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04/11/2006
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1) ARF Is for Territorial Integrity of Georgia
2) Armenia Must Always Be Ready for War
3) Azeri Leader to Meet George W. Bush
4) Case against Four Turkish Journalists Dropped
5) Armenian Writers’ Conference Ends with Special Ceremony
6) Armenian Military Says Hundreds Still Kept in Azeri Captivity
1) ARF Is for Territorial Integrity of Georgia
YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–Vahan Hovhannisian, Vice Speaker of the Armenian
Parliament and Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Bureau member, said
that
the ARF is not at all against the territorial integrity of Georgia. Responding
to a question of the “Golos Armenii” (Voice of Armenia) newspaper, he also
said
the ARF is not responsible for the strained situation in Javakhk.
According to Hovhannisian, if the Georgian state is willing to give wide
autonomous rights to its national minorities (Abkhazians, Ossetians), the
law-abiding Armenian citizens in Javakhk deserve the same rights.
“I think that Georgia, entering different European structures, must show a
European approach to the issue of national minorities,” Hovhannisian stated.
2) Armenia Must Always Be Ready for War
YEREVAN (Yerkir)–Armenian Defense Minister Serge Sargsian said Tuesday that
Armenia, like any other country, must always be prepared for war.
“The Defense Minister of any country, the Armenian Defense Minister in
particular, must realize that military operations may start at any moment,”
said Sargsian in response to a question about whether or he foresees a chance
of war.
Regarding the increased ceasefire violations along the Armenia-Azerbaijan
border zone, the Defense Minister said that today’s situation is no different
from the previous situation. “There have always been shots fired, and even if
there is a difference, the situation has become milder,” he added.
3) Azeri Leader to Meet George W. Bush
WASHINGTON (Armenpress)–Azeri President Ilham Aliyev will meet with US
President George W. Bush later this month to discuss energy and the promotion
of democracy in Asia, the White House said Monday.
Bush and Aliyev will also discuss Azerbaijan’s role in helping stabilize
Iraq,
Afghanistan, and Kosovo during the April 28 meeting.
Aliyev will also discuss Karabagh conflict regulation issue and US-Azerbaijan
bilateral relations, Trend news agency cited the head of the social-political
department of the Azeri president’s executive staff Ali Hasanov as saying.
4) Case against Four Turkish Journalists Dropped
ISTANBUL (AP)–A court on Tuesday dropped charges against four Turkish
journalists accused of insulting the country’s courts, but decided to press
ahead with the trial of a fifth journalist.
All five journalists were on trial for criticizing in print a court’s
decision
last year to shut down a conference in Istanbul about the genocide of
Armenians
by Turks during the Ottoman Empire.
Prosecutors said their writings were illegal attempts to influence the
outcome
of a trial and insulted the court system.
On Tuesday, the court dropped charges against journalists Hasan Cemal, Ismet
Berkan, Haluk Sahin, and Erol Katircioglu, on grounds that prosecutors had not
filed charges within the required two-month period following the
publication of
the articles, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.
The court, however, decided to proceeded with the trial of Murat Belge, a
columnist for the liberal Radikal newspaper, the agency said.
The trial is seen as a test of Turkey’s readiness for membership in the
European Union. Turkey, which embarked on membership talks in October, is
under
heavy pressure from the EU and human rights organizations to address its
infringements on freedom of expression.
The five had faced between six months to 10 years in prison. Charges on the
grounds of insulting the republic, state institutions or “Turkishness” are
frequently leveled against journalists, scholars, and dissidents.
Discussion of the Armenian genocide is still extremely sensitive in Turkey,
which vehemently denies that the Genocide took place.
The conference in September went on despite the court order to close it down
after organizers changed the venue at the last minute. It was the first time
the issue was publicly discussed in Turkey.
A case against Orhan Pamuk, the country’s best-known novelist, for “insulting
Turkishness,” was dropped earlier this year after Turkey came under harsh
criticism from the EU.
5) Armenian Writers’ Conference Ends with Special Ceremony
The Third Pan-Armenian Writers’ Conference officially ended with a special
ceremony held on the evening of April 9 in the Antelias headquarters of the
Catholicosate of Cilicia, under the patronage of His Holiness Aram I.
The president of the Writers’ Union of Armenia, Levon Ananian thanked His
Holiness Aram I on behalf of the participants in the conference and Armenian
writers who were unable to make the conference. Ananian expressed his
gratitude
not only for the organization of the conference, but for the love, support,
care, and commitment that the Armenian Pontiff shows towards Armenian writers
and culture.
Following the heart-felt words of the oldest participant in the conference,
poet Jack Hagopian, a similar opportunity to speak was given to the youngest
participant, poet Nanor Indjedjigian. IN her speech during the closing
ceremony, the young poet said she considered Armenian literature to be a
source
of youth.
His Holiness Aram I then delivered the concluding remarks, expressing his
impressions of the conference. The Catholicos made use of his experience as a
participant in numerous national and international conferences to make several
constructive suggestions for the next conference.
The Pontiff proposed that in the future more time be reserved for discussion
sessions, which should include more questions than statements. He suggested
penetrating into the heart of the presented topics and bringing problems
clearly under the spotlight. His Holiness stressed the importance of
participation by the youth, considering it the source of persistence of
Armenian institutions, culture, and literature.
His Holiness Aram I particularly emphasized the importance of looking for new
paths to cooperation between Armenia and the diaspora and pointed out that
Armenian literature can help contribute to this. In this context, he
focused on
mutual recognition and acquaintance, stressing that Armenian language
textbooks
should include the works of both Armenia-based and diaspora-based Armenian
writers.
His Holiness called on bravely facing difficult and sensitive issues rather
than escaping from them. Mentioning the issue of dictation as an example, he
said that as one of the strong factors of the Armenian nation’s unity, the
matter needs to be discussed in a periodical manner.
His Holiness Aram I then identified the deterioration of quality in all the
fields of Armenian literature as a major problem and called for establishing a
new level of quality with collective efforts and commitment.
At the end of the ceremony, His Holiness Aram I decorated the president of
the
Writers’ Union of Armenia with the “St. Mesrob Mashdots” insignia. The
Seminary
choir then performed a series of national and patriotic songs to mark the end
of the conference.
6) Armenian Military Says Hundreds Still Kept in Azeri Captivity
YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–Hundreds of Armenian prisoners of war and civilians
remain in
Azeri captivity nearly twelve years after the end of large-scale fighting in
Karabagh, a senior Armenian Defense Ministry official said on Tuesday.
“We have information that they are used as slave labor in Azerbaijan,” said
Colonel Ashot Balian, a member of a ministry commission dealing missing
Armenian soldiers and civilian hostages. “The Azerbaijani authorities keep
moving them around and leaving no traces of them.”
“I therefore can’t name any specific locations, but we are convinced that
they
are in Azerbaijan. Some are even said to have been relocated to Turkey,” he
said. “We still hope that our missing sons will return to their families one
day.”
The Azeri authorities have denied holding any Armenian prisoners in the past.
The Red Cross, which has offices in both Baku and Yerevan, is the main
international institution that arranges Armenian-Azeri prisoner exchanges and
repatriations. Both conflicting armies continue to turn to it for assistance
after reporting soldier disappearances.
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