A1plus

| 11:51:10 | 27-04-2005 | Official |

GEORGIA IS INTERESTING

The Minister of Economic Development of Georgia will chair the UN Economic
and Social Council Commission on Sustainable Development – the decision was
made by the Commission at its last session in April, 2005. It should be
noted, that Mr Aleksi Aleksishvili is the first nominee from Georgia elected
as a head of the UN structure. This fact is a confirmation of an increasing
interest of international community towards Georgia.

The UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) is the UN central forum
that provides the states of the world an opportunity to discuss methods of
the three sustainable development aspects integration: economic development,
social development and environment protection.

Romanian presidency says Iraq hostages alive, calls for release of woman
held

Agence France Presse
April 27, 2005

BUCHAREST (AFP) – Three Romanians being held hostage in Iraq are alive,
a source close to the presidency said, although the deadline set by
their kidnappers had expired several hours earlier.

The Romanian authorities also called for the release of the only woman
among the three, reporter Marie-Jeanne Ion, on “humanitarian and
religious grounds”.

The source said that Bucharest had sent a message to the kidnappers, who
are calling for the withdrawal of Romanian troops from Iraq, saying “the
Romanian people do not accept that a woman bearing the name of the
Virgin Mary should be threatened with death” on the eve of the Orthodox
Church’s Easter.

On Wednesday for the first time the presidency made a public appeal to
the group holding Ion, a reporter with Prima TV, her cameraman Sorin
Miscoci and Eduard Ohanesian, correspondent of the Romania Libera
newspaper. They were seized on March 28.

The Romanians also asked for the deadline of 1300 GMT Wednesday to be
extended and called on Iraqi religious leaders to involve themselves in
“steps to free the three hostages.”

The kidnappers had set the deadline for Bucharest to announce the
withdrawal of its 860 troops from Iraq to save the journalists’ lives,
according to a report by the Arab satellite news channel Al-Jazeera.

Prayers for the three were said in central Bucharest.

;u=/afp/20050427/wl_mideast_afp/iraqhostageromania

Voinovich Has ‘New Outlook’ on Bolton Nomination

CNSNews.com
April 27, 2005

By Susan Jones, Morning Editor

“We’ve received reassurances from very reliable sources that Senator
[George] Voinovich has obtained a new and fair outlook on the Bolton
nomination.” So says Move America Forward, a group that strongly
supports Bolton’s nomination to serve as U.S. ambassador to the
United Nations.

Move America Forward said it has “indefinitely suspended” its radio
ads blasting Voinovich for his surprise announcement last week that he
did not feel comfortable supporting Bolton’s nomination.

Voinovich, an Ohio Republican, joined Democrats in expressing concern
about Bolton’s dealings with co-workers and underlings. That forced
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to postpone a vote that would
have sent Bolton’s nomination to the full Senate for anticipated
confirmation.

“At this point in time we believe John Bolton’s nomination will
progress from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Mr. Bolton
will be able to receive an up-or-down vote from the full U.S. Senate –
which is the way it should be,” said Howard Kaloogian, co-chairman of
Move America Forward.

Move America Forward said it spent tens of thousands of dollars airing
radio ads throughout the state of Ohio on more than a dozen news/talk
radio stations. The ads ran from April 21-25, and the pressure tactic
apparently worked.

“On Thursday, the day the ads began running, Voinovich’s office phones
were jammed with callers and computer e-mail in-baskets were clogged
with messages related to the Bolton confirmation. It was no better
Friday,” Move America Forward said in an email message.

Move America Forward says the attacks on John Bolton stem not from his
qualifications, but from a “smear campaign” by anti-Bush Democrats.

“The U.N. has its lowest approval ratings in the history of the
organization, and John Bolton is exactly the kind of strong,
pro-American ambassador we need to take on the corruption and
anti-Americanism that is becoming a dominant presence at the U.N.,
Move America Forward said.

Move America Forward board members are now mulling an “effort to
persuade” Democrats Sens. Russ Feingold (Wis.) and Bill Nelson (Fla.)
into voting for Bolton.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is expected to vote on Bolton’s
nomination on May 12. So far, all eight Democrats on the committee
have opposed Bolton’s nomination; and a tie vote would result if even
one of the committee’s 10 Republicans were to vote against him.

It’s still not clear what Republican Sens. Lincoln Chafee (R.I.) and
Chuck Hagel (Neb.) will do on May 12.

Who Remembers the Armenians?

Forward Forum

The Forward (Published Weekly in New York)
April 29, 2005

By Christine Thomassian and Shabtai Gold

Adolf Hitler was confident that the world would remain indifferent to
the plight of the Jewish people he was planning to exterminate. After
all, he reportedly told Nazi commanders before the outbreak of World
War II, who remembers the Armenians?

The answer to Hitler’s rhetorical question remained much the same as
the 90th anniversary of the Turkish genocide of an estimated 1.5
million Armenians was commemorated last weekend.

Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust museum and the world’s central
address for commemorating the horrors of genocide, recently opened a
new wing to its museum, with much international fanfare. There is not
a single mention in the new museum of the Armenian genocide, which
paved the ideological way for the Jewish genocide perpetrated by the
Nazis.

For its part, the Turkish government – much like today’s Holocaust
deniers – continues to disclaim its involvement in the genocide and
the very occurrence of such a horror, expending large sums of money in
this campaign. Some in Turkey admit that a few “individuals” committed
massacres against the Armenians, but they are quick to assert that
these acts were provoked by the Armenians themselves in order to
receive aid and sympathy.

Not satisfied with this accusation, this week the Turkish State
Archives announced that more than a half million Turks were killed by
Armenians. True, many Armenians collaborated with the Russians as
irregular fighters against Turkey in World War I, and they may have
killed as many as 75,000 Turks. But given the anti-Armenian pogroms
initiated by Turkey during the 1890s that set the stage for the
full-scale genocide in 1915, Armenians’ partaking in the fighting is
easily understood – no one should be expected to go like sheep to the
slaughter.

Sadly, the Turkish government is not alone in its campaign. Indeed, it
is receiving support from some very odd sources, including a number of
prominent Jewish organizations in Washington and the Jewish state
itself. Noble Peace laureate Shimon Peres, while serving as Israeli
foreign minister in 2001, called the Armenian genocide nothing more
than a “tragedy,” saying “nothing similar to the Holocaust occurred.”

Much energy, effort and money is justifiably spent on attempting to
ensure that the world will never forget the Holocaust. Wouldn’t it
meet our standards of morality to include all such horrors?

What about the Assyrian Christians murdered along with Armenians by
Turkey? What about the Roma, homosexuals and other “undesirables”
massacred by the Nazis? And what of the more recent killing fields in
Cambodia, Rwanda and now Darfur?

Shouldn’t “never again” be applied to all men, women and children who
are starved, beaten, obligated to undergo torturous medical
experiments, marched through forests or deserts, forced to dig their
own mass graves or herded into gas chambers? Is “never again” an
admonition over which the Jewish people can maintain a monopoly?

Shouldn’t the American Jewish community be doing more to help gain
recognition for the Armenian genocide, 90 years after the fact? After
all, the first American human rights movement to focus on issues
overseas was founded to stop the travesties being committed against
Armenians. And it was Henry Morgenthau, America’s Jewish ambassador to
the Ottoman Empire, who led the campaign to alert the world to the
horrors being perpetrated by Turkey.

Denial is, without a doubt, the final stage of genocide. It murders
the memory of the horrors, and of the dead. We must always guard
against denial becoming accepted as legitimate discourse, let alone as
fact. Will we allow Turkey to successfully continue its campaign of
denial?

If we do, we will be condemning our children to repeat these horrors
and to have these horrors repeated unto them, as American philosopher
George Santayana famously warned a century ago. But if we act now, if
we insure that our children and our children’s children are properly
educated about the Armenian genocide, then just maybe we can prevent
“never again” from becoming an empty saying.

Christine Thomassian and Shabtai Gold are university students who lost
members of their family in, respectively, the Armenian genocide and
the Holocaust.

A1plus

| 17:26:55 | 27-04-2005 | Politics |

DAVID HAROUTYUNYAN AND THE OMBUDSMAN IN DIFFERENT FIELDS

«We do not limit the ombudsman’s authorities. We simply try to find out if
they correspond to the Constitution or not», announced Minister of Justice
David Haroutyunyan. According to the Minister, the opinion of any official
is a pressure on the Court. «Imagine an argument between two citizens or a
citizen and the community, and the ombudsman expressed opinion. If I am
asked questions about Court processions, I don’t answer. The opinion of the
Minister of Justice can affect the Court».

He also mentioned that his disagreement with the Ombudsman does not mean
that he underestimates the role of the Human Rights Defender. «I hope the
Ombudsman Institute will be taken into consideration during Constitutional
amendments and it will become a Parliamentary Institute», said the Justice
Minister.

Ombudsman Larissa Alaverdyan, to put it mildly, does not share Mr.
Haroutyunyan’s position. «They try to keep the Court away from the eye of
the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman can demand information about any case in Court
to guarantee the defense of the rights of teh citizens in Court. We do not
speak about the details. That is, the Ombudsman will no how interfere with
the case. He will simply see to it that no encroachments are done towards
the rights of the people in Court».

According to Larissa Alaverdyan, in order to have an independent court we
must contribute to the realization of the court system my means of the
Ombudsman, as we do not have independent Judges.

A1plus

| 17:15:51 | 27-04-2005 | Politics |

TRYING TO LIMIT THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE OMBUDSMAN

«I don’t know why Mr. Petrosyan informed us about his being busy by means of
the press», announced the surprise Gagik Haroutyunyan today and promised
that during the next Constitutional Court session Rafik Petrosyan, head of
the NA Standing Committee on State and Legal affairs will apologize.

Mr. Petrosyan was invited to the Constitutional Court to take part in the
discussion of the correspondence of the RA Constitution to the article 7
part 1 second paragraph of the Law on the Defender of Human Rights adopted
by the NA in 2003.

It is stipulated by the mentioned paragraph that «The defender is not
authorized to interfere with a court procession. He can demand information
about any court affair and represent offers to the court guaranteeing the
defense of the rights of the citizens».

Because of Mr. Petrosyan’s absence the Constitutional Court postponed the
discussion of the issue till May 6 10:00 a.m.

A1plus

| 14:22:52 | 27-04-2005 | Politics |

PAINTED DISCUSSIONS IN THE PAINTED PARLIAMENT

The Parliament adopted the amendments to the Law on local self-governong
bodies by the first hearing. Before the second a hearing was organised today
in the Parliament in which representatives of the 930 communities of the
country took part. Only the Yerevan mayor was absent, and Nor Nork community
head Davot Petrosyan, whose father – the ehad of the NA Committee on state
and legal affaors had organized the hearing.

NA President Arthur Baghdasaryan found the hearings very imortant. He
mentioned that we must make the legislation on the Local self-governing
bodies (LSB) correspondent to the European standards, as this is commitment
taken upon in front of the EU. He informed that in the 4-day session startin
on May 2 the Constitutional amendments will be discussed and in this content
it is very important for the Parliamentarians to have an ides of the LSB
problems.

Arthur Baghdasaryan announced that almost all the political powers find that
the community head but rule not for 3 but for 4 years. Besides, Arthur
Baghdasaryan refered to the Yerevan problem, «If Yerevan is a community, we
must treat it as equal to all the other communities». The matter was
naturally the election of the community head. The NA President called on the
people to take part in the elections actively and to contribute to the
regulation of the field.

The main speaker, Vache Terteryan, deputy Minister regulating the local
governing system, noted that the problem of the law amendments is mainly the
raise of the role of the alderman and the control concentration. In the
conversation with the journalists Vache Terteryan noted that today many
community heads confuse self-governing with freedom and independence,
whereas being self-governed does not mean to be independent from the state.

We also spoke to the Ajapnyak community head Artsrun Khachatryan, who
complained not only of scarce authorizations and great responsibilities, but
also of the law and said that they will represent the draft by the community
heads.

And Arshak Sadoyan who took part in the hearings said about the efficiency
of the discussions, «In the painted parliament everything is painted,
including this discussion».
From: Baghdasarian

A1p.us

| 13:57:57 | 27-04-2005 | Politics |

PRESIDENT FOR SEVERAL HOURS

An advocatory argument has been going on for the last few weeks about the
elections of the Advocatory Chamber President. It will soon be transferred
from the Court of the first instance to the Court of Appeal.

Let us remind you that during the elections of the Advocatory Chamber
President Enoq Azaryan won with a privilege of 12 votes, and Rouben
Sahakyan, his competitor, appealed to the Court of First Instance. The Court
considered the results of the Advocatory Chamber elections invalid and
mentioned a 15-day period for the organization of new elections.

Enoq Azaryan, however, is not going to take part in the elections a second
time. He is against coca-cola principle «try again». Even if all the
advocates come to an agreement about the order of the elections, he who
loses in the coming elections will by all means find something to appeal
for. This is the conviction of Enoq Azaryan.

By the way, Enoq Azaryan’s opponents are of the same opinion. They claim
that those 12 advocates, who gave Enoq Azaryan the privilege of votes,
received their licenses not suitably.

`My opponent is older than me, and more experienced. I am not that bold to
make people elect me. I am not a Mafioso to influence my elder colleague.’
This way Enoq Azaryan tried to prove the fairness of the elections.

As for the issue in the courts, Enoq Azaryan hinted that the Judges must not
be glad at the argument of the advocates as finally they will unite.

PRESS RELEASE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of Australia & New Zealand
10 Macquarie Street
Chatswood NSW 2067
AUSTRALIA
Contact: Laura Artinian
Tel: (02) 9419-8056
Fax: (02) 9904-8446
Email: [email protected]

28 April 2005

DR NORAYR BOB DER KEVORKIAN ENTERS ETERNAL REST

Sydney, Australia – It is with grave sadness that we report of the sudden
passing of Dr Norayr Bob Der Kevorkian in Bangkok, Thailand on Tuesday, 26
April, 2005 at age 62 years.

Dr Der Kevorkian was the Honorary Consul of Armenia in Thailand, the
representative of His Holiness Karekin II Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos
of All Armenians in Singapore and President of the Board of Trustees of St
Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Church in Singapore, the first church in
the country. He was the benefactor of one of two chapels at St Gregory the
Illuminator Cathedral in Yerevan consecrated in 2001 on the 1700th
anniversary of Armenian Christendom.

A memorial service will be held in Bangkok on Friday, 29 April at 10.30 a.m.
presided by His Eminence Archbishop Aghan Baliozian, Primate of the Diocese
of the Armenian Church of Australia and New Zealand. The funeral service
will take place as St Gayane Church in Etchmiadzin, Armenia on Monday, 2
May, 2005 where the deceased will be laid to rest.

Dr Norayr Der Kevorkian was an instrumental force in his representation of
Armenia and Armenians in the South-East Asia region. His dynamic
contribution and high profile will remain a legacy that will be honoured by
those who were privileged to know him.

Turkish-Israeli Ties Warming

Baltimore Jewish Times (Baltimore, Maryland)
April 27, 2005

The recent announcement that Turkey’s prime minister, will visit
Israel is a signal that the two Middle Eastern allies may be coming to
the end of a rocky period in their relationship, officials in Turkey
and Israel say.

“The significance for both sides is that the official declaration of
the visit means that relations are back on track after a tough
political year,” Pinhas Avivi, Israel’s ambassador to Turkey, told
JTA. “The economic and security relations were not impacted, but I
think” Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “visit will again solidify the political
relations.”

Erdogan, who heads the Islamic Justice and Development Party, is
scheduled to depart for Israel on May 1 and spend two days there. He
is expected to meet with his Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon, Foreign
Minister Silvan Shalom and President Moshe Katsav.

Erdogan also will visit the Palestinian territories and meet with
officials there.

In many ways, the tension that grew between Jerusalem and Ankara
stemmed from Erdogan’s office. Several times, the Turkish prime
minister described Israel’s actions against the Palestinians as “state
terror.”

The criticism of Israel is believed to stem from two sources: the
roots of Erdogan’s party in Islamic fundamentalism, and the fact that
Turkey can score political points in the Arab and Muslim world by
blasting Israel, knowing that the Jewish state never reciprocates by
criticizing Turkey’s treatment of its minorities or its role in the
Armenian genocide.

The upcoming visit, Erdogan’s first to Israel, has been in the works
for a long time; the length of time it took to arrange it became yet
another point of friction.

In that sense, Erdogan’s visit has important symbolic value, said
Soner Cagaptay, an expert on Turkey at the Washington Institute for
Near East Policy.

“After the strained period of harsh remarks toward Sharon and his
government, if this trip goes well and there is a deepening of
understanding and dialogue, it would mean the return to normality for
the Turkish-Israeli relationship,” he said.

“It’s important for Erdogan and Sharon to meet in person, to create a
channel of communication and to help them realize that they are both
politicians,” Cagaptay continued. “This will be a chance for them,
especially for Erdogan,” to show “that the other side is just a
politician with human ambitions and nothing more.”

Turkey’s relations with the United States also are strained
now. American political and military officials continue to express
disappointment over Turkey’s refusal to allow U.S. troops to enter
Iraq from the north, across the Turkish border, when the war in Iraq
began two years ago.

Washington also has been alarmed by a rise in anti-American sentiment
in Turkey. One of the country’s bestsellers, for example, is the
fictional account of an American military invasion of Turkey.

Erdogan is expected to visit the United States later in May, but
Ephraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic
Studies at Israel’s Bar Ilan University, said Erdogan’s visit to
Israel is an indication that one of the roads to Washington goes
through Jerusalem.

“I think it’s a signal to Washington” that Turkey wants to improve its
relationship with the United States, “and could use Israel’s help in
doing that,” Inbar said.

Ankara also depends on the support of American Jewish organizations,
who frequently have acted as the main lobbyists on Turkey’s behalf in
Washington. Jewish American leaders recently have expressed concerns
about the strains between Turkey and both Israel and the United
States.

“If the trip is going to bring the period of the strains to an end,”
and will help normalize the relationship between Turkey and Israel,
“this would be one way of winning back the hearts of the American
Jewish organizations,” Cagaptay said.

Despite the political tensions, Israeli and Turkish officials point
out that other components of the relationship between the two
countries – particularly trade and military cooperation – have not
been affected. The level of annual trade between the two countries is
now approaching $2 billion, up from $1.2 billion three years ago.

Turkey also recently signed a $200 million deal to buy a sophisticated
network of unmanned aerial vehicles and ground stations from
Israel. Erdogan’s visit – and an expected reciprocal trip by Sharon to
Turkey – will help bring the relationship back to normal, Inbar said.

“You have to invest in bilateral relations, especially with
Turkey. This is a chance for Israel to invest in the relationship, to
introduce Erdogan to the right people,” Inbar said. “Maintenance is an
important part of the relationship.”

This story reprinted courtesy of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.