Author: Chilingarian Babken

WILD ELECTION CAMPAIGN INVOLVING CRIMINALS

Lragir, Armenia
Nov 29 2006

While the ruling parties are conducting a political campaign under the
name of charity, there is abundance of calls inviting the opposition to
fight on a common front. On November 29 the National Self-Determination
Union came up with such a call.

The National Self-Determination Union suggests taking into
consideration that "without fundamental changes in the political
life of Armenia the parliamentary election in 2007, as another
manifestation of the democratic process, is doomed to failure." It
should also be taken into consideration that material values are
distributed, the ideological struggle typical of election has turned
into "a contest of hiring hundreds of thousands of people who have
become agents. It is known that the network of agents of no state of
the world has worked, is working and will work for the development
of the Republic of Armenia."

In conclusion, "Today there is only one way of battling the criminal
elements, who have launched a wild election campaign and divided
the parliament among themselves in their secret meetings: all the
political forces should come together and form a common front, and
with the general support of people isolate and oust these forces and
their marionettes from the public and political sphere."

ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER ADVOCATES COMPROMISED SOLUTION TO KARABAKH CONFLICT

Armenpress
Nov 28 2006

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS: Armenian defense minister Serzh
Sarkisian assured today mothers of servicemen in the remote Noyemberian
region which borders Azerbaijan that hostilities were unlikely to
resume in the foreseeable future, though he added that the danger of
military actions resumption was not eliminated 100 percent.

Sarkisian said a defense minister should be prepared for a war to
start any minute. He said he himself and the army consider that war
may erupt any moment and they plan their activity accordingly.

Sarkisian spoke also about the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict reiterating his vision that it should be a compromised peace
deal. He said the ultimate goal is that people in Nagorno-Karabakh
live on their land safely.

He said this is possible only given that Nagorno-Karabakh will never
become subordinated to Baku. Another guarantee is that Karabakh
must not be an enclave inside Azerbaijan and must have an overland
connection with Armenia.

He said Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents were to meet today in
Minsk, on the sidelines of a CIS summit, to discuss the conflict
resolution.

BREADLINE BUDGETS BITE IN ARMENIA
by Khachik Chakhoyan

UEFA, Switzerland
Nov 29 2006

Lack of funding and a limited commitment to local talent is conspiring
to make matters difficult for Armenian footballers.

Survival issues The 2006 season ended in Armenia with FC Pyunik
topping the table and FC Banants striker Aram Hakobyan declared top
scorer on 25 goals.

However, there is no hiding the fact that even the strongest sides
in Armenia cannot compete at international level, while the weaker
ones can barely survive a domestic season. Behind Pyunik, Banants, FC
MIKA and outsiders FC Ararat occupied the top four places. Pyunik’s
commitment to local players paid off while Banants and MIKA were
particularly disappointed as their commitment to foreign talent failed
to pay off.

Youth disappointed In the end, MIKA’s Brazilian star Alex was the
only foreign import to truly make an impression, and the focus on
overseas talent saw more local youngsters left in the reserves at the
big clubs – something that may have been a factor in poor showings
for the national Under-17 and U19 teams this year. While the Football
Federation of Armenia is eager to limit clubs’ reliance upon foreign
players, the biggest problem for most of the teams in the league
is surviving from week to week on very limited finances. Only FC
Gandzasar Kapan out of this season’s bottom four did not experience
financial problems.

Makeweight side This season’s campaign was due to start with ten
teams but three pulled out at the last minute, forcing the league
authorities to found FC Ulis Yerevan at short notice in order to make
up the numbers. Ulis survived a relegation play-off at the end of the
season and have promised to be more competitive in 2007, looking to
sign experienced players who are not getting first-team football at
the bigger clubs. On an equally encouraging note, FC Kilikia, another
struggling side, also look likely to bring in Armenian youngsters to
make a fight of it.

Funding issues The promotion of FC Lernayin Artsakh has given the hope
that nine teams might start the new season, but already things are
looking grim for FC Shirak, who finished second-from-bottom. Whether
they will have the funding to start the 2007 campaign has to be
seen. It also remains a fundamental issue for most Armenian clubs. The
seemingly endless search for sponsors has kept club directors’
attention away from the pitch.

Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 25 2006

Armenia has army, while Azerbaijan has only armed forces
25.11.2006 11:46

During a discussion at John Hopkins University of Washington US
foreign policy and military expert Wain Mary characterized as
`unrealistic’ the constant Azerbaijani threats of `blitzkrieg.’
`Nagorno Karabakh is a natural castle, which has been further
reinforced due to Armenian military units, and even the American army
will have difficulties in attacking it, declared Mary, adding that
this is the opinion prevailing in the US military-political elite.
`In regard to alertness, Armenian military units greatly surmount the
rival. It’s not a secret that Armenians have an army, while
Azerbaijan has only `armed forces.’
According to Mary, in case of resumption of war Azerbaijan will
connect hopes with military recourses, while the Armenian side will
set hopes upon the predominance of armaments and alertness. `To come
out victor Armenia only needs to defend Karabakh, while for defeating
Azerbaijan it is necessary to invade whole Karabakh, which is
impossible,’ the American expert is confident.
Considering all this, one an conclude that according to Wain Mary,
Azerbaijan will not succeed in resolving the question in a military
way.

Bangkok Post, Thailand
Nov 24 2006

A SHINING EXAMPLE
Classic Thai films were screened as part of the Amiens Film Festival

KONG RITHDEE

Celebrating seven decades of Siamese cinema.

The town of Amiens boasts a huge Gothic cathedral, canal-fed,
cobblestoned quarters straight out of a Kafka story, the Jules Verne
museum (he was a local), and a long-running film festival keen on
exploring cinematic heritages from remote parts of the globe. This
year the 26th Festival International du Film d’Amiens, which ended on
Nov 19, curated an anthology of Thai films from the 1970s to screen
to a number of curious, enthusiastic audiences.

It is a mark of honour, as well as a surprise, that this small
university town north of Paris should take an interest in le cinema
Thailandais, particularly the landmark films from the specified
decade. The screenings of Siamese movies here – the fest also showed
a few recent Thai titles, as well as a five-film retrospective of
director Pen-ek Ratanaruang – seemed to confirm the place of our
national cinema in the consciousness of global cinephiles. At this
point in the new century when moving images have become the most
convenient (though not necessarily the most accurate) medium to
represent the culture, the history, the social as well as political
atmosphere, of any given country, the cinematic legacy of one place
seems to have acquired greater meanings than the people in that place
have realised.

For instance, it’s almost impossible for Thai audiences today to have
a chance to see Piak Poster’s key film from 1972, Choo (The Lover),
on a 35mm print, which is exactly what the Amiens spectators did.
Having been content with new releases of old films on grainy VCDs,
today’s Thai viewers have forgotten how Piak’s cinematography of the
southern islands looks so crisp and clear on print, and how the
tumultuous story of a fisherman, his wife and her lover could be so
radical when it first came out 34 years ago.

Jean-Pierre Garcia, the Amiens festival director, rightly chose to
showcase Thai films from the 1970s because that decade saw the
emergence of filmmakers like Piak Poster, Vijit Kunawuti and MC
Chatrichalerm Yukol. It was also a period when social realism and
political subtext provided new inspirations for artists/moviemakers –
a contrast to the vaudeville spirit of Siamese films in their
commercial heyday of 16mm films of the 1960s.

Characters in the ’70s had more depth, the cinematography was more
stylish, and some titles, like MC Chatrichalerm’s Khao Chue Karn
(1973) and Theptida Rongram (1974), alluded to the brewing political
drama of those years. A film like Thong Pan (1977), which brims with
leftist sentiment, is hardly ever seen by Thai viewers in any format.
In any case, it’s suffice to say that the films from those years had
the highest degree of relevance to Thai society at large, a condition
that was not repeated in the movies from the following decades.

The Amiens crowds – students, film buffs and the general public –
were also eager to establish a link between contemporary Thai films
and the legacy left by the classics. French audiences are familiar
with maverick Thai auteurs like Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Pen-ek
Ratanaruang and Wisit Sasanatieng – as well as blockbuster hits like
Ong-bak – but in the spirit of true culture vultures, they’re curious
to learn if and how these newcomers have inherited their styles and
sentiments from old Thai films, and they believed they might be able
to detect some clues in the titles from the 1970s.

But is there any connection between films from the two periods?
Perhaps only in the awkward realism of Apichatpong’s movies can we
see the vestige of Thai classics of yore, and perhaps the crude,
CG-less stuntwork of Ong-bak is a happy revival of low-budget action
flicks of the old days. Besides those, the artistic sentiments of the
1970s have hardly left any marks on the local cinema of the 21st
century, notably the lack of political motivations in new Thai films.
The Amiens festival last week also screened the horror hit Shutter,
the transsexual drama Beautiful Boxer, and the epic Suriyothai – each
of these titles has a modern approach that, frankly put, is far
removed from the grit and grime of the 1970s.

Other vintage films shown in Amiens included Cher Songsri’s Plae Khao
(The Scar), Vijit Kunawuti’s Khon Pukhao (Mountain People) and Luk
E-San (Son of the Northeast) as well as Piak Poster’s Thon.

Besides the Thai section, Amiens put together programmes of African
movies (Morocco, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Chad etc) as well as a
retrospective of Armenian cinema. With its interest in Third-World
filmmaking efforts, Amiens is an example of a small cinefest that has
striven over the years to build a distinct character. It’s also a
very good example of a movie festival that needs more than loads of
money – it needs sincerity, devotion, and concern for local
audiences. The fest has a special section curated for young children
(schools organised field trips to the cinema), and 95 percent of the
films shown have French subtitles, because to have just English
captions, according to one of the organisers, "would be too elitist."

The atmosphere of cultural exchange was fostered to the fullest by
the compact venues and friendly, knowledgable introductions of most
movies. Students could approach filmmakers after the screening, and
there were also midnight screenings of horror movies. All in all,
it’s a festival for the people, and that’s the only reason why
somebody would bother to organise a film festival in the first place.

European Report
November 22, 2006

EU/US/TURKEY : WASHINGTON INSISTS IT’S NOT MEDDLING IN CYPRUS ROW

The United States has not taken steps to resolve the current impasse
in Turkey’s EU accession talks and has no plans to do so, a senior
State Department official has told Europolitics. "We cannot intervene
now. Things are at endgame stage and there is no role for us,"
Matthew Bryza, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and
Eurasian Affairs, said on 20 November in an exclusive interview. He
was responding to reports of US moves to help its long-time ally
Turkey out of its tricky predicament, which centres on Ankara’s
refusal to let Greek Cypriot ships and planes enter its ports and
airports.

Bryza, the lead State Department official on this dossier, said he
had "no meetings" on it when he visited Brussels last week. The
reason he was in town was to meet the Armenian and Azerbaijani
foreign ministers to discuss the disputed province of
Nagorno-Karabakh, he said. He admitted he was playing a mediating
role earlier this summer but that "once the Finnish EU Presidency got
active, we backed off". Bryza said unless the EU Presidency asked the
US to get involved, it would not do so. The Finns have set 6 December
as the deadline for reaching agreement on the Cyprus issue as they do
not want it to plague the 14/15 December European Council. EU leaders
are due to decide there whether or not to suspend accession talks
with Turkey given the slowdown in the Turkish reform process noted by
the European Commission in its 8 November report.

