Author: Babajanian Karo

GEORGIAN CHURCH SLAMS LAW ON RELIGIOUS GROUPS’ LEGAL STATUS

Civil Georgia
July 6, 2011
Georgia

Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 6 Jul.’11 / 10:31

A legislative amendment allowing religious minority groups to be
registered as legal entities of public law “contravenes interests of
both the Church and the country,” the Georgian Orthodox Church said
in a statement late on July 5.

“We believe, that this law will bring negative consequences in the
nearest future and the authorities will be responsible for this,”
the statement reads.

Parliament passed the draft amendment to the civil code with its second
and third, final reading on July 5 amid calls from the Georgian Church
and opposition parties not to hurry with approval of the proposal in
order to give more time to public discussions. Another key argument
of the Georgian Church was that such law should be passed only in
parallel to granting to the Georgian Orthodox Church the same legal
status in Georgia’s other neighboring countries – the focus in this
particular case was done on Armenia.

In between the parliamentary votes on the issue on July 5, a senior
ruling party lawmaker Pavle Kublashvili held talks with senior clerics
from the Georgian Orthodox Church.

The Georgian Church said in the statement late n July 5, that talks
were held upon the initiative of the ruling party, which proposed
amended version of the draft. The draft, however, still contained
a provision allowing religious minority groups to be registered as
legal entities of public law, the Patriarchate said.

“The Patriarchate was still pushing for a proposal to suspend approval
of the legislative amendment, to hold public debates and to reach a
public consensus on the issue. Then [the Patriarchate] has offered
a compromise option taking into account international experience,”
the statement reads.

“It was not possible to reach an agreement, which is very regrettable,
because already passed law contravenes interests of both the Church
and the country,” the Patriarchate said.

GOLDEN APRICOT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL HOSTS A FILM BY TURKISH FILM MAKER

Panorama
July 6, 2011
Armenia

Yerevan based “Golden Apricot” 8th annual international film festival
will host “Once in Anatolia” by Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan.

According to “Ermenihaber.am” news website the actors to the film
are Yilmaz Erdogan and Taner Birsel.

“Once in Anatolia” claimed to be granted “Palme D’Or” in Cannes
international festival, but managed to get a prize from the second
jury.

PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN CONDUCTED WORKING VISIT TO ARARAT

Economic News (Information Agency Oreanda)
July 6, 2011 Wednesday

Ararat. OREANDA-NEWS . July 06, 2011. President Serzh Sargsyan
conducted a working visit to Ararat. The President visited the Ararat
gold-mining plant, where the GeoProMining Company is planning to
construct a new high-tech gold-mining Albion plant which will launch
its operations in 2013.

Before familiarizing with the working processes and construction
plans of the GeoProMining Company, President Serzh Sargsyan toured the
premise of the plant, observed working conditions and production cycle.

President Sargsyan was informed that the GeoProMining Company invests
high technologies in Albion to boost production of the plant. In
particular, new technologies will allow to considerably increase the
extraction of gold from the Sotque mines which possess hard to extract
sulfide deposits. He was also informed that all programs aimed at
the modernization of the production correspond to the international
environmental standards.

The President of the GeoProMining Company Roman Khodiliy and
representative of the Extrata company Mike Horn signed the agreement
to provide the Ararat gold-mining plant with the license to use
Albion innovative technologies. Afterwards, there took place the
groundbreaking ceremony of the new plant.

In the framework of his visit to Ararat, the President of Armenia in
the administrative center of the marz discussed social and economic
problems of Ararat marz with the Head of regional administration
Edik Barseghian and Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Territorial
administration Armen Gevorkian.

AZERI PRESIDENT, FOREIGN COUNTRIES’ UN ENVOYS DISCUSS TIES

APA
July 6 2011
Azerbaijan

Baku, 6 July: Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev received the
permanent representatives of a number of countries to the UN,
APA reports.

President Ilham Aliyev spoke about the importance of the visit for
the members of the delegation in terms of familiarizing with our
country better, helping the enhancement of the bilateral relations.

The head of state underlined that Azerbaijan is developing rapidly
and the mutual investments may produce positive results.

Speaking on behalf of the delegation Gambia’s permanent representative
to the UN Susan Waffa-Ogoo highly appreciated the activity of the
Azerbaijani permanent representation to the UN.

“It is possible to get information about Azerbaijan from abroad. But
we will be able to get more detailed information about Azerbaijan
during the visit,” she said.

Susan Waffa-Ogoo said the visits are of great importance in terms of
reviewing the potential of cooperation in various spheres.

The head of state gave information about Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict. President said UN Security Council, General Assembly
and other international organizations passed resolutions and decisions
on unconditional withdrawal of Armenian aggressors from Azerbaijani
territories. President said unfortunately these documents remain on
paper and added that mechanism should be established so that such
decisions are fulfilled.

Noting that Azerbaijan is an open country, president said our
representation to the UN is working actively to establish better
relations among peoples and countries.

President Ilham Aliyev invited to Azerbaijan the heads of states and
governments of the countries, which the members of the delegation
represent.

KUBILIUS: AZERBAIJAN WANTS FAIR WESTERN STANCE ON NAGORNO KARABKH PROBLEM

Baltic News Service / – BNS
July 6, 2011 Wednesday 8:50 AM EET

VILNIUS, Jul 06, BNS – Azerbaijan wants Western countries to have
a fair understanding of the so-called Nagorno Karabakh problem,
Lithuania’s Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said after meeting with
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.

The region’s geopolitical situation was high on the agenda of Kubilius’
meeting with the Azerbaijani president in Baku on Tuesday evening. The
Lithuanian delegation was on its way back to Vilnius from Afghanistan.

“The leader of Azerbaijan wants Europe and the Western world to have
a good and fair understanding of the so-called Karabakh problem,”
the Lithuanian PM told BNS after the meeting.

In his words, the meeting addressed the session of Armenian and
Azerbaijani leaders in the end of June, which yielded no results.

“The lack of success at the Kazan summit was caused by the fact
that Azerbaijan’s northern neighbor is still unwilling to search for
the best balanced solution to the Karabakh problem,” Kubilius said,
hinting to Azerbaijan’s northern neighbor Russia.

Nagorno Karabakh, which is inhabited by Christian Armenians, split
away from the Muslim Azerbaijan after collapse of the Soviet Union. It
region remains locked in tensions – incidents are still frequent,
regardless of the 1994 armistice, which ended the Armenia-Azerbaijan
war.

No foreign state has recognized independence of Nagorno Karabakh,
a region that receives economic and military assistance from Armenia,
which enjoys political and military help from Russia.

Vilnius newsroom, [email protected], +370 5 205 85 14

CHARGES AGAINST CONGRESSWOMAN SCHMIDT STUDIED
Jessica Wehrman

Middletown Journal

July 7 2011
Ohio

House committee to decide if a violation has occurred

WASHINGTON – An announcement earlier this month that a House panel
was weighing a course of action regarding possible ethics violations
by local U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt is the latest chapter in what has
been a three-year dispute involving a defamation suit, allegations of
“blood money,” and a clash over a 1915 feud between Turkey and Armenia.

David Krikorian, who ran against Schmidt, R-Loveland, twice as an
independent in 2008 and lost the Democratic nomination for the seat
in 2010, is accusing the congresswoman of improperly accepting free
legal help from the Turkish Coalition of America.

Schmidt’s congressional

district covers southern Warren County and part of Hamilton County
and several counties east of Cincinnati.

Earlier this month, the House Ethics Committee

said it had received a referral on a case involving Schmidt and
would decide on a course of action by Aug. 16. In a press release
announcing the move, the committee said the referral does not indicate
“that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf
of the committee.”

The committee did not specify what charges it was investigating,
but Krikorian has asked House watchdogs to weigh in on the issue.

Krikorian, who is of Armenian descent, has had a long-standing feud
with Schmidt since their 2008 race. During that race, he circulated
campaign materials claiming Schmidt had accepted “blood money” from
Turkish interests in exchange for her opposition to a congressional
resolution declaring the 1915 conflict a genocide.

Schmidt responded by asking the Ohio Elections Commission to
investigate whether the materials violated election law, arguing the
flier was based on false statements. The Ohio Elections Commission
ultimately sided with Schmidt.

Schmidt later filed a $6.8 million defamation suit against Krikorian,
which is still pending.

Now, Krikorian said Schmidt has unethically accepted free legal help
for those cases from the Turkish Coalition of America and its Turkish
American Legal Defense Fund. As evidence, he cites a transcript from
the Ohio Elections Commission case in which Schmidt attorney Bruce
Fein said the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund had not charged the
campaign for legal services and “we would not charge them legal fees.”

“The facts show Schmidt never intended to pay all the money back,”
Krikorian said.

Krikorian’s lawyer, Christopher Finney, who also has represented
Schmidt’s political opponent and former state Sen. Tom Brinkman,
said if the committee

moves forward with an investigation, it could opt to reprimand,
censure or expel Schmidt from the House.

But Krikorian also said there may be another indirect impact – that
ethics allegations might cause fellow Republicans to eliminate her
seat during redistricting.

Joe Jansen, chief of staff for Schmidt, said Schmidt fully intends
to pay her legal bills, but has asked the House Ethics Committee
to determine whether she should pay via a trust or through her
congressional campaign fund.

Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
said the charges may have merit. “The fact is she can’t take free
legal help,” she said. “That’s pretty much black and white.”

AZERBAIJAN RAISES ARMENIAN NUKE PLANT CLOSURE WITH OSCE PA

news.az
July 7 2011
Azerbaijan

20th summer session of the OSCE PA was held in Serbia, Belgrade.

Member of Azerbaijani delegation to OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Eldar
Ibrahimov sounded the proposal on closing of the Metsamor Nuclear
Power Plant (NPP) situated in Armenia within the 20th summer session
of the OSCE PA held in Belgrade, Serbia, Ibrahimov said.

Underlining the serious threat of Metsamor NPP to the countries in the
region, Ibrahimov called the OSCE member countries to take efforts for
closing of this plant in order to rescue the region from any threat.

‘The Armenian representatives delivered a speech after me. They said
that the experts from various countries of the world visited Armenia
on May 2-6, examined the plant. It was said that some shortages would
be eliminated and the station would work’ – underlined Ibrahimov.

The MP noted that the discussions have been held today in the
Assembly’s committees on single topic – ‘Strengthening the OSCE’s
Effectiveness and Efficiency – A new start after the Astana Summit’.

The members of the Azerbaijani delegation made speeches with various
proposals.

ARMENIA: LA VISITA A YEREVAN DEL CARDINALE RAVASI

Radio Vaticana

1 luglio 2011

“La visita in Armenia del cardinale Ravasi ci ha riempito di gioia
e ci stimola a migliorare la cooperazione fra la Chiesa apostolica
armena e il pontificio Consiglio della cultura”. Lo dice all’agenzia
AsiaNews padre Theodore Mascarenhas, che ha accompagnato il cardinale
in visita a Yerevan, capitale della Repubblica armena. Nel corso
del viaggio, il cardinale Ravasi, presidente del dicastero vaticano
per la cultura, ha incontrato il Catholicos di tutti gli armeni
Garegin II e i vescovi Hovakim e Nerses. Con le autorita religiose
“abbiamo avuto degli incontri molto cordiali, amichevoli ma franchi,
sulla preservazione del patrimonio culturale degli armeni e sulla
possibilita di una cooperazione in questo campo fra la Chiesa locale
e i dicasteri guidati dal cardinale. Ma abbiamo parlato anche delle
limitazioni alla liberta religiosa che subiscono i cristiani armeni”.

La popolazione locale di fede cristiana “come le altre minoranze di
alcune regioni e Paesi confinanti subiscono infatti la repressione
governativa. Ci sono problemi tecnici, come i luoghi di culto che sono
di proprieta dei cattolici o dei cristiani armeni ma che, tristemente,
non vengono concessi alla religione”. Particolarmente toccante è
stata la visita alla cattedrale di Etchmiadzin, la “madre” di tutte
le chiese armene e la sede del Patriarca cattolico. La delegazione
vaticana ha pregato all’interno dello splendido edificio insieme al
vescovo Hovakim e a centinaia di fedeli accorsi per la benedizione.

Incoraggiante anche il lato “politico” della visita. Con il ministro
della Cultura armeno, Hasmik Poghosyan, il cardinale Ravasi ha parlato
di una possibile collaborazione culturale: l’intenzione è quella di
portare la mostra sull’arte armena da San Lazzaro a Venezia, dove
approdera, in altre capitali europee e in Vaticano. L’esibizione sara
dedicata alla Vergine Maria. Anche il primo ministro armeno, Tigran
Sargsyan, ha ricevuto la delegazione per sottolineare l’importanza
della fede e dei valori cristiani “cuore dei rapporti bilaterali” con
il Vaticano. Grande interesse anche per il “Cortile dei gentili”, la
manifestazione organizzata da Ravasi per mettere a confronto credenti
e atei. Il premier ha ipotizzato di portarlo a Yerevan specialmente
“per i molti giovani locali che non credono in Dio. È importante il
dialogo con la fede”. (R.P.)

DOLPHINS ARE KEPT IN CHLORINATED DRINKING WATER, SAY YEREVAN DOLPHINARIUM PROTESTORS

epress.am
07.07.2011

“For years, dolphins have been free; today, they are imprisoned and
our country is among those countries that continues to keep dolphins
imprisoned,” said head of Center of Bird Lovers NGO Silva Adamyan
during a protest outside the Nemo dolphinarium in Yerevan.

Adamyan informed journalists that the group has already twice filed a
lawsuit: the first was refused, and now they’re waiting for an answer
on the second suit.

The environmentalist noted that the conditions for the dolphins in the
aquarium are terrible: for one thing, dolphins are used to salt water,
she said, while the Nemo dolphinarium is filled with drinking water.

“They add some salt particles, but the water that we drink, we know
that it’s chlorinated and it’s impossible to avoid chlorinating the
water. For dolphins, a much more basic process begins: over time, they
begin to have problems with their teeth, eyes and skin and today we’re
unable to conduct independent monitoring in the dolphinarium. We don’t
know why the administration doesn’t allow us to conduct monitoring,”
she said.

Protestors had prepared different posters with inscriptions such as
“Don’t imprison dolphins,” “Save the dolphins” and “Animals have to
live in a natural environment.”

Note as well that some residents of nearby buildings were displeased
that such protests were taking place as they quite like the
dolphinarium, where their children can have a good time by seeing
the aquatic animals.

UNVEILING VIDEO OF GAREGIN II AND ILIA II’S MEETING ON YOUTUBE

Tert.am
07.07.11

A video of the recent historical meeting of Armenia’s Catholicos
Garegin II and Georgian Patriarch Ilia II has been published on the
social networking website YouTube.

In the video, His Holiness Garegin II says that the Georgian side
“steps back from yesterday’s agreement”, though it is not clear what
agreements he means.

The video, which unveil previously uncovered details of the meeting,
is the first such footage of that June 11 meeting that is being
made public.

Garegin II also tells Ilia II that “it looks like you are trading”
and does not remember how to say the word “trade” in Russian and asks
the people around.

“… If you present your arguments, we will see what would hinder us
from solving those issues …,” Garegin II says.

Ilia II second in turn says “if we are not difficult [to deal with],
the issues will not be difficult either”.