Month: June 2005

ARMENIAN FM, US SECRETARY OF STATE DISCUSS WIDE RANGE OF ISSUES
YEREVAN, June 10. /ARKA/. RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan and US
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed a wide range a wide
range of issues of the Armenian-American agenda. The press and
information department, RA Foreign Office reports that the sides
addressed the dynamically developing bilateral relations, pointing out
that a political dialogue is developing between the two countries,
trade and economic cooperation is expanding, and the USA’s
participation in humanitarian programs continues. The US Secretary of
State appreciated Armenia’s involvement in battle against terrorist
and in rehabilitation programs in Iraq. The sides also addressed
domestic developments and democratic processes in Armenia. Minister
Oskanyan also informed the US Secretary of State of the latest
developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process. The sides
exchanged views on the situation in the South Caucasus and on the
Armenian-Turkish relations. During his visit to the USA, Minister
Vardan Oskanyan is to make a speech at the Brookings Institute. Next
day the RA Foreign Minister is to leave for Bejing. P.T. -0–

Armenian foreign minister, US secretary of state discuss bilateral relations
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
10 Jun 05
[Presenter] Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan met US Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington today.
The sides discussed a wide range of issues on the Armenian-US agenda,
official sources report. The sides stressed that a healthy political
dialogue is developing between the two countries, bilateral
cooperation is expanding in the trade-economic sphere and the USA is
continuing to participate in humanitarian programmes.
Condoleezza Rice highly valued Armenia’s participation in the fight
against international terrorism and in programmes on the restoration
of Iraq.
The meeting also discussed the domestic situation in Armenia and
democratic reforms in the republic. Oskanyan briefed the US secretary
of state on the latest developments related to the settlement of the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.
The sides exchanged opinions on processes in the South Caucasus and
neighbouring regions and discussed Armenian-Turkish relations.

Armenia, Lithuania to boost bilateral ties
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
10 Jun 05
[Presenter] Armenian President Robert Kocharyan met Lithuanian Speaker
Arturas Paulauskas today. The sides discussed cooperation between
Armenia and Lithuania.
The Lithuanian speaker said that the Baltic countries are more
experienced in European integration and intend to share it with their
Armenian counterparts. He said that great changes can be seen in all
spheres in Armenia.
Noting Lithuania’s great success in European integration and in the
transition period, Kocharyan described Lithuania’s experience as
useful for Armenia because the two countries have a lot in common.
The sides also discussed opportunities for developing economic
cooperation, noted the importance of bilateral discussions, exchanging
information and intensifying business relations.
The meeting also discussed regional issues. Kocharyan informed the
Lithuanian parliamentary delegation about the current situation in the
negotiating process on settling the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.
The members of the delegation also met officials of Armenia’s
legislative and executive authorities today.
[Correspondent] Lithuanian Speaker Arturas Paulauskas who is paying a
visit to Armenia at the invitation of Armenian Speaker Bagdasaryan
started his working day with a tete-a-tete meeting with his Armenian
counterpart. The Armenian speaker informed his Lithuanian counterpart
about the constitutional reforms in the country, noting that Armenia
has taken the path of European integration and it is important for
Armenia to learn Lithuania’s experience as a new member country of the
European Union.
The sides touched on cooperation between the Baltic and South Caucasus
countries, describing it as a three plus three formula.
The meeting also discussed opportunities for expanding
interparliamentary relations and implementing specific programmes.
The Lithuanian speaker also met Minister for Territorial
Administration Ovik Abramyan. During the meeting, the Armenian side
touched on Armenia’s commitments to the Council of Europe and noted
that Armenia has already fulfilled 90 per cent of them.
Abramyan stressed that mutual high-level visits are important to the
development of relations between Armenia and Lithuania.
[Passage omitted: The delegation of the Lithuanian parliament also
visited the Armenian genocide memorial]

SwissInfo
June 10 2005
Armenian question overshadows Turkish visit

photo: Don’t mention Armenia: Joseph Deiss with Turkish prime
minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, last year (Keystone)
A delegation of Turkish parliamentarians arrives in Switzerland on
Monday, amid fresh controversy over the killing of Armenians by the
Ottoman Empire.

Newspaper reports in Turkey on Friday said planned visits by ministers
from both countries had been cancelled, in response to the launch of a
criminal investigation against a Turkish historian.

Turkish newspapers, Radikal and Milliyet, reported that the Turkish
trade minister, Kürsad Tüzmen, had cancelled a visit to Zurich,
planned for June 22-24.
Tüzmen had been due to address the Swiss-Turkish Business Council,
which said he had postponed his visit a month ago. He was also due to
meet the economics minister, Joseph Deiss.
Tüzmen was refusing to come to Switzerland for reasons of solidarity
with the historian in question, Yusuf Halacoglu, the papers said.
Radikal quoted Tüzmen as saying that Halacoglu was a “good friend”.
Last month, the cantonal prosecutor’s office in Winterthur launched a
criminal investigation against Halacoglu for violating anti-racism
laws. The prosecutor’s office says the Turkish historian played down
the massacre of Armenians in 1915-18 in a speech in May 2004.
According to Radikal and Milliyet, Deiss has cancelled a reciprocal
visit to Turkey, scheduled for September. There has been no
confirmation from the Swiss economics ministry, but spokesman Manuel
Sager said the Turkish side had indicated that there were “scheduling
problems” with the visit.
However, the press attaché at the Turkish embassy in Bern, Sibel Gal,
said Deiss’s visit was still expected to take place in the autumn.

Controversy

The latest controversy comes as the foreign affairs committee of the
Turkish Grand National Assembly begins a weeklong visit to Switzerland
on Monday. The trip is a reciprocal visit: a Swiss delegation visited
Ankara last year.
The Turks are due to meet Swiss parliamentarians, as well as Deiss and
the Swiss foreign minister, Micheline Calmy-Rey.
Turkey and Switzerland have been at odds over the Armenian question
since 2003, when the Vaud cantonal parliament voted to recognise the
killings as genocide. The House of Representatives followed suit three
months later.
Ankara withdrew an invitation to Calmy-Rey after the vote in Vaud, but
she visited the country last March once tensions had eased.
Turkey strongly denies the charge of genocide, putting the emphasis on
killings by both sides.

“Bitter taste”

Speaking to swissinfo earlier in the week, before the latest
controversy erupted, the Turkish ambassador to Bern, Alev Kiliç,
admitted that the Armenian situation “has left a bitter taste at a
certain point in our relations”.
“We would like to clear this once and for all by establishing a
commission of historians from both sides and opening all files and
archives.”
Kiliç added the Swiss had shown interest in such a commission during
Calmy-Rey’s visit in March, and that now it was up to the Armenians to
make their position clear.
“Of course the proposal has also been made to the Armenian government
and we can’t establish anything without their agreement. We have still
not received a positive reply.”

Turkish MP on confidence-building visit to Armenia
Arminfo
10 Jun 05
YEREVAN
Turan Comez, MP of the [ruling] Justice and Development Party, is
paying an unofficial visit to Yerevan. This is the first ever visit by
a Turkish MP to Armenia.
At today’s meeting with students of Yerevan State University, the
Turkish delegate conveyed greetings from Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and described his visit to Yerevan as the first step on
the path to establishing good neighbourly relations and building
confidence between Armenia and Turkey.
“We want to preserve peace and develop relations between our
countries, which is possible without prerequisites being put
forward. We would also like all countries of the region to be able to
hope to receive access to its riches. The Turkish authorities have
displayed great interest and backed my initiative to visit Yerevan,”
he said.
He expressed confidence that the visit would yield positive results
and allow other Turkish officials to follow suit, especially as the
Turkish side also wants this very much. Speaking about Ankara’s policy
towards Armenia in the invariable association with the Nagornyy
Karabakh and Azerbaijan topic, the MP noted the need to focus on
topics which would bring the two peoples and states together but not
separate them.
“It is important to come to understand what happened in the past and
speak about it openly and truthfully,” the Turkish MP stressed.
Comez said that he is planing to meet his Armenian counterparts in the
Armenian National Assembly today. He believes that this meeting may be
the deciding one and be of great importance for future political
relations.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Foreign Policy Association
June 10 2005
Chiefs of Party – New Independent States
DPK Consulting

DPK Consulting, an international development consulting firm working
in rule of law and democratic governance, seeks candidates for
anticipated USAID anti-corruption/civil society projects in Armenia,
Georgia, and Ukraine. The projects will focus on working with
nongovernmental organizations, the media and the private sector to
build public awareness of costs of corruption and shared
responsibility to combat it. We are seeking candidates for:
Chief of Party – Armenia
Chief of Party – Georgia
Chief of Party – Ukraine
Qualification:
Demonstrated ability to manage, design, and implement technical
assistance, and training programs to combat corruption and advance
public or private sector reforms, with a focus on building broad
civil society engagement and support and increased public awareness.
Extensive knowledge of and one or more of the following areas:
assessing, measuring, and monitoring corruption in different
sectors/agencies; corruption indicators and monitoring systems;
generating credible information on corruption through forensic audits
and targeted expenditure tracking surveys; improving the capacity of
regulatory and control institutions to detect and share information
on corruption; legal frameworks; engaging private sector and creating
linkages to economic reforms; grants program design and management;
public access to information; advocacy; constituency/coalition
building; civil society complaint and oversight mechanisms and NGO
watchdogs; community mobilization and oversight of public investment
and service delivery; legislative strengthening and processes;
independent media and training in investigative journalism.
Minimum 10 years of relevant professional experience and at least 5
years of international experience. Previous work experience in the
NIS/Eurasia region preferred.
Experience on USAID projects.
Fluent in English. Knowledge of local languages and/or Russian a
plus.
Please submit resume and cover letter to: [email protected]
with the job code `NIS-01.03′ in the subject line. No phone calls,
please.
Email: [email protected]

Massis Weekly Online – Vol. 25, No. 22.
June 11, 2005
– Pontifical Divine Liturgy At The Cathedral Of Our Lady Of The Angels
– Aram Sarkisian Arrives In The United States
– The Twenty Hunchakian Gallows

