Author: Antonian Lara

ARMENIAN PROSECUTOR-GENERAL VOWS HARSH STRUGGLE AGAINST CORRUPTION
Arminfo
4 May 04
YEREVAN
The newly-established Department for Struggle against Corruption under
the Prosecutor-General’s Office will combat this evil in all state
bodies, including the power-wielding agencies and the prosecutor’s
office, Prosecutor-General Agvan Ovsepyan told reporters today.
“I am not so naive to deny the presence of corruption in the system of
prosecutor’s office,” Ovsepyan said. A statute of the department will
be developed within 10 days where its development areas will be fixed,
he said.
The prosecutor-general said that the department would closely
cooperate with the Control Chamber of President, presidential aide on
issues of fighting against corruption and other structures. The
prosecutor-general expressed the opinion that corruption was
especially spread in economic bodies.

A1 Plus | 22:08:27 | 05-05-2004 | Politics |
OPPOSITION IS WILLING TO NEGOTIATE WITH AUTHORITIES
The opposition came up with a statement on Wednesday.
Taking into account that crisis in the country is increasingly deepening
since presidential elections in 2003, taking into consideration that
fulfilling PACE demands worded in its 1374 resolution have great
significance for our country and acknowledging full responsibility for
bringing the country on the road of democracy, the opposition states it is
ready for dialogue with the authorities and, as a gesture of good will, make
unilateral move refraining from staging rallies throughout ten days.
If the authorities don’t make return step, protest actions will be resumed,
the statement says.

PRESS RELEASE
ARKA BALLET
Date: April 27, 2004
Contact: Tania J. Chichmanian, ARKA Ballet
(301) 587-6225; [email protected]

ARKA BALLET INVITED TO ARMENIA –
WILL PERFORM AT NATIONAL OPERA AND BALLET THEATRE IN AUGUST

ARKA Ballet is the first American ballet company officially invited to
perform in Armenia. The Armenian State Philaharmonic has invited the
Washington, DC-based troupe to appear at the National Opera and Ballet
Theatre in Yerevan on August 6 and 7, 2004. The company of 16 will present
two programs of mixed repertoire featuring works by contemporary American
choreographers as well as recent works by Artistic Director Roudolf
Kharatian.

The Philharmonic, which is the successor to Armenia’s Armconcert, will host
the company for a one-week stay in Armenia, covering expenses in Armenia for
the touring company, including lodging, meals, in-country transportation,
rehearsal space and all performance-related PR and marketing. The tentative
schedule even includes a little sightseeing! ARKA Ballet is now frantically
working on air travel arrangements for which it has launched an aggressive
PR campaign. Upcoming events to watch for include a pre-trip ‘preview gala’
at the American Dance Institute on June 12, as well as an art exhibit May 21
to June 21, 2004.

ARKA Ballet was founded by Roudolf Kharatian and launched at the Kennedy
Center in 1999. Since then, the company has performed at many venues
throughout the Washington, DC area including the Kennedy Center, the Lisner
Auditorium, and the Kay Theatre. In 2001, ARKA Ballet was commissioned by
the Diocese of the Armenian Church to create two ballets based on key
moments in Armenia’s Christian history. The two works, Vartanank, to the
music of Edgar Hovanessian, and St. Gregory’s Prayer, to the music of Alan
Hovaness, were premiered in New York during the 1700th Anniversary
Celebrations in Central Park.

ARKA Ballet features young, dynamic, classically-trained professional
dancers. The company’s repertoire includes many of the classical favorites
as well as more contemporary works. ARKA Ballet also serves as a vehicle to
educate US audiences about Armenia and its rich culture, by presenting works
that use Armenian history, legends or music as their basis.

The tour to Armenia has been a long-time dream for the company and marks the
troupe’s first-ever tour abroad. It also opens the door for ongoing
cultural exchange and dialogue between the American and Armenian dance
communities, helping to strengthen the ties between these two nations. Upon
its return to the US, ARKA Ballet plans to broadly publicize its Armenia
tour through performances in a variety of venues, using the trip as an added
opportunity to showcase Armenian themes. Plans for 2005 include the
development of a new ballet commemorating the 90th Anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide. The Armenian National Opera and Ballet Theatre has
invited ARKA Ballet’s Artistic Director Roudolf Kharatian to create a new
full-length ballet based on St. Gregory of Narek’s Book of Lamentations.
The ballet will premiere in Armenia in 2006.

ARKA Ballet dancers are excited at the prospect of experiencing Armenia
first hand after hearing so much about the nation from Kharatian, whom they
fondly refer to as “Mr. K.” Many have also expressed the desire to stay
on for a few days following the performances in order to take in more of the
sites and have a chance to immerse themselves in the country, albeit for a
short while.

