Month: June 2005

Pan Armenian News
ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS DEPARTED FOR LATVIA
06.06.2005 05:19
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian parliamentary delegation of the commission
for foreign affairs is in Latvia on a formal visit June 6-9, IA Regnum
reports. Today the Armenian legislators will attend the Duma of Yurmala and
meet representatives of the Armenian Society of Latvia. Tomorrow they are
scheduled to visit the Museum of Occupation of Latvia and meet with the
deputies of commission for defense and home affairs of the Latvian Saeima.
June 8 the delegation is invited to Latvian Foreign Minister Artis Pabriks.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pan Armenian News
AGO GROUP VISIT TO ARMENIA PUT OFF
06.06.2005 04:58
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Due to some technical reasons the Ago Group of the Council
of Europe postponed its visit to Armenia scheduled for June 6 till late
June, IA Regnum reports. The Ago Group named after Italian Ambassador to
PACE Pietro Ercole Ago is composed of CE Ambassadors, each of whom is
charged with a task of supervising the process of meeting the commitments
the countries undertake at the entry to the CoE. Presently the Group is
headed by Ronald Wegener, who is watching the process of Armenia’s meeting
commitments to the CoE.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pan Armenian News
ANDRANIK MARGARIAN DEPARTED FOR JAPAN
06.06.2005 03:14
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today the Armenian delegation headed by Prime Minister
Andranik Margarian departed for Nagoya, Japan, where EXPO-2005 World
Exhibition has opened, RA government’s press center reported. Today the
delegation members will visit the Nagoya Palace, the Temple of Atsuta as
well as historical and architectural monuments. Tomorrow Andranik Margarian
will visit EXPO-2005, where the National Day of Armenia will be held. The RA
Premier will attend the Japanese, Caucasian and other pavilions and
familiarize himself with the exhibits. Tomorrow the Armenian delegation will
make for Tokyo.

Pan Armenian News
BSTDB BOARD OF GOVERNORS SITTING HELD IN YEREVAN
06.06.2005 02:52
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The seventh sitting of the Board of Governors of the Black
Sea Trade & Development Bank (BSTDB) and the Black Sea Business Forum
started in Yerevan on Sunday. High rank officials of the Black Sea regions
as well as of a number of international and financial organizations – the
European Union, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development,
International Monetary Fund, World Bank and International Financial
Corporation – have been invited to the Business Forum. The delegation of the
Russian Federation headed by the Russian branch of the BSTDB, director of
the department for investment policy of the RF Ministry of Economic
Development Svetlana Ganeyeva is taking part in the BSTDB sitting. The
participants of the sitting held under the aegis of the Armenian President
and Government are considering the annual report on the bank activities in
2004 and the key issues of the BSTDB development. The election of the new
chairman is also on the agenda. To remind, presently the post is occupied by
Armenian Minister of Economy and Finance Vardan Khachatrian. The discussions
of the forum will focus on the realization of the investment potential of
the Caucasus and the role of international organizations of the process as
well as the assistance to small business in Armenia and other states of the
Black Sea region. To remind, the Black Sea Trade & Development Bank was
founded in 1994 by members of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
Organization – Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece,
Moldova, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. The BSTDB promotes the economic
development of the member-states by financing the programs of state and
private enterprizes, RIA Novosti reports.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
THE CATHOLICOSATE’S PROJECT OF FUNDING HOUSING COMPLEXES NEARS COMPLETION
The social service initiative of the Catholicosate of Cilicia to provide
housing for the public will be completed in a few months. The last building
of the project is being constructed in Fanar and it is the second of its
type in the region.
His Holiness Aram I and members of the Cilician Brotherhood visited the
construction site and the newly built apartments on June 3.
“We launched this project giving a tangible expression to our church’s
social service activities. These apartments will soon be completed; their
reasonable prices aim at encouraging our new generation. On this occasion,
we also encourage all our dioceses to included housing projects in their
social service activities. We are also happy to affirm that some dioceses
have already taken successful steps on this direction,” His Holiness said.
Leading architects Hratch Markarian and Haroutioun Nazaretian, as well as
the chancellor of the Catholicosate of Cilicia, Khatchig Dedeian, gave
detailed information about the construction to His Holiness.
The two three-storey buildings contain ground-floor apartments that open up
to small gardens, big and small apartments, as well as duplex apartments.
##
View picture here:
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.

With compliments of the Adventist Press Service APD
Contact: Christian B. Schaeffler
Journalist SFJ
Telefon +41-61 261 61 15
Telefax +41-61 261 61 18
E-Mail: [email protected]
Armenian Church Leader Pays Visit to California
Karekin II will appear at a ceremony at Our Lady of the Angels
Cathedral in a sign of warming relations with Roman Catholics
By Claudia Zequeira, Times Staff Writer
Welcomed by faithful supporters, His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos
of All Armenians, the highest ranking official in the Armenian
Apostolic Church, has begun a tour of California that will include
visits to schools and hospitals and a special service June 5 (Sunday)
at the Roman Catholic cathedral in downtown Los Angeles.
Karekin’s trip began June 2 (Thursday) with a procession at St. Mary
Armenian Apostolic Church in Costa Mesa, where he was received by
dozens of clergymen and enthusiastic parishioners. Several women
received blessings from Karekin as he entered the church. “This is a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Talar Zorayan, 34. It’s a good
way for us to stay Armenian.”
On June 4 (Saturday), Karekin is expected to bless the foundation
stones of a “Mother Cathedral,” a church in Burbank that eventually
will serve as the seat of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church
of North America. The consecration of the $5-million project is
largely symbolic, with construction expected to begin a year from now,
church officials said.
Karekin, who was elected in 1999 and is based in the Armenian holy
city of Etchmiadzin, is making his second trip to California, home to
an Armenian and Armenian American population estimated at 500,000 to
700,000. A second Armenian Catholicos, His Holiness Aram I, is based
in Beirut and also commands loyalties in the Armenian diaspora, but
more U.S. Armenians are believed to be affiliated with Karekin’s
branch.
Karekin is planning to stop at Glendale High School on June 6 (Monday
evening) after regular class hours.
He also will visit Glendale Adventist Medical Center and Glendale
Memorial Hospital. Dr. Ara Tavitian said the visits are a token of
appreciation to California doctors and other healthcare providers who
have helped Armenians in California and in Armenia over the years.
[The pontiff will make this special visit to the Armenian community at
Glendale Adventist Medical Center to greet patients and consecrate the
hospital’s new patient care tower. He will present the hospital with
a Khachkar, which will permanently stay at the hospital. A Khachkar is
a stone slab with a cross carved into it. “The Catholicos wants to
visit Armenian patients to give them the word of God,” said Mayis
Shahbazyan, deacon of the Armenian Western Diocese].
On June 5 (Sunday), Karekin will appear at the Cathedral of Our Lady
of the Angels, the seat of the three-county Roman Catholic Archdiocese
of Los Angeles. Cardinal Roger Mahony is expected to attend the 3 p.m.
ceremony. “This is the first non-Catholic Eucharistic service in our
cathedral,” said Father Alexei Smith, an inter-religious officer with
the archdiocese. Smith said the Armenians’ use of the Catholic
cathedral made sense to accommodate a large crowd. But he added that
the gesture went beyond the practical. “I believe it’s not only the
size of our cathedral,” Smith said. “Most especially, it’s our level
of acceptance of each other.”
After leaving Los Angeles on June 10, Karekin is scheduled to travel
to Sacramento, Fresno, San Francisco and Detroit.

DISLOCATION OF PART OF ARMAMENT FROM RUSSIAN MILITARY BASES IN
GEORGIA TO ARMENIA CONSTITUTES NO THREAT TO NEIGHBORING STATES:
RF PERMANENT REP.
YEREVAN, JUNE 4. ARMINFO. Dislocation of part of the armament from
the closing Russian military bases in Georgia to Armenia constitutes
no threat to the neighboring states. Alexey Borodavkin, Permanent
Representative of the Russian Federation made this statement at a
siting of OSCE Permanent Council on June 2, the web-site of the RF
Foreign Ministry reports. He said the armament and ammunition to be
dislocated in Armenia would not exceed the Conventional Armed Forces
in Europe treaty quotas and would be under constant supervision of
the Russian party.
He said that May 30 2005 the foreign ministers of RF and Georgia signed
the text of a joint statement regarding the terms and conditions and
basic parameters of withdrawal of Russian military bases and other
military facilities of the Group of Russian Troops in the Transcaucasus
from the Georgian territory. The withdrawal of the military equipment
will start already in 2005 and at least 40 units of armored vehicles
will be dislocated. The process of disbandment and withdrawal of the
military base from Akhalkalaki will continue til October 1 2007. The
military base in Batumi as well as the Department of the GRTT will
be finally withdrawn within 2008.

