Armenian News‏

Georgian FM Visits Armenia
By Ruben Meloyan

Georgia's Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze met with President Serzh
Sarkisian and his Armenian counterpart Eduard Nalbandian during a two-
day official visit to Yerevan than began on Friday.

The talks touched upon a wide range of issues of interest to the two
neighboring states, including bilateral economic relations and the
broader situation in the South Caucasus. According to the Armenian
Foreign Ministry, they are part of an `active and regular Georgian-
Armenian political dialogue' that can serve as a basis for `further
development of mutually beneficial relations.'

A ministry statement said Vashadze and Nalbandian discussed the
implementation of mostly economic agreements reached by the Armenian
and Georgian presidents during Sarkisian's October visit to Tbilisi.
It said they also spoke about Armenia's and Georgia's inclusion in
the European Union's Eastern Partnership program.

The statement said the two ministers further discussed `a number of
issues preoccupying Georgia's Armenian community.' That included the
tense situation in Georgia's Armenian-populated Javakheti region.

`There is no problem of Javakheti, there is a socioeconomic problem
in Javakheti, as well as other regions of Georgia,' Vashadze said at
an ensuing news conference with Nalbandian. He insisted that the
administration of President Mikheil Saakashvili has done a lot to
alleviate the plight of the impoverished region's population in
recent years.

`If somebody in Armenia thinks that people are better off in
[Georgia's second largest city of] Kutaisi than in Samtskhe-
Javakheti, then they are deeply deluded,' Vashadze said. `I am ready
to pay for your trip and take you [to Georgia] and show that.'

`The problem is that the integration of Georgian Armenians into
Georgia's public life is not going on at a pace desired by Georgia's
Armenian community and government,' he added.

In Nalbandian's words, the situation in Javakheti is the subject of
`sincere discussions' between Tbilisi and Yerevan. `There are no
problems that the authorities in Armenia and Georgia can not solve
jointly,' he said.

Vashadze denied in that regard any political motives behind the
recent controversial arrest of two Armenian activists in the regional
capital Akhaltsikhe on espionage charges. `Their rights are
protected,' he said. `Lawyers are working for them.'

Nalbandian said the Armenian government is monitoring the high-
profile case and has already received relevant explanations from the
Georgian side. `The matter is being investigated and as Mr. Vashadze
said, things will probably clear up after the investigation is over,'
he said.

RUSSIAN INVESTMENTS IN ARMENIA'S ECONOMY INCREASED FOURFOLD LAST YEAR
Gita Elibekyan
"Radiolur"
20.02.2009 17:00

Last year the Russian investments in Armenian economy increased
fourfold, Director General of the Armenian Development Agency Robert
Harutyunyan said during the roundtable discussion featuring the
delegation of the Russia's Sverdlovsk region and Armenian businessmen.

Robert Harutyunyan informed that Russia alone invested $567 million
out of the total of $853 million in Armenian economy.

"The investments were mostly targeted at the spheres of energy, gas,
water supply and transport. Last year Armenia's commodity turnover
reached 1.6 billion drams, registering a 24% raise as compared to 2007.

Robert Harutyunyan informed the Russian delegation that the Armenian
government has taken steps to soften the possible influence of the
global financial-economic crisis on the country's economy.

As for the cooperation with Sverdlovsk region, it first of all,
develops in the field of agriculture. However, the sides agreed
that it's necessary to solve the problem of transportation to ensure
further deepening of ties.

Participants of the roundtable decided to continue the discussions
within the framework of the "Bridge 2009" international economic
forum in Tsakhkadzor on 23 February.

Tycoon Defends Purchase Of Embattled Firm
By Astghik Bedevian

Ruben Hayrapetian, a prominent pro-government businessman, strongly
defended on Friday his decision to buy a company that was effectively
confiscated by the Armenian government from an entrepreneur
supporting the opposition.

Hayrapetian was the sole participant in a government-administered
auction for the Bjni mineral water plant. It was put up for sale late
last year after its refusal to pay 4.2 billion drams ($13.7 million)
in government fines imposed on it for alleged tax evasion.
Hayrapetian offered to pay 4.44 billion drams for the company based
in Charentsavan, a small town 40 kilometers north of Yerevan, just
hours before the end of the bidding on Monday.

`I bought Bjni so that people don't become jobless,' he told a news
conference.

The company employed more than 400 people before it was raided by tax
and police officials and forced to suspend its operations in October.
According to Hayrapetian, it will be reopened later this month or
early next.

Bjni was until now owned by Khachatur Sukiasian, another millionaire
businessman holding a parliament seat. Sukiasian supported opposition
leader and former President Levon Ter-Petrosian in the February 2008
presidential election and went into hiding to escape arrest following
the disputed vote. He is wanted by the authorities for his part in
what they call an opposition plot to seize power.

The fugitive tycoon has strongly denied the coup charges through his
family members and lawyers. They insist that tax authorities'
crackdown on Bjni and other businesses making up Sukiasian's SIL
Concern group, launched in late 2007, was also politically motivated.

Hayrapetian, who also heads the Football Federation of Armenia and is
a senior member of the ruling Republican Party, said he has no moral
qualms about acquiring a company wrested from a fellow `oligarch.' He
argued that Sukiasian and his extended family have no moral right to
question his integrity because they made their fortune in the early
1990s thanks to their close ties with the administration of then
President Ter-Petrosian.

`Let them look back and see whether [the way in which] they bought or
took away things was moral,' he raged. `When they admit that their
actions were immoral, I will do the same.'

`You all know how these SIL Concern owners acquired their assets,'
Hayrapetian told journalists. `Just look back at [the period] from
1992 to 1998 and you will see with what methods their assets,
including the Bjni plant, were bought.'

BRAIN DRAIN FROM ARMENIA CONTINUES
Panorama.am
18:01 20/02/2009

"Today very little money is disposed from the state budget to
the science, I have been stressing it for many times," said in a
press conference the President of the National Academy of Sciences,
Academician Radik Martirosyan.

He says that the scientists participate in many international projects
to earn money. In 2008 the scientists of the Academy participated in
52 international projects, said R. Martirosyan.

"20% of the international grants are spent to buy to equipments,
and the rest forms the salaries," he said and added that not all the
scientists have opportunities to be involved into those projects.

Regarding the "brain drain" the Academician said that in 1990
the Academy had more than 7000 employees and 60% of them were
scientists. Today this figured is halved, but not necessarily all
of them left the country. But Martirosyan has also mentioned that
"brain drain" has been and will continue in the future.
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IT'S QUIZ NIGHT AGAIN

K TAHTA ARMENIAN COMMUNITY SUNDAY SCHOOL

ARE YOU READY FOR ANOTHER CHALLENGE AND FUN!?

IT'S QUIZ NIGHT AGAIN

Saturday 21 February 2009 at 8:00 pm

Twyford Church of England High School,

Twyford Crescent, Acton, London W3 9PP

PRIZES FOR WINNERS

Tickets inclusive of dinner

£16.00 Adults — £10.00 Students (14–16)

A very popular event!

Book early to avoid

Disappointment

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Who's in the new Axis of Genocide?

February 20, 2009 The Turkey-Sudan Axis of Genocide A Blossoming Friendship: Sudan President Omer al-Bashir is warmly greeted by Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the first of two state visits to Turkey in 2008. Take Action Now! Email your U.S. Representative to alert them of the Turkey-Sudan axis of genocide. Call your U.S. Representative to be an early cosponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution (phone script included). Email President Obama to support his promise to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide. Read the ANCA Memo to Congress on the axis of genocide. ANCA Warns Congress of Turkey's Efforts to Block Decisive International Action to Stop Darfur Genocide WASHINGTON, DC - The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) alerted Members of Congress this week to the human costs of the emerging axis of genocide forming between the governments of Turkey and Sudan, warning that Ankara is playing an increasingly dangerous role in blocking decisive international action to end the genocide in Darfur. The genocidal Ankara and Khartoum regimes have grown markedly closer over the past two years, driven by Turkey's increasingly brazen efforts to undermine the international community's efforts to isolate Sudan's genocidal regime. The main three areas of cooperation between the two countries have been: 1) Turkey's sale of lethal weaponry directly to Sudan. 2) Turkish diplomatic support for the Sudanese government's genocide denials. 3) Turkey's use of its UN Security Council seat to block anti-genocide efforts. In recent weeks Turkey came under considerable international scrutiny for hosting Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha, who, during a meeting with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, asked Turkey to use its position on the UN Security Council to block any possible attempts to arrest Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir on charges of genocide. During his visit, Taha and his delegation also met with Turkish Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan and signed a cooperation protocol between their two parliaments, expanding the number of visits and expanding ties between the legislative bodies. Read more. . .

