Author: Jagharian Tania

ARDARUTYUN TO RECONSIDER ITS PARLIAMENT BOYCOTT DECISION

Armenpress
Sept 8, 2005

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS: Parliament member Viktor Dalakian
from the major opposition Ardarutyun (Justice) bloc told a news
conference today the bloc is preparing to launch a nationwide campaign
to persuade voters to reject a package of constitutional amendments
which president Kocharian and his ruling coalition want to put to a
referendum in late November.

He also confirmed that the block is very likely to reconsider its
decision to boycott the parliament work ‘in response to people’s
demands to go back to parliament and expose the real face of the
regime.”

Dalakian also regretted the decision of several prominent members
of another opposition Hanrapetutyun (Republic) party to leave it,
saying united the party would be more stronger, but singled out one
of the dissenters, Albert Bazeyan’s assurances that if they decide
to form a new party it will act as an opposition force to the regime.

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKER ESTABLISHES LINKS OF COOPERATION WITH VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS IN USA

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5. ARMINFO. Armenian Parliamentary Speaker Arthur
Baghdasaryan, who is on an official visit to the USA, held a number
of meetings with representatives of international organizations in
the sphere of development of democracy, combating corruption and
human rights protection.

The Armenian Parliamentary press-service informs ARMINFO that
the speaker, in particular, met with the heads of transparency
International, Freedom House, ABA-CEELI, National Institute of
Democracy Development of the USA and the US Peace Corps. In the
course of the meetings, issues of reforming the election legislation
and the Constitution of Armenia, struggle against corruption, human
rights protection, contribution to establishment of independent
Mass Media and joint struggle against international terrorism were
discussed. The parties reached specific agreements in the aspect of
further cooperation.

It should be noted that within the framework of his visit to the
USA starting from August 31 to September 9, Armenian Parliamentary
Speaker Artur Baghdasaryan will participate in the World Assembly of
Parliamentary Chairmen in New York. The visit is sponsored by the US
Department of State. During the visit, many meetings are expected
at the US Congress, the Department of State, White House. Artur
Baghdasaryan is expected to given an interview to US Mass Media.

ONE MORE FORECAST

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| 20:22:02 | 01-09-2005 | Politics |

The draft constitutional amendments adopted in the second reading
by the NA would become a good basis if it were adopted in the
first reading, since many clauses need further elaboration
and coordination. However it is already impossible taking into
consideration the fact that the third reading is called for editorial
remarks only, constitutional right specialist Vardan Poghosyan
considers.

In his opinion, the draft contains a number of complicated and
dangerous clauses. “The ruling coalition is not ready to make
mutual concessions. It even did not adopt some items proposed by
the United Labor Party, which earlier announced of its support to
the draft. Moreover the draft was not adopted in the atmosphere of
political consensus. “In such an atmosphere the referendum is doomed
to failure”, Vardan Poghosyan said.

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

Mediamax news agency
1 Sep 05

Yerevan, 1 September: The Armenian National Assembly passed the draft
constitutional reform in its second reading today. The draft law will
be put up for a nationwide referendum in November this year.

A total of 97 MPs voted for the draft with no-one opposing it and
one MP abstaining, Mediamax has said.

The opposition factions, the Justice bloc and the National Unity Party,
left the assembly hall of the parliament yesterday and did not take
part in today’s voting.

The draft constitutional amendments were prepared by the ruling
coalition and agreed with the Council of Europe Venice Commission.
The main purpose of the reforms is to ensure the equality of all
branches of power.

The constitutional reforms were one of the key points of Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan’s election programme and one of Armenia’s
basic commitments to the Council of Europe.

The Armenian president’s representative on the constitutional
amendments, Armen Arutyunyan, said today that the role of the
parliament will increase in the country if the constitutional reforms
are adopted in the referendum. Specifically, the National Assembly
will play the main role in forming the parliament and appointing
the prosecutor-general, and the president will be able to personally
adopt a decision to dismiss the prime minister.

FOUR EX-SOVIET REPUBLICS HOLD JOINT ANTI-TERROR AIR DEFENSE EXERCISES IN SOUTHERN RUSSIA

The Associated Press
08/30/05 07:14 EDT

1/4tMOSCOW (AP) – Four ex-Soviet republics held joint anti-terror
air defense exercises in southern Russia on Tuesday, news agencies
reported. 1/4tMore than 40 aircraft and 2,000 personnel from Russia,
Armenia, Belarus and Tajikistan were expected to take part in the
maneuvers near the southern Russian city of Astrakhan, the ITAR-Tass
news agency reported, citing Gen. Vladimir Mikhailov, commander of the
Russian Air Force. 1/4tThey will practice counter-terrorist attacks
and maneuvers, ITAR-Tass said. 1/4tRussian Defense Minister Sergei
Ivanov, attending the exercises, said that Russia had recently agreed
to deliver S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Belarus, news reports
said. The S-300 series can be used against airplanes, cruise missiles
and ballistic missiles, at a maximum range of about 90 kilometers
(55 miles). 1/4tIvanov also said Russia continued to be in favor of
creating a pan-European missile defense system, report said. 1/4tRussia
first raised the idea of a European missile defense system in 2000
amid the dispute over the United States’ intention to abandon the
Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty. However, the proposal attracted little
interest. 1/4tThe proposal did not foresee establishing a unified
system per se, but as a mechanism for coordinating the missile defense
commands of various countries.

TURKEY CHARGES ACCLAIMED AUTHOR
Karl Vick

Kurdistan Regional Government, Iraq
Sept 1 2005

ISTANBUL, Aug. 31 — An acclaimed Turkish novelist, Orhan Pamuk,
has been charged with the “public denigrating of Turkish identity”
and faces a possible prison sentence of three years, his publisher
said Wednesday.

The charge stems from an interview that Pamuk gave to a Swiss newspaper
in February in which he said certain topics were regarded as off-limits
in Turkey. As examples, he listed the massacre of Armenians in 1915
and the ongoing war between Turkish security forces and Kurdish
guerrillas as examples.

“Thirty-thousand Kurds were killed here, 1 million Armenians as
well. And almost no one talks about it,” Pamuk told the newspaper,
Tages-Anzeiger. “Therefore, I do.”

Turkey considers the Armenian deaths a consequence of war, with severe
casualties on both sides, while Armenians say the deaths constitute
a genocide. Under Turkish law, people can be jailed for differing
with the government’s line on the deaths, as well as on the presence
of Turkish troops in Cyprus, which Turkey invaded in 1974, and other
“fundamental national interests.”

Turkey’s penal code was revised this year in hopes of bringing laws on
freedom of expression closer to international standards, as demanded
by the European Union, which Turkey wants to join. Organizations
representing writers and journalists say more changes are needed.

Pamuk was “just trying to point out that first you have to face it —
a tragedy or a dispute or a problem, at least,” said Tugrul Pasaoglu,
Pamuk’s publisher and an editor at Iletisim Yayinlari, a publishing
house in Istanbul. “If you don’t talk about it, then you can’t find
a solution.”

Pamuk, 53, is the most acclaimed novelist to emerge from Turkey
in at least a generation. His books, including “My Name Is Red,”
have been translated into more than 20 languages. His latest novel,
“Snow,” explores the tensions between Turkey’s rigorously secular
military establishment and political Islam by stranding a lovesick
poet in a snowbound eastern Turkish city during a coup.

In Turkey, however, Pamuk’s international success has been
overshadowed by his comments in Tages-Anzeiger. The remarks incensed
ultranationalists, a powerful force in a country that opinion polls
show may be the world’s most patriotic.

“There is nothing that constitutes a crime in this interview,” said
Nazan Senol, an attorney representing Pamuk, whose court date was
set for Dec. 16. She noted that another state prosecutor’s office
also investigated the allegations and decided against filing charges.

Turgay Evsen, the prosecutor who went forward with the case, earlier
this year filed the same charge against a Turkish journalist of
Armenian heritage, Hrant Dink. Evsen declined to comment on the
Pamuk case.

THE NKR PRESIDENT RECEIVES AN EMINENT SPONSOR AND ENTREPRENEUR FROM THE USA

ARKA News Agency
Aug 29 2005

STEPANAKERT, August 29. /ARKA/. The NKR President Arkadi Ghukasyan
received an eminent sponsor and entrepreneur from the USA Albert
Boyajian. According to the NKR President’s Press Service, in
the course of the meeting, in which NKR Prime Minister Anushavan
Danielyan participated, several investment programs were discussed,
in particular, prospects of the establishment in NKR of industrial
enterprises equipped with the latest technologies. Ghukasyan expressed
his gratitude to Boyajian for the implementation of a benevolent
program in NKR and expressed his belief that their close cooperation
in the area of investments will continue. A.H. -0-

ARMENIA’s FOREIGN MINISTER NAMED “NORMAL” MEETING WITH
AZERI COUNTERPART

YEREVAN, AUGUST 24. ARMINFO. Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan estimates positively a Moscow meeting with his Azeri
counterpart Elmar Mamedyarov. He expressed such an opinion in an
interview to Radio “Liberty”.

“On the whole, the meeting was normal. We continued the discussion of
issues being on the agenda. Some of them will be submitted at the
meeting of presidents in Kazan”, he noted refusing to detail his
words. Oskanyan also noted that a press-conference might take place
after coming back from Kazan. He stressed that they plan to sign no
document in Kazan. “I can say unambiguously that there will be
signing of no document there as the sides are far from it. The
discussions will be continued and if presidents decide to say
anything to press, it will be their decision”, Oskanyan noted.

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Aug 26 2005

Moscow Says Concerns over Russo-Armenian Ties Groundless

Azerbaijan’s concerns over Russo-Armenian ties are groundless, a
Russian parliament member has said.

The Russia-Armenia relations are considered defense union ties and
`Azerbaijan should know this’, said director of the CIS Institute, MP
Konstantin Zatulin.

Zatulin said that Azerbaijan should not be concerned over the recent
transfer of Russian arms to Armenia. He said that its `doubts and
accusations’ against Russia and Armenia over the transfer of Russian
military bases from Georgia to Armenia `are in vain’.

`The distance between Russia and Armenia in the present
communications age challenges such views and renders out of place the
statements that Russia disrupts military balance in the region by
taking this step.’

The MP added that due to Azerbaijan’s concerns over the presence of
Russian bases in Armenia, Moscow may station a part of its military
contingent in Russian territory.

La Croix , France
24 août 2005

Un été dans La Croix.
Les arméniens de turquie (3/7).

Dossier. Kars veut rouvrir sa frontière sur le Caucase. Les vestiges
d’Ani se délabrent chaque jour un peu plus. L’ancienne “ville aux
mille églises”, carrefour d’une des routes de la soie, ne bénéficie
pas d’une restauration adéquate. ANI, reportage de notre envoyé
spécial.

par PLOQUIN Jean-Christophe

Un jour peut-être, Ani révélera ses secrets. Des archéologues auront
dénudé les tumulus, retracé les rues antiques, cartographié
l’histoire d’une ville qui compta sans doute plus de 100 000
habitants au XIe siècle avant de décliner à partir du milieu du XVe.
Fondée par une dynastie arménienne, elle passa sous suzeraineté
arabe, byzantine, turque, géorgienne, mongole, mais le catholicossat
de l’Église grégorienne arménienne y demeura de 992 à 1441. Elle a
gardé depuis le Moyen ge le surnom de “la ville aux mille églises”.
“C’était un peu notre Rome”, résume un Arménien.

Ani, aujourd’hui, se fondrait dans la steppe environnante si des
murailles ne bornaient ses limites septentrionales. À l’intérieur de
l’enceinte, quelques vestiges restent péniblement debout. Des restes
d’églises. Une cathédrale dont le toit a disparu et qui n’existe plus
qu’à l’état de squelette. Une jolie mosquée du XIe siècle, la
première qu’auraient btie en Anatolie les Turcs seldjoukides. Une
église, enfin, toujours vaillante, dominant la rivière qui sert de
frontière avec l’Arménie.

Saint-Grégoire de Honentz se découvre en surplomb. On voit d’emblée
le clocher béant, la végétation qui gagne, les ouvertures étroites
dans les murs, les frises soigneusement ouvragées. Après avoir
descendu le sentier, on fait face à un portique à moitié effondré qui
reposait sur des colonnes de basalte. À l’intérieur, les parois sont
couvertes de fresques du XIIIe siècle. Près de l’entrée, à gauche, un
groupe de sept femmes est représenté au pied de la Croix. L’ovale des
visages est d’une beauté stupéfiante. Les mains jointes, les yeux
suggérés d’un trait, évoquent une profonde affliction. D’autres
scènes retracent la présentation au Temple et la vie de saint
Grégoire l’Illuminateur, qui évangélisa au tout début du IVe siècle
la nation arménienne, baptisa son roi, et vit s’ériger le premier
royaume chrétien du monde.

L’église est relativement à l’écart du trajet suivi par les groupes
de touristes. Ce jour-là, une dizaine de Japonais étaient de passage,
ainsi qu’un car de touristes turcs venus d’Istamboul. Sur un bout de
chemin, leur guide donna un coup de menton en direction de deux
miradors plantés à cinq cents mètres, de l’autre côté de la
frontière. “Regardez, il y a deux drapeaux, un russe, un arménien,
marmonna-t-il. Tout est contrôlé par les Russes là-bas. Entre
Arméniens et Turcs, il y a eu huit cents ans de bonnes relations.
Mais l’impérialisme russe a tout détruit”.

Le divorce est symbolisé par la petite rivière qui coule rapidement
le long de la frontière. Du côté turc, un pilier de pont ancien
s’élève. Sur l’autre rive s’étendaient sans aucun doute des faubourgs
d’Ani, lorsque la cité était une étape importante entre Byzance et
l’Asie centrale. Mais aucune fouille n’a été entreprise. La zone est
sous contrôle militaire. Le vent apporte seulement le grondement
d’engins de chantier qui exploitent une carrière.

Ani ne peut que ptir des relations détestables entre la Turquie et
l’Arménie. Des travaux entrepris par des équipes turques sur les
murailles relèvent de la reconstitution plus que de la restauration.
L’architecture et l’art arméniens ne sont pas étudiés en Turquie où
l’identité arménienne de dizaines de monuments est systématiquement
niée ou occultée. C’est notamment le cas sur le panneau de
présentation rouillé qui accueille les visiteurs à Ani. Or, Ani est
plus qu’un symbole d’une antique indépendance arménienne. C’est un
élément du patrimoine de l’humanité qui mériterait d’être inscrit au
catalogue de l’Unesco.

J.-C. P.