Author: Ani Kharatian

LACK OF INFORMATION TO BLAME FOR ETHNIC ARMENIAN UNREST – GEORGIAN GOVERNOR
Rustavi-2 TV, Tbilisi
13 Mar 06
[Presenter] There was another protest today in Akhalkalaki [mostly
ethnic Armenian town in Georgia’s Samtskhe-Javakheti province where
riots broke out on 11 March]. This time it was students of the
Javakheti branch of the [Tbilisi] state university who took to the
street. Their main demand was for the university branch to retain
its current status. Protesters were saying that students should not
get involved in political conflicts.
Simultaneously, the president’s representative in Samtskhe-Javakheti
[governor Giorgi Khachidze] was meeting Akhalkalaki residents and
Armenian nongovernment organizations.
The incidents on Saturday were today described as vandalism, but
members of Armenian nongovernment organizations also demanded that
government business in the region be conducted in Armenian. [Passage
omitted]
[Khachidze, interviewed after the meeting] Many problems arise as a
result of people not having enough information. Quite a few things have
been sorted out today and they have received a lot of information. The
better informed the public, the less likely such incidents will be.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918 Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Contact: Talin Gregorian
Tel: (818) 500-1918
COUNCILMAN ERIC GARCETTI VISITS ARMENIA
Councilmember Visits Armenian Heartland in an Attempt to Create Sister
City Relationship with Yerevan
LOS ANGELES, CA – As a part of an official delegation of the Armenian
National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR), Los Angeles
City Councilmember Eric Garcetti recently returned after visiting
Armenia for nearly a week and a half where he met Armenian local and
national political leadership. The delegation included Garcetti’s
staff members Baydsar Thomasian and Lynette Amerian with husband Bruce
Bogstad, and ANCA-WR Board members Leonard Manoukian and Vahagn
Thomasian.
Upon their arrival, Councilmember Garcetti and the delegation were
greeted with a warm welcome by the Armenian officials as well as
American expatriates. Local television crews who waited until three in
the morning to interview Councilmember Garcetti were also on hand. The
following day, the delegation met with several Parliamentary leaders
including Levon Lazarian, Armen Rustamyan and the Mayor of Yerevan,
Yervand Zakharyan. During these meetings, Garcetti and the Armenian
officials discussed creating a Sister City relationship between Los
Angeles and Yerevan, and issues that are of concern to both the
diasporan and native Armenian communities.
`The meetings were all very encouraging about establishing a Sister
City agreement with Yerevan and using the Sister City relationship to
promote economic, cultural, and political interaction between the two
municipalities,’ said Councilmember Eric Garcetti. `We looked at
cooperation on the issues of law enforcement and we explored possible
cooperation around seismic standards for buildings, considering we
both live with fault lines in and around our cities.’
Throughout the remainder of their trip, as Garcetti and the delegation
traveled through the highlands of Armenia, they met with US Ambassador
to Armenia, John Marshall Evans, and the Deputy Minister on Foreign
Affairs, Arman Kirakossian. During these meetings, they discussed the
possibilities for development and success of both cities, if a Sister
City relationship were to be established. Ambassador Evans spoke of
his thoughts on creating a program in which the police and fire
departments of the City of Los Angeles and Yerevan would work with one
another in an exchange of knowledge and ideas in order to promote the
capabilities of each.
`I am very hopeful of the outcome Councilmember Garcetti’s trip to
Armenia will have for both the residents of Los Angeles and
Yerevan. It will undoubtedly create a relationship in which both
cities will benefit from one another,’ said delegation member and
ANCA-WR Board member Vahagn Thomasian.
During their visit to the Armenian Genocide Memorial, the
Tzizernakabert, Garcetti and the delegation were joined by Democratic
National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. The two took part in a tree
planting ceremony in which they planted a pine tree in a grove where
elected officials from around the world have done the same in
remembrance of the 1.5 million Armenians who were killed by the
Ottoman Turkish government.
`The truth is that the Armenian genocide took place 90 years ago,’
said DNC Chairman Howard Dean. `Over a million people were
killed. There is no question that the United States should recognize
this.’
Dean’s visit to Armenia was spurred by an invitation by the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF). During his short trip, which lasted a
few days, he stressed his support of the Armenian American community’s
efforts to gain recognition for the Armenian Genocide. He also went on
to express his support for the congressional resolutions that urges
President Bush to `accurately characterize the systematic and
deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide’ in his
annual message to the U.S.-Armenian community.
Garcetti was first elected in 2001, becoming one of the youngest
Councilmembers elected in the city’s history. He represents the 13th
district, which is known as the heart of Los Angeles, and stretches
between Hollywood and Downtown and includes the area known as `Little
Armenia.’
The ANCA is the largest and most influential Armenian American
grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a
network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the United
States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA
actively advances the concerns of the Armenian-American community on a
broad range of issues.
Editor’s Note: Photo 1: (Left to right) Chairman of the Defense,
National Security, and Internal Affairs Mher Shahgeldyan, Los Angeles
City Councilman Eric Garcetti, member of the National Democratic Party
Shavarsh Kocharyan, highest ranking Armenian Revolutionary Federation
member of the Parliament Levon Lazarian, Democratic National
Committee (DNC) Chairman Howard Dean, Chairperson of the Standing
Committee on Science, Education, Culture, and Youth Affairs Hranush
Hakobyan, and Secretary of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF)
Hrayr Karapetyan. Photo 2: (Left to right) ANCA-WR Board member
Leonard Manoukian, long-time ANCA activist Michael Mahdesian,
Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Howard Dean, Los Angeles
City Councilman Eric Garcetti, and ANCA-WR Board member Vahagn
Thomasian visit historic Khor Virap, just miles away from the biblical
Mount Ararat.
#####
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FOREIGN GENOCIDE EXPERTS APPLY TO ERDOGAN
By Tatoul Hakobian
AZG Armenian Daily #177
04/10/2005
Armenian Genocide
The September 23 issue of the International Herald Tribune published
the letter by Israel Charni (Israel), Gregory Stanton and Steven
Jacobs (US), genocide experts, addressed to Recep Tayyip Erdogan
in reply to the latter’s claims to begin “unprejudiced researches
of the historians” over the fate of the Armenian people during the
World War I in the Ottoman Empire.
The experts emphasized in the letter that not only Armenians but also
scientists dealing with the genocide issue confirm the fact of the
Armenian genocide. They reminded in the letter that Rafael Lemkin
brought the Armenian genocide as an example when defined the term of
“genocide” in 1944.
The experts said that there can be many comments on the reasons of
the Armenian genocide but no one can deny that it took place.
The experts wrote in the end of the letter it is in the interests of
the Turkish people to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN
Contact: Howard Gantman
Thursday, September 29, 2005
or Scott Gerber 202/224-9629
Statement by Senator Feinstein on the Upcoming Visit of Aram I
Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today released
the following statement on the upcoming Pontifical visit of His Holiness
Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia.
“I am pleased to join the Armenian American community in welcoming the
upcoming Pontifical visit of His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the
Great House of Cilicia. The Pontiff will be visiting the State of
California this October at the invitation of His Eminence, Archbishop
Moushegh Mardirossian of the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic
Church of America.
His Holiness is one of the most prominent Christian leaders in the
Middle East and a spiritual leader for hundreds of thousands of
Armenians around the world. The Pontiff presently serves as the
Moderator for the World Council of Churches which is comprised of more
than 340 churches from different cultures and countries around the world
representing over 400 million Christians. Currently serving his second
term, His Holiness is the first Orthodox and the youngest person to be
elevated to Moderator.
The theme of the Pontiff’s visit is “Towards the Light of Knowledge.”
This theme reflects the Pontiff’s faith that only with greater education
and dialogue can the world’s conflicts be addressed properly.
I would like to take this opportunity to not only thank The Pontiff for
his time and worthy endeavors in California, but also thank the sizable
Armenian community which has been actively contributing to the
California culture and economy since 1878. California cities of Los
Angeles and Glendale are home to the second and third largest
populations of Armenians outside of Armenia and are important members of
their communities serving as business leaders and city council members.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Winnipeg Sun, Canada
Sept 23 2005
Live Review: SOAD in Winnipeg
Intense SOAD reward fans
By ROB WILLIAMS — Winnipeg Sun

WINNIPEG – Talk about a mesmerizing night of music.
Last night’s System of a Down show at the MTS Centre featured three
bands playing heavy, challenging, experiential metal that both
thrilled and bewildered a crowd of 8,000.
Taking the stage an hour late after being delayed by Hurricane Rita
at LAX in Los Angeles, SOAD showed why they are one of the most
unique mainstream metal acts in North America with a jarring display
of hardcore thrash mixed with Middle Eastern textures inspired by
their Armenian roots.
>From the first notes of intro Soldier Side the floor was a swirling
mass of bodies and fists. The intensity was cranked to eleven when
they launched into the war-bashing B.Y.O.B., the first single off
their latest album Mezmerize.
Frontman Serj Tankian shared vocal duties with guitarist Daron
Malakian, who handled the grittier side of things while ripping
through the intricate guitar lines that make up their socio-political
manifests.
Bassist Shavo Odajian and drummer John Dolmayan were put to work
keeping up with the abrupt pauses, fractured rhythms, tempo
variations and time signature changes that make up the group’s
arsenal.
The set was heavy on material from Mezmerize and their 2001
breakthrough Toxicity, although they threw in a few numbers off their
1998 debut.
At press time the band were about half-way through their 90-minute
set getting the crowd airborne with Bounce.
Before SOAD, The Mars Volta tore through a one-hour set featuring
only four songs of absurdist avant-garde prog-metal and cerebral
psychedelia.
The Texas group performed as an eight-piece, including three
percussionists and two keyboardists, but the main focus was on
vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez,
formerly of emo-heroes At the Drive In. They may have ditched the
sound of their former band, but it’s nice to see they kept their
famous afros.
Bixler-Zavala was a madman on stage howling in English and Spanish
while convulsing like the bastard child of Iggy Pop. Rodriguez-Lopez
stood beside him at centre stage tearing through solos and thrashing
his guitar above a roaring wall of drums, horns and effects.
Each song was its own sprawling mini-epic, starting slowly and
building to a cacophonous climax before calming down to a dull roar
and rising again. For a similar effect smash a brick into your head,
relax with a therapeutic massage then beat yourself stupid.
As strange as some might have found The Mars Volta, opening act Hella
were just as mind bending.
The Sacramento, Calif. duo of Spencer Seim and Zach Hill, on guitar
and drums respectively, added a bassist and keyboardist-guitarist to
expand on their experimental noise rock.
Without following the traditional verse-chorus-verse structure, Hella
were anything but linear, venturing into adventurous spastic freak
outs of thrash, surf, electronica, jazz and no wave anchored by
Hill’s out-of-control non-stop drumming.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MODEST KOLEROV: RUSSIA CONSIDERS BOTH SIDES OF THE CONFLICTS ON THE POST SOVIET TERRITORY TO BE ITS COMPATRIOTS
DeFacto, Armenia
Sept 16 2005
Russia considers both sides of the conflicts on the post Soviet
territory to be its compatriots. Chief of the RF Presidential
Department for Inter-Regional and Cultural Relations with Foreign
Countries Modest Kolerov stated it speaking at the conference “Parallel
CIS. Abkhazia, Pridnestrovie, the South Caucasus and Nagorno Karabakh
as realities of the post – Soviet territory” in Moscow.
According to Tribuna newspaper (Russia), in spite of warning of one
of the conference’s organizers, the CIS Institute Director Constantine
Zatulin that the conference’s goal is scientific and not political, the
guests did not want to confine themselves to purely “scientific” goals.
A member of the Armenian delegation, RA Democratic Party leader,
RA NA deputy Aram G. Sargsyan noted the fact that the conference
“Parallel CIS. Abkhazia, Pridnestrovie, the South Caucasus and Nagorno
Karabakh as realities of the post – Soviet territory” was organized
by the CIS Institute testified to the fact that Russia was interested
in its influence and strengthening of the stand in the Caucasus.
“The difference of Nagorno Karabakh from other unrecognized republics
is that they are ready to become associative members of the Russian
community, while Nagorno Karabakh is striving for independence from
Azerbaijan and free existence”, stated he.
He noted participants of the Armenian delegation “presented legal
aspects of the Karabakh issue, pointed out usage of double standards
by the international community”. “Azerbaijan states Armenia has
organized the conference, and it is provocative. However, one thing
is obvious – Azerbaijan is not ready for the civilized coexistence
with its neighbors”, believes Aram Sargsyan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

WORLD BANK REPORT RANKS ARMENIA AHEAD OF CIS COUNTRIES IN TERMS OF
EASE-OF-DOING-BUSINESS INDEX
Armenpress
WASHINGTON, D.C., SEPTEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS: According to a new report,
“Doing Business in 2006: CIS Economies Pick up the Pace of Reform,”
issued by the World Bank and International Finance Corporation on
September 12, the economies of the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS) are increasing the pace of reform to help small and medium
businesses generate more jobs-with Georgia among the top global
reformers.
But it also said that reformers in the region lag behind their Eastern
European neighbors, and heavy legal burdens on business remain in
most countries. Doing Business in 2006: Creating Jobs, cosponsored
by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, the
private sector arm of the World Bank Group, finds that such reforms,
while often simple, can create many new jobs.
“Jobs are a priority for every country, and especially the poorest
countries. Doing more to improve regulation and help entrepreneurs
is key to creating more jobs–and more growth. It is also a key to
fighting poverty.
Women, who make up three quarters of the work force in some developing
economies, will be big beneficiaries. So will young people looking
for their first job. The past year’s diverse range of successful
reformers – from Serbia to Rwanda – are showing the way forward. We
can all learn from their experience,” said Paul Wolfowitz, President
of the World Bank Group.
The annual report, which for the first time provides a global ranking
of 155 economies on key business regulations and reforms, finds that
every country in the CIS improved at least one aspect of the business
environment-among the highest rate of reform of any region. But the
pace of reform is slower than with the new entrants to the European
Union, which are aggressively courting entrepreneurs with far-reaching
reforms that streamline business regulations and taxes.
With regard to Armenia, it says the government introduced case
management into courts, streamlining contract enforcement, increased
the flexibility of employment law and established public credit
registries. Overall, European nations were the most active in enacting
reforms. The top 12 reformers in the past year, in order, were Serbia
and Montenegro, Georgia, Vietnam, Slovakia, Germany, Egypt, Finland,
Romania, Latvia, Pakistan, Rwanda, and the Netherlands.
In the list of world economies in terms of the report’s
ease-of-doing-business index, Armenia ranked at 46, Russia at 79,
Moldova at 83, Kyrgyz Republic at 84, Kazakhstan at 86, Azerbaijan
at 98, Georgia at 100, Belarus at 106, Ukraine at 124, and Uzbekistan
at 138.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

POPE TO BLESS STATUE OF OPUS DEI FOUNDER
ANSA English Media Service
September 13, 2005
Vatican City
(ANSA) – Vatican City, September 12 – Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday
will bless a statue of the founder of Opus Dei, highlighting
the conservative Catholic movement’s ever higher standing in the
contemporary Church.
A five-metre likeness of Saint Josemaria Escriva, made of white
Carrara marble, was recently installed in a niche on the southern
outside wall of St Peter’s Basilica.
The statue stands alongside other great saints and founders of
religious orders, such as Saint Gregory, founder of the Armenian
church, Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Brigid of Sweden.
