AZERI-ARMENIAN FM LONDON TALKS TO BE HELD IN PRAGUE FORMAT

YEREVAN, APRIL 14. ARMINFO. The Apr 15 London meeting of Azeri and
Armenian FMs Elmar Mamedyarov and Vardan Oskanyan will be held
accoding to the schedule, the 525th newspaper (Baku) reports the
Azeri FM press secretary Metin Mirza as saying.

Mirza says that the FMs will discuss the Karabakh problem in the
Prague format – together with the OSCE MG.

However Oskanyan and OSCE MG Russian co-chairs Yuri Merzlyakov said
earlier that the FMs will not meet directly. This will be indirect
talks – the co-chairs will meet separately with each FM.

The Armenian and Azeri foreign ministries report that Oskanyan and
Mamedyarov are leaving for London today.

AUSTRALIAN TOWN OF RYDE COMMEMORATES 90th ANNIVERSARY
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

YEREVAN, APRIL 14. ARMINFO. For the first time, an Australian Council
yesterday officially recognised the Armenian Genocide of 1915, and
called on the Commonwealth Government to do the same, Independent
Ryde City Councillor, Sarkis Yedelian announced today. In 1915, the
first genocide of the twentieth century took place, which led to the
annihilation of 1.5 million men, women and children. “As the first
Australian Councillor of Armenian ancestry, and a son of survivor of
the Armenian Genocide, I feel honoured to have moved this motion,”
Clr Yedelian said. “The motion ensures that crimes committed in the
past are never forgotten, and that we do all we can to prevent
similar crimes against humanity. According to the 2001 Census, 94,478
people live in Ryde City Council located in Sydney’s north-west, and
has the largest concentration of Armenian community anywhere in
Sydney.

The motion was passed in the presence of the Armenian Australian
community, including His Eminence Archbishop Aghan Baliozian, Primate
of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

WIDOWS AND MOTHERS OF THOSE KILLED IN KARABAKH WAR DEMAND
SPECIFICITY FROM ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES

YEREVAN, APRIL 14. ARMINFO. Widows and mothers of those killed in the
Karabakh war demand that the Armenian authorities be more specific in
their stated compromises in the Karabakh peace process.

Widow Shushanik Abrahamyan is worried lest the question might be
about possible return of the liberated territories. “We would like to
know what territories they mean. Are they really going to give back
say Jebrail wherefrom the Azeri side shelled the Armenian towns of
Goris and Kapan.” “What security guarantees are they talking about –
everybody knows the value of Azerbaijan’s and Turkey’s guarantees.”
“Let them not scare us with war – we have already seen one,” says
Abrahamyan.

Mother of a killed soldier Goar Karapetyan wonders how having fought
throughout the military actions and having seen the whole horror of
the war President Robert Kocharyan and Defence Minister Serzh
Sargsyan can now accede to returning territories liberated at the
price of blood. “I trust Kocharyan but want him to bring clarity in
the matter,” she says.

Pan Armenian News

SECOND GROUP OF ARMENIAN PEACEKEEPERS DEPARTED FOR KOSOVO

15.04.2005 03:41

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today is a very important day for Armenia, as Armenian
peacekeepers are again departing for Kosovo with a new mission, Armenian
Deputy Defense Minister, Lieutenant General Artur Aghabekian stated when
addressing the peacekeepers, who departed for Kosovo this morning, press
service of the RA Defense Ministry reports. In his words, it once again
proves that Armenia is integrating into the process of international
security providing. As the Deputy Defense Minister noted, Armenian people
have many times derived encouragement from international community and today
when Armenia enjoys peace and stability it cannot remain indifferent to the
people, who are in need for peace. `The departure of your brothers-in-arms
to Iraq is nor accidental. Be sure that contributing to the security of
international peace you contribute to the sustainable development and
security of your homeland’, A. Aghabekian stated. `Peacekeeping is an
honorary and important mission as you represent your state’, the Deputy
Minister said. To note, the first group of the Armenian peacekeepers
returned from Kosovo today.

Pan Armenian News

EU FOREIGN MINISTERS TO DISCUSS `FROZEN CONFLICTS’ IN KARABAKH,
ABKHAZIA AND CHECHNYA

15.04.2005 04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The EU Foreign Ministers are scheduled to discuss the
conflicts available in the Caucasus during the informal meeting opening in
Luxembourg today. The Ministers will focus at the `frozen conflicts’ in
Nagorno Karabakh, Abkhazia and Chechnya. According to a report of the Europe
Information Service, these conflicts `have never received our political
attention meanwhile the European Union cannot but pay a great attention to
Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, since the road to the Central Asia lies
through this very region.’ The EU FMs are expected to call the Caucasian
states to the establishment of regional cooperation. Besides, they are going
to raise the question of the regional conflicts before the interested
states, these first of all being Russia, Turkey and Iran.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pan Armenian News

APRIL 24 ARMENIANS OF IRAN TO HOLD A PROTEST ACTION AT TURKISH EMBASSY IN
TEHRAN

15.04.2005 03:33

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenians residing in Iran are preparing for the
conduction of various events in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide
victims on April 24. The Armenian Ambassador to Iran also participates in
the activities. Armenians of Iran are planning to hold mass events and
exhibitions. The Armenian community requested the Tehran City Administration
to authorize a protest action in front of the Turkish Embassy and guarantee
their security.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V. Rev. Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version:

THE CATHOLICOSATE OF CILICIA PARTICIPATES IN THE CONFERENCE ORGANIZED
BY THE ASSOCIATION OF THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTES IN THE MIDDLE EAST

On April 8 and 9, the Association of Theological Institutes in the
Middle East organized a conference on April 8 and 9 in the “Garden
Tower” hotel in Antelias. The conference was the continuation of
another conference, held on March 3-5 and entitled “Bioethics in the
Life of the Church and Societies Today.”

Deacon Berdj Asadourian, Deacon Ourardou Sarkissian, Setrag Aredjian
and Johnny Der Artinian participated in the conference on behalf of
the Catholicosate of Cilicia.

Professors and directors of theological schools discussed a wide range
of issues related to bioethics and morality during the conference.

The conference was a challenge students preparing themselves for
spiritual service in the future. They got acquainted with the current
issues and achievements in the field of bioethics.

##

The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates
of the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the
Ecumenical activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to
the web page of the Catholicosate, The
Cilician Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is
located in Antelias, Lebanon.

A1plus

| 14:14:56 | 15-04-2005 | Social |

4 NUMBERS THAT SHOCKED LIZ GRANDE

The statistical brochure «Men and Women in Armenia» has been published
devoted to the 3rd of the 10 aims of the UN: to contribute to gender
equality and enhance women’s rights.

Liz Grande, UA Armenian office coordinator, was surprised by the fact that
in Armenia there are no woman region governors, no woman mayors, and there
are only several woman governing villages, while 75% of the people working
in the regions are women.

Stepan Mnatsakanyan head of the RA statistics service who was representing
the brochure mentioned the fields in which no analysis of gender statistics
is done, and the fields in the statistics investigations are not done at
all. Absence of gender analysis is mainly accounted for by the absence of
information and the non-transparency of the corresponding systems.

FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway

The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief

===============================================
Friday 15 April 2005
NAGORNO-KARABAKH: BEATING AND 12 DAY IMPRISONMENT FOR BAPTIST SOLDIER

Forum 18 News Service has been unable to reach V. Davidov, commanding
officer of the unit in Hadrut of the army of the unrecognised
Nagorno-Karabakh republic where Baptist conscript Gagik Mirzoyan was
beaten and detained for more than ten days in early April before being
transferred to an unknown location. Mirzoyan “is being persecuted for
preaching the Gospel and because they found several Christian calendars in
his possession,” his relatives and friends told Forum 18 after
meeting him at the unit just before his transfer. Mirzoyan has been
threatened with a two year prison sentence.

NAGORNO-KARABAKH: BEATING AND 12 DAY IMPRISONMENT FOR BAPTIST SOLDIER

By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service

Baptist conscript Gagik Mirzoyan – who is conducting unarmed service
in the army of the unrecognised Nagorno-Karabakh republic – has been beaten
and punished with more than ten days in detention since the beginning of
April for sharing his faith with other soldiers and possessing several
Christian calendars, his relatives and friends told Forum 18 News Service
from Nagorno-Karabakh on 14 April. Before being transferred to an unknown
location, he was threatened with a prison sentence of two years.

Forum 18 has been unable to reach V. Davidov, commanding officer of
Mirzoyan’s former unit in Nagorno-Karabakh’s south-eastern Hadrut region,
to find out why he ordered or allowed one of his troops to be beaten and
detained merely for expressing his faith and possessing religious
calendars.

Forum 18 also tried to find out from the defence ministry why Mirzoyan has
been punished, but an official at the ministry told Forum 18 from the
capital Stepanakert on 15 April that the minister, General Seyran Ohanyan,
was out of the office and that no-one else was immediately available.
Telephones also went unanswered at Nagorno-Karabakh’s foreign ministry.

On 11 April relatives and friends went to military unit 42009 in Hadrut to
see Mirzoyan after hearing that he had been beaten and given ten days’
detention at the guardhouse. “When we got there he had already been
held under arrest for twelve days but still had not been freed,” they
told Forum 18. They reported that when they were able to see Mirzoyan the
“results of beatings” were visible on his face. Military
personnel at the base told the visitors that Mirzoyan would be freed the
following day, 12 April, and they would then be able to talk to him.

Despite these promises, Mirzoyan continued to be detained and during the
day was threatened by the head of the unit’s political department and by
an official of the prosecutor’s office that a case against him would be
drawn up, handed to the prosecutor’s office and he would be sentenced to
two years’ imprisonment. Forum 18 has been unable to discover what charges
are being or might be levelled against Mirzoyan.

“Through the grace of God we were later able to have a ten-minute
meeting with brother Gagik and discovered that he is being persecuted for
preaching the Gospel and because they found several Christian calendars in
his possession,” his relatives and friends told Forum 18. “Now he
has been taken away to an unknown destination and they are not saying where
he is and what has happened to him.”

Mirzoyan was called up in December 2004. After refusing to serve with
weapons and swear the military oath because of his faith he was beaten and
pressured by the commander of the unit to which he was transferred and Fr
Petros Yezegyan, the unit’s Armenian Apostolic military chaplain. Both the
defence minister, General Ohanyan, and Fr Yezegyan emphatically denied to
Forum 18 that Mirzoyan had been beaten.

The army later agreed that Mirzoyan could serve in a non-combat role and
he was transferred to the unit in Hadrut region.

Nagorno-Karabakh has no provision for alternative service for those who
have religious or other conscientious objections to participating in the
armed forces. On 16 February a court in Stepanakert handed down a
four-year prison term to Areg Hovhanesyan, a Jehovah’s Witness who had
refused to serve because of his faith but had expressed a willingness to
perform an alternative civilian service (see F18News 22 February 2005
).

A printer-friendly map of the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh is
available at
;Rootmap=azerba
within the map titled ‘Azerbaijan’.
(END)

© Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved. ISSN 1504-2855

You may reproduce or quote this article provided that credit is given to
F18News

Past and current Forum 18 information can be found at

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Content-typ e: message/rfc822

From: Sebouh Z Tashjian <[email protected]>
Subject: OSCE Chairmen Warn of Disastrous Consequences of Renewed Hostilities
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Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT

Armenpress

OSCE CHAIRMEN WARN OF DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES OF RENEWED HOSTILITIES

YEREVAN, APRIL 15, ARMENPRESS: before separate meetings with Armenian and
Azerbaijani foreign ministers in London today the OSCE Minsk group
cochairmen issued a statement on April 13 saying they were concerned by the
growing tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan as a result of the
significant increase during recent weeks of ceasefire violations along the
frontline, resulting in higher number of casualties, as well as by public
statements about the possibility of war. The cochairmen recalled:
-these violations are causing needles loss of life and jeopardizing the
ceasefire: references to war are complicating current efforts to elaborate a
peaceful settlement of the conflict, are fueling feelings of hate in the
population of both countries and are not preparing the people to live as
neighbors rather than enemies.
They said at this sensitive juncture, where a first step towards an
agreement mediated by the co-chars could be at hand in the framework of the
discussion between the parties, the co-chars strongly urged the parties:
-according to the obligations undertaken by the sides in February 1995 to
reinforce the ceasefire on the line of contact and refrain from any public
statement that could lead to escalation of the conflict;
-to recognize that a renewal of hostilities cannot provide a lasting
solution to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict but would be disastrous for the
population of both countries, resulting in loss of life, more destruction,
additional refugee and displaced persons, and enormous financial costs hat
would undermine the economic development of both countries; -to prepare
their populations for a balanced negotiated agreement that will require
compromises on both sides.
The co-chairs encouraged the sides to focus their efforts on the ongoing
discussions of the foreign ministers with the co-chairs during the meetings
in London on April 15 and in Frankfurt at the end of April, in preparation
for the next meeting between he two presidents envisaged in mid-may.

–Boundary_(ID_re1czaXP9jJzlLKo7Y/dqg)–