Author: Nahapetian Lilit

What the European organizations can do in Karabakh

28-04-2007 12:07:54 – KarabakhOpen

Stepanakert Resource Center continues to deliver lectures in
different parts of the republic in association with the International
Alert. Recently Karen Bekaryan, the head of the European Integration
NGO, delivered lectures in Martuni and Shushi.

At the discussion club in Martuni Karen Bekaryan told about the
European organizations and their role and influence in the South
Caucasian region. Young people were interested to know what role these
organizations could have for the settlement of the Karabakh issue.

In Shushi the European organizations which deal with social and
humanitarian problems, as well as the growing interest of Europe
towards Armenia and Karabakh were discussed. The people of Shushi
are interested why the European organizations do not deal with the
problems of refugees who live in Karabakh.

RESIDENCE TO EX-PRESIDENT

A1+
[05:49 pm] 26 April, 2007

As the presidential election is drawing nearer, the parliament
has amended the law on pay, service and security of the NKR
president. According to these amendments, the NKR president will
be provided with an office, a house, a summerhouse and special
transport. The minister of justice Robert Hairapetyan who presented
the bill said the ex-president will also be provided with residence
and security, as well as possibility to go abroad twice a year.

ZHIRAYR SEFILYAN SUPPORTS SAMVEL BABAYAN

A1+
[04:43 pm] 27 April, 2007

Zhirayr Sefilyan, a veteran of the Nagorno-Karabakh war, a coordinator
of a public organization "Protection of Liberated Territories" and
commander of the Shushi battalion, urged the Armenian people to vote
for the "Dashink" (Alliance) Party. To note, Sefilyan sent the letter
from the NSC isolation ward.

"We can impede the further reproduction of the acting authorities
by joint efforts, coordinated activity and consolidation of the
opposition. We didn’t hide our stance and called on the opposition
to run for the elections in 2-3 fronts as they had failed to
unite. Surely, the scared high-level officials watched our steps
and applied drastic methods to frustrate our hopes; they isolated my
proponents and me thus hindering our activity."

Unfortunately, the oppositional forces run for the parliament under the
scenario of the acting officialdom. But we mustn’t be discouraged by
that fact. I urge the Armenian people to participate in the elections
and vote for the Dashink Party and its leader Samvel Babayan,"
Zhirayr Sefilyan’s letter reads.

CHRISTIAN SLAYINGS PROBE LEADS TO 12 ARRESTS IN TURKEY
By Jennifer Riley

Christian Post
April 23 2007

Twelve suspects have been detained by Turkish police as investigations
continue into the slaying of three men last week in a Christian
publishing house that distributes Bibles in Turkey.

The girlfriend of one of the 11 suspects was arrested in Istanbul
Saturday bringing the total number to 12 people believed to
be connected to the killing of the three victims, reported The
Associated Press.

Last Wednesday, one German and two Turkish Christians were bound hand
and legs before having their throats slit in the southeastern city
of Malatya.

The town of Malatya is the hotbed of Turkish nationalism and is the
hometown of Mehmet Ali Agca, the gunman who tried to assassinate Pope
John Paul II in 1981.

Two of the victims, Necati Aydin, 36, and Tilmann Geske, 46, were
already dead upon police arrival. The third, Ugur Yuksel, 32, died
in the hospital due to profuse blood lost.

Aydin and Yuksel were both Muslim converts to Christianity making them
the first known martyrdom of Turkish converts from Islam since the
founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923, according to persecution
watchdog Compass Direct News.

The Zirve Publishing House general manager said his employees had
recently received threats but he could not identify who made them,
according to CNN-Turk television. Furthermore, Dogan news agency
reported, the publishing house was the target of previous protests
by nationalists who accuse it of proselytizing.

Some of the suspects told investigators that they killed the Christian
men to protect Islam.

"We didn’t do this for ourselves, but for our religion," Turkish
newspaper Hurriyet quoted a suspect as saying, according to AP. "Our
religion is being destroyed. Let this be a lesson to enemies of
our religion."

The deaths of the three Christian men were the latest in politically
secular Turkey where over 99 percent of 71 million citizens are Muslim.

