Month: November 2006

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Father Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version:

A LECTURE ON "ARMENIAN CHURCH AND THE ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT" AT THE ACUSA
CENTER

The Christian Education Department of the Catholicosate of Cilicia and the
Armenian Church University Students’ Association (ACUSA) have jointly
organized a series of lectures. The third session of the series was held in
the ACUSA center in Antelias on November 18.

The lecturer, Dr. Nora Bayrakdarian-Kabakian, presented the role of the
Armenian Church in general and the Catholicosate of Cilicia in particular in
the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Ecumenical movement.

Dr. Bayrakdarian talked about the origins of the Ecumenical movement,
focusing mainly on the establishment of the WCC. "The main purpose of the
Ecumenical movement is the unity of churches and the development of
cooperation between them in issues related to accomplishing their missions
and to conflicts plaguing the world," she said.

The speaker emphasized that the Catholicosate of Cilicia has paid special
attention to Ecumenical affairs since the 1950’s, by an active contribution
to this field, the proof of which is the position of its spiritual Head, His
Holiness Aram I, as Moderator of the World Council of Churches during the
last 16 years.

Concluding, Dr. Bayrakdarian mentioned that WCC and the Ecumenical movement
in general, confront new challenges today as a consequence of the changing
world circumstances.

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View photos here:
24.htm

os24.htm#2

*****

The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the youth
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Father Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version:

A DELEGATION FROM THE PONTIFICAL MISSION VISITS ANTELIAS

The representatives of the Pontifical Mission of the Vatican visited His
Holiness Aram I in Antelias on November 20. Pontifical Mission is a Catholic
humanitarian organization based in New York. It carries out projects in the
Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The delegation included the organization’s Assistant General Secretary,
Bishop John Fares and representatives from the United States and Canada.

The representatives briefed the Catholicos on the organization’s activities
during the past year, focusing on the projects it carried out in the Middle
East. His Holiness praised the organization’s humanitarian activities,
emphasizing that they should become more ecumenical and take into account
the necessity of Christian-Muslim coexistence in the region.

Speaking on the necessity of revitalizing the presence of Christianity in
the Middle East, His Holiness advised the delegation to consider this factor
while setting up the organization’s agenda.

##
View the photo here:
25.htm

*****

The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Ecumenical
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Father Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version:

THE NEWLY ELECTED COMMITTEE
OF ACUSA VISITS HIS HOLINESS ARAM I

His Holiness Aram I received the newly elected committee of the Armenian
Church University Students’ Association (ACUSA) in his office in Antelias on
November 19.

The new committee is formed of Sarkis Avedisian, Viken Djamboulian, Garen
Tashdjian, Gacia Koyoumdjian and Saro Kindirdjian. The spiritual adviser of
ACUSA, Rev. Fr. Mesrob Sarkissian, accompanied the committee.

The chairman of the committee and its spiritual adviser briefed His Holiness
on the union’s proposed agenda of activities for next year.

His Holiness Aram I congratulated the committee on its election and praised
the work of the Association in general, emphasizing on a number of points.

The Catholicos first stressed the importance of preserving the Association’s
unique identity as an association dedicated to spreading the values and
traditions of the Armenian Church.

Secondly, His Holiness highlighted the importance of maintaining the
national identity of the Armenian Church in the work of ACUSA through a
comprehensive approach to issues related to the Armenian Church and its
mission.

Finally, he emphasized that the Armenian youth should be more actively
involved in the mission of the Armenian Church with all its various aspects.

Dwelling on each point separately, His Holiness called on the Armenian youth
to gather around the Armenian Church away and safe from the various harmful
addictions afflicting the current world.
##

View the photo here:

s24.htm#3

*****

The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the youth
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NOVEMBER 20, 2006

INSIDE WALL STREET

Hovnanian May Get Its House In Order Fast

Hovnanian Enterprises (_HOV_ (javascript: void showTicker(‘HOV’)) ),
like other homebuilders, has suffered a big drop in orders. But it is
one stock that a few contrarians and daring bargain hunters are
betting on for a recovery sooner than the rest of the pack. Its stock
has crashed from 54 in January to 25 in August and has since edged up
to 28.35. The company posted a 34% drop in earnings for its latest
quarter, but it did not cut its estimates of $5 to $5.75 a share for
2006. The consensus for 2007 is $3.18. Has the shattered stock already
more than discounted the housing bust? "The upside potential
significantly exceeds the downside risk," says Bernie Schaeffer, CEO
of Schaeffer’s Investment Research, which has bought shares. He sees
the stock at 50 in a year. Ivan Feinseth of Matrix USA adds:
"Hovnanian is priced like it’s going out of business." Orders have
only slowed but haven’t stopped, says Feinseth, who rates the stock a
"strong buy."

Note: Unless otherwise noted, neither the sources cited in Inside Wall
Street nor their firms hold positions in the stocks under
discussion. Similarly, they have no investment banking or other
financial relationships with them.

By Gene G. Marcial

Thursday, November 23, 2006
**************************************************
REFLECTIONS
**************************
Let others speak of Armenian pride. I prefer to speak of Armenian courage, the kind that allows us to take an objective look at ourselves and assess the damage that centuries of oppression has done to our psyche.
*
One of the hardest things in life is to convince an Armenian idiot that he is not a genius. I did not say that. One of my gentle readers did. And he was talking about me.
*
Dialogue is an unArmenian activity, and if you can insult someone from a safe distance, why stand on ceremony?
*
There is a type of reader who reads to have his views confirmed. The only way to please such a reader is to find out what he thinks about a specific subject and repeat it to him. As for good manners: I guess that’s making too many demands on victims of massacres.
*
There is something about me that Armenians don’t like. But perhaps it would be more accurate to say that there is something about Armenians that Armenians don’t like. Is it because they see reflections of themselves?
#
Friday, November 24, 2006
********************************************
Even as children in the ghetto we used to quote a Turkish saying that, if memory serves, went something like this: “Chok ghareshterma, bokhou chekar” – freely translated: “Don’t stir things too much, you may expose the shit.”
Listen to a German philosopher (Herbert Marcuse) saying almost the same thing: “Remembering the past may be a source of dangerous intuitions, which is why an established society has reason to fear the subversive contents of memory.”
*
Speaking of simplifications, I remember to have read somewhere the following assertion by a Turkish diplomat to an American politician: “Why all the fuss about Armenian massacres? We did to them what you did to your Indians. Think of Armenians as our Indians.”
*
Perhaps my mistake consists in not allowing my patriotism to direct and shape my analysis. But if I were to value my patriotism over my objectivity, I would do what our enemies do and say, in effect, even at our worst we are better; or, even our crap is better than their rose-jam.
*
I believe in Armeno-Turkish dialogue, but I also believe before we tackle that challenge, we should learn to engage in Armeno-Armenian dialogue.
*
I prefer a tolerant Turk to an intolerant Armenian.
*
Everyone writes these days: politicians, singers, actors, directors, Popes, Oriental carpet dealers (at least three of them wanted me to translate their memoirs into English), bordello madams, and serial killers… When my plumber found out I was a writer, he said he too was writing a book.
*
Why would anyone who knows anything about Armenians and Armenian literature choose to be an Armenian writer? I wish I knew. As for success: I shall consider myself a success if I survive…and so far so good.
#
Saturday, November 25, 2006
**********************************************
HISTORY-MAKERS AND HISTORIANS
*****************************************************
It is an undeniable fact that history is not always made by the best and the brightest. Think of the abysmal mediocrity of most kings and political leaders. It would be more accurate to say that more often than not history is made by the worst and the dumbest. Think of fascist dictators and their countless dupes and victims. To judge a nation by its history sometimes means judging a people by its criminals. Consider Armenians and Turks as cases in point. No doubt the majority of Armenians and Turks were peace loving decent folk lacking in political awareness and incapable of harming anyone. And yet, most Armenians and Turks today judge each other by the very few criminals who took it upon themselves to act in the name of their respective nations. Instead of combating this misconception, most historians legitimize and promote it. To them the average law-abiding, harmless citizen is ahistorical, therefore of no interest. In other words, instead of promoting mutual understanding, historians legitimize prejudice, and ultimately hatred. In the books written by royalist historians, for instance, the French Revolution is seen as a colossal blunder instigated and perpetrated by bloodthirsty agitators who committed many unspeakable crimes against humanity. In the eyes of anti-Bonapartist historians Napoleon is seen as the devil incarnate, and in the eyes of their adversaries as an agent of progress and enlightenment. We may not all be fanatics and chauvinists, but I suspect even the least patriotic and partisan among us carries within him traces of narcissism that leads him to say, “My country (or my ideology, or religion) right or wrong!” Perhaps the only way we will make any progress towards tolerance and peace is to teach ourselves to think and feel not in terms of countries, nations, tribes, and races, but in terms of human beings and humanity. And that’s where historians have failed us. What mankind needs is not patriotic historians but unpatriotic ones who will dare to emphasize the blunders and misdeeds of their own political leaders, because true patriotism consists in promoting self-examination and understanding as opposed to asserting moral superiority, because there are no such things as morally superior tribes, nations, and races, only morally superior human beings who do not, as a rule, brag about their moral superiority.
#

PanARMENIAN.Net

The Economist: Looks Like Armenia Has Mastered
Levitation
23.11.2006 16:52 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Despite the war, the economic
collapse that went with it and a terrible earthquake
that preceded it, Armenia seems to have levitated out
of trouble. The Economist writes in an article titled
The Art of Levitation: the Caucasian Version, Armenia
benefits from an indulgence not afforded to
pro-Western Georgia. Per person, Armenia is one of the
biggest recipients of American aid (thanks to the
powerful Diaspora there, which remembers vividly the
massacres of 1915). Yet that American help does not
trouble Russia, which has a military base in Armenia.

Some in Russia want the Armenians to take sides
against the Georgians, perhaps by stirring up the
Armenian minority there. `We refuse to choose,’ says
Vartan Oskanian, the foreign minister. Indeed:
alienating Georgia would be suicidal.

But the Kremlin’s leverage is growing. Russian firms
already control the energy sector and want a greater
stake elsewhere. Mr Oskanian says `our needs today are
too dire’ to worry about future risks. Azerbaijan’s
hydrocarbons windfall makes it sound confident, even
bellicose, stoking Armenian reliance on Russia.

`American interest in the pipelines that link the
Caspian to the Mediterranean, doglegging round
Armenia, mean that renewed fighting would echo far
beyond the Caucasus. Internationally sponsored talks
about Karabakh limp on – Mr Oskanian met his Azerbaijani
counterpart this week – and Western diplomats try to
sound upbeat. But a deal, or even a fudge that would
at least allow normal trade relations, looks all but
impossible. Sporadic shooting continues at the
dividing line,’ the newspaper writes, reports InoSMI.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PanARMENIAN.Net

UN to Discuss Conflicts in GUAM Territory December 4
23.11.2006 17:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ December 4 within the 61st session
of the UN General Assembly the issue of frozen
conflicts in the GUAM territory, their impact on the
international community, security and development will
be discussed. Representatives of GUAM member states at
the UN have already worked out a draft resolution to
be introduced, reported Chief of the Print and
Information Policy Department of the Azeri MFA Tair
Tagizadeh. He did not rule out the opportunity for the
dates of discussion to be changed, reports APA. The
issue was included in the agenda in September, when it
was introduced by GUAM member countries – Georgia,
Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Istratov: Karabakh Conflict Will Not Be Solved by a UN Resolution
23.11.2006 17:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Nagorno Karabakh conflict will
not be solved by a UN resolution. Russia’s position in
the issue coincides with that of the OSCE MG
co-chairs, said Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan
Vasily Istratov. The ambassador said that the main
mission of the Minsk Group is the solution of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict. `It is not possible to
solve the conflict by dictating the ways. The sides
should agree to the case by themselves,’ the
Ambassador said. Vasily Istratov said that the
conflicting sides know the ways of solution. `Both
sides know what to do. Nagorno Karabakh is not a
frozen conflict, it is a conflict temporarily put
aside,’ Istratov said, reports APA.

PanARMENIAN.Net

New Book on Armenian Genocide by Akcam Issued in Canada
23.11.2006 17:47 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Zorian Institute of Armenian Research in Toronto
has published a book by Taner Akcam titled Flagrant Deed: Armenian
Genocide and Issue of Turkish Responsibility, reports Armenian Mirror
Spectator. The title chosen by the author represents words of founder
of current Turkish state Kemal Ataturk that he pronounced on April 24,
1920 at the Parliament open session. The international press has
already appreciated the book. The Economist noted in its October 21-27
issue, `The book highlights two facts. Firstly, many foreign witnesses
of deportations arrived at a conclusion that it was not deportation,
but slaughter. Secondly, why conditions are not formed in Turkey for
free discussion of the issue by now.’

The New York Times columnist Belinda Cooper wrote, `Akcam is a rare
scholar, who challenged native Turkey, which holds no organized
slaughter of Armenians took place. Akcam is the first Turkish
specialist to publicly use word genocide.’ In his turn Turkish writer
Orhan Pamuk underscored that Flagrant Deed is the final reports on the
organized extermination of Ottoman Armenians, written by the
courageous Turkish scholar.

Akcam devoted his book «to the memory of decorous Muslim Turk Haji
Halil, who saved and hid for over 6 months members of an Armenian
family threatening his own life.» Akcam noted he was shocked by «this
peculiar example of triumph of good and humanity over evil.»

The Zorian Institute helped to translate the book into English. The
book is expected to be issued in Hebrew, Armenian and other
languages. «The more books are published, the better Turks will know
and doubt the lie, presented by the state,» said Zorian Institute
Board of Directors Chair, professor Roger Smith, reports the Azg.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Armenia Fund Annual Telethon Launched Today
23.11.2006 18:22 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On November 23, 2006, Armenia Fund will air its 9th
Annual International Telethon. This year’s telethon will highlight the
organization’s 15 years of achievements as well as celebrate the 15th
Anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Armenia. Since
1991, Armenia Fund has rendered more than $160 million in short term
humanitarian aid as well as long term infrastructure development
project. The organization was instrumental for urgently facilitating
the critical energy needs of the fledgling Armenian republic in from
1991 – 1994. In addition to its relief aid, the organization has
constructed major infrastructure that includes rural roads and
highways, drinking water and irrigation networks, healthcare
facilities, schools, and cultural and historical projects’
rehabilitation.

Proceeds from Telethon 2006 will benefit the war torn region of Hadrut
in Nagorno Karabakh. Among various major projects, the plan calls for
the reconstruction of a regional hospital, a series of new schools,
new water pipelines and distribution networks, as well a comprehensive
regional agricultural development program all designed to enhance the
socio-economic standards of the region. The plan will draw parallels
to the Martakert Regional Development plan, which is currently
underway, after months of planning and fund collection.