Author: Boshkezenian Garik

HOUSE PANEL MAINTAINS AID LEVEL TO ARMENIA

armradio.am
18.06.2009 11:01

The House Appropriations Subcommittee responsible for U.S. foreign aid
policy voted to maintain U.S. economic assistance to Armenia at last
year’s level of $48 million and to increase humanitarian assistance to
Nagorno Karabakh to an unprecedented annual allocation of $10 million,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

The Subcommittee voted to maintain military assistance parity to
Armenia and Azerbaijan, keeping foreign military financing to both
countries at $3 million. The panel chose not to accept President
Obama’s proposals, included in the FY10 budget that he released
earlier this year, to reduce economic aid to Armenia by 38%, from $48
million $30 million, and to tilt the military aid balance in favor
of Azerbaijan.

The Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs,
which is chaired by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), also strengthened
language governing the President’s authority to waive Section 907
of the Freedom Support Act, a provision of law that restricts aid to
Azerbaijan due to its blockades and other offensive actions against
Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. The new language, according those close
to the work of the subcommittee, will require closer Congressional
consultation prior to any future waivers of this law.

"We value Chairwoman Lowey’s leadership and the efforts of Rep. Adam
Schiff, Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman Mark Kirk, Representatives Steve
Rothman, Jesse Jackson Jr, Betty McCollum, Barbara Lee, Steve Israel,
and our many friends on the Subcommittee for constructively working to
address our community’s foreign aid priorities," said ANCA Executive
Director Aram Hamparian. "We are gratified that the panel restored
military aid parity, met the Armenian Caucus request of $10 million
for Nagorno Karabagh, and strengthened the waiver language for Section
907. We will, in the coming days, seek to build on this progress by
working with our friends on the Senate side to bring the economic
aid figure to Armenia up to the $70 million level requested by the
Armenian Caucus."

RA NA TO DISCUSS RA PRESIDENT’S PROPOSAL ON GRANTING AMNESTY AT JUNE 19 SPECIAL SESSION

Noyan Tapan
June 16, 2009

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, NOYAN TAPAN. A RA NA special session will be convened
on June 19 at 12:00 by the decision of RA NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamian.

As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA NA Public Relations Department,
RA President’s proposal on granting an amnesty is on the agenda.

ARMENIA FOR FORMATION OF COOPERATION BETWEEN REGIONAL COUNTRIES IN FIGHTING DRUGS

Noyan Tapan
June 16, 2009

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, NOYAN TAPAN. Secretary of the National Security
Council Artur Baghdasarian receiving the delegation headed by the
regional coordinator of drug confronting program in the South Caucasus
Gregory Connor, announced that Armenia is for formation of cooperation
between regional countries in fighting drugs. He informed that a
working group has been set up according to the 2009-2011 program of
events ensuring implementation of Armenia-EU Actions Plan which will
work out a national program of fighting drugs.

According to the National Security Council Press Service, the sides
agreed to cooperate in the issue of working out the national program.

TRACECA COUNTRIES SIGN AGREEMENT ON MULTIMODE TRANSPORT DEVELOPMENT

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
17.06.2009 15:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Transport Minister Gurgen Sargsyan who
participated in TRACECA intergovernmental commission’s annual meeting
signed an agreement on development of multimode transport.

The agreement regulated relations between transport organizations,
multimode transport operators, suppliers and cargo recipients.

Azerbaijan signed the agreement with provisos, reported the press
office of the RA Transport Ministry.

TCA Arshag Dickranian Armenian School
1200 N. Cahuenga Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90038

Tel: 323-461-4377
Fax: 323-323-461-4247
Contact: [email protected]

US Consul General of the Republic of Armenia
at TCA Arshag Dickranian School
Mr. Grigor Hovhannisyan Visits TCA ADS And Visits Classrooms

Los Angeles, June 15, 2009 – TCA Arshag Dickranian School was honored with
a visit from the US Consul General of the Republic of Armenia, Mr. Grigor
Hovhannisyan, along with Consular Secretary, Ms. Armine Balian, on Monday,
June 8, at 10:30a.m. The honorable guests were greeted by the school’s
Chairman, Mr. George Mandossian, the school’s principal, Mr. Vartkes
Kourouyan, and several members of The Board of Trustees and The Parent
Teacher Organization.

During the briefing session at the principal’s office, Mr. Grigor
Hovhannisyan was surprised to hear that almost all the students attending
Arshag Dickranian School were children of Hayasdantsi parents and students
from Pre-K to fifth grade are taught Eastern Armenian. He was also happy
to learn that 21 students from the 12th grade are currently enjoying a
two-week visit to Armenia.

