Author: Nahapetian Lilit

WILL ARMENIAN DIASPORA OF ISTANBUL HAVE A NEW SPIRITUAL PASTOR?

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
08.06.2009 11:11 GMT+04:00

Bishop Sepuh Chuljyan, can become a potential replacement for Armenian
Apostolic Church Patriarch Mesrob II, Today’s Zaman reported. Currently
Chuljyan acts as the Head of AAC Gugark Eparchy.

When questioned by PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, Holy Echmiadzin Press
Service refrained from commenting on the news, naming them premature.

It’s been oven half a year since Mesrob Mutafyan hasn’t been able to
fulfill his duties because of illness and was replaced by Archbishop
Ateshyan. According to Turkish legislation, the Patriarch, who’s also
the head of Armenian Diaspora in Turkey, is chosen by the Diaspora
itself. Later his position is approved by All Armenian Catholic and
Turkish Department for Religious Affairs.

WPS Agency, Russia
June 5 2009

KARABAKH ON THE NEVA RIVER

by Natalia Portyakova, Natalia Kostenko

MEDVEDEV MANAGED TO ARRANGE NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN PRESIDENTS OF ARMENIA
AND AZERBAIJAN; Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan discussed
Nagorno-Karabakh in St.Petersburg.

Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan Serj Sargsjan and Ilham Aliyev
discussed Karabakh, yesterday. Their meeting lasted almost 2.5
hours. It took place within the framework of the St.Petersburg
International Economic Forum at first and continued in the presence of
OSCE Minsk Group chairmen. Later that night, these two leaders met
with President Dmitry Medvedev separately.

Yerevan and Baku continue their efforts to solve the problem of
Nagorno-Karabakh, Sargsjan told journalists when his meeting with
Aliyev was finally over. "We keep looking for ways and means to ensure
safety of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh on its ancestral land and its
right to determine its own future," he added. Aliyev declined comment.

The meeting in St.Petersburg became the fifth round of the
Azerbaijani-Armenian negotiations. The first round had taken place in
St.Petersburg a year ago when Medvedev’s peace-making efforts resulted
in the so called Meindorf Declaration (November 2008). Both parties
confirmed their allegiance to a political settlement and readiness to
activate the talks.

A Presidential Administration official told this newspaper before the
meeting in St.Petersburg that expecting any breakthroughs from it was
no use. What really counted was that the parties were ready to
continue the dialogue encouraged by Moscow, he said.

"No, we do not aspire to any new agreements or any discussion of the
problem in detail at this point," Presidential Aide Sergei Prikhodko
explained.

Yerevan and Baku meanwhile uphold polar views on how to tackle the
problem of Nagorno-Karabakh. "The Armenians make an emphasis on the
right to self-determination, Azerbaijan on the principle of
territorial integrity," an Azerbaijani diplomat said.

Azerbaijan insists on the return of seven occupied districts to it and
return of refugees to their homes before the dialogue itself over the
status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia says that the order should be
reversed: status first, all the rest afterwards.

"Any compromise with Baku will hurt Sargsjan himself," political
scientist Aleksei Vlasov observed. "On the other hand, Moscow cannot
afford to forsake its diplomatic efforts because the United States
will certainly try to win Azerbaijan and Armenia over otherwise."

"The United States have been actively brainwashing Turkey to open the
border with Armenia," Azerbaijani political scientist Ali Abasov
said. "Moscow does not want it happening, of course, because of the
risk to lose Armenia."

Source: Vedomosti, No 102, June 5, 2009, p. A2

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
June 6 2009

`Elite’ Turks unwilling to share power, prosperity with `others’

A recently released survey on the attitudes and opinions of Turkey’s
`elites’ has shown that they deem themselves the `real owners of the
country’ and are unwilling to share their power and prosperity with
other groups.

The survey, titled `Elites and Social Divisions,’ was conducted by two
academics at Ä°stanbul Bilgi University among 40 well-educated
individuals in high-level professional positions. The survey aimed at
understanding the views of such individuals, seen as `elites’ in
Turkey, regarding other people in Turkish society, including
conservatives, minorities and non-Muslims.
Professor Füsun Ã`stel and Associate Professor Birol Caymaz
discussed a wide range of topics with the 40 participants. Among these
topics was the popularity of the ruling Justice and Development Party
(AK Party), the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink,
minority groups in Turkey, steps taken to solve the Kurdish question
and a closure case against the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party
(DTP).

According to the survey, the elites divide society into two camps:
`us’ and `others.’ They see others as threats to their own existence.

The elites see themselves as the carriers and protectors of the
republic and its values. The survey revealed that the participants
considered AK Party deputies `occupiers’ who did not deserve to be
represented in Parliament.

One of the respondents said she abhorred seeing a woman wearing the
headscarf in the Ã?ankaya presidential palace, referring to the
wife of President Abdullah Gül. Almost all of the participants
in the survey said they objected to the election of Gül as
president.

One respondent said she does not like to see so many covered women
around: `I try to act as if there were no women wearing the headscarf
around me. But there are too many.’ Another respondent said she avoids
any contact with covered women. `I don’t have any business with
them. I don’t meet them. I don’t support the idea of allowing covered
students to attend universities. I detest that idea,’ she emphasized.

Many participants supported last year’s closure case against the AK
Party, saying that although they don’t like the closure of political
parties in democracies, they would find closure justifiable for the AK
Party.

A closure case was filed against the AK Party last year on the grounds
that it had become a focal point of anti-secularist acts. The
Constitutional Court, however, refused to shut the party down.

Elites point to economic reasons as cause of Kurdish question

The survey also asked participants for their views on the causes
behind the long-standing Kurdish problem.

Respondents pointed to economic problems as the main factor in the
Kurdish issue. They said they were disturbed by the representation of
the DTP in Parliament. Others said the Kurdish question arose with the
foundation of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in 1984.

`The reason I don’t like Kurds is that they lead a tribal life,’ said
one of the respondents. Another participant said he was afraid of
educated Kurds more than uneducated ones. `I know some Kurds who are
university graduates. I think educated Kurds are more dangerous than
uneducated ones. They become more dangerous based on their capacity
for thinking,’ he explained.

Another individual surveyed said the DTP had become more popular after
it was promoted and supported by the AK Party. `The DTP is an
artificial formation. It is backed by the AK Party. If the AK Party
hadn’t backed them, the DTP would not have existed and there would not
be any gap of authority in northern Iraq,’ he argued.

Another question directed at respondents was how they feel about
non-Muslims and minority groups in the country.

Almost all the respondents said they have non-Muslim friends and
friends who belong to minority groups. `But we prefer not to talk
about the problems of minority groups. We are afraid our relations may
get tense if we do so,’ many of the respondents said.

Those surveyed also said they would not support broader rights for
those groups. `They may have been subjected to injustice in the past,
but the situation is very different now. They are buying and selling
the country. They don’t pay taxes, either,’ one participant said.

06 June 2009, Saturday
TODAY’S ZAMAN WITH WIRES Ä°STANBUL

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT EXPANDS OPPORTUNITIES OF PILOT PROGRAM ON STATE SUBSIDIZATION OF AGRICULTURE

Noyan Tapan
June 5, 2009

YEREVAN, JUNE 5, NOYAN TAPAN. At the June 4 sitting, the Armenian
government took a decision to make changes in the government decision
of July 12, 2008 on state subsidization of the interest sums of
agricultural loans. RA Minister of Finance Tigran Davtian said
that the purpose of these changes is to expand the pilot program on
subsidization of interest sums of agrucultural loans in 60 communities
with scarce resources in Shirak and Gegharkunik marzes.

According to him, under the program, up to 10% of interest of
loans taken from commercial banks by economic entities engaged in
agricultural production of these communities is subsidized from the
state budget. The June 4 decision of Armenian government envisages
that the loans taken by entities engaged in agrucultural production
of the indicated communities will be subsidized under the credit
programs of the International Fund for Agricultural Development
(IFAD) and the Millennium Challenge Account-Armenia as well. Besides,
it is envisaged subsidizing the whole sum of interest on a loan if
an economic entity files a bid for loan for the first time. It means
receiving an interest-free loan.

Another change is related to the end of the program on state
subsidization of agricultural loans: it has been extended from July
to late 2009.

T. Davtian said that the above mentioned steps are part of the
anti-crisis measures taken by the Armenian government. In his words,
the pilot program attaches importance not to large-scale crediting
but to testing the state subsidization mechanisms under conditions
of the current market risks. He noted that as a result of the pilot
program’s implementation, the amount of state budgetary allocations to
be provided in 2010 under a non-pilot program will be determined based
on the formed demand for state subsidization of agricultural loans.

The minister said that according to conditions of the World Trade
Organization, state subsidization of agricultural sector must not
exceed 5% of the gross agricultural output, whereas in Armenia the
sector’s subsidization is much less than this index.

GEORGIAN YOUNG LAWYERS ASSOCIATION READY TO ASSIST ARMENIANS
Kristine Aghalaryan

2009/06/05 | 14:52

Important Politics

Tamar Khidasheli, President of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association,
has stated that if the Armenian community in Georgia comes to her
organization for legal help the group will assist in whatever way
possible.

Mrs. Khidasheli made her comments in when responding to Hetq in an
online interview conducted by the Caucasus Journalists Network on
June 4.

She refrained from commenting on the ten year prison sentence handed
down by a Georgian court to Javakh activist Vahagn Chakhalyan, saying
that her organization didn’t have pertinent information on the case.

"We have obtained information through other groups according to which
it is evident that there have been violations of the judicial process,"
she said.

Mrs. Khidasheli noted that the refusal of the Georgian Ministry of
Justice to register a French-Armenian attorney as Mr. Chakhalyan’s
lawyer was a breach of the defendant’s rights. She said she knew of
no other cases when a lawyer was refused registration.

"There is no doubt that there is a need to reform the internal workings
of the system to ensure one’s legal rights. This is borne out by the
fact that the number of cases submitted to the European Court from
various Council of Europe nations rises yearly," Mrs. Khidasheli said
in reference to the situation of human rights in Georgia.

CONVERSATION TOOK PLACE IN A CONSTRUCTIVE ATMOSPHERE

A1+
07:53 pm | June 05, 2009

Politics

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group released the following statement
today:

"The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassador Yuri Merzlyakov
– Russian Federation; Ambassador Bernard Fassier – France; Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza – United States) took part
with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office
Andrej Kasprzyk in the meeting of President of Azerbaijan Ilham
Aliyev and President of Armenia Serge Sargsyan in Saint Petersburg,
Russia on 4 June 2009.

This meeting was the fifth since June 2008 when the Presidents met
for the first time.

During their tete-a-tete conversation as well as at the working session
held afterwards with the Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the Ministers of
Foreign Affairs, the Presidents discussed the overall conception of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement advanced by the mediators
and reviewed some of the elements of the proposed settlement that
have not yet been agreed.

The conversation took place in a constructive atmosphere and resulted
in positive steps that narrowed the differences between the two
countries on a number of the Basic Principles of the settlement.

Because of these positive developments in their discussion, both
Presidents asked the mediators to continue their shuttle diplomacy and
to open a new and major subject outlined by the Madrid Document which,
according to their views, still remains the basis of the negotiation.

In addition, the two Presidents agreed on the mediators’ proposal
for the Presidents to continue their meetings in the nearest future,
if possible in July."

GROUP CRITICIZES RADIO DJ’S REMARKS
By Jason Wells

Glendale News Press
June 5 2009
CA

GLENDALE — The Armenian Council of America was the latest critic
to voice displeasure over comments made on Bill Handel’s KFI morning
radio show in which he and his co-hosts, in a sarcastic bite at curing
a stressed health-care system, suggested selling off Glendale as a
way to "get rid of all the Armenians."

Italian and Irish immigrants were also roped into what KFI AM 460
Program Director Robin Bertolucci called a "crazy over-the-top parody."

In the May 13 segment, Handel suggested shoring up the nation’s borders
and banishing immigrant groups as a way to cure an over-burdened
health-care system.

After broaching the Armenian population, a producer on the show said,
"What the Turks started, Bill will finish."

The segment has invited a growing chorus of critics who have called
or e-mailed the show to complain.

The recording has since been removed from the radio station’s website,
but it was recorded by the Armenian National Committee Burbank Chapter
and since been circulating in e-mail action alerts.

Representatives from neither of the local chapters, nor the Western
Region offices, could be reached for comment.

Peter Darakjian, director of the Armenian Council of America, said in a
statement that if similar comments had been made about Jews or blacks,
"they would turn the world upside down until they got justice."

Bertolucci defended the segment as a political commentary that was
misinterpreted, pointing out that Handel has publicly supported the
efforts of Armenians to have the Genocide of 1915 officially recognized
in the U.S.

"I’m deeply sorry that anyone was offended," she said. "People who
know Bill Handel know his history and know what he stands for."

Had the on-air dialogue been anything but hyperbole, she added,
"trust me, this would be a very different conversation."

NEW YORK’S CITIZEN TELLS ABOUT HIS INTENTION TO KILL U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
June 5, 2009

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ New York-based Daniel James Murrey allegedly told
about his intention to kill the U.S. president Barack Obama. As
representatives of the Prosecutors office of Utah reported, Federal
prosecutors have charged a man with making threats against President
Barack Obama after he allegedly told a bank employee in Utah he was
on a mission to kill the president.

Daniel James Murray allegedly made the remark to a teller at a bank
in St. George on May 27 as he withdrew $13,000 from an account.

Murray’s whereabouts are unknown. A court affidavit says Murray is
from New York and has recently been in California, Utah, Georgia,
Oklahoma and possibly Texas.

The U.S. Secret Service says Murray has at least eight registered
firearms, Tribune reports.

MUSEUM OF ARMENIAN POET HOVHANNES HOVHANNISYAN AT THE VERGE OF DILAPIDATION

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
03.06.2009 13:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Museum of Hovhannes Hovhannisyan is located in
the very centre of the Holly City of Ejmiatsin, in the neigbourhood
to the Holy Mother cathedral of the Armenian Apostolic Church and
mayor’s office.

Armenian literary world will celebrate Hovhannes Hovhannisyan’s 145th
anniversary of birth and 90th anniversary of death this year. The
founder of the Classic Armenian Poetry taught ancient Greek and
Latin for long years at the Gevorkian theological seminary in
Ejmiatsin. Famous poets, musicians and artists have been hosted at
his place.

Today poet’s house has dilapidated and like gnarled little old man
unprotected and frightened looks at multi-store residential buildings
tightly surrounded him.

Employees of the museum, who have been working here for several
decades, hardly remembered when repair works carried out last
time. Just several years ago the former director Amalia Hovhannisyan
managed to do some small-scale remedial maintenance to fix the roof.

Today the house is pierced through, and its ceiling and one of the
walls mould because of moisture. The great Komitas, a friend of
Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, was playing the piano lean-to moldy wall.

There are plenty of ancient books, pictures, personal belongings
of the poet, as well as letters addressed to him by the well-known
people of late 19th and early 20th centuries among exhibits of the
museum. All these invaluable illustrations of poet’s life are very
unlikely to preserve under such conditions.

More than two hundred years ago the museum was transferred from the
Institute of Literature and Art to Mayor’s office of Ejmiatsin.

Hovhannes Hovhannisyan’s grandniece Anush Ter-Minasyan addressed a
request to the ministry of Culture of Armenia in due time.

NO RESULT IN CHAKHALYAN’S SECOND APPEALS HEARING

-3/
2009/06/01 | 13:41

Diaspora Politics

On May 29, the second appeals hearing took place in the Tbilisi Civil
Court to overturn the decision of the Georgian Ministry of Justice
and to allow the registration of Patrick Arabyan, a member of the
Paris Advocates Collective, to represent Javakhk-Armenian activist
Vahagn Chakhalyan.

The second hearing also resulted in no decision. The justice ministry
presented its documentation regarding the case and the court then
issued a recess until June 15 to study the material.

Mr. Chakhalyan is presently be represented by Nino Andriashvili,
head of the Georgian Human Rights Center, NGO.