ASBAREZ Online [02-17-2005]

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02/17/2005
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) 90th Anniversary Commemoration Committee Finalizes Programs 2) Russian FM Discusses Bilateral Ties, Karabagh in Armenia 3) Tbilisi Incident Concerns Javakhk Armenians 4) Christian Minority in Azerbaijan Gets Rid of Armenian 'Eye Sore' 1) 90th Anniversary Commemoration Committee Finalizes Programs LOS ANGELES--This year marks the 90th Anniversary of first genocide of the Twentieth Century--the genocide against the Armenian people. This page in history--the annihilation of close to two million Armenians --will be marked by Armenians throughout the world. The Armenian-American community of California, which has traditionally organized an array of events during the month of April, and specifically between April 17-24, will this year commemorate the Genocide's 90th Anniversary by hosting a series of events jointly organized by over two dozen Armenian political, cultural, and religious groups. With the recent addition of the Organization of Istanbul Armenians, the Iraqi Armenian Community, and the Armenian Youth Movement, the number of member groups of the United Armenian Genocide 90th Anniversary Commemoration Committee of California, grew to 26. The United Young Armenians, however, left the coalition. Having begun its work in 2004, the Committee has nearly finalized its agenda, and has resolved to mark the 90th Anniversary through: - Organizing a large-scale cultural event; - Hosting a commemoration in Sacramento with the participation of State-level elected officials and government representatives; - Organizing a demonstration adjacent to the Turkish Consulate of Los Angeles; - Hosting a requiem service at the monument, dedicated to the memory of the Genocide's victims, in the City of Montebello. - Hosting requiem services at all Armenians churches throughout the State; - Organizing a community-wide event, concluding the series of commemorative events. United Armenian Genocide 90th Anniversary Commemoration Committee of California 2) Russian FM Discusses Bilateral Ties, Karabagh in Armenia YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with President Robert Kocharian and other Armenian leaders in Yerevan Thursday on an official visit which focused on bilateral relations and the Karabagh conflict. The talks were also aimed at preparing for Russian President Vladimir Putin's upcoming visit to Armenia, his country's main regional ally. "We expect a very busy year for our partnership and allied relationship," Lavrov said at the end of the one-day trip. "We have to implement agreements reached by the [Russian-Armenian] inter-governmental commission on economic cooperation last December. We agreed to accelerate implementation of all issues agreed by the parties so that our presidents can see… that their decisions are put into practice." "There are no problems in our relations. But because those relations are constantly developing, they need constant attention," he added. "We are happy with the results of the visit. I believe that it will give an additional impetus to our relations," Oskanian said for his part. Kocharian told Lavrov that he is satisfied with the current state of bilateral ties and hopes that Russia will help to lift transport blockades resulting from the unresolved ethnic conflicts in the South Caucasus. The Karabagh conflict was a major theme of the talks. "We hope that the Prague process of regular meetings between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan will bear fruit," Lavrov said. "The co-chairs of the OSCE's Minsk Group are ready to foster that. We will do our best to make sure that the process progresses successfully." "Sergei Lavrov is a minister who probably knows more [about the Karabagh peace process] than I," Oskanian joked at their joint news conference, underlining Moscow's role as a key international mediator. He announced that his next meeting with Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in Prague will take place on March 2. Economic issues were another subject of discussions, with Kocharian and Prime Minister Andranik Markarian again calling on the Russians to speed up work on reactivating four of five moribund Armenian enterprises which were handed over to them two years ago in payment for Armenia's $100 million debt. Markarian also expressed concern at Russia's plans to finance a new railway to Iran that would bypass Armenia and run through its arch-rival Azerbaijan Lavrov, who revealed to reporters last year that his father was a Tbilisi-born Armenian, assured Markarian that "Russia will take into account Armenia's interests and will not take any steps that would damage them," according to an Armenian government statement. 3) Tbilisi Incident Concerns Javakhk Armenians YEREVAN (Combined Sources)--Voicing concern over a recent incident in Tbilisi involving the desecration of Armenian gravestones, the Javakhk Union of Georgian Armenians sent a letter to Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, urging him to take measures to preserve Armenian cultural monuments in Georgia. On February 8, Armenian gravestones from the St. Virgin Church in Tbilisi's Norashen district were removed and replaced with Georgian ones. A Georgian priest also told the Armenian clerics to pray in Armenia because "this church is ours now." The 15th century church's ornaments made by the Hovnatanyans are still preserved. Head of the Georgian-Armenian diocese Archbishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, said he is concerned that the next incident will involve vandalism of the church. 4) Christian Minority in Azerbaijan Gets Rid of Armenian 'Eye Sore' By Simon Ostrovsky (AFP)--When a Christian people in this predominantly Muslim republic ground away the Armenian inscriptions from the walls of a church and tombs last month to erase evidence linking them to Azerbaijan's foe [Armenia], they thought they had the interests of their small community in mind. But now the tiny Christian church in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan has become the focus of a big scandal as the Udi minority struggles to find its identity in an ideological minefield. The church, which has not been used since Azerbaijan became part of the Soviet Union, has become the center of a dispute between the Norwegian backers of the reconstruction, who consider the alterations to be vandalism, and the Udi community. "We have no God, our people lost their religion under communism and this church is our only hope of reviving it," said Georgi Kechaari, one of the village elders who doubles as the ethnic group's historian. "But we live in Azerbaijan, and when people came into the church and saw Armenian letters, they automatically associated us with Armenians," he said. The Udi, who once used the Armenian alphabet, have struggled to separate their legacy from that of their fellow Christians, the Armenians, who fought a war with Azerbaijan and have been vilified here. Since the beginning of the conflict with Armenia over Mountainous Karabagh, which erupted just before the break-up of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan has rid of nearly everything associated with Armenia in has been wiped away, although hundreds of thousands of Armenians lived here before the war that ended in a cease-fire in 1994. Armenian-sounding city names have been changed, streets named after Armenians have been replaced with politically correct Azeri surnames, while Soviet history glorifying Armenian communist activists has been rewritten in school textbooks. But the white stone church in Nij, some two centuries old, had not been tampered with until the Udi undertook to reconstruct it with help from the state financed Norwegian Humanitarian Enterprise (NHE). "It was a beautiful inscription, 200 years old, it even survived the war," Norway's Ambassador to Azerbaijan Steinar Gil told AFP. "This is an act of vandalism and Norway in no way wants to be associated with it." But the Udis insist they erased the inscriptions to right a historic wrong. Kechaari alleged that the Armenian inscriptions, which stated that the Church was built in 1823, were fakes put there by Armenians in the 1920s so that they could make historical claims to it. The Udis are the last surviving tribe of the Caucasus Albanians, a group unrelated to the Mediterranean Albanians, whose Christian kingdom ruled this region in medieval times before Turkic hordes swept in from Central Asia in the 13th and 15th centuries. They number under 10,000 people and Nij is the only predominantly Udi village to survive to this day, and although they call themselves Christian, there is little that Christians from other parts of the world would find in common with them. The Udis have not had a pastor for nearly a century and celebrate Islamic holidays together with their Muslim neighbors. But while the Udis soul search for an identity, Azerbaijan has used their legacy to strengthen its claims to Karabagh. Armenians argue that the multitude of churches in the occupied region proves that they as a Christian people can lay a historic claim to it. But Azeris, who consider themselves to be the descendants of Albanians who were assimilated into a Turkic group, say the area is rightfully theirs because the churches were actually built by their ancestors the Albanians. To the Udi, who used Armenian script when their church was built, toeing the official Azeri line has become more of a priority than historical accuracy. The perception that they are one with the Armenians has meant that there has been little trust from the authorities; Udi men for example were only allowed to start serving in the Azeri Army two years ago. But their use of power tools to fit the status quo took their Norwegian sponsors by surprise. "They think they have erased a reminder of being Armenian...instead they have taken away the chance to have a good image when the church is inaugurated," the director of the NHE in Azerbaijan, Alf Henry Rasmussen said, adding that a visit to the church by Norway's prime minister will probably now be canceled. "Everyone will stare at the missing stones. I'm not quite sure if we can continue our work there," Rasmussen said. 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) 2005 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. --Boundary_(ID_QjS5LRMjJqU2iEtvGkqsWw)--