Author: admin

I-Newswire.com (press release)
March 23 2005

UNICEF Applauds Armenian Ratification of CRC Optional Protocol on the
Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography

President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan today signed the Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of
children, child prostitution and child pornography, ratified by the
National Assembly of Armenia on 28 February 2005.

i-Newswire, 2005-03-24 – ~SThe commercial sexual exploitation of
children is a horrific crime and an intolerable violation of child
rights,~T says Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative in Armenia. ~SThe
ratification of this Protocol is a major step forward in the campaign
to protect the children of this country from sexual exploitation and
abuse. With its ratification, Armenia joins a transnational
partnership to tackle this global crime.~T

The Protocol applies to children under the age of 18 and obliges
ratifying countries to take measures to prevent, investigate and
punish cases of sexual exploitation and sale of children and provide
victims with proper counseling and rehabilitation.
~SUNICEF estimates that over one million children worldwide enter the
multi-billion dollar commercial sex trade every year, though accurate
statistics are hard to come by given the clandestine nature of this
industry, says Yett. ~SIt is clear that this is a global scourge,
affecting every country in the world, including Armenia.~T
These exploited children are at increased risk of violence, drug
abuse, and disease ~V including HIV/AIDS. The damage endures long
after the violations; sexually exploited children suffer harm ~V
sexual, physical and emotional ~V that can last a lifetime.
The Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and
child pornography was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly on 25 May
2000. Armenia~Rs ratification brings the total number of ratifying
countries up to 88.
~SWe will continue to support the Government of Armenia in its efforts
to build a protective environment for children, including the
measures required as a result of this ratification,~T says Yett. ~SThe
National Assembly is now considering the second Optional Protocol to
the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which addresses the
involvement of children in armed conflict. We urge its speedy
ratification.~T
###

UNICEF began working in Armenia in 1994. UNICEF is mandated by the UN
General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children~Rs rights,
to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to
meet their full potential.

For further information:
Emil Sahakyan, Communication Officer, UNICEF Yerevan, tel: ( +374 1 ) 523 546
[email protected]
Angela Hawke, UNICEF Regional Office for CEE/CIS, tel: ( +41 22 ) 909 5433

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PanArmenian News
March 23 2005

ARMENIAN DELEGATION TO DISCUSS IN GEORGIA PROBLEMS REGARDING
ELIMINATION OF ARMENIAN CHURCH AND CULTURAL HERITAGE

23.03.2005 03:35

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Early April Armenian delegation composed of head
of the Karabakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Pargev
Martirosian, member of the spiritual council, professor Rafael
Papian and Bishop Yeznik Papian will visit Georgia to discuss problems
regarding the elimination of the Armenian church and cultural heritage,
the press release of the Armenian Diocese of Georgia reported, Yerkir
newspaper writes. The delegation members are also going to discuss the
issues referring to the status of the Armenian Diocese of Georgia. The
Armenian delegation anchors big hopes with the upcoming negotiations.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

USATF ACTION PLAN SIGNED

ArmenPress
March 23 2005

YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS: On March 23, Minister of Finance
and Economy Vartan Khachatrian and U.S. Ambassador John Evans signed
the Action Plan of the most recent meeting of the U.S.-Armenia Task
Force on Economic Cooperation (USATF). The current document
highlights areas in which the two governments are cooperating in the
fields of development assistance.
“This Action Plan is our development roadmap,” said Ambassador
Evans of the signing ceremony. “It helps us set clear goals and
ensures that we are cooperating as governments toward a bright future
for the Armenian people.”
Topics in the 30-point action plan include ways to improve fiscal
administration, strengthen the banking sector, fight corruption,
engage the business community, meet Armenia’s needs in the public
service sector and strengthen ongoing cooperation in the agricultural
and humanitarian sectors. The document also acknowledges the
Government of Armenia’s eligibility for the Millennium Challenge
Account (MCA) and the need to register progress in MCA eligibility
areas. The signing was preceded by a series of working-level meetings
on each of these items between officials of the U.S. Embassy and
USAID and various Government of Armenia ministries. USAID-Armenia
Director Robin Phillips also participated in the event.
The U.S.-Armenia Task Force on Economic Cooperation was
established in January 2000 as a way to institutionalize
government-to-government dialogue on development issues, promote
further economic cooperation and maximize the effectiveness of
assistance programs implemented by the United States Government.
Meetings are held twice a year (once in the United States and once in
Armenia). The next USATF meeting is tentatively scheduled to be held
in May 2005 in Yerevan.
The United States Government has provided over 1.5 billion dollars
of assistance to the Republic of Armenia over the past decade.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Economist, UK
March 23 2005

Christian Jerusalem

Ridiculous and sublime

IN EVERY place where Palestinian Christians live, church choirs are
getting ready to celebrate what they regard as the defining event in
local history. Some will mark Easter along with the western Christian
world on Sunday; the majority, followers of the eastern calendar,
have another five weeks to wait before their rich Arabic voices take
up the Hebrew poetry of the Paschal hymn: ~SShine, shine, Oh new
Jerusalem, for the glory of the Lord has dawned upon you!~T

Christ himself counselled people not to be too concerned with the
specifics of holy places; it was more important to offer prayers ~Sin
spirit and in truth~T than to pray on the right mountainside or in the
right city. But Palestinian worshippers would hardly be human if they
did not give a rather literal interpretation to the words they were
singing. As a tiny minority within a minority whose lives have been
turned upside down since the intifada began, they yearn to travel
more easily to and from the earthly Jerusalem of family, friends and
cherished places of worship.

Israel

Religion

Macmillan, Ms Clark~Rs publisher, has information about her book.

But not all of Jerusalem’s Christians sympathise with them. While the
Christian communities of the Old City (Armenians and Ethiopians, as
well as Palestinians) dwindle in numbers and morale, there is a
powerful new force on the religious scene: a dynamic body of
evangelical Christians, many of them American, who side with the far
right of Israeli politics. They believe that the Jews are the only
people with a right to the land of Israel as defined by scripture,
and that all others should leave. Many of the older Christian
communities find it hard to regard these newcomers as their
co-religionists.

This tension is one of the many themes investigated by Victoria
Clark, who spent a year and a half as a part-time resident of the Old
City, staying in a damp ex-monastery as lodger and friend of two
Palestinian Christian sisters with an endearing attachment to gossip
and cigarettes. Against a background of violence, fear and economic
depression, Ms Clark has written a rich and insightful essay on
Christian Jerusalem, harking back as far as 325AD, when the Emperor
Constantine and his mother, Helena, are said to have announced the
discovery of Christ’s tomb.

Ever since, this tiny shrine has drawn hundreds of thousands of
people, some as conquerors using the Holy Sepulchre as an excuse for
military adventures, others believing that they could be redeemed
both by the journey and the destination. The conquerors insisted that
only by possessing the shrine, and killing everybody who stood in
their way, could Christian powers be guaranteed access to the holiest
place of their faith. The reality experienced by ordinary believers
was different. For at least two centuries after Muslims took control
of Jerusalem in 638AD, Christians enjoyed uninterrupted visits to the
Sepulchre and the sacred sites around it. Another period of peaceful
access was the 400 years of Ottoman rule; the Sultans were cheerfully
venal about who administered the holy premises, and gave the lion’s
share to the Greeks who were the best payers.

In the 19th century, Anglo-Saxon Protestants were horrified by the
annual Easter ritual of the Holy Fire. This is a ceremony in which a
flame~Wkindled in some mysterious way in the heart of the tomb~Wis used
to light the candles of thousands of excited believers from every
corner of eastern Christendom.

As Ms Clark points out, there is indeed something close to farce
about many aspects of the Sepulchre, including the regime under which
six Christian communities co-exist in an atmosphere of intense mutual
suspicion, which can degenerate into fisticuffs.

In any description of elaborate ritual conducted by fallible human
beings, the ridiculous is never far away and no description of
Christian Jerusalem would be complete without a dose of slapstick. Ms
Clark provides plenty: Cypriot monks with halitosis, Franciscans who
~Shitch up their skirts~T as they sit down, and Armenian tour guides
with wandering eyes.

But what about the sublime? Striking by its absence from her book is
any word from pilgrims who are transformed by the visit. She focuses
instead on Victorian travellers, full of contempt for the Greek and
Russian peasants who thronged the Sepulchre. One traveller, Robert
Curzon, watched in horror in 1834 as the ceremony of the Holy Fire
led to a stampede in which many people were killed. Small wonder, as
Ms Clark points out, that most Victorian visitors preferred to spend
their time outdoors, mapping biblical sites.

