Author: Basmajian Ani

RA FOREIGN MINISTER AND SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF OSCE
CHAIRMAN-IN-OFFICE DISCUSS PROCESS AND PROSPECTS OF NAGORNO KARABAKH
SETTLEMENT

YEREVAN, MAY 12, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The negotiations
process and prospects of the Nagorno Karabakh settlement were
discussed at RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian’s May 12 meeting with
Special Representative of OSCE Chairman-in-Office Pierre Chevalier who
is in Armenia on a regional visit. As Noyan Tapan was informed from
RA Foreign Ministry Press and Information Department, Personal
Representative of OSCE Chairman-in-Office on the issue of Nagorno
Karabakh settlement Andrzej Kasprczik also took part in the meeting.

El Vaquero, CA
May 12 2006

Congressman Explains `Getting Into Politics’
By JANE POJAWA
El Vaquero Editor in Chief

May 12, 2006

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, representing California’s 29th District,
spoke in the J.W. Smith Student Center Monday on `Getting into
Politics,’ giving advice to students about getting their voices heard
as citizens or for actually becoming an elected official.
The 29th district is a sprawling area that encompasses Glendale, as
well as Alhambra, Altadena, Burbank, Griffith Park, Monterey Park,
Pasadena, South Pasadena, San Gabriel and Temple City.

More than 100 students and faculty members filled the student center
for this event, sponsored by the Organization of Latinos for Higher
Education [OHLE], which was a short biographical speech followed by
questions from the audience.

Schiff was an adjunct instructor in GCC’s political science
department while serving as a state senator for California’s 21st
district, his position before election to the House of
Representatives. He is a strong proponent of educational and
environmental issues.

Schiff recommends student involvement at all levels of politics,
whether that means voting (even for those who usually don’t), working
on campaigns, providing grassroot support for bond measures, which
often pass by only a small number of votes, to ultimately running for
office.

Schiff recommended that students who want to pursue a career in
politics `decide what you have a passion to do and then go after it.’

He said that the typical example of political science major followed
by law school was no longer the operative model for success, and that
his colleagues in the House of Representatives were just as likely to
have been accomplished `teachers, athletes, lawyers, doctors,
engineers, even a rocket scientist.’ The common denominator is that
they `are good at what they do.’ He added, `There will always be an
opportunity down the road to serve.’

Schiff is an outspoken advocate against genocide denial and believes
that the United States should condemn the 1915 Armenian genocide
regardless of pressure from the Turkish government.

In answer to a question posed during his speech about his proposed
Armenian genocide bill, Schiff described adding an amendment to a
reauthorization of a State Department bill asking the Historian of
the State Department to review the pertinent documents of the United
States to the Armenian genocide.

The state department bill was not directly related to the genocide,
but `it just happened to be my good fortune that the Turkish Prime
Minister was in town…’ he recounted, and went on to describe how the
political pressure brought to bear by his amendment allowed the bill
to be reviewed at a separate hearing. The Dedicated Genocide
Resolution passed the committee with a strong bipartisan vote, but
until the Speaker of the House allows it to come before Congress, it
goes no further.

Although the overall tone of the meeting was positive and upbeat,
some of the queries fielded by Schiff questioned his accountability
in the Iraq War [he voted to authorize the use of force based on the
intelligence reports of weapons of mass destruction but has since
changed his position] and on a peculiar note, his feelings about the
1994 parole of Lyndon LaRouche (Schiff was not associated with
LaRouche’s conviction or parole, and turned the discussion to
globalization and economics).

Schiff is opposed to invading Iran, in favor of increasing funding to
schools and believes in immigration reform.

`I believe that the magnitude of the rallies got everyone’s
attention,’ he said.

He favors the Kennedy-McCain Bill, which allows for immigrants living
in the United States to become legal through a six-year application
process the `Essential Worker Visa Program’ that includes background
checks and documented gainful employment, among other requirements,
but does not believe that legislation will pass both the senate and
the house this year.

`In the past, the United States has been the beneficiary of the brain
drain of the rest of the world,’ the congressman said. He is
concerned that not only is the United States not cultivating
scientists and engineers, but that new immigration policies actively
discourage the best and brightest of other countries from emigrating.

He also spoke of U.S.-Chinese relations and the importance of
cultivating `not only free trade, but fair trade,’ citing examples of
how Chinese policies keep the entertainment industry from competing
on an even playing field.

Students looking for a political internship program will be pleased
to hear that there are unpaid positions available at his offices in
Pasadena and in Washington, D.C. It may be the perfect way to `get
into politics.’

A1+

THE GOVERNMENT WILL REMAIN THE SAME WITHOUT OYP

[02:50 pm] 12 May, 2006

According to ex NA President Khosrov Haroutyunyan,
the fact that Orinats Yerkir quit the coalition does
not mean that the three-party government will resign.

According to him, the President and the Prime Minister
of the country have all the mechanisms to control the
situation. Let us remind you that according to the
memorandum signed in the presence of Robert Kocharyan
the political coalition can leave office if one of its
members quits before the appointed time. `Yes, but it
does not mean the exclusion of the second memorandum,’
the leader of the Armenian Christian-Democratic Party
said.

He treats the situation created calmly and thinks that
the Minister offices left by the OYP members will be
taken by the other coalition parties or professional
Ministers will be appointed. And what was the reason?
Was it pressure upon the OYP or it is a specially
processed plot? `I don’t think it is processed. If you
remember, last year there were rumors about
disagreements, about the coalition would split, but a
meeting took place with the President and the issue
was settled. It was decided that the coalition would
act together until the coming Parliamentary
elections’, Khosrov Haroutyunyan commented.

MELANGE PROCESSING PLANT TO OPEN IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.05.2006 14:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A plant for processing melange, a component of
propellant, will open in Armenia.

According to Armenian MOD Head’s Spokesperson, colonel Seyran
Shahsuvaryan, Secretary of the National Security Council, Defense
Minister Serge Sargsyan and OSCE Secretary General Marc Perrin de
Brichambaut will take part in the ceremony. A store of the propellant
component, which is a liquid oxidant called melange, remained in
Armenia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Its reserve makes
872 tons. Melange is a highly toxic and aggressive substance, which
poses threat to population and environment.

US RESEARCHER SAYS KARABAKH STATUS ‘TO BE PUT OFF’

Today, Azerbaijan
May 10 2006

The status of Nagorno Karabakh will not be determined at this
stage in the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace talks, a researcher of the
Washington-based influential John Hopkins University has said.

“The issue will be solved only after a lion’s share of the
occupied Azeri territories is returned,” said Svante Cornell with
the University’s Central Asia and Caucasus Research Institute,
AssA-Irada informs.

“No final decision will be made on the Garabagh status at this point.

We are talking about putting off the issue until later. First, most
of the Azerbaijani land will be returned, refugees returned home and
economic ties [between the two countries] established,” Cornell told
Radio Liberty.

The researcher said that unlike in previous years, Armenia is not
supported by France and the United States any longer. “Azerbaijan is
currently the most important country for the U.S. considering future
prospects, while France has taken a neutral stance on the Garabagh
problem. Armenia is currently left aside from the developments ongoing
in the region, while Azerbaijan is in their spotlight. This means the
former is lagging behind, while the latter is asserting its positions
both in terms of development and the NK conflict.”

The analyst said that during President Ilham Aliyev’s recent talks
with US counterpart George Bush in Washington, he called on the United
States to play a greater role in the Karabakh settlement.

America could therefore heed attention to the problem, said Cornell.

Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said the recent visits by
the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group mediating the conflict resolution
to the region “is not just for the sake of traveling”.

“The visit by the French mediator Bernard Fassier to Yerevan and
further to Baku and his meeting with the Azeri president show their
willingness to hold discussions.”

Azimov added that the Azeri and Armenian foreign ministers are expected
to meet soon.

URL:

