Congressman Howard Berman Responds to Armenia Blog

Following the introduction of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, I wrote to Congressman Howard Berman. Here is his reply:

Dear Mr. [edited]:

Thank you for contacting me about the Armenian Genocide. You will be pleased to know that I am a cosponsor of H. Res. 106, the Armenian Genocide Resolution, and I voted for similar legislation when it was considered in committee during the last Congress. I will work to ensure that the resolution is brought up in committee again and makes its way to the Floor of the House for a vote.

On a related matter, you may be interested to know that I signed a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemning the assassination of Armenian-Turkish editor Hrant Dink. I encourage the Turkish government to continue its investigation into the killing of Mr. Dink, and have also called on the prime minister to repeal Article 301, a section of the Turkish penal code making it a crime to "insult Turkishness," under which Mr. Dink had previously been prosecuted. Furthermore, I have also cosponsored H. Res.102, legislation which condemns the Dink assassination and calls for the vigorous prosecution of those responsible for his assassination.

I appreciate the opportunity to share my views and look forward to hearing from you again in the near future.


Sincerely,

HOWARD L. BERMAN
Member of Congress

Of course, Howard Berman's 28th district has many Armenians and it is a political necessity to support the bill and related causes. Regardless, he is the only representative who wrote back.

Of Interest: Howard Berman

Armenian Constitution Comparable to European Standards

If the government says it, it must be true:

Armenian Constitution is up to European standards, Armenian National Assembly's press office quoted Speaker Tigran Torosyan as saying Monday. He pointed out that the amended Constitution allows Armenian citizens to appeal to Constitutional Court. "Constitutional Court has already received 200 appeals, while for the decade of its activity, the court considered only eight", speaker said.

"The amended Constitution also enabled the parliamentary opposition to appeal to Constitutional Court, and positive decisions on two cases are already made", he said
Torosyan pointed out that as a result of constitutional reformation, progress in justice and local governing systems are already visible, and political system will face changes after coming parliamentary elections.

He also stressed that amended Electoral Code laid favorable ground for holding elections properly.

I can't claim to be an expert on the Armenian constitution, but you can certainly read what seems like an un-updated version on its official site. Neat, huh?

Source: ARKA

Microsoft & Armenia Sign Agreement

From poverty to the richest man on Earth. What a transition!

The Armenian government and Microsoft Corporation will sign a contract on cooperation. The press service of the ministry of trade and economic development of Armenia reported that Trade Minister Karen Chshmarityan and President of Microsoft Bill Gates signed the contract in Edinburgh on Tuesday.

What exactly does agreement this entail? Perhaps providing Windows Vista to rigged voting machines? No!

According to Banks.am:

According to the signed agreement, Microsoft will realize investment, educational and innovation programs in Armenia aimed at further development of the sphere of Information Technologies. In particular, Microsoft plans to establish its Innovation Center in Armenia.

I'm always dubious of Microsoft's ulterior motives, but this cooperation has the possibility of making Bill Gates an anti-poverty proponent in Armenia. Now that I would like to see!

Source: Arka

Armenia Ranks 32nd on Economic Freedom Index

Every year, The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal publish what is known as "Index of Economic Freedom". What is economic freedom, you ask?

The highest form of economic freedom provides an absolute right of property ownership, fully realized freedoms of movement for labor, capital, and goods, and an absolute absence of coercion or constraint of economic liberty beyond the extent necessary for citizens to protect and maintain liberty itself.

In other words, individuals are free to work, produce, consume, and invest in any way they please, and that freedom is both protected by the state and unconstrained by the state.

This year, Armenia ranked 32nd with 69.4%, which puts us under Moderately Free, but only two spots away from Mostly Free! This ranking also makes Armenia the 19th freest among the 41 countries in the European region, which is pretty amazing! However, we ranked poorly in two of the ten freedoms: Property Rights at 30% and Freedom from Corruption at 29%, but did beautifully in two others: Fiscal Freedom at 93.1% and Freedom from Government at 91.6%.

For comparison, here are how some selected countries ranked:

1st - Hong Kong - 89.3%
4th - United States - 82.0%
6th - United Kingdom - 81.6%
19th - Germany - 73.5%
32nd - Armenia - 69.4%
35th - Georgia - 68.7%
37th - Israel - 68.4%
45th - France - 66.1%
60th - Italy - 63.4%
83rd - Turkey - 59.3%
94th - Greece - 57.6%
107th - Azerbaijan - 55.4%
119th - China - 61.6%
120th - Russia - 61.4%
125th - Ukraine - 60.9%
150th - Iran - 57.5%

Anyway, you can see the full list here: 2007 Index of Economic Freedom

Armenian Airlines Pilots Unpaid, Sue

Armenian Airlines declared bankruptcy on April 15, 2003, but it seems its pilots have still not been paid.

Employees of Armenian Airlines are going to stage a demonstration at the government building to demand their salaries, which they have not received. The total sum makes up 187 million Armenian Drams [about $510,000].

A committee has been set up to conduct the sale of the property of the liquidated Armenian Airlines. The committee member receive more than 1.5 million Armenian Drams in salary. As of December 1, the committee had 170 million Armenian Drams and $111 thousand at their disposal but no payment has been made except for value added tax.

The committee says it waits for the Law on Bankruptcy to be amended, which will give benefits to the pilots. By the time the law is adopted, very little money will be left to be paid for salaries.

Did I mention that the airline was government-owned? This isn't bureaucratic incompetence: it is theft.

Source: Panorama

Armenia Plans Building Purchase in Minsk for Embassy

And now from the, "Spreading Armenian Love from Milan to Minsk" department.

Armenia intends to buy a building in Minsk for its embassy in Belarus, Armenian government's press office reports.
For that purpose, Armenian government has decided to enlarge the state revenue and expenditure by AMD 6.3mln/$17,300

$17,000? That's about enough to buy a used RAV4 in Armenia. Is this a building or a booth?

Source: Arka

Man Arrested Over Coup Plot in Armenia

Armenians are never behind on the latest and greatest fads. Coups were all the rage earlier in 2006.

Security officers in Armenia have detained a man in connection with an alleged coup plot by opposition activists.

Vaan Aronian was arrested at his home in the village of Lusatar in western Armenia, where security officers found weapons and ammunition including guns, grenade launchers and a shoulder-fired missile launcher, the National Security Service said in a statement.

It said the detention was linked to a probe that led to the arrest earlier this month of Zhirair Sefilian, a Lebanese citizen who heads the Association of Armenian Volunteers, and another activist of the group, Vadan Malkhasian.

Then again, this is most likely politically motivated in two ways: one, to make it seem like the administration is doing its job to keep the people safe; and two, to wipe out any serious political opposition before the all-important "elections" in 2007.

Source: IHT