– His Holiness Karekin II Catholicos Of All Armenians In The Western
Diocese Pontifical Divine Liturgy At The Cathedral Of Our Lady Of The Angels
LOS ANGELES — At 3:30 p.m. on June 5, 2005 His Holiness Karekin II,
Catholicos of All Armenians, celebrated Pontifical Divine Liturgy in the
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Led by a vast procession of
Archbishops, Bishops, diocesan clergy, deacons and ecumenical guests,
His Holiness made his official entry into the Cathedral under the
`Amphovani’, the traditional umbrella of the Catholicos. As he proceeded
to the Altar, His Holiness blessed the faithful who had filled the
Cathedral to capacity.
All Diocesan clergy and deacons of the Southern California region took
part in the procession, as well as high ranking clergy, including His
Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese;
His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Eastern
Diocese; His Eminence Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian; His Eminence
Archbishop Arsen Berberyan; His Eminence Archbishop Nerses Bozabalyan;
His Grace Bishop Vicken Aikazian, Legate of Washington, D.C.; His Grace
Bishop Bagrat Galsdanian, Primate of the Canadian Diocese; and His
Eminence Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian.
His Holiness was assisted during Divine Liturgy by His Eminences
Archbishop Hovnan Derderian and Archbishop Khajag Barsamian. The United
Armenian Central Choir of the Western Diocese sang the Liturgy, directed
by Deacon Stepan Gozumian and accompanied by Dr. Ronald Sinanian on the
organ.
During the Divine Liturgy His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian
welcomed the Catholicos. `Your Holiness,’ said Archbishop Derderian, `it
gives me a great honor to extend to you a warm welcome to the Western
Diocese on behalf of our Diocesan clergy, Diocesan Council, and the
faithful members, as well as the ecumenical guests and dignitaries who
are present here today.
His Holiness Karekin II is the spiritual leader of the Armenian
Apostolic Church and the nation. Since his election to the throne of St.
Gregory the illuminator in 1999 the Armenian Church has become a
dominant presence in the life of the Armenians both in Armenia and the
Diaspora. It is time for the Church of Armenia to recuperate from the
loss of the dark era of the Soviet Union and to radiate the Light of God
from the hearts of Armenians in Armenian and in our communities.’
In his Pontifical Sermon His Holiness Karekin II expressed his gratitude
to the Cardinal for making the Cathedral available for the Pontifical
Divine Liturgy. He extended to the faithful his warm and heartfelt
blessings form the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. The Catholicos urged
the faithful to renew and reawaken within them the Christian faith and
the love towards the Armenian Apostolic Church, as we celebrate together
the 1600th anniversary of the creation of the Armenian alphabet. He
continued saying `the ills and difficulties of Armenia and the Armenian
Apostolic Church will disappear’ when we are connected in Christ.
On this auspicious occasion, in appreciation of the hard work,
unrelenting devotion and dedication of His Eminence Archbishop
Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese, to the Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin, the Western Diocese and the faithful, His Holiness
presented to Archbishop Derderian a `Banagia’, the official symbol of
the rank of Archbishop.
In celebration of the 1600th anniversary of the alphabet the `Banagia’
is adorned with the original 36 Armenian letters. His Holiness also gave
a cross to Cardinal Roger Mahony expressing his gratitude for allowing
the Western Diocese the use of the Cathedral.
Following the Sermon His Holiness Karekin II, as well as the high-raking
clergy participating in the Liturgy and over 25 clergy administered Holy
Communion to the faithful.
-Aram Sarkisian Arrives In The United States
Former Prime Minister Will Be Keynote Speaker At The 90th Anniversary
Commemoration Of 20 Gallows
GLENDALE — Aram Sarkisian, the leader of Armenia’s `Hanrapetutyun’
(Republic) opposition party, has arrived in the U.S. at the invitation
of Social Democratic Hunchakian Party. He will be the keynote speaker at
an event dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the hanging of 20 Hunchak
party leaders by the Ottoman Turks in 1915. The event will be held in
Glendale on June 11th at United Community Church (333 E. Colorado St).
Sarkisian’s first stop was the nation’s capital Washington DC where he
is met with officials in the National Security Council and the State
Department as well as members of the U.S. Congress.
Sarkisian, who briefly served as Armenia’s prime minister in 1999-2000,
after the assassination of his brother Vasken Sarkisian, put his visit
in the context of recent U.S. calls for democratization in the South
Caucasus and elsewhere in the world. `Western governments are always
elected by the people and that is called democracy,’ he said. `The
Russians, on the other hand, support the likes of Saddam Hussein,
[Belarus President Aleksandr] Lukashenko, [Armenian President Robert]
Kocharian who is totally rejected by our people. That is why Russia is
losing.
`Russia is offering us nothing, while the West is urging us not to rig
elections and to form legitimate judicial, legislative and executive
bodies.’
Sarkisian and his `Hanrapetutyun’ party, which is a key member of
Armenia’s largest opposition alliance, has been the most vocal opponent
of Robert Kocharian, who’s re-election in 2004 was marred by massive
voter frauds, arrests and brutal dispersion of peaceful demonstrators
opposing his illegal power grab.
In April of 2004, special security forces using water cannons and stun
grenades chased thousands of demonstrators away from the presidential
palace, and later seized and ransacked the offices of opposition parties
including `Hanrapeputyun’ which sustained the most damage. Aram
Sarkisian had to stay in hiding for a few days fearing arrest by
the Kocharian regime. Only condemnation and pressure by European Union
countries forced the government to back down.
– Biography:
Aram Sakisian was born on January 2, 1961 in the village of Ararat in
the Ararat region. He graduated with a degree in civil engineering from
Yerevan Polytechnic Institute in 1989.
>From 1980-1982 he served in the Soviet Army. For the next four years he
worked first as a foreman, later laboratory head, then assistant to the
chief engineer and eventually chief engineer in Araratardshin Trust
Company. From 1993-1998 he worked first as an assistant to the director,
later he was appointed deputy to the general director, administrative
director and eventually became the general director of the Araratcement
Company.
>From 1999-2000 he was prime minister of the RA and from 2000-2002 he was
the general director of Araratcement CJSC Company. On May 25, 2003 he
was elected to the NA from the proportional
list of the opposition Justice Alliance.
Mr. Sarkisian is married and has three children.
– The Twenty Hunchakian Gallows
The 7th General Convention of the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party which
was held in Constanta, Romania, in 1913, had a unique and great
importance not only for the Hunchaks, but in the history of the Armenian
people as a whole. During the Convention, members stressed their concern
of the Ittihad (Young Turk) government’s blatant disregard of the
Armenian lives who resided in Historic Armenia.
The Hunchaks feared that this disregard would only escalate as time
pasted. The Hunchaks also stressed the importance of a United
Independent Armenia which would be impossible under the racist
and dictatorial Young Turk govern-ment’s rule of the Ottoman Empire.
Thus the convention adjourned with two main objectives:
I – As stated in its original program, the party was to move from licit
to illicit activities, thus becoming once again a covered organisation.
II – To plan and assassinate the leaders of the Ittihad (Young Turk)
party, the same leaders that carried out the Adana massacres of 1909,
and thus the same leaders who at that moment were planning the
annihilation of the Armenian people.
Unfortunately, these secret objectives were passed on to the Turks by an
Armenian agent for the government; consequently as soon as the delegates
arrived in Constantinople, they were arrested. By
the end of the year a total of one hundred and forty Hunchak leaders
were arrested.
After spending two years in the horror known as Turkish jails, and
lengthy mock trials, twenty prominent figures – Paramaz, Dr. Benne, Aram
Ach’ekbashian, Vanig and others were sentenced to death by hanging. Few
weeks after the beginning of the Armenian Genocide on June 15, 1915, all
twenty men were hung in the central square of Constantinople, know as
Sultan Bayazid Square.
The destiny of the Twenty Martyrs was intertwined with the destiny of
their nation. They knew what was coming, sounded the alarm but were
betrayed by a fellow Armenian. They believed that an
independent Armenia will be born from the ashes of the old one, they
were right.
Over the past decades, the Twenty Martyrs were a source of inspiration
for thousands of young Armenians through out the world, but most
especially to those who joined the Social Democrat
Hunchakian Party, fought under its banner, and in its ranks worked for
the welfare of all Armenians.
Today the Armenian Republic is a living example of what the Twenty
Martyrs and thousands of other Hunchakian heroes fought and died for.
But the struggle must and will continue, until the immediate and future
objectives of the Social Democrat Hunchak Party and the Armenian people
are accomplished.
MassisWeekly.com – Massis Weekly Online – Organ Of the Social Democrat
Hunchak Party – Western USA – All rights reserved. Republication and
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EurasiaNet Organization
June 10 2005
ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT CONSIDERS WAYS TO IMPROVE CONDITIONS FOR MIGRANT
WORKERS
Haroutiun Khachatrian 6/10/05
Armenia has experienced a decline in emigration in recent years.
Nevertheless, lackluster job prospects in the country mean that
migrant workers will continue to be key providers for many Armenian
families. To help ensure the steady flow of cash remittances from
abroad, officials are now exploring ways to safeguard the rights of
migrant workers.
Despite annual economic growth rates of roughly 11 percent since
2001, unofficial estimates put unemployment in Armenia as high as 30
percent, according to a May 25 report by Armenia Liberty. The
official rate is considerably lower, standing at 9 percent. The lack
of well-paying jobs has prompted many citizens to go abroad in search
of work.
Even though some domestic economic sectors, including construction,
are experiencing a labor shortage, observers say that emigration
patterns should hold relatively steady as long as opportunities for
well-paid work remain slim. In 2003, the latest year for which
government figures are available, monthly salaries averaged $127.
Estimates vary on the number of Armenians who leave the country each
year to earn their living. Official statistics put the current number
at roughly 70,000 migrants per year. But Gagik Yeganian, head of the
government’s Department of Migration and Refugee Affairs, told
EurasiaNet that 140,000 is probably closer to the mark. The money
they sent back home made up a significant part of the $1 billion in
foreign cash transfers that the Central Bank reported Armenian
residents received in 2004.
Overall, around 1 million Armenians left the country during the 1990s
to search for new economic opportunities, as Armenia struggled to
overcome the effects of the Soviet economic collapse and the impact
of the war with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. The emigration
trend has moderated significantly in recent years, as the domestic
economy showed signs of a gradual improvement. Indeed, last year, for
the first time since 1996, the number of immigrants to Armenia was
reportedly slightly higher (by 2,400 individuals) than the number of
emigrants.
Over the past decade, most Armenian migrant workers have headed to
Russia or other former Soviet republics. Labor legislation in these
countries is still relatively undeveloped in comparison to Western
standards, leaving Armenians vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.
The story of one Yerevan resident provides a case in point. Unable to
find a proper job in Armenia, Gareguin, a former car repair worker,
left for Moscow three years ago. Together with his wife, Gareguin
worked for ten months for a company owned by a Moscow-based Armenian
that produces concrete construction blocks. The couple was not
allowed to leave the company’s grounds, Gareguin said, and did not
have the proper documentation to work in Russia, a situation that
made them subject to arrest. When Gareguin and his wife finally
returned home, they had been paid only a small part of their expected
wages. It took more than a year before the pair received their
salaries in full. The lump sum went to paying off debts accumulated
in Yerevan in the meantime.
Many Armenians, however, never manage to collect their wages from
employers. Nor do job placement agencies provide much assistance in
this area. The licensing requirement for job agencies was rescinded a
few years ago. Now, any company can offer employment placement
services for a fee and bears no legal responsibility for the results.
Yeganian, the migration official, believes that the government must
be more active in protecting the rights of so-called “pendulum
migrants” like Gareguin and his wife. “Job placement is not easy
work. It needs a professional approach,” Yeganian said. “Those who
offer jobs abroad should be able to research foreign countries’ labor
markets and provide job agreements that protect the rights of job
migrants abroad.”
Without regulation, would-be labor migrants run the risk of falling
under the control of human traffickers, observers say.
In its 2005 annual report on human trafficking, the US State
Department took Armenia to task for failing to actively combat what
has developed into a significant problem in former Soviet states.
“The Government of Armenia does not fully comply with the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so,” the report read. Law-enforcement
actions against trafficking were described as “anemic.”
The government itself was cited as one of the impediments: officials
and border guards are believed to facilitate Armenia’s trade.
Nonetheless, according to the report, no prosecutions were launched
in 2004 against government employees suspected of being active in
this area. Many government officials, in fact, claim that trafficking
is not a problem for Armenia, the report said.
Yeganian’s department, one of the Armenian government agencies that
works with the International Organization for Migration on
trafficking issues, has prepared a draft law for regulating labor
migration, but the document does not yet have official approval.
Meanwhile, the department attempts to act as a professional job
agency for Armenians who want work abroad, Yeganian said.
One agreement, concluded in February 2005, provided for qualified
personnel to work in a newly opened hospital in the Persian Gulf
emirate of Qatar. Insufficient knowledge of English was one stumbling
block for Armenian job candidates, however. Out of a total of 50
Armenian applicants, only four nurses were chosen for work in the
hospital. Yeganian said that his department now plans to organize
English-language training courses so that such obstacles can be
avoided in the future.
The example of the Philippines, he went on to say, is one that
Armenia should follow. “In the Philippines, the government is very
active in organizing workforce migration. They have special personnel
in diplomatic missions that are charged with looking for jobs for
their compatriots,” he said. “I believe Armenia must act in a similar
manner.”
Editor’s Note: Haroutiun Khachatrian is a Yerevan-based writer
specializing in economic and political affairs.

BP News, TN
June 10 2005
IN SEARCH OF NOAH’S ARK: Wyatt’s quest: Part 3, Earthquake
revelations 1979
Jun 10, 2005
By Mark Kelly

Astonishing
An earthquake in December 1978 caused the earth around the mysterious
remains to drop — revealing what looked to Ron Wyatt like a giant
shipwreck! Photo courtesy Wyatt Archeological Research

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Sixteen long months ground by while Ron Wyatt
waited for another opportunity to return to Turkey. He still had no
idea how he could get permission from the government to excavate what
he knew in his heart were the remains of Noah’s Ark.
Then one day, late in November 1978, news reports carried a casual
mention of an earthquake in a remote part of Turkey near the Russian
border. His heart leapt. Wouldn’t it be just like God to do the
excavation himself!
The next seven months dragged even more slowly than the 16 before.
When his next two-week vacation finally arrived, Wyatt rushed back to
Dogubeyazit with an Armenian preacher from California who spoke
Turkish. They arrived on Aug. 11, 1979.
Wyatt’s jaw dropped at the sight.
The earth around the mysterious object had dropped, revealing what
looked to him like a giant shipwreck. He noted evenly spaced grooves
all around the object, which reminded him of the ribs of a ship’s
hull. The collapse of the dirt enabled him to take soil samples in
the very heart of the ruin.
He also was able to take precise measurements. He noted a total
length of 512 feet, except for a three-foot section that looked like
it had broken off the lower end. That gave him a total length of 515
feet.
Most experts said the Ark was 450 feet long, multiplying the biblical
measure of 300 cubits by 18 inches, the standard in ancient
Mesopotamia. But Wyatt believed the Ark would have been built
according to the older — and longer — Egyptian cubit of 20.6
inches. Applying that measure meant the Ark would have been 515 feet.
Combined with the anchor stones, the ancient house and the graveyard
he had seen two years earlier, Wyatt couldn’t dismiss the
measurements as a coincidence. What would the chances be of
discovering an ancient ship the same size as the Ark in the same
mountain range named in the Bible?
Bill Shea of the Biblical Research Institute in Silver Springs, Md.,
agreed. In September 1976, he had written in Creation Research
Society Quarterly, “One might put these two sites in perspective by
reflecting upon what would have happened had this formation been
found on Agri Dagh [Mt. Ararat]. I may be wrong, but I suspect that
news of it probably would have been heralded far and wide as the
discovery of the site where the Ark had rested. What a difference a
mountain makes.”
Back home, Wyatt sent his soil samples to Galbraith Labs in
Knoxville, Tenn., for an analysis of basic mineral content. A sample
taken outside the formation showed carbon content of 1.88 percent,
but one from inside the object registered 4.95 percent carbon — the
kind of reading one would expect if it contained matter that had once
been alive. Living matter like wood. The sample also had an iron
content higher than would have been expected.
Another piece of positive evidence, but applications to excavate
still were being denied. Wyatt decided his next investigation would
pursue the iron content clue. Would a metal detector show that the
iron content was evenly spaced like the “ribs” he had seen at the
site?

ITAR-TASS, Russia
June 10 2005
Armenian pilots released after 15 months in irons in Equatorial Guinea

MOSCOW, June 10 (Itar-Tass) — The Armenian pilots, who were
released from prison in Equatorial Guinea two days ago, had spent 15
months in irons, An-12 crew commander Ashot Karapetyan told a Friday
conference at the Itar-Tass main office.
He said each crewmember had had several bouts of malaria. `We did not
receive good therapy, so the disease was recurrent,’ Karapetyan said.
The pilots think that malaria might have a severe effect on their
health. They asked President of the Russian Armenian Union Ara
Abramyan for organizing their medical treatment.
The pilots admitted though that they were treated better than local
inmates.
Six Armenian pilots were charged with a coup attempt last November
and sentenced to 14-24 years in prison. They pleaded not guilty. The
president of Equatorial Guinea pardoned the pilots on June 6.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress