FEATURE
Los Angeles Times | Glendale News-Press | 2004 July 24
A maverick,
in and out of the ball park
This is the second of two parts.
GGRecently, I had the pleasure of seeing Marlon Brando’s performance
in “Sayonara” from the comfort of my living room.
GG In “Sayonara,” Maj. Lloyd Gruver (Marlon Brando), a Korean War
flying ace, is re-stationed in Kobe, Japan. Gruver initially supports
the military’s opposition to marriages between American servicemen and
Japanese women, but eventually succumbs to love with Hana-ogi and
plunges into conflict with the U.S. Air Force.
—-
GGTraffic at Eagleson’s Big and Tall in downtown Los Angeles was
light. The rain had taken its toll on George’s daily sale of suits;
numbers were the last thing on his mind on that day. It was 4 p.m. and
he had given up on receiving his four tickets to the fourth game of
the 1963 World Series between the Dodgers and the Yankees. His main
worry was his buddy’s son, Kobe Gruver. George had invited the Gruvers
to the ball park, and the prospect of disappointing the 10-year-old
was painful.
GGJust as George had formulated an approach to deliver the bad news to
Kobe, Scott Krueger pulled up to the wet curb and parked his 1962 Ford
Galaxie with the engine still running. He kicked the door on his red
convertible open, and with the latest issue of the Los Angeles Times
protecting his head from the rain, ran into Eagleson’s.
GG”Hey, George, sorry I am late. Here are the tickets. Thanks for
taking care of my huge self all these years. I hope you enjoy the
game.”
GG “Thank you, Scott. The kid will be ecstatic.”
GG “Enjoy, I gotta run. Go Dodgers!”
GG “I am personally a Tigers fan. But yes, Kobe is a Dodgers fan. So,
go Dodgers!”
—-
GGThe only thing separating Kobe’s fourth-grade books from the rain
was his green wool jacket. As he pressed his books against his side,
he felt a jolt against his back. He turned around and was startled to
see Grant, the school bully, watching him with a tense stare. Grant’s
teeth were pressed together as he gave Kobe yet another shove.
GG “Hey, Kobe, watch where you’re goin’!” said Grant, who followed
that by uttering a string of disparaging racist remarks. *
—-
GGOfficial attendance at Dodger Stadium on Oct. 6, 1963, was
55,912. It was between the seventh and eighth innings when Kobe had
begun to feel a bit restless in his seat. Not wanting to embarrass her
son in front of their neighbor and longtime friend, George, Hana-ogi
addressed her son in Japanese:
GG “Kobe, please try to sit properly and don’t bother Mr. K.”
GG “Mom, English please, you are embarrassing me,” Kobe replied in
English.
GG The generally mild-mannered Hana-ogi did not have to think twice
before yanking her frail son from his seat and directing him toward
the exit. For every Hana-ogi step, Kobe had to take a couple to catch
up to his mom. Kobe’s hands were beginning to sweat.
GG “Kobe is going to get an earful from his mom,” George observes
immediately. “I’ve had a few of those with my mom about my Armenian
roots.”
GG “Yeah, I hope so. That’s no way for him to speak to his mom,”
Gruver confirms.
—-
GGHana-ogi and Kobe stand face to face away from the stands. Hana-ogi
kneels down to her son’s height and begins speaking softly in
Japanese:
GG “Son, you are an American, yes?”
GG “Yes.”
GG “Your father is an American war hero, yes?”
GG “Yes.”
GG “We are only going to have this conversation once, and only
once… your mother is Japanese. And you are part Japanese.”
GG “Yes, ma’am.”
GG “My son will not be embarrassed of what he is.”
GG “Yes, ma’am.”
GG “We are going to go back into the stands and you will address me
only in Japanese for the remainder of the game.”
GG “Yes, ma’am.”
—-
GG “George, when are you gonna tie the knot and settle down?”
GG “I am still looking for my Armenian bride, Gruver.”
GG “Well, you better travel a bit. I don’t see no Armenian girls here
in Glendale.”
GG “Yup, If I have to, I may pay a visit to Beirut, Lebanon. I hear
the place is full of Armenian beauties.”
GG “Let me know. We’ll tag along. I wouldn’t mind exposing Kobe to the
world. I want him to know there is more to life than Kenwood Drive.”
—-
GG Marlon Brando’s popularity did not always match the grand size of
his talent. Frank statements such as “Never confuse the size of your
paycheck with the size of your talent” did not exactly endear him to
his colleagues.
GG At a press conference for “The Young Lions” in Berlin, he said,
“This picture will try to show that Nazism is a matter of mind, not
geography, and that there are Nazis — and people of good will — in
every country. The world can’t spend its life looking over its
shoulder and nursing hatreds. There would be no progress that way.”
GG Weeks after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Brando told
reporters, “We are either going to learn to live together as brothers
or die separately as fools.”
GG Marlon Brando was a maverick. His definition of self was a humble
one: “I’m a human being — hopefully a concerned and somewhat
intelligent one — who occasionally acts.”
* [Edited for the Los Angeles Times/Glendale News-Press] “Hey Kobe,
watch where you’re goin’. Oooh, unless you can’t really see through
those pretty slanted eyes of yours… It’s ‘Nippy’ out here, isn’t
it?”
Patrick Azadian lives and works in Glendale. He is an identity and
branding consultant for the retail industry. Reach him at
[email protected] Reach the Glendale News-Press at [email protected]

Dilijan as summer resort
Yerkir/am
29 July 2004
During the dark and cold years, the people of Dilijan survived by
cutting down their vast woods. For a person on the verge of death the
legality of that action was not important. Mayor Jora Sahabalian says
the forest of Dilijan is now saved and it promotes tourism.
Tourism in Dilijan was also spurred by construction of the
Sevan-Dilijan tunnel and reconstruction of historical monuments. This
year Dilijan expects 6000-7000 tourists who usually prefer to rent
private apartments rather than stay at resorts.
The rooms at the resorts before reconstruction cost 2500-3000 drams
per day. Now that they have been ameliorated the price reaches
13000-5000 drams.
The major problems of Dilijan are absence of sewage pipes and lack of
drinking water. The latter will be solved in the near future. The
present tendency gives hope that all the issues will find their
solutions, since Dilijan is not ignored by the authorities, especially
local ones.

Le Figaro
26 Juillet 2004
Les raisons de refuser la candidature d’Ankara
PAR ALEXANDRE DEL VALLE *
Au lendemain de la visite à Paris du premier ministre turc Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, dans le but de convaincre les sceptiques qu’Ankara
est désormais prête à intégrer l’Europe, le débat sur l’entrée de la
Turquie dans l’Union et sur les frontières de l’Union européenne
mérite d’être poursuivi. Aussi est-il nécessaire tout d’abord de
répondre aux principaux arguments des partisans de la candidature
turque, puis d’expliquer quelles seraient les conséquences
géopolitiques de l’adhésion d’Ankara.
Dire que la Turquie est historiquement européenne est aussi vrai que
de dire que la France, en tant qu’ex-puissance coloniale, est
africaine. La Turquie n’est pas plus européenne par sa géographie
(excepté Istanbul et la Thrace) que par ses moeurs ou sa conscience
civilisationnelle. Les Turcs se définissent comme un peuple asiatique
dont l’Age d’Or est l’apogée de l’Empire ottoman, et si une faible
minorité kémaliste ou issue des quartiers privilégiés d’Istanbul se
sent européenne, les habitants des favelas d’Istanbul et des
campagnes de l’Anatolie se reconnaissent plus dans le voisin irakien
que dans les Européens du Nord ou même dans les Grecs chrétiens. La
récente nomination d’un citoyen turc à la tête de l’Organisation de
la conférence islamique (OCI, prosaoudienne), puis les propos
irrédentistes inquiétants d’Erdogan accusant la Grèce de «persécuter
les Turcs musulmans» de Thrace (1), ou encore la politique panturque
d’Ankara en Asie centrale et dans le Caucase, montrent bien que la
Turquie demeure ce pays «dreaming west and moving east».
Invoquer l’«irréversibilité» de la candidature turque sous prétexte
qu’Ankara a signé un accord d’association en 1963, est membre de
l’Otan et du Conseil de l’Europe, ou au titre d’une «promesse», ne
tient pas. L’Otan et le Conseil de l’Europe ne sont pas des sas
d’entrée dans l’Union. En réponse à la demande officielle d’adhésion
d’Ankara (1987), qui fut rejetée, le Parlement européen avait voté
une résolution – occultée aujourd’hui – exigeant en vain comme
préalable la reconnaissance du génocide arménien, l’amélioration du
sort des minorités, puis le retrait de Chypre. C’est donc Ankara qui
n’a pas rempli ses obligations, et non l’inverse. Loin d’être un dû,
le processus d’intégration de la Turquie peut être interrompu à tout
moment sur décision d’un Conseil européen, d’un rapport négatif de
Bruxelles ou par le veto d’un Etat membre.
– Dire qu’il «faut» intégrer la Turquie afin de démontrer que
l’Europe n’est pas un «club chrétien» et ne «rejette» pas un candidat
islamique est absurde : demande-t-on à la Ligue arabe d’intégrer
Israël ou l’Inde pour prouver qu’elle n’est pas un «club musulman» ?
Ce mauvais procès renverse les rôles, car c’est à la Turquie de
prouver qu’elle n’est pas un «club musulman» : il y a plus de Turcs
de confession musulmane à Paris que de chrétiens dans toute la
Turquie (100 000), pays musulman à 99%.
– Dire que la Turquie demeure une «exception laïque» et un allié
naturel contre l’islamisme, grce à l’héritage d’Atatürk, est faux :
la Turquie nouvelle autorise et réclame tout ce que rejetait Kémal :
le voile, les partis islamiques, les confréries, les cours de
religion obligatoires. Ses lois contre le blasphème condamneraient
Atatürk lui-même ! Le kémalisme a connu un coup d’arrêt dès les
années 50-60, avec les gouvernements Menderes et Demirel, et il est
politiquement mort sous Turgut Ozal, ce grand artisan de la
réislamisation qui abolit l’article 163 interdisant les partis
islamistes. Comment peut-on soutenir qu’un pays dont 70% des femmes
sont voilées, dont l’Etat entretient 90 000 imams et des milliers de
mosquées, mentionne les religions sur les cartes d’identité, interdit
la haute fonction publique et militaire aux non-musulmans, et qui est
dirigé par un parti (l’AKP) issu d’un courant islamiste victorieux
aux élections depuis le début des années 90, est encore un pays
laïque ?
