Author: Emil Lazarian

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1) Canada’s Dalphond-Guiral Captivates Capitol Hill Audience
2) Conference Explores National Priorities, Diaspora Collaboration
3) A New Body Established To Fight Corruption
4) Ajaria’s Abashidze Vows to Tighten Rule

1) Canada’s Dalphond-Guiral Captivates Capitol Hill Audience

The champion of the recently adopted Armenian Genocide resolution in Canada’s
House of Commons, the Honorable Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral, along with Armenian
Revolutionary Federation Bureau member Hagop Der Khatchadourian, attended the
10th annual Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Observance on
Capitol
Hill to honor victims and survivors of the Armenian Genocide. The program,
which took place on April 28, was held in the historic Cannon Caucus Room.
During her one-day visit, Dalphond-Guiral took the opportunity to visit the
ANCA offices, and was briefed by Khatchadourian and ANCA Executive Director
Aram Hamparian, on the numerous and diverse ANCA activities.
ANCA Representatives, along with regional and local ANC representatives,
accompanied the Canadian parliamentarian to offices of those Congressmen who
work diligently to advance Armenian American issues.
In what was a most memorable visit, Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ)
bombarded
Dalphond-Guiral with questions about the activities and details that led to
the
positive vote in Canada’s House of Commons.
During the Capitol Hill Observance that evening, author Peter Balakian, along
with Dalphond-Guiral, were honored for their tireless efforts to advance the
Armenian Genocide issue, and their commitment to the Armenian community.
Many Senators and Representatives expressed their support not only for
official US recognition of the Armenian Genocide, but also for monetary and
other assistance to strengthen the government of Armenia. They commended the
ANCA for their work, unwavering commitment, and ability to rally absolute
support. They also addressed the importance of Canadian Parliament’s
resolution–its potential to spur similar activity in US Congress.
Over 400 community members and guests greeted Dalphond-Guiral with lingering
cheers as she got up to speak.
After presenting her brief biography, Dalphond-Guiral explained that the
debate on the Armenian Genocide is nothing new in Canada’s House of Commons,
beginning with efforts in the 1980s. Since then, five motions and several
debates have succeeded one another in the House, all aimed at having Canada
acknowledge the 1915 genocide of Armenians.
After three attempts by Dalphond-Guiral, (the first two motions were never
put
to a vote) Motion M-380 was adopted on April 21.
“What seemed to be impossible–voting on acknowledgment of the Armenian
Genocide–became possible…”
She applauded Canada’s Armenian community, particularly the network of
Armenian National Committees.
“This community’s determination, perseverance, and attachment to its identity
are models for all of us. Over the decades, through its unwavering demand for
acknowledgment of the genocide of 1915, it has given us the right to think
that
faith can move mountains. It was the steadfast support of Armenians–young and
old–that persuaded Canada to join its voice to those of the parliaments of
Argentina, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Russia, Sweden,
Switzerland, Uruguay, the Vatican, the European Parliament, the European
Council and almost 30 American states, including Missouri, Nevada, South
Carolina, Florida, Arizona, Washington, Virginia, Illinois, Michigan, New
York,
New Jersey, and California. Here is the true glory of freedom and democracy,”
concluded Dalphond-Guiral.

2) Conference Explores National Priorities, Diaspora Collaboration

YEREVAN (Armenpress/Yerkir)–As a follow-up to the Armenian Diaspora
conference, representatives of European and US-based Armenian organizations
met
with Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian and ministry officials to
determine how to collaboratively tackle advocacy issues on Armenia’s foreign
policy agenda. Organized by the Foreign Ministry, the conference ended on
Tuesday in Yerevan. Armenian ambassadors were also on hand to examine national
priorities and the fundamental direction of Armenia’s foreign policy.
Security, development, European integration, peaceful regulation of Karabagh
conflict, and preservation of historical rights and values were targeted as
Armenia’s primary priorities.
Oskanian said that Diaspora organizations and the foreign ministry will be
working more effectively in the coming years to advance those priorities,
while
considering interests of the countries where they are based.
He also explained that as Armenia’s foreign policy expands daily, the
necessity to mobilize the potential of all Armenians becomes even more vital.
He praised the already persistent efforts of Diaspora organizations in the US,
Europe, Canada, and Latin America.
Meeting participant Hilda Tchoboian, who is the chairwoman of the European
Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy, said that international
diplomacy and formation of policy must consistently be monitored by not only
Armenia’s diplomatic force, but also Diaspora organizations in order to act
promptly and effectively.

3) A New Body Established To Fight Corruption

YEREVAN (Armenpress)–Armenia’s Prosecutor General’s Office announced that a
special division to combat government corruption has been established.
Chief prosecutor Aghvan Hovsepian, said the department’s regulatory powers
will be clarified in the coming ten days to establish the direction of its
activities, but that no new employees will be hired to carry out the job. The
special division will work uncover and prevent corruption in the judicial
system, tax and customs agencies, as well as the prosecutor’s office.
The new body is expected to cooperate closely with the presidential oversight
service.

4) Ajaria’s Abashidze Vows to Tighten Rule

TBILISI (Reuters)–The head of Georgia’s rebel Ajaria region on Tuesday defied
central government threats to depose him and promised to tighten his hold on
the territory as his followers crushed an opposition demonstration.
Aslan Abashidze has declared a state of emergency and curfew in the Black Sea
region of Ajaria, which includes the important oil shipping port of Batumi.
Tbilisi has given him until May 12 to recognize its authority.
Armed men broke up a demonstration in support of Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili in central Batumi on Tuesday, opposition politicians said. To
prevent students gathering, Abashidze has closed all schools and universities
for two weeks.
Saakashvili has promised not to use force to crush the region’s autonomy but
militiamen blasted bridges linking Ajaria to the Georgian heartland on Sunday,
saying they feared invasion from troops stationed nearby.
“The humane approach that the autonomous republic’s leadership has followed
has not brought results,” Abashidze told local television.
“Any criminal acts, actions or slogans will be treated with the utmost
severity…No one will be forgiven for attempts to create a hotbed of
disorder.”
Saakashvili came to power in a bloodless revolution in November, promising to
end corruption and sweep away figures such as Abashidze who have held office
since Soviet times.
But Abashidze has not backed down. He has refused to disarm his militias as
demanded by Saakashvili and kept a firm grip on the opposition.
“A group of people armed with metal poles fiercely beat the demonstrators.
Before this, fire engines with water cannons were used,” opposition politician
Tamaz Diasamidze told Reuters. He said there had been 200 demonstrators.
Abashidze told local television that the universities and schools had to be
closed for a fortnight to prevent “tension.”
“We had to take preventative measures. No one can calmly watch as
preparations
are made for tension. They have to be cut off at the roots,” he said.
Washington is watching the stand-off with concern, fearing for stability in a
country that will be part of the route for a major pipeline taking oil from
the
Caspian Sea to a Turkish port. It has called on Abashidze to disarm local
militias. Two Georgian regions are currently completely outside central
government control, having gained de facto independence in bloody wars in the
1990s.
US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Monday that the US
stayed in constant touch with Russia on Georgia’s defiant autonomous region of
Ajaria, trying to prevent a military confrontation in Georgia.
He stressed that the US supported the Georgian government in its bid to
restore constitutional order in Ajaria.
“We welcome President Mikhail Saakashvili’s announcement that he would not
use
force and we continue to encourage the government of Georgia to use political
and economic tools in its efforts to restore the rule of law in Ajaria,”
Boucher said.
Moscow has also called for calm, fearing that the crisis could descend into
bloodshed. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said, “We regard
relations between Batumi and Tbilisi as an internal affair of Georgia, but we
think that attempts to resolve the problem with militant statements and
threats
to use force are absolutely impermissible.” “Tbilisi should realize that the
use of force will inevitably have in the gravest consequences, primarily for
Georgia itself,” he remarked.
Saakashvili appealed to Moscow on Monday to help rein in former Russian
servicemen he said had blown up bridges around the restive region of Ajaria.
But Saakashvili, clearly wary of stoking tensions with Georgia’s mighty
neighbor, told CNN television he did not think Moscow had ordered the action.
He said he sought a peaceful end to his dispute with Ajaria, the site of an
important oil terminal.
He said the action had been conducted by militia led by retired Russian
officer, Major-General Yuri Netkachov.
“But I am certainly addressing the Russian government today to help us, to
spare us and get rid of some people who fly in and blow up bridges and stir up
trouble,” he told CNN.
Tbilisi has frequently accused Netkachov, once a top commander in the
Transcaucasus region, of raising rebellion.
Tensions in Georgia, which faces rebellion in several regions, are fraught
with implications for the West as well as the former Soviet Union. The country
is a transit territory for a planned pipeline to bring Caspian oil to the
Mediterranean.
Russia’s two military bases, remnants of past Soviet power, are a source of
tension between Georgia and Russia. Russia is also viewed warily by Tbilisi
for
its tacit support for rebel administrations in the regions of South Ossetia
and
Abkhazia.

