Author: Chakrian Hovsep

Dünya online, Turkey
April 15 2006

FM Gul meets with Polish counterpart
14/04/2006 17:16:24

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday met with his Polish
counterpart Stefan Meller in Ankara. During their talks, the two top
diplomats discussed bilateral relations.
At a press conference, afterwards, citing the Polish Parliament’s
decision last year on the so-called Armenian genocide, Gul conveyed
Turkey’s concern over the matter. Stressing that the issue should be
taken up by historians, not politicians, Gul said the move could
encourage Armenians. Turkey has offered to Armenia to investigate the
matter, but has so far gotten no reply, added Gul.

Gul said that Turkish government was determined to further improve
economic and defense relations with Poland. “I believe that Poland
will continue extending support to Turkey in its EU membership
process,” Gul added.

For his part, Meller stated that his government’s support for
Turkey’s European Union membership bid would continue. The criteria
which were applied to other countries during the EU membership
process should be the same applied to Turkey, said Meller.

KARABAKH REPUBLIC KEEPS CONTROL OVER SITUATION

Lragir.am
14 April 06

Since May 1994 the government of NKR has guaranteed the ceasefire
without any peacemaking forces, completely controlling the front line
between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan and the
border area. According to the news agency ARKA, this is stated in the
letter of NKR Foreign Minister Georgy Petrosyan and NKR Police Chief
Armen Isagulov to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Anne Petersson,
the head of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement
Affairs. The letter of the NKR Foreign Minister and Chief of the
Police states that the Office of the Personal Representative of the
OSCE Chairman-in-Office will also deny criminal facts or actions,
which regularly and fully monitors the front line, hence exercising
international control over the conflict area of NKR. It is mentioned
in the letter that in late February and late March 2005 the OSCE
fact-finding mission, including over 30 diplomats and experts from
different countries, visited Karabakh with the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs. `The OSCE fact-finding mission prepared a significant
report, based on a meticulous monitoring of the areas controlled by
NKR, which contains no such negative facts. With regard to this we
emphasize the commitment of the government of Nagorno Karabakh
Republic to promoting democratic values and a peace settlement of the
conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, pursuing the international recognition
of NKR and fulfilling their function of government and guaranteeing
the security of their citizens for about 20 years,’ states the letter
of NKR Foreign Minister Georgy Petrosyan and Police Chief Armen
Isagulov. A copy of the letter was sent to the U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair Stephen Mann, Director of
the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) John
Walters.

RA MPs MAKE PROGNOSES ABOUT FUTURE PARLIAMENT’S STAFF

YEREVAN, APRIL 14, NOYAN TAPAN. As a result of the 2007 elections, the
United Labor Party, the Republican Party of Armenia, the National
Unity, the ARF Dashnaktsutiun, the Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law)
party will be represented at the parliament. The Ardarutiun (Justice)
bloc as such will not be at the parliament but it is not excluded that
one component of the bloc will be represented. A newly-founded
political force will also appear among the parliamentary political
forces. Gurgen Arsenian, Head of RA NA United Labor Party faction,
made such prognoses at the April 14 parliamentary briefing. According
to Alexan Karapetian, Secretary of the National Unity faction, the
result of the parliamentary elections will depend on the President’s
will. He gave assurance that unless the latter intervenes in the
process of these elections, this will greatly contribute to the right
selection of the future parliament’s staff. According to Levon
Mkrtchian, Head of ARF Dashnaktsutiun faction, for the present, the
political groups, political parties, forces united around the
President try to estimate their potential and to prepare for the
future processes. Each force tries to strengthen its structures, to
clarify its possibilities and the amount of influence and collects
information about other political forces. According to the MP, the
negotiations processes, processes of formation of possible blocs will
start in the political field in late summer or in autumn.

“THE STRIKE PLACES” DO NOT REMAIN EMPTY

A1+
[04:17 pm] 13 April, 2006

Today the dwellers of Northern and Chief Avenues organized a protest
in front of the Government premises with the following posters,
“We demand flats as a solution to our matter.” Their strike passed
without any serious incidents; there were no cries or threats; they
simply gathered to remind the Government of their existence.

As usual the strikers were received by no one; even the Human Rights
Protector Armen Haroutyunyan left the building without inquiring
of their demands. The strikers did not submit any new application
or letter.

“We gave our applications long ago but so far we haven’t had any
response to them. They found a certain Chief of Regional Department
Khachatur Vardanyan and sent him to calm us down,” said one of the
strikers.

According to the strikers’ explanations their gathering in front
of the Government building is determined by the presence of the
Justice Minister in the Government session. “Justice in our country is
presented by a person who claims that we are interested in money. We
demand David Haroutyunyan to step back from his financial interests,
to imagine himself as the representative of the Armenian nation in
the Constitutional Court on April 18 and to have a fair approach to
the matter,” says Sedrak Baghdasaryan.

The strikers are sure with 95% that they will win in the Constitutional
Court but they continue their strikes as “the remaining 5% may be
fatal. The high – rank officials may order the Constitutional Court
to reject our requests.” Sedrak Baghdasaryan is not particularly
interested in the decision of the Constitutional Court. “We turned to
all courts but none of them assisted us. My last hope is the European
Court. The Government is seriously interested in the decision of the
Constitutional Court as it is a question of honor.”

The further steps of the strikers are connected with the decision of
the Constitutional Court, but they are sure in one thing, “We shall
continue our struggle to the end,” assures Vachagan Hakobyan.

NO AMENDMENTS TO BE INTRODUCED IN ARTICLE 301

Yerkir
13.04.2006 16:15

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, unveiling a
new reform package prepared by the government, said on Wednesday there
was no problem in the implementation of the new Turkish penal code.

Gul said the reform package did not foresee any amendment to the 301st
article of the Turkish penal code under which several journalists and
authors including Orhan Pamuk have been accused, reported Zaman. The
Foreign Minister said the new reform package would swiftly be brought
on to the parliamentary agenda. The anti-terror bill, which was opened
to the cabinet signature, would not infringe on liberties, Gul added.

To note, the controversial article 301 of the new Turkish Penal Code
(TCK) received criticism by the Council of Europe. The Council’s
Committee of Ministers answering Council of Europe Parliamentary
Assembly (PACE) French deputy Rudy Salles’s question about the new
TCK said they are nervously following the new law after freedom of
expression cases opened about Orhan Pamuk and Ragip Zarakolu.

The subsequent dropping of the Pamuk case and the circular published
by the Ministry of Justice in January stating that “the new TCK
will be implemented in the frame of the European Convention on Human
Rights” have been welcomed in the official answer of the Committee
of Ministers; the Council of Europe’s decision-making body.

The answer says the new law caused concerns in the Council just as in
the world’s opinion, and the Turkish Ministry of Justice’s declaration
that it will interpret the TCK in the frame of European Human Rights
Convention was found positive. The Committee of Ministers asked Turkey
to act in the frame of Convention resolutions in the cases opened for
article 301, and emphasized they will keep a close eye on later cases.

It should be noted that Article 301 provides for punishment for the
“outrage of the Turkish state”. Orham Pamuk and other journalists were
accused for mentioning the Armenian Genocide in their publications.

ATTENTION FOCUSES ON IRAN IN BUSH-ALIYEV TALKS
Rovshan Ismayilov

EurasiaNet, NY
April 11 2006

An upcoming meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and
US President George W. Bush is fuelling speculation about what role
Azerbaijan may play in the conflict between Iran, its neighbour to
the south, and the US over Iran’s nuclear research program.

