ASBAREZ ONLINE [06-07-2004]

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06/07/2004
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) ANCA Chairman Calls State Department on Its 'Disingenuous' Excuse for Armenian Genocide Exclusion 2) Ghukassian Presses Lenmarker for Equal Footing 3) Construction of Airport Terminal to Take Zvartnots to New Heights 4) Farewell to Former President Ronald Reagan 1) ANCA Chairman Calls State Department on Its 'Disingenuous' Excuse for Armenian Genocide Exclusion WASHINGTON, DC (ANCA)--In a detailed letter sent last Friday to Secretary of State Colin Powell, Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Chairman Ken Hachikian pressed the State Department to end its practice of excluding any mention of the Armenian Genocide from the history section of its official website on Armenia. The State Department website features Background Notes on one hundred ninety-eight nations. Each entry includes a brief historical review. The historical section for Armenia makes no mention of Ottoman Turkey's systematic destruction of over one and a half million Armenians, or the "demographic disaster" described by the Library of Congress as having "shifted the center of the Armenian population from the heartland of historical Armenia." The ANCA issued an action alert on this issue in January of this year. Hachikian's letter was written in response to a May 6 State Department letter to Joe Dagdigian, Chairman of the Merrimack Valley ANC chapter. In an April 20 letter to the State Department, Dagdidgian documented a series of serious shortcomings in its website on the history of Armenia, noting, in part: "The historical survey of Armenia omits any reference to the Armenian Genocide committed by Ottoman Turkey beginning in 1915. To recount nearly 3,000 years of Armenian history without the inclusion of this cataclysmic and relatively recent event in the history of the Armenian people is inexcusable. Rather than contributing to an understanding of the region, it obscures the region's history and fails to provide the background necessary for understanding current Armenian and regional issues." Responding to Dagdidgian, the Director of the Office of Caucasus and Central Asian Affairs John Fox, wrote: "Country background notes on the State Department's web-site were designed to provide interested readers with concise and up-to-date information regarding key economic and political issues in the country, as well as travel conditions and commercial opportunities. Country background notes also provide a very brief introduction to the country's history. Typically, each background page will collapse over 2,000 years of history into 3-4 concise paragraphs. Consequently, even episodes of great historical importance are often not treated in our background notes." In his sharply critical letter to Secretary Powell, Hachikian spells out the historical inaccuracy, the basic inconsistency, and the moral bankruptcy of the State Department's position of excluding the Armenian Genocide from its history of Armenia: "Rather than acknowledging and taking steps to correct this obvious error--or even indicating a willingness to review this flawed document, the State Department's letter, signed by John Fox of the Office of Caucasus and Central Asian Affairs, instead, sought to reduce this issue of profound historical and contemporary significance to a simple consideration of space." Hachikian goes on with an in-depth review of the assertions made in the State Department letter, concluding that, "we find it plainly disingenuous, if not outright dishonest, to imply that the exclusion of the Armenian Genocide is based on space considerations." He adds, "it is clear that this historically inaccurate refusal to even acknowledge the premeditated extermination between 1915 and 1923 of fully two thirds of all Armenians by Ottoman Turkey and the exile of a nation from its historic homeland of more than three thousand years, represents another very sad chapter in the State Department's complicity in the Turkish government's ongoing immoral campaign to deny the Armenian Genocide." In closing, Hachikian writes, "How truly regrettable I find it to have to engage in word-counts to illustrate the ridiculous and reprehensible lengths to which the State Department goes to help the government of Turkey to deny the undeniable--the crime of genocide committed against the Armenian nation. In the interest of basic morality, historical accuracy, and the State Department's credibility, on behalf of the American-Armenian community, I ask you to immediately correct this obvious and insulting 'error.'" Readers can express their concern about the Armenia Background Notes by visiting the ANCA website, <; 2) Ghukassian Presses Lenmarker for Equal Footing STEPANAKERT (Combined Sources)--The president of Mountainous Karabagh Republic (MKR) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Special Representative on the Karabagh conflict met in the capital of MKR, Stepanakert, on June 4. Thanking OSCE's Goran Lennmarker for his visit, MKR President Arkady Ghukassian said that only immediate interaction between mediators and MKR representatives, as well as Stepanakert's equal participation in negotiations, could end the stalemate to bring about a peaceful resolution. Ghukassian expressed hope that the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's interest in resolving the conflict, as well as its cooperation and involvement, would help the establishment of peace in the region. He, at the same time, stressed that Azerbaijan's extremism via a concerted effort to stir anti-Armenian propaganda, especially among its population, is destructive and stands in the way of progress. The efforts of international mediators, stressed Ghukassian, would better be served if they concentrated on creating conditions for a balanced dialogue between MKR and Azerbaijan, rather than formulating suggestions. Lennmarker said that the goal of his fact-finding mission to MKR and the region is to seek a speedy resolution to the conflict, indicating that all of Europe is interested in accelerating the peace process. He said that the experience gained in settling past conflicts would be a valuable tool in expediting the matter, and ruled out a military settlement to the conflict. 3) Construction of Airport Terminal to Take Zvartnots to New Heights YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--Construction of a new terminal at Armenia's main international airport began on Monday by the Argentine Corporacion America Company managing the project. Representatives of the Argentine company and Armenian government ministers inaugurated the start of construction, describing it as the first stage of the reconstruction of Zvartnots airport, which is to conform to international standards with the completion of the project. The airport's commercial director Juan-Pablo Guechigian, said the project would cost at least $42 million. Justice Minister David Harutiunian, who oversees project implementation, said the new three-story building is slated for completion by 2007, and added that its ground floor, available for passenger use, will be ready at the end of next year, as well as construction of the upper floors. Argentinean Armenian Eduardo Eurnekian, who operates 33 airports across South America, owns Corporacion America which signed a 30-year management contract with the Armenian government in December 2001 and took over Zvartnots several months later. Officials in Yerevan said earlier that the reconstruction will enable Zvartnots to handle at least 1.2 million passengers a year. Up to 800,000 people presently arrive at and depart from the airport each year. Eurnekian reportedly looks to transform the airport into a major transit hub for long-haul flights between Europe and Asia. 4) Farewell to Former President Ronald Reagan (VOA)--A week of remembrances for former President Ronald Reagan began on Monday, when his remains arrived at his presidential library in Simi Valley, California. There, the body will lie in repose for two days, while mourners pay last respects to the 40th US president, who died Saturday at age 93, of pneumonia after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. On Wednesday, Mr. Reagan's body will be flown to Washington ahead of a state funeral on Friday. President Bush has declared Friday a national day of mourning. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev are among the prominent figures planning to attend Friday's state funeral for Ronald Reagan at Washington's National Cathedral. The former British leader has given up public speaking after a series of strokes, but will deliver a videotaped eulogy recorded several months before Reagan's death. Reagan and Thatcher were close friends, politically united by their dislike for communism. Gorbachev forged a relationship with the late president during summit meetings in the final years of the Cold War. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2004 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets.