Author: Antonian Lara

Los Angeles Daily News
Jan 3 2005
Youths turn faith into action
Armenian church group starting fund-raising drive to help refugees in
Sudan
By Alex Dobuzinskis
Staff Writer
For Armenian-American youths in a Burbank-based church organization,
the mass killings of civilians in Sudan echo their own people’s
genocide, and they want to extend help.
To demonstrate that commitment, the Armenian Church Youth
Organization will start a $15,000 fund-raising initiative Thursday on
the observance of Armenian Christmas.
Sudanese youths have been invited to participate in the event, which
will be held at the Burbank headquarters of the Armenian Church of
North America Western Diocese.
April 24 is generally the date when Armenians mark the killings that
occurred from 1915 to 1923 in the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
Approximately 1.5 million died in what Armenians say was genocide.
The Turkish government always has denied genocide occurred and claims
the Armenian deaths were due to war.
“When we’re marching on April 24, when we’re (decrying) the crimes
that have been committed against us, we say, ‘Never again,”‘ said
Matthew Ash, youth director for the Western Diocese.
Ash sees parallels between the Armenian Genocide and the humanitarian
crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan, since both Turkey and Sudan
have denied accusations of genocide.
“It robs something from the victims’ families because they’re
suffering and the person who caused that suffering isn’t even
acknowledging it’s happening,” Ash said.
In recent months, tens of thousands have been killed or died of
disease in the Darfur region, where armed groups called Janjaweed and
pro-government militias have killed and raped villagers after rebels
took up arms last year, according to the United Nations. Aid workers
are faced with helping the more than 1.5 million people who have been
displaced by the conflict.
The $15,000 the ACYO plans to raise is expected to be enough to
provide food and shelter to 400 Sudanese refugees for 40 days,
according to the organization. The money will be sent to Care
International.
The ACYO was formed in 1946 and has 650 members in California and
Arizona. Most of its members are in their teens or early 20s.
Thera Der-Gevorgian, 17, of Glendale joined the organization eight
months ago and is part of the recently formed Burbank chapter.
She said she, too, sees similarities to the Armenian Genocide in
photos of the crisis in Darfur.
“Everything that happened during 1915 that happened to us the
Armenians is happening right now to them,” she said. “They’re just a
different color than us.”
The ACYO’s Burbank chapter meets at the Western Diocese headquarters
and has more than 10 members. The organization is trying to establish
a chapter in Glendale.
Archbishop Hovnan Derderian said youths with the ACYO have had
contact with members of the Sudanese community in Southern California
and that it is important to offer them support.
“After all, when we speak about religion and faith … faith should
be reflected in action,” Derderian said.
The ACYO plans to raise money for Sudan through a mailing campaign,
over the Internet and through appeals at events and plate collections
at churches.
One of the past projects of the ACYO was an initiative to support
hundreds of children orphaned by a 1988 earthquake in Armenia. Now
that many of those children are moving on to college, the ACYO has
launched a new initiative called Brighter Future for Armenia, to
provide nearly 300 students with $365 a year each to help pay for
college.

Prime Minister fears contaminated referendum
Reformatorisch Dagblad (Dutch daily newspaper)
December 22, 2004
Part of the article about a debate in Dutch parliament on the conclusions of
EU summit in Brussels. During this debate a motion was adopted urging the
Dutch government to bring up the recognition of the the Armenian Genocide in
its dialogue with Turkey during the EU accession negotiations. the Armenian
question.
See the complete article in Dutch:
… Almost all factions in Dutch parliament expressed their
disappointment about the fact that the EU has not made the recognition
of the Armenian Genocide as condition for the start of the accession
negotiations with Turkey. The Chamber unanimously adopted a motion of
Christian Union leader Rouvoet, that calls the government to bring up
in its dialogue with Turkey continuously and expressly the recognition
of the Armenian Genocide.
Never before the entire House of Representatives expressly pronounced
on the Genocide of 1915 of the Armenians by the Turks. The Armenian
Federation expressed satisfaction on Tuesday about the fact “that now
also the Netherlands recognises the Genocide.” …

Vazquez KOs Simonyan in first defense
*By Jerry Magee*
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
December 29, 2004
JIM BAIRD / Union-Tribune
Junior featherweight champ Israel Vazquez lands plenty of rights before
stopping Art Simonyan in the fifth round last night.
Israel Vazquez was wearing black gloves when his fight began last night
and red gloves when it ended. With the gloves of both colors, he was
equally destructive.
With the black gloves, the stylist from Mexico City knocked down Art
Simonyan in the third round, inflicted a cut below the Armenian’s left
eye and had him bleeding profusely from the mouth.
In the fourth round, Vazquez had to change to red gloves after a slash
developed in one of his black gloves. Vazquez kept the red gloves on for
only 99 seconds – the 40 seconds remaining in the fourth round when he
put them on, and the 59 seconds of the fifth that he required to stop
Simonyan.
Vazquez (37-3, with 28 knockouts) thus made a successful first defense
of his IBF junior featherweight championship before what a Sycuan
spokesman said was a sellout gathering of 460 at the Sycuan Resort and
Casino.
For Simonyan (14-1-1, seven KOs), this was a first defeat. The Armenian
was in the scheduled 12-round fight through the first two rounds, but in
the third Vazquez reached him with a thunderous right. A following left
hook deposited Simonyan, clearly dazed, in his corner.
Simonyan received a three-minute break in the fourth round while Vasquez
was changing gloves, but his reprieve was brief. In the fifth, the
champion got across another right that caused his rival to sag.
Although Simonyan did not go down, Dr. James Jen Kin, the referee, gave
him an eight count. In concluding, Vazquez went on the attack again and
Jen Kin moved in to spare Simonyan additional punishment.
Frank Espinoza, Vazquez’s manager, said this was one of his man’s best
fights. The winner’s trainer, Freddie Roach, said he had anticipated
that Vazquez would be able to take Simonyan out, but not this quickly.
“Art just couldn’t handle Israel’s power,” said Roach.
From sparring with Simonyan, Vazquez said he had gained the impression
that his opponent did not possess a strong chin.
“I didn’t feel my strength,” said Simonyan. “My punches were not there.
I had no energy. I felt stiff.”
The undercard was made up of six scheduled four-rounders. For punching
power in these bouts, there was the sweeping right with which Shawn
Ross, a 254-pound heavyweight from Murrietta, knocked out Bernard Gray
of Oakland at 32 seconds of the third round.
For brevity, there was Crystal Hoy of Las Vegas stopping Sara Huntman of
Los Angeles at 31 seconds of the first round in the evening’s only
women’s match.
For class, there was Eddie Mapula, a junior welterweight from Tijuana
who would seem to have a future. He had too much in every area for
Hector Rivera of Michoacan, Mexico, and referee Raul Caiz Jr. wisely
called off matters following the third round.
For Mapula, 20, this was his fifth knockout in as many appearances.
For excitement, there was the cruiserweight go between Moses Matovu of
Las Vegas and Shane Johnston of El Cajon. Johnston, dropped in the
opening round of his first pro bout, rallied and had his rival reeling
in the second, but Matovu was able to gather himself and win a unanimous
decision.
In the other bouts, welterweight Francisco Maldonado of Guadalajara,
Mexico, outpointed Mauricio Borques of Caliacan, Mexico; and heavyweight
James Horton of Pomona knocked out James Harling of Las Vegas with a
counter right in the opening round’s final second.
Find this article at:

US NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CENTER MAPPED KARABAKH AS DISPUTABLE TERRITORY
PanArmenian News
Dec 22 2004
22.12.2004 16:19
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Being a historic Armenian territory Nagorno Karabakh
has made logical attempts to join Armenia by legal way. The cultural
and religious center of Armenia, Karabakh was ruled by Armenian dukes
even during the period when the rest of Armenia was under the yoke of
Turkish and Persian empires”, Yeni Zaman Azeri newspaper writes, citing
the reports of the Central Intelligence Agency of 1970-1980. The fact
is that the US National Geographic Center has recently issued a map,
on which Karabakh is not marked as a part of Azerbaijan. Weighing 5
kg and costing $165 the map shows Karabakh as a disputable territory
like the territories on the western coast of River Jordan, Northern
Cyprus, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Zerkalo daily also expressed
discontent over the fact.

Armenian minister sees no need for NATO membership, hails ties with Russia
Azg, Yerevan
18 Dec 04
Text of Tatul Akopyan report by Armenian newspaper Azg on 18 December
headlined “Armenian-Russian strategic alliance has no alternative
today”
Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan sees no need for Armenia
to join NATO.
Serzh Sarkisyan stated yesterday 17 December that relations between
Armenia and NATO will deepen and develop as long “as there are
not in conflict with our obligations under the Collective Security
Treaty”. There is currently no need for Armenia to put the issue
of NATO membership on its foreign policy agenda but this does not
mean that we should not develop our relations with the organization,
Sarkisyan said during a round table on the issue of regional security.
Yerevan and Brussels have made an obvious progress in their relations
in the last few years. Speaking about Armenia-NATO relations,
Sarkisyan said that Armenia has participated in 47 events and five
military exercises of the organization in 2004 and is going to increase
the number.
Armenian and Russian political leaders and US representatives took
part in the round table discussion. Serzh Sarkisyan took the floor to
speak about Armenia-NATO, Armenia-Russia, Armenia-EU relations and
the system of regional security in particular. “The Armenia-Russian
military alliance has no alternative today,” he said, adding that
relations with Russia won’t get in the way of its efforts to integrate
more closely with Europe especially in the event that Russia and
Europe will come closer together. The minister noted that cooperation
between Armenia and Russia in the military sphere has been reflected
in dozens of pages.
Serzh Sarkisyan hailed Armenia’s relationship with the European
Union as the key one. Our country exports 40 per cent of its goods
to Europe. He praised “brilliant military interaction” between the
Armenian and Greek peacekeepers in Kosovo. The Minister of Defence
noted that Armenia is the only country in the South Caucasus which
pursues a balanced policy. He thinks that cooperation between regional
countries will be possible one day, having recalled the fact that
European states such as England, France and Germany have the history
of centuries-long enmity but they are now allies.
Levon Lazarian, representative of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation – Dashnaktsutyun, spoke about other areas of cooperation on
top of the one mentioned by the minister. He singled out relations with
Iran and the Arab world. Lazarian recalled two facts from the past:
firstly, Iran provided Armenia with a road, which was the only road at
the time when Armenia was blockaded on three sides, secondly by taking
a neutral stance on the Karabakh conflict, Tehran prevented it from
turning into a religious one, something which Azerbaijan strived for.

Azerbaijani president: Armenia too dependent on Russia in territory dispute talks
by AIDA SULTANOVA; Associated Press Writer
Associated Press Worldstream
December 17, 2004 Friday
BAKU, Azerbaijan — Russia is taking too active a role in the
negotiations over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, whose
unresolved status remains a source of tension for Azerbaijan and
Armenia, Azerbaijan’s president said Friday.
Ilham Aliev was reacting to comments by Russian parliament speaker
Boris Gryzlov, who said that Armenia was Russia’s outpost in the
Caucasus region. Gryzlov made the statement Wednesday at a meeting
between Armenian legislators and their Russian counterparts.
“We are confused: We have always considered Armenia a state, but now
it turns out that it is an outpost,” Aliev told journalists Friday.
“So whom should we negotiate with now – the outpost or the master of
the outpost?” he said.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a bitter dispute over
Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan’s
territory. Ethnic Armenian forces drove Azerbaijani troops out of
Nagorno-Karabakh in the 1990s. Since a 1994 cease-fire, the sides
have been separated by a demilitarized buffer zone, but occasional
shooting breaks out and each side accuses the other of mounting
small incursions.
“I believe that if these negotiations are conducted in a constructive
way, and the Armenian side does not go back on earlier agreed-upon
positions … we can come to certain agreements,” Aliev said.
Baku wants Armenian forces to withdraw from Nagorno-Karabakh before
a peace treaty can be signed.
Aliev also said Friday that Azerbaijan is ready to fully reopen its
railway connection with neighboring Georgia only after it receives
guarantees that the cargo is not redirected to Armenia.
Azerbaijan closed its railway link with Georgia for five days in
November, barring about 1,500 train cars carrying oil and other
cargo, on the grounds that some of the cargo had ended up in Armenia.
Baku then reopened the connection partially – allowing in some trains,
mostly those carrying oil – after Azerbaijan and Georgia agreed that
no cargo would be redirected to Armenia.
But Aliev said Friday that “smuggling and falsifications” were still
taking place.
“If it persists, the border will remain closed,” Aliev said. “We
understand that it causes harm to us and to a certain extent to
Georgia, but we have no other choice.”

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
December 15, 2004, Wednesday
BUILDING THE ARMY OF THE XXI CENTURY
SOURCE: Krasnaya Zvezda, December 11, 2004, p.1, 4
by Aleksei Ventslovsky
On December 10, Russia(tm)s Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov met with
defense officials and diplomats accredited to Moscow. The meeting was
held in the Academy of the General Staff. The minister outlined the
major lines and priorities for defense construction in view of the
current international situation.
The priority tasks the minister named for the armed forces include
maintaining a nuclear potential enough to deter aggression and
improve the capacities of permanent combat readiness units. Mr.
Ivanov stressed that Russia makes a point of observing all previously
signed and confirmed international agreements.
In the minister’s words, the five-year defense schedule will be
completed in 2005 though there is ongoing work around drafting
conceptual documents related to this topical issue. The minister paid
particular attention to the concept of defense construction for the
period until 2021, the Scheme of the Russian Army’s construction and
development for the period until 2016, the national armaments program
for the period until 2015, the federal program of establishing
defense facilities across the country for the period until 2025.
The minister also pointed out that the Russian armed forces are
prepared to carry out preventive strikes on terrorist bases in any
place of the world and they will not use nuclear weapons at that.
According to the minister, currently there are up to 200 foreign
mercenaries in Chechnya, but there is no need for the all-out
presence of the armed forces in the republic as the law-enforcement
agencies and the special services backed by the forces deployed on
the permanent basis in the region are capable of counteracting
terrorists by themselves.
In the minister’s words, the strategic missile forces are being
re-equipped with the silo-based Topol-M missile system according to
schedule. The testing of the mobile version of the system and marine
missile system of the new generation “Bulava” is equally successful.
Besides, in the following year the Navy will adopt a nuclear
submarine of the fourth generation “Yury Dolgoruky and the air forces
will adopt two Tu-160 bombers. “A great amount of new and upgraded
defense hardware will also be supplied to the general forces,” Sergei
Ivanov reported. “It is mostly meant for permanent combat readiness
troops. On the whole, meeting the main priorities will make it
possible to establish armed forces that would be able to cope with
the challenges of the XXI century.
Sergei Ivanov made a point of international issues. As he put it,
“whether we want it or not, the armed forces remain the common tool
for achieving political goals and are a very effective means of
combating global security threats, primarily terror and weapons of
mass destruction. The minister emphasized that Russia prefers to use
political, diplomatic and other non-military ways to observe and
protect its interests though it admits it has to possess enough arms
in order to make this protection effective.
The minister observed that participation of Russian battleships in
the NATO Mediterranean Operation Active Endeavor is supposed to
promote the integration of Russia into Europe. We plan to regularly
spare one or two battleships for the operation and a support vessel
from the Black Sea Navy,” he observed. In 2005, this period will
cover three months and in the years to come it may change depending
on the situation and conditions for the operation.”
Regarding the relations between the CIS states Sergei Ivanov remarked
that in 2006 the Russian border troops will pass the authority over
the Tajik-Afghan section of the border to the Tajik forces. However,
the republic(tm)s defense forces can always count on support of the
Russian military base in Tajikistan and a special border defense task
force of Russia’s Federal Security Service that is being established
there at the moment,” he said. It should be mentioned that apart from
Tajikistan, the Russian troops maintain a presence in Georgia,
Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. These troops are equally important for
security of Russia as well as Collective Security Treaty
member-states and the CIS on the whole.
Sergei Ivanov also spoke for establishing a joint Russia-Georgian
body for collaboration in counteracting terrorism. “We might propose
to the Georgian side to set up a counter-terror analytical center on
the basis of the Group of Russia Forces headquarters in Transcaucasia
which is situated in Tbilisi, he said. In Batumi, we can set up a
training center for counter-terror operations on sea and transport
communications. In Akhalkalaki, it is possible to set up a training
center for frontier troops and the emergency ministry staff on the
basis of the 62nd Russian military base.
At the close of the meeting the defense minister answered the
questions of foreign military diplomats.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Macedonian Press Agency, Greece
Dec 15 2004
THE EU SUMMIT OPENS TOMORROW
Athens, 15 December 2004 (13:08 UTC+2)

The consultation on the European Council Summit to get underway
tomorrow and expected to define Turkey’s European future, is in full
progress in Brussels.
Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis in a statement to Turkish news
agency Anadolu reiterates Greece’s support to Turkey’s European
prospect stressing, however, that the country should respect
international law and the European acquis.
Meanwhile, France will raise the issues of the Armenian genocide and
Cyprus.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that his country
will not accept new terms imposed by the EU, while the head of the
Turkish diplomacy Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul asked for a date for
the opening of EU accession negotiations for Turkey in 2005.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Anadolu Agency, Turkey
Dec 15 2004
E.P. Rejects Amendment Motion Proposing Special Partnership Status To
Turkey Instead Of Full Membership
STRASBOURG (AA) – European Parliament on Wednesday rejected an
amendment motion recommending special partnership status to Turkey
instead of full membership.
In a voting held in EP General Assembly, the amendment motion
opposing Turkey’s membership was rejected.
European Parliament also rejected another amendment motion
demanding Turkey to recognize so-called Armenian genocide to start
entry talks.

Azeri foreign minister tells radio about talks with Armenian counterpart
ANS Radio, Baku
15 Dec 04
[Presenter] Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has
revealed some aspects of the meeting in Brussels with his Armenian
counterpart, Vardan Oskanyan, on the resolution of the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict.
[Mammadyarov, no picture] We discussed [the possibility of] sending an
OSCE mission to the occupied lands [of Azerbaijan] to examine illegal
settlements there. We are planning to continue the Prague process in
January [next year]. Of course, this is a difficult issue and there
are many questions. But, we, the Azerbaijani side, think that we
should continue the Prague talks, because there are opportunities to
make progress there.
[Presenter] Mammadyarov made this statement in London.