MARGARYAN: ARMENIA READY TO ESTABLISH RELATIONS WITH TURKEY WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.05.2006 22:28 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “We have many times stated that we are ready to
establish relations with Turkey without any preconditions. By saying
this I mean opening of the border and establishment of diplomatic
and economic relations,” Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan
stated in an interview published on the website of the Republican
Party headed by him. He voiced regret over the fact that Turkey sets
an inadmissible condition for Armenia. In his opinion, the opening
of the Armenian-Turkish border will offer the possibility to expand
regional cooperation.

“Relations with one more state will not do us any harm. I suppose our
economy will not suffer from it, we just should prepare our economic
policy in accord with the new demands,” the RA PM said. At that he
remarked the products and their volume to be imported are unclear
yet. “Anyway the commodities that will be imported will not do harm
to our economy,” he noted.

OSCE MG CO-CHAIRS AND ANDRZEJ KASPRZYK TO MEET IN MOSCOW TOMORROW

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.05.2006 22:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia),
Steven Mann (U.S.) and Bernard Fassier (France) will meet with Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej
Kasprzyk in Moscow tomorrow. The mediators will focus on the details
discussed during the talks on the Karabakh conflict settlement. They
will also determine the date of the regular visit to the region during
which they will familiarize the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan
with the new proposals on the conflict settlement, reported APA.

PM MARGARYAN: CREATION OF WORK PLACES IN JAVAKHETIA PRIORITY ISSUE

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.05.2006 22:00 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Republican Party of Armenia has many times
expressed its position on the situation in the Armenian-inhabited
Samtskhe-Javakheti region of Georgia, Armenian Prime Minister
Andranik Margaryan stated in an interview published on his party’s
website. First of all, he said, socio-economic conditions should be
created to prevent Armenians from leaving Javakhetia. “Hard social
conditions are common to all the regions of Georgia, however during
the meetings with the Georgian authorities we raise this issue and
urge a special attitude towards Javakhetia,” Andranik Margaryan
said. According to him, Armenia is ready to render assistance to the
projects implemented in Javakhetia. “Unfortunately the Georgian party
did not undertake any steps except promises. Although the restoration
of the roads in the region is included in the Millennium Challenges
Account we should create new work places and economic infrastructures
in Javakhetia, since many Armenians will remain unemployed after the
withdrawal of the Russian military base. In his words, it not the
time to introduce any political claims but if the bill calling for
the model of a federal state is discussed in Georgia, the Javakheti
issue should be taken into account.

KARS-AKHALKALAKI-TBILISI-BAKU RAILWAY COMMUNICATION ESTABLISHMENT TO BE DISCUSSED IN SOFIA MAY 2

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.05.2006 23:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The fifth sitting of the intergovernmental committee
of the TRACECA member states will start in Sofia tomorrow. The
sitting participants are expected to adopt a development strategy to
be applied up to the end of 2015. The budget issues and the status
of observer in the organization will be also addressed. Azerbaijan
will assume the presidency within the sitting framework.

The establishment of the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railway
communication will be considered as well.

CONVICTION OF ARMENIAN JOURNALIST IN TURKEY OVERTURNED: PRESS

Agence France Presse — English
May 1, 2006 Monday 4:07 PM GMT

A court in Ankara Monday overturned on appeal the conviction of
an Armenian journalist in Turkey, accused of insulting the Turkish
identity, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Hrant Dink, publisher of the bi-lingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper
Agos, was sentenced to a suspended six-month sentence in October by
a court in Istanbul for an article published in February 2004.

The article about the massacre of Armenians during World War I
in Turkey called on Armenians “to turn now to the new blood of an
independent Armenia, which alone is capable of liberating the Armenian
diaspora” and to reject any Turkish roots.

The appeal judges in Ankara overturned the conviction due to procedural
errors, Anatolia reported, adding that the case will be referred back
to the Istanbul court for retrial.

Dink’s lawyer, Fethiye Cetin, could not confirm the Anatolia report
when contacted by AFP, as he had not yet received word from the
appeals court.

Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in
orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917 in the final days of the
Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of Turkey.

It remains a sensitive issue as Turkey categorically rejects claims
of genocide. Ankara argues that 300,000 Armenians and at least as
many Turks died in civil strife when the Armenians took up arms
for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with Russian troops
invading the crumbling Ottoman Empire.
From: Baghdasarian

HAVE COURAGE, HAZEL GREEN

Kirkus Reviews
May 1, 2006

Spunky Hazel Green returns for a third adventure, again set in her
urban apartment house and involving adults as much as the children.

When Mr. Davis, the new head of the Moodey Building Owner’s Committee,
says, “I don’t like your kind” to Mr. Egozian, the maintenance man,
Hazel knows it’s wrong. But her efforts to right that wrong bring
her serious trouble. Supported by her mathematical friend, Yakov, and
sympathetic Mrs. Gluck, flower shop owner, she refuses to apologize
to Mr. Davis as a matter of principle. Even if Mr. Egozian won’t
fight back, she will. From his description of the killing of his
people nearly a century ago, it seems that Mr. Egozian is Armenian,
but this is never said directly, and young American readers may be
confused. Still, Hazel’s outrage is clear and appropriate. Readers will
admire her energy and determination and savor the delicious description
of specialty foods. This Australian import is certain to be welcome
in libraries where the other books have been popular. (Fiction. 9-13)

Publication Date: 6/1/2006 0:00:00 Publisher: Bloomsbury Stage:
Children’s ISBN: 1-58234-659-3 Price: $15.95 Author: Hirsch, Odo

ACTIVIST LEADS GROUP TO HELP BRING PEACE TO DARFUR

National Public Radio (NPR)
SHOW: Weekend All Things Considered 1900-2000
April 30, 2006 Sunday

Anchors: Debbie Elliott
Debbie Elliott, Host:

One group that has come up with a concrete and immediate response to
the carnage in Darfur is the Genocide Intervention Network. It’s the
brainchild of students at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and now
extends to more than 250 schools across the country. The group has
raised money to fund the African Union Peacekeeping force serving in
Darfur. It’s leader, Mark Hanis, joins me in the studio now. Hello,
Mark.

Mr. MARK HANIS (Genocide Intervention Network): Hi, how are you doing?

ELLIOTT: Good. Tell me, how did you get interested in the Darfur issue?

Mr. HANIS: Several reasons. The first one is four of my grandparents
were Holocaust survivors and reminding us always never again. So this
had a huge impact in my life. And another component was reading about
all of the past genocides. We’ve gone from Armenia, the Holocaust,
Cambodia, Rwanda. Once I heard about Darfur I simply said we can’t
let this happen again.

ELLIOTT: Now, how is your group different from the dozens of other
groups that have taken up this issue?

Mr. HANIS: Lots of organizations look at humanitarian aid and raising
awareness, which are both extremely necessary, but what we want to
fill is that critical gap, the civilian protection gap. We need to
talk about genocide as a security issue. The victims, the Darfurians,
these people aren’t running away to get this aid. What they want
is security. So that’s where Genocide Intervention Network wants to
focus on: the security.

ELLIOTT: How much money have you raised for the African Union
peacekeeping forces?

Mr. HANIS: We’ve raised over a quarter of a million dollars and that’s
come from grass roots efforts across the country. Cornell University,
for example, showed Hotel Rwanda one night, raised 5,000 dollars. Three
high school students in Mamaroneck, New York, did a Jam for Sudan,
a sort of battle of the bands in their gym and they raised 3,000
dollars. A piano teacher in Salt Lake City gave us two weeks of her
proceeds, so we’ve just been getting checks from ten dollars all the
way to 5,000 dollars.

ELLIOTT: Now, help me understand how you go from all of these people
at different schools around the country to actually getting the money
into the African Union Force’s hands?

Mr. HANIS: We’ve been working with Gail Smith, who used to be the
Senior Director of African Affairs at the National Security Council
under President Clinton. And she knew all the African Union top
brass. She flew over to ask the African Union: A bunch of students
want to stop genocide and want to help you guys out, can we raise
money for you? And they said yes, and we drafted a contract and none
of the money will go to any lethal means, guns and bullets, and we’re
now in negotiation with them and hopefully we’ll complete it by the
end of this summer.

ELLIOTT: No guns and bullets? Why is that?

Mr. HANIS: Well, two reasons. One are the negative consequences. What
if a peacekeeper had killed a civilian and we helped raise money
for that gun and bullet? But more importantly is, the African Union
is not asking for guns and bullets. What they need are boots, they
need more people, they need maps, they need satellite phones and
walkie-talkies and they need cargo planes to transport all the people
and the resources.

ELLIOTT: I imagine that they’re used to reaching out to governments.

Mr. HANIS: This is unprecedented. The African Union has only received
money from donor governments so we provide citizens the opportunity
to directly support civilian protection in the face of genocide.

ELLIOTT: Now, did you have to get any special permission from the
U.S. government to do this?

Mr. HANIS: Yeah, we did need to check with the U.S. Government
and other governments and we are okay. We’re not at all replacing
the government’s role. We need the governments to fund the African
Union and to increase the force size. We’re shaming, we’re leading
by example. We’re not just going to complain and say you need to do
this. We’re gonna say, I’m willing to put money where my mouth is,
what about you?

ELLIOTT: Mark Hanis is the Chief Executive of the Genocide Intervention
Network. Thank you for coming in to talk with us.

Mr. HANIS: Thank you very much.

SHAHIN RZAYEV: THOSE WHO SPREAD ANTI-ARMENIAN HYSTERIA ALIENATE KARABAKH FROM AZERBAIJAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.05.2006 21:15 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Azerbaijan starts and wins” national campaign
launched by initiative of Zerkalo newspaper is a “brain storm”,
an attempt to find out and generalize the public opinion, head of
the Baku Office of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR),
journalist Shahin Rzayev stated in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter. “I myself took part in the campaign. Some participants did
offer to launch a propaganda war but it doesn’t mean that all agree
with the viewpoint,’ the Azeri journalist remarked.

At the same time he noted that “some Armenian political figures have
waged propaganda war against Azerbaijan since 1980-ies. At that time
we spoke of fraternity and were proud of our internationalism. In
this issue we fell behind hopelessly,” he said.

However, head of the IWPR Baku Office emphasized that information war
is better than a real one. “I am going to write one more article where
I will offer to organize more discussions of disputable issues. The
parties to the Karabakh conflict are not well aware of each other’s
positions and warmongers use it,” Rzayev considers.

He subjected the anti-Armenian hysteria to sharp criticism and said,
” I think that those who spread the hysteria do alienate Karabakh
from Azerbaijan and thus favor the opposition party,’ he remarked.

Rzayev is convinced that in the 21st century political disputes are
not solved by territorial invasions.

“There exists the international law. Armenia has undertaken
certain commitments at the entry to the UN, OSCE and the Council
of Europe. That is why all the disputable issues should be settled
within the international law framework. The same refers to the
self-determination of the Karabakh Armenians. But to settle the
self-determination issue we should return to the legal field that
doesn’t admit annexation and seizure of land belonging to another
states. In my opinion, the Armenian leadership came to understand
it and demonstrates readiness for the stepwise settlement of the
conflict,” he said.

TOP CHRISTIAN LEADERS JOIN ‘SAVE DARFUR’ RALLY

Christian Post, CA
May 1 2006

WASHINGTON – Christian speakers were among the religious leaders,
human rights activists, politicians, athletes and actors that convened
to rally for greater U.S. involvement in the Darfur conflict on Sunday.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators wearing T-shirts and waving signs
such as “Never Again – Stop the Genocide,” “Don’t allow Sudan’s
sin to become a shame on the World!” and “No Excuses!” filled the
National Mall demanding an end to what the United Nation calls one
of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.

Prominent Christian leaders were among politicians, a Nobel Prize
winner, an Academy Award Winner, and heads of non-government
organizations invited to speak at the “Save Darfur” rally.

The Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs of
the National Association of Evangelicals, prayed for the situation
in Darfur during his speech.

“We pray your blessings, your comforting will fall upon the enslaved,
the victims on this day. They are there but we are here and when
they are persecuted, we are persecuted,” prayed Cizik. “When they
are hungry, we are hungry. Grant us the knowledge to understand that,
Heavenly Father.

“We pray as well for the political leaders of the world, that their
conscience would be stricken with the lost and suffering and that
they would be moved to action. We are people of conscience and
together we can stop the genocide. May it be so. Amen,” concluded
the NAE representative.

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.,
also called for action, encouraging the United States and other
countries to make a stronger commitment to saving Darfur.

“Our nation has to get onboard,” declared McCarrick. “Every nation
has to get onboard. Now is the time. Now is the time to put our money
where our mouth is. Now is the time!”

With at least 180,000 people dead and some 2 million homeless,
according to The Associated Press, the ongoing violence between the
government militias and ethnic minority rebels in the western Darfur
region is one of the most serious in the world today.

“This issue that we face today is not only an issue for Americans
but for every citizen of the world,” the Rev. Geoff Tunnicliffe,
international director of the World Evangelical Alliance, said
on Sunday.

“The Scriptures make it very clear that we must stand with those who
are voiceless and powerless. Today we stand with the Darfur people
and speak out loudly against the outrageous atrocities they are being
subjected,” Tunnicliffe said.

Other Christian leaders that spoke at the Save Darfur rally included
Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics &
Religious Liberties Commission; the Rev. Walter Fauntroy of New Bethel
Baptist Church of Washington, D.C.; the Rev. John L. McCullough,
executive director and CEO of Church World Service; Tony Kireopoulos
of the National Council of Churches; and the Rev. Fr. Tateos Abdalian
of the Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church.

AZERI OFFICIAL SEES ‘POSITIVE’ CHANGE IN U.S. STANCE ON KARABAKH
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
May 1 2006

The United Sates will be more sympathetic to Azerbaijan’s position on
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict after Friday’s negotiations in Washington
between Presidents George W. Bush and Ilham Aliev, a senior aide to
the Azerbaijani leader said over the weekend.

“The U.S. president followed the [Karabakh] issue very attentively
and inquired about it,” Novruz Mammadov, head of the foreign affairs
department in Aliev’s administration, told Azad Azarbaycan television,
commenting on the talks. “I think that following the meeting, we
will observe certain changes in the U.S. position on the peace talks,
that’s to say positive steps to resolve the conflict.”

Mammadov did not specify what those changes will be, saying only
that Washington “will from now on provide Azerbaijan with strategic
support in all areas.”

Bush and Aliev made scant reference to the Karabakh conflict as
they briefly spoke with reporters following their talks at the
White House. The U.S. president mentioned it in passing, saying that
“relations with Armenia” were on the agenda of the “candid discussion”
along with issues such as Iran’s controversial nuclear program and
oil-rich Azerbaijan’s “very important role” in energy security.

Aliev, for his part, said he briefed Bush on “the latest status of
the negotiations and expressed my hope that a peaceful settlement of
the conflict will happen and will serve to the peace and stability
in the whole region.”

It is thus not clear if the two leaders reached any agreements on
U.S.-led international efforts to get the conflicting parties to cut
a framework peace deal on Karabakh before the end of this year. The
U.S., Russian and French mediators co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group
hope that Aliev and Armenian President Robert Kocharian will again
meet early this summer and try to achieve a breakthrough.

In separate comments made outside the White House, Aliev reiterated
that Azerbaijan will not compromise on its territorial integrity
for the sake of Karabakh peace. Other top Azerbaijani officials
have complained recently that the mediators are not pushing for
restoration of Azerbaijani control over Karabakh. “America should
understand … that the Azerbaijani state will not only disagree
with a partition of the lands, but also prevent it,” Deputy Foreign
Minister Araz Azimov said last month.

The Minsk Group’s most recent peace plan, discussed by Aliev and
Kocharian in France last February, reportedly calls for the holding
of a referendum in Karabakh that would almost certainly legitimize its
secession from Azerbaijan. The peace formula seems largely acceptable
to Yerevan. But Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian leadership has expressed
serious misgivings about the idea.

Armenia’s Foreign Minister appeared to have tried to placate the
Karabakh Armenians during a two-day visit to Stepanakert late last
week. “I do not know what the political status of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic will be like, but I know for sure what it will not be
like. That is, Nagorno-Karabakh will never be part of Azerbaijan,”
Oskanian declared at a meeting with students of Karabakh State
University on Friday.