Author: Tamamian Anna

Court Rejects Expert Witness in Zarakolu Case

BÝA, Turkey
June 23 2006

Istanbul 2nd Court of First Instance asks for expert report for
Jerijan’s book while rejecting expert witness statement for Prof.
Sakayan’s book in two cases against publisher Zarakolu who faces 13
years 6 months imprisonment.

BIA News Center
24/06/2006 Erol ONDEROGLU

BÝA (Istanbul) – Belge Publications House owner Ragýp Zarakolu was
once again at court this week on trial for Turkish translations of
Prof. Dr. Dora Sakayan’s book "Garabed Hacheryan’s Izmir Journal: An
Armenian Doctor’s Experiences" and George Jerjian’s "The Truth Will
Set Us Free: Armenians and Turks Reconciled".

In two cases heard one after another at Istanbul’s 2nd Court of First
Instance on June 21, the prosecution demands a total of 13 years 6
months imprisonment for the publisher.

Zarakolu had invited Prof. Dr. Baskin Oran to Wednesday’s hearing as
an expert witness in the case against Prof. Sayan’s book but judge
Sevim Efendiler rejected the witness saying it she would read the
book herself in the 6th hearing of the case.

Despite this, in the second case against Zarakolu heard immediately
afterwards, the court was still waiting for an expert report from
Korkmaz Alemdar of Ankara Gazi University, Cafer Yenidogan of the
Galatasaray University and Prof. Dr. Emin Artuk of Marmara
University.

They were assigned to read and analyze Jerijan’s "The Truth Will Set
Us Free" during the April 19 hearing and to prepare a report for the
court.

Zarakolu faces 6 years imprisonment for the Turkish translation
publication of Sakaryan’s book on grounds that he violated the law by
publishing context that "degraded Turkisism" and "insulted and
ridiculed the Army". He faces up to 7.5 years imprisonment for
Jerjian’s book on charges of "insulting and ridiculing the State and
Republic" as well as "Insulting the memory of Ataturk".

In Wednesday’s two consecutive hearings both cases were adjourned to
October 5, 2006.

The Initiative Against Crime of Thought made a statement after this
week’s trials of Zarakolu reacting to the court rejecting an expert
witness in one case while waiting for its own experts report in
another, saying this was contradictory while also showing that the
court had not even read the books that it had on trial (EO/TK/II/YE)

–Boundary_(ID_6Il56yuvyXdb3gRJy7IX pw)–

THE GOVERNMENT IGNORES THE STRIKERS

A1+
[05:58 pm] 22 June, 2006

Today the residents of Main and Northern Avenues and the Dalma
gardeners as well as a group of citizens supporting them organized
a rally opposite the government building.

Meanwhile a session was convened with the participation of all
ministers in the government premises. As usual the strikers’ attempts
were in vain; they were ignored by our high-rank officials.

The strikers kept on shouting, "Go away, thieves!"

According to Vachagan Hakobyan, who deals with the problems of Northern
Avenue they came to get an answer to their letter. "The government sent
us to the Municipality, and the latter sent us to the Prime Minister,"
complains Vachagan Hakobyan.

Not achieving any results the strikers headed to the UNO Yerevan
Office. They call on the UNO to protect their rights. "We twice
released letters to them but they answered that the matter is beyond
their liabilities and they are not entitled to interfere.

Today they told us to present application once more.

If they don’t respond to our demand this time either we shall apply
to Kofi Anan," ended Vachagan Hakobyan.

UKRAINE INTERESTED IN BOOSTING MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA, SAYS UKRAINIAN PM

Interfax, Russia
June 19 2006

Kyiv, June 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine is interested in boosting
mutually beneficial relations with Armenia by means of stepping up
the two countries’ political dialog, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuriy
Yekhanurov has said.

At his meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian held
in Kyiv on Monday the premier noted that the two countries posses a
significant potential of development of bilateral trade and economic
cooperation, the government’s press service reported.

"Retaining positive tendencies of commodities turnover growth and
realization of economic projects complies with the national interests
of the two countries," Yekhanurov said.

AZERI DEFENSE MINISTER MET WITH US TRANSPORT FORCES COMMANDER
Author: E.Javadova

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
June 19 2006

On June 17 General-Colonel Safar Abiyev, Azeri Minister of defense,
met with General Norton Schwarz, US Transport Forces Commander, ho
is in Baku with official visit, Trend reports quoting Ilgar Verdiyev,
acting chief of press service with Azeri Ministry of Defense.

General-Colonel Abiyev said Azerbaijan considers cooperation with
the US very significant, including military sphere.

As to Azeri-Armenian conflict, Abiyev said Azerbaijan is doing its
best to settle it within the limits of international legislation
and territorial integrity. However, Armenia is not interested in the
conflict settlements.

General Norton Schwarz thanked Azeri Defense Minister for warm receipt
and said his visit to Baku will serve the further development of
cooperation between the countries.

KOCHARIAN CONDEMNS RACIALLY-MOTIVATED KILLINGS OF
ARMENIANS IN RUSSIA

Armenpress

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, ARMENPRESS: Armenian president Robert Kocharian
received today a Russian delegation headed by Dmitry Kozak, the
representative of the Russian president in Russia’s southern federal
okrug (district ).

Kocharian’s press office said both sides underscored boosting
cooperation between Armenia and Russia’s provinces. Kocharian was
quoted as saying that this way of cooperation serves as a good basis
for expansion of inter-state relationships. The press office said
the sides discussed the full scope of bilateral relations. Kocharian
singled out expansion of Russian businesses in Armenia.

Kozak praised members of the biggest Armenian community in Russia
which is in its southern regions, for their active involvement in
virtually all areas of the country’s life.

The sides condemned a wave of recent racially-motivated killings of
Armenians in Russia, saying they do not stem form the interests of
Russia and its people. Kocharian said Russian law-enforcement bodies’
reaction to these crimes must be swift, tough and clear. Kozak and
members of his delegation were received today also by prime minister
Andranik Margarian.

DAIS OF KHOSROW PALACE DISCOVERED

Tehran Times, Iran
June 12 2006

TEHRAN — The team of archaeologists working on the ruins of the
Khosrow Palace near the city of Qasr-e Shirin in the western Iranian
province of Kermanshah discovered the dais of the Sassanid palace
during their current round of excavations, the Persian service of
CHN reported on Sunday.

"The platform was used by the ruler or owner of the palace," team
director Yusef Moradi said.

"The new excavations and studies on smashed ceilings have determined
that the palace was destroyed as a result of an earthquake. Texts
written by Iranian and Arab historians also mentioned a devastating
quake which destroyed the palace," he added.

Covering an area of 75,000 square meters, the palace was built by the
Sassanid king Khosrow II for his Armenian Christian wife Shirin. Some
Iranian and Arab geographers and historians of the early Islamic era
called the palace one of the wonders of the world.

Archaeological studies are underway to determine the original
appearance of Khosrow Palace.

"The documents and the texts have given a fairly exact understanding
of the architecture of the palace. It had two sections, private and
official, and studies have been carried out on the latter. The team
will center on this section and the other section in the next phases
of excavations," Moradi said.

The team of archaeologists also recently discovered ruins of the
ceremonial hall of the palace.

The region was excavated by French archeologist and prehistorian
Jacques de Morgan in the late nineteenth century, British archaeologist
and writer Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell in 1910 and 1911, and
then by Oscar Reuter. Each one prepared architectural plans of the
Khosrow Palace, but the Iranian team believes that none of the plans
are reliable.

COURT OFFICERS ARE “CLOSING” “A1+”

A1+
[03:07 pm] 09 June, 2006

Today the court officers visited the editorial office of “A1+” and
tried to evict the “A1+” staff from the building. They mentioned that
they will not wait even a minute more and even if there’s nowhere to
go, “A1+” will have to take its property out of the building.

Let us remind you that the building on Grigor Lousavorich occupied
by “A1+” has been allotted by the RA Government to the Institute
of Linguistics of the National Academy of Science, and “A1+” has
been offered a territory on Buzand street without telephone and
electricity. Besides, “A1+” does not have legal ground for moving in
as we have not signed an agreement with the Government yet.

After long negotiations we reached an agreement with the court officers
according to which “A1+” was given one more week.

VARDAN AIVAZYAN AGAINST INDIAN GOLD PRODUCERS

Lragir.am
14 June 06

The talks between Ararat Gold Recovery Company and the Ministry of
Environmental Protection resemble the Aliyev-Kocharyan meetings:
first they have a friendly talk, then they blame each other for the
lack of results and immediately deny accusations against them. But
if Aliyev and Kocharyan discuss governmental issues, Vardan Aivazyan
and AGRC are discussing the construction of a new factory.

The owner of the company is Anil Agarval, Indian by origin. On June
13, 2006 Vedanta Resources, which is also owned by Anil Agarval,
acquired the controlling interest of AGRC.

The dispute with the Ministry of Environmental Protection occurred
when AGRC decided to build a factory near Lake Sevan, 20-30 km from
the lake. The Armenians say it does not comply with the environmental
standards. The company, which has spent a lot of money for the place
and project, suggests that the government decide the place of the
factory for them to avoid wasting money. "The government must assist
companies which pay taxes," notices Armen Ter-Tachatyan, the lawyer
of AGRC.

The president of AGRC B.K. Sharma stated June 14 that they are ready
to build the factory where the government will say. The minister of
environmental protection Vardan Aivazyan stated that choosing the
place of the factory is not the problem of the government. The gold
miners are not saying that Vardan Aivazyan is lying, they cannot see
a tendency in his actions, but they stress that the government did
not reject their proposals but informed that it is being discussed.

The gold miners deny accusations against them. With regard to hiding
1000 kg gold, Armen Ter-Tachatyan, the lawyer of the company, said,
"For 1000 kg of gold several billion kg of soil must be dug. It is
impossible to hide several billion kg of soil." After denying that
the company invested less than it had pledged and other accusations
made by Vardan Aivazyan, B.K. Sharma first announced that an
authoritative international organization, as well as the relevant
agencies, audited AGRC. And generally the volume of investments
is the concern of the Ministry of Trade and Economic Development,
not the Ministry of Environmental Protection. And if Vardan Aivazyan
still has doubts, B.K. Sharma is ready to cover the travel expenses
of any international company to Armenia and open his factory before
it to reveal the truth. Vardan Aivazyan only has to invite.

According to B.K. Sharma, they have already invested 45 million dollars
in AGRC, they are going to invest another 85 million. They work with
losses. But it is normal, he assures, because in the first 6-7 years
they work with losses in this type of business.

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY PREPARING FOR RECOGNITION OF ‘UNRECOGNIZED’

Yerkir
14.06.2006 12:52

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – “A new atmosphere, where the recognition of
independence of unrecognized states becomes admissible, is being
created via the statements of international experts,” NKR President’s
Advisor for Foreign Affairs Arman Melikyan said. In his words,
the international community is preparing for the recognition of the
“unrecognized”.

“One should not think it refers to all the unrecognized existences
in the post soviet space. Each phenomenon should be thoroughly
examined. In case with Transdniestria I can say that some forces in
the United States are interested in its recognition.

I do not rule out that some agreements were achieved at the G8
level or between Russia and the U.S. Not always that analogs meet
our interests. We should bear in mind that a difference can be
decisive. That is why consistent work should be carried out for
achieving our goals,” he remarked.

The NKR Presedent’s Advisor also remarked that a state can be
recognized by a single criterion – its capability. “We should first
of all proceed from our own potential. Nagorno Karabakh has formed
an independent state and is building a democratic and open society.

We got through hardships and I affirm we are a formed independent
state. Two states have formed on the territory of the Soviet
Azerbaijan. One, the Azerbaijani Republic, enjoyed the support of
the international community.

The other, Nagorno Karabakh, had to overcome numerous
obstacles. Meanwhile, it’s quite obvious which state advanced in
democracy building and any comparison between Azerbaijan and Nagorno
Karabakh is irrelevant. The society in Azerbaijan is completely
suppressed by the ruling top and dissent, to put it mildly, is not
welcomes there.

The situation in Karabakh is quite different. We stand very good
chances for positive development,” Melikyan underscored. At that, he
said, one should not attach epoch importance to such conclusions. “In
reality, no one expect us can assess to what degree correct we build
our internal state relations,” Arman Melikyan concluded, reported
De-Facto.

AZERI, ARMENIAN MINISTERS TO TABLE GARABAGH TUESDAY

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
June 13 2006

Baku, June 12, AssA-Irada
Azeri and Armenian foreign ministers Elmar Mammadyarov and Vardan
Oskanian will hold the next round of talks on settling the Upper
(Nagorno) Garabagh conflict in Paris on Tuesday, according to
Oskanian. The agenda of the discussions has not been agreed yet,
he said.

The Armenian official said suitable conditions have emerged in peace
talks. “The opportunity should be taken advantage of as much as
possible to arrange the next meeting of the two presidents.”

The latest talks between the two leaders in Bucharest and Rambouillet
did not produce any results.

Oskanian added that a number of details had been coordinated, but
some of them “remain a grey area”.

The Azeri Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Taghizada confirmed that the
ministers’ talks will take place in France on Tuesday. The discussions
will center on issues that were not agreed during the presidents’
meeting in the Romanian capital. The meeting will determine whether
or not there is a need for another meeting of the two heads of state,
Taghizada said.