Last year, Turkish youths killed an Italian Roman Catholic priest
while he prayed in a church in Trabzon, and earlier this year a gunman
killed prominent Armenian Christian editor Hrant Dink in Istanbul.

All of last week’s victims worked in Zirve Publishing House and
attended the same local 30-member Kurtulus Protestant Church pastored
by victim Aydin, according Compass Direct News.

Aydin and Geske were each married and had two children while Yuksel
was engaged to be married within a few months, according to Compass.

Last Friday, the World Evangelical Alliance sent Johan Candelin of
Finland to Turkey as its representative to provide spiritual support
to the families of the three deceased.

"We condemn this act of violence against Turkish Christians. We must
find a way of resolving conflict without resorting to these kinds of
brutal acts," said Geoff Tunnicliffe, international director of the
WEA, in a statement last week.

The WEA is composed of 127 national evangelical alliances and
represents 420 million evangelical Christians worldwide.

"It is incumbent upon government, community and faith leaders to
help create a climate of mutual respect that builds understanding
and reconciliation," declared Tunnicliffe. "Today, we grieve for the
loss of our brothers and we stand in solidarity, prayer and support
for Christians in Turkey."

ROUTINE APPROACH TO KARABAKH PROBLEM, INGRAINED IN INTERNATIONAL STRUCTURES, IS DANGEROUS: NKR FM

Arminfo
2007-04-23 12:04:00

‘The statement of the Chairman of CE Ministers Committee indicates
poor knowledge of the kernel and course of the Karabakh conflict by
the European officials even of such high level. Representatives of
different European structures try to cover this gap by stereotyped
answers, as it was in case with the FM of San Marino Fiorenzo
Stolfi. However, such a routine approach to the Karabakh problem
in general and to the process of civil society construction in NKR,
in particular, deep- rooted in the international structures lately,
is counterproductive and dangerous. Conformism before the whims of
Azerbaijan, very often demonstrated by the European officials, may
be also perceived as an attempt to bring Nagorno Karabakh back to
the past. In view of this, I would like to recall Mr. Stolfi that
any attempts to deprive the NKR people of the right for democratic
development and strengthening of a civil society are doomed to failure,
NKR Foreign Minister Georgy Petrosyan said, commenting on the statement
of the Chairman of the CE Ministers Committee Fiorenzo Stolfi on the
forthcoming presidential election in NKR, in which he noted that the
presidential election cannot create favourable conditions for the
conflict settlement, since they predetermine the region status.

"The elections under conditions of democracy are the core Institute
of demonstration of political will of the people as a source of
power. The forthcoming summer, 2007, presidential election in NKR is
not an exception. It will have no influence on the Karabakh conflict
settlement process and will not predetermine the NKR status, since
its primary intent is to form a power by democratic mechanisms".

ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER AND "ROSATOM" HEAD DISCUSS POSSIBILITIES OF CONSTRUCTING NEW NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Apr 23 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 23, NOYAN TAPAN. The visit of the delegation of the RF
Federal Atomic Energy Agency to Armenia will mark the start of a new
stage in the cooperation between the two countries for the peaceful
use of atomic energy, especially as Armenia and Russia have already
accumulated substantial joint experience. The Armenian Prime Minister
Serge Sargsian stated this when receiving the head of the Rosatom
agency Sergei Kirienko and the delegation headed by him.

Attaching importance to development of cooperation with Russia in
the sphere of atomic energy, the prime minister underlined that the
Armenian side is prepared to receive Russian experts and will do
everything possible for the timely and successful implementation of
the programs envisaged by the mutual high-level agreements.

S. Kirienko in his turn noted that taking into account the positive
experience of the safe and reliable operation of the Armenian Nuclear
Power Plant, Armenia and Russia may successfully continue their
cooperation. In his words, a new state of practical realization of
joint initiatives starts, and it will raise the bilateral cooperation
in this sphere to a new qualitative level.

According to the RA Government Information and PR Department, during
the talk the sides also discussed the possibilities of building a
new nuclear power plant in Armenia.

CHAIRMAN OF PEOPLE’S FRONT PARTY NOMINATED AT ELECTORAL DISTRICT No17 INSISTS THAT HE IS PUT ON PRESSURES

Noyan Tapan
Apr 23 2007

ARTASHAT, APRIL 23, NOYAN TAPAN. The signboard of the Artashat
office of the People’s Front party was torn down at the night of
April 22-23. As the Noyan Tapan correspondent states from Artashat,
3 suspected were arrested on the occasion of that fact, another is
in search. People’s Front party Chairman Grisha Virabian qualified
the happened as an attack upon the office, insisting that an attempt
is made in such a way to put pressure upon him.

To recap, Chairman of the People’s Front party G. Virabian is nominated
by the majoritarian electoral system at electoral district No17
where Henrik Abrahamian, the brother of RA Minister of Territorial
Administration Hovik Abrahamian also nominated his candidature.

ARMENIANS REMEMBER OTTOMAN EMPIRE KILLINGS

Hindu, India
April 25 2007

Yerevan, Armenia, April 25 (AP): Tens of thousands of Armenians marked
the 92nd anniversary of mass killings in the Ottoman Empire Tuesday,
again calling on Turkey and the world to recognize the slayings
as genocide.

Grim-faced mourners waving flags marched through Yerevan to lay
flowers at a large hilltop granite memorial.

"We came here to pay tribute to the victims, so that our neighbors
wouldn’t for a minute think that we could forget about this, so that
this wouldn’t happen in the future," said acting Defence Minister
Michael Arutyunian.

The April 24 anniversary marks the day in 1915 when Turkish authorities
executed a large group of Armenian intellectuals and political leaders,
accusing them of helping the invading Russian army during World War I.

Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed
by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey denies
the deaths constituted genocide, saying that the toll has been inflated
and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

Bekir Coskun: We need to ask: Are we the real murderers?

Ana sayfa
Monday, April 23, 2007

This is a difficult column for me to write. The Malatya murders are
neither the first nor the last of their type. So maybe someone needs
to look back, and ask: "Is it we who are the murderers?"

It is difficult to recall anything said during our school days by our
Turkish elders about peace and love. But there’s a lot I recall being
said about three pointed javelins. And castles made from skulls. We
were always told about the Ottoman’s state order, and about where
the stability and continuation of the Ottomans derived from: the
pasha would tie his siblings to the caste vaults, and cut off their
heads. These stories were told to us with great pride, and thus we
would repeat them in pride to others…….

Pushing aside history for a moment though, we have a culture that
believes in letting blood flow, like when we are born, and when we get
out first diploma. Even people who get their first driving licenses
get told "…..make a sacrifice, at least a rooster if nothing
else." And of course, there was always the greatest show of belief,
the sacrificing of the lamb in the backyard of the house.

We all know the three men whose throats were cut in Malatya were
neither the first, nor will they be the last. Because the children of
this society have grown up hearing up the length of swords in schools,
seeing the lambs slaughtered in the backyards, and hearing the stories
of Ottoman skulls.

No one has ever taught them simply: "First, be human." Just as
we saw when the chants of "We are all Armenian" arose after Hrant
Dink’s funeral, those who have try to cry out "First, be human,"
have been labeled as "aetheists and traitors" by others. We need to
ask ourselves then, is it we ourselves who are the murderers, and
not just the handful of youngsters who carried out what they have
been taught in this society?

EU STARTING DISCUSSION OF LAWS PROVIDING FOR PUNISHMENT OF GENOCIDE DENIAL
By H. Chaqrian

AZG Armenian Daily
20/04/2007

Today on the meeting of the Internal Affairs Ministers of EU member
states a legislation bill project against "chauvinism and xenophobia"
shall be discussed. This bill, elaborated in Germany, the present
chair state of the EU, provides for punishment of all genocides ever
perpetrated throughout the human history, including the Armenian
Genocide of 1915.

The public television of Turkey reporting the news underlined that
official Ankara stands against the adoption of this bill, and the EU
member states have not come to consensus about it.

Time will tell when will the legislation against "chauvinism and
xenophobia" be adopted. In any case it’s obvious that Germany is
clearing a way to consolidation of the European states about genocide
denial.