Month: October 2005

U.S. Announces Charges in Massive Scheme to Bribe
Senior Government Officials in the Republic of
Azerbaijan

U.S. Newswire
10/6/2005

To: National Desk

Contact: Herbert Hadad, Megan Gaffney, Heather Tasker,
Bridget Kelly, 212-637-2600, all of the U.S.
Attorney’s Office

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 /U.S. Newswire/ — Following is a
release from the U.S. Department of Justice:

MICHAEL J. GARCIA, the United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, ALICE S. FISHER,
Assistant Attorney General in Charge of the Criminal
Division, and MARK J. MERSHON, the Assistant Director
In Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI,
announced that VIKTOR KOZENY, FREDERIC BOURKE, JR. and
DAVID PINKERTON have been indicted by a federal grand
jury in Manhattan for allegedly participating in a
massive scheme to bribe senior government officials in
Azerbaijan to ensure that those officials would
privatize the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan
Republic (“SOCAR”) and allow KOZENY, BOURKE,
PINKERTON, and others to share in the anticipated
profits arising from that privatization. Each of the
defendants is charged with conspiracy to violate the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), which makes it
a crime to offer to pay, or to pay, foreign government
officials in order to obtain or retain business. The
defendants are also charged with related crimes,
including money laundering.

KOZENY was arrested yesterday by law enforcement
authorities in The Bahamas, where he resides, pursuant
to a provisional arrest request made by the U.S.
government. He will appear today before Bahamian
court. The U.S. government intends to make a formal
request for KOZENY’s extradition under the Extradition
Treaty Between the Government of the United States of
America and the Government of the Commonwealth of The
Bahamas.

BOURKE and PINKERTON, meanwhile, voluntarily
surrendered to the FBI’s offices in Manhattan this
morning and are scheduled to be arraigned today in
front of United States District Judge RICHARD C. CASEY
at 1 pm.

Mr. GARCIA, Ms. FISHER, and Mr. MERSHON also announced
that three other individuals, THOMAS FARRELL, CLAYTON
LEWIS and HANS BODMER, previously pleaded guilty in
connection with their participation in this bribery
scheme.

Background

According to the twenty-seven count Indictment
unsealed today (the “Indictment”), VIKTOR KOZENY
controlled two companies, Oily Rock Ltd. (“Oily Rock”)
and Minaret Ltd. (“Minaret”), which participated in a
privatization program in Azerbaijan. Under that
privatization program, Azeri citizens could use free
government-issued vouchers to bid for shares of
state-owned industries that were to be privatized.
Privatization vouchers were bearer instruments that
were freely tradable, and they typically were bought
and sold using United States currency. Foreigners
could also participate in Azerbaijan’s privatization
program and own vouchers, but only if they purchased a
government-issued “option” for each voucher they held.

The Indictment alleges that beginning in July 1997,
KOZENY directed others to purchase vouchers and
options on behalf of Oily Rock and Minaret. According
to the Indictment, these vouchers and options were
purchased using millions of dollars of cash that was
flown into Azerbaijan on KOZENY’s private jet and on
planes he chartered.

The Indictment further alleges that various
individuals and institutions invested together with
KOZENY in privatization vouchers and options. Among
the individual investors was FREDERIC BOURKE, JR., who
made two investments in Oily Rock totaling
approximately $8 million, on behalf of himself and
family members and friends. The institutional
investors included American International Group
(“AIG”), which invested approximately $15 million
under a co-investment agreement with Oily Rock and
Minaret. DAVID PINKERTON, a Managing Director of AIG
in charge of AIG’s private equity group, was
responsible for supervising AIG’s investment in Azeri
privatization. In addition to AIG, other institutional
investors in this privatization venture included the
Wall Street hedge fund Omega Advisors, Inc. (“Omega”)
and its affiliated investment fund Pharos Capital
Management, L.P. (“Pharos”), which together purchased
approximately $151 million in vouchers and options.

The Indictment alleges that KOZENY and the individual
and institutional investors (collectively, “the
investment consortium”) made their investments with
the intent to acquire a controlling interest in SOCAR
upon its anticipated privatization. The Indictment
further alleges that, beginning in August 1997 and
continuing until 1999, KOZENY, BOURKE, PINKERTON, and
others paid or caused to be paid millions of dollars
worth of bribes to Azeri government officials to
ensure that the investment consortium would gain a
controlling interest in SOCAR and be able to reap huge
profits from its ultimate resale in the market.

The Bribery Scheme

The Indictment charges that KOZENY, acting on his own
behalf and as an agent of BOURKE, PINKERTON, and other
members of the investment consortium, made a series of
corrupt payments and promises to pay to a senior
official of the Government of Azerbaijan (the “Senior
Azeri Official”); a senior official of SOCAR (the
“SOCAR Official”); and two senior officials of the
State Property Committee or “SPC” (the “SPC
Officials”), the agency that was responsible for
administering the privatization program. Collectively,
the four officials alleged to have been bribed are
referred to as the “Azeri Officials.”

According to the Indictment, the corrupt promises and
payments to the Azeri Officials took a number of
forms. For example, in August 1997, KOZENY is alleged
to have promised to transfer to the Azeri Officials
two-thirds of the vouchers and options Oily Rock
purchased, and to give the Azeri Officials two-thirds
of all of the profits arising from the investment
consortium’s participation in SOCAR’s privatization.
In return for this “two- thirds transfer,” the
Indictment alleges that the Azeri Officials agreed to
permit the investment consortium to acquire a
controlling interest in SOCAR upon its privatization.

In addition to this “two-thirds transfer,” the
Indictment alleges that in June 1998, Oily Rock’s
shareholders approved an increase in Oily Rock’s
authorized share capital from $150 million to $450
million, and that the additional $300 million worth of
Oily Rock shares was transferred to one or more of the
Azeri Officials as a further bribe payment.

The Indictment further charges that a number of other
bribes were paid to the Azeri Officials. KOZENY and
others acting under his direction allegedly paid more
than $11 million in total to the Azeri Officials in
May and June 1998, of which approximately $6.9 million
was wire transferred to accounts held for the benefit
of certain of the Azeri Officials and their family
members, and millions of additional dollars in cash
were hand- delivered to one of the SPC Officials in
his government office.

KOZENY is also alleged to have arranged for a
representative of the London jeweler Asprey & Garrard
to travel to Azerbaijan in May 1998 to deliver several
gifts of jewelry and other luxury items to the SPC
Officials, who in turn selected the gifts to present
to the Senior Azeri Official on his birthday.
According to the Indictment, the total value of these
gifts was more than $600,000, which Minaret paid.

