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ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER TO PARTICIPATE IN UN SPECIAL SESSION
DEDICATED TO 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF WORLD WAR II PRISONERS LIBERATION

YEREVAN, January 21 (Noyan Tapan). The RA Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanian will depart for New York on January 24 in order to
participate in the UN special session held on the occasion of the 60th
anniversary of the liberation of World War II concentration camps’
prisoners. It is envisaged the Armenian Foreign Minister will make a
speech at the session. According to the RA Foreign Ministry’s Press
and Information Department, the minister Oskanian will depart New York
for Rome to accompany the RA President during his official visit to
Italy.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

“HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY” PARTY ESTABLISHES PUBLIC-POLITICAL
COUNCIL ON STRUGGLE AGAINST POLITICAL CORRUPTION

YEREVAN, January 20 (Noyan Tapan). The “Human Rights and Democracy”
party is declaring about its initiative to establish a public-political
council on struggle against political corruption in Armenia and calls
on all the political organizations and NGOs anxious about this problem
to participate in formation of the council. In the January 19
statement the party grounds its initiative by the fact that “struggle
against corruption is of formal character in Armenia.” “It is limited
by the document called “Anti-corruption Strategy and Program of Events
of Its Implementation,” which wasn’t discussed with participation of
subjects of civil society as a result of the unsuccessive activity of
the Armenian Office of World Bank and, perhaps, because it has nothing
in common with the corruption processes existing in the country.”
Moreover, according to the organization, the council established by RA
President for the purpose of “allegedly, complete and efficient
implementation of the program” has jested its activity away
contributing to further development of corruption in the republic, in
particular, it registered no results during a year since its
establishment, distorted the notion of “corruption” turning the abuse
of governing authorities into displays of bribe, including the
non-state sector, abstained from monitoring of corruption in the
“upper links” envisaged by the very program and the Commission on
Monitoring even hasn’t established a working group in connection with
political corruption.” It’s obvious, the party declares, that “the
subjects of the country’s civil society are to head the struggle
against corruption and first of all against its cornerstone, political
corruption, in the republic.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EVENTS DEDICATED TO 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO START
FROM SECOND HALF OF FEBRUARY

YEREVAN, January 19 (Noyan Tapan). The process of fulfilment of
assignments of the previous sitting of the State Commission on
Organization of Events Dedicated to the 90th Anniversary of Armenian
Genocide was represented during the January 19 sitting of the
Commission. In particular, taking into consideration the proposals,
the program of events was revised, issues connected with organization
of an international forum dedicated to the Armenian Genocide and
protection of human rights, as well as archives materials, creation of
photovideofilms were specified, the list of literature dedicated to
the 90th anniversary of Armenian Genocide, which will be published by
state order in 2005 was compiled, the issues of organization of the
April 24 requiems were coordinated with the Catholicos of All
Armenians. According to the Information and Public Relations
Department of RA government, it was decided to hold the Memorial
Evening dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Armenian Genocide on
April 23 in the State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet after
A.Spendiarian. The events will start from the second half of
February. They will be held in scientific and educational
institutions, different places of capital and regions of the republic,
the respective materials will be published in mass media. Andranik
Margarian, RA Prime Minister, Chairman of the Commission, said that
the ideas of Armenian spirit, revival, restoration of statehood should
be the basis of all the events, as well as the necessity of
recognition, condemnation and prevention of genocides as crimes
against humanity should be accentuated. An inter-department working
group was established for the purpose of provision of the
above-mentioned issues. Andranik Margarian gave instructions to
complete the program of events, the exact schedule of their
implementation taking into consideration the proposals and to submit
them for the discussion of the next sitting of the commission till
February 15.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ELIZABETH JONES’ STATEMENT DESTROYED ARGUMENTS OF ARMENIAN
AUTHORITIES, DPA CHAIRMAN BELIEVES

YEREVAN, January 19 (Noyan Tapan). The process of settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem is ruined for Armenia, – Aram Sargsian,
chairman of the Democratic Party of Armenia (DPA) included in the
“Justice” bloc, stated during his January 19 talk with reporters.

According to him, Assistant US Secretary of State Elizabeth Jones’
statement, to which the US State Department also joined, has destroyed
the Armenian authorities’ arguments that in case of sending a military
unit to Iraq the US position on the issue of Karabakh settlement would
be much more favorable. A. Sargsian reminded that soon in Strasbourg
David Atkinson’s report will be discussed. According to him, in this
report the Karabakh problem is qulified as a territorial dispute
between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

This means Karabakh is left out of the negotiation process as a
participant, and the well-known 1918 decision of the League of Mations
will be discussed, which is unecceptable for Armenia. In the view of
Aram Sargsian, if Armenia had had its own definite position, no
superpower would have applied pressure, since both US and Russia are
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. He noted that the US’ statements
express its attituse towards Armenia’s authorities. He called the fact
of sending the Armenian military unit to Iraq with zurna-dhol
(traditional Armenian music) a “jest”. Pointing out it is not clear
what fate awaits the young Armenians who were sent to Iraq,
A. Sargsian also noted that anti-Armenian sentiments have already been
expressed openly in Lebanon, Syria and the Unated Arab Emirates.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Nashua Telegraph, NH
Jan 23 2005

Time for `parishioners’ to let go of St. Francis Xavier Church

A Telegraph Column By Paul Sylvain

Can I hear an `amen’?

At least, that was my response upon reading that on Jan. 7,
Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge William Groff essentially
gave the Diocese of Manchester the green light to proceed with its
sale of the St. Francis Xavier church and property to local real
estate developer Vatche Manoukian.

Manoukian intends to then donate the church and property to the
Armenian Orthodox Church, thus complying with the terms of a
119-year-old deed in which The Jackson Co., which for many years
operated the Jackson Mills, stipulated in its agreement to donate the
Chandler Street property that it be used solely for religious
purposes.

While a sale to Manoukian would not in itself necessarily meet the
letter of the original deed, the property’s subsequent transfer to
the Armenian Orthodox Church, does. What continues to baffle and
bewilder me is how a small core of so-called `faithful parishioners
of St. Francis Xavier’ can continue to cry foul over the deal.

Does the deed limit the property’s use only to Catholic religious
observances? Apparently not, and in my book a religious observance is
a religious observance is a religious observance.

I mean, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Southern Baptist, Anglican,
Congregational and all the others, are, to the best of my knowledge,
recognized religious denominations.

Plunk any of these groups down inside this building, sing out a few
`alleluias,’ `amens’ or `praise the Lords’ and, by God, it’s a
religious observance, is it not?

So can someone explain to me what is so difficult for some of these
`faithful parishioners of St. Francis Xavier’ to understand about it?
And while we’re at it, let’s hear another `amen!’

I, like my parents and grandparents before them, also were `faithful
parishioners’ of St. Francis Xavier. It was a grand old church and I,
like so many others, eventually had to face with great sadness the
day when it closed for good.

The time to reverse the decision has long since passed, and time and
the elements continue to take their toll on this French Hill
landmark.

The fact that Manoukian and the Armenian Orthodox Church are willing
to buy into this property, restore the church, and put it back into
religious use should be cause for celebration.

Many similarly grand old churches have wound up at the losing end of
a wrecking ball.

Parishioners from the former St. Francis Xavier have scattered far
and wide. There’s still pain and a great sense of loss over what used
to be, but most of us have come to accept the reality and have moved
on.

A few weeks ago, I enjoyed lunch with Gerry Leblond, who served as
music director at St. Francis for 25 years, and used to do the most
amazing things on the church’s huge pipe organ.

He is continuing his music ministry at another parish in another
town, but he will be the first to admit it’s not the same. Nothing
ever could be.

I, too, have wandered a bit trying to find that same sense of
`family’ and belonging that we all felt at St. Francis Xavier.

I may be one of the fortunate few to say I may have finally found it,
but 23 miles away, at Holy Angels in Plaistow, where my music
ministry also continues to grow.

Of course, the fact that the pastor there is the Rev. Marcel Martel,
who served St. Francis Xavier until shortly after the decision was
made to close it, has made that new connection easier.

But people like Gerry and me, and so many other former faithful
parishioners, came to realize a long time ago that opening the doors
again today or tomorrow will not guarantee a return of all that once
was part of the St. Francis Xavier experience.

I also have come to realize, although I resisted it for a long time,
that all that stone and mortar is little more than a shell, albeit a
huge one.

Ultimately it is the people who bring warmth, life and spirit to a
church. All the rest is just so much window dressing.

I met a semi-retired priest in Texas a few years back, and he told me
a story about how he had served as an Army chaplain in Vietnam. He
was with a group of soldiers on routine patrol when they entered a
recently liberated village.

Immediately the villagers recognized this man as a priest and,
through an interpreter, asked him to celebrate a Mass for them.

Most had converted to Catholicism under the regime of the French, but
had not shared in a Mass for many years under the rule of the
communists.

`I didn’t know what they were saying,’ the kindly priest said, `and I
doubt they understood me, exactly, but there was a sense of unity and
spirit as I said my parts in English, and they replied in Vietnamese.
There was such joy in their faces.’

The patrol eventually moved on, and later he learned that the
communists had returned, and destroyed the village, assaulting and
killing most of its men, women and children.

`I knew then,’ the priest reflected, with tears in his eyes, `that I
had been placed there at the moment in time, to serve the needs of
these poor villagers, and to celebrate their first and, for many,
their final Mass in so many years.’

Did he or the villagers need a huge, granite edifice to mark the
celebration? Did the fact that their `amens’ and `alleluias’ were
said in an open space within a jungle village make it less meaningful
than one said in some multimillion-dollar holy palace?

Again, I say `amen’ to Judge Groff, and also to the Probate Court
judge who, last November, likewise ruled that the proposed sale meets
the stipulation of the deed.

Give up the fight, guys, and don’t count me among the faithful
parishioners whom you say are `disappointed the diocese has defaulted
on its commitment to French Hill.’

How can anyone living on `The Hill’ and under the shadow of St.
Francis Xavier Church be disappointed, especially when there’s a real
likelihood this marvelous building will be repaired, preserved and
placed back into religious use?

Let the sale go through, and may the bells ring out again loud and
strong from its tower.

And to that, I say, `amen.’

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

30 REPATRIATES GO TO ISRAEL FROM ARMENIA EACH YEAR

YEREVAN, JANUARY 22. ARMINFO. The outflow of Jewish repatriates from
Armenia to Israel has decreased in the last years, says the head of
the Jewish community of Armenia Rimma Varzhapetyan.

If earlier an average of 100 Jewish repatriates left Armenia each year
(except for the 90s when the outflow was at its peak) now this figure
is 30 people a year. 5 families are getting ready for repatriation
now. 800-1,000 people having repatriation right live in Armenia at
present but not all of them are ethnic Jews. Varzhapetyan explains
that repatriation right is given to people who are Jews in the fourth
paternal generation and in all maternal generations. There are also
special educational programs for schoolchildren and students.

Commenting on the decision of Sohnut to slash 1/3 of the budgets of
its CIS offices because of sharp decline in repatriation from the
former USSR Varzhapetyan says that this decision will hardly concern
Armenia. The question is about big offices.

To remind, over 200,000 Jewish repatriates went to Israel from the
former Soviet Union in the 90s against only 11,000 ones in 2004.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Washington Post
Jan 23 2005

Will We ‘Never Forget’?

By Samuel Pisar
Sunday, January 23, 2005; Page B07

Sixty years ago the Russians liberated Auschwitz, as the Americans
approached Dachau. The Allied advance revealed to a stunned world the
horrors of the greatest catastrophe ever to befall our civilization.
To a survivor of both death factories, where Hitler’s gruesome
reality eclipsed Dante’s imaginary inferno, being alive and well so
many years later feels unreal.

We the survivors are now disappearing one by one. Soon history will
speak of Auschwitz at best with the impersonal voice of researchers
and novelists, at worst with the malevolence of demagogues and
falsifiers. This week the last of us, with a multitude of heads of
state and other dignitaries, are gathering at that cursed site to
remind the world that past can be prologue, that the mountains of
human ashes dispersed there are a warning to humanity of what may
still lie ahead.

The genocides in Armenia, Cambodia, Bosnia, Kosovo and Rwanda and the
recent massacres of innocents in the United States, Spain, Israel,
Indonesia and so many other countries have demonstrated our inability
to learn from the blood-soaked past. Auschwitz, the symbol of
absolute evil, is not only about that past, it is about the present
and the future of our newly enflamed world, where a coupling of
murderous ideologues and means of mass destruction can trigger new
catastrophes.

When the ghetto liquidation in Bialystok, Poland, began, only three
members of our family were still alive: my mother, my little sister
and I, age 13. Father had already been executed by the Gestapo.
Mother told me to put on long pants, hoping I would look more like a
man, capable of slave labor. “And you and Frieda?” I asked. She
didn’t answer. She knew that their fate was sealed. As they were
chased, with the other women, the children, the old and the sick,
toward the waiting cattle cars, I could not take my eyes off them.
Little Frieda held my mother with one hand, and with the other, her
favorite doll. They looked at me too, before disappearing from my
life forever.

Their train went directly to Auschwitz-Birkenau, mine to the
extermination camp of Majdanek. Months later, I also landed in
Auschwitz, still hoping naively to find their trace. When the SS
guards, with their dogs and whips, unsealed my cattle car, many of my
comrades were already dead from hunger, thirst and lack of air. At
the central ramp, surrounded by electrically charged barbed wire, we
were ordered to strip naked and file past the infamous Dr. Josef
Mengele. The “angel of death” performed on us his ritual “selection”
— those who were to die immediately to the right, those destined to
live a little longer and undergo other atrocious medical experiments,
to the left.

In the background there was music. At the main gate, with its
sinister slogan “Work Brings Freedom,” sat, dressed in striped prison
rags like mine, one of the most remarkable orchestras ever assembled.
It was made up of virtuosos from Warsaw and Paris, Kiev and
Amsterdam, Rome and Budapest. To accompany the selections, hangings
and shootings while the gas chambers and crematoria belched smoke and
fire, these gentle musicians were forced to play Bach, Schubert and
Mozart, interspersed with marches to the glory of the Fuhrer.

In the summer of 1944, the Third Reich was on the verge of collapse,
yet Berlin’s most urgent priority was to accelerate the “final
solution.” The death toll in the gas chambers on D-Day, as on any
other day, far surpassed the enormous Allied losses suffered on the
beaches of Normandy.

My labor commando was assigned to remove garbage from a ramp near the
crematoria. From there I observed the peak of human extermination and
heard the blood-curdling cries of innocents as they were herded into
the gas chambers. Once the doors were locked, they had only three
minutes to live, yet they found enough strength to dig their
fingernails into the walls and scratch in the words “Never Forget.”

Have we already forgotten?

I also witnessed an extraordinary act of heroism. The Sonderkommando
— inmates coerced to dispose of bodies — attacked their SS guards,
threw them into the furnaces, set fire to buildings and escaped. They
were rapidly captured and executed, but their courage boosted our
morale.

As the Russians advanced, those of us still able to work were
evacuated deep into Germany. My misery continued at Dachau. During a
final death march, while our column was being strafed by Allied
planes that mistook us for Wehrmacht troops, I escaped with a few
others. An armored battalion of GIs brought me life and freedom. I
had just turned 16 — a skeletal “subhuman” with shaved head and
sunken eyes who had been trying so long to hold on to a flicker of
hope. “God bless America,” I shouted uncontrollably .

In the autumn of their lives, the survivors of Auschwitz feel a
visceral need to transmit what we have endured, to warn younger
generations that today’s intolerance, fanaticism and hatred can
destroy their world as they once destroyed ours, that powerful alert
systems must be built not only against the fury of nature — a
tsunami or storm or eruption — but above all against the folly of
man. Because we know from bitter experience that the human animal is
capable of the worst, as well as the best — of madness as of genius
— and that the unthinkable remains possible.

In the wake of so many recent tragedies, a wave of compassion and
solidarity for the victims, a fragile yearning for peace, democracy
and liberty, seem to be spreading around the planet. It is far too
early to evaluate their potential. Mankind, divided and confused,
still hesitates, vacillates like a sleepwalker on the edge of an
abyss. But the irrevocable has not yet happened; our chances are
still intact. Pray that we learn how to seize them.

The writer is an international lawyer and the author of “Of Blood and
Hope.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PanArmenian News, Armenia
Jan 21 2005

DETAILS OF EVICTION OF ARMENIANS FROM RUSSIAN KRASNODAR REGION

21.01.2005 17:30

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Many of the Armenians who were on board the plane
were without money, in slippers, without belongings and tickets,”
witness of the events Serik Voskanian, who was among illegal Armenian
migrants repatriated to Armenia by force by the Krasnodar authorities
January 17, told Aravot newspaper. Her disabled husband and daughter
remained in Krasnodar – the family was not given the chance to leave
together. Virtually, in Voskanian’s opinion, they remained hostages.
Their family has lived in Krasnodar region since 2000. In the words
of the editors of the newspaper, other forced repatriates from
Krasnodar also address them, protesting against violation of their
dignity and property rights by the region authorities.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TO HAVE A BEAUTIFUL TOWN

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
22 Jan 05

Did the work style of the City Hall department for architecture and
building change after the election to the municipalities? According to
the head of the department Nver Mikaelian, the order of providing land
on a competitive basis is a progressive step. Among the responsibilities
of the department, besides responding to the applications of the
people of Stepanakert, N. Mikaelian pointed out the repair of facades
of buildings of the town.

THE TOWN WILL HAVE A NEW RESIDENTIAL AREA

On the outskirts of Stepanakert near the village Khanatsakh a new
residential area will be established with 740 detached houses.
According to the City Hall department for architecture and building,
preparation works are going on for allotting lands. Presently, the
road is built. In allotting lands preference will be given to certain
groups of people, such as families of disabled or killed persons. The
order of allotting lands has not been decided yet. It will become
clear after the preparation works. `As the chief architect I consider
important the looks and beauty of the town, and all our efforts are
directed at this aim,’ said Nver Mikaelian.

STEPANAKERT WILL HAVE ITS EMBLEM

The head of the department for architecture and building Nver
Mikaelian said, the town has never had an emblem and now they want to
fill in this gap. For this aim the City Hall holds a competition for
the design of the coat of arms of Stepanakert. The projects are
submitted up to February 22 and then the special commission will make
a choice. The head of the department said the participants must study
the history of the town and only then decide to take part in the
contest. According to him, no works have been submitted yet but
several painters and sculptors are interested in it. A competition
cannot be without prizes. The first prize is 100 thousand drams, the
second 50 thousand dramsand the third prize is 25 thousand drams.

LION AN UNFLINCHING SYMBOL

Nothing is eternal in this world, like different statues once erected
with great enthusiasm. Aged inhabitants of Stepanakert must remember
that in the 1950-60s a statue with the image of a lion was put at the
northern gate of the town, which perhaps symbolized power. They also
say that there was another animal near the feet of the lion, but we do
not know and do not want to suppose what it symbolized. The question
is that recently the City Hall has discussed the question of having a
statue of a lion at one of the gates of the town. The department for
architecture and building informed that the leadership of the City
Hall approved the idea and mentioned that unlike the `lion’ created in
the Soviet times which was not a monumental statue, the new statue
will be a work of art created with good taste to be in tune with the
spirit of the people of Artsakh. This time the statue will indeed
become a symbol of power. According to the headof the department for
architecture and building Nver Mikaelian, as in all developed towns it
is desirable to have a splendid statue marking one of the gates of
Stepanakert, which is considered the most important one today.

N. Mikaelian said, 17 works have already been submitted for
competition and very soon the monument will be erected at one of the
gates of the town.

LAURA GRIGORIAN.
22-01-2005

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ArmenPress
Jan 21 2005

NEW UNICEF REPRESENTATIVE TAKES OVER IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, JANUARY 21, ARMENPRESS: UNICEF Executive Director Carol
Bellamy appointed Mr. Sheldon Yett, a U.S. citizen, as the new UNICEF
Representative in Armenia. Mr. Yett has been working with UNICEF in
both the New York headquarters and in field offices for the last 7
years, and has been active in the field of international development
for the last 12 years.
Before assignment to Armenia, Mr. Yett covered humanitarian issues
in New York and has also served in Somalia, Burundi, and Kosovo as
well as in other field duty stations.
Mr. Yett holds M.A. in International Relations from the Paul
H.Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins
University.
“The New UNICEF Representative in Armenia has already met with the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Vartan Oskanian, and looks
forward to working with the Government of Armenia and other
counterparts to help improve the lives of children and women,” UNICEF
Armenia office said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress