Author: Andres-Papazian

EyeCare Project Announces Deukmejian as Newport Gala Honoree

Sat, Nov 19 2011
By:Armenian Weekly

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – The Armenian EyeCare Project (AECP), an
organization dedicated to restoring the eyesight of premature infants,
children, and adults throughout Armenia, will be holding its Ninth
Annual Newport Gala on Sat., Nov. 19 at 6:30 p.m., at the Balboa Bay
Club, Newport Beach. Governor George Deukmejian will be honored at the
event.

`We are recognizing the governor for his extraordinary contributions
to the EyeCare Project over the past 20 years,’ said Roger Ohanesian,
the founder and chairman of the EyeCare Project. `His wisdom,
guidance, and support throughout the years have been invaluable. He
has always been one of the first advisors I have turned to for expert
legal guidance. Though a very busy person, he has always been generous
with his time and given sage advice.’

Deukmejian is an original AECP Board member and has been a dedicated
supporter ever since. `I was and still am impressed with the
extraordinary way in which Dr. Ohanesian and other doctors have been
willing to provide their skills and talents to provide good eye care
for people living in Armenia,’ said Deukmejian. `I admire them for
their tireless efforts and making the many trips to Armenia. While
there, they provide care, treatment, and good medical advice to
countless numbers of patients. Then they have carried it forward by
helping train ophthalmologists in Armenia to undertake the most
up-to-date diagnostic methods and surgical techniques. Finally, the
effort to put together the mobile eye hospital and providing this high
level of care for everybody in the countryside has been
extraordinary.’

Born and raised in New York, George Deukmejian earned his law degree
at St. John’s University and practiced law in New York before serving
with the U.S. Army. He served as the governor of California from
1983-1991, a tenure highlighted by major planned investments in
California’s public facilities, as well as tax, budgetary, and
regulatory policies, which established a positive business climate in
the state. He was a partner in Sidley & Austin, a national and
international law firm, from 1991 to 2000, when he retired. He
reentered public life by serving on special committees, including one
to reform the California penal system, and a charter-reform committee
in his hometown of Long Beach. Deukmejian and his wife, Gloria, reside
in Long Beach, Calif., and have three children and two grandchildren.

Aram Bassenian and Kenneth Khachigian – past recipients of the Lifetime
Humanitarian of the Year Award, as well as former Board members – will
serve as masters of ceremonies. Khachigian, an accomplished
speechwriter, is best remembered for his tenure in the Nixon and
Reagan administrations. Bassenian, the chairman and CEO of
Bassenian/Lagoni Architects, founded the architectural firm 35 years
ago and throughout his career has authored thousands of homes in
California and abroad.

Each year, the AECP hosts a gala dinner to raise awareness and funds
for ongoing medical missions to Armenia. At no cost to patients,
Ohanesian, with a team of internationally renowned ophthalmologists,
travel to Armenia to treat needy infants, children, and adults.
Donations are used to purchase medical equipment and train doctors in
Yerevan. Additionally, money raised at the gala supports the AECP’s
Mobile Eye Hospital, which travels across the country and treats those
who cannot afford medical treatment.

`One child going blind is too many,’ said Ohanesian. `It is
heartbreaking to see a child lose eyesight when it could have been
prevented with screening and affordable treatment. Unfortunately, too
many Armenian babies and children are going blind because doctors in
Armenia do not have the resources. We are dedicated to making sure no
child has to live in total darkness due to a condition or disease that
can be treated.’

Attendees will include corporate sponsors, business leaders, and
underwriters. Other AECP Board members attending include Mr. and Mrs.
Jack McHale, Mr. and Mrs. Julian Gangolli, Mr. and Mrs. Monique
Hachigian, Dr. and Mrs. Richard A. Hill, Mr. and Mrs. David Keligian,
Dr. and Mrs. Baruch D. Kuppermann, Dr. and Mrs. John A. Hovanesian,
Mr. and Mrs. Debbie Poochigian, and Mr. Roger and Mrs. Cynthia Tusan.

Guests will enjoy dinner and an evening with entertainment by Robert
Duquesnel and his three-piece orchestra. A silent and live auction
will include a trip to Armenia, with the opportunity for a student to
travel alongside the doctors and be at their side during the 10-14 day
mission. Just the thing to get as encouragement for a grandchild
aspiring to become a doctor. Other items include a weekend getaway to
New York and Las Vegas, a luxury Paris vacation package, and
one-of-a-kind sports memorabilia.

Individual tickets are $500 per person, or $4,000 for a table of 10.
To make advance reservations, call (949) 675-5611. For more
information about the Armenian EyeCare Project, visit

From: A. Papazian

FRANCE GIVES NO COMMENTS ON NEWLY APPOINTED OSCE MG CO-CHAIR

Vestnik Kavkaza
Nov 18 2011
Russia

The French Embassy in Azerbaijan does not comment on replacement
of Bernard Fassier from the OSCE Minsk Group for settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and appointment of former Ambassador to
Ukraine Jacques Faure, 1news.az reports.

The 64-year old Jacques Faure has been a French Ambassador to Albania,
Estonia, Slovakia and Ukraine. He supervised the European section in
the French Foreign Ministry. Armenian media have recently reported
about his appointment as OSCE MG co-chair.

From: A. Papazian

AZERBAIJAN MAY START FINANCING COMMUNITY IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Vestnik Kavkaza
Nov 18 2011
Russia

Financing of a community named “The Azerbaijani community of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Region of the Azerbaijani Republic” may be realized
using state subsidies, 1news.az reports.

Vice-Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Bakhar Muradova requested
Finance Minister Samir Sharifov to pass financing for the community
in 2012.

Muradova noted that the community is an NGO regulated by related laws.

The community has political significance and serves the national
interests of Azerbaijan.

The minister agreed with the vice-speaker and reminded about aid to
the community in 2010.

The budget was recommended to be heard at plenary sessions on
November 22-25.

From: A. Papazian

PROSECUTORS WHO THREATENED HAYAL’S FATHER TOLD TO EXPLAIN

Today’s Zaman
Nov 17 2011
Turkey

A prosecutor will be hearing testimony from two prosecutors who
allegedly used intimidation to convince the father of a man who is
on trial as a suspect in the murder trial of Hrant Dink to retract
some parts of his testimony.

Specially Authorized Prosecutor Muammer AkkaÅ~_ has summoned
prosecutors Fatih Genc and Ali Can, who allegedly told Bahattin Hayal,
father of Dink murder suspect Yasin Hayal, to retract a statement
where he indicated that he had received congratulatory phone calls
from state officials on having raised “a worthy son who served his
country well” after the murder.

The prosecutor also summoned Yahya Ozturk, director of the Trabzon
Police Department’s counterterrorism unit, who Bahattin Hayal said
told him that his son Yasin Hayal “was working for the state.”

Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist who was the editor-in-chief of
the Agos newspaper, was shot dead by a teenager outside his office
in Taksim in 2007. Yasin Hayal, one of the prime suspects in the
investigation, is being accused of having solicited the hitman,
Ogun Samast, to carry out the murder.

Bahattin Hayal spoke to journalists following the latest session
of the trial held on Monday. He said prosecutors Genc and Can from
Trabzon, the hometown of the suspects where the plan to assassinate
Dink was devised, according to prosecutors, urged him to change his
initial testimony, which included information about phone calls from
state officials.

He said he had reported the congratulatory phone calls in his initial
testimony, but two prosecutors told him his statement could cause
him trouble. He said he had a meeting at the local police department
shortly after the Dink murder, where he was told by officer Yahya
Ozturk that his son worked for the state and took care of important
business.

More public officials could be summoned to testify as the court on
Monday also ruled to merge a separate trial into the alleged negligence
of state officials in preventing the assassination with the main murder
trial. Those who are likely to be summoned include the governor of
Ä°stanbul at the time, Ä°stanbul’s police chief, the Trabzon chief
of police and the head of the Trabzon Gendarmerie Command.

