Author: Kharatian Ani

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS TO ALLOW TO FORM QUALITATIVELY
NEW OPPOSITION IN ARMENIA: ALEKSANDR ISKANDARYAN

YEREVAN, JULY 11. ARMINFO. Constitutional amendments is to cause
split amongst Armenia’s opposition, Director of the Caucasian mass
media institute Aleksandr Iskandaryan expressed such an opinion in an
interview to ARMINFO.

“The opposition leader who should not be self-confident, will
consider more efficient the possibility to remain a system opposition
refuting the initiative of ruling coalition on constitutional
amendments”, he noted.

Commenting on the idea of constitutional reforms as a whole,
Iskandaryan noted that it is advantageous for Armenia as it will
increase political culture in the country in the course of time. In
particular, he mentioned the fact that if a prime minister will
become more independent of a president and a capital’s mayor will be
elected, real conditions will be created for forming qualitatively
other opposition. He stressed that the leaders of all the orange
revolutions in the post-soviet territory have come from the power.

At the same time, Iskandaryan noted that it will be very difficult to
reach the adoption of constitutional amendments as the referendum
will take place only if more than a third of all the voters
participate there.

PanArmenian News, Armenia
July 11 2005

MOSCOW-YEREVAN MASS MEDIA COOPERATION CAN DEVELOP

11.07.2005 03:26

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Russian-Armenian mass media cooperation can
develop more dynamically, head of the Federal Agency for press and
mass communications (Rospechat) Mikhail Seslavinsky said at the
meeting with the Armenian delegation. He noted that the essential
technical possibilities and agreements are available between the
Russian TV and Radio Network and the Armenian Ministry of
Communications. Assistant to Armenian President Vigen Sargsian noted
that the Year of Armenia in Russia will be finished in November
adding that it is necessary to use the potential and activate the
work of the Russian media for covering the event.

Minsk Group co-chairs discuss Karabakh in Baku

11.07.2005 17:46

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – OSCE Minks group co-chairs and Azerbaijani foreign
ministry discussed Monday issues related with transportation routes
throughNagorno Karabakh and return of internally displaced persons to
their permanent residences, Armenpress reported.

Nizami Bahmanov, the leader of the so-called Azerbaijani community of
Nagorno Karabakh, told journalists that the issue of “displaced
Azerbaijanis is the most important one,” and that the region’s status
will not be solved until they return to Nagorno Karabakh.”

He also noted that there is some progress in the talks process and the
public might be informed on it following the meeting of the Armenian
and Azerbaijani presidents on the sidelines of the CIS summit to be
held in Kazan on August 26.

In his turn, Yuri Merzliakov, the Russian co-chair of the Minsk Group,
said it is too early to speak of the details of the negotiations
underway in Baku, saying the negotiations are to be continued with
President Aliyev.

FRANCE FINDS THE QUID GUILTY OF TURKISH PROPAGANDA

YEREVAN, JULY 8. ARMINFO. A Paris court found the famous French
encyclopedia The Quid guilty of printing the Turkish view on the
“Armenian genocide”.

As the newspaper Zaman reports, the court fined The Quid encyclopedias
a symbolic indemnity payment of one euro. According to the court
decision the 2003 and 2004 editions of the encyclopedia, the Turkish
version of events were presented on the Armenian claim and the
opinions mentioned by the ‘denying historians’ were given as if they
were definite information. The court concluded that the Turkish
opinion was handled more extensively in the encyclopedia.

The Quid was also found guilty of supporting the thesis claiming that
Armenians were deported since they cooperated with Russians against
Turks. The Robert Laffont Publishing, which published the
encyclopedia, will announce the court decision in three newspapers and
three magazines. The publishing company had made a change in its 2005
edition upon Armenian pressure. The French Armenian Case Defense
Committee (CDCA) appealed to a Paris court in 2003 to launch an
investigation against The Quid on the grounds of publishing the
Turkish version of the 1915 incidents. Commenting on the court
decision, CDCA President Harout Mardirossian said, “it is a great
victory for the memory of our grandmothers and grandfathers”‘ adding
that with this decision France sent a significant message to Turkey to
end its ‘denial propaganda’. Stressing that the fight against denial
would continue, Mardirossian said they would try for France’s enacting
a law to punish those denying the Armenian genocide. Four law drafts
about this issue are waiting to come to the agenda in the French
Parliament. A Paris court heard the case in May. Armenian
organizations had claimed that the genocide is a reality accepted by
everyone and there cannot be a “Turkish opinion” and “Armenian
opinion”. Accusing The Quid of propaganda in favor of Turkey, CDCA
claimed that the viewpoint shown as scientific was in fact Turkey’s
official stance and to question the “Armenian genocide”. Refuting the
accusations, Robert Laffront Publishing said they had handled the
genocide issue taking all its aspects into consideration and that they
mentioned Armenian opinions in the section about Armenia. Formerly,
the court had convicted famous historian Bernard Lewis to a symbolic
payment of one euro for indemnity in 1995 after he spoke to French
newspaper Le Monde against the Armenian genocide.

A1plus

| 17:42:13 | 08-07-2005 | Official |

HEADING FOR IRAQ

The 46-person detachment of the 12th peace battalion will leave for Iraq on
July 10 to replace their colleagues who have been there on a peaceful
mission since January 18.

The first shift of the Armenians serving in Iraq – a detachment of 46
soldiers, will return to Armenia on July 16-21.

Pan Armenian News

IMF DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR APPRECIATED ECONOMIC REFORM IN ARMENIA

08.07.2005 03:46

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Ambassador to the US Tatul Margarian met with IMF
Deputy Managing Director Augustin Carstens, RA MFA press center reported.
The meeting took place on the threshold of Carstens’ visit to Armenia.
During the meeting Mr. Carstens gave a high estimate to the economic reform
that resulted in sustainable growth of economy, poverty reduction and
national currency appreciation. In his turn Tatul Margarian commended IMF’s
assistance to Armenia. Augustin Carstens noted he would like to familiarize
himself with the current situation in the republic to make a clear picture
of the reforms carried out. He expressed assurance his visit will be
efficient and useful.

7 July 2005

Press Center
Office of the Ombudsman of Georgia
11 Machabeli Street,
Tbilisi 0105, Georgia
Tel: (995 32) 92 24 79/80
Fax: (995 32) 92 24 70
Mobile: (995 77) 50 52 30
E-mail: [email protected]

Council of Religions Approved its Charter

On July 5th, the Office of the Ombudsman of Georgia hosted the first meeting
of the Council of Religions. Representatives of the different confession
united in the Council discussed the points of the proposed charter in
details and elaborated the final Charter. It was noted, that the Charter had
been elaborated based on the Memorandum and the Council itself will follow
the main principles of the Memorandum.

Particular attention was paid to the article dealing with accepting new
members. It was noted, that as the Council itself was established following
the initiative of the Ombudsman of Georgia and functions under the
Ombudsman, all other religious organization wishing to unite in the Council
should address the Ombudsman for recommendations.

`We gathered here following the invitation of the Ombudsman of Georgia and
thus we trust him’, – noted the representative of Seventh Day Adventist
Church Emzar Chrichikashvili.

Ombudsman of Georgia should ensure that the Council acts according to the
Georgian Constitution and Georgian legislation. Thus it is his
responsibility to find out that a religious organization wishing to become a
member of the Council does not carry out activities breaching the
Constitution of Georgia.

`Participation of the Ombudsman of Georgian in the Religions Council creates
favorable conditions for coordinated and effective implementation of
social-humanitarian, educational and human rights activities for the
representatives of different conditions and promotes dialogue among them’, –
said the representative of the Ombudsman of Georgia Beka Mindiashvili who
led the meeting.

According to the Charter, representatives of each confession united in the
Council and the Ombudsman have only one vote, however, number of
participants during meetings and discussions is not limited.

On July 5th, Armenian Apostolic Church, Yezidi Union and a branch of the
evangelic Church `Lord’s Embassy’ became the members of the Council.

The participants of the meeting expressed willingness to actively cooperate
with the `Council for the Support of the State Development’ under the Office
of the Patriarch of Georgia.

Head of Armenian Apostolic Church Vazgen Mirzakhanian invited Head of
Freedom and Equality Division of the Office of Ombudsman Beka Mindiashvili
and Secretary of the Council of Religions Elene Nodia to his residence. The
archbishop promised to fully support the work of the Council and noted, that
the Ombudsman significantly contributes to promotion of religious freedom
and tolerance in the country.

Press Center of the Office of the Ombudsman of Georgia

Georgian MPs say clashes in Armenian-populated areas not of “interethnic”
nature

Arminfo
7 Jul 05

YEREVAN

A delegation of Georgian parliamentarians of Armenian origin today
arrived in Yerevan on a working visit at the invitation of Armenian
Speaker Artur Bagdasaryan.

Commenting on the socioeconomic situation in the Armenian-populated
districts of Georgia as well as frequent clashes [between Georgians
and Armenians], a member of the Georgian parliament, Van Bayburtyan,
told our Arminfo correspondent : “All clashes which occur in various
districts of Georgia, including in the Armenian-populated districts,
have an exclusively common nature and are not a result of interethnic
strife.”

[Passage omitted on specific incident in Tsalka District]

Bayburtyan said that the Armenian media have been exaggerating and
incorrectly describing the situation in Georgia and the
Armenian-populated districts of this country. “All these have a
negative impact on the Armenian-Georgian relations, especially given
that there are many people wishing to aggravate relations between the
two countries,” he said.

A member of the Georgian parliament from Akhalkalaki District, Gamlet
Movsisyan, also said that there was no need to see the said clashes in
the Armenian-populated districts of Georgia as a serious problem and
worsen the relations between Armenia and Georgia. “Clashes also occur
in other Georgian districts and in Armenia itself, but this does not
mean that they should certainly be of interethnic nature,” he pointed
out.

As for the socioeconomic situation in the Armenian-populated districts
of Georgia, Movsisyan said that a programme on the socioeconomic
development of these districts were being elaborated. He also pointed
out that not only the government of Georgia, but also of Armenia
should take part in the implementation of this programme. The MP said
that a meeting between the prime ministers of the two countries were
expected in the near future, during which this programme will be
discussed in detail.

As for the possible deterioration of the situation in Georgia’s
Akhalkalaki District after the withdrawal of the Russian military
bases, Movsisyan thinks that the leadership of Georgia will keep its
promise and create new jobs for the residents of the district who used
to work at the Russian military bases.

Turkish premier addresses Azerbaijan Assembly on Armenia, Cyprus, EU, Eurasia

Anatolia news agency, Ankara
30 Jun 05

Baku, 30 June: It is obligatory for Armenia, which continues to
occupy Azerbaijani territory in contravention of UN resolutions, to
show its will to improve relations with its neighbours within the
framework of respect to international law and good-neighbourhood,
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday [30 June].

Addressing the Azerbaijani National Assembly, Erdogan underlined
good relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan, and said that the
two countries aimed to assure peace, stability and prosperity in
their region.

Erdogan said that Turkey was ready to extend every support to
Azerbaijan during the parliamentary elections due in November, and
stated that Turkey could contribute to the international monitoring
delegation if it was asked to.

Turkey’s EU membership bid

Touching on Turkey’s European Union (EU) membership bid, Erdogan said:
“Turkey should be admitted to the EU. What will happen if it isn’t? We
will continue our path, naming the ‘Copenhagen political criteria’
as ‘Ankara political criteria’. We consider the EU as a union of
values. And, we say that it should also include Muslim countries. The
EU should be the address where civilizations meet and reconcile. If
EU wants to be such an Union, it should admit Turkey.”

Old disputes

“Despite rapid changes in the world, security and stability are
not yet established in international arena,” Erdogan said, adding:
“Old disputes hampered improvement of relations between countries of
the region; fight against cross-border crimes became more and more
difficult each passing day; and proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction caused concerns.”

Erdogan stated that terrorism continued to threaten societies
despite increasing international cooperation, and indicated that the
international community was still searching for peace, stability,
justice, fair distribution of income, better management and efficient
international cooperation.

Turkey’s Eurasia vision

“Linking Europe to Asia through energy pipelines and transit roads,
and creating new dynamics to ensure economic growth are the basis of
Turkey’s Eurasia vision,” said Erdogan.

Erdogan went on saying: “Turkey encourages positive changes in the
region from the Black Sea to the Caucasus, and to the Middle East. It
aims to establish a climate of cooperation instead of tension and
clashes. One of the main targets of our foreign policy is to contribute
to the solution of ongoing disputes in our region.”

“It is for the common interest of Turkey and Azerbaijan to assure
lasting peace, security and stability in Southern Caucasus. Solution
of Upper Karabakh dispute through peaceful means, and by the
safeguard of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, will contribute to
regional stability. The Council of Europe has declared Armenia as
‘occupier’. What they (Armenia) should do is to withdraw from the
Upper Karabakh, as soon as possible. But, instead of doing so, they
(the Armenians) continue their lobby activities and their efforts
to justify their so-called genocide allegations. We have opened our
archives. They have not given an answer yet, because they know they
are wrong,” said Erdogan.

Erdogan noted: “What is important for Turkey regarding the Upper
Karabakh dispute is what the Azerbaijani people want. A solution,
which will be in the best interest of the Azerbaijani people, will
be supported by Turkey.”

Prime Minister Erdogan expressed his belief that Turkey’s EU membership
would also help to the rapprochement of Caucasian peoples with the EU.

Cyprus

Touching on Cyprus problem, Erdogan said: “We know that Azerbaijan
shares our view that Turkish Cypriots should be freed from
international isolation.”

Recalling that Azerbaijan would soon start flights to [self-declared]
TRNC [Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus], Erdogan said that Turkish
Cypriots fulfilled their responsibilities, but their interlocutors
did not.

Erdogan later met Azerbaijani Prime Minister Artur [Tahir] Rasizada.

CRIMEAN PARLIAMENT REFUSED TO CANCEL THE DECISION TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Pan Armenian News

Despite the pressure from official Kiev Crimean lawmakers stayed
close to their principles.

On June 22 the Supreme Council of Crimea again discussed the question
of Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey. It should be reminded that on
May 19 the Crimean parliament passed a resolution proclaiming April
24 as the day to commemorate the victims of Armenian Genocide. Under
the pressure from the outside the leadership of the legislative organ
came up with an initiative to cancel the resolution. By the majority
of votes the deputies rejected the proposal.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The bill on announcing April 24 the Memory Day of
the victims of Armenian genocide was introduced by the deputy from the
Congress of Russian communities of Crimea Sergey Shuvaynikov. 59 out
of 62 deputies of the Crimean parliament voted for the bill. However,
immediately after the voting the chairman of the Supreme Rada of the
Autonomous Republic of Crimea Boris Deich announced that he would
not sign the resolution since it could have undesirable political
consequences and official Kiev started to openly put pressure upon
the deputies. The foreign ministry of Ukraine gave to understand that
they would make efforts to achieve cancellation of the decision of
Crimean lawmakers at any price. Unable to bear the pressure, during
the seating of the presidium of the Supreme Council deputy Shuvaynikov
reluctantly suggested to make corrections in the document and to
qualify the events of 1915 as “tragedy”. By the majority of votes the
presidium rejected the proposal and decided to leave the document
as it is, without putting the issue of changing the formulation of
the resolution on the agenda of the parliament. Nevertheless speaker
Boris Deich did not give up the idea to achieve the inclusion of the
issue on the agenda. He decided to pursue the initiative directly at
the plenary session.

In the case in question the head of the legislative organ of the
autonomy realized the will of official Kiev that actively flirts
with Baku opposing itself to Yerevan. Ukraine and Azerbaijan are
partner countries in GUAM but allied obligations do not demand open
neglection towards Armenia with which Ukraine has ancient historical
connections. It is quite obvious that it was Ilham Aliev that persuaded
Ukrainian leaders to put pressure on Crimea. During the meeting with
the speaker of Supreme Rada of Ukraine Vladimir Litvin the President of
Azerbaijan demanded to do everything possible to make Crimean lawmakers
reconsider their decision concerning the recognition of Armenian
genocide. Ankara on its turn also made use of diplomatic instruments,
including even the resources of Crimean-Tatar community. Mejlis –
the illegal “parliament” of Crimean Tatars spoke out against the
resolution. The leaders of the Azerbaijan community of Kiev even
started discussing the necessity of Ukrainian parliament to pass a
bill, announcing the resolution invalid.

Arguing the necessity of canceling the resolution, the speaker of the
parliament Boris Deich mentioned that passing of the resolution had
aroused dangerous international resonance. However the arguments of his
opponents turned to be more persuasive. The pro-Armenian atmosphere in
the Crimean parliament was formed yet when the vice-speaker of Supreme
Council of the autonomy was Anushavan Danielyan – current Primer
Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh. In his speech during the debates deputy
Vladimir Kazarin said, “I don’t understand what has the president of
Azerbaijan to do with our decision”. Kazarin reminded that Armenians
have lived on the territory of Crimea for more than 1500 years. “They
have had a tremendous input in the development of the peninsula. The
history of Crimea is inseparably linked to the names of hundreds
of outstanding Armenians who have become dear for Crimea”, the
deputy said. The head of the Crimean organization of the Republican
party of Ukraine Alexander Gross also supported Kazarin and said,
“No parliament in the world has ever cancelled passed resolutions
for the commemoration of the victims of Armenian genocide. This can
be a sad precedent. We have to account for our own decisions…”

As a result, the initiative of the speaker was put to the vote and
received only 13 votes. The issue is closed. From now on, every year
on April 24 Crimea will officially commemorate the victims of Armenian
genocide in Ottoman Turkey.

25.06.2005, “PanARMENIAN Network” analytical department