Author: Virabian Jhanna

Pan Armenian News

ARMENIA EXPANDING RELATIONS WITH IRANIAN MAZENDARAN PROVINCE

24.05.2005 08:06

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Yesterday the Armenian economic delegation headed by
Deputy Minister of Agriculture arrived in the Iranian province of
Mazendaran, Irna agency reports. During the 4-day visit the guests are going
to discuss the trade-economic relations with the province administration.
Yesterday the delegation members held meetings with entrepreneurs,
businessmen and heads of the economic departments of Mazendaran. Today they
met with the governor to discuss bilateral cooperation. The delegation
members are also expected to visit complexes producing milk and meat
products, cattle-breeding farms and some industrial enterprises. A number of
memoranda will be as well signed.

Agence France Presse
May 24 2005

Ankara Condemns Dissident Conference On Armenian Genocide

(AFP) – Turkish Justice Minister Cemil Cicek Tuesday accused of
“treason” a group of academics organizing a conference to question
Turkey’s official position on the mass killings of Armenians under
the Ottoman Empire, the Anatolia news agency reported.

The three-day conference, which opens Wednesday at Istanbul’s
prestigious Bogazici University, will be attended by Turkish
academics and intellectuals who dispute Ankara’s version of the
1915-1917 massacres, recognized as genocide by several countries.

Cicek condemned the initiative as a blow to government efforts to
counter a mounting Armenian campaign to have the killings recognized
internationally as genocide, which many fear may cloud Turkey’s bid
to join the European Union. “This is a stab in the back to the
Turkish nation… this is irresponsibility,” Anatolia quoted Cicek as
saying at a parliamentary debate.

“We must put an end to this cycle of treason and insult, of spreading
propaganda against the (Turkish) nation by people who belong to it,”
he said.

The opposition joined the criticism. Sukru Elekdag, a senior MP for
the main opposition Republican People’s Party and a retired
ambassador, called the conference “a treacherous project” aimed at
disseminating pro-Armenian propaganda “under the guise of research.”

Conference organizers said in a press statement that “it is high time
Turkey’s own academics and intellectuals collectively raise voices
that differ from the official stance” on the Armenian killings. “The
expression of critical and alternative opinions will be to Turkey’s
benefit, because it will show how rich in pluralist thinking Turkish
society actually is,” the statement said.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen were killed by the
Ottomans in what was a genocide between 1915 and 1917. Ankara argues
that 300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil
strife during World War I, when the Armenians took up
arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with Russian
troops invading the crumbling Ottoman Empire.

Ankara fears that the genocide allegations could fuel anti-Turkish
sentiment in international public opinion and cloud its image at a
time when it is vying for EU membership.

Monday Morning, Lebanon
May 23 2005

As unexpected electoral alliances emerge Aiming for a Parliament to
forge a `new Lebanon’

Campaigning kicked off last week for parliamentary elections in
Lebanon as former war foes formed unlikely political alliances. The
influential head of the Maronite Church, meanwhile, reiterated calls
for efforts to ensure the polls are representative of the country’s
various sects.

In a move seen by the press as a step towards the first genuine
attempt at national reconciliation since the end of the 1975-1990
war, MP Walid Jumblatt and Saadeddine Hariri, son of the slain former
Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, joined forces with former foes.
Jumblatt and Setrida Geagea, wife of the jailed leader of the
Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, have formed an alliance and announced
a joint electoral list, pledging to `turn the page on the past’.
The Lebanese Forces and militants of Jumblatt’s mainly-Druze
Progressive Socialist Party fought fierce battles for supremacy in
the Shouf Mountains, southeast of Beirut, during the war.
Hariri chose Solange Gemayel, widow of slain former President-elect
Bashir Gemayel, as the sole Maronite candidate on his electoral list
for Beirut’s three constituencies.
Bashir Gemayel was a former leader of the Lebanese Forces during the
war.
Rafik Hariri’s assassination on February 14 was the catalyst that
prompted the Christian and Muslim opposition to unite and, with the
help of France, the United States and the United Nations, secure a
Syrian military pullout from the country last month ahead of the
crucial polls, which open May 29.
The Maronite Church, led by Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, continues to
complain that the polls will not meet the aspirations of Lebanon’s
large Christian community.
`Some politicians are only after their own interests’, Sfeir told
visitors last week. `Elections must be representative’.
Sfeir is opposed to elections on the basis of a 2000 law which he
says marginalizes the Christians.
The law, drafted under the auspices of Syria, calls for elections to
be held in larger districts where Christians are not well represented
and where Christian candidates end up being chosen by Muslim voters.
The Lebanese press, which hailed the new alliances, reported that
Patriarch Sfeir was mulling plans to hold a Christian conference to
review developments in the country.
Opposition MP Farid el-Khazen echoed Sfeir and said: `We consider the
2000 law the burial ground of democratic life in Lebanon. Yesterday’s
[May 15] electoral lists show that the results of the polls are being
fabricated even before they are announced. An essential sector of the
Lebanese people is being thrown out of the political game’.
General Michel Aoun, former head of a military government removed
from his `bunker’ in the presidential palace by a joint
Lebanese-Syrian military operation in October 1990, also criticized
Hariri’s Future Bloc and Jumblatt’s party, accusing them of
`treason’.
Opposition politicians, who want elections in smaller districts, have
accused Hariri and Jumblatt of breaking ranks with the rest of the
opposition and agreeing to hold elections based on the 2000 law.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who has close ties with Syria, has
rejected any calls for the amendment of the 2000 law.
He has announced a single candidates’ list for his Amal Movement
group and Hezballah for the two Southern constituencies which make up
part of the Shiite heartland.
Hariri has announced 19 candidates for the city’s 19 seats, of which
10 are Christian and the rest Muslim.
In addition to Solange Gemayel, Amin Sherri of Hezballah is a
candidate for one of the city’s two Shiite seats.
Standing for one of the two Greek Orthodox seats will be Gebran
Tueni, a member of the opposition Kornet Shehwan group and the son of
newspaper proprietor Ghassan Tueni, who in the 1970s served as a
minister.
A key ally of Hariri’s father and a former justice minister, Bahij
Tabbara, is to stand for one of six Sunnite seats.
Other candidates on the Hariri list are the same as those who stood
in the last elections in 2000 in support of his father.
These include candidates for the four Armenian seats, excluding
members of the Tashnag Party which has widespread support among
Beirut’s significant Armenian minority.

Today, Azerbaijan
May 24 2005

Vladimir Kazimirov:” Exploitation of BTC brings the war variant to
nothing”

23 May 2005 [12:59] – Today.Az

“Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline is of great economical and
political importance and is “cold shower” for those thinking to solve
Nagorno Karabakh conflict in war way”.

These were told by former co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group
Valdimir Kazimirov in his last article. According to the Russian
diplomat, the investors of the project took into consideration that
the estimation of the war variant is less than the political way of
solution in the region.

Kazimirov expressed opinion on the meeting of Azerbaijani and
Armenian Presidents on the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict in Warsaw. The former co-chairman considers that, though
statements were made on the liberation of the regions to Azerbaijan,
the most scandalous thing is that we can’t hope for the solution of
the conflict until the status of the Nagorno Karabakh is solved.

/APA/

URL:

THE SPECIAL SESSION FINISHED IN AN EXCLUSIVELY CROWDED HALL

A1plus

| 19:47:53 | 20-05-2005 | Politics |

Today at the end of the day, at the end of the special session the
whole Parliamentary “elite” had come to the Parliamentary hall. Even
Levon Sargsyan had come.

Perhaps the reason for this “activeness” was the drafts which were
voted against by the Orinats Yerkir. And in case of inactiveness
of the deputies the drafts were possible to not be adopted, as it
happened to the draft law on “Administrative Violations”.

In order to discuss all the issues in the agenda the discussions were
held at an exclusive speed, so that the deputies who had come to the
hall did not get bored and did not leave. So the hopes were justified;
all the drafts were adopted unanimously.

The fraction “Democratic Delegate” did not participate in several
votings, because of principal disagreements, which, nevertheless,
did not affect the result of the voting.

RYZHKOV STILL CONCERNED OVER CALAMITY ZONE

A1plus

| 17:38:32 | 19-05-2005 | Official |

Today Robert Kocharyan received the delegation headed by Co-Chair
of the Commission on Interparliamentary Cooperation of the National
Assembly of Armenia and the RF Federation Council.

The parties discussed the possibilities of quick and efficient
operation of the Armenian enterprises conveyed to Russia within
Property for Debt agreement as well as the development of regional
cooperation. They also highlighted the activities targeted at the
attraction of small and middle Russian business circles to the Armenian
investment field.

Nikolay Ryzhkov told about the impressions he got while visiting
the towns destroyed after the earthquake noting that the towns have
changed greatly and presently they face the problem of increasing
the workplaces. He added that the expansion of the Armenian-Russian
cooperation will contribute to solve this problem.

FEDERATION EURO-ARMENIENNE
pour la Justice et la Démocratie
Avenue de la Renaissance 10
B-1000 Bruxelles
Tel: +32 2 732 70 26
Tel/Fax: +32 2 732 70 27
Email : [email protected]

COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE
pour diffusion immédiate
18 mai 2005
Contact :Talline Tachdjian
Tel/Fax :+32 2 732 70 27

BELGIQUE – LE PARTI SOCIALISTE NEGATIONNISTE ?

Bruxelles, Belgique – Le Sénat belge examinera dans quelques jours le projet
de loi 51/1284 relatif a l’extension du délit de négation des crimes de
génocide. En l’état, le projet voté par la Chambre est fondé sur une
qualification judiciaire du crime de génocide ce qui ne permet pas de
sanctionner la négation du génocide des Arméniens, survenu avant la mise en
place des juridictions internationales compétentes. Ce problème est d’autant
plus aigu que le génocide des Arméniens souffre de très nombreuses attaques
négationnistes en Belgique.

C’est pourquoi, près de la moitié des membres de cette haute Assemblée ont
souhaité évoquer ce projet de loi afin d’examiner des amendements étendant
la sanction a des génocides reconnus par d’autres instances, et notamment
par les instances législatives fédérales de Belgique et par les instances
législatives européennes.
Dans ce contexte, nous dénonçons avec la plus grande fermeté la position
ouvertement négationniste que vient d’adopter publiquement le Parti
socialiste.

Le PS, s’abritant derrière la reconnaissance par le Sénat du génocide des
Arméniens, a indirectement indiqué qu’il ne soutiendrait pas des amendements
évoqués, en estimant ” qu’il ne peut etre question de galvauder dans un
texte pénal une notion aussi importante que celle de génocide “.

Le PS a insisté en indiquant que ” pour que des poursuites devant nos
tribunaux puissent se faire, il s’indique qu’un minimum de consensus existe
au sein de la communauté internationale sur la qualification des faits
incriminés. Ce consensus de la Communauté internationale doit aller au-dela
des résolutions sans portée juridique d’assemblées nationales ou
européennes. Si tel n’était pas le cas, on risquerait demain de banaliser
l’horreur qu’a été le génocide des juifs par un état moderne “.

Il a conclu avec cynisme que le texte de la Chambre pourra s’appliquer en l’
état ” au génocide arménien lorsque celui-ci aura été reconnu par une des
instances visées “.

Nous considérons que par cette déclaration le PS adopte directement la
position dictée par l’Etat turc en remettant en question la réalité meme du
génocide des Arméniens par les procédés négationnistes usuels de
banalisation, de relativisation et de rationalisation.

Nous considérons également qu’il sombre dans l’indécence en tentant de
mettre en place une concurrence et une hiérarchisation malsaine des victimes
par l’évocation dans cette affaire du génocide des Juifs. Nous réaffirmons
la solidarité fraternelle de toutes les victimes de génocides, qui ne tirent
aucune gloire ni aucune honte des tragédies qui les ont touchées.
Nous considérons par ailleurs que cette position ridiculise nos
institutions, et notamment le Sénat belge, en ramenant a rien la portée des
résolutions qu’elles peuvent voter. Nous fustigeons également l’attitude
schizophrène par laquelle le PS se décrédibilise en reniant ses positions
antérieures.

Nous dénonçons les motivations clairement électoralistes du PS, obnubilé par
le poids du vote turc dans les communes bruxelloises, et lui-meme infiltré
au plus haut niveau par des négationnistes notoires. En ce sens, nous
dénonçons aussi cette démarche en tant que visant précisément a exonérer le
PS qui tomberait sous le coup d’une telle loi anti-négationnisme.
Nous considérons enfin que le PS se fourvoie en ramenant ainsi une question
politique et morale a des considérations démagogiques et arithmétiques et en
faisant sienne la cause d’une minorité négationniste dont les intérets sont
opposés a ceux des Belges et de la Belgique en général, et a ceux des
fédérations du PS en particulier.

Nous appelons les organisations de Droits de l’Homme, le Centre pour l’
égalité des chances, les organisations et militants membres de l’Action
Commune Socialiste, les organisations représentatives de victimes de
génocides, et notamment les associations juives, arméniennes et tutsies, la
société civile a exiger du PS des excuses publiques et l’adoption d’une
position conforme a son héritage socialiste et aux valeurs européennes.

####

–Boundary_(ID_ISpC0t5QGq/N1E1AEP43fg)–

Union of Armenian Associations in Sweden
Chairman Garo Hakopian
[email protected]
tel. + 46 18 31 47 94

PRESS RELEASE

Armenian Architecture Exhibition dedicated to the 90-th anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide.

16 May 2005 Gotenberg – Sweden — On the initiative of Union of
Armenian Associations in Sweden (UAAS) and The Armenian church and
cultural organisation of Gotenberg the second city of Sweden, launched
on May 10-13 an exhibition dedicated to the 90-th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide.

Beside the several Armenians, who participated the opening ceremony,
Counsellors for Swedish and Catholic, as well as representatives
of Orthodox, Serbian and Armenian Churches and members of Swedish
local authorities where among the guests told Katrin Hakopian the
representative of Armenians in Gotemberg.

The main focus of The exhibition which is titled Armenian Architecture
Heritage in the South Caucasus is on Armenian architectural monuments
scattered across Turkey, a great majority of which was also subjected
to “genocide” alongside with annihilation of Armenians in 1915 and
later. The major objective of the exhibition is to draw European’
attention to what a country desires to join their ranks.

The exhibition has first displayed in European Parliament, Oslo in
Norway, in Swedish cities, and is scheduled to display in Riga capital
of Latvia at the end of May.

The opening ceremony which introduced by Kevork Artin and Katrin
Hakopian followed by speech of Mr. Bertil Bengtsson The author of newly
published book, The Year of The Sword. He concluded his speech with
the absolute necessity of pressure applied by the international public
opinion on the Turkish government in order to achieve recognition.

The cultural events of the program consist of spiritual Armenian
music performed by Lena Vartanian piano and Hrant Mardirosian violin
who played work of Comitas and Aram Khachatouryan.

The exhibition was co-organised by Assembly of Armenians of Europe
(AAE), prepared by Research on Armenian Architecture (RAA) and
assisted by Swedish educational organisation of “BILDA” and Orthodox
co-operation committees.

Union of Armenian Associations in Sweden

Chairman Garo Hakopian

[email protected]

tel. + 46 18 31 47 94

May 16 2005 Sweden

REGULATION AND LIMITATION CAN BE COMBINED

A1plus

| 11:43:24 | 14-05-2005 | Politics |

After every state elections held in Armenia the representatives of
different parties insist that the results were shuffled. If the law
“On Parties” functioned in Armenia after the elections several known
partied would be liquidated.

Today any party is obliged to take part in the elections two
consecutive times. If the party does not garner the essential 5% it is
subject to dismission. Once the initiators of the falsifications are
punished in Armenia people would trust the law “On Parties”. However
to date the trust is absent and there is even an opinion that this
law conflicts with the Constitution, accfording to which the parties
are formed freely and contribute to the formation and expression of
the political will of the people.

Deputy Justice Minister Tigran Mukuchyan holds a different
opinion. “The Constitution established fundamental principle, the
legal basis for the citizens to express their political will while the
regulations are fixed in the law. The law does not bar people from
uniting, it just established certain standards. I think the clauses
of our law correspond to the international and European standards”,
he says.

One of the standards is the humber of the party members. If it reduces
the party should be dismissed. However nothing of the kind has happened
in Armenia so far. After the adoption of the law “On Parties” over 110
parties functioned in Armenia, today the number makes 68. The Justice
Minsitry brought in suits with a demand to dismiss 42 parties due to
their inconsistency with the law.

The parties functioning today record of a great number of their
members. If these figures are summed the total membership of all
the parties will exceed the number of population fixed by the latest
census.

“I am convinced that there are parties, which do not keep the count
of their members. However we are not empowered to undertake any
checks. Thus, there are no facts and I am as an official consider it
inappropriate to present any assessments”, Tigran Mukuchyan says.

Lena Badeyan

Armenpress

AIDS CANDLELIGHT MEMORIAL TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN ON MAY 15

YEREVAN, MAY 13, ARMENPRESS: On May 15, 2005, the AIDS Candlelight
Memorial will be held in Yerevan outside the Opera and Ballet House. A
candle will be lit in memory of every Armenian who died of AIDS. The annual
event, coordinated worldwide by the Global Health Council, commemorates the
lives lost to AIDS, demonstrates support for people living HIV/AIDS, and
mobilizes community-based responses to HIV/AIDS.
The theme of this year’s International AIDS Candlelight Memorial is
“Turning Remembrance into Action.” Among other events are a jazz concert and
screening of films about how to prevent and fight AIDS.
On the same day Arno Babajanian concert hall will host presentation of a
book of stories of HIV/AIDS carriers, called We Too Want to Live. According
to National HIV/AIDS Prevention Center, on May 1 there were 328 Armenians
diagnosed with HIV and 83 persons with AIDS. So far 61 Armenians died of
AIDS