Armenian foreign minister says next meeting with Azerbaijan over disputed
enclave will be in May

AP Online
Apr 19, 2004

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian said Monday that he planned
to meet with his Azerbaijani counterpart in May to continue
discussions on resolving the countries’ dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Oskanian said that the meeting he held last week in Prague with
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov was useful but did not
break new ground.

Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnic Armenian enclave within
Azerbaijan. Ethnic Armenian forces drove out Azerbaijan’s army from
the region in the 1990s and ethnic Azeris fled. Since a 1994
cease-fire, Nagorno-Karabakh has been run by an internationally
unrecognized government.

Despite the cease-fire, shooting still breaks out sporadically across
the so-called “line of control,” a demilitarized strip separating
Azeri and Armenian forces.

The unresolved status of Nagorno-Karabakh keeps tensions high between
the countries and apparently discourages foreign investors fearful of
a new outbreak of fighting and instability.

The Armenian and Azerbaijani officials met under the auspices of the
“Minsk Group,” an arm of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe devoted to resolving the dispute. The Minsk Group is led by
a troika of diplomats from the United States, France and Russia.

The newly appointed top U.S. official for the group, Stephen Mann, met
on Monday with Armenian officials.

“What I will be doing in this position is representing the
U.S. national interests and it is in the American national interest to
work for a peaceful, negotiated settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue,” Mann told reporters.

Armenian National Committee of New York
PO Box 693
Woodside, NY 11377
[email protected]

PRESS RELEASE
April 20, 2004

Contact: Tony Vartanian
[email protected]

CONGRESSMAN JOSEPH CROWLEY AND
ANC OF NEW YORK DISCUSS CURRENT ISSUES

— Current events in Armenia, Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, and
US Aid to Armenia among other issues discussed

Woodside, NY–The Armenian National Committee (ANC) of New York met with
Congressman Joseph Crowley (D-NY 7) on Thursday, April 15 to discuss issues
of concern to the Armenian American community. The meeting also provided the
ANC with an opportunity to express the community’s appreciation for the
Congressman’s record of support for Armenian American issues.

During the meeting, Congressman Crowley talked about his ANC sponsored visit
to the Republic of Armenia last summer. The Congressman was also apprised
of current events in Armenia, expressing his desire to once again travel to
Armenia and make his first visit to the Republic of Nagorno Karabagh. The
ANC was also briefed on Congressman Crowley’s recent meeting with the
European Parliament.

“The Armenian American community of the Seventh Congressional District is
grateful to be represented by Congressman Crowley,” stated Tony Vartanian,
Chairman of the ANC of New York. “Throughout his tenure in Congress,
Representative Crowley had led and supported a number of issues of
particularly concern to the Armenian American community. This annual
meeting with the Congressman and his staff allows us to discuss issues of
mutual concern,” concluded Vartanian.

Congressman Crowley is a current cosponsor of House Resolution 193
(H.Res.193), legislation commemorating the 15th anniversary of the US
implementation of the UN Genocide Convention. In addition, he recently
co-signed a Congressional letter–initiated by the Congressional Caucus on
Armenian Issues–urging President George W. Bush to properly characterize
the Armenian Genocide as “genocide” in his April 24th statement.

He is a co-host of the 10th Annual ANCA Capitol Hill Observance of the
Armenian Genocide Observance, which will be held on April 28. The
Congressman has also been a leading voice in criticizing the exclusion of
Armenia from the routing of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil and gas pipeline.

In August 2003, the Congressman visited the Republic of Armenia where he
held various meetings and visited several cultural and historic sites. Upon
his return, the ANC sponsored a public forum for Congressman Crowley to
share his thoughts on his trip with the Armenian American community.

Finally, in 2003, Congressman Crowley cosponsored H.R.528, legislation that
would provide permanent normal trade relations status to the Republic of
Armenia. The PNTR resolution language was adopted in November 2003, as part
of HR 3521–the Tax Relief Extension Act of 2003–by a voice vote.

To thank Congressman Crowley for his long record of support, the ANC of New
York recently concluded a community-wide fundraiser for the Representative.

The Armenian National Committee (ANC) is the largest Armenian American
grassroots political organization in New York and nationwide. The ANC
actively advances a broad range of issues of concern to the Armenian
American community.

####

PRESS OFFICE
Armenian Holy Apostolic Church Canadian Diocese
Contact; Deacon Hagop Arslanian, Assistant to the Primate
615 Stuart Avenue, Outremont Quebec H2V 3H2
Tel; 514-276-9479, Fax; 514-276-9960
Email; [email protected] Website;

Bishop Galstanian urges Canadian Parliamentarians to vote for M-380

On Tuesday April 20 2004, the Primate of the Armenian Holy Apostolic
Church Canadian Diocese addressed a letter to the members of the House
of Commons of Canada urging them to vote in favor of M-380 Armenian
Genocide.

Upon the directive of His Eminence Bishop Bagrat Galstanian the
Diocesan faithful contacted Members of Parliament in their areas to
urge them to vote for M-380.

During telephone conversations with Ministers and Parliamentarians,
Bishop Galstanian expressed gratitude and thanks for their attention
and urged them to vote for the Armenian Genocide resolution. Serpazan
told the MP’s “If the Canadian parliament recognizes the Genocide of
April 24, 1915 the Armenian community in Canada will warmly welcome
and deeply appreciate the wisdom and courageous act of the Government
of Canada, which will be a clear expression of Canada’s strong
commitment to human rights and justice”.

The copy of His Eminence Bishop Bagrat Galstanian’s letter is attached

ARMENIAN HOLY APOSTOLIC CHURCH CANADIAN DIOCESE
615 Stuart Avenue, Outremont, Quebec, Canada H2V 3H2
Tel: (514) 276-9479 Fax: (514) 276-9960
Email: [email protected] Web:

House of Commons
Ottawa

Honorable members of the Canadian Parliament,

As the Primate and the spiritual leader of the Armenian Church of
Canada, I have the unique privilege and the pleasure to extend sincere
salutations to all distinguished members of the Canadian House of
Commons, and to express on behalf of all Canadian Armenians our
heartfelt appreciation of your resolve to debate in the Canadian
Parliament openly and objectively the recognition of the historical
fact of the Armenian Genocide.

Three generations after that fateful event, the Genocide remains a
deeply imbedded wound in the Armenian psyche. The wound has not
healed, because this injustice of unprecedented magnitude has not been
recognized and acknowledged by the perpetrator and by the
international community as a crime against mankind and a violation of
a fundamental standard of humanity.

Moreover, in a cruel campaign of denial, the perpetrator continues the
genocide by killing the memory of the victims. Indeed, as genocide
scholar Professor Deborah Lipstadt of Emory University states, “denial
is the final stage of genocide, because it strives to reshape history
in order to demonize the victims and rehabilitate the perpetrators.”

There are no two sides of this story. Hundreds of news accounts
published in the international media during the First World War,
numerous eye witness accounts of foreign missions and survivors –
including our parents and grandparents, thousands of state archives
around the world, scores of declarations by esteemed historians have
repeatedly established beyond a shred of a doubt, that a
state-sponsored, premeditated, meticulously planned and brutally
executed scheme of ethnic cleansing was carried out in 1915 through
1923 by the Ottoman Turkish government over its Armenian citizens
living on their ancestral homeland, who aspired only the dignity of
living like a human being. The 1915 genocide of the Armenians was the
culmination of 600 years of oppression and a diabolic attempt for a
final solution by the Ottoman authorities to the European insistence
of introducing reforms that would guarantee the most basic human
rights of minorities in Ottoman Turkey.

Dear parliamentarians,

You do not have to look far for an evidence of the Armenian
Genocide. Look at the galleries of this House, full of representatives
of the Canadian Armenian community. There are hundreds of similar
communities dispersed around the world, from the far-east to the far
west, members of the Armenian Diaspora that was created as a result of
the Genocide. The throbbing pain they have inherited from their
tormented parents and grandparents, yearns for recognition of the
truth and for justice.

France and Switzerland were the latest of more than 15 states, who
courageously defied threats and blackmail, and sided with the truth
and justice.

Honorable members of the House of Commons,

Show to the world once more that Canada upholds international ethics,
believes in human and social rights and strives for consolidation of
peace based on justice. Vote for the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide. God bless you all.

Prayerfully,

Bishop Bagrat Galstanian Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church
of Canada

DIVAN OF THE DIOCESE

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
04/20/2004
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1) Opposition Moves Strengthen Coalition Says Kocharian
2) Russian Mediator Says Prague Meeting Raises Optimism
3) Ghulian Tells Mann Karabagh Must Be Active Participant
4) US Envoy Meets Armenian Opposition Leaders
5) Holy Mass and Requiem Service in Memory of the Victims of the Armenian
Genocide

1) Opposition Moves Strengthen Coalition Says Kocharian

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–Meeting with reporters at the National Picture
Gallery on Tuesday, President Robert Kocharian dismissed allegations that he
plans to disband parliament and appoint a new cabinet.
“I can say for certain that I do not have such intentions,” Kocharian told
reporters. “We are able to work effectively with this political team. We are
going to work together at least until the next parliamentary elections, which
is for three more years.”
He pointed to the absurdity of such assertions especially when considering
Armenia’s economic growth and smooth implementation of the national budget.
“Dissolution of a government that provides economic growth is nonsense,” he
said.
Rumors of internal dissentions emerged last week when coalition government
members, in a joint statement, announced they would not be attending
parliament
sessions, so as to avoid possible clashes between their supporters and the
opposition crowd.
Referring to those rumors, Kocharian insisted that the governing coalition
partners have not boycotted parliament sessions, and plan to resume work next
week. “The previous session did not take place because of the demonstration
and
threats specifically addressed to the parliament.”
He suggested that the coalition has even strengthened and begun to work more
effectively, in having to face the opposition. “The concept of having to work
within a coalition has not yet developed in our country; this [was perhaps]
the
incentive necessary for the political forces in the coalition to work more
closely and in a coordinated manner.”
Asked about the opposition’s pledge to continue to seek his resignation, he
said that as long as the opposition organizes its meetings and demonstrations
without closing the streets and without unlawful actions, they are allowed to
do so. He cautioned that though it is natural for the opposition to seek to
replace those in power, it is also natural for the leadership of any country,
to take steps to provide stability. “We are doing our job; we have done it,
and
will continue doing it, while the opposition shirks its duties in parliament,
and gathers meetings in the streets.”

2) Russian Mediator Says Prague Meeting Raises Optimism

YEREVAN (Armenpress)–The Russian co-chairman of the Minsk Group Yuri
Merzlyakov, told Azeri ATV that new ideas on resolving the Mountainous
Karabagh
conflict were put forth during the meeting between Armenian foreign minister
Vartan Oskanian and his new Azeri counterpart Elmar Mamedyarov. The meeting
which took place in Prague was mediated by the US, Russian, and French
co-chairs of the Minsk Group, which spearheads the Organization for Security
and Co-Operation in Europe’s (OSCE) efforts to find a political solution to
this conflict.
Merzlyakov called the meeting “useful,” and disclosed that the co-chairmen
presented fresh ideas and suggestions on how to end the conflict.
Merzlyakov also said that the Prague meeting has roused certain optimism
about
future prospects fore a settlement–a sentiment shared by the foreign
ministers
of the countries, who conferred they were satisfied with the meeting.
The group’s co-chairman, along with Oskanian and Mamedyarov, will be drafting
a joint statement on the results of their latest meeting to present to the
presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. “The new venue of the meeting can be
decided only after the presidents of the two countries are fully informed
about
the Prague meeting,” Merzlyakov said.
According to the Baku-based 525 Gazet, Mamedyarov said that the Prague
meeting’s end result was to set a tentative agreement to meet again next
month,
and that the meeting did not discuss the new proposals put forth by the
mediators.

3) Ghulian Tells Mann Karabagh Must Be Active Participant

YEREVAN (Armenpress)–Mountainous Karabagh Republic’s (MKR) Foreign Minister
Ashot Ghulian and the new American co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk group Steven
Mann met on April 19 at the MKR permanent representation in Yerevan.
In presenting MKR’s official position on regulating the conflict, Ghulian
stressed that Karabagh, as a side to the conflict, must directly
participate in
peace talks. Ghulian also summarized the economic and political situation of
the country.
Mann confirmed the determination of the US to continue the regulation
process,
working within the framework of OSCE Minsk group.
Mann’s next visit will include meetings in Stepanakert with MKR authorities.

4) US Envoy Meets Armenian Opposition Leaders

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–US Ambassador John Ordway met on Tuesday with the two most
senior leaders of Armenia’s opposition, but did not comment on his separate
meetings with Stepan Demirchian of the Artarutyun alliance and Artashes
Geghamian of the National Unity Party (AMK). Demirchian and Geghamian did not
provide details either. Geghamian said only that both the United States and
the
European Union would like to see a peaceful end to the Armenian political
crisis.
“The ambassadors of both the United States and the European Union are calling
for all contentious issues to be resolved through negotiations,” he said.
The US State Department urged both sides last week to embark on a “dialogue.”
Anther opposition rally is planed for Wednesday in Yerevan.

5) Holy Mass and Requiem Service in Memory of the Victims of the Armenian
Genocide

On the 89th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Armenians all over the world
will commemorate the tragic events, and will attend church services to exalt
the sacred memory of our martyrs.
On this occasion, a special requiem service will be held on Saturday, April
24, at St. Mary’s Apostolic Church in Glendale with the participation of the
spiritual leadership of the three Armenian religious denominations in the
Western United States.
The ceremony will be held under the auspices of the Prelate His Eminence
Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian. Very Rev. Vrouyr Demirjian, the Pastor of
Forty Martyrs Church will conduct the Holy Mass. Very Rev. Rafael Minassian,
the spiritual leader of the Armenian Catholic Community in California, and
Rev.
Apraham Chaparian of the Armenian Evangelical Church will participate in the
ceremony. Also present will be the spiritual leaders of sister Churches who
will deliver their word of blessing.
After the 9:30 AM Holy Mass, a requiem service will be held in the
churchyard,
in front of the monument dedicated to the 1.5 million victims of the Genocide.
His Eminence the Prelate will deliver his message during the ceremony.

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NEWLY ESTABLISHED NATION’S REDEMPTION PARTY INTENDS TO SAVE NATION IN THREE
MONTHS

YEREVAN, April 20 (Noyan Tapan). Newly established Nation’s
Redemption party intends to settle all problems the Armenian people
are facing at least within three months. Sargis Karapetian, chairman
of the party registered at the Justice Miniistry two days ago, said
during the April 20 press conference.

According to Karapetian, both the authorities and the opposition are
opposed to the people. According to him, the authorities should have
welcomed the people going to the President’s residence instead of
exerting violence against the unarmed participants of the
rally. Sargis Karapetian stated that all the people responsible for
that should be punished. The chairman of the Nation’s Redemtion party
criticises the opposition, as well, considering, that taking advantage
of the people’s discontent wishes to attain the power. Sargis
Karapetian himself seeks no power. The party he leads intends solely
to save the Armenian people solely and return the wealth stolen from
them. If luxurious mansions, restaurants and casinos are being built
in some country, it means that this country is rich: “Justice lacks in
Armenia: one should save the body of the Armenian people and then its
soul.” “We’ll make it and you’ll see,” Karapetian promised, refusing
to dwell on the program for the nation’s rescue. He also refused to
tell the number of the party’s members and the names of his
allies. The leader of the party also said that the organization the
members of which are the azatamartiks (freedom fighters) has its
structures in all the regions. The party cooperates nither with
Yerkrapah Union of Volunteers nor with other organizations of
azatamartiks nor with the opposition or pro-governmental
parties. Sargis Karapetian, in his own words, is a former ARF
Dashnaktsiutiun member and was expelled from the party in 2001 for
“the speeches against the authorities.”

Remember the others

The Armenians apparently also suffered genocide. It would be especially
appropriate for representatives of the Jewish people to express their
pain and empathy, despite Israel’s close relationship with Turkey, which
is accused of the crime.

Maariv International (Israel)
2004-04-20
Op-eds

By Yaakov Ahimeir ([email protected])

This Saturday, another nation will mark its own genocide. Some of them
live here, in Jerusalem and the Galilee. The Armenians will mourn the
destruction of one or one and half million members of their people at
the hands of the Ottomans, during World War I. To be fair, there are
some historians who claim that there was no genocide. They claim that
many Armenians died while being exiled to remote sections of the Ottoman
Empire, as the Turkish Ambassador once told me dismissively, `It was a
matter of very bad weather, a natural result of the war’.

Anyone who reads The Forty Days of Musa Dagh by Franz Werfel or the many
articles that were written during and shortly after the events, would
find it hard not to believe that a genocide did in fact take place. Even
without concentration camps, there was genocide. A telegram sent by the
American ambassador in Istanbul at the time, Henry Morgenthau, Sr.
confirms this.

Although the Armenian genocide cannot be compared to the Jewish
Holocaust, the question remains: Can we as Jews find within ourselves a
modicum of understanding and empathy for what the Armenians often call
`our holocaust’? The Armenians also quote Hitler. In the 1930s, when
justifying his murderous ideology against the Jews, when he said, `Who,
after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians’?

The issue of empathy for the murdered Armenians is an exceptionally
sensitive issue for the Israeli government. We do not want to anger the
Turks. In order to please them, we buy water from them, renovate their
tanks and hold joint naval and air training exercises. Indeed,
maintaining a strategic relationship with a Moslem government is no
small accomplishment in its own right. Internationally, no fewer than 15
parliaments have recognized that the Armenian genocide did indeed
happen. When France recognized it, Turkey cancelled a large government
transaction because Turkey, as the heir to the Ottoman Empire, does not
accept responsibility for the genocide. Israel is not France. Chirac can
be angry with the Turks, but Mr. Sharon cannot express empathy for the
genocide of a small nation, whose sufferings often resemble our own.

The question is, if not the government, who can express empathy for
genocide? Perhaps the Ministry of Education could increase the awareness
of genocide by augmenting the world history curriculum with special
lessons and seminars, which need not negate the uniqueness of the
Holocaust or belittle the Rwandan genocide ten years ago. Perhaps some
students with a wreath could join the march through the Armenian Quarter
of Jerusalem on Saturday, April 24. Maybe next year, on the 90th
anniversary of the genocide, a special Jewish delegation could travel to
Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, to the ceremony that will be held in
the Memorial Hall dedicated to the victims, as if to say, `Never again.
As Jews, we understand and empathize with your suffering’. It seems to
me that these are not unreasonable demands to make of a people whose
memories are as long as the exile.

;articleID=6234

Horizon Weekly
Contact: Nanor Manoukian
April 20, 2004 Tel: 514-603-4373
QUEBEC’S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY COMMEMORATE’S ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Montreal, QC – The National Assembly of Quebec commemorated the 89th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in the presence of his Eminence
Archbishop Khajag Hagopian, Prelate of the Prelacy of Canada as well as a
delegation from the Armenian National Committee of Quebec. Through a motion
that was unanimously accepted by all parties, parliamentarians paid tribute
to the 1.5 million victims of the Genocide and the resulting impact of the
survivors as well as their progeny.
It is noteworthy that the National Assembly of Quebec has commemorated the
Armenian Genocide since 1980 and in November 2003 it became a member of the
family of legislative assemblies that has passed a law designating April
24th as a day of commemoration for the Armenian Genocide.
The Armenian National Committee of Quebec is a grassroots organization
representing the interests of the Armenian Community in Quebec.

Horizon Weekly
Contact: Nanor Manoukian
April 20, 2004 Tel: 514-603-4373
THE PRESIDENT OF THE QUEBEC NATIONAL ASSEMBLY RECEIVES ENCYCLICAL FROM HIS
HOLINESS ARAM I CATHOLICOS OF CILICIA

Montreal, QC – His Holiness Aram I Armenian Catholicos of Cilica through his
emissary, his Eminence Archbishop Khajag Hagopian, Prelate of the Armenian
Prelacy of Canada, conveyed an Encyclical to the President of the National
Assembly of Quebec the Hon. Michel Bissonnet. The Encyclical conveyed his
Holiness’s praise of all the members of the National Assembly who
demonstrated leadership and courage in the pursuit of human rights and
justice.
In November 2003 the National Assembly unanimously voted to approve Bill
194, a bill recognizing the April 24th as a day of commemoration for the
Armenian Genocide. The Armenian National Committee of Quebec worked closely
with the Bill’s sponsor, M. Yvan Bordeleau (PLQ – L’Acadie), and other
members of the National Assembly to lobby for, and ensure passage of Bill
194.

###

Le Monde, France
12 Avril 2004

Les Eglises dénoncent les restrictions de visas délivrés aux
chrétiens par Israël

Jérusalem de notre correspondante

Sans commune mesure avec la fréquentation observée avant le
déclenchement de l’Intifada, en septembre 2000, les fêtes de Pâques
auraient, cette année, rassemblé davantage de croyants que les trois
années précédentes à Jérusalem, selon la police israélienne.

Les commémorations qui ont marqué le week-end pascal, et notamment la
cérémonie du “feu sacré” célébrée par les Eglises grecque et
arménienne au Saint-Sépulcre, vendredi 9 avril, ont attiré des
milliers de personnes dans les rues de la Vieille Ville. Cette année,
la Pâque catholique et la Pâque orthodoxe étaient fêtées au même
moment.

Pourtant, si des Européens, des Asiatiques et des Africains ont fait
le déplacement, les Palestiniens, eux, n’ont pu accéder à Jérusalem
qu’en nombre très restreint. En dépit des “centaines” de permis
accordés par les autorités israéliennes aux chrétiens des territoires
occupés, nombre d’entre eux ont attendu jusqu’au dernier moment une
autorisation pour franchir les barrages. En vain. Le bouclage
particulièrement serré des territoires, décrété durant la fête juive
de Pessah, a rendu encore plus difficile qu’à l’ordinaire leur
déplacement. Mgr Michel Sabbah, patriarche latin de Jérusalem, l’a
regretté, estimant que “des milliers de personnes -de Cisjordanie et
de Gaza- seraient venues à Jérusalem si Israël leur avaient donné les
autorisations nécessaires”.

Ces restrictions de circulation s’ajoutent aux difficultés
récurrentes que rencontrent les responsables de l’Eglise catholique
œuvrant en Israël et en Cisjordanie pour obtenir visas et permis de
séjour. Selon l’un de ses représentants, 138 demandes de visas
effectuées par des religieux seraient en souffrance au ministère de
l’intérieur israélien, soit une hausse de 60 % par rapport à 2003.
“Ce problème met en cause la survie des Eglises, ici, et va provoquer
leur paralysie”, a pour sa part estimé Mgr Sabbah. “Beaucoup en
concluent qu’il y a un désir de limiter le nombre de chrétiens dans
le pays pour renforcer le caractère juif de l’Etat -d’Israël-“, a
ajouté un autre responsable de l’Eglise catholique.

CONTRÔLES TATILLONS

Ces allégations sont qualifiées de “non-sens” par les autorités
israéliennes, qui insistent sur le caractère “technique et
bureaucratique” des contretemps observés. Toutefois, des responsables
du ministère des affaires étrangères israélien ont reconnu, dans le
quotidien Maariv, que les retards dans la délivrance de visas étaient
devenus plus criants ces derniers temps et que des personnes
attendaient un permis “durant des mois, sans raison, alors qu’il ne
fait aucun doute qu’elles travaillent pour des Eglises”. “Cela
provoque une crise avec la communauté chrétienne à travers le monde
et des gens estiment que nous violons les conventions internationales
en ne respectant pas la liberté de culte”, ont-ils également admis.
Le représentant du Vatican en Israël a d’ailleurs adressé une lettre
au premier ministre israélien, ainsi qu’aux ministres de l’intérieur
et des affaires étrangères, pour leur faire part de son indignation
face aux humiliations subies par des religieux à travers le pays.

A plusieurs reprises, en effet, des religieux en attente du
renouvellement de leur visa ont subi des contrôles tatillons de la
part des services de sécurité israéliens. Dernièrement, dans un
centre commercial de Jérusalem, 23 sœurs, qui disposaient d’un
document du ministère de l’intérieur attestant leur demande de visa,
ont été alignées contre un mur par des membres de la police des
frontières et priées d’attendre des vérifications complémentaires. A
Tel-Aviv, un moine polonais franciscain n’a échappé à une reconduite
à la frontière qu’après l’intervention du ministère des affaires
étrangères.

Stéphanie Le Bars

Le Monde, France
14 Avril 2004

Arménie : l’opposition appelle le gouvernement au dialogue

Les Etats-Unis et l’OSCE se sont inquiétés des méthodes violentes du
gouvernement arménien pour mettre fin à une semaine de manifestations
de l’opposition réclamant la démission du président Robert
Kotcharian.
Au lendemain d’une semaine de tensions en Arménie entre l’opposition
et le gouvernement, Artaches Guégamian, l’un des chefs de
l’opposition et leader du parti Entente nationale, a appelé le
gouvernement au dialogue. Le président Robert Kotcharian et le
ministre de la défense, Serge Sarkissian, “sont responsables de ce
qui s’est passé et je suis prêt à commencer un dialogue avec eux pour
étudier la situation explosive dans le pays et trouver une éventuelle
issue” à cette crise, a-t-il déclaré.

M. Guégamian a souligné qu’il n’y avait pas de divergences entre les
leaders de l’opposition qui étaient en réunion mercredi pour analyser
la situation. “Le programme de l’opposition reste le même: changer de
pouvoir par la voie uniquement constitutionnelle”, a-t-il ajouté. “Le
président est pour le dialogue avec tous les partis politiques”, a
pour sa part déclaré Tigran Torossian, l’un des chefs du Parti
Républicain, membre de la coalition gouvernementale, ayant participé
à la rencontre mardi du chef d’Etat arménien avec les représentants
des partis pro-gouvernementaux.

Plusieurs personnes ont été interpellées dans la nuit de lundi à
mardi après des affrontements entre la police et les opposants
arméniens au centre de Erevan. L’opposition conteste l’élection de M.
Kotcharian en mars 2003 pour un deuxième mandat et demande un
référendum pour tester la confiance dont jouit le chef de l’Etat.

Quelques heures auparavant, les Etats-Unis et l’OSCE ont fait état de
leurs inquiétudes lors des violences à Erevan et ont appelé toutes
les parties au dialogue pour rétablir le calme dans cette république
sud-caucasienne. Ces réactions interviennent au moment où la
communauté internationale fait pression sur la Turquie, candidate à
la candidature à l’UE, pour rouvrir la frontière arméno-turque, et
alors que le processus de paix au Karabakh – théâtre d’une guerre
entre l’Arménie et l’Azerbaïdjan de 1988 à 1994 – est au point mort.

Les Etats-Unis, qui coprésident avec la France et la Russie le groupe
de Minsk de l’OSCE, chargé de régler la question du Haut-Karabakh,
suivent de près l’évolution de la région, de plus en plus tournée
vers l’Occident. L’Arménie, considérée comme un bastion stratégique
de la Russie dans la région, est ouverte à une plus grande
coopération avec les Etats-Unis, notamment dans l’OTAN. Cette semaine
de manifestation rompt avec l’image d’une Arménie stable, préalable
indispensable aux investissements étrangers dans cette république
enclavée.

La manifestation, commencée dans la journée, s’était achevée par un
sit-in devant le Parlement, non loin de la présidence. Les
manifestants ont été empêchés de se diriger vers la résidence de M.
Kotcharian par des barbelés installés en travers de la chaussée et
gardés par un cordon de forces de l’ordre. “Ils ont posé des barbelés
et peuvent utiliser le gaz lacrymogène. Mais ils n’arriveront pas à
nous intimider. Nous avons toujours les mêmes revendications”, a
déclaré Albert Bazeïan, l’un des leaders de la coalition Justice,
organisatrice de la manifestation aux côtés du parti Unité nationale.
“A bas le président illégitime !”, “Robert, va-t-en !”, clamaient les
pancartes brandies par les manifestants de ce mouvement de
protestation non autorisé.

Les deux principaux adversaires de M. Kotcharian lors de l’élection
présidentielle de mars 2003, Stepan Demirtchian et Artaches
Guegamian, étaient là. Stepan Demirtchian, l’un des leaders du bloc
Justice, avait recueilli 32,5 % des voix face à M. Kotcharian, réélu
avec 67,5 % lors d’un scrutin contesté par l’opposition et critiqué
par les observateurs internationaux. Il est le fils de l’ancien
président du Parlement, Karen Demirtchian, assassiné lors d’une
tuerie au Parlement en novembre 1999. Le leader d’Unité nationale,
Artaches Guegamian, lui aussi candidat malheureux face à M.
Kotcharian, a appelé les opposants à passer la nuit devant le
Parlement.

Le mouvement de manifestation commencé la semaine dernière avait pour
revendication initiale la tenue d’un référendum sur la confiance au
président, dont le pouvoir a rejeté le principe. L’opposition
arménienne, incapable de désigner un candidat unique lors de la
dernière élection présidentielle, reste très divisée, laissant les
analystes sceptiques quant à ses chances de suivre le modèle de la
Géorgie voisine.