevan today.
`The only thing I can say, reasoning from the information provided by
authorities, is that this transaction is very profitable for
Armenia’, Robinson stated.
In his words, in many countries of the world public services are not
always rendered by resident companies.
`There is nothing wrong in such system’, Robinson finds.
Besides that in his words, Russia is the main provider of primary
energy resources in Armenia.
`It’s nowadays reality’, Robinson stated. He emphasized that Armenia
receives from Russia atomic fuel and natural gas and the only own
source of energy are hydro-resources.
`Each of us, who speaks about energy-generation and energy-supply in
Armenia, must realize this reality’, Robinson finds.
At the same time he emphasized the importance of existence of
powerful regulating body in Armenia, which sets and controls the
sphere of service rendering.
He informed that next week the RA Government intends to conduct
public hearings on this issue.
`It would be right if the Government discusses with citizens its
activities of recent months. Their responsibility sphere includes
this, since they act on behalf of the people of Armenia’, he stated.
On April 6, `Gasprom’ ojsc and the RA Government signed an agreement
on strategic cooperation for 25 years. The document envisages
purchase of Hrazdan-5 by the `ArmRusgasprom’ cjsc from Armenia for
$248,8 mln and it also sets price for Russian gas for Armenia
amounting to $110 for 1 thsd cubic meters till January 1, 2009.
S.P.–0–

United Press International
April 28 2006
Outside View: Armenia seeking a new place in the world
By Raffi K. Hovannisian
UPI Outside View Commentator
Published April 28, 2006
YEREVAN, Armenia — Yerevan-Armenia, the great regional power that
extended from sea to sea in the first century before Christ and for
ages played a central role in the history of Western Asia, has been
reduced to a land-locked rump in modern times.

Millennia of foreign conquest and domination, occupation and
genocide, have delivered to today’s world a nation that is long on
culture and civilization, but short in statecraft. The catastrophic
dispossession of the Armenian homeland by the rulers of the Ottoman
Empire; the subsequent Bolshevik-Turkish pact partitioning Armenia
and effectively tendering Karabagh, Nakhichevan and other integral
parts of the Armenian patrimony to Soviet Azerbaijan; and Armenia’s
inclusion in the Soviet empire may form the basis of an explanation,
but they do not excuse Armenia’s current smallness.

The nation’s historic losses and intermittent statelessness are
only prologue. The real story is in a failed leadership that seeks to
rationalize the steady decline of the Armenian factor in world
affairs by reference to external adversaries and geopolitical
limitations.

In fact, the major constraint is the insecure myopia of a
semi-feudal, soft-authoritarian regime with a parochial mindset that
makes a mockery of Armenia’s ancient values and, in the very name of
democracy, smothers human rights, civil liberties, free speech and
assembly, and the rule of law. Of course, Armenia is not alone in
this demeanor.

In the 15 years of the country’s newly rediscovered statehood,
authority has never been transferred from incumbent to challenger by
free and fair elections. They have always been forged —
unfortunately always by the administration. The sitting presidency is
no exception to this deplorable rule of illegitimate government.

For Armenia to reclaim its democratic advantage in the region, to
become a competitive contributor to peace, development and security,
and to realize its strategic credentials at an increasingly critical
crossing on the global map, it must transform itself both at home and
abroad.

Fresh Elections: In view of its series of falsified elections,
and most recently the constitutional referendum held last November,
Armenia requires an electoral transformation. Our American, European,
and other international partners have the capacity to make this
happen through the empowerment of Armenian citizen and society alike.
This is the expectation of the Armenian body public. An orchestrated
theft of votes and conscience is alien to the long-standing Armenian
quest for rights and redemption. Armenia must satisfy the highest
possible criteria for electoral legitimacy and accountable
governance.

Rule of Right: The supremacy of rights with due process and an
equal application of laws needs in short order to become the
foundation of the state. From corruption and conflicts of interest to
responsibility for grave crimes and other misconduct, all citizens
must face the same standard of justice — starting from the very top
and going all the way down the hierarchy. The self-confidence of an
independent judiciary, elusive as it may seem, is pivotal on this
score. Raise their salaries and strictly hold them to the law.

International Standing: Armenia’s democratic transformation, much
like Georgia’s attempt, will find its reflection in international
affairs. The republic’s sovereignty is a supreme value and the most
meaningful means for pursuit of vital national interests. Armenia
must become a bridge of balance and understanding in the wider
region, intersecting as it does Western civilization and Eastern
tradition, the CIS and the Middle East, and the future linkage
between its southern neighbors and the trans-Atlantic hemisphere.
Official Yerevan should take its rightful place in the regional
security system and, in dialogue with NATO, the European Union,
Russia, China, and other centers, strive within the next decade to
achieve security and energy independence — or at least
diversification.

Turkey: In all of history, no bilateral agreement, concord, or
treaty has ever been negotiated or entered into force between the
sovereign republics of Armenia and Turkey.

A brave new discourse and enlightened statesmanship must guide
the initiative to normalize the Turkish-Armenian relationship in a
multi-track process that takes into account, not escapes, the
historical record and hammers out solutions to a comprehensive agenda
of outstanding issues, including but not limited to establishment of
diplomatic ties without preconditions; political, economic, and
ultimately security-related cooperation; the restoration of rights of
the dispossessed; the guaranteed voluntary return of deportees or
their progeny to their places of origin; respect for and renovation
of the Armenian cultural heritage; and delimitation of boundaries
directly between the parties involved.

As it stands, however, Turkey continues to enforce a blockade
against Armenia, an act of war and a material breach of the pact
which Turkey’s Kemalist regime and Soviet Russia signed in 1921 and
on which Ankara relies for assertion of its eastern frontier. Without
resolution of this strategic connection — rather the absence thereof
— neither Turkey nor Armenia can ever join the EU, and no enduring
settlement will ever be found in the case of Mountainous Karabagh and
its struggle for liberty, democracy, and self-determination.

Karabagh and Azerbaijan: There can be no true movement on this
regional conflict as long as a) Armenia and Azerbaijan remain in
essentially undemocratic hands and thus without civic mandate;

b) the republican entity of mountainous Karabagh, which declared
its independence according to a plebiscite held in 1991 under the
Soviet Constitution and relevant norms of international law, is
excluded from the peace process;

c) Azerbaijan refuses to cease and desist from its xenophobic
rhetoric and its outrageous desecration of Armenian religious
treasures, including an entire cemetery of medieval “khachkars”
(cross-stones) finally and fully destroyed in broad daylight by
uniformed soldiers in Nakhichevan last December; and

d) the Turkish-Armenian divide stays intact and insurmounted.

Short of this, the consequences of the war unleashed by
Azerbaijan against Karabagh in 1988, resulting in thousands of
casualties, hundreds of thousands of refugees and scores of
reciprocal expulsions on both sides, must be approached on the
humanitarian level. A pilot program to demilitarize a local segment
of the conflict zone, allowing for the conditional return and
restitution of both Armenian and Azerbaijani refugees, might under
the circumstances be the only rational avenue for the initial
cultivation of mutual confidence and gradual reconciliation of
peoples. In all events, for the long-term development, prosperity,
and equity of the region, Azerbaijan, Karabagh, Armenia, and Turkey
must abide by the same supervisory regime and terms of engagement as
they relate to demilitarization, repatriation, opening of frontiers,
transportation and communication, and potential peacekeeping.

An old nation with a young state, Armenia does indeed face a
constellation of contemporary challenges, foreign and domestic, which
must be overcome creatively and fundamentally. Neither wishful
evolution nor artificial revolution will carry the day. Only a
peaceful, system-wide, citizen-driven transformation — anchored in a
correlation of the national will and international imperatives — can
shift the paradigm and provide the land of Ararat with one ultimate
opportunity to close the democratic deal, to turn swords into shared
interests, and to redefine its identity, place, and promise in the
new era.

Freedom and justice in the world begin at home.

—

(Raffi K. Hovannisian, Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign
Affairs, is chairman of the Heritage Party and founder of the
Armenian Center for National and International Studies in Yerevan.)

