Author: Kamalian Hagop

Anadolu Agency, Turkey
June 4 2009

Turkish minister says "normalization process" with Armenia goes on

Washington, DC, 4 June: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said
on Thursday [4 June] that he would pay a four-day visit to Pakistan
and Afghanistan next week.

Davutoglu, currently on a formal visit to the United States, told
reporters that "I will pay the visits being the foreign minister of a
country which is the closest friends of Afghanistan and Pakistan and
rotating president of the UN Security Council. International Community
feels uneasy over the developments in Pakistan and Afghanistan."

Davutoglu said his visit would aim at observing what could be done in
the region in political sense and to ensure a closer cooperation among
friendly groups.

Armenia-Turkey-Azerbaijan

Commenting on Turkey’s relations with Armenia, Davutoglu said,
"Normalization process continues since 22 April joint statement and
there are ongoing direct or indirect contacts. There is no
interruption in course of the talks. We are doing our best for
solution of problems."

Davutoglu said Turkish-Armenian relations had an important role in
Turkish-US relations due to the developments in US Congress, "Turkey’s
policy is very open. US executives appreciate this policy. Turkey
favours tranquillity, peace and welfare to prevail in south
Caucasus. Turkey is eager to normalize relations with Armenia within
the scope of good relations with our neighbours. However, a similar
normalization is necessary in conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan
for a lasting and comprehensive normalization."

Davutoglu said foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan would meet
on Thursday and later come together in Italy in June during G8
meetings. "Turkey is in close consultation with the United States,
Russia, France, as well as members of the UN Security Council and
cochairman of Minsk Group to establish a basis for a permanent
normalization process."

Responding to a question on probability of opening of Turkish-Armenian
border within a year, Davutoglu said this depended on the
developments. "It may be misleading to set a time or give details when
the process is under way," he added.

US Secretary of State on process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish
relations

2009-06-06 15:32:00

ArmInfo. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has claimed of support
for the processes of Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement and
normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations, Hillary Clinton said
at a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu on Friday.

As APA reports, The Secretary of State reminded that Turkey was among
the countries where she and President Obama made their first official
visits. She said US and Turkey were working together to solve number of
problems and there are new opportunities alongside with the problems.
"Both U.S. and Turkey have unique roles to play. We obviously already
collaborate. Not only we are both members of NATO but we are working
with G 20 to respond to the world global economic crisis. We are
exploring ways to enhance our trade and commerce between our two
countries. We are working to develop new energy sources including
resources from the Caucasus and Central Asia. We are partners in the
fight against terrorism". Clinton said US allied with Turkey in EU
membership efforts and struggling PKK. She said they were strongly
supportive of Turkish effort to normalize its relation with Armenia and
we also very strongly supportive of the efforts to resolve
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Secretary Clinton answered the question about the Turkish-Armenian
relations after the announcement of roadmap in April and possibility of
the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict soon. "I have been very
encouraged by the progress has been made and by the commitment of the
governments involved. Certainly Turkey and Armenia with the assistance
of Swiss government have committed themselves to the process of
normalization. We are well aware that it is difficult and requires
patience. But we are seen no flagging of commitment. The minister and I
discussed the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia at
length. He brought me up to date on developments. We are continuing to
encourage the parties to proceed on the path which they themselves have
set. Similarly with ongoing negotiations over Nagorno-Karabakh. The
government of Azerbaijan and Armenia are proceeding and working
together. They just were together in Saint Petersburg. We believe a lot
of progress has been made in relatively short period of time to resolve
the issues which are long standing".

Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu thanked the US government for
its support for both processes. "We are very optimistic. We want to
achieve a prosperous, peaceful Caucasus. And in that sense, we are
fully committed to our normalization process with Armenia, and also, we
are fully committed and we are ready to work together with United
States and other co-chairs of Minsk Group for the resolution of
Armenian-Azerbaijani issues".

HAK DEMANDS TO ANNUL MUNICIPAL ELECTION

A1+
07:12 pm | June 05, 2009

Politics

The Armenian National Congress (HAK) today submitted a
written-complaint to the Central Election Commission with a demand
to annul the May 31 municipal election.

The document contains numerous violations and election frauds recorded
at the pre-election period, election day and vote recount, reports
the HAK press conference.

ARMENIA: PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN RECEIVED THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC

President.am
June 3 2009
Armenia

Today, President Serzh Sargsyan received the Minister of Foreign
Affairs of the Syrian Arab Republic Walid Al-Muallem who arrived to
Armenia on a working visit.

President Sargsyan said that Armenia attaches importance to the further
expansion of cooperation and strengthening of our traditionally warm
and time-tested relations with Syria and her friendly people. Noting,
that many recall today the visit of the Syrian President Hafez al-Assad
to our country, which took place thirty years ago, the President of
Armenia said that the visit of the President of Syria Bashar al-Assad
to our country, which is to take place in two weeks, would be taking
place in entirely different circumstances. Serzh Sargsyan and Walid
Al-Muallem concurred that the upcoming visit of the Syrian President
opens a new page in the Armenian-Syrian relations.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Syria highlighted the importance of
invigorating political dialogue between the two countries, enhancement
of cooperation in different areas, stressing in particular the
importance of expanding the economic and trade relations.

The parties spoke also about peace and stability in the region,
stressing the necessity of resolving all contentious issues in a
peaceful manner, through negotiations. President Sargsyan hailed the
balanced stance of Syria regarding sensitive regional issues.

In his turn, Walid Al-Muallem presented to the President of Armenia the
situation in Middle East and ongoing processes of conflict resolution.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: RUSSIA IS COMMITTED TO FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF PARTNERSHIP WITH ARMENIA

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
04.06.2009

/PanARMENIA N.Net/ Frequent meetings among country leaders help
overcome difficulties in different spheres of life, RF President
Dmitry Medvedev said before a meeting with his Armenian colleague
Serzh Sargsyan. "To overcome current difficulties, we need to organize
meetings more frequently. And this is actually what we do," Medvedev
said, adding that frequent meeting also "help adopt specific decisions
on specific issues." Russian President expressed hope for discussing
"the most important topics" during the meeting with Mr. Sargsyan. In
the meantime, Russia is committed to further development of partnership
with Armenia, RIA Novosti quotes Medvedev as saying.

CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE PASSES BILL 234, THE "GENOCIDE AWARENESS ACT"

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
04.06.2009 13:52 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The California State Senate passed Senate Bill 234,
the "Genocide Awareness Act," reported the Armenian Assembly of America
(Assembly) told PanARMENIAN.Net. The Assembly, an early proponent of
the measure introduced by State Senator Mark Wyland (R), activated
its ARAMAC grassroots network in California to encourage support and
passage of the bill.

On April 29, the Senate Education Committee voted unanimously in favor
of SB 234. During the public witness hearing, Armenian Genocide denier
Bruce Fein and the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA)
testified against treating the Armenian example and parallel cases
in Cambodia and Darfur as genocide. In response to the opposition’s
testimony, State Senator Joe Simitian (D), a member of the Education
Committee, expressed his disappointment, especially given the
incontestable historical fact of the Armenian Genocide and asked,
"Why is it that genocide happens over and over and over again?…It
happens because we are unwilling to step back and confront man’s
inhumanity to man."

The truth of the Armenian Genocide, Simitian stated, "has long been
settled." State Senator Christine Kehoe (D), Chair of the Senate
Appropriations Committee, moved the bill directly to the Senate floor
for a vote, stating, "The continuing events in Darfur remind me of
the words of philosopher George Santayana who wrote: ‘Those who do
not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.’ Those horrific events
only serve to raise the importance of acknowledging and learning from
past events like the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust. Making
sure that Senate Bill 234 becomes law will help make sure that the
Armenian Genocide is not forgotten for this and future generations."

"The Armenian Assembly applauds Senator Kehoe for promptly bringing
this legislation to the floor for a vote," stated Yeghig Keshishian,
the Assembly’s Western Region Director. "The Assembly would also like
to commend Senator Wyland for introducing this legislation and thereby
once again placing California in the forefront of national politics
as it pertains to human rights education and genocide prevention."

Upon successful passage in the California State Assembly, State
Senator Wyland’s "Genocide Awareness Act" would then be signed into
law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The bill requires the California Curriculum Commission to vote on the
inclusion of an oral history component related to genocides as part
of its high school curriculum, including the Armenian Genocide of
1915-1923. California pioneered new education standards by adopting
the Model Curriculum for Human Rights and Genocide, which includes
the Armenian Genocide.

ISRAEL PUTS UP A SHOW OF ITS MILITARY MIGHT

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
04.06.2009 15:20 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Israel’s statement denying any intention to attack
Iran can be treated in two ways, Armenian expert Tadevos Charchyan
said.

"First, Israel wants to put up a show of its military might before
Tehran. Second, it wants to attract attention of its allies that Iran
represents a menace for them as well," he said. "In this respect,
the recent statement by Israeli Foreign Minister can be described as
a call for stability."

Israel will not attack Iran even if the international sanctions against
Tehran fail to convince President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to give up his
country’s nuclear program, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told
the Austrian daily Kleine Zeitung in an interview.

SWEDISH LIBERAL YOUTH MOVEMENT CALLS FOR RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
03.06.2009 18:00 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenians Genocide will continue unless Turkey
recognizes the crime. Orhan Pamuk was deported from his country because
he spoke about the great atrocity. Being descendents of Genocide
victims, millions of Armenians are directly related to them. Before
elections to Euro-parliament, the tragedy was recognized as principal
issue on which Swedish youth movement will work, meber of the Swedish
palament Frederic Malm told a PanARMENIAN.Net correspondent. "I was
the only council member who voted for genocide recognition in 2008,"
he stressed, adding that their organization also focused on fair
settlement of Karabakh conflict.

RA OLYMPIC TEAM TO RIVAL FRENCH CHESS PLAYERS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
03.06.2009 21:50 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Rapid match between the national teams of France
and Armenia will be held in Paris on 24-25 June, 2009. Armenian
team will include Olympic champions Levon Aronian, Vladimir Akopian,
Gabriel Sargissian, Tigran L. Petrosian and Artashes Minasian.

The composition of the French team is as follows: Maxime
Vachier-Lagrave, Laurent Fressinet, Joel Lautier and Christian Bauer.

The organizer of the match is French company Modd’ Ailleurs
(responsible: Vartan Kaprielian) together with Chess Federations of
Armenia and France.

RALLY STARTED NEAR MATENADARAN

Lragir.Am
21:29:33 – 01/06/2009

The rally of the Armenian National Congress started near
Matenadaran. Opening it, the Head of the board of the All-Armenian
Movement Ararat Zurabyan stated that a new non-legitimate system was
formed within the government in result of yesterday’s Yerevan Mayor
Election. He stated that the opposition will continue its struggle.

David Shahnazaryan stated that there is only one question now on
which solution depend the other questions, which is Serge Sargsyan’s
resignation.