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
April 27 2004

DEPUTIES LEAVE FOR ISRAEL
[April 27, 2004, 14:17:12]

The Milli Majlis deputies Shaiddin Aliyev and Asad Hajiyev are
shortly going to visit Israel to take part in the international
conference Re-establishment of Peace in XXI Century initiated by the
Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation OBSEC and Israeli
Parliament.

The conference participants will discuss regional problems, ways of
cooperation for their settlement and re-establishment of peace.

The delegation of Azerbaijan is expected to update the attendees in
detail on the situation in the South Caucasus, historical roots
current state of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh, international approach to the problem and role the
OBSEC and other organizations would play in its resolution.

The Azerbaijani deputies will also presented material confirming the
facts of genocide committed by Armenians against Azerbaijanis, and
destruction of historical and cultural monuments of the Azerbaijan
people.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Globe and Mail, Canada
April 27 2004

Putting faith in the domino theory

Last year, Georgia toppled its leader; now Ukraine hopes to do the
same, MARK MacKINNON says

By MARK MacKINNON

KIEV — When Yulia Tymoshenko watched on television as Georgians rid
themselves of their despised president last fall, one thought buzzed
through her mind: Why couldn’t the same thing happen in Ukraine?

She may get her answer this fall, when Ukrainians vote for a new
president. Opinion polls suggest opposition candidate Viktor
Yushchenko would easily win a fair vote. But most analysts believe
Ukraine’s ruling clique, President Leonid Kuchma and his allies,
won’t let that happen.

Anger over a rigged election drove tens of thousands of Georgians
into the streets last November, in weeks of mass demonstrations that
finally forced Eduard Shevardnadze to give up power in what was
dubbed the Rose Revolution (after an opposition politician’s single
red rose, carried as a symbolic substitute for a gun).

Georgia’s political earthquake is still reverberating across the
former Soviet Union, and the strongest tremors are felt in Ukraine.

Mr. Kuchma, who is accused of running a government fraught with
corruption and of personal involvement in the killing of an
opposition journalist, is deeply disliked and will not be running for
a third term.

However, he has thrown the weight of his administration behind Prime
Minister Viktor Yanukovich’s bid.

Ms. Tymoshenko, 43, an influential opposition politician and one of
Mr. Kuchma’s harshest critics, is among those who expect Ukraine’s
ruling authorities to fight dirty during this fall’s election
campaign.

If the vote is seen to be rigged, she said, the opposition will have
no choice but to take to the streets and try for their own Rose
Revolution.

“If the authorities try to falsify the presidential election . . . I
would hope to see the Georgian example repeated here in Ukraine,” the
charismatic former deputy prime minister said in an interview.

“I personally will be calling people to go into the streets.”

Ms. Tymoshenko enjoys the parallels between herself and Mr.
Yushchenko, and the young politicians who led Georgia’s revolt:
Mikhail Saakashvili (who carried the red rose) and Nino Burdzhanadze,
now respectively that country’s President and parliamentary Speaker.

Like the two Georgians, Ms. Tymoshenko and Mr. Yushchenko have put
aside their ideological differences to form a united front for the
campaign.

Political tension has long been building in Ukraine, and many
observers believe that a recent mayoral election in the western city
of Mukachevo was a trial run for the presidential showdown.

With the opposition set to coast to victory in an area considered a
stronghold of Mr. Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine movement, police sealed
off the electoral commission offices in Mukachevo and prevented
journalists and observers from watching as votes were tallied.

After officials announced that a pro-Kuchma candidate was the winner,
thugs in leather jackets are reported to have beaten several
observers and Our Ukraine officials who tried to enter the election
offices.

Some see the events in Mukachevo as a signal that Ukraine will be
less tolerant of dissent than was Mr. Shevardnadze, who let
demonstrators occupy the main street of Tbilisi for weeks while
independent television stations called for his resignation.

There is little independent news media in Ukraine; most TV stations
and newspapers are under government control.

“The [message] of Mukachevo is to threaten the public, to let them
know that [the authorities] could use not only administrative
resources, but could use physical force,” said Yevgeny Bistretsky,
director of the Kiev-based International Renaissance Foundation, an
affiliate of billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Institute.

Mr. Soros is accused in many quarters of providing financial support
to the Georgian revolt. When he visited Ukraine last month, he was
attacked in the state media and pelted with eggs and a
mayonnaise-filled condom by Kuchma supporters.

It is clear that while opposition parties across the former Soviet
Union, a region dominated by authoritarian regimes, have pounced on
the Georgian example as proof that change is possible, governments
too have learned from it.

In Armenia, the opposition has been rallying thousands into the
streets for weeks, calling for a vote on President Robert Kocharian’s
rule. Police recently broke up a crowd near Mr. Kocharian’s residence
using water cannons, batons and stun grenades.

“The Armenian opposition, encouraged by the Georgian ‘velvet
revolution,’ has clearly decided that the situation in the country
will enable them to achieve the same outcome,” Mr. Kocharian told
Russian state television recently.

“But the situation cannot be compared.”

Even in outright dictatorships such as Belarus and Uzbekistan,
Georgia’s example has shaken up the political status quo and
invigorated the opposition.

Anatoly Lebedko, leader of the beleaguered opposition to hard-line
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, says that his country’s
people privately cheered the Georgian revolt but can only dream of
similar events because they face a much more repressive regime.

“People will sit in their flats tonight and criticize Lukashenko . .
. but so far we have not been able to turn that into opposition on
the streets,” Mr. Lebedko said in his Minsk office, his desk decked
out with a small Georgian flag.

“But I’m an optimist. I have to be.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian communists against opposition rallies, back dialogue

Noyan Tapan news agency
26 Apr 04

YEREVAN

The United Communist Party of Armenia [UCPA] is calling on all
Armenians to be vigilant and abstain from opposition actions because
domestic political tension is threatening the country’s statehood,
Yuriy Manukyan, first secretary of the central committee of the UCPA,
told a press conference on 26 April.

. Yuriy Manukyan said he did not doubt at all that the opposition is
being guided by the [ex-ruling party] Armenian Pan-National Movement
[APNM], warning people against being deceived again. He said that
following the APNM actions, the country had been destroyed and looted
within a few years. Although under pressure and dissatisfaction
nationwide, the APNM was compelled to leave the [political scene], but
unpunished.

The chairman of the UCPA believes that for the time being, those
forces, using money stolen from the people and generous funds from
several forces from the West, are thirsting for “revenge”, are again
plunging the country into chaos with all ensuing consequences.

Manukyan drew attention to the circumstance that, he believes that
calls and slogans of the opposition were coinciding with anti-Armenian
“nonsense” of mass media and external enemies.

The UCPA considers itself the opposition as it is not fighting against
personalities but the system. According to the united communists, a
power shift will not contribute to the settlement of the problem. To
attain it, the country needs stability in the first place.

In order to overcome the domestic tension, the UCPA advises the
opposition to abstain from issuing “ultimatums” and to agree to
dialogue, as political debate creates opportunities to reach the
truth.

The UCPA statement was also supported by the Hayrenik (Motherland) and
Women of Armenian Land parties at the press conference.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azeri leader off to Warsaw for European Union enlargement summit

ANS Radio, Baku
27 Apr 04

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev left for Warsaw today to attend the
European Economic Summit. The summit will discuss tasks of the current
EU members and new member countries and the situation in the South
Caucasus. Let us recall that the presidents and prime ministers of all
European countries are expected to attend the summit.

Ilham Aliyev will address the summit on two subjects: Azerbaijan’s
economic development and its successes and the situation in the South
Caucasus. Aliyev will also focus on the Nagornyy Karabakh problem and
its solution. Aliyev will have tete-a-tete meetings with the Polish
and Georgian presidents. The Azerbaijani president is also expected to
meet his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharyan.

On 29 April from Warsaw President Aliyev will travel on to Strasbourg
to attend a spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

When family history has to be downloaded

Chance discovery of a photo on the Internet connects one Armenian to a
painful past

By Houry Mayissian
Special to The Daily Star
Saturday, April 24, 2004

I waited impatiently for the picture that was loading, bit by bit, on
my screen. I felt that it would be a small piece of a big, unsolved
puzzle – my family’s history. After a couple of moments of waiting,
the picture loaded. There they were: My great-grandmother,Aznive
Pootchigian at the age of five, with three of her family members in
Kharpert, Western Armenia, or what is now called Turkey.

