Armenian version and the photo of the church carving are attached.
PRESS RELEASE
REF: PR/04/11/013
Assembly of Armenians of Europe
Contact: Armine Grigoryan
Rue de Treves 10, 1050 Brussels
Tel: +32 2 647 08 01
Fax: +32 2 647 02 00
THE 10TH CENTURY ARMENIAN CHURCH IN TURKEY AS TARGET FOR SHOOTING PRACTICE
Brussels, 11/11/2007 – The correspondent of the Milliyet newspaper
(Turkey) alerts from Van (Eastern Turkey) that the marvelous carvings of
the 10th century church of Akhtamar (Lake Van, Eastern Turkey) are
regularly being used as targets for shooting practice by visitors. The
newspaper published also a photo where one can see the state of carvings
after such visits. The correspondent reports that the church is
protected by a guard in the summer time only during the working hours.
During the rest of the day the visitors entertain themselves by shooting
on the carvings of the Akhtamar Church, and some of them even try to
find some treasure. Pr. Veli Seçkin, professor at the archeology
department of the University of Van says that there are rumors among the
population that there is treasure cached in the island of Akhatamar.
Even the guard of the Church was arrested while he was ~Shunting for
treasure~T.
Already in May 2004 the newspaper Zaman alerted that the famous church
of the Holy Cross of the Akhtamar Island in Lake Van was almost in
ruins.
The church, which is visited by many foreign tourists, is badly negleted
and close to ruins. The church has been neglected and harmed by treasure
hunters and is at risk of collapsing. Both its foundation and ceiling
have cracks and holes.
The City of Van’s Culture and Tourism Province Director, Bilal Sonmez,
told Zaman that a project for the preservation of the historical
identity of the church is already being prepared. Sonmez said that the
issue has already been transferred to the Culture and Nature Assets
Council and that the directorate is waiting for a decision.
Unfortunately the above-mentioned project for the preservation of the
historical identity of the church was never carried out and the Church
is not protected by UNESCO, since each country decides which are the
monuments to be protected by UNESCO.
The Assembly of Armenians of Europe and upon its request many Armenians
all around the world sent alert letters to UNESCO, but they remained
without answer.
In order to raise the awareness of the European an exhibition ~SArmenian
Architectural Heritage in South Caucasus and Middle East~T, organized by
the Assembly of Armenians of Europe with the co-operation of the
Research on Armenian Architecture under the patronage of the MEP Jonas
Sjostedt (GUE,NGL, Sweden) took place in the European Parliament,
Brussels at the end of September 2004. The exhibition was composed of 4
parts ~V Armenia, Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan. The photos in Azerbaijan and
Turkey show clearly the wanton and premeditated vandalism and
destruction of the Armenian Architectural monuments in those countries.
Indeed, such behavior is the direct consequence of the denial of the
Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 and which is
not recognized yet by the Republic of Turkey. We believe that such
attitude from the Republic of Turkey aspiring the EU full membership is
not acceptable and should not be tolerated.
Hereby we call upon the UNESCO, European Institutions and international
organizations to urge Turkey to stop destroying the Armenian
Architectural monuments which are located in the territory of the actual
Republic of Turley and instead to begin a genuine programme of
protection and preservation of this great cultural heritage that belongs
to the whole of Europe and the world.
***
Akhtamar Chruch
The Church of Holly Cross, the Akhtamar Church is situated in Lake Van,
Eastern Turkey. The Church was built during the reign of King Gakik I of
the Vaspurakan Dynasty during the years 915 – 921 B.C. This is one of
the finest jewels of Armenian architecture. In its design and conception
of volumes and surfaces, this sanctuary is an intellectually original
variation of the cruciform and central cupola’d churches of the high
Middle Ages. The church has a four leaved clover plan with a domed
center, and it is built from red colored cut tufa stone. All the
interior walls and even the cupola are covered with beautiful frescoes,
the best of which is the one painted on the high altar wall representing
the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, sitting on a white donkey.
Because of its novel conception, its high reliefs and frescoes of rare
artistic value
–Boundary_(ID_ijIAagZacDnL+Z1lBgyRug)–

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
375010 Telephone: +3741. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +3741. .562543
Email: [email protected]:
PRESS RELEASE
11 November 2004
Minister Oskanian Receives Heads of Policy Planning Departments of French
and German Foreign Ministries
On 11 November, Minister Vartan Oskanian received Political Director
of Germany’s Foreign Office Dr. Michael Schafer and French Deputy
Secretary General for Political and Security Affairs Stanislas Lefevre
de Laboulaye in the framework of their three-day visit to Armenia
following similar trips to Baku and Tbilisi.
This visit is the first time when a format including senior officials
of French and German foreign policy agencies is used in the context
of regional policy of these two EU axis states.
The discussion that evolved within political framework of The Wider
Europe and The New Neighborhood policy explored issues related to
increased level of interaction between the countries of the South
Caucasus and European Union and new opportunities offered by this
new EU policy.
The parties stressed the importance of France-Germany axis for the
success of this new EU policy and noted that this model could be
followed in the South Caucasus in pursuit of peaceful and civilized
co-existence in the region.
The parties further explored issues related to Armenia – Turkey
relations against the background of imminent negotiations for Turkey’s
accession.
The parties also discussed the current stage and issues of Nagorno
Karabagh conflict settlement. Minister Oskanian stressed Armenia’s
adherence to her commitment to settle the conflict through peaceful
negotiations and the country’s readiness to restart the negotiations
at any moment subject to reciprocal readiness of Azerbaijan.
On the same day, the Foreign Ministry hosted a round table with
participation of French-German delegation.

Russia aspires to create S Caucasus railway network
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Nov 11 2004
Russia, jointly with the three South Caucasus countries – Azerbaijan,
Armenia and Georgia, intends to establish an operator company to
renovate and service the Caucasus railway, Russian transport minister
Igor Levitin told journalists last Wednesday.
He said the decision came as a result of the talks with the governments
of the three regional countries. “The three countries’ Presidents
confirmed their support for transport agencies to propose a scheme
for setting up an operator company.”
Levitin said, however, that it was quite difficult to make a political
decision on the matter at this point. The Russian minister noted that
the consent of the Cacuasus states’ leaders was largely stipulated
by the tremendous geo-political importance of the project. He also
mentioned that the volume of cargo transit through the Caucasus railway
in the Soviet Union era constituted up to 15 million tons a year.

Losing Mosul?
AINA – Assyrian Int’l News Agency, CA
Nov 11 2004
Mosul, Iraq — The northern Iraqi city once hailed as a post-war
model is on a perilous backslide
Khalid Moustafa’s family has no idea who killed him, or why.
Moustafa, a Kurd, was a yogurt seller and taxi driver, the husband
of an Arab woman and the father of five children, with a sixth on
the way. He was found in pieces, his head near his home, his body
left by a highway. “Mosul is a butchery,” says the victim’s father,
asking that his name be withheld to protect the rest of his family.
Moustafa’s murder is part of a recent wave of killings that threatens
to turn this multiethnic, Arab-dominated northern gateway city into
the next Fallujah, as areas of the city are slipping out of the
control of U.S. forces and the Iraqi government.
Life still appears normal in many parts of Mosul, especially in the
Kurdish neighborhoods on the eastern side of the Tigris River. Stores
are open, traffic is thick and the Iraqi National Guard patrols
the streets. But much of Mosul has become an incubator for regional
terrorist groups like Ansar al-Islam, the Kurdish fundamentalists,
and for foreign fighters crossing the still unsecured border from
Syria, according to U.S. and Iraqi security officials. “Many kinds
of criminals and terrorists come into Mosul from Syria. It’s like the
Super Bowl for them,” says Salim Kako, a top official of the Assyrian
Democratic Movement, which represents many Christians in Mosul. The
outsiders have mixed with Mosul’s homegrown fundamentalist Islamic
opposition and a potent Baathist resistance fueled by the city’s
large number of unemployed soldiers. This stew of local and outside
insurgents is stepping up attacks on American and Iraqi security forces
— and anyone suspected of collaborating with them. Week after week,
car bombings, improvised explosives and shootings take a steady toll
of Iraqi National Guard and U.S. personnel
The insurgents hope to pull Mosul apart by targeting those people
best-placed to help unify it. Threats and assassinations often target
the city’s professional classes, workers in its economically vital oil
industry and known political moderates. “Anyone who advocates freedom
and democracy is considered to be publicly for America and a target,”
says Rooa al-Zrary, a Mosul journalist whose father, the editor of
a moderate newspaper, was murdered last year. Doctors are fleeing,
finding work in Erbil. “The situation is bad and getting worse,” says
a surgeon at Salaam Hospital, the city’s largest. Adds a colleague:
“We feel like there are eyes watching everyone, and that the resistance
is growing stronger every day.” At Mosul University, teaching is now
a dangerous occupation. The dean of the college of law was found dead
outside her home, along with her husband. And three professors have
been murdered, including the head of the political science and the
translation departments.