It will be the first new statue at St Peter’s to be blessed by
Benedict XVI, who will perform the official unveiling after the general
audience. A 80-strong choir will be on hand to accompany the event.
The act will set the seal on the Catholic Church’s full acceptance
of the movement which it had initially distrusted.
Between 1967 and 1973, when Opus Dei already numbered 40,000 Catholics,
Pope Paul VI refused even to meet Escriva, wanting to draw a clear
line between himself and the regime of General Franco in Spain.
The Spanish-born priest was frequently accused of supporting
Franco although supporters say he had no choice but to accept the
regime. Three members of the group held positions in the Franco
government.
Opus Dei is founded on the belief that Catholics could and should
strive for saintliness through work, regardless of what their job
is. It stresses that it is not necessary to be a priest or a nun.
It is a highly influential organisation which has members in top
positions both in the Catholic Church and in secular society. Many
members are high-flyers in business and politics, especially in
the Americas.
Opus Dei, which John Paul II brought under his personal control in
1983, says it has 84,000 members in scores of countries. The Spanish
cleric who founded the movement in 1928 was canonised by the Polish
pontiff in 2002.
St Peter’s Basilica already boasts about 400 statues of saints on,
in or around it. On the roof of the 16th-century building there are
huge figures of Christ, John the Baptist and 11 of the apostles.
There are 140 more statues spread over the colonnade which surrounds
the piazza in front of the basilica.
But with two sides each measuring 186 metres and a facade of almost 100
metres long, not to mention the inside area of 21,000 square metres,
there is always room for more.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The tip of the anti-Turkish iceberg
The angry row over Cyprus is the least of the obstacles in Turkey’s
way as it struggles to fulfil its 40-year ambition to join the
European mainstream, writes Ian Black
The Guardian/UK
Friday September 9, 2005
It is, for the moment, an obscure diplomatic wrangle being played out
largely behind closed doors in the foreign ministries of Europe and in
Brussels meeting rooms. But the signs are that a serious crisis is
looming over the start of Turkey’s long-awaited talks on joining the
EU.
Turkey’s date with destiny, October 3 – the same day, coincidentally,
that Germany was reunited in 1990 – was set last year when the then
15-member EU was finalising its historic 10-country enlargement.
It has been a very long time coming: Turkey has been a stalwart member
of Nato since 1952 and was first recognised as a potential member of
the European club as long ago as 1963, only a few years after the
creation of the EEC. Britain is a keen advocate of its EU membership,
as is the US. Both see the secular Muslim democracy as a key regional
ally, a beacon for Islamic and Arab countries and proof that a “clash
of civilisations” with the west is not inevitable.
But mounting anti-Turkish feeling in several European countries and
last summer’s shock rejections of the new EU constitution in France
and the Netherlands – part of a wider political and economic malaise –
have created grave doubts. Hence this week’s alarm call by Jack Straw,
Britain’s foreign secretary, who is now in the hot seat of the EU’s
rotating presidency, that it is vital to stick to the October 3 start
date even if, as is widely expected, the actual negotiations drag on
for many years.
The immediate problem is the vexed question of Cyprus, one of last
May’s new entrants. The hope had been that a long-standing UN drive to
reunite the divided island would bear fruit before it joined. But
since it did not (though more because of the Greek than the Turkish
side) and because Ankara is refusing to recognise the Nicosia
government (which for the EU legally represents the entire country),
the launch of accession talks is in jeopardy.
Recognition is extremely difficult because without a comprehensive
peace settlement it would undermine Turkey’s own 30-year military
presence and the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. But by
flaunting its position at this highly delicate moment, Turkey has
given ammunition to its enemies.
Chief amongst these is France, where polls show much of the
anti-Turkish prejudice expressed by the former president and author of
the constitution, Valery Giscard d’Estaing, whose circumlocutions
about “cultural differences” are only slightly less offensive than the
cruder view of another clever Frenchman, Voltaire: the 18th-century
thinker called the Turks “a reminder to Christians to atone for their
sins”.
