Author: Badalian Vardan

TYUMEN TO COMMEMORATE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS
PanARMENIAN.Net
20.04.2006 20:11 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A memorial evening on the Commemoration Day
of Victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 will be organized by
Stroitel palace of national cultures in Tyumen on April 24. The event
program includes a story on the historical developments in 1915,
an exhibition devoted to national heroes, performance of patriotic
songs, declaration of poems of Armenian poets. April 24 is marked in
Russia, Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora as the Commemoration Day
of Victims of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. Russia
officially marks the Commemoration Day since 1995, when the State
Duma recognized the fact of the Genocide. The date was introduced in
Armenia 8 years before. Ritual measures on the occasion will be held
on that day worldwide, reports NewsProm.Ru.

NEW BOOKS WILL HELP TO UNDERSTAND ARF BETTER
Yerkir
19.04.2006 17:14
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – “I think these books will help those who want
to understand the Dashnaktsutiun better,” Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (ARF-Dashnaktsutiun) Bureau representative Hrant Margarian
said at the presentation of new books about the ARF held on Wednesday
at the Bureau headquarters.
The books presented were: “Bibliography of the Armenian Revolutionay
Federation,” in 4 volumes, Ararat Hakobian’s “The Parliament of Armenia
and Political Parties in 1918-1920,” “ARF Figures Answer People’s
Questions,” Nikol Aghbalian’s “Thoughts on ARF,” Gevorg Khudinian’s
and Ararat Hakobian’s “The Latest Efforts to Distort the ARF History.”
Margarian said these books are mostly aimed at the youth. “But
the issues raised in the books are aimed at all the sectors of the
society,” Margarian added. “The books contain assessments of various
periods of the ARF activities, including the present times.”
National Assembly’s ARF faction leader Levon Mkrtchian noted that the
goal to publish these books was to familiarize our people with the
ARF. “Each of the 115 years of the ARF history is described in press,
book series, and today, we are continuing this tradition,” Mkrtchian
said. “Every generation passes on the ARF values to the next; we will
pass them on to the next generation.”
Artashes Shahbazian of the ARF Armenia Supreme Body’s Promotion Group
mentioned the books will be given as gifts to the participants of the
presentation, and later be donated to Armenian libraries. The books
will also be available at bookstores.

OPPOSITION DEPUTY SUES BRITISH BLUE BOOK
Erol Onderoglu
BÝA, Turkey
April 18 2006
Main opposition CHP MP Sukru Elekdag, a retired diplomat, seeks USD
15,000 in libel damages for alleged insult in the Turkish translation
of British state document: “The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman
Empire, 1915-1916” against the publishers.
BÝA (Istanbul) – Sukru Elekdag Republican People’s Party (CHP)
deputy and retired ambassador is suing publisher Muzaffer Erdogdu for
the Turkish translation “The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman
Empire, 1915-1916, Correspondence by Viscount Bryce to Viscount Grey
of Falladon” which is also known as “The Blue Book” in diplomatic
tradition.
The book covers the correspondence and memoirs of witnesses and
officials including refugees and foreign dignitaries, as well as
newspaper articles, on controversial developments related to the
treatment of Armenians in the period of 1915 and 1916.
Elekdag, a member of the Parliamentary Foreign Relations Commission
and the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission, is demanding 20
thousand YTL (USD15 thousand) in libel damages from those involved
in the publishing of the book, claiming he was insulted in a section
of the book edited by historian Taner Akcam.
The book’s publisher Erdogdu, historian Akcam and translator Ahmet
Guner will together appear before a court on May 30 as defendants
in the case. Akcam is also being accused by Elekdag for a similar
article he wrote for the monthly Birikim magazine last year.
The “Blue Book” contains research conducted by James Bryce and Arnold
Toynbee who in February 1916 were tasked by the British government
on a fact-finding mission to “collect evidence with regard to recent
incidents taking place in Armenia”.
The eventual report titled “The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman
Empire” was prepared by the two and later published as part of the
British Parliament “Blue Book” series, earning this book the nickname
of “Blue Book”.
Elekdag: I was insulted
In his suit, Elekdag claims defendant historian Akcam committed
offence in pages 15-49 of the book under the section titled “A scandal:
Where is the letter of the TBMM (Grand National Assembly of Turkey)
Sukru Elekdag and Justin Mc Carthy dragging this country?” as well
as in Akcam’s article published in the May-June 2005 dated issue of
the Birikim magazine.
Elekdag charges that both the book and the article insulted him and
that his individual rights had been attacked. He also says both his
professionalism and credibility suffered severe damages due to the
two articles.
–Boundary_(ID_xtmGZmc3PETfd6xcDr2XTg)- –

THE HEARING OF THE CASE AGAINST “ARMENTEL” WAS POSTPONED
A1+
[08:33 pm] 17 April, 2006
After a pause of about two and a half months the Court of the First
Instance of Arabkir and Qanaqer-Zeytun communities resumed the hearing
of the sue of Sirush Haroutyunyan against “ArmenTel”. The hearing
lasted 20 minutes.
Let us remind you that “ArmenTel” was accused of making mechanical
telephones calls to different countries during internet connection
because of which the subscriber had to pay 260 AMD per minute instead
of one. According to the latest data there are over 900 victims,
and the financial loss is about 600 thousand USD.
The reason for interruption of the hearing was that the court needed
additional information in order to carry out independent expertise
for the questions of the victim and of “ArmenTel”.The expertise will
be carried out by the Committee regulating public relations, and the
Ministry of Transportation and Communication will participate in the
process with an invitation.

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
April 17, 2006
___________________
ARMENIAN CHURCH JOINS IN NEW ECUMENICAL ORGANIZATION
A new ecumenical organization was born in Atlanta, GA, during a meeting from
March 28 to 31, 2006. And the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America
(Eastern) was there to help this “new born baby” make it on its own.
The new group, Christian Churches Together, brings together more than 60
churches, which claim to represent 120 million American Christians. It is
the first-ever group to combine Evangelicals, mainline Protestants, racial
and ethnic Protestants, Roman Catholic, and the various Orthodox and Eastern
churches.
The official formation of the group follows years of discussion amongst the
members.
“Its mission is to enable churches and Christian organizations to grow
closer together in Christ in order to send out Christian witness in the
world,” said Bishop Vicken Aykazian, legate and ecumenical officer of the
Eastern Diocese, who represented the Armenian Church at the gathering.
“From its beginning, Christian Churches Together has given a priority to
prayer and worship in order to build a relationship of trust and to be
discerning challenges that need to be addressed in society for more faithful
Christian witnesses.”
The first focus of the new organization will be combating poverty in the
United States. During their meeting, the religious leaders engaged in a
Biblical reflection on poverty and spoke with “those who have experienced
poverty first-hand as well as those with academic experience,” Bishop
Aykazian said.
The vision of Christian Churches Together in the U.S. began with a diverse
group of Christian leaders, who gathered in the fall of 2001 and expressed a
longing for an extended Christian conversation in America. During the
movement to create this new ecumenical organization, Archbishop Khajag
Barsamian, Primate of the Eastern Diocese, was asked to participate from the
beginning. He appointed Bishop Aykazian to represent the Armenian Church in
the ongoing discussion.
“I am very happy Bishop Akyazian has been following this organization’s
formation,” the Primate said. “Bringing all the churches together is a
wonderful opportunity to create one voice for all Christian churches as we
tackle important issues in society.”
— 4/17/06
E-mail photos available on request. Photos also viewable in the News and
Events section of the Eastern Diocese’s website,
PHOTO CAPTION (1): Bishop Vicken Aykazian, legate and ecumenical officer of
the Eastern Diocese, far right, takes part in a panel discussion during the
meeting March 28 to 31, 2006, during which a new ecumenical organization,
Christian Churches Together in the United States, was founded.
PHOTO CAPTION (2): Leaders from various Christian churches, including the
Armenian Church, gather in Atlanta, GA, from March 28 to 31, 2006, for
discussions leading to the formation of a new ecumenical organization,
Christian Churches Together in the United States.
# # #

American Chronicle
April 15 2006
Gringo, Go Back to England!
David Kessel
April 15, 2006
Somehow, no hateful outburst in America is complete without telling
somebody to go back to `their’ country or continent. I have seen many
such events happen and heard the same thing from people who have been
victimized by such volunteer `travel advisors’ more than once: there
is always some bozo who tells someone to leave America and return to
his or her homeland. I wish these clowns would provide visas and
ticket money every time they attempt to send others on such a trip.
How about a job waiting for them there? Can they set one up, too?
This `travel order’ sooner or later affects quite a big variety of
people in the US. Some years back, I have seen an African-American
lady was involved in a traffic accident with a Hispanic female in LA.
Both ladies faced off and started advising each other to begin
traveling to all these exciting places, the Hispanic lady was told to
go back to Mexico, and the Black lady was, as you would expect, told
by the Hispanic lady to go back to Africa.
On another occasion, another African American fellow who was sitting
in a Korean fast food place suddenly started telling the Korean cook
there to `go back to China’. When the Korean cook protested that he
was not Chinese, the `travel counselor’ proceeded to tell him to go
back to Japan. Ouch! Japan wreaked havoc on Korea for so long and now
he must go `back `there?
Iranian Americans were told to go back to Arabia and Armenians were
probably told to go back to Russia. Only that Russia does not like
Armenians nowadays. But that is beside the point. It’s just another
day in LA’s model multi-ethnic community.
White Americans are just as guilty of giving people orders to leave
America for all these exotic destinations as anybody else. Many Asian
people in the US, many of whom are US citizens, are routinely advised
by some white bigots to go back to Taiwan, Vietnam, China, Japan and
a few other Asian countries. Usually, they would get the country
wrong and ask a Vietnamese-American to go back to Taiwan. Boat people
have tried doing it, but Taiwan does not give political asylum to
those as a rule.
As a red-blooded naturalized US citizen, I have been told to go back
to my country a few times only that at the time, I simply couldn’t.
The country was closed and I would not qualify to get a visa there.
Now I could go, but I would be treated as a foreigner, have to apply
for a tourist visa and pay for extensions. If I overstay, I will be
fined and kicked out. They will send me `back to the US’. Too bad the
person who told me to go there that did not know about it.
But seriously, when I read about the new slogan of `Gringo, go back
to England!’ being proposed as the new war cry of illegal alien
marchers in California, it was so funny I had to sit down and laugh
long and hard. Somehow, it had a deeper philosophical meaning- it
showed how fragile everyone was and how insecure. How everyone in
America probably wanted to be friends with everyone else, but felt
that they couldn’t. It was the last desperate plea, a childish,
kindergarten attempt to fight back what they viewed as the last
remaining oppressor- the Gringo. Send the Gringo back to England and
everything will be fine.
My Slavic mother, who grew up in Uzbek orphanages, and who starved
during WWII, and fainted from being hungry so many times when she was
growing up that she almost died, was called a `gringa’ on our last
journey to Mexico in 2001. To an average Mexican, I guess, she was of
exactly the same race and nationality as the Yankee blue-bloods of
the New England aristocracy and the cowgirls of Texas. How wonderful!
And now my mom needs to go back to England, of all places, I guess.
Wow! Now the last thing we need is an authorization from England to
take us in. Last time I went there I only got six months at the
airport. How about if these illegal demonstrators go to the UK
consulate and start marching there asking Her Majesty to accept us?
That is where they should be protesting. I would love to live in
England.
The American prejudice has finally gone around full circle. It was
probably the first time that Gringos were being told to go back to
England. First it was the Gringos telling the Blacks to go back to
Africa, then those Blacks who were bigoted against Asians and
Hispanics would tell them to go back to Asia and Mexico respectively,
and now you have all these people now marching in California telling
the `original’ US settlers to go back to England. Somehow the cycle
has been completed. We are back where we had started. And now we even
have a new weapon phrase against white racists, `Gringo, go back to
England!’ Funny as heck, if you ask me. Somehow, even in the trying
times of the Civil Rights movement, African American activists did
not stoop as low as telling the white racists to `go back to
England’. I always wondered why. Maybe the idea seemed too wacky to
them.
In most cases though, American citizens cannot go back to England,
Africa, Germany, etc. There are some countries that recognize dual
nationality, but in the case of the UK, asking them to take it
hundreds of millions of `bloody Yanks’ now will be more than
preposterous. It will be a legal impossibility in most cases. The
same thing with lots and lots of Blacks who were told to go back to
Africa. Which country do you want to send them to? Gabon? Cameroon,
Senegal? How about Nigeria? How many of these would accept these
Americans?
There are people of dual nationality in the US, but by and large,
most Gringos do not have it and most will not qualify for it and;
therefore, will not be able to `go back to England’. And if they go
as tourists and their visa lapses, the UK Immigration Panel will
throw them out. Unless they have a job there, or something.
But I will look into it. Maybe there are some visa programs, and I
too, could `go back’ to England. After all, I am a Gringo now. At
least, according to the people who were marching in LA on that
auspicious day.

New York Post, NY
April 15 2006
DONALD APPLAUDS MISS IRAQ
By LUKAS I. ALPERT
April 14, 2006 — Miss Universe contest owner Donald Trump yesterday
praised the bravery of the newly crowned Miss Iraq, who has been
forced into hiding amid death threats.
“She is very proud to have won, and now she is in a very tough
position,” Trump said of Miss Iraq, Silva Shahakian. “She is
extremely brave.”
Shahakian, a Christian of Armenian ancestry, was crowned Sunday when
the original winner stepped down after receiving threats from
extremists.
“I’ll take care,” Shahakian, 23, told ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
“I will change my living place. I will do my best.”
Her whereabouts are currently unknown, although she is believed to
still be in Iraq.
Trump said he and Miss Universe organizers were considering making a
special salute to Shahakian at the July 23 pageant in Los Angeles.
“We’ve had countries in the contest before where it was not the most
popular thing to do, but never like this,” Trump said.
Photo:

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
April 14 2006
FINAL CONFERENCE ON PLANNING MILITARY DRILLS `RESCUER 2006′ TO BE
HELD IN YEREVAN ON 19-21 APRIL: ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER
YEREVAN, April 14. /ARKA/. The final conference on planning military
drills `Rescuer 2006′ will be held in Yerevan on 19-21 April 2006,
Press Secretary of the RA Minister of Defense, Colonel Seyran
Shakhsuvaryan reported.
He pointed out that the conference will be held under the aegis of
the European headquarters of the USA. The drills `Rescuer 2006′ under
the program `Partnership for Peace’ will be conducted in Armenia on
12-28 April. Participating in the drills will be 250 representatives
from 12 countries.
The drills are aimed at organizing and comparing performances of the
military and medical department of Armenia’s Ministry of Defense and
the country’s Rescue Service, and also at increasing possibilities to
interact with partner countries. R.O. –0–

HEADS OF “GAZPROM” AND “ARMROSGAZPROM” DISCUSS COOPERATION ISSUES
Yerevan, April 12. ArmInfo. Aleksey Miller,head of “Gazprom” OJSC, and
Karen Karapetian, head of “ArmRosgazprom” CJSC, discussed cooperation
issues during today’s meeting.
According to the April 6 agreement, Armenia will sell Hrazdan-5 to
“Gazprom” for 25 years. The preliminary trade agreements between the
sides will be signed on April 14, 2006. While the final handing of the
above mentioned energy object will be carried out on January 1, 2004.
While in the interview to “Liberty” Radio Station, Karen
Karapetian said that Hrazdan-5 will be included in the structure of
“ArmRosgazprom” and “Gazprom” will pay $248,8 million for that. He
added that the share of the Russian company may increase. According
to the Russian printed press, the increase of the company’s shares
will make 82%.
Karapetian said that the recent deal between “Gazprom” and RA
Government was the most profitable one in the course of the last 10
years. As for the ?â- sale of the 40 kilometers of Iran-Armenia gas
pipe line to Russia, Karen Karapetian said he had no information
about that.
–Boundary_(ID_BiJ8eCHTHbpcxcY8pcgTjQ)–

GEORGIA RATIFIES AGREEMENTS ON PULLOUT OF RUSSIA MILITARY BASES
Editor: Luan Shanglin
Xinhua, China
April 13 2006
2006-04-14 03:46:13
MOSCOW, April 13 (Xinhua) — Georgia’s parliament ratified Thursday
the agreements on the pullout of Russian military bases from the
Caucasus Mountain nation and transit of Russian military cargoes on
the country’s territory.
In the accord signed by Russian and Georgian officials in the Black
Sea resort of Sochi on March 31, the two sides agreed to complete the
phased withdrawal of the Russian bases and other military installations
in Georgia by the end of 2008, Russian newsagencies said.
The first document envisions the gradual withdrawal of the Russian
bases and military facilities during 2008. The Russian base in
Akhalkalaki will be closed in 2007 and in Batumi in 2008. Russian
servicemen will deal with pulling out hardware and other property.
The second agreement determines the procedure of transit of military
cargoes of the Russian Defense Ministry via the territory of Georgia
and the personnel, including servicemen of the 102nd military base
in Gyumri (Armenia).
The agreement on transit is effective within five years and it may
be extended if necessary. Both sides have the right to annual the
agreement if “any point of the agreement is violated or the movement
of hardware and cargoes poses a threat to security and interests of
Georgia, and its population,” Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Meraba
Antadze said.
In his words, both agreements are effective. “This point was included
in the agreement on the insistence of Georgia because it was not
ruled out that the State Duma may delay the ratification of these
agreements. Under this point, Russia obliged to comply with the
agreement when it was signed,” the Georgian diplomat stressed.
Russia inherited four military bases in Georgia from the Soviet Union
and has withdrawn two of them. It struck a deal with Georgiain May
last year to pull out the remaining two bases by the end of 2008.
Nearly 3,000 Russian servicemen are deployed in the Akhalkalakiand
Batumi bases.