Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

PRESIDENT ROBERT KOCHARYAN IS NOT RETIRING – ARMENIAN PUBLIC
Author: A. Memmadov

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
May 2 2006

Armenia’s current president Robert Kocharyan is not going to retire,
reportedly said independent MP Manuk Gasparyan.

Trend reports quoting Gasparyan, almost two years prior to the
presidential elections Kocharyan did not choose his successor from
the country’s politicians. “In case he manages to become Armenia’s
prime-minister after the elections, he will do his best to hand the
power to the weaker politician and control him”, – Gasparyan claims.

Armenian MP said also in such case Kocharyan would not attempt to
hand the power to Armenia’s defense minister Serzh Sarkisyan.

Alongside, MP opines, the country’s prime-minister Andranik Markaryan
won’t stay ten days on his post after the elections. “This man is just
a political puppet”, – Gasparyan said, adding that the best for the
head of the government will be post of parliamentary fraction leader
or a president of parliament.

MP also predicts that following parliamentary elections in Armenia
leadership will remain with Republican Party, followed by Flourishing
Armenia and National Unity of Artashes Gegamyan.

Armenia is waiting for parliamentary and presidential elections in
2007 and 2008, respectively, ARKA reports.

OSCE MG CO-CHAIRS AND ANDRZEJ KASPRZYK TO MEET IN MOSCOW TOMORROW

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.05.2006 22:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia),
Steven Mann (U.S.) and Bernard Fassier (France) will meet with Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej
Kasprzyk in Moscow tomorrow. The mediators will focus on the details
discussed during the talks on the Karabakh conflict settlement. They
will also determine the date of the regular visit to the region during
which they will familiarize the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan
with the new proposals on the conflict settlement, reported APA.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Karabakh Became `Subject of Talks’, Alexander Iskandaryan Considers

28.04.2006 22:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The year of 2005 in Armenia may be called the year
of death of the opposition, Caucasus Media Institute Director,
political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan stated at Caucasus 2005
international conference held in Yerevan. In his words, in 2005 the
opposition rating kept on falling what could be vividly seen after the
constitutional referendum when a small number of people attended the
opposition rallies. `People are bored of talks about revolution. This
became quite obvious after the events that followed the
referendum. The domestic situation in Armenia can be interpreted the
following way: weak power and absence of opposition,’ he remarked.

Alexander Iskandaryan also emphasized that the conflicting parties
still work towards conservation of the Nagorno Karabakh problem. The
political scientist supposes Karabakh has just become a `subject of
talks’. `All say that precise dialogue will become possible after a
political decision is made. But the interested sides know that there
will be no political decision,’ he said.

As for the rise in gas prices the CMI Director remarked Armenia loses
most of all. `When Russia blocks gas pumping for Georgia it does not
think of its strategic partner and ally. The same situation is with
the withdrawal of the military base from Akhalkalaki. We are not asked
weather we want these weapons. They just bring it,’ he remarked.

ARMENIA AMONG LARGEST RECIPIENTS OF US ASSISTANCE

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.04.2006 20:24 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia is one of the largest recipients of
U.S. assistance on a per capita basis.

Since 1992, the United States has provided more than 1.6 billion
dollars of assistance to Armenia in support of the country’s transition
to democracy, U.S.

Ambassador to Armenia John Evans stated in an interview with
PanARMENIAN.Net. In his words, through this assistance, the United
States government is cooperating with Armenia in pursuit of three
major goals: strengthening democratic institutions, providing for a
more stable and secure South Caucasus, and building the economies of
all three countries of the region.

“In addition to our on-going programs, the United States has developed
a program of assistance worth approximately seven million dollars
to help Armenia in holding free and fair elections in 2007 and
2008. This comprehensive package of election-related assistance will
provide support for the development of the national voter registry
and the conduct of voter education campaigns,” he said. It will also
include assistance for the development of voter education materials,
training for various sectors of society including representatives
of the judicial system and political party representatives, and
exchange visits for media outlets, Evans said. “We believe it is
vitally important for Armenia’s future that the upcoming elections be
free, fair and transparent, and be perceived as such not only by the
international community, but most importantly by the Armenian people
themselves,” the head of the U.S. diplomatic mission underscored.

In addition, on March 27 the United States Millennium Challenge
Corporation signed a $235 million Compact with Armenia, the
U.S. Ambassador reminded. “This assistance program will focus on rural
road rehabilitation and improved irrigation, and will directly impact
approximately 75% of the rural population, increasing their annual
income by an estimated $36 million in 2010 and over $113 million
in 2015. In order to remain eligible for this funding, Armenia must
continue to demonstrate a commitment to ruling justly, investing in
people, and encouraging economic freedom,” Ambassador Evans said.

JCRC JOINS BATTLE FOR GENOCIDE RECOGNITION
By Ted Siefer – Thursday April 27 2006

Jewish Advocate , MA
April 27 2006

Massachusetts Attorney General Tom ReillyLocal Jewish groups back
teaching the Armenian genocide in public schools

The Jewish Community Relations Council has firmly allied itself with
the Armenian community in its fight against a lawsuit challenging the
way the Armenian genocide is taught in Massachusetts public schools.

Coinciding with the anniversary of the start of the Armenian genocide
in 1915, a rally organized by kNOw Genocide, a coalition of several
cultural and religious groups, including JCRC, was held last week
in front of the State House. Among the speakers at the event were
Lt. Governor Kerry Healy and Attorney General Tom Reilly, both
gubernatorial candidates, and Congressman Ed Markey.

“We have to defend the right of the Department of Education to teach
what happened to the Armenians. This is not about free speech. It’s
about facing truth,” Reilly told the crowd. The attorney general’s
office is defending the Department of Education in the lawsuit brought
by the Assembly of Turkish American Associations.

About 1.5 million Armenians were killed during World War I by Turkish
forces; Turkey has long contended that the deaths were the unintended
consequences of war, not a deliberate campaign against Armenians.

The Turkish association’s lawsuit charges the Department of Education
with violating academic freedom and free speech by removing from its
curriculum guide materials that presented the Turkish point of view
on the genocide.

Lawyer and academic freedom advocate Harvey Silverglate is representing
the Turkish Association. “I believe that in the long run the
Jewish organizations, as well as the Armenian organizations and all
other organizations currently on the ‘censor the contra-genocide
views’ bandwagon, will be sorry that they have contributed to
the institutionalization of ethnic group censorship in matters of
education,” he said.

JCRC Executive Director Nancy Kaufman rejected this argument. “I
think it’s bogus. Does this mean we should let the KKK teach in
schools because they want to share their view of slavery?” she said.

“What if someone had wanted to make room for a Holocaust denier in a
textbook? We in the Jewish community have to be sensitive to genocide,
whether the Rwandan, Jewish or right now in Sudan.”

This point was emphasized by speakers at last week’s rally, which
prompted a contingent of pro-Palestinian activists to shout: “Stop
the Zionist invasion of Sudan.”

The Armenian genocide is widely recognized by scholars. Last year,
the International Association of Genocide Scholars sent a letter to
the Turkish president urging the country to reexamine its version of
the catastrophe.

A bill introduced earlier this month in the House (H.R. 193) and Senate
(S. 164) would include language recognizing the Armenian genocide
as part of a commemoration of the 15th anniversary of the U.S.’s
adoption of the Genocide Convention. The U.S. does not officially
recognize the Armenian genocide.

A documentary titled “The Armenian Genocide,” narrated by Julianna
Margulies, was screened on Capitol Hill shortly before the bills were
introduced. The documentary aired on PBS this month.

There are many significant connections between the Armenian genocide
and the Holocaust, according to Adam Strom. His organization, Facing
History and Ourselves, provides curriculum materials for teaching
about historical atrocities, including the Armenian genocide.

Strom pointed out that Hitler cited the world’s indifference to the
Armenian genocide as he laid the groundwork for the Holocaust.

“Hitler said: ‘Who today still speaks of the massacre of the
Armenians?'” Strom noted.

Jews have long played an important role in calling for recognition of
the atrocity and justice for its victims, Strom said. He pointed to the
role of Rafael Lemkin, who defined the term “genocide” in a treatise
on the subject that would become a cornerstone of human rights law.

“He lobbied for years to find a way to outlaw what happened to the
Armenians. He asked his law professor, ‘Why can’t they put these guys
on trial, why is it not against the law to murder a million people
but it is to kill just one?'” said Strom.

Strom also pointed to the role of Henry Morgenthau, the Jewish U.S.

ambassador to Turkey during World War I who railed against the
anti-Armenian campaign.

Morgenthau is revered in Armenia, according to David Sacks, a Boston
doctor who helped set up a women’s clinic in the newly independent
republic in the 1990s.

Sacks said that in his time spent in Armenia, he found many qualities
of the people familiar. “Their love of family and culture … reminded
me of our people,” he said.

“We need to honor their pain and suffering and we need to remind the
world that there was more than one Holocaust,” Sacks added.

s_issue/news/?content_id=1179

BUSH DECLARES ARMENIAN MASSACRE ‘TRAGEDY’

ISN, Switzerland
April 26 2006

ISN SECURITY WATCH (Wednesday, 26 April 2006: 02.50 CET) – In a White
House announcement for the 91st anniversary of the 1915 massacre
of Armenians under Ottoman rule, US President George W. Bush has
described the event as a “tragedy” rather than “genocide”.

The Armenian diaspora in the US, which had demanded that Washington
declare the event a “genocide”, expressed severe disappointment over
Bush’s message.

More than one million Armenians died in massacres, camps, and death
marches through the Syrian Desert during 1915 when they were forced
to leave their homes. Turkey refutes these allegations and advocates
the deaths were caused by difficult road and weather conditions during
the migration.

Armenians say at least 1 million of their ethnic kin died between
1915-17 as a result of a deliberate policy of extermination. Ankara
claims the death toll is grossly inflated and that 300’000 Armenians
died during these years.

ARMENIANS OF STAVROPOL RESPECT MEMORY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 26 2006

STAVROPOL, APRIL 26, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Armenians
of the region of Stavropol paid tribute of respect to the
memory of compatriots become victims of the Genocide committed
in Turkey in 1915-1923. According to the “Yerkramas” (country)
newspaper of Armenians of Russia, a special divine service on the
occasion of that day was celebrated in the Armenian communities of
Budyonovsk, Pyatigorsk, Kislovodsk, Georgievski and the village of
Edissia. A gathering dedicated to memory of the Armenian Genocide
victims took place in the Armenian Cultural Center of the city of
Zelenokumsk. Priest Arsen Budaghian, the primate of the Surb Khach
(Saint Cross) church of the city of Budyonovsk appealed in the Armenian
Genocide victims’ memory. “I Accuse” documentary film was shown for
those gathered. The film was prepared by the “Yerkir-Media” (Armenia)
TV company, memories of witnesses of the Genocide, local authors’
poems about the Armenian people’s tragedy, etc. were read. The active
members of the “Bardzunk” Armenian Youth Organization of Zelenokumsk
organized the gathering. The film “I Accuse” was shown on April 24
by the city TV as well.

16th GLOBAL FORUM TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN IN AUTUMN 2007

Noyan Tapan
Apr 26 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 26, NOYAN TAPAN. The 16th Global Forum, which is one of
the biggest annual international forums of the innovation sector, will
be held in Yerevan in the autumn of 2007. NT correspondent was informed
about it from Ashot Khandanian, Head of the Science, Technologies
and Innovation Policy Department of the RA Ministry of Trade and
Economic Development. He noted that Global Forum’s organizer – the
management of the largest Sophia Antipolis Technopark Foundation (Nice,
France) proposed the Armenian government holding the forum in Yerevan
in 2007. The European Commission and ITEMS International company
(France) specialized in information and communication technologies
(ICT) advisory services are the forum organizers as well. According
to A. Khandanian, the proposal to hold a Global Forum in Yerevan is
indicative of the fact that Armenia is gradually becoming a country of
science. He noted that ministers of countries – the world’s leaders in
the innovation sector and managers of a number of large companies that
create and use innovation production will participate in the forum.

BUSH SEES OPTIONS ON IMMIGRATION
By James Gerstenzang, Times Staff Writer

ktla 5, CA
April 25 2006

In an Irvine speech, he says the U.S. should control its borders but
also be open to a guest-worker program.

President Bush, seeking to jump-start the congressional debate
on immigration, said Monday that “massive deportation” of illegal
immigrants would not work and that the U.S. could remain open to
immigrants while controlling its borders.

In an hourlong presentation to an Orange County business group, Bush
acknowledged the emotions on both sides of the issue. But in a message
clearly directed at the harshest critics of illegal immigration,
he said, “One thing we cannot lose sight of is that we’re talking
about human beings, decent human beings that need to be treated
with respect.”

Bush’s speech in Irvine coincided with the Senate’s return from a
two-week recess, which began the same day that large rallies supporting
immigrant rights were held across the country. More boycotts and
protests are planned for May 1.

Short of calling for all illegal immigrants to be sent to their home
countries, Bush offered something for nearly everyone concerned about
the issue. He insisted that the borders be protected. He supported
a course for some here illegally to gain citizenship. He renewed his
plea for a guest-worker program, opposed by many Republicans.

And he delivered a reminder of the desperate economic needs – to put
food on their families’ tables – that prompt people to risk their
lives and spend thousands of dollars trying to enter the United States.

“You can be a nation of law and a compassionate nation at the same
time,” Bush said.

Noting that U.S. authorities had captured 6 million people trying
to cross the border since he took office in January 2001, Bush
addressed those who want to deport the estimated 12 million people
here illegally.

“Massive deportation of the people here is unrealistic,” Bush said.

“It’s just not going to work.”

But he offered no new ideas to break the deadlock that has foiled
congressional efforts to overhaul immigration laws.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said the president planned
to discuss immigration today with a bipartisan group of senators –
most of whom supported legislation that would create a guest-worker
program, a path to citizenship, and allow many of those here illegally
to work toward citizenship. That bill foundered on procedural measures
this month.

A House bill passed in December concentrates solely on enforcement, an
approach backed by some Senate conservatives who think border security
must come first. Conservatives in the House, which returns from its
recess today, see any legalization program as a reward for lawbreaking.

Bush spoke here just days after the Department of Homeland Security
conducted widespread work-site raids and after Senate Republicans
announced they would seek an additional $2 billion for border security
in the supplemental spending bill being debated this week.

“When you combine this speech with the raids of last week and the
talk in the Senate of adding enforcement money to the supplemental,
they’re saying you can enforce the border and have a guest-worker
program at the same time,” said Tamar Jacoby, a senior fellow at the
Manhattan Institute, a business-friendly public policy center.

Aides said Bush came to Orange County so he could deliver the remarks
in a region where immigration was a key issue.

Costa Mesa was the first city in the nation to seek to train its police
officers in immigration law enforcement, and Orange County Sheriff
Michael S. Carona has sought such cross-training for his deputies.

It is home to Jim Gilchrist, a co-founder of the Minuteman Project,
which Bush has called a vigilante group. And it was the birthplace
of Proposition 187, the 1994 state ballot initiative that sought to
restrict public services for illegal immigrants.

Outside the event at the Hyatt Regency near John Wayne Airport,
about 250 protesters weighed in on a variety of issues – immigration,
the war in Iraq, environmental protection, even recognition of the
Armenian genocide of 1915.

Most of those protesting Bush’s immigration policy said the
president was too soft on illegal immigrants. Barbara Coe, coauthor
of Proposition 187, said Bush “betrayed our trust. He’s put America
up for sale in exchange for cheap labor.”

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS MEMORIAL DAY

UN Observer
April 25 2006

2006-04-24 | Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan’s Message on Genocide
Victims Remembrance Day

Dear Compatriots,

Each year on April 24, Armenians in Homeland and Diaspora bend their
heads before the memory of several thousands of our victims who fell
a prey to Genocide perpetrators. Organized and committed at a State
level by the Ottoman Turkey in 1915, not only did this crime, which
was actually directed against the whole civilized mankind, fail to
be prevented, but it escaped official recognition and condemnation
facilitating in this way the recurrence of new genocides.

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