Author: Tamamian Anna

DO NOT DISTURB RP AND BHK
HAKOB BADALYAN

Lragir.am
20/04/10

On April 17, the criminal fight prevented in front of the Military
College of Armenia in Nor Nork Community which could result in a
real battle judging by the number of participants and the amount of
their weapons, the police officially qualified as a mass disorder and
announced that the participants are not members of any party or NGO.

The last circumstance is interesting from the point that rumors
spread that the fight occurred between Bargavach Hayastan and
Republican parties. The reason for such rumors was party signs that
the participants of the fight wore. The police factually refused
such rumors. Before the police, these rumors had been refused by
the spokesmen of both parties. Factually, the Bargavach Hayastan and
Republican parties have nothing in common with this fight. Perhaps,
it was not a domestic one, which is the reason why these parties are
not concerned.

But as the "all-Armenian poet" used to say "there is one certain thing
in the world that nothing is certain". So, the parties and the police
had better not to refuse the connection of BHK and RP to the fight.

The point is not about the fact that these refutations do not
correspond to the reality and the majority of the participants of the
fight were really party members or representatives of the surrounding
of party leaders. The point is that these parties are the majority in
the parliament. In other words, they are responsible for the situation
in the country. And the situation in the country, apparently, is that
criminals can afford to deal directly through fights at the military
academy, at the sight of all honest people. Where this rage comes
from? Naturally, from the conviction of impunity.

Who else is to be blamed for this situation if not the forces composing
the majority of the government – BHK and RP? Moreover, these criminal
elements feel so good in this country that they have no problem of
choosing the place for their fights and more, they come to fight in
their super expensive cars not being even afraid of harming them. The
country, where the criminal elements feel so at ease is governed by the
BHK and RP. And the interesting thing is that by announcing they are
not connected with the incident, they think their work is done. They
do not think there is the question of political responsibility for
the current situation in the country.

"We have nothing in common with it. On Saturday evening, we were
calmly watching TV in our homes or saunas, for example, we were
admiring the foreign political achievements of Armenia".

Approximately, this is the reaction of the ruling BHK and RP parties.

It is good that the police managed to make a preventive visit and not
a post factum one. This will create grounds to add police’s success to
the foreign success of Armenia and the governmental alibi will become
excellent. Under calm conditions, the alibi of the participants will
be looked for and in the end each of them will be found out to appear
in freedom sooner than the political prisoners arrested on the bases
of police officers’ testimonies.

TURKISH OFFICIALS TAUGHT TO COUNTER GENOCIDE ACCUSATIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 20, 2010 – 11:28 AMT 06:28 GMT

Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has drawn up new rules teaching
how to react to statements on the Armenian Genocide. The document
consisting of 10 provisions advises Turkish officials to lay emphasis
on the importance of Armenian-Turkish relations and is meant to help
them during diplomatic trips, BBC Russian reported.

PROTOCOLS SUBMITTED TO NA LACK CC DECISION

Panorama.am
20/04/2010

"Nor Jamanakner" ("New Times") party submitted a letter to the
President of Armenian Constitutional Court Gagik Harutyunyan claiming
that the protocols on settling diplomatic ties between Armenia
and Turkey have been submitted to the National Assembly lacking
CC decision.

It’s reported that unconstitutional act was committed submitting the
protocols without the CC decisions which has defined recommendations
to be taken into account. Similar letter was sent to NA Chairman
Hovik Abrahamyan and Justice Minister Gevorg Danielyan.

PROCESSION TO TSITSERNAKABERD WITH CANDLES ON APRIL 23

Panorama.am
19/04/2010

ARF Dashnaktsutyun, Armenian Democratic Liberal Party (ADLP) and all
the forces committed to the international recognition of the Armenian
Genocide and united against Turkey’s rejecting policy, are planning
a traditional procession to Tsitsernakaberd with candles on April 23,
ADLP chairman Harutyun Arakelyan told Panorama.am. The procession is
due to get underway on April 23 at 8pm (Yerevan time) from Matenadaran.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO BE COMMEMORATED IN KIEV

news.am
April 19 2010
Armenia

A roundtable "Armenian Genocide: no right to oblivion" is to be held
in Kiev, Ukraine, on April 23.

Well-known Ukrainian political scientists, scholars, public and
political figures, diplomats representing the states that recognized
the Armenian Genocide will participate in the roundtable.

An exhibition dedicated to the Armenian Genocide will be held. The
materials from Ukrainian archives that prove the tragic events will
be displayed.

The roundtable has been organized by the Armenian National Congress
of Ukraine, reported Analitika.at.ua.

NKR PRESIDENT: UPCOMING ELECTIONS ARE POLITICALLY RESPONSIBLE EVENT FOR OUR REPUBLIC

ArmInfo
2010-04-19 10:34:00

ArmInfo. President of the Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan held a
number of meetings with leadership of political parties, heads of
Central Election Commission, state and local self-government bodies
April 14-17.

Issues related to the National Assembly elections to be held on 23
May were discussed during the meetings. The president underlined
that the upcoming elections are politically responsible event for
our republic. The government and local self-government bodies are
required to do everything possible to maintain high organizational
level and proper course of the elections, create equal conditions
for every political party and unaffiliated candidates.

Bako Sahakyan called all the parties and candidates to conduct the
campaign in a civilized manner and constructive atmosphere in line
with the law and moral norms.

The President noted that the authorities of the Artsakh Republic would
secure the organization and conduct of free, fair and transparent
elections, the Central Information Department of the Office of the
Artsakh Republic President reported.

INSTABILITY OF TURKEY DOES NOT EXONERATE IT FROM RESPONSIBILITY TO BE A PREDICTABLE AND SERIOUS PARTNER IN THE WORLD ARENA
Ashot Safaryan

ArmInfo
2010-04-19 12:05:00

ArmInfo’s exclusive Interview with Karen Bekaryan, Head of European
Integration NGO

Mr. Bekaryan, what goals does Turkey pursue in normalization of
relations with Armenia and does it want a logical end to that process?

Actually, Turkey’s behavior for the last months is a reason to think
over Ankara’s willingness to continue the process of normalizing
relations with Armenia. If yes, so it is not clear what does Turkey
understand by that idea? After revealing Ankara’s position, the steps
and possible diplomatic measures that Armenia and the mediator-states
may apply to Turkey will become more exact.

Will Ankara use the meeting in Washington to avoid the undesirable
scenario of April 24?

I think that the current activation of Turkey can be explained with
the toughened position of the USA and the EU rather than the April
24 date. And this toughening is reflected in the loss of confidence
in Turkey. Ankara no longer has the opportunity to manipulate with
the opinion of the world community. The West has demonstrated an
exact stance: the protocols should be ratified within reasonable
terms and without preconditions. Armenia’s approach also necessitated
determination of reasonable terms i.e. we have sent a clear message
saying that Turkey cannot endlessly play on the normalization process
trying to derive dividends.

So why aren’t the terms of ratification specified?

No deadline is determined because every country has its own internal
regulations for ratification of inter-state agreements and their
coming into effect in the line with the legislation. If one sets a
tight deadline, it already demonstrates distrust and absence of a good
will. Natural course of negotiations implies unhampered ratification
of the signed agreement and bringing it into effect. The problem of
the Armenian-Turkish process is that the parties do not fall within
the natural course of events. Although the mediators did not endeavor
to specify the date of ratification before signing of the Protocols
in Zurich, now the experience shows that it is necessary to set a
deadline because of Turkey’s manipulations.

May the Armenian-Turkish process suffer the same fate as the unsettled
Karabakh conflict?

I do not think so. Toughening their positions from time to time the
parties to the Karabakh conflict, especially Azerbaijan, are well aware
that the process must have a final result. The Armenian-Turkish process
is specific from this point of view. Suspension of negotiations is
in favor of Turkey only. And I think that Armenia will not allow such
state of affairs. The Armenian party is now studying the possibility of
terminating the process through recalling the signature from under the
protocols. Therefore, I do not think that the Armenian-Turkish process
will become a peculiar analogue to the Karabakh peace process. The
Armenian-Turkish process suggests two possible outcomes: either
ratification and logical continuation or refusal from the process in
certain period of time. However, considering the internal problems
of Turkey, in particular, the possible tension inside the country
before the parliamentary elections scheduled for the next years,
the prospect of protracting ratification is becoming more real.

Protraction of the process is becoming real also considering the
negative attitude of the Turkish public to the Protocols, isn’t it?

There is one problem here: I am note sure that the public has a
negative attitude to the Protocols. I have no ground to trust in the
results of various public opinion polls. The Turkish authorities often
say that their society is against ratification of the protocols. But
I don’t know what is bluff and what is true, since I have never seen
the results of public opinion polls, which would present the real
attitude of the society to the documents. And one cannot but cast
doubts on reality of democratic processes in Turkey. In addition, the
domestic political and inter-ethnic problems of Turkey also affect the
foreign policy course of that country. Ankara will undoubtedly try to
manipulate with ratification of the Protocols signed in Zurich taking
advantage of the parliamentary elections scheduled for the next year.

But these endeavors will have a negative impact on reputation of the
ruling Justice and Development Party. In case of ratification, the
opposition will blame the authorities for betraying the interests of
"fraternal Azerbaijan", whereas failure of ratification will lead to
more external pressure and Erdogan’s party will be again accused of
short views and inconsistent policy. In fact, Ankara has found itself
between two fires, for both the scenarios will aggravate domestic
political tension in Turkey.

How should official Yerevan respond to Erdogan’s statements against
Diaspora?

I have not seen any adequate response by the Armenian party to such
statements by the Turkish prime minister by present. Anyway, I hope
Armenia’s harsh response will be at the diplomatic level, though I am
not sure. Eventually, all this should be at the public level. Turkish
Prime Minister’s behavior over the last months is extremely problematic
and unstatesmanlike. Erdogan’s statements are full of populism but
at the same time they are vulnerable inside the country and outside
it. This fact is also conditioned by the domestic political instability
of our neighbor. But this does not exonerate Ankara from responsibility
to be a predictable and serious partner in the world arena.

What will the new strategic arms reduction treaty signed by Russia
and USA in Prague give the world and will it change the balance of
forces in our region?

The new strategic arms reduction treaty between Russia and the USA
will significantly ease the situation not only in the South Caucasus,
but also in the world. Since the end of the "cold-war" the relations
between the two nuclear super-powers had not been as tense as under
Bush Jr. Administration. The world was on the verge of a new division
into two opposite blocs. Fortunately, we have become witnesses of
some easing of that tension. The best evidence of this is the START-3
(strategic arms reduction treaty). Nevertheless, the treaty will
not change the balance of forces. The two signatories have their own
spheres of influence. Nothing will change from this point of view.

How would you explain Ilham Aliyev’s absence from the Nuclear Security
Summit in Washington?

The Azerbaijani president was not invited to the Summit to demonstrate
to the world community that the Armenian-Turkish normalization and
settlement of the Karabakh conflict are not linked. All the attempts
to put them into the same bunch are inadmissible. In fact, Aliyev’s
presence at the Summit would create certain imitation of linking of
the two processes.

KFW DEVELOPING ARMENIAN MORTGAGE MARKET

Tert.am
19.04.10

On April 19 an agreement was signed between the President of the
Central Bank of Armenia, Arthur Javadyan, and the Deputy President of
the German KfW bank, Eva Vitt, by which KfW will provide the Central
Bank of Armenia a loan worth 20 million euros.

The initiative is aimed at the development of the Armenia mortgage
market.

Arthur Javadyan said that the loan is allocated for 10 years with
the first three ones on privileged conditions. The percentage rates
of these mortgages will be privileged too: part of them will be
subsidized by the German government.

The principle by which these mortgages will be given to citizens is as
follows: the Armenian trade banks will provide citizens mortgages, and
the Central Bank of Armenia will return those mortgages to them later.

The Armenia trade banks will provide those mortgages at 12%-16%,
and the total amount of each mortgage will be 12 million dram.

Legate of Armenian Church, Armenian Assembly join Interfaith Community
in confronting genocide

April 17, 2010 – 12:31 AMT 07:31 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net –

Last month, representatives of nationwide religious groups appealed to
Congress to re-focus its attention on the genocide in Darfur.
Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, Legate for the Diocese of the Armenian
Church of North America joined fellow members of the Interfaith Sudan
Working Group, a coalition of Jewish, Muslim and Christian
organizations working for lasting peace in the troubled East African
nation. Following a prayer breakfast at the U.S. Capitol, the group
delivered copies of the children’s fairy tale book, Humpty Dumpty, to
all 535 Members of Congress, signifying the fragility of the situation
in Sudan, reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly).

"April is a particularly important month and it is heartening to know
that it has been designated as Genocide Prevention Month in
recognition of the fact that the Holocaust and the start of the
genocidal atrocities that befell the Armenian, Ukrainian, Cambodian,
Rwandan, and Darfurian peoples all took place in April," stated
Archbishop Vicken Aykazian. "It’s a shame that at the beginning of the
21st century genocides are still taking place," continued Archbishop
Aykazian. "If the Armenian Genocide was recognized in the beginning of
the 20th century, maybe those genocides wouldn’t have followed."

The interfaith group met with Senator Russ Feingold (D-MN) a stalwart
for human rights and advocate for anti-genocide policies. Archbishop
Aykazian thanked him for his efforts on Darfur and for his
cosponsorship of S. Res. 316, the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Senator Feingold told the Assembly that "this horrific tragedy took
the lives of 1.5 million Armenians and forced more than 500,000 from
their homeland. I have repeatedly called for the U.S. government to
officially recognize the Armenian Genocide. And as a cosponsor of a
Senate resolution recognizing the genocide, I was pleased last month
when the House Foreign Affairs committee passed a similar resolution."

In addition to their efforts on Capitol Hill, the Interfaith Sudan
Working Group placed a compelling piece in the Roll Call newspaper, of
which the Assembly was listed as a supporter during the same week of
the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s passage of the Armenian Genocide
resolution. The coalition’s anti-genocide activities were also
highlighted in an article in The Hill newspaper.

Sponsored by the American Jewish World Service, faith leaders who
participated in the prayer breakfast and book delivery included: Rabbi
David Saperstein, Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism;
Rev. Gloria White-Hammond, AME Pastor; Co-Founder, My Sister’s Keeper;
Galen Carey, Director of Government Affairs, National Association of
Evangelicals; Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, Diocese of Armenian Church
of America; Bishop David Jones, Episcopal Church; Imam Johari
Abdul-Malik, Director, Community Outreach, Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic
Center; Kirk Betts, Board Chair Emeritus, Lutheran World Relief; Dr.
Steve Colecchi, Director of the Office of International Peace and
Justice for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; and Ruth
Messinger, President, American Jewish World Service.

"The genocide in Darfur is a vivid reminder of how the consequences of
inaction and genocide denial continue to have profound repercussions,"
stated Taniel Koushakjian, Assembly Grassroots Director who
participated in the coalition’s work on Capitol Hill. "Our continued
efforts also send a powerful message to genocidal regimes – that we
will not be bystanders, but rather upstanders."

Iranian Students News Agency ISNA, Iran
April 18 2010

Mottaki stresses expansion of ties with Armenia, Turkmenistan

ISNA – Tehran

TEHRAN (ISNA)-Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki stressed
expansion of bilateral and regional ties with Armenia and
Turkmenistan.

Mottaki met Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisian on the sidelines
of Tehran’s International Conference on Disarmament and
Non-Proliferation and they conferred on expansion of bilateral
political, economic and cultural relationships and consulted about
regional developments.

Movsisian said, "the International Conference on Disarmament and
Non-Proliferation in Tehran was important and its quality and the way
it was held can be appreciated."

Mottaki and his Turkmen counterpart Rashid Meredov also met and
discussed expansion of bilateral ties and regional and international
issues.

Meredov called Iran the first and the closest neighbor of Turkmenistan
and added, "cooperation with Iran is in priority for Turkmenistan’s
foreign policy."

"We have always emphasized that Iran’s nuclear activities are based on
peaceful purposes and we support the country’s stances," said Meredov.

Mottaki then held a session with Secretary General of the Organization
of Islamic Conference (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu and they conferred on
the Islamic World’s issues particularly Palestine and Afghanistan and
stressed that the OIC should play role on Afghanistan and holy Quds.

They also emphasized that it is necessary for Bosnia support committee
to take serious actions within the framework of the OIC.

Regarding Bosnia, OIC Secretary General said, "I will try to run a
meeting with the committee’s foreign ministers’ including Iran’s."

Mottaki also announced Iran’s readiness to run the next round of the
committee in Tehran.

End Item