Month: March 2007

UNITED ARMENIAN FUND

1101 N. Pacific Avenue # 204
Glendale, CA 91202
Tel: 818.241.8900
Fax: 818.241.6900

PRESS RELEASE

March 17, 2007

UAF’s 142nd Airlift Delivers
Over $11 Million of Aid to Armenia

Glendale, CA – The United Armenian Fund’s 142nd airlift arrived in Yerevan
on March 17, delivering over $11 million of humanitarian assistance.

The UAF itself collected $10 million of medicines and medical supplies for
this flight, most of which were donated by the Catholic Medical Mission
Board ($8.7 million); AmeriCares ($1.3 million) and C.P. Medical ($50,000).

Other organizations which contributed goods for this airlift were: Armenian
EyeCare Project ($700,000); Hope for The City ($48,000); Vahe Enterprises
($48,000); Howard Karagheusian Commemorative Corp. ($43,000); Hershey
Medical Center ($40,000); Centre D’Assistance Mondiale Armenien de Montreal
of Canada ($38,000) and Anahid Yeremian ($30,000).

Also contributing to this airlift were: Permanent Mission of Armenia to the
U.N. ($25,000); Armenian Relief Society ($20,000); Fund for Armenian Relief
($18,000); Dr. Samvel Malayan ($15,000); Dr. Nishan Goudsouzian ($13,000)
and Dr. Hrair Hovaguimian ($12,000).

Since its inception in 1989, the UAF has sent $469 million of humanitarian
assistance to Armenia on board 142 airlifts and 1,424 sea containers.

The UAF is the collective effort of the Armenian Assembly of America,
Armenian General Benevolent Union, Armenian Missionary Association of
America, Armenian Relief Society, Diocese of the Armenian Church of America,
Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America and The Lincy
Foundation.

For more information, contact the UAF office at 1101 North Pacific Avenue,
Suite 204, Glendale, CA 91202 or call (818) 241-8900.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian General Benevolent Union Inc.
Rita Kuyumjian MD
Chairperson
805, Manoogian street
Ville St-Laurent, QC H4N 1Z5
Tel: 514-748-2428
Fax: 514-748-6307
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

Montreal March 14, 2007- One hundred boys and girls attended an interactive
centennial exhibit viewing session at the Montreal Chapters Dervishian Hall.
The 16 panels which told the history of the AGBU were used by Dr. Rita
Kuyumjian Montreal Chapter Chairwomen to highlight the crucial milestones of
the history of our Union. The children were fascinated to see how the orphan
boys were studying Armenian seated on the sand on the shores of the
Mediterranean sea. They were also very proud to recognize the pictures of
Alex Manoogian the founder of their School, to recognize the picture of the
Montreal chapter, and to recognize the group picture of Montreal scouts in
Armenia. They were also very curious to learn that the Armenian boroughs
such as Nor- kugh in Aleppo and Eshrefiye in Beyrouth were built to resettle
the survivors of the Armenian Genocide. They left the exhibit proud to be
students of 150 AGBU Armenian school network of the world. They promised me
and to each other to ask their grandparents from which city in Cilicia they
come from, and to write an assay on the history of their grand parents’
lives.

PRESS RELEASE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of Australia & New Zealand
10 Macquarie Street
Chatswood NSW 2067
AUSTRALIA
Contact: Laura Artinian
Tel: (02) 9419-8056
Fax: (02) 9904-8446
Email: [email protected]

20 March 2006

PRIMATE RETURNS FROM ABROAD WITH GREAT ZEAL FOLLOWING THE PONTIFICAL VISIT
TO INDIA

Sydney, Australia – On Saturday, 17 March, 2007 His Eminence Archbishop
Aghan Baliozian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of Australia
and New Zealand and Pontifical Legate to India & the far East made his safe
return to Sydney after three weeks abroad undertaking various functions.

Taking flight on 25 February, Archbishop Baliozian left for Calcutta, India
accompanied by Very Reverend Father Vardan Navasardyan to meet, greet and
accompany His Holiness Karekin II Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All
Armenians on the official Pontifical Visit to India, the first of its kind
since 1963. During the course of the week, the Pontiff of All Armenians
toured places of interest in India but foremost visited century old Armenian
churches, institutions and landmarks in New Delhi, Agra, Chennai (Madras),
Mumbai (Bombay) and Kolkata (Calcutta). During the Pontifical visitation,
His Holiness presided over the re-consecration of the Holy Trinity Armenian
Church of Tangra in Kolkata which was restored by the Armenian Church
Committee of Calcutta on occasion of His Holiness’ visit.

Also accompanying the clerical entourage of the Supreme Head of the Armenian
Church were His Excellency Ashot Kocharian, Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to India; Mr Haik Sookias Jr,
Chairman of the Armenian Church Committee of Calcutta; and other members of
the Committee.

On the trail of His Holiness’ return to the Mother See on 5 March,
Archbishop Baliozian too made his passage to Holy Etchmiadzin to partake in
the Meeting of the Supreme Spiritual Council from 7-9 March. However, prior
to his departure on 4 March, Archbishop Baliozian presided over the
re-consecration of the newly renovated St Mary’s Armenian Church of
Saiadabad.

On the agenda items of the Supreme Spiritual Council, the Meeting reviewed
the annual administrative and financial reports of the Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin; was updated on the progress of forming an International
Armenian Church Youth Organization; discussed the continuing issues with the
Armenian Diocese of Georgia and its lack of legal status; and deliberated
over the proposed diocesan by-laws. The Catholicos of All Armenians also
informed the members of the Supreme Spiritual Council that the date for the
next blessing of the Holy Chrism (Muron) had been decided for September 28,
2008.

After a brief period of rest in Yerevan, Archbishop Baliozian began his
return journey to Sydney on 13 March incorporating a two day pastoral visit
to Bangkok en route.

On March 15, His Eminence performed the holy sacrament of baptism of twin
siblings Paul and Mina Mirzakhanian at Anglican Christ Church also
celebrating the infants’ first birthday.

The same evening, the Primate was guest of honour of the Honorary
Consul-General to Thailand, Mr Greg Der Kevorkian at a reception held at the
Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Hotel. The intimate gathering of some 50 Armenian
ex-patriots and guests embraced the opportunity to mingle with the Primate
and keenly learnt of his recent travels, firstly the Pontifical Visit of His
Holiness Karekin II to India followed by the Supreme Spiritual Council
Meeting in Holy Etchmiadzin. In his address, His Eminence warmly greeted
the attendees bringing with him the blessings of the Mother See.

Levon Aronyan leading in the international chess tournament in Monaco

ArmRadio.am
19.03.2007 10:46

Armenian Grand Master Levon Aronyan scored 2:0 in the match against Spanish
Grand Master Francisco Valekho in the first round of a large international
chess tournament that started in Monte Carlo (Monaco). With 2 points Levon
Aronyan shares 1st-2nd places with Vasili Ivanchuk of Ukraine. Russian Grand
masters Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Morozevich have 1.5 points each.

Sevak Mkhitaryan winner of Sao Paolo chess championship

ArmRadio.am
19.03.2007 12:43

Armenian chess player residing in Brazil Sevak Mkhitaryan became the winner
of the open chess championship held in Sao Paolo, gaining 7 points out of 7
possible.

Earlier he had occupied the second place in the open chess championship of
Brazil held in capital Brasilia.

Armenia to join the European Equestrian Federation

ArmRadio.am
19.03.2007 11:54

April 15-16 the President of the Armenian Equestrian Federation
Hayrapet Hayrapetyan will participate in the forum of the
International Equestrian Federation to b held in Lisbon
(Portugal). Armenpress was told at the Armenian Equestrian Federation
that the Armenian Federation has expressed the will to join the
Equestrian Federation of Europe, and not that of Asia, which promises
new perspectives to this sport. The question will be discussed with
the leadership of the International Equestrian Federation.

US Embassy almanac labels the killings of Armenians in 1915 as genocide

ArmRadio.am
19.03.2007 13:02

While debates continue in the US over a resolution presented to
Congress on the Armenian Genocide, an almanac distributed by the US
Embassy in Ankara lists Turkey as a country that has committed
genocide, Turkish "Today’s Zaman" wrote, French journalist Jean Eckian
informs.

"The World Almanac and Book of Facts" was first published in 1868 by
the New York World newspaper and has long been distributed by the US
Embassy in Ankara. However this year’s version contains a reference to
the early 20th century killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as
"genocide," a label Turkey vehemently denies. The most recent version
of the annual almanac, which covers important events in US and world
history, mentioned Turkey in the "Crime and Terrorist activities;
Genocide" section.

The almanac noted that the term "genocide" was first used by
Dr. Raphael Lemkin in 1944 and asserts that the definition of the
world contained the practices of "members of a group being killed,
serious bodily injuries to members of a group, prevention of births
and children being removed from the group."

The almanac continued with the following statements: "The year: 1915,
the event: Armenians being destroyed by Young Turks, the location:
Turkey, the Ottoman Empire, estimated deaths: some 1 million."

Other examples of genocide listed in the 2007 World Almanac of Books
and Facts were the events that occurred in Ukraine in the 1930s, the
experiences of Jews at the hands of Nazi Germany from 1933-1945, the
activities of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia from 1975-1979, the murder
of Iraqi Kurds in 1988, the experience of Bosnians from 1992-1995, the
events that took place in Rwanda in 1994 and the events in Sudan’s
Darfur region ongoing since 2003.

Pre-Election Period: Only Intrigues

Naira Hayrumyan
The Demo Newspaper
19-03-2007 12:52:27 – KarabakhOpen

Frankly speaking, the presidential election in Karabakh overlapped
with a difficult period. According to the law, the election will be
held 50 days before the president leaves office. The day of the
election will be in mid-July. Nomination must start 90 days before
and finish 75 days before the election. In other words, nomination
will finish in mid-May.

Intrigue 1. Will the candidates manage to make up their mind?

The Armenian parliamentary election is on May 12. This is the first
intrigue: will the nomination of candidates in NKR finish before the
outcome of the election is known in Armenia? Why is it so important?
Because this election is unprecedented for Karabakh. For the first
time power is not passed on to an ` heir’, who is known
beforehand. Real election is coming up. Since this situation is new to
Karabakh, people are puzzled. Some people fear `destabilization ‘ or
just losing their jobs, and rushed to persuade Ghukasyan to run a
third term. Others started to look for enemies, announcing that
pollsters and those who are discussing the election early are
controlled from `the outside’ and are against democracy. Yet others
keep silent, waiting to see who will be nominated to go and tell him
how they had longed for him. Meanwhile, the potential candidates are
waiting for the outcome of the election in Armenia to evaluate their
`real potential’.

Intrigue 2: Give us opposition and we will cast stones at it

What is going on in Karabakh in reality? The cause of this confusion
is the uncertainty of the political parties. There is horrible silence
in the political sphere. The representatives of all the political
parties tell reporters that they will make a decision in late March or
early April. Except the political parties there are no `orienting’
forces in Karabakh. Even the acting president decided not to `orient’
this time. Ghukasyan said in a meeting with students he will not give
names: you decide what to do. It is possible that he does not endorse
any candidate who is pointed to, and he prefers to keep silent. Now
what is the poor society supposed to do? People discuss in kitchens,
public transport, at work the merits and disadvantages of the possible
candidates. Every day new rumors come. But all this takes place behind
the stage, not in the political sphere. The country seems to have
appeared in an information vacuum. Here an idea occurs ` let us find
an opposition to talk about it. However, it is impossible ` there is
no opposition!

Intrigue 3: Election with one candidate

In this uncertainty, a ray of hope appeared suddenly. KarabakhOpen.com
found out that the Azat Hayrenik Party decided to support Bako
Sahakyan in the election. But the same source published the comment by
the leader of this party Arayik Harutiunyan, who did not deny this
information but said a final decision would be made 15 days later.
Well, we will wait for 15 days. And we will not make a fuss, following
the advice of friends. We are a normal, quiet, even somehow hypnotized
society, and others make decisions for us. People are amazed when
someone discusses the election with hardly a month to go before the
election. They are right. What’ s the point in discussing? Analysts
say it is possible that only one candidate will be running in the
election in Karabakh. In other words, if a candidate appears who will
stand every chance to win, others will not take a try. In this case,
however, analysts say people may get disappointed, and turnout will be
low.

Intrigue next: Election legislation is being modified

Meanwhile, the government undertook amendments to the Electoral Code.
According to the chair of the Central Electoral Commission Sergey
Nasibyan, 124 amendments were proposed, part of them stem from the
necessity to make the Code comply with the Constitution. There are a
few interesting provisions among them, for instance, it is proposed to
lower the eligible age for a member of parliament from 25 to 23. It is
also proposed to prolong the office of municipal governments from 3 to
4 years. The structure of the electoral commissions and the order of
nomination and registration may change as well. However, according to
Nasibyan, the amendments will not affect the term of nomination.

Karabakh Telecom helped children with vaccination

19-03-2007 12:48:50 – KarabakhOpen

The NKR minister of health Zoya Lazaryan and Ralf Erikian, CEO of
Karabakh Telecom, held a news conference on March 17. Narineh
Hairapetyan, the director of the Millennium program of vaccination of
children, was also present.

The news conference was devoted to the charity of Karabakh Telecom in
health care. Zoya Lazaryan said the program of vaccination of
children which started in Armenia five years ago was launched in
Karabakh a few days ago.

`Recently cases of measles have gone up. The reason is the shortage of
vaccine. At first sight it seems that the health of children cannot be
politicized, but we could not get vaccine because the country is
unrecognized,’ Zoya Lazaryan said.

According to the minister, vaccination has already started. 150
children aged 1-6 got vaccination. She also informed that the founder
of the Millennium project of vaccination of Armenian children Raffi
Altajian from California set up contact with the relevant agency of
Karabakh. The organization raised funds, and Karabakh Telecom made the
first donation of 25 thousand dollars.

Zoya Lazaryan also mentioned that Karabakh Telecom had donated 10
thousand dollars to the children’s center Arevik to buy equipment. The
company also helped the hospitals of Kashatagh and Shahumyan to buy
ambulances.

Public confidence is required for participation in the talks

19-03-2007 12:51:06 – KarabakhOpen

`I think we should wait until all the co-chairs confirm the
information released by their Russian colleague, and the foreign
ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan express their opinion,’ said
Vahram Atanesyan, chair of the Committee of External Relations, in an
interview with KarabakhOpen.com. The member of parliament commented on
the statement of the Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group on
granting a provisional status of Nagorno Karabakh.

`It is difficult to evaluate this. Considering the confidentiality of
the talks and the press release on the meeting in Geneva, I think the
Russian co-chair leaked this information to the press in an effort to
get the approach of the political forces and publics of the both
parties focused on this idea. I must say that the talks are more
serious than the political sets are trying to present. The opinion
that no essential questions are discussed during the talks is far from
the reality, I think. In particular, I mean the statement by Vardan
Oskanyan that during the meeting with Elmar Mammedyarov they discussed
the second layer of the underlying principles. These could be the
details related to the technical aspect of the settlement. And if the
second layer is being discussed, ostensibly there is already agreement
on the underlying principles. It means serious talks are underway,
which may be deciding, and result in what the Russian co-chair spoke
about. As to the question if a provisional status is favorable or
dangerous for Karabakh, I think it should not be addressed to separate
people. It should be discussed by the society. In this sense, we must
be ready for an important debate, and the outcome of the debate would
help us find out if we are ready for such a settlement. After
answering this question, we can attend to the details and nuances the
Russian co-chair hinted at.

No political force and especially individual can assume responsibility
for the settlement. A political force must have the trust of the
public, which would entitle it to participation in the talks. And one
can get public confidence only in case all the possible variants are
discussed by the public, and a common approach is reached, which is
accepted by the majority. I take into account the statement of the
French co-chair that Karabakh must take part in the talks in the stage
of deciding the status of NKR. However, I feel that the society in
Karabakh does not realize the reality of the settlement of Karabakh.’

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress