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06/22/2005
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1) Pavel Manukian Takes Beating at MKR Defense Ministry Headquarters
2) Barroso Urges ‘Frank’ Debate on Turkey’s EU Entry Bid
3) Gul Warns Norway Genocide Museum to Consider Turkey’s Feelings
4) Armenian and Russian Presidents Meet in Kremlin
5) IUSY Istanbul Meeting Adjourns

1) Pavel Manukian Takes Beating at MKR Defense Ministry Headquarters

STEPANAKERT–The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) of Mountainous
Karabagh Republic, in a press released issued on Wednesday, revealed that
Pavel
Manukian was taken to a military hospital in Stepanakert on June 20, after
sustaining heavy injuries. After gaining consciousness, Manukian said that he
was beaten during a visit to MKR’s Defense Ministry.
Manukian, who was a candidate on the ARF/Movement-88 ticket in last Sunday’s
parliamentary elections in Karabagh, said that Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian
started the beating, along with Deputy Defense Minister Samuel Garabedian,
before being joined by other senior military commanders present in the room.
Manukian’s military and political affiliates, along with friends and
relatives, gathered at the hospital, where MKR President Arkady Ghukasian,
also
visiting the patient, promised a thorough investigation of the incident.
The Central Committee of ARF Artsakh demanded the resignation of Karabagh’s
top military commanders who participated in the beating of Manukian.
They also asked that President Robert Kocharian ensure an impartial inquiry
into the matter.
Late on Tuesday, ARF Artsakh representative Grisha Hairabedian and
Movement-88
president Vitaly Balasanian held an urgent meeting with President Ghukasian
who
pledged to thoroughly investigate the violent incident and punish the guilty.
The ARF release also states that they have appealed to the Armenian Ministry
of Health to send a team of “independent medical experts” to would examine
Manukian’s condition and certify the cause of his injuries.
Manukian’s injuries are not life threatening, and he remains in stable
condition.

2) Barroso Urges ‘Frank’ Debate on Turkey’s EU Entry Bid

BRUSSELS (Bloomberg/AP)–European Commission President Jose Barroso called for
a “frank discussion” of Turkey’s prospects of joining the European Union,
saying opposition to Turkish membership helped defeat the EU constitution.
Resistance to admitting an overwhelmingly Muslim country with a standard of
living about a quarter of the EU average played a role in French and Dutch
voters’ rejection of the constitution, designed to strengthen the EU’s global
voice.
“We should discuss seriously the signals that were sent by the electorate
regarding Turkey,” Barroso told a Brussels press conference on June 22. “We
need to have a frank discussion on that matter.”
The commission will outline its strategy on June 29 for entry talks with
Turkey, a decade-long process due to start Oct. 3. All 25 EU countries will
have to approve the negotiating road map.
Barroso said that “for the time being,” the EU governments have not altered
the bloc’s commitment to Turkey. Polls in Germany suggest Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder will be ousted in an election in September by Angela Merkel, who
favors a “privileged partnership” with Turkey that stops short of full
membership.
Turkey has a population of 70 million people, almost equal to the total of
the
10 countries that joined the bloc last year.
Romano Prodi, who as Barroso’s predecessor championed Turkey’s entry, has
changed his mind about Turkish membership, according to an interview with the
Gazzettino newspaper.
“I now believe that there are no longer the conditions for Turkey to join the
EU in the short or medium-term,” Prodi told the daily newspaper. “We need to
rethink things.”
French President Jacques Chirac on June 17 urged the EU to re-examine the
planned enlargement, calling for a special summit on how the process can
continue “without having the institutions capable of making the enlarged union
function efficiently.”
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Europe’s politicians to
fulfill its promises to Turkey.
“The negotiations must start on Oct. 3,” he told his deputies in a speech at
the Ankara-based parliament. “We are implementing the steps that we
promised. I
believe that the EU will overcome the current problems that it’s
experiencing.”

The US and Britain have urged the EU to embrace Turkey to help democracy in
the Middle East, which Turkey borders.
Meanwhile, Olli Rehn, the EU commissioner overseeing the expansion plans,
told
the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee “We need to pace ourselves
after last year’s big bang when the 10 new states joined the union.”
Concerns over further EU expansion were believed to be one of the reasons why
French and Dutch voters rejected the EU constitution.
Rehn made it clear that the EU hopefuls will not be able to join the Union
before they have fully met the requirements for membership.
For Turkey to begin accession talks in October, Rehn urged it to address the
Armenian genocide issue. “Turkey has problems tackling the truth, which is
always the basis for reconciliation,” he said.
He also stressed that Turkey must first enforce legislation aimed at
significantly improving human rights in the country and sign a protocol
extending its existing customs agreement with the EU to all new member states,
including Cyprus.
The European Commission warned Tuesday it would postpone EU membership for
Bulgaria and Romania if they failed to introduce essential reforms, and said
the European Union must ‘pace itself’ after 10 new members joined last year.
“My message to (Romania and Bulgaria) is to fulfill the conditions of
accession to the letter,” said. “I hope that they will make it in time, but I
would not hesitate to recommend a postponement of their membership.”
Romania and Bulgaria are scheduled to join Jan. 1, 2007, while Croatia’s
membership has been postponed because a fugitive former general wanted by the
war crimes tribunal remains at large.

3) Gul Warns Norway Genocide Museum to Consider Turkey’s Feelings

ANKARA (Armenpress)–Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul “warned” Norwegian
State Secretary Kim Traavik about the inclusion of an Armenian genocide
exhibit
in a museum to be inaugurated on August 30 in Oslo. The prime minister
expressed that “the museum will deeply hurt the Turkish people.”
Turkish-based Milliyet newspaper wrote that in response to Gul, Traavik said
the museum will be funded by a private foundation, rendering the government no
right to interfere. Milliyet also reported that the museum will open on the
initiative of a history professor at Bergen University. The museum, which will
open on Turkey’s Victory Day, will present exhibits on the Armenian
genocide in
1915 and the Holocaust.

4) Armenian and Russian Presidents Meet in Kremlin

MOSCOW (RFE/RL)–President Robert Kocharian met his Russian counterpart
Vladimir Putin in Moscow Wednesday ahead of a Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO) summit where several former Soviet republics will focus on
common defense and economic cooperation.
They both expressed satisfaction at the current state of Russian-Armenian
ties, with Putin saying that they have become “more active” of late.
Kocharian agreed but noted that there are issues that still “need to be
clarified” by the two governments. “I would like to single out issues related
to the energy sector and investments,” he said, hinting at Armenia’s concerns
about the slow implementation of a bilateral agreement that cleared Yerevan’s
$100 million debt to Moscow.
Putin, for his part, praised Kocharian for taking part in the Moscow
summit of
the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC), a Russian-led grouping of five
ex-Soviet states. Armenia has so far declined to join the EurAsEC, opting
instead for an observer status.
“The fact that you as a head of state take part in the EurAsEC’s
activities on
the permanent basis is a positive signal,” Putin told the Armenian leader.
“Although Armenia has an observer status in the organization, I am confident
that it will help develop interaction between all our countries.”
The EurAsEC countries and Armenia are also signatories to the Collective
Security Treaty (CST), a Russian-led military pact. A separate CST summit will
also take place in Moscow.
Preparations for it were discussed on Wednesday by the defense ministers and
top diplomats from the member states, where the Armenian delegation was led by
Defense Minister Serge Sarksian.
“I continue to believe that membership in the Collective Security Treaty
Organization is one of the integral parts of Armenia’s national security,” he
said. “We have deepened our relations with NATO and the United States in
recent
years. And I am convinced that our relations with the CST organization in no
way impede our cooperation with NATO and vice versa.”

5) IUSY Istanbul Meeting Adjourns

YEREVAN (YERKIR)–The International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) Black Sea
Area Cooperation conference adjourned on June 18 in Istanbul, Turkey, the ARF
Youth Office reported.
Delegates from Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Bulgaria,
Moldova, Serbia, Sweden etc. participated in the meeting titled, “We all are
Minorities.”
The Armenian delegation consisted of Armenian Youth Federation (AYF)
members.Karen Mnatsakanyan and Zinavor Meghryan (Armenia), Talline Tachdjian
(France) and, Khatchik Mouradian (Lebanon).
The AYF delegation members participated in the “Self-determination Right and
Minorities” and “Minorities and Wars” commissions. In both commissions, the
AYF
delegates raised the Artsakh and Armenian genocide issues. The Artsakh issue
spurred debates between the Armenian and Azeri delegates.
At the closing of the conference, in a speech on behalf of the AYF
delegation,
one of the Armenian youth said, “In your speeches you stressed the fact that
this conference was very well organized and you thanked the hosts for that.
For
the AYF delegation, the success of this conference has yet another dimension.
Our organization is participating in an event in Turkey for the first time, 90
years after the Armenian genocide, which the Turkish government denies and
falsifies to this day.
We spoke freely and openly about the Armenian genocide and they were good
listeners, I would like to thank our hosts for their openness to discussion.
Currently, there is a movement in Turkey that calls for challenging the
official government stance on the Armenian genocide. The time has come for
Turkish youth not only to be tolerant when this issue is raised, but also to
join forces with that movement and help Turkey face its history. Dialogue has
started but the road to reconciliation starts at the crossroads of truth.”
After the speech, the delegates distributed booklets on the Armenian genocide
and Turkish denial–causing the Turkish delegates to protest.
The meeting was officially closed by IUSY General Secretary Enzo Amendola.
AYF delegates returned to their countries on June 21. The delegates from
Armenia will conduct a news conference on June 23 at 1 p.m., at the Congress
hotel in Yerevan.

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian opposition MP praises polls in Karabakh

Arminfo
22 Jun 05

Yerevan, 22 June: The 19 June parliamentary elections in the Nagornyy
Karabakh republic [NKR] were conducted in an atmosphere of free
dialogue. This is how Arshak Sadoyan, leader of the Union of National
Democrats and an MP from the opposition Justice bloc, described the
parliamentary elections in the NKR today.

The MP said he was satisfied with getting a Niva jeep right after
arriving in Stepanakert as an observer two days prior to the
voting. Thanks to that he and his colleague from the Union of National
Democrats, Mamikon Mneyan, managed to visit 13 polling stations in
Stepanakert, Mardakert , Askeran and even in Agdam District on the
election day.

Sadoyan admitted that although he had “hinted” in his conversations
with members of the electoral commissions that they tell him about any
pressure on them or on the usage of administrative resources, nobody
told him anything of the sort. The shortcomings noted by Sadoyan
during the elections were of technical nature – some polling stations
were overcrowded and voters in the country were unaware of the notion
of proportional representation.

“Compared with the outrage which took place during all the elections
in Armenia starting from 1991, all this can be dismissed as completely
insignificant details,” Sadoyan said.

Commenting on the defeat of the bloc of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation – Dashnaktsutyun [ARFD] and Movement-88 in the elections,
he said that the ARFD has to look for the roots of its defeat in the
victory of the ARFD candidate in the Stepanakert mayor elections.

“Voters told me – a year on and nothing has changed. Many were puzzled
– the ARFD is in the ruling coalition in Armenia but it is an
opposition party in Karabakh. All this misunderstanding played its
role during the elections,” Sadoyan said.

Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR] issues preliminary results of elections

Noyan Tapan news agency, Yerevan
22 Jun 05

Stepanakert , 22 June: The Central Electoral Commission of the
Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR] has issued the preliminary results of
the elections to the fourth parliament of the NKR.

Seventy-eight per cent of the voters turned out to vote in the
elections. Under the proportional system, the first three places have
been taken by the Democratic Party of Artsakh – 37.6 per cent of the
vote, the Free Motherland Party – 26.7 per cent and the bloc of the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation – Dashnaktsutyun [ARFD] and
Movement-88 – 24.4 per cent.

Under the first-past-the-post system, the following candidates have
been elected to the NKR parliament:

Constituency No 1 – Armen Abgaryan,

No 2 – Zhanna Galstyan,

No 3 – Valeriy Arutyunyan,

No 4 – Araik Arutyunyan,

No 5 – Maksim Mirzoyan,

No 6 – Ararat Danielyan,

No 7 – Sergey Seyranyan,

No 8 – Gagik Petrosyan,

No 9 – Samvel Akopyan,

No 10 – Benik Bakhshyan,

No 11 – Ivan Avanesyan,

No 12 – Armen Oganyan,

No 13 – Rudik Yusunts,

No 14 – Rudik Martirosyan,

No 15 – Sergey Oganyan,

No 16 – Grigoriy Gasparyan,

No 17 – Garnik Mirzabekyan,

No 18 – Artur Tovmasyan,

No 19 – Oleg Grigoryan,

No 20 – Vagram Atanesyan,

No 21 – Artsvik Sarkisyan,

No 22 – Karen Grigoryan.

Seven of the candidates elected under the first-past-the-post system were
nominated by the Democratic Party of Artsakh, seven by the Free Motherland Party
and eight are independent deputies.

The final results of the elections will be published in five or six days, the
information-analytical department of the NKR Foreign Ministry has told Noyan
Tapan news agency.

[Passage omitted: other details]

FINANCIAL-ECONOMIC PRESS IS LACKING IN ARMENIA, BELIEVES MEMBER OF CBA
BOARD

YEREVAN, June 22. /ARKA/. Financial-economic press is lacking in
Armenia, believes Vache Gabrielyan, member of CBA Board on addressing
“Transparency of State Bodies Activities and Information Availability”
seminar. He said that “there are three agencies and one newspaper
specializing in economy and finance but the range of their activities
is not so wide”. According to Gabrielyan, there is no mass media in
Armenia to cover only financial -economic events. The economic market
is not fully covered, and the development of economy branches and
money-loan issues are superficial. “There are many problems in the
area of economic journalism and this area needs constant knowledge
improvement”, said Gabrielyan. L.V.-0–

STATE OF NEW JERSEY RECOGNIZES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

YEREVAN, June 22. /ARKA/. U.S. State of New Jersey has recognized the
Armenian Genocide. As the Armenian Assembly of America told ARKA News
Agency, the General Assembly voted 79 to 0 to approve a joint
resolution commemorating the 90th anniversary of Armenian Genocide of
1915 in Ottoman Empire. “This joint resolution recognizes the 90th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and acknowledges the criminal
mistreatment of the Armenians by the governments of the Ottoman Empire
as an issue of international and historic significance”, says the
document. The state-appointed education commission announced a
comprehensive curriculum on the Armenian Genocide. The new curriculum
consists of the resource book on the Armenian Genocide is entitled
“Crimes Against Humanity and Civilization: the Genocide of the
Armenians,” which will be distributed to middle and high schools
throughout New Jersey. L.V.–0–

TRANSPARENCY OF THE ACTIVITIES OF ARMENIAN STATE BODIES TO HELP IN
FIGHTING CORRUPTION

YEREVAN, June 22. /ARKA/. The transparency of the activities of
Armenian state bodies will help in fighting corruption, stated Armen
Khatchatryan, Program Coordinator of OSCE Yerevan Office addressing
the seminar on “Transparency of State Bodies Activities and
Information Availability”. He also said that the transparency of state
structures will also contribute to the creation of “bridges” between
the authorities and the society.

As Lusine Margaryan, the head of “National Centre for Liberalization
Processes Monitoring” NGO stated at the opening of the seminar, the
objective of the seminar is to develop a transparent and available
covering of state bodies’ activities. According to her, that will also
promote moire intensive cooperation between the state structures as
well.

The seminar was organized by the “National Centre for Liberalization
Processes Monitoring” with the assistance of OSCE Yerevan
Office. Representatives of financial-economic sector, David Avetisyan,
RA Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy, Samvel Avetisyan, RA Deputy
Minister of Agriculture, Vache Gabrielyan, member of CBA Board, Artsvi
Minasyan, member of RA Securities Committee and others participated in
the seminar. L.V.–0–

The Tmes/UK
June 23, 2005

On This Day – June 23, 1905
In the intercommunal unrest that characterised the last years of the
Ottoman empire, Armenians again found themselves under attack

HARROWING details have been received of massacres in Transcaucasia.
Indiscriminate slaughter is proceeding in which Armenians, Tartars,
Persians and Kurds are all engaged. There are said to be 30,000
combatants. There appears to be no means of unravelling the butchery
except that it is the result of the long period of misrule. It was
this which led to the sanguinary outbreak at Stavropol between members
of the Orthodox and the Old Faith.

Thirty-seven thousand insurgents in the district of Sharukhan, in the
province of Erivan, sacked and burned four Armenian villages and
surrounded Owlianorashan, the inhabitants of which repulsed the
attack, killing 100 men.

A body of infantry and Cossacks who were besieged in the village of
Khulundian also beat off the insurgents, taking 870 prisoners and
capturing a quantity of arms and a black standard.

Mussulman proclamations were found exhorting the Sunnites and Shiites
to combine for a common struggle. The agitation is spreading to other
districts of the province of Erivan.

At Hadjivar the altar in a church was overturned and a priest was
killed. At Yarimdja the holy relics were stolen, and at Badamlu 800
Christians and a priest were converted by force to Islamism, eleven
young boys were mutilated and the church was transformed into a
mosque. At Djagrakh women are stated to have been outraged before the
eyes of their husbands and sons, while 37 men were beheaded in the
presence of their wives and children.

ARMENIA’S PROSECUTOR GENERAL OFFICE WANTS AN AZERI SPECIAL AGENT

YEREVAN, JUNE 22. ARMINFO. Armenia’s Prosecutor general Office is
searching for Azeri special agent, deputy head of the Qazax department
of the Azeri National Security Ministry Faig Shamilov for complicity
in the espionage case of Andrey Maziev.

The hunt for Shamilov was started June 14. June 15 on the basis of
Maziev’s testimony the Centre-Nork Marash court ruled to arrest
Shamilov as well as some Mahmud and Zaur Hasan (no sufficient
information).

Maziev is facing the charges of high treason and plotting terrorist
act and political murder. He is accused of spying for the Azeri
special services and providing them with political and military
information. Particularly as an employee of Zvartnots Airport Maziev
provided the Azeri special services with the pictures of the plane of
the Armenian president and information on the movement of his
motorcade in the territory of the airport. Maziev was arrested Feb 3
2005.

NKR DM PRIVY TO BEATING OF ARFD PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATE

YEREVAN, JUNE 22. ARMINFO. The NKR Central Committee of ARFD has asked
Armenia’s President Robert Kocharyan and Prosecutor General Agvan
Hovsepyan to help it to inquire into the beating of ARFD candidate
into the NKR parliamentary Pavel Manukyan.

ARFD also demands that NKR President Arkady Ghoukassyan dismiss the
top officials privy to the incident. Ghoukassyan has met with ARFD
leaders and promised them unbiased investigation.

Manukyan was hospitalized with serious injuries a few days ago. Later
he said that he had been beaten in the office of NKR Defence Minister
Seyran Ohanyan with the latter dealing the first blow and his generals
hitting him with legs afterwards. Neither medical examination nor
interrogation has been carried out so far and so ARFD is asking
Armenia’s Health Care Ministry to hold an independent medical
examination.

MEMBERSHIP OF ARMENIAN IT PROMOTION COUNCIL APPROVED

YEREVAN, June 22. /ARKA/. The new membership of the IT Promotion
Council of Armenia has been approved. The new Council members are
Director of “Synopsys Armenia” Hovik Musaelyan, Executive Director of
the “Lycos” CJSC Hovhannes Avoyan, Executive Director of the E-Armenia
Foundation Levon Galstyan, Director of the Alcatel Trade international
LG representative office Avetis Kalantaryan, President of the Bi Line
Ltd Hayk Khanjyan, Director of the Institute of Ancient Manuscripts
“Matenadaran” Sen Arevshatyan, Prorector of State Engineering
University of ArmeniaRuben Aghbashyan and Director of the Executive
Office “Center of education programs” Karine Harutyunyan. P.T. -0–