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06/07/2006
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1) Azerbaijan’s Refusal to Recognize MKR’s Right to Referendum renders Talks
Fruitless
2) Results Announced for CA Primaries; Krekorian Wins Democratic Primary
3) MKR Foreign Minister Meets with President of Lebanon
4) Karabagh to Hold Constitutional Referendum in December
5) Turkish Court of Appeals Overturns Dink’s Verdict
6) Federer to Face Nalbandian in Men’s Semi-Finals
7) Armenian Parliament Hosts BSEC Meeting
1) Azerbaijan’s Refusal to Recognize MKR’s Right to Referendum renders Talks
Fruitless
YEREVAN (Yerkir)–Talks aimed at resolving the Karabagh conflict do not
produce
results because Azerbaijan refuses to recognize the right of Karabagh’s people
to hold a referendum, said Vice-speaker of the Armenian parliament and
Armenian
Revolutionary Federation Bureau member Vahan Hovhannisian.
He said that people exercise their right to self-determination and express
their will via referendum.
`The point is that Nagorno Karabagh was the first to do it during the post
Soviet age, when the international community was not ready for separation from
metropolises,’ said Hovhannisian.
`When independence was proclaimed in East Timor, Eritrea, Montenegro it was
perceived as a normal phenomenon,’ said Hovhannisian, adding that it seems
`the
same variant’ will be proposed for Kosovo.
2) Results Announced for CA Primaries; Krekorian Wins Democratic Primary
Several candidates supported by the Armenian National Committee Political
Action Committee won Tuesday their respective Primary Races
One of the most important primaries took place in California’s 43rd State
Assembly District, where the main contenders were Frank Quintero and Paul
Krekorian, who had the backing of the Armenian National Committee as well as
many other Armenian community leaders.
Krekorian won the Democratic Primary with 56% of the vote and will face his
Republican challenger this November in the general election. An overwhelming
majority of Armenian American voters residing the 43rd district voted for
Krekorian.
The race for the seat turned ugly during its last few days when Quintero and
his supporters resorted to a negative campaign aimed at dividing and insulting
the Armenian electorate, creating outrage in the community.
Other winners Tuesday included: Adam Schiff with 82% of the vote in the 29th
Congress District; Dianne Feinstein with 87% of the vote for Senator; Anthony
Portantino with 43% of the vote in the 44th State Assembly District; and John
Chiang with 53% for State Controller.
In the primary race for Lieutenant Governor, Jackie Kanchelian-Speier, with
38% of the vote, lost to John Garamendi who had 43%. Marty Simonoff also lost
the Republican Primary in the 72nd State Assembly District.
3) MKR Foreign Minister Meets with President of Lebanon
The Foreign Minister of the Mountainous Karabagh Republic Georgi Petrossian
met
Tuesday with the President of Lebanon, General Emile Lahoud. Accompanying him
were, a delegation from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Lebanon
Central Committee Armenian, Armenian Ambassador to Lebanon, Vahan
Der-Ghevontian, and MKR Resettlement Coordinator, Serge Amirkhanian.
During the meeting, Petrossian and Lahoud discussed the current situation in
Karabagh and discussed ongoing efforts to help resettle Armenian refugees from
Azerbaijan.
Petrossian and Lebanese Parliament Member Hagop Pakradouni, along with the
ARF
Lebanon Central Committee delegation, also paid a visit to the Foreign
Minister
of Lebanon Faouzy Salloukh. This meeting also focused on the Karabagh
conflict.
During his visit to Lebanon, Petrossian also visited His Holiness Catholicos
Aram I and other spiritual leaders, the Aztag Daily Newspaper editorial
offices, and the families of Vicken Zakarian and Mher Choulhajian, who were
martyred during the war in Artsakh.
4) Karabagh to Hold Constitutional Referendum in December
YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–The leadership of Mountainous Karabagh Republic (MKR) will
hold a referendum next December on its draft constitution that declares
Karabagh an `independent and sovereign state,’ a senior official in
Stepanakert
said on Wednesday.
Rudik Hyusnunts, deputy speaker of the Karabagh parliament, said that the
decision was made on Monday at a meeting of a government commission that has
for years been working on the text of a first-ever Karabagh constitution. The
commission is headed by Arkady Ghoukassian, President of MKR.
`The MKR President will sign a decree to hold a referendum on the
constitutional draft on December 10,’ said Hyusnunts.
The decree can be signed only after the MKR Parliament debates and endorses
the commission’s constitutional draft. According to Hyusnunts, Parliament will
receive the draft on June 15 and open debates on it in September.
Parliament is
dominated by members of Ghoukassian’s Democratic Artsakh Party and its junior
coalition partner, the Azat Hayrenik Party.
`On December 10 we will try to reaffirm the results of our independence
referendum,’ said Hyusnunts.
5) Turkish Court of Appeals Overturns Dink’s Verdict
ISTANBUL (Armenpress)–Turkey’s National Court of Appeals overturned a ruling
of a lower court that gave a six month suspended sentence to Hrant Dink,
editor
of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos for `denigrating the
Turkishness.’
The Court of Appeals ruled that `the accusations brought against the defender
do not contain material or moral elements,’ reported Turkish daily Zaman.
6) Federer to Face Nalbandian in Men’s Semi-Finals
YEREVAN (Armenpress)The World’s top-ranked tennis player Roger Federer will
take on third-ranked David Nalbandian, an Argentinean of Armenian descent, in
Friday’s semifinals after both players posted quarterfinal victories
Tuesday at
the 2006 French Open.
David Nalbandian ousted sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia in four
sets to
progress to the French Open semi-finals for the second time in three years.
Nalbandian, 24, beat Federer before, when he won the 2005 Masters Series
event
in Shanghai in 2005.
The 24 year old Federer needs the French Open to complete a career Grand
Slam.
The seven-time major titlist currently holds the Wimbledon, US Open, and
Australian Open crowns and is trying to become the first man to hold all four
Slams since Rod Laver in 1969. Only five men have won all four majors (Don
Budge, Fred Perry, Roy Emerson, Laver, and Andre Agassi).
7) Armenian Parliament Hosts BSEC Meeting
YEREVAN (Armenpress)–The 27th meeting of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
(BSEC) is underway in the Armenian Parliament building, chaired by the new
Speaker of Armenian Parliament Tigran Torosian.
The agenda at the two day meeting includes discussions on such issues as
energy security, nature protection, trade, transport and communications,
cooperation of law-enforcers, culture, and science.
Around 100 officials from 11 members of the BSEC are taking part in the
meeting, including delegates from Turkey and Azerbaijan.
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