Author: Tumanian Talar

VALDAS ADAMKUS: “WHAT BELONGS TO YOU SHOULD BE YOURS”

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
April 26 2006

“Any person, any country has got the right to be free and the right of
territorial integrity – this is a basic principle”, stated President
of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus, who is in Yerevan on an official visit,
at a meeting with the students and professorial staff of the Yerevan
State University April 26.

While commenting on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process
President of Lithuania noted: “What belongs to you should be yours”,
REGNUM correspondent reports. At the same time he said military
solution of the conflict was inadmissible. “A dialogue is necessary
for the conflict’s peaceful settlement. I call on you to speak to
each other. One can find the ways for the problem solution only via
mutual understanding and a dialogue,” the Lithuanian President stated.

ARMENIA: “PARTICIPATING IS THE FIRST STEP”

ScubaWeb, Italy
April 26 2006

This is the first participation in the French Olympique Week for
Armenia. The youngest “ISAF” nation, Armenia was affiliated in 1995.

In Hyères 3 boats are representing this new independent country
(independence in 1991): two Lasers and a 470 Men helmed by Michel
Zakarian, Olympic Sailing Team Manager and technical director. French
from Armenian origins, Zakarian is sailing since 1974. Since 1999 he
has set his goal on developing sailing in Armenia. “The affiliation
at ISAF was a first step. The Armenian President gave 2000 sq m of
land on the shore of Lake Cevan to build the Sailing centre. We have
2 main objectives, developing a sailing team who can represent Armenia
at International competitions and also to develop sailing as a sport in
Armenia. There are only 3 main Olympic sports: Wrestling, Weightlifting
and Boxing. Lots of work needs to be done and can not be achieved
without international help. We need to find a partner to build our
centre, find second hand equipment…There is still a lot to achieve
but for us the important step is to be there and to participate.”

–Boundary_(ID_NOW78GPLX2VKj4VSIehh Hg)–

THREE YEAR-OLD ABRAHAM KARAPETYAN NEEDS HELP

ArmRadio.am
26.04.2006 15:30

Three year-old Abraham Karapetyan suffers retina cancer. To save the
child’s life, one of his eyes was ablated two years ago. To keep the
second eye, the child needs to be operated on in large hospitals
abroad, particularly France and England. Through “Radiolur” the
child’s mother applies all charity organizations to help the child.

Diana Karapetyan is an unmarried mother. She lives in terrible, to be
more exact, unbearable conditions. She takes care for her handicapped,
ill father and three-year-old son. She knew about the child’s illness
when he was one-year-old. Then she addressed Armenian specialists. The
latter advised to take the child to Moscow for surgery, where his eye
was ablated. The second eye can be saved only in case of replacing
it with a donor one, which can be done only in France and England.

Those who are concerned about the fate of little Abraham and can
help the child can address “Radiolur.” We shall help you contact the
child’s relatives.

LITHUANIAN PRESIDENT HERE ON AN OFFICIAL VISIT

ArmRadio.am
25.04.2006 17:26

At the invitation of RA President Robert Kocharyan, the President
of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus and Mrs. Alma Adamkie arrived today in
Armenia on a two-day official visit.

The Lithuanian President was officially welcomed at RA President’s
Office, following which the two Presidents had a meeting. The leaders
of the two countries discussed issues related to Armenian-Lithuanian
bilateral relations, EU-Armenia cooperation and regional questions. The
parties exchanged views on urgent international questions.

Later the Armenian-Lithuanian negotiations continued in an enlarged
format.

The primary directions of economic cooperation and the opportunities
of activation of these were discussed.

At the end of the meeting an agreement on promotion of investments
and mutual defense was signed between the governments of the two
countries. Presidents of Armenia and Lithuania gave a joint press
conference.

TATUL MANASARYAN: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IS VULNERABLE IN ARMENIA

ArmRadio.am
25.04.2006 15:52

At least two most essential competitive advantages of Armenian can
be considered a success. According to MP Tatul Manasaryan, these
include science or, in a broader sense, the intellectual property of
the country and professional capacity of the Diaspora. Despite this,
according to the Deputy’s assessments, the intellectual property is
to some extent vulnerable in our country. In this sense the Deputy
is going to come forward with a legislative initiative, which will
contribute to the resolution of problems of effective governance of
intellectual property in Armenia.

UN COLLOQUE SUR LES MEMOIRES DE GENOCIDES

L’Humanite, France
24 avril 2006

Vendredi et samedi prochains, Lyon accueillera, a l’Ecole nationale
superieure, un colloque international sur le thème ” Memoires partagees
des genocides et crimes contre l’humanite, demarche preventive et
dynamique de paix “. Sous la presidence d’honneur de Mary Robinson,
haut-commissaire des Nations unies aux droits de l’homme, d’Abdoulaye
Wade, president du Senegal, et d’Aram Ier, dirigeant de l’Eglise
armenienne, ces deux jours de rencontres reuniront une vingtaine des
meilleurs specialistes mondiaux de ces questions : anthropologues,
juristes, philosophes, historiens, sociologues…

–Boundary_(ID_HEFX0hXnrR3qSGKIN20 DLw)–

FRENCH AMBASSADOR: WORLD SHOULD REMEMBER ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.04.2006 00:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The world should always remember the Armenian
Genocide. This is not only the history of Armenia but also of Europe,
French Ambassador Henry Cuny stated when in Tsitsernakaberd today
to commemorate the Armenian Genocide victims. “The French Senate has
recognized the Armenian Genocide; the French Penal Code provides for
punishment for its denial,” the Ambassador said.

For his part, French parliamentarian Philippe Pentec emphasized that
“only those who do not experience problems with the past should join
Europe”, reported the Public Television of Armenia.

TIGRAN TOROSYAN: NOBODY DENIES CASES OF FRAUD

Lragir.am
24 April 06

The deputy speaker of the National Assembly declined to comment on
the statements of the speaker, concerning the election 2003 and the
unacceptability of conducting similar elections in 2007 and 2008.

Arthur Baghdasaryan’s statement, made in an interview with a German
authoritative newspaper, has already received serious responses
in Armenia, even from President Robert Kocharyan, who said he was
astonished by the words of the speaker.

Tigran Torosyan declined to comment on the statements of the president
and the speaker of the National Assembly. On April 24 he told news
reporters that it would be better to wait for Arthur Baghdasaryan’s
comments after he returns. But unlike the president of the Republic,
the words of the speaker did not surprise Tigran Torosyan. “Frankly
speaking, nothing astonishes me any more,” said the Republican deputy
speaker after thinking for a while. “I think the approach that the
elections in 2007 and 2008 must comply with all the standards, it is
an idea, it is an approach, which I believe, is shared by most people
both inside and outside the political arena in Armenia. I believe that
the head of state emphasizes this. Hence, the problem is not that we
should aspire or we should not aspire to, etc. Certainly, we need to
try to achieve general compliance of the elections in 2007 and 2008,”
says Tigran Torosyan.

After these words it appeared extremely important to find out if
compliance implies the election in 2003. In other words, we tried
to enquire from the deputy speaker of the National Assembly that the
elections in 2007 and 2008 will be similar to the election of 2003.

“Of course not. Because everyone said the election in 2003 did not
fully comply with the international standards. This is also the
assessment of the international observers. Certainly, I believe, no
one denies that there was fraud, unfortunately,” says Tigran Torosyan.

Independence starting point for Karabakh settlement – speaker Ashot Gulyan

Arminfo, Yerevan
21 Apr 06

Stepanakert, 21 April: For the people and authorities of the Nagornyy
Karabakh republic [NKR], the results of the referendum are a starting
point in solving the Karabakh problem. According to the referendum,
the Armenians of Artsakh [Karabakh] said “yes” to independence and
accepted the establishment of an independent state as their strategy,
the speaker of the Karabakh parliament, Ashot Gulyan, said during
parliamentary hearings on prospects of solving the Karabakh problem
in Stepanakert today.

Welcoming participants in the hearings, Gulyan pointed out that
Artsakh has always been and will be in the centre of the attention of
the world’s Armenians. At the same time, he noted the importance of
defining the positions and opinions of groups, factions and political
forces of the NKR regarding the Karabakh settlement and possible
developments in the context of the Karabakh problem.

Gulyan said that the hearings will become an important prerequisite
for organizing such discussions on the key issues of settling the
Karabakh conflict in the future. Of course, the activities of the
entire political system, including the NKR National Assembly, are
aimed at achieving this goal, Gulyan said.

NAZELI VARDANIAN: HUNGARIAN COURT OF APPEAL WON’T COMMUTE VERDICT ON RAMIL SAFAROV

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 19 2006

“I don’t believe Hungarian Court of Appeal will commute the life
sentence on Azerbaijani army officer Ramil Safarov.

This court will never meet the appeal for commuting the punishment,”
said lawyer Nazeli Vardanian, who represents the family of murdered
Armenian officer Gurgen Markarian, in a news conference. He said
that the Court of Appeal can only investigate whether there were
any illegalities in the court proceedings against the Azerbaijani
lieutenant. Vardanian said that the court dismissed Safarov’s claim
that he was driven to this act by the events he witnessed during the
occupation of Azerbaijan’s region of Jabrail region by Armenians.

“The court investigation found out that Ramil Safarov was not in
Jabrail at that time and did not witness the events,” the Armenian
lawyer said.

Vardanian also said that the prosecutor Margit Chokain reacted severely
to Ramil Safarov’s being declared as Man of the Year in Azerbaijan.

“The prosecutor said that he has never met a country and a nation to
declare such murderer as a prestigious figure,” he underlined.

Legal representative of Ramil Safarov’s family, lawyer Adil Ismayilov
told APA that the Armenian lawyer Vardanian’s statements are nonsense.

“Prosecutor Margit Chokain did not say such sentence on Azerbaijan
state and people. These statements were voiced by the lawyer for
Armenian side not by the prosecutor. Armenians try to make public
their opinions on behalf of the prosecutor,” Ismayilov underscored.

Adil Ismayilov also refuted Vardanian’s statements that the fact
as if Ramil Safarov was not in Jabrail during its occupation was
confirmed by the court. He said such fact was not confirmed by the
court at all.