Please Email & Call Your Representative Now‏

Dear Friends,

The Armenian Genocide resolution is expected to be introduced in Congress soon, it's important that Congressional representatives sign on early to co-sponsor it. They need to hear from us, urging them to become early co-sponsors!

With the Obama-Biden Administration and a new Congress now in place, we have the best opportunity in years to end Turkey's gag-rule on American recognition of the Armenian Genocide. We are looking forward to President Obama honoring his pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide, and are turning to you to help build support for its proper recognition. Help ensure that your U.S. Representative is an early cosponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution and urges his/her colleagues to support this important human rights initiative.

First, send a free ANCA Webmail by visiting the ANCA Website (www.anca.org). Then, call your Representative and
urge them to take action (phone numbers and sample phone script are provided below.)

When you call your representative…
What to expect: The receptionist will likely answer your call, write down your message, and say thank you. On occasion, he or she will transfer you to an aide's voicemail. Only rarely will you be transferred to actually speak with an assistant. Representatives typically don't take constituent calls.

What to say: Introduce yourself, noting that you are from the representative's district, mentioning your town or city, and
then leave your message:
"Hello, my name is and I am a constituent from . I'm calling today to ask my Representative to become an early cosponsor of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, which will soon be re-introduced in the House of Representatives. This human rights legislation is identical to last year's measure, which was adopted by the Foreign Affairs Committee and cosponsored by over 210 members of the House. To join this effort, please contact either Congressman Adam Schiff or George Radanovich. If your office has any questions please contact the Armenian National Committee of America. Thank you.

If you don't know who your representative is, you can find out by going to https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

Here are the Representatives in Northern California (All phone numbers are in the (202) area code.)
Mike Thompson (D-CA-1) 225-3311
Wally Herger (R-CA-2) 225-3076
Dan Lungren (R-CA-3) 225-5716
Tom McClintock (R-CA-4) 225-2511
Doris Matsui (D-CA-5) 225-7163
Lynn Woolsey (D-CA-6) 225-5161
George Miller (D-CA-7) 225-2095
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-8) 225-4965
Barbara Lee (D-CA-9) 225-2661
Ellen Tauscher (D-CA-10) 225-1880
Jerry McNerney (D-CA-11) 225-1947
Jackie Speier (D-CA-12) 225-3531
Pete Stark (D-CA-13) 225-5065
Anna Eshoo (D-CA-14) 225-8104
Michael Honda (D-CA-15) 225-2631
Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-16) 225-3072
Sam Farr (D-CA-17) 225-2861

---
Armenian National Committee
San Francisco - Bay Area
51 Commonwealth Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94118
Tel: 415-387-3433
Fax: 415-751-0617
mail@ancsf.org
www.ancsf.org
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FATHER FRANK’S RANTS - Defence of Hell‏

Rant Number 340 18 February 2009

Defence of Hell

‘Monster burns in hell!’ screamed the headline of a popular tabloid years ago. Concerning a fiend who had murdered a number of schoolchildren and then killed himself. Commendable sentiment. Vox populi vox Dei. The voice of the people is the voice of God. Huh! A new angle on Britain’s gutter press.

Children and hell. A tricky subject. A school receptionist found that out. Her five-year-old was reproached for telling another child about God and also…hmmm… hell. Mum, apparently, could get the sack. A trivial little incident? Nah! Highly significant. But hardly new. Schoolteacher friend of mine once was almost assaulted by an angry parent: ‘How dare you teach my child about hell?!’ And that, notice, in a Roman Catholic school. Peerless anecdotes. How wonderfully they concentrate the mind. Anti-Christian Britain in a nutshell.

