Author: Hunanian Jack

OPEN LETTER TO THE ARMENIAN PUBLIC

Panorama.am
15:13 30/10/06

The forcible March closure of the Heritage Party’s headquarters, the
subsequent surreptitious and illegal break-in at the already-sealed
office, the criminal theft of information from its main computer,
and the campaign of political pressure and persecution unleashed
against members, supporters, and local chapters of a duly-registered
political organization compelled Raffi Hovannisian and the leadership
of Heritage to seek justice amid the tribunes of the legal system.

In spite of incontrovertible evidence attesting to the commission
of criminal acts, the multiple levels of the judicial branch have
repeatedly rendered capricious rejections of the legal claim to
reopen the offices. This series of unfounded judgments supports the
conviction that we have come up against different links in a single
chain of criminal conduct that is guided by the highest echelon of
executive authority.

As for the scandalous reproduction of the "Watergate" precedent-the
unlawful break-in to party headquarters and the presidential theft
of information therefrom-the Armenian police department and then
Yerevan’s prosecutor have refused our legitimate demand to file
criminal charges, evidently in an ill-disguised attempt to cover up
the crimes in question. Accordingly, as a measure of final recourse,
we have petitioned-and expect a just determination from-the Republic’s
prosecutor general to institute criminal proceedings and commence a
full investigation by November 10, the deadline set by law.

All this is taking place against the backdrop of the administration’s
recently repeated "oaths" to guarantee the absolute fairness of the
parliamentary elections scheduled for Spring 2007. Without further
interpreting Heritage’s recent "experiences," we submit that the
party enters the pre-election season-which de facto has already been
launched and is overflowing upon the country’s television screens-(a)
locked out of its central offices, (b) with its database broken into
and compromised, (c) being systematically and unlawfully deprived
by relevant state bodies of the right to rent meeting space and
thus to exercise the freedoms of speech and association, and (d)
on a presidentially-conceived "black list" wholly forbidding access
for Heritage, its founder and officials to the electronic media,
which all are under strict supervision and vertical control.

We appeal to the Armenian public with these key queries for the
national agenda: ~U Can this constant course of illegalities and
blatant violations of civil rights assume, under any circumstance,
the mantle of fundamental legitimacy for the upcoming elections?

~U Is it possible that the failure to launch court proceedings-or
their dismissal once instituted-against individuals, both officials
and others, who have committed or commissioned crimes will serve to
rein in the perpetrators of thousands of instances of electoral fraud?

~U Does Armenia’s leadership have, in the first place, the moral right
and legal standing to speak in the name of democracy and justice? ~U In
the sum total of the foregoing, isn’t the prospect of the parliamentary
elections already prejudiced, and its fairness breached in advance?

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Oct 27 2006

Azerbaijani football team under 19 defeats Armenian team with score
2:1

[ 27 Oct. 2006 20:56 ]

Azerbaijan football team defeated Armenian team with the score 2:1
within the group stage of European Football Championship under 19,
APA reports.

The match took place in Larnaka, South Cyprus. Armenian team scored
the first goal. Farid Hashimzadeh succeeded to level the score.
Another footballer Nizami Hajiyev scored the second goal of the
national team in the second half time. The match did not turn out
without an incident. An Armenian football fan entered the stadium in
the middle of the second half time and wanted to beat Azerbaijani
footballers. But the police could take him out. Then there was a
fight among the fans and therefore the match was stopped for a time.
After 22-minute pause the match continued and Azerbaijan I team
managed to reserve the victory score. /APA/

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
October 27, 2006 Friday

MILITARY BUDGET OF AZERBAIJAN WILL CATCH UP WITH BUDGET OF ENTIRE
ARMENIA

President of Azerbaijan Ilkham Aliyev announced, "Our military budget
will catch up with the budget of entire Armenia and will exceed it in
the future. Naturally, this circumstance will play a key and
indispensable role in search for a just solution for the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict about Nagorno-Karabakh." Aliyev
released this statement speaking at a meeting of the cabinet of
ministers dedicated to discussion of social and economic results of
the first nine months of 2006. According to Aliyev, the state pays
much attention to military development. He said, "Next year, our
military budget will exceed $1 billion. I set this task two years
ago. Then our military budget amounted to $150 million."

