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04/06/2006
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://WWW.ASBAREZ. COM 1) Thirty US Representatives Urge PBS Not to Provide Platform for Armenian Genocide Deniers 2) Turkey Renews Support for Azerbaijan in Karabagh Conflict 3) US Realizes Importance of Maintaining Aid Parity between Armenia And Azerbaijan 4) Azerbaijan Again Violates Ceasefire During Monitoring 1) Thirty US Representatives Urge PBS Not to Provide Platform for Armenian Genocide Deniers WASHINGTON, DC--Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) was joined by Representative George Radanovich (R-CA), Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), and a bipartisan group of twenty-six US Representatives in urging the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) not to provide a broadcast platform for deniers of the Armenian genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). In an April 3 letter, addressed to PBS Chief Operating Officer Wayne Godwin, the House Members addressed the growing controversy surrounding plans by PBS to broadcast a panel discussion including known Armenian genocide deniers Justin McCarthy and Omer Turan following the airing this April of the documentary "The Armenian Genocide," produced by Andrew Goldberg. The ANCA has formally protested PBS's decision, and established an online WebFax program through which close to 10,000 individuals have already registered their protests. In their letter, the group of legislators urged that, "PBS not provide a national platform to those who deny the Armenian genocide... Despite the Turkish government's concerted and well-financed effort to obscure and alter history, there is no serious academic dispute about the Armenian genocide." The letter closed by noting that, "Surely, PBS would not consider broadcasting a documentary on the Holocaust, followed by a panel that included Holocaust deniers. A commitment to balance does not mandate the inclusion of opinions that are objectively false." "We want to thank Representatives Schiff, Radanovich, Pallone, and Knollenberg for their leadership in giving voice to the growing Congressional opposition to PBS's deeply flawed decision to provide public airtime to deniers of the Armenian genocide," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "Clearly their concerns are being heard, as more and more PBS affiliates are deciding not to run this panel discussion." The full list of signatories is as follows: Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Jerry Costello (D-IL), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Bob Filner (D-CA), Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Rush Holt (D-NJ), Steve Israel (D-NY), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), James McGovern (D-MA), Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), Michael McNulty (D-NY), Richard Neal (D-MA), C. L. Butch Otter (R-ID), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Collin Peterson (D-MN), George Radanovich (R-CA), Steven Rothman (D-NJ), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Joe Schwarz (R-MI), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Mark Souder (R-IN), John Sweeney (R-NY), Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Diane Watson (D-CA), and Anthony Weiner (D-NY). In addition to the signatories of this letter, a number of other legislators undertook individual efforts directly with PBS. Among these were Senator Boxer (D-CA), who shared her concerns with San Francisco's KQED, which recently decided not to air the denial panel. Senator John Ensign (D-CA), the author of the Senate version of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (SR 320), similarly urged Las Vegas PBS affiliate KLVX not to air the panel, stressing that, "to air this or any other denial would only serve to condone [the Turkish government's] denial and to ignore the reality of those atrocious acts that were responsible for the loss of one and half million lives and for more than half a million survivors being exiled." On the House side, individual letters were sent by Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and James Langevin (D-RI). In her letter, Representative Lofgren expressed hope that "PBS will evaluate this planned programming using the same standard it would employ if deniers were discussing either [the Armenian or Jewish] Holocaust." Representative Langevin noted that, "I imagine that those who deny the existence of the Holocaust would not be offered the same chance to air their views, and I question why the Armenian genocide appears to be held to a different standard." On April 4, Representative Schiff hosted a Capitol Hill screening of the PBS documentary, "The Armenian Genocide," to a standing-room only audience of Members of Congress, Congressional staffers, members of the media, and Armenian American community activists. Representative Schiff was joined by Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Representative Pallone in offering remarks at the opening of the documentary, while director Andrew Goldberg led an insightful question and answer session at the conclusion of the piece. Among those in attendance were His Excellency Tatoul Markarian, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the US accompanied by Embassy staff, as well as former US Ambassador to Armenia Michael Lemmon, and Pulitzer Prize winning author Samantha Power. On March 29, Representative Pallone delivered a House floor speech urging PBS not to air the panel discussion, arguing that he "would not feel any different about this issue if we were discussing Darfur, Rwanda or the Nazi Holocaust. Genocide deniers should not have a forum. The quest for fair and balanced information does not give a license to propagate false, misleading, and offensive information about historical facts that relate to genocide." The Washington Post reported on February 16th that, "Thousands of Armenian Americans are protesting the Public Broadcasting Service's planned panel-discussion program about Turkey's role in the deaths of Armenians during and after World War I. The 25-minute program has generated an outcry because the panel will include two scholars who deny that 1.5 million Armenian civilians were killed in eastern Turkey from 1915 to 1920." 2) Turkey Renews Support for Azerbaijan in Karabagh Conflict (AFP)--Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on Tuesday renewed his country's support for Azerbaijan in its territorial dispute with Armenia. The dispute over the ethnic Armenian Karabagh "should be resolved within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan," Sezer told reporters after meeting his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev. This is "in line with international norms," Sezer added. President Aliyev expressed gratitude for Sezer's position on Karabagh and support rendered to Azerbaijan in the settlement of the conflict. Sezer was speaking at a news conference during a two-day official visit to Baku, which focused on bilateral relations, regional and international projects, and other matters of mutual interest. During the meeting, he lauded economic ties with the booming Caspian Sea oil economy, saying total trade volume would hit $1 billion in 2006. Both Turkey and Azerbaijan have severed ties with Armenia, closing borders and imposing an economic blockade on Yerevan as a result of the Karabagh dispute. Ankara is under European Union pressure to normalize ties with Armenia but worries that reconciliatory moves sought by the bloc may damage its alliance with Azerbaijan. Turkish-Armenian ties have also been strained by Yerevan's demands that Turkey recognize the Armenian genocide. 3) US Realizes Importance of Maintaining Aid Parity between Armenia And Azerbaijan YEREVAN (PanArmenian.Net)--Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the US realizes the importance of maintaining aid parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but providing more military aid to Azerbaijan than Armenia is offset by the fact that Armenia received a grant through the Millennium Challenge Account, while Azerbaijan did not. "This is a matter of individual needs and demands, however we remember it is necessary to keep parity. We now work with both parties," said Rice. Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair, Representative Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), pointed out to Secretary Rice that, because of the Karabagh conflict, Armenia and Azerbaijan preferred that the parties be treated in the same manner. In response, Rice said "parity cannot be kept for the sake of parity, one should try to establish normal relations between the parties and help them." Rice added that, "Azerbaijan is not ready to take part in the Millennium Challenge Account now and we would not like Armenia to have an upper hand in the issue. The slight difference in the assistance to the two states can be endured." The US budget for fiscal year 2007 allocates $4.5 million to Azerbaijan and $3.5 million to Armenia in military assistance. Providing more military aid to Azerbaijan goes against the agreement struck between the White House and Congress in 2001 to maintain parity in US military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan. This informal agreement was reached when President Clinton was allowed to waive previous legislation prohibiting any military aid to Azerbaijan. 4) Azerbaijan Again Violates Ceasefire During Monitoring YEREVAN (Armenpress)--Azerbaijan once again violated ceasefire Thursday when shots were reported during a routine radio-monitoring along the Armenian-Azeri border near the Ijevan-Ghazakh region. Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Seyran Shahsuvarian said that during the monitoring, communication was established with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) representatives conducting the monitoring on the Azeri side. Shots were then registered from the Azeri side. Although ceasefire violations have occurred sporadically since the 1994 cease fire, they have become more frequent in recent weeks amid more aggressive war rhetoric from Baku. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2006 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets.