COURSE OF FULFILMENT OF OBLIGATIONS CONCERNING MEMBERSHIP TO CE DISCUSSED DURING CONSULTATION AT RA PRESIDENT’S OFFICE

YEREVAN, APRIL 8, NOYAN TAPAN. On April 8, RA President Robert
Kocharian held a consultation with members of the commission on
coordination of the events proceeding from the obligations in
connection with Armenia’s membership to the Council of Europe. The
course of fulfilment of the obligations on reformation of laws
concerning elections, parties, local self-government, human rights,
mass media and a number of other spheres was discussed. The members
of the commission reported that the bills reformed on the basis of
the proposals of the Venice Commission have been already sent to the
commission. It’s expected to receive positive estimations regarding
these bills and lead the process to its logical end. President Robert
Kocharian said that it’s important not to slow down the process
of the constitutional reform and to work out the final draft with
a high degree of mutual coordination. The members of the commission
mentioned that if the draft of constitutional reform also receives the
positive conclusion of the Venice Commission and is put to referendum,
at the end of 2005 Armenia will have already fulfilled its obligations
towards the Council of Europe.

IN TERRITORY OF THE AZERBAIJAN REPUBLIC IS NOT PRESENT ARMENIAN WAR PRISONER

AzerTag
[April 09, 2005, 20:56:25]

An ungrounded reports were disseminated by mass-media about the
meeting which is held on March 18 in Tbilisi of representatives of
the Azerbaijani and Armenian State Committes for missing, captured and
hostages citizens. In this connection the Azerbaijan State Committee
told the AzerTAj agency that during the said meeting were held a
negotiations for elaboration a possible constructive cooperation
mechanism on the base of the international and humanitarian law
principle. The both sides are agreed to facilitate prisoner return
after the nessesary verification, considers the exchange of persons as
discordant to morality and promised that in the future will appeals
only for release of war prisoners. The sides has noted also its
willingness to create all conditions for international organizations
and prisoner’s families meet with the later.

According to the Committee there were an agreement on the organizing
of the mutual monitoring for determination of the maintenance place
of a war prisoners.

The Committee statement said that at the meeting has not been agreed
any other question between the sides and there were stated that in
the Azerbaijan Republic territory are not persent an Armenian war
prisoners.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DOCUMENTARY FILM DEDICATED TO MARTIROS SARIAN’S EXHIBITION SHOWN ON CENTRAL TV OF BELARUS

MINSK, APRIL 8, NOYAN TAPAN. “Minsk. Autumn. Sarian” 30-minutes
documentary film dedicated to the exhibition of Martiros Sarian’s
works held in Minsk in 2004, was shown on the Public Central TV on
April 5 in Belarus. The RA Embassy in Belarus initiated and assisted
the shooting of the film. As Noyan Tapan was informed from the RA
Foreign Ministry’s Press and Information Department, the exhibition
of Martiros Sarian’s works in the National Art Museum of Belarus
lasted two months from late September to late November, 2004. The
RA Embassy in the Republic of Belarus organized the exhibition with
the active participation of Martiros Sarian’s House-Museum and the
National Art Museum of Belarus. It was the first time when Sarian’s
works were exhibited on the territory of the Republic of Belarus. Wide
circles of Belarusian society had opportunity to get acquainted with
Martiros Sarian’s masterpieces: about 23 thousand visitors attended
the exhibition, 5 dozens of excursions were held, lecturs dedicated
to Sarian were presented. Heads of state and public organizations
of the Republic of Belarus, heads of diplomatic representations
accredited in the country, representatibes of creative intellectuals
were among the visitors. Sarian’s exhibition was widely enlightened
by mass media of Belarus as another important stage of development
of cultural contacts among the Armenian and Belarussian peoples and
one of the most important events of public political and cultural
life of Belarus in 2004.

VAN BAYBURDIAN DISPROVES STATEMENT OF GEORGIAN NEWSPAPER

AKHALKALAK, APRIL 8, NOYAN TAPAN – A_INFO: Georgian “Alia” newspaper
in April 5-6 issue wrote that, during RA President Robert Kocharian’s
last visit to Georgia, Michael Saakashvili, the President of Georgia,
asked his Armenian partner to assist him to dissipate mood of a meeting
in Akhalkalak, in the sense of settling the situation. The newspaper
also said that the President of Armenia in return asked the President
of Georgia quickly to put in action Abkhazian part of Sochi-Yerevan
railway. Van Bayburdian, an Armenia MP to the Parliament of Georgia,
who had been present at the meeting of the two Presidents, stated
that the above-mentioned statement of the newspaper of Georgia does
not correspond to reality. The MP does not exclude that the issue
of re-putting Abkhasian railway in action might also be discussed
during private conversations, but at the same time he excludes the
statement published in “Alia”. “No haggling like the one written
in the newspaper has taken place and can take place among the two
Presidents,” the Armenian MP emphasized.

AMBASSADOR ARMEN SMBATIAN DELIVERS A LECTURE AT INSTITUTE OF ASIA AND AFRICA OF MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY

MOSCOW, APRIL 8, NOYAN TAPAN. Armen Smbatian, Ambassador of Armenia to
Russia preseted a lecture on the theme “Present and Future of Armenia”
at the Institute of Asia and Africa of Moscow State Universuty on
April 6. Lectors and students of the Institute represented initiative
of the meeting with the Ambassador. A.Smbatian presented in details
the social-economic situation present in Armenia, as well as the
current regional political events. Touching upon the present stage
of development of Armenian-Russian relations, Ambassador A.Smbatian
drew attention of those present to the events on the year of Russia
in Armenia this year. As Noyan Tapan was informed from the RA Foreign
Ministry’s Press and Information Department, during the discussions
following the lecture, Ambassador Smbatian answered the questions of
those present. Most of the questions concerned to Armenia-Russia,
Armenia-Turkey, Armenia-West relations, foreign policy of Armenia,
issues concerning primary economic tasks of the country.

SECOND CONGRESS OF RA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY TO TAKE PLACE IN MAY

YEREVAN, APRIL 8, NOYAN TAPAN. Elections of the Chairman of the Chamber
of Commerce and Industry of Armenia will be held at the second congress
of the Chamber to take place early in May. As Samvel Hovakimian,
the CCI Executive Director informed the Noyan Tapan correspondent,
elections of CCI Chairmen of marzes and delegates of the Congress
are going on in marzes at present. It was mentioned that results of
three-year activities, achievements and plans for future of the RA CCI
will be represented at the conference. According to the last one, main
policy of the program worked out for the coming 5 years will be SMB
development. The RA CCI was founded in 2002, and Martin Sargsian, the
Prefect of the Yerevan Shengavit Community is the Chairman at present.

150 Children Adopted In Armenia In 2004

YEREVAN, APRIL 8, NOYAN TAPAN. 150 children (40.7% of whom are
girls) of 225 ones (43.6% among whom are gils) taken of concentrated
accounting to be adopted, were adopted in 2004 in Armenia. According
to the information of the RA Labour and Social Affairs Ministry, 64.7%
of the children were adopted by RA citizens. In the same period 406
candidates to adopt children, 55.7% of which are women, were taken
of concentrated accounting. 57.4% of the adopters are RA citizens,
57.1% of them are women.

Zaman on Line
SAHIN ALPAY

04.09.2005 Saturday
ISTANBUL

What does Genocide Mean?

It may be said that there is no controversy over the fact that hundreds
of thousands of Armenians died due to hunger, cold or attacks and a
great tragedy occurred in the years 1915 and 1916 when the Ottoman
government decided to deport its Armenian citizens during the First
World War. The controversy focuses mainly on whether the deaths caused
by “deportation” can be called “genocide.” The holders of a widespread
view among the Armenian Diaspora define the tragedy as “genocide”
since the 1960s. Turkish Armenians call the tragedy “Metvocir / The
Great Catastrophe”. Armenian governments since Armenia’s independence
also call the tragedy as “genocide”. The prevailing view among Turkish
historians and commentators is that the events constitute a great
tragedy due to mutual massacres, and that the Armenian deportation
has no similarity to the genocide aimed at the total annihilation
of the Jewish people perpetrated by the Nazis in Germany during the
World War II.

Meanwhile those involved in the controversy define genocide in
many different ways. Let us assume that the definition given in the
“Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”
adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948 is accepted. Genocide,
according to the Convention, means: “acts committed with the intent to
destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious
group as such, (a) killing members of the group, (b) causing serious
bodily or mental harm to the group, (c) deliberately inflicting on
the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical
destruction in whole or in part, (d) imposing measures intended to
prevent births within the group, (e) forcibly transferring children of
one group to another group. International Criminal Court which adopts
the Convention’s definition of genocide, the crime of genocide has
four elements: (i) The perpetrator has killed one or more persons,
(ii) such person or persons belonged to a particular national, racial
or religious group, (iii) the perpetrator intended to destroy in
whole or in part that group as such, and (iv) the conduct . is aimed
at extermination of the group.

International Center for Transitional Justice on the request of the
Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission assessed whether the UN
Convention could be applied to the events that took place in the
Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century. It concluded that: (a)
no legal financial or territorial claim arising out of the events
could be made against any individual or state under the Convention,
and (b) the events matched the Convention’s definition of genocide.

But if the deaths of Armenians resulting from the deportation by the
Ottoman State during the First World War can be defined as genocide
according to the UN Convention, aren’t the massacres in those years of
unknown numbers of Muslim Turks in Van, Erzurum, Erzincan and elsewhere
in Eastern Anatolia by Armenian nationalist gangs fighting for the
creation of an independent Armenia also genocidal? The Convention
defines as genocide “acts committed with the intent to destroy,
in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious
group”. It is not at all important if the crime is committed by a
state or not, and if the persons killed are many or few. Is it not
proper that we put aside the allegations of “genocide” in order for
us to be able to face the great tragedy that occurred between 1915
and 16? What took place in history was a great tragedy resulting from
the clash of two ethnic nationalisms. Is not the allegations of the
“Armenian genocide” a tool used by ethnic Armenian nationalists to
incite enmity? Isn’t it time we look at history, not as Turks or
Armenians, but above anything else, as human beings?

28664 PUPILS ATTEND MUSIC, ART, CHILDREN’S AND YOUTH CREATIVE CENTERS

YEREVAN, APRIL 8, NOYAN TAPAN. At present 190 music, art schools and
children’s and youth creative centers function in Armenia. 26 of them
are in Yerevan. 12 of Yerevan schools are under the subordination of
Yerevan Mayor’s Office, 13 prefectures and 1 RA Ministry of Education
and Science. According to the data of RA National Statistical Service,
28 thousand 664 pupils attend music, art schools and children’s
and youth creative centers. 70.2% of the pupils pay for their
education. 52.2% attend piano classes.

ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH RECEIVES MEMBERSHIP INTO CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE OF ASIA

SYDNEY, APRIL 8, NOYAN TAPAN. Primate of the Diocese of Australia &
New Zealand, His Eminence Archbishop Aghan Baliozian returned on April
8 from the 12th General Assembly of the Christian Conference of Asia
(CCA) held in Chiang Mai, Thailand from 31 March to 6 April. According
to the Press Release of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of Australia
& New Zealand, the theme of the conference was “Building Communities
of Peace For All”. The CCA is a regional ecumenical organisation
representing 15 National Councils and over 100 churches in Aotearoa-New
Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, China, East Timor,
Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan,
Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand. The Armenian
Apostolic Church of Australia was received as a new member of the CCA
at the General Assembly and joins sister churches from Australia –
Anglican Church, Uniting Church and Churches of Christ – as a full
member. Guest speakers at the conference included Dr Sam Kobia,
General Secretary of the World Council of Churches; Dr James Haire,
President of the National Council of Churches in Australia; and other
notable leaders of different faiths and scholars of public policy.