Hell and children. ‘Frightening children is wrong’, a school might contend. OK. No more warning kids about strangers, then. Surely that is pointless, unless it instils a certain fear in a child’s mind. The same applies to fires, drugs, knives, wild dogs and the like. Taking alarm – to a reasonable degree - about potential danger is essential to sound child training. But let us not fool ourselves. It is not frightening per se the school objected to. No. It is hell.

Hellfire and adults. You should not threaten anyone, even grown-ups, with that. Moral threats are wrong. You should not do the right thing from fear. Virtue is its own reward. Lofty, admirable prescriptions. Let us therefore forthwith shut down the police, the army, judges, law courts and tax inspectors. People ought to be virtuous for the sake of virtue, not from fear of fines, prisons, pain, death or even the inland revenue. No doubt everything thereafter will be hunky-dory. Pure motives will triumph and, like in a fairy-tale, we shall live happily ever after.

I wonder if the innocent five-year-old had blabbed to her little friend not about the nasty place below but about the jolly one above. Heaven. Clouds, golden harps, schmaltzy angels, all that. Would that have been kosher? Not really. Heaven too is a bit of a problem. Because it seems the little girl’s no-nonsense theology implied that, unless you believe in Jesus…geddit? Dear me! Maybe the nipper should have told her friend that, as soon as she got a lusty boy friend and…all the rest, she’d get Heaven on earth. The school would have rejoiced, no doubt.

That said, hell has a way of working people up. ‘Does your priest talk to you about hell?’ a bellicose Irishman once demanded of the youngsters of my parish youth club. ‘No, he doesn’t’ they replied. The fellow looked disappointed. No doubt the ghost of some remote, scolding Father O’Hara still haunted him. But, mercifully, hell has never been one of my things. Still, I do believe in hellfire. Only, as Bishop Ian Ramsey pointed out, remember that hellfire ain’t quite the same as gas fire.

You cannot get hell out of revealed religion. The Bible and the Quran are explicit about it. Jesus admonishes his hearers about that nether realm where ‘there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’. And Buddhist hellish iconography pulls no punches, either. But ignorance of religion language is a problem. ‘Nothing burns in hell, except the ego’ a mystic wrote. Sensible view. No physical pain can be had without a physical body. The damned in hell have no physical body, hence they cannot suffer physically. QED.

How then do the wicked souls suffer? St Thomas Aquinas replied that they suffer spiritually, through the frustration of their evil wills. A bit woolly? No way. Aquinas is no pussycat when it comes to sin and punishment. He was thinking logically. Yearning to commit adultery, and being so prevented for all eternity must be pretty frustrating. The Greek myth of Tantalus shows it. Tantalus suffers in the world below from unappeased hunger and thirst, being at the same time immersed in water up to the chin, while the juciest fruits hang before his eyes. Whenever he opens his mouth to eat and drink, the water dries up and the fruits vanish. Thus a bodiless Tantalus would be tantalised by being unable to hurt or cheat.

‘Justice motivated my maker; divine omnipotence, highest wisdom and aboriginal love created me’. Dante sees these words written on hell’s gate. His Inferno is often poetically lurid but the point is crystal clear. Jehannum’s rationale is perfect justice, not arbitrary power. The supreme judge is no Saddam Hussein. He is like Solomon. Even our touchy-feely, effete culture does accept a just punishment, no? Otherwise why arraign villains like Milosevic and Omar Bashir?

War on religion. That is what is going on in Britain. As clear as a pikestaff. The syndrome of progressive thought – to use Ernest Gellner’s brilliant coinage – is getting more and more arrogant, invasive and intolerant. A syndrome that dominates virtually all public discourse, the media, the political, social and educational systems. It is the mindset, the outlook of what passes for Western intelligentsia. This syndrome or disease opposes incessantly all revealed, historical religion. It rejects any non-material or extra-mundane explanation of phenomena. It denigrates idealism and all spiritual authorities and traditions. Instead, it obsessively promotes and seeks to inculcate into young and old alike moral relativism, hedonism, rationalism, materialism, determinism and egalitarianism. Nothing has really changed since the so-called Enlightenment. Voltaire’s battle-cry, ecrasez l’infame, is as topical as ever. Darkness wars against the light OK.

The Churches, on the other hand, shake in their boots. Few clergy have the guts to preach and teach the eternal verities. Instead, they prostrate themselves before the idols of our neo-pagan culture and tiresomely parrot its clichés. The General Synod of the Church of England some time ago, I believe, officially ‘abolished’ hell. Guilty conscience, I imagine. If they were trying to scotch divine justice, well, I figure they are in for a bit of a shock.

No, hell is no hobbyhorse of mine. Heaven is. However, as our cultured despisers of religion are on the attacks, and mean to give no quarter, the priest has no choice. Defiantly, he shouts out: ‘Long live hell!’

Revd Frank Julian Gelli

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Deal or no deal?‏

Gibrahayer e-magazine www.gibrahayer.com The largest circulation Armenian e-magazine on the Internet Circulates every Wednesday - Established in 1999

ACNIS Director Richard Giragossian comments on Turkish Press Report Claiming 'Breakthrough' over Nagorno Karabagh

ACNIS Press Release Yerevan--Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS) Director Richard Giragosian issued a statement today commenting on a recent report in the Turkish daily newspaper Hurriyet claiming that a new "partial agreement" has been reached between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabagh, brokered by Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan. The report alleged that Armenia and Azerbaijan reached a new agreement on four key points of a draft peace plan, including the reopening of road and rail links between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the deployment of an undefined international peacekeeping force to the region. While today's report in the Turkish media remains unsubstantiated by any Armenian, Azerbaijani or Turkish officials, the rather sensational claims of a sudden breakthrough over the unresolved Karabagh conflict raises several concerns. Most notably, the unconfirmed report reveals the danger posed by the overall lack of transparency and inadequate public awareness of the status of the peace process. By its very nature, the closed and secretive process of mediation by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Minsk Group only fosters misunderstandings and misinformation, especially as neither the Armenian nor the Azerbaijani governments are doing enough to prepare their constituencies for a possible peace deal. At the same time, however, there is no viable alternative to the OSCE Minsk Group as a mediator for the Karabagh conflict. The Minsk Group is the sole international body empowered to manage the mediation effort aimed at resolving the Nagorno Karabagh conflict and has been long engaged in conducting delicate diplomacy toward that end. But the OSCE Minsk Group format is also structurally flawed by the absence of the democratically-elected representatives of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic (NKR) which, as a party to the conflict, must be afforded a more direct and formal role in the peace process. Moreover, the failure to incorporate Karabagh in the peace talks as a party of equal standing only questions the viability of reaching a negotiated resolution capable of meeting the minimum standards of security and sustainability. The recognition of the vital and primary role of the OSCE Minsk Group as the mediator for the Karabagh also means that Turkey can have no direct role in the peace process. By virtue of its close strategic relationship with Azerbaijan, and in terms of Turkey's open diplomatic, economic and military support for Azerbaijan, including its ongoing blockade of Armenia, Turkey can not been accepted as a neutral broker or mediator of the Karabagh conflict. On a broader level, the lack of information concerning the peace process only leads to misinformation, endangering the already fragile and delicate peace talks. For Armenia, the lack of information only fuels misunderstanding and fosters a deeper sense of apathy among the population. The Armenian government must do much more to educate and involve its citizens in the peace process. Equally important, Azerbaijan has also failed to properly prepare its public for any possible progress in the peace talks. In addition, the secrecy surrounding the peace talks has only strengthened the militant rhetoric of its leadership and has radicalized the discourse within Azerbaijani society. Although the August 2008 war in Georgia only reaffirmed the danger of a sudden outbreak of hostilities in the region, Azerbaijani leaders continue to dangerously promote an irresponsible language of aggression and threat, tending to exacerbate regional insecurity. Therefore, the recent revelations of the Turkish media suggesting a secret peace deal over Karabagh only serves to complicate efforts to forge a fair and lasting peace. Most crucially, the lack of information and transparency encourages a dangerous trend of misinformation and disinformation that entrenches stereotypes and emboldens more extreme views. Thus, the failure of all sides to prepare and engage their publics in the peace process only reveals the deficit of prudent statesmanship and proper leadership.

SPOKESMAN FOR AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTRY REGARDS NEWS OF TURKISH HURRIYET NEWSPAPER AS "NONESENSE"

Feb 11 - Azerbaijan Baku. Lachin Sultanova - APA. "The details of the negotiations on the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict reported by the Turkish Hurriyet newspaper are nonsense," spokesman for Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Khazar Ibrahim told APA. He said that the reports were not true. "As regards the deployment of peacekeeping forces in the occupied Lachin region, I would like to mention that we have repeatedly said peacekeeping forces can be deployed in the region in any stage. But this contingent can not consist of the servicemen of neighbouring or co-chairing countries," he said. The diplomat considers that those who spread this report want to create problem between the two brother countries. "But it is impossible," he said.

ANKARA NOT PART OF CAUCASUS DEAL

Hurriyet - February 11 - ANKARA - Turkey is not part of a plan for a settlement to the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani territory occupied by Armenia, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said yesterday. "The Nagorno-Karabakh problem concerns Turkey but Turkey’s involvement in a plan for a solution is not under consideration. We only receive information from the parties concerned," Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Özügergin was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency. His remarks came after daily Hürriyet published an article that revealed a number of settlement areas would be handed over to Azerbaijan under a reconciliation plan on the Nagorno-Karabakh problem discussed between Foreign Minister Ali Babacan and Armenian and Azerbaijani officials. Babacan held talks with his Armenian counterpart as well as the Armenian president on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich over the weekend and flew to Baku for further consultations with his Azerbaijani counterpart and the Azerbaijani president. On route to Baku, Babacan revised the latest stage of the talks with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Memmedyarov, with whom he was on the same plane. Following the diplomacy traffic on the Munich-Baku track, Armenia was reported to be looking warmly toward the handover of six settlement areas densely populated by the Azeris to Azerbaijan stage by stage, said the daily. The Armenian Foreign Ministry denied the report and said it had not conducted negotiations for a settlement with Turkey’s mediation. Tigran Balayan, spokesman for the Ministry, said negotiations had been conducted through the mediation of the Organization for Security and Cooperation Group’s Minsk Group based on the Madrid proposals.

AFGHANISTAN 20 YEARS AFTER THE SOVIET WITHDRAWAL By Benon Sevan

SUNDAY February 15 will mark the twentieth anniversary of the withdrawal of the Soviet troops from Afghanistan. On that day, the last Soviet soldier, Lieut. Gen. Boris V. Gromov, the commander of the Soviet forces in Afghanistan, walked across the “Friendship Bridge” linking the Afghan border town of Hayratan with Termez, in the Soviet Union, bringing to an end the costly and disastrous nine-year Soviet military involvement in Afghanistan, which began in December 1979. The withdrawal of the 100,000 Soviet troops from Afghanistan was completed on February 15, 1989, pursuant to the Geneva Accords, signed on April 14, 1988 between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with the United States and the Soviet Union serving as guarantors. I was present in Kabul during the military parade on May 15, 1988 to mark the beginning of the withdrawal of Soviet troops. The Soviet Union did not consider the troop withdrawal as a military defeat but rather, as General Gromov put it, as “the completion of an international mission and the fulfilment of the Geneva Accords; none of our units, even the smallest one, have retreated. That is why there is no talk of a military defeat.” for the rest of the article click here

Benon Sevan was former United Nations Under-Secretary-General. He served as the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General in Afghanistan and Pakistan during the period 1989-1992.

UNITED NATIONS ORDERED TO PAY LEGAL FEES TO BENON SEVAN TOTALLING $ 880,300

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press Writer UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N.'s highest internal judicial body has ordered the United Nations to pay legal fees to the former chief of its oil-for-food program, who has been accused of accepting money to illegally influence the $64 billion humanitarian program in Iraq. The program was the biggest humanitarian program in U.N. history, but an U.N.-sanctioned investigation found widespread corruption, involving thousands of parties, that bilked the humanitarian program of $1.8 billion. The program chief, Benon Sevan, has been charged with bribery and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for allegedly accepting $160,000 to illegally influence the program. The Administrative Tribunal's judgement, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, said the United Nations must pay "all reasonable legal fees" incurred by Sevan until February 2005, subject to an independent audit of the lawyers' invoices. The judgement said Sevan and his lawyers were seeking $880,300, plus interest. Under the oil-for-food program, which ran from 1996 to 2003, Iraq was allowed to sell oil provided most of the money went to buy humanitarian goods. It was aimed at easing Iraqi suffering under U.N. sanctions imposed after Saddam's 1990 invasion of Kuwait and was a lifeline for 90 percent of the country's population. But a 18-month U.N.-sanctioned investigation led by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker found massive corruption in the program. Its final report in October 2005 accused more than 2,200 companies from some 40 countries of colluding with Saddam Hussein's regime to bilk the humanitarian program of $1.8 billion. In 2004, it accused Sevan of accepting $147,184 in kickbacks for steering oil-for-food contracts to a company of his choice. At the time, the U.N. agreed to pay Sevan's legal fees. But when the investigation accused then-Secretary-General Kofi Annan of a role in the scandal, Annan reversed the payment decision. Annan then rejected the ruling when the U.N. Joint Appeals Board upheld Sevan's appeal in February 2006. Sevan took his case to the Administrative Tribunal, which ordered the U.N. to pay reasonable legal fees in its judgement dated Nov. 26, 2008. Both the appeals court and the tribunal said it had no evidence that Annan's chief-of-staff ever imposed conditions on the payment agreement. "We abide by all the decisions of the Administrative Tribunal, which is the highest appeals body within the U.N. system," said U.N. associate spokesman Farhan Haq. Sevan resigned from the U.N. in 2005 and returned to his native Cyprus. He has not been extradited to the United Nations. In January 2007, federal and state prosecutors charged Sevan with taking a $160,000 bribe to influence who could buy Iraqi oil under the oil-for-food program. The indictment charged Sevan with bribery and conspiracy to commit fraud. At the time, his lawyer, Eric Lewis, said Sevan was being made a political scapegoat and that he had accounted for every penny, helping to save "tens of thousands of innocent people from death by disease and starvation."

COOPERATION WITH DASHNAKS POSSIBLE SAYS GEMAYEL

Daily Star Feb 12 2009 Lebanon BEIRUT: Former President Amin Gemayel said on Wednesday that he will be soon meeting with MP Michel Murr to discuss possible ways of cooperating in the upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for June 7. Speaking at a news conference at the Phalange Party headquarters in Beirut, Gemayel added that he was also open to cooperating with the Armenian Dashnak Party. "Despite deep wounds, we are ready to cooperate with the Dashnak based on the circumstances of the electoral battle," the former president said. Gemayel's relations with the Armenian party reached their lowest level during the Metn by-election in 2007, when the majority of Armenians voted against Gemayel, who was running to replace his slain son, former Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel. The former president lost the election to MP Camille Khoury of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM). Gemayel's announcement came in line with earlier remarks by Murr, who said that his main allies in the qada (district) of Metn would be the Phalange and Dashnak.

FINAL PUSH FOR GENOCIDE RECOGNITION BEGINS IN THE US

Adam Schiff joined by George Radanovich and Armenian Caucus Co-Chairmen Frank Pallone and Mark Kirk in Seeking Bipartisan Support for Armenian Genocide Resolution

WASHINGTON, DC - A letter seeking U.S. House cosponsors for a renewed drive to secure the adoption of the Armenian Genocide Resolution was circulated on 12th February 2009 on Capitol Hill by the legislation's lead authors, Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) and George Radanovich (R-CA), and Armenian Caucus Co-Chairmen Frank Pallone (D-NJ), and Mark Kirk (R-IL), reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). "We join today with millions of Armenians throughout the United States, in Armenia, and around the world in welcoming the launch of this new drive toward U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. "It's always the right time to take a stand against genocide. Now - with longstanding advocates of this noble and necessary cause in the White House, leading the State Department, serving in the Cabinet, heading up both Houses of Congress, and chairing key Congressional committees - we are set to overcome the final barriers to full and formal U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide." In the letter, the four legislators invited their House colleagues to join the resolution as original cosponsors, which will mean that they will be listed as supporters starting from the day of its introduction. During the recently concluded 110th Congress, an identical measure secured the support of 212 cosponsors, was adopted by the Foreign Affairs Committee, but was eventually blocked from a vote on the House floor by sustained attacks by then-President George W. Bush and his Administration. In urging early support for this human rights measure, the four lead sponsors noted that, "By properly acknowledging the Armenian Genocide, we reaffirm the willingness of the U.S. to speak plainly about genocide, and renew our commitment to prevent other occurrences of man's inhumanity to man." The Armenian Genocide Resolution reaffirms the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide by ensuring that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide.

URGENT ACTION ALERT: Armenian Genocide Affirmation 2009

February 14, 2009 - NEW YORK - The Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) encourages Cypriot activists, and all Hellenes and Philhellenes around the world to send in letters of support and participate in actions to make 2009 the year of Armenian Genocide Affirmation. Emails and letters to President Obama are being sent in from around the world. Updates and further actions and news on the Armenian Cause are available from the Armenian National Committee of America ANCA, website: www.anca.org

TURKEY SUMMONS ISRAEL ENVOY OVER ISRAELI DEFENCE FORCE OFFICER'S CRITICISM OVER CYPRUS, KURDS AND THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

By Reuters - Turkey on Saturday called on Israel to explain remarks made by Israel Defence Forces Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrachi that questioned Turkish policies toward Kurds and Cyprus, saying ties between the Middle East allies could be at stake. The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Saturday summoned Israeli Ambassador Gabby Levy to protest comments in Haaretz made by Mizrahi, commander of Israel's land forces. Mizrahi was quoted as saying Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan should have "looked in the mirror" before slamming President Shimon Peres last month at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Mizrachi also said that Turkey was not in a position to criticise Israel's actions in the Palestinian territories when it stations troops in northern Cyprus. He also accused Turkey of repressing its Kurdish minority and massacring Armenians during World War I. The Turkish military said on Saturday that Mizrachi's criticism threatened to harm relations between the two countries. It was the latest sign of tension between Turkey and Israel, who maintain close military ties but whose alliance has been strained by the Israeli offensive on Gaza. Erdogan accused Peres of "knowing very well how to kill" in a public debate last month at the World Economic Forum. The Turkish General Staff, in a statement carried by the state-run Anatolian news agency, said Mizrahi's remarks were completely unacceptable. "The comments have been assessed to be at the extent that the national interests between the two countries could be damaged," it said. Turkey and Israel's military cooperation includes allowing Israeli jets to use Turkish airspace for training. Erdogan told Reuters on Friday there were no plans to halt that agreement. Turkey keeps about 30,000 troops in northern Cyprus after invading the island in 1974 to thwart a coup attempt by Greek Cypriots. It is the only country to recognise a Turkish Cypriot administration there. Turkey has also fought a 25-year war against Kurdish separatists seeking to establish a homeland in the southeastern part of the country. Turkey denies accusations that it committed genocide against 1.5 million Armenians during World War I.

AZNAVOUR TO BECOME ARMENIAN ENVOY

BBC News - The veteran French-Armenian singer, Charles Aznavour, says he has agreed to become ambassador to Switzerland for his ancestral homeland of Armenia. Mr Aznavour, 84, told Armenian TV that although initially hesitant, he had accepted the offer with "pleasure, joy and a deep feeling of honour". He was born Shahnur Aznavourian in Paris in 1924 to Armenian immigrants. Even during the Soviet era, Mr Aznavour maintained close ties with Armenia. He was granted citizenship in December. After an earthquake in 1988 killed 25,000 people, he set up the Aznavour for Armenia committee to help survivors. The following year, he wrote and recorded a charity single, Pour Toi Armenie, which sold more than a million copies. "It is a great honour that Armenia proposed that I become its ambassador," said Mr Aznavour, who currently lives in Geneva. "At first I hesitated, as I thought that this is no easy matter. But then I thought that, in the end, what is important for Armenia must be important for all of us. I accepted the proposal with pleasure, joy and a deep feeling of honour." Mr Aznavour, dubbed the "French Frank Sinatra", performed his last major concert in 2001 after more than six decades of entertaining. He is best known for romantic love ballads such as Yesterday When I Was Young, and had a number one hit in the UK in 1974 with She.