GENOCIDE ARMENIEN: UNE PROPOSITION DE LOI PS IRRITE LES HISTORIENS ET ANKARA

Le Figaro
10 mai 2006

La proposition de loi du groupe PS instituant des sanctions penales
contre la negation du genocide armenien, qui devrait etre examinee
demain par l’Assemblee, suscite la colère d’Ankara et de vives
protestations de la part de l’association Liberte pour l’Histoire,
presidee par Rene Remond. Le gouvernement turc a, lundi, annonce
le rappel “pour consultations” de son ambassadeur a Paris, Osman
Koruturk, après avoir averti Paris que les relations bilaterales
pourraient etre gravement affectees par cette loi. Selon le ministère
des Affaires etrangères, le diplomate devrait regagner Paris “très
prochainement”. Le porte-parole de l’association d’historiens,
Jean-Pierre Azema, s’est dit “profondement choque” par l’initiative
des deputes PS, “qui constitue une nouvelle intervention politique
dans l’appreciation des evenements du passe, et place les enseignants
sous surveillance”. L’association a ete creee en decembre dernier pour
assurer la defense d’Olivier Petre-Grenouilleau, professeur d’histoire
specialiste de l’esclavage et vise par une plainte pour “apologie de
crime contre l’humanite” après avoir estime que l’esclavage ne pouvait
etre qualifie de “genocide”. Regroupant plus de 600 historiens tels
Alain Decaux, Alain Besancon, Jean-Claude Casanova, Stephane Courtois,
Max Gallo, Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, Pierre Nora et Michel Winock, cette
association avait alors demande l’abrogation de toutes les dispositions
“qui ont restreint la liberte de l’historien, lui ont dit, sous peine
de sanctions, ce qu’il doit chercher et ce qu’il doit trouver”. La
majorite dans l’embarras Or le texte elabore par le groupe socialiste
vise a instituer des sanctions penales contre la negation du genocide
armenien, a l’exemple des dispositions en vigueur pour reprimer la
negation du genocide des Juifs pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

“Adoptee a l’unanimite, la loi du 29 juillet 2001 a reconnu l’existence
du genocide armenien, mais n’a pas prevu de sanction penale pour
les negationnistes, argumente Didier Migaud, (PS, Isère), auteur de
la proposition de loi. Notre initiative met fin a cette lacune, et
prevoit des peines allant jusqu’a cinq ans de prison et 45 000 euros
d’amende. C’est une forte demande de la communaute armenienne.” Le
texte place la majorite dans l’embarras. Soucieux de se montrer
coherent avec la position adoptee pendant la polemique sur le
“rôle positif” de la colonisation, le president du groupe UMP,
Bernard Accoyer, estime que “ce n’est pas au Parlement d’ecrire
l’Histoire”. Conscient neanmoins que les deputes UMP sont invites
a soutenir ce texte par les associations representant la communaute
armenienne, Bernard Accoyer envisage d’accorder la liberte de vote
a ses collègues dans ce debat. Quatre-vingts deputes UMP avaient
d’ailleurs cosigne au debut de l’annee une proposition de loi de
Roland Blum (UMP, Bouches-du-Rhône) analogue a celle debattue demain
dans l’Hemicycle. G. P. n Lire aussi page 25.

–Boundary_(ID_1Bq607KjrCBIxprjBLjfAg)–

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
May 9 2006

President Bouteflika: France’s colonisation of Algeria was long,
brutal and genocidal

* Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has repeated his demand
that France should apologize to Algeria for the “genocidal” colonial
rule

By Mary S. Garden

PARIS (JTW) – France on Tuesday tried to play down attack by Algerian
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, after he repeated that France’s
colonisation of the north African country had been “genocidal”.

The French foreign ministry in Paris said it saw Bouteflika’s
comments, made on Monday on the 61st anniversary of a massacre of
Algerian civilians by French troops, as leaving room for cooperation.
However Paris has not recognised the Algerian Genocide.

In a declaration read at the site of the massacre in Guelma, eastern
Algeria, Bouteflika described France’s colonisation of his country,
which it ruled from 1830 to 1962, as “long, brutal, genocidal”.

Algeria, he said, had a “fundamental right” to a “public and solemn
apology for the crime of colonisation committed againist our people”.

The French foreign ministry declined to comment on Bouteflika’s use
of the word “genocidal”.

Bouteflika declared last month that colonial France had committed a
“genocide of Algerian identity”.

‘FRENCH REGIME WAS LIKE NAZI REGIME IN ALGERIA’

Relations between France and Algeria have been strained since
February 2005 when the French government passed a law – later
repealed – requiring schools to stress the “positive role” of French
colonialism.

Bouteflika, in a statement last year, likened the term’s French
administration to the Nazi regime, as he claimed furnaces set up in
Guelma were reminiscent of those used by the Nazis.

A French apology would be the only way to transform the chronic
stagnation of relations into a real friendship, Bouteflika told in a
commemoration ceremony held for the 61st anniversary of the massacre
of Algerians 0n 8 May 2006.

Plans for a “friendship treaty” between the two countries have been
shelved indefinitely.

