Friday 25 April 2008

Armenian News


Turkish Foreign Minister Calls On Armenia To Begin Dialogue
ITAR-TASS
April 21 2008
Russia

ANKARA, April 21 (Itar-Tass) - Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan
called on Armenia to begin a dialogue.

The Turkish minister sent a message to his Armenian counterpart
Vartan Oskanyan on Monday in which he called on him to start a
bilateral dialogue.

Babacan told journalists that Ankara sought to normalise relations with
Yerevan. "Turkey wants to normalise relations with Armenia. We make
our channels open for the dialogue with the new Armenian leadership,"
Babacan said.

"Turkey is opened for a dialogue with Armenia in order to normalise
Turkish-Armenian relations in a new epoch," Babacan said. In his view,
"The resumption of the bilateral dialogue will help solve the existing
problems in relations between the two countries."

In February the presidential elections were held in Armenia. Serzh
Sarkisyan won the elections. At present, Turkey and Armenia have no
diplomatic relations.

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TURKISH DAILY NEWS: ARMENIA COLD TO TURKEY'S CALL FOR DIALOGUE
PanARMENIAN.Net
22.04.2008 15:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey's Foreign Minister Ali Babacan sent a letter
to his newly appointed Armenian counterpart, saying that Turkey is
open to dialogue for normalization of troubled ties.

"There is no doubt that there are problems in the two countries'
relations but a solution passes through dialogue. Our doors are open
to dialogue," Babacan said during a news conference with visiting
Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, Turkish Daily News reports.

Commenting on the Armenian-Turkish relations, Armenia's Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandian said, "We have numerously stated that we
are willing to normalize relations without preconditions. Genocide
is a black page in our common history. We should turn over this page
and build our future."

"We received the letter from Babacan and we think it very positive,"
the TDN quoted an Armenian diplomat, who wished to remain unnamed.

"But this [call for dialogue] should not only be in words, but also in
deeds. We expect action," he said, reiterating Armenia's willingness
to re-establish diplomatic relations and re-open the borders without
any preconditions. "This is one of the key elements.

It is nonsense for a European Union aspirant country to keep its
borders closed," the diplomat said.

The TDN article also mentions of the Armenian Diaspora's pressure
for international recognition of the Armenian Genocide as well as
"invasion of Nagorno Karabakh, an Azeri territory, by Armenian troops."

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 over the Nagorno
Karabakh issue.

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ARMENIAN PRESIDENT INTRODUCES STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT
arminfo
2008-04-21 20:28:00

ArmInfo. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan introduced structural
changes in the country's government by his Apr 21 decree.

The Armenian presidential press-service told ArmInfo that in accordance
with the decree, the ministry of trade and economic development has
been transformed into a ministry of economy, and the ministry of
finance and economy - into a ministry of finance. Furthermore, an
emergency ministry has been created. The Rescue Service will operate
within the frames of the emergency ministry as an operating state
body. The Armenian foreign ministry's Agency for work with Diaspora
has been transformed into a state committee for work with Diaspora
under the RA foreign ministry, it also will have powers of a state
body. The Armenian government has been instructed to take relevant
decisions proceeding from the items of this decree within 1.5 months.

Thus, the Armenian government's structure is as follows:

1. Health Ministry 2. Justice Ministry 3. Ministry of Foreign
Affairs 4. Emergency Ministry 5. Ministry of Labor and Social Issues
6. Ministry of Agriculture 7. Environment Ministry 8. Ministry of
Economy 9. Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources 10. Ministry
of Education and Science 11. Ministry of Culture 12. Ministry of
Defense 13. Ministry of Sport and Youth 14. Ministry of Territorial
Administration 15. Ministry of Transport and Communication 16. Ministry
of Town Planning 17. Ministry of Finance.

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FIGHT ERUPTS IN JERUSALEM CHURCH
BBC NEWS
2008/04/20 15:18:13 GMT

Israeli police had to break up a fist fight that erupted between Greek
and Armenian Orthodox clergymen at one of Christianity's holiest sites.

The scuffles broke out at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem
on Orthodox Palm Sunday.

Brawls are not uncommon at the church, which is uneasily shared by
various Christian denominations.

In this case, witnesses say an Armenian priest forcibly ejected a
Greek priest from an area near the tomb of Jesus.

They say the attacker felt the Greek priest had spent too long at
the tomb.

When police arrived to break up the fight, some were reportedly beaten
back by worshippers using palm fronds.

Two Armenians were detained by police, prompting supporters to stage
a rally in protest outside the police station.

Rivalry between the six different churches which grudgingly share
the Holy Sepulchre dates back to the aftermath of the crusades, and
to the great schism between Eastern and Western Christianity in the
11th Century.

Each denomination controls, and jealously guards, its own section of
the labyrinthine site.

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WEBSITE OF MUSEUM-INSTITUTE OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ALREADY LAUNCHED
Noyan Tapan
April 21, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 21, ARMENIANS TODAY - NOYAN TAPAN. The website of
the Museum-Institute of Armenian Genocide, www.genocide-museum.am,
is already operating in English. It has 500-600 visitors every
day. As historian Hayk Demoyan, the Museum's Director, said
at the April 21 press conference, that number will grow in the
coming days in connection with the 93rd anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide. According to the Director, the launching of the website's
English department has purely strategic significance, as it presents
the official position of the Museum-Institute of Armenian Genocide.

The website will also have Armenian, Russian, and Turkish versions
in the future.

The Museum's website consists of two parts: the horizontal part
presents information on the Museum-Institute of Armenian Genocide
and the left perpendicular part contains documents and photographs,
memories of people having experienced the Armenian Genocide, which
are periodically refreshed.

The latest materials of that part are evidence of Jewish and Swedish
eye-witnesses about the Genocide.

Besides, a virtual museum is presented on the website: any person from
any point of the world can visit the website, roam about the memorial
complex and museum in the three-dimensional virtual territory. It was
mentioned that in average 150-300 thousand people visit the Museum
every year and under the circumstance of existence of an electronic
museum their number will grow considerably.

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