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  • ASBAREZ Online [06-28-2005]

    ASBAREZ ONLINE
    TOP STORIES
    06/28/2005
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    1) Pavel Manukian Released, No Details on Criminal Case
    2) Germany Turkish Intellectuals to Picket Embassy on Genocide Recognition
    3) Russian Convicted of Spying for Azerbaijan
    4) Sarkozy Calls for Hold on EU enlargement
    5) Kocharian Congratulates Iran's New President
    6) Design Team for Glendale~Rs Armenian Genocide Monument Announced
    7) International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking Marked In
    Armenia

    1) Pavel Manukian Released, No Details on Criminal Case

    YEREVAN--Haykakan Zhamanag reports that Pavel Manukian, who sustained injuries
    from a beating he received in the offices of Mountainous Karabagh Republic's
    (MKR) Defense Ministry early last week, has been released from the Armenia
    Medical Center in Yerevan. He was transferred to Armenia after receiving
    initial care in a MKR military hospital.
    It is unclear whether any suspects have been named, or whether MKR Defense
    Minister Seyran Ohanian has been questioned. The military court reviewing the
    criminal proceeding into the incident has declined to comment about the case.


    2) Germany Turkish Intellectuals to Picket Embassy on Genocide Recognition

    A group of Turks living in Berlin will be picketing the Turkish Embassy there
    in protest of Turkish denial of the Armenian genocide.
    Turkish intellectuals living in Germany have organized the June 29
    demonstration. The same group has consistently fought for recognition of the
    Armenian genocide and against Turkey's official policy on the issue.
    Turkey vehemently denies the genocide of Armenians by the Ottoman government
    at the turn of the twentieth century, during which 1.5 million Armenian
    perished.
    The group also participated in a press conference and debate on May 3, in the
    German city of Koln, organized by Armenians in commemoration of the 90th
    anniversary of the Armenian genocide.


    3) Russian Convicted of Spying for Azerbaijan

    YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--A Russian-born citizen of Armenia was sentenced on
    Tuesday to
    twelve years in prison on charges of spying for Azerbaijan and helping its
    security services plot an attempt on President Robert Kocharian's life.
    A Yerevan court convicted Andrey Maziev of high treason and terrorism,
    supporting prosecutors' claims that the aviation engineer secretly
    collaborated
    with the Azeri intelligence for the past five years. Maziev pleaded guilty to
    the charges both during the pre-trial investigation and the court
    proceedings.
    "Maziev committed a particularly severe crime against the security of our
    country by helping to organize an attempt on the president's life,"
    Prosecutor-General Aghvan Hovsepian, who personally represented the
    prosecution
    in the court, told reporters. "He was, therefore, given a deserved
    punishment."

    The prosecutors claim that the 44-year-old ethnic Russian who worked at
    Yerevan's Zvartnots international airport was recruited by officers of the
    Azeri Ministry of National Security in December 1999 and regularly met them
    until his arrest last February. They say he briefed them on the political
    situation in Armenia and was paid a total of $2,500 for that.
    More importantly, Maziev is alleged to have provided the Azeris with
    information about the regular movements and location of Kocharian's aircraft,
    as well as details of security arrangements made during his departure from and
    arrival in Armenia. Armenian law-enforcement authorities say the information
    was needed for an assassination bid against Kocharian.
    Maziev said during the trial that Azeri officers never explicitly told him
    that they want to assassinate the Armenian leader. The Armenian prosecutors
    have issued an arrest warrant for one of those officers identified as Faik
    Shamilev. Hovsepian said that Azerbaijan must arrest and hand over Shamilev to
    the Armenian investigators under "international conventions." Azeri officials
    have already shrugged off Yerevan's demands.
    Maziev's imprisonment is the second espionage case involving Armenian
    nationals reported in less than two years. In January 2004, four ethnic
    Russian
    residents of the southeastern town of Yeghegnadzor were given lengthy prison
    sentences on similar charges which they strongly denied.


    4) Sarkozy Calls for Hold on EU enlargement

    PARIS (AFP)--France's ruling party chief and presidential hopeful Interior
    Minister Nicolas Sarkozy called for EU enlargement to be put on hold to give
    time for its internal institutions to be "renovated."
    "Enlargement must be suspended at least as long as the institutions have not
    been renovated. Europe must have borders. What I am saying does not cover
    Romania and Bulgaria where the process is too far advanced to be stopped. But
    all the others," Sarkozy said.
    "Not all countries have a vocation to be in Europe," he said.
    The minister was talking at the start of consultations between Prime Minister
    Dominique de Villepin and leaders of political parties on the fall-out of last
    month's rejection of the European Union constitution in referendums in France
    and the Netherlands.
    Any freeze on enlargement would affect Turkey--with which accession talks are
    supposed to begin later this year under Britain's EU presidency--and Croatia,
    which is also an official candidate country.
    Romania and Bulgaria are poised for membership in 2007.
    In Warsaw, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy dismissed Sarkozy's
    call, saying it was up to the French president to decide the matter.
    "There is only one voice, that of the president of the republic" Jacques
    Chirac said in response to a question at a news conference, after meeting his
    German and Polish counterparts to discuss the crisis in the EU.
    The 51 year-old president of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) has in
    the
    past put himself at odds with Chirac by speaking out against Turkish
    membership
    of the EU. Instead, he favors a "privileged partnership" with Ankara.
    The EU's massive expansion in 2003 to take in 10 new members from central and
    eastern Europe is widely seen as one of the reasons for the defeat of the
    constitution in France, where many fear the end of a bloc traditionally
    dominated by the Franco-German axis.
    Though officially the process of further enlargement remains on course
    despite
    the current difficulties, many in France believe a moratorium is now necessary
    to give the EU time to adapt.
    Sarkozy also said the concept of a Franco-German alliance leading Europe was
    outdated.
    "We have got to ask questions about the motor that drives Europe...I believe
    that the six big countries of Europe must get together to become a powerful
    motor for the new Europe. My feeling is that the Franco-German axis is
    essential, but the motor will be the six," he said.
    In a sign of growing competition for influence among the new member states,
    Britain's European Affairs Minister Douglas Alexander was also in
    Warsaw--alongside the French, German and Polish ministers--to outline British
    plans for its six-month presidency.
    Douste-Blazy once again called on Britain to "assume its responsibilities" by
    agreeing to negotiate its 4.6 billion euro (5.6 billion dollar) annual rebate
    as part of the EU's budgetary package.
    "Europe's spirit, Europe's ambition, Europe's vocation is solidarity," he
    said.
    British Prime Minister Tony Blair has promised to put the rebate on the table
    but only if France agrees to cuts in the EU's mammoth system of farm
    subsidies.


    5) Kocharian Congratulates Iran's New President

    YEREVAN (Combined Sources)--President Robert Kocharian welcomed the
    election of
    Iran's President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's and expressed hope that the ties
    between the two countries would strengthen.
    "Armenia attaches great attention to its relations with Iran. I am hopeful
    that during your presidency our relationships will continue to develop and
    will
    mark new achievements for the welfare of our nations," the message read.
    A former Revolutionary Guard commander, Ahmadinejad is unabashedly
    conservative. As mayor of Tehran, he introduced separate elevators for men and
    women in municipal buildings.
    He is also a loyal supporter of Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It is
    his allegiance to the conservative ruling clerics that is thought to have led
    Tehran's city council to ask him to serve as mayor in 2003 when he was the
    governor of Ardabil province.
    During the presidential campaign, he indicated he could not imagine restoring
    relations with the United States--a point of difference with his chief rival,
    Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, who campaigned on a platform of better relations
    with the West.
    Ahmadinejad has called for Iran to reclaim the values of the 1979 Islamic
    Revolution. Many young people see this as a threat to return to the
    prohibitions on "un-Islamic" dress, music, male and female mixing and the
    other
    restrictions championed in the heyday of the revolution.
    One of seven children, Ahmadinejad was born to a middle-class family in
    Garmsar, a neighborhood southeast of Tehran. As a student, he joined an
    ultraconservative faction of the Office for Strengthening Unity, the radical
    student group spawned by the 1979 Islamic Revolution that staged the
    capture of
    the US Embassy. According to reports, Ahmadinejad attended meetings that
    planned the storming of the US Embassy.
    He graduated in civil engineering from Iran University of Science &
    Technology. When Iraq invaded Iran, Ahmadinejad volunteered for military
    service, joined the Revolutionary Guards and was considered a daring soldier,
    participating in several military operations deep within Iraq, according to
    information posted on his Web site.
    With the war behind him, Ahmadinejad went into politics. He was first
    appointed governor of Maku in northwestern Iran, and later governor of the
    newly created province of Ardabil.


    6) Design Team for Glendale~Rs Armenian Genocide Monument Announced

    The Armenian Genocide Monument Council of Glendale (AGMCG) has awarded the
    design team of Sevak Petrosian from Glendale and Araik Avetyan from Armenia as
    the first place winners of the Armenian genocide monument design competition.
    A panel of 11 judges reviewed the 29 entries to the competition and made its
    decision of winners. The second place winner was Alex Zarifian and Philip Ra
    with the third place winners being Ardem Galoustian from Glendale and Varoujan
    Karoghlanian from Lebanon.
    On June 25, the AGMCG committee members awarded the first place winners a
    check for $10,000 at the sight of the proposed monument and special
    certificates of recognition to the second and third place winners.
    The jury panel comprised of: Aram Alajajian, Gio Aliano, Yuri
    Gevorkyan, Siroon Yeretzian, Shoghig Yepremian, Fe Huang, George Chapjian,
    Sarkis Balmanoukian, Aram Bassenian, Richard Dekmejian, Diran Depanian.
    The Armenian Genocide Monument Council of Glendale is an organization
    dedicated to enhancing cross cultural understanding amongst the different
    cultural and ethnic groups in the City of Glendale by promoting respect for
    past historical events and the recognition thereof through continuous
    education, specifically that of the Armenian genocide.
    Building a commemorative memorial in the City of Glendale dedicated to the
    victims of the Armenian genocide, the first genocide of the 20th Century, will
    serve as a befitting venue to begin the educational process of honoring the
    memory of those who perished and acknowledging the memories of the heroic
    deeds
    and acts of the Americans whose actions helped save thousands of helpless
    Armenian men, women and children from the rage of the Genocide.
    For additional information regarding the AGMCG, please visit the website at
    www.armeniangenocidemonument.com


    7) International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking Marked In
    Armenia

    YEREVAN, June 28 (Armenpress)--An art exhibit on drugs, as perceived by 7
    to 18
    year-old children, opened at the UN House in Yerevan, marking the
    International
    Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking. The exhibition by the
    South Caucasus Anti-Drug Program (SCAD), is funded by the European Union and
    implemented by UN Development Program (UNDP).
    International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking
    commemorates
    the signature of the declaration adopted at the International Conference
    against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking on June 26, 1987. Each year a
    theme is chosen to draw public attention to, and the theme for 2005 is "Value
    yourself... make healthy choices."
    At the exhibition, Armenian children presented paintings and ceramic crafts,
    individually expressing their attitude towards drug phenomenon as "Evil."
    Grigor Malintsyan, SCAD program coordinator, and Alla Bakunts, UNDP democratic
    governance portfolio coordinator, opened the ceremony with short speeches.
    This year's anti-drug campaign intends to send out a message of self-respect
    to young people around the world. It calls on youth to consider the
    health-related reasons why they should stay away from drugs or stop using
    them.
    "Healthy choices" is not only about saying "no" to drugs but also about
    choosing healthy lifestyles: sports, music, theater, civil service, and other
    positive activities.
    Malintsyan noted in his speech: "Leading a healthy lifestyle requires making
    choices that are respectful of body and mind. To make these choices, young
    people need guidance from parents, teachers, and other role models who should
    not only persuade them to stay away from illegal drugs, but also encourage
    them
    to engage in healthy activities. Thus, participation of children in our event
    is a vivid example of their choice for a 'healthy lifestyle.'"
    At the event, the National Focal Point on Drugs presented the second National
    Annual Drug Report 2004, prepared by the joint efforts of national and
    international experts. The event participants were awarded special gifts and
    certificates. T-shirts and baseball caps covering the day's theme and logo, as
    well as EU and UNDP logos, were distributed.
    About SCAD Program: The SCAD program was launched in Armenia in 2001. It aims
    at harmonizing drug law enforcement tactics and operational techniques in the
    participating countries while fostering cooperation at the regional level. The
    overall objective of the program is to reduce drug trafficking from and
    through
    the three South Caucasian countries towards EU member states. For this
    purpose,
    the program has provided assistance to the Police, Ministry of Justice, State
    Customs Committee, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia, many NGOs
    dealing with drug and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, and to other relevant
    agencies.


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