But there is an even bigger obstacle looming in Germany – assuming
Angela Merkel’s centre-right CDU wins this month’s election: Ms Merkel
wants Turkey – which supplied so many of the gastarbeiter who created
the German economic miracle of the 1960s – to be offered only a
“privileged partnership”, not the full membership that has awaited all
other candidates, from Estonia to Bulgaria, at the end of their
negotiations.
Another key opponent is Austria, where it sometimes seems that Ottoman
janissaries are still besieging Vienna as they did back in the 17th
century. Its chancellor, Wolfgang Schussel, also favours a halfway
house and “open-ended” negotiations for the Turks.
The problem is that offering something different only for Turkey would
appear to prove the resentful charge that the EU is a “Christian club”
and risk a dangerous anti-European, and perhaps fundamentalist,
backlash. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, has warned
that he will “walk away for good” if the talks do not go ahead on
schedule.
If they do start on time, it will be a very big deal indeed: no
country that has begun negotiations on joining the EU has failed
eventually to make the grade.
Although actual membership could be 10 or 15 years away, by then there
will be more than 80 million Turks, probably outnumbering Germans. And
with voting power tied to population size, Ankara will be as important
a player as Berlin, Paris and London – a key reason for the mounting
opposition. Another is the fear of large numbers of poor Turkish
migrant workers flooding western European labour markets, though
restrictions could be imposed for a transition period.
Turkey and its supporters are understandably worried, though they have
a strong case when they argue that the magnet of EU membership has
already generated huge advances under Mr Erdogan’s conservative,
moderate Islamist government.
The country’s old Midnight Express image has faded and torture has
been banned. There are now Kurdish language broadcasts, and the grip
of the powerful military, keepers of the Ataturk flame, has been
weakened. The economy is in good shape after years of crisis and
inflation under the generals. It is an increasingly attractive market
for foreign investment.
Not everything is perfect. Implementation of some new laws has been
patchy, and some worry about minority rights. Until recently there was
greater openness on the ever-neuralgic question of the Armenian
genocide of the first world war. That, however, has faded, and there
is now embarrassment about the case of the internationally renowned
novelist Orhan Pamuk, facing charges of “belittling Turkishness” over
his brave comments about that dark period.
Hectic diplomacy is likely across Europe over the coming days, perhaps
going down to the wire on the eve of October 3. There will be
brinkmanship and haggling over the precise terms of the negotiations,
and attempts to square the circle of Ankara’s non-recognition of
Cyprus. Obscure and complex it may all be, but the stakes are very
high. As Abdullah Gul, the Turkish foreign minister, put it: “The last
100 metres of the marathon should be run very carefully.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CZECHS CRUISE PAST ARMENIA 6:0
Reuters
Aug 8 2005
Jan Polak scored twice to lead the Czech Republic to a 4-1 win over
Armenia in their World Cup Group One qualifier overnight.
The Czechs, who have 24 points from 10 games, leapfrogged Romania
(22 points) into second place in the table.
Marek Heinz opened the scoring for the Czechs in the 47th minute
when his shot from 18 metres took a deflection off Armenia defender
Sargis Hovsepjan.
Polak struck five minutes later when his 25-metre drive took another
ricochet before finding the back of the net.
Milan Baros made it 3-0 when he swept home Jan Koller’s rebound in
the 58th minute before Polak notched his second with 14 minutes left.
Ara Hakobian pulled a goal back for Armenia in the 85th minute.
“We only started to play after the break. In the first half, we were
like Sleeping Beauty,” Czech coach Karel Bruckner told reporters.
The Czechs needed maximum points after a 2-0 defeat by Romania on
Saturday.
“If we could have got ahead, the Czechs would have had a very
difficult task. But after they scored the second goal, it was pretty
well decided,” said Armenia’s Dutch coach Henk Wisman.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress