Author: Badalian Vardan

Armenian Students’ Association
333 Atlantic Avenue
Warwick, RI 02888
(401) 461-6114
[email protected]
Contact: New York ASA: [email protected]
For Immediate Release!
June 16, 2005
The New York Armenian Students’ Association is proud to announce the
outstanding success of this year’s 56th Annual Artists’ Ball on May 21.
Once again, it was held at the Puck Building in New York City’s Soho
district. With over 650 attendees and several paintings sold, the New
York ASA raised thousands of dollars to support the organization’s
Scholarship Fund, which grants financial aid to college students of
Armenian descent in the United States.
New York ASA members and patrons were treated to the works of
an unusually talented and prolific pool of 32 artists from all
over the world. The artists were as follows: Nishan Akgulian,
Steve Altan, Eduard Arakelyan, Lisa Archigian, Ani Babikyan, Arne
Balassanian, Stephanie Basralian, Taleen Batalian, Shant Beudjekian,
Matt Bogosian, Elizabeth Derderian, Arthur Erberber, Linda Ganjian,
Michael Gaspar, Ashot Grigoryan, Eric Hairabedian, Mariam Hakobyan,
Sargis Hambardzumian, Aram Kailian, Roudolf Kharatian, Bedros
Magardichian, Arshak Martirosyan, Vahagn Marukyants, Kevork Mourad,
Arpie Gennetian Najarian, Cate Norian, Manuel Ortchanian, Irina
Patkanian, Alan Semerdjian, Ara Tanajian, Haikouhi Tataryan and Armen
Yepoyan. While the spacious Puck gallery buzzed with art enthusiasts,
the Grand Ballroom and bar quickly crowded to the sounds of Varoujan
Vartanian and Mark Gavoor.
Many even lingered long after the band had left and the dance floor
dispersed.
The Artists’ Ball has consistently been the blockbuster event
of season for the tri-state area Armenian community for over 50
years. The first ball took place on May 22, 1948 at the Roosevelt
Hotel’s Grand Ballroom. With only one exception, the Artists’ Ball
has been the annual affair where Armenian art commingling with a
dazzling social occasion is the area’s most anticipated and most
memorable event year after year. Throughout the years, the Artists’
Ball has always been volunteer-driven with preparations beginning as
early as one year in advance. The artworks are handled with special
care by dedicated volunteers that display them on the day of the event
and then devote their time until the wee hours of the night when all
must be dismantled at the close of the Ball.
The New York ASA looks forward to seeing all of its patrons at the
event next year, when the 57th Annual Artists’ Ball takes shape on
Saturday, May 20, 2006.
The New York ASA is a member branch of the Armenian Students’
Association of America, which is the oldest Armenian charitable
organization established in the United States. Founded in 1910,
the purposes of the ASA are educational and charitable; in that it
encourages educational pursuits by Armenians in America and seeks
to raise intellectual stands, provide financial assistance in the
form of scholarships to deserving Armenian college students. The
ASA also honors Armenian-American professionals with awards at their
annual convention, and in doing so appeals to people of all ages with
lectures, cultural events and social activities. For more information,
please go online at

General Buyukanit To Armenia: Open Your Archives
Anatolian Times, Turkey
June 19 2005
Turkish Land Forces Commander Gen. Yasar Buyukanit remarked that
Armenia should open its archives. Turkey has made a call to Armenia
to make its archives available for study. “Turkey is in the wrestling
arena waiting for the Armenian wrestler. Turkey is ready for the
fight but the (Armenian) wrestler is afraid to come to the arena,”
told General Buyukanit.

RESULTS OF CARELESSNESS
A1plus
19:13:15 | 17-06-2005 | Regions |
Because of financial problems this year in Gyumri no reconstruction
work has been done. By now in Gyumri 32 buildings in danger of
falling down have been reconstructed with the help of the Linse
Fund. In the city there are 37 more buildings which need to be
reconstructed. Artashes Sargsyan, head of the Shirak region urban
development administration, has told the TV Company “Tsayg” that
especially 6 buildings need urgent reconstruction.
These buildings are included into the state program of the buildings
subject to reconstruction every year but the Government does not allot
money for their reconstruction. And time does not wait for anyone,
and from time to time a building collapses.
According to Mr. Sargsyan, the situation in Gyumri has been created
not so much because of the earthquake but because of the state
carelessness and non-realization of reconstructions works in the
post-earthquake period.

TURKISH CITIZEN TRIED TO REMOVE ANCIENT LITERATURE FROM ARMENIA
Pan Armenian News
17.06.2005 07:35
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ An attempt to remove ancient Armenian literature
was suppressed June 17 by Armenian law enforcers in the international
airport of Zvartnots. Ektan Turkimlaz, one of the passengers of the
Yerevan-Istanbul flight was conveying Armenian literature of XVII-XX
centuries, IA Regnum reported. The passenger was going to remove
the books passing over the customs supervision. Ektan Turkimlaz is
the resident of Istanbul and student of the Duke University in South
Carolina. His interest towards the Armenian culture is multifaceted. He
tried to remove medical and religious literature as well as history
and geography manuals and books about formation of traditional parties
in Armenia. According to a report of the Armenian National Security
Service’s press center, a criminal case has been initiated.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkey denounces polls in Nagorno Karabakh
Agence France Presse — English
June 17, 2005 Friday 3:39 PM GMT
ANKARA June 17 — Turkey said Friday that upcoming parliamentary
polls in Nagorno Karabakh, a breakaway enclave claimed both by its
close ally Azerbaijan and its arch-foe Armenia, were illegitimate
and contrary to international peace efforts in the region.
“Turkey believes that such unilateral initiatives… will not help
efforts for a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh problem
and considers those elections as illegitimate,” foreign ministry
spokesman Namik Tan said in a statement.
Nagorny Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians and effectively
controlled by Armenia, declared independence from Azerbaijan in 1991,
sparking a conflict that, according to differing estimates, claimed
between 25,000 and 30,000 lives and displaced up to a million people.
The elections are being held in the face of opposition from Azerbaijan,
which still claims sovereignty over the territory, but was beaten
back by Armenian forces in the 1988-1994 war.
Armenia is the only country to recognize Nagorno Karabakh as an
independent state.
Turkey is one of Azerbaijan’s staunchest allies, with which it also
has close ethnic bonds.
It has refused to establish formal diplomatic ties with Armenia out
of solidarity with Azerbaijan in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict but
also because of Armenia’s camaipgn to have the World War I massacres
of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire internationally recognized
as genocide.

SwissInfo
June 16 2005
German parlt condemns 1915 killings of Armenians
16.06.2005 – 17:15
By Nick Antonovics
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s parliament condemned on Thursday the
mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks 90 years ago, sparking an
angry protest from Ankara.
Voting shortly after the government and opposition clashed over
whether Turkey should join the European Union, all main parties in
the Bundestag joined in deploring what many historians say amounted
to genocide.
The resolution stopped short of calling the killings genocide, a term
Turkey rejects, but it will test relations between Ankara and Berlin,
a staunch supporter of Turkish EU aspirations.
“This resolution is regrettable and we strongly condemn it,” said the
Turkish Foreign Ministry in a statement.
It described the resolution as one-sided and “provocative” and said
it would hurt Turks’ feelings. It said German lawmakers had been
motivated by domestic politics and had ignored repeated warnings of
the harm the resolution would do to bilateral ties.
Turkey denies the claims that 1.5 million Armenians were killed in a
systematic genocide between 1915 and 1923 as the multi-ethnic Ottoman
Empire collapsed.
It accepts hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed but says
even more Turks died in a partisan conflict in which many Armenians
backed invading Russian troops.
TURKEY SAYS “HUGE INJUSTICE”
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told German reporters this week
that the resolution amounted to “a huge injustice toward Turkey and
Turks living in Germany,” the German newspaper Rheinische Post
reported on Thursday.
Teaching in German schools about the “destruction” of Armenians as
proposed by the resolution would create hostility against Turks among
German youth, the Turkish foreign ministry statement said.
Around 2 million Turks live in Germany. A Berlin police spokesman
said a demonstration was planned in front of the Armenian embassy in
Berlin on Saturday.
The resolution urged Turkey to set up an independent committee of
Turkish, Armenian and international historians to document what
happened and to hold a conference in Istanbul — postponed last month
— to examine the issue.
The Turkish foreign ministry said Turkey had opened its archives to
historians and proposed establishment of a joint commission between
Turkey and Armenia to investigate Turkish-Armenian relations during
the Ottoman Empire.
The resolution also condemned the German government of the time for
failing to try to stop the killings despite having “information about
the organized expulsion and extermination of Armenians.”
Germany was an ally of the Ottoman Empire during World War One, when
the massacres took place.
“The German parliament is well aware from its own experience how hard
it is for all peoples to deal with the dark side of their past,” the
resolution said in a reference to Germany’s own Nazi regime and its
murder of millions of Jews.
(Additional reporting by Gareth Jones in Ankara)

WILL USA RECOGNIZE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE?
A1plus
| 14:35:34 | 15-06-2005 | Politics |
Washington, DC – Congressmen George Radanovich (R-CA), Adam Schiff
(D-CA), Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) today
introduced an Armenian Genocide resolution that would reaffirm the
U.S. record on this crime against humanity. Fifty additional Members
of Congress have signed on as original co-sponsors to this bipartisan
effort to have the United States reaffirm the Armenian Genocide.
The legislation calls upon the President to “ensure that the foreign
policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding” of the
“Armenian Genocide” and to “accurately characterize the systematic
and deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide”
in the President’s annual message.
“On the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide it is high time
to recognize the deliberate murder of a million and a half Armenians
during the first genocide of the 20th century. Passing a resolution
commemorating the genocide will be an important first step in the
long process of healing that needs to take place,” said Schiff.
There is a growing trend internationally to acknowledge the Armenian
Genocide. Just since 2000, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy,
Lebanon, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden have passed
legislation affirming the massacres and expulsion of the Armenian
people as genocide.
Additionally, the European Parliament resolved that Turkey must come
to terms with its genocidal legacy as part of its European Union
accession process. Turkey has responded with bombast internationally
and repression at home.
“The government of Turkey does its country and people great damage by
threatening nations that acknowledge the truth,” said Pallone. The
European Union will not embrace a nation that criminalizes free
speech and prosecutes its citizens for challenging official Turkey’s
unconscionable denial of the Armenian Genocide. At a minimum, enacting
this resolution will effectively end the ongoing campaign of denial.”

TRYING TO APPROACH EUROPE
A1plus
| 16:26:04 | 15-06-2005 | Official |
During Robert Kocharyan’s today’s working consultation the preliminary
set of offers about the plan of actions Armenia-EU within the
framework of the “European New Neighbors” policy was discussed. The
participants of the consultation were the Ministers of Commerce and
Economic Development, Justice, Finance and Economy, as well as head
of the Government, the deputy Foreign Minister and other officials
concerned by the field.
A reference to the issue was made several months ago and according to
Kocharyan, an agreement has been reached about the processing of the
plan of actions from the point of view of developing the relations with
the EU within the framework of the “New Neighbors” program. According
to Robert Kocharyan, although the draft program is ready, a work of
several months is still needed to bring it to a final form.
Representing the preliminary set of offers, Minister of Commerce and
Economic Development Karen Chishmarityan mentioned that it was formed
on the basis of the offers of different Ministries and inspections,
the aim of which is to correspond the political and economic atmosphere
of Armenia to the European standards as much as possible.
Giving and overall positive evaluation to the represented set of
offers, Robert Kocharyan said that it needs further processing and
ordered the corresponding structures to continue the work in that
direction.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ZURICH AND ANKARA DISCUSS ARMENIAN ISSUE THAT HAS UPSET BILATERAL RELATIONS
Pan Armenian News
14.06.2005 07:34
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish MPs met with Chairman of the Permanent
Council of Foreign Political Commission of Switzerland (APK) Peter
Briner in Bern, reported Blick online. In the course of the meeting the
Armenian issue, which lead to differences in Swiss-Turkish relations,
was discussed. The parties also discussed the criminal proceedings
against Turkish historian Yusuf Halacoglu. Professor of philology
Yusuf Halacoglu denied the fact of the Armenian Genocide in his report
in Winterthur Swiss city on 2 May, 2004. The Winterthur Office of
Public Prosecutor started investigation of the Halacoglu case on
suspicion of racism. The case is now investigated in Zurich. After
that a number of Turkish senior officials refused from meetings with
Swiss officials. Specifically, Turkish Minister of Trade Kursat
Tuzmen refused to meet with Minister of Economy Joseph Deiss in
Switzerland. As of the Armenian Genocide, tension appeared between
Switzerland and Turkey before due to the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide of 1915 by Switzerland. Today the Turkish delegation is
scheduled to meet with the Foreign Minister and Federal Councilor.

Karabakh polls “illegal” – Azeri Foreign Ministry
Turan news agency
14 Jun 05
Baku, 14 June: The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry today issued a
statement over Karabakh separatists’ plans to conduct the so-called
“parliamentary elections” in the occupied Nagornyy Karabakh region
on 19 June.
“The holding of ‘elections’ in the conditions of territorial occupation
and ethnic cleansing runs counter to the norms and principles of
international law and the Azerbaijani constitution, and, therefore,
has no legal effect,” the document says.
Such actions by the Armenian side do not conform to the spirit of
the negotiating process which has recently produced hope for positive
changes, the Foreign Ministry said in the statement.
Lasting peace cannot be achieved without normal life, peaceful
coexistence and cooperation between the Azerbaijani and Armenian
communities of the Nagornyy Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
In this connection, the Azerbaijani side supports the international
community’s calls for establishing direct contact between the
communities and taking measures to boost confidence, overcome
hostility, achieve stability and mutual understanding.
“Such a dialogue between the communities will facilitate rapprochement
between the Karabakh Armenians and the Azerbaijani population of the
region which will return to their homes, lay the necessary foundation
for engaging all categories of the regional population in a peaceful
and democratic process which, among other things, will envisage
the formation of legitimate regional authorities of all levels,”
the Foreign Ministry said in the statement.