The White House announced on April 10 that President Bush will meet
with President Aliyev in the White House on April 28. [For background
see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Information about the White House’s invitation was first reported
by Radio Liberty on April 6 and confirmed by Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on April 7. Novruz Mammadov, the head of
the presidential administration’s international relations department,
said that Ilham Aliyev will meet with US President George W. Bush
and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The largely unexpected invitation has sparked frustration among
Azerbaijan’s opposition and celebrations among the country’s ruling
elite. During last year’s parliamentary election campaign, the
opposition had targeted the lack of a White House invitation for
President Aliyev as proof of Azerbaijan’s poor record on democratic
reform.

Coming just one month after a US State Department report that
strongly criticized human rights conditions in Azerbaijan, the sudden
invitation has surprised many local observers. News of the trip
has encouraged speculations over what role Azerbaijan might play in
the conflict between the US and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear research
program. Attention is also being given to the ongoing Nagorno Karabakh
talks, Caspian surveillance system negotiations and other security
and energy issues.

Iran, which borders Azerbaijan and has a large ethnic Azeri
minority, is expected to feature prominently in the White House’s
discussions with President Aliyev. Recent articles in The New Yorker
and The Washington Post have indicated that the US administration is
considering launching a military attack against Iran. The April 10 New
Yorker article by investigative journalist Seymour M. Hersh claims
that “US Air Force planning groups are drawing up lists of targets,
and teams of American combat troops have been ordered into Iran,
under cover, to collect targeting data and to establish contact with
anti-government ethnic-minority groups,” including ethnic Azeris.

Azerbaijani officials have been careful in discussing what the US
conflict with Iran means for Baku’s relations with Washington. In a
visit to the Azerbaijani capital in late March, however, Assistant
US Secretary of State Daniel Fried stated that the US is keeping
the Azerbaijani government informed about its plans concerning Iran
“because Azerbaijan has the right to be aware about it,” local media
reported. Fried also said that the US looks forward to reaching
consensus with Azerbaijan on this issue. The US official did not
dismiss the possibility of US troops being deployed in Azerbaijan some
day, although said that a large military base should not be expected
any time soon.

Turan news agency chief political analyst Zafar Guliyev believes that
Iran is the main reason for Ilham Aliyev’s invitation to the US. “I
think they [the US] will try to involve Azerbaijan in the anti-Iranian
coalition. The White House wants to get Azerbaijan’s approval for
using its territory against Iran. To get Azerbaijan’s participation
in the coalition is as important as it was during the Iraq campaign,”
Guliyev told Day.az on April 10.

While acknowledging that Iran has featured in a topic of discussion
with Washington, government officials, however, maintain that
Azerbaijan does not intend to join any alliance against the Persian
Gulf state. At an April 6 press conference, Deputy Foreign Minister
Araz Azimov rejected reports that the US is attempting to include
Azerbaijan in an anti-Iranian coalition. “Azerbaijan has no intention
to become part of a coalition against someone else and wants to
build friendly relations with all the region’s countries,” Azimov
said. The official noted only that “Azerbaijan is concerned about
some activities of Iran in the disputed sector of the Caspian Sea.”

Azimov stressed that “the US wants nothing from Azerbaijan.”

Washington’s interest in Azerbaijan, the official continued, is
“to see Azerbaijan developing as a normal stable state. That is why
possible threats to Azerbaijan’s national security were discussed.”

Guliyev argues that sooner or later Azerbaijan will have to choose
between Washington and Tehran. “For the time being, the Azerbaijani
government did well balancing in its foreign policy, but there are
moments when choice is inevitable.”

Independent political analyst Rasim Musabekov agrees that concerns
over Iran form the primary reason for the White House’s invitation
to President Aliyev, but sees little chance that Azerbaijan would
stand with the US against Iran. “Given the geographical neighborhood,
and the historical, cultural and human links, it is impossible for
Azerbaijan to become a member of such a coalition. But regardless
of whether Azerbaijan supports US plans or not, their realization –
whether as economic sanctions or military actions — will have a huge
impact on our country.”

Analysts project that the two sides will discuss many issues about
Iran that are unrelated to the country’s nuclear ambitions, among
them border security, prevention of Iranian threats against US and
Western-owned property in Azerbaijan, and security for Azerbaijan’s
oil and gas fields in the Caspian Sea. Azerbaijani officials have
noted that they are also interested in discussion of Iran’s treatment
of ethnic minority Azerbaijanis.

Many observers assume that securing Azerbaijan’s support for the
US position on Iran will be linked to progress on resolution of the
18-year conflict with Armenia over the disputed exclave of Nagorno
Karabakh. Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has announced that he
received an “interesting proposal” for resolution of the Karabakh
dispute during his April 7-8 trip to Washington. Before meeting with
Mammadyarov on April 7, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke on
the phone with both President Aliyev and Armenian President Robert
Kocharian, according to the US State Department press office.

Baku, according to Mamadyarov, will announce its response to the
proposal when Steven Mann, US co-chair of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk Group, which supervises the Karabakh
talks, visits the Azerbaijani capital on April 18.

Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov, who visited Washington in late
March, has also told reporters that a130-kilometer-long section of
the Azerbaijani-Iranian border, currently under Armenian occupation,
made up part of his discussions with US officials.

A series of recent visits paid to the US by Azerbaijani officials
and to Baku by senior US diplomats indicate further likely topics
for discussion during President Aliyev’s visit.

Security, energy and reforms issues were also discussed during an
April 8 meeting between Condoleezza Rice and Elmar Mammadyarov,
US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Reno Harnish told Turan on April 10.

For its part, the delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Azimov
reviewed joint anti-terror efforts, non-proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction (WMD), border security and the general military
and political situation in the Caspian Sea basin. The delegation
included Azerbaijani Naval Forces Commander-in-Chief Shahin Sultanov,
and high level representatives from the Ministry of National Security
and State Border Service.

Of particular note are the two Caspian Sea basin surveillance systems
proposed by the US (Caspian Guard) and Russia (CasFor). Russia
maintains that the two systems cannot exist in the same area,
and favors establishment of a common system, according to Gennady
Yevsyukov, spokesperson for the Russian embassy in Baku. Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, however, has stated that Azerbaijan will
have to make the ultimate decision about whether the two systems
can co-exist.

According to Azimov, a number of agreements were reached during
the visit. “The . . . risks and threats in the Caspian region [are]
very complicated. There are elements of war, terrorism, environmental
threats,” Azimov told the state-run Azertag news agency on April 1.

“In this regard, the US will cooperate with Azerbaijan very closely.

We have reached a number of agreements.” The official stated that
“several groups of the US experts” will visit Baku to consider the
possibility of Azerbaijan joining the G-8 club of industrialized
countries’ WMD non-proliferation initiative.

Editor’s Note: Rovshan Ismayilov is a freelance journalist based
in Baku.

ARMENIA 2017

Lragir.am
12 April 06

Armenia will benefit from the sale of the fifth generating unit of the
Thermal Power Plant of Hrazdan to Russia. Thus Defense Minister Serge
Sargsyan, who is one of the core players in signing the Contract on
Generating Unit for Compensating for Gas, assessed it on April 11. “It
is quite beneficial, simply it is strange that everyone speaks up
without knowing what the fifth generating unit is.

Figuratively, the fifth generating unit is like a three-storey
building, only the basement of which has been built, and nothing
else,” says the defense minister, advising to check that his
words are true. And those who speak about other options of
reconstructing the generating unit and keeping it to Armenia do not
have reason. Particularly, the minister of defense believes that 150
million is not sufficient to repair the generating unit; moreover,
these funds need to be raised first.

“At least 180 thousand million dollars is required to make a fight
generating unit. And it would repay costs in 10 years at best.

That is, at best in 2017 we would have a company generating income.

And only Nostradamus could predict how much that income would be,
how high the price of gas would be by then, whether there would be
any income at all in 11 or 12 years,” says Serge Sargsyan.

If presently only Nostradamus would be able to tell the future,
the defense minister assures that in the future it will be much
easier to speak about the past. “I think we’ll have time to do this,
because presently there is no point in discussing it, we will offer
more figurative, more forceful arguments on the value of the fifth
generating unit and this step,” states Serge Sargsyan.

“What do we presently need as a people, as a nation: sell something
that does not exist for 250 million dollars or wait until we get some
cents in 2017? After all, can these people who speak so imagine the
consequences of selling gas to people and industry at the foreseen
price?” says the minister of defense.

What we need as a people and a nation is, in fact, an interesting
question to ask. On the other hand, it is interesting to know why the
question of needs of people and the nation is negotiated secretly
from people and the nation until the last moment. Why did nobody
ask people and the nation what they need? And why do they generally
tend to speak in the name of people and nation in Armenia and decide
instead of people and the nation? And do people and the nation want
to sell their own energy sector to another country?

“First of all, not the entire sector. Besides, if we think harder,
we will see that there is almost no difference. And finally, when
politics is mixed with economy, the outcome is neither politics nor
economy. We must see what offers favorable for our economy are made,
and let us not say we decline this offer for it is made by Russia, and
we accept that one, for it is made by Belgium,” says Serge Sargsyan.

THREE-STORIED UNFINISHED BUILDING HANDED OVER TO RUSSIA?

Panorama.am
15:41 11/04/06

RA Defence Minister Serge Sargsyan considers property in return for
gas tariff bargain favorable.

He compared the 5th power-engineering unit of Hrazdan thermal power
station with three-storied house with only the small cellar built
and asked the correspondents simply to go and see that construction.

“Time will come and we shall bring more figurative and convincing
facts about the cost of the 5th power unit and this step.”

As he said the 5th unit of Hrazdan thermal power station was out of
order and it couldn’t be repaired, thus he announced to all those
“people pretending to be scientists” that at least 180 million dollars
were necessary to restore the 5th power engineering unit.

And of course Armenia couldn’t afford it.

Generally, he suggests differentiating between economic bargains and
policy. “We have to consider all the profitable suggestion for our
economy, and we shouldn’t differentiate between Russia and Belgium
saying “yes” to one and “no” to the other. No one knows why but the
word “Russia” has the same influence on people as the red color on
a bull. If there is a profitable suggestion, we have to accept it,”
the Minister emphasized.

PRESS OFFICE
Armenian Church Endowment Fund (ACEF)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Berjouhi Saladin
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 34
E-mail: [email protected]

April 10, 2006
___________________

ACEF ENDOWMENT FUND BENEFITS CEMETERY OF GENOCIDE SURVIVORS

About a half mile from the Holy Resurrection Church in South Milwaukee, WI,
is the Soorp Haroutune Armenian Cemetery. For more than 50 years the
cemetery has served a tight Armenian community, becoming the final resting
place for many survivors of the Genocide.

Today, in an effort to keep the cemetery in good repair now and for
generations to come, community leaders are in the middle of a fund-raising
drive. The donations will not be used today; instead they will be invested
in an endowment fund managed by the Armenian Church Endowment Fund (ACEF).
The income from this investment will provide a steady stream of revenue to
maintain the historic cemetery.

STRONG COMMUNITY

The Armenian community in South Milwaukee began to grow in the 1920s, with
services every week at an Episcopal church. By 1924 the community decided
to buy its own sanctuary.

Two decades later, the community was offered the opportunity to buy a
cemetery from the Episcopal church which was its first meeting place. The
Soorp Haroutune Armenian Cemetery was established in 1947 and, for many
decades, was the only Armenian cemetery in the United States.

“It’s part of our heritage. It’s a connection to our past. Many of the
people buried there are survivors of the Genocide, so it is the most
important part of our church,” said Nancy Tamuzian Shoman, secretary of the
parish council at the Holy Resurrection Church and a member of the cemetery
committee. “My parents are there and I intend to be there someday too,
because that’s where I belong.”

Her parents, Osanna and Eghia, are some of the Genocide survivors who have
found an eternal home at Soorp Haroutune. Her mother was an orphan sold
into slavery, and her father was forced from his village with 26 relatives,
and was the only one to survive.

“With the history in the cemetery, there is a very special feeling that
comes over you when you go there,” she said. “It is a very strong emotional
feeling that ties us to these people.”

The small community of just 42 people is tight, and most have a connection
to the cemetery. It is seen as a community effort, with volunteers giving
their time to oversee it and the priest and choir coming out every Memorial
Day to hold a service at the cemetery, to bless the graves and read the roll
of those buried there.

The 3-acre cemetery has about 350 people buried there, and the cemetery
committee also cares for 95 Armenian graves in a neighboring Episcopal
cemetery. Plots at Soorp Haroutune are also intentionally priced at only
$65 so every Armenian can afford it.

“We don’t want to raise the price, because it’s a service to the community,”
Tamuzian Shoman said. “We all take care of this cemetery because it is a
true labor of love for our past, our heritage, and our ancestors.”

SECURING A FUTURE

Even with strong community involvement, running a cemetery is a pricy
business. The grass has to get cut. Landscaping needs to be done. Last year
the water pipe needed to be replaced, and it was costly to get it working
again.

And with an aging and declining parish, the Armenians of South Milwaukee
want to know the cemetery will be taken care of not just in the near future
but for generations. That is why they established an endowment fund with
the Armenian Church Endowment Fund (ACEF) in 2002. Along with the fund
established by the cemetery committee, the Charley Kademian Endowment Fund
provides annual revenue to the cemetery as well.

“It’s an obligation for a lot of people, a sense of maintaining a connection
to their parents and grandparents,” Tamuzian Shoman said. “We feel that
these people went through a lot in their lives and came here and became
successful parents and they worked hard and so their resting place should be
one of dignity, that is well taken care of. That is why we’re doing this.”

The funds invested in ACEF can never be touched, but the income generated by
the interest earned provides a steady revenue stream for the cemetery’s
operations. Along with the Diocese of the Armenian Church (Eastern) and its
parishes, ACEF funds can be established to benefit any Armenian Church
related non-profit organization. From the Soorp Haroutune Armenian Cemetery
to local Armenian day schools to the Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR), all
sorts of organizations benefit from funds professionally managed by ACEF’s
board.

The Soorp Haroutune Armenian Cemetery is looking to raise $165,000 in
donations. The fund-raising drive has already received a $10,000 gift from
the Hamparian Family Foundation.

Parish leaders in South Milwaukee hope the larger Armenian community will
step forward with donations, providing eternal support for the cemetery
which houses so many Genocide survivors.

“We hope they will support us because they’re Armenians and understand the
history and what these people went through,” Tamuzian Shoman said. “It’s a
way to express your caring for these people and the respect for what they
went through and were able to accomplish. I think people will want to help
us. I hope I’m right.”

Donations can be sent to:

Armenian Church Endowment Fund
For: Soorp Haroutune Cemetery
630 Second Ave.
New York, NY 10016-4806

Checks should be made payable to the Armenian Church Endowment Fund, with
“Soorp Haroutune Cemetery” in the memo.

For more information on this fund, or for details on starting an endowment
fund, contact Berjouhi Saladin by e-mailing [email protected] or
calling (212) 686-0710 ext 34.

ROBERT KOCHARIAN: DEAL ON SALE OF HRAZDAN-5 WILL CONTRIBUTE TO DEVELOPMENT OF ARMENIAN GOODS’ EXPORT

Yerevan, April 8.ArmInfo. The deal on sale of the fifth block of
Hrazdan HPP will have positive impact on the economy of Armenia and
will contribute to development of export of the Armenian goods. RA
President Robert Kocharian said this during his visit to Kotayk.

According to him, thanks to this deal, Armenia will be provided with
Russian gas at low prices for three years. As for the discontent
of the opposition about the deal, he said that there are political
forces in Armenia that are always discontent with something.