– On nous explique que les islamistes turcs au pouvoir sont des
«modérés» et des pro-occidentaux qui maintiendront les liens avec
l’Otan et Israël. C’est oublier les propos du ministre des Affaires
étrangères, Abdullah Gül, justifiant la polygamie devant un auditoire
du SPD allemand, expliquant que «la démocratie n’est pas un but mais
un moyen»(2). Les alliés américains savent eux aussi depuis la guerre
d’Irak que la Turquie réislamisée ne coopérera plus jamais comme
avant. D’autant qu’Erdogan a reproché à George Bush, lors du sommet
de l’Otan de juin, sa politique «prokurde» en Irak (3), Ankara
revendiquant une partie de ce pays au nom la même «politique des
minorités» qu’elle invoque à Chypre ou en Thrace…
– L’intégration de la Turquie permettrait à celle-ci de «poursuivre
sa démocratisation», nous dit-on. L’Union européenne est certes un
espace de paix et de démocratie, mais elle est située du point de vue
civilisationnel, donc naturellement «réservée» aux peuples de culture
judéo-chrétienne marqués par la pensée gréco-latine et situés en
Europe, ce qui fait déjà beaucoup de monde à démocratiser avant la
Turquie, l’Ukraine, la Biélorussie et la Russie étant infiniment plus
européennes. Toute entité géopolitique doit avoir des limites
claires, faute de quoi nous avons affaire à un phénomène néo-impérial
ayant vocation à s’étendre à l’infini.
– Nos dirigeants ont-ils seulement conscience que la Turquie dans
l’Europe deviendra l’Etat prépondérant de l’Union : dès 2020, Ankara
disposera de 100 députés turcs majoritairement islamistes au
Parlement européen (contre 72 pour la France et 98 pour l’Allemagne)
; sera la première puissance militaire et démographique de l’Union
(bientôt 100 millions d’habitants et 850 000 soldats) ?
L’entrée de la Turquie dans l’Union ouvrira la boîte de Pandore de
l’élargissement. Pourquoi refuser ensuite les 200 millions de
turcophones du Caucase et d’Asie centrale ou les Etats du Maghreb ?
L’UE héritera de tous les contentieux géopolitiques (eau, frontières,
minorités, etc.) que la Turquie entretient avec ses voisins. Sans
oublier les trafics de drogue, d’armes et d’immigrés clandestins dont
elle est une des plaques tournantes majeures. L’Union aura comme
voisins directs l’Iran des mollahs et la Syrie, parraines du
Hezbollah ; l’Irak du djihad anti-occidental d’al-Qaida ;
l’Azerbaïdjan et la Géorgie, points de passage des islamo-terroristes
du djihad tchétchène…
Malgré cela, les partisans de la candidature turque affirment que son
intégration à l’UE nous permettra de conjurer le choc des
civilisations et de combattre la menace islamiste !
L’Europe serait une chance pour la démocratie turque, nous dit-on.
Elle sera surtout une chance pour les islamistes turcs, jusque-là
condamnés à édulcorer leur programme et à subir l’alliance avec
l’Amérique et Israël tant que les militaires contrôlent le pays. Ne
serait-ce que pour préserver l’exception kémaliste tant invoquée par
les turco-euphoriques, les dirigeants européens devront réfléchir à
deux fois avant de déclencher un processus qu’ils ne maîtriseront
plus.
* Essayiste. Vient de publier aux éditions des Syrtes : LaTurquie
dans l’Europe, uncheval de Troie islamiste? (1) Agence Anadolou, 17
juin 2004. (2) Gérard Croc dans la «Revue des Deux mondes», avril
2003. (3) AFP, juin 2004.

The Detroit News
Sunday, July 25, 2004
Obituaries
Nerses ‘Nick’ Serkaian, Northville: Armenian radio show’s producer
For nearly 40 years, Nerses `Nick’ Serkaian spent Sunday mornings talking to
thousands of people in Metro Detroit’s Armenian community.
Mr. Serkaian, of Northville, was the longtime host and producer of the
`Armenian Radio Hour,’ which was broadcast at 10 a.m. Sundays on WNZK-AM.
`The program was a celebration of the Armenian community in Detroit,’ said
his son, Stephen. `It truly was a labor of love.’
Mr. Serkaian died of cancer on Monday, July 19, 2004, in Providence Hospital
in Southfield. He was 72.
He was born in Detroit and graduated from the Henry Ford Trade School. He
served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War, and later attended the
University of Detroit.
Before getting into radio, Mr. Serkaian owned his own construction business,
Serkaian Construction, based in Northville.
Mr. Serkaian began working on the `Armenian Radio Hour’ in 1967. The show
was popular among Metro Detroit’s 40,000 Armenians, his son said.
`Every week he announced Armenian community news, like marriages, births and
deaths, and church announcements,’ his son said. `He also would read
advertisements for Armenian-owned businesses. In between, he played Armenian
music.’
Survivors include two sons, Stephen and John; a daughter, Roxanne
McLaughlin; and eight grandchildren.

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th Street NW Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:
PRESS RELEASE
July 25, 2004
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
ANCA ENDORSES KERRY FOR PRESIDENT
— Cites Senator Kerry’s Long Record of Support on
Armenian American Issues, President Bush’s Retreat
from his Pledge to Recognize the Armenian Genocide
WASHINGTON, DC – In a move expected to impact electoral outcomes in
key presidential election swing states this November, the Armenian
National Committee of America (ANCA), the nation’s grassroots
Armenian American organization, today announced its endorsement of
the Kerry-Edwards ticket.
