Author: Tambiyan Samvel

STOPPING DEPORTATION, ONE VALEDICTORIAN AT A TIME?

Los Angeles Times, CA
June 12 2008

The editorial board wrote today that a whole lot of immigration
policy is hitting the enforcement side of the matter, but missing
the big picture:

He may be a reluctant immigration restrictionist, but Michael Chertoff
is remarkably diligent. The secretary of Homeland Security is one of
the Bush administration’s most enthusiastic lobbyists for immigration
reform, willing to highlight the "negative economic consequences" of
tougher enforcement. Yet on items from the border wall to workplace
raids to heavier burdens on employers, Chertoff delivers for the
enforcement-only crowd.

Here’s a small something for the other crowd. Sen. Dianne Feinstein
(D-Calif.) introduced a bill to stop the deportation of 17-year-old
Arthur Mkoyan, a high school valedictorian set to go to UC Davis
unless he gets shipped to Armenia. He hasn’t seen his native country
since he was a toddler (and his parents have been seeking asylum
since about that time).

But the fine print, as CNN reports: "Of the 21 private immigration
bills introduced last year, none was enacted. None of the 117
introduced was enacted in 2006. The year prior, 98 were introduced,
and four were enacted."

In other words, Mkoyan can stay, but he can’t get a green card without
the bill passing. As Sacramento Bee columnist Peter Schrag notes,
Mkoyan and other students like him wouldn’t be put in this situation
if the DREAM Act had passed:

Mkoyan is one of the emblems — there are thousands of others — of
a self-defeating immigration policy that prefers to deport talented
young people at a time when the nation faces a desperate need of
skilled workers to replace the millions of baby boomers who are about
to retire….

Passage of the federal Dream Act last year, which would have put
thousands of young men and women on the path to legal status, would
probably have allowed him to stay here. But the act was blocked in
Congress by immigration absolutists who’d rather punish children for
the sins of their parents than cash in on the talent and ambition
they represent.

But Ruben Navarrette Jr. says the law is the law (even if its cruel,
counterproductive, myopic, unnecessary…one could go on), and even if
enforcement-side folks can get a few bones from the federal government,
the other side can’t. But he leaves on a more stinging point, wondering
why so few advocates rushed to defend another student, Jesus Apodaca,
in 2002:

Why the double standard? I believe it’s because, while Mkoyan may not
have a leg to stand on legally, he at least has the benefit of not
being Mexican. Much of the immigration debate is fueled by a fear
of a changing culture, competing languages, an altered landscape,
and what loopy Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist calls the
"colonization" of the United States by Mexican immigrants.

Arthur Mkoyan isn’t considered a party to any of that. For some
people, that makes all the difference. And, in some respects, that’s
the saddest thing about this story.

MEMBER OF FORMER "KARABAKH" COMMITTEE SAMVEL GEVORGIAN ARRESTED

Noyan tapan

Ju ne 10, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 10, NOYAN TAPAN. Samvel Gevorgian – member of former
"Karabakh" committee, former chairman of the RA State Television and
Radio Committee, person in charge of Levon Ter-Petrosian’s central
pre-election headquarters in Gegharkunik marz at the 2008 presidential
election – was arrested on June 10. According to a press release of the
National Movement’s Center (NMC), on the same day L. Ter-Petrosian’s
empowered person, deputy head of his pre-election headquarters in
Yerevan’s Malatia-Sebastia community Bagrat Andreasian was invited
to the prosecutor’s office and a charge was brought against him.

"The regime once again demonstrated that all its assurances about
resolving the situation are empty and false. These arrests have thrown
down a new challenge to the PACE that will discuss the results of
fulfilment of the requirements of resolution 1609 in two weeks. The
major requirement of the resolution – that for release of political
prisonsers has not been filfilled. Moreover, new persecutions and
arrests are being made for the same political reasons," is said in
the statement.

The NMC states that such conduct of the authorities straines even
more the current situation in the country and makes it difficult to
settle the political crisis.

THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE TO A PEACEFUL RESOLUTION OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT – OCSE CHAIRMAN-IN-OFFICE

Trend News Agency
June 9 2008
Azerbaijan

Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb met the three
Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group in Helsinki on Monday to discuss
developments related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, according to
OCSE press release.

Ambassador Yuri Merzlyakov of the Russian Federation, Ambassador
Bernard Fassier of France and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
Matthew Bryza of the United States, along with Ambassador Andrzej
Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office
on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, briefed Minister Stubb on recent
developments, in particular on the meeting between the Presidents of
Armenia and Azerbaijan on 7 June in St. Petersburg.

Minister Stubb expressed his full support for the work of the
Minsk Group Co-Chairs. "Conflict resolution in the OSCE area is
a key priority of the Finnish Chairmanship. I encourage Armenia
and Azerbaijan to make full use of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs’
facilitation and to consider seriously the proposal for the basic
principles for resolving the conflict. There is no alternative to a
peaceful resolution of the conflict," he said.

MEETING OF ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS WAS CONSTRUCTIVE

DeFacto Agency
June 9 2008
Armenia

YEREVAN, 09.06.08. DE FACTO. A meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani
Presidents Serzh Sargsian and Ilham Aliyev was held in St. Petersburg.

Upon completion of the meeting Armenian and Azerbaijani FMs
Edvard Nalbandian and Elmar Mammadyarov noted the meeting had been
constructive though it was just of acquaintance nature. In their words,
the Presidents did not discuss the mediators’ Madrid proposals. Edvard
Nalbandian said Serzh Sargsian and Ilham Aliyev had familiarized
themselves with the parties’ stands on the Karabakh conflict. The
Presidents also commissioned both countries’ FMs to continue talks
within the frames of the OSCE Minsk group.

In Elmar Mammadyarov’s words, OSCE Minsk group Co-Chairs will visit the
region in the nearest time, the RA President’s Press Office reports.

THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN HISTORY

Intelligence Report
article.jsp?sid=430
June 3 2008
AL

Photo: Henry Morgenthau, the American ambassador to the Ottoman
Empire during World War I, bore witness to the organized slaughter
of Armenian men, women and children.

For decades before they were the victims of genocide, Armenians living
as a Christian minority in the Muslim-dominated Ottoman Empire were
accorded second-class citizenship. It was against the law for them to
carry weapons or ride horses. Their houses could not overlook those
of Muslims. Testimony from Armenians was not admissible in courts of
law — just as slaves and even freedmen in the 19th-century American
South were barred from testifying against whites.

This official state discrimination opened the door to massive violence
preceding the ultimate genocide. Between 100,000 and 300,000 Armenians
were massacred in 1895. Another 15,000 to 30,000 were killed on
a single day in 1909. When the Ottoman Empire entered World War I
in 1914 on the side of Central Powers, its military and political
leaders feared the oppressed Armenians would form a fifth column and
collaborate with the Russians, who were pressing hard at the collapsing
empire’s eastern edges. There is strong evidence that some Armenian
men of fighting age did in fact take up arms against Turkish troops,
fighting as pro-Russian guerrillas.

Armenian men enlisted in the Turkish army were disarmed and
reassigned to labor battalions, and widespread propaganda began
depicting Armenians as a collective threat to national security. On
April 24, 1915, the Ottoman government imprisoned around 250 Armenian
intellectuals and leaders. This marked the beginning of the genocide,
which eventually resulted in the deaths of between 1 million and 1.5
million people. During the next six months, by government order,
more than a million Armenians were forcibly deported and marched
through the desert into Syria with little or no food, water or
shelter. Others were herded into concentration camps and drowned,
poisoned, burned to death or shot.

The documentary evidence of the genocide includes a 1915 telegram
to a Turkish provincial official from Behaeddin Shakir, one of
the leaders of the secret organization created to plan and carry
out the genocide, which included death squads staffed by criminals
released from prison for that purpose. "Are the Armenians, who are
being dispatched from there, being liquidated?" Shakir wrote. "Are
those harmful persons being exterminated, or are they merely being
dispatched and exiled? Answer explicitly."

Eyewitnesses to the genocide included Henry Morgenthau, the American
ambassador to the Ottoman Empire at the time. "When the Turkish
authorities gave the orders for these deportations, they were simply
giving the death warrant to a whole race," he said. "They understood
this well, and in their conversations they made no particular attempt
to conceal the fact."

The Armenian Weekly On-Line
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http://www.a rmenianweekly.com

The Armenian Weekly; Volume 74, No. 20; May 24, 2008

Features:

1. Bad Luck, Great Book
‘1001 Nights in Iraq’ Blends Biographical High Adventure in Iraq and Blues
Song Fortunes
By Andy Turpin

2. Gregorian Provides Aid in Rwanda
By Tom Vartabedian

***

1. ‘1001 Nights in Iraq’ Blends Biographical High Adventure in Iraq and
Blues Song Fortunes
By Andy Turpin

WATERTOWN, Mass. (A.W.)-Shant Kenderian could very well be named an
"army-of-one" walking treatise on the meaning of empathy after what he
managed to overcome and live through in his bizarre early adult career as an
American resident, captive behind the Iraqi iron curtain, forced to serve
Saddam Hussein in both the Iran-Iraq and Persian Gulf wars as a shanghaied
engineer and sailor.

Kenderian chronicles his unintended war-POW memoir in 1001 Nights in Iraq:
The Shocking Story of An American Forced to Fight for Saddam Against the
Country He Loves (Atria press, 2007).

The title of the book of course is a play on the mythical romances of Sinbad
the Sailor from the 1001 Arabian Nights entertainment and through Kenderian’s
experiences. And though he’s seemingly not the sort of person who by nature
seeks out international intrigue, he weaves a tale that is just as deserving
as a sequel to those fabled stories.

During his early childhood, Kenderian and his siblings left Iraq with their
mother to America after an aggravated home life became apparent. Raised in
the U.S. through high school, primarily around the Chicago area, Kenderian
had the all-American experience of your typical Armenian youth of an
immigrant family. He succeeded in his studies and became a brilliant
engineer.

Seeking to patch up relations with his father in Baghdad as he lay on his
deathbed, Kenderian traveled back to Iraq to see him. His timing-arriving
just before Saddam’s declaration of war against Iran-was impeccably bad. Not
considered a full citizen of the U.S. and holding an Iraqi passport,
Kenderian was press-ganged to serve in the war.

Following his service, Kenderian refused several high power engineering jobs
in Iraq, determined like Odysseus to get back to his family in America.
Cataclysmically, just before he was approved to return to the U.S, the
Persian Gulf war broke out and he was privateered into the Iraqi navy all
over again.

What unfolds is a tale of military heroism and Iraqi dictatorial war
ineptitude, all in the tradition of "Catch-22" and "All Quiet on the Western
Front," but in real time. The book is also a voice of reasoned insight for
average Americans into demystifying the oriental mystique of Iraq and
showing its history to be less of a Chinese puzzle and more akin to a faulty
game of charades.

Perhaps because of his engineering, as opposed to literary, background
Kenderian uses precise but concisely truthful language to tell all the
details of his story. One such is his insight to the heinous cruelty of
Saddam’s domestic criminal punishments when he witnesses the pubic execution
of petty thieves by recounting, "367 bullets to kill five men and one boy.
The boy had raised his knees at the last second to protect his chest, but
that didn’t stop the bullets. He was sixteen and had stolen a watch."

Likewise, unlike some Armenian memoirists, Kenderian presents a very even
keel when speaking to his genuine love and respect for his Iraqi Muslim
comrades. He writes of one memorable conversation he had with his pious
superior officer: "’You know, I think I could be a good Christian,’ he
confided to me one day. ‘I’m sure you could. You’re probably a good Muslim,
too,’ I replied. In turn, he explained to me some Islamic and Arab tribal
traditions that a city boy, especially a Christian Armenian one, would not
be familiar with. They helped me better understand the people I dealt with
on a daily basis."

When Kenderian’s unit is captured by U.S. coalition forces after a harrowing
high seas landmine and air raid escape, Kenderian relates the equally
arduous and sometimes darkly funny other side of his tale.

That is: his struggle to show his American intelligence interrogators that
the lovable P.O.W endeared to all the soldiers that meet him as "Mr.
Chicago" is not in fact a Soviet-trained Sam Reilly Iraqi super-spy, but
rather a well-educated man, with the creative ingenuity of MacGyver imbued
in many nice Armenian guys, who happens to speak several languages. The
cosmic irony, Kenderian notes, is that his prison number is "007."

Several scenes of Kenderian’s interrogations are very well written with as
much comic flare as suspense, particularly in light of the humor of the
latest "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay’ foray whose experience
Kenderian’s mirrors at points.

Armenian readers themselves will laugh and start to wonder whether even the
average Armenian’s educational experience is so unique that they too could
be mistaken for a terrorist or super-spy if not careful at the airport.

Yet, Kenderian’s sense of humanity and fair play runs deep even when
speaking of his sometimes-overzealous U.S. military captors. He makes sure
to mention that, when his true identity and story was thoroughly vetted and
proven unbelievable but true by his interrogators, that a particularly
dignified officer he deemed "John Wayne" made a great gesture of apologetic
reconciliation to Kenderian for his initial incredulity.

Kenderian writes, "There were many gestures that defined a gentleman, but
none exceeded that of an officer apologizing to an enemy P.O.W. soldier for
not believing the answers that he gave during an interrogation."

Today, Kenderian works for the Aerospace Corporation in the Los Angeles area
where he lives with his wife and three children. But for the rest of us,
1001 Nights in Iraq is a memoir that shouldn’t at all be overlooked as "yet
another book on Iraq," but rather bought as a story that will go down as
sweet as halva and stands as a enduring lesson in love.

Especially as a retort to anyone that thinks they’re having a bad run of
things compared to the next guy.

Shant Kenderian is the next guy-and he’s still got a smile for everyone.
—————————————- ————————–

2. Gregorian Provides Aid in Rwanda
By Tom Vartabedian

CHELMSFORD, Mass.-Either Felix Gregorian is a glutton for punishment or a
glutton for human service.

He ran a marathon for St. Gregory Church in North Andover, donating what
proceeds he earned along the way to the building fund.

Next came his military service in the Middle East, surrounded by enemy fire
and the risk of mortality.

His latest experience came in Rwanda where he just returned from a two-week
tour in that turbulent land, assisting a top cardiac team from Brigham and
Women’s Hospital.

By the time he was done, Gregorian helped carry out 11 heart surgeries in
six days. His job as a respiratory therapist was taken to-heart!

"Like the Armenians, Rwanda knows what genocide is all about," he said.
"They suffered their tragic losses in 1994. This was a genuine humanitarian
medical trip. These people are very grateful for what they have. A great
sense of grace and intellectualism shines right out of their faces."

The 36-member group called Team Heart Rwanda left the United States April
2nd and returned on the 13th. Gregorian was joined by a full complement of
heart surgeons, physicians, an anesthesia team, nurses, coordinators, and
one other respiratory therapist.

Their mission consisted of repairing heart valves, led by the hospital’s top
cardiac staff. The program was aimed at furthering the principles of
access-to-care in resource-limited surroundings; health care education for
the poor; and enhancing community partnerships internationally.

The need for heart surgery in Rwanda remains crucial. The country has
approximately 400 physicians and 4,000 nurses to care for a population of 10
million. It lacks the resources to deliver chronic interventions and perform
life-saving operations to help the most critical patients.

"We could just repair hearts, but together we can change hearts," said
Gregorian. "There will never be any gender, cultural, religious, racial, or
political discrimination in our operating room where we work. To walk away
and leave a sustainable program staffed by African doctors and nurses is our
greatest dream."

Gregorian’s job was taking care of the breathing machines once the patients
returned from ICU. Such a mission was the first for any such U.S. medical
team in Rwanda.

The crew arrived at Kigali Airport during the night and was transported by
van to a hotel 20 miles away. Accommodations were good with a variety of
fish, lamb, and chicken on the menu.

"We got to sample many different types of salad and almost a dozen different
tasteful breads," he described. "The coffee was great and everyone brought
some of it back to the states."

Gregorian wasted no time in carrying out his mission. The first patient was
a 23-year-old finance student who originally lived in the Congo.

The youngest was a 17-year-old who had lost his father and two siblings
during the genocide. In contrast, the oldest was a 42-year-old female.
Another 26-year-old came from a Zimbabwe refugee camp and did well despite a
language barrier and lack of schooling.

"All in all, they were a bunch of smart and wonderful people," said
Gregorian. "The patients were cared for extremely well. We were excited to
build this long-term relationship that will benefit countless Rwandans for
years to come."

Over the next 7-10 years, Team Heart Rwanda will work closely with the
hospital to help establish a comprehensive program to treat rheumatic heart
disease.

Gregorian returned in time to join his fellow compatriots on the Armenian
Genocide Commemorative Committee of Merrimack Valley during an April 24th
observance.

He also celebrated the acceptance of his son Greg into Virginia Tech, while
another son Dro is currently attending Annapolis. His wife Candace is
employed as a pharmacist. The family continues to remain very active in
church affairs.

Gregorian finds solace in helping his fellow man, no matter how great the
challenge. Two years ago, looking to help his church, he launched a campaign
to run his first marathon in Boston.

Hardly an accomplished distance runner, he proceeded along the 26-mile route
with firm resolve while calling individuals on his cell photo to keep them
abreast of his progress. The money he raised from pledges went to his
favorite charity-the Armenian Church.

Gregorian was tendered a hero’s welcome after returning home from a year’s
tour of duty in battled-scarred Afghanistan with the U.S. Army. His job
there was teaching medical procedures to allied forces with the Army Reserve
108th Institutional Training Division based in Charlotte, N.C.

"All I could think about was my family, my church, and my community," he
said. "We’re very fortunate to be living in America-that’s the bottom line."

Gregorian immediately rejoined the Genocide Commemorative Committee in
Merrimack Valley and offered to design a memorial pin commemorating the
observance.

The result was a work of art. On one end of the lapel pin was a wavering
American flag, joined by the Armenian tricolor on the other. Sandwiched in
between was a design of Mount Ararat with the Dzidzernagapert (Armenian
Genocide Memorial in Yerevan) in the foreground. Above was the inscription:
"Our Responsibility: The Truth," with the date "April 24, 1915" below.

Gregorian subsidized the cost himself and distributed some 300 pins on the
day of the observance.

"I’m very proud to be an Armenian-American," he said. "If we can all
contribute in some way, the world would be a better place. Without our
heritage, we come up empty. Hopefully, if I can make a difference, others
will follow."

Interfax News Agency, Russia
May 27 2008

VTB to loan Armenia’s ACP $249.5 mln for development of Tekhut copper
field

YEREVAN May 27

Russia’s VTB Bank (RTS: VTBR) will issue a $249.5-million loan to
Armenian Copper Programme (ACP) for the development of the Tekhut
copper and molybdenum field in northern Armenia, VTB President and
Chairman Andrei Kostin said at a press conference in Yerevan on
Tuesday.

The loan agreement was signed by Kostin and ACP President Valery
Mejlumian, who is also the president of CJSC Tekhut, which was set up
for the realization of the project.

A memorandum on a $257-million loan for the project was signed in
Yerevan in November 2007, Kostin said. "VTB opened a credit facility
of $30 million for ACP via its subsidiary in France last year for the
start of the project and so that work did not stop," he said.

The loan is being issued for 12 years. VTB will be represented in the
project’s management so that it can control cash flows. "The bank is
counting on participation in profit by receiving a certain stake in
the project’s stock, which will then be bought back by the main
shareholder," Kostin said.

In addition, VTB has provided a $78-million loan for the development
of the Agarak Copper and Molybdenum Plant in southern Armenia, he
said.

The GeoProMining group, a company with nonferrous metal mining and
processing assets in Georgia, Armenia and Russia that is part of
Russia’s Industrial Investors group, is the sole owner of Agarak
Copper and Molybdenum Plant. The plant increased production 8% to $49
million in 2007.

The Liechtenstein-registered Vallex F.M. Establishment owns 81% of
ACP, while Russia-based businessman Valery Mejlumian owns 19%.

Preliminary estimates put ore reserves at 450 million tonnes,
containing 1.6 million tonnes of copper and 99,000 tonnes of
molybdenum.

The company plans to annually mine 25,000-30,000 tonnes of copper and
800 tonnes of molybdenum, which will account for 40%-50% of the
country’s copper production and up to 20% of its molybdenum output.

VTB Bank was Russia’s second largest bank by assets in the first
quarter of 2008, according to the Interfax-100 ranking of the
country’s biggest lending institutions, compiled by the Interfax
Center for Economic Analysis.

World Markets Research Center
Global Insight
May 28, 2008

President Continues to Readjust Armenian Government

by Natalia Leshchenko

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has dismissed a key security
official, Grigori Sarkisian, from the position of head of the State
Protection Service. No official reason for the dismissal was given
either by the government or Sarkisian himself, who pledged loyalty to
the president. In another development, three members of the cabinet
from the Dashnaktsutyun party, Agriculture Minister David Lokian,
Labour and Social Affairs Minister Aghvan Vartanian, and Education
Minister Levon Mkrtchian, have resigned following the party congress,
allegedly for personal reasons, to be replaced by other members of the
party, who have not yet been named. In the meantime, the only
opposition party represented in the parliament, Zharangutyun of Raffi
Hovannisian, has rejected the governmental proposal to head their
choice of one of the three newly created parliamentary
committees–agriculture, social affairs, and local government.

Significance:The changes in Armenia’s ruling circles reflect the
adjustment of the political players to the transfer of power from
former president Robert Kocharian to his ally Serzh Sargsyan in March
this year, which involved some serious public protests. One
explanation of the security chief’s sacking attributes his dismissal
to the harsh repression of the post-presidential election protests on
1 March in which eight people died, although a more probable reason is
a personal rift between Sarkisian and the new president’s chief of
security Vache Ghazarian. Political parties are in the meantime
seeking to find their feet, with Zharangutyun apparently wishing to
preserve its distance from the government and thus undermine the
president’s claim to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe that his government embraces the full political spectrum of
Armenia.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
May 31 2008

French lawmakers approve referendum clause against Turkey

French lawmakers have voted to pass an amendment to constitutional
reforms apparently aiming to block any eventual Turkish membership in
the European Union.

Under the amendment tabled by deputies from the center-right UMP
party, holding a referendum would be obligatory for approving the EU
accession of any country whose population exceeds 5 percent of the EU
population, which stands at about 500 million. With its population of
70 million, EU candidate Turkey will be affected by the referendum
clause.

The French National Assembly, the lower house of the French
Parliament, approved the amendment with a 48-21 vote late on
Thursday. The provision, if eventually approved by the Senate and a
majority of both houses, will make France the first country in the
world whose constitution contains clauses specifically targeting a
foreign country.

The Socialist opposition voted against the measure, which won backing
from most, but not all, UMP lawmakers. "This proposal dangerously
targets a certain country," said Socialist parliamentarian Manuel
Valls during the National Assembly session. Another Socialist
lawmaker, Rene Dosiere, called the provision "disgraceful and
shameful."

"If in a referendum tomorrow the French say, ‘No,’ to Turkey’s [EU]
membership, while the 26 other countries say, ‘Yes,’ what will remain
of Europe?" his colleague Serge Blisko was quoted as asking by
Internet news portal EUobserver.com.

An opponent of the measure within the UMP, Bruno Le Maire, criticized
it for targeting Turkey. "Many eyes are fixed on us now — those of
our compatriots, but also those of peoples from the world wondering
whether we will really introduce in our Constitution an arrangement
targeting implicitly a particular country," Le Maire said, according
to EUobserver. "[If the US put into its constitution an article]
targeting Mexico, Columbia or any other country, then France — the
country of human rights — would be shocked. I am now afraid that our
neighbors might be [shocked] by this new arrangement," he added,
before the vote took place.

After the debates on the constitutional reform proposal and its
amendments in the French Assembly, the text will be brought before the
French Senate and a final decision is to be taken by a three-fifths
majority of the two bodies gathered for a parliamentary meeting in
July. In order to reach the three-fifths majority, the UMP needs to
secure the backing of the Socialists as well.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the former leader of the UMP, is a
vocal opponent of Turkey’s bid to join the EU, saying it does not
belong to Europe. The constitutional reform package originally
abolished a clause calling for a referendum on all future accessions
to the EU and left the decision on the matter to the president. But
UMP lawmakers, most of whom rely on votes from the French-Armenian
electorate, pressed for guarantees against Turkey’s possible accession
into the EU and proposed the amendment in question. Besides Turkey,
the amendment would also affect EU hopeful Ukraine, home to
approximately 46 million.

ACCORDING TO BAKO SAHAKIAN, COMING MEETING OF ARMENIAN AND AZERI
PRESIDENTS CAN BE CONSIDERED AS PROGRESS

7

YEREVAN, MAY 27, NOYAN TAPAN. NKR President Bako Sahakian considers
that the meeting between Armenian and Azeri Presidents envisaged on
June 7 in Saint Petersburg can be considered as progress. The NKR
President said in his interview to journalists. As he evaluated, the
situation on the contact-line of NKR and Azeri armed forces is the
following: "there have always been shots, we do our best to reduce
these shots."

In response to a journalist’s question he said that he has received a
letter from freedom-fighter Zhirayr Sefilian and is going to answer it:
he means Sefilian’s request to give him a political asylum. B. Sahakian
considers inadmissible to artificially politicize the issue of Z.
Sefilian’s being granted citizenship or not. According to him, doing a
military service to Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia cannot be a
justification for anti-legal actions.