Month: November 2006

EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICANEWS RELEASE
1 AMERICAN AVENUE
YEREVAN, ARMENIA
TELEPHONE (+374 10) 464700
FAX (+374 10) 464742
E-MAIL: [email protected]
November 11, 2006
The Embassy of the United States of America in Yerevan would like to express
its deepest concern for the Armenian soldier who was seriously injured in
Iraq, as well as its condolences for the Polish and Slovak soldiers who were
killed during the incident. Armenia’s contingent in Iraq is carrying out the
extremely important but dangerous work of bringing peace and democracy to
the country. The injured Armenian solider is receiving the best medical care
available, and we would like to thank him and his Armenian colleagues for
their vital role in the international coalition fighting the global war on
terror.

Despite Defeat, Bush Administration Determined to Oppose Armenian Genocide
Bill
By Ali H. Aslan, Washington
Sunday, November 12, 2006
zaman.com
Matt Bryza, a top-level official from the U.S. State Department, asserted
that the George Bush Administration would strongly oppose any draft law on
the recognition of an Armenian genocide.
However, he added that given the complexity of the new political environment
since the midterm elections, it was hard for them to precisely foresee any
outcome.
Matt Bryza was speaking at the annual convention of the Assembly of
Turkish-American Associations (ATAA) and commented on the possibility of an
Armenian genocide bill introduced to the House of Representatives, where the
Democrats have recently gained control.
He described the new situation as a change in the political reality and said
that it was impossible for the administration to predict how the new
mechanism would operate with regards to the fate of any proposal for
recognition of the Armenian genocide.
Newly ensconced House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, promised the
Armenian lobby to support any bill regarding the genocide.
Asked whether President Bush would call Pelosi to ensure that any such draft
would not be put on the agenda, Bryza said that he would make his own
suggestion but was unable to know how the president would proceed.
The Armenian lobby is expected to submit genocide bills to both wings of
Congress following its inauguration.
Meanwhile, in his address at the meeting, Bryza, drew attention to Russian
attempts at being the sole energy supplier to the region and underlined the
importance of Turkish-American strategic cooperation.

November 13,2006
Itinerary of Benedict XVI’s trip to Turkey published
VATICAN CITY (Zenit.org) — The Vatican press office has published a general
outline of the itinerary and agenda for Benedict XVI’s upcoming apostolic
trip to Turkey.
Vatican Radio, directed by Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, who also heads
the press office, completed details of the program for the Nov. 28-Dec. 1
trip.
The Pope will leave from Rome’s Fiumicino airport at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov.
28. He will arrive at the Esenboga airport at Ankara, the Turkish capital,
at 1 p.m., local time.
The Holy Father will first visit the Mausoleum of Ataturk, “Father of the
Turks,” who proclaimed the Turkish republic in 1923.
Subsequently, the welcome ceremony will take place as well as a courtesy
visit to Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer.
The Pontiff will then meet with the deputy prime minister before meeting
with the president of religious affairs, Ali Bardokoglu, Grand Mufti and
highest Muslim authority, at his headquarters, and with the diplomatic corps
in the Apostolic Nunciature. The Holy Father will deliver addresses to each.
The following day, Benedict XVI will travel to Smyrna, the country’s
third-largest city, known as “The Pearl of the Aegean,” from where he will
go to Ephesus, the city where the Apostle Paul lived and was captive, and
where, according to tradition, the Blessed Virgin Mary and John the
Evangelist also lived.
In Ephesus, Benedict XVI will celebrate Mass at the Meryem Ana Evi (House of
Mary) Shrine and deliver a homily. It was in this city that a Council in the
year 431 proclaimed the Virgin Mary “Theotokos,” of Mother of God.
On that Wednesday afternoon, the Holy Father will fly from Smyrna to
Istanbul — formerly Constantinople — where he will visit and pray at the
Patriarchal Church of St. George and have a private meeting with Orthodox
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople. The Pope will greet
him at the patriarchate’s headquarters.
Divine Liturgy
On Thursday morning, Nov. 30, Benedict XVI will take part in the Divine
Liturgy in the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul. He will deliver
an address and sign a joint declaration.
The Pontiff will thus fulfill the original objective of his trip: to respond
to the invitation of Patriarch Bartholomew I to take part on the feast of
St. Andrew, patron of the patriarchate, observed on Nov. 30.
After the ceremony, the Holy Father will lunch with Bartholomew I in the
patriarchate. In the afternoon, he will visit the St. Sophia Museum.
Then Benedict XVI will go to the Armenian Apostolic cathedral, where he will
pray and meet and greet Patriarch Mesrob I.
That same afternoon, the Pope will meet with the Syro-Orthodox metropolitan
and the chief rabbi of Turkey.
Finally the Holy Father will meet and dine with the members of the country’s
Catholic bishops’ conference.
On Friday, Dec. 1, Benedict XVI will preside over the celebration of Mass in
Istanbul’s Cathedral of the Holy Ghost and deliver a homily.
It will be his last appointment, as he will then go to the city’s airport
and, after the farewell ceremony, depart at 1:15 p.m. for Rome’s Ciampino
airport.
Previous visits of Roman Pontiffs to Turkey took place in 1967 (Paul VI) and
1979 (John Paul II).
About 99% of Turkey’s 70 million inhabitants are Muslim, the majority Sunni.
Catholics represent 0.04% of the population.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AFI Fest coverage presented by AFI DALLAS International Film Festival
Presented by Target, Founding Sponsor Victory Park
by Eugene Hernandez (November 12, 2006)
One week after announcing its U.S. distribution deal at the American Film
Market, Jasmila Zbanic’s “Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams” won the narrative
grand jury prize at AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival. Winner of
the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in February, the film is Bosnia and
Herzegovina’s official entry for the 2006 Best Foreign Language Film Academy
Award and Strand Releasing is planning a 2007 release of the acclaimed
feature film. Set in a contemporary Sarajevo still reeling from the
aftermath of war, the film is the story of a single mother who lives with
her rebellious twelve-year-old daughter in the Grbavica district of
Sarajevo, a neighborhood used as an internment camp during the conflict in
the nineties. Unable to survive on government aid and hoping to provide for
her daughter, she takes a day job in a shoe factory and a night job as a
waitress in order to pay for her daughter’s school trip, and along the way,
her daughter discovers a dark secret. The jury singled out Peter Schonau
Fog’s “The Art of Crying” with a special mention at the festival.
International films and international stories were honored with all of the
feature prizes at a festival that has distinguished itself as a key showcase
for new international work. And on Sunday night in Hollywood the world
premiere of Zhang Yimou’s anticipated “Curse of the Golden Flower” closed
the festival one month prior to its domestic release from Sony Pictures
Classics.
“Foreign language feaures are hard [to bring] to the United States,” said
“Grbavica” director Jasmila Zbanic, thanking the festival for its focus on
foreign language films Sunday, while accepting her prize, “AFI is giving a
chance for people to see foreign language feature films [and] doing a very
great job bringing us together.”
Mark Verkerk’s “Buddha’s Lost Children” was awarded the documentary grand
jury prize. It is the story of a Thai boxing champion’s journey to save
childen from the impoverished Golden Triangle region of the country. The
jury presented a special mention to J.B. Rutagarama’s “Back Home.”
The audience award for best documentary was shared by Carla Garapedian’s
“Screamers” and Lucy Walker’s “Blindsight” (tie, documentary). “Screamers”
looks at rock band System of a Down’s battle to preserve the memory of the
Armenian genocide, while “Blindsight” offers a moving chronicle of a group
of Tibetan blind children’s quest to climb Mt. Everest. The prize will boost
the coming release of “Screamers,” which will be distributed by Maya
Releasing, while Walker’s well-received “Blindsight” is still seeking a U.S.
deal as it lines up other key festival dates for early next year. Among
narrative films, Switzerland’s Oscar foreign language entry “Vitus,” by
Fredi M. Murer, won the audience award.
Short fim award winners included Stephanie Burke’s “Disappearing” winning
the grand jury prize, with a special mention to Chris Shepherd for “Silence
Is Golden” and Michael Dreher’s “Fair Trade” winning the short film audience
award.
Chatting casually with indieWIRE Sunday afternoon shortly after the awards
brunch, Variety correspondent Robert Koehler found it noteworthy that the
American Film Institute’s festival has developed such a distinct focus on
world cinema, given that AFI was founded in 1967, in the words of the
organization, “to train the next generation of filmmakers and to preserve
America’s fast-disappearing film heritage.” In other words, U.S. president
Lyndon Johnson and AFI founders (George Stevens, Jr., Gregory Peck, Francis
Ford Coppola, Jack Valenti and others) sought to counter the rise of cinema
from overseas.
AFI Fest certainly offered an eclectic mix of films, but the sixteen best
foreign langauge Oscar submissions and a handful of documentaries seemed to
be the best received movies on the nearly 150 film roster. The event drew
good-sized crowds to its Hollywood screenings, despite the constant
challenges of making a film event stand out in this busy movie town.
Industry response to the festival, however, was muted at best, with insiders
only appearing for showcase screeings of previously acquired films they were
launching at the fest.
Despite a continually hyped partnership between AFI Fest and the American
Film Market in Santa Monica, industry attendees seemed to stay out west near
Santa Monica, skipping AFI Fest screenings, but catching some of its films
at AFM showings. Finding a way to lure more insiders to events in Hollywood
would seem to be a key challenge for festival organizers, and a number of
observers noted that adding a third screening of competition films or repeat
showings of higher profile new work for the second half of the festival
might lure some industry types once AFM wraps up at AFI Fest’s midpint. This
would offer attendees a chance to catch the films that generated the most
buzz.

The Moscow Times
Monday, November 13, 2006
Melikyan Vows to Close Banks
By Gleb Bryanski
Reuters
The Central Bank will press on with its cleanup of the banking system
despite the murder of reformist banking supervisor Andrei Kozlov, the man
who took over his role said in an interview Friday.
“We will withdraw licenses from any banks that don’t have a real banking
business and only deal in dirty money – and we will do it without mercy,”
Central Bank Deputy Chairman Gennady Melikyan said.
Melikyan said, however, that the regulator did not aim to destroy as many
banks as possible and did not set any targets. He said the Central Bank was
prepared to help solid banks fix breaches.
“If a bank has a real business, we would try to mend its ways,” Melikyan
said. “We would give them a couple of months to sort things out and report.
If that does not happen, we will take tougher action. I have to say, many
understand and accept our policy.”
Melikyan also said the country’s banking system must grow as quickly as
sound risk management will allow to fund investment and economic
development.
Melikyan, 58, was appointed head of the Central Bank’s banking supervision
committee one week after Kozlov was gunned down in September.
Melikyan has yet to become the bank’s first deputy chairman, a promotion
needed to assume all Kozlov’s powers.
Three people have been arrested in connection with the murder, which
investigators and politicians believe was a contract killing related to his
work.
A former labor minister in the early post-Soviet years, Melikyan joined the
Central Bank in 2003 from state-owned Sberbank, where he was deputy
chairman.
Melikyan has kept a low public profile and his bureaucratic background
dating back to the Soviet era has led some to question whether he would
press ahead with Kozlov’s policy of weeding out suspicious banks.
The Central Bank has stripped nearly 90 of the country’s 1,200 banks of
their licenses in the last two years. Nine licenses have been withdrawn
since Kozlov’s murder.
“Have a look at the organizations we take away licenses from. Can you regard
these organizations as banks? I can say – only with great reservations,”
Melikyan said.
He said one of the banks that had recently lost its license was housed in a
basement where one person performed illegal money transfers on a single
computer connected to the Internet.
“There is a number of marginal banks which do not do real banking, they are
all involved in money laundering and conversion of large sums of money into
cash,” he said.
Melikyan said that although cash issuance was not an illegal operation in
itself, the volume of it was often a signal that a bank was involved in
illegal operations.
“When there is a little bank with five employees that issues 15 billion
rubles [$560 million] in cash, I smell a rat right away,” said Melikyan, who
also heads the Central Bank’s unit running field checks on banks.
Melikyan said suspect banks run complex schemes involving chains of shell
firms and purchases of fictitious shares or goods. He said the main purpose
of the schemes was tax evasion.
Melikyan said the deposit insurance system created after a 2004 mini-banking
crisis raised banks’ transparency and improved internal control and risk
management. About 950 banks have so far been accepted into the scheme.
“I think the number of banks in Russia would shrink further but I cannot say
how many banks there should be,” he said, pointing out that, of Russia’s
1,200 banks, the top 20 controlled 90 percent of the banking system’s
assets.
Melikyan said he was worried about a growing share of bad loans in the
banking sector but dismissed analysts’ fears that a liquidity crunch caused
by a fall in oil prices would deliver a blow to the banking sector.
“When the effective rate on a loan is 40 percent, even if some loans turn
bad, the bank is still living in clover,” Melikyan said, referring to steep
interest rates some banks charge for consumer credit.
Melikyan said many banks were cheating their customers and charging them
hidden fees that raise the effective interest rate. “In many cases people
don’t pay because they think they are being ripped off,” he said.
Melikyan also said he was concerned about many banks financing their retail
growth through foreign borrowing but said there was no question about
imposing restrictions.
“I am seriously worried about external borrowing, especially by state-owned
firms. But to ban borrowing without offering an alternative is not
suitable,” he said.

New archbishop of Cyprus enthroned
12/11/2006
The Financial Mirror
The new Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus, Chrysostomos II,
was enthroned during a special ceremony Sunday, after the throne was vacated
when his predecessor was declared unfit following a four-year illness.
In his first address as the new leader of the ‘autocephalous’ or independent
church of Cyprus, Chrysostomos II said that his main concern would be to
upgrade the spiritual work of the church so that it reaches the people in an
understandable language.
The new archbishop declared a number of reforms, ranging from education to
church finances, and policy statements such as the issue of the destruction
of churches by the Turkish occupation army in the north of the island.
He said he intends to enlarge the governing council of the Holy Synod to 14
bishops, which has not been achieved since Frankish rule in the 13th
century.
Referring “to our Turkish Cypriot compatriots” he said that there is nothing
that divides them from the Greek Cypriots.
“We are not bothered by the voice of the muezzin,” the Islamic preacher who
prays from a mosque tower every Friday, some 200 metres from the
Archbishopric.
“But we are upset by the Turkish occupation, and the violation of the human
rights of all Cypriots by Turkey”, he stressed.
He referred to the destruction of 133 occupied churches in northern Cyprus
and their desecration by Turkey since 1974. Of these, 78 churches, chapels
and monasteries have been converted into mosques, 28 are used as military
depots and hospitals, and 13 are used as stockyards.
“No matter how much this saddens me, I cannot visit those religious sites.
I cannot give any sort of legality to the illegal occupation regime”, he
said.
The enthronement took place in the small Cathedral of Saint John, adjacent
to the Archbishopric, in the presence of the nine Cyprus bishops who
comprise the Holy Synod, as well as clerics from Cyprus and abroad,
including archbishops Christodoulos of Athens and Gregorios of Britain who
represented the ecumenical leader of all Orthodoxy, Patriarch Bartholomeus
who sits in Istanbul.
Also present were Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos and all the
island’s political leadership, the Greek Minister of Public Order Vyron
Polydoras, representatives of the Armenian Orthodox Church and the Maronite
Catholic Church of the centuries-old Lebanese community in Cyprus, officials
of the Egyptian Coptic and the Anglican churches and the Greek Orthodox
patriarchates from around the world, as well as an official of the Holy See,
represented in Cyprus by the Latin catholic community.
The Archbishop signed the code of acceptance in red ink, one of the three
privileges maintained throughout the centuries by the church of Cyprus, in
addition to holding an imperial scepter from 1869 and a red tunic.
An evening church service was held in honour of the new archbishop who
celebrates his name day on Monday, a holiday for all schools on the island.
On Tuesday, the new archbishop will travel to the monastery at Kykkos in the
Troodos mountains for a special service at the tomb of Archbishop Makarios
III, the first President of Cyprus, who died in 1977 and was replaced by
Archbishop Chrysostomos.
The Church of Cyprus was declared autocephalous in 478 AD when the remains
of its founder, Saint Barnabas, were located on the island, in a tomb
together with a copy of the gospel by Saint Mathew. The church is presently
occupied by Turkey.

ARMENIAN REPORTER
PO Box 129
Paramus, New Jersey 07652
Tel: 1-201-226-1995
Fax: 1-201-226-1660
Web:
Email: [email protected]
November 11, 2006
1. Midterm election may result in gains for Armenian-American issues
2. NKR president Ghoukasian sets constitutional referendum for
December; will take part in Armenia Fund Telethon, Nov. 23
3. Former U.S. ambassador to OSCE: Border changes are possible but
quick settlement breakthroughs in post-Soviet conflicts are unlikely
4. Chris Zakian is the new managing editor of the “Armenian Reporter”
5. Editorial: Take nothing for granted
***************************************** **********************************
1. Midterm election may result in gains for Armenian-American issues
PARAMUS, N.J.–The November 7 midterm U.S. election has resulted in a
substantial reconfiguration of the Washington political landscape. For
the first time in 12 years, the Democratic party will control both
houses of Congress.
Divided government is expected to have significant implications for
domestic and international affairs–and implications, too, for
Armenian-American issues. The present House Minority Leader Nancy
Pelosi (D-Calif.), a longtime supporter of those issues, is presumed
to become House Speaker when the new 110th Congress convenes.
In a statement released prior to the election, Ms. Pelosi said, “I
have supported legislation, including House Resolution 316, that would
properly acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. It is imperative that the
United States recognize this atrocity and move to renew our commitment
to eliminate genocide whenever and wherever it exists. This effort
enjoys strong bipartisan support in the House, and I will continue to
support these efforts in the 110th Congress.”
In the Senate, one of the most hotly contested races was for the New
Jersey seat occupied by Robert Menendez, who retained the seat.
Senator Menendez had the strong support of the Armenian-American
community because of his leadership on Armenian issues. The senator
has said he will maintain a hold on President Bush’s nomination of
Richard Hoagland to be the next U.S. ambassador to Armenia until the
nominee is allowed to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
In the House, other members of the Congressional Armenian Issues
Caucus were overwhelmingly reelected to their seats. A scorecard of
the Senate and House winners and losers endorsed by the “Armenian
Reporter” appears below. In the immediate aftermath of the election,
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stepped down from his position of
the last six years in the administration of President George W. Bush.
President Bush himself had this to say on the day after the election:
“Yesterday, the people went to the polls and they cast their vote for
a new direction in the House of Representatives.” He added: “The
message yesterday was clear: The American people want their leaders in
Washington to set aside partisan differences, conduct ourselves in an
ethical manner, and work together to address the challenges facing our
nation.”
–CHZ
************************ ************************************************** *
2. NKR president Ghoukasian sets constitutional referendum for
December; will take part in Armenia Fund Telethon, Nov. 23
Paramus, N.J.–On Friday, November 3, 2006, the president of
Nagorno-Karabakh ordered a constitutional referendum to be held next
month. President Arkady Ghoukasian set the referendum for December 10,
2006, his office said. The region’s population will vote on a proposed
constitution already approved by Karabakh’s national assembly.
The draft constitution says that the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, also
called the Republic of Artsakh, is a sovereign democratic nation. On
the same date 15 years ago, a referendum on independence was held in
Nagorno-Karabakh, in which voters almost unanimously cast their
ballots for establishing Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent republic.
NKR has organized three presidential elections and four legislative
votes since 1991, despite the fact that its independence is not
officially recognized by the international community. In anticipation
of the December 10 referendum, public discussions and roundtables are
being planned, involving academics, journalists, and political figures
in Karabakh.
Meanwhile, on November 7, President Ghoukasian departed his country
for a visit to the U.S.A. to take part in the annual Armenia Fund
telethon, which is scheduled for November 23–Thanksgiving Day–in Los
Angeles. As in the past, funds raised will be used to help NKR and its
economy. During his U.S. visit, President Ghoukasian will hold
meetings with representatives of political, public, religious, and
business circles.
**************************************** ***********************************
3. Former U.S. ambassador to OSCE: Border changes are possible but
quick settlement breakthroughs in post-Soviet conflicts are unlikely
by Emil Sanamyan (Special to the “Armenian Reporter”)
Washington, DC–While international norms protect the territorial
integrity of states, borders can be changed by “peaceful means” and
through international consensus. The former U.S. ambassador to the
Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Stephan Minikes
said this during a November 6 lecture on unresolved conflicts in the
former Soviet Union. The lecture was hosted by the Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars.
The OSCE is the main forum for international mediation efforts in the
Karabakh conflict. The organization’s Minsk Group, to which the matter
is delegated, is led by France, Russia, and the United States.
In 1991, Nagorno-Karabakh used existing laws and international norms
to secede from Soviet Azerbaijan following years of anti-Armenian
pogroms and a Soviet government-enforced crackdown and violence
against the population of Karabakh. Azerbaijan subsequently launched a
full-scale war, trying to expel Karabakh’s Armenian population. The
war eventually resulted in Azerbaijan’s defeat and a cease-fire
agreement in May 1994.
The OSCE-mediated talks have continued since. In his remarks, Mr.
Minikes noted the difficulty of reversing the outcomes of conflicts
like the one in Karabakh. “Life goes on,” he said, and “de-facto
states, much contrary to everyone’s expectations, are in fact
functioning.” Besides, there is a dearth of interest by major players,
particularly Russia, to see these conflicts resolved, he said.
Another former U.S. official in the audience, Ambassador William Hill,
noted the uniqueness of each conflict and argued that each case
therefore needs a unique settlement approach. This has also been the
official U.S. position on the unresolved conflicts. While Karabakh is
treated as a “disputed area” between Armenia and Azerbaijan, South
Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Transdnistria are viewed in the West as
breakaway regions of Georgia and Moldova, respectively.
Discussing the Karabakh conflict, Mr. Minikes argued that Armenia’s
president Robert Kocharian “is willing to make a settlement.” But both
the late Azerbaijani president Heydar Aliyev and his son and successor
Ilham Aliyev fear a domestic backlash over a deal that is viewed as a
“defeat” for Azerbaijan.
The most recent Karabakh peace talks focused on settlement formulas
that would formalize Nagorno-Karabakh’s secession from Azerbaijan.
Citing threats made by regional leaders to resolve the conflicts by
force, Mr. Minikes stressed the strong U.S. opposition to resumption
of fighting. Mr. Minikes recalled the “difficult meeting” he and the
former U.S. ambassador to Georgia Richard Miles had with Georgia’s
President Mikhail Saakashvili, a close U.S. ally, in August 2004. At
the time, Georgia had launched a military buildup in the South Ossetia
conflict area. Mr. Minikes said he and Mr. Miles told Mr. Saakashvili
in no uncertain terms that “if he were to engage in a hot war between
South Ossetia and Georgia, he was on his own.”
Asked by this correspondent whether the OSCE should introduce
additional measures to safeguard the twelve-year self-regulated
cease-fire in Karabakh, Mr. Minikes reiterated the need for a
comprehensive settlement rather than cease-fire strengthening. When
asked the same question, Mr. Hill said that “it could be helpful” to
expand international presence in Karabakh to diffuse tensions, but
cited a lack of consensus between the parties and leading OSCE members
as the reason why such a presence has not materialized.
Ambassador William Hill served as the head of the OSCE Mission to
Moldova until 2001 and again from 2003 to 2006. A career foreign
service officer, Mr. Hill had also served as chief of analysis for
Eastern Europe in the State Department, European Division chief in the
Voice of America, and senior advisor for Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and
Belarus in the Office of the Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon. He
is currently an Associate with the Georgetown University Institute for
the Study of Diplomacy in Washington, DC.
Stephan Minikes was appointed the U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE in 2001.
Prior to the appointment and again since his return from the OSCE
headquarters in Vienna in 2005, Mr. Minikes has been a partner with
the Washington law firm of Thelen, Reid and Priest, LLP. His
presentation was moderated by the Wilson Center’s Russia Program
associate Joseph Dresen.
***************************************** **********************************
4. Chris Zakian is the new managing editor of the “Armenian Reporter”
Paramus, N.J.–Christopher H. Zakian has been appointed managing
editor of the “Armenian Reporter,” announced Sylva Boghossian, the
newsweekly’s publisher. He will lead the newspaper’s growing reporting
staff in the United States and serve as the point of contact with
freelance contributors and commentators.
“Over the years that Chris led the communications efforts of the
Diocese, I formed a very high opinion of him, and we built a great
working relationship,” said Ms. Boghossian. “In the past few weeks
since Chris has come on board, he has already proven that he is most
capable of taking on this difficult task. I am so very pleased that he
has agreed to join us at the ‘Reporter.'”
“Before coming on board,” Mr. Zakian said, “I knew Vincent Lima from
his publishing and scholarly accomplishments, and I knew Sylva
Boghossian from the ‘Reporter.’ My admiration for both of them has
only increased in these past weeks, as we’ve begun to work together.
The folks at CS Media are wonderfully enthusiastic and supportive,
full of ideas and ambitions for the paper. I feel lucky to be here, on
the ground floor of an important new venture in Armenian journalism.”
“Chris is meticulous and also quick, a remarkable combination,” said
Vincent Lima, editor of the “Armenian Reporter.” “That, and his
experience and skill as both a wordsmith and an administrator will
come in handy. So will his cheerful disposition. We feel very
fortunate to have Chris as a key member of our editorial team.”
About his role as managing editor, Mr. Zakian said: “It’s daunting to
follow someone of the literary stature of Aris Sevag. He’s a friend,
and I look forward to his continuing contributions to the paper. The
‘Reporter’ has a proud heritage–a credit to its late founder, Edward
Boghosian–and we want to live up to that, while taking the paper to
new heights. It’s an exciting time for the ‘Reporter,’ for CS
Media–and for our readers, as well.”
Although he has lived in the New York area for the past 16 years,
Chris is a native of Philadelphia, one of three children of Jack (d.
1980) and Laura Zakian. He received his schooling at the University of
Pennsylvania.
In 1990 he joined the staff of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of
America, headquartered in New York’s Saint Vartan Cathedral complex.
As director of Public Relations, Chris set a high standard for the
official communications and publications of the Diocese, giving them a
distinctive literary style and depth of meaning.
He is the author/editor of “The Torch Was Passed” (1998), which
chronicles the century-long history of the Armenian Church in America,
and editor of several volumes of essays and interviews by the late
catholicos of all Armenians, His Holiness Karekin I Sarkissian.
His tenure at the Diocese included projects in video production and
web design, and close collaboration with the Diocesan primate,
administration, and staff. Mr. Zakian joined the “Armenian Reporter”
in October of this year. He says he regards his most important job as
being a husband and father. He and his wife Kristen live in Maplewood,
NJ, with their children, Jack, Vincent, Suren, and Genevieve.
************************************** *************************************
5. Editorial: Take nothing for granted
On Tuesday, November 7, voters in the United States handed control of
the House of Representatives to the Democratic party. The Democrats
also gained at least five seats in the Senate. Control of the Senate
depends on the outcome of a probable recount in Virginia. [Update: The
Democratic caucus will control the Senate as well.]
In the Senate, incumbent Bob Menendez of New Jersey, who was the
Republican party’s number-one target, will retain his seat. Senator
Menendez, whose candidacy was strongly endorsed by this page, has
distinguished himself as a key voice in Armenian affairs. Likewise
reelected were most other senators endorsed by this page for having
supported the Armenian-American community’s policy and legislative
agenda. (See the table on this page [of the print edition] for
details.)
In the House of Representatives, at this writing, 142 members of the
Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues have been reelected. Among
them are Representatives Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.), and Joe
Knollenberg (R-Mich.), co-chairs of the Armenian Caucus. Nine members
of the Caucus, all Republicans, have been defeated. Three other
members were in races too close to call.
With Democrats in control of the House, Representative Dennis Hastert
(R-Ill.) will relinquish the Speaker’s gavel; it will almost certainly
go to Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a member of the Armenian
Issues Caucus. In 2000, at the urging of President Clinton, Speaker
Hastert killed a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide just
hours before it was about to be voted on–and assuredly adopted.
Representative Pelosi, a long-standing advocate of Armenian-American
concerns, was a supporter of that bill. She has indicated recently
that she would support such a bill again in the future. This is, of
course, welcome news.
With Democrats in control of the House, several members of the
Armenian Issues Caucus are in line to take over committee
chairpersonships. Democrats will be added to committees of special
interest, including Ways and Means, Appropriations, and International
Relations. These committees will be making critical judgments during
the 110th Congress that will affect every aspect of the U.S.-Armenia
and U.S.-Karabakh relationships.
Armenian Americans can take nothing for granted.
In the House, we will have old friends in new positions of authority,
working with a White House of a different party. The membership of the
Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues had grown to a record high
during the last Congress. We must bring more members on board to match
and break that record. To begin, we must reach out to the new members
of the House and the Senate, making them aware of our issues and
concerns. Regardless of which party controls the Senate, we must also
develop relations with Republicans and Democrats in new roles.
Having paused on Tuesday to vote, we must now resume our efforts to
educate, advocate . . . and move our agenda forward.
**************************************** ***********************************
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Panorama.am
17:55 11/11/06

OPPOSITION MEMBER SAYS POLICE ARE NOT GUILTY
Gagik Kostandyan, vice chairman of National Unity,
said the police are not guilty that the `trend of
criminalism’ goes up in the country. Kostandyan said
so at a press conference on rising trends of
criminalism.
He said a mid level police officer gets 77,000
Armenian drams. He is provided no car and petroleum,
Kostandyan said suggesting to raise the salary of the
police as well as to introduce new technologies in the
system.
Kostandyan also recalled tax and customs officials who
get 200,000 drams but sit in their offices and do
nothing. `I do not say that if salaries are raised,
corruption will be eliminated but it will be reduced,’
he said. /Panorama.am/

Panorama.am
18:16 11/11/06

NATIONAL SECURITY SUPREME BOARD SECRETARY OF IRAN TO VISIT ARMENIA
Serzh Sargsyan, secretary of national security board
affiliated to the Armenian president and defense
minister of Armenia, received today Iranian ambassador
Alireza Hadighian. The parties discussed the upcoming
visit of Ali Larijani, national security supreme board
secretary of Iran, to Armenia. They also discussed
other bilateral issues./Panorama.am/

Panorama.am
18:20 11/11/06

CABINET OF RUSSIAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE AFTER LIKHACHOV OPENS AT
SLOVIANSKI UNIVERSITY
Russian-Armenian (Slovianski) University opened a cabinet after
Likhachov within the framework of days dedicated to the memory of the
literary critic and academician. Armen Darbinyan, rector of the
university, said, `the room of Likhachov is a little late. However, it
will become a spiritual answer to the great contribution of Likhachov
in the development of Armenian history.’
Dozens of books were donated to the cabinet, including books with
Likhachov’s signature. The university also summed up the competition
for the best essay on the subject of Likhachov. /Panorama.am/