For more information about ARKA Ballet and its planned tour to Armenia,
please contact Tania Chichmanian at 301-587-6225 or [email protected]; or
visit ARKA Ballet is dedicated to the continued
development of the artform of ballet.

# # #

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, BRITISH REP DISCUSS REGIONAL COOPERATION,
CONFLICTS
Noyan Tapan news agency
30 Apr 04
YEREVAN
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan today received the special
representative of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the South
Caucasus, Brian Fall.
The meeting discussed the South Caucasus issues, the latest
developments in the Karabakh settlement and the coordination of the
Armenian-Turkish relations.
The sides discussed in detail the issue of involvement of the South
Caucasus countries in the European Union’s Wider Europe – New
Neighbours programme, the press service of the Armenian Foreign
Ministry told Noyan Tapan news agency.
Minister Oskanyan and the special representative, Brian Fall,
underlined the importance of quick involvement of the South Caucasus
countries in this initiative, thanks to which European future
prospects for these countries acquire a real shape.

The Daily Star, Lebanon
May 4 2004
Lack of unity costs opposition in polls
Authorities are big winners with 40 of 48 municipal council seats in
Metn
By Nada Raad
Daily Star staff

BEIRUT: The opposition’s less than stellar performance in Sunday’s
Mount Lebanon elections was attributed to its failure to forge robust
alliances when facing pro-government candidates, according to
observers.
The authorities, represented by former Interior Minister Michel Murr,
the current Metn MP, were the big winners, securing nearly 40 municipal
councils out of 48 municipalities in the Metn, which is considered
Murr’s turf. Similarly, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt grabbed most Chouf
villages, including Deir al-Qamar, where National Liberal Party leader
Dory Chamoun won the mayor’s seat.
The opposition also lost in Jbeil, where the Free Patriotic Movement
(FPM) formed an alliance with the National Bloc, which considers Jbeil
its headquarters, as founder Raymond Edde was from that area.
Hizbullah grabbed 68 percent of the votes in the southern suburbs of
Beirut, according to unofficial election results. Official results were
still being finalized as The Daily Star went to press.
But the opposition was successful in Sin al-Fil, Baskinta, Zouk Mikael
and Tabarja, while FPM media Elias Zoghbi said that FPM candidates won
seats in different towns and villages, mainly in Baabdat, and the qadas
of Jbeil and Kesrouan.
Observers said these results should compel some opposition parties not
to overestimate their clout and power.
Metn MP Pierre Gemayel told The Daily Star on Monday that the election
should serve as a lesson to some “almighty opposition parties” that
they are simply not that powerful, in reference to the FPM.
But other political observers chalked off the opposition’s failure to a
lack of unity, noting the defeats in towns and villages were there was
no cooperation among the different parties, such as in Jounieh, Jbeil,
Shiyah and Beit Chabab.
“The lack of cooperation among opposition groups in all areas under a
clear and unified political slogan was the major reason for their
unsuccessful representation in the municipal councils,” said Fadia
Kiwan, a professor of Political Science at Universite Saint Joseph.
For some opposition groups, the defeat was due to the betrayal of their
partners.
The FPM blamed former President Amin Gemayel for betraying the
opposition groups, describing Gemayel’s move as a “pre-calculated
strategy” for the 2005 parliamentary election.
“Gemayel betrayed us as usual and cooperated with the
government-supported lists to win more seats in municipal councils and
to be prepared for the 2005 parliamentary elections,” Zoghbi said.
Amin Gemayel’s son, Pierre, denied the allegations and said no
cooperation between the Phalange Party opposition faction and the
government was made during the municipal election on May 2.
He said the Phalange Party opposition faction never considered the FPM
as a “competitor and did not regard General Michel Aoun as an enemy.”
“If we cooperated with the government, particularly with Murr, then let
the FPM name the areas where we did so,” Gemayel said. “When the FPM
are cooperating with (former MP) Najah Wakim and Hizbullah, is that not
polishing their cooperation with the government?”
The FPM formed a coalition with Hizbullah in Haret Hreik, a southern
suburb of Beirut and is allying itself with Wakim in the Beirut
elections next Sunday.
Gemayel also denied FPM claims that the party withdrew from Beit
Chabab, accusing the FPM of “rejecting the Phalange Party’s proposals
for the mayor’s seat.”
“They want to lead the battle alone, which they are directing against
Amin Gemayel and not Murr and against some opposition groups and not
the government,” he said.
A source in the Lebanese Forces said the results of the municipal
election could have been better had all opposition parties cooperated.
“We did not have conflicting positions like other parties by
cooperating with a group in Jbeil and its opponents in Jounieh, like
other parties did.”
Some opposition groups justified their unsuccessful battle by the
bribes offered to voters.
Kiwan, who is also a member of the National Bloc and a candidate who
ran for the Jaj municipal election in Jbeil and failed, said that some
$300 were paid to voters as they stood at the voting booths.
Zoghbi said some Armenians were used by the government to win the
municipal battle, such as in Bsalim, where over 150 Armenians were
registered on the village’s electoral lists few weeks before the
election day.

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
April 26 2004
PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN ILHAM ALIYEV RECEIVES UK SPECIAL
REPRESENTATIVE ON SOUTH CAUCASUS BRIAN FALL
[April 26, 2004, 21:39:44]
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev received at
the Presidential Palace Mr. Brian Fall, the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland special representative on the South
Caucasus, April 26.
President Ilham Aliyev highly appreciated Mr. Brian Fall’s activity
and noted that his visit to the region would contribute to expanding
cooperation between the two countries. Speaking of rapidly developing
political and economic relations between Azerbaijan and the United
Kingdom, the Head of State mentioned active involvement of British
companies and investors in the large-scale energy projects being
implemented in Azerbaijan. In this connection, he expressed special
satisfaction with activities of British Petroleum in realization of
oil and gas projects of not only regional but also global
significance.
Touching upon regional problems, President Ilham Aliyev pointed to
unsolved Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resulted in
occupation of 20% of Azerbaijan’s territories and existence of over
one million refugees, and expressed hope for international
organizations to intensify their efforts for its urgent solution. He
also stressed the necessity of the UK representative’s active
contribution in peace process.
Mr. Brian Fall especially emphasized that British companies invest in
not only oil and gas sector but are also actively involved in
development of other spheres of Azerbaijan’s economy. He noted as
well that during this second visit to Azerbaijan he had become a
witness of great progress and positive changes occurred in the
country.
The guest siad that Azerbaijan, which had created favorable
conditions for not only British but also a number of respectable
investors from other countries, has bright and prosperous future.
Expressing concern over the long-lasting Armenia-Azerbaijan,
Nagorno-Karabakh problem, the UK special representative on the South
Caucasus Mr. Brian Fall described the refugees and IDPs as those
suffered most from the conflict, and highly appreciated President
Ilham Aliyev’s efforts for both its peaceful settlement and
improvement of the people’s living conditions.
A comprehensive exchange of views on a number of other issues of
mutual interest was also held during the meeting.
Mr. Brian Fall expressed gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev for the
sincere conversation.
Present at the meeting were Chief of the Presidential
Administration’s International Relations Department Mr. Novruz
Mammadov and Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Azerbaijan Mr.
Laurie Bristow.

FOCUS: The Forgotten Genocide
By Virginia Terzian
For the Titan
April 22, 2004 Cal State Fullerton – The Daily Titan
Sylvie Tertzakian is an adjunct professor at Chapman University and
the daughter of a survivor of the Armenian genocide. She remembers the
stories her father, Khoren Aharonian, told her of his struggle to
survive. Ahoronian was only 11 years old when the Young Turks began
deporting Armenians from his village. He and his family marched into
the Syrian Desert for months with no food or water.
`My paternal uncle and my father were the only survivors in our
family,’ Tertzakian explained.
She spoke of how her father had to witness his mother’s death in the
desert. She said, `The survivors did not get counseling to deal with
their tragedy, instead they carried that baggage with them and handed
it down to their children. ‘
For Tertzakian and many other Armenians who are the children or
grandchildren of the Armenian genocide, the `baggage’ holds a special
meaning to them.
`The trauma that they go through as children – they cannot share it
with others,’ Tertzakian said.
The two brothers were separated in the desert during the genocide;
Tertzakian’ s father went to Jerusalem and his brother ended up in
Lebanon.
For the few survivors of the genocide, these separations were quite
common.
Finding lost family members was an extremely rare occurrence; most
were left to start all over again – alone, with nothing but memories
and the hope that it would never happen again.
It has been 89 years since the Armenian genocide began. Some Armenians
believe the greatest tragedy is not that so many were killed in the
first case of ethnic cleansing during the 20th century, but rather
that its occurrence is still denied to this day by its perpetrators
and forgotten by much of the world.
To fully understand the significance of the Armenian genocide it is
important to examine when, where and why this event took place.
In present day Eastern Turkey, when the Young Turks, a political
faction of the Ottoman Empire in 1915, decided that they wanted to
create a new Turkish state they saw the Armenian minority as an
obstacle to realizing their goal.
On April 24, 1915 some 200 of the Armenian community leaders were
taken from their homes by the Young Turks and murdered, beginning the
three-year genocide that would eventually take the lives of about 1.5
million Armenians, or half of their population.
`The Turks attacked these communities, Armenians were put on death
marches. Others in tiny villages were just massacred. The Turks were
trying to create a Turkish nation with no minorities,’ said Cal State
Fullerton Professor Touraj Daryaee.
The Armenians were driven out of their homes to march into the Syrian
Desert. Adolf Hitler later used similar death marches during the
Holocaust. Cora Granata, professor of German history at CSUF said,
`Nazi policy makes explicitly references to the Armenian genocide in
their plans.`
According to the Web site , when Hitler
invaded Poland he was quoted as telling his associates that a Jewish
holocaust would be tolerated by the West by stating that `Who, after
all, speaks todayof the annihilation of the Armenians?’
As a Web site dedicated to educating the world about past genocides,
gives an account of the Armenian genocide: `the
adult and teenage males were separated from the deportation caravans
and killed underthe direction of Young Turk functionaries. Women and
children were driven for months over mountains and desert, often
raped, tortured and mutilated. Deprived of food and water and often
stripped of cloths, they fell by the hundreds of thousands along the
routes to the desert.’
The Turkish government states that the Armenian people of Eastern
Turkey were attempting to separate from the Ottoman Empire and form
their own country and that the Ottoman Turks were simply attempting to
hold the country together. Turkey has claimed that only a few
thousands Armenians perished in a civil war that took place between
the Armenians and the Ottoman Turks.
In a lecture given at Harvard University in April of 2001, Professor
Vahakn Dadrian said, `For about seven weeks, Mazhar Inquiry Commission
secured from many provinces of Ottoman Turkey authentic, official
Ottoman documents.’
These documents allegedly proved that it was the Turkish
government’s intention to massacre the Armenian people.
Although the international community condemned the actions of the
Turkish government, no actions were made to force the postwar Turkish
government to acknowledge the Armenian genocide.
Today, nearly nine decades later, the Turkish government still refuses
to admit genocide occurred. Instead, Turkey still refers to it as the
`so-called Armenian genocide.’
In an article from the Turkish Press dated March 4, 2004, Prime
Minister Abdullah Gul said `those who are living a comfortable life
outside Armenia do not contribute to improvement of relations between
Turkey and Armenia with their attitude. Historians should deal with
events of the past. The Ottoman Empire had never perpetrated any
massacre or assimilated intentionally.’
Armenians seeking acknowledgement of their people’s tragic history may
be faced with large obstacles, but simply giving up and trying to
forget is not a possibility.
`The genocide lives with us, not just in April, but all the time,’
said Tertzakian, referring to April 24, the day recognized by many as
the commemoration of the Armenian genocide. `It’s something we should
never forget. Never again.’
Taner Akcam, a Turkish scholar currently teaching at Minneapolis
University, is one of the few people from his home country to openly
recognize the Young Turks’ actions towards the Armenians as an act of
genocide. Akcam believes that Turkey has to deal with the past in
order to improve the future for these two neighboring countries. With
work like his from other Turkish people, perhaps there will eventually
be an open border between Turkey and Armenia.
In the U.S., 31 states already acknowledge the Armenian genocide –
including California – yet the U.S. government is still unwilling to
call it genocide. ` You would be surprised how many Americans know
about the Armenian genocide,’ said Tertzakian.
As of March 2004, 15 countries including Switzerland, France and
Russia have agreed to label the 1915-1918 killings of the Armenian
people as genocide.
It is the hope of many Armenians that once the genocide is finally
acknowledged throughout the world, it can help prevent other genocides
fromtaking place.
`The Armenian Genocide should be taught at schools and universitiesto
make people aware of man’s inhumanity to man.’ said Tertzakian.
As art is an expression of life, young Armenian artists are expressing
their peoples’ pain through their art.
In an interview for MTV News, Serj Tankian of the band System of a
Down said, `My family tree goes up to my grandfather and his memories,
from there on, it’ s cut off.’
Tankian’s band is well known, especially in the Armenian community,for
their work towards the acknowledgement of the Armenian
genocide. System of a Down will be having a concert on April 24 at the
Greek theater to raise awareness of the Armenian genocide.
The Armenian movie `Ararat’ is another artful expression ofthe
genocide.
Already in the 20th century we have seen genocide in the Ukraine,
Cambodia, Rwanda, Germany and in areas inhabited by the Kurds.
`We are still going through the trauma of the genocide,’ Tertzakian
said.
Because the Armenian genocide is still denied, the pain of the
Armenian people has been forgotten by the world, but not by those who
are connected to it.
Info maybe for a box
The Armenian Genocide has directly affected the author’s family. Her
great-grandfather, who was just five years old when the genocide
began, wastaken by a Turkish soldier and raised as his son. When he
was 14 he learned the truth about his past and the past of his people
by a few of the surviving Armenians in Turkey. He then ran away to
Syria where he heard other Armenians were living. At the age of 19,
in a chance meeting, he found his uncle and learned about his family.
The genocide is commemorated everywhere in the world that Armenians
are located, with monuments, memorials and protests, in attempts to
make the rest of the world to be aware and acknowledge the Armenian
genocide. Those interested in becoming involved at a presentation
should go to for locations of events near them.
Locally the 40 martyrs Armenian apostolic Church of orange in Santa
Anna’s commemoration Ceremony and virgule with a key note speaker on
the 25th at 7:30pm the event is open to the public and everyone is
welcome for more information contact them at (714) 839-7836.
Also in Hollywood on the April 24th there will be a march in `little
Armenia’ at 10:00am to acknowledge the genocide. If you are
interesting in being a part of this remembrance event go to
for more information.

Armenian opposition warns public against “spontaneous action”
Arminfo
19 Apr 04

YEREVAN
The Armenian opposition does not rule out the possibility of dialogue
with the authorities without any conditions attached provided they
halt political repression in the country, set the opposition activists
they arrested free, make it possible for citizens to move freely
around the republic and punish those who falsified the results of the
2003 presidential and parliamentary elections. This was said in a
joint statement by the Justice bloc and the National Unity party
received by Arminfo today.
“The incumbent regime, led by President Robert Kocharyan, has burnt
all the bridges leading to reconciliation with the nation after the
tragic night of 12-13 April [when the opposition rally was
dispersed],” the statement said.
The statement added that there is no other way but change the
authorities but this should be done in a peaceful manner. The
opposition told the authorities that they would not be able to hold on
to power for a long time “by violently attacking their own people”.
[Passage omitted: reported details on vote of confidence]
The statement urged the public “not to yield to provocation and to
avoid spontaneous action”.

Like her first novel, Three
Armenian Diaspora
The Washington Post
April 18, 2004 Sunday
Like her first novel, Three Apples Fell from Heaven, Micheline
Aharonian Marcom’s The Daydreaming Boy (Riverhead, $23.95) revolves
around the Armenian genocide committed by Ottoman Turks from
1915-23. This time Marcom concerns herself with the campaign’s
aftermath, when Armenians have dispersed to, among other places,
idyllic Beirut in the 1960s, before the onset of civil war there.
The narrator is troubled by memories of not just the genocide but the
long-ago suicide of a boy he hardly knew (“You were brave, not, as
they claimed, a coward. Is there a more courageous man than the man
who with his will unmakes his life?”). The novel incorporates takes
such diverse approaches to its material as an old photograph of boys
at an orphanage, lists, an application form, and short chapters in
which the narrator descends into his haunted self.
— Dennis Drabelle

RULING COALITION PARTIES NOT TO TAKE PART IN A REGULAR SESSION OF ARMENIAN
PARLIAMENT
2004-04-12 20:28
YEREVAN, April 12 (RIA Novosti’s Gamlet Matevosyan) – The
parliamentary factions of the ruling coalition parties – the
Republican Party of Armenia,the Orinatz Yerkir (Land of Laws) party
and the Dashnaktsutyun party – will nottake part in the session of a
regular three-day session of the National Assemblyof Armenia on April
12-14, 2004.
The joint statement of the ruling coalition parties received by RIA
Novosti says that this decision was taken in order to preclude the
“artificial whipping-up of passions”.
Since April 9 the opposition has been holding in Yerevan
non-sanctioned rallies and has stated its intention to continue mass
protest actions until president Robert Kocharyan resigns.
The opposition announced that if on April 12 the ruling coalition
failed to meet the demands on holding a referendum on vote of
confidence in the president, a meeting would be organized on the same
day after which its participants would head to Marshall Bagramyan
avenue where the presidential residence and the republic’s parliament
are located.
Earlier the opposition lodged a complaint with the Constitutional
Court of Armenia demanding to recognize the results of last year’s
presidential elections which resulted in the victory of Kocharyan
invalid.
The Court dismissed a complaint and suggested that a referendum on the
vote of confidence in the president should be held. However, later the
Court chairman Gagik Arutyunyan declared that this proposal had lost
its urgency.