Author: Nahapetian Lilit

RA Foreign Minister met his NKR counterpart

ArmRadio.am
28.04.2006 14:30

RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan left for Nagorno-Karabakh on a
two-day visit to hold consultations.

The Foreign Minister has already met his NKR counterpart Georgi
Petrosyn and employees of the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Vardan Oskanyan is scheduled to meet NKR President Arkadi Ghukasyan,
Parliament Speaker Ashot Ghulyan and Prime Minister Anushavan
Danielyan. The Minister will deliver a report at the State University
of Artsakh.

REPS OF LITHUANIA’S IT SECTOR INVITED TO ARMENIA

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
April 26 2006

YEREVAN, April 26. /ARKA/. Representatives of Lithuania’s IT-sector
have been invited to Armenia to take part in a Month of information
technologies, RA Premier Andranik Margaryan stated at his meeting
with Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus.

The RA Premier informed the Lithuanian President that a Month of
Information Technologies is to be held in Yerevan in September-October
2006. A number of conferences, as well as an annual international
exhibition “DIGITEC 2006”, will be organized as part of the Month. A
programming competition, an international e-content contest,
an international conference as part of the Armenia-Diaspora forum,
as well as exhibitions and special IT training courses in Armenia’s
schools, are expected to be organized.

BUSH’S GENOCIDE SPEECH UNACCEPTABLE FOR TURKEY
By Hakob Chakrian

AZG Armenian Daily
28/04/2006

Armenians worldwide focused their attention on president George
W. Bush’s annual speech on April 24.

Turkey also caught it in the spotlight insofar as Turkish papers and
Turkish Foreign Ministry’s statement suggest.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Namek Tan presented the
statement. Responding to US president’s April 24 speech, he said that
there are a few acceptable ideas in it, Milliet newspaper reports. As
to the hint at creating of a joint group of scholars in Bush’s speech,
Tan considered it a positive proposal.

Though the spokesperson has not explained what statements are
unacceptable for Turkey, they are obvious.

Pres. Bush says in his speech: “Today, we remember one of the horrible
tragedies of the 20th century: the mass killing and forced exile of
as many as 1.5 million of Armenians in the final days of the Ottoman
Empire in 1915. This was a tragedy for all humanity and one that we
and the world must never forget.”

Though the statement lacks the word “genocide”, this is a clear-cut
definition of genocides as the UN Convention on Genocide has it.

Moreover, George Bush touches upon the analysis of the Center for
Transitional Justice and though he considers it incomplete, he points
out that it is a serious contribution to deepening the perception of
1915 event.

As it is known, a 17-page report was made in 2003 based on CTJ analysis
in which it draws the following conclusion on the events of 1915 in
the Ottoman Empire: “In whole, these events have all the elements
of genocide as the UN Convention on Genocides defines it. Lawyers,
political scientists, journalists and others will be correct if they
use this definition for these events.”

In other words, by referring to the CTJ’s analysis, Bush indirectly
confirms that the events of 1915 match UN Conventions definition
of genocides.

All these could not certainly be acceptable for the Turkish Foreign
Ministry. What spokesperson Tan avoids say openly write the newspapers
emphasizing that at the end of his speech president Bush passed his
wife’s condolence to the Armenian nation. Curiously enough, Milliet
titled its article on Bush’s speech “No Word ‘Genocide’ but…” thus
showing its displeasure with it.

20 ARMENIAN POLITICAL PARTIES TO FOLLOW PROVISIONS OF PLAN “LET’S WIN TOGETHER WITH WOMEN”

Noyan Tapan
Apr 27 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 27, NOYAN TAPAN. 20 Armenian parties have expressed
readiness to follow the provisions of the plan “Let’s Win Together
with Women”. Last year the Institute of National Democracy announced a
general actions plan “let’s Win Together with Women” aimed at involving
women in politics. The goal of the plan is to increase the women’s
number on the ruling positions and to encourage their participation
in the electoral processes. According to the report provided to Noyan
Tapan, the Institute of National Democracy has founded the “Woman
Leader” forum, in which women representing NGOs, political parties,
governmental and business spheres are included.

FILM CHOICE
by Stephen Dalton

The Times (London)
April 25, 2006, Tuesday

NIAGARA (1953)

Channel 4, 1.20pm. Marilyn Monroe graduated to headline movie stardom
with an untypical role as a scheming femme fatale.

On the surface, Rose Loomis (Monroe) is visiting Niagara Falls in
an attempt to rekindle her marriage to George (Joseph Cotten). But
in reality she is waging a psychological war against her husband,
hatching a murder plot in which a young couple (Jean Peters and Max
Showalter) become fatally entangled. Henry Hathaway’s glossy thriller
is notable chiefly for Monroe’s smouldering, malevolent performance.

(92 min)

ALMOST FAMOUS (1999)

ITV2, 9pm/11.45pm. The writer and director Cameron Crowe revisited
his early career as a teenage reporter for Rolling Stone magazine in
the 1970s for this warm-hearted, lightly fictionalised memoir. The
fresh-faced newcomer Patrick Fugit is charming and gangly as the
young Crowe surrogate, a southern Californian mummy’s boy who ends up
sharing groupies and life lessons on the road with a bickering rock
band. Kate Hudson, Billy Crudup, Jason Lee and an Oscar-nominated
Frances McDormand co-star. Philip Seymour Hoffman also makes an
appearance as the legendary rock writer Lester Bangs. (122 min).

THE COLOUR OF POMEGRANATES (1968)

Artsworld, 10pm. Imprisoned and banned by the Soviet authorities for
his human rights activism and homosexuality, the Armenian director
Sergei Parajanov crafted an exquisitely beautiful, occasionally
impenetrable tribute to the 18th-century poet Sayat Nova in The
Colour of Pomegranates. Laden with religious and cultural symbols,
Parajanov’s absorbing visual poem eventually became an underground
festival hit in the West despite censorship at home. He returned to
film-making after his release from jail, dying in 1990 just as the
Soviet Union crumbled. (79 min)

The defendants, who were indicted Thursday, have been charged with
conspiracy, health care fraud, Medicare kickbacks, making false
statements to Medicare and money laundering.

The group allegedly was led by Konstantin Grigoryan, 56, of Altadena,
a former colonel in the Soviet army; his wife, Mayya Leonidovna
Grigoryan, 54; the Grigoryans’ son-in-law, Eduard Gershelis, 34, of
Los Angeles; Mayya Grigoryan’s brother-in-law, Aleksandr Treynker,
48, of Canoga Park; and Haroutyun Gulderyan, 36, of Tujunga.

The Grigoryans and Gershelis have been in federal custody since their
March 21 arrests. Gulderyan and Treynker have been released on bond.

The five are scheduled to appear in court June 13.

Gershelis’ attorney, Jerome Mooney, described the episode as “a very
unfortunate circumstance.” Attorneys for the other defendants did
not return phone calls from the Los Angeles Daily News seeking comment.

Last December, three operators of an Orange County clinic pleaded
guilty to charges they bilked insurers out of nearly $15 million by
operating on healthy people, authorities said.

OSCE REPORTER ARRIVES ON MAY 5- BAHAR MURADOVA
Author: S. Ilhamgizi

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
April 26 2006

The OSCE parliamentary assembly reporter on Nagorno-Karabakh, Goran
Lenmarker will arrive to Azerbaijan on May 5, Milli Mejlis vice
speaker, Bahar Muradova told Trend.

“We have already received a letter from Lenmarker, he will arrive
in the first decade of May. Here, he will prepare for the report on
Nagorno-Karabakh and have a number of meetings. During the previous
meeting we requested him to visit areas of residence of forcibly
displaced persons,” she said.

“Karabakh was discussed at every OSCE meeting, as the Minsk group is
a mediator of the peaceful resolution of the conflict. Introducing
this question to the OSCE agenda will depend on development of the
negotiating process. Meetings of Azerbaijani and Armenian heads of
state and foreign ministers hint that the regulation process is keep
on moving forward. However, only in case if some positive results
will be achieved, OSCE will start talking about Nagorno-Karabakh.

Otherwise, discussions will be fruitless as we have already raised
this question previously,” she said.

The given question has to be reviewed in the similar order in
Azerbaijani parliament too. “Talks are held behind the closed doors
and their details are not disclosed. If there are no exact results,
we have nothing to discuss. Parliament can only discuss the exact
results,” she concluded.

BRANCH OF VIENNA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY TO OPEN IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
Apr 26 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 26, NOYAN TAPAN. A branch of the International
University of Vienna will be opened in Yerevan. Chairman of the
Office of European Armenian Organizations Ashot Grigorian, through
whose mediation the university rector Vil Guder and deputy rector
Linda Boer had visited Yerevan, told NT correspondent about it. The
branch will function under the patronage of Yerevan Russian-Armenian
University, whose rector Armen Darbinian on April 22 signed an
agreement on opening the branch. Students of the Armenian branch of
the International University of Vienna will have the opportunity to
study diplomacy and political science and receive a MBA degree.

“THE PROBLEM IS THE PURPOSE RATHER THAN THE PROGRAM”

Lragir.am
25 April 06

One of the recent important events in the political life of Armenia was
the appearance of the Bargavach Hayastan Party (Prosperous Armenia). A
week ago the program of this political party was published, which is
characterized by analysts as liberal and exceptional for the past
10 years. The chair of the faction of the Republican Party Galust
Sahakyan says the program is rather profound.

“There is a perception in press, in the society that all the political
parties are similar. It is natural, for our state and nation are
facing the same problems, and there must be similarities in their
functions. However, I think, the way and approaches of the Bargavach
Hayastan Party is acceptable for all the political parties, especially
that the problem is not the program or bylaws but the purpose for
which the political party was set up.”

Liberation , France
22 Avril 2006

La memoire armenienne fait irruption a Lyon

Riverains, conseillers municipaux UMP et, surtout, militants turcs se
sont ligues contre le monument commemorant le genocide armenien qui
sera inaugure lundi.

par Alice GERAUD
QUOTIDIEN : samedi 22 avril 2006

Lyon correspondance

Hemine parle calmement “Ce monument n’a pas a etre la. Je considère
que c’est une insulte a mon peuple.” Hemine a 18 ans, elle est
d’origine turque et ne comprend pas pourquoi la ville de Lyon a
souhaite que soit construit un memorial du genocide armenien. Elle ne
“croit” d’ailleurs pas au genocide armenien. A côte d’elle, derrière
les barrières metalliques protegeant le monument qui doit etre
officiellement inaugure lundi, un homme se definit comme “un
Gaulois”. Lui aussi est “contre” : “Il aurait mieux valu faire
quelque chose contre tous les genocides.” Un troisième trouve surtout
ca “très laid. Ca ne va pas sur cette belle place.” Leonardo
Basmadyan, l’architecte, hausse les epaules et essaie d’expliquer le
sens du monument en hommage a “tous les genocides”. “Les gens font la
demarche de venir discuter, c’est deja bien. On a vu pire.”

Sur le meme sujet
Une loi punitive dans les cartons des parlementaires
A savoir
“Ce memorial ne fait que nourrir la haine entre les deux camps”
Piège
Pire, ce sont les inscriptions negationnistes taggees la semaine
dernière sur les “feuilles” de pierre verticales qui constituent le
monument. Pire, ce fut cette manifestation turque le 18 mars a Lyon,
où l’on a pu voir des pancartes niant le genocide armenien, des
jeunes faisant le signe des Loups Gris (parti extremiste turque). Et
puis, raconte Leonardo Basmadyan, il y a aussi ces gens qui,
regulièrement, s’approchent du monument pour proferer des insultes.

Joutes. Une hostilite constante depuis la decision en 2004 de la
municipalite d’autoriser la construction d’une oeuvre en memoire du
genocide armenien. Plus de 2 500 lettres recues a la mairie, dont une
majorite identiques, envoyees par des membres de la communaute turque
de toute la France. Quatre recours au tribunal administratif deposes
par une association de riverains qui ont retarde les travaux de plus
d’un an. Et quelques joutes en conseil municipal. Gerard Collomb,
senateur-maire PS de Lyon, parle d’acharnement “Nous n’aurions jamais
imagine que cela puisse meme faire debat. Il faut bien admettre que
la reconnaissance du genocide armenien en France ne va pas de soi, et
pas seulement dans la communaute turque.”

Les premiers opposants n’ont d’ailleurs pas ete les Turcs. Mais une
association de riverains du IIe arrondissement et une partie de
l’opposition municipale UMP. Les motifs ne sont pas politiques mais
“esthetiques”. Ils defendent l’identite de la place Antonin-Poncet,
en plein centre de Lyon, où est erige le memorial. Marie-Chantal
Desbazeilles, conseillère municipale UMP en tete de la contestation,
dit n’avoir “rien contre ce monument”. “Je suis pas une sorcière
negationniste, je dis simplement qu’il ne fallait pas le mettre la,
sur une place sanctuarisee par l’Unesco”, explique-t-elle en
reference au classement du centre ville au patrimoine mondial. Selon
les riverains, le monument “boucherait la vue” et serait “trop
contemporain” pour cette place qui a en fait ete concue dans sa forme
actuelle… il y a une quinzaine d’annees. Et dont le principal
bâtiment est une gigantesque poste a l’architecture toute
stalinienne. “Je ne suis pas certain que ces oppositions sur la forme
ne cachent pas une opposition de fond”, suspecte le maire.

Selon Jean-Yves Secheresse, elu en charge du dossier, ces reticences
fleurent surtout “un bon vieux conservatisme”. “Mais, note-il, que ce
soit dans les reunions de quartier ou dans les courriers adresses au
maire, on percoit aussi des choses qui ne sentent pas toujours très
bon.” Ainsi, cette habitante de Villeurbanne qui parle de sa “rage”
de voir eriger un monument pour un genocide certes reconnu mais qui a
eu lieu loin de la France. “C’est une porte ouverte a toutes les
misères du monde”, ecrit-elle.

Menaces. Certaines lettres sont explicitement racistes. Mais la
majorite emane de la communaute turque. Envois groupes et
stereotypes. Plusieurs centaines d’habitants d’un meme village du
Jura, par exemple, qui demandent expressement “que la construction de
ce memorial ne se fasse pas”. Ils expliquent aussi que ce genocide
n’a pas existe, il s’agit de “simples populations deplacees”. Le ton
est parfois menacant, evoquant les “graves consequences” d’une telle
decision “qui ne pourra qu’attiser la haine entre les communautes”.
Depuis l’episode des tags negationnistes, plusieurs responsables de
la communaute turque lyonnaise, notamment dans les mouvements de
jeunes, tentent de calmer le jeu. Appelant a une “solidarite entre
les peuples armeniens et turcs”.

–Boundary_(ID_t3VKsp085q/MoxyL4E1T4Q)–

BOSTON NEWSPAPERS WRITE ABOUT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

BOSTON, APRIL 21, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. According to the
paper “Boston Glob”, US politicians and orgnizations representing
various communities are joining American Armenians in their struggle
for the history of the Armenian Genocide to be taught at general
education schools of the US. The Boston court is examining a case
brought by a Massachusetts school teacher and pupil, and by a Turkish
organization that demand that the Turkish point of view on the
Armenian Genocide be also included in history books. According to the
paper, the Armenian organizations of the state of Massachusetts are
going to stage a protest outside the Boston court on April 21 with
participation of representatives of the local Jewish and Dutch
communities, Massachusetts prosecutor general and deputy governor,
both of them running for the post of governor. Radio Liberty reported
that the “Boston Herald” also recently addressed the issue of the
Armenian Genocide by citing an opinion expressed by Helen Fain, an
expert of Harvard Insitute for Genocide Studies. According to her, it
was a genocide by all criteria, and it is even offensive and funny to
argue with its deniers.