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Armenians celebrate their culture
By: Tim Kane, The Record02/07/2005

Troy Record, NY
Feb 7 2005

LATHAM – About 60 Armenians celebrated the sixth annual Vartanantz
Day Sunday, honoring a 5th century military hero who is as important
today as he was 15 centuries ago.

“His self-sacrifice is an example for the community today,” said
Raffi Tapalian, the master of ceremonies for the celebration. “What
he did to keep the culture alive back then is reminder to us about
never forgetting our past today.”

In the face mounting Persian armies, Vartan led an Armenian army that
was out numbered by an 8-to-1 margin. While the Armenians lost the
battle, they won the war, but not in a military sense, Tapalian said.

Inflicting a high number of casualties, Vartan’s underdog troops
forced the Persians to rethink their plan to annex Armenia. Rather
than fight, Persian leadership decided it was best to let the Armenian
to live in peace and practice Christianity.

“Despite the odds, Vartan decided to stand for his beliefs and
was able to keep the community together,” Tapalian said. “Today,
we face assimilation as a threat to our history and traditions. We
must hold on.”

Not remembering the past is what the Turkish want Armenians to do
about the 1915 genocide that killed 1.5 million, Tapalian said.
Forgetting the genocide will only lead to others, he said.

Participants at the observance at the Masonic Lodge on Old Loudon
Road were served a hearty roast beef lunch and heard about a dozen
children from the Armenian after-school program sing religious songs
in Armenian.

Troy Mayor Harry Tutunjian, the honored guest at the event, told the
group he really didn’t feel too much like an honored guest, but more
like a regular guy.

“I’m one of you,” Tutunjian said. “I think it’s important to preserve
the culture. I was reviewing videos the other day from my family and
realized how important it is to keep the past alive.”

Keynote speaker Rev. Dr. Mihran Kupeyan told the audience that Vartan
was 65 years old when he accepted the commander-in-chief position,
sending a message that it’s never to late to be involved.

“He was basically ready to die and leave his life on the battlefield,”
Kupeyan said, adding that his heroics stand as one of the key turning
points in the 3,000 years of Armenian history.

The Knights and Daughters of Vartan has several dozen members among
an Armenian community of 2,500 in the Capital District. The civic
organization does a variety of charitable and education endeavors,
but the main task is raising money for schools in Armenia.

So far, the chapter has raised nearly $23,000 for School 2 in
Getasten village in Armenia, where 692 children attend school. That
has translated to $200,000 in actual money received by the school
due the World Bank matching any funds at a 9-to-1 ratio.

Overall, the national organization has sent nearly $9 million to
Armenia since 1988 when the program was started to reconstruct the
country after a devastating earthquake.

Another focus of the group is maintaining awareness of the 1915
“holocaust” carried out by Turkey. In 2002, the group started an annual
observance at the steps of the state Capitol. This year, members will
observe the date inside with a resolution by the Legislature.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF CANADA
3401 Olivar-Asselin
Montréal, Québec
H4J 1L5
Tél. (514) 334-1299 Fax (514) 334-6853

PRESS RELEASE
06 February 2005

Contacts: Shant Karabajak 514-334-1299
Roupen Kouyoumdjian 514-336-7095
Aris Babikian 416-497-8972

“CBC Radio Provides Platform to Armenian Genocide Deniers”: Canadian
Armenian Leaders

Montréal, Feb. 6 – The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
demonstrated a lack of judgment when it failed to invite representatives
of the Canadian-Armenian community to its Feb. 6 Sunday Edition radio
program where following the discussion of a book on the Armenian
Genocide, only the Turkish Embassy was allowed to present its side.

The Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC) president,
Dr. Girair Basmadjian, said: “It’s regrettable that deniers of the
Armenian Genocide (the Turkish Government) have been provided with a
platform while the representatives of the Canadian-Armenian community
have not been offered the opportunity to respond to the Turkish
Government’s propaganda.”

In a 25-minute segment, host Michael Enright interviewed Prof. Taner
Akçam, the author of “From Empire to Republic: Turkish Nationalism and
the Armenian Genocide”. Following the interview, Mr. Enright read a
lengthy statement sent by the Turkish Embassy in Ottawa. No such
statement was read from the Armenian Embassy of Ottawa.

Prof. Akçam is one of many Turkish historians to recognize publicly
the mass killings and deportation, in 1915, of 1.5 million Armenians as
genocide. His book represents a scholarly attempt to document the
Armenian Genocide from the perpetrator’s, rather than the victim’s
perspective. In the interview, Prof. Akçam stated that he has been
refused posts in Turkish universities because of his recognition of the
Armenian Genocide.

“We commend the CBC and thank Mr. Michael Enright for their decision to
shed light on the Forgotten Genocide of the 20th century, and Prof.
Akçam’s scholarly research. At the same time we were surprised and
disappointed to hear Mr. Enright read the Turkish Embassy’s statement
which was, as usual, full of historical fabrications and misinformation,
the usual official stance of successive Turkish governments. To us, it
is a sheer error of judgment to confront an honest academician with a
baseless political onslaught, without even giving a chance for the
author to respond.” said Dr. Basmadjian.

The Canadian-Armenian community leader said that it was unfortunate that
the CBC provided an opportunity for such a statement from the Turkish
Embassy while not inviting Canadian-Armenians the same opportunity.
“Moreover, the statement was an outright insult to the author, Dr.
Akçam, who did not lack courage to express the historical truth. The
Canadians of Armenian origin representing survivors of the said Genocide
are commemorating the 90th anniversary this year, are insulted by such
statements on a respectable broadcasting corporation such as the CBC.”
added Dr. Basmadjian.

It was omitted by the programmer the fact that the Armenian Genocide was
recognized as such by the Senate and House of Commons of Canada on 2002
and 2004 respectively, and by provincial legislatures of Ontario and
Quebec dating back to 1980.

Genocide denial out of ignorance or a false sense of “balanced
journalism” or “political correctness” is irresponsible and only serves
to promote revisionist policies. “Do we provide Holocaust deniers with
such courtesies or platforms?” asked Dr. Basmadjian.

The ANCC believes the denial of the Armenian Genocide is an
encouragement for its repetition, as it eventually happened in Ukraine,
Germany, Cambodia and Rwanda. In light of these events, it is
appropriate that the CBC apologize to the Armenian listeners and promise
to present the same opportunity to the Armenian Embassy in the future.

-30-

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
U.C. Berkeley Armenian Studies Program
Contact: Prof. Stephan H. Astourian
Tel: (510) 643-8872
Email: [email protected]

AMBASSADOR JOHN EVANS TO SPEAK AT U.C. BERKELEY, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19.

UC Berkeley-The Honorable John M. Evans, U.S. Ambassador to the
Republic of Armenia, will speak in the Toll Room of the Alumni House
at U.C. Berkeley on Saturday, February 19, 2005, from 2:30 to 4 p.m.
Ambassador Evans was confirmed by the Senate on June 25, 2004 and was
sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia on August 11, 2004. He
presented his credentials to President Kocharian on September 4, 2004.

This event is organized by Professor Stephan Astourian, Executive
Director of the Armenian Studies Program at UC Berkeley. Ambassador
Evans will give a speech entitled `Report from Armenia: 2004-2005,’
present a video about the work of the Embassy and of the United States
Agency for International Development (USAID) in Armenia, and engage in
an open conversation with the faculty, students, and community members
attending this forum.

A native of Williamsburg, Virginia, Mr. Evans studied Russian history
at Yale (B.A., 1970) and Columbia, where he began a Ph.D. before
joining the Foreign Service. In the first part of his career, he
served in Tehran (1972-74), in Prague (1975-78), in the Executive
Secretariat and Office of the Secretary of State (1978-80), in Moscow
(1981-83), at the U.S. Mission to NATO (1983-86), and as Deputy
Director of the Soviet Desk (1986-89). His role in coordinating the
American response to the Armenian earthquake of 1988 earned him a
medal and statement of appreciation from the Armenian government of
that time.

Mr. Evans also served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Prague (1991-94),
and as Consul General in St. Petersburg (1994-97). He was then chosen
to lead the OSCE Mission to Moldova, an international mediation and
peace-keeping effort (1997-99). On his return to Washington in 1999,
Mr. Evans assumed the direction of the State Department’s Office of
Analysis for Russia and Eurasia, winning a Meritorious Honor Award and
the CIA Director’s Exceptional Performance Award. From May 2002 until
his appointment to Yerevan, he directed the Office of Russian Affairs
at the State Department. Ambassador Evans will be accompanied by
Mrs. Donna Evans, former President of the World Affairs Council of
Washington D.C.; Mr. Robin Phillips, Mission Director in Armenia for
USAID; and Mr. Aaron Sherinian, the Embassy’s Political Officer and
Assistance Coordinator in Yerevan

The best public parking for this event is the Martin Luther King, Jr.
Student Union Garage located on Bancroft Way (left turn from Telegraph
Avenue). More information about all available parking lots can be
found at

For traveling directions to the campus, please go to the following
URL: A large campus
map is available at
The Alumni House is in the D3 square.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Georgian president urges national unity in speech at PM’s funeral

Rustavi-2 TV, Tbilisi
6 Feb 05

Text of President Mikheil Saakashvili’s speech at the funeral of Prime
Minister Zurab Zhvania at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi on 6
February; the ceremony, which also included speeches by parliament
speaker Nino Burjanadze, former EU envoy to Georgia Denis Corboy and
head of the Georgian Orthodox Church Ilia II, was broadcast live by
Rustavi-2 TV and other major Georgian networks

[Saakashvili] Your Holiness [Ilia II], Kalbatono [polite form of
addressing a woman in Georgia] Rema [Zhvania’s mother], my dear Nino
[Zhvania’s wife] and my dear children.

I certainly had not planned and could not have imagined that I would
be standing here in front of you in such circumstances. For all of us,
the past four days have been a major test in our lives.

Most of us have never experienced losing such a person. I have to say
that, naturally, each of us has their own way of struggling and coming
to terms with what has befallen us.

No-one should be leaving this world so meaninglessly. On the other
hand, I know of very few people whose life has been so full of meaning
as that of our friend Zurab Zhvania.

Our friends from all over the world are here today. They have
abandoned everything to come here. Many more have been unable to make
it. You have heard the text of the letters from President Bush and
legendary Vaclav Havel. I have received hundreds of such letters in
recent days. After reading these letters, I want everyone to stop to
think. You can all see what these letters say and how greatly Zurab
Zhvania was valued. You have seen in recent days how everyone on TV
has been rushing to praise and glorify him. Does a person really have
to depart from this world for us to be able to value him? When will we
learn to value living persons and to respect the dignity of living
persons? When will we learn to appreciate what we have and not to be
constantly focused on our country’s past? That is the question every
person living in Georgia should answer.

Despite this pessimism, nihilism and cynicism [changes thought] – We
all went through years when everyone was saying that nothing would
work, we were as bad as them and we would also botch everything. We
have proved them and all other cynics wrong, and now Georgia is a
proper state. This has been done, above all, together with all of us,
thanks to Zurab Zhvania’s efforts. No-one will ever be able to erase
this.

I just want to tell everyone, our friends, not to fear because it is
fear itself that we should fear as a result of the tragedy that has
befallen us. I wish to tell everyone who is listening to us that if we
want to learn to win, we should be able to unite at times of tragedy
because we should be able to overcome everything in order to unite in
victory. Over the past few days we have shown everyone that we can
unite in victory, or, rather, tragedy, which means that we will be
able to unite for our common victory.

I also wish to tell Georgia’s ill-wishers that they are pursuing a
lost cause. They should have no illusions. Although Zurab Zhvania is
no longer alive, we still are. If anyone has the illusion that it will
be possible to undermine the cause which we all started together,
which was started by the generation that came to power through Zurab’s
efforts, their hopes are in vain. We will not allow you to succeed for
the sake of Zhvania, for the sake of everyone else, for the sake of
the future of his children and all our children.

Georgia will become a very strong country. It is my personal duty and
our duty to our future and to our friend Zurab Zhvania.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Radio Free Europe, Czech Rep.
Feb 6 2005

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION VOWS TO CONTINUE PARLIAMENT BOYCOTT

BODY:

Viktor Dallakian, secretary of the opposition Artaruriun parliament
faction, told journalists on 3 February that the parliamentary
opposition will continue the boycott it began one year ago but will
suspend that boycott to participate in debates on issues of crucial
importance, including compensating the population for the loss of
deposits in Soviet-era savings accounts, Noyan Tapan reported.
Dallakian further described as “a polite rejection” the response by
the ruling three-party coalition government to the opposition’s
proposals for compromise over the package of constitutional
amendments drafted by President Robert Kocharian. Earlier on 3
February, the three parties issued a statement welcoming the
opposition’s proposals. At the same time, the statement said the
opposition should not make its participation in discussions on
constitutional reform contingent on acceptance of its proposals,
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service reported.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MehrNews.com, Iran
Feb 6 2005

Iran, Nigeria cooperation on electricity will be finalized soon

TEHRAN, Feb. 6 – Iran and Nigeria’s agreement to overhaul Nigerian
electricity installations will be finalized within the next two
months, noted managing director of SANIR Inc.
`According to the agreement, Iran will overhaul a hydropower plant,
high voltage electricity posts and some other electricity
installations in that country’, Iran’s Petroenergy Information
Network (PIN) quoted Alireza Kadkhodaii as saying on Sunday.

He noted that, the 50-million euro contract will be finalized within
the next two coming months.

Elsewhere in his comments, Kadkhodaii said that Iran’s foreign
projects amounted to over one billion dollars however, he added that
contracts valued at 500 million dollars that are in the process of
finalization, should be added to the amount.

He also explained that Iran is currently cooperating with
Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Nigeria and Syria on
electricity projects in those countries.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Reuters.uk, UK
Feb 6 2005

Brown pledges international debt relief
Sun Feb 6, 2005 1:42 PM GMT

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will provide immediate debt relief for 19
of the world’s poorest countries in a move that will cost 26.5
million this year.

Chancellor Gordon Brown’s pledge came after the Group of Seven rich
nations agreed at the weekend that they are willing to provide up to
100 percent debt relief owed by impoverished countries to the
international institutions.

“The 100 per cent debt summit this year has started with one major
breakthrough: a victory in the fight to make today’s poverty
history,” Brown wrote in a letter to the organisers of the Make
Poverty History campaign, released by the Treasury on Sunday.

Currently, about 80 percent of the debt faced by the poorest
countries is owed to organisations like the International Monetary
Fund and World Bank.

While proposals on how to write off IMF debt will be brought forward
in April, Brown wants the richest donor countries to take over a
proportionate share of the debt and has taken the lead on this by
agreeing to underwrite 10 percent of the total.

On his recent visit to Africa, Brown signed agreements with Tanzania
and Mozambique to take over 10 percent of their debt to the World
Bank and African Development Bank, and said that the same offer was
potentially available to the world’s 70 poorest countries provided
they met the conditions for relief.

Similar agreements have now been reached with 17 more poor countries:
Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Madagascar, Mauritania,
Niger, Senegal, Uganda, Bolivia, Guyana, Nicaragua, Armenia,
Mongolia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.

Foreign minister vows to get Karabakh internationally recognized

Arminfo
4 Feb 05

YEREVAN

“Our final goal is the international recognition of Nagornyy Karabakh,
and if the international community sees the problem in this context,
the solution will probably also be found,” the foreign minister of the
Nagornyy Karabakh Republic, Arman Melikyan, said at a press conference
in Stepanakert today.

Commenting on the statement of the Azerbaijani side about the
allegedly planned pull-out of troops from the territories occupied
during the war, the NKR foreign minister pointed out that Nagornyy
Karabakh has not participated and is not participating in any talks on
this issue.

“Taking into account that each of the sides has its own demands within
the framework of the negotiations, the statements by [Azerbaijani
Foreign Minister] Elmar Mammadyarov and [Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign
Minister] Araz Azimov can be interpreted as Azerbaijan’s readiness to
recognize the independence of Nagornyy Karabakh. Only in this context,
can we expect a solution to any issues related to the territories,”
Melikyan said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agence France Presse
4 février 2005 vendredi 11:29 PM GMT

Patriarche arménien: la question du génocide doit être réglée par
historiens

ISTANBUL 4 fév

Le patriarche arménien Mesrob II a estimé vendredi à Istanbul que la
question du génocide arménien devait “être réglée par les historiens”
et n’était “pas une affaire politique”, a indiqué sa porte-parole
Luiz Bakar.

“Nous n’avons absolument rien à dire sur la loi française”, a ajouté
la porte-parole en rapportant les propos du Patriarche à l’issue de
son entretien avec la délégation française conduite par le président
de l’Assemblée nationale Jean-Louis Debré.

En 2001, la reconnaissance du génocide arménien en 1915 a été votée
par l’Assemblée nationale française.

“Nous sommes Arméniens, mais nous vivons en Turquie. Nous avons vécu
un évènement tragique, mais nous préférons regarder vers l’avenir”, a
poursuivi le patriarche, selon Mme Bakar.

En recevant, M. Debré, qui était accompagné des présidents des
groupes représentés à l’Assemblée, Bernard Accoyer (UMP), Jean-Marc
Ayrault (PS), Alain Bocquet (PCF) et Hervé Morin (UDF), Mesrob II a
affirmé en outre, selon M. Accoyer, que lui-même n’employait pas le
mot “génocide”, même “s’il l’avait fait lors de ses voeux et pensait
que ces évènements méritaient ce qualificatif”. Pour autant, a
poursuivi M. Accoyer, “il n’y a pas de sa part une exigence
sémantique”.

“Cette question est difficile mais les positions des uns et des
autres sont en train d’évoluer”, a relevé M. Debré.

Le patriarche “ne fait pas de la reconnaissance du génocide” par son
pays “un préalable”, a ajouté M. Ayrault, en indiquant qu’il avait
fait la veille une “ouverture” en proposant au Premier ministre turc
Recep Tayyip Erdogan la constitution d’une “commission internationale
d’historiens sous l’égide des Nations unies” pour régler cette
question.

“Nous aurons peut-être nous même besoin de cela concernant notre
passé colonial”, a-t-il poursuivi, en insistant sur le devoir de
vérité des nations face à leur passé.

Affirmant ne “pas regretter” son vote sur la reconnaissance du
génocide, M. Bocquet a insisté également sur la nécessité de
“rechercher une solution pour surmonter ce blocage”.

Le patriarche a par ailleurs affirmé son soutien à l’entrée de son
pays dans l’Union européenne. Il a fait valoir de plus, selon sa
porte-parole, que si la Turquie entrait dans l’UE “les gens ne se
seraient plus tentés d’y aller car ils y seront déjà”.

Azeri journalist to visit breakaway Karabakh

Regnum, Moscow
5 Feb 05

The Nagornyy Karabakh authorities have accepted the proposal of the
Azerbaijani journalist and correspondent of the Monitor magazine,
Eynulla Fatullayev, to visit Nagornyy Karabakh.

At yesterday’s press conference in Stepanakert, the foreign minister
of the Nagornyy Karabakh republic, Arman Melikyan, gave a positive
assessment to the visit in terms of establishing mutual understanding
between the sides to the conflict. At the same time, the minister
pointed out that pressure had been put on the journalist in Baku.

The visit of the Azerbaijani journalist, who intends to meet
representatives of social and political circles and the local media,
is scheduled for 10 February.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress