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  • Turkish - Armenian Rapprochement Linked on HR Improvement in Armenia

    American Chronicle
    March 15 2009


    Turkish - Armenian Rapprochement to Be Linked on Human Rights
    Conditions´ Improvement in Armenia


    Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis

    March 15, 2009 - If Turkey should be further democratized and
    harmonized with Europe, then why should Turkey open its borders to
    Armenia - a criminal tyranny denounced as such by the HRW in a lengthy
    and devastating Report?

    In three earlier articles entitled "Turkey´s Ongoing
    Colonization: Only Reason for Recognizing Racist Armenian Tyranny"
    (http://www.americanchronicle.com/ar ticles/view/94451), "Devastating
    HRW on Armenian Tyranny Imposes Cancellation of the Gul ` Erdogan
    Pro-Armenian Policy"
    (http://www.americanchronicle.com/art icles/view/94453), and
    "Recognition of the Armenian Tyranny by Ankara Equals Colonization of
    Turkey by Freemasonic EU ` US"
    (http://www.americanchronicle.com/article s/view/94492), I republished
    parts of the devastating HRW Report (the HRW Press Release issued on
    the occasion of the Report publication a few days ago, the Contents,
    the Summary, the Methodology, and the Background), and called for a
    master coup against the unrepresentative Erdogan gang of high
    traitors, freemasons and besotted pseudo-Islamists, who implement the
    Anti-Turkish colonial agenda of England and France; in fact, the
    colonial powers imposed on the Freemasonic pupils Gul and Erdogan the
    Turkish ` Armenian rapprochement.

    In the present article, I republish the HRW Report chapter on the 2008
    Presidential Elections. In forthcoming articles, I will republish
    further parts of the devastating HRW Report on the Armenian Tyranny.

    IV. The 2008 Presidential Elections

    http://www.hrw.org/en/node/80933/sectio n/6

    With Robert Kocharyan coming to the end of his two-term limit as
    president, his heir apparent in the 2008 presidential contest was
    Prime Minister Serj Sargsyan.[29] The scene for the election had
    largely been set by the parliamentary elections in 2007, in which
    Sargsyan's Armenian Republican Party had consolidated its grip on
    parliament.[30] Opposition parties had continued to decline in
    parliamentary representation, with the principal opposition from 2003,
    the Armenian People's Party, routed.

    Levon Ter-Petrossian, after stepping down as president in 1998, had
    retreated from public life and avoided contact with the media. His
    party, the Armenian Pan-National Movement, had gone into sharp
    decline.[31] Ter-Petrossian gave his first public speech since his
    resignation on September 21, 2007, sharply criticizing the Kocharyan
    administration, calling it a "criminal regime" and denouncing
    widespread corruption in the country. In another speech on October 26
    he confirmed publicly his intention to run for president against
    Sargsyan.[32]

    Sargsyan and Ter-Petrossian were the frontrunners in a field of nine
    registered candidates when the election campaign officially opened on
    January 21, 2008.[33] Media coverage of the candidates was heavily
    skewed in Sargsyan's favor, as noted in critical statements before
    polling day by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
    (PACE) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human
    Rights (ODIHR).[34]

    The election, held on February 19, resulted in Sargsyan winning
    outright with 52.8 percent of the vote, and Ter-Petrossian gaining
    21.5 percent, according to official figures. An international observer
    mission comprising the OSCE, the PACE, and the European Parliament
    initially endorsed the election, issuing a preliminary report on
    February 20 that found the election "mostly in line with the country's
    international commitments."[35] Similar statements followed from
    European Union High Representative Javier Solana, European
    Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU
    presidency, and the Council of Europe's envoy.[36]

    On March 3, however, the OSCE issued a harsher statement, claiming
    that there had been irregularities, including implausibly high voter
    turnout at some polling stations, high numbers of invalid ballots
    especially at some Yerevan polling stations, and significant
    procedural errors and irregularities in the vote counting and
    tabulation. In addition, it noted insufficient protection for
    registering and addressing voters' complaints.[37] On May 30 the OSCE
    issued a final report on the elections that, while maintaining its
    original generally favorable assessment, stated that there was "an
    insufficient regard for standards essential to democratic elections
    [which] devalued the overall election process."[38]

    Immediately following the elections, Human Rights Watch documented
    nine cases of assailants intimidating, threatening, and even violently
    attacking opposition party activists, journalists, and observers. The
    victims had been complaining about what they believed to be electoral
    fraud and other violations of the electoral rules, such as incorrect
    voters' lists, intimidation of voters, violations of the right to a
    secret ballot, and ballot stuffing. In several of the incidents police
    were present during the assaults and did not intervene. Some of the
    victims reported the attacks to the police, who began
    investigating.[39]

    Levon Ter-Petrossian himself made accusations of widespread election
    falsification and claimed that he had won the election.[40]On March 5,
    2008, Ter-Petrossian appealed to the Constitutional Court challenging
    the legitimacy of Sargsyan's victory and seeking to have the election
    declared invalid. His challenges were on technical grounds rather than
    on grounds that there had been violations in the conduct of the vote,
    however.[41] On March 8 the Constitutional Court rejected his
    appeal.[42

    Notes

    29] Sargsyan is a very common Armenian surname. Serj Sargsyan is not
    related to his late predecessor as prime minister, Vazgen Sargsyan.

    30] Sargsyan had assumed the premiership and the Republican Party
    leadership only when the 2007 parliamentary elections were already
    underway, after the sudden death of prime minister and Republican
    Party leader Andranik Margaryan. Sargsyan, then defense minister, had
    nevertheless been widely viewed as Kocharyan's heir apparent even
    before becoming prime minister.


    31] The ANM failed to win parliamentary representation in 2003, and
    after initially registering a candidate list it withdrew from the 2007
    parliamentary elections. See OSCE/ODIHR, "Final report on the
    parliamentary elections in Armenia, 25 May 2003," July 31, 2003,
    http://www.osce.org/documents/odihr/2003/07/ 533_en.pdf; and "Final
    Report on the 12 May 2007 Parliamentary Elections in Armenia,"
    September 10, 2007,
    http://www.osce.org/documents/odihr/2007/09/ 26169_en.pdf (both
    accessed September 17, 2008).

    32]"Armenian Ex-President Confirms Comeback Plans," Radio Free
    Europe/Radio Liberty, November 1, 2007,
    http://rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/11/FC6 4B5FB-EFAC-4463-8E9F-13B3D6FD1714.html
    (accessed May 29, 2008).

    33] OSCE/ODIHR, "Republic of Armenia Presidential Election, 19
    February 2008, Election Observation Mission Final Report," May 30,
    2008, http://www.osce.org/documents/odihr/2008/05/31397_ en.pdf
    (accessed September 15, 2008).

    34]"Armenia: Continued progress is key to ensuring public confidence
    in democratic election, says PACE delegation," Parliamentary Assembly
    of the Council of Europe press release, January 31, 2008,
    http://assembly.coe.int/ASP/Press/StopPressV iew.asp?ID03 (accessed
    September 1, 2008). "Levon Ter Petrosian is periodically negatively
    portrayed in Armenia mass media �" says OSCE/ODHIR,"
    January 31, 2008, Arminfo [in
    Russian],http://www.arminfo.info/popup.php?arc hive=file_20080131_215900_rus_6144.html
    (accessed December 30, 2008).

    35] "Armenian presidential election mostly in line with international
    commitments, but further improvements necessary," OSCE/ODIHR press
    release, February 20, 2008, http://www.osce.org/item/29779.html
    (accessed May 30, 2008).

    36] "Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the CFSP [Common
    Foreign and Security Policy], congratulates the Armenian people on the
    orderly conduct of the presidential elections," European Commission's
    Delegation to Armenia press release, February 20, 2008,
    http://www.delarm.ec.europa.eu/en/press/20_0 2_2008.htm (accessed May
    30, 2008); "Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European
    Union on the presidential election in Armenia on 19 February 2008,"
    European Commission's Delegation to Armenia press release, February
    22, 2008,

    http://www.delarm.ec.europa.eu/en/press/22_ 02_2008.htm (accessed May
    30, 2008); "Statement on the conduct of Presidential elections in
    Armenia," EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita
    Ferrero-Waldner, February 22, 2008,
    http://ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/ferre ro-waldner/speeches/index_en.htm
    (accessed May 30, 2008); "Council of Europe Envoy Praises Armenian
    Vote," Armtown.com, February 25, 2008,
    http://www.armtown.com/news/en/rfe/20080225/ 200802254/ (accessed May
    30, 2008).

    37] OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission to the Republic of Armenia
    Presidential Election 2008, "Post-Election Interim Report, 20 February
    �" 3 March 2008," March 7, 2008,
    http://www.osce.org/documents/odihr/2008/03/ 30090_en.pdf (accessed
    September 24, 2008).

    38] OSCE/ODIHR, "Republic of Armenia Presidential Election, 19
    February 2008, Election Observation Mission Final Report."

    39] Armenia: Violence at Polling Station Mars Elections," Human Rights
    Watch press release, February 20, 2008, at
    http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/02/20/armenia-v iolence-polling-stations-mars-elections
    (accessed December 26, 2008).

    40] OSCE/ODIHR, "Post-Election Interim Report, 20 February
    �" 3 March 2008."

    41] "The Constitutional Court Has Placed Landmines Under the
    Legitimacy of Serzh Sargsyan," Levon Ter-Petrossian for President,
    March 11, 2008, http://www.levonpresident.am/?lang=eng (accessed May
    29, 2008). Ter-Pertrossian claimed that according to article 78.1 of
    the Electoral Code, a prime minister may only be elected to be
    president if he has the status of acting president, which he claims
    Sargsyan did not have at this time. He further claimed a breach of
    article 53.1 of the constitution, which states that presidential
    elections cannot take place under martial law or state of
    emergency. Ter-Petrossian argued that the presidential elections refer
    to the entire period all the way through to the deadline for appeals
    to the Constitutional Court, and that because the Constitutional Court
    was in session hearing election-related appeals while the state of
    emergency was in force, the election was invalid.

    42]Â International Crisis Group, "Armenia: Picking up the
    Pieces," ICG Europe Briefing No. 48, April 8, 2008,
    http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id =5385&l=1 (accessed May
    21, 2008).

    Note

    Picture: The various pseudo-historical maps, published by the Armenian
    Diaspora and forcefully distributed as "History" in Armenia,
    constitute a means of Anti-Turkish and Anti-Azeri propaganda that
    helps instigate nationalistic hatred against Armenia´s two
    neighbours among Armenian schoolchildren and youth are. The grave
    falsehood consists in the erroneous interpolation of two very
    different historical periods, that of Medieval Armenia and our modern
    times. By confusingly using names that refer to different epochs,
    today´s Armenian dictators, thugs, and gangsters disrespect
    thousands of years of Armenian History, and engulf their
    schoolchildren in venomous odium. When Cilician Armenia existed, most
    of today´s Turkish territory belonged to the Eastern Roman
    Empire, not Turkey. Consequently, the two terms cannot co-exist on one
    and the same map. On the other hand, ´Historic Armenia´
    is a term that does not exist. The ancient and medieval kingdoms of
    Armenia controlled different territories in different eras, and mostly
    the Armenian territory was much smaller than what is depicted in this
    fallacious map.

    http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/vi ew/94496

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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