But not every modern pilgrim treats the Sepulchre with such disdain.
One very recent visitor, a well-educated American nun whom Ms Clark
did not meet, said she was utterly overwhelmed by the place:
~SPressing your forehead against the cool marble slab, you know beyond
reason and sentiment that this tiny shrine is the precise spiritual
centre of the universe, and that all beauty, all religious truth and
every created being spins on an inner axis around this sun.~T

What such descriptions evoke is the mystery at the heart of all holy
places. They may be located in specific points on the map, but they
are also thresholds which take the pilgrim into a reality beyond time
and space. The holiness of such places~Wtheir role as gateway to an
entirely different reality~Wis organically connected to the worldly
battles they trigger, but is also entirely separate. While earthly
movements, of which the ultra-Zionists are only the most recent, view
the Holy Land as a place to possess and transform, pilgrims down the
centuries have experienced it as a place where they undergo
transformation. The Palestinian Christians have a healthy instinctive
sense of this paradox. They adore the Holy Sepulchre, while
maintaining a lively disrespect for most of the Greek bishops who
lord and squabble over it.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkish FM Calls for Proof of Armenian Allegations

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
March 23 2005

Turkey called on countries having upheld Armenian allegations of
‘genocide’ to take the challenge to prove the genuineness of the
charges and maintained the debate was manipulated by the powerful
Armenian Diaspora.

“Account for what you have done; prove the allegations,” Turkish
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told a meeting of the parliamentary group
of his Justice and Development Party (AKP), referring to countries
whose parliaments have passed resolutions recognizing the alleged
‘genocide’.

Turkey categorically rejects charges that Armenians were subject to
a massacre campaign at the hands of the late Ottoman Empire in the
beginning of the last century and says deaths came while the Ottoman
Empire was trying to quell a civil unrest, which brought losses to
both Armenian and Turkish sides. Moreover Turkey claims that many
Armenians were killed in the ethnic conflicts between Kurds and
Armenians. 100,000 Armenians died due to the epidemic diseases and
famine in Anatolia while more than 200,000 Armenians died as a result
of the bad conditions under the Armenian rule around Yerevan in 1919.

But national parliaments of several countries have upheld the Armenian
allegations, drawing furious reaction from Turkey.

Turkish FM Gul said several parliaments have made mistakes and took
wrong decisions, referring to resolutions on the allegations and said
Turkey has reacted and would continue to react to such moves. He said
the government and the Parliament would be actively working against
Armenian allegations but did not give details.

Gul’s AKP and the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) recently
united forces in calling for a scholarly investigation of allegations
and said the Ottoman archives were open to researchers for study.
Turkish PM call the Armenian side to open their archives in Armenia
and the US. The Armenian archives, particularly the Tashnak Arcives
are closed to researchers.

The Turkish foreign minister blamed the Armenian Diaspora for the
anti-Turkey campaigns in parliaments of other countries and said
members of the Diaspora exploited the issue of alleged genocide to
promote their standing in the countries they are living. “They are a
minority. Because they are a minority, they needed a tool that would
help protect their minority identity and awareness,” he said, and
added: “In addition, they are guilty. They are living comfortably in
other countries and do not go to Armenia to help their country. They
are exploiting this issue in order to erase this feeling of guilt
and in order to strengthen their position in the countries they are
living in.” Hostility Against Turkey:

Gul said Turks and Armenians had lived side by side for centuries,
contributing to each other’s culture and added that the Ottoman
Empire had protected the Armenian language and religion, describing
the allegations of genocide as “slander and fallacy.”

“Yet, we see very well that there is hostility against Turkey,”
he went on.

Armenia – Turkey territorial borders are closed and there is no
diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey. Nationalist Armenian
parties are against the opening of the borders. The extreme Armenian
nationalist parties argue that the opening of the Turkish borders
will be a betrayal to the Armenian Case.

Armenia has occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories and does
not recognise Turkey’s national borders.