KOZENY and BOURKE are also charged with arranging for
both of the SPC Officials to travel to New York City
on different occasions in 1998 to receive medical
treatment, for which Oily Rock and Minaret paid.
KOZENY, through Oily Rock and Minaret, also paid for
the SPC Officials’ hotel, meal and other expenses on
these trips, as well as shopping expenses for one of
the SPC Officials at a high-end department store in
the New York area.

The Charges in the Indictment

The Indictment contains a total of twenty-seven
counts. All three defendants are charged with
conspiracy to violate the FCPA and the Travel Act. As
stated above, the FCPA makes it illegal to offer to
pay or to pay money or anything of value to a foreign
government official to obtain or retain business. The
Travel Act makes it illegal to travel or use the mails
or other interstate facilities to carry on certain
unlawful activity, including violations of the FCPA’s
anti-bribery provisions.

The Indictment also contains twelve separate counts of
violations of the FCPA, of which KOZENY is charged in
all twelve, BOURKE in five, and PINKERTON in one.
There are also seven counts of violations of the
Travel Act, of which KOZENY is charged in six, and
BOURKE and PINKERTON in one count each.

Each of the defendants is further charged with money
laundering conspiracy, based on wire transfers of
millions of dollars to purchase Azeri vouchers and
options, which in turn promoted violations of the
FCPA. There are also four separate substantive money
laundering violations, of which KOZENY is charged in
all four, BOURKE in two, and PINKERTON in one.

BOURKE and PINKERTON are also each charged with making
false statements in interviews with the FBI. The false
statement charge against BOURKE alleges that, in an
interview conducted in April and May 2002, he falsely
stated that he was not aware that KOZENY had made
payments to the Azeri Officials, when BOURKE knew that
KOZENY had paid bribes to those officials. The false
statements count against PINKERTON alleges that, in an
interview conducted in February and March 2002, he
falsely claimed that he was not aware that the Senior
Azeri Official had a financial interest in KOZENY’s
investment in Azeri privatization, when PINKERTON knew
that the Senior Azeri Official had such a financial
interest.

The conspiracy to violate the FCPA and Travel Act
count, the substantive counts of violations of the
FCPA and the Travel Act, and the false statements
counts each carry a maximum penalty of five years in
prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the
gross gain or loss resulting from the alleged
violations. The money laundering conspiracy and
substantive counts each carry a maximum penalty of 20
years in prison and a maximum fine of $500,000 or
twice the value of the laundered funds. Finally, the
Indictment contains a Forfeiture Allegation seeking
the forfeiture by the defendants of $174 million that
was involved in the charged money laundering offenses.

KOZENY, 42, resides in Lyford Cay, The Bahamas.

BOURKE, 59, resides in Greenwich, Connecticut.

PINKERTON, 44, resides in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

Mr. GARCIA praised the investigative efforts of the
FBI, and he said the investigation is continuing.

Mr. GARCIA added, “Corrupt payments to foreign
officials, such as the ones charged in this
Indictment, are a global threat to democratic
institutions and fair competition. We will vigorously
prosecute those who make illegal payments to corrupt
foreign officials.”

Ms. FISHER stated, “Representatives of American
businesses overseas cannot be allowed to bribe their
way into lucrative contracts or illegally purchase the
favor of foreign government officials. Business
conducted abroad must be done with honesty and
integrity. Those who violate U.S. law in their
financial dealings, here or in other countries, will
face serious consequences.”

Announcement Concerning Related Cases

As stated above, THOMAS FARRELL, CLAYTON LEWIS and
HANS BODMER have pleaded guilty in connection with
their participation in this bribery scheme. FARRELL,
who directed voucher purchases for Oily Rock, pleaded
guilty before United States District Judge RICHARD M.
BERMAN on March 10, 2003 to two-counts charging him
with conspiracy to violate the FCPA and violating the
FCPA.

LEWIS, who was a principal of Omega and Pharos and who
oversaw Omega’s and Pharos’s investments with Oily
Rock and Minaret, pleaded guilty before United States
District Judge NAOMI REICE BUCHWALD on February 10,
2004 to the same two charges.

Finally, BODMER, a Swiss lawyer who represented Oily
Rock, Minaret, Omega and other investors in connection
with their investments in Azeri privatization, pleaded
guilty before United States Magistrate Judge FRANK
MAAS on October 8, 2004 to a charge of money
laundering conspiracy.

The case against KOZENY, BOURKE and PINKERTON and the
related cases against FARRELL, LEWIS and BODMER are
being handled jointly by the United States Attorney’s
Office for the Southern District of New York and the
Fraud Section of the United States Department of
Justice. Assistant United States Attorney JONATHAN S.
ABERNETHY, Fraud Section Deputy Chief MARK F.
MENDELSOHN, and Fraud Section Assistant Chief
ROBERTSON PARK are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely
accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent
unless and until proven guilty.

-0-

© 2005 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/

US indicts investors on Azeri bribe charges

Financial Times
October 6, 2005

By Mark Turner in New York

A Czech financier and an employee of US insurance company AIG have
been indicted by US authorities for allegedly taking part in an
illegal scheme to bribe top Azerbaijan officials to buy its state oil
company on the cheap.

The decision, revealed on Thursday, marks a significant step in a
long-running saga believed to reach the very highest levels of the
Azeri government and involve a number of high-profile US investors.

Michael Garcia, the US attorney for the southern district of New York,
said Victor Kozeny, the alleged mastermind of the scheme also known as
the `Pirate of Prague’, was arrested on Wednesday in the Bahamas,
pending an extradition request by the US.

David Pinkerton, who was managing director of AIG Global Investment,
and Frederic Bourke, a US handbag tycoon who invested money with Mr
Kozeny, surrendered to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York
yesterday.

The US authorities claim both knew of the plan to bribe senior
Azerbaijan government figures, and invested on the basis of that
knowledge. All three defendants were charged with conspiracy to
violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and related crimes.

Mr Garcia also announced on Thursday that three other individuals
Thomas Farrell, an employee of Mr Kozeny’s investment company Oily
Rock, Hans Bodmer, a Swiss lawyer, and Clayton Lewis, a principal of
Omega Advisors, a prominent New York hedge fund had previously pleaded
guilty in connection with their participation in the bribery scheme.

Mr Kozeny’s alleged plan, hatched in the late 1990s, was to assemble a
group of investors to purchase privatisation vouchers, issued free to
Azeri citizens, ahead of the planned sale of the state oil company
Socar. Omega purchased $126m (105m, £75m) of vouchers, while AIG
purchased $15m, the indictment says.

Socar was to be the crown jewel of Azerbaijan’s privatisation
programme, and the vouchers were bought for much less than they were
thought to be worth.

In the end the oil company was not sold. But any successful attempt by
foreigners to take control would have clearly needed top-level
approval.

The indictment charges that Mr Kozeny, acting on his own behalf and as
an agent of Mr Bourke and Mr Pinkerton, `made a series of corrupt
payments and promises to pay’ a `senior Azeri official’, a `Socar
official’ and two top officials from the state property committee to
push the deal through.

Haydar Aliyev, the Azerbaijan president at the time, and his son
Ilham, the current president, were not named in the indictment, but it
says that Socar `could only be privatised with a special decree from
the president of Azerbaijan’.

It alleged Mr Kozeny arranged for jewellery worth more than $600,000
dollars to be sent from London’s Asprey and Garrard to Baku on the
occasion of the `senior Azeri official’s birthday on May 10,
1998′. That was the date of Haydar Aliyev’s 75th birthday.

Gifts included a `triangular photo frame with clock 18 carat yellow
gold, mother of pearl, tourmaline and enamel,’ worth more than
$100,000.

Other alleged bribes included direct cash payments of millions of
dollars, and the transfer of two-thirds of Oily Rocks’ vouchers and
options to Azeri officials. Mr Garcia described the scheme as
`nothing less than the brazen attempt to steal the wealth of a
sovereign nation’. The irony, according to Mark Mershon, assistant
director in charge of the New York field office of the FBI, was that
`it appears that corrupt Azeri officials scammed the scammers’.

US charges 3 with bribery in Azeri oil deal

Reuters
Thursday, October 6, 2005

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Three men have been indicted in a scheme to fly
tens of millions of dollars into Azerbaijan to bribe officials there
and gain control of the state oil company.

The defendants include the internationally wanted Czech investor
Viktor Kozeny, who was arrested in the Bahamas on Wednesday, and a
managing director of AIG Global Investment, a subsidiary of American
International Group, the world’s largest insurer by market value.

“This was a brazen attempt to steal the wealth of a sovereign nation,”
U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia told a news conference on Thursday to
announce the indictments by a federal grand jury.

Lawyers for the AIG employee, David Pinkerton, and another defendant,
Frederic Bourke, said they were both victims who were defrauded by
Kozeny and that they were helping to build a case against them.

Pinkerton, who was placed on leave with pay by AIG pending the
resolution of the case, and Bourke both pleaded not guilty on Thursday
to a series of charges including conspiracy to violate the Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act and money laundering.

They had turned themselves in to the FBI earlier on Thursday.

The Americans are seeking Kozeny’s extradition. He was previously the
subject of fraud charges in the Czech Republic and of a New York state
fraud indictment.

The case involves the former Soviet republic’s state oil company,
SOCAR.

VOUCHERS FOR SHARES

The country had been preparing the privatization of SOCAR in the 1990s
by issuing vouchers to bid for its shares, and the freely traded
instruments were typically bought and sold with dollars, officials
said.

Foreigners could also own vouchers if they purchased a
government-issued option for each voucher held.

Kozeny sent millions in cash on private jets or planes he chartered
into Azerbaijan via Switzerland to buy vouchers, and Bourke and
Pinkerton “knowingly participated in the scheme,” Garcia said.

Azerbaijan holds parliamentary elections on November 6.

AIG said no charges had been brought against the company itself and
that no client money was involved.

AIG said the Azerbaijan privatization program was brought to
Pinkerton’s group by Omega Partners Advisors, a New York hedge
fund. AIG, as co-investor, contributed about $15 million of a total
$180 million invested in 1998.

When AIG discovered in 1999 that it had been defrauded, it sued Kozeny
and has cooperated fully with the investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s
office, the company said in its press release.

;storyID05-10-06T201644Z_01_YUE672988_RTRUKOC_0_US-CRIME-OIL-AZERBAIJAN.xml&archived=False

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th St., NW Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:

PRESS RELEASE
October 6, 2005
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

VIDEO OF SYSTEM OF A DOWN ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RALLY
CIRCULATING ONLINE

— Two-Minute Film of the September 27th
Rally Outside the Batavia, Illinois Office of
Speaker of the House of Representatives Dennis Hastert
available at

— Serj Tankian to be interviewed on Friday, October 7th on
Air America Radio 10:00pm-1:00am (EST) on U.S. Recognition
of the Armenian Genocide

WASHINGTON, DC – Hundreds of thousands around the world learned
about the Armenian Genocide today – many for the first time – as a
two-minute on-line video of System of a Down’s recent rally in
support of the Armenian Genocide Resolution began circulating
across the internet, reported the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA).

The video features compelling footage of the multi-platinum band’s
September 27th visit – along with hundreds of their fans – to the
Batavia, Illinois office of Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-
IL). At the rally, which was organized by System of a Down, the
ANCA, the Armenian Youth Federation and Axis of Justice, band
members Serj Tankian and John Dolmayan delivered a letter asking
the Speaker to honor his pledge to hold a vote on legislation
recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

In the wake of the overwhelming approval of this legislation by the
House International Relations Committee on September 15th, the
decision to allow this measure to move forward now rests in the
Speaker’s hands. He can either schedule a vote on the House floor
or, by delaying its consideration, effectively prevent its passage.
If adopted, the legislation would officially recognize Turkey’s
systematic and deliberate destruction of 1.5 million Armenians
between 1915 and 1923.

To watch the video, go to:

Serj Tankian on Air America Radio

“The Mike Malloy Show” on Air America will broadcast an interview
with Serj Tankian on Friday, October 7th regarding U.S. recognition
of the Armenian Genocide. The show, featuring guest-hosts Anthony
Lappe and Paul Rieckhoff, will air 10:00 pm to 1:00 am (Eastern
U.S.)

For a listing of local stations, go to:

To ask the Speaker to support the Armenian Genocide Resolution:

HETQ.am

Flash’s Good Reputation is in Danger
October 3, 2005

Ararat Tsovyan feeds his family by repairing eyeglasses. His shop at 15
Pushkin Street was demolished on government orders, as part of the work on
Hyusisayin (Northern) Avenue. He was given the dram equivalent of US$ 8200
as compensation, as well as the right to rent a 20-square-meter property
adjacent to 15a Pushkin, in order to open another shop.
The decision (no. 2320-A, dated 01.12.2003) of Yerevan Mayor Yervand
Zakharyan allowed Tsovyan to receive a ten-year lease for 20 sq. m. of
property adjacent to 15a Pushkin. He followed procedure and signed a
contract to rent the property and received the lease after which he obtained
permission to start building, designed the project plan, agreed it with
authorities and began construction. “During construction, some people
approached my builders a number of times and said, ‘Don’t build it in vain.
If it’s in Flash’s way, it’ll be torn down anyway,” said Tsovyan.
The property allocated to Tsovyan is also adjacent to 19,Pushkin a building
which now belongs to Flash ltd. The company bought the building after
offering compensation to its residents, demolished it, and is now
constructing a new building for Armcapbank, which it owns.
Flash ltd. is one of Armenia’s largest importers of petroleum products.
According to the data of the Competition Conservation Commission, Flash is
in second place among petroleum product importers, providing 25-28% of the
diesel available in Armenia. Barsegh Beglaryan is the founder and president
of Flash. More than 1/4 of the petroleum market belongs to this company and
it has more than 200 employees. Besides this, Flash is the main shareholder
in the Nairit chemical plant. Barsegh Beglaryan, who also owns Flash, has
started doing business in Nagorno-Karabakh as well.

On March 10, 2005, equipment belonging Flash ltd. was used to demolish
Tsovyan’s half-built shop. “They tore it down, used some of the material to
build toilets for their laborers, and took the rest away in broad daylight,”
said Tsovyan.
Flash offered a different description of what had happened – “We didn’t tear
down his shop, the office of the mayor did. When we were tearing down the
building in order to build another one, Samvel Danielyan, the head architect
of Yerevan, was present, as were the heads of two City Hall departments [he
couldn’t remember which departments] and two policemen. The City Hall
representatives said that Tsovyan’s shop had to be torn down too, because
the mayor had taken a wrong decision in this regard – architecturally
speaking, such land allocation is unsound – besides which the shop was not
in accordance with the blueprints. So, it was the mayor’s office that tore
it down, not Flash. It’s just that City Hall asked for our excavator, and we
provided it, which is why the pictures show Flash equipment being used,”
said Moushegh Elchyan, vice-president of Flash ltd., “Now Tsovyan can come
and build his shop, we don’t want his land at all, but we will cause
problems, because we don’t like that structure.”
Contrary to Elchyan’s assurances that they don’t want Tsovyan’s land, it
turned out that the atrium of the future bank had already been built there,
and a parking lot is planned below it. Elchyan claimed that after the shop
was demolished, the mayor’s office asked Flash to help Tsovyan in order to
keep things quiet, since it was in Flash’s best interests as well to keep
that land free.

“If Tsovyan’s shop had indeed strayed from the original blueprints, then he
should have been by fined or warned by City Hall or the State Department of
Construction and told to bring things back to plan. But that was not the
case. I’ve conducted a legal investigation at the mayor’s office and
discovered that Tsovyan had the necessary documents to build his shop and
that it was not torn down by City Hall,” said Karen Mejlumyan, Tsovyan’s
lawyer.
Flash ltd. insists that Tsovyan’s shop was torn down on the orders of head
architect Samvel Danielyan as well as two heads of department at City Hall,
and in their presence. In reply to a written query, G. Khangeldyan, the head
of the Department of Construction and Land Supervision at City Hall, said
that the mayor’s office had not ordered the demolition of Tsovyan’s shop.
Besides this, an investigation by the prosecutors’ offices in the Central
and Nork-Marash municipalities also proved that City Hall could have no
legal basis to order the demolition of that shop. One can assume the
following based on all this – either Flash vice-president Elchyan has
committed slander against the high-ranking City Hall officials or head
architect Danielyan has abused his position by deeming that legally
constructed structure to be “architecturally unsound”, just to serve Flash’s
interests. In the abundance of illegal and “architecturally unsound”
structures in Yerevan, the head architect picked this legal half-built shop.
It is a point of interest as to whether the head architect was authorized to
declare the mayor Zakharyan’s judgment wrong and verbally overrule a written
decision, or whether the mayor would tolerate such impertinence if it did
not serve the interests of Flash ltd.
Tsovyan awaits the decision of the Prosecutor General. A decision has to be
taken as to whether to file a criminal case or dismiss the charges. In case
of dismissal, Tsovyan is preparing to appeal the case to a superior body or
the court of review.
“Flash had offered Tsovyan land in a different location, or a compensatory
sum of money, but he refused. Now we offer nothing. City Hall tore it down,
let City Hall compensate his loss,” insisted Elchyan. He is probably trying
not contadict Flash’s slogan- “Our good reputation is our dearest capital.”
Aghavni Yeghiazaryan

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

HETQ.am

Sevan – a Reflection of Armenia’s Ecological Problems
October 3, 2005

Armenian experts have lately been forced to make modifications in the
classification of Armenia’s ecological problems, which had gone unchanged
for decades. Until 2004-05 that list was as follows – Lake Sevan, air
pollution in Yerevan, forest management, soil degradation, emissions
control, the preservation of endemic species and so on.
Minister of Ecology Vardan Aivazyan said that the Sevan issue was now
entering its second stage. This means that if so far the problem was to
prevent the water level from dropping, now the concern is to control the
rising level of water and to supervise it, as well to ensure that it does
not happen due to dirty water.
Sevan in the region
Sevan has great significance for the whole region. Vladimir Movsisyan, the
vice-President of the Lake Sevan Expert Committee and member of the National
Water Board, mentioned the limited reserves of drinking water in the world
and cited findings by English researchers, which claimed that in the near
future one liter of fresh water will have greater value than one liter of
oil. The largest body of fresh water in our region is Lake Sevan, and by our
region Movsisyan does not just mean the South Caucasus, but also the Near
East.
The high altitude of the lake (1916 m above sea level) also allows for the
natural flow of drinking water to all the centers of the region – Yerevan,
Baku, Tbilisi, Tavriz, Baghdad and so on.
However…
Sevan was “vegetating”, until 2000
>From 1933, the largest lake in the region was exploited carelessly and
without any measures taken for replenishment. 26 cubic kilometers of water
were released from a total volume of 58 cubic kilometers for electricity and
irrigation purposes, thus lowering the water level by 19 meters. Naturally,
various parameters changed drastically – the temperature and acidity of the
water were no longer the same, the level of nitrogen products rose in the
water, and phosphorus levels dropped. This caused the lake to “vegetate”.
“Vegetating” for a lake means to stagnate. Experts describe it in a harsher
fashion, “The lake turned from a developing one into a dying one.” Finally,
in the 1960s, Soviet scientists came to understand this. Calculations were
made and programs were planned that would lead to a rise in the water level
by at least 6 meters, which would stop the stagnation, and would bring the
water quality closer to drinking standards. It would then be possible to
consider other measures to further raise the water quality. But even these 6
meters seemed unrealistic back then.
Nevertheless, the Soviet republic took a series of steps that not only aimed
at lowering the flow of water away from the lake, but also at providing some
inflow back into Sevan. That was the purpose behind the Arpa-Sevan-Vorotan
tunnels, the reservoirs of Aparan, Azat and Her-her as well as the pump
stations and irrigation systems at Ranchpar and Mkhchyan. According to
Vladimir Movsisyan’s data, these structures cost more than US $500 million.
However, the outflow of water for electricity generation and irrigation
continued.
How long?
In his interview with us, Minister of Ecology Vardan Aivazyan said that the
1999 Presidential Order to cease outflow from Sevan for electricity purposes
was critical in saving the lake. Besides this, the Parliament also passed a
“law regarding Sevan” in 2001, which outlined the volume of permitted
outflow. Thus, if the annual outflow of water from the lake earlier
constituted up to 1-1.5 billion cubic meters (with an annual minimum of 256
million cubic meters), this law limited it to 150-170 million cubic meters
per year. Experts in this field say that the outflow for irrigation is
strictly within legal limits. The Complex Program for the Replenishment of
the Sevan Ecosystem, which planned to raise the level of the lake by 6-6.5
meters over 30 years, was also accepted as law.
Nature disrupts plans
While scientists and officials were deciding to raise the water level by an
annual 22 cm to reach their stated target after 30 years, Sevan was a step
ahead of everyone. Over the last three years, the water level has risen by
an annual average of 40 cm. It would seem at first that the whole country
would rejoice at this news, but rumors doing the rounds in ecological
circles since July suggest something quite different.
Information surfaced in the Armenian press suggesting that the government
wanted to arrest this rapid rise in the water level because many rich people
had built houses and hotels on the shores of Sevan, considering the possible
future rise in water level to be unlikely, and now this rise was threatening
these structures.
When the Ministry of Ecology organized discussions in this regard,
representatives of ecological NGOs voiced concerns that their greatest fear
was coming true – the government was not thinking about Lake Sevan, but
rather about the interests of the owners of legal and illegal structures
built on its banks. Gagik Tadevosyan, former president of the parliamentary
ecological committee and currently a permanent member of the Eurasian
committee of the Convention to Combat Desertification said, “These
discussions aimed at gauging the attitude of the NGOs, to lay the foundation
for the arrest of the rise in water level. They shouldn’t have organized a
discussion, they should have accelerated the realization of the annual plan
within the Sevan Complex Program.”
The Ministry of Ecology announced that the government did not wish to slow
the rising level of the lake, but wanted to make it more manageable. “Our
aim is not just to raise the water level at Sevan, but also to raise it with
clean water,” said the program representatives. “Raising it with clean
water” means to clear the area around the banks of any vegetation, forests
and structures before they are submerged, to install water pipes for nearby
towns and a road which would replace a nearly 30 km segment of the national
highway which is also under threat of submersion. The government of Armenia
plans to do so over a period of 30 years, and needs to raise the required
US$ 300 million taking the deadline into consideration. The Minister of
Ecology said that, at this rate, the lake will rise by 6-6.5 m of water in
10-12 years. “A four-year interim program gave results that were 2.5 times
greater,” field experts proudly said, admitting that heavy precipitation
also had a big role to play in the revival of Sevan.
One step forward, two steps back?
On September 1, 2005, when the government took the decision to increase the
irrigational water outflow from Sevan to 150 million cubic meters, raising
it by 30 million cubic meters, Gagik Tadevosyan said, “They are already
lowering the water level, or, to be more accurate, they aren’t letting it
rise.” Tadevosyan admitted that it was for the experts to say whether the
extra 30 million cubic meters were necessary. However, he also added that
the rumors mentioned above say a lot more about any such decision than the
suggestion that it was done for irrigational purposes. Vladimir Movsisyan,
vice-President of the Lake Sevan Expert Committee, considered the extra
irrigational outflow to be justified, considering the relatively dry summer
and low precipitation this year. The Ministry of Ecology also added that
this decision was within the guidelines of the law regarding Sevan.
Sevan keeps rising and growing in beauty
“If this goes on, the Sevan peninsula will be an island again,” said an old
man standing on the shore, his voice filled with glee. The waves were
noticeably higher, and the marshy portions from last year were gone without
a trace. The vacationers on the beach said that they were very happy with
the higher water level – the water was cleaner, and it’s always more
pleasant to swim in cleaner water. Even those who had leased portions of the
beach were happy, although their business could suffer because of it. The
rising water has already covered some of the beaches and continues to
threaten others, including some of the structures built on them. In this
case, the owners would be forced to lease other land, and also to remove
mobile structures from where they could be submerged to safer areas.
However, it is difficult not to believe that their positive reaction is
genuine, even if the situation is against their financial gain. After all,
they realize that if the lake were to stagnate, they would be lose their
business completely.
No need to panic
Today 410 hectares of land has been submerged by the rising waters, of which
100 hectares were artificial forests and do not threaten to pollute the
lake, according to experts. But if the program to raise the water level by
6-6.5 m is realized, then 4427 hectares of land would be submerged, of which
3130 hectares is covered by forests.
“I am categorically for raising the water level by 6 meters and I don’t
understand this level of concern. Why are we so panicked that it’s rising?
We took certain steps and caused the water level to rise,” said Movsisyan.
The lack of financial means at this point to prepare the surrounding land
for further rise in the water level does not worry Movsisyan either. He said
that the residential areas around the lake had a shortage of firewood. There
was no need to complicate the situation by announcing tenders or
competitions. If the government were to appeal to the local population, they
would gladly cut the trees in the area and clear the land. As for preparing
the remaining land for the rising waters, the finances required are not
large, according to Movsisyan.
“The Caucasus – one home”
Solving the Sevan problem will not end Armenia’s ecological concerns. And in
general, in contrast to communist times, it is very difficult, and almost
impossible, ecologically clean one country separately.
“The Caucasus is one home,” said Minister of Ecology Vardan Aivazyan,
“Nature knows no borders, it is continuous and ubiquitous. Civilized society
should accept responsibility for maintaining nature.”
Aivazyan said that rough calculations put the population of the South
Caucasus at around 15 million. According to him, there are three main
concerns for those 15 million people, which are the joint and integrated
management of water, preservation of ecosystems and especially endemic
species, as well as the control of industrial emissions.
The minister assured us that there already is cooperation with Georgia over
control of illegal deforestation. He also mentioned a unique “exchange”
program involving the mouflon species from Armenia and royal deer from
Georgia.
So far cooperation with the Azerbaijani side has been limited to social
interaction – joint discussions, round tables and seminars. However,
Aivazyan said that it was necessary for the ministers of the two countries
to meet, which the Armenian side had proposed, with no reaction from
Azerbaijan so far. Why did Armenia officially not react to the news in
Azerbaijan that Armenia was releasing cholera bacilli into the Arax river,
which would then flow in Azerbaijan? “From time to time, Armenia responds to
such baseless and absurd allegations, proposing visits by any international
organization and monitoring in any format as well as in any area that causes
concern to our neighbors. That could be deforestation, radioactive waste, or
toxic-chemical pollution. But the Azerbaijani side never reacts to these
proposals, despite the existence of a number of potential joint programs. On
the contrary, Azerbaijan always politicizes these issues,” said the Minister
of Ecology. Speaking specifically about Arax, he gave the following
explanation, “Arax flows through Iran before entering Azerbaijan. So if we
were to pollute the river, Iran would be the first to complain. But Iran has
no complaints.” The Ministry of Ecology thought it pertinent to announce
once more, for everyone in the whole of the South Caucasus, the decision of
the Armenian authorities regarding the willingness to cooperate extensively
over ecological (and not only ecological) issues in the region, despite the
presence of conflicts and contradictions. An example of such cooperation
could be the German “Caucasus Initiative” program, which includes
allocations of 10 million euros to the three republics for work in the
sphere of ecology. Armenia has already signed the contract, received the
money, and is preparing to found the “Arpi” national park on the Javakhk
plateau. Georgia is slightly behind, while Azerbaijan is still in the
negotiation stage.
Arevhat Grigoryan

HETQ.am

I Can’t Wait Any More
October 3, 2005

“I can’t imagine that he’s alive,” the mother of a soldier who went missing
in action in the Karabakh War admitted painfully. “If he were, wouldn’t he
know that we’re waiting?”
Sirush Hakobyan still has a list of 21 Azerbaijani soldiers who were
captured during the war, and she keeps their photographs in an album along
with those of her own son. Once these soldiers were her only hope of finding
her son. She and her husband were told in Karabakh that if their son was
found by the parents of one of the 21 Azeribaijanis, they could exchange him
for one of them. But in twelve years, hope has turned into uncertainty.
“I still hope. But when I imagine getting a final answer, and it’s bad news,
I go crazy,” the mother said, choking back tears.
The search for Vahe Yeghshatyan has not yielded any results. In May of 1993,
the family learned from a friend that their son, who had secretly left his
home in Vanadzor three months earlier, was now fighting in the Karabakh war.
He and other soldiers were fired on when a tank they were in crossed the
border during a battle in Martakert. Only one of them managed to escape.
Wounded in the leg, Vahe was caught by the Azerbaijanis.
The soldier’s capture was confirmed by his commander. The day after the
gunfight, the officer talked with Vahe over the radio and found out that he
had been taken prisoner. Vahe’s father went to Martakert where he found
Vahe’s clothing, sports bag, and a picture of his dead uncle in the burned
tank. Vaghinak Yegshatyan returned home with a certificate of his son’s MIA
status and an intriguing offer from Vahe’s commanding officer.
The officer had promised to get their son back if Vahe’s parents would
provide 25 million Russian rubles. They had collected nearly all the money
when Vahe’s commander was killed in a gun-battle in Karabakh. With his death
the family lost all traces of the soldier from Vanadzor. According to the
Armenian Defense Ministry, 947 soldiers and civilians from Armenia and
Karabakh have gone missing between 1988 and 2005. 224 of them are from
Armenia. “Every time we heard that something happened, we went to check to
see what it was,” Vahe’s mother said.
Now fifty years old, Sirush Hakobyan no longer remembers the exact
chronology of events; they mean little to a woman who has been waiting for
so many years. The last information she received was in 1999 or 2000, from a
woman in Shushi.
“We received one letter in good Armenian, which said that the sender had my
son’s passport, and that we could get it.” They subsequently found out that
the letter had been written by a woman who had shown Vahe’s passport to
passengers on a Vanadzor bus and told them that Vahe was healthy and living
with her. Once again, the Yeghshatyans followed their son’s trail to
Kharabakh. This trip was also in vain; they never found the woman who had
written the letter. Somehow, the Ministry of Defense managed to get hold of
the missing soldier’s passport. I was with great reluctance that they handed
it over to his parents.
Vahe’s mother described her conversation with defense ministry officials:
“When I said, ‘You know something you’re not telling me,’ they told me,
“What can we say? We can’t find your son; he’s dead.”
Relatives have moved Vahe’s belongings out of his room, in an attempt to
ease his mother’s suffering. Only his desk and a picture remain. The parents
have stopped writing letters to various ministries and agencies. They’re
tired of knocking on doors and receiving inconclusive responses. The only
help they receive from the government are special benefits which were
awarded only after they presented a death certificate.
Their son was declared dead by the state two years ago, even though nobody
knows where he is, or what happened to him. The government has never
specified the status of soldiers who went missing in action in the Karabakh
war. There isn’t any legislation granting these soldiers special status and
providing their families with an alternative to going to court to have them
declared dead. The families take this step for different reasons, but mainly
to improve their social condition. According to the defense ministry, 166
MIAs have already been declared dead by the court. Despite numerous
statements by the ministry that there are government committees working on
finding the lost Armenians in Karabakh, and that recently their work has
been particularly intensive and productive recently, the families of those
who are missing have lost all hope of finding their loved ones.
Naira Baghdasaryan

Three charged in scheme to bribe government officials in former Soviet
Republic

Associated Press
October 6, 2005

By Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK –Three men including an executive with American
International Group Inc. were charged Thursday with offering hundreds
of millions of dollars — as well as shopping sprees, jewelry and
medical treatment — to top officials in the former Soviet republic of
Azerbaijan to get favorable treatment in oil deals.

Investment promoter Viktor Kozeny, Frederic Bourke Jr. and AIG
executive David Pinkerton, were charged in a 27-count indictment in
U.S. District Court in Manhattan. The defendants each were charged
with violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes it a
crime to offer payment to foreign government officials to obtain or
retain business.

The indictment said Kozeny, 42, an Irish citizen of Czech background,
was president and chairman of Oily Rock Group Limited and Minaret
Group Limited when he and the two other men — both American citizens
— tried to buy off senior Azerbaijan officials.

Bourke, 59, of Greenwich, Conn., was an investor with
Kozeny. Pinkerton, 44, of Bernardsville, N.J., was an executive at
American International Group Inc., a U.S.-based insurance company. He,
too, was part of Kozeny’s investment group, authorities said.

Pinkerton was put on administrative leave at AIG until the charges are
resolved, the company said in a statement. He was managing director of
AIG Global Investment Corp and was in charge of AIG’s private equity
group, the indictment said.

AIG said the investment in question was brought to AIG Global
Investment Group by a New York investment fund which put together a
group investing $180 million. That group, AIG said, included an AIG
subsidiary which invested approximately $15 million in 1998.

AIG said no assets of AIG clients were invested in the transaction and
that AIG, realizing it had been defrauded by Kozeny, joined other
investors in bringing lawsuits against him in the United States, the
United Kingdom and the Bahamas.

It said it was cooperating with the probe by federal prosecutors and
noted that no charges were brought against AIG.

U.S. Attorney Michael J. Garcia said hundreds of millions of dollars
in bribes were promised and tens of millions of dollars were actually
paid in the scheme that ran from August 1997 until about 1999.

“The case that we bring today involves nothing less than the brazen
attempt to steal the wealth of a sovereign nation,” he told a news
conference.

Azerbaijan, rich in oil resources, began privatizing some of its
state-owned enterprises in the 1990s, Garcia said.

Garcia said the defendants tried to bribe key decision makers and
corrupt the privatization process.

Kozeny sent planeloads of cash from Switzerland to Azerbaijan to buy
vouchers to purchase shares in the State Oil Co., which held the
country’s oil and gas reserves and its oil and gas exploration,
production and refining facilities, Garcia said.

Garcia said Bourke and Pinkerton knowingly participated in the scheme,
bribing top Azerbaijan officials with jewelry, shopping sprees and
medical treatment to ensure the national oil company would be sold
“and that they would get their unfair share.”

Mark J. Mershon, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York
office, said Kozeny’s plan was to acquire millions of dollars worth of
options to buy stock in the oil company to gain a controlling interest
so the options could be resold for 10 times their value.

“Kozeny foresaw such a windfall that he could promise corrupt
Azerbaijan officials two thirds of his profits and still make a
killing,” Mershon said.

Kozeny never gained control of the oil company, he added.

Bourke and Pinkerton surrendered to the FBI in Manhattan while Kozeny
was arrested Wednesday in the Bahamas, where he was awaiting a court
appearance.

If convicted, the men face up to five years on each count of violating
the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Bourke and Pinkerton each pleaded not guilty before Judge Richard
Casey.

Barry H. Berke, Pinkerton’s lawyer, said: “David Pinkerton has been
wrongfully accused of being a criminal based on a passive investment
that represents less than 1 percent of the investment portfolio he
managed.”

Stanley A. Twardy Jr., a lawyer for Bourke, said: “We’re looking
forward to proving his case in court.”

Benjamin Brafman, a lawyer for Kozeny, said the Foreign Corrupt
Practices Act does not apply to him and he cannot be prosecuted for
charges related to payments he allegedly made to foreign officials.

He said Kozeny has not decided whether to fight extradition.

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th St., NW Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:

PRESS RELEASE
October 5, 2005
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

ANCA CHALLENGES STATE DEPARTMENT EFFORT
TO DEFEAT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE LEGISLATION

— ANCA Chairman Voices Community’s Concerns in
Letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

“Official U.S. recognition and Turkish
acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide
are not, as the Department argues, obstacles
to improved Armenia-Turkey relations, but
rather essential keys to progress toward the
normalization of relations between these
two states.” — Ken Hachikian

WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
today responded formally to the State Department’s efforts, in the
days leading up to the House International Relations Committee’s
September 15th approval of two resolutions recognizing the Armenian
Genocide, to defeat these measures and prevent official U.S.
recognition of this crime against humanity.

In an October 5th letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian voiced the profound moral outrage of
Armenians over the Administration’s ongoing complicity in Turkey’s
campaign of genocide denial. In his two-page letter, Hachikian
explained the Armenian American community’s opposition, on moral,
geo-political and democratic grounds, to the State Department’s
obstruction of Congressional efforts to reaffirm the Armenian
Genocide. Among the main points raised by Hachikian in the letter
were the following:

* Moral:

“In failing to openly and honestly recognize and commemorate the
Armenian Genocide, the U.S. government dishonors the truth, betrays
the historical record in our very own archives, demeans the
sacrifices of the Foreign Service officers who bore witness to this
crime, and compromises the President’s commitment to ‘moral
clarity.'”

* Geopolitical:

“Official U.S. recognition and Turkish acknowledgement of the
Armenian Genocide are not, as the Department argues, obstacles to
improved Armenia-Turkey relations, but rather essential keys to
reduced tensions and progress toward the normalization of relations
between these two states.”

* Democratic:

“The Department’s assertion that even House floor debate on
Armenian Genocide legislation would harm U.S. interests is both
fundamentally undemocratic and offensive to all those elected to
represent us in our national legislature. A clear bipartisan
Congressional majority supports this legislation and deserves the
right to act upon this matter in a fair and transparent manner.
American interests are served by the open functioning of our
democratic institutions, not by “gag-orders” – imposed by a foreign
government and enforced by our own State Department – regarding
what can and cannot be discussed by members of the U.S. Congress.”

On September 15th, after nearly three hours of debate, the House
International Relations Committee, voted overwhelmingly in favor of
two measures calling for proper U.S. recognition of the Armenian
Genocide (H.Res.316 and H.Con.Res.195) and urging Turkey to end its
decades long denial of this crime against humanity.

The full text of the ANCA letter is provided below.

#####

Text of ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian’s October 5, 2005
letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

October 5, 2005

The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Secretary Rice,

I am writing in response to the State Department’s recent letter to
Chairman Henry Hyde, in which Assistant Secretary Matthew Reynolds
expressed the Department’s opposition to legislation under
consideration by the House International Relations Committee
regarding U.S. policy on the Armenian Genocide.

Along with all Armenians – here in America, in Armenia, and around
the world – I am profoundly outraged by the Department of State’s
ongoing complicity in Turkey’s campaign of genocide denial. I
would like to briefly share with you our objections to the
Department’s position on moral, geopolitical, and democratic
grounds.

Moral: In failing to openly and honestly recognize and commemorate
the Armenian Genocide, the U.S. government dishonors the truth,
betrays the historical record in our very own archives, demeans the
sacrifices of the Foreign Service officers who bore witness to this
crime, and compromises the President’s commitment to “moral
clarity.”

I can only hope that, through the efforts of men and women of
principle in the U.S. Congress and across our nation, we will, in
short order, witness once again official U.S. recognition of this
crime against humanity, bringing an end to a sad chapter in
American history. When this day comes, all those involved in
perpetuating this denial – particularly those who have lent their
names to this disgraceful undertaking – will, I am certain, look
back in shame on their words and deeds. Just as official U.S.
government apologists for Apartheid in South Africa no doubt regret
their actions today, so too will those who have taken part in
enabling and encouraging Turkey’s hateful denial of the Armenian
Genocide.

Geopolitical: Beyond the moral bankruptcy of the Administration’s
position, the letter reveals a shortsighted and outdated view of
how Turkey’s denial continues to impact the region. Official U.S.
recognition and Turkish acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide
are not, as the Department argues, obstacles to improved Armenia-
Turkey relations, but rather essential keys to reduced tensions and
progress toward the normalization of relations between these two
states.

Democratic: The Department’s assertion that even House floor
debate on Armenian Genocide legislation would harm U.S. interests
is both fundamentally undemocratic and offensive to all those
elected to represent us in our national legislature. A clear
bipartisan Congressional majority supports this legislation and
deserves the right to act upon this matter in a fair and
transparent manner. American interests are served by the open
functioning of our democratic institutions, not by “gag-orders” –
imposed by a foreign government and enforced by our own State
Department – regarding what can and cannot be discussed by members
of the U.S. Congress.

I urge you to reconsider the Department’s failed and profoundly
immoral policy on the Armenian Genocide. I would, of course, be
pleased to meet with you to discuss our views in greater detail.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter.

Sincerely,

[signed]
Kenneth V. Hachikian
Chairman

cc: Members of the U.S. Congress

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

October 6, 2005
___________________

SYMPOSIUM PROVIDES NEW TOOLS, IDEAS FOR ARMENIAN LANGUAGE EDUCATORS

The numbers of Armenian speakers and readers in the United States are
declining each year. The Diocese of the Armenian Church of America
(Eastern) is committed to keeping the Armenian language and heritage
alive through several educational programs.

Key to the effort are local parish Armenian Schools. On Saturday,
September 10, 2005, more than 70 educators from New York, Connecticut,
New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island attended a symposium
designed to give them direction, advice, and resources to spread the
Armenian language in their home parishes.

“Each one of these dedicated volunteers is passionate about our history
and culture, and they are all working to see that the next generation of
Armenian Americans continues to use our mother language,” said
Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Eastern Diocese. “They are
giving of their time and skills to teach our children and for that each
one of them should be commended.”

FACING THE CHALLENGE

One of the guest speakers at the symposium, Dr. Anny Bakalian, associate
director of the Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center at the
Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), outlined the
numbers for the educators.

She said her research shows that assimilation and the maintenance of
ethnic identity are not contradictory — that it is not a zero sum pie.
She spoke about immigration, integration in American society, and
assimilation.

“It is impossible to find Armenianness meaningful or functional if they
are not taught to appreciate it,” Dr. Bakalian said, stressing that
culture and traditions are taught, not imbedded in our genetic make-up.
“Where is Armenianness nurtured? In the family, with grandparents,
traditions, and rites of passage.”

She told the educators that to be a “good Armenian” one must be a “good
American citizen.” The solution, she said, is to become bicultural, be
conversant fluently and comfortably in two worlds.

“The teacher is not an authority figure in the new millennium, but a
coach to encourage,” she said. “Pedagogues have discovered that
language is best taught when the child is eager to learn. It cannot be
imposed by force.”

CELEBRATING 1,600 YEARS

This year, the local educators will be in the spotlight as the worldwide
Armenian community celebrates the 1,600th anniversary of the creation of
the Armenian alphabet by Mesrob Mashdots. During the symposium, Aram
Arkun, coordinator of the Diocese’s Zohrab Information Center, outlined
the historical and geopolitical background of the invention of the
Armenian alphabet, detailing the evolution of the written word from
pictures and hieroglyphics to cuneiform and later the Armenian alphabet.

Arkun highlighted the religious and sociopolitical motives for the
invention of the alphabet, dealing in unfamiliar details and historical
information that attendees said would prove useful in their classroom
work.

HONORING SERVICE

The Symposium was also a chance for the Diocese to thank longtime
educators. Central to the list of those devoting their time to teaching
Armenian was Sylva der Stepanian, who recently stepped down as
coordinator of Armenian studies at the Diocese after several decades of
service.

Honored for 25 years of service were Sue Ayrassian and Irene Eranosian
of Providence, RI; Zabel Hatem and Lucy Martayian of Bayside, NY; Nazeli
Sanentz of Watertown, MA; and Marie Yapoujian of White Plains, NY.
Honored for 10 years of service were Chake Dereyan of Livingston, NJ;
and Susan Aprahamian Clark of Fair Lawn, NJ.

Following the opening prayer and an introduction by Mrs. Shakeh
Kadehjian, Fr. Untzag Nalbandian, director of youth and education at the
Diocese, spoke about the challenges teachers face and the importance of
the collaboration between parents and teachers.

“While it is the parents, initially, who take their children’s hands and
walk them to school, it is also the teachers who make sure the children
are happy and learning at school,” he said.

Fr. Untzag elaborated on the educational programs being planned by the
Armenian Diocese to celebrate the 1600th anniversary of the Alphabet.

Gilda Buchakjian-Kupelian, coordinator of Armenian studies at the
Diocese, praised those long-time educators and stressed the role of
teachers to be “the primary and most important factor in language
learning.”

In her presentation, the new Armenian studies coordinator, underscored
the functionality of the Armenian language and suggested stylized,
practical pedagogical methods to accommodate the student profiles of
different age groups.

“We are as effective as our resources, especially our human resources,”
she said. “Not only should we be concerned with training teachers, but
we should focus on teacher preparation as well. After all, how we learn
is as important as what we learn.”

MANY EFFORTS

The local parish Armenian schools are just one of the ways the Diocese
is working to strengthen the Armenian language here in America. Through
its Khrimian Lyceum, which opened on September 24, 2005 in New York City
and is expected to open in Massachusetts, students who graduate from
parish Armenian schools attend monthly classes in Armenian language,
culture, history, and civic education.

The Diocese is also working to educate adults through its Mesrob
Mashdots Institute, weekly language classes held at the Diocesan Center
in New York City. Two classes with a total of 25 students began on
September 21.

Plans are under way to prepare new teaching resources and outreach
program to benefit all parish schools.

— 10/6/05

E-mail photos available on request. Photos also viewable in the News
and Events section of the Eastern Diocese’s website,

PHOTO CAPTION (1): Gilda Buchakjian-Kupelian, coordinator of Armenian
studies at the Diocese, right, and Fr. Untzag Nalbandian, director of
youth and education at the Diocese, honor several local educators for
their years of service to parish Armenian schools during a symposium at
the Diocesan Center in New York City on September 10, 2005.

PHOTO CAPTION (2): Dr. Anny Bakalian, associate director of the Middle
East and Middle Eastern American Center at the Graduate Center of the
City University of New York (CUNY), speaks to educators from local
parish Armenian schools during a symposium organized by the Eastern
Diocese on September 10, 2005.

PHOTO CAPTION (3): Participants in the symposium organized by the
Eastern Diocese for local parish Armenian school educators share ideas
and teaching tips at the Diocesan Center in New York City on September
10, 2005.

PHOTO CAPTION (4): More than 70 people attended the Eastern Diocese’s
symposium for local Armenian school educators at the Diocesan Center in
New York City on September 10, 2005.