Source: Kommersant, October 24, 2006, p. 9

Press freedom in US slips
24/10/2006 13:18 – (SA)

Paris – North Korea is the worst violator of press freedom while
journalists in Finland, Ireland, Iceland and the Netherlands enjoy the
most liberty, according to a new index released this week by Reporters
Without Borders.

South Africa came in at No. 44, ahead of the United States at No. 53 –
a spot it shared with Croatia, Botswana and Tonga. Russia came in at
No. 147. The Paris-based media advocacy group relied on its network
of 130 correspondents, plus journalists, legal experts and human
rights activists, to come up with the ranking.

Worst offenders The worst offenders, in order, were North Korea,
Turkmenistan, Eritrea, Cuba, Burma, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia,
Reporters Without Borders said in a statement.

"Unfortunately, nothing has changed in the countries that are the
worst predators of press freedom, and journalists in North Korea,
Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Cuba, Burma and China are still risking their
life or imprisonment for trying to keep us informed," the organisation
said.

In the country at the bottom of the list, "the all-powerful North
Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, also continues to totally control the
media," the group said.

US has steadily declined

In the index’s first year, 2002, the United States was in 17th place
and has steadily declined since then.

"Relations between the media and the Bush administration sharply
deteriorated after the president used the pretext of ‘national
security’ to regard as suspicious any journalist who questioned his
‘war on terrorism,"’ the report said.

US press freedom is slipping even when terrorism is not at stake, the
report said, citing the case of Joshua Wolf, a freelance video
journalist jailed after he refused to turn over footage of a political
protest to a grand jury. France fell back five places to No. 35,
which it shared with Australia,

Bulgaria and Mali, and Japan dropped 14 places to No. 51.

Bolivia and Bosnia, meanwhile, moved into the top 20. Bolivia shared
16th place with Austria and Canada, while Bosnia was in 19th place
with Denmark, New Zealand and Trinidad and Tobago.

Denmark suffers over cartoon threats

Denmark, which shared first place last year, suffered a sharp loss of
press freedom because of threats against the authors of the Prophet
Muhammad cartoons that caused an uproar in September 2005.

"For the first time in recent years in a country that is very
observant of civil liberties, journalists had to have police
protection due to threats against them because of their work," the
report said.

Russia

Among European nations, press freedom is worst in the ex-Soviet
states, the group said.

Media freedom in Russia – where award-winning investigative reporter
Anna Politkovskaya was shot to death on October 7 in a suspected
contract killing – has not improved, the report said.

"Russia, which suffers from a basic lack of democracy, continues
slowly but steadily dismantling the free media, with industrial groups
close to President Vladimir Putin buying up nearly all independent
media outlets and with passage of a law discouraging NGO activity," it
said.

The Calgary Herald (Alberta)
October 26, 2006 Thursday
Final Edition

Motive is key in terror law: Ruling would view terrorists much like
common criminals

To try to understand 9/11 without acknowledging that the attackers
were driven by extreme religious fervour would be absurd. Yet, that’s
what the Ontario Superior Court would have Canadian courts do, as
they consider the first charge under the act.

On Monday, Judge Douglas Rutherford ruled in the case of accused
terrorist Momin Khawaja that the federal Anti-terrorism Act’s
definition of terrorism was unconstitutional, an affront to freedom
"of religion, thought, belief, opinion, expression and association,"
to "democratic life" itself.

Critics of the act — actually a package of amendments to the
Criminal Code and other federal legislation — say Rutherford was
right.

They say the amendments, Ottawa’s effort to placate a U.S.
administration that questioned Canadian efforts at internal security,
gave government potentially dangerous powers at the expense of civil
liberties.

Yet, if Rutherford fully understood the nature of terrorism in
Canada, he might not have so quickly downgraded it to common
criminality.

The Antiterrorism Act defined terrorism as an attempt to intimidate a
group involving a major act of violence, with a religious, political
or ideological motive.

Rutherford struck the last requirement, reasoning that examining
motives posed a threat to charter freedoms and could lead to ethnic
profiling.

Removing the definition of motive is a significant alteration.

Some commentators argue that, relieved of the need to prove motive,
prosecutors will more easily secure convictions. To some degree that
may be true, although aspiring martyrs — usually quick to proclaim
their faith — seldom place much burden of proof on prosecutors.

What’s troubling is that, absent religious or ideological
inspiration, terrorism is diminished in the eyes of the law. Thus,
July’s alleged plot to bomb the CSIS headquarters becomes classed
with the kind of industrial sabotage that killed nine Yellowknife
miners during a 1992 labour dispute, or the mayhem of Quebec’s biker
wars.

Treating it as just another criminal act may comfort Canadians whose
response to terror is denial, but it’s no guide to dealing with it.

The difference is crucial. A strategy to confront criminals seeking
profit from society can afford to deal with events after they happen.
Once a gang is busted, the players are off the board.

Terrorists, however, have much broader ambitions, often seeking to
destroy society. Thus, preventing their acts becomes much more
critical.

Arrests and convictions of a few adherents to a cause do not
eliminate the enemy.

With yet no attack on home soil, many Canadians are tempted to
consider terrorism somebody else’s problem.

They should not be so blase, because we are far from immune.

Just ask the 391 victims of Air India Flight 182, whose plane was
bombed in 1985 by Sikh extremists.

Or Hezbollah, and the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka, both of which raise
funds aggressively here, and otherwise abuse Canadian hospitality to
pursue wars elsewhere.

Even Armenian exiles have organized here, and murdered Canadians.

And let us not forget Canada once had its own, homegrown terrorists
— the ideologically driven FLQ — nor that Canadian troops in
Afghanistan are not fighting agricultural reformers, but people who
would turn that country into a base for terrorists.

Canada needs a strong anti-terrorism law, not legislation that treats
terrorism as merely a tiresome distraction from the blood sport of
minority government politics.

Ottawa must appeal.

TURKEY CAUGHT AT A CROSSROADS
By Simon Hooper for CNN

CNN International
Oct 25 2006

(CNN) — Standing at the south-easterly edge of mainland Europe,
Turkey’s fortunes have always been closely linked to the continent’s
wider historical currents.

In 1683 the Ottoman Turks marched to the gates of Vienna as they
built an empire stretching from the Balkans to the Middle East.

Even in terminal decline at the start of the 20th century, the Ottoman
Empire’s nickname, the "sick man of Europe," was tacit acknowledgement
that Turkey — at least once — had deserved a place among the great
continental powers.

In the 1920s, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern
republic, set about restoring Turkey to that status with an intensive
program of "Europeanization" which included replacing Arabic with a
new Roman alphabet and banning the fez.

Since the 1950s Turkey has been a key member of NATO, contributing
the second largest armed forces to the military alliance after the U.S.

And just as wealthy Europeans once took the Orient Express to savour
the exotic sights and flavors of Istanbul, now western holidaymakers
flock to the beach resorts of Turkey’s cosmopolitan coastline.

In a world shrunk by globalization and with Bulgaria’s imminent entry
set to expand the EU’s eastern border with Turkey, one might imagine
the ties between Europe and Ankara had never been closer.

Yet on Tuesday a poll in the Turkish newspaper Milliyet revealed that
only a third of Turkey’s population believe their country should
join the EU, less than a year after the country began negotiations
to become a full member — having been an associate member since 1963.

(Full Story)

Amid sharpened anti-European sentiment, more than three-quarters of
Turks also said they don’t trust it.

Turkish economy minister Ali Babacan, who is leading his country’s
negotiations in Brussels, believes those attitudes will change in time.

He said last week: "It will take time for Turkey to go through a
reform in mindsets. Political reforms sometimes are easy on paper
but the implementation becomes difficult."

But talks so far only seem to have accentuated cultural and political
differences that many critics opposed to Turkish membership believe
are so profound that discussions should never have started.

Ankara and Brussels are already at odds over the conditions imposed
for entry which include Turkey making concessions on Cyprus, divided
since a Turkish invasion in 1974. The Greek half of the island is
already a full EU member. (Full Story)

Ahead of a full European Commission report on Turkish progress next
month, MEPs recently voiced concerns over the "slowing down of the
reform process."

A more controversial issue has proved to be the ongoing dispute over
Turkey’s refusal to recognize as genocide the massacre of up to 1.5
million Armenians under Ottoman rule in 1915.

Last week the French parliament passed a bill that would make it a
crime to deny that the killings constituted a "genocide."

"Should Turkey recognize the genocide of Armenia to join the European
Union?" asked French President Jacques Chirac during a recent visit to
Armenia. "Honestly, I believe so. Each country grows by acknowledging
its dramas and errors of the past."

The Armenian question is also at the heart of another obstacle to
Turkish membership: the limits placed on freedom of speech by a law
making it a crime to insult "Turkishness" which has been used to
prosecute writers and publishers including Orhan Pamuk, who this
month won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

With that case dropped amid international pressure earlier this year,
many Turks considered the prestigious prize to be as much a statement
about Pamuk’s political activities as his literary skills.

The case has only served to highlight further concerns. As recently as
1997 Turkey’s military intervened to overthrow a democratic government
while the country’s vast size, extremes of poverty and the ongoing
dispute within its borders with Kurdish separatists hardly make it
a model of a modern stable democracy.

A survey in June showed 55 percent of Europeans opposed Turkish
membership. In Austria — where long memories of the Turks’ assault
on their capital perhaps linger — the figure was 81 percent.

But backers for Turkish entry into the EU believe the ultimate benefits
far out-weigh any short-term obstacles.

"We have the chance to show that a Muslim country can become a
full-fledged European democracy," said Hans-Joerg Kretschmer, the
EU’s envoy to Ankara.

Yet, ultimately, it is likely to be Turkey’s economic and strategic
importance that forces the EU into securing closer relations, whether
its citizens and politicians like it or not.

With a market of 73 million people currently experiencing eight percent
growth a year, Turkey’s economy is growing too quickly to be ignored.

"[Turkish membership] is going to happen because it is in everybody’s
economic interests," said Angel Gurria, head of the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development. "It already is happening,
the benefits are already accruing for Turkey."

And as the Silk Road once brought oriental riches to the salons of
Paris and London, so Turkey’s access to the energy rich regions of
the Caucacus, the Middle East and Central Asia will make it a key
gateway for Europe’s gas and oil supplies in the coming decades.

Others warn that the dangers of an economically powerful but
politically isolated Turkey are simply too dangerous to ignore.

British lawmaker Dennis McShane, a former UK government minister to
Europe, wrote this month in the Financial Times that a Turkey spurned
by the EU could form a Black Sea alliance with Russia, or turn towards
Iran and Pakistan to form a "crescent of influence and power" linking
a series of semi-military Islamic states from the Mediterranean to
the Indian Ocean.

"An independent Turkey, free of ties to the EU, could also clash with
European foreign policy goals by aggressively pursuing its interests
in the Mediterranean or the Middle East," warned McShane.

"Europe is doing its level best to tell Turkey it is no longer wanted
as part of the European Union. It is a high-risk game with little to
gain and everything to lose."

CONTEST OF YOUNG LAWYERS HELD IN YEREVAN

Panorama.am
14:56 25/10/06

The final phase of the scientific conference "Constitution on the
way of becoming a civil society" was held today in Yerevan. Young
lawyers took part in the conference who submitted written essays on
the topic. The Association of Young Lawyers of Armenia supported by
the Center of Public Development and Dialogue organized the event. The
conference aimed to raise legal awareness on constitutional reforms
and respective legislative amendments. The jury selected 6 out of 19
submitted essays. All the essay writers are students of state and
private universities. In the second phase, the finalists expressed
their opinion on the constitutional reforms in terms of their
contribution to civil society development.

THE TRIBECA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER PRESENTS: JAZZ IN PROGRESS-MONK IN MOTION-THE NEXT FACE IN JAZZ

All About Jazz, PA
48
Oct 24 2006

Borough of Manhattan Community College

Presenting, In Concert, The Top Three Finalists
In The Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition

Tigran Hamasyan – November 20
Aaron Parks – November 27
Gerald Clayton – December 18

The Tribeca Performing Arts Center, in partnership with the Thelonious
Monk Institute, proudly presents Jazz In Progress-Monk In Motion,
featuring in concert, the top three finalists of the prestigious
Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, now celebrating its
20th anniversary. This year the renowned competition was devoted to
jazz piano, and the three finalists, pianists Aaron Parks (Washington),
Gerald Clayton (born in the Netherlands, currently residing in
California), and Tigran Hamasyan (Armenia, currently residing in
California), were singled out from a strong field of twelve semi-
finalist musicians by the competition’s distinguished panel of judges,
including Herbie Hancock, Andrew Hill, Danilo Perez, Renee Rosnes,
Billy Taylor and Randy Weston.

Each of the three concerts of the Jazz In Progress-Monk In
Motion Series will feature one finalist leading their ensemble,
demonstrating the perpetually diverse nature of jazz, and showcasing
three of the plethora of exciting, young musicians making jazz
their life’s work. Tickets are $25 General Admission, $15 Students &
Seniors. To order tickets and for additional information click on
or call the box office at 212 220 1460. The Tribeca
Performing Arts Center is located at 199 Chambers Street, New York,
NY 10007.

Jazz In Progress-Monk In Motion Concert Schedule:

Tigran Hamasyan – Monday, November 20, 2006 at 7:00 PM Tigran Hamasyan
was born in Gyumri, Armenia and began playing piano at age 10. He
currently attends the University of Southern California where he is
studying jazz piano. Influenced by Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk,
Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, Miles Davis and Bud Powell, Hamasyan began
writing his first piano compositions at a young age. He recently won
first prize at the Monaco Jazz Soloist Competition and has performed
at concerts, competitions, festivals throughout Europe.

Aaron Parks – Monday, November 27, 2006 at 7:00 PM Aaron Parks was
raised in Seattle, Washington and began playing piano at age 10,
learning mostly by ear. He began is career in jazz at the age of 16
after leaving the University of Washington to focus more intently
on jazz studies at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. Parks
won first place in the 5th American Jazz Piano Competition and is a
Cole Porter Fellow of the American Pianist Association. Currently,
he tours with Terence Blanchard and is featured on Blanchard’s CDs
Bounce and Flow.

Gerald Clayton – December 18 at 7:00 PM Gerald Clayton was born in
Utrecht, The Netherlands and was raised in Los Angeles. He began
playing piano at the age of five. Currently, Clayton is pursuing a
Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies at the University of Southern
California. In addition to his studies, Clayton performs frequently
and has played with a host of well-respected musicians including
Benny Green, Mulgrew Miller, Kenny Baron, and Clark Terry. He recently
appeared on Back in the Swing of Things with the Clayton Brothers.

Since 1987, the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz has presented the
Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, the most prestigious
jazz competition in the world. Each year, more than $60,000 in
scholarships and prizes are awarded to talented young musicians
and composers. The scholarships help pay tuition for college-level
jazz education studies and provide funds for private, specialized
instruction. The competition focuses on a different instrument every
year and features an outstanding all-star judging panel. Branford
Marsalis, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Clark Terry, Dave Brubeck,
Marian McPartland, and Diana Krall have all served as judges at
past competitions.

The Institute has presented competitions for piano, bass, drums, hand
drums, saxophone, trumpet, guitar, vocals and trombone. In September
2006, the competition once again showcased piano, in celebration
of the Institute’s 20th Anniversary, with the semifinals taking
place at the Smithsonian Institution’s Baird Auditorium and the
finals at the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. The judging panel
and special guests featured a number of distinguished jazz artists,
including Herbie Hancock, Andrew Hill, Quincy Jones, Danilo Perez,
Renee Rosnes, and Billy Taylor.

This year, Quincy Jones, Phylicia Rashad and Billy Dee Williams hosted
the event at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Herbie
Hancock served as chairman with Bill Cosby and Billy Dee Williams as
co-chairs. Honorary co-chairs included Madeleine Albright and Alma
and Colin Powell.

The 20th Anniversary Celebration was sponsored by General Motors
and Northrop Grumman. The Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano
Competition was sponsored by G.M.A.C Financial Services. For more
information visit

Located on the campus of the Borough of Manhattan Community College
(a CUNY school), the mission of Tribeca Performing Arts Center is
to provide a professional season of culturally diverse arts programs
of high quality for the Metropolitan New York area, the residential
communities of Lower Manhattan and the college community in which it
is located.

Tribeca PAC maintains two theatres: a 913-seat theatre and a
262-seat theatre. The company offers an extensive 9-month long
season of programming that includes jazz concerts, dance, theatre
and family performances. The company also offers a year long Artist
in Residence program to 8 different artists (4 choreographers and 4
theatre directors/playwrights) and presents their new, original work
every Spring in the annual "Work and Show Festival". Tribeca PAC also
hosts many critically acclaimed events during the season, including
the Tribeca Film Festival in the Spring and Resfest in the Fall.

THE COMMUNITY SHOULD GOVERN ITSELF

Yerkir, Armenia
Oct 20 2006

Dear compatriots,

The Ajapniak district of Yerevan will elect its prefect on October 29.

The election is pivotal to every resident of our district since it
would allow making local governing a reality. The community should
govern itself.

The prefect of our community should not be appointed but actually
elected by the residents. It should not become a formal election but
one that is real and based on competition of platforms.

With such approaches in mind, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
has nominated Gagik Sargsian for the prefect’s office.

We will use every means to protect the votes you are going to cast
for him. We are calling on you to work together for the victory of
Gagik Sargsian because his victory would mean a victory for all the
Ajapniak residents.

ARF Ajapniak Committee

POPE APPEALS TO POLITICAL, RELIGIOUS LEADERS TO HELP IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION, RECONCILIATION

AP Worldstream
Oct 22, 2006

Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday appealed to political and religious
leaders in Iraq and the world to help the conflict-ridden country
in its reconstruction, and expressed solidarity with the Christian
community and all victims of the violence there.

In his Sunday prayer in St. Peter’s Square, Benedict also sent his
"cordial greetings" to Muslims, who are celebrating the holy Muslim
month of Ramadan, and wished them "serenity and peace."

The pope expressed worry for the "news coming out of Iraq on the
very grave situation of insecurity and brutal violence to which many
innocent people are subjected only because (they are) Shiites, Sunnis
or Christians."

Benedict appealed to "the religious leaders, the political leaders,
both local and of the world, to support those people on the path to
reconstructing their homeland, in the search of a shared balance, in
mutual respect, in the awareness that the plurality of its components
is an integral part of its wealth."

"I perceive the great worry that runs through the Christian community
and I intend to assure that I am close to it, as I am to all victims,
and for all I call for strength and consolation," the pope said.

Christians make up just 3 percent of Iraq’s 26 million people. The
major Christian groups include Chaldean-Assyrians and Armenians,
with small numbers of Roman Catholics.

Benedict has been calling for dialogue between Christianity and Islam.

He stepped up that call lately after coming under siege from Muslim
protests over a quotation from a Medieval Byzantine emperor about
Islam and violence.

The remarks came during a Sept. 12 speech about faith and reason at
a university in Germany.

Benedict has said that his words were misunderstood and that he was
sorry that Muslims were offended.

On Friday, the Vatican released its annual Ramadan message and called
on Muslims to join Catholics in working to defeat terrorism.