Mosul’s cosmopolitan character is also under attack. “The mosaic
of Mosul is a miniature Iraq: Arabs, Kurds, Turkomans, Assyrian
Christians, Nestorian Christians, Muslim Sunnis, Muslim Shi?ites,
Yezidis and Armenians,” says Sadi Ahmed Pire, the Mosul chief of the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of Kurdish Iraq’s two governing
parties. By attacking this mosaic, he says, “the Syrians and the
resistance are trying to create anarchy.” Minority groups viewed as
sympathetic to the Americans are particularly vulnerable. A Christian
church was bombed in early August, and Christians have been among those
murdered. Pire says he has survived several assassination attempts.
Tal Afar, a city 30 miles west of Mosul populated almost entirely
by Iraqi Turkoman, was overrun by terrorist groups this summer. In
early September, the U.S. Army laid siege to the town and the ensuing
two-week battle was so fierce that the Turkish government complained
that Americans were killing innocent Turkoman civilians. Many Mosul
residents worry that Tal Afar was a dry run for their city.
The sad irony is that Mosul had once been a postwar model for U.S.
involvement in Iraq. From April 2003 until last February, the city
was under the command of the 101st Airborne Division, led by Lieut.
General David Petraeus, who tried to be sensitive to local concerns.
Several residents fondly recall particular soldiers by name. “Tell
Mr. Anderson of the 101st Airborne that a Moslawi girl salutes him,”
says a schoolteacher. The 101st devoted itself to economic-development
projects, including restarting a cement factory that had been one
of the city’s biggest employers. These days the local economy has
stalled as foreign companies have fled. According to Pire, about
600,000 breadwinners are unemployed in a city of somewhere between
2.6 million and 3 million people.
The 20,000-strong 101st is gone, replaced last February by the 8,700
soldiers of Task Force Olympia, a multinational brigade of coalition
troops. Although they include a large number of U.S. National Guard
reservists, American soldiers have largely taken a backseat to the
Iraqi National Guard. So far, as in the rest of Iraq, the performance
of these new units has been mixed. “The current invisibility of
American soldiers has made people happier. People feel more comfortable
with Iraqi soldiers,” says Dindar Doskar, head of the Mosul office
of the Kurdish Islamic Union (KIU). “But there are not enough Iraqi
soldiers and police, and the terrorists have better weapons.” Because
of that threat, politicians in Mosul say the nationwide elections
scheduled for January are likely to be turbulent there. “Who is going
to vote under these conditions?” asks the KIU’s Doskar. The offices
of the major political parties have already been attacked. Predicts
Doskar: “There will be car bombs at voting stations just like there
are car bombs at police-recruiting stations.” And perhaps heads left
on the sidewalks to give awful testimony to Mosul’s deepening crisis.
By Andrew Lee Butters
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Reuters AlertNet, UK
Nov 11 2004
Language shows EU-Russia gulf on rights, actions
11 Nov 2004 16:33:07 GMT
Source: Reuters
BRUSSELS, Nov 11 (Reuters) – A gulf between Russia and the European
Union over any EU role in Moscow’s backyard is likely to dominate
summit talks between Moscow and the bloc following its expansion to
Russian frontiers.
Wrangling over the wording of an EU document setting out a “joint
EU-Russia road map” for external security shows from the first
sentence the gap between them over human rights and conflicts in
ex-Soviet states such as Georgia and Azerbaijan.
The summit was originally scheduled for this week but Moscow asked at
the last minute for a postponement, saying it wanted to wait for the
EU’s new executive Commission to take office. It was rescheduled on
Thursday for Nov. 25.
Russia denies suggestions of a fundamental problem over ties with the
25-nation bloc, its largest trading partner.
But exchanges over a draft of the EU document, obtained by Reuters,
suggest otherwise.
One passage of the EU proposal sent to Moscow read:
“The EU and Russia share responsibility for an international order
based on effective multilateralism, notably the upholding and
developing of international law and the respect for democratic
principles and human rights.”
Russia sent an amended version back, deleting all references to
democracy or rights.
“The EU and Russia share common values and responsibility for an
international order based on effective multilateralism and
international law,” said the reply.
The two sides are seeking to build a new relationship based on four
“common spaces” — on the economy; justice and human rights;
education, science and culture; and external security.
EX-SOVIET FLASHPOINTS
The language on external security is causing the most problems, since
it refers to conflicts in ex-Soviet states like Moldova, Azerbaijan
and Georgia with which the EU wants to step up ties but which Moscow
sees as firmly in its backyard.
An EU line calling for “specific and result orientated cooperation to
resolve existing conflicts in Moldova and the Southern Caucasus” was
ruled out by Russia and changed to “working together to address
crisis situations with the aim of achieving concrete results.”
The EU language would, diplomats say, imply Russian recognition the
bloc had a role to play in ending the “frozen conflict” in Moldova,
where pro-Moscow rebels set up a ministate in the Dnestr region,
known to Russia as Pridnestrovie, in 1990.
It would also give the EU a role in the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute
between Azerbaijan and Armenia, over an area populated by ethnic
Armenians but wholly within Azerbaijan. The area broke with Baku’s
rule as the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1980s.
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev called on the EU in May to be more
active in demanding the withdrawal of Armenian forces.
Russia is already alarmed by Georgia’s President Mikhail Saakashvili,
who overthrew veteran leader Eduard Shevardnadze in a bloodless coup
last year and is moving fast to develop closer ties with the West and
trying to close Russian military bases.
Moscow supports two breakaway enclaves in Georgia, Abkhazia and South
Ossetia, which have been de facto independent of Tbilisi since civil
war following the Soviet collapse, and has no desire to see the EU
helping Saakashvili to win them back.
When the EU, in the EU-Russia road map, said one priority was
“promotion of security, stability, democracy and human rights in the
common neighbourhood,” the amended version came back: “promotion of
security and stability in the world.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Fate of two Armenians Seeking Refugee Status
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Nov 11 2004
The fate of two Armenian nationals is still to be ascertained, Jean
Claude Concolato, representative of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees in Baku, told journalists on Wednesday.
Two Armenians, Roman Terian and Artur Apresian, left Armenia in April
to emigrate to a third country with a refugee status. Concolato said
that the discussions held with the Azerbaijani government on the
issue are not elaborated due to their confidentiality.

Christians concerned over ‘disappearance’ of communities here
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
Jerusalem Post
Nov 11 2004
The Christian world is increasingly afraid of the virtual disappearance
of their communities in the Holy Land, Motti Levy, Christian and Arab
affairs adviser to Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski, said Wednesday.
“The ever-dwindling numbers of Christians living in the Holy Land in
general and in Jerusalem [in particular] is cause for concern in the
Christian world that the Christian communities here will disappear,”
the mayor’s newly appointed adviser for religious communities in
Israel told The Jerusalem Post.
About 10,000 Christians live in Jerusalem, a city with nearly 700,000
residents, he said.
Though small in number, the Christian community does not view itself
as a minority, because of the strong backing it receives from the
Christian world as well as the guarantees of freedom of religion and
worship afforded by the government, Levy said.
Many, however, who live in Muslim areas of east Jerusalem, feel
unwanted, Levy said. He noted that the situation was even more
severe for Christians living in Palestinian Authority-ruled areas
of the West Bank, such as the once-predominantly Christian city of
Bethlehem, which has seen a mass exodus of Christians.
Levy stressed that mutual respect and tolerance were crucial – and
often sorely missing – among all faiths in the capital, noting the
recent case of a Jewish yeshiva student spitting at a procession of
Armenian clergymen in the Old City. While the number of Christian
residents in Israel continues to drop, he attributed the growth of
the evangelical Christian community around the world to the religious
challenge posed by Islamic fundamentalism.
Levy, 56, is a seasoned diplomat who, as a history major at the Hebrew
University a quarter of a century ago, studied the rise of monastic
orders in the emerging medieval cities in Europe. He said that Islamic
fundamentalism poses a religious challenge that should be addressed,
as is evangelical Christianity.
Ties between Israeli officials and evangelical Christian leaders
around the world are burgeoning. The Christian groups’ firm and
hardcore belief in the Bible, specifically the return of the Jews to
the Holy Land – a move they feel heralds the coming of the Messiah
– makes them some of Israel’s most outspoken and solid supporters.
In contrast to Jerusalem’s haredi mayor, who has shied away from
direct contact with evangelical Christian leaders, Levy said that,
generally speaking, it was “a mistake” for Israel to reject overtures
of friendship, especially during a time of international isolation.
But in line with his new boss’s outlook, Levy said those evangelicals
who conduct missionary activity in Israel should be subject to the
full force of the law, which bars such activity.
Levy, who does not speak Arabic, said it was essential for the city
to provide all its residents with basic services, but conceded that
it was unrealistic to expect an equal balance of services between the
city’s Jewish and Arab residents, since the latter are not represented
in City Hall because they boycott municipal elections.
Their political future still in doubt, Jerusalem’s 230,000 Arab
residents have long complained of an inequality in services compared
to Jewish neighborhoods.
–Boundary_(ID_p9Vt+HacETBnlTF9xNnhUg)–

ROBERT KOCHARYAN EXPRESSES CONDOLENCES ON YASSER ARAFAT DEATH
A1 Plus | 16:10:30 | 11-11-2004 | Official |
President Kocharyan sent Thursday condolences to Rawhi Fattuh sworn in
as acting president of the Palestinian Authority on Palestine leader
Yasser Arafat death.
In his message, Kocharyan estimated highly Arafat’s contribution to
Palestinians national rights protection and expressed condolences
personally and on behalf of Armenian people to his family and
Palestine people.

DASHNAKS SUPPORT AMENDMENTS TO ELECTORAL CODE WHILE THEIR COALITION FELLOW MEMBERS OPPOSED
A1+
11-11-2004
On Wednesday, Armenian PM Andranik Margaryan told journalists the
government has no intention to change the ratio of the parliamentary
seats filled through party lists to those chosen in individual races.
It is known that Dashnaktsutyun, one of the ruling coalition parties,
supports the idea of holding parliamentary election on party lists
to increase parties â~@~Y role in parliament in order to increase
partiesâ~@~Y role in parliament. It means all candidates should be
partiesâ~@~Y nominees.
Improvement of the electoral code was the partyâ~@~Ys key objective
mentioned in the coalition memorandum.
Dashnak Levon Lazarian said Thursday it isnâ~@~Yt ruled out the party
can quit the coalition if it fails to reach accord on the amending
the code.
Karen Karapetyan, the head of the People Elective Representative
parliamentary fraction, said some concession can me made: the ratio
can be changed slightly by lessening the number of non-partisans
in parliament.
He voiced skepticism over necessity to alter the code saying greater
number of partisans in parliament might pave the way for corruption.
–Boundary_(ID_HJZg9izJElUQHNj/YYh3uQ)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian leader offers condolences on Arafat’s death
Mediamax news agency
11 Nov 04
Yerevan, 11 November: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has sent
a telegram of condolences to the interim chairman of the Palestinian
Authority, Rawhi Fattuh, on the death of Yasir Arafat.
“Speaking highly about Yasir Arafat’s contribution to the cause of
defending the national rights of the Palestinians, Robert Kocharyan
expressed his condolences to the people of Palestine and Yasir Arafat’s
family,” the press service of the Armenian president told Mediamax
news agency today.
[Passage omitted: Details of meetings between Kocharyan and Arafat]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress