Author: Kamalian Hagop

ANC-PAC SUPPORTERS BACK CONGRESSMAN ACKERMAN OF NEW YORK

armradio.am
03.10.2008 11:22

Supporters of the Armenian National Committee – Political Action
Committee (ANC-PAC) recently attended a fundraiser for Congressman Gary
Ackerman (D-NY), who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The
Congressman’s District includes the north shore of Queens and Long
Island and is home to an established Armenian American community
that includes a number of churches, a broad variety of community
organizations and the Armenian Home in Flushing.

"Gary Ackerman is no stranger to our community in New York’s 5th
Congressional District," commented his constituent and ANC-PAC
activist Tamar Haroutunian. From Jackson Heights, to Douglaston,
from Manhasset to Flushing, his Armenian American constituents have
long been proud of his service in the United States Congress. We are
proud of Congressman Ackerman’s proven record on human rights issues
and encourage all of our friends who are his constituents to vote
for him this November," Haroutunian added.

Late last year Ackerman led the charge in the House Foreign Affairs
Committee to pass the Armenian Genocide resolution (H.Res.106). At
the committee hearing on October 10, 2007, two survivors of the
Armenian Genocide who live at the Armenian Home in the Congressman’s
District were present. They genocide survivors were 98-year-old Perouz
Kaloustian and 95-year-old Onorik Eminian.

In his remarks during the committee’s consideration of the genocide
measure, Ackerman noted that, "Some have said that there is a time for
everything and everything in its season. But truth is never out of
season. It is always the season for truth. For those who claim that
the time to do this is wrong, I ask you look at the ladies sitting
here in wheel chairs who had help getting-up this morning to get into
those chairs and to get onto planes to come down here after living
almost 100 years a piece. When should we tell them when to come back
to this room for justice? Please consider the damage we would do to
history as you cast your votes today."

PRESIDENT BAKO SAHAKYAN SENT A CONGRATULATORY…

Azat Artsakh Daily
01 Oct 08
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]

President Bako Sahakyan sent a congratulatory letter to the newly
elected chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of
Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan On 30 September President of the Nagorno
Karabagh Republic Bako Sahakyan sent a congratulatory letter to the
newly elected chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of
Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan. The letter reads as follows: "I cordially
congratulate You on being elected chairman of the National Assembly of
the Republic of Armenia. I am confident that holding this position
of trust will enable You to give a new impetus to the activities of
the highest legislative body as well as further develop and deepen
parliamentary ties between Armenia and Artsakh. I wish You success,
good health and effective work for the prosperity of the Republic
of Armenia."

HOVIK ABRAHAMIAN ELECTED RA NA SPEAKER

Noyan Tapan

Se p 29, 2008

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 29, NOYAN TAPAN. Hovik Abrahamian, a member of
the RPA Executive Body and Board, was elected RA National Assembly
Speaker by secret ballot on September 29.

According to Samvel Nikoyan, the Chairman of the NA Ad Hoc Calculation
Commission, the Secretary of the RPA faction, 115 out of 131 NA
deputies took part in the voting. 110 deputies voted for H. Abrahamian,
5 deputies voted for Larisa Alaverdian, a non-partisan member of the
Zharangutiun (Heritage) faction.

H. Abrahamian was born on January 24, 1958 in the town of Mkhchian,
Ararat region. He graduated from Yerevan Institute of People’s
Economy. In 1995-1999 he was a NA deputy, in 1995-1996 the Chairman of
Executive Committee of Artashat Town Council, in 1996-1998 Artashat
Mayor, in 1998-2000 Ararat Regional Governor. He was RA Minister of
Territorial Administration from 2000 to 2008 April 21, in 2007-2008 he
was also Vice-Prime Minister. H. Abrahamian was Head of RA President’s
Administration from April 21, 2008 to September 5, 2008. He has been
awarded a number of medals and commemorative medals. He is married
and has three children.

DENNIS SANDOLE: TURKEY WILL PERSUADE BAKU TO SEARCH FOR NEW WAYS OF KARABAKH CONFLICT RESOLUTION

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.09.2008 16:53 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ New dividing lines emerged between the West and
East, Professor of Conflict Resolution at George Mason University,
Dennis J. D. Sandole said in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net.

"Attacking South Ossetia, Saakashvili knew he will lose, but he
wanted to draw the international community’s attention to frozen
conflicts. It was a call for Russia, U.S., Turkey, NATO and EU. Under
the circumstances, the governments of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia
can’t use frozen conflicts for their own purposes," he said. "I can
suppose the following scenario: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will
not be "infected by recklessness" of his Georgian counterpart. Turkey
will persuade Baku to search for new ways to resolve the Karabakh
conflict. Russia will work with Armenia."

"All what is happening in the South Caucasus is for strengthening
of Turkey and Russia’s security, which need support of the regional
countries. Turkey’s Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform proved
formation of a new control mechanism, like the one implemented in
Balkans," the expert said.

DON’T FORGET ALBRIGHT’S PAST FAILURES

Indiana Daily Student
9/24/2008

In one of my classes last semester, we watched "Hotel Rwanda," a
movie about Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who housed more than
1,000 refugees at the height of the Rwandan genocide.

While few details remain etched in my mind, I recall the inability
of the United Nations to intervene in the genocide. As someone who
spent much of that class defending international organizations,
this inaction was troubling.

As it turned out, U.N. ineffectiveness could be credited to the United
States and one individual in particular – Madeleine Albright. In
1994, acting as the United States ambassador to the U.N., Albright
blocked military intervention in Rwanda, largely because we were
still recovering from a disastrous mission in Somalia the year
before. Nevertheless, her role in Rwanda and silence over the mass
murder of Tutsis was singled out by an independent panel convened by
the Organization of African Unity.

You can imagine my surprise, then, at the breathtaking coverage that
Albright received in anticipation of her lecture at IU. Many of my
otherwise conscientious friends were in attendance at Friday’s event,
oblivious to her past. One even pointed out that her actions were
not indicative of any pattern of bad behavior.

Except, they were.

Just two years after the Rwandan genocide, Albright was interviewed
by Lesley Stahl for a "60 Minutes" segment on U.S. sanctions against
Iraq. Stahl asked about the half million Iraqi children who had died
as a result of these sanctions and whether the price was worth it.

Albright responded, "I think this is a very hard choice, but the
price – we think the price is worth it." She later apologized in her
autobiography for this callous statement, but the notion that the
lives of Muslims are less valuable than American lives continues to
form the basis for American foreign policy.

Even as recently as 2007, Albright attempted to block Congressional
legislation regarding the recognition of the Armenian genocide,
citing concerns over the timing of the bill. In a strange turn of
events, Albright is currently leading the Genocide Prevention Task
Force. Not surprisingly, her hypocritical actions received little
coverage from media outlets.

Considering her background and Obama’s promise of a new set of foreign
policy principles, it pains me that his campaign would actively recruit
such surrogates. Indeed, it seems absurd to campaign on the theme of
change and hope only to court the old and ineffective foreign policy
establishment, an establishment characterized by Albright.

I don’t doubt that Albright is an incredibly smart woman, perhaps
even a role model for young women like me. But I don’t appreciate
the short-sightedness we reserve for leaders like her. Whether we
believe it or not, public officials are expected to carry out their
lives in accordance with certain professed values, and when these
very officials violate such values, we must not look the other way.

It seems particularly strange that we would look to Albright as a
foreign policy expert when she seems to have been such a failure at it.

THE SYMBOL OF THE MYSTERIOUS COUNCIL
Naira Khachatryan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
25 Sep 2008
Armenia

A Lot To Depend On The Staff

During the three months of its activity the working group aimed at
the formation of the Public Council, has already elaborated the draft
of the charter of the newly established body.

During the press conference that took place in the institute of
political studies under the Presidential staff, the coordinator of the
group’s activity Garnik Isagulyan represented the implemented work:
"The country’s President has first received our committee, when the
decree was singed. The committee has worked without any mediation or
pressure. The second meeting with the President will be during the
appointment of the 12 members of the Public Council by the decree of
the President. They will get the relay of the works of the council’s
formation."

The elaborated document has already been submitted to Serge Sargsyan
and there have been no objections regarding the draft of the charter:
"I’m sure in the beginning of the next month the President will confirm
the charter by his decree. And the Public Council of the Republic of
Armenia will be formed in a manner prescribed by this charter.

One of the members of the committee, leader of Armenian Christian
Democratic Union Khosrov Harutyunyan, who also participated in the
press conference, informed the Public Council is rather small. It
consists of 36 members. And to avoid making it Yerevan Council it has
been decided to form committees. "We will have 12 committees belonging
to the Public Council, which will involve active participants of a
concrete sphere. The 1/3, that is to say 12 members will be appointed
by the President, the others will be elected by the public. In our
view this is the model that will give us a chance to combine the
President’s trust, on the one hand and the expectations of the public
on the other," Khosrov Harutyunyan believes.

The committees aimed at working in 12 spheres will elect the other 12
members of the Public Council. And the already appointed and elected
24 members of the council will elect the remaining 12. As regards
the chairman of the Public Council, according to the charter the
country’s President must appoint him."

"Why did we choose this number? In my view everyone knows the symbol
of 12 and 36 is the number of our alphabet. So we decided to have a
symbolic number," Garnik Isagulyan said.

According to the charter there are certain administrations and services
the representatives of which can’t become members of the council. MP’s
also can’t be included in the Public Council.

Arshak Sadoyan familiarized us with the principles of the formation
of the 12 committees. "As it has already been me ntioned besides the
council there is also a committee base. Each committee will consist
of 10-15 members. It will form a creative atmosphere of massive
participation. The chairman elected by the 12 committees will become
the members of the council. Thus 250 people will participate in the
public activity."

SITTING OF COMMISSION ON ISSUES OF DEFENCE AND SECURITY OF CSTO INTERPARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY HELD IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan

Se p 24, 2008

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 24, NOYAN TAPAN. The sitting of the Commission
on Issues of Defence and Security of Interparliamentary Assembly of
Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) took place at the RA
National Assembly on September 24. The military-political situation
in the Caucasian region was discussed at the sitting.

Vladimir Vasilyev, the Chairman of Committee on Issues of Security of
RF State Duma, said in his interview to Noyan Tapan correspondent that
attitude to the aggression of the Georgian leadership against South
Ossetia was expressed in statements of leaders and Foreign Ministers
of CSTO member-countries. The statements emphasized that increase
of military potential in the Caucasian region and attempts to solve
problems by force are vain and dangerous. It was also mentioned that
CSTO member-countries are loyal to the UN Regulations, within the
framework of which they will consistently solve all problems.

According to V. Vasilyev, the basis for settlement of the
Georgian-Ossetian conflict and establishment of peace in the region is
the program proposed by French President N. Sarkozy. At the same time
he mentioned that "irresponsible attitude of the Georgian leadership
to the issue of problem settlement continues to cause concern today,"
which is also felt in Armenia bordering upon Georgia. According to the
Russian deputy, that concern is noticeable not only among politicians,
but also among common citizens, of which he made sure after talking
with people.

According to V. Vasilyev, today further development of cooperation
within the framework of CSTO in many respects depends on Armenia,
which assumed CSTO chairmanship from September 5. He expressed the
hope that the period of non-correspondence of opinions is over and
CSTO member-countries are moving towards maximum mutual consent. "The
South Caucasian events are a good occasion to understand that there
cannot be closer and more reliable allies than neighbors," V. Vasilyev
gave assurance.

The State Duma deputy emphasized the necessity to calculate profit
from cooperation and its financing. He said that Russia, which is
the main supplier of arms within the framework of CSTO, today has
increased financing on creation and production of modern equipment. He
meant super-precise armament enabling to carrry out modern short-term
fights. According to him, after being created in Russia that armament
will appear in CSTO arsenal, as well.

V. Vasilyev said that issues regarding domestic and foreign policy
of CSTO member-countries, strengthening of security, training of
specialists for special services of law enforcement bodies, fighting
terrorism, organized crime, illegal migration were discussed at the
sitting. A long and detailed discussion took place on the issue of
prevention of crimes committed on the ground of disagreement between
nations. The experience of work done in Tajikistan was discussed
when possibilities of fighting illegal circulation of drugs were
studied on the spot. According to V. Vasilyev, that study showed how
much effective can be work especially in the direction of prevention
of flow of drugs from Tajikistan. "Obviously, less efforts will be
required for blocking the main way than it will be needed in the
future for control on borders of individual countries, he said.

REMARKS WITH ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSIAN BEFORE THEIR MEETING

US Department of State
September 24, 2008
DC

PRESIDENT SARGSIAN: (Via interpreter.) I would like to once again thank
the Government of the United States of America for all the assistance
it has employed that the Republic of Armenia (inaudible) accepts, both
financial assistance and non-financial help. They are both important.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, thank you. Well, we want to be a good partner
for Armenia and its (inaudible) mission as it makes healing reforms
(inaudible). We believe that you have made some good steps to address
this, and so I’m here to build on that and to move forward.

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, how do you assess U.S.-Armenia
relationship?

SECRETARY RICE: I just said how I assess them. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Okay, thank you.

THE COMMITTEE WAITING FOR THE AMERICAN EXPERTS

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
23 Sep 2008
Armenia

Yesterday the Chairman of NA temporary Committee Samvel Nikoyan
informed: "In October three American experts will arrive in Yerevan to
participate in the activity of the fact-collection group. The experts
have once been involved in the "9/11" committee, investigating the
terror that took place in New York on September 11.

One of them John Farmer, for example, who used to be New Jersey’s
Prosecutor General has headed a staff of 1000 employees and a
structure with a budget of 1 billion dollar. So it is evident that
it will be possible to find out new facts with the help of those
skillful specialists."

RICHARD GIRAGOSIAN: GENOCIDE ISSUE POSES MOST SERIOUS OBSTACLE FOR TURKISH-ARMENIAN RECONCILIATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.09.2008 17:08 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The visit of Turkish President Gul was historic,
and the significance of the visit stems from its role in marking
the start of a new diplomatic initiative between Turkey and Armenia,
Richard Giragosian, a contributing analyst at Jane’s Information Group,
told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

"Moreover, the state of bilateral relations, or more precisely, the
lack of relations, seems to have now assumed a new sense of urgency,
as events in Georgia have only speeded up the process of moving toward
the opening of the long-closed border between Turkey and Armenia and
for the establishment of normal diplomatic relations between the two
countries," he said.

"Improved relations between Turkey and Armenia also serves Russian
interests for two reasons, first, due because of Russia’s control
and ownership of the Armenian energy, telecommunications and
railway sectors, there is now a lucrative opportunity for Moscow
to leverage their position in Armenia and use Armenia as a platform
to sell electricity to eastern Turkey once the border is open, and
to penetrate the Turkish market through their dominant position in
Armenia. In this way, a breakthrough in Turkish-Armenian relations
also offers a gain for Russia," he added.

The other reason for this new Russian interest and support is that the
possible opening of the Armenian-Turkish border will help the overall
Russian strategy of isolating and marginalizing Georgia, especially
in the wake of the August conflict in Georgia, according to him.

He said there are also political and economic aspects of the future
of Turkish-Armenian relations. "First, the opening of the border
provides an important political success, as it demonstrates more
than simple good intentions or political will, but offers a concrete
step forward. And secondly, in terms of economics, although the
gains will not be immediate, will offer the Armenians a new trade
and transport route to new markets. And for Turkey, the new promise
of border trade will provide the impoverished and under-developed
eastern regions of Turkey with energy and trade, offering new jobs
and potential prosperity."

"But the future course of Turkish-Armenian relations will face
serious tests over the comings months. Most serious, of course,
is the historical agenda item of the Armenian genocide, which must
be dealt with in a sincere and comprehensive manner. The Armenian
Genocide issue poses the most serious obstacle and challenge for both
sides and it remains far from certain whether they can forge a new
agreement on this divide," Mr Giragosian concluded.