Author: Nalchajian Markos

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT DECLINES INVITATION TO NATO SUMMIT IN ISTANBUL

Radikal, Turkey
May 11 2004

Armenian officials announced yesterday that President Robert Kocharian
had declined to attend next month’s NATO summit in Istanbul. According
to a statement from the Armenian president’s office, the decision
was made to protest a lack of progress in relations between Ankara
and Yerevan. Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan is expected
to go in Kocharian’s stead. The statement also underlined that
Yerevan remains ready to cooperate with Ankara to improve bilateral
relations. /Radikal-Star/

ArmenPress
May 6 2004

SIX ARMENIANS GO TO TURKEY FOR CHESS MEDALS

YEREVAN, MAY 6, ARMENPRESS: The Armenian Chess Federation said
today that six Armenian chess-players will go to Turkish Antalya to
compete for the medals of Europe’s individual championship that kicks
of May 14.
The championship is open with no restrictions to the number of
participants for a single country. The Federation said more Armenian
chess players may decide later to go.

PRESS RELEASE
The National Citizens’ Initiative
75 Yerznkian Street
Yerevan 375033, Armenia
Tel: (+374 – 1) 27.16.00, 27.00.03
Fax: (+374 – 1) 52.48.46
E-mail: [email protected]

May 6, 2004

National Citizens’ Initiative Examines Political Confrontation in Armenia

Yerevan?The National Citizens’ Initiative (NCI) resumed today its series of
specialized policy seminars on vital issues of concern for both the Republic
of Armenia and Armenians worldwide.

Raffi Hovannisian, founder of NCI and the Armenian Center for National and
International Studies (ACNIS), greeted the capacity audience with opening
remarks on the “Political Confrontation in Armenia: Causes, Effects, and
Solutions.” “Even a cursory analysis of the past few years demonstrates why
we have so frequently lost in the course of our history. In our heart of
hearts and in our inner consciousness, each of us knows that the situation
in the country, as it stands now, is not durable. Whether we consider last
year’s elections a cause or an effect, they evidenced the commission of a
big national mistake, the correction of which is crucial. We welcome the
ongoing dialogue on various levels-its very invitation, attempt, and
realization-yet we also know that it is the incumbent president’s
responsibility to initiate the corrective change in the state of affairs.
Otherwise, the opposite, however unpredictable, is inevitable. It is at this
level that we need an expedited and comprehensive resolution forged by
consensus. This is neither a prediction nor a threat, nor advice of any
kind. This simply is a public imperative,” he said.

ACNIS analyst Hovsep Khurshudian delivered a paper on the current state of
political culture in Armenia. “Since 1988 and 1991 political culture in
Armenia has faced a perilous retreat, and accountability for this lies first
and foremost with the authorities,” he opined, calling on the governing
coalition to join the opposition in fulfilling the obligations set forth in
the recent resolution of the Council of Europe. To this end he suggested
establishment of a parliamentary committee composed equally of coalition and
opposition members.

In his address entitled “Constitutional Procedures and ‘Legal’
Arbitrariness,” law professor Hrair Tovmasian noted: “It is manifest that
both the current and the draft Constitutions presented last year for
referendum, with their internal contradictions, incomplete checks and
balances, unclear accountability mechanisms, and powerful prerogatives
granted to the president, are not only useless in solving domestic
confrontations but also serve as their main cause. By means of systemic
change, the application of a parliamentary form of government in the
Republic of Armenia is the best way, in our opinion, to eliminate such
internal conflicts and to avoid them in the future,” he said.

Good governance analyst Karen Hakobian offered remarks on “Transfer of
Authority as a Mirror of Democracy: The Crises of Regime Change in Armenia
and in the Region.” “Armenia faces a crisis of authority and a governance
dilemma in general; hence, regime change becomes a necessity. But if there
are no established long-term socioeconomic and political objectives, if
there are no clear-cut and formulated models of good governance, one is
likely to encounter similar crises later on, this time during the reign of
the next administration. A change of regime should serve only as a means for
securing clearly defined public interests and the country’s development,” he
said.

During the second session of the seminar, representatives of Armenia’s
political parties took the floor, Alexander Butaev and Albert Baghdasarian
representing the National Democratic Union, Albert Bazeyan of the Republic
Party, Hovhannes Hovhannisian of the Liberal Progressive Party, Gagik
Tadevosian of the National Unity Party, and Grigor Harutiunian of the People
‘s Party of Armenia. Of the invited coalition representatives only Galust
Sahakian and Mushegh Lalayan of the Republican Party attended the
roundtable. Mkrtich Minasian of the “People’s Deputy” parliamentary group
also took part in the discussion.

The interventions of the politicians and public figures were followed by
formal deliberations on possible ways out of the present situation.
Noteworthy were contributions by Armenian Intellectuals’ Forum chairman
General Edward Simoniants; economist Edward Aghajanov; Anahit Bakhshian,
principal of Derenik Demirchian High School in Yerevan; Davit Petrosian of
the Noyan Tapan News agency; Avetik Ishkhanian, chairman of Armenia’s
Helsinki Committee; Gayane Markosian of the “Harmonious World” NGO; Manuk
Haroutiunian, senior research fellow of the Institute of Philosophy and Law
at the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia; Yerevan State University
lecturer Aram Haroutiunian; political analyst Artsrun Pepanian; and many
others.

In particular, General Simoniants noted that “this meeting proves that it is
groundless to claim the lack of highly intelligent specialists in the search
for solutions to overcoming the crisis in the country. Unfortunately,
however, the bearers of this political benchmark are not united and
coordinated in academic and policy greenhouses such as this.” He regretted
the discontinuation of the opposition-coalition dialogue recently hosted by
ACNIS, and called for its resumption.

The National Citizens’ Initiative is a public non-profit association founded
in December 2001 by Raffi K. Hovannisian, his colleagues, and fellow
citizens with the purpose of realizing the rule of law and overall
improvements in the state of the state, society, and public institutions.
The National Citizens’ Initiative is guided by a Coordinating Council, which
includes individual citizens and representatives of various public,
scientific, and educational establishments. Five commissions on Law and
State Administration, Socioeconomic Issues, Foreign Policy, Spiritual and
Cultural Challenges, and the Youth constitute the vehicles for the
Initiative’s work and outreach.

For further information, please call (3741) 27-16-00 or 27-00-03; fax (3741)
52-48-46; e-mail [email protected]; or visit

A1 Plus | 18:21:29 | 06-05-2004 | Politics |

“WE MUST NOT TOLERATE IT ANY LONGER”

Discussion on “Inner Political Resistance in Armenia: Reasons and Ways Out”
took place with participation of the representatives of various political
powers. National civil initiative headed by the first Armenian Foreign
Minister Raffi Hovhannissyan resumed the series of discussions over the
issues interesting the Armenians.

“We demand the world to stop blockade while we block ourselves in our
state”, Hovhannissyan says. According to him, it’s impossible to continue
this way, we must not tolerate that a 23-year-old girl in a party office is
tortured by policemen under the threat of rape for political convictions in
our state.

“Welcoming the different stages of dialogues and contacts, I think, however,
the matter is between the President and the national situation”, Raffi
Hovhannissyan says.

He says everything must be done to establish a stable democracy in Armenia.

COMMEMORATING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

______

HON. CALVIN M. DOOLEY

of california

in the house of representatives

Monday, April 26, 2004

Mr. DOOLEY of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my
colleagues in remembrance of the Armenian Genocide.

[[Page E646]]

This terrible human tragedy must not be forgotten. Like the
Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide stands as a tragic example of the
human suffering that results from hatred and intolerance. The Ottoman
Turkish Empire between 1915 and 1923 massacred one and a half million
Armenian people. More than 500,000 Armenians were exiled from a
homeland that their ancestors had occupied for more than 3,000
years. A race of people was nearly eliminated. It would be an even
greater tragedy to forget that the Armenian Genocide ever happened. To
not recognize the horror of such events almost assures their
repetition in the future. Adolf Hitler, in preparing his genocide
plans for the Jews, predicted that no one would remember the
atrocities he was about to unleash. After all, he asked, “Who
remembers the Armenians?” Our statements today are intended to
preserve the memory of the Armenian loss, and to remind the world that
the Turkish government–to this day–refuses to acknowledge the
Armenian Genocide. The truth of this tragedy can never and should
never be denied. And we must also be mindful of the current suffering
of the Armenian, where the Armenian people are still immersed in
tragedy and violence. The unrest between Armenia and Azerbaijan
continues in Nagorno- Karabakh. Thousands of innocent people have
already perished in this dispute, and many more have been displaced
and are homeless. In the face of this difficult situation we have an
opportunity for reconciliation. Now is the time for Armenia and its
neighbors to come together and work toward building relationships that
will assure lasting peace. Meanwhile, in America, the
Armenian-American community continues to thrive and to provide
assistance and solidarity to its countrymen and women abroad. The
Armenian-American community is bound together by strong generational
and family ties, an enduring work ethic and a proud sense of ethnic
heritage. Today we recall the tragedy of their past, not to replace
blame, but to answer a fundamental question, “Who remembers the
Armenians?” Our commemoration of the Armenian Genocide speaks
directly to that, and I answer, we do.

Armenia diplomats should step up activities in economic field – minister

ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow
1 May 04

YEREVAN

Armenia’s ambassadors abroad should step up their activities in the
economic field, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said on
Saturday [1 May], summing up the results of the annual meeting of
Armenia’s ambassadors accredited in foreign countries. “Armenia’s
embassies should help export Armenian goods and attract foreign
investments,” Oskanyan said.

Oskanyan said that “the priorities of Armenia’s diplomatic service are
security, development, European integration, the Nagornyy Karabakh
settlement and the protection of historical rights and values”. Among
the historical rights and values, Oskanyan named “the international
recognition and condemnation of the Armenian genocide in 1915 in the
Ottoman empire, the strengthening of relations with the Armenian
diaspora and its involvement in the republic’s political and economic
life”.

He stressed that representatives of Armenia’s lobby organizations,
which operate in different countries, will gather on Monday [3
May]. “We want to meet these people who work for Armenia and promote
our foreign political initiatives,” the minister stressed.

Armenia has embassies in 30 countries, permanent missions in nine
international organizations and six consulates-general.

Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
May 1, 2004

FOR FUTURE STUDENTS

The NKR government has confirmed the list of the specialties and
number of paid and free places in the higher educational institutions
of NKR and RA for admittance in 2004. At the NKR ministry of
education, culture and science we were informed that at Artsakh State
University the number of free places will be 200, the number of paid
places 570 (increased by 20 against last year), distance education
places will be 305. This year the number of free places in the Music
College after Sayat Nova will be 25, and the paid places 24. At the
Agricultural College of Stepanakert the free places for applicants
with 8-year school education is 4 against 5 of last year, and the
number of paid places is 41 (increased by 1). The free places for
applicants with secondary education increased by one from last year
and is 41, and the paid places are 120 (increased twice from last
year). In the distance learning system of the Agricultural College the
places for applicants with eight-year school education is the same 40,
and the places for applicants with secondary education increased by 15
and is 140. The paid and free places at the Medical College of
Stepanakert remained the same, 17 and 120. And the Shoushi College of
Humanities after Khachatur Abovian will admit students for distant
learning this year. The free places in the college are 40, of which 15
are for applicants with eight-year education, and paid places are 40,
of which 30 are for applicants with secondary education. This year the
same college will provide 40 places for distant learning. The 30
places at Stepanakert Dance College are free of charge. In RA higher
educational institutions the number of places provided for NKR
increased by 5 and totals 35. Yerevan State University provides 7
places, State Engineering University of Armenia 5, State Yerevan
University of Architecture and Building 5, Yerevan State Economic
University 5, Yerevan State Conservatoire after Komitas 4, Yerevan
State Institute of Theatre and Cinema 1, Yerevan State Medical
University 5, Agricultural Academy of Armenia 1, Russian-Armenian
University 2.

SVETLANA KHACHATRIAN.

ArmenPress
May 4 2004

ARMENIAN IT COMPANIES TO OPEN REPRESENTATIONS IN CANADA, USA, GERMANY

YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS: Bagrat Yengibarian, the director of
Armenian Enterprises Incubator Foundation (EIF), funded by World Bank
told Armenpress that the government and the Bank have approved the
idea of opening representations of Armenian IT companies in Canada
and the USA. Yengibarian said another project for opening a
representation in Germany is underway.
He said the first representation will open next month in Canada’s
Toronto. He said the EIF is now discussing with Armenia-based IT
companies the ways of cooperation based on contracts to be signed by
the representation, as the Toronto representation is supposed to
resolve initially several priority problems of Armenian companies in
Canada’s IT market.
Yengibarian said Armenian embassy in Canada will help organize the
second online conference between Canadian and Armenian IT companies
in June. He said the previous such conference attracted tens of heads
of Canadian It companies, 70 percent of whom were non-Armenians.
He said the representation in the USA will most likely open by the
end of 2004.

OFFICIAL URGES ARMENIA TO VACATE LANDS TO BECOME AZERBAIJAN’S FRIEND

ANS TV, Baku
4 May 04

(Presenter) Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov has made a
statement. He said that Armenia would benefit from cooperation and
peace with Azerbaijan.

(Araz Azimov, speaking to microphone) Armenia must understand that for
Azerbaijan to become its friend and close neighbour it must leave
Azerbaijan’s (occupied) lands and establish cooperation. Azerbaijan
will gain more than it loses through such cooperation. I think that
Armenia is the main loser today. As time goes by, the situation does
not develop in accordance with their interests.

This is our position. As for the use of levers of power, we are not
saying it’s our condition but if all resources are used up and the
issue is not resolved, we will be obliged to act (as heard).

Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
April 27 2004

BAKU CIRCULATES LIES AND EMPTY TALKS

Despite the useless efforts Baku does not give up the attempts at
discrediting the Republic of Nagorni Karabakh in front of the
international community, trying to accuse the latter of international
terrorism and illegal trade in narcotics. Recently “525-aya Gazata” of
Baku, making a reference to the Azerbaijani Ministry of National
Security, published information about the arrest of the Irani citizen
Khudam Penah (born in 1969), as well as four other offenders who tried
to smuggle drugs into Azerbaijan at the Irani border of Azerbaijan,
near Fizouli on March 27. The newspaper states that during the
interrogation it was confirmed that the drugs confiscated from the
group were produced in the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan. Probably, it would be strange if the Azerbaijani Ministry
of National Security did not connect the fact of arrest of the drug
dealers (if it happened, in fact) with Nagorni Karabakh because in
this country they even tried to find “Armenian traces” in the
explosion of the World Trade Center in New York. This is a habit which
Baku cannot and does not want to give up. Of course, it is their
problem that they look ridiculous by circulating one more lie but in
this case Azerbaijan did not take into consideration the authority of
its southern neighbour Iran, actually accusing it of inability to
control their borders. By the way, the embassy of Iran in Baku has not
confirmed this information yet. As to the evidence confirmed during
the interrogation, it is clear to anyone in what way the anti-Karabakh
evidence was extorted from the accused. This country has been accused
by the European organizations of using torture and violence against
the prisoners and even participants of protest meetings. However, the
Ministry of National Security of this republic, for concealing such a
“hearty talk” has chosen a corresponding expression “filtering”. The
participants of the “talk” with this agency, which acts as coordinator
of the anti-Armenian and anti-Karabakh campaign, after going through
the mentioned “procedure” start uttering trite expressions of the
powerful propagandist machine of Azerbaijan. Recently the same
ministry has undertaken a rather disgraceful experiment, using
Armenian refugees from Baku A. Apressian and R. Terian (who
mysteriously appeared in their native city from Yerevan) for the same
intention. Undergoing “filtering” in the same ministry where they had
appeared, according to the information of the Ministry of National
Security Council, by their will, during the press conference under the
roof of the same ministry started to utter absolute absurdities about
production of narcotics in Nagorni Karabakh (where they had never been
to), hundreds of Azerbaijani hostages and POW’s in Armenia and Nagorni
Karabakh, as well as training of terrorists of the imprisoned
Azerbaijani children in Armenia to be used against Azerbaijan, etc. I
wonder whom the authors of these absurd tales meant if the
international organizations, in particular the Red Cross, the
International Working Group on Hostages and POW’s, as well as the
Azerbaijani representative of the group and representatives of public
organizations of Azerbaijan confirmed that there were no POW’s in
Armenia and Azerbaijan. By the way, it is not difficult to guess that
this raving about drugs and prisoners is the consequence of failure of
the Azerbaijani foreign policy, more exactly one of its priorities,
the discrediting of NKR. It is known that during international
conferences, official and non-official meetings the representatives of
Azerbaijan have a number of times stated about production of narcotics
in Nagorni Karabakh. The same Ilham Aliev the head of the Azerbaijani
delegation in the PACE and vice president of Azerbaijan then during
the meeting of that authoritative organization accused Karabakh of
growth of narcotics and demanded application of sanctions against
Nagorni Karabakh. We should confess that in the sphere of mythology
Azerbaijan has achieved considerable success and confused
corresponding organizations. Not very long ago through various lies
and falsification official Baku tried to introduce false data about
production and circulation of narcotics in Nagorni Karabakh and
adjacent territories in the annual report of the USA State Department
on strategic control of world circulation of drugs. The comic side of
the situation is that Azerbaijan which supplies Washington with false
information, has no access to these territories for ten years already,
therefore it has no information on these areas. Everything is like in
Dostoevsky’s works; crime begets another crime, in the case of
Azerbaijan falsification begets other falsification, which, however,
in this case is equal to committing an offence. Realizing the
absurdity of their statements, hoping to create illusion of truth,
Azerbaijan circulates new slander; the Russian satellites have
allegedly detected plants containing narcotics and the routes of
circulation of drugsâ=80¦ Is it possible to fool the authoritative
international organizations for such a long time? And this in the case
when the Karabakh party has done so much consistent work to dispel the
accusations of Azerbaijan and achieve taking out the negative
formulations in the reports of the USA State Department, at the same
time appealing to the international organizations to form an
independent monitoring group and send to NKR to study the
situation. It is enough to recall that in 2001 the NKR president
addressed the OSCE chairman-in-office, as well as the co-chairmen of
the Minsk Group with the same suggestion, the speaker of the NKR
National Assembly addressed the chairman of the PACE, the minister of
foreign affairs made corresponding announcements. If follow the
dynamics of the evaluations to Karabakh in the reports of the USA
State Department, it is easily seen that accusations were substituted
by careful remarks that the information on using the territory of
Nagorni Karabakh for production and circulation of narcotics are
presented by the government of Azerbaijan. In further reports it is
mentioned that the United States does not possess the independent
confirmation of those statements. Thus, for the first time since 1996
there were no accusations in Karabakh’s address in the report of
2003. Moreover, the UN Department on Drugs and Crime confirmed they
did not posses evidence on the use of the NK territory for transit of
narcotic drugs. In addition to this, for a number of times now the
report of the State Department states that one of the main transit
routes of drugs passes via the territory of Azerbaijan. Let us agree
that Azerbaijan has enough reasons for losing hope, which causes
another wave of misinformation and slander. In other words, appearing
in a comic situation, the Azerbaijani authorities still point the
arrow at Nagorni Karabakh accusing of production and trade of
narcotics. Apparently doubting the announcements of Azerbaijan the USA
State Department and UN corresponding organizations have dealt a
serious blow to the authority of Baku. Hence the barefaced lies,
slander and hysteria, nervous efforts of saving “their
image”. “Nagorni Karabakh was pleased with the latest report of the
State Department of the United States and we hope the foreign
political agency of the USA, as well as the international
organizations will refuse to use unverified data in their reports,”
said the NKR vice minister of foreign affairs Masis Mayilian. “Let us
hope that in answer to the numerous appeals of Nagorni Karabakh the
interested organizations will form a group of independent experts to
monitor the situation directly and reveal objective facts. We are
convinced that the findings of the survey will allow putting an end to
the manipulations of the topic and will prevent Azerbaijan’s attempts
at providing misinformation to the international community.” By the
way, setting forth unacceptable conditions in recent years official
Baku counteracted to the attempts of sending the international mission
to Nagorni Karabakh, which allowed Baku to confuse the international
community freely. We want to believe that the international commission
will finally manage to cut the long thread of falsification and false
accusations.

LEONID MARTIROSSIAN.