Author: Vardapetian Ophelia

PROTEST RALLY AGAINST LENGTHINESS OF TRIAL OF HRANT DINK MURDER

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
07.07.2009 16:25 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A group of 300 demonstrators drew attention to the
lengthiness of the trial on the 2007 murder of the editor of Agos
daily Hrant Dink. During a protest rally held yesterday in Istanbul’s
Besiktas district, participants chanted slogans: "Hrant’s killer is
the Ergenekon gang."

Gathered in Besiktas Square before a hearing on the murder of Dink
at the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court, members of a group calling
themselves the Friends of Hrant Dink carried placards "Justice for
Hrant," "Do you remember January 19 (the date when Dink was slain)"
and "Blood flows, state looks."

The spokesperson of the group said that the trial is not being carried
out in accordance with the law and added: "We know what happened on
January 19. We have been waiting for justice for two years." Stating
that the murderers of Dink were on trial in the courthouse located
just 50 meters away from them, the spokesperson said, "It is obvious
who did what. The killers have owned up to their crimes. Why then is
the trial not concluded, even though the criminals are obvious?"

After the statement, the group dispersed without incident.

Editor-in-chief of Agos daily Hrant Dink was killed near the newspaper
office in Istanbul on January 19, 2007.

PRESS RELEASE
Haigazian University
From: Mira Yardemian
Public Relations Director
Mexique Street, Kantari, Beirut
P.O.Box. 11-1748
Riad El Solh 1107 2090
Tel: 01-353010/1/2
01-349230/1

Haigazian University’s 49th Commencement Exercises

On Saturday, July the 4th, 2008, Haigazian University graduated 141
students, in the First Armenian Evangelical Church courtyard, Beirut.

The ceremony honored 133 students from the faculties of Business
Administration and Economics, Humanities, Sciences, and Social and
Behavioral Sciences with the BA and BS degrees, and 8 students with the
Masters degree.

Among the 1200 invitees were Minister Jean Oghasabian, representing the
President of the Republic, MP Hagop Pakradounian representing the
Speaker of the Parliament, and MP Dr. Bassem Shabb, representing the
appointed Prime Minister, in addition to the President of the Supreme
Council of the Evangelical Community in Syria and Lebanon, Rev. Salim
Sahyouni, the Armenian Ambassador to Lebanon, H.E. Roupen Kharazian,
previous members of parliament and ministers, university
representatives, diplomats, clergy, members of the Board of Trustees,
parents, relatives, and fellow students.

The ceremony started as Faculty and Graduates marched through the crowd
of parents, relatives and friends to the celebratory processional march
"Pomp and Circumstance" by Sir Edward Elgar, followed by the Lebanese
National Anthem, and the Invocation by the Campus Minister, Rev. W.
Gregory Lee-Parker.

In his trilingual speech, University President Rev. Dr. Paul Haidostian
talked about Beirut, as it carries the title of Book Capital of the
World, and stressed on its role to be one of the capitals of education
in the world. "While books and schools, universities and homes, web
space and portals act as agents and media of education in general, good
education is where values, relationships, ideas, needs, and technique
will meet. Some of these independently lead to wider knowledge, but
all of these together lead into deeper knowledge. All university
education, therefore, is a challenge to balance these ingredients of
good education," Haidostian said.

The keynote speaker of the ceremony, Minister of Interior and
Municipalities, Me. Ziyad Baroud talked about the knowledge and skills
acquired at Haigazian University. He explained that the first type of
knowledge will enhance graduates’ career choices, whereas the second
type of knowledge relates to the general skills acquired through the
liberal education; this will make graduates open to new ideas, have
critical thinking, respect the differences in community, and initiate
them to art and foreign cultures.

Baroud reiterated the fact that the education provided by Haigazian
University will give the graduates the sense of how they, as Lebanese,
relate to the rest of the world and the planet. "Your concern for human
rights, the environment, health, justice, world heritage, democracy and
peace are no longer limited to Lebanon but to all corners of the world
and to the many issues that affect our lives and will likely shape our
future and your children’s future’, Baroud noted. Afterwards, Registrar
Roubina Artinian and Deans Fadi Asrawi and Arda Ekmekji presented the
graduates who received their degrees from President Haidostian.

In their valedictorian addresses, Kamal Al Itani, speaking in English,
considered the commencement day as the beginning of a new phase in life.
The beginning of countless decisions to make, to build bridges instead
of walls, and to realize that diversity is to be cherished and
respected. On this most anticipated of days, Al Itani invited his
fellow graduates to create a goal for themselves, and said, "Let us take
inspiration where we find it and in return use our education to inspire
other generations of respectful, grateful, and charitable individual."
Whereas valedictorian Araz Ladayan, speaking in Arabic, asked her fellow
graduates to implement all of the values learned at Haigazian
University, and always be advocates of truth freedom and service.

After singing the Alma Mater, the ceremony concluded with the
Benediction given by the President of the Union of the Armenian
Evangelical Churches in the Near East, Rev. Meguerdich Karageozian.

The class of 2009, threw their caps and walked with their heads held
high while the recessional, "Trumpet Tune in C", by Henry Purcell,
played and celebratory balloons flew high into the skies.

"ARMENIA", SONG PERFORMED BY TATA SIMONYAN, APPEARED ON SALE IN BAKU

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
03.07.2009 16:20 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In a letter adressed to Azerbaijani Day.Az newspaper,
one of readers – citizen Rishad Aliyev, informed the editorial staff
that one of Baku’s DVD/CD shops sold Best Russian Lyric MP3 disk
which contained a patriotic song in Armenian. The song "Armenia"
performed by Tata Simonyan was not so pleasing to the ear, as half
of it was in the Armenian language, he wrote.

After receiving the message, the newspaper turned to Culture and
Tourism Ministry which announced that "Disks with Armenian songs should
not be sold in Azerbaijan. If there is anyone missing Armenian songs,
he/she is welcome to go to Armenia. The sale of such disks is a step
against Azerbaijan," Azerbaijan’s Tourism and Culture Ministry’s
press service reported.

In his turn Milli Majlis deputy Aydin Mirzazadeh, member of ruling
"Iyeni Azerbaijan" party, finds that circulating such disks is an act
of subversion against Azerbaijan. "It is impossible to characterize
it otherwise," Azeri official said in response top the newspaper’s
question.

Day.Az in the meantime expressed hope that "responsible agencies will
not leave the issue unattended since selling Armenian patriotic songs
in Baku poses a serious threat to the country."

NIKOL PASHINYAN WILL STAY UNDER ARREST TILL THE END OF SUMMER

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
03.07.2009 19:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Editor-in-Chief of Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper, Nikol
Pashinyan , who gave himself up to RA law enforcement authorities,
will be kept under detention for another two months, RA Prosecutor’s
Office Press Secretary Sona Truzyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

On July 1, Editor-in-Chief of Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper Nikol
Pashinyan, one of active participants of March 1 disorders, surrendered
to law enforcement agencies. The activist was arrested and taken to
"Yerevan-Kentron" penitentiary.

Earlier, Pashinyan had expressed his intention to come out of hiding
and continue his struggle in prison.

Dissatisfied with the outcome of February 19, 2008 presidential
elections, Armenian opposition started meetings in the centre
of Yerevan, under the leadership of first President Levon
Ter-Petrosyan. On March 1-2, protest actions grew into disorders,
resulting in the death of 10 individuals. Nikol Pashinyan was being
searched by law enforcers.

FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway

The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief

========================================== =======

2 July 2009
ARMENIA: WILL CRITICAL REVIEW HALT RESTRICTIVE RELIGION LAW?
=1321
The Council of Europe and OSCE have given a highly critical review of
proposed amendments which have already been approved by Parliament in their
first reading. The amended Religion Law would ban the sharing of faith,
require 500 adult citizen members before a religious community could gain
legal status, ban non-Trinitarian Christian communities from gaining legal
status, give broad reasons for banning religious communities, and recognise
the "exclusive mission" of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The new Criminal
Code Article 162 would punish the sharing of beliefs. "The authorities have
to take the points of this review into account, though I don’t know if they
will," Russian Orthodox priest Fr David Abrahamyan told Forum 18 News
Service. "If they adhered to European standards they wouldn’t have adopted
these amendments in the first reading." The government’s senior religious
affairs official, Vardan Astsatryan, told Forum 18 he had "no knowledge" of
the results of the review. But the Jehovah’s Witnesses told Forum 18
Astsatryan had told them in mid-June that the proposed amendments have been
suspended but not abandoned.

30 June 2009
AZERBAIJAN: PARLIAMENT APPROVES LATEST RELIGION LAW CHANGES
_id=1320
Azerbaijan’s Parliament, the Milli Mejlis, today (30 June) adopted
controversial new amendments to the Religion Law, a month after the last
restrictive amendments to the same Law came into force. A parliamentary
official told Forum 18 News Service that they "will be sent on to the
Presidential Administration for final approval within days." The amendments
require all leaders of Muslim communities to be appointed by the state, and
state that "religious rituals of the Islamic faith can be carried out only
by citizens of Azerbaijan who have received their education in Azerbaijan."
Despite these restrictions on freedom of religion or belief, parliamentary
deputy Ali Huseynov, who heads the Legal Policy and State Building
Committee – which arranged the amendments’ passage through Parliament –
stated they "do not at all restrict freedom of conscience". Forum 18 was
unable to find out from Huseynov why he thinks limiting the freedom of
communities to choose their own religious leaders does not limit freedom of
conscience.
* See full article below. *

30 June 2009
AZERBAIJAN: PARLIAMENT APPROVES LATEST RELIGION LAW CHANGES

e_id=1320
By Felix Corley, Editor, Forum 18 News Service <;

Azerbaijan’s Parliament, the Milli Mejlis, today (30 June) adopted
controversial new amendments to the Religion Law, a month after the
previous restrictive amendments to the same Law came into force. An
official of the Milli Mejlis Legal Policy and State Building Committee –
which had handled the Law – told Forum 18 News Service that the amendments
were approved with 95 deputies in favour and seven against. "Only one
reading was needed as they were merely amendments to an existing Law," the
official who asked not to be named told Forum 18 in the wake of the vote.
"The amendments will be sent on to the Presidential Administration for
final approval within days."

Azerbaijan’s Constitution gives the President 56 days from the date of
receipt to sign or return a law to Parliament. The amendments were briefly
discussed in Parliament on 19 June, before being briefly postponed until
today’s (30 June) session.

The amendments add two new restrictions which solely affect the Muslim
community. A new provision is added to Article 8: "The appointment of the
religious functionaries who lead Islamic places of prayer is by the
Caucasian Muslim Board in agreement with the relevant organ of executive
power." The other new provision is added to Article 21: "The performance of
religious rituals of the Islamic faith can be carried out only by citizens
of Azerbaijan who have received their education in Azerbaijan" (see F18News
18 June 2009 < 1314>). The Law
specifies that the amendments come into force on the date of their official
publication.

Despite these restrictions on freedom of religion or belief, Ali Huseynov,
a deputy and the head of the Legal Policy and State Building Committee, was
quoted by journalists as telling the Milli Mejlis that these amendments "do
not at all restrict freedom of conscience". Forum 18 was unable to reach
Huseynov in the wake of the vote to find out why he thinks limiting
Muslims’ freedom to choose who should lead their communities and places of
worship does not limit their freedom of conscience.

Vigorously defending the amendments to Forum 18 has been Rabiyyat
Aslanova, a deputy of the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan (New Azerbaijan) Party and
head of the Milli Mejlis Human Rights Committee.

But the amendments have provoked strong opposition from human rights
defenders, Muslims and opposition politicians. The first deputy chairman of
the Caucasian Muslim Board, Haji Salman Musaev, told Forum 18 on 22 June of
his personal opposition to the two new amendments (see F18News 25 June 2009
< e_id=1318>).

Two opposition parliamentary deputies, Fazil Gazanfaroglu Mustafaev of the
Great Formation Party, and Iqbal Agazade of the Umid (Hope) Party, also
told Forum 18 separately that they would oppose these amendments. Human
rights defender Eldar Zeynalov and Muslim rights activist Ilgar Ibrahimoglu
Allahverdiev were also highly critical (see F18News 25 June 2009
< e_id=1318>).

Great concern has also been caused by the authorities’ closure of mosques,
their barring of children from Jehovah’s Witness and Protestant worship,
and the recent harshening of Azerbaijan’s strict censorship regime (see
F18News 26 June 2009 < 1319>).

Muslims in the village of Nardaran near Baku, who are known to be
particularly devout Shia Muslims, also spoke out against the latest
amendments. The local Turan news agency reported on 24 June that village
elder Natig Kerimov described the amendments as "unacceptable and
illogical". "It is not clear why Azerbaijanis studying abroad are suspected
of disloyalty to the Motherland," he was quoted as saying.

However, the Legal Policy and State Building Committee official defended
the new restrictions. "The objections raised by some deputies today mostly
concerned the restrictions on those who have studied abroad," the official
told Forum 18. "But such limitations are justified by the reality of
today’s Azerbaijan. Many people come back from studies abroad bringing back
the religious policy of those countries." He declined to explain what
problems he believes this causes.

Asked whether the amendments – if approved by President Ilham Aliev – will
ban anyone who has gained an education abroad from leading prayers, the
official insisted to Forum 18 that the ban relates only to those who have
studied Islam abroad. Asked why the text of the amendments did not say
this, the official responded: "The text can’t include every little detail."

NGO Law amended

Also adopted in the Milli Mejlis on 30 June was a package of controversial
amendments to a number of other Laws, including the NGO Law. These had come
in for particularly heavy criticism by local NGOs and foreign human rights
groups, as well as by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE). However, unlike the Religion Law amendments, these
amendments were modified by the Milli Mejlis before being adopted, with
some of the most restrictive provisions being removed.

Any NGO working on issues such as religious freedom, or which is
religiously-affiliated, would suffer the same new restrictions as any other
NGO.

Human Rights Ombudsperson Elmira Suleymanova met NGO representatives who
were unhappy with the amendments to the NGO Law. She then wrote to Milli
Mejlis Speaker Oktai Asadov to urge deputies to defer consideration of the
amendments until the autumn to allow more time, her spokesperson Zemfira
Maharramli told Forum 18 on 30 June. However, Maharramli said Suleymanova
had made no mention in her letter of the Religion Law amendments. She said
the Ombudsperson was away in Russia and unavailable for comment.

No international review

The Azerbaijani authorities sent neither the May 2009 amendments to the
Religion Law nor the latest amendments for legal review by experts from the
Council of Europe or the OSCE.

Azerbaijan is a member of both organisations, and both laws break
international standards on freedom of religion or belief which the country
has agreed to, as outlined in the OSCE / Council of Europe Venice
Commission Guidelines for Review of Legislation Pertaining to Religion or
Belief (see < t;). The OSCE’s
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) told Forum 18
that "in line with its mandate, ODIHR stands ready to provide expertise in
the field of freedom of religion or belief at the request of participating
States" (see F18News 6 May 2009
< e_id=1291>).

On 24 June the Monitoring Committee of the Council of Europe’s
Parliamentary Assembly expressed concern about the amendments to the NGO
and other Laws, as well as over the already adopted May 2009 amendments to
the Religion Law.

Under the May 2009 amendments, all religious communities will have to
re-register with the State Committee by 1 January 2010, a process many
communities fear will be difficult. In previous re-registration rounds,
many communities that applied for re-registration failed to get it (see
F18News 25 June 2009 < 1318>).

Andres Herkel, an Estonian parliamentary deputy who is one of the two
rapporteurs on Azerbaijan for the Monitoring Committee of the Council of
Europe Parliamentary Assembly, says he is concerned about legislative
developments in Azerbaijan. "If the Milli Mejlis has adopted controversial
changes again to the Religion Law and the NGO Law without discussion and
consultation with the rapporteurs and with the Venice Commission, that
would be disappointing," he told Forum 18 on 30 June. "It’s better to
consult in advance on controversial points to help make such Laws better."
Azerbaijani Deputy Mustafaev of the Great Formation Party has similarly
suggested that consulting international experts would be helpful in
ensuring that laws do not violate human rights standards (see F18News 3
June 2009 < 1305>). Herkel
said the Monitoring Committee had hoped that consideration of these
amendments would have been postponed again. (END)

For a personal commentary, by an Azeri Protestant, on how the
international community can help establish religious freedom in Azerbaijan,
see < 482>.

For more background information see Forum 18’s Azerbaijan religious
freedom survey at < 1192>.

More coverage of freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Azerbaijan
is at <; religion=all&country=23>.

A printer-friendly map of Azerbaijan is available at
< s/atlas/index.html?Parent=asia&Rootmap=azerba& gt;.
(END)

© Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved. ISSN 1504-2855
You may reproduce or quote this article provided that credit is given to
F18News

Past and current Forum 18 information can be found at

ARMENIA TO TRY TO USE SUPPORT OF ANTI-CRISIS FUND SET UP WITHIN FRAMEWORK OF EURAZES

Noyan Tapan
July 2, 2009

YEREVAN, JULY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. There is another opportunity to get
additional financial resources to promote the development of the
Armenian economy.

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan stated at the July 2 sitting
of the government that about a billion US dollars will be accumulated
in the Anti-Crisis Fund set up within the framework of EurAzEs,
and Armenia may make use of the Fund’s support. At the same time the
prime minister said that Armenia has not yet worked out programs to
be submitted to the Fund. In his words, only two programs – on energy
and chemical sectors – have been guaranteed and sent there.

According to the prime minister, by his instructions a working group
has been created. It is headed by the RA deputy minister of finance and
will cooperate with ministries and departments to develop and adopt
big programs which are necessary for Armenia and can be submitted to
the indicated Fund for receiving additional financial resources.

BOOK ON AZERBAIJAN PRESENTED IN POLAND

TREND
29.06.09 20:20

Polish author-historian Peter Kviatkevich’s book titled "Establishment
of the Republic of Azerbaijan" was presented in Poland with the support
of the Embassy of Azerbaijan, Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan reported.

The book describes the events that took place in Azerbaijan in 1980,
the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, describes the
position of Azerbaijan, strengthening of the country after Nationwide
Leader Heydar Aliyev came to power.

The book was published in Polish in 2009.

SEYRAN OHANYAN IN TAVUSH REGION

;p=0&id=893&y=2009&m=06&d=30
28.06 .09

On the 28th of June the minister of defence Seyran Ohanyan visited
Tavush region. During the visit the governor of Tavush region Armen
Ghularyan, Major-General Levon Yeranosyan, Major-General Vostanik
Adoyan and other military officials accompanied him.

The minister of defence Seyran Ohanyan first visited the Armenian-Azeri
borderline and got acquainted with the lifestyle of the border
guards. After talking to the border guards and wondering about their
problems, the minister presented the ones who knew their duties best
with watches. From the borderland Seyran Ohanyan left for Barekamavan
village at the border, took part in the housewarming party of Araik
Abazyan, the house being built with the initiative of the Ministry
of Defence and a youth NGO.

Congratulating the Abazyans the minister wished them family happiness
and warmth. A number of war participants were awarded with "Drastamat
Kanayan", "Vazgen Sargsyan" and "Admiral Isakov" medals.

Then the minister visited another borderland village – Koti – in the
same region. Here houses for the families of war participants Artavazd
Bejanyan and Sahak Ghazaryan had been built. Here, too, everyone
was in high spirits. For their input in the work of safeguarding
the borders some war participants from Koti were awarded with
medals. Congratulating=2 0the housewarming party celebrators and the
awardees Seyran Ohanyan assured that the protection of the village
is in reliable hands and that appropriate work is being done to make
the protection more effective. People, in their turn, thanked for the
attention and stated that they are ready to stand next to the soldiers
and guard the borders of their motherland, should it be necessary.

TURKEY TO REOPEN ORTHODOX SCHOOL SHUT 38 YEARS AGO

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
29.06.2009 10:30 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey is planning to re-open a Greek Orthodox
seminary that was shut down nearly four decades ago, Turkeys culture
minister was quoted as saying Sunday.

The European Union, which Turkey is seeking to join, and the United
States have long pressed Ankara to re-open the theology school on
the island of Halki, off Istanbul, to prove respect for the rights
of its tiny Christian minority.

Culture Minister Ertugrul Gunay said the government was inclined to
re-open the school, even though a final decision was not yet made, the
mass-selling "Both my personal conviction and the general inclination
I see is that the school will be opened," Gunay was quoted as saying.

"The school does not currently fit into our university system, but
another formula will be worked out… There is no political problem,"
he said.

The minister explained the authorities were grappling with "the
technical problem" on whether the seminary should have the status of
a university or a vocational high school.

The century-old seminary was closed down in 1971, depriving the
Eastern Orthodox Church, seated in Istanbul since Byzantine times,
of its only facility to train clergy in Turkey.

The closure was the result of legislation bringing institutions of
higher education under state control, an arrangement into which the
seminary did not fit.

Gunay conceded that Turkish-Greek tensions over the island of Cyprus
at the time were also a prominent factor behind the move.

"What happened in the past is left behind… We need to say new things
now," he said.

Keen to boost its struggling EU membership bid, Ankara has in recent
years moved to improve the rights of its tiny non-Muslim minorities,
mainly Greeks, Armenians and Jews, Milliyet daily reported.

ARMENIAN AMERICAN STUDENTS ARRIVE IN ARMENIA UNDER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM OF AAA

Noyan Tapan
June 26, 2009

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Armenian American
young people have been spending their holidays in Armenia under the
Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) Summer Internship program for 10
years running.

Within the framework of the program they get acquainted with their
homeland and at the same time foster their skills. This program
provides Armenian American youth an opportunity to interact both
professionally and socially with their counterparts in Armenia. The
interns of the program also have an opportunity to meet with government
officials and other prominent individuals.

According to AAA report, the Class of 2009 arrived in Yerevan last
week. On June 23, they were welcomed by Assembly Country Director for
Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh Arpi Vartanian and Intern Coordinator
Vram Karakeshishyants. Vartanian hoped that the interns will have an
unforgettable summer that will change their lives.