Armenian Authorities Should Speed Up Reforms To Capacitate Country T

ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES SHOULD SPEED UP REFORMS TO CAPACITATE COUNTRY TO RESIST CRISIS

ARKA
Nov 21, 2008

YEREVAN, November 21. /ARKA/. Armenia is now on the edge of economic
crisis, Vartan Oskanian, former Armenian foreign minister, said
Thursday in an interview with Shant TV Channel.

He thinks it is necessary to speed up reforms to enable the country
to resist the crisis.

"It is necessary to create equal competition conditions, eliminate
monopoly and implement substantial tax reforms to give an impetus to
our economy amid crisis", he said.

Oskanian welcomes Armenian Prime Minister’s recent speech in National
Assembly. He said that the premier’s previous statements that the
crisis won’t impact the country’s economy aroused his concern.

"The first important and positive step is realization of inevitability
of the crisis", the former minister said in his televised interview.

He thinks that the reforms targeting small and mid-scale business
should be clearly defined.

Oskanyan also thinks that economic reforms will be more effective,
if political parties and civil society support them, but no signs of
it are seen now.

"It will be difficult for the president to implement second-breed
reforms and find progressive solutions without support from the civil
society, political forces, including the opposition", he said.

ANKARA: Justice Minister’s Comments Jeopardize 301 Suspect Temel Dem

JUSTICE MINISTER’S COMMENTS JEOPARDIZE ARTICLE 301 SUSPECT TEMEL DEMIRER’S SAFETY
Erol ONDEROÄ~^LU – [email protected]

BIA
Nov 20 2008
Turkey

The Ankara Initiative for Freedom of Thinking demanded resignation
of Minister of Justice Mehmet Ali Å~^ahin for declaring Temel Demirer
guilty under article 301 before he was even tried.

The Ankara Initiative for Freedom of Thinking demanded resignation
of Minister of Justice Mehmet Ali Å~^ahin for talking negatively
about Temel Demirer for whom he granted the permission to be tried
under article 301 of the Penal Code (TCK). Mehmet Ali Å~^ahin made
the following comment that "I cannot let someone call my state
"murderer". This is not freedom of expression. This is exactly the
crime of insulting the person of the state."

Condemning Å~^ahin with a written declaration, Demirer’s lawyer
Filiz Kalaycı argued that the minister was using the right of giving
permissions for the article 301 cases as he was given "the power to
make judgments by putting himself in place of the judiciary."

Initiative: Minister Å~^ahin should ask Vecdi about the "genocide"
The minister said the following about the reactions by some
media institutions against the permission he granted for Demirer’s
prosecution: "They do not pay attention to the things this person has
been saying, but when a lawsuit is filed, they feel sorry for him. This
person said Turkey is a murderous state. He says the Turkish state
first murdered the Armenians and will now murder the Kurds. Sorry,
but I cannot let anyone call my state a murderous state. This is not
freedom of expression. This is what article describes as the crime
of insulting the person of the state."

According to the Initiative, the Minister of Justice has already
declared Demirer guilty, without waiting for the outcome of the
trial. "If it is a crime to say ‘yesterday they took our Armenian
brothers through the process of genocide, today they are doing the same
to our Kurdish brothers. Let us object to this’ then Minister Å~^ahin
should ask Vecdi Gönul about the genocide, since he confirmed it with
his words that "Thanks to it, we established today’s nation-state."

Kalaycı: Å~^ahin is responsible for Demirer’s safety Lawyer Kalaycı
pointed out to the Constitution and reminded Å~^ahin the 25th and
26th articles that guarantee the freedom of expression and belief, the
138th article that emphasize the independence of the courts. She also
mentioned the 10th article of the European Human Rights Conventions
(EHRC).

Kalaycı argue that Å~^ahin has abused his position and that not only
Å~^ahin’s statement shows how far present government’s patience goes,
but it also prepares the groundwork for further tensions.

"In order not to experience new sufferings, not to be subject to the
new murder plans of the dark hands and have more democracy and freedom,
we invite everyone who want a bright future for this country to show
their reaction and ask the prosecutors to do their job by launching
an investigation about the minister."

"When Hrant Dink’s memory is still fresh in our hearts, the Minister of
Justice has put our client’s life in danger by making him a target. We
will hold the Minister responsible for any attempt at his safety."

Kalaycı reminded the Minister of Justice the AktaÅ~_/Turkey
(Application No: 23168-94) and Senator Miguel Castells decisions of
the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The ECHR held Senator
Castells had criticized the unknown murders (faili mechul) in the
Bask region of Spain and held the government responsible.

–Boundary_(ID_WaDAyC+UU6ODEEsIa/w50 A)–

According To ANC, Authorities Not Interested In Holding Independent

ACCORDING TO ANC, AUTHORITIES NOT INTERESTED IN HOLDING INDEPENDENT INQUIRY INTO MARCH 1 EVENTS

Noyan Tapan

Nov 20, 2008

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 20, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian National Congress
(ANC) and "Heritage" party on November 20 issued a joint statement
on the work of the fact-finding group of experts. The statement reads:

"On November 14 the Fact-finding group started its work. At the very
first sitting, the group made decisions based on consensus. By one
decision, Vahe Stepanian was elected the head of the Fact-finding
group, while by another decision, the group was to work in the Office
of the RA Ambudsman who expressed a willingness to ensure the necessary
office conditions for organizing efficiently the group’s work. Both
decisions were praiseworthy as they aimed to ensure the neutrality
of the activity of the fact-finding group and its independence from
political influence.

Despite the above mentioned facts, the presidential staff interfered
in the work of the fact-finding group, obliging that the building of
the National Assembly must be the place of work, without having an
authority (envisaged by a legal act) to do so.

Taking into account the fact that the presidential staff has illegally
interfered in the work of the Fact-finding group, as well as the fact
the the group has been forced to work at an institution where the
principles of not establishing the identity of a witness and keeping
the witnesses and experts from any influence are not ensured, it
becomes obvious that as a result of this, the security of Fact-finding
group’s work from possible pressure, therefore its efficiency in terms
of revealing the facts of the March 1 crime will considerably decline.

These actions of the authorities show once that they are not
interested in the fact-finding group’s holding an objective and
independent inquiry into the March 1 events. The Armenian National
Congress and "Heritage" party demand that the authorities give up
their attempts to put pressure on the fact-finding group and keep its
activity under control. We state once again that if this pressure and
attempts to hinder the group’s work continue, we will have to recall
our representatives".

http://www.nt.am?shownews=1009903

University Of Michigan Unveils Archive Of Hunchakian Leader Hamparzo

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN UNVEILS ARCHIVE OF HUNCHAKIAN LEADER HAMPARZOUM ARZOUMANIAN

PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung)
sity-of-michigan-unveils-archive-of-hunchaki-r9265 49.htm
Nov 20 2008
Austria

Armenian Studies Program and Special collections of the University
of Michigan unveiled the archive of Hamparzoum Arzoumanian, a leader
of the Hunchakian Party from 1891 to 1909.

ANN ARBOR, MI — At a special event organized on October 31, the
The Arzoumanian Archive, consisting of some 1200 pages of party
related and personal correspondence, Hunchakian Center circulars
and related materials, mostly in Armenian, had been donated to the
University of Michigan by the granddaughter of the Hunchakian leader,
Mrs. Marguerite Harms, and University of Michigan Unveils Archive of
Hunchakian Leader Hamparzoum Arzoumanian the Arzoumanian family, some
time ago. The archive was organized and documents classified recently.

Hamparzoum Arzoumanian was born in historic Gantzak; he started his
political activities in Tabriz, Iran, as a field worker for the party
and continued as organizer, propagandist and ideologue in Russia,
Europe, and the United States until his death in New York in 1909,
where his life ended at age 43 as a factory worker. His archive
spreads light on a variety of issues, including the battles within the
Hunchakian Party, the organization of chapters in places like Baku,
Novorossisk and cities in the US.

Throughout his life he remained a staunch believer in socialism and
its relevance to the Armenian struggle for liberation. Throughout
his career Arzoumanian had the full support of his wife Sona. More
than 60 faculty members, students, administrators and members of the
family participated in the presentation of the archives. Fifteen
grandchildren and their offspring had traveled to Ann Arbor from
California, Pennsylvania and other states to attend the event and
learn about theArzoumanians.

The program was initiated by Prof. Gerard Libaridian, Alex Manoogian
Chair in Modern Armenian History and Director of the Armenian
Studies Program, giving an overview of the history of the Arzoumanian
Archives. It was followed by remarks from Margaret McKinley, Director
of Development (The Value of Special Collections and Archives) and
Peggy Daub, Director of Special Collections Library (The Arzoumanian
Archive and the Special Collections). Dr. Nora Nercessian (Consultant
on the Arzoumanian Archive) gave an eloquent presentation titled ‘The
Contents of the Arzoumanian Archive’ and Prof. Libaridian evaluated the
Archive in the context of history ‘The Significance of the Arzoumanian
Archive for modern Armenian History’. The event was concluded with
a reception and an exhibit of some samples of the archival material.

The Arzoumanian Archive is currently being digitized and
placed on the website of the University Special Collections
gradually. Information regarding the Arzoumanian papers
and the documents themselves can be accessed on the web
(quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx? c=sclead&idno=umich
..) or through the University Special Collections (History) and
Armenian Studies Program websites; the archive is also open to
researchers who wish to access them at the Special Collections.

‘One reason we wanted to organize this event and present the
Arzoumanian Archive is to encourage others to preserve family papers
and prod organizations to open their archives to researchers,’ stated
Prof. Libaridian. ‘The Armenian Studies Program and the Special
Collections at the University of Michigan are ready to assist in
achieving these goals, including receiving papers, organizing them
and making them available to researchers in a safe and professional
environment.’ The presentation of the Hampartzoum Arzoumanian Archives
is a significant step forward towards the efforts exerted since the
independence of the Republic of Armenia in collecting the dispersed
archives of the Hunchakian party. It is unfortunate that a lot has
been lost due to persecutions and wars, specially the Lebanese civil
war of 1975-1990. However, every attempt is being made to collect and
recover as much as possible and every step in that direction is truly
appreciated. In this context, Mrs. Marguerite Harms and the Armenian
Studies Program, under the directorship of Prof. Gerard Libaridian
have extended an invaluable help. Their efforts are truly commendable
and their services highly appreciated.

http://www.pr-inside.com/univer

RA President Thanked French MPs For Efforts For Armenian Genocide Wo

RA PRESIDENT THANKED FRENCH MPS FOR EFFORTS FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WORLDWIDE RECOGNITION

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.11.2008 14:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan met Monday with
the President of the General Council of Vandee Department of France,
member of the European Parliament, Philippe de Villiers and his
delegation comprising members of the French National Assembly and
the Vice-Presidents of the General Council of Vandee Department,
the RA leader’s press office told PanARMENIAN.Net.

Expressing gratitude to the MPs for the assistance rendered to Armenia,
for deepening the Armenian-French friendship and for the efforts for
worldwide recognition of the Armenian Genocide, President Sargsyan
said that the Armenian-French friendship and mutually warm attitude
date back to centuries.

"France is regarded by the Armenian people as a very close, friendly
state which perceives the Armenian issues in depth and brings a
practical help to their solution," he said.

Noting that there are 120 enterprises in Armenia with French capital,
President Sargsyan voiced hope that the companies of Vandee would
also come to Armenia. "Your presence also introduces the European
industrial and agricultural culture to Armenia," he said.

The President also expressed satisfaction with the level of cooperation
in the education sector, especially taking into consideration the
fact than recently Armenia has become the associated member to the
International Organization of La Francophonie.

For his part, Mr. de Villiers said French people are Armenia’s
good friends. "Vandee is the Department with the highest number of
enterprises and the majority of labor force and with this regard
their experience could be useful for Armenia," he said, adding that
the discussions held in Yerevan will outline future cooperation.

A Pilgrimage To Calcutta Recalls Armenian History

A PILGRIMAGE TO CALCUTTA RECALLS ARMENIAN HISTORY
By Leonard M. Apcar

International Herald Tribune
a/calcutta.php
Nov 17 2008
France

CALCUTTA: Before there were call centers and Indian conglomerates,
before the East India Co. or the British Raj, there were Armenians who
made their way to India to trade and to escape religious persecution
from the Turks and, later, Persians.

Entrepreneurial and devout Christians, but familiar with the Islamic
ways of Mughal emperors, Armenians arrived in northeast India in
the early 1600s, some 60 years before British adventurers became
established traders here. They acquired gems, spices and silks,
and brought them back to Armenian enclaves in Persia such as Isfahan.

Eventually, some Persian Armenians – including my ancestors – left
and set up their own businesses and communities here, landing first
on India’s western flank in Surat and nearby Bombay, the present-day
Mumbai, and then moving to the river banks in northeast India that
led to Calcutta’s founding as a sprawling manufacturing and port city.

At its zenith, Calcutta was the British Empire’s "second city." Its
vast manufacturing centers rivaled the English Midlands, and wealth
flowed freely to Jews, Britons, Armenians and some Indians. They
in turn poured money into elaborate colonial mansions, Victorian
memorials and a luxurious Western way of life virtually transplanted
to the wilting jungle of West Bengal.

The British are gone now, of course, and that way of life is literally
crumbling in the dusty, clogged streets of Calcutta. All but gone,
too, are the Armenians who began leaving India long before the British.

But last week Armenians with Calcutta roots gathered here again from
around the world. More than 250 people came officially for the 300th
anniversary of the oldest church in Calcutta, a finely preserved
Holy Church of Nazareth tucked inside the narrow, winding alleys and
chaotic bazaars of the north section of this city.

But they also came to be together again and to honor an extraordinary
restoration effort of all five Armenian churches and assorted
graveyards in northeast India.

I came from Hong Kong, but many came from England, Iran, the United
States and Australia. We walked the cemeteries looking for graves of
grandparents and great-grandparents, toured the 187-year-old Armenian
school, admired the ambitious renovation work recently completed
on the churches and cemeteries and at the gleaming white church in
downtown Madras.

Armenians never amounted to more than a few thousand people in
Calcutta, but in the 18th and 19th centuries they ran trading
companies, shipping lines, coal mines, real estate developments
and hotels. A few served in the colonial government, and some had
sewn themselves so finely into the fabric of colonial India that
they were decorated with British titles and were leaders of private
English-only clubs.

"They ran Calcutta," one alumnus of the Armenian school, David
Alexander, said with a touch of exaggeration.

By the time the British left, and an independent India was on a
socialist and anti-colonial bent, the Armenians had mostly cleared
out. Wealthier, educated and more confident as entrepreneurs, they
left not for Armenia itself, then a Soviet-controlled postage stamp
of a state, but for London, where some Calcutta Armenians had second
lives, or new frontiers in Australia or the United States.

My great-grandparents left earlier; as a young couple they headed
for Japan in 1890, and their descendants ended up staying and trading
for 50 years.

Of the nine million Armenians in the world, only about a third are in
Armenia. The bulk are in Russia, the United States and France, with
a smattering along the trading routes of Asia. Armenian churches and
graveyards dot India in Agra, Delhi, Hyderabad, Madras, Mumbai, Surat
and, of course, Calcutta. But they are also in Dhaka, Bangladesh;
Yangon in Myanmar; on Penang Island off the coast of Malaysia;
Singapore; and parts of Indonesia – all places where Armenians settled,
traded and worshiped.

Worship is the social adhesive that binds Armenians together. Clannish
and wary of outsiders, the church has always been the focus of their
socialist and cultural lives. Given Armenia’s pride as the first state
to adopt Christianity as its religion, it was not surprising that last
week with the families came Karekin II, Catholicos of all Armenians,
as the leader of the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church is known, and a
choir of two dozen from the church’s seat in Etchmiadzin, Armenia.

But the real stars in Calcutta were its five churches. Only a few
years ago four of them were weed-infested snake pits looking like
Roman ruins. Now, in the midst of southeast Calcutta’s horrid slums,
on gritty, rutted roads, rises Holy Trinity Chapel in the Tangra
district with a new dome and a manicured graveyard. Inside, I found
the refurbished graves of my great-great grandparents, who in the
1880s lived in Calcutta and Rangoon, as Yangon was known then.

"These things had to be recreated," said Haik Sookias Jr., who helped
lead the reconstruction effort in Calcutta. "If we let our churches
go, then Armenians will never come back to India, and people will
walk by and say ‘the Armenians used to live here.’ But by renovating
these churches, Armenians will live here forever."

Richard Hovannisian, a historian and professor of Armenian studies at
the University of California at Los Angeles, said what distinguished
the Armenian diaspora in India was that the Armenians never accompanied
their trading ambitions with military force. Nor did they try to
enforce cultural supremacy. "They succeeded within the structure of
the adopted communities," he said.

At base, Armenians were survivors with a fortunate sense for sometimes
picking the right side when superpowers clashed. When it became clear
that the British were going to overpower other Europeans and Arabs
to take control of India, Armenians agreed to ship all their goods
to Europe and the Middle East exclusively with British ships instead
of the Arab fleets they had used before.

When the Dutch ruled what is now Indonesia, and their ships ran out
of money during long, storm-delayed sailings around the Cape of Good
Hope, the story goes that Armenians loaned money to the Dutch. It
wasn’t purely a banking transaction. It also ensured that Armenian
businesses might continue to prosper in the Java rice fields.

Over time, Armenian merchant princes were overpowered by the rise of
merchant banking institutions in Europe and the large international
companies they financed, Hovannisian said.

As Indians took control of their country, Armenians were looked on as
holdovers from a colonial past. Many large Armenian family enterprises
in India were either sold off or closed.

Today, there are only a few hundred Armenians in the entire Calcutta
region of about 15 million people. The Armenian school here has long
relied on students from abroad to fill its dormitories.

While the Armenian community in Calcutta has all but disappeared,
there is hardly a serious guidebook or history book of the city that
does not mention their influence, charities and churches.

That is a source of pride and communal strength reflected in last
week’s commemoration. "When the economic powers of Indian communities
weakened and waned, there were greater challenges to figure out how
to establish deep roots here," said Professor Hovannisian. "It drew
the Armenians closer."

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/17/asi

ANKARA: Turkey would not be the same without population exchange

Sunday’s Zaman, Turkey
Nov 16 2008

Academics: Gönül is right, Turkey would not be the same
without population exchange

Academics have expressed agreement with Defense Minister Vecdi
Gönül, who claimed recently that if Greeks and Armenians
were still living in the country, Turkey would not be the same
nation-state it is today. According to academics, Turkey would be a
more prosperous European Union country if the Greeks and Armenians had
not been forced to leave under the program of population exchange.

Gönül’s remarks defending the deportations of Greeks and
Armenians from Anatolia at the beginning of the 20th century have been
met with harsh criticism from intellectuals and civil society
organizations. Some academics, such as Professor DoÄ?u Ergil, a
Sunday’s Zaman writer, have argued that if these ethnic groups were
still living in Turkey people, like Gönül could never
become state ministers.
In his speech Gönül claimed that reform efforts during
the last years of the Ottoman Empire had been ineffective and unable
to `save the country.’ He suggested that the `success’ of the republic
lay in the nation-building process. `If there were Greeks in the
Aegean and Armenians in most places in Turkey today, would it be the
same nation-state? I don’t know what words I can use to explain the
importance of the population exchange, but if you look at the former
state of affairs, its importance will become very clear,’
Gönül said. He added that in those days Ankara was
composed of four neighborhoods — Armenian, Jewish, Greek and Muslim
— and claimed that after the nation-building process it became
possible to establish a national bourgeoisie.

The Lausanne Treaty, signed in 1923, called for a population exchange
between the Greek Orthodox citizens of the young Turkish Republic and
the Muslim citizens of Greece, which resulted in the displacement of
approximately 2 million people.

The Armenian population that was in Turkey before the establishment of
Turkish Republic was forced to emigrate in 1915, and the conditions of
this expulsion are the basis of Armenian claims of genocide.

Although the numbers are not clear, according to a census in 1914,
approximately 20 percent of the population living within the borders
of today’s Turkey were non-Muslims, while others claim that the number
was around 25 percent.

Academics such as Soli Ã-zel, Ferhat Kentel, Baskın Oran and
Ayhan Aktar stress that if the minorities had not been expelled,
Turkey would be a different place in terms of the Kurdish question,
the economy and secularism.

Aktar says there were two nations that eradicated their own
bourgeoisie, the Russians in the 1917 revolution and the Turks, first
by killing them and second by exchanging them. `This means that during
the 1923-1934 period the bourgeoisie was liquidated. It was not
possible to reach the export level of the Ottomans until 1928. Then
there was the 1929 crisis, which introduced statism to Turkey,’ he
says.

According to Kentel, statism created the bureaucracy and the new
capitalist segment supported by it got richer but, because they didn’t
know how to invest, they fed off of the resources of the state. This
attitude brought all kinds of evils: corruption, a tolerance for
mafia-style business and the legitimization of all types of immoral
trade rules.

Oran stressed that the ability to invest, produce, export and find
markets totally disappeared in 1915 and 1923. In an article published
in the Agos newsweekly and the Radikal daily this week,
industrialization was set back by at least 50 years. Ã-zel argued
that, after losing its minorities, Turkey had to spend 60 years
creating sufficient human capital. Ergil notes that the locals in
Anatolia asked state officials to bring back some of the minorities
because it was not possible to find professionals and artisans, such
as stove makers, mechanics and construction experts.

According to many academics, Turkey would also be a better place
culturally, too. In his article Oran cited some examples and asked his
readers to imagine what Turkey would look like if the cultural
developments spurred on by minorities had not be ceased. `Anatolia
before it was cleansed was a very civilized place. In Harput alone
there were 92 schools, and there was a theater there a year before
Atatürk was born. The Sasuryan brothers introduced photography
in 1890,’ he points out. Ã-zel agrees, adding that if the Greeks
and Armenians were still living in Turkey, Anatolia would not be a
place of tensions.

Academics also say some of Turkey’s other problems would be
different. For example, since there would be different cultures,
tolerance would be learned naturally and secularism would not be a
problem for Turkey. Ergil argues that Turkey would definitely be a
pluralistic country. He also recalls that before the forced emigration
of the Armenians, no one was talking about extreme poverty in eastern
Anatolia.

They all also agree that the Kurdish question would be
different. Kentel says there would be many languages spoken and that
this would help the development of tolerance for different
cultures. Aktar underlines that Turkey cannot have a population
exchange or force Kurds to emigrate but, at the same time, it is not
able to develop a culture of cohabitation. `If even only 5 percent of
the population was composed of minorities, Turkey would have a culture
of cohabitation and the Kurdish question would be at a different
level.’

16 November 2008, Sunday
AYÅ?E KARABAT ANKARA

Serzh Sargsyan: Not Only Armenian Brandy And Apricot, But Also Other

SERZH SARGSYAN: NOT ONLY ARMENIAN BRANDY AND APRICOT, BUT ALSO OTHER PRODUCTS DESERVE PUBLICITY OUTSIDE ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2008-11-12 15:48:00

ArmInfo. Not only Armenian brandy and apricot, but also other products
deserve publicity outside Armenia, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
told journalists during his visit to the exhibition ArmProdExpo-2008
in Yerevan, Wednesday. On the one hand, he expressed his content with
the quality of the products he had seen, on the other hand, he stressed
that Armenia still faces unresolved problems. "Our food industry should
obtain broader publicity abroad. Consumers of other countries should
assess not only our brandy or apricot, and why not – pickled food,
sheep and goat cheese, and many other products. In this respect, a
great role belongs to the mass media which will help make the national
food industry more famous outside our country", Serzh Sargsyan said.

Paruyr Hayrikyan: "Hopes That Conflict Will Be Solved Out In Few Mon

PARUYR HAYRIKYAN: "HOPES THAT CONFLICT WILL BE SOLVED OUT IN FEW MONTHS IS UNJUSTIFIED "

Panorama.am
16:17 10/11/2008

"Moscow Declaration is aimed to bring together two opposing sides
over one idea that force implementation should be excluded. In this
regard there is not negative point in Moscow Declaration," says Paruyr
Hayrikyan, the President of National Self-determination Union in a
press conference. He says that the President of Russian Federation
wanted to prove the world that Russia is "a defining element" in
NKR conflict.

According to Mr. Hayrikyan, if we accept self-determination right of
Artsakh, than we should give certain acting territory to Artsakh. "We
have been the main source to pull out Artsakh from international
relations," he says.

Mr. Hayrikyan believes that the regulation of NKR conflict in a few
months is not justified.

Lyudmila Sargsyan: Land Liberated By Blood Must Not Be Given Back By

LYUDMILA SARGSYAN: LAND LIBERATED BY BLOOD MUST NOT BE GIVEN BACK BY AGREEMENTS

Noyan Tapan

Nov 10, 2008

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 10, NOYAN TAPAN. "Until now Robert Kocharian
and Serzh Sargsyan have substantiated their criminal power by the
circumstance that they can allegedly keep Karabakh, while Levon
Ter-Petrosian will allegedly give it back," the chairwoman of the
Social Democratic Hunchak Party (SDHP), member of the Armenian
National Congress Lyudmila Sargsyan said at the November 10 press
conference. However, according to her, today it is obvious that
Armenia’s second president and the current one cannot and do not want
to keep Artsakh. In her words, Serzh Sargsyan is not an elected and
legitimate president, and for that reason the negotiations on the
Karabakh conflict will proceed in a direction which is not desirable
for Armenia.

"The power has been usurped in Armenia for about 11 years. The
Armenian people has not authorized them (NT – those in power)
to negotiate and sign international agreements on its behalf. Any
document of this kind is illegal, and the responsibility will be put
on the international structure that obliged to sign it," is said
in the November 10 statement of SDHP. As regards the surrender of
the liberated territories to Azerbaijan, according to L. Sargsyan,
the land liberated by blood must not be given back by agreements.

http://www.nt.am?shownews=1009592