Following this meeting, The Consul General was given a tour of the school
campus and visited several classrooms, including the pre-kindergarten
classroom, the science laboratories and the computer classroom. High
school students gathered at the Walter and Laurel Karabian Hall to hear a
short speech from Mr. Grigor Hovhannisyan about the school and his well
wishes to the students.

Located at 1200 North Cahuenga Blvd., Los Angeles, the TCA Arshag
Dickranian Armenian School is a federally tax exempt, Pre-K to 12th grade
private educational institution. For more information visit

VIVACELL-MTS LAUNCHES NEW POSTPAID CORPORATE PACKAGE

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
16.06.2009 14:03 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ VivaCell-MTS introduces the most flexible postpaid
corporate package – Business Flexy.

Now subscribers can build their own tariff from a wide set of options
and select the combination that is the best adapted to their needs.

There are 2 approaches to create the tariff: according to the tariffs
of calls to each destination and according to the budget a subscriber
wishes to spend.

The tariff plan can be applied directly from VivaCell-MTS
website. Afterwards, sales representative will contact the
subscriber. Subscription to the Business Flexy package is also possible
in any of VivaCell-MTS service centers.

Regardless of the tariff plan created, tariffs for calls made to
NKR and international destinations, as well as the tariffs for SMS
and MMS sent to any destination remain the same, the company’s press
office said.

NEW ISTANBUL POLICE CHIEF SHOULD NOT MAKE SAME MISTAKES

BIA Magazine
June 15 2009
Turkey

With the transfer of Istanbul’s Chief of Police Cerrah to Osmaniye
province as a governor, it is hoped that his replacement will respect
human rights more..

The person to fill the post of Istanbul Chief of Police now that
Celalettin Cerrah has been given the post of governor of Osmaniye
province in the south of Turkey, needs to avoid making the same
mistakes.

For one, s/he must not make erroneous statements about the human
rights violations carried out by police officers. This is particularly
important as a step towards preventing police violence.

Emma Sinclair, Turkey rapporteur for Human Rights Watch (HRW), wrote
a report about Turkey last year and shared the data with government
representatives. She remembers statements on the Istanbul Police
Force website.

She said that these statements always denied claims of human rights
violations by the police in the strongest terms, using hostile
language. They put forward their own versions of events even while
investigations were continuing and targeted those making the claims.

"Thus claims of torture and maltreatment were covered up. Evidence was
manufactured. In addition the statements about controversial events
were always produced very fast. The new Chief of Police should not
repeat this. The police as an institution has to be more careful."

"Culture of impunity" In an HRW report on police violence published
in December 2008 , she had written,

"There are […] signs of continuing problems of police violence,
and a reported rise in overall complaints of torture and police
violence since the beginning of 2007. At the core of the persistence
of these phenomena is the culture of impunity. Historically, law
enforcement officials were rarely if ever held to account, and still
less often in a manner that reflected the gravity of the violations
committed. Today, despite increased legal safeguards, law enforcement
officers who flout them can still enjoy effective impunity when they
are alleged to have abused or even unlawfully killed victims."

Some have termed the Police Departments website the "Cerrah News
Agency". Some examples of statements made in the past are:

When people experienced police violence during forced house
demolitions, the person recording and broadcasting the violence was
termed the "provocator of the AltınÅ~_ehir riots."

When Nigerian refugee Festus (Fastos) Okey was shot dead in the
Beyoglu police station in central Isatabul, the statement on the
website tried to conjure up an image of a "potential criminal" in
order to indirectly legitimise his death.

When Engin Ceber died in prison and doctor reports and witnesses
showed that he and his friends had been tortured at the police station,
Cerrah said, "He was not beaten by us."

After a police operation in Bostancı, Istanbul, where police officer
Semih Balaban was shot by militant Orhan Yılmazkaya, and Yılmazkaya
was later shot, too, Cerrah said at the police officer’s funeral:
"We revenged our friend’s death."

When cars were set on fire in December 2007, Cerrah targeted Kurds in
his statement, and talked of "perpetrators" rather than "suspects". He
also advised people to install cameras at home and at work "if they
want security."

Following the request of the governor’s office, the Istanbul Police
Force carried the investigation into the police violence used on 1 May
2008. Not surprisingly, the report found that "proportionate force"
had been used. The investigation was led by deputy police chief Mehmet
KızılguneÅ~_, who had been taken off duty as the head of the riot
police following violence against women protesters on 6 March 2005
as they were demonstrating for International Women’s Day.

When events of people wearing police uniforms and committing violent
acts emerged, Cerrah warned the public to ask plain clothes police
officers for ID. However, he did not mention that all officers,
whether in uniform or plain clothes, need to show their ID and give
an explanation when stopping someone and give those who request it
a report.

After protesters tried to open a pancard reading "We will not become
Israeli soldiers" on 30 August 2006, and others attact them, Cerrah
praised the lynching attempt, saying: "Citizens interfered and showed
the appropriate reaction. It was a good reaction."

Hours after the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink
in 2007, Istanbul governor Muammer Guler and Cerrah appeared on TV
together. Cerrah, for whose questioning in the matter the governor
has never given permission, said, "It was a murder committed with
nationalist feelings." Although reports have pointed to police
negligence, he is not facing prosecution. (TK/AG)

YOUNG PAINTERS OPENED THEIR EXHIBITION IN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PARK

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
15.06.2009 18:18 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Young painters from National Aesthetic Centre have
today opened their exhibition in RA National Assembly park. They
exhibited clay statues and over 40 paintings depicting Armenian
reality. "National Aesthetic Centre is first of all associated with
the name of Henrik Igityan who recently passed away. He founded the
centre in Yerevan, where several thousand children received their
aesthetic education," RA Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosyan said at
the opening. "Exhibition aims to enable children to visit sites others
would dream to visit," she added.

SUSPENSION OF MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE’S FUNDING LEFT UNREPAIRED ROADS IN 265 RURAL ARMENIAN COMMUNITIES

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
15.06.2009 11:35 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Former members of Beneficiaries Board of the state
noncommercial organization "Millenium Challenge Fund- Armenia" headed
by the chairman of the Asparez club Levon Barseghyan call upon the RA
government to bear responsibility for not fulfilling its obligations.

According to the claim of former board members, since 2007 all 17
indicators (internal political stability, freedom of speech, etc)
Millennium Challenge Corporation had been guided by, have been
prejudiced in Armenia.

On June 10, 2009 Millennium Challenges Corporation announced that
would not resume funding for any further road construction and
rehabilitation of 61.7 million dollar worth. Thus, 943 kilometers of
rural roads will remain unrepaired in 265 rural communities of Armenia

SERZH SARGSYAN: OUR GOAL IS TO STRENGTHEN INCLUSIVE DEMOCRACY IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
June 11, 2009

YEREVAN, JUNE 11, NOYAN TAPAN. As a result of the constitutional
amendments Yerevan Mayor will have less levers for making personal
decisions than the former Mayors, but it does not mean at all that
the share of Mayor’s responsibility or his role will decrease. RA
President Serzh Sargsyan mentioned at the June 11 solemn swearing-in
ceremony of the newly elected Yerevan Mayor. "We, Yerevan residents,
expect a new policy," he said.

S. Sargsyan emphasized that he never links solution of Yerevan problems
with political views, ideological differences. "There is a goal and
different approaches on ways of achieving that goal. The process
of achieving the goal will only gain from it, and Yerevan will also
gain," he said adding that this approach should be introduced into
Yerevan development conception.

According to S. Sargsyan, consistent solution of Yerevan problems
will also change country’s face for the better, as the changes taking
place in Yerevan influence the regions without fail.

According to S. Sargsyan, the country has drawn three important
conclusions from Yerevan Council of Elders elections:

First, the country is able and henceforth should organize good
elections, where vicious phenomena will be eradicated in turn, where
political forces will be able to compete in a civilized way. In this
respect Yerevan Council of Elders elections were instructive, and we
should learn lessons from them.

"We are obliged to be well-prepared when going to the next important
elections to be able to hold good elections and receive our people’s
and international community’s estimation: not "mostly" but "highly or
completely corresponded to the international standards," S. Sargsyan
said.

The second important conclusion is that no infringement, on Armenian
citizens’ suffrage, no violation and illegality will remain without
answer and response. "The constitutional right of forming power through
elections should become an indisputable principle in our system of
values. No illegality will be tolerated, no matter who commits it,
whether an electoral commission member or an ordinary voter," the
country head said.

According to S. Sargsyan, the third important conclusion is confidence
that progress can be achieved when efforts of all forces interested
in further development and strengthening of democracy in Armenia are
directed to a concrete goal, when there is an exact aim, cooperation
and mutual understanding.

"Our goal is to strengthen inclusive democracy in Armenia, to achieve
elections’ being not some special moment of political tension, not
an ordeal for our state and statehood, but working maturity for the
authorities and political forces and test of their programs’ being
in demand," S. Sargsyan said.