Author: Topchian Jane

GENERAL PICTURE OF ARMENIA DIFFERS FROM THAT OF AZERBAIJAN

A1+
[05:00 pm] 26 February, 2007

On February 26, Vartan Oskanian, RA Foreign Minster held a joint
press conference with his Polish counterpart Anna Fortyga.

"I have always countered problems with mass media.

They frequently distort one’s speech. I got used to coarse questions",
Anna Fotyga, the Foreign Minister of Poland announced during the
press conference.

Mrs. Fotyga probably hinted at the rumors about her announcement
which don’t correspond the reality.

To remind, the Polish FM said, "All the conflicts, including the
Karabakh one, must be settled within the framework of the regional
wholeness".

While speaking of the Karabakh issue, she said, "My stance is as
follows; I want to see progress in the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations
during the negotiation process. I welcome this phase.

The regulation of the Karabakh conflict is of great importance as
the stability and peace of the South Caucasus is determined by the
very conflict settlement".

The Foreign Minister of Poland is concerned over the Armenian-Turkish
relations as well. She offered Armenia her support to better the
relations with Turkey as well as in Euro-integration process.

Panorama.am

19:40 24/02/2007

PROBABILITY OF FORMING LIBERATOR ALLIANCE 90 PERCENT

`Decision may be taken today,’ Hovannes Hovannisyan, chairman of
Armenian Libratory Progressive party, told Panorama.am asked about the
formation of an alliance.

In his words, the possibility of cooperation is 90 percent. `It seems
to be a serious, big format,’ he said.

Asked if the suggestion by Alternative initiative is discussed to be
consolidated around the slogan of `impeachment’, Hovanissyan said,
`The idea is acceptable. We are not against. It would not be bad to
run under that slogan, if our other colleagues from the opposition
agree.’

Source: Panorama.am

Theatre groups from 35 countries to partake in the 5th `Hay Fest’

ArmRadio.am
23.02.2007 12:16

This year 2 million AMD will be allocated to the `Hay Fest’
International Theatre Festival from state budget. President of the
festival Arthur Ghukasyan told Armenpress that the fifth `Hay Fest’
will take place October 4-14.

About 50 theatre groups from 35 countries of the world will perform in
the framework of the festival. Like the previous year, this time the
festival will be held under the auspice of RA Prime Minister.

Turkish activists launch civil disobedience campaign against law
curbing free speech

AP Worldstream
Feb 23, 2007

A group of activists invited prosecutors to press charges against them
on Friday in a protest against a law that restricts free speech and
has been used to prosecute intellectuals.

Five members of the small Powerful Turkey Party stood in front of a
prosecutor at a courthouse and repeated statements by Nobel
Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk, slain journalist Hrant Dink and
other intellectuals that were used as evidence to prosecute them under
Article 301 of Turkey’s penal code, which bans insults to Turkish
identity.

The group, including party leader Tuna Beklevic, then asked the
prosecutor to file charges against them. Prosecutors would have to
investigate Beklevic and his friends before opening any lawsuit, and
none of the activists were arrested.

More members of the party, which has just a few thousand adherents in
a country of 70 million, plan to conduct a similar act of civil
disobedience next week.

Article 301 makes denigrating Turkish identity a crime punishable by
up to three years in prison.

Pamuk and Dink had both spoken out about the mass killings of
Armenians by Turks in the early 20th century, an issue that remains
sensitive today. Numerous other writers, journalists and academics
have also been prosecuted.

Dink, an ethnic Armenian newspaper editor, was shot outside his
Istanbul office on Jan. 19 and his murder revived a debate about the
law. His prosecution under Article 301 turned him into a reviled
figure among radical nationalists, some of whom were arrested in his
killing.

Post Chronicle
Feb 23 2007

Outside View: America’s Turkey Problem
By F. Stephen Larrabee and Suat Kiniklioglu
Feb 23, 2007

As America struggles to stabilize Iraq while fighting rages, the last
thing it needs is to become embroiled in a new crisis with Turkey.

But that is where Washington appears headed if Congress passes a
resolution recently introduced by U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. and
several colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives accusing
Turkey of committing genocide against Armenians from 1915 to 1918.

Turkey denies claims by Armenians that the Ottoman Empire, Turkey’s
predecessor government, caused the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians in
a genocide. The Turkish government contends that far fewer Armenians
died, and that Armenians were killed or displaced in civil unrest
when the Ottoman Empire collapsed.

Clarifying the events surrounding the tragic deaths of the Armenians
is an important issue and deserves attention. But passage of the
proposed congressional resolution would open a Pandora’s box of new
problems by aggravating U.S.-Turkish relations and seriously
impairing the progress Turkey has made to address the Armenian issue
— all while failing to promote the Turkish-Armenian reconciliation
that is most needed.

The Bush administration has warned that even congressional debate of
the resolution could damage U.S.-Turkish relations. And even Schiff
has acknowledged that the resolution might harm relations between the
two countries in the short term.

The resolution comes at a particularly sensitive moment in Turkish
domestic politics. Turkey is entering a volatile electoral period,
with presidential elections in May and parliamentary elections in
November.

As these elections approach, Turkish politicians will be tempted to
play to the galleries. Consequently, the passage of the genocide
resolution could put the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan under strong domestic pressure to reduce cooperation with the
United States.

A new crisis in U.S.-Turkish relations would hurt America at a time
when the two nations are beginning to overcome the strains caused by
the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and could undercut President Bush’s new
strategy to stabilize Iraq.

Some 60 percent of all U.S. military equipment destined for Iraq goes
through the territory or airspace of Turkey, a Muslim ally and member
of NATO. If this route to Iraq were restricted or closed entirely,
the ability of the United States to effectively combat the insurgency
and violent militias in Iraq would be impaired.

The Erdogan government could also come under domestic pressure to
restrict U.S. use of the air base at Incirlik in southern Turkey to
re-supply American troops in Afghanistan.

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DEFENCE MINISTER OF ARMENIA: THE ARMY WILL BECOME FIT FOR FIGHT AND WILL SATISFY UP-TO- DATE MILITARY STANDARDS

Arminfo
2007-02-20 21:16:00

"The Army should make political leadership to continue negotiations
to resolve Nagorno Karabakh conflict. This is priority of our army. I
am sure that in future, the army will become fit for fight and will
satisfy up-to-date military standards," Armenia’s Minister of Defence
Serzh Sargsyan told journalists at the event on anniversary of the
beginning of Karabakh national-liberating movement today, ArmInfo’s
special correspondent reports from Stepanakert.

To remind, today, S. Sargsyan passed the "Tigran Mets" military medal
to the Army of Narodno Karabakh Republic (NKR) for the "considerable
achievements in army-building and for the courage revealed when
defending the borders of the homeland," Defence Minister said.

PROSPEROUS ARMENIA PARTY WANTS "SERIOUS" ROLE IN GOVERNING ARMENIA
Haroutiun Khachatrian

EurasiaNet, NY
Feb 22 2007

Against a backdrop of controversy, Armenia’s Prosperous Armenia Party
is emerging as the leading challenger to the ruling Republican Party
in this May’s parliamentary elections.

At a press conference following the party’s February 15 congress,
Central Office Coordinator Vardan Vardanian declared that Prosperous
Armenia, or Bargavach Hayastan, hopes to collect sufficient votes
in the May 12 parliamentary poll to form at least the second biggest
faction in the Armenian legislature after the Republican Party. The
party’s chairman and multimillionaire businessman, Gagik Tsarukian,
went still further. "We have all the possibilities to win at the
coming parliamentary elections and get our serious share of the job
of governing the country," Tsarukian told conference delegates in
a speech.

The size of the party’s alleged membership alone — 370,000 official
members — is cause for notice. If accurate, the number means that
one out of every seven adult inhabitants of Armenia is a member of
Prosperous Armenia. Yet, even if the figure is significantly inflated,
the party would still outstrip its closet rivals.

An aggressive charity campaign run by an association that bears the
same name as the party has helped build support for Tsarukian and his
movement. Prosperous Armenia members often take active part in the
charity’s activities. [For details, see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Despite considerable controversy surrounding these giveaways, the
government has not yet attempted to regulate the charity’s activities.

It would appear to have little reason to do so. The party’s goals,
as outlined at the congress, show that it is committed to the course
set by President Robert Kocharian’s administration. "The principal
idea and goal of BH [Prosperous Armenia] is to develop the obvious
economic and political successes of the past years amid popular
support," Vardanian declared to party members at the one-day event.

An official blessing, of sorts, has already been given to the party.

"There are no contradictions either inside the ruling authorities
or between the Republican Party of Armenia and Bargavach Hayastan
[Prosperous Armenia]," declared presidential spokesperson Victor
Soghmanoian in a surprising statement published by the Hayots Ashkharh
daily. "And it is natural."

President Kocharian’s chief of staff, Armen Gevorgian, along with
Prime Minister Andranik Markarian, leader of the ruling Republican
Party of Armenia, attended the conference. Commenting wryly on the
budding cooperation between the two parties, the opposition daily
Aravot argued in a February 16 editorial that a "bipartisan" system
between the Republican Party and Prosperous Armenia "means that the
ruling oligarchic system has found a mechanism of self-protection."

Given what appears to be a similarity of their policy interests,
the possibility of an alliance between Prosperous Armenia and
the Republican Party would seem likely. Leaders of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation, or Dashnaktsutiun, another party in
Armenia’s ruling coalition, also attended the Prosperous Armenia
conference. However, Tsarukian stressed that Prosperous Armenia will
not form any alliance during this spring’s parliamentary elections.

The Republican Party, setting aside earlier criticism of Prosperous
Armenia, appears content with the decision. At a February 19
press conference, Galust Sahakian, leader of the Republican Party
parliamentary faction, commented that the issues raised by Prosperous
Armenia during its conference were "normal and logical," adding that
Prime Minister Markarian’s presence at the gathering should be seen
as an signaling his desire for free and fair elections in May, the
daily Haykakan Zhamanak reported.

Manvel Sargsian, an expert at the Kavkaz analytical center in
Yerevan, said that Kocharian intends Prosperous Armenia as a warning
to the Republican Party, which is led by Prime Minister Markarian
and Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian. A criminal case recently
brought against Republican Party parliamentarian Hakob Hakobian for
allegedly taking part in a violent brawl "was a clear warning to the
whole business community which cooperated with the RPA [Republican
Party of Armenia] during the previous elections," Sargsian said. By
contrast, he continued, Prosperous Armenia "is kept free of oligarchs
. . . and current corrupt highly ranked officials who have a very
bad reputation."

If Prosperous Armenia is to become a presence in government, it still
must overcome some obstacles. For example, relative political unknowns
— university rectors, artists, scientists, medical professionals and
current and former mid-level government officials — comprise the bulk
of the party’s 35-member political council. For now, none have emerged
as obvious candidates for high government office should the party’s
prediction of success in the parliamentary polls come true. Chairman
Tsarukian himself has made clear that he has no ambitions to serve in
the cabinet. As deputy minister of transportation and communications,
Vardanian presently holds the most prominent government position
among party members.

Editor’s Note: Haroutiun Khachatrian is a Yerevan-based writer
specializing in economic and political affairs.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku became railway variant of Baku-Ceyhan?
17.02.2007 13:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `The sharp cooling of the Russian-Azeri relations in
late 2006 formally began with outer reasons. First, Moscow requested
Baku to suspend gas delivery to Georgia. When Baku refused to form an
anti-Georgian alliance Gazprom raised the gas prices not for Georgia
but also for Azerbaijan,’ head of the department of international
relations at the institute of political and military studies Sergey
Markedonov said in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net. He reminded
that Azerbaijan had to pay $235 instead of $110 for thousand cu m of
gas. `For its part Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that such
price `discords with the spirit and essence of the Russian-Azeri
relations.’ Moreover, Aliyev junior did not rule out that `oil and gas
relations between Moscow and Baku maintain a political implication.’
The result was that the Azeri authorities and Gazprom did not sign an
agreement on delivery of Russian gas to Azerbaijan in 2007. The story
was continued. February 7, in Tbilisi, top leaders of Georgia,
Azerbaijan and Turkey held a regional summit, which resulted in
signing of agreement on construction of a strategically important
Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railroad. Some experts began speaking of
a railway variant of Baku-Ceyhan. It’s worth mentioning that the
project is supposed to be completed by 2009 without Russia’s
participation and in bypass of Armenia. In general, such a development
was expected but only the event of February 7, 2007 showed that the
project will be launched in bypass of Armenia. The project tightened
the Tbilisi-Baku economic knot. Moreover, Azerbaijan did a little
`service’ to Georgia in the form of a $200 million credit,’ said
Markedonov.

Le Figaro, France
17 février 2007

Petites nouvelles du monde à Berlin

De notre envoyé spécial à Berlin JEAN-LUC WACHTHAUSEN

LE CINÉMA, miroir du monde, des guerres passées ou présentes, de la
politique ou de l’absence de politique, de la misère et de la
violence, de la vanité et de la folie humaine. Vaste programme pour
un festival comme Berlin, pour cette Berlinale, dont le patron,
Dieter Kosslick, essaie chaque année d’équilibrer la programmation de
centaines de films en accordant par-ci par-là un peu de place à la
légèreté et au glamour en invitant quelques étoiles de Hollywood qui
font encore rêver. Ainsi, la star latina-américaine Jennifer Lopez,
38 ans, a-t-elle fait le voyage à Berlin pour promouvoir un « film
engagé », Les Oubliés de Juarez ( Bordertown ), qu’elle a produit et
dont elle est la tête d’affiche aux côtés de Martin Sheen et Antonio
Banderas. Récompensée par Amnesty International pour son implication
dans la « campagne contre la violence faite aux femmes », Jennifer
Lopez s’est investie à fond dans ce thriller un peu brouillon où elle
joue le rôle d’une journaliste de terrain américaine enquêtant sur le
sort de centaines de femmes mexicaines, originaires de la ville de
Juarez, violées, assassinées et enterrées en plein désert.

Il s’agit d’ouvrières des maquiladoras, ces usines d’assemblage qui
bordent la frontière entre les États-Unis et le Mexique. Des meurtres
inexpliqués qu’Amnesty évalue à quatre cents et que les autorités
locales et la police ont tendance à minimiser ou à étouffer. « J’ai
été très choquée par l’assassinat d’une jeune fille de 17 ans, à
Juarez, en 2001 , avouait Jennifer Lopez lors de la conférence de
presse donnée en compagnie de l’équipe du film, et de la mère de la
victime, Norma Andrade, qui a fondé une association des mères et des
familles des victimes. Je les soutiens et avec ce film nous avons les
moyens de révéler au monde ce qui se passe à la frontière
américano-mexicaine. Une réalité insoutenable pour la dignité et la
justice humaines. » Génocide arménien Les frères Taviani invoquent
aussi la dignité humaine en évoquant le génocide arménien par les
Turcs dans leur nouveau film, The Lark Farm , creusant la brèche
ouverte par Atom Egoyan avec Ararat . La belle actrice espagnole Paz
Vega prête ses traits à une jeune Arménienne amoureuse d’un officier
turc. Nous sommes en 1915 et sa famille, les Avakian, de riches
propriétaires, ne sentent pas monter le nationalisme turc qui les
conduira à leur massacre. Images terribles de la sauvagerie humaine
et de l’orgueil nationaliste qui, côté turc, continue de nier
l’évidence du génocide. Curieusement, ce film est passé discrètement
à la Berlinale, sans que l’on sache vraiment si c’était le souhait
des frères Taviani ou le souci des organisateurs de ne pas irriter la
puissante communauté turque de Berlin. Parmi les autres temps forts
du festival, deux autres films ont fait impression. Beaufort , une «
histoire de survie » , selon son jeune réalisateur israélien, Joseph
Cedar, qui raconte le retrait des troupes israéliennes au Liban-Sud,
en 2000, du camp retranché de Beaufort, une forteresse du XII e
siècle bombardée par les missiles du Hezbollah. De son côté, l’acteur
américain Steve Buscemi ( Fargo , Reservoir Dogs ) a présenté sa
nouvelle version d’ Interview , le film du cinéaste néerlandais Theo
van Gogh, assassiné par un extrémiste musulman en 2004. Un film de 81
minutes capté par trois caméras digitales et qui confronte un
journaliste ( Buscemi ), ancien correspondant de guerre, à une jeune
vedette de séries (Sonia Miller). Pas de message politique dans
Interview mais un salut au style d’un cinéaste, Theo Van Gogh, dans
le cadre d’un hommage réunissant aujourd’hui deux autres réalisateurs
américains : Stanley Tucci et Bob Balaban. « Van Gogh aimait les
acteurs et j’adorais son style. Je voulais que cela se reconnaisse ,
a expliqué Buscemi. S’il n’avait pas été tué, il aurait fait ces
films lui-même et j’espère que j’aurais eu la chance d’avoir le rôle.
» Remise des prix ce soir.

National Assembly of RA, Armenia
Feb 16 2007

Meeting in Standing Committee of National Assembly

On February 15 at the meeting of Mrs. Hranush Hakobyan, Chairwoman of
the Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture and Youth and
Mr. Sven Holdar, Democratization Officer of OSCE office in Yerevan
issues concerning Armenia’s democratization were discussed,
particularly the role of mass media during the upcoming parliamentary
elections was highlighted. On Mr. Holdar’s request, Mrs. Hakobyan
introduced the amendments to the law on Television and Radio, the
gender issues, particularly the involvement of women in politics.