From: A. Papazian

HOLOCAUST HISTORY GROUP BROADENS MISSION TO ADDRESS OTHER ATROCITIES

Chronicle of Philanthropy

Nov 17 2011

The Shoah Foundation, founded by filmmaker Steven Spielberg to record
Holocaust survivors~R recollections, has begun expanding its scope to
include other mass killings, writes The New York Times.

The organization, now based at the University of Southern California
and formally known as the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual
History and Education, has focused exclusively on archiving personal
testimonies of Nazi atrocities since its launch in 1994.

The foundation has begun collecting testimonies of the genocide in
Rwanda and will soon begin adding accounts of mass killings of
Armenians and Cambodians to its archive. ~SIt~Rs important to be able to
hear the voices of those who have experienced genocide in a variety of
circumstances over the last hundred years,~T said Stephen D. Smith, the
foundation~Rs executive director.

The broader mission puts the foundation in the middle of a contentious
debate among historians and Jewish groups, with some scholars
contending that the Holocaust was unique and should be held distinct
from other atrocities.

From: A. Papazian

N. ZOHRABYAN MEETS BRITISH ENVOY ON SOUTH CAUCASUS AFFAIRS

Panorama
Nov 17 2011
Armenia

The obstacles preventing Armenia’s European integration have been
focused on by Naira Zohrabyan, the Chairwoman of NA Standing Committee
on European Integration and Joseph Gold, the British envoy on South
Caucasus affairs; the press service of Armenian Parliament reported.

Both, economic and political issues have been discussed. Requested by
the guests, Ms Zohrabyan introduced the development of the forthcoming
parliamentary elections.

Referring to Armenia-Great Britain relations, Ms Zohrabyan said that
“British petroleum” had great role on those relations, and that 50%
of Azerbaijan’s foreign investments belonged to Great Britain, but
still the MP said she was hopeful the U.K. would implement a balanced
policy in the region.

Ms Zohrabyan underlined that some British MPs were holding
pro-Azerbaijani policy, that she could take the responsibility and
declare that those MPs were financed by Azerbaijan and were holding
obvious pro-Azerbaijan campaign.

From: A. Papazian

GOVERNMENT CURBS TSARUKIAN DONATIONS TO UNIVERSITIES
by Hovannes Shoghikian

Armenialiberty.org

Nov 17 2011

Education Minister Armen Ashotian on Thursday effectively confirmed
reports that he has banned state-run universities from accepting
scholarship donations from Gagik Tsarukian, a millionaire businessman
leading Armenia’s second most important governing party.

Ashotian denied any connection between the move and reported tensions
between President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK) and
Tsarukian’s Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK).

In recent years a charity belonging to Tsarukian has provided
scholarships to university students from low-income families meeting a
number of academic criteria. Those students have always been selected
by university administrations.

Ashotian, who is a senior member of the HHK, said the universities
will no longer be allowed to accept such assistance without his
ministry’s approval. “Personal scholarships in state universities can
be introduced only with the permission of the relevant state body,”
he told journalists. “Nobody has made such negotiable offers to us.”

Ashotian added that the Gagik Tsarukian Fund and other charities keen
to help students will now have to apply to the Ministry of Science
and Education in the first instance.

Reacting to Ashotian’s order, Vahe Enfiajian, a senior BHK member
involved in student funding, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service
(Azatutyun.am), “Right now we are dealing with our organizational
issues. There is a board that will discuss that issue.”

Armenia — Education Minister Armen Ashotian.â~@~Kâ~@~KAshotian denied
any political considerations behind his directive. “The ministry
has many projects and I often appeal to Armenian entrepreneurs and
philanthropists to invest in education,” he said.

Tsarukian, who is thought to be close to former President Robert
Kocharian, reportedly came under renewed pressure from his senior
coalition partner last month after he pointedly declined to reaffirm
support for Sarkisian’s reelection in 2013. Kocharian gave in late
September more indications that he would like to return to the
political arena.

Earlier this month, Sarkisian engineered the resignations and sackings
of several top state officials, including parliament speaker Hovik
Abrahamian. Some observers regard that as an attempt to ward off a
potential challenge from his predecessor.

Tsarukian’s charitable activities have sparked controversy before. The
BHK leader began his and party’s political activities ahead of the
May 2007 parliamentary elections with the distribution of relief
aid to tens of thousands of impoverished farmers. He also paid for
free medical aid and other supposedly public services provided to
urban residents.

The practice was denounced as wholesale vote buying by the opposition
and some pro-HHK figures. The BHK, which has the second largest
faction in the current parliament, denied any wrongdoing.

From: A. Papazian

IRAN, ARMENIA URGE BROADER COOPERATION

Press TV
Nov 17 2011
Iran

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Armenian counterpart
Serzh Sarksyan have highlighted the significance of expanding mutual
cooperation in political, economic and cultural fields.

In a Wednesday telephone conversation, President Ahmadinejad reiterated
that Iran welcomes any effort that would bolster all-out ties with
neighboring Armania, IRNA reported.

The Iranian chief executive added that cultural and historical ties
between Tehran and Yerevan will set the ground for further improvements
in bilateral relations.

Sarksyan, for his part, also expressed Armenia’s desire for expanding
ties with Iran in all areas, particularly in economic fields.

The Armenian president added that amicable Tehran-Yerevan relations
would serve the interests of both nations as well as regional
countries.

From: A. Papazian

EDWARD NALBANDIAN AND CATHERINE ASHTON DISCUSSED THE DYNAMICALLY DEVELOPING RELATIONS BETWEEN ARMENIA AND THE EUROPEAN UNION

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Nov 17 2011
Armenia

On November 17, the meeting was held between the Minister of Foreign
Affairs Edward Nalbadnian and Catherine Ashton, the Vice-President of
the European Commission and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs
and Security Policy, who arrived in Yerevan on a regional visit.

Welcoming the EU high-level delegation, Minister Nalbandian mentioned
that the rapprochement with the European family is one of the key
priorities of Armenia~Rs foreign policy. Minster Nalbandian also
expressed satisfaction with the annually expanding and deepening
cooperation. Edward Nalbandian expressed confidence that the visit of
Lady Ashton to Armenia and the effective discussions held in Yerevan
would give a new impetus to the bilateral cooperation.

~SOur relations are based on the same system of values and we intend
to consistently carry out the reforms in Armenia in accordance to
European standards,~T said Edward Nalbandian.

Expressing gratitude for the reception, Catherine Ashton noted that
the European Union attaches great importance to the comprehensive
development of cooperation with Armenia and would continue to provide
support to the development of Armenia and implementation of reforms.

The sides noted with satisfaction that recently the relations
have dynamically been developed which is reflected in high-level
contacts, expansion and deepening of political dialogue~Rs agenda,
continuing progress in the negotiations on the Association Agreement,
the preparatory works of the negotiations over the creation of Deep
and Comprehensive Free Trade Zone and the steps being undertaken
towards the visa facilitation regime.

Upon the request of the guest, the Armenian Minister of Foreign
Affairs presented the recent development in the settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue. In that context, Catherine Ashton presented
her support to the efforts initiated by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

Edward Nalbandian and Catherine Ashton exchanged views on the regional
issues. In this regard, the Vice-President of the European Commission
highly assessed the steps undertaken by the Armenian leadership
towards that direction.

The meeting was followed by a joint press conference.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA-EU RELATIONS TO BE DISCUSSED IN BRUSSELS

news.am
Nov 17 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN.- The next meeting of Armenia-EU cooperation council will
be held in Brussels next week to sum up the results of work done
over the year, said Armenian FM Edward Nalbandian during a joint
press conference with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and
Security Policy Catherine Ashton.

According to him, Catherine Ashton’s visit to Armenia is a good
opportunity to continue the dialogue, discuss bilateral, regional
and international problems.

“We are pleased that relations with the Union have been developing
dynamically based on common system of values and our aspiration to
continue reforms in Armenia in accordance with the European standards,”
Nalbandian said. The Minister also stressed importance of foreign
experts’ assistance in carrying out reforms in Armenia.

In her turn Catherine Ashton expressed hope that her visit is not
the last one.

From: A. Papazian