Author: Tumanian Talar

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA MEETS EUROPEAN POLITICIANS WITHIN THE FRAMES OF ‘EASTERN PARTNERSHIP’ SUMMIT IN PRAGUE

ArmInfo
2009-05-08 12:22:00

ArmInfo. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan held a number of
meetings with the European politicians within the frames of the
‘Eastern Partnership’ summit in Prague.

As the presidential press service told ArmInfo, S. Sargsyan met
Prime Minister of France Francois Fillon, German Chancellor Angela
Merkel, European Commissioner for External Relations and European
Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner and British Foreign
Minister David Miliband.

S. Sargsyan and F. Fillon said the Armenian-French relations
successfully develop in economy, as well as in the humanitarian and
other spheres.

‘France is a friend of Armenia’, the French PM said.

On Fillon’s request, S. Sargsyan introduced the negotiation process on
normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations and Nagorno Karabakh
conflict settlement. Talking of the settlement, the president said
the status of Nagorno Karabakh is the key issue of the conflict,
and the negotiation process within the frames of OSCE MG, as well as
the available basic principles enable to move forward. S. Sargsyan
emphasized that Armenia is ready for such a resolution of the conflict
which will assure a long-term peace in the region. The French prime
minister expressed his support in the efforts aimed at a dialogue
between Armenia and Turkey, as well as normalization of relations
between the two countries.

During the meeting with the British foreign minister, S. Sargsyan
expressed his gratitude for the Kingdom’s support to Armenia after it
gained its independence. The parties discussed the issues of security,
peace and stability assurance in South Caucasus. Fore their part,
the German chancellor and EU Commissioner welcomed the efforts
on normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations and expressed
readiness to assist in this process.

PROGRESS REPORTED AT ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN TALKS
Karel Janicek

AP foreign
Thursday May 7 2009

PRAGUE (AP) The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan made "serious
progress" on Thursday during discussions aimed at resolving their
long-standing dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, a U.S. official
said.

French and Russian mediators at the talks also expressed optimism,
saying the two leaders had tentatively agreed to meet again early
next month in St. Petersburg, Russia.

"On the basis of what we heard from both presidents, we expect to
be in a position to confirm some progress during the next weeks and
months," said Bernard Fassier of France.

Nagorno-Karabakh is an enclave in Azerbaijan that has been under the
control of ethnic Armenian forces since a six-year conflict that
killed about 30,000 people and displaced 1 million before a truce
was reached in 1994.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan
during its conflict with Armenia. Turkey backs Azerbaijan’s claims
to Nagorno-Karabakh, which has a large number of ethnic Armenian
residents.

Presidents Serge Sarkisian of Armenia and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan
met on Thursday at the residence of the U.S. ambassador in Prague as
Washington and other governments push for a solution to the conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The presidents "were able in principle to reduce their differences
on the basic principles and … agree on the basic ideas that they
came here to discuss," said Matthew Bryza, U.S. deputy assistant
secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs and co-chairman
of the so-called Minsk Group set up to resolve the problem.

"They do agree on a basic approach," Bryza said. "It’s now up to
us to work actively with the foreign ministers as requested by both
presidents to work through the details and finalize these concepts
that were discussed today.

That’s a positive sign. Today showed us that we are making serious
progress."

Bryza declined to give details about the talks, which also were
attended by the foreign ministers of the two countries.

"There is progress, important progress today, significant progress in
that these difficult points that have been debated and argued over by
the presidents over the last few years are now conceptually agreed,"
he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton recently encouraged
Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve the dispute when she held separate
meetings with them in Washington.

Both presidents were in Prague to attend a summit Thursday during
which the European Union planned to offer aid and trade accords to
six ex-Soviet republics to ease Moscow’s hold over them.

ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER SETS 3 MONTHS AS DEADLINE TO HALT NUCLEAR PROGRAM

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.05.2009 22:15 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on
Tuesday that world powers should take action against Iran if it did
not curb its controversial nuclear program by August.

Israel, which says a nuclear-armed Iran would be a mortal threat,
has endorsed Western efforts to engage its arch-foe in talks. But
Israeli leaders have also hinted at pre-emptive military strikes if
they decide that diplomacy has failed.

"It is important that dialogue with Iran be limited in time, and if
after three months it is clear the Iranians are prevaricating and
not halting their nuclear program, the international community must
take active steps," an aide quoted Lieberman as telling Italian Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi during a tour of Europe.

Other Israeli officials have said that the U.N. Security Council,
which has already passed sanctions against Iran, should consider
imposing more crippling measures.

Lieberman’s statement was the first time that the month-old government
of hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly
signaled a timeline for action against Iran.

Iran denies seeking nuclear arms and has so far shrugged off foreign
pressure. Six world powers led by the United States have invited it to
talks, but contacts have so far been limited, and Iran has continued
to insist it will not give up uranium enrichment, which it says is
for power generation.

Israel, which is believed to have the Middle East’s only atomic
arsenal, says the enrichment program could provide enough fissile
material for a bomb with months. American assessments say that
threshold may be years away, Reuters reported.

ARGISHTI KIVARYAN’S RELATIVES FIND INVESTIGATION INCOMPETENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.05.2009 18:53 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "We’ll kill you anyway," shouted the criminals
assaulting Argishti Kivaryan , the journalist’s spouse Lusine Sahakyan
told a news conference today. "If assault perpetrators think they
frightened us, they don’t really know who we are," she said. Lousine
Sahakyan was interested in three questions: where the bullets were,
why the assault case was filed under Article 117 (Infliction of willful
light damage to health) and not Article 33-104 (death attempt) of RA
Criminal Code and why the investigation was conducted by assistant
investigator. "I haven’t turned to law enforcement agencies as I
don’t trust them. I think they are following us, and any information
obtained may be used against me," Mrs. Sahakyan said.

In his turn, Rouben Sahakyan announced that a competent judge would
not have filed case under Article 117 which requires a survivor’s
testimony. "It’s a fundamental principle of jurisprudence which any
competent lawyer is obliged to know," he noted, adding that the case
should have been filed under Section 2 Article 104, i.e. assault
for murder."

As noted by Mesrop Haroutyunyan, Deputy Chair of "Protecting Freedom
of Speech" Committee, this is not the first time attack against a
journalist or lawyer goes unpunished. Every time Armenian Government
makes public statements on necessity of investigating the case,
"but I don’t remember a single case investigated fully".

On April 30 05:00 a.m., former lawyer Argishti Kivaryan, coordinator of
Armenia Today news agency, was assaulted near his house. After beating
the journalist, the attackers released gunshots in his direction.

Argishti Kivaryan was then moved to town hospital where medical staff
refused to admit him. "After abortive requests to wake the chief
physician up, the relatives took Kiviryan to Erebuni medical center
where he was examined. Kivaryan is still in hospital. His life is
out of danger.

OPPOSITION HAS NO OTHER CHOICE

A1+
12:42 pm | May 04, 2009 | Politics

Yerevan’s City Hall is to decide where a political force can hold a
mass meeting at the pre-election period. The City Hall is empowered
to ban the meeting if the venue is not agreed upon.

"All issues related to mass meetings are regulated under the RoA Law
on conducting meetings, marches, demonstrations and rallies". The
Electoral Code imposes no restrictions in this context," the co-author
of the Electoral Code, legal expert Hrair Tovmasian said to A1+.

General rules are applied during the pre-election period as
well. "Parties enjoy some privileges at the pre-election period as they
can use state halls. They are free to apply to the Central Election
Commission (CEC), and the latter will allot them the halls within
three days. The CEC is not empowered to decide where a meeting will
be held. It is upon the City Hall to decide the venue of meetings,"
added Mr. Tovmasian.

A1+ reminded Mr. Tovmasian that Yerevan’s Mayor is Republican candidate
Gagik Beglaryana and wondered whether he will not try to hinder the
meetings of the Armenian National Congress (HAK). "The Chairman of
the Administrative Court, Tigran Mukuchyan, is not a Republican. Nor
are the judges of the Administrative Court. Parties must appeal to
the court if they think it necessary. This is the only way to restore
justice," noted the legal expert.

Let’s remind that the City Hall has suggested holding HAK’s meetings
of May 13, 14, 16, 17 and 18 in Dinamo Sports Complex.

REP. LEWIS SUPPORTS RESOLUTION TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Stoneham Sun
ernment/x407214736/Rep-Lewis-supports-resolution-t o-recognize-Armenian-Genocide
May 4 2009
MA

Stoneham – State Rep. Jason Lewis joined a majority of his colleagues
in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in sponsoring
a resolution to urge the U.S. Congress to renew its efforts in
officially recognizing the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

April 24 is marked as the annual day of remembrance by hundreds of
thousands of people around the world in recognition of the genocide.

The Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out by the Turkish
Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, resulting in the deportation
of nearly 2 million Armenians, of whom 1.5 million men, women and
children were killed. The 500,000 survivors were expelled from their
homes, succeeding in eliminating Armenians’ presence in their historic
homeland.

"This anniversary is a reminder that despite the fact that genocide
has reoccurred a number of times since the plight of the Armenians,
and still occurs today, these crimes against humanity will continue
until we truly recognize the act of genocide," said Lewis. "I hope
that this resolution will encourage Congress to act promptly."

Currently, while the United States does not officially recognize the
Armenian Genocide nationally, 42 of the 50 states do.

FINANCIAL CRISIS AFFECTED RA CENTRAL ELECTIONS COMMITTEE

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.05.2009 21:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ At today’s news conference RA Central Elections
Committee Head Garegin Azaryan gave a positive assessment to
pre-electoral process, emphasizing that no complaints were filed and
all candidates were registered.

Azaryan noted that instead of wooden voting cabins we’ll set up
cardboard- made ones for AMD1000 to save AMD 7000 for each.

SARKISIAN WARNS OF CANCELING TURKEY VISIT

AzerNews Weekly
April 29 2009
Azerbaijan

Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian has indicated that he could postpone
his October visit to Turkey, where he is scheduled to attend a soccer
match of the two countries` national teams, if the two countries`
shared border does not open by then.

"If, by that time, the border does open or is very close to opening,
I will gladly accept President Gul`s invitation," Sarkisian told the
English-language Russia Today TV channel.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 due to its occupation of
Azerbaijani territories and Armenian claims regarding the alleged World
War I-era genocide. However, there have been signs of normalization
in Ankara-Yerevan ties in recent years. The two countries` leaders
attended a 2010 World Cup qualifying soccer match together in Yerevan
in September 2008 when Abdullah Gul became the first Turkish president
to visit Armenia. Further, Gul invited his Armenian counterpart to
Turkey for a return game.

The Armenian leader noted that Yerevan and Ankara face differences
over the alleged genocide issue, but claimed that Turkey`s rejecting
the allegations on mass killings in the Ottoman Empire are not a
hurdle to establishing diplomatic ties between the two countries. "We
support forging ties with Turkey without pre-conditions."

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Sarkisian said he "had no
intentions to travel to Turkey merely as a tourist or a football fan."

Commenting on Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan`s recent
statement that the border opening was out of the question until
the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict has been
resolved, Sarkisian claimed that the statement "is not in line with
our agreement." He added that Yerevan`s stance on the Garabagh conflict
will not change after the Turkey-Armenia border opens.

Recent media reports claiming Turkey plans to soon open its border with
Armenia have sparked an outcry in Azerbaijan. However, the Turkish
premier followed up by saying that Ankara would not take this step
defying Azerbaijan`s interests, somewhat allaying Baku`s concerns.

Further, the Armenian president said that during talks he held
during a recent visit to Moscow, he witnessed Russia`s backing of
the border opening.

Sarkisian emphasized that the US government was making significant
efforts in this area. He also claimed that Washington "would recognize
the Armenian genocide at the time it deems appropriate."

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

OFFICIAL CONSULTATIONS CONTINUE IN ANTELIAS

During the past three days several officials and religious leaders held
consultative meetings with His Holiness Aram I.

Arcbishop Boulos Matar, Maronite Archbishop of Beirut, and Rev. Dr. Habib
Badr, of The National Evangelical Church of Beirut met with His Holiness to
discuss urgent ecumenical issues of the region.

Brig. Edmond Fadel, Lebanon’s new director of security discussed with His
Holiness security issues related to the country.

Christian and Muslim candidates, who will be running in the upcoming
parliamentary elections for office in June 2009, also visited His Holiness
Aram I and exposed their programmes.

##
View the photos here:
tos/Photos382.htm#2
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.

ANKARA STATEMENTS CAN SPLIT ARMENIAN SOCIETY

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.04.2009 14:09 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Being problematic, the legal framework of Treaty
of Kars was blatantly violated by Turkey, Armenian Genocide Museum
Institute Director Hayk Demoyan told a news conference in Yerevan
today.

According to him, Treaty of Kars was signed by Kemalist Turkey
and Soviet Republics of Transcaucasia. The Treaty implicates that
Turkey should recognize the Nakhijevan region and declare it under
Azerbaijan’s jurisdiction.

"In case of normalization of relations, Armenia and Turkey must sign
a new intergovernmental agreement. We should not even think of Treaty
of Kars. Such statements by Ankara can cause a split in the Armenian
society," the Armenian historian said.

Speaking of new intergovernmental agreement between Yerevan and Ankara,
Demoyan noted, it would be good to put in the document Turkey’s
readiness to liquidate consequences of the Armenian Genocide.

"The document should cover such issues like rescue of Armenian cultural
heritage in Turkey and definition of statuses. Following Treaty of
Lausanne, Turkey took the responsibility to respect cultural and
religious rights of ethnic minorities in the country," concluded
Demoyan.