The internet is amazing when it comes to the amount of information it
can supply. But I never thought I would find a picture of my
great-grandmother taken in 1912 in her hometown, a couple of years
before it was raided by the Turks.

I sat in front of my computer, unable to move, and examined the
picture -the people in it, the background, the caption – like an
antique. The picture seemed to be taken in a garden with big trees
appearing in the background. All four people carried an object I
couldn’t identify: Something like a plant or flower, but yet seems to
be made up of cloth. My great-grandmother was the youngest in the
picture. She wore a long dress with small flowers on it. Even though
all four of them seemed to look straight into the camera at the time
the picture was taken, my great-grandmother’s look was much more
serious, much more “direct” than the others. It seemed as though she
was looking at me, right into my eyes, rather than at the camera. She
didn’t smile; she didn’t look sad; she just looked serious.

I kept thinking about the strange coincidence that had led me to her
picture. I was using the “Google” search engine to look for Armenian
music. I noticed the family name “Pootchigian” in the description of
one of the Web sites. I had heard from my grandmother that my
great-grandmother’s maiden name was Pootchigian. I also knew that I
had relatives by that name in the United States, but that contact
between our families had long since been lost.

I immediately clicked on the link that transported me to the Web site
of the Pootchigian family currently residing in the States. A whole
“new world” opened in front of me: Pictures, old and new, historic
data, a family tree, in which my mother, father and even big brother
were included. My name wasn’t there, though. Contact between the
families had probably been lost before I was born.

I knew bits of facts about how part of my great-grandmother’s family
had escaped to the US, how she had survived the Armenian genocide. But
I didn’t know all the details. Suddenly I felt the urge to have the
whole story laid out before me like the picture I was looking at.

I printed out the photo and took it to my grandmother. I didn’t know
whether she would recognize her mother at the age of five. The moment
she looked at the picture, however, tears started to come to her eyes.

“Oh my God … It’s my mom,” she exclaimed with a faint voice that
seemed to be suffocated by her tears. I had never seen my grandmother
in such a “lost” state. Her eyes were filled with pain, longing and
confusion. The rosy color of her fleshy cheeks disappeared behind her
tears.

“My uncle and his children live in the States. He has many
grandchildren as well. My mom used to say that my uncle migrated to
the States to work before the massacres started. She had another
brother who was hanged by the Turks.” And so my grandmother started
the story. A story every Armenian family has – one which brings tears
to the eyes of any listener, one which makes people wonder about how
savage humans can be.

My great-grandmother was seven years old when the Armenian genocide
started. It took the lives of more than 1.5 million Armenians and
deprived the rest of their homeland. During the years 1915-1918, amid
the confusion of World War I, the Young Turks carried out the
deliberate deportation and massacre of the entire Armenian population
of the Ottoman Empire. Most of them were massacred along the
road. Those who survived scattered across the globe. Almost nine
decades have passed, but the realization of being descendants of
genocide survivors remains firm in the minds of new Armenian
generations.

My great grandmother was deported with her mother and her two aunts,
like all the Armenians living in Kharpert.

“They spent days walking under the sun, barefoot, without food, water
or proper clothes, stripped of their dignity, stolen of their
possessions,” continued my grandmother.

My great-grandmother had been separated from her mother in Diyarbekir,
somewhere along the endless journey. She was adopted by a Turk and
never saw her mother after that.

“She used to repeat the story over and over again. She remembered the
smell of death lingering in the air, the sight of mutilated corpses on
the sides of the roads they passed by, the savage treatment meted out
by the Turk gendarmes to those who were no longer able to continue
walking, the hunger, the thirst, the rapes, everything. Despite that,
however, despite all the things that terrorized her, as a child at
least she felt secure that her mother was with her to hold her hand,
to carry her, to cover her eyes when necessary. A while later,
however, she lost even that.”

My great-grandmother was raised by the man who adopted her into his
family.”She used to tell me that she secretly kept an Armenian book
from her school books with her. She used to read it secretly when she
had time alone so she wouldn’t forget her mother tongue,” my
grandmother said. With the help of an Armenian lady, my grandmother
was married at the age of 14 to an Armenian. Later, they moved from
Diyarbekir to Aleppo and then Beirut.

After I heard the story, I went back to the Web site to see the
pictures of the relatives I never knew about. The Pootchigians are now
a well-known family in California. One of them, Chuck Pootchigian, is
a member of the State Senate.

Yet the most important thing for me remained the picture. As I looked
at it, I wondered what they knew. Did they have a clue that they would
be victims of such a great crime? Probably not. But I know, and my
children will. So will all the new generations of young Armenians. And
so will the world, despite the ongoing denial by Turkey and the
failure by the international community to properly condemn this crime
against humanity.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Our Best in Budapest?: Can Armenia’s choice handle the environment of an
international murder trial?

ArmeniaNow.com
April 23, 2004
Commentary by Naira Manucharova, ArmeniaNow Deputy Editor

Political tension in Yerevan has shifted focus from the upcoming trial in
Hungary in the death of Armenian Army Lieutenant Gurgen Markaryan.

The slain officer was memorialized in Yerevan.

Markaryan was murdered February 19 while attending a NATO “Partnership for
Peace” conference in Budapest. Ramil Safarov, an officer in the Azerbaijan
Army has been charged.

Armenians were shocked by news of Markaryan’s brutal murder, and were
outraged by commentary in Baku that turned Safarov into a national hero.

Funds have been established in Azerbaijan for Safarov’s defense and he is
regularly visited by countrymen concerned for his well being. Azeri
politicians, lawyers, public figures and his country’s ombudsman are
manipulating pre-trial developments. His family receives money from a
special fund established specifically for their purpose, called “Ramil
Safarov Stipend”.

Meanwhile Markaryan’s family is almost forgotten.

Ombudsman Elmira Suleimanova has written to Hungarian officials “reminding”
that Safarov is a victim of Armenian aggression. A chief rights advocate
attached a document to the letter “concerning outrages committed by Armenian
‘monsters’ in Khojalu”.

One needn’t peculiar insight to conclude that Azeri measures will aim at
influencing a favorable outcome in Budapest. Nor should one doubt that
neighbors to the east will be intent on a verdict that in effect indicts
Armenia, while vindicating Safarov as a victim out to avenge his family’s or
nations death.

Simply, in Budapest there is a murderer, witnesses, a weapon and, in a
Yerevan grave, a victim. But what, without these extenuating conditions
might be a routine trial, promises to be an extraordinary theater in which
relations between two republics are examined.

That the murder took place in NATO’s very front yard and was neither an
example of “peace” nor “partnership” does not inspire confidence for
Armenia-Azeri collaboration in upcoming joint-operations; specifically,
multi-national military training to take place in September in Azerbaijan.

It is logical to presume that NATO might side with the aggrieved party in
the hostility that not only escalated Armenian-Azeri hatred, but sullied
NATO in the process.

But there is no evidence of such a bias as, till now, only Azerbaijan’s
interest is obvious. Little is yet known as to how the Armenian side will
protect its citizen’s rights or its honor.

About all that is known, is that Markaryan’s rights will be defended by
Yerevan attorney Nazeli Vardanyan. And about all that could be learned about
Vardanyan, is that she specializes in environmental law.

It would be unfair to judge the attorney’s effectiveness before she’s even
had a chance to prove it. It is not unfair, however, for concerned citizens,
aware that a country is on trial, to question why someone of her specialty
has been appointed the task.

Journalists who might want to tell the citizenry who this woman is, are
rebuffed, as if her very identity represents national security. Vardanyan
herself referred us to a committee of five lawyers who will be working with
her on the case. Attempts to get information by those means were not
unsuccessful, but were dismissive.

There would be little reason for wanting to know the pedigree of an
attorney, if this were merely a case of citizen against citizen. Clearly,
though, it is not.

At stake is the reputation of a republic, and the risk of courtroom rhetoric
being perceived as national foreign policy. Don’t, then, the people of
Armenia deserve to know their representative has earned confidence?

Why did the Armenian International Lawyers Union appoint an environmental
attorney to manage a case that could have exceptional repercussions? More
significantly, why did the State react indifferently to the appointment?
Typically, secrecy is maintained during investigations. But this secrecy of
defense is something new for Armenia.

Ombudsman of Armenia Larisa Alaverdyan was asked whether Armenia, not to
mention the rights of the victim, can adequately be represented by the State
‘s appointment to the case.

“The upcoming court battles in Budapest will be too much for one lawyer,
even if he or she is very talented and clever,” Alaverdyan said. “I think
there must be at least two lawyers and one expert on the issue of the
Karabakh problem because it is clear that the Azeri side is going to use
this incident for carrying out a public trial against Armenia and Karabakh.
Besides, as I know Nazeli Vardanyan is not experienced enough in criminal
cases, moreover, in cases where crime is loaded with political and
interstate relations.”

Alaverdyan also says it is unacceptable that a second charge against
Safarov – attempted murder on the life another officer, Hayk Makuchyan – has
been completely neglected. The Ombudsman is of the opinion that the crime
against the officers was premeditated and had far-reaching political goals.

“Supporting proper representation of the Armenian side at the forthcoming
trial is a responsibility and duty of the government,” Alaverdyan says.

Why, then, trust the task to an attorney who is respected as an
“eco-jurist”, but unknown in the field of criminal prosecution?

In October of last year, Vardanyan attended an international conference on
ecology, in Hungary. Can it possibly be that Markaryan’s, and Armenia’s
representation was selected merely because she has a Hungarian stamp in her
passport?

Of course it seems absurd. But in the absence of information, we are left to
speculate.

No doubt, “environment” will have a role in the Budapest trial. It is likely
to be an environment bristling with slander, innuendo and attacks on
nationality from both sides. We hope, nonetheless, that Armenia’s counsel
has not been sent for her knowledge of enviro-law, but that she truly is a
secret weapon, worthy of secrecy.

For it is clear that our neighbors are sparing no effort and means preparing
for trial in Budapest. Head of the World Azerbaijani Congress expressed
readiness to hire the best lawyer in Europe for defending the “national
hero”. Notorious Azeri businessman Fizuli Mamedov (nicknamed Al Capone) has
offered to finance all actions of defense. At the same time, Azerbaijan is
providing the Hungarians with their peculiar history of the Karabakh
conflict.

What will be Armenia’s answer? What will our government’s mouthpiece be able
to do for protecting legal successors of Gurgen Markaryan and,
correspondingly, national dignity?

We wonder. And worry. Days into preparation for the trial, the coalition of
lawyers assisting Vardanyan complained they hadn’t yet even received the
Hungarian Criminal Code. They said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is late
with translation. They also complained that Armenia’s lead lawyer Vardanyan,
did not even have a laptop computer or roaming services on her mobile
phone – conditions that make communication a distraction if not an outright
handicap.

Internal concern over the latest opposition activity has shoved this
internationally-significant trial down the list of priorities set in
Yerevan.

Among the many questions we have about the personnel charged with defending
an officer’s rights and a republic’s name, none is more crucial than a
question that lingers while others, too, are unanswered:

Is this the best our government can do? And isn’t it worth the attention of
the public, even while Yerevan’s attention is on political rumbling?

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
April 27, 2004

DECREE SIGNED

NKR president Arkady Ghukassian signed a decree according to which
Youri Ghazarian was released from his duties in the position of the
minister of development of industrial infrastructures and building
according to his application.

AA

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARKA News Agency
April 27 2004

Romania, Italy, GB, Belarus and Kazakhstan celebrated anniversary
Armenian Genocide Victims Day

Meeting in support of TV Channel A+1 to be held in Yerevan on 3 May

Opposition powers of Armenia sure that their struggle will lead to a
result

Actions devoted to Armenian Genocide of 1915 held in Paris

**********************************************************************

ROMANIA, ITALY, GB, BELARUS AND KAZAKHSTAN CELEBRATED ANNIVERSARY
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS DAY

YEREVAN, April 27. /ARKA/. Romania, Italy, GB, Belarus and Kazakhstan
celebrated anniversary Armenian Genocide Victims Day, RA MFA told
ARKA. In London, Armenian Embassy organized procession to memorial of
victims – Cenotaph, and the representatives of the procession gave
the letter to GB Prime Minister Tony Bler.
>From the beginning of the 19th century till 1920, the Ottoman Empire,
legal successor of which is today’s turkey, regularly tormented and
persecuted Armenians. The top of barbarity was in 1915 when over a
million of Armenians was massacred in different regions of West
Armenia, part of the Empire.
The fact of the Armenian Genocide has been recognised by many
countries, including Uruguay (the first state that recognised the
genocide in 1965), Russia, France, Argentina, Greece, Lower Chamber
of Italy, 31 states of the U.S. L.D. -0–

**********************************************************************

——————————————————————————–
MEETING IN SUPPORT OF TV CHANNEL A+1 TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN ON 3 MAY

YEREVAN, April 27. /ARKA/. `The Fund for Support of Freedom of
Speech’ and the Initiative Group for the support of A+1 TV Channel
will organize a meeting in the support of the Channel on 3 May, as
the Initiative Group told ARKA.
April 2, 2002 the Commission recognised Sharm company as a winner in
the tender for the 37th decimetre frequency. As a result, A1+
opposition channel was deprived of the license for 5 years, which
aroused discontent of the opposition. Currently the information
agency with the same name published `Ayb Fe’ daily. T. M. – 0 –

**********************************************************************

OPPOSITION POWERS OF ARMENIA SURE THAT THEIR STRUGGLE WILL LEAD TO A
RESULT

YEREVAN. April 27. /ARKA/. Regular meeting of opposition started
today in Yerevan. According to the Secretary of Opposition Faction
Justice Viktor Dallakian, opposition powers of Armenia are confident
that their struggle will lead to a result. He said that since today
any dialogue with authorities will be stopped, because main demand of
opposition is not met.
He announced 10 offers of the Justice Faction that were represented
at yesterday’s political consultation at RA NA Speaker Arthur
Baghdasarian. Among basic offers are restoration of legal order,
release of political prisoners, right for free movement of the
citizens, legal guarantees of authorities on non-use of power against
peaceful rallies, punishment of guilty in violent actions on April
12-13, referendum on vote of confidence to the president. L.D. –0–

**********************************************************************

ACTIONS DEVOTED TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE OF 1915 HELD IN PARIS

YEREVAN, April 27. /ARKA/. Paris hold actions devoted to the Armenian
Genocide of 1915 in Ottoman Empire, as RA Foreign Ministry Press
department told ARKA. According to the information provided the
actions began on 23 April a day before the commemoration date of the
victims of the Armenian Genocide. At that day there was no access to
the Champs-Elysees adjacent to the Etoile Square, from where the
participants started a march to the Arc de Triomphe. As it is
mentioned in the press release, RA Ambassador Plenipotentiary and
Extraordinary in France Eduard Nalbandyan accompanied by the top
military laid a wreath to the Unknown Soldier Tomb in sign of respect
to the victims of the Genocide. During the ceremony there were
performed hymns of two countries and the Armenian and French flags
were lowered. As also mentioned in the press release, on 244 April
Paris Municipality organized a reception in memory of the Genocide
victims attended by RA Ambassador in France and Paris Mayor Bertrand
Delanoe. On the same day the Armenian church of St. Surb Hovhannes
Mkrtitch (St. John the Baptist) and on 25 April the Paris Notre Dame
Cathedral finished liturgy. The press release also mentioned about
mass actions devoted to the Armenian Genocide held in Marseille,
Lyon, Grenoble, Toulon, Valance and Cannes.
The fact of the Armenian Genocide, during which the Ottoman
authorities annihilated 1.5 million Armenians has been recognised by
many countries, including Uruguay (the first state that recognised
the genocide in 1965), Russia, France, Argentina, Greece, Lower
Chamber of Italy, 31 states of the U.S. T.M. -0–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
April 27 2004

NKR AND CYPRUS CONFLICTS HAVE DIFFERENT BASES

Commenting on the recent announcement of the Azerbaijani president
Ilham Aliev that official Baku may recognize the Turkish Republic of
North Cyprus, NKR foreign minister Ashot Ghulian mentioned that “it is
possible, it looks unexpected but in the sense of the contents there
is nothing unexpected.” According to the minister, the authorities of
Azerbaijan once again proved their inconsistency in the process of
settlement of the Karabakh conflict. “Ilham Aliev’s statement
obviously testifies that Azerbaijan does not exclude the use of dual
standards,” said Ashot Ghulian, “in his actions he is merely guided by
the political conjuncture, once supporting the right of the Turk
Cypriots for self-determination, on the other hand, denying the same
right of the people of Nagorni Karabakh.” Answering the question of
possible resemblance of the problems of Cyprus and Karabakh, the head
of the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs answered that the situation in
North Cyprus and Nagorni Karabakh are completely different. According
to him, from the aspect of their prehistory, origins, processes of
settlement these conflicts have different bases and directions. At the
same time Ashot Ghulian did not exclude that because of the extremely
different approaches of the Karabakh conflict parties its settlement
will last very long like in the case of Cyprus. “Our approach is the
following; Nagorni Karabakh is interested in the rapid settlement of
the problem because together with de jure recognition of NKR the rates
of economic development of the republic will grow,” said the minister
of foreign affairs of NKR Ashot Ghulian.Â

AA

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress