Asbarez.com news room07-17-2000

[Guest]

1. Catholicos Aram I Meets With Iran's Khatami

TEHRAN (IRNA)--President Mohammad Khatami told His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia Monday that Iran considers dialogue as the most humane aspect of human beings and attaches special value to dialogue amongst religions.

 

Thanking the Catholicos for his support for Iran at the international communities, President Khatami said that his presence in Iran indicates active presence of Armenians in the country and experience of co-existence among Muslims, Armenians and other religions.

 

President Khatami said the fact is that divine religions are not in conflict with each other in nature and that clashes among them have always been imposed on the believers from beyond the realm of belief and truth of religions.

 

Islamic civilization is indebted to thinkers and scholars of Islam and other religions, said Khatami.

 

Disputes are either rooted in ignorant prejudices or in political issues imposed from outside, said the president, adding that therefore, politics should be submissive to religion, logic and ration.

 

He said there are efforts in Iran to solve problems through cooperation and collaboration with Armenian compatriots and other religious minorities.

 

``... I am proud of being president of all Iranians, including the dear Armenians, and of defending rights of them all; I hope that problems, if any, would be eliminated gradually,'' he added.

 

He said Lebanon is a successful model of peaceful co-existence among followers of various religions.

 

Touching on plots hatched to remove unity through provocation of religious differences, Khatami called on religious and political officials in Lebanon to protect such unity.

 

Aram I said for his part that the council of community of churches has formed a special committee this year for religious dialogue and the only representative of the body in the Middle East is an Iranian bishop.

 

He said the community of Armenians in Iran enjoy all civil and political rights and are well-organized. The community has always been a source of proud for the community of Armenians worldwide, he added.

 

Armenians in Iran play a grave role among the world Armenians and are ambassadors of Iran in the community of the world Armenians.

 

He said Iran is today an influential country in the international arena. He added that he considered Iran its land because he feels great solidarity with community of Iranian-Armenians.

 

On Sunday, a seminar to highlight the peaceful coexistence of Muslims and Christian Armenians opened in Tehran, presided over by the Catholicos.

 

In his opening message to the seminar, Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ayatollah Mohajerani said that the holding of the seminar is an acknowledgment of a fundamental need in today's world.

 

Underlining the need for dialog among different religions, the message said that through dialogue divine religions could achieve unity and unanimity.

 

Likewise, in his address before seminar participants, the Catholicos expressed his joy at being in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

 

He said that in spite of all differences "We all have been created by one God."

 

Welcoming the idea of dialog among civilizations first initiated by President Mohammad Khatami and approved by the United Nations, he stated that the president's proposal for 2001 to be named "Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations" will be a turning point in human history.

 

Aram I further underlined the need for dialogue among all divine religions and said such has been ordained by God.

 

Referring to Armenians living in Iran as members of the Iranian society, he said that Armenians do not consider themselves a minority in the Islamic Republic.

 

He further expressed his satisfaction with the living conditions of Armenians in Iran and stressed that their living conditions are desirable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. ARS Western Region Elects New Executive

GLENDALE--At the close of the Armenian Relief Society Western Region's 80th Convention Sunday, a new Regional Executive, comprised of nine members, was elected.

 

The convention began Thursday with an official opening ceremony, attended by several political and community officials. Following this session, the convention began to address its agenda items, which included an overview of ARS activities in the past year.

 

To officiate over the meeting, an executive was elected comprised of Ani Chalian (Armenian), Annig Zindarzian (English), as well as Sona Peltekian and Nvart Mouradian as secretaries.

 

At the close of the meeting Sunday, four new Regional Executive members were elected, replacing four others, who in accordance to the ARS by-laws were termed out.

 

The new executive members are Haigouhi Seropian, Angela Savoyan, Seta Tarpinian and Sirarpi Shakarian. They replaced outgoing executive members Mayda Bezdjian, Janet Derderian, Christine Arakelian and Alice Filhannesian.

 

The new Regional Executive is as follows: Maro Chalian-Read-chairperson Anita Haddad-vice-chairperson Haigouhi Seropian-secretary Rose Altounian-treasurer; and Angela Savoyan, Seta Tarpinian, Madeline Sarkissian, Sirayk Panossian and Sirarpi Shakarian, advisors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Clinton Defends Turkish Helicopter Deal

* Signals break with pledge that Turkey first meet human rights benchmarks before being granted export license

 

WASHINGTON--In a letter to Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), President Clinton responded to Congressional opposition to a proposed $4 billion helicopter deal with the Turkish military, defending Turkey's record on human rights and regional affairs, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

 

Earlier this year, Congressman Pallone joined with Representatives George Radanovich (R-Calif.), Michael Bilirakis (R-Fla.) and members of the Armenian and Hellenic caucuses in pressing the Administration to deny an export license for the proposed deal. They cited the Turkish military's worsening human rights record and drew attention to the increased threat that this dramatic escalation in Turkey's offensive military capabilities would present to Armenia, Cyprus and Turkey's other neighbors.

 

In a statement on the House floor, Rep. Pallone, argued that the deal would "increase tensions and instability in a region of the world that is vital to US interests and which is already plagued by conflicts and human rights violations. Put very simply, I am concerned that the Turkish armed forces will use this advanced American military technology to threaten its neighbors and abuse its own citizens."

 

Commenting on the regional implications of the helicopter deal, Rep. Pallone noted that, "the neighboring country that has suffered the most from the Turkish Government's aggressive militaristic and nationalistic posture is Armenia. In the years between 1915 and 1923, Turkey perpetrated Genocide against the Armenian people, resulting in 1.5 million innocent Armenian civilians being murdered." He added that, "in the year 2000, Turkey continues to maintain an illegal blockade of its border with Armenia, which has prevented the delivery of vitally needed supplies to Armenia," and that "Turkey has also backed Azerbaijan in the conflict over Nagorno Artsax. Given this pattern of hostility, the people of Armenia have every reason to fear the acquisition of these helicopters by Turkey."

 

President Clinton's letter signals a clear willingness by the White House to walk away from earlier commitments that its approval for the attack helicopter sale would be contingent on Turkey meeting eight human rights benchmarks.

 

Despite these benchmarks and repeated State Department findings that the Turkish armed forces have used US supplied helicopters to commit human rights abuses, the Administration appears ready to grant an export license should Turkey award the contract to Texas-based Bell Textron. (TIME magazine's European edition, in a May 22nd story on the controversy surrounding this deal, revealed that "Textron Inc. pumped more than $650,000 in contributions to Democratic and Republican Parties for the 1996 elections. And it has already spent $102,000 between both parties for this year's race.")

 

The State Department, in 1988, set these human rights benchmarks based on 1997 discussions between Clinton and Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz. The benchmarks, as reported by Amnesty International, are as follows:

 

1. Decriminalizing freedom of expression;

 

2. Releasing imprisoned parliamentarians and journalists;

 

3. Prosecuting police who commit torture;

 

4. Ending harassment of human rights defenders and re-opening non-governmental organizations;

 

5. Returning internally displaced people to villages;

 

6. Ceasing harassment and banning of political parties;

 

7. Ending the state of emergency;

 

8. Adopting clear rules of engagement and end-use monitoring for US-supplied weapons.

 

The May 22 TIME article noted that the White House is seeking to "sidestep" the "firm promise State Department officials gave human rights groups two years ago, when just allowing US firms to compete for the contract was the issue. The Administration pledged that it would not finally approve a sale unless Turkey had made 'significant progress' on seven human rights benchmarks. In February, the State Department's human rights bureau released a scathing report on Turkey's record in 1999. It still flunked all the benchmarks. Though Ankara has made some progress, police torture 'remained at high levels,' free speech restrictions were still 'a serious problem,' and government harassment of opposition groups continued."

 

Commenting on the reasons for the Administration's readiness to break its pledge, Representative Pallone commented in March that, "the government of Turkey knows how the game is played here in Washington. They have recently signed a $1.8 million-a-year contract for the lobbying services of several former Members of this Congress to push for the helicopter deal. I urge the Administration to resist this type of pressure, and I call on my colleagues in Congress to join me in using our position as elected officials to prevent this helicopter deal."

 

"Sending $4 billion worth of attack helicopters to an already over-armed Turkey runs against the interests and values our government should be advancing in the region," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "As our friends in Congress have stressed, this deal represents a setback to the cause of human rights, a danger to regional stability, and an increased security threat to the people of Armenia."

 

The ANCA, in coordination with a coalition of human rights groups, arms control advocates, and friends in the Greek American community, has undertaken a national grassroots campaign against the granting of an export license for the helicopter deal. The May 22 TIME magazine article reported that:

 

"The American Hellenic Institute, the lobbying arm for 3 million Greek Americans, plans to fight the sale, as does the Armenian National Committee of America, which represents 1.5 million Armenian Americans. Amnesty International is organizing a letter-writing campaign to dissuade the State Department from granting an export license."

 

The ANCA action alert against the deal (available at www.anca.org) urges Armenian Americans to contact Vice President Al Gore, through his national security advisor Leon Fuerth, to encourage him to take a stand against this irresponsible foreign arms sale. The alert warns that:

 

"The increasingly over-armed Turkish government remains to this day an unrepentant perpetrator of genocide against the Armenian people. As recently as eight years ago, former Turkish president Turgut Ozal publicly threatened to 'teach' Armenians the 'lessons of 1915,' a brutal and menacing reference to the Armenian Genocide."

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. OSCE Head Arrives In Yerevan

YEREVAN (Armenpress)--The OSCE Chairwoman, Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner arrived in Yerevan July 16 to see how the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe can promote the peace process in Nagorno-Artsax. She will make a visit to Azerbaijan at a later time.

 

Austria has supported the admission of Armenia and Azerbaijan to the Council of Europe, the minister said on Sunday. A number of formalities are still to be done to register their membership in the European organization. The minister thinks that the admission will help to settle the Artsax conflict.

 

Right upon her arrival in Yerevan, Armenia's prime minister Andranik Markarian met with Benita Ferrero-Waldner and the delegation led by her.

 

According to the government information and public relations department, Andranik Markarian noted that Armenian side welcomes Austria's efforts to make the OSCE stronger and develop opportunities for peace as quickly as possible. He reiterated Yerevan's official position on the European direction and movement towards integration in the Euro-Atlantic structures, which was one of the priorities of the country's foreign policy. After becoming a member of the OSCE, Armenia will tend to support the establishment of European security by means of the comprehensive security concept of the organization.

 

While presenting the last developments in the process of peaceful regulation of the Artsax conflict, Mr. Markarian assured Armenia's readiness to accept all those compromise solutions, which will be acceptable to Artsax's authorities and people, and will exclude the territorial swaps.

 

According to the prime minister, Armenia is ready for the regional economic co-operation, as well as for supporting the formation of regional security system. In Markarian's opinion, these are the key factors for establishing stability and mutual trust.

 

Benita Ferrero-Waldner said that Austria, as a presiding country, is optimistic and expects a regulation of the conflicts of the South Caucasus and Nagorno Artsax soon. She underlined the importance of Armenian and Azeri presidents' direct meetings, and expressed hope that they will result in a long and comprehensive resolution by the assistance of Minsk group.

 

Issues concerning Armenian-Austrian relations were also discussed during the meeting. The importance of the activation of bilateral economic cooperation was also underlined.

 

Later during a meeting with Armenia's foreign minister Vartan Oskanian, the OSCE delegation particularly referred to the necessity of economic cooperation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, noting that it will improve the mutual trust between the two countries.

 

Benita Ferrero-Waldner congratulated Armenia on behalf of the OSCE on Armenia's success on the way of becoming a member of the Council of Europe and expressed hope that the Ministers' Council will approve Armenia's accession to the CE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Draft Law On Energy Privatization Approved

YEREVAN (Armenpress)—The Armenian government approved a draft law on privatization of four energy distribution networks during the extraordinary session, the government press office told Armenpress.

 

Prime Minister Andranik Margarian is quoted saying that "the parliament's April 25th decision to remove eleven energy distribution companies from the list of enterprises to be privatized in 1998-2000, by a separate law, affirms that the parliament is not against the privatization of energy distribution networks.

 

The prime minister also expressed his concerns over the fact that this issue was unduly politicized when there were some attempts to draw parallels between the energy privatization and faults that had been reported during the previous privatization processes.

 

Margarian said his government was against politicizing this issue. The draft law prepared by the government is called to shift the issue to the economic field, as well as to secure the transparency of the deal.

