Author: Chilingarian Babken

TURKISH PARLIAMENT SPEAKER URGES FRENCH DEPUTIES

The New Anatolian, Turkey
May 2 2006

Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc yesterday sent a letter to his
French counterpart, asking him not to take sides in the controversial
Armenian genocide matter.

Underlining that judging history should be left to historians,
not parliaments, Arinc said that the French bill, which stipulates
punishing those who deny the Armenian genocide claims, is anti-freedom
of expression and thought, referring to the leading role played by
France in the implementation of basic human rights on the international
stage.

Armenian organizations in France announced last week that a bill
stipulating prison sentences would be brought by the Socialist Party
(PS) to the French Parliament’s floor for debate on May 18. Later last
week the bill also won the support of 100 deputies in the government,
which increased the possibility of Parliament’s approval.

In accordance with the French Parliament’s 2001 recognition of the
Armenian genocide claims, the law could punish “genocide” deniers
with up to a year behind bars.

In related news, the Turkish press reported Monday an exchange of
words between Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and his French
counterpart Philippe Douste-Blazy on the sidelines of last week’s NATO
foreign ministers meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria. According to reports,
Gul asked Douste-Blazy whether he would be punished for denying the
genocide claims. “What if I or the Turkish president were to visit
France and state ‘the Armenian genocide is a lie’? What would you
do? Would you put us in prison?” asked Gul, the press reported.

IT IS PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND THE BLACK BOX OF THE PLANE

ArmRadio.am
03.05.2006 16:52

Experts have declared that it is practically impossible to find the
black box of the crashed “A-320” airplane.

To remind, the plane fell May 3 night near Adler city, five kilometers
off the shore on its way from Yerevan to Sochi.

The search for the corpses of the passengers is also very hard, which
is connected with bad weather conditions. Besides, the depth of water
also makes the works more difficult. At the point of crash of the
airplane the depth of water reaches 300-400 meters, while divers can
reach the depth of 200 meters only. However, the Russian Emergency
Ministry does not exclude that in case of necessity they may employ
robots, which can carry out rescue works on the depth demanded.

So far the rescuers have managed to find 46 corpses.

“NO EVIDENCE OF TERRORISM” IN SOCHI AIR CRASH – RUSSIAN TRANSPORT POLICE

NTV Mir, Moscow
3 May 06

Igor Zhukov, the head of the North Caucasus Ministry of Internal
Affairs transport department, has told a news conference that terrorism
can be ruled out as a cause of the crash of an Armavia Airbus A320 in
the sea off the Russian southern resort of Sochi, Russian NTV Mir’s
“Segodnya” news reported on 3 May.

“There is no evidence of terrorism. It may be pilot error or some
technical failure or a ground services failure or something wrong
with the aircraft, but in no way can we say this is a case of
terrorism. That is the most important thing,” the TV news showed
him saying.

The same bulletin showed Armavia spokeswoman Zhazmin Vilyan talking to
the media at Armenia’s Zvartnots airport: “According to our initial
reckoning, there were 26 Russian citizens among the passengers, one
from Georgia and one from Ukraine. That’s our initial summary. We
are clarifying the list now,” she said.

AZERI OFFICIAL SEES ‘POSITIVE’ CHANGE IN U.S. STANCE ON KARABAKH
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
May 1 2006

The United Sates will be more sympathetic to Azerbaijan’s position on
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict after Friday’s negotiations in Washington
between Presidents George W. Bush and Ilham Aliev, a senior aide to
the Azerbaijani leader said over the weekend.

“The U.S. president followed the [Karabakh] issue very attentively
and inquired about it,” Novruz Mammadov, head of the foreign affairs
department in Aliev’s administration, told Azad Azarbaycan television,
commenting on the talks. “I think that following the meeting, we
will observe certain changes in the U.S. position on the peace talks,
that’s to say positive steps to resolve the conflict.”

Mammadov did not specify what those changes will be, saying only
that Washington “will from now on provide Azerbaijan with strategic
support in all areas.”

Bush and Aliev made scant reference to the Karabakh conflict as
they briefly spoke with reporters following their talks at the
White House. The U.S. president mentioned it in passing, saying that
“relations with Armenia” were on the agenda of the “candid discussion”
along with issues such as Iran’s controversial nuclear program and
oil-rich Azerbaijan’s “very important role” in energy security.

Aliev, for his part, said he briefed Bush on “the latest status of
the negotiations and expressed my hope that a peaceful settlement of
the conflict will happen and will serve to the peace and stability
in the whole region.”

It is thus not clear if the two leaders reached any agreements on
U.S.-led international efforts to get the conflicting parties to cut
a framework peace deal on Karabakh before the end of this year. The
U.S., Russian and French mediators co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group
hope that Aliev and Armenian President Robert Kocharian will again
meet early this summer and try to achieve a breakthrough.

In separate comments made outside the White House, Aliev reiterated
that Azerbaijan will not compromise on its territorial integrity
for the sake of Karabakh peace. Other top Azerbaijani officials
have complained recently that the mediators are not pushing for
restoration of Azerbaijani control over Karabakh. “America should
understand … that the Azerbaijani state will not only disagree
with a partition of the lands, but also prevent it,” Deputy Foreign
Minister Araz Azimov said last month.

The Minsk Group’s most recent peace plan, discussed by Aliev and
Kocharian in France last February, reportedly calls for the holding
of a referendum in Karabakh that would almost certainly legitimize its
secession from Azerbaijan. The peace formula seems largely acceptable
to Yerevan. But Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian leadership has expressed
serious misgivings about the idea.

Armenia’s Foreign Minister appeared to have tried to placate the
Karabakh Armenians during a two-day visit to Stepanakert late last
week. “I do not know what the political status of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic will be like, but I know for sure what it will not be
like. That is, Nagorno-Karabakh will never be part of Azerbaijan,”
Oskanian declared at a meeting with students of Karabakh State
University on Friday.

The Times Union (Albany, New York)
April 27, 2006 Thursday
3 EDITION

Rockers sound call to remember genocide

The rock band System of a Down is in Washington, D.C., this week,
urging a resolution condemning the mass killings of Armenians by the
Ottoman Empire, starting in 1915.

About 1.5 million people lost their lives.

The Grammy Award-winning band members, who are of Armenian descent,
say lawmakers could help avert future crimes against humanity by
approving such a congressional resolution.

They face an uphill political battle because the Turkish government
has long opposed such efforts. On Wednesday, the band’s lead singer,
Serj Tankian , and drummer, John Dolmayan , met with lawmakers on
Capitol Hill.

Tankian said he remains hopeful that Congress will finally recognize
the massacre of so many Armenians for history’s sake. “It was first
the Armenians, then the Jews,” he said. “There’s Rwanda. There’s
Darfur right now. Unless you recognize all genocides, then you make
it really hard for the intervention process.”

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 28, 2006

Police give details of attack on policemen in south Moscow

MOSCOW, April 28

Police have established the details of an attack on a police patrol
in southern Moscow early on Friday, in which two policemen were
killed, law enforcement sources have told Itar-Tass.

They said occupants of an apartment house in Kirovogradskaya Street
had called the police and reported that calls for help could be heard
from one of the apartments. A police patrol was rushed to the site to
check.

“A family of Armenian nationals lives in the apartment where six
Georgian nationals rushed in early in the morning. Most likely it was
a criminal account-settling,” the source said.

According to eyewitnesses, when the criminals saw a police car, they
staged an ambush in the apartment. When the policemen entered the
apartment, they opened fire with automatic weapons.

Both policemen, a senior lieutenant and a senior sergeant, died at
the site, the sources said. Six attackers climbed out of the window
and disappeared.

Moscow police have launched an all-Moscow operation trying to seize
the criminals.

John Evans:Free and Fair Election Vital for Future of Armenia

28.04.2006 12:13

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Armenia’s participation in the Millennium Challenge
Account was a new stage in development of the U.S.-Armenian
relations. The U.S. is confident in the peaceful settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

The U.S. is providing financial assistance and developing cooperation
with Armenia. Nevertheless, in his annual speech in 2006
U.S. President George W. Bush again failed to properly acknowledge the
events of 1915 by avoiding the word «genocide.»
U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary John Evans answered
some questions of PanARMENIAN.Net regarding these matters.

– Armenia is the second largest recipient of humanitarian aid from the
United States after Israel. What is planned for 2006 considering the
parliamentary elections in 2007 and 2008?

– Armenia is one of the largest recipients of U.S. assistance on a per
capita basis. Since 1992, the United States has provided more than
1.6 billion dollars of assistance to Armenia in support of the
country’s transition to democracy. Through this assistance, the
United States government is cooperating with Armenia in pursuit of
three major goals: strengthening democratic institutions, providing
for a more stable and secure South Caucasus, and building the
economies of all three countries of the region.

In addition to our on-going programs, the United States has developed
a program of assistance worth approximately seven million dollars to
help Armenia in holding free and fair elections in 2007 and 2008. This
comprehensive package of election-related assistance will provide
support for the development of the national voter registry and the
conduct of voter education campaigns.

It will also include assistance for the development of voter education
materials, training for various sectors of society including
representatives of the judicial system and political party
representatives, and exchange visits for media outlets. We believe it
is vitally important for Armenia’s future that the upcoming
elections be free, fair and transparent, and be perceived as such not
only by the international community, but most importantly by the
Armenian people themselves.

In addition, on March 27 the United States Millennium Challenge
Corporation signed a $235 million Compact with Armenia. This
assistance program will focus on rural road rehabilitation and
improved irrigation, and will directly impact approximately 75% of the
rural population, increasing their annual income by an estimated $36
million in 2010 and over $113 million in 2015. In order to remain
eligible for this funding, Armenia must continue to demonstrate a
commitment to ruling justly, investing in people, and encouraging
economic freedom.

– How is economic cooperation between Armenia and the United States
developing?

– U.S.-Armenian economic cooperation is continuing to develop in the
right direction. In addition to the U.S. assistance programs
outlined above, more than seventy American firms are currently doing
business in Armenia, several of which have made sizeable
investments. In addition, a number of Armenian products have found
markets in America. As this cooperation continues to develop, we
hope to establish additional, stronger economic links between the
United States and Armenia.

– Your country is a Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group. Is it possible
to expect something new in the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict this year?

– In March of this year, U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group
Ambassador Steven Mann addressed this issue when he said, “[The]
United States believes that the way peace is best served is by
taking that first step towards an agreement in 2006. I
don’t believe we can solve the entire Nagorno-Karabakh
issue in 2006. I think realistically the process of the Karabakh
settlement is going to be something that takes place over many
years. But I think this is our year, and these are the months, to
take that first important step. And I am absolutely convinced that
in the months ahead the two sides have the chance to greatly lower
the dangers of a new war.”

– In 2005 at a meeting with Armenian-American Diaspora, you said that
the events of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire were “genocide.” Do you
still hold this point of view?

– I would refer you to President Bush’s April 24 statement, in which
he noted, “Today, we remember one of the horrible tragedies of the
20th century – the mass killings and forced exile of as
many as 1.5 million Armenians in the final days of the Ottoman
Empire in 1915.

This was a tragedy for all humanity and one that we and the world must
never forget. We mourn this terrible chapter of history and recognize
that it remains a source of pain for people in Armenia and for all
those who believe in freedom, tolerance, and the dignity and value of
every human life. It is a credit to the human spirit and generations
of Armenians who live in Armenia, America, and around the globe that
they have overcome this suffering and proudly preserved their
centuries-old culture, traditions, and religion.”

I would also point you to remarks made by Assistant Secretary of State
Daniel Fried, who said in March of this year, “The U.S. position on
events of 1915 has not changed. We believe that a productive dialogue
is the best way to establish a shared understanding of history that
honors the victims of these horrific events, murders on a mass scale,
killings without justification, deportations. Over 1.5 million people
lost their lives, innocent victims.

But we want to foster reconciliation and peace based on an
understanding of history, not a denial of it. We believe that the
tragedy of 1915, the killings, is of enormous human significance and
its historical assessment should be determined not on the basis of
politics, but introspection among civic leaders and scholars. This
process has begun in Turkey where it needs to take place.”

OSKANYAN LEFT FOR KARABAKH

A1+
[03:32 pm] 27 April, 2006

Today RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan left for NKR on a 2 –
day call for usual consultation.

Vardan Oskanyan is to meet NKR President, the leaders of the Parliament
and Government and his counterpart in Stepanakert.

He will make a report in the Stepanakert University.

BUSH-ALIEV NEGOTIATIONS WILL FOCUS ON THE KARABAKH ISSUE

ArmRadio.am
27.04.2006 11:19

“If the US aspires to defend its interests in the sphere of energy and
security, then the major topic in the agenda of April 28th negotiations
between George Bush and Ilham Aliev should become the unresolved
Karabakh conflict,” International Crisis Group Representative for
South Caucasus Sabina Fraizer told APA Agency.

“For Washington Baku-Tbilisi-Jeyhan oil pipeline, as well as
Baku-Tbilisi-Erzrum gas pipeline, the construction of which will start
soon, are important project of energy security of the West, and they
pass only 30 miles away from the contact line,” she noted. Fraizer
added that during the recent months Aliev strengthened the military
rhetoric, threatening to leave the peaceful negotiations process
and to return the territories under Armenian control in the military
way. President Aliev promised also to equal the military budget of
Azerbaijan to the whole budget of Armenia at the expense of revenues
from sale of oil. Fraizer noted also that Ilham Aliev must be properly
explained in Washington that the military settlement of eth Karabakh
conflict is unacceptable. Us authorities should force Azerbaijan
accept the principles of multilateral peace. These will secure the
safe and voluntary return of displaced persons, will lift the blockade
of all transport and trade ways and will guarantee the execution of
the right of self-determination of Nagorno-Karabakh people.”

TURKEY CANNOT SHARE SOME EXPRESSIONS OF BUSH, TAN

Anatolian Times, Turkey
April 26 2006

ANKARA – “It is not possible for Turkey to share some expressions of
U.S. President George Bush in his statement released on April 24th.

On the other hand, the reference to creation of joint commissions
is positive,” said Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan
on Tuesday.

Replying a question about President Bush’s statement on so-called
Armenian genocide anniversary, Tan said, “President Bush displayed
his regular attitude of releasing a written statement on ‘Armenian
remembrance day’ on April 24th this year as well. It is not possible
for Turkey to share some assessments in the statement.”

“History can only be written and assessed on the basis of official
documents. The resource is the archives,” he noted.

“Controversial part of Turkish-Armenian joint history can only be
researched on scientific aspect, and the assessments can be made
under the results of these researches,” he added.

Tan said, “Thus, Turkey’s proposal (to Armenia) to investigate
incidents before and after 1915 by a joint history commission (and to
share results with people) can enlighten this period of history and
normalize the relations between the two countries, and this initiative
should be supported.”

U.S. President George Bush said in his statement (released on April
24th), “today, we remember one of the horrible tragedies of the
20th century — the mass killings and forced exile of as many as 1.5
million Armenians in the final days of the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

This was a tragedy for all humanity and one that we and the world must
never forget. We mourn this terrible chapter of history and recognize
that it remains a source of pain for people in Armenia and for all
those who believe in freedom, tolerance, and the dignity and value
of every human life. We encourage dialogues, including through joint
commissions, that strive for a shared understanding of these tragic
events and move Armenia and Turkey towards normalized relations.”