Watertown TAB & Press, MA
April 28 2006
Rally campaigns come together to stop genocides
By Melody Hanatani/ Belmont Citizen-Herald
Friday, April 28, 2006 – Updated: 11:04 AM EST
A new coalition of diverse local ethnic groups kicked off an
anti-genocide campaign with a rally at the State House last Friday,
following the annual Armenian genocide anniversary commemoration.

The group, called kNOw Genocide, includes 10 organizations such
as Rwanda Outlook, the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association and
the Jewish Community Relations Council.

On his way from the ceremony to the rally, state Sen. Steven
Tolman, D-Boston, talked about why the coalition was formed.

“Today is a reaction of a diverse group to the lawsuit about the
denial of the Turks that this [genocide] even happened,” he said,
referring to a lawsuit seeking to introduce materials denying the
genocide into the statewide curriculum.

In listing the genocides that have occurred over the past 100
years, such as Armenia, Bosnia and Cambodia, U.S. Rep Edward Markey,
D-7th, called on President George W. Bush to recognize the genocides
in Armenia and Darfur.

“Don’t forget Palestine, Markey,” said one protester. “It’s been
too long for them, too.”

The protester was later escorted farther down Beacon Street,
where he continued to yell at the speakers.

Attorney General Tom Reilly, a Watertown resident and
gubernatorial hopeful, said the pending case in Boston is not about
limiting free speech. He said the only way to find a more just and
peaceful future is to face the “ugly truth of our past.”

State Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham, announced new “landmark”
legislation would be filed this week to force the state to divest
from any country where genocide occurs. He said the legislation would
be the first of its kind in the country, and hopes it will be a model
for other states.

Markey said earlier that the legislation would “ratchet up
pressure on the Bush administration to take a firmer stand in
Darfur.”

According to some humanitarian groups, about 400,000 people have
died in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Belmont resident Heather Krafian, a teacher at Muraco Elementary
School in Winchester, is a granddaughter of Armenian genocide
survivors. She spoke about the importance of teaching about the
genocide in the schools.
She spoke out against the denial of the genocide, and said it has
become the modus operandi of the Turkish government. She said there
is no doubt among scholars and experts that the Armenian genocide
occurred.

“The thread of lies Turkey has woven for 91 years is slowly
beginning to unravel,” said Krafian. “The fabric of denial has become
torn and tattered. The truth will not be killed, but will prevail.”

Watertown TAB & Press, MA
April 28 2006
Commemoration becomes cultural celebration
By Christopher Loh/ Staff Writer
Friday, April 28, 2006 – Updated: 11:19 AM EST
The message was clear last Sunday afternoon at the St. James Armenian
Apostolic Church – the Armenian culture, 91 years after genocide, has
survived and is thriving.

The performances and speakers at the commemoration ceremonies
were simple yet powerful in their message, and an audience of 800
people helped to ring that message forth.

Lalig Musserian, the master of ceremonies, said the commemoration
was to “underscore the survival” of Armenians.

“It’s an affirmation and a commemoration,” said state Rep. Rachel
Kaprielian, D-Watertown, who attended the event. “An affirmation of
the resilience of the culture.”

A representative of church leadership said the commemoration was
to be a positive celebration of the future and of Armenian survival:
“We’re still here, celebrating our culture.”

The culture was well represented through performances by the
Shushi Dance Ensemble of New York City and Sami and Solange
Merdinian, Armenian siblings from Argentina who performed in voice
and violin.

Musserian said the planning for the fourth annual commemoration
started immediately after last year’s event, especially when she saw
the Shushi dancers perform.

“We wanted them last year, but couldn’t book them,” Musserian
said, adding that she booked the ensemble for this year long in
advance.

The 48 members of the group, composed of children, were all
sponsored, room and board, by the church which raised nearly $5,000
for the entire commemoration.

Musserian said the planning for next year’s commemoration is
already in the preliminary stages as she thinks, “What do we do next
year to top this?” especially as the crowds grow significantly each
year.

“We were delighted with the turnout,” Musserian said.

A highlight of this year’s commemoration was the speech of Henry
Morgenthau III, whose grandfather was the United States ambassador to
Turkey during the 1915 genocide.

Morgenthau’s grandfather spoke out against the Turkish acts,
writing the book “Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story.”
Announcing that his grandfather’s book was recently published in
Turkish, Morgenthau said there is a “small straw in the wind that the
climate is changing” regarding denial themes.

Morgenthau spoke of the recently aired documentary “The Armenian
Genocide” on various PBS affiliates throughout the country.

While a controversy over a panel discussion carrying denial
themes to be aired after the documentary infiltrated the country,
Morgenthau called the panel “quite ridiculous.”

“In my 90th year, I am encouraged to live to see the day when the
Armenian Genocide is fully acknowledged,” Morgenthau said.

“We are here today not because of the path before us, but because
of the path behind us,” Musserian said to the crowd. “The path, once
filled with blood, with hatred and genocide.”

Musserian said the blood of countless Armenians “soils the hands
of the Turkish government. Our blood makes their hands unclean.”

“We live with the pain of our past,” Kaprielian said, “we have
risen from the ashes.”

Christopher Loh can be reached at [email protected]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Watertown TAB & Press, MA
April 28 2006
Armenians, legislators remember genocide
By Melody Hanatani/ Belmont Citizen-Herald
Friday, April 28, 2006 – Updated: 11:05 AM EST
It was a solemn day at the State House last Friday when local
officials and the Armenian community came together to commemorate the
91st anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

Generations of Armenians, many of whom are from Watertown and
Belmont, filled the House of Representatives chamber from top to
bottom for the annual ceremony sponsored by the State House Genocide
Commemoration Committee.

Several candidates for the upcoming statewide election, including
gubernatorial hopeful Deval Patrick, were among those in attendance.

State Rep. Rachel Kaprielian, D-Watertown, opened the event by
calling it a commemoration of “91 years of grief … 91 years of
resilience and survival.”

The Rev. Raphael Andonian of Belmont’s Holy Cross Armenian
Catholic Church gave the invocation, and the Rev. Antranig Baljian of
St. Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church in Watertown gave a requiem
prayer.

Many speakers called for the Turkish and United States
governments to recognize the atrocities in order to begin healing and
to prevent future genocides.

U.S. Rep Edward Markeym, D-7th, demanded that President George W.
Bush go on the record and recognize the killings as genocide.

Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey presented the Governor’s Proclamations to
four survivors, three of whom attended the ceremony. The son of Areka
DerKazarian accepted the proclamation on behalf of his mother, who
was unable to attend.

“Our country is richer because of you,” Healey said to the
survivors.

Healey was filling in for Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Belmont, who was in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Friday.

This year’s ceremony honored Dr. Taner Akcam, a visiting
professor at the University of Minnesota, who was one of the first
Turkish scholars to recognize the genocide.

For speaking out, Akcam received a 10-year prison sentence in
1976. He escaped after serving one year, and has lived in exile since
then.

For the past 20 years, Akcam has worked on human rights issues,
in particular the Turkish government’s denial of the genocide. He
said truth and recognition would deter further human rights
violations and abuse.
He called for Turkey and Armenia to work together to deal with their
pasts as part of the democratization process.

Dr. Henry Theriault, the keynote speaker, said an apology alone
could simply be “empty rhetoric.”

Theriault, who is the coordinator for the Center for the Study of
Human Rights at Worcester State College, said recognition must come
in the form of land and reparations.

In his closing remarks, state Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham,
talked about why the Armenian community continues to commemorate the
genocide.

He said the commemoration is not about dwelling on the past, but
understanding that the genocide was the first of many that occurred
over the past 100 years.

“We know the events of the past are important today,” he said.

Clara Mandasian of Watertown has lived in Massachusetts for the
past seven years and has attended the commemoration every year. She’s
been to similar ceremonies around the United States.

For Mandasian, the commemoration is a way for her to honor the
victims of past genocides. Her grandmother survived the Armenian
genocide.

“It’s very frustrating,” she said of the Turkish government’s
denial of the genocide. “It’s so painful to have a history, to know
what your family endured, and have the perpetrator deny it.”

It was a first-time ceremony for the younger generation of
Armenians. Araxie Poladian of Belmont brought her grandchildren for
the first time.

She hopes her grandchildren can keep the history alive.

“I hope people will tell other people that this shouldn’t happen
to anyone,” she said.

Interfax, Russia
April 28 2006
Karabakh will never be part of Azerbaijan – Armenian minister
STEPANAKERT. April 28 (Interfax) – Nagorno-Karabakh will never be a
part of Azerbaijan, said Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian.
“I don’t know what status the Nagorno-Karabakh republic will have,
but I know for sure what it will not be, namely, Nagorno-Karabakh
will never be within Azerbaijan. This is absolutely impossible,”
Oskanian said speaking at the Nagorno-Karabakh State University in
Stepanakert.
Oskanian is on a working visit to Stepanakert to hold consultations
with the leadership of the self-proclaimed republic.

PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT: Harout H. Semerdjian
April 27, 2006
617-489-1597
Web:
E-mail: [email protected]
BOSTON, MA – KNOW GENOCIDE, a multi-ethnic, non-partisan coalition was
formally launched on April 21, 2006 during a public rally outside the
Massachusetts State House following the annual Commonwealth of Massachusetts Armenian
Genocide Commemoration Ceremony in the House Chamber.
The coalition was founded to combat the ongoing denial of known instances
of genocide, including the Darfur, Bosnian, Cambodian, Jewish, Rwandan, and
the Armenian genocides. Members are united with the firm understanding that
genocide denial is the final stage of that crime and its penetration into our
schools, universities and other institutions are unethical and unacceptable.
Among the distinguished speakers at the event were Massachusetts Lt.
Governor Kerry Healey, Attorney General Tom Reilly and Congressman Edward Markey
(D-MA). Leaders of several coalition groups also spoke including Rabbi Moshe
Waldoks, Chairman of the Jewish Community Relations Council Holocaust Committee,
and Mr. Jean Nganji, Executive Director of Rwanda Outlook together with
community leaders Carolyn Mugar and Heather Karfian and Representatives Rachel
Kaprielian (D-Watertown), Peter Koutoujian (D-Watertown) and State Senator
Steven Tolman (D-Boston).
While KNOW GENOCIDE is a coalition in formation, support from the people of
Massachusetts and beyond has been overwhelming. Coalition members officially
announced at the event include the Armenian Assembly of America, Jewish
Community Relations Council, Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association, Genocide
Intervention Network, Irish Immigration Center, Massachusetts Council of
Churches, Rwanda Outlook, Armenian National Committees of Massachusetts, Center for
Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota and the
Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University.
`KNOW GENOCIDE was initiated for the purpose of exposing and countering
deliberate efforts at genocide denial,’ says Anthony Barsamian, oneof the
founders of the coalition and a Member of the Board of the Armenian Assembly of
America. `Denial of genocide has penetrated our state and nation with new
sophistication, and KNOW GENOCIDE will combat this immoral effort to uphold the
fundamental tenets of human rights, academic integrity and the historical
truth.’
For more information on KNOW GENOCIDE please log on to
#####

National Assembly of RA, Armenia
April 28 2006
Saint Petersburg Meetings

On April 28 RA NA President Artur Baghdasaryan met with Sergey
Mironov, Chairman of RF Federal Assembly Federal Council. During the
meeting an agreement was reached in autumn on holding Days of RA
National Assembly in RF Federal Assembly and a conference over the
inter-regional cooperation problems in any RF region full of
Armenians.
During the meeting of Rene van der Linden, PACE President and Artur
Baghdasaryan, RA NA President issues concerning the process of the
fulfillment of Armenia’s undertaken commitments were discussed. Both
sides touched upon the Electoral Code, highlighted the formation of
political consent around Electoral Code and holding the coming
general elections in conformity with democratic standards. The PACE
President Rene van der Linden expressed readiness to assist in the
name of the Council of Europe.
As BSEC President, the NA President Artur Baghdasaryan and RF State
Duma Chairman Boris Gryzlov signed a cooperation agreement between
PABSEC and European Economic Community Inter-parliamentary Assembly,
by which it is designed to promote the cooperation of two structures,
the formation of parliamentary dialogue between countries and
peoples.