Author: Tambiyan Samvel

ON OCTOBER 23 POLICEMEN BEAT NOT ONLY PARTICIPANTS OF PROCESSION AND JOURNALISTS, BUT ALSO BY-PASSERS, MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES AFFIRM

Noyan Tapan
Nov 1, 2007

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, NOYAN TAPAN. The investigation group examining
the criminal case on the fact of the incident, which happened during
the October 23 rally, seeks to present the case the way that allegedly
the number of the demonstrants exceeded 100, while their number was
no more than 30. Taguhi Tovmasian, a correspondent of the Chorrord
Ishkhanutiun newspaper, a witness on the case, said in her interview to
Noyan Tapan correspondent. She assured that this is done for grounding
procession’s being illegal, because, if the number of participants
of such events exceeds 99, according to the law, it is necessary to
apply to the Mayor’s Office in advance to receive a sanction.

The demonstrants are charged with using violence to a power
representative, as well as with violating street traffic, while they,
according to R. Tovmasian, walked only along the pavement, and street
traffic was stopped by the very policemen.

Another correspondent of Chorrord Ishkhanutiun beaten during the
incident by policemen, Gohar Vezirian, mentioned that she did not
take part in the procession and appeared on the scene after the
newspaper’s editor had told her to cover the procession. According
to the correspondent, for policemen, it was not important whom they
were beating: they were even attacking by-passers. "I saw them cruelly
beating Sukiasian Manuk (a member of the Alternative political-public
initiative: NT) and came up to representatives of special detachments
surrounding him thinking that seeing my camera they will stop their
"business." However, Lieutenant-Colonel Arayik Petrosian started
striking me from back and scolding."

It should be mentioned that as a result of beating G. Vezirian,
according to preliminary diagnosis, received concussion of the
brain. She said that though she visited a forensic doctor, she has
not received his conclusion yet. "I have no special expectations
from that paper, as such papers are mainly written in this country
"by state order," by orders "from above," the journalist said.

ACCORDING TO ARMENIAN INTELLECTUALS, ARMENIA SHOULD ENSURE SECURITY OF ITS CITIZENS BEING ABROAD

Noyan Tapan
Oct 29 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 29, NOYAN TAPAN. The Russian government encourages
criminal activity of chauvinistic groups, as none of them has been
punished seriously so far. Ruben Hakhverdian, an author of songs,
at the October 29 press conference, expressed such an opinion about
the position of that country’s authorities in the issue of Armenians’
murders in RF. According to him, Armen Smbatian, the Ambassador of
Armenia to Russia, has many things to do in this respect. However,
according to R. Hakhverdian, the Ambassador of Armenia, who should
strictly respond to such cases, "feels himself rather Russian than
Armenian there."

In the opinion of Karine Hakobian, the Chairwoman of the Public Reform
NGO, the Ambassador is only the performer of state policy. According
to her, Armenia as a state does not realize its mission yet. "The
mission of the Armenian state should be ensuring of RA citizens’
security both in the territory of Armenia and abroad," she said.

Levon Ananian, the Chairman of the Union of Writers of Armenia,
proposed giving out papers with advice, instructions to RA citizens
leaving for Moscow. "It will help them to be more cautious there,"
he said.

WELL-KNOWN PARENTING GURU TO SPEAK ON TOPIC OF GENOCIDE
William Lin

Ottawa Citizen, Canada
Oct 29 2007

Cattle. Vermin. Cockroaches. They were terms used against ethnic
groups that helped fuel 20th-century genocides, from the Holocaust
to the Rwanda massacre, in which hundreds of thousands of ethnic
Tutsis and Hutu sympathizers died. And for Barbara Coloroso, a
parenting and school discipline guru, it’s just a short walk from
bullying to genocide. "Once you dehumanize another human being,
then you put them outside your circle of moral concern," said
Ms. Coloroso. "And you can do anything to them and really not feel
the normal shame or compassion that comes when you hurt somebody. If
you go back to the genocide, the majority of the context of the
genocide began with verbal bullying." Ms. Coloroso will discuss her
new book, Extraordinary Evil: A Brief History of Genocide Nov. 5
at Sir Robert Borden High School as part of Holocaust Education
Week. The week, a program by the Jewish Federation of Ottawa’s Shoah
(Holocaust) Committee, began on Sunday and runs until Nov. 11,
featuring programs, films and lectures. The topic of genocide was
a departure for Ms. Coloroso, a former nun who has written several
books on parenting and bullying. She lives in Littleton, Colorado,
near the scene of the Columbine High School shootings. Ms. Coloroso
first discovered the topic after reading Elie Wiesel’s Night, a book
based on the author’s experience as an Orthodox Jew who was sent to
Auschwitz concentration camp. More recently, Ms. Coloroso saw the
genocide’s effects first-hand while working with Rwandan orphans of
the genocide. She met a young man, a Tutsi who witnessed his mother
and two sisters killed in Kigali, Rwanda. His father tried protecting
him, but was killed as well. The boy suffered four machete cuts to
his head. "People’s stories are all the same in terms of that whole
cycle of bullying. It was really my involvement in Rwanda that made
it very personal," she said. Her book also focuses on the Armenians
in the Ottoman empire, and the Jews, Roma and Sinti in Europe.

A complete list of Holocaust Education Week events can be found at
wacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=5ee71989-9f6a-45 d8-ac16-6931eed2de7e&k=47425

Russian Defense Minister to pay official visit to Armenia October 29-30

arminfo
2007-10-27 14:32:00

ArmInfo. Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdukov is to pay an
official visit to Armenia October 29-30.

Armenian Defense Minister’s Press Secretary told ArmInfo Anatoly
Serdukov is expected to meet President Robert Kocharyan, Prime Minister
Serzh Sargsyan, and Defense Minister Mikael Haroutunyan.
Armenian-Russian military cooperation-related issues are to be
discussed in the course of the meetings. The Russian Defense Ministry
delegation will visit the Russian military units in Armenia.

EAFJD CONDEMNS POGROMS ORGANIZED BY TURKISH FASCISTS IN BRUSSELS

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.10.2007 18:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Armenian Federation condemns pogroms
organized by Turkish fascists in Europe.

A demonstration organized two days ago by the Turkish extremist
right-wing group, the sinister Grey Wolves, caused chaos and mass
violent disturbance in Brussels.

"The European Armenian Federation strongly condemns the import into
Europe of these racist and criminal customs which are well-known by
the Armenians as a prelude to the systematic massacres of Armenian
citizens. "We are expecting from the police and judicial authorities
exemplary reaction regarding members of these criminal bands and
their rulers" declared Laurent Leylekian, the director of the European
Armenian Federation," EAFJD told PanARMENIAN.Net.

He added, "We know that Turkey is always behind these pogroms. The
Federation is certain that the Turkish State bodies – police,
army, and judicial powers – are deeply infiltrated by these ultra
nationalistic units, and it is attested that Ankara regularly gives
orders to the Grey Wolves paramilitary forces, orders that emanate
from the MHP (political group represented in the Turkish Parliament)
to accomplish their dirty jobs in Turkey as well as in Europe."

"The freedoms that these criminal groups have in Europe is encouraged
by the indulgent attitude of our institutions towards racism. Turkish
state ultra nationalism, compromise from our institutions (European
Parliament and Commission, national and European political parties)
towards the systematic denial of the Turkish state is interpreted
by Ankara as authorization to develop its ultra nationalism in the
European Union," concluded Leylekian.

On Wednesday night some 200 people, belonging to Gray Wolves extreme
movement, destroyed and set to fire Jardin de Babylone cafe owned by an
Iraqi Armenian in the neighborhood Saint-Josse-Ten-Noode of Brussels.

A little before in the evening the hooligans had pulled out then
burned the American flag which was hanging on the frontage of the
U.S. Embassy.

Mehmet Koksal, a Belgian journalist of Turkish origin, who filmed
the scene, was severely beaten by the extremists howling hostile and
insulting the U.S. slogans.

This demonstration would have a direct relation to the Turkish-Kurdish
confrontation that has claimed lives of 12 Turkish soldiers are 23
Kurdish rebels.

ARMENIA, USA TO COOPERATE IN CIVIL AVIATION

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Oct 25 2007

YEREVAN, October 24. /ARJKA/. Ra minister of Finance and Economy
Vardan Khachatryan and Tomas Adams, Coordinator of the US office for
Europe and Eurasia, assigned an agreement in the aviation sphere.

The public relations department, RA Government, reports that the
agreement was signed in Washington yesterday, as a result of a meeting
of the Armenian-American task group for economic cooperation.

The agreement envisages cooperation of safe and joint operation of
civil airplanes.

SERJ TANKIAN, ELECT THE DEAD
Dorian Lynskey

The Guardian
Friday October 26, 2007

Buy Elect the Dead now

Serj Tankian is the frontman of Armenian-American metal agitators
System of a Down – and he comes across as an improbable hybrid
of Frank Zappa, Jello Biafra, Sepultura’s Max Cavalera, a Balkan
protest singer and someone on a street corner with a megaphone and a
placard announcing the end times. Here, without the berserk velocity of
System’s guitarist Daron Malakian, he is a little more conventional and
a little less interesting. At its most urgent, on Empty Walls or The
Unthinking Majority, Elect the Dead resembles a demented heavy-metal
musical about the last days of the American empire.

Tankian’s earnest emo croon is less engaging; by the umpteenth wailing
chorus of break-up song Saving Us, you might feel like dumping him,
too. But even playing with a relatively straight bat, he is the
only multi-platinum rock star on the planet who would write a song
about how "civilisation is on trial" and think, "Ah, the perfect
title! ‘Beethoven’s Cunt’."

Federation of Armenian Organisations of the Netherlands (FAON)
Address: Weesperstraat 91 – 2574 VS The Hague
Telephone: +31704490209
E-mail: [email protected]
Contact: M. Hakhverdian

PRESS RELEASE

The Hague, 25 October 2007

Dutch Parliament: Written Questions on Conviction of Arat Dink

This week Dutch MP Henk Jan Ormel of Christian Democratic Party (CDA)
submitted written questions to the Dutch Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs Frans Timmermans (Labour Party, PvdA), about recent conviction of
Arat Dink, the son of assassinated Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink,
according to Article 301 of Turkish Penal Code, for offending Turkish
identity. Mr. Ormel asks whether the Secretary of State can explain why the
Turkish govenrment refuses to amend said Article.

Former Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ben Bot, has reassured the Dutch
parliament on several occasions in the past that the Article 301 was to be
amended in short term. Then he referred to personal promises made to him by
former Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, now president Gul, as well as
by the Turkish ambassador in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, these promises
have been never kept.

Mr. Ormel also asks if the Secretary of State expects that the Turkish
parliament will be urged to make the amendment of the Article 301. Finally,
Mr. Ormel wants to know if Mr. Timmermans is going to urge Turkey again, in
the EU context, to amend Article 301.

RA NA RATIFIES TWO INTERNATIONAL TREATIES

Noyan Tapan
Oct 24, 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 24, NOYAN TAPAN. In the October 24 sitting the RA
National Assembly ratified two international treaties discussed on
the eve: the convention on "Political rights of women" signed on March
31, 1953 in New York and the agreement on "Cooperation in the sphere
of veterinary science and health of animals between the Republic
of Armenia and the Islamic Republic of Iran" signed on November 29,
2006 in Yerevan.

The parliament also adopted the three bills and legislative packages
discussed on the eve, according to which ammendments and addenda
are being made to a number of laws in force, including the package
of bills envisaging to make amendments and addenda to the laws on
"Social Security of Servicemen and Members of Their Families" and on
"Doing Military Service", as well as in the RA Code on Criminal Trial
by the first reading.

EU URGES ‘SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES’ TO TURKISH LAW RESTRICTING FREEDOM OF SPEECH

International Herald Tribune, France
The Associated Press
Oct 24 2007

STRASBOURG, France: The European Union on Wednesday urged Turkey
to make "substantial changes" to a law restricting the freedom of
speech and press ahead with other reforms crucial for its bid to join
the bloc.

Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk and slain ethnic Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink are among those who have been prosecuted under
the controversial Article 301 of the Turkish penal code that make it
a crime to insult Turkish identity or the country’s institutions.

"We regret the lack of progress that has been made, … There have
to be substantial changes to Article 301 and also to other articles
worded in similarly vague terms," said Portugal’s European affairs
minister Manuel Lobo Antunes, speaking on behalf of the EU.

Antunes spoke to the European Parliament ahead of a Nov. 6 report by
the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, on the progress in
Turkey’s membership bid. The European Parliament passed a resolution
Wednesday that also calls for deeper reforms.

Turkish troops shelled Kurdish rebel positions across the border in
Iraq after an ambush that killed 12 soldiers Sunday. The EU condemned
attacks by the Kurdish PKK organization – which it considers a
terrorist group – but reiterated its call on Turkey to resolve the
issue in cooperation with Iraq and by respecting international law.

Pamuk and Dink had both been prosecuted under Article 301 for comments
about the mass killings of Armenians by Turks in the early 20th
century, an issue that has also strained Turkey’s relations with the
United States after a U.S. House of Representatives panel approved
a resolution labeling the killings as genocide.

Turkey’s EU membership talks began in 2005, but human rights, a
dispute over divided Cyprus and other issues have slowed the bid. EU
enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn said negotiations in two new policy
areas could be opened "in the coming weeks."

Turkey must implement EU legislation into its national rulebooks in
35 negotiating "chapters," a process expected to take years.

Antunes, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, also urged
Turkey to recognize Cyprus and speed up the improvement of religious,
cultural and women’s rights in Turkey. Better democratic oversight of
the country’s powerful military forces – which have vowed to safeguard
Turkish secularism – was also needed, he said.

Cyprus has been divided between a Greek Cypriot south and a
Turkish-occupied north since 1974, when Turkey invaded after an
abortive Athens-backed coup by supporters of union with Greece. A
U.N. peace blueprint was approved by Turkish Cypriots, but rejected by
Greek Cypriots in 2004, which meant Cyprus joined the EU as a divided
nation – with only the Greek Cypriot south enjoying EU benefits.

Turkey is under intense pressure from the EU to allow Greek Cypriot
planes and vessels to use Turkish ports and airports, but Ankara
has said it will not agree to any concessions on Cyprus until the EU
keeps to a promise to end the isolation of Turkish Cypriots.

The EU assembly said that Turkey’s refusal to comply with the
commitments made when it opened its accession talks with the EU
"will continue to affect seriously the process of negotiations."

But the parliamentary resolution did not address the issue of the
World War I-era killing of 1.5 million Armenians.

"Quite a few feel it was genocide – but in the current situation we
don’t think it’s a subject that should be addressed in a way that would
negatively affect our relations with Turkey," said Dimitris Komodoros,
spokesman for the Socialist group in the European Parliament.