Author: Tambiyan Samvel

PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKER OF ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN TO ASSEMBLE IN TBILISI IN MAY

The Georgian Times, Georgia
March 28 2007

Sergey Mironov, Chairman of the Russian Federation Council states that
Armenian and Azerbaijanian Speakers would assemble in Tbilisi in May.

"Four Parliamentary Speakers of the Caucasian States will assemble
in Tbilisi in May", Mironov declared.

He also explained that he would additionally discuss the issue with
Azerbaijanian Speaker Aktai Assadov.

Sergey Mironov also noted that Russia had got not only past relations
with Azerbaijan, but also present ones.

"I mean the Caspian Sea and Karabakh Highland problems", Mironov
stated and added that Russia would back any decision of the Armenian
and Azerbaijanian sides.

"The key to these problems are in their hands", Mironov noted.

He also noted that the Russian-Azerbaijanian relations were based
on the successful legislative basis. "These states have signed over
40 agreements and the Parliaments of both states have got wide range
for joint cooperation".

KOCHARYAN’S FAREWELL TO MARGARYAN

A1+
[08:49 pm] 27 March, 2007

The road leading to Sayat Nova 8 building is impossible to pass. There
are wreaths along the road.

The civil requiem of the prime minister is still on.

The journalist of A1+ informs that not only high-ranking, but also
ordinary people have come to honor the premature death of RA Prime
Minister. In fact, they were also given the chance to go upstairs
and condole with the relatives personally.

Robert Kocharyan has just come to say farewell to Andranik Margaryan,
and stayed at the apartment for 10 minutes and left together with
his bodyguards and RA Regional Minister. Serj Sargsyan stayed with
the Margaryans for an hour.

All the leaders, ministers, deputies of opposition and acting
officialdom have come to honor the Prime Minister.

ITAR-TASS News Agency, Turkey
March 26, 2007 Monday 03:13 AM EST

Armenian PM to be buried in Komitas Pantheon

BY the decree of the Armenian President, the day of the funeral of
Andranik Margaryan will be a day of mourning in Armenia. The heads of
ministries and agencies of the republic, regional leaders and the
mayor of Yerevan were assigned to put the national flags at
half-mast. The national flags of Armenia will also be put at
half-mast over the Armenian diplomatic missions abroad.

YEREVAN, March 26

Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan, who died on Sunday, will
be buried in the Yerevan Pantheon named after Komitas, next to the
outstanding cultural personalities of Armenia. A corresponding
resolution was adopted at a Monday meeting of the state commission
for the organisation of the funeral, headed by parliamentary speaker
Tigran Torosyan.

A civilian funeral service will be held in the flat of the deceased
on Tuesday, and on Wednesday the coffin with the dead body of
Margaryan will be installed in the lobby of the Opera and Ballet
Theatre named after Alexander Spendiarov, where the farewell ceremony
will be held. After that the procession will move to the pantheon.

Armenian Prelacy of Canada mourns the passing of the Prime Minister of
Armenia

ArmRadio.am
27.03.2007 14:34

The Armenian Prelacy of Canada is mourning the death of Armenian Prime
Minister, Andranik Margarian, who passed away on March 25 of a heart
attack in his apartment in Yerevan, Armenia.

Prelacy churches across Canada organized requiems on Sunday to mourn
the passing of the Prime Minister.

LAKE SEVAN LEVEL RISES BY 2 CM IN JANUARY

YEREVAN, MARCH 23, NOYAN TAPAN. In January Lake Sevan level rose by 2
cm and as of January 31, made 1898.26 m, which exceeds the index of
the same day of 2006 by 17 cm. According to the data of RA National
Statistical Service, in the majority of Armenian rivers average
monthly water outflows made nearly 90-120% of norm.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 24 2007

Genocide lobby foiled by presidential election

The presidential elections in Turkey are impeding initiatives to send
another parliamentary delegation to Washington, D.C., to lobby
against the Armenian genocide resolution pending in the US Congress.
Bülent Arýnç, the speaker of the Turkish Parliament, did not approve
a visit by a parliamentary delegation to the US slated for April
14-16 as it would coincide with the presidential elections.

Arýnç stated it would not be proper for any deputy to be abroad in
April due to the presidential elections, a move that received the
support of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) parliamentary
group. Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Commission chairman Mehmet
Dülger, who was to lead the delegation, said: "We would be in the US
on April 14. Our visit would coincide with the presidential elections
in Turkey. For this reason, Mr. Speaker does not approve of our
visit. We are trying to find a solution, but the prospects of our
visit to the US currently seem dim." Ankara Today’s Zaman

AKHTAMAR’S SURB KHACH CHURCH HAS HAD A CROSS, AND THE CROSS – A PHOTOGRAPH
By H. Chaqrian

AZG Armenian Daily
22/03/2007

After weeks of prolongation the opening of the reconstructed of
Surb Khach Church of the Akhtamar Isle was finally arranged on
March 29. According to latest information, numerous guests, among
them Culture Minister of Armenia Hasmik Poghosian, are invoted to
the ceremony.

Still, the reconstruction must be considered incomplete, as the
church bell and the cross have not been restored on their places. To
be reminded, Turkish authorities explained that fault by lack of
information about the cross, its look and design.

Meanwhile numerous photographs of the church, with brilliant view
of the cross, were published both in Armenian and Western press and
scientific works. Two of those photos "Azg" received from "Azdak"
newspaper director Shahan Gantaharian, Beirut, which proves the
inconsistence of the explanations of Turkish Culture Minister Koc
and expert Hazan.

But the problems about Akhtamar do not end up in the problem of the
cross. If not so, a group of Turkish Armenian intellectuals would have
no reason to address aforementioned Mr. Koc with request to consecrate
the church during the opening ceremony, to commit the consecration
to Patriarch Mesrob II Mutafian, to hand the church to the Patriarchy
and restore its original Armenian name "Akhtamar", which was altered
to Turkish Akdamar so as to mar the Armenian heritage.

Such request is not occasional. On March 9 "Vatan" newspaper, Turkey,
published an article by Mehmed Ozturk, to which the Patriarch responded
on March 19 by a publication in "Lraber". Ozturk’s article says:
"To whom shall be handed the church? To the Patriarchies of Lebanon
and Jerusalem or the Catholicosate of Armenia?" Such prevocational
questions need no comments. It is a background for new insinuations,
which can cast a shadow upon the festive ceremony of opening, organized
by the Government of Turkey.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian General Benevolent Union Inc.
Rita Kuyumjian MD
Chairperson
805, Manoogian street
Ville St-Laurent, QC H4N 1Z5
Tel: 514-748-2428
Fax: 514-748-6307
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

Montreal March 14, 2007- One hundred boys and girls attended an interactive
centennial exhibit viewing session at the Montreal Chapters Dervishian Hall.
The 16 panels which told the history of the AGBU were used by Dr. Rita
Kuyumjian Montreal Chapter Chairwomen to highlight the crucial milestones of
the history of our Union. The children were fascinated to see how the orphan
boys were studying Armenian seated on the sand on the shores of the
Mediterranean sea. They were also very proud to recognize the pictures of
Alex Manoogian the founder of their School, to recognize the picture of the
Montreal chapter, and to recognize the group picture of Montreal scouts in
Armenia. They were also very curious to learn that the Armenian boroughs
such as Nor- kugh in Aleppo and Eshrefiye in Beyrouth were built to resettle
the survivors of the Armenian Genocide. They left the exhibit proud to be
students of 150 AGBU Armenian school network of the world. They promised me
and to each other to ask their grandparents from which city in Cilicia they
come from, and to write an assay on the history of their grand parents’
lives.

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
March 16 2007

Leo Platvoet: I will insist on including my report on missing persons
into the agenda of PACE session

[ 16 Mar 2007 11:10 ]

`I will insist on including my report on missing persons in the South
Caucasus in the agenda of the April Session of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE),’ Leo Platvoet, PACE
rapporteur on missing persons in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia told
the APA.

He said that agenda of the PACE April session will be discussed in
Strasbourg next week.
`Though I am not the member of the council determining the agenda, I
have already met with some officials dealing with this procedure. I
insisted upon including my report in the agenda of the session. I
will discuss it with the other members of the council next week, as
my report needs to be debated,’ he said. /APA/

AZERBAIJANI INSINUATIONS: "KARABAKH – AN UNCONTROLLABLE AREA"
By Agavni Haroutiunian

AZG Armenian Daily
14/03/2007

While Armenian politicians are engaged from head to toe in preparations
to the forthcoming parliamentary elections, Azerbaijani representatives
in the PACE are trying to pass certain alterations to the Human Rights
Commission reports on Karabakh. Azerbaijani mass media says that
member of Azerbaijani delegation to the European Council Gyultekin
Gajieva claimed that Karabakh must be included in the category of such
"uncontrollable areas" as South Osetia, Abkhazia and Dnestr region.

It is noteworthy that the interest of Karabakh were advocated by
an Ukrainian deputy, who noted that Karabakh is a debatable, but
not uncontrollable territory. In any case, if the allegations of the
Azerbaijani mass media are to be believed, the report was passed with
Gajieva’s alteration.

The Armenian delegation did not take part in that sitting. According
to Artashes Geghamian’s comment on the event, the proposition of
the "Azeri lady" cannot be legitimate because of the absence of the
Armenian delegations, and therefore the rumors are nothing but a part
of Azerbaijani propaganda.