“For Armenian Americans, the clear choice is John Kerry,” said ANCA
Chairman Ken Hachikian. “Senator Kerry has been a friend of the
Armenian American community for over twenty years, with a proven
track record of fighting hard for issues of concern to Armenian
Americans across the nation. He faces an incumbent, President
Bush, whose record on Armenian issues has grown progressively more
disappointing throughout his tenure in the White House, beginning
with his broken campaign pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide,
including his Administration’s attempt to end military aid parity
between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and up until this week, with his
Administration’s strident attacks on legislation recognizing the
Armenian Genocide.”
John Kerry welcomed the ANCA endorsement, stating that, “John
Edwards and I would like to thank the ANCA for its endorsement. We
are looking forward to working with all Armenian Americans to
create a stronger America, more respected in the world.”
“We call upon Armenian Americans to compare the respective records
of Senator Kerry and President Bush, to weigh the importance of
their ballot for the future of U.S.-Armenian relations, and to cast
their vote for the Kerry-Edwards ticket on November 2nd,” added
Hachikian.
The ANCA endorsement follows closely in the wake of the Bush
Administration’s forceful attack on the Schiff Amendment, a
provision adopted last week by the U.S. House that prevents Turkey
from using U.S. foreign aid to lobby against the Genocide
Resolution. Armenian Americans, particularly those in key swing
states such as Pennslyvania, Ohio, and Florida, are positioned to
play a decisive role in what looks, by all accounts, to be a hotly
contested election.
—————————————————————-
ANCA’s Outreach to the White House and Republican Leaders
—————————————— ———————-
The ANCA has, on several occasions over the past four years,
specifically asked for a meeting between President Bush and the
Armenian American community leadership. These formal requests,
which never received a response, were supported by a series of ANCA
and community-wide letters outlining the views and disappointments
of Armenian Americans on specific issues, ranging from the Armenian
Genocide to foreign aid policy.
In April of this year, the ANCA sent detailed letters to the
Chairman of the Bush-Cheney campaign, Marc Racicot, and the
Congressional Republican leadership voicing disappointment over the
Bush Administration’s record on Armenian issues, and expressing
frustration with the lack of responsiveness by the White House to
the concerns of the Armenian American community. The ANCA’s
concerns were grouped, in this letter, into three broad categories:
1) unfulfilled commitments, 2) opposition to community concerns,
and 3) failure to prioritize Armenian issues.
The Senate and House letters, addressed to House Speaker Dennis
Hastert (R-IL) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN),
highlighted the powerful leadership demonstrated by a great many
Republicans on Armenian issues, notably by Armenian Caucus Co-
Chairman Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), Genocide Resolution author George
Radanovich (R-CA), and Senators such as Mitch McConnell (R-KY),
John Ensign (R-NV), George Allen (R-VA), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), and
many others. These letters included more than a dozen specific
recommendations by the ANCA about how the Congressional leadership
could encourage the White House to improve its standing among
Armenian American voters.
Neither the President nor his campaign responded to the ANCA’s
appeal for their intervention to help establish a constructive
dialogue between the Administration and the Armenian American
community.
For additional information on the ANCA’s outreach to Republican
leaders concerning the Bush Administration’s record on Armenian
issues, visit:
;pressregion=anca
—————————————————————-
ANCA Backs Up Endorsement by Calling
for Greater Grassroots Activism
———————————————— —————-
Along with its Presidential endorsement, the ANCA reminded Armenian
Americans that their ability to impact policy-level decision-making
depends, first and foremost, on the continued expansion of advocacy
efforts at all levels of government. The ANCA’s detailed
Congressional endorsements, which will be announced later this
year, will represent an important element of this process by
providing Armenian American voters with the information they need
to solidify the strong support our community enjoys in Congress.
“The challenge before the Armenian American community, as in years
past, remains growing our activism and strengthening our voice in
the public policy debates and within the foreign policy community,”
said Hachikian. “We call upon Armenian Americans to meet this
challenge by increasing our engagement with the Executive Branch
and providing the strongest possible support for our friends in the
U.S. House and Senate on November 2nd and throughout the 109th
Congress.”
—————————————————————-
The Kerry Record
——————————————- ———————
During his long tenure in the US House and Senate, Senator Kerry
has consistently been a leading advocate of issues of concern to
Armenian Americans. As a U.S. Senator, Kerry has forcefully fought
for U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and is currently a
cosponsor of the Genocide Resolution, S.Res.164. In 1990, Senator
Kerry voted on the Senate floor for Senator Bob Dole’s (R-KS)
Genocide Resolution.
The Massachusetts Senator has been a vocal and effective champion
of stronger U.S.-Armenia relations and has consistently backed
legislative initiative to increase aid and expand trade with
Armenia. He is currently a cosponsor of legislation, S.1557, which
would grant Armenia permanent normal trade relations status.
Senator Kerry has spearheaded a number of initiatives to lift the
Turkish and Azerbaijani blockades. In 1991, he was the lead sponsor
of legislation, which was later enacted as Section 907 of the
Freedom Support Act, restricting U.S. aid to the government of
Azerbaijan until its blockades of Armenia and Mountainous Karabagh
are lifted. He also worked for the adoption of the Humanitarian Aid
Corridor Act, which called for US aid to Turkey to be cut off
unless Turkey lifted its blockade of Armenia. As recently as this
January, Senator Kerry formally called on President Bush to press
the visiting Prime Minister of Turkey to lift his nation’s illegal
blockade of Armenia.
—————————————————————-
The Bush Record
——————————————- ———————
The full text of the Armenian American Presidential Report Card on
the Administration of George W. Bush is provided below:
1) Broken campaign pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide
Almost immediately after taking office, President Bush abandoned
his campaign pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide. This
promise, which he made in February of 2000 as Texas Governor, was
widely distributed among Armenian Americans prior to the hotly
contested Michigan primary. It read, in part, as follows:
“The twentieth century was marred by wars of unimaginable
brutality, mass murder and genocide. History records that the
Armenians were the first people of the last century to have endured
these cruelties. The Armenians were subjected to a genocidal
campaign that defies comprehension and commands all decent people
to remember and acknowledge the facts and lessons of an awful crime
in a century of bloody crimes against humanity. If elected
President, I would ensure that our nation properly recognizes the
tragic suffering of the Armenian people.”
Rather than honor this promise, the President has, in his annual
April 24th statements, used evasive and euphemistic terminology to
avoid describing Ottoman Turkey’s systematic and deliberate
destruction of the Armenian people by its proper name – the
Armenian Genocide.
2) Opposition to the Congressional Genocide Resolution
The Bush Administration is actively blocking the adoption of the
Genocide Resolution in both the House and Senate. This legislation
(S.Res.164 and H.Res.193) specifically cites the Armenian Genocide
and formally commemorates the 15th anniversary of United States
implementation of the U.N. Genocide Convention. The Genocide
Resolution is supported by a broad based coalition of over one
hundred organizations, including American Values, the NAACP,
National Council of Churches, Sons of Italy, International Campaign
for Tibet, National Council of La Raza, and the Union of Orthodox
Rabbis.
As recently as July 16th of this year, the Bush Administration
reiterated its opposition to legislation recognizing the Armenian
Genocide. In response the adoption by the U.S. House of the Schiff
Amendment, which blocks Turkey from using U.S. aid to lobby against
the Genocide Resolution, the Administration pressed Congressional
leaders to prevent the enactment of any provision recognizing the
Armenian Genocide.
3) Failure to condemn Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide
The Bush Administration has failed to condemn Turkey’s recent
escalation of its campaign to deny the Armenian Genocide. Notably,
the Administration has remained silent in the face of the decree
issued in April of 2003 by Turkey’s Education Minister, Huseyin
Celik, requiring that all students in Turkey’s schools be
instructed in the denial of the Armenian Genocide.
The State Department’s 2003 human rights report on Turkey uses the
historically inaccurate and highly offensive phrase “alleged
genocide” to mischaracterize the Armenian Genocide. In addition,
despite repeated protests, the Bush Administration’s State
Department continues to host a website on Armenian history that
fails to make even a single mention of the Genocide.
()
4) The Waiver of Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act
The Bush Administration, in 2001, aggressively pressured Congress
into granting the President the authority to waive Section 907, a
provision of law that bars aid to the government of Azerbaijan
until it lifts its blockades of Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh.
President Bush has subsequently used this authority to provide
direct aid, including military assistance, to the government of
Azerbaijan, despite their continued violation of the provisions of
this law.
5) Reduction in aid to Armenia
In the face of the devastating, multi-billion dollar impact of the
Turkish and Azerbaijani blockades on the Armenian economy,
President Bush has, in each of the past three years, proposed to
Congress that humanitarian and developmental aid to Armenia be
reduced.
6) Abandonment of the Military Aid Parity Agreement
The Bush Administration abandoned its November 2001 agreement with
Congress and the Armenian American community to maintain even
levels of military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan. Instead, the
Administration, in its fiscal year 2005 foreign aid bill, proposes
sending four times more Foreign Military Financing to Azerbaijan
($8 million) than to Armenia ($2 million). This action tilts the
military balance in favor of Azerbaijan, rewards Azerbaijan’s
increasingly violent threats of renewed aggression, and undermines
the role of the U.S. as an impartial mediator of the Nagorno
Karabagh talks.
7) Mistaken Listing of Armenia as a Terrorist Country
The Bush Administration, through Attorney General John Ashcroft,
sought, unsuccessfully, in December of 2002 to place Armenia on an
Immigration and Naturalization Service watch list for terrorist
countries. This obvious error was reversed only after a nation-wide
protest campaign. Neither the White House nor the Department of
Justice has apologized for the offense caused by this mistake.
8) Neglect of U.S.-Armenia relations
While the Bush Administration has maintained a formal dialogue with
Armenia on economic issues through the bi-annual meetings of the
U.S.-Armenia Task Force, it has, as a matter of substance, failed
to take any meaningful action to materially promote U.S.-Armenia
economic ties. Specifically, the Administration has not provided
leadership on legislation, spearheaded by Congressional Republicans
and currently before Congress, to grant Armenia permanent normal
trade relations (PNTR) status. Nor has the Administration
initiated any steps toward the negotiation of a Tax Treaty, Social
Security Agreement, Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, or
other bilateral agreements to foster increased U.S.-Armenia
commercial relations.
The President neither visited Armenia nor has he invited the
President of Armenia to visit the United States.
9) Failure to maintain a balanced policy on Nagorno Karabagh
The Bush Administration, to its credit, took an early initiative to
help resolve the Nagorno Karabagh issue in the form of the Key West
summit meeting in 2001 between Secretary of State Powell and the
presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. After Azerbaijan’s failure to
honor its Key West commitments, however, the Administration failed
to hold Azerbaijan accountable for unilaterally stalling the
Nagorno Karabagh peace process.
10) Increased grants, loans and military transfers to Turkey
The Bush Administration has effectively abandoned America’s
responsibility to link aid, loans, and arms transfers to Turkey’s
adherence to basic standards for human rights and international
conduct. The most notable example was the $8 billion loan package
provided to Turkey in 2003 despite Turkey’s refusal to allow U.S.
forces to open a northern front during the war in Iraq.
11) Taxpayer financing of the Baku-Ceyhan bypass of Armenia
The Bush Administration is supporting American taxpayer subsidies
for the politically motivated Baku-Ceyhan pipeline route that, at
the insistence of Turkey and Azerbaijan, bypasses Armenia.
12) Refusal to pressure Turkey and Azerbaijan to end their
blockades
The Bush Administration has not forcefully condemned the Turkish
and Azerbaijani blockades as clear violations of international law,
nor, outside of occasional public statements, has it taken any
meaningful steps to pressure the Turkish or Azerbaijani governments
to end their illegal border closures.
13) Lobbying for Turkish membership in the European Union
The Bush Administration has aggressively pressured European
governments to accept Turkey into the European Union, despite
Turkey’s consistent failure to meet European conditions for
membership, on issues ranging from the blockade of Armenia and the
Armenian Genocide to the occupation of Cyprus and human rights.
14) Down-grading relations with the Armenian American community
Breaking with the tradition of the last several Administrations,
the Bush White House failed to reach out in any meaningful way to
our nation’s one and a half million citizens of Armenian heritage.
While the State Department, Pentagon and National Security Council
maintained their long-standing, policy-level dialogue with the
Armenian American community leadership, the White House itself
essentially neglected Armenian Americans as a political
constituency. Perhaps the most telling example of this is that,
during the course of the past three years, despite repeated
requests, the President did not hold any community-wide meetings
with the leadership of the Armenian American community, nor did his
Secretary of State or National Security Advisor.
15) Armenian American appointments
To the Administration’s credit, the President appointed Joe
Bogosian to an important Deputy Assistant Secretary position at the
Commerce Department, John Jamian to a key maritime position in the
Department of Transportation, and Samuel Der-Yeghiayan as a Federal
Judge in the Northern District of Illinois.

Armenian American Democratic Leadership Council
1900 S Eads #1231
Arlington, VA 22202
E-mail: [email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
July 25, 2004
Contact: Tsoghig Margossian
E-mail: [email protected]
Armenian Democrats to Join In Ethnic Diversity Celebration at the
Democratic Convention
* DNC Convention Features Ethnic Caucus Meeting; Highlights
Pivotal Role of Ethnic Vote
Boston, MA: The Armenian American Democratic Leadership Council
(AADLC) and Armenian American Democrats from across the country
will participate in a celebration of ethnic community activism
hosted by the National Democratic Ethnic Leadership Council (NDELC)
at this week’s 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. The
reception is part of a series of programs, meetings and events
spotlighting the key role of ethnic communities in this election
season and throughout the American political process.
Grassroots leaders representing a diverse groups of ethnic American
communities, including Albanians, Arabs, Armenians, Germans,
Greeks, Italians, Irish, Polish, Serbian among many others, will be
joining together at the reception on Wednesday, July 28th, at The
Harp, across from the Fleet Center. Participation in the “NDELC’s
Celebration and Appreciation of Ethnic Democrats” is by invitation
only and has received enthusiastic responses from Convention
delegates, Members of Congress and community leaders who understand
the pivotal role that ethnic voters are expected to play in
electoral swing states this November. The reception is one of
several daytime and evening functions organized by ethnic
communities throughout the Convention week.
“The Armenian American Democratic Leadership Council is proud to
partner with the NDELC as it brings together ethnic community
leaders from across the country in support of the Democratic Party
agenda,” stated NDELC Board Member and AADLC activist Sushan
Demirjian. “We look forward to mobilizing the Armenian American
community, with its active presence in key swing states across the
country, to play a decisive role in support of the Kerry/Edwards
ticket and pro-Armenian democratic candidates on November 2nd.”
The National Democratic Ethnic Leadership Council (NDELC) is an
ethnic constituency based organization encompassing the community
of immigrants and descendants of immigrants who primarily trace
their heritage from Europe and the Mediterranean. During the
Clinton presidential campaign in 1992, democratic activists began a
deliberate initiative to redefine the Democratic Party’s
relationship with Ethnic Americans. Over the past twelve years, the
party has made great strides to ensure that Ethnic Democrats
continue to be players in American politics. The NDELC, with its
diverse membership including representatives of the Armenian
American Democratic Leadership Council, plays a pivotal role in
nurturing that relationship.
==============================================================
Democratic Party to Host Ethnic Democrats Caucus Meeting and
Workshop at Democratic National Convention
==============================================================
The 2004 Democratic Convention will also feature a first-ever
Caucus Meeting and Workshop bringing together ethnic leaders
committed to a Kerry-Edwards victory in November. Community
representatives will participate in briefings and a full agenda of
activities on Wednesday, July 28th from 10:00am to 12:00pm at the
Sheraton Hotel.
“Ethnic Americans have always been a base in the Democratic party.
The values of family, hard work, faith and opportunity are the
values that they bring to the Democratic Party and contribute to
building a stronger America,” explained John Kerry for President
Director of Ethnic Outreach George Kivork, who is helping to
coordinate the function.
The AADLC works with the Democratic National Committee to
foster support within the Armenian American community for
the Democratic Party and national Democratic office
holders, while promoting the election of Armenian American
Democrats to political office and encouraging participation
by Armenian American Democrats at all levels of the public
policy process.

RIA Novosti, Russia
July 25 2004
KARABAKH: INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS WEIGH SETTLEMENT CHANCES
YEREVAN, July 25 (RIA Novosti) – Stepanakert, capital of the
unrecognized Armenian-populated Karabakh Republic in Azerbaijan,
hosted an international expert team today, who were discussing
prospects for peaceful Armenian-Azeri conflict settlement, announced
the Central Information Board under the Karabakh president.
The visitors held a conference with the republican top to blueprint
measures the conflicting parties should take to pace up settlement.
They called to enhance international involvement in the cause. The
experts also reported their impressions of contacts with Karabakh
authorities and NGO spokesmen.
Leading the delegation is Bruce Jackson, NATO committee head in the
U.S. Senate, in charge of Project Transitional Democracies. The other
delegates are Daniel Twining, director for foreign politics, German
branch of the U.S.-based Marshall Foundation; Ronald Asmus, head
expert of the Marshall Foundation trans-Atlantic relations board;
Randy Scheuneman, Orion strategic center president; Istvan Gyarmati,
Hungary, board chair of the Center for Euro-Atlantic Integration and
Democracy; and Robert Cotrell, European branch editor of the UK-based
journal, The Economist.
A truce was made on Karabakh more than ten years ago. Painstaking
international mediation by the OSCE Minsk group has not brought
settlement a step closer since that day. Occasional skirmishes are
lately reported from the conflict zone day in, day out, the
belligerents shifting the blame on each other.
Azeri authorities are willing to grant extensive autonomy to what
they regard as a rebellious province, but are set on Azerbaijan
retaining it for the sake of territorial integrity. Baku also insists
on regaining long-established Azeri areas bordering on Karabakh and
seized in the warfare, and on Azeri refugees returning home. The
latter demand is a worthy reason for negotiations, agree Armenian and
Karabakh leaders. They, however, would not listen about Karabakh ever
getting back under the Azeri wing.

Gulf States Newsletter
Zawya.com
July 25 2004
Aleppo joins Syria’s Islamic revival, Damascus responds by courting
old foes

Cosmopolitan Aleppo has joined Syria’s Islamic revival, highlighting
a trend the Baathist regime can ill afford to ignore – which is why
President Assad is courting the Muslim Brotherhood his father smashed
two decades ago. GSN reports from Aleppo on the mood in the city and
from Damascus on rumours of political games-playing by the regime and
its Islamist opponents, and rapprochement with Turkey.
Syria’s northern capital has long been the region’s most cosmopolitan
town, its population including Armenians, Kurds, Turks, Jews and
Arabs. This diverse heritage remains to this day, with the mix of
churches and mosques resembling Jerusalem, Cairo and Damascus’
eclectic mishmash of religious orthodoxies. But tensions are running
high in Aleppo 2004 version: the Kurdish riots in parts of northern
Syria in March drew in Aleppo’s Kurdish minority – curfews were
imposed on their quarter – and the city is in the grip of an Islamic
revival. Only a handful of women, mainly Christian, now go around in
public without the hijab.
Throughout Aleppo’s famous souk, Koranic slogans hang from the
arcaded ceilings. This is a somewhat different town to the one that
provoked Egyptian-born World Trade Center lead attacker Mohammed
Atta’s ire during the 1990s, when the then star student’s research
into Aleppo’s architectural heritage played a role in his conversion
to Jihadist militancy. Atta had a long-standing affection for
Aleppo’s souk, the subject of his thesis at Hamburg Technical
University in the 1990s. According to the travel writer Jonathan
Raban, here, “Atta had found an age-old, smelly world of half-lit
arched passages, violated by shameless and greedy kufr
(non-believers).” Atta saw the souk as being under siege by tourists
and their architecture of fast-food restaurants and hotels.
A decade later, Atta might find Aleppo a more convivial prospect. One
theory for the popular revival of Islam is that the secular Arab
Baath Socialist Party Regional Command regime, weakened by the death
of Hafez Al-Assad and assailed by US policy-makers as a ‘state
sponsor of terrorism’, is unable to exert its grip as tightly here as
it can in its Damascus power base. In Aleppo, wearing the hijab can
be construed as a personal gesture of opposition to the regime.
The city boasts some firebrand preachers, including Sheikh Mohsen
Al-Qaaqaa, who was removed from his mosque in Q1 04 having previously
cultivated a private militia and openly called for Syria to become an
Islamic state.
On another level, the demise of Syrian secularism appears a
by-product of a shift in sentiment throughout the Middle East in the
wake of 9/11 and the Iraq war. Even Damascene women are turning to
the headscarf in increasing numbers.
But even an Islamicised Aleppo is unlikely to lose its cosmopolitan
edge, and the tourist coaches still queue outside the city’s famous
citadel. The city is increasing its ties with Turkey, only a short
drive across the border. Since Syria expelled Kurdistan Workers’
Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, relations with Ankara have
improved across the board; President Bashar Al-Assad visited in
January. Recent faltering ties between Turkey and its regional
strategic ally Israel – fanned by reports that Israeli special forces
are training and co-operating with Kurdish Peshmerga militias in
northern Iraq – are playing well in Syria.
If Aleppo is able to leverage its geographic influence as a regional
trading post, enabling Turkish products to penetrate Arab markets
further south, it could play a key role in fostering the emerging
bilateral economic relationship. GSN was in the city when in late May
when Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen, a regular visitor, came
with 400 Turkish businessmen and 33 MPs to explore increased
commercial relations. Such was the minister’s enthusiasm, he happily
participated in communal dancing.
With its own Kurdish flank to look after and both countries wary of
US influence in the region, Damascus has reason enough to throw in
its lot with Ankara. A dose of Turkish secularism may also help to
offset the Islamic fervour gripping Syria’s second city
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agence France Presse — English
July 25, 2004 Sunday 7:54 AM Eastern Time
The war to end wars brought collapse of four empires
PARIS, July 25
World War I, which broke out 90 years ago on July 28, 1914, embroiled
35 countries from every continent and resulted in about 10 million
deaths and 20 million injuries.
The conflict, which brought to a head the rivalries that had torn
Europe apart for half a century, began with the declaration of war on
Serbia by the Austro-Hungarian empire on July 28, a month to the day
after the assassination of the heir to the imperial crown in Sarajevo
by a Serbian nationalist.
One by one, the European powers were drawn into the conflict because
of their territorial and colonial rivalries, and their alliances.
Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany and the Ottoman Empire were pitted
against the countries of the triple alliance — Britain, France and
Russia, to which were added Italy in 1915. The entry into the war of
Japan and above all of the United States, in 1917, made this the
first conflict of a truly global nature.
The illusion that the war would be of short duration was shattered
with the failure of the first great offensives on the eastern and
western fronts.
Russia launched a major offensive against Germany’s East Prussia in
August 1914, suffered a crushing defeat at Tannenberg, followed by
lesser setbacks at the first and second battles of the Masurian
Lakes. That was the start of a steady retreat towards the east that
ended with the 1917 Bolshevik revolution and the signing of the
Brest-Litovsk treaty between Germany and Russia.
The conflict spread over four fronts — in the Balkans, in France, in
Russia, and later in Italy.
>From 1915, the western front was established from the North Sea to
the Swiss frontier, and the grinding, interminable war of the
trenches began. Vast human wave assaults into the teeth of cannons
and machine guns annihilated much of a generation.
In 1916, more than 700,000 men on both sides died in the battle of
Verdun, and in 20 weeks of combat on the Somme river, 1.2 million
young men were slaughtered. Some 330,000 soliders were killed in
three years along the road known as the Chemin des Dames, leading to
mutinies in the French army against the wasteful loss of life.
Elsewhere, the allied expedition to gain control of the Dardanelles
straits, the principal access to Russia’s Black Sea coast, ended in
disastrous defeat by the Ottoman empire, and the loss of 260,000 men
killed or missing.
But the Russians pushed the Ottomans back in the Caucasus and in
Armenia and the British, exploiting Arab aspirations for
independence, managed to capture both Baghdad and Jerusalem from the
Ottoman empire.
In 1918, the allied armies, reinforced in men and supplies by the
United States, defeated the Germans at the Battle of the Marne.
Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman empire and Bulgaria suffered crushing
defeats and signed armistice agreements in September and October.
The guns officially fell silent on the eleventh hour of the eleventh
day of the eleventh month of 1918 when Germany signed the armistice
at Rethondes, near Compiegne, France.
The map of Europe was totally refashioned by the war. The peace
treaties, principally the Versailles treaty of June 28, 1919 on the
fith anniversary of the Sarajevo assassination, imposed severe
territorial, military and economic clauses on the vanquished. Germany
lost one seventh of its territory and one tenth of its population.
The conflict resulted in the collapse of four empires —
Austro-Hungarian, German, Ottoman and Russian — and brought into
being new states like Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia.
The war also marked the end of European dominance in the political,
economic and military spheres, and created a new world order in which
the United States and Japan emerged as global powers.
The “Great War” was to have been the war to end all wars — and it
gave birth to a League of Nations that was intended to assure world
peace.
But the shock of a conflict that introduced the use of poison gas,
submarines, tanks, and aerial bombardment of civilians was not
sufficient to prevent the outbreak of a second world war 20 years
later that swallowed up five times as many victims.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
July 25, 2004 Sunday
Armenian premier to discuss electricity in Tbilisi
By Tengiz Pachkoria
TBILISI
Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan will arrive in Tbilisi on
Sunday evening on a two-day visit. He will discuss “smaller charges
on the Armenian electricity supplied to Georgia,” Georgian Energy
Minister Nika Gilauri told the press.
“Armenian electricity charges for Georgia are higher than prices on
Russian electricity,” the minister said. “We will also discuss
parallel functioning of the Georgian and Armenian energy systems, and
Georgia’s affiliation to the Armenia-Iran energy grid. We would like
to deliver electricity to Iran via Armenia in summer and receive
Iranian electricity via Armenia in winter.”
The Armenian delegation led by Margaryan will attend a session of the
Armenian-Georgian intergovernmental commission for economic
cooperation on Monday, July 26. Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili will receive Margaryan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress