Month: March 2007

PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address:  Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact:  Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel:  +374-10-517163
Fax:  +374-10-517301
E-Mail:  [email protected]
Website: 
March 9, 2007

Catholicos of All Armenians Meets with Chief Minister of West Bengal

Reception Held in Honor of His Holiness Karekin II

On the afternoon of February 28, as part of his continuing Pontifical Visit
to India, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All
Armenians, met with the Chief Minister of the State of West Bengal, the
Honorable Buddhadeb Bhattacharya.  The Chief Minister welcomed His Holiness
to West Bengal, and reflected on the great role the Armenian community of
India has had in the social, cultural and economic development of Kolkata. 
He spoke of the high esteem and admiration with which the Armenians of India
are regarded and expressed hope that the once large population, which has
diminished in recent years, would once again grow and flourish.

The Catholicos of All Armenians expressed his appreciation to the Chief
Minister for his kind words and spoke of the centuries-old relationship
between Armenia and India.  The Armenian Pontiff also highly evaluated the
friendship between the two peoples and expressed his pleasure at the number
of Indian students currently studying in Yerevan.  His Holiness thanked the
Chief Minister and all state authorities of India for the careful attention
that is accorded to all religious and ethnic minorities, among them the
Armenians, allowing them to prosper and create, thereby becoming worthy
citizens of the Indian Republic, and contributing members of the societal,
national and cultural life of India.

Also discussed during the meeting were the spheres of cooperation between
the Republics of Armenia and India and the current status of the Armenian
College and Philanthropic Academy and the Armenian churches, cemeteries and
monuments in the State of West Bengal.

Accompanying His Holiness during the visit with the Chief Minister were His
Eminence Abp. Aghan Baliozian, His Excellency Ambassador Ashot Kocharian,
Very Rev. Fr. Oshagan Gulgulian, Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian, and local Armenian
Church Committee members Haik Sookias, Jr., Susan Reuben and Sunil Sobti.

* * *

That same evening, a reception was hosted in honor of His Holiness by the
Church Committee.  Among the invitees were members of the Armenian
community, as well as representatives of Indian society who are associated
with the Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy and the Armenian
churches and community of India.

During the program, Church Committee Chairman Haik Sookias, Jr. welcomed His
Holiness to Calcutta and thanked the Catholicos of All Armenians for
blessing the Armenians of India with his historic visit, noting that they
have greatly yearned for the visit of the Armenian Pontiff for more than 40
years, since Catholicos Vasken I came to India in 1963.

Ambassador Kocharian also addressed the guests and spoke of the growing ties
and developing relationship between the Republics of Armenia and India, and
mentioned the increasing levels of collaboration between the two countries
in economic and educational spheres.  The ambassador also noted the great
honor he has enjoyed in accompanying the worldwide head of the Armenian
Church throughout the course of his visit to this remarkable Armenian
community.

Following the ambassador’s remarks, in his introduction of the Catholicos of
All Armenian, Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian spoke of the current activities of the
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin since independence and specifically during
the pontificate of His Holiness Karekin II.  He stressed the importance
placed by His Holiness on the spheres of Christian education and ministry,
social services, the preparation of a new generation of clergy, and cultural
and youth programs.

The Catholicos of All Armenians extended his pontifical blessings and love
to all of the gathered guests and thanked them for their devotion to the
faith of their forefathers and their fidelity to the Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin.  His Holiness exhorted those present to keep the Armenian
College and Philanthropic Academy as a priority in their community life,
stressing that the only future for the Armenians of India are the children
currently enrolled and studying a the Academy.  He also expressed his
appreciation to the organizers of this working pontifical visit and his
thanks to the Indian people for their warm hospitality and welcoming nature
which has allowed Armenians to live their creative and worthy lives in India
for more than 500 years.

The evening concluded with His Holiness offering a prayer of praise and
thanksgiving for the friendship and brotherhood between the Armenian and
Indian peoples, and asking Almighty God to grant peace to the entire world,
reconciliation to all nations and love and charity to all of His children.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Pamuk to receive honorary doctorate from Berlin’s Free University
09.03.2007 12:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Nobel literature laureate Orhan Pamuk’s
German publisher said on Thursday he would visit Germany in May for a
reading tour which was planned for February but reportedly cancelled
for security reasons. "We are delighted that Orhan Pamuk is prepared
so soon already to carry out the visit cancelled on short notice in
February," Carl Hanser Publishing said. German newspapers had said the
writer called off the trip because he feared for his life after the
murder in January of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in
Istanbul, but Pamuk did not confirm the reports. Dink is believed to
have been killed by ultra-nationalists in revenge for remarks he made
about the massacre of Armenians under the Ottoman empire, reports the
AFP.

Pamuk, the author of "Snow" and other novels mulling Turkey’s clash
between Muslim and Western culture, has angered Turkish authorities
with similar remarks. He was prosecuted for telling a Swiss magazine
that 30,000 Kurds and a million Armenians had been killed during World
War I under the Ottoman Turks, but the case was dropped on a
technicality. Pamuk’s tour of Germany will begin in Hamburg on May 2
and will also take in Berlin, Cologne, Munich and Stuttgart. He will
receive an honorary doctorate from Berlin’s Free University on May 4.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Turkish nationalists were going to kill Archbishop Mutafyan?
09.03.2007 12:52 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A Turkish man accused of firing in the air outside
an Armenian church claimed Wednesday his real target had been
Patriarch Mesrob II, the spiritual leader of the tiny Armenian
community. "I had prepared it for (Mesrob) Mutafyan II," Volkan Karova
shouted to reporters here as he and fellow suspect Yilmaz Can Ozalp
were being escorted to the prosecutor’s office to give their
testimony, the agency reported. It was not clear whether he had
intended to physically attack the patriarch or scare him.

Later Wednesday, a court charged the two men with "threatening by
firing shots" and "carrying an unlicensed gun" and sent them to jail
pending trial, the agency said. The pair had been arrested late Sunday
just hours after two men fired a shot in the air outside a church in
the city’s Kumkapi district. At the time, a ceremony was being held
there for slain ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. The ceremony at
the church, on the European side of Istanbul, was to mark the 40th day
since Dink, the 52-year-old ethnic Armenian editor of the bilingual
Agos weekly, was shot dead outside his office. It was led by Patriarch
Mesrob II, who represents the 80,000 Armenians in Turkey. Anxiety has
engulfed the Armenian community and intellectuals since Dink’s murder
on Januray 19, and in recent interviews Mesrob II has said that his
office had been receiving threats. Dink had angered nationalist
circles and the courts for describing the World War I massacres of
Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as genocide, a label that Ankara
fiercely rejects. Nine people have so far been charged over his
murder, which prosecutors believe was the work of ultra-nationalists,
reports the AFP.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Azerbaijan-Armenia matches will probably take place in neutral field
09.03.2007 12:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ UEFA President Michel Platini has completed his
two-day business visit to Georgia. At a press conference Platini took
a stance on the Azerbaijan-Armenia match in Group A of European
championship qualifying. `Azerbaijan-Armenia matches will probably
take place in a neutral field’, he said. UEFA president stated that
he had acquainted himself with the positions of Azerbaijan and
Armenia. `We have received proposals by Azerbaijani and Armenian
National Associations. The issue will be solved in near future in
Geneva’, he underscored.

Azerbaijani and Armenian national teams are to meet on Sep. 8 in Baku
and Sep. 12 in Yerevan, reports APA-Sport.

PanARMENIAN.Net

European Parliament refused to condemn French bill on Armenian Genocide
09.03.2007 13:41 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Parliament has refused to condemn the
French bill making it a crime to deny the Armenian Genocide. As
reported by the Armenian European Federation (EAFJD), November 13,
2006 three European parliamentarians introduced a statement `On the
passage of the French bill criminalizing denial of the Armenian
Genocide of 1915′. Late February the statement was signed by 38 out of
785 parliamentarians and the document wasn’t consequently put on the
agenda. The statement reads regret at the adoption of the bill that
`doesn’t contribute to the activities of those who struggle for
respect for freedom of speech and expression in Turkey.’ The authors
of the statement consider that the passing of the French bill `will
have a negative impact on the Turkish-Armenian relations and will
create a dangerous precedent in the form of punishment for the events
not officially recognized by all interested sides. EAFJD Executive
director Loran Leylekian said that Hrant Dink’s murder should be a
lesson for those who fight against recognition of the Armenian
Genocide and adoption of the bill criminalizing its denial. These
people are responsible for creation of atmosphere of hatred for
Armenians, according to him.

PanARMENIAN.Net

The US radar stations in Europe and the Caucasus don’t pose any
technical threat to Russia

Countries in the Southern Caucasus, and even Georgia, displayed rare
unanimity and cautiousness towards the issue
04.03.2007 GMT+04:00

The Caucasus is in turmoil and the possible reason is Iran and in some
way Russia. Talks about `the new cold war’, which have lately become
more frequent, and the challenges the USA has to face regarding the
failures in Iraqi war, may indeed change the power balance not in the
region only, but in Europe too. The USA’s intentions to locate radar
stations in the Caucasus and in the Central Europe have become a
suitable ground for recurrent loud announcements made by Russian
military men and diplomats.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Announcements, if they are appropriate at all in
this case, must be made by the countries on which territories the
radar station is planned to be establishment, which by the way is the
pleasure not any country can afford. But the Russian Federation, on
account of the imperial ambitions left, has decided to take the lead
over the rest and to once again give `an adequate answer’. It should
be reminded, that the Pentagon, according to the announcement made by
the Director of the Missile Defense Agency Lieutenant General Henry
Obering, would like to have a radar station in the frames of the
establishing missile defense system in the Caucasus. As for the
countries in the Southern Caucasus, and even Georgia, they all
displayed rare unanimity and cautiousness towards the issue. According
to the representative of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Armenia hasn’t received any official calls from the USA regarding the
establishment of missile defense system in the territory of the
republic. It was also announced in the RA Ministry of Defense that the
issue of locating missile defense system isn’t discussed.

The Georgian Ministry of Defense refrains from making any comments
about the possibility of emplacing US missile defense radar system in
one of the countries in the Southern Caucasus. `We will not make any
comments on this issue yet. Perhaps something will change and we will
make official announcement’, said the public relations officer of the
Georgian Ministry of Defense in answer to the question whether or not
Georgia conducts negotiations with the USA on the issue of the radar
system establishment in the territory. In its turn the Ministry of
Defense of Azerbaijan denied the information about the possibility of
emplacing radars of the US missile defense in the territory of their
republic. By the way, three radar stations – one Russian and two
American – already exist in the territory of Azerbaijan. And if the US
radar station in Azerbaijan covers only the Middle East and the
Persian Gulf, the Russian radar station is considered one of the
largest ones in the world. In essence, the stations should be
established in Georgia. Armenia falls out for several reasons;
basically it is the availability of Russian military base and the
relief. The most interesting part of the whole story is that the
missile defense system is by no means against Russia. According to
research specialist at Paris-based Strategic Research Foundation Bruno
Grusselle the system aims at defense against Iran. In his interview he
states, `The shortest way between Tehran and Washington runs through
Central Europe. The planisphere distorts the distance that is why it
gives a quite different result.’ As for the supposed competence Russia
may face, the French expert thinks that the missile defense system,
which the Americans are establishing in California, Alaska and in
Europe, can’t pose any technical threat to the Russian systems, which
are distinguished with their large number and their high
manufacturability. `It cannot represent any technical threat, at least
because it is not situated in the right place. The missiles that
Russia may fire at the United States will be headed to north across
the Arctic, that’s why the American radar station in Tula and
Greenland is of great significance. Missile defense system aims at
protecting the American territory from any threats coming from Iran
and North Korea. Only ten interceptors will be emplaced in
Poland. Quite enough to intercept antediluvian missile’, emphasized
Gruselle. In a word the whole matter is in Iran. Iran is supposed to
be placing missiles with the range of 2 – 3000 kilometers. A missile
launched by Iran must be of range of 9 – 10000 kilometers to reach the
territory of the United States. Iran doesn’t possess such missiles and
it is very unlikely to have one of the mentioned ranges by the year of
2020. But in any case the American missile defense system will not be
put in operation by the year of 2012. As for Armenia, though it may
sound rather paradoxical, it will only benefit from the given
situation, since its safety is provided not only by the Russian
military base, but by NATO as well. True, this is only a supposition,
but it may turn out to be very close to the reality.

PanARMENIAN.Net» analytical department

A1+

HAS "JERMUK GROUP" OVERSTEPPED THE LIMITS?
[02:08 pm] 09 March, 2007

The U.S. food and medicine agency has disseminated information that
`Jermuk’ mineral water (imported from Armenia) contains arsenic which
is dangerous for health.

Edgar Ghazaryan, adviser to the president of `Jermuk’ Group, claims
they have been exporting mineral water to the U.S. market since 2000
and haven’t countered any problems so far. He says `Jermuk’ Group has
received no written notification by the U.S. officials.

According to the data of the agency, each liters of Jermuk contains
500-600- microgram arsenic. To remind, under the criteria of the
agency, the arsenic mustn’t surpass 10 micrograms in each liter.

«Arsenic exists in all mineral waters produced in Armenia and it
provides the curing quality of the water. We haven’t exceeded the
permissible bounds’ states Edgar Ghazaryan and adds that the
announcement hasn’t named any concrete Armenian company.

A1+

ARMENIAN RESIDENTS OF TSALKA KEEP DECREASING
[12:30 pm] 09 March, 2007

According to the statistic data of 2006, the population of Tsalka was
22600, among them 11000 Armenians, 8000 Georgians, 1500 Greeks, 1800
Azeris and 300 representatives of other nationalities, `Bagin-Info’
News Agency reports.

Prior to the collapse of the USSR, Greeks formed 75 percent of the
population. The census of 1979 revealed that there were 31000 Greeks
in Tsalka.

In 1979 – 2006 the Georgian residents of Tsalka increased by 7000
whereas the Armenians decreased by 3000 and the Greeks – by 30 000.

The increase of the Georgian population is determined by the policy of
the Georgian authorities. The point is that the Georgian residents of
Ajaria and Svanetia have been migrating to Tsalka since 1990 to find
shelter from natural calamities.

To note, most of the immigrants are not registered. According to some
non-official sources, there are currently 12000 Georgian residents in
Tsalka.

It is noteworthy that over the past 27 years the population of Tsalka
has increased in favor of the Georgians who outnumber the local Greeks
and Armenians.

A1+

ERNEST SOGOMONYAN IS NOT THE LEADER OF SDHP
[12:50 pm] 09 March, 2007

Ernest Sogomonyan is the 13th in the proportional ticket of the
`Prosperous Armenia’ Party. To note, he is introduced as the leader of
the Social-Democratic Hnchakian Party (SDHP) and an associate
professor of the RA Academy of Management.

Ludmila Sargsyan, leader of central board of the SDHP, made an
announcement in this respect. `There is a rumor that Ernest
Sogomonyan, `leader’ of the SDHP, will run for the parliamentary
elections under the proportional ticket of the `Prosperous Armenia’
Party. I want to refute the rumor that Ernest Sogomonyan is the
leader of the SDHP. The party has exiled him; Mr. Sogomonyan is not a
SDHP member either in Armenia or in the Diaspora’, Mrs. Sargsyan
states.

To remind; Ernest Sogomonyan is the father of Viktor Sogomonyan,
spokesman for Armenian President Robert Kocharyan.

Panorama.am

14:02 09/03/2007

US authorities do not complain of the `Jermuk Group’

Content of the chemical element arsenic in mineral water `Jermuk’ is
in maximum admissible norm. Edgar Ghazaryan, Advisor of the president
of `Jermuk Group’ CJSC, told talking to a correspondent of
Panorama.am, commenting on the information spread by US Food and Drug
Administration regarding that mineral water `Jermuk’, which is being
from Armenia, contains arsenic and is dangerous for health.

According to E. Ghazaryan, all mineral waters of Armenia contain
arsenic, with what their all the curing properties are
conditioned. Least of all this substance is in `Jermuk’. According to
All-Union State Standard, the content of this element in 1 liter of
water should be no less than 0.7 microgram.

He mentioned that it is said in the FDA’s information that content of
arsenic exceeding the maximum permissible norm, was found in a sample
of Armenian mineral waters under the name of `Jermuk’, being imported
to the USA. However, it is not clarified to whom concretely the
product belonged. `FDA has only warned its consumers about it yet’, he
noted, adding that at the same time it is said in the information that
the examination of the samples are still in process, and the consumers
will be informed additionally about the results. FDA has not made a
final statement yet regarding `Jermuk’. E. Ghazaryan also informed
that as an exporter, the company `Jermuk Group’ has not received any
complaint or statement from its foreign partners, neither from the FDA
nor from other representatives of US authorities. According to the
advisor of the company, since 2000 `Jermuk Group’ regularly exports
its product to the USA, and no concern has been made from the USA
within these 7 years, as the produt has always met their adopted
standards.

To note, it is mentioned in the FDA information that 500 ml of liquid
were sampled, as a result of which 500-600 micrograms of arsenic were
contained per liter of `Jermuk’, whereas the standards of US FDA
accept no more than 10 micrograms per liter

Source: Panorama.am