Diaspora-elects for Armenian Parliament

The largest circulation Armenian e-magazine circulates every Thursday Established in 1999

A TWO-CHAMBER PARLIAMENT WITH DIASPORA REPRESENTATIVES ON THE TABLE

At a recent meeting with Armenian community representatives in California, Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan introduced President Serzh Sargsyan's initiative to make the Armenian Parliament a two-chamber body. Addressing the issue, the Minister said such structure would increase the Diaspora's involvement in Armenia's decision-making processes. "We currently seek to amend the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia to make the Parliament a two-chamber body consisting of upper and lower houses. The upper house is the senate which should be composed of Diaspora representatives as well. I saw today California Armenians' enthusiasm over the idea," Hakobyan stated to Tert.am. "The President's first step in that direction was the decision to create a Diaspora Ministry, which later elaborated a serious policy to reinforce the Diaspora communities' ties with their homeland. The second step was the introduction of the dual citizenship system. And the initiative to create an upper House in Parliament is actually our third step which will enable the Diaspora to have its say in our state government system and policy making procedures," she added.

ARMENIANS IN CYPRUS CELEBRATE 120th ANNIVERSARY OF ARF DASHNKATSOUTIUN

The 120th anniversary of ARF Dashnaktsoutiun was celebrated in Cyprus on Friday 28 January 2011 at PASIDY Hall, organised by the ARF Dashnaktsutiun Cyprus Gomideh. A documentary prepared by Yerkir Media was shown on the birth and political / revolutionary activity of the most influential political organisation in Armenian reality in the last century. Master of ceremonies was unger Arto Tavitian, while ARF Dashnaktsoutiun Gomideh representative Hagop Kazandjian referred to Dashnaktsoutiun's activity in Cyprus which continues in Cyprus from 1896 until now. A second documentary was later shown which included messages from political figure-heads, who acknowledged the multidimensional activity of ARF Dashnaktsoutiun in Armenian reality, former Cyprus and Greek Parliament Presidents Dr. Vassos Lyssarides and Apostolos Kaklamanis, President of Armenia-Greece Friendship Association Photis Kouvelis, Cyprus Euro MP Dr. Ioannis Kassoulides, conservative party leader of Greece Antonis Samaras, former President of Cyprus, Glafcos Clerides and "our own" Parliament President Marios Garoyian. Speaker of the day was ARF Dashnakstoutiun Bureau's member Dr. Megerditch Megerditchian. Final comments came from Archbishop Varoujan Hergelian before the celebrations continued at AYMA-HMEM's club in Nicosia with jashgerouyt-khrakhjank under the tunes of Hovig Manoushian and his orchestra who presented a variety of national-revolutionary songs.

Images from ARF Dashnaktsoutiun's 120th anniversary celebrations in Cyprus click here:

JOURNALIST ADEM ARSLAN RECEIVES BULLETS AND THREATENING CALLS OVER PUBLICATION OF A BOOK ABOUT HRANT DINK

Adem Yavuz Arslan, who published a book seeking to reveal some suspicious aspects about the murder of Dink, received a package containing four Kalashnikov bullets and a white beret. He has been receiving threats since the publication of his book.

28 January - Sunday's Zaman - Journalist Adem Yavuz Arslan, the author of a book that seeks to shed light on some of the shady aspects of the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, said he received a package containing four Kalashnikov bullets and a white beret, similar to the one that Dink's assassin was wearing on the day of the murder. Arslan also complained that he has been receiving threatening phone calls from unidentified individuals since his book first hit the shelves. According to the journalist, he has been the target of threats due to the content of his book, which he believes tells the "truth" about the Dink murder. The package containing bullets and the beret was sent to Arslan's office on Wednesday. He is both a columnist and the Ankara representative for the Bugün daily. Police officers from the counterterrorism department examined the parcel. The examination revealed that it was sent from the Yerköy district of Yozgat province. An investigation is still under way into the incident. Arslan also said the packet contains a “direct message” for him. “The senders of the bullets are implying that I will get killed like Dink,” he noted. The journalist has recently dominated the agenda with his new book, “Bi Ermeni Var: Dink Operasyonunun Shifreleri” (There's this Armenian: The Codes of the Dink Operation), which puts forward new evidence indicating that the murder of Dink had been masterminded from the start by dark forces. Dink was shot dead by a nationalist teenager in broad daylight in front of his office in 2007. Dink's assassin was captured, but the real plotters of the murder have yet to be apprehended. According to Arslan the threats have come to prove that his book is telling the truth behind Dink's assassination. “The bullets and the white beret show that I am being targeted because of my new book.

A FRESH WAVE OF TURKISH INTERNET ATTACKS TARGET 6,000 WEBSITES

Gibrahayer e-magazine - 3 February, 2011 - A fresh wave of Internet attacks with the code name "1923 Turkish Group", on Armenian websites – predominantly in the United States - has reportedly hacked more than 6,000 websites promoting Genocide recognition, according to Dogan Turkish News Agency. After breaking in, Turkish Cyber-pirates have left the following message on the pages of the websites: "Don't believe Armenians lies! America, you have perpetrated the worst Genocide!" "1923 Turkish Group" threatened they would strike again, stating "We'll continue our attacks against all those countries that will dare to use hostile and insulting statements against Turkey.” Gibrahayer e-magazine Chief Editor Simon Aynedjian, said that during the last wave of attacks, multiple hostile attempts on www.gibrahayer.com server were detected, but the source was not verified. Referring to the latest anti-Armenian cyber attacks, Aynedjian first called on similar Armenian groups not to drag themselves into similar retaliatory practices and continued. “The Internet is the tool and the weapon of the free world. Only countries with a shady history and totalitarian regimes are afraid of the Internet, social networks, Facebook, Blogs and Youtube, because they are afraid of how the truth will shake the foundations of their states and how transparency will reveal the emptiness of their political arguments. While the free flow of information is the very foundation of democracy and freedom of expression, governments like Turkey - which are still weak to face the wrong-doings of their past, and people who are too scared to face reality - will continue resorting to every method available for gagging the truth." Aynedjian concluded by saying “Hacking and cyber-piracy is the latest attempt of information burial. This latest effort will not pass either, and together with the victory of freedom of information, the victory of truth will also prevail with the final act of the Armenian Genocide, that of its recognition by the Turkish state.”

ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD IN ARTSAKH

STEPANAKERT (ArmenianEyes.com) - As part of a deal signed last week between Karabakh Prime Minister Ara Harutyunyan and Argentinian Armenian businessman Eduardo Eurnekian, every elementary school student in Karabakh will receive one laptop computer loaded with educational software. The One Laptop Per Child OLPC program, developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston MIT, will furnish Karabakh’s elementary schools with laptop computers and connect them to the Internet through wireless networks to be installed in their facilities. “The world community sees Nagorno-Karabagh within the context of war and regional conflict. People fail to take note of the children who are born and live there,” said Eurnekian, whose company manages Armenia’s national postal service, Haypost, and the Zvartnots airport in Yerevan. “These children are entitled to the universal right of education and access to information.” “Through OLPC, I intend to bridge the gap and give the children of Karabakh the opportunity to receive the best education the world has to offer” Eurnekian said.

AMID AZERI THREATS, COMMERCIAL FLIGHTS TO STEPANAKERT SET TO COMMENCE IN APRIL

BY LUSINE MUSAYELIAN - STEPANAKERT (RFE/RL) - The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s sole civilian airport currently undergoing reconstruction will reopen its doors in May for the first commercial flights between the unrecognized republic and Armenia in two decades, a senior official in Stepanakert announced on Wednesday. Dmitry Atbashian, head of the local civil aviation authority, said a state-run airline has already been set up to carry out those flights on a daily basis. Flights to and from the airport, located 8 kilometers east of Stepanakert, had been discontinued in 1991 amid intensifying armed clashes in and around Karabakh that degenerated into a full-scale war provoked by neighbouring Azerbaijan. Since then, transport communication between the small country and the outside world has since been carried out by land, via Armenia. The Karabakh government decided in 2009 to reopen the airport, severely damaged during the 1991-1992 war, and raised about 1 billion drams ($2.8 million) for its reconstruction from unspecified “charitable sources.” Karabakh officials said afterwards that a regular flight service between Stepanakert and Yerevan could be launched already in October 2010. However, its launch was delayed by a longer-than-anticipated construction of a new airport terminal. According to Atbashian, the construction work is nearing completion, and air navigation and other equipment is already being installed at the airport. The facility will be fully furnished by April, he said. Atbashian assured journalists that flight security “will be ensured by 100 percent” despite the airport’s proximity to the heavily militarized “line of contact” separating Armenian and Azerbaijani forces. He warned Azerbaijan against attempting to disrupt the flights. The Azerbaijani government has not yet officially reacted to the planned reopening of the Stepanakert airport. It is bound to condemn the development. Atbashian stressed that security in and around the airport building will be “twice as tight” as at Yerevan’s Zvartnots international airport because of what he described as a potential threat of “terrorist acts.” “We are located in a dangerous zone,” he argued. Atbashian also revealed that the Stepanakert-Yerevan flights will be carried out by a newly established Karabakh airline, Artsakh Air. He said its fleet of aircraft will consist of three Canadian-made CRJ200 passenger jets costing at least $15 million each. The official did not say who is financing their purchase. It also emerged that a round-trip air ticket to the Armenian capital will likely cost between 18,000 and 21,500 drams ($50-60). By comparison, the current fare for a minibus trip from Stepanakert to Yerevan, which takes between six and seven hours, is 5,000 drams.