(JTW, news agencies and Turkish Daily News)

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
03/23/2005
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://

1) Demands of Javakhk Armenians Justified, Says Saakashvili Representative
2) US, Armenia Formalize Development Assistance Action Plan
3) Kavkaz-Poti Ferryboat Line Opens
4) Novorossiysk Armenians Seek Russian, Armenian Presidents’ Intervention in
Cossack Rampage
5) Armenian Jews Call for Genocide Recognition

1) Demands of Javakhk Armenians Justified, Says Saakashvili Representative

TBILISI (Combined Sources)–The governor of Samtskhe-Javakhk Goga Khachidze,
representing Georgian President Saakashvilli, met with representatives of the
predominantly Armenian populated region on March 22, along with the organizers
of a protest that took place in the local town of Akhalkalak on March 13.
Citing economic and security concerns, approximately 1,500 residents had
rallied against a recent Georgian parliament resolution calling for the
withdrawal of a Russian military base in Akhalkalak.
During their meeting with Khachidze, local leaders, including representatives
of non-governmental organizations, as well as Akhalkalak’s representative in
Georgian parliament Hamlet Movsisian, and local governor Arthur Yeremian,
presented a row of immediate demands. These included the teaching of Armenian
history in local schools, democratization of local elections, the use of the
Armenian language in local juridical processes, restoration of a
passport/identification bureau in the region, and reconstruction of roads near
the Armenian border where a customs checkpoint is located (goods arriving from
Armenia are presently diverted from that checkpoint to approximately 60 miles
away for inspection).
Khachidze promised a positive resolution by March 28, to the restoration of a
passport/identification bureau. He also pledged to take the issue of teaching
Armenian history in local schools to Georgia’s Ministry of Education for a
quick resolution.
Though he was unable to provide official responses to the remaining issues,
Khachidze later told a press conference that all of the demands are
legitimate,
and he would do his utmost to resolve the issues.

2) US, Armenia Formalize Development Assistance Action Plan

YEREVAN (Armenpress)–Representatives of the US-Armenia Task Force on Economic
Cooperation (USATF) signed an Action Plan on March 23, following their most
recent meeting. Armenia’s Minister of Finance and Economy Vartan Khachatrian
and US Ambassador John Evans formalized the document that highlights
cooperation in development assistance between the US and Armenia.
“This Action Plan is our development roadmap,” said Ambassador Evans at
signing ceremony. “It helps us set clear goals and ensures that we are
cooperating as governments toward a bright future for the Armenian people.”
The 30-point action plan includes means to improve fiscal administration,
strengthen the banking sector, fight corruption, engage the business
community,
meet Armenia’s needs in the public service sector, and strengthen ongoing
cooperation in the agricultural and humanitarian sectors. The document also
acknowledges Armenia’s eligibility for the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA)
and the need to register progress in MCA eligibility areas.
The signing was preceded by a series of working-level meetings on each of
these items between officials of the US Embassy and USAID and various
Government of Armenia ministries. USAID-Armenia Director Robin Phillips also
participated in the event.
The US-Armenia Task Force on Economic Cooperation was established in January
2000 as a way to institutionalize government-to-government dialogue on
development issues, promote further economic cooperation, and maximize the
effectiveness of assistance programs implemented by the United States
Government. Meetings are held twice a year (once in the United States and once
in Armenia). The next USATF meeting is tentatively scheduled to be held in May
2005 in Yerevan.
The United States Government has provided over 1.5 billion dollars of
assistance to the Republic of Armenia over the past decade.

3) Kavkaz-Poti Ferryboat Line Opens

TBILISI (Armenpress)–The ferryboat line connecting the Russian port of Kavkaz
on the Black Sea with the Georgian port of Poti opened on Wednesday. The first
flour-loaded carriages will reach the Georgian port in two days.
Kavkazpress news agency reported that Georgia is committed to uninterrupted
operation of the ferryboat line, especially in winter months when overland
roads connecting it with Russia are closed because of heavy snowfalls.
The ferryboat line was expected to begin working last January 20, but its
opening was postponed twice at Russia’s request.
The ferryboat will transport up to 30 carriages weekly–part of which will go
to Armenia. It will cut transportation cost of Armenia-bound goods by 30
percent.
The Georgian City of Poti, Armenia’s nearest seaport, can be reached by road
from Yerevan. It serves as a primary gateway for Armenia–both for imports and
exports.
Armenia has 840 kilometers of railway; however, of the three international
rail connections via Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey, only the Georgian
connection to the Black Sea ports of Poti and Batumi are presently in
operation, due to trade embargoes imposed by Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Armenian government officials and businessmen hope that the opening of a rail
ferry service between Poti and Kavkaz, which was scheduled to operate in late
January, would partly restore Armenia’s rail connection with the outside
world.

4) Novorossiysk Armenians Seek Russian, Armenian Presidents’ Intervention in
Cossack Rampage

NOVOROSSIYSK (Armenpress)–According to a report from the southern Russian
city
of Novorossiysk in the province of Krasnodar, the local Armenian community has
asked for the Russian and Armenian presidents’ intervention in putting an end
to a new wave of anti-Armenian pogroms.
Yerkramas weekly, a newspaper run by the Armenian community of southern
Russia, reported that the local Armenian community said city law-enforcement
bodies have failed to uphold their promise to guarantee local Armenians’
safety.
The newspaper said these guarantees were given on March 22, after Cossacks
from nearby regions went on a rampage in a town quarter populated by
Armenians– destroying cars, cafes, and shops owned by Armenians. On the same
day, the mayor appealed to the Armenians, Greeks, and Cossacks to observe the
law and refrain from disorder; however, on the same evening, around 200
Cossacks went on the attack against Armenians and Greeks.
According to a witness, the clash was caused by a squabble at a local cafe
when Cossacks, led by their Community leader Vladimir Petrushin, attacked a
group of Armenians and Greeks who were having a birthday party. In the
subsequent fight, Petrushin was injured and was rushed to a hospital where
doctors operated on him. Local law-enforcement bodies launched a criminal
investigation.
Novorossiysk Mayor Vladimir Sinyagovskiy held a discussion with
representatives of national communities of the city, stating that those guilty
would be exposed and punished. An agreement was reached not to aggravate the
situation. The local Armenian cultural society “Luys” said that the Armenian
party strictly observed the agreement, calling on its compatriots for calmness
and allowing law-enforcement structures to gain control over the situation.
Inter-ethnic tension in this region has become commonplace. The historic
Armenian presence in the Krasnodar region dates back centuries, mainly due to
the incentives offered by Tsarist officials to Armenians willing to move to
the
region. Throughout the 19th century, the Armenians contributed to an expansion
of the region’s commerce and agriculture.
Additional numbers of Armenian refugees settled in the region in 1988 in the
wake of anti-Armenian pogroms by Azeris in Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku.
A related influx of Armenians from Karabagh, Javakhk, and Abkhazia also
strengthened the Armenian presence in the Krasnodar region. After fleeing the
anti-Armenian attacks by Azeris, the Russian-speaking Armenians from Baku, in
particular, often preferred to resettle in Krasnodar, Stavropol, and Moscow,
rather than in Armenia, mainly because of their lack of Armenian language
skills and the need for Russian schools that were closing in Armenia.

5) Armenian Jews Call for Genocide Recognition

YEREVAN (Yerkir) –The Jewish community of Armenia called on Jewish
organizations around the globe to recognize the Armenian Genocide. “Ottoman
Turkey killed 1.5 million of its Armenian citizens, and for decades, mankind
has not condemned this,” reads the appeal adopted by the congress of the
Armenian Jews.
“The Holocaust may have been avoided if the world had united against this
brutality–as it does now to fight terror,” the appeal states, adding that no
political or economic interest should become an obstacle for recognition of
this tragedy.
Addressing the role of the Turkish people in recognizing the horror of its
past, they state, “It would only elevate them in the eyes of the civilized
world as was the case with Germany, which admitted to the killings of 6
million
Jews under Nazis.”

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THEY DO NOT FREE FREQUENCIES

A1+
23-03-2005

The Armenian-Greek LTD «ArmenTel» created obstacles for the second
operator in the communication field – «K-Telecom». According
to Andranik Manoukyan, RA Minister of Connection and Transport,
there are three problems – Enumerating plan, Signing of program,
and freeing of frequencies by «ArmenTel» for «K-Telecom».

The first two problems, according to the Minister, will soon be solved,
and new codes will be put into application. The two companies will
soon sign a program to be able to act equally in the same field.
As for the greatest problem – freeing of frequencies, up to May 15
«ArmenTel» is committed to free about 10 megahertz frequencies,
and up to the end of August – to provide «K-Telecom» with the
frequencies necessary for its activity.

–Boundary_(ID_1iaukbi8ul5w3SYN5ghROw)–

Russia, Georgia in thorny talks over bases’ withdrawal
By HENRY MEYER

AP Worldstream
Mar 23, 2005

Russia and Georgia held thorny negotiations in Moscow on Wednesday
on the withdrawal of Russia’s two Soviet-era military bases from its
small southern neighbor.

Georgia, where a pro-West leadership took power last year, is keen to
assert the impoverished Caucasus Mountain state’s independence from
its former imperial master and has been pushing Moscow to hand back
the bases within two years.

Russia has said it needs at least three to four years, or up to a
decade, to complete the pullout. It is also demanding compensation.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Tuesday the cost of
withdrawing from the military installations would be US$250-US$300
million (Aâ~B¬191-Aâ~B¬229 million).

The head of the Russian delegation at Wednesday’s talks, Igor Savolsky,
said the disagreements between the two sides were not huge but were
“fundamental,” the Interfax news agency reported.

Georgia’s Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili, who has dispatched a
deputy foreign minister for the two-day negotiations, said in Tbilisi
on Tuesday that she hoped an agreement could be reached.

The ITAR-TASS news agency quoted an unnamed Russian diplomat as saying
that Moscow insisted on assurances that Tbilisi would not host bases
from other countries.

A Georgian minister last week said that Tbilisi was willing to
guarantee that NATO troops would not be stationed on its territory,
which would give the alliance a foothold along Russia’s southern
frontier.

But on a more contentious note, the diplomat said that Russia also
wanted to set up a joint anti-terrorist center at one of the bases _
a demand categorically rejected by Tbilisi, which sees it as a fig-leaf
for a continued Russian military presence in Georgia.

Russian observers have said that Russia is concerned that pulling out
all its forces from Georgia could put at risk its base in neighboring
Armenia, one of Moscow’s closest allies in the region. Armenia does
not share a border with Russia and all Russian equipment and personnel
have to transit Georgian territory to get there.

–Boundary_(ID_/5mcL/RV8/qqz/+q7U1YdA)–

ARMENIA THIS WEEK

Monday, March 21, 2005

In this issue:

Senate hearing highlights demand for Genocide affirmation

U.S. praises Armenia for assistance on attempted smuggling case

New Armenian ambassador to the U.S. appointed

Oskanian speaks on human rights, Genocide and Karabakh

SENATE HEARING HIGHLIGHTS DEMANDS FOR U.S. AFFIRMATION OF ARMENIAN
GENOCIDE

Senator George Allen (R-VA), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Subcommittee for Europe, has dismissed claims that U.S. affirmation
of the Armenian Genocide should be avoided due to Turkish
“sensitivity” towards the subject. Speaking during the hearings on
“The Future of Democracy in the Black Sea Area” held on March 8,
Allen said that while the U.S. wants good relations with Turkey, that
does not mean that Washington is “willing to sweep history under the
rug.” “The basis of a truly enduring and reliable U.S.-Turkey
relationship is the truth… It is past time for America to affirm
the historical record and recognize the Armenian Genocide,” he
stressed.

Former Department of Defense official Bruce Jackson who, as President
of the Project on Transitional Democracies, works closely with the
newly independent states of Eurasia, testified at the same hearing
and declared in a statement for the record: “Just because Turkish
officials become indignant at the mention of a genocide campaign
conducted by Ottoman authorities against Armenian civilians in the
early years of the last century does not mean that coming to terms
with history should not be discussed between democratic allies. If
we are to succeed where democracy is at risk, we must be clear in
what we say and do.”

Senior U.S. officials, including the late President Ronald Reagan,
have affirmed the Armenian Genocide, and President George W. Bush has
used a textbook definition of the crime in his annual commemorative
statements, but under pressure from Turkey, the U.S. does not
officially refer to the deaths of over a million Armenians in Ottoman
Turkey as genocide. While denying the Armenian Genocide, senior
Turkish officials have accused the U.S. and Israel of “genocide” in
Iraq and Palestine, respectively. Last week, in what is seen as a
sign of continued difficulties in relations, the U.S. Ambassador to
Turkey Eric Edelman resigned from his post. (Sources: AAA Press
Release 3-11; Agence France Presse 3-18)

ARMENIA ASSISTS U.S. IN ATTEMPTED ARMS SMUGGLING CASE

U.S. officials have praised the Armenian government for its help in
investigation of attempted arms smuggling from one or more former
Soviet republics. “The Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI]
appreciates the professionalism and active cooperation of the
Armenian authorities,” FBI’s legal attaché to the Caucasus Bryan
Paarmann was quoted as saying in a U.S. Embassy to Armenia statement
last Friday.

The FBI last week arrested 18 people, including citizens of Armenia,
Georgia and South Africa on suspicion of seeking to import
Soviet-made weapons, including missile and grenade launchers, into
the United States. The individuals reportedly approached a South
African businessman and explosives expert with offers to obtain the
weapons, while the individual in turn informed the FBI, leading to a
year-long investigation. One of the Armenian citizens arrested,
26-year-old Artur Solomonyan, was in the U.S. illegally and is also
wanted in Armenia on charges of draft evasion. He is now facing up to
30 years in a U.S. prison.

Both the U.S. and Armenian officials stressed that no weapons
actually entered the United States from Armenia. But Solomonyan was
able to obtain pictures of the weapons he claimed he could smuggle to
the U.S. Armenia’s Deputy National Security Director Hrachya
Harutiunian reported last Friday that three individuals were detained
in Armenia on suspicion of involvement in the case. The detained
include an individual who allegedly acquired pictures of the weapons
on Solomonyan’s request, but did not have access to weapons
themselves. FBI’s Paarmann told local reporters that Armenia “takes
the [attempted smuggling] seriously” and is not a country from where
arms can be easily smuggled. (Sources: AP 3-15; Regnum.ru 3-17;
Arminfo 3-21; Mediamax 3-21)

NEW ARMENIAN ENVOY TO U.S. APPOINTED

President Robert Kocharian has appointed Deputy Foreign Minister
Tatul Margarian to be Armenia’s new Ambassador to the United States,
the Foreign Ministry reported over the weekend. Margarian replaces
Ambassador Arman Kirakossian who has completed his five-year tour. In
a farewell message issued two weeks ago, Kirakossian noted that
“U.S.-Armenia relations have strengthened and expanded greatly within
the last five years.” Highlighting the growing security and
commercial ties, Kirakossian added that “in part, the quality of our
bilateral relations today reflects an Armenia that is more stable,
economically dynamic, and confident domestically than it was five
years ago.”

Margarian will be Armenia’s third Ambassador to the United States
since independence in 1991. Since 2000 Margarian served as Deputy
Foreign Minister in charge of international security issues and from
2002-2003, he was also the President’s special envoy for Karabakh.
Born in 1964 in Kapan in Armenia’s southern Syunik province,
Margarian previously served as Deputy Chief of Mission in the United
States (1994-98) and as advisor to the Foreign Minister (1999-2000).
He holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the Johns
Hopkins University in Washington, DC and PhD in Economics from the
Yerevan Institute of National Economy. (Sources: Armenian Embassy in
U.S. Press Release 3-7; Mediamax 3-19)

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Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan’s speech

at the UN Commission on Human Rights [excerpts]

March 15, 2005

Geneva

Mr. Chairman, […]

For Armenians, the human rights principle, the concept of man’s
inalienable rights touches a raw nerve. We lived the greatest part of
the last century under a regime that endured solely because of the
absence of human rights, civil liberties and freedoms. […]

After living, as I said, under an ideologically different helmet only
fourteen years ago, our domestic experience has been difficult and
sometimes bumpy. We have learned to believe less in snap changes, we
have our reasons to be skeptical of revolutions, we know that smooth
public relations do not last as long as decent human relations.
Therefore, as last year, so next year, we will continue to build on
our successes, through evolutionary, incremental ways: poverty
reduction, protecting the rights of conscientious objectors and
religious sects, reforming the judicial system, strengthening
political diversity and free expression, protecting and promoting the
rights of women and children, fighting human traffickers.

As for Genocide, Mr. Chairman, it is the ultimate manifestation of
the violation of human rights. This year marks the 90th anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide. Two-thirds of the Armenian population
perished between 1915 and 1918. As a minority, living in the Ottoman
Empire, their call for the application of the lofty principles of
liberty, equality and fraternity, led to their death sentence. Today,
their survivors, living within and outside the Republic of Armenia
expect that the world¹s avowal of the universality of those same
noble principles will lead to recognition that Genocide was committed
against Armenians.

Ninety years after the event, we still live with the memory of
suffering unrelieved by strong condemnation and unequivocal
recognition. In this we are not alone. The catharsis that victims
deserve and societies require in order to heal and move forward
together, obliges me to appeal to the international community to call
things by their name, to remove the veil of obfuscation, of double
standards, of political expediency.

Very recently, at the highest levels, the Turkish leadership called
for a historical debate. They suggested that historians from Turkey
and Armenia go thru archives and sort out this issue. My immediate
response that Armenia would not participate in a historical debate
was interpreted as rejection of dialogue.

Let’s not confuse the two kinds of dialogue. One is a debate about
history. The other is a political discussion. Periodic calls by
various Turkish administrations for historical debate simply delay
the process of reconciling with the truth. The facts are clear. The
historical record is clear. We know well what happened to our
forebears. Even in the first days of the Turkish Republic, the local
Turkish authorities who had actually carried out the genocidal acts
were tried and found guilty by their own Turkish courts. The Turks
themselves, for their own reasons, put aside that historical record
and moved away from that honest, dignified approach to one of denial
and rejection. Turkey owes the world’s generation that recognition so
we move forward. […]

A financially bankrupt government is turned over to international
organizations until it reforms and renounces its wrongs. Can we
tolerate any less of a government which is morally bankrupt? Do we
want successive generations to believe that genocide is inevitable in
each generation, on each continent? Can we allow governments to
commit such massive violence against their own people? How can we
explain why a report on Threats Challenges and Change must consider
genocide a threat, even at the beginning of the 21st century?

Finally, the third human rights issue is that of the
self-determination of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh. Ironically,
Mr. Chairman, even as societies have learned to support the victims
of domestic violence, we have not yet graduated to offering the same
support to victims of international or government violence. At best,
the world watches silently as the victims attempt to defend
themselves, and if somehow, against great odds, they succeed, then
the world quickly pulls back, as the state loudly cries foul and
claims sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Just as the perpetrator of domestic violence loses the moral right to
custody, so does a government that commits and promotes violence
against its own citizens lose its rights. It is in such instances
that the notion of self-determination is significant and legitimate.

This is exactly what happened to the people of Nagorno Karabakh
during the days of the collapse of the USSR when they opted,
peacefully, for self-determination. The government of Azerbaijan
immediately not only rejected the peaceful dialogue but resorted
immediately to forceful suppression of those aspirations. Azerbaijan
continued to militarily respond. At one point, the people of Nagorno
Karabakh were on the verge of annihilation had there not been the
last minute mobilization and their determination to fight for their
lives, homes and their homeland. Today the government of Azerbaijan
has lost the moral right to even suggest providing for their security
and their future, let alone to talk of custody of the people of
Nagorno Karabakh.

Mr. Chairman, for us, defense and protection of human rights is not
an abstract principle. It is the difference between survival and
annihilation. We believe it is the same for many in the world. Yet,
our individual and collective tendency is to ignore or neglect
problems for which we have no immediate answer or prospect for
solution. This is even more true in situations which defy belief,
surpass common norms, and shake our very assumptions and values. For
these very reasons, in our ever-shrinking world, what is required is
resolve on the part of the committed in order to expand the
engagement of those still hesitant.

–Boundary_(ID_hMVsBzpD9wcl2mdMaQwzbg)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian Jews call for Armenian Genocide recognition

23.03.2005  

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – The Jewish community of Armenia called the Jewish
organizations around the globe to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

The Ottoman Turkey killed 1.5 million of its Armenian citizens,
and for decades, the humankind has not condemned this fact, reads
the appeal, adopted by the congress of the Armenian Jews.

“The Holocaust may have been avoided if the world had united against
this brutality as it does now to fight terror,” the appeal states,
adding that no political or economic interest should become an obstacle
for recognition of this tragedy.

The appeal also stresses that the recognition of the Genocide is not
directed against the Turkish people. “In fact, it would only elevate
them in the eyes of the civilized world as it was the case with
Germany which admitted to the killings of 6 million Jews under Nazis.”

–Boundary_(ID_wdLuh1IA1bO5UIcjb2ETjA)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress