A1 Plus | 14:14:30 | 05-05-2004 | Politics |
PROSECUTOR OFFICE SEARCHING WRONGDOERS
Police has already wrapped its investigation into the last month’s violence
against journalists and handed it over to Yerevan’s Prosecutor Office, said
the Prosecutor General Office’s official Gurgen Abrahamyan on Wednesday.
He declined to confirm or deny the information, according to which Deputy
Armenian Police Chief Hovhannes Varyan had been formally charged in
connection with the incident, saying further investigation would give
answers to all questions.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1 Plus | 13:22:36 | 05-05-2004 | Politics |
ROBERT KOCHARYAN RESTRICTS PEOPLE RIGHTS
President Kocharyan upheld Tuesday the law on procedure of rallies,
demonstrations and marches passed by Armenian National Assembly.
It should be noted that European experts have taken the bill negatively
because of the many restrictions it contains.

Banned Radio Liberty supports Armenian opposition, activist tells paper
Aravot, Yerevan
4 May 04
“A foreign radio station has become the mouthpiece of the Armenian
opposition,” a representative of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation-Dashnaktsutyun [ARFD] bureau, Grank Markaryan, has
announced in Tehran. When you watch Armenian Public TV, it seems that
everything is OK in the country. When you listen to Radio Liberty, it
turns out that Armenia is ruled by dictatorship and people are being
arrested and beaten and that the overall situation is bad”.
To recap, Radio Liberty was banned from broadcasting in Armenia by the
country’s authorities back in 1994 on the pretext of the station being
the mouthpiece of Dashnaktsutyun.

Azerbaijan opposes foreign investment in Karabakh – Armenian TV
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
4 May 04
The Azerbaijani authorities are concerned about the situation with
foreign investments in Karabakh. According to sources in Azerbaijan,
the country’s government is unhappy with the fact that the Tashkent
office of the South Korean Daewoo Ltd has signed an agreement on
cooperation with the company Artsakh Karabakh Telecom.
Baku thinks that the Artsakh-South Korean cooperation agreement is a
violation of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. It called on the
Uzbek authorities to undertake measures to cancel this cooperation
agreement.

A1 Plus | 17:05:00 | 05-05-2004 | Politics |
EDIK BALAYAN: ARMENIAN TERRITORIES MUST BE GIVEN BACK
“We demand the issue of liberation of Getashen, Martunashen and other
Armenian villages to be raised during negotiations over Karabakhi conflict”,
Shahumyan-Getashen patriotic union’s leader Edik Balayan said at a news
conference held Wednesday.
He said in 1991, 20,000 Armenians had been driven from Karabakh-bordering
territories.
In his words, 17,000 people driven from their homes have taken refuge in
Armenia and face innumerable problems here. They are deprived of normal
living conditions, he said.
“We have no intention to cede our territories and will keep on struggling to
get them back”, Balayan said.

A1 Plus | 17:50:51 | 05-05-2004 | Politics |
ARMENIAN CHURCH’S CRACK-DOWN ON SECTARIAN PROPAGANDA
Armenian Apostolic Church’s Ararat Diocese authorities said Wednesday an
agreement is reached with Moscow and Nairi cinemas, according to which
before each show of the Passion of Christ movie the audience will be warned
that people outside the cinemas, who offer to discuss Christianity-related
issues are numbers of sects and have nothing in common with Armenian
Apostolic Church.

Liberals take no prisoners
By JOHN IBBITSON
Wednesday, May 5, 2004 – Page A4 Toronto Globe&Mail
BI05//?query=ibbitson
The Paul Martin election campaign team is without shame. And no, this
column is not about those nasty television attack ads the Liberals are
preparing for use against the Conservatives. The Martin Liberals are
actually far more vicious toward their own than they are to the
opposition. As proof, consider Brampton-Springdale.
This riding, an enlargement of the old riding of Brampton Centre on
the northwest corner of Greater Toronto, is affluent, urban, ethnic
and Liberal. Its incumbent MP is Sarkis Assadourian, a worthy but
pedestrian MP who was appointed to the riding in 1993 by Jean
Chrétien.
Mr. Assadourian is opposed by Andrew Kania, a lawyer who campaigned
for John Manley as Ontario co-chair during the phantom Liberal
leadership race last year. Mr. Kania alleges that, back in January, he
was warned by Karl Littler, Ontario Liberal campaign director, that he
would never be allowed to run in Brampton-Springdale, because he was a
Manley supporter. Nonetheless, Mr. Kania appealed to Mr. Martin and
the national executive, and was duly approved as a candidate for the
nomination.
Mr. Kania claims, and other sources confirm, that he has signed up
more than enough members to win a nomination meeting against
Mr. Assadourian in a fair fight. All that remains is for Mr. Littler
to call a nomination meeting to settle the issue. For months, the
riding association executive has been told the meeting will be held
soon. But soon was a long time ago.
When asked about Brampton-Springdale back in March, Mr. Littler
explained that the nomination meeting promised to be controversial,
and the Liberals didn’t have sufficient staff to manage it.
That can no longer be a problem, since Brampton-Springdale is
reportedly the only contested riding left in Ontario that has yet to
hold its nomination meeting. So why the delay? Mr. Littler has stopped
returning calls. However, Mr. Littler reportedly told the Liberal
caucus several weeks ago that he was delaying the nomination meeting
in Brampton-Springdale because he suspected that — horrors! — there
might be Conservative Party members who had also taken out Liberal
memberships in the riding. To which Mr. Kania replies that, if this
is true, a nomination meeting is the best place to challenge a party
member’s credentials.
For weeks, according to caucus sources, Mr. Assadourian has been
pleading with Prime Minister Paul Martin to protect him from
Mr. Kania’s challenge by appointing him to the riding, as Mr. Chrétien
so faithfully did. However, it appears that Mr. Assadourian may
himself be a victim of Martinite machinations.
Mr. Kania reports that, on Monday, Mr. Assadourian was asked by the
Liberal Party brass to step aside, so that Mr. Martin could appoint a
female candidate. Mr. Kania says Mr. Assadourian initially refused,
but discussions continued. A spokesman for Mr. Assadourian said
yesterday that the MP did not wish to comment on the situation. But
other sources are hearing the same story.
Needless to say, Mr. Kania is pretty angry.
“I think there is a concerted effort to ensure that I cannot win the
nomination because I was John Manley’s Ontario co-chair,” Mr. Kania
concludes. “The Liberal Party infighting is continuing.”
There may be another explanation for this delay, although no one in
the Liberal Party who could provide it is prepared to offer
one. (Liberal Party President Mike Eizenga and national campaign
director Michele Cadario did not return calls.)
And Brampton-Springdale is not alone. In Calgary South-Centre, an
approved candidate is being shunted aside for a local star, and the
same thing has already happened in British Columbia and is happening
in Winnipeg.
Brampton-Springdale is different because a riding is being held in
suspended animation, not just to let a star candidate in, but to keep
a Manley candidate out.
The Martin Liberals can be pretty ruthless toward Conservatives. But
when it comes to party infighting, they really show no quarter.
[email protected]

Karabakh negotiations continue says Azerbaijani president
Mediamax news agency
5 May 04
YEREVAN
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev said in Baku today that “the
negotiating process on the Nagorno Karabakh settlement continues
though it does not bear active character.’
Ilham Aliev recalled that Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents have
already held two meetings, the Foreign Ministers of the two countries
have also held consultations and will soon meet again, Trend [news
agency] reports. Azerbaijani President called these meetings
“positive” reminding us that the two countries have practically held
no talks during the last one and a half years.
“Each of the sides adheres to its own positions which are known to the
community,” Ilham Aliev said. “Each side is trying to defend its
position, substantiate it, put into practice in the future,” he noted.
Commenting on the activity of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen, Ilham
Aliev said that “they are sincerely engaged in solving this problem,”
and expressed hope that the mediators’ efforts will turn out to be
effective.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ArmeniaNow.com
April 30, 2004
Song Solidarity: American youth choir finds new friends in unknown Armenia
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow arts reporter
`Song of Unity’, a week-long choir festival and the first to unite
American and Armenian youth, concluded April 24.
Directors from Armenia and America were impressed.
A secondary school choir from Lexington, Massachusetts was guests
participants with choirs from the Mother See St. Echmiadzin, the
Armenian General Benevolent Union’s House of Armenians in Nork, Guymri
Art School and Little Singers of Armenia.
The choral week was carried out by Yerevan Municipality and Little
Singers of Armenia children’s philharmonic society.
`The idea was born when the Lexington choir expressed a wish to visit
Armenia, so by using this small opportunity I decided to activate a
little bit the choral life of Armenia,’ said maestro Tigran Hekekyan.
The festival took place in Yerevan, Ashtarak and Gyumri and the days
were full of concerts and parties, joining hundreds of children.
`We didn’t know where we were coming, many of the parents were against
this journey but today I simply don’t want to return. People are so
kind here, hospitable and open-hearted,’ says Katya Dreyer-Oren, a
member of the Lexington choir.
The Lexington choir brought 30 of its choir’s 150 members. Some,
according to conductor Brian O’Connell, stayed at home after hearing
about political turmoil in Armenia.
`But we’re here and we can say for sure that there isn’t a more calm
and beautiful country in the world,’ O’Connell said.
Youngsters from overseas who had not even heard about Armenia, were
warmly singing Armenian spirituals such as `Surb-surb’ and `Hayr Mer’.
The concerts took place in concert halls and in old Armenian churches.
`The divine voices of Armenian Little Singers’ choir echoing in the
ancient church will always be in my head,’ O’Connell said. `They were
singing wonderfully and suddenly I was touched and didn’t feel how
tears started falling from my eyes.’
Besides the cultural mission, the Lexington choir arrived in Armenia
for also charity purposes, bringing stationery, clothes, musical
instruments and other gifts, the majority of which were given to
Gyumri’s Huis (Hope) orphanage.
`I’ll never forget the sad eyes of the orphans, the same way as I
won’t forget our journey, Armenia’s unique nature and the warm and
dear friends,’ says 17 year old Ryan Moore.
The festival concluded with performances at the Genocide Memorial
The last performance of the choir festival took place April 23 at the
Genocide Memorial in Yerevan.
That was supposed to be the last joint event, however in the evening
the youngsters made an unexpected decision. On the night of April 24
at 2 AM before going to the airport they visited Tsitsernakaberd once
again.
‘We haven’t heard about the Genocide and the sorrow was so great that
before leaving we wanted to pay homage to the victims of that evil
once again,’ Ryan Moore said.
Under the night sky full of stars the group of singers was walking up
towards the memorial, the candles in their hands were flashing in the
dark like lighthouses. They sang again near the eternal fire and the
echoes of their songs spread on the sleeping town.
`I was astonished how foreign children could perceive so deeply our
tragedy. They were standing still and quiet before the fire for about
half an hour,’ says the artistic director of Little Singers of Armenia
choir Tigran Hekekyan.

Sunday, May 23, 2004
4:00 PM
Free admission
The Armenian Cultural Committee of Boston presents
A Panel Discussion:
“The Caucasian Policy of the Major Powers and Future of Armenia”
Panelists:
Dr. Murat Acemoglu
David B. Boyajian
Moderator: Dr. Armen Bagdoian
Location:
Church of the Good Shepherd
Corner of Mount Auburn Street and Russell Avenue
(1/2 mile from Watertown Square & one block from Common Street)
Watertown, Massachusetts