Author: Andres-Papazian

SCAFFOLDS DEFACING HISTORICAL IRANIAN CHURCH

Tehran Times

July 29 2010
Iran

TEHRAN — St. Thaddeus Church, an Iranian site which was registered on
the UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2008, has been marred by scaffolds
and metal buttresses.

The former Iranian government set up the scaffolds and buttresses
over 30 years ago to restore the ceiling and the dome of the church,
the Persian service of CHN reported on Wednesday.

The restoration remained incomplete after the victory of the Islamic
Revolution in 1979 and so far nothing has been done to remove the
temporary supports.

Experts believe that the dome and ceiling will collapse if the
scaffolding and buttresses are removed.

In addition, the growth of agrarian plants in the gaps between the
giant stone blocks used in construction of the ceiling and dome is
threatening the site.

The St. Thaddeus Church, also known as the Black Church (Qara Kelissa),
is one of Iran’s most interesting and notable Christian monuments,
located near the Chalderan region in Maku, West Azerbaijan Province.

One of the 12 disciples, St. Thaddeus, also known as St. Jude, (not
to be confused with Judas Iscariot), was martyred while spreading the
Gospel. He is revered as an apostle of the Armenian Church. As legend
has it, a church dedicated to him was first built on the present site
in 68 CE.

Nothing remains of this original church, which was extensively rebuilt
in the 13th century, but some sections around the altar may date back
to the 10th century. Most of the present structure dates to the 17th
century and is built with carved sandstone. The oldest sections are
made of black and white stone.

The Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew traveled through Armenia in 45
CE to preach the word of God. Many people were converted and numerous
secret Christian communities were established there.

Around that time, Abgar died after ruling for 38 years and the Armenian
kingdom was split into two parts. His son Ananun crowned himself in
Edessa, while his nephew Sanatruk ruled in Greater Armenia.

About 66 CE, Ananun gave the order to kill St. Thaddeus in Edessa. The
king’s daughter Sandokht, who had converted to Christianity, was
martyred with Thaddeus. Her tomb is located near the St. Thaddeus
Church.

The church is surrounded by thick walls which form the outer ramparts
of some abandoned monastery buildings.

A large part of the church was destroyed during the Genghis Khan
invasion. However, Persian scientist Nasir ad-Din Tusi, who was a
scientific adviser of the Mongols during the reign of Hulegu Khan (c.
1217-1265), grandson of Genghis Khan, restored it.

Each year, Christians from all over the world gather at the church
on July 1 for their annual commemoration of the martyrdom of St.
Thaddeus.

On July 6, 2008, St. Thaddeus Church and the Iranian churches of St.
Stephanus, and Dzordzor (Zorzor) were registered on UNESCO’s World
Heritage List.

Photo: Iranian Armenian youths walk near Qara Kelissa (Black Church)
during an Armenian religious festival in Qara Kelissa village in the
Chaldoran valley, northwest Iran, July 21, 2007. (AFP/Getty Images)

From: A. Papazian

BAKO SAHAKYAN VISITS ASKERAN, MARTUNI REGIONS

Aysor
July 28 2010
Armenia

Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan visited Askeran and Martuni regions
to monitor the operation of newly built irrigation network, NKR
President’s press office reported.

The President held a consultation on irrigation system problems in
Askeran regional center. B. Sahakyan stressed the strategic importance
of irrigation network development, attached importance to elaboration
of water use efficiency concept and adoption of respective legal acts.

From: A. Papazian

VISIT TO MCA-ARMENIA PROGRAM SITES IN ARMAVIR MARZ

gov.am
July 28 2010
Armenia

Accompanied by US Ambassador to Armenia Marie Jovanovich,
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan visited a number of MCA-Armenia
projects in Armavir marz to get a first-hand view of irrigation
infrastructure-building activities, farmer and irrigation management
entity support programs.

Merdzavan community was the first port of call where the head of
government was shown the restored section of Lower Hrazdanâ~@~Ys
main canal. The main canal can irrigate an area of 10000 ha. In the
wake of rehabilitation work covering an emergency section of 5697m
(out of a total of 59,540 m), the channel will supply water to 36000
beneficiaries in Armavir marz and Yerevan.

The Prime Minister and the US Ambassador next called to see the
upgraded tertiary canal of Artimet community. Rehabilitation efforts
were made in a parabolic plane to reduce water infiltration and
increase efficiency of hydraulic conveyance. As a result, 180 ha can
be irrigated instead of currently irrigated 150 hectares to benefit
some 710 beneficiaries from Artimet community.

Then the delegation headed to local farmer Simon Jalalyanâ~@~Ys
facility where new irrigation technologies have been installed under
the from Water-to-Market activity of MCA-Armenia program. Consisting
in a polyethylene-covered hothouse built on the plot of land attached
to the house, the facility acts as a seedling supply center providing
8 different early and late vegetable species for field cultivation.

Wrapping up the visit, Tigran Sargsyan went to see Vagharshapat WUC,
a beneficiary of MCA-Armenia programâ~@~Ys Irrigation Management Entity
Institutional Strengthening component which supports a total of 44
WUCs and WSOs operational in the Republic of Armenia. Assistance is
available in the form of management improvement schemes, financial
administration and accounting programs, geographical data base
development and training courses, as well as office supplies and
fixtures provided to WSOs.

From: A. Papazian

NO REAL JUSTICE FOR THE KILLING FIELDS
Bruce Walker

The New American

July 28 2010

Reuters reported that a United Nations tribunal has tried and sentenced
Kaing Guek Eav, the first Khmer Rouge commander to face charges of
crimes against humanity for murder, rape, and similar horrific crimes.

When Kaing ran Toul Sleng prison during the years following the
communist takeover of Cambodia, he oversaw the murder of 14,000. He
was sentenced to 35 years in prison, but his sentenced was reduced
by 19 years for time served, and he might be released earlier if he
shows signs of rehabilitation. Kaing Guek Eav is 67 years old, so he
has an excellent chance of dying in prison before his sentence ends.

There is absolutely no doubt that the Khmer Rouge committed those
deeds that have come to be called “crimes against humanity.”

Communism was responsible for the brutal extermination of 100 million
people in the 20th century, making it the most murderous ideology in
the history of the world. Surely no one will shed tears for Kaing,
a sadist who has shown no remorse for the murder, mayhem, torture,
and rape committed under his supervision. But the extra-legal process
of trying and sentencing this thug cannot be condoned by decent men
and women. Why?

First, international law is not really “law” at all. Who creates this
legal system? Unelected bureaucrats in nongovernmental organizations
do, for the most part. The normal process of passing laws is utterly
ignored in the making of international law. If Cambodia had formed
a government and chosen to try Kaing, that would be one thing. But
that has not happened. Instead, an imaginary system of justice has
been invented to supersede normal justice.

Second, the application of this international law is wildly uneven.

The Nuremberg Trials, for example, took place before the Second World
War had even ended. The trial of Kaing, by contrast, took place 35
years after the horrors of the Killing Fields began. The presumed
prosecutor of “crimes against humanity” is us, “humanity.” But even
in the nonsensical legal system of international law, the underlying
principle of justice for the murder of millions means nothing if it is
not uniformly applied. So, while the “judges” at Nuremberg were trying
the devilish Nazi leaders, why were the Soviet judges themselves not
also on trial? The Soviet government had been, in practice, an ally
of the Nazis from August 1939 to June 1941. The Soviets gave Rudolph
Hess a guided tour of the Gulag and helped teach the Nazis how to
run a system of concentration camps. The Soviet government by 1939
had murdered as many innocent Soviet citizens as Nazis murdered in
the Holocaust.

When the Soviet Union fell, why were there no Nuremberg Trials? Mao
Tse Tung may well have murdered more people than anyone in history. If
it is possible for the human imagination and conscience to grasp
this ugly fact, Mao may have been even more inhuman and even more
sociopathic in his murders than Hitler or Stalin. Has the Communist
Party of China or that nation’s government ever proposed trials for
the flacks of Mao who committee megacide? No, there has not even been
a hint of justice for these victims.

Third, selective prosecution of savage and murderous regimes that lose
wars or which are overthrown in revolution ensures that injustice,
not justice, will prevail. When Roosevelt, for example, demanded
“unconditional surrender,” the impact, as we now know, crippled those
honorable and decent Germans who were appalled by the evil of Nazism
and by its mass murder of millions of Jews, Poles, Russians, Gypsies
and other innocent victims of Nazi malice.

What should be done to prevent the unspeakable horrors of the
Holocaust, the Gulag, and the Killing Fields? Individuals should
speak out when the men, women, and children are being killed and
records of the outrages should be made and disseminated (like Armin
Wegener did with the Armenian genocide — Wegener, by the way,
spoke out very early against Stalinism and then against Nazism,
for which he paid a price.) Governments can express disapproval,
deny diplomatic recognition, and so forth — America, to its great
credit, acted alone and without pressure to help Jews in Europe and
Asia even when America was a very young nation. The governments of
nations in which genocide and other diabolical evil has occurred —
such as those that occurred under Communism, Nazism, or any similar
totalitarian system — should undertake, under their own laws,
justice and remedial action. If the governments of nations that devour
their own are not willing to do that — and the failure to prosecute
communist murderers in Russia and in China are glaring examples —
then how can anyone say that justice is being done?

Historically speaking, the only true protection against evil has
been trust in God and following His will. This is not politically
correct, but it is historical fact. The cure for the Killing Fields,
the Holocaust, and the Gulag is the restoration of the morally serious
faith of Christians and of Jews.

From: A. Papazian

ARA HAKOBYAN HANDS OVER HIS CREDENTIALS TO SRI LANKA PRESIDENT

Aysor
July 28 2010
Armenia

Ambassador of Armenia Ara Hakobyan handed over his credentials to
Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The Ambassador attached importance to friendly relations between
Armenia and Sri Lanka noting that peace and stability established
in Sri Lanka after the civil war further promote development of
cooperation between the two countries.

Ara Hakobyan met with a number of high-ranking officials, businessmen
in Sri Lanka. Trade and economic, scientific-cultural, business
relations were addressed at the meetings.

From: A. Papazian

ECOLOGISTS PICKET BANK OVER ARMENIAN MINING PROJECT
Hasmik Smbatian

Armenialiberty.org
July 28 2010

About two dozen environmental activists clashed with police on
Wednesday as they picketed the Armenian branch of a Russian commercial
bank that plans to finance a controversial mining project in northern
Armenia.

The police used force against the protesters after they blocked
the entrance to the Yerevan head office of the VTB-Armenia bank
and refused to let anyone in or out of the building. One of the
protesters, Armenian Green Party leader Armen Dovlatian, was injured
in the scuffle.

The country’s leading environment protection groups and other
non-governmental organizations have for years been campaigning against
plans by the Armenian Copper Program (ACP) mining company to develop a
massive copper and molybdenum deposit in the northern Lori region. The
Teghut deposit is estimated to contain 1.6 million tons of copper
and about 100,000 tons of molybdenum.

The project, if implemented, will lead to the destruction of 357
hectares of rich forest, including 128,000 trees. Critics say that
would wreak further havoc on Armenia’s green areas that have already
shrunk dramatically since the 1990s.

ACP admits the heavy environmental cost of its plans but says it
will be more than offset by 1,400 new jobs which it has pledged to
create in the area. The Liechtenstein-registered company has also
pledged to build new schools and make other investments in the local
infrastructure.

The project was formally approved by the Armenian government in 2007.

The subsequent global economic crisis delayed its implementation,
with the Russian bank VTB delaying the release of a $300 million
loan promised to ACP. The company needs the loan to launch open-pit
operations at Teghut.

The protest outside VTB-Armenia followed reports that the Russian bank
will disburse the sum later this year. The protesters demanded that
the bank withhold funding for the “illegal project.” Bank executives
refused to meet with them.

From: A. Papazian

Armenian Minister Rejects Resignation Talk
Hovannes Shoghikian

Armenialiberty.org
July 28 2010

Agriculture Minister Gerasim Alaverdian on Wednesday brushed aside
media speculation that his Orinats Yerkir Party plans to replace by
him a controversial figure who joined it recently.

Reports in the Armenian press have claimed that Orinats Yerkir
leader Artur Baghdasarian is ready to “sell” one of his party’s three
ministerial portfolios. The name of Grigor Madatian, a businessman and
former transport minister who joined the party recently, has figured
in that context. Orinats Yerkir officials have denied those rumors.

“I also learned about that talk from the press,” Alaverdian told
RFE/RL’s Armenian service. “There is no substance to it. The party
is satisfied with my work.”

Madatian refused to comment when contacted by phone on Wednesday. He
said he is not in Armenia at the moment.

Madatian, who is better known to the public as Khuchuch (Curly) Edo,
had fled the country in late 2004 to avoid prosecution for allegedly
masterminding what the authorities said was a failed attempt on the
life of then President Robert Kocharian and Defense Minister Serzh
Sarkisian. He returned home in August 2008 after the criminal case
was dropped for still unknown reasons.

The controversial businessman, who lives and holds sway in Yerevan’s
southern Erebuni district, is rumored to have promised Baghasarian
to recruit 20,000 new members of Orinats Yerkir in time for the next
parliamentary election due in 2012.

A government source claimed that Madatian has actually set his sights
on the post of minister of transport and communication, currently
held by Manuk Vartanian. The latter was appointed as minister four
months ago.

“You can’t change your position once a month,” Vartanian told RFE/RL.

“The party entrusted me with this job, the president appointed me
[as minister] and I am trying to perform my duties in full.”

From: A. Papazian

NKR NA VICE SPEAKER IN THE ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT

National Assembly
parliament.am
July 28 2010
Armenia

On July 28 the Vice Speakers of the RA National Assembly Arevik
Petrosyan and Samvel Nikoyan received the NKR NA Vice Speaker Artur
Tovmasyan. NKR NA Representative in the Armenian Parliament Karen
Topchyan also took part in the meeting.

Mrs. Petrosyan and Mr. Nikoyan congratulated their colleague on the
occasion of being elected NKR NA Vice Speaker, wishing him effective
work and expecting active cooperation.

During the meeting the Vice Speakers of the two parliaments touched
upon Armenia-Artsakh inter-parliamentary cooperation, perspectives of
the development of parliamentary diplomacy, as well as the decision
of the UN International Court on Kosovo.

The Vice Speaker of the NKR Parliament Mr. Tovmasyan opined that
the precedent of the recognition of the independence of Kosovo by
the UN International Court could also promote the process of NKR
international recognition. In this context he also emphasized the
role of the inter-parliamentary diplomacy. In his conviction the NKR
international recognition will not disturb the negotiation process
of NK conflict.

The interlocutors also referred to the latest developments of the
negotiation process of NK conflict, the Karabakh problem in the
structures of the inter-parliamentary different formats and the issues
of presenting the NKR views in those structures.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA LOSES LICENSE TO HOST INTELLECTUAL GAME CHAMPIONSHIP

news.az
July 28 2010
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan has achieved the withdrawal of Armenia’s license by the
International association of clubs “What? Where? When?”.

The reason of the license withdrawal was the conduction of the Armenian
championship in this intellectual game in Khankendi in the occupied
lands of Nagorno Karabakh.

According to the news service for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry,
official Baku has voiced resentment over the fact that the Armenian
championship on this intellectual game was held in Khankendi at
the license of the International association of clubs “What? Where?
When?”.

In this connection, Azerbaijan’s Atesgah sent a letter of protest to
the International Association of Clubs about inadmissibility to hold
games in Khankendi.

On the basis of this appeal the commission of the International
Association of Clubs annulled the results of the conducted championship
and decided to withdraw the license issued to the Armenian side.

From: A. Papazian

CHILDREN AMONG INJURED IN CAR CRASH IN ARMENIA

Aysor
July 28 2010
Armenia

Some twelve people, including 8 non-adults, were injured in a car
crash on July 12 that occurred on the 11th kilometer of Ashtarak-Aparan
highway. The accident happened when VAZ-21063 car and a minibus Ford
Transit run into each other.

Drivers were rushed to hospitals, and the non-adults were hospitalized
to the Ashtarak clinic and later taken to the childrenâ~@~Ys hospital
in Yerevan, a spokesperson to Armenian Rescuer Services told media.

Receiving a medical care, seven wounded people were let home. Other
injured passengers are in serious condition, doctors said.

From: A. Papazian