 

The privatization of the energy grid is carried out by the government through a tender committee and authorized state bodies.

 

The four energy companies that are to be privatized are grouped in two shares sale packages. The first group includes the Yerevan Energy Network and the North Energy Network, the second includes the South Energy Network and the Central Energy Network.

 

All companies participating in the tender are allowed to acquire only one package of the companies, and at least 51 percent of the shares of each company is to be sold through an international tender.

 

Energy Minister Karen Galustian was quoted saying that the Russian company ITERA was excluded from the short-list of foreign companies which successfully passed the preliminary phase of the tender.

 

The privatization of the energy grid will provide $40 million for the budget. It will also bring $80 million in investments to Armenia's economy. The draft bill is to be debated by the parliament this week and if it is passed, the World Bank will release long-term credits worth almost $50 million.

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Army Deserters Arrested .

YEREVAN (Armenpress)—Three soldiers deserted their military unit in Artsax July 13. After reaching Kelbajar near the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the deserters stopped a car and killed the driver and a passenger and headed towards Armenia.

 

At a check point the police tried to stop them but the deserters opened fire, killing two. While trying to remove the dead bodies from the road they were interrupted by another car coming from the opposite directions. The deserters shot the two passengers in the car dead.

 

One of the deserters was injured in the shootout. His two comrades abandoned him and fled to the forests.

 

The Armenian defense ministry reported that the manhunt launched for the two army deserters who killed eight and wounded one on July 13, ended successfully. The criminals were discovered and arrested by the law-enforcement bodies July 15.

 

The Armenian prime minister Andranik Markarian expressed his condolences to the relatives of the killed men, saying "the murders committed July 13 by several deserters, that took the lives of eight innocent people, was a shock to us. We must not allow that wave of cruelty and inhumanity go on spreading in our society."

 

The prime minister assured the families of the killed that the law-enforcement bodies will do everything in their power to find and punish the criminals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Russian President Putin Signs Law

MOSCOW (Armenpress)—President Vladimir Putin signed a law Saturday on the ratification of the Russian-Armenian treaty on the status of citizens of Russia who permanently live in Armenia and of citizens of Armenia who permanently reside in Russia.

 

The law was adopted by the State Duma on June 30.

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Meghri Development Project Presented To The President

YEREVAN (Armenpress)—The social-economic development program for the region of Meghri that was approved by the government July 16, has now been sent to president Kocharian for ratification.

 

According to Vache Terterian, head of the government regional management and local self-government department, the program, worked out by the efforts of the former government several months ago, includes different measures of economic development in the region, operation of the enterprises, work in the education and culture sectors, etc. The program will operate until 2002. Mr. Terterian said that detailed information about the project would be given after the president ratified it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. New Medical Aid System Introduced In Artsax

STEPANAKERT (Armenpress)—The government of Artsax made a decision on free medical aid and services for all the insecure families, disabled people, large families, families of killed soldiers, participants of the Great Patriotic War, and pensioners.

 

Medical services, including laboratory examinations, consultations and precautionary measures will be free of charge for everybody.

 

People, who don't belong to any of these social groups but suffer from the diseases, such as tuberculosis, mental diseases, cancer, diabetes, epilepsy and other diseases will receive treatment free of charge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. Water World Park Opened In Yerevan

YEREVAN (Armenpress)—Armenian president Robert Kocharian praised the work done by a joint company that resulted in the opening of Aqua Water park in Yerevan. Kocharian said it was important from the perspective of the development of tourism. Speaking at the official opening of the Park on Saturday, Kocharian said the quality and the level of provided services is evident that this business has serious prospects.

 

The Aqua park project's cost amounted to $1.6 million. 50 percent of shares is owned by the Spanish company of Linternbull, 40 percent by the Russian company of Klike&Sam and 10 percent is owned by an individual from Armenia. The project's sponsor and its direct owner is the Spanish-Armenian company of Valencia, the project's elaboration and construction was carried out by the Spanish firm of Action Park.

 

The Aqua park is capacity is 3000 campers at a time. The staff consists of 200 persons. The administration of the park predicts the daily number of visitors to range from 600 to 800 persons, this will allow to pay for the project within 3-5 years