Armenpress
SHARJAH RULER COMMEMORATES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS: H.H Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al
Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, who is on an official
visit to Armenia to open the Days of Arab Culture here, paid respect to the
victims of Armenian Genocide today visiting the Genocide Memorial and a
nearby Genocide Museum.
The Sheik placed a wreath to the Memorial and planted a tree in a nearby
alley.
Pan Armenian News
GEORGIAN PRIME MINISTER TO VISIT YEREVAN IN LATE SEPTEMBER
20.09.2005 03:57
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The second session of the Armenian-Georgian
Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation will be held in Yerevan
September 29-30. Georgian Premier Zurab Nogaideli will head the Georgian
delegation at the session. The event participants will discuss export of
electric power to Georgia, transit of Armenian cargo through Georgia’s
territory, as well as the social and economic situation in the Georgian
region of Javakheti, populated by Armenians, reported RFE/RL.
Armenian Youth Federation-YOARF Eastern US
80 Bigelow Ave
Watertown, MA 02472
Tel. (617) 923-1933
Fax (617) 924-1933
PRESS RELEASE
September 15, 2005
Contact: Sossi Essajanian
(617) 923-1933
Detroit AYF Member Meets with Local Rep.
ANC, McCotter Discuss Genocide Legislation
WATERTOWN, Mass.?On August 17, Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) Detroit
chapter member Teny Mishigian joined Armenian National Committee (ANC)
of Michigan members Harry Derderian, Narses Gedigian, Ralph Kourtjian,
and Armen Derderian for a meeting with local Congressman Thaddeus
McCotter and his aide, Don Yowchuang, to discuss the ongoing Armenian
genocide resolutions.
Meeting the group in Livonia, Mich., the Congressman discussed his
efforts made through congress and foreign interest on the Genocide
issue. He said that no country that lies about their past has any
place in the European Union, and that the Armenian-Turkish issue
remains necessary for Turkey’s admittance of the truth both in
Congress and in the political world.
When asked about the Turkish blockade of Armenia, the Congressman said
that although Turkey would neither be “nice” nor agreeable anytime
soon, the American relationship with Turkey has been ever-changing. He
said that the pressure must stay on congress through a complex
approach.
“As an AYF member and active supporter of Armenian issues, I, along
with the other attendees, left the meeting feeling gratified for the
opportunity to meet with a congressman who proudly supports our
Armenian cause,” said Mishigian. “If Armenians continue to strongly
support and encourage our local congressmen and political leaders, we
may see the issue of genocide more than just a grouping of descriptive
words out of a president’s mouth. Let us fight until the day the
Armenian genocide is recognized by Turkey, by America, and by the
entire world.”
McCotter was elected to Congress in 2002 and works on the Budget
Committee, Small Business Committee, and International Relations
Committee.
BANK’S SECURITY CAMERA FILMS JEITAWI BOMBERS PLANTING EXPLOSIVE BAGS AND FLEEING
NaharNet, Lebanon
Sept 18 2005
Naharnet.com
Police investigators are focusing on a film taken by a security
camera of a bank at the scene of the Jeitawi bombing to pin down the
identity of two assailants seen planting two bags of explosives in
between parked cars near a coffee shop that took the brunt of the
explosion’s impact, An Nahar reported on Sunday.
Witnesses have told police they saw the two bag carriers climbing
out of a private car driven by a third man. The same car returned to
pick them up and raced off after explosives were placed on target,
according to An Nahar.
Investigators hope to establish the identity of the bombers and their
car driver from the film that was taken off the security camera of
a Byblos Bank branch overlooking the scene of the blast that rocked
Jeitawi’s St. Louis alleyway five minutes before midnight of Friday
-Saturday.
The owner of the cafe, a Lebanese Armenian in his sixties, was killed
in the blast and a total of 28 people in the shop and pedestrians
around it were injured. Police said Sunday that only three of the
wounded people remained hospitalized and the rest were given quick
first aid treatment and discharged.
Residents of the densely populated stricken street in a Christian
neighborhood of the Lebanese capital are still taking stock of the
damage caused by the explosion to their homes and shops, bakeries and
groceries. Beirut’s municipality launched a fund-raising campaign to
help residents to repair the damage.
An official statement said the first $100,000 donation came from Sheikh
Jassem Mohammed Al Bahr, reportedly a Kuwaiti. The City Council has
decided to extend an initial aid of $500 to every victim pending a
survey of the damage by Lebanon’s Higher Relief Board.
It was the 8th such bombing since March 19. Anti-Syrian politicians
blamed the new attack, like the previous bombings, to Syria’s secret
service and allied Lebanese intelligence operatives.
But Hizbullah which strongly condemned the Jeitawi blast as a
terrorist act of destabilization, publicly warned against handing
down prejudgments.
The warning seems to suggest the Party of God is determined to absolve
Syria from guilt no matter what and maintain its alliance with the
Assad regime although it has been domestically and internationally
coerced into terminating 29 years of ruthless tutelage over Lebanon
last April.
“BALZAC WAS MY TEACHER”
A1+
| 17:20:55 | 19-09-2005 | Politics |
A week ago member of the Justice bloc Aram Sargsyan, son of Gaspar,
started a collection of signatures and turned to all the NA groupings
and fractions to create a committee investigating the course of
realization of the Cognac Factory privatization contract.
He has not received an answer yet and he is sure there will be none,
as the deal was made under Robert Kocharyan and now no one wants to
revise the contract. Aram Sargsyan announced that the organization
which privatized the Cognac Factory has used half of the stored
spirit of the factory. “It is a violation of the contract, that’s
why we want to investigate the matter”, announced Aram Sargsyan today.
Aram Sargsyan informed that he will go till the end and he will either
learn that he is wrong, or prove that he is right. “Tomorrow we will
not be able to produce “Nairi” as 20 years are needed to have spirit
of that quality”, he announced.
Aram Sargsyan considers the attempts to qualify his action as one
against France totally meaningless, “I have always respected the
country, Balzac was one of my first teachers, and I consider de
Goll one of the best politicians in the history of the humanity. So,
France has nothing to do with what I want to find out”.
The deputy reminded that the company was sold for 28 million, and
now it costs 770 million. He also did not exclude the possibility
that it can be sold, “Buying for 8 million and selling for 1 billion:
who wouldn’t like that? ” he asked.
A1+
| 17:50:19 | 14-09-2005 | Politics |
CENTRAL ELECTORAL COMMITTEE GOING TO FORGE?
Today the Central Electoral Committee refused to discuss the offer of the
Committee member Felix Khachatryan from the Justice bloc «To apply to the RA
Government with the offer to introduce changes into the RA Electoral Code».
Deputy head of the Committee Abraham Bakhchagoulyan said at the beginning of
the session that the new Electoral Code has not been tested yet, and they
must wait for the elections of the local governing bodies. Mr. Khachatryan
said, «You have not been tested either, but you have been elected deputy
head of the Committee».
Nevertheless, the Committee voted the offer down. Mr. Khachatryan told the
journalists that all the forgeries start from the Central Electoral
Committee. He was not surprised by the fact that the offer was not accepted
but by the fact that they had refused even to discuss it. «Why don’t they
want to discuss it? Let them discuss and turn it down. They do not allow me
to be heard», said the representative of the Justice bloc to the Committee.
Pan Armenian News
ALEXY II EXPRESSED HOPE FOR SOONEST SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH CONFLICT
15.09.2005 07:21
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On the invitation of Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and
religious leader of Azerbaijan Allahshukur Pashazade Patriarch of Moscow and
all of Russia Alexy II is in Baku. «The relations between Azerbaijan and
Russia have reached mutual trust and a new phase of development. They are
based on friendly and good neighborly relations,» I. Aliyev stated. «We can
be proud of people of difference confessions living in peace and accord in
Azerbaijan, which is an important condition in the development of the
country,» the Azeri leader noted. In his turn Alexy II noted that «religious
figures have always hailed peace and accord.» He said he hoped for the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict to be settled in the near future. «Religious
figures believe that the Karabakh conflict can be solved peacefully, via
dialogue,» Alexy II stated.
A1+
| 17:17:59 | 15-09-2005 | Politics |
YEREVAN PRESS CLUB DISCONTENT WITH AMENDMENTS TO RA CONSTITUTION
On September 15 Yerevan Press Club disseminated a statement with a number of
proposals on draft amendments to the Constitution of Armenia, adopted by the
RA National Assembly in the second hearing on September 1.{BR}
The statement says: `Yerevan Press Club is induced to state that the public
of Armenia has been insufficiently involved in the constitutional reform
process. Attention was not duly paid to a number of alternative proposals
made, as a result of which certain provisions of the draft continue to arise
serious concerns. In particular, we cannot be satisfied with the definitions
on freedom of expression and information. The primary subject of our concern
is the mechanisms for the broadcast regulatory body formation, as stipulated
by the draft constitutional amendments, since its independence is not
guaranteed.
As after the adoption in the second hearing the project cannot be radically
improved, we submit our proposals of editorial nature that will enable
making the existing clauses more specific and will contribute to achieving
greater clarity of definitions.’
Some of the YPC proposals aim solely at the improvement of the language in
some articles. At the same time it is proposed to maximally clarify the
status and the role of the body to be established for broadcast media. Thus,
Article 83.2 (“To ensure freedom, independence and diversity of broadcast
mass media, in accordance with the law, an independent body is established.
Half of its members are elected by the National Assembly, and the other half
is appointed by the President of the Republic – for 6 years’ term of
service. The National Assembly elects the members of this body by a majority
of the total number of deputies.’) should, in the opinion of YPC, be
narrated as follows: `In accordance with the law, a body is established,
regulating the activities of public and private broadcast mass media,
contributing to their diversity. To ensure the greatest independence of this
body, half of its members are elected by the National Assembly and half is
appointed by the President of the Republic – for 6 years’ term of service.
The National Assembly elects the members of this body by a majority of the
total number of deputies’.
The essence of the change proposed is that firstly, the bodies formed by the
state are established not to ensure freedom and independence but to regulate
the activities of a sphere. It is another thing that the Constitution must
stipulate certain guarantees for the independence of the body itself.
Secondly, the regulating function of this body should be clearly defined by
the Constitution, since the Main Law stipulates its establishment. Otherwise
it remains uncertain what it should be responsible for – this is hardly the
broadcasting, audiovisual production or interference with the inner policy
of broadcasting companies. Thirdly, both private and public broadcasting
should be subject to regulation. And if, contrary to YPC’s proposals, the
Constitution will stipulate the formation of only one body, it should be
regulating both, which must be clearly defined by the Main Law.
MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMY: RESTORATION OF KAREN
DEMIRCHYAN SPORTS AND CONCERT COMPLEX REQUIRES 500 MON EUROS
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 14. ARMINFO. Restoration of Karen Demirchyan
Sports and Concert Complex (SCC) requires 500 mln euros, Minister of
Finance and Economy Vardan Khachatryan said at the Armenian
Parliament Wednesday.
He said for lack of such funds, the Government approved the deal
proposed by BAMO Russian Industrial and Construction Holding.
Minister Khachatryan says at the first stage, the holding is to
invest $5 mln and another $9 mln later. No other applications for
restoration of the complex have been received.
To note, BAMO purchased the SCC, including a 19.54 ha territory
occupied by the complex, for $5.7 mln for 50 years. The new owner has
a right to sell the territory for the price established by the State
Realty Register of Armenia. The owner pledges to maintain the name
and the profile of the complex, to invest $9-10 mln within the first
three years and to organize at least 5 public events annually at the
request of the Armenian Government.
Eurasianet, NY
September 14, 2005
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian <[email protected]>
X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 — ListProcessor(tm) by CREN
CHALLENGES AHEAD FOR ARMENIA’S CONSTITUTIONAL VOTE
by Haroutiun Khachatrian
After a brief and uncharacteristic period of cooperation, the
Armenian government and opposition are back on a collision course
over constitutional reform. The opposition’s refusal to accept
President Robert Kocharian’s proposed changes to Armenia’s
constitution has also put it at loggerheads with the international
community, which has backed the amendments.
At a September 1 extraordinary session, Armenia’s National Assembly
adopted the government’s proposed constitutional amendments in the
second reading. Despite pressure from members of the ruling coalition
and representatives of Western countries, the main opposition parties
declared that they would not support the draft in a referendum
scheduled for November.
The four-day parliamentary session resulted in a series of amendments
designed to downplay presidential powers and gain the approval of the
Venice Commission, the Council of Europe advisory body for
constitutional law, which had rejected an earlier draft in May as
unsatisfactory. Opposition members, who interrupted their
one-and-a-half-year boycott of parliament to attend the special
session, refused to take part in the final vote on the proposed
amendments.
Besides the Council of Europe, the draft was publicly endorsed by the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Yerevan mission
and the US and British ambassadors.
In an interview published in the August 26-27 edition of the Hayots
Ashkhar daily, British Ambassador Thorda Abbot-Watt rejected calls
for a `color revolution’ during the November vote, and stressed that
the European Union, whose rotating presidency the United Kingdom
currently holds, `prefer evolutionary ways of development rather than
revolutionary ones.’ The vote on the revised constitution is part of
that process, the ambassador implied.’ Let’s not forget that what we
deal with is not a regular election or a referendum of confidence in
connection of the previous elections. We deal with the constitution,
a document predetermining the principal directions of the country’s
development.’
Nonetheless, the government faces considerable obstacles in securing
a `yes’ vote for its amended constitution this November. Putting
voter lists in order is one sizeable challenge. Overcoming public
apathy is another. Disinterest in the topic of constitutional reforms
notably increased after parliamentarians were broadcast live on
public television hurling insults at each other during the
legislature’s special session. Public awareness of the proposed
changes is also relatively minimal since the proposed constitution
has not yet been published. An earlier version was posted on the
National Assembly’s website, but less than 10 percent of Armenians
have Internet access.
In addition, President Robert Kocharian must demonstrate to the
international community that the vote is free and fair. In an August
26 statement, Ambassador John Evans termed the revised constitution
`a notable step forward,’ urging the government to take `the
necessary steps . . . to increase public awareness about this
important process so that a well-informed public can express its will
in the referendum scheduled for November.’ Secretary of State
Condoleeza Rice has recently raised the importance of a transparent
vote with President Kocharian, the US State Department has announced.
If adopted, the revised constitution would enter into force two years
from the referendum.
The government appears to believe that the success of the referendum
is not guaranteed, however. Defense Minister Sergei Sargsian, widely
seen as a potential presidential candidate, was quoted by the Russian
news agency Regnum as emphasizing that a `no’ vote in November would
not mean a vote of no confidence in the Kocharian administration.
`I will not consider that the people have expressed their distrust in
the authorities,’ Sargsian said on September 1. `As you remember,
there were referenda in European countries that were not adopted
either. However, this was not interpreted as distrust in the
authorities.’
Western countries’ endorsement of the draft constitution reinforced
the ruling coalition’s own campaign for both ordinary Armenians’ and
the opposition’s support for the amendments. `Do you suppose that we
have bribed these foreign governments?’ Galust Sahakian, leader of
the pro-government Republican Party faction, asked opposition members
during the parliamentary debates. In reply, Shavarsh Kocharian
claimed that US Ambassador John Evans had compared the process of
democratization in Armenia with that in Iraq. `Why should we take
Iraq rather than the European democracies as a standard?’ he asked.
At the Venice Commission’s urging, the amendments adopted by
parliament were intended to pass greater powers from the president to
parliament and the prime minister. Among other provisions, for
instance, they call on the National Assembly to appoint the human
rights ombudsman and members of the National Radio and TV commission.
The president has also been removed from the Council of Justice, a
body that plays a key role in appointing judges.
While opposition parties had earlier pushed for such changes, in the
end, they declared them insufficient. Shavarsh Kocharian, a member of
the opposition bloc Ardarutiun (Justice), said his faction was not
satisfied with the fact that under the amended version, the president
would still have the power to appoint chairmen of courts. The
opposition also took issue with the failure to provide for direct
elections of the mayor of Yerevan. According to the draft, a special
law to be adopted later will determine the type of elections for this
position.
Political rhetoric heavily colored the opposition’s response.
Ardarutiun leader Stepan Demirchian stated that his bloc would say no
to the referendum and `the illegal authorities,’ since `no steps are
taken to create an atmosphere of confidence.’ The National Unity
faction adopted a similar position, saying that they would support
the amendments only if the November constitutional referendum was
followed by early parliamentary, and then, early presidential
elections. Deputies from both factions left parliament the day before
the vote on the constitutional amendments.
NOTES: Haroutiun Khachatrian is a Yerevan-based writer specializing
in economic and political affairs.