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05/30/2006
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://WWW.ASBAREZ. COM 1) Armenia Celebrates Independence Day 2) Azerbaijan Blocks Armenian Participation in CIS Defense Meeting 3) Representative Pallone Condemns Firing of Ambassador Evans 4) Genocide Denial Bill to Be Introduced in Dutch Parliament 5) 21 New Members Join The Ranks of The ARF 1) Armenia Celebrates Independence Day YEREVAN (Yerkir/Armenpress)--Armenian President Robert Kocharian, Prime Minister Andranik Margarian, Catholicos Karekin II, Yerevan Mayor Yervand Zakharian, and other officials and diplomats visited the Sardarabad memorial on May 28 to pay tribute to the soldiers who were killed during the famous battle for independence. The event also marked the 88th anniversary of the establishment of the Armenian Republic. Kocharian took the opportunity to congratulate the Armenian people in a letter, saying that May 28 marks a milestone in Armenia's nation-building, freedom, and democracy. "Independence was a centuries-old goal for the Armenian people, which came true because of the national liberation struggle and especially because of the heroic battles in May 1918," said the letter. "The First Republic of Armenia inspired the people with strength. It was the basis, on which Soviet Armenia and the current state were founded." Independence Day celebrations continued all day in Yerevan and ended with a concert and salute in Victory Park. 2) Azerbaijan Blocks Armenian Participation in CIS Defense Meeting YEREVAN (RFE/RL/Yerkir)--Armenia said on Tuesday that Azerbaijan has prevented it from participating in this week's meeting in Baku of high-ranking defense officials from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The one-day session of the CIS Council of Defense Ministers is scheduled to open in the Azeri capital on Wednesday. Yerevan said last week that Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian will not attend it, because Azeri authorities failed to guarantee the security of the Armenian delegation. In a statement, the ministry said it has been informed by the Moscow-based Secretariat of the CIS structure that the Azeri authorities have refused to guarantee the security of the Armenian participants. It condemned the move, accusing Azerbaijan of failing to honor its international obligations. "This fact again confirms that Azerbaijan is not able to meet its commitments to secure participants of international meetings in its territory," said the statement. "The Council Secretariat has to create equal conditions for all participant states of the meeting." "We expect an official response from the CIS Council of Defense Ministers to the incident," added the statement. A spokesman for the Azeri Defense Ministry confirmed that Baku is against Armenian participation in the meeting. Previously, the Azeri Government also refused to allow a group of Armenian army officers to take part in a NATO-led military exercise that had been due to take place in Azerbaijan in September 2004. NATO officials responded by canceling the multinational drills. 3) Representative Pallone Condemns Firing of Ambassador Evans WASHINGTON, DC--The controversy surrounded the firing of US Ambassador to Armenia John Marshall Evans continued to grow this week with a powerful statement by the Co-chairman of the Armenian Caucus, calls for Congressional hearings, and a series of as yet unanswered inquiries from the national media during the State Department's daily press briefing, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). In a May 25 statement on the House floor, Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) forcefully condemned the Administration for forcing Ambassador Evans to vacate his post for publicly affirming the Armenian genocide. He voiced his "fear that the Government of Turkey may have played a role in this unfortunate event. I strongly believe they have expressed concern to the White House over Evans' remarks last year. In fact, immediately following his remarks, Evan issued a "correction," all too seemingly at the behest of the Administration. We must not allow a third party to interfere in US diplomacy and refrain from declaring the truth in order to promote relations with Turkey." Congressman Pallone noted that he has yet to receive an explanation from the State Department, despite having written a letter to the Secretary more than two months ago requesting a thorough description of the reasons behind the Ambassador's recall. Commenting on similar unanswered letters and questions posed during Congressional hearings regarding this controversy, he noted that, "now, the White House has made an 'official' announcement but still has not given an explanation." He closed by expressing his "hope that the newly-appointed US Ambassador to Armenia, Richard Hoagland, will not play the word games of the White House, and comply with Turkey's campaign of genocidal denial." The White House made the recall of Ambassador Evans official this week with the public announcement of his replacement, Richard Hoagland. As he has repeated over the past several months, the State Department spokesperson, Sean McCormack, again avoided answering a direct question last week about the reasons for Ambassador Evans' recall. In response to persistent questioning, he limited his remarks to generically praising Ambassador Evans' service, noting his replacement, and repeating the stock-phrase that he and other senior Administration officials "serve at the pleasure of the President." The ANCA has called for Congressional hearings to investigate the firing of Ambassador Evans. Using the ANCA website, activists can send their legislators a free ANCA WebFax asking them to call for hearings of both the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House International Relations Committee. These letters call for a full hearing, featuring testimony from all the key figures involved in this situation, as well as a thorough examination of the role of the Turkish Government in exporting its suppression of speech to the United States. The ANCA WebFaxes state, in part, that, "Ambassador Evans is, in effect, being punished for honoring his President's pledge to properly recognize the Armenian genocide--a promise that George W. Bush made on the campaign trail in February of 2000 but abandoned once in the White House. Ambassador Evans should be praised, not dismissed, for rejecting 'gag-rules' imposed by the Turkish Government on the discussion of the Armenian genocide by America's leaders at home and diplomats abroad." The letters close by expressing outrage that the "Administration has lacked the courage to speak honestly--either to Congress or the American people--about its reasons for firing Ambassador Evans. Hopefully, these hearings will provide the transparency that we, as citizens, have the right to expect of our government." Earlier this week, sixty Members of Congress, led by Representative Ed Markey (D-MA), sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asking for clarification of the reasons behind Ambassador Evans' recall. Prior to this letter, Representative Pallone, Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Representative Grace Napolitano (D-CA) each independently called on the State Department to explain reports that Ambassador Evans was being recalled because of his speech on the Armenian genocide. They have yet to receive any response to their inquiries. Following his statements last February, Ambassador Evans was forced to issue a clarification that his references to the Armenian genocide were his personal views and did not represent a change in US policy. He subsequently issued a correction to this statement, replacing a reference to the genocide with the word "tragedy." The American Foreign Service Association, which had planned to honor Ambassador Evans with the "Christian A. Herter Award," recognizing creative thinking and intellectual courage within the Foreign Service, reportedly rescinded the award following pressure from the State Department a few days before Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan traveled to Washington, DC to meet with President Bush. 4) Genocide Denial Bill to Be Introduced in Dutch Parliament The Christian Union party of The Netherlands will introduce a bill criminalizing denial of the Armenian genocide and other crimes against humanity to the Dutch Parliament during a press conference on Thursday, June 1. The bill specifically refers to the Armenian genocide as one of the crimes against humanity covered by the law. Christian Union parliamentarians Tineke Huizinga and Andre Rouvoet will give the press conference along with representatives from the April 24 Committee of the Federation of Armenian Organizations in the Netherlands (FAON), Center for Information and Documentation of Israel (CIDI), and Dutch Anti-racism Organization (LBR). 5) 21 New Members Join The Ranks of The ARF At the official initiation ceremony Saturday, twenty-one youths joined the ranks of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) by taking an oath. The new members took their oath at the Homenetmen Ararat Center in Glendale in front of about 100 ARF members. The "Gnkahayr" of the ceremony was Professor Rubina Peroomian, who led the oath-taking ceremony and initiated the new members. In her message, she said that this year's ceremony coincides with May 28, the day on which the Armenian people established their independence in 1918. She stressed that to be an ARF member means to struggle for the rights of the Armenian people. In his closing remarks, ARF Western Region Central Committee Representative Hovig Saliba told the new members, "With your participation, our struggle will become more powerful. Within the ranks of the ARF, you will find new ideological allies, which you will never find anywhere else." He added that we should all continue the struggle until the establishment of a unified Armenia. After the ceremony, an event organized by the ARF Zavarian chapter was held for Independence Day. Karnig Sarkissian, and Harout Chekerian sang traditional and patriotic songs, as those in attendance celebrated Armenian independence. 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. 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