PACE INTERESTED IN PROGRESS IN CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM IN ARMENIA
YEREVAN, JUNE 4. ARMINFO. An expert of CE Venice Commission Gianni
Buquicchio expressed doubts regarding inclusion of the issue of
Constitutional reforms in the agenda of summer session of PACE June
20-24. Talking to ARMINFO, he stated that PACE is interested in a
progress in the constitutional reform in the country. We have agreed
that another round of discussions on the draft constitutional reform
will be held on June 24 after PACE summer session in Strasbourg and
before the second reading of the draft. If our proposals are adopted,
the referendum will be held in October, Buquicchio says. It should
be noted that Venice Commission Plenary session is fixed for 10-11
June, Venice (Italy) – On the agenda: freedom of _expression and media
pluralism in Italy; constitutional reform in Armenia, electoral reform
in Armenia and Azerbaijan, the decertification of police officers
in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Law on the Prosecutor’s Office of
the Russian Federation and the amendments to the Constitution of
Ukraine adopted during the “Orange revolution”. A briefing for the
press will be held during the session at the Scuola Grande di San
Giovanni Evangelista (Venice).

ADOPTION OF LAW ON DUAL CITIZENSHIP TO RAISE GREATLY ARMENIA’s INFLUENCE IN REGION
YEREVAN, JUNE 4. ARMINFO. Number of Armenia’s citizens will total 5
mln after adopting a law on dual citizenship. It will raise greatly
country’s image in the region, strengthen ties of Armenian Diaspora
with their historical Motherland, and provide investment flows. Such
was a leitmotif of reporters on “About dual citizenship” seminar
organized by the ARFD party.
In particular, secretary of the ARFD faction Hrayr Karapetyan stated:
“If Azerbaijan has oil, Georgia has a sea, then Armenia has a powerful
Diaspora”. Issues of both military service and electoral right of
persons with dual citizenship, as well as mechanisms of defining
national identity will be the main topics of forthcoming June 4
inner-party discussions. “Both diplomats and lawyers and ethnographers
should be engaged in issues of defining national identity”, stated
a member of the Moscow lawyers association Rouben Kirakossyan in an
interview to ARMINFO.
He also noted that the 1997 European Convention on citizenship
creates a favorable background for law’s using. In particular, in
case of absence of general conscription in a country of residence,
the Convention gives a right to persons with dual citizenship to
perform military service in the historical Motherland. A problem of
cultural identity will be more polemic as some ARFD representatives
offer to check certificates of baptism and ending of surnames in
a citizen’s passport before giving the dual citizenship. However,
session’s participants unambiguously mentioned the inadmissibility
of the replacement of “citizen” term to “Armenian” in the Constitution.
“Turkey is the only country with such a Constitution and it is per se
a racist country”, stressed a representative of “HayDat” committee’s
Teheran branch Karen Khanlaryan. He also noted the necessity of
defining a separate provision in the Constitution about an order of
taking Armenia’s citizenship by foreigners-non-Armenians. The ARFD
party – one of the three parliamentary parties forming the ruling
coalition – is the more presented in Armenian Diaspora. -r-
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKISH SCHOLARS PROTEST POSTPONEMENT OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CONFERENCE
YEREVAN, JUNE 2. ARMINFO. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
will meet with President Bush on June 8 in Washington to again brand
his country as a mature and democratic nation ready for EU membership,
reports the Armenian Assembly of America.
In the last week, however, Turkey has again shown that its actions
run contrary to the rosy image it tries to portray. The forced
postponement of an unprecedented Armenian Genocide conference at
Bosphrous University had led hundreds of Turkish academics to protest
the government’s latest assault on free speech.
Below are the latest news release by the International Association of
Genocide Scholars and a letter from a representative of the Middle
East Studies Association to Prime Minister Erdogan condemning the
Turkish government’s interference with academic freedom.
The Association particularly says: We who serve as the Executive
Committee of the International Association of Genocide Scholars
protest and condemn the cancellation of the historians conference on
the Armenian question in Turkey by the Turkish government as a major
violation of basic standards of academic freedom in the free world.
At long last, Turkish academics and intellectuals, sponsored by
three honorable universities, were scheduled to conduct a conference
in which the historical reality of the Armenian genocide was to be
examined by many of the participating lecturers.
The government of Turkey is understandably struggling to win its
possible acceptance as a member of the European Union, and it is in
this climate that many Turkish intellectuals have moved courageously
to address the Armenian genocide, a truth which is still punishable
by Turkish law.
For the Turkish government to cancel the conference is a shameful
step and a setback to Turkey joining the free world in its growing
standards of historical truth and responsibility.
The Executive Committee of the International Association of Genocide
Scholars calls on the Republic of Turkey to allow full and free debate
and academic scholarship on the fate of the Armenian people in Ottoman
Turkey in 1915-1923.