ROOM FOR MANOEUVRE

Bryza said that when the EU first agreed to open accession talks, it
did not set a clear deadline for Turkey to apply the Ankara Protocol
(the agreement that requires Turkey to open its ports and airports to
Cypriot ships and planes). He said this "ambiguity" left EU
negotiators and member states a "political space" with which to work.
This dispute is threatening to derail Turkey’s EU membership bid.
Cyprus, backed by Greece, France and Austria, is taking a tough line
on Turkey, while the Finnish Presidency, backed by the United
Kingdom, is trying to prevent a train wreck scenario’ at the December
summit.

The Ankara Protocol, signed in July 2005, extends the EC-Turkey
customs agreement to the ten new EU member states. Turkey is
reluctant to apply it while trade restrictions remain with the
northern part of Cyprus, which only Turkey recognises as an
independent state. Meanwhile, the EU on 27 October gave the green
light for a E139 million aid package for northern Cyprus.

Apart from the Cyprus problem, Bryza stressed "we are all better off
if Turkey continues its reforms," including meeting the Copenhagen
criteria on human rights and democracy and the body of EU law known
as the acquis. The US has long been a loyal supporter of Turkey’s bid
to attain full EU membership. This backing was reiterated by US
President George Bush on 2 October during a joint press conference
with the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

LIFE BELOW POVERTY LEVEL IN ARMENIAN VILLAGES

ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 21 2006

The unbearable living conditions of Armenian villagers have proved in
the focus of attention of the International Charitable Organization
Mission East, which is engaged in revealing the social, education and
health problems, in particular, in the families with disabled children.

Recently, in the course of a visit to Armavir region, where the
organization has been implementing a pilot program of protection
of rights of the disabled, ArmInfo’s correspondent faced the life
below the poverty level on the example of two families. In the first
family, new-born infants died from unbearable living conditions and
irresponsible attitude of parents, despite the assistance of the local
authorities and the above charitable organization. The second family
lost 5 of 6 children for lack of money for treatment.

Majority of childbirth cases at home are not registered in any official
document, while the Health Ministry every year announces a reduction of
the childbirth cases at home, as well as of the date-rate of children
and mothers. However, in the above families, majority of the children
had no birth certificates. According to Vice Governor of Armavir region
L. Muradyan, the date-rate of infants in the region is 11.2 pro mil,
i.e. 11 of 1,000 infants die. She said no cases of maternal death
have been registered in the region in 2006.

The number of the socially unsecured in the region totaled 5,737
people. Those registered in the lists of "Paros" allowance system
number 3,224 people. According to the National Statistical Service
of Armenia, infants death-rate throughout Armenia in 2006 as against
2005 has grown by 2.8 pro mil, mothers’ date-rate is by 3 cases more.

Kim Arzner, Mission East Director, says the pilot program for
protection of rights of the disabled from socially unsecured families
worth a total of $1.6 million, may be continued also in Gegharkunik
and Tavush regions in case if its implementation in Armavir is a
success. Mission East has been operating in Armenia for already 15
years implementing various social programs. According to the monitoring
of the organization, at least 5 families in each community in Armenia
live in unbearable conditions.

FOR MINORITY STATUS, ALEVIS BYPASS TURKEY, APPEAL TO EUROPEAN COURT
By Emre Demir-Ahmet Ozay, Strasbourg-Frankfurt

Zaman, Turkey
Nov 18 2006

Wishing to be granted minority status in Turkey, certain Alevi
associations allegedly sent a statement to a European Court of Human
Rights (ECHR) case against compulsory religious instruction in Turkey
stating "Alevism is completely different from Islam."

Turkey, under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, considers only non-Muslim
groups as a minority and regards the Alevis as a part of the
mainstream.

Cem Foundation Coordinator for Europe Alisan Hizli stated Turkey,
which recognizes only non-Muslim communities as a minority, may have
to grant a minority status to the Alevis with a possible definition of
"religious minority" to come from the ECHR and said this was the very
goal of those who filed the case.

Pir Sultan Abdal Associations Federation President Kazim Genc, also
the lawyer of the case with the ECHR, rejected the allegations,
whereas ECHR sources avoided commenting on the ruling in writing.

Alevi circles emphasized the issue went beyond the Alevis and had
acquired a scope that involved everyone and maintained the importance
of the issue had not be understood.

The Aleviyol website mentioned concerns on the case and termed the
event as a "historical mistake."

Lawyer Kazim Genc maintained that Alevism differed from Sunni Islam
in faith and worshipping practices during his defense on Oct. 3
in Strasbourg.

Claiming the Alevism had a worldview different from that of Islam,
though largely affected and fed by Islam, Genc also alleged that
Turkey’s Ministry of Religious Affairs considered Alevism as a kind of
"heresy."

At the court, Genc asserted that the ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP), which he claimed to have "Islamic roots," had put more
pressure on Alevis.

Alisan Hizli: I have been warning for two years but nobody listened

Cem Foundation Coordinator for Europe Alisan Hizli stated he had
been talking about the issue for two years but nobody understood
its importance.

"The case with the ECHR has already started to be considered as a
victory by those pretending to be Alevis and defending the view that
Alevism differs from Islam," Hizli said, adding the court would rule
in this way unless Turkey took a serious step.

"This ruling will push the Alevis to the European Union like the
Greek Cypriots and Armenians and cause big splits among Alevis.

Everybody who loves Turkey must oppose this ruling," Hizli said.

According to the information Zaman obtained from high-level sources,
the ECHR will rule in principle on whether or not the plaintiff Eylem
Zengin’s educational right and freedom of religion and conscience was
violated. However, in this first case on the issue, the Strasbourg
Court is expected to express view on the definition of the Alevis in
legal terms.

In an acceptability verdict announced by the ECHR 4th Chamber on June
6, it was stated the Alevi faith and worshipping practices differ from
those of Sunni Islam and Alevism is rejected in Turkey’s compulsory
religion course books.

The questions asked by the judges to Munci Ozmen defending the
Turkish government in the hearing on Oct.3 resulted in opinions in
ECHR circles that the ruling would be against Ankara. However, the
court asked the parties’ opinions to solve the case on friendly terms.

If the ruling is against Turkey, it is expected to be asked to make
changes in its religion course curriculum or make the religion lesson
optional.

The Process in the ECHR Case

– In 2001, Hasan Zengin, the father of seventh grade student Eylem
Zengin filed a complaint with the Istanbul Governor’s Office, Istanbul
Administrative Court and with the Council of State claiming that his
daughter was being forced to take religion lessons in which only the
Sunni version of Islam was taught.

– Following that court’s ruling against him, Zengin appealed to the
ECHR in January 2004.

-The ECHR put the application to the agenda in November 2004 and
asked Turkey questions on the compulsory religion course.

-Turkey gave a 20-article defense in April 2005.

-The hearing of the case was held on Oct. 3 2006.

-The ruling is said to be in writing at the moment.

Replying to questions on the issue, Turkey’s Minister of Religious
Affairs Ali Bardakoglu said: "Discussing whether Alevis are Muslim or
not is an insult against Islam. All Alevis are Muslim. Nobody should
be deceived by the West and claim that Alevism is outside the fold
of Islam. The course may be corrected if there is a mistake in the
content. If children have no time for a two hour-religion course,
it means they have no time for anything."

Concerning the attempts to abolish compulsory religious instruction,
Ministry of Religious Affairs Deputy Head Professor Sevket Aydin had
said, "Rejecting compulsory religion lessons means defending ignorance
in religious terms. I do not think any of our Alevi brothers will
support this."

EU asks Turkey for more inclusive view of Lausanne Treaty

The 2006 Turkey Progress Report released last week by the European
Commission asked for a wider interpretation for the Treaty of Lausanne.

"Turkey’s approach to minority rights remains unchanged. According to
the Turkish authorities, under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, minorities
in Turkey consist exclusively of non-Muslim religious communities. The
minorities associated in practice by the authorities with the Treaty
of Lausanne are Jews, Armenians and Greeks. However, there are other
communities in Turkey which, in the light of the relevant international
and European standards, could qualify as minorities," the report said.

COAF DONATES COWS TO 20 UNSECURED FAMILIES OF SHENIK COMMUNITY OF ARMENIAN PROVINCE OF ARMAVIR

Armenpress
Nov 13 2006

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS: Children of Armenia Fund (COAF)
in cooperation with the Armenian office of "Heifer International"
organization donated cows to 20 unsecured families of the Shenik
community of the Armenian province of Armavir.

The goal of the program is to support the increase of incomes of
beneficiary families. An official from COAF told Armenpress that
about 54 families of the community applied for the participation
in the program and 20 of them have been selected. The official said
that while making the choice, the number of family members, degree
of insecurity, existence of relevant conditions for taking care of
the cows have been taken into consideration.

For improving the cattle-sheds of several families COAF has provided
relevant assistance. It is expected that after the three years the
families will give one cow to another unsecured family and thus the
number of beneficiary families will increase.

The COAF and "Heifer International" organization will control the
pace of the implementation of the program. The fund is also planning
a number of other initiatives directed towards the development
of economy of the communities included in the "Grouping of Model
Villages" program.

STEPAN DEMIRCHYAN AND SERGE SARGSYAN ARE INCOMPATIBLE

A1+
[05:25 pm] 13 November, 2006

Leader of the People’s Party Stepan Demirchyan treats the
announcement of the RA authorities about the 2007 Parliamentary
elections humorously. Let us remind you that the authorities claim
that the 2007 Parliamentary elections will be a step forward from all
the elections in Armenia. "The greatest problem is that the people
do not believe that Armenia can organize free and fair elections",
Demirchyan said in "Pastark" club today.

Nevertheless, Stepan Demirchyan underlined, "The 2007 Parliamentary
elections are important as the role of the Parliament has become more
important after the fabricated Constitutional referendum".

According to him, the situation would have been different if "A1+" were
given air and if at least one law-breaker were punished. "Punishing
one law-breaker will be more effective than the amendments to the
Electoral Code. The Electoral Code is not a sufficient precondition
for holding free and fair elections".

Mr. Demirchyan is sure that the authorities could have organized free
and fair elections even without the amendment to the electoral code,
in case of displaying enough political will. The leader of the People’s
Party claimed that any form of combat except bloodshed is acceptable
for them in order to free the country from the present authorities.

As for the statement of Garnik Margaryan, the head of the party
"Fatherland and Honor", that the oppositional parties which are going
to participate in plenary and not special elections, have had promises
from the authorities, Mr. Demirchyan said, "If we participate in
the plenary elections, it does not mean that we have had promises
from the authorities. I understand Mr. Margaryan and I share his
position that the situation in the country must be improved before
the elections. But it is a theoretical approach, and we do not have
much time to get ready for the elections."

Mr. Demirchyan informed that the People’s Party is ready to participate
in the elections alone, but he did not exclude the possibility of
creating alliances.

At present together with the "Orinats Yerkir" and the National Unity
the People’s Party is going to make a joint offer about the order of
formation of the Electoral Committees. "All the political powers must
be equally represented in the Electoral Committees".

The leader of the People’s party underlined that they are participating
in the elections in order to win.

The party is not going to bribe people. "During the previous elections
they distributed money and seeds to the people, but still the people
made their choice. We trust our people".

The journalists also tried to find out what can unite Demirchyan and
Serge Sargsyan for the sake of the bright future of Armenia. "Nothing
at all. Let the present authorities leave, for the sake of the bright
future of Armenia", Stepan Demirchyan said.