Month: November 2006

Xinhua News Agency, China
Nov 24 2006

Cyprus, Armenia pledge to boost cooperation

Cyprus and Armenia pledged on Thursday to further enhance their
friendly ties and strengthen overall cooperation.

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, who arrived in Cyprus on
Wednesday for a three-day official visit, the first by an Armenian
president, voiced full support to Cyprus concerning the settlement of
Cyprus issue, the semi-official Cyprus News Agency reported.

During his visit, Kocharyan held talks with his Cypriot counterpart
Tassos Papadopoulos over a wide range of issues, aiming at developing
bilateral cooperation, especially in the fields of education,
tourism, banking and culture, according to Cyprus News Agency.

The presidents also attended a signing ceremony of a bilateral
agreement on cooperation in combating organized and other forms of
crime, which was signed by the justice ministers of the two
countries.

As for the Cyprus issue, Kocharyan said after the signing ceremony
that "Armenia wants a speedy solution to the Cyprus problem,
according to the wishes of the people of Cyprus and its leadership."

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey militarily intervened
and occupied the north of Cyprus following a coup by a group of Greek
officers.

Commenting on relations with Turkey and Turkey’s EU accession course,
Kocharyan said that Turkey’s wish to enter the EU implies that Ankara
would settle its relations with its neighboring countries, including
Armenia.

The internationally-recognized Republic of Cyprus entered the
European Union on behalf of the whole island in May 2004, but Turkey
has been refusing to open its ports to it unless the EU makes good on
promises to ease the economic isolation of Cyprus’ breakaway north
supported by Turkey alone.

Armenia does not have diplomatic ties with neighboring Turkey either,
amid a row over the alleged mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks in 1915-1917.

Bangkok Post, Thailand
Nov 24 2006

A SHINING EXAMPLE
Classic Thai films were screened as part of the Amiens Film Festival

KONG RITHDEE

Celebrating seven decades of Siamese cinema.

The town of Amiens boasts a huge Gothic cathedral, canal-fed,
cobblestoned quarters straight out of a Kafka story, the Jules Verne
museum (he was a local), and a long-running film festival keen on
exploring cinematic heritages from remote parts of the globe. This
year the 26th Festival International du Film d’Amiens, which ended on
Nov 19, curated an anthology of Thai films from the 1970s to screen
to a number of curious, enthusiastic audiences.

It is a mark of honour, as well as a surprise, that this small
university town north of Paris should take an interest in le cinema
Thailandais, particularly the landmark films from the specified
decade. The screenings of Siamese movies here – the fest also showed
a few recent Thai titles, as well as a five-film retrospective of
director Pen-ek Ratanaruang – seemed to confirm the place of our
national cinema in the consciousness of global cinephiles. At this
point in the new century when moving images have become the most
convenient (though not necessarily the most accurate) medium to
represent the culture, the history, the social as well as political
atmosphere, of any given country, the cinematic legacy of one place
seems to have acquired greater meanings than the people in that place
have realised.

For instance, it’s almost impossible for Thai audiences today to have
a chance to see Piak Poster’s key film from 1972, Choo (The Lover),
on a 35mm print, which is exactly what the Amiens spectators did.
Having been content with new releases of old films on grainy VCDs,
today’s Thai viewers have forgotten how Piak’s cinematography of the
southern islands looks so crisp and clear on print, and how the
tumultuous story of a fisherman, his wife and her lover could be so
radical when it first came out 34 years ago.

Jean-Pierre Garcia, the Amiens festival director, rightly chose to
showcase Thai films from the 1970s because that decade saw the
emergence of filmmakers like Piak Poster, Vijit Kunawuti and MC
Chatrichalerm Yukol. It was also a period when social realism and
political subtext provided new inspirations for artists/moviemakers –
a contrast to the vaudeville spirit of Siamese films in their
commercial heyday of 16mm films of the 1960s.

Characters in the ’70s had more depth, the cinematography was more
stylish, and some titles, like MC Chatrichalerm’s Khao Chue Karn
(1973) and Theptida Rongram (1974), alluded to the brewing political
drama of those years. A film like Thong Pan (1977), which brims with
leftist sentiment, is hardly ever seen by Thai viewers in any format.
In any case, it’s suffice to say that the films from those years had
the highest degree of relevance to Thai society at large, a condition
that was not repeated in the movies from the following decades.

The Amiens crowds – students, film buffs and the general public –
were also eager to establish a link between contemporary Thai films
and the legacy left by the classics. French audiences are familiar
with maverick Thai auteurs like Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Pen-ek
Ratanaruang and Wisit Sasanatieng – as well as blockbuster hits like
Ong-bak – but in the spirit of true culture vultures, they’re curious
to learn if and how these newcomers have inherited their styles and
sentiments from old Thai films, and they believed they might be able
to detect some clues in the titles from the 1970s.

But is there any connection between films from the two periods?
Perhaps only in the awkward realism of Apichatpong’s movies can we
see the vestige of Thai classics of yore, and perhaps the crude,
CG-less stuntwork of Ong-bak is a happy revival of low-budget action
flicks of the old days. Besides those, the artistic sentiments of the
1970s have hardly left any marks on the local cinema of the 21st
century, notably the lack of political motivations in new Thai films.
The Amiens festival last week also screened the horror hit Shutter,
the transsexual drama Beautiful Boxer, and the epic Suriyothai – each
of these titles has a modern approach that, frankly put, is far
removed from the grit and grime of the 1970s.

Other vintage films shown in Amiens included Cher Songsri’s Plae Khao
(The Scar), Vijit Kunawuti’s Khon Pukhao (Mountain People) and Luk
E-San (Son of the Northeast) as well as Piak Poster’s Thon.

Besides the Thai section, Amiens put together programmes of African
movies (Morocco, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Chad etc) as well as a
retrospective of Armenian cinema. With its interest in Third-World
filmmaking efforts, Amiens is an example of a small cinefest that has
striven over the years to build a distinct character. It’s also a
very good example of a movie festival that needs more than loads of
money – it needs sincerity, devotion, and concern for local
audiences. The fest has a special section curated for young children
(schools organised field trips to the cinema), and 95 percent of the
films shown have French subtitles, because to have just English
captions, according to one of the organisers, "would be too elitist."

The atmosphere of cultural exchange was fostered to the fullest by
the compact venues and friendly, knowledgable introductions of most
movies. Students could approach filmmakers after the screening, and
there were also midnight screenings of horror movies. All in all,
it’s a festival for the people, and that’s the only reason why
somebody would bother to organise a film festival in the first place.

Brussels Journal, Belgium
Nov 24 2006

Pat Buchanan Wins Dutch Elections
>From the desk of Paul Belien on Thu, 2006-11-23 22:37

Jan MarijnissenWednesday’s general elections in the Netherlands were
won by the far-left. The Communist Socialistische Partij (SP) added
17 seats to the 9 it previously held, securing an overall number of
26 seats in the 150-seat Dutch Parliament. The SP became the
country’s third largest party, overtaking the center-right Liberal
Party VVD, which fell to 22 seats from 28. The centrist
Christian-Democrats (CDA) of Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende
remained the biggest party with 41 seats (44 previously), followed by
the center-left Labour Party (PvdA) which lost ten seats, ending up
with 32 seats. To the right, the Lijst Pim Fortuyn (LPF), the
anti-immigrant party of the late Pim Fortuyn, who was assassinated in
2002 by an animal-rights activist, lost its 8 seats. It was replaced
by the `islamophobic’ Freedom Party (PVV) of Geert Wilders, a
breakaway Liberal, who gained 9 seats. The remaining 20 seats were
divided among five parties, including the PvdD, a party of animal
right activists who gained 2 seats in the first elections they
participated in, and the Christen Unie (CU), a Calvinist and morally
conservative but economically leftist party, whose seats doubled to
6.

The 2006 elections mark a dramatic shift to the Left. Theoretically
Labour, the SP and all the various smaller leftist parties can form a
76 seat majority, since the parties of the Right hold only 33 seats
and the centrist CDA holds 41. This, however, is unlikely to happen
as it would require a coalition of no fewer than 6 parties. Moreover,
Labour regards the SP as too far to the Left and too radical on other
issues, such as European unification which the SP is very critical
of. Hence a center-left coalition of CDA, Labour and the Christen
Unie is the most likely successor to the current center-right
coalition of CDA, Liberals and Liberal-Democrats. This will allow
Balkenende to succeed himself as Prime Minister.

The swing to the left had been predicted. Last March the local
elections in the Netherlands revealed the growing importance of the
Muslim vote. Immigrants overwhelmingly vote for left-wing parties.
This is hardly surprising since most of the immigrants were attracted
to the country by its generous welfare benefits, which they want to
safeguard. Official statistics show that the Netherlands have 16.3
million inhabitants, of which 1.7 million are non-Western immigrants.
Most of the latter are Turks and Moroccans. Indeed, already one
million of the country’s inhabitants are Muslims. Many have become
Dutch citizens.

Seventy per cent of the immigrants participated in yesterday’s
elections, indicating a political awareness almost as high as that of
the indigenous Dutch. Though not all the elected candidates are
officially known yet, at least eight Muslims are expected to have
been voted into Parliament. If Labour joins a government coalition
the Moroccan-born Amsterdam politician Nehabat Aboutaleb is likely to
become the first Muslim minister in Dutch history.

The new generation of immigrant politicians do not have much in
common with the former Dutch politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a
Somali-born immigrant who moved to the Netherlands in 1992. Hirsi
Ali, a Muslim apostate, was a member of the Dutch Parliament for the
center-right free-market Liberals from January 2003 until last July.
She has since moved to the U.S. because Islamist fanatics threatened
to kill her and the Dutch were not able (or willing) to adequately
protect her. Hirsi Ali was very critical of Muslim immigrants who do
not want to embrace Dutch secular values. The newly elected immigrant
politicians, on the contrary, represent a growing and demographically
young electorate that insists on its Muslim identity. Often their
loyalties lie more with their countries of origin than with the Dutch
nation, which they look upon mainly as a welfare distributing Santa
Claus.

Over 80% of the immigrants voted for Labour in last March’s local
elections, so this party was very keen on attracting their continued
support. It placed many Moroccan and Turkish candidates on its list,
but fell out with the Turks when the latter discovered the official
party line on the Armenian genocide. Labour’s position is that this
genocide really took place and that Ankara should recognize it as a
historical fact before Turkey can join the European Union. As a
result the Turkish vote in the Netherlands seems to have migrated to
smaller parties of the Left and to the Socialistische Partij of Jan
Marijnissen, the biggest winner of yesterday’s elections.

The SP’s ideological roots are Marxism-Leninism and Maoism, although
the American politician who comes closest to it might very well be…
Pat Buchanan. The latter is, of course, not at all a Communist, but
the end of the Cold War has led to political realignments which today
may put Marijnissen and Buchanan closer to each other than one would
think.

The SP (its party symbol is a tomato) was founded in 1972 by young
Marxists who deemed the official Dutch Communists too reformist and
too submissive to Moscow. They preferred a pure, radical Maoist and
Leninist line. Jan Marijnissen, then a 20 year old blue collar
worker, became the party’s leading figure. Marijnissen was born in
1952 in Oss in the province of North Brabant, the Catholic southern
part of the Netherlands, in a very Catholic family, the youngest of
four. When his mother was widowed she sent him to a boarding school
run by monks. The 1960s were the years of rapid secularization in
Europe, especially in the Netherlands, and especially among the
Catholic half of its population. Marijnissen never finished school,
but when he left it he had lost his faith in God and found another
faith in Socialism.

He returned to his home town and became a factory worker, organizing
wild strikes all over the Oss area. For a long time the SP was a
local Oss phenomenon. In 1975 Marijnissen became an Oss town
councillor. Other 1970s far-left parties in other West European
countries, were run by disillusioned children from bourgeois families
and soon turned to violence and even terrorism, as in Germany. Jan
Marijnissen, however, was a man of the people, who spoke the language
of the people. Though he sympathized ideologically with the
international far-left, he realized that the European blue-collar
workers did not have a high opinion of the
offspring-of-the-rich-turned-terrorist-in-the- name-of-the-workers.
Marijnissen shunned the terrorist methods of the hares and worked
like a tortoise, solidly establishing his party locally.

It took decades, but the strategy worked. In 1987 Marijnissen became
a provincial councillor in North Brabant, in 1994 he was elected to
the Dutch Parliament, in 1998 the SP gained 5 seats, in 2002 9 seats,
and yesterday it jumped to 26. In the European Parliament the SP
belongs to the group of the European United Left, together with
parties such as the French Communist Party, the Italian Refounded
Communists, the German Left Party (the former GDR Communists), Sinn
Féin, and others.

Though Marijnissen is said to be an authoritarian party leader, he
never lost touch with the blue-collar workers. He realized they did
not like the immigrants. In the late 1990s Pim Fortuyn, a gay
intellectual who, like Marijnissen, had been raised a Catholic, began
to criticize Muslim immigrants for their unwillingness to integrate
in Dutch society. The mainstream media and parties branded Fortuyn a
`racist’ and a `xenophobe.’ Marijnissen never joined the
name-calling. After Fortuyn’s assassination in 2002 the parties that
had attacked him, especially Labour, got a terrible beating, but not
the SP which gained four seats.

In Marijnissen’s view the immigration problem was not caused by the
welfare state but by the capitalist system which invited foreign
`guest workers’ over to Europe in order to keep the wages of
indigenous workers low. Unlike the other leftist parties in Europe
the SP was not very fond of immigrants. It cared more for the native
lower classes, who felt threatened by the newcomers. In the 1990s the
SP’s election slogan was `Against’ and one of the things it was
against was immigration – this weapon used by the capitalists to
exploit the workers.

Though the SP has immigrant members Marijnissen never actively
encouraged them to stand for election. In 2004 Ali Lazrak, one of the
SP’s elected representatives, was ousted from the party because he
had accused Marijnissen of dictatorial behaviour. In a newspaper
interview Marijnissen commented: `This is what you get if you put
forward candidates not because they are qualified for the job but
because they are immigrants.’ He insists that immigrants learn to
speak Dutch, that Dutch national history be taught at school, and
that immigrants be spread over the country in order to avoid
ghettoization.

The SP is also against the European Union. It is the largest
Eurosceptic party in the Netherlands. It is significant that Geert
Wilders, the other victor of yesterday’s elections, is also an
outspoken Eurosceptic. However, while Wilders can be called a
neo-conservative, Marijnissen resembles a paleo-conservative. He is
also an outspoken opponent of the war in Iraq and one of the fiercest
critics of America’s international policies.

Marijnissen’s leftism is most apparent in the economic policies he
proposes – protectionism, higher taxes for the rich, state
interference to curtail the `greed’ of the markets, free healthcare,
more social benefits for the poor,… On cultural [Americans would say
`social’] issues, however, the SP has become ever more conservative.
During the past decade its ideology moved towards communitarianism.
Marijnissen even rediscovered his former Christian faith. One of his
supporters is Monsignor Tiny (Martinus) Muskens, the `red’ Bishop of
Breda, who once said that stealing is not a sin for the poor, but who
also stressed that dialogue between Christians and Muslims will lead
nowhere so long it remains impossible to build churches in Saudi
Arabia. The SP’s party conference last month resembled a Christian
meeting. Huub Oosterhuis, a Dutch theologian and former priest who
was excommunicated by the Vatican over sexual ethics, held a sermon
extolling the virtues of Christianity. The audience sang psalms and
listened to gospel music. In this sense the SP, though one of the
most anti-American of the Dutch parties, seemed almost the most
American of them.

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Nov 24 2006

ISSUE OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE HAS BECOME SUBJECT OF POLITICAL
SPECULATIONS, FIRST RA PRESIDENT’S SPOKESPERSON CONSIDERS

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 23, NOYAN TAPAN. The issue of the Armenian
Genocide committed in the Ottoman Empire has become a subject of
political speculations. Political scientist Levon Zurabian,
Spokesperson for first RA President, expressed such an opinion on
November 23 at the Hayeli (Mirror) club. As he affirmed, Armenia’s
position in this issue has no significance for the international
recognition of the Genocide. And EU member countries, in L.Zurabian’s
words, use the issue of recognition of the Genocide for preventing
Turkey from joining this organization.

He said that by speculating the issue of the Genocide the Armenian
authorities receive a considerable assistance from the Diaspora.
Besides, the issue is also used for the purpose of distracting the
public attention from the problems existing inside the country.

As L.Zurabian estimated, the issue of the Armenian Genocide has been
inappropriately politicized, whereas it should be considered from
moral point of view. In his words, the approach of former RA
authorities was different in the respect that the issue of
recognition of the Genocide was considered in the context of
Armenian-Turkish relations. In L.Zurabian’s words, the former
authorities also managed to separate Armenian-Turkish and
Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, so to separate Azerbaijan’s and
Turkey’s interests.

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Nov 23 2006

DAYS OF ARMENIAN MUSIC TO BE HELD IN US IN 2007 ON INITIATIVE OF
TURKISH PIANIST

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 23, NOYAN TAPAN. On the initiative of the Turkish
pianist Atakan Sari, days of the Armenian music will be held in the
US in 2007. During a talk with NT correspondent, the pianist said
that the orchestra of Cornell University, the world-famous pianist
Martin Berkovski, as well as opera singers from Armenia will
participate in the concerts, during which works by Khachatur
Avetisian and Alan Hovhannes will be performed.

In the words of A. Sari, it is well known that the Armenian people
has a rich culture, and it is "the duty of everybody to present it
duly throughout the world."

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Nov 23 2006

VLADIMIR AGHAYAN: CASTING SHADOW ON WORLD ARMENIAN CONGRESS, ON
THRESHOLD OF ELECTIONS, LDPA ATTEMPTS TO REMIND SOCIETY ABOUT ITS
EXISTENCE

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 23, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The Republican
Board of the Liberal Democratic Party of Armenia stated recently that
it leaves the World Armenian Congress (WAC) as it does not want to
share responsibility with that organization which does not present
reports and is inactive. Whereas, Vladimir Aghayan, as the WAC Deputy
Chairman informed the Noyan Tapan agency, the LDPA has never been a
founding member of the World Armenian Congress as the WAC is an
international public organization and was registered by the Justice
Ministry of the Russian Federation. And according to the RF
legislation, political parties do not have right to become a founding
member of a public organization about what the LDPA was informed
still in 2003. Naturally, the LDPA has never born responsibility and
will not bear for the LDPA activity, and the WAC, in its turn, is not
obliged to officially inform the LDPA about its activity.

And that activity, in V.Aghayan’s words, it rather wide-spread: one
of the main goals of the WAC activity is to gather Armenians round
national interests where there are priorities: to assist processes of
the social-economic development and strengthening of statehood of
newly-independent Armenia, of international recognition of the
genocide and liquidation of its consequences, of the Nagorno Karabakh
problem, keeping Armenians in Diaspora.

In V.Aghayan’s words, during the three years of its existence, the
WAC presented 7000 computers to schools, including not only ones of
Armenia and Artsakh, computer classes opened at Armenian schools of
Buenos Aires, San Paulo. The WAC, with its heads’ resources, bought
130 flats and gratuitously gave to refugees’ families with the right
of property. More than 350 pensioners every day get free food from
the charity dining-hall. A new school for 500 pupils is being built
at present in Stepanakert on the account of the WAC resources.

In V.Aghayan’s estimation, with a similar statement, the LDPA, at the
threshold of elections being prepared in the republic, attempts to
remind the society about its existence and in this way to appear in
the political field. And as many people prepare for the elections in
the republic, in Aghayan’s words, people will also be found, who
again touching upon the WAC or its chairman’s activity, will attempt
to draw the society’s attention at them. "I think that this way is
not honest as it turns out that for reaching political goals, they
attempt to cast a shadow on activity of such an international public
organization already entered a wide arena of activity, as the World
Armenian Congress is," the WAC Deputy Chairman said.

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Nov 23 2006

ROOF OF "CHILD’S HOUSE" OF NORK TO BE FUNDAMENTALLY RESTORED WITH
FINANCING OF AUSTRALIAN LOCAL BODY OF "HAYASTAN" FUND

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 23, NOYAN TAPAN. The roof of the Nork "Child’s
House" in Yerevan is envisaged to foundamentally restore in 2007 by
financing of the Australian local body of the "Hayastan" (Armenia)
All-Armenian fund. As the Noyan Tapan correspondent was informed by
the fund’s Public Relations Department, the roof has not been
repaired for a long time and is in a sad state at present. The total
cost of the program makes 17 mln drams (about 42 thousand U.S.
dollars). It is envisaged to finish construction works in May of the
next year.

It was also mentioned that the heating system of the "Child’s House"
building was re-built with financing of the New York commission of
the fund at the beginning of this year. The "Child’s House" has
functioned since 1937 and is envisaged for children below 6.
From: Baghdasarian

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Nov 23 2006

ARMENIA VOTES AGAINST UN RESOLUTION CONDEMNING IRAN

NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 23, NOYAN TAPAN. Yesterday at the UN Armenia voted
against the resolution that condemns himan rights violations in Iran.
The resolution was initiated by the US, Canada and EU countries.

The Acting Head of the RA MFA Press and Information Department
Vladimir Karapetian told Radio Liberty that yesterday Armenia voted
in favor of Iran’s proposal to take this issue off the agenda.

However, the issue was put to the vote. According to Azerbaijani
sources, besides Armenia, 47 countries, including Azerbaijan, voted
aganst the resolution condemning Iran. 70 countries voted for this
resolution, and 55 abstained.

The document in particular says that there are tortures, death
penalty, as well as persecutions of opposition members, reporters and
representatives of NGOs in Iran.

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Nov 23 2006

BOOK ABOUT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE PREPARED IN VATICAN

VATICAN, NOVEMBER 23, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Clergyman,
historian from Vatican, Giovanni Sale has prepared a book about the
Armenian Genocide based on Vatican’s documents. According to
Marmara’s report, the work must be already published.

Different circles consider it interesting that on the eve of his
visit to Turkey the Pope permitted to publish such a book in Vatican.
The book’s publication is explained in the following way: in spite of
visiting Turkey Vatican is not indifferent to the Armenian Cause.

November 24, 2006
Press Release
Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate
6252 Honolulu Avenue
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Tel: (818) 248-7737
Fax: (818) 248-7745
E-mail: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
Website: <;

PRELATE WELCOMES MR. JIRAYR TANIELIAN, PRINCIPAL OF HOVAGIMIAN-MANOUGIAN
SCHOOL IN LEBANON

On Friday, November 17, H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate,
welcomed Mr. Jirair Tanielian, Principal of Hovagimian-Manougian School in
Lebanon, and alumni committee member Mr. Avo Markarian, at the temporary
Prelacy offices in Encino.
Mr. Tanielian reported to the Prelate about the condition in
Lebanon and specifically in Armenian schools, and expressed his gratitude
for the Lincy Foundation’s recent generous donation. The Prelate then
imparted information about the endeavors of our Prelacy.

FUNDRAISING BANQUET OF FORTY MARTYRS CHURCH
IN ORANGE COUNTY WAS A SUCCESS

On Saturday, November18, the Prelate and Executive Council representatives
attended the fundraising banquet of Forty Martyrs Church in Orange County,
which was held to raise funds for the renovation of the church.
The evening began with the invocation of pastor Rev. Hrant
Yeretsian, followed by welcoming remarks by Board of Trustees Chair Mr.
Nazareth Dishoian. An artistic program also took place with the
participation of Mr. Aram Aghababian, the church choir, Mrs. Anna
Bedrossian, and the dance group of Mrs. Perly Varjabedian.
In his remarks, the Prelate expressed appreciation to all the
donors and friends for their continuous support and devotion to the church.
The event was a success with a sum of over $100,000 being
raised.

ARMENIAN ECCLESIASTICAL BROTHERHOOD
ANNUAL EVENT

On Monday, November 20, the annual event of the Armenian Ecclesiastical
Brotherhood took place at St. Garabed Church in Hollywood. Very Rev. Fr.
Barthev Gulumian represented the Prelate and conveyed his blessings.

PRELATE VISITS CONSUL GENERAL
OF ARMENIA, ARMEN LILOYAN

On the morning of Tuesday, November 21st, the Prelate and members of the
Executive Council paid an official visit to the Consulate General of the
Republic of Armenia to meet with Consul General Armen Liloyan.
Accompanying the Prelate were Rev. Razmig Khatchadourian,
Central Executive Council member Mr. Khajag Dikijian, Executive Council
Chair Dr. Garo Agopian, and secretary Mr. Boghos Sassounian.
At the end of the meeting, the Prelate invited the Consul
General to the Prelacy’s New Year’s and Christmas Dinner.

PRELATE REPRESENTED AT THE
COUNCIL OF ORIENTAL ORTHODOX CHURCHES MEETING

On Tuesday, November 21st, Prelacy Christian Education Department Directors
Very Reverend Fathers Muron Aznikian and Barthev Gulumian represented the
Prelate at the quarterly meeting of the Council of Oriental Orthodox
Churches of the Western U.S.A. that took place at the Diocese.
At the meeting, the success of the Oriental Orthodox Sunday
School spiritual gathering was discussed, and it was suggested that such a
gathering take place on a yearly basis.
Also discussed was the upcoming youth camping trip, as well as
upcoming one-day seminar to take place by invitation of the Prelate on April
19, 2007 at Holy Cross Cathedral in Montebello.

PRELATE WELCOMES PRESIDENT ARKADY GHOUKASIAN
AT HE PRELACY NEW BUILDING

On Wednesday, November 22nd, the Prelate and Executive Council officially
welcomed H.E. Arkady Ghoukasian, President of the Republic of Nagorno
Karabakh, at the Prelacy new building.
The honorable guest and his entourage arrived at the Prelacy just after
11:30 and were welcomed by the Prelate and Executive Council members.
Accompanying the President were H.E. Archbishop Barkev Mardirossian, Prelate
of Artsakh, Consul General of the Republic of Armenia Armen Lilolyan, and
other officials. The President congratulated the Prelate and Council members
on the completion of the renovation of the new building and wished them
success in their future endeavors.
Later on, the Prelate and the Executive Council had organized a reception in
honor of President Ghoukasian at the Phoenicia restaurant in Glendale.
Among the invited guests were Executive Council members, A.R.F. Central
Committee representatives, Glendale City Council members, members of
community organizations, and Prelacy donors and friends.
During the reception, the Prelate welcomed the President and
offered his blessings for a successful Telethon. Archbishop Barkev
Mardirossan, Consul General Armen Liloyan, ARF Central Executive
representative Mr. Avedik Izmirlian, and representatives of Armenian
organizations also welcomed the president and conveyed their wishes of a
bright future for Artsakh and our homeland.

ON BEHALF OF OUR PRELACY H.E. THE PRELATE PARTICIPATED IN THE 9TH
INTERNATIONAL
ARMENIA FUND TELETHON

On Thanksgiving Day, the 9th international Armenia Fund Telethon took place
on Thursday, November 23rd, with the participation of the Western Prelacy
and its affiliated bodies, along with the government and spiritual leaders
of Artsakh.
The Telethon started with the opening prayer by the spiritual
leaders of the Western United States. On this occasion, the Prelate urged
our community members to fulfill their national duty and participate in the
Telethon to support the rebuilding of Artsakh.
The Thanksgiving Day Telethon raised a total amount of $13.7
million.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress