Author: Zakarian Garnik

Seattle Times, WA
April 22 2004

Thousands march to demand Armenian president resign

YEREVAN, Armenia – More than 10,000 demonstrators marched yesterday
to demand the resignation of Armenian President Robert Kocharyan,
whom they accuse of rigging his re-election last year, and to seek a
national referendum on his administration.

Kocharyan dismisses any notion of a “rose revolution” like the one
that forced the resignation last year of veteran leader Eduard
Shevardnadze in ex-Soviet Georgia to the north.

The president says Armenia, unlike Georgia, has a more solid economy
with authorities enjoying broader support.

Le Monde
21 Avril 2004

En toute intimité, la générosité humaine du poète Aznavour

L’artiste se produit, jusqu’au 21 mai, au Palais des congrès, à
Paris
Merveilleuse , sur le coup, est sa jeunesse. Son air de jouvence, sa
lumière, sa verdeur. Simplicité, naturel, liberté. Cet échange
insolite d’émotion entre la multitude, dans la salle, chaque être de
cette multitude, et ce pierrot, noir et blanc, lumineux, là-bas, ici,
détendu comme en solitude, sans façons. Cette vivacité, cette
esquisse de pas de danse et ces arrêts, soudain, ces repos rêveurs,
printemps ou automnes.

Et les mimiques de rien, semblants de gestes, regards, mains qui se
posent, jeux de grand acteur qui ne joue pas, ombres de conscience,
enfance du c`ur. Une incroyable intimité et sans cesse une vérité, un
sérieux, quelque chose de grave dans l’attention donnée aux
souffrances, aux injustices. Et un effacement sensible. Une
générosité humaine. Oui, merveilleux Aznavour, qui partage le poème
comme on partage le pain. Entre nous.

Emigrants, immigrants, dénuements, espérances, luttes, comédiens,
savants, artistes, l’Arménie et la France, mineurs de fond et
chauffeurs de taxi, Picasso et Madame Curie, pensées intimes d’un
monde entier, par l’envoi, l’envol, de mots simples, de notes justes.

Saurons-nous jamais pourquoi les artistes, tels Aznavour et ses
semblables, ne sont pas appris, récités, sur les bancs des écoles,
dans les anthologies aux côtés de Baudelaire, de Verlaine, puisque
c’est du pareil au même, quelquefois.

Le Palais des congrès, où chante ces jours-ci Aznavour, est une
immensité. Un orchestre et des voix l’accompagnent. Ces circonstances
font qu’Aznavour, pour se faire entendre, force, de temps en temps,
sa voix. Ce n’est plus tout à fait, de temps en temps, sa voix. C’est
plus bel canto, et moins fraternel. Ce n’est pas grave, puisqu’il est
là, lui. Et si vous l’aviez vu chanter à Erevan, vous envieriez les
Arméniens qui ont l’habitude de faire bisser les chansons. Ils lui
firent chanter quatre fois de suite J’aime Paris au mois de mai. La
quatrième fois, il demanda une chaise. Le délire.

“Nous nous reverrons un jour ou l’autre”, chante Aznavour en nous
quittant. Il ajoute : “Si Dieu le veut.”

Michel Cournot

Charles Aznavour, au Palais des congrès, 2, place de la
Porte-Maillot, Paris-17e. Mo Porte-Maillot. Jusqu’au 21 mai à 20 h 30
; le 9 mai à 16 heures. Tél. : 01-40-68-00-05. De 38,50 à 98,50 .
Le 22 mai, soirée anniversaire donnée au profit de la lutte contre le
cancer, à 20 h 30. Tarif spécial : 58,50 à 158,50 .

Xinhua, China
April 21 2004

Iraq’s neighbors to meet on Iraq reconstruction

MEXICO CITY, April 20 (Xinhuanet) — The parliamentary presidents
of Iraq’s neighboring countries are to hold meetings next month in
Amman, Jordan, to move forward the reconstruction of democratic
institutions in Iraq after the United States transfers power to a
local government.

Parliamentary presidents of Iran, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan,
Turkeyand Saudi Arabia would attend the meeting, Chilean Senator and
President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Sergio Paez Verdugo
said Tuesday during the 110th IPU assembly.

A representative of the United Nations (UN) and a member of the
Iraqi Governing Council will also participate in the meeting,
Paezadded.

About 1,500 people, 700 of them being legislators from 138
nations, are taking part in the 110th IPU assembly in Mexico, which
started Sunday and will end next Friday.

During the assembly, the lawmakers expressed their concerns over
the situation in Iraq and the worsening Israeli-Palestinian conflict
after the assassination of Hamas leaders. They also called for unity
of all nations in the fight against terrorism.

The parliamentary presidents of Iraq’s neighboring nations met
Monday to discuss the situation in Iraq. During the meeting,
lawmakers from Poland, Armenia, Palestine and the European Parliament
demanded that the United Sates transfer power to the Iraqi people as
soon as possible.

At the 110th assembly, the legislators will also discuss
post-conflict reconstruction, parliamentary contribution to fair
trade and the importance of parliamentary democracy in protecting
human rights.

On Monday night, the assembly passed an additional proposal to
include Israel’s construction of separation wall into conference
agenda, saying the separation wall is an obstacle to realizing peace
between Israel and Palestine. Enditem

ArmenPress
April 19 2004

PRESIDENT WELCOMES FAMOUS CANADIAN ARMENIAN SOPRANO

YEREVAN, APRIL 19, ARMENPRESS: Armenian president Robert Kocharian
welcomed today a world-famous Canadian Armenian singer Isabel
Bayrakdarian, described by critics as “the glamorous and glamorously
gifted soprano.”
Isabel Bayrakdarian visits Armenia for the first time. She shared
her impressions with the president saying she was delighted and
promising to come again and again. She said she was enchanted with
the rich cultural life of Armenia and the high professionalism of
Armenian musicians. In Yerevan she will perform one concert.
First prize winner of the prestigious Placido Domingo “Operalia”
Competition in 2000 and a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden
Jubilee medal, Canadian Armenian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian made an
impressive series of appearances in the 2002/2003 season, including
debuts at the Paris Opera (Bastille) as Susanna in Le Nozze di
Figaro, as Catherine in A View from the Bridge at the Metropolitan
Opera, Zerlina in Don Giovanni at the Salzburg Festival, Elisa in Il
Re Pastore at Brussels’s Theatre de la Monnaie, and Clorinda in Il
Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda at Los Angeles Opera. Her
numerous concerts and recital appearances took her to New York,
Berkeley, Costa Mesa, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton,
Winnipeg, and Cyprus.
Miss Bayrakdarian can be heard on the Grammy Award winning
soundtrack of the blockbuster movie The Two Towers, the second
installment in The Lord of The Rings trilogy, as well as the multiple
award-winning Canadian movie Ararat. When Miss Bayrakdarian’s debut
recording “Joyous Light” was released in March 2002 on the CBC label,
it went straight to No. 1 in the classical charts across Canada.
Miss Bayrakdarian has been the recipient of many grants, including
a Canada Council Grant, the Sullivan Foundation Grant, the 2000
Leonie Rysanek Award from the George London Foundation, and the
Metropolitan Opera National Council Award in 1997.

AZERI, ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET IN PRAGUE

Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
16 Apr 04

The meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers
started at the Hotel Savoy in the Czech capital Prague at 1500 Baku
time (1000 gmt) today. This is the first meeting of Azerbaijani
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov with his Armenian counterpart.
Along with the ministers, the meeting in the Czech capital is attended
by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen. According to a report from
Prague, the co-chairmen first took part in the talks. But a short
while ago, they left the room where the talks are being held. A
tete-a-tete meeting between Elmar Mammadyarov and (Armenian Foreign
Minister) Vardan Oskanyan is taking place at the moment.

The ministers and co-chairmen refused to speak to journalists as the
talks are being held in an atmosphere of full confidentiality. Although
Vardan Oskanyan first gave his consent to speak to Armenian journalists,
he refused to do so after the break. He said that the sides had
decided not to make any statements to the press. The talks are
expected to end after 2100 Baku time (1600 gmt).

NKR FM hopes Azerbaijan to stand by armistice

Mediamax news agency
14 Apr 04

Yerevan, 14 April: “The constant improvement of the fighting
efficiency of the defence army of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic (NKR)
inspires the confidence that peace in the region will be maintained,”
NKR Foreign Minister Ashot Gulyan has said in an interview with
Mediamax news agency.

On 5 May 1994 in Bishkek, the heads of the Armenian, Azerbaijani and
Nagornyy Karabakh parliaments, under the aegis of the
Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS, signed a protocol that served
as a basis for establishing an armistice in the zone of the Karabakh
conflict.

In his interview with Mediamax, Ashot Gulyan described the Bishkek
meeting as a “momentous stage in the history of the Karabakh
settlement”. He recalled that cease-fire agreements had also been
signed on the Karabakh-Azerbaijani front earlier, but in most cases
the truce was violated by the Azerbaijani side, which was also
confirmed by former mediators.

Ashot Gulyan noted the importance of the circumstance that over the
past 10 years, the armistice has been observed with the efforts of the
sides without the support of an international peacekeeping force. “The
cease-fire has been in place first of all owing to the balance of
forces in the region, and the constant improvement of the fighting
efficiency of the NKR defence army inspires the confidence that peace
in the region will be maintained,” the minister said.

The NKR defence minister expressed the hope that Azerbaijan would
stand by its commitment to the mediators to maintain the cease-fire
until the signing of a political agreement on the establishment of
comprehensive peace.

“I hope that the current armistice will secure lasting peace when a
final solution to the conflict is achieved,” Ashot Gulyan stated.

International Journalist’s Network
April 9, 2004

Organizations condemn attacks on Armenian journalists

Apr 09, 2004

Participants in a workshop on democratic civil society – one day
after unidentified men attacked at least seven journalists in Yerevan
– condemned the violence and urged the Armenian media to unite
against threats to press freedom.

Their condemnation joined protests from numerous Armenian and
international media watchdogs and journalists’ groups.

The Civil Society in Context of Democratic Reform workshop was a
cooperative effort of more than 40 nongovernmental organizations,
according to the Yerevan Press Club (YPC). Under the YPC’s
initiative, the participants issued their joint statement April 6.
Workshop participants included parliamentary lawmakers as well as
journalists and nongovernmental workers. The YPC said the statement
was from the NGOs and journalists.

The violence was `one more instance of regular violation of the
rights for receiving and disseminating information, as well as
freedom of expression,’ the statement said. `We call upon law and
order bodies to punish the instigators and perpetrators.’

The attacks occurred April 5 while Artashes Geghamian, the opposition
National Unity party’s leader, was delivering a speech to voters.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported that its
correspondent and several witnesses watched as `about two dozen thugs
beat journalists and smashed cameras used to film their violent
attempts to disrupt the opposition rally.’ Meanwhile, the witnesses
said, the police did nothing.

International groups who have issued protests over the attacks
include the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OCSE), Internews, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ),
Reporters without Borders, and the Center for Journalism in Extreme
Situations (CJES).

Vladimir Pryakhin, head of the OCSE Office in Yerevan, in an April 8
news release expressed hope that the authorities would take action
and punish the guilty.

The civil society workshop participants said that if the culprits are
not brought to justice, `we will have to state that Armenian
authorities are not interested in consolidating the basic democratic
values in the country.’

For more information, see the OSCE news release at
or the RFE/RL
Armenia report at

39 per cent are for power change and 43 are against

Azg, Yerevan
7 Apr 04

By Ruzan Pogosyan

Some people, who are tired of the domestic political rows, are on
principle refusing to discuss political issues, but others do not want
to miss a chance of expressing their views as absolute
truths. Unfortunately an atmosphere of intolerance has passed from the
political field to the public one with people insulting each other.

The Armenian sociological research centre has recently conducted a
public opinion poll on the people’s attitude to the domestic political
situation. Its results were presented by the director of the centre,
Gevorg Pogosyan, at a meeting on “Domestic political developments in
Armenia” at Congress Hotel yesterday.

Representatives of some political parties took part in the meeting,
but there was no-one from the opposition. According to Mr Pogosyan,
public opinion polls help us reach conclusions about the participation
of different layers of society in the society-power and
society-opposition relations. He explained the current domestic
political situation by the process and results of the presidential and
parliamentary elections. The situation in the country is such that the
political forces seem to be aiming to extend the pre-election and
post-election periods.

The results of the poll show that society thinks there is no need for
new elections. The most recent public opinion poll was held on 28
March. It turned out that 60 to 65 per cent of those polled are not
interested in any political developments or speculation.

Asked whether they would like the power to be changed, 39 per cent of
those surveyed gave a positive answer, noting that under the
circumstances the power change is required and is very
important. Another 43 per cent opposed the idea and 17 per cent were
undecided.

Pogosyan said that there is an internal diplomatic crisis in the
country. He was referring to the failure of the three political forces
of the coalition to cooperate. Although it was announced that the
coalition is united but its political forces seem to be fighting for
increasing their spheres of influence. That proves the existence of
certain inner problems within the coalition.

The same can be said about the opposition which until recently could
not agree on the leader or common ideas. So on the one hand we have
the coalition which is not united, and on the other hand we have the
opposition which is also not united. But the most terrible are
relations between the authorities and the opposition. In fact there is
an atmosphere of absolute intolerance in Armenia, where one can only
dream about dialogue between the authorities and opposition.

Armenia, Lebanon sign cooperation accords

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
2 Apr 04

[Presenter] Lebanon promises to clarify the visa regime for Armenian
citizens. This was discussed during the meeting of senior Armenian and
Lebanese officials in Yerevan. The opportunity will be given to
Armenian citizens travelling to Lebanon to get entry visas at Beirut
international airport.

[Correspondent over video of meeting] Before the signing of the
agreement on Armenian-Lebanese economic cooperation, the Lebanese
prime minister held a one-to-one meeting with President Robert
Kocharyan. The interlocutors confirmed the highest level of
Armenian-Lebanese relations and emphasized that economic cooperation
should be invigorated and expanded. They stressed the importance of
invigorating the two countries’ business contacts. They also stressed
the role of the Lebanese Armenian community.

Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri discussed the issue of the Armenian
community of Lebanon with the Armenian catholicos, Garegin II. He
noted that the Armenians play a serious role in the country’s
political, economic, social and cultural life.

At the end of Rafiq al-Hariri’s visit three agreements on cooperation
in the economy, education, science, culture and agriculture were
signed. The two countries’ prime ministers noted that the main
obstacle in Armenian-Lebanese economic cooperation is transport links.

[Rafiq al-Hariri, in Arabic with Armenian voice over] First of all we
have to resolve transport issues in order to increase commodity
turnover and implement the agreements’ demands. It is necessary to
invigorate and unite our countries’ business potential.

Tereza Kasyan, “Aylur”.

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th Street, NW Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:

PRESS RELEASE
March 26, 2004
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

PEW SURVEY CITES 63% OF TURKISH CITIZEN HAVE UNFAVORABLE VIEW OF
U.S.

WASHINGTON, DC – A recent survey of nine countries conducted by the
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press revealed that
despite billions in U.S. financial assistance and efforts by the
Bush Administration to support its accession into the European
Union, the Turkish population continues to have a negative view of
the United States, reported the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA).

The March 16, 2004 poll, titled “A Year After Iraq: Mistrust of
America in Europe Ever Higher, Muslim Anger Persists,” reveals that
“in Turkey, where bin Laden is highly unpopular, as many as 31% say
that suicide attacks against Americans and other Westerners in Iraq
are justifiable.”
Other responses include:

** 52% in Turkey have unfavorable views of Christians; 49% have
unfavorable views of Jews.

** 63% in Turkey have either a very unfavorable or somewhat
unfavorable view of America

** 55% in Turkey say that the United States is overreacting to
terrorism.

** 56% in Turkey oppose America’s war on terrorism.

** 61% in Turkey believe that the true motive of he US-led war on
terrorism is to dominate the world.

** 64% in Turkey do not believe that the US-led war on terrorism is
a sincere effort to reduce international terrorism.

The complete report is available on the Pew Research Center
website:

The ANCA distributed these key statistics to Members of Congress
and staff this week, as part of an ongoing education campaign,
countering the intensive multi-million dollar lobbying efforts by
the Turkish Government to white-wash their image within the United
States. Among the top beneficiaries of Turkish government lobbying
funds are former Louisiana Republican Congressman and House Speaker
hopeful Bob Livingston as well as former House Rep. Stephen Solarz
(D-NY), the self-described “Congressman from Istanbul.”

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