France occupied the North African country for 132 years, and 1.5
million people were killed in the 1954-1962 Algerian war of
independence.

In 1945, pro-independence protests in the cities of Setif, Guelma,
and Kherrata were suppressed in a bloody show of strength by the
French army, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of Algerians;
according to the Americans this figure is 40-50,000, while the French
say the figure is closer to 20,000.

Although the lower house of the French parliament approved a bill on
January 18, 2001 which publicly recognizes the Armenians claims as
genocide, France still refuses to even apologize for the massacre of
Algerian freedom fighters, let alone recognize it as genocide.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
05/09/2006
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1) Armenia Marks Victory in WWII And Liberation of Shushi
2) Turkish Armed Forces Aim to Harm EU Bid
3) Kurdish Problem Must Be Solved Democratically Says Lagendijk
4) Homenetmen Kicks off 31st Annual Navasartian Games

1) Armenia Marks Victory in WWII And Liberation of Shushi

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–Thousands of people joined by senior government
officials and foreign diplomats gathered at the World War II memorial in
Yerevan on Tuesday, officially marking the 61st anniversary of the defeat of
Nazi Germany and the 14th anniversary of the liberation of Shushi in
Karabagh.
President Robert Kocharian and other senior Armenian officials observed a
minute of silence and laid wreaths by the monument’s eternal fire, honoring
the
memory of the soldiers who lost their lives in WWII and the Karabagh war.
They then joined the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Karekin II, in
praying for the dead.
The annual ceremony also involved a small parade of Armenian and Russian
troops.
In a written address to the nation, Kocharian praised Armenian
contribution to
the Allied victory in World War II.
“Armenian soldiers, officers and generals participated in battles waged on
all
fronts of the war, always keeping high Armenia’s honor,” he said.
Some 600,000 citizens of Soviet Armenia took part in the war. Nearly half of
them lost their lives–a catastrophic death toll for what was then a republic
of less than two million inhabitants.
“May 9 is also important for us because it was the day of the liberation of
Shushi. It became the symbol of the battle for Artsakh’s freedom and
determination of the Armenian nation,” added Kocharian.
As always, the celebration of Victory Day in Armenia had a particular
significance for the country’s dwindling ranks of the mostly octogenarian
veterans.
Hundreds of them again put on their wartime medals to visit Yerevan’s Victory
Park and remember their fallen comrades.
Gurgen Martirosian was an 18-year-old Red Army conscript when Nazi Germany
unleashed a massive assault on the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. “We were
awakened at five o’clock in the morning on that day and fought until April 28,
1945,” he recalled. “That’s when I left Berlin and returned home.”
Gurgen Manukian also reached Berlin after nearly three years of fierce
fighting. “I was in the trenches for one thousand days,” he said proudly.
“We hope you won’t see what he have seen,” said another gray-haired veteran.
“The worst thing on earth is war.”

2) Turkish Armed Forces Aim to Harm EU Bid

(Combined Sources)–Recent Turkish-Kurdish clashes are an attempt by Turkish
forces to destroy the country’s EU entry chances, said Ahmed Turk, leader of
the largest Kurdish political party, the Democratic Society Party (DTP).
“There are forces that do not want a modern Turkey or EU accession. Currently
there are major attempts by these forces to put the government under enormous
pressure,” he told the German daily newspaper Die Welt.
An anti-terrorist legislative crackdown has raised fears in Europe that
Turkey
might regress in its human rights reforms.
Another concern is a case involving two Turkish military intelligence
officers
arrested with a Kurdish separatist turned informer, after a grenade attack,
which killed a man last November.
The prosecution has accused the men of being part of an execution squad
targeting suspected Kurdish insurgents, fueling concerns about the army’s role
in the country’s political system.
The PKK, a terrorist Kurdish separatist group, has been blamed for a wave of
recent violence, including the bombing of a school bus carrying soldiers’
children last week that killed 17 people.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the country’s
Kurdish population to condemn the violence; however he has also pledged
justice.
“We in the government will respond robustly to terrorism but also
determinedly
pursue our efforts towards democracy and development,” Erdogan told Kurds in
southeast Turkey.

3) Kurdish Problem Must Be Solved Democratically Says Lagendijk

DIYARBAKIR (Turkish Press)–Joost Lagendijk, Co-chairman of the Turkey-EU
Joint
Parliamentary Commission, said Tuesday that democracy is the only way to solve
the Kurdish problem in Turkey.
In his speech at the “Civil Rights Project in Southeastern Region” meeting in
Diyarbakir, Lagendijk noted that dialogue is very important in finding a
solution to many of the region’s problems.
Lagendijk said that as long as violence persists in the region, there would
not be any investment there, adding that authorities should also focus on the
economic and social development of the region. He said that unless Turkey
improves the conditions of people living in its southeastern region, it could
not be a full member of the EU.
Responding to a question about minorities, Lagendijk said that Europe’s
definition of minority is different than Turkey’s.
Lagendijk said that although Kurds do not define themselves as a minority,
the
EU considers Kurds a minority. He said that the rights of Turkish citizens of
Kurdish origin should be improved.
During his visit, Lagendijk also said that all of Europe wants to see Kurdish
politicians who strongly denounce violence.
“Europe needs Kurdish politicians who do not follow the PKK and reject
violence,” he said.
In his meeting with Lagendijk, the leader of the Democratic Society Party
(DTP), a pro-Kurdish social democratic party, said that the DTP will do
everything possible to end violence in Turkey.
“No problem, including the Kurdish one, can be resolved with guns and
violence,” said Ahmet Turk.
DTP co-leader Aysel Tugluk stressed that Turkey must make reforms to gain the
support of the Kurdish people.
“The Anti-Terror Laws and mass troop deployment around the southeastern
border
seem to be activities that are taking Turkey back to the old days,” commented
Tugluk.
Lagendijk said that the rights of Kurds should be defended. He pointed out
that the presence of a party that represents the Kurdish people in the Turkish
parliament is essential.
“Therefore, the election system in Turkey needs to be changed,” stated
Lagendijk.
During his visit, Lagendijk also met with Diyarbakir Governor Efkan Ala and
Mayor Osman Baydemir.

4) Homenetmen Kicks off 31st Annual Navasartian Games

Officially marking the start Homenetmen’s 31st annual Navasartian Games, the
Navasartian torch was lit Sunday, May 7 in front of the Khatchkar
(cross-stone)
at St. Mary’s Apostolic Church in Glendale. Following a flag ceremony by
Homenetmen’s Boy Scouts, Aram Chobanian spoke on behalf of the Homenetmen
Regional Executive.
Chobanian said that more 3000 athletes will take part in this year’s games
and
the tournament will include 650 basketball games alone, making it the second
largest in Southern California.
Homenetmen Central Executive members Mher Tavitian and Manuel Marselian,
Armenian Relief Society Western Region (ARS) Chairwoman Angela Savoian and
Regional Executive member Rita Hintlian, LA City Councilmember Wendy Greuel,
and various Homenetmen representatives were present at the event.
During the ceremony, Father Vazken Atmajian blessed the fire, after which
Homenetmen Regional Chairman Raffi Ispenjian passed the torch to the athletes,
symbolizing the opening of the games.

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RA PRIME MINISTER TAKES PART IN OPENING OF MEMORIAL COMPLEX
SYMBOLIZING ARMENIA-ARTSAKH FRIENDSHIP IN SYUNIK

GORIS, MAY 8, NOYAN TAPAN. On May 7, RA Prime Minister Andranik
Margarian took part in the ceremony of opening of the memorial
symbolizing Armenia-Artsakh friendship and Artsakh heroic fight in
Syunik. According to the Prime Minister, the day is symbolic as it is
the first time a memorial is placed not to the memory of those who
died but to symbolize victory and friendship. “The place was not
chosen by accident, either. This is the place where Armenia and
Nagorno Karabakh cross,” the Prime Minister mentioned. Syunik Governor
Surik Khachatrian, heads of Syunik town communities, other
high-ranking officials took part in the ceremony. Prime Minister
Andranik Margarian left Goris for Nagorno Karabakh.

Recurrent sitting of the Council of Defense Ministers of CIS countries to be
held in Baku

ArmRadio.am
06.05.2006 16:25

The recurrent sitting of the Council of Defense Ministers of CIS
countries will be held in Baku on May 31, Press Service of the CIS
Executive Committee informs.

The agenda of the sitting of the Council of Defense Ministers will
be determined during the upcoming meeting of experts.

The agenda includes issues related to expansion of cooperation in
military-technical and defense spheres, coordination of the activities
to fight interethnic crimes, etc.