Author: Badalian Vardan

Turkish university calls off seminar on genocide
Irish Times
May 28, 2005
Nicholas Birch in Istanbul

Turkey: Freedom of expression, or freedom only to express views
accepted by the state? The question was moot this week after a top
Turkish university called off a conference on the fate of the Ottoman
Empire’s Armenians following government criticism.
The three-day meeting would have been the first in the country’s
history open to academics sceptical of the officially sponsored claim
that it was inter-ethnic war, not a deliberate state policy of ethnic
cleansing, that led to the deaths of up to one million Armenians in
1915.
It was just the latest sign that the wall of silence surrounding the
country’s greatest taboo was beginning to crumble.
But after days of sniping, the project collapsed on Tuesday, when
Turkey’s justice minister told parliament it amounted to “stabbing the
Turkish people in the back”.
“The time has come to stop those who carry this country’s passports
from making propaganda against the country,” Cemil Cicek said, to
thunderous applause.
The rector of Istanbul’s Bosporus University promptly announced she
was postponing the conference to avoid “possible consequences.”
On Wednesday, university sources say, state prosecutors had demanded
copies of all the scheduled papers.
Traditionally cautious, Turkey’s media expressed outrage at the
minister’s meddling.
“Zero tolerance on liberties” ran the Thursday headline in the liberal
daily Radikal.
“If the minister thinks he is serving the country with these phrases
worthy of a military putsch, he is profoundly mistaken,” columnist
Semih Idiz wrote in the centrist daily Milliyet on Thursday.
The controversy already shows signs of extending beyond Turkey’s
borders.
Ankara has until October to persuade Brussels it is ready to start
accession proceedings with the European Union. Heavily criticised in
Europe since March for dumping reformism in favour of nationalist
populism, Turkey’s government is watching with increasing concern the
rise of conservative parties in France and Germany opposed to its
membership.
“Until now, anti-Turkish politicians in Europe have been hard pressed
to find convincing arguments against its accession,” said one EU
diplomat in Ankara. “Cicek has just handed them one free of charge.”
But it is within Turkey that his outburst is likely to resonate
furthest. Nationalism has been on the rise since the beginning of the
year, spurred by the growing realisation that the changes Turkey must
make for its EU bid are essentially non-negotiable,
Things turned ugly in March following an attempt by three youths to
desecrate the Turkish flag at Kurdish new year celebrations. “It’s the
people’s turn to speak,” said the country’s top general.
On April 6th inhabitants of the northern city of Trabzon took him at
his word, rounding on five left-wingers local TV falsely alleged were
Kurdish separatists. Only prompt intervention by the police saved them
from certain death.
Analysts fear Mr Cicek’s words could spark a repeat performance.
Bosporus University’s decision to cave in to the minister’s attack,
says political scientist Hasan Bulent Kahraman, “is the strongest
proof possible that threats get results in this country . . . The
lynch mob has once again been called into action.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agence France Presse
24 mai 2005 mardi 1:53 PM GMT
Référendum: l’Arménie inquiète d’une perte d’influence de la France
EREVAN 24 mai 2005
L’Arménie, qui considère la France comme son principal avocat en
Europe, redoute que Paris ne perde son influence internationale si
les électeurs décidaient dimanche de rejeter le projet de
constitution européenne, a déclaré mardi à l’AFP le ministre des
Affaires étrangères Vardan Oskanian.
La perspective d’une victoire du non “provoque l’inquiétude de
l’Arménie, dans la mesure où nous serions témoins d’une diminution du
rôle et de l’influence de la France en Europe, qui a toujours été un
ardent défenseur de la coopération avec l’Arménie”, a dit M.
Oskanian.
M. Oskanian affirme comprendre l’inquiétude des Arméniens de France
qui, selon lui, menacent de voter “non” pour bloquer les perspectives
d’entrée de la Turquie dans l’Union européenne.
“Nous aussi sommes inquiets de voir que la Turquie ne répond pas aux
critères européens”, dit-il, “mais nous ne voyons pas de lien entre
le référendum sur la constitution et la candidature de la Turquie à
l’UE. Au contraire, nous estimant que l’adoption de la constitution
renforcera la position de la France sur la scène européenne, ce qui
est bon pour l’Arménie”.
Les Arméniens et les Turcs n’entretiennent pas de relations
diplomatiques, en raison du refus d’Ankara de reconnaître le génocide
des Arméniens perpétré par l’Empire ottoman entre 1915 et 1917.

TOTALITARIAN SECTS TAKING ROOT, NUMBER OF SUICIDES IN ARMENIA
INCREASED 10 TIMES DURING LAST TEN YEARS

YEREVAN, MAY 25. ARMINFO. Number of totalitarian sects and their
followers in Armenia increases year by year, which resulted in 10
times increase in the number of suicides for the last ten years, Head
of the Center for Rehabilitation of the sufferers from destructive
cults Alexander Amaryan informs ARMINFO.
Amaryan says that such popular totalitarian sects and New Generation,
Boston direction of Christ Church, Vedi Center Maharishi (transcendent
meditation), Federation of Families for Peace and Unity in the World
(sect Muna), Survival (or Dianetic or scientologists) are operating in
Armenia, Satanists have also occurred here. By the way, Vedi Center
Maharishi operates in Armenia as an educational fund, Munists and
Scientologists and some other sects are registered as public
organizations. Amaryan considers the sect Jehovah’s Witnesses
registered in Armenia last year as a totalitarian sect. The followers
of this sect refuse from military service, and the Armenian branch of
the sect bans blood transfusion, in spite of the fact that the sect in
the USA has revised the approach to this issue. v Starting from 2003
when the above Center for Rehabilitation was founded, dozens of people
have applied there, however only few of them could fully rehabilitate,
as the rehabilitation process requires some 2-8 years, Amaryan
says. “We deal with amputated souls as the victims of totalitarians
sects fully lose contacts with their relatives, surroundings and
public,” he says, adding that no specialists, lawyers or journalists
specializing in the sphere are trained in the sphere.
Lawyer Alexander Amaryan called the country’s authorities to pay much
attention to the list of totalitarian sects drafted by the Council of
Europe on the basis of examination and fulfill recommendations of
Brussels regarding the propaganda in Mass Media for exposure of these
organizations and legal protection of the sufferers. The only case of
legal proceedings of a totalitarian sect in Armenia, a trial on
Satanists, was, unfortunately, a result of a ritual murder, Amaryan
says. Amaryan says for conclusion.
It should be noted that in the first quarter of 2005, 93 cases of
suicides and attempted suicides were registered in Armenia instead of
87 for the same period of 2004. During the whole 2004, 55 cases
suicides were registered.

Armenian Youth Federation of Australia
PO Box 238, Willoughby, NSW Australia 2068
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
26 May 2005
Genocide Historian Hilmar Kaiser’s Public Youth Lecture
SYDNEY: Internationally renowned genocide historian; Dr Hilmar Kaiser
is visiting Sydney and Melbourne by the invitation of the Armenian
National Committee of Australia in early June 2005.
The Armenian Youth Federation of Australia is pleased to announce that
Dr Kaiser will be running a lecture specifically, although not
exclusively, directed towards a youth audience.
The lecture, titled “The Armenian Genocide and the Community: Denial,
Recognition and the Need for Humanitarian Action”, will take place at
the Armenian Cultural Centre (address below in ‘DETAILS’) on Monday
June 6 at 7pm.
The AYF kindly requests the participation of the entire
Australian-Armenian youth community to share the privilege of Dr
Kaiser’s presence in our shores.
Dr Kaiser is a historian specialising Ottoman and German history with
special emphasis on the Armenian Genocide and the Armenian Question,
as well as late Ottoman social and economic history.
He is the author of various studies on the Armenian Question and the
Armenian Genocide and has conducted extensive research on these issues
in more than 60 archives and universities in the Middle East, Europe
and the United States.
DETAILS:
Event: Dr Hilmar Kaiser * Public Youth Lecture
Topic: “The Armenian Genocide and the Community: Denial,
Recognition and the Need for Humanitarian Action”
Date: Monday, June 6 2005
Time: 7pm
Venue: Armenian Cultural Centre
259 Penshurst Street, Willoughby NSW (Corner of Crabbes Avenue)
Contact: Kevork Tufenkjian * 0409-572-958

Standstill in reforms, mixed signals from Turkey ahead of EU membership talks
By JAMES C. HELICKE
.c The Associated Press
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) – Turkey has recently yanked erotic television
channels off the air, sharply boosted taxes on alcohol and governing
party lawmakers have pushed to ban adultery.
That’s hardly the record the European Union expects from a government
that in recent years passed unprecedented democratic reforms and
brought this mainly Muslim country closer than ever to membership in
the elite club of nations.
Since the EU in December agreed to extend membership negotiations to
Turkey, liberalization efforts have come to a near standstill as Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s populist party finds itself torn
between Islamists seeking a higher profile for religion, nationalists
lukewarm about reforms demanded by the bloc, and EU enthusiasts who
are increasingly vocal that Turkey quickly live up to membership
obligations.
“The (Justice and Development Party) is a composite of different
groups from liberals to Islamists to strong nationalists. Erdogan is
trying to balance all of these groups,” said Huseyin Bagci, a
professor of international relations at Ankara’s Middle East Technical
University. “Erdogan has to prove that he’s sincere with the EU. At
the same time, he still has to satisfy the expectations of an
electorate that is making demands on certain issues.”
Erdogan on Tuesday named Ali Babacan, the minister in charge of the
economy, as chief negotiator for talks with the European Union on the
country’s membership, but that appointment came only after months of
wrangling within the party.
Although Turks overwhelmingly embraced efforts to secure a date for
membership negotiations with the 25-nation EU, many are less
enthusiastic about the difficult measures that Turkey must now take.
Before the talks can begin, Turkish lawmakers must approve a customs
union agreement that many say would imply recognition of Cyprus’ Greek
Cypriot-dominated government. That’s something many Turks, especially
nationalists, will probably find difficult to swallow.
There are other issues which nationalists are finding hard to accept.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled this month that imprisoned
Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan did not receive a fair trial;
European politicians are calling on Turkey to confront the mass
killings of Armenians around the time of World War I that are
considered a genocide by Armenians; and Europeans are pushing for new
reforms that would give minority Kurds greater rights despite a sharp
recent flare-up of violence with Kurdish rebels.
Soner Cagaptay of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy
referred to “the honeymoon before the date where everything was
perfect.”
“Now it’s no longer a fantasy, it’s a reality,” Cagaptay
said. “It’s not just about benefits. It’s also about sacrifices.”
Recent opinion polls, including one by the Pollmark polling group last
month, have indicated that most Turks continue to back Turkey’s EU
aspirations, but support has slipped since December.
Even German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, one of Turkey’s staunchest
supporters in Europe, made reference to that concern during a visit to
Turkey earlier this month, urging Erdogan’s government to make clear
it wasn’t hesitating on reform and emphasizing momentum shouldn’t
depend on “changing opinion polls” – a message that appeared aimed
as much at Erdogan as European skeptics.
Erdogan strongly denies there’s any slowdown in the country’s drive
for EU membership. But signs of confusion are visible.
Parliament – which in past years expanded freedom of expression,
trimmed the military’s influence in politics, and allowed Kurdish
language broadcasts on TV – has been more concerned this year with
domestic issues, such as passing a popular amnesty allowing tens of
thousands of students expelled from Turkish universities, including
those who defied a strict ban on Islamic headscarves, to return.
Also worrying for secular critics is a conservative streak that is
sometimes visible in Erdogan’s party.
Last year, the talks were nearly called into question when government
lawmakers sought to include a motion outlawing adultery into an EU
reform package. The government eventually withdrew the proposal.
Earlier this month, Turkey’s broadcasting authority yanked four
pay-per-view pornographic channels off the air, saying they violated
Turkish values. That is despite commitments to the EU to expand
freedom of expression.
Alcohol producers have been complaining that taxes on liquor have
risen four times since Erdogan’s party came to power and a 22.5 lira
(US$16, euro13) bottle of Turkey’s national drink, raki, now includes
around 15 lira ($11, euro9) of taxes. The government says additional
revenue was needed.
Although the government denies any Islamic agenda, it’s also clear the
measures are likely to go over well with conservative constituents,
like 26-year-old Sadik Hira, who sells prayer beads and religious
books in Istanbul’s conservative Eyup neighborhood.
Hira said he supports Turkey’s EU bid, but doesn’t want the government
to give a new trial to Ocalan and expects the government to now focus
its attention on overturning a ban on Islamic headscarves at
universities that is supported by Turkey’s military.
“It’s an issue of freedom,” he said.
05/24/05 10:47 EDT

`DANCE OF UNITY’ AROUND ARAGATS
Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
23 May 05
The Dance of Unity around Mount Aragats on May 28 is an unprecedented
event in which young people from Artsakh will participate
too. According to the head of the department of youth of the NKR
Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport Marianna Hakobian, the
ministry will sponsor 17 young people from Artsakh to take part in the
dance, one person from each of the youth organizations and2 students
of Artsakh State University. According to her, other people too, may
participate in the dance. An estimated 160 thousand people will dance,
among them Diasporans, too. 250 will arrive from Iran, 100 from
France, 61 from Los Angeles and other cities of the USA, as well as
from Russia, Belarus, Georgia and other countries. In the framework of
the action more than 100 thousand trees have been planted along the
highway Ashtarak – Talin =80` Gyumri, the song and the dance of the
day have been chosen. The 163 km road has been divided, 1000 people
will dance on every kilometre. There will be police and an ambulance
at every 3 kilemetres. The representatives of the committee of the
book of records of Guiness will also be present at the dance. In the
evening of May27 and 28 1600 fires will be lit around the mountain,
there will be firework on each of the four tops of Mount Aragats. The
round dance will begin at 3:00 PM and will last for 15 monutes. The
famous Armenian French singer Charles Aznavour will also take part in
the round dance.
LAURA GRIGORIAN.
23-05-2005

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V. Rev. Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
THE ARMENIANS OF TABRIZ GREET HIS HOLINESS
His Holiness Aram I moved from the Diocese of Tehran to the Diocese of
Aderbadagan on May 19. He was greeted at the Tabriz airport by the primate
of the Diocese, V.Rev. Neshan Topuzian, the deputy mayor of Tabriz, the
attaché of the ministry of culture and representatives from the Diocese.
His Holiness directly went to the St. Sarkis Armenian Church, the seat of
the primate, where the Armenians of Tabriz greeted him with joy. The primate
welcomed His Holiness in his opening remarks.
His Holiness Aram I expressed his joy for seeing the activeness of the
Diocese. “Your ancestors have built this centuries-old church and through
your active participation in this church’s life today, you become the
torch-bearers for our nations and church’s eternal journey,” said His
Holiness, praising the representatives and leaders of the Diocese, as well
as the Armenian community.
His Holiness then visited the “Nareg” housing complex, which was recently
constructed by the Diocese on the occasion of the “Family’s Year” as
announced by His Holiness. The building provides housing for 20 Armenian
families.
The opening of the building was done by His Holiness, who blessed the keys
of the 20 apartments in sight of their future occupants.
A special ceremony dedicated to the 10th anniversary of His Holiness’
enthronement and the 75th anniversary of the seminary’s establishment was
held in the evening in the “Vosganian” hall of the Armenian prelacy.
In his speech delivered to the public, His Holiness emphasized the
imperative of preparing manpower in order to fulfill the spiritual and
national values of the Armenian nation. In this context, His Holiness
highlighted the irreplaceable role of the Seminary.
“Material is transformed into spirit and the bullet into gold in the
Seminary. Man is that gold that is transformed into service through
dedication, life and work. This is what our Seminary has been and will be:
fulfilling the spiritual and national needs of our nation,” said His
Holiness.
The “Gomidas” Choir of the Diocese entertained the audience under the
direction of Vartan Vahramian. The ceremony came to its end with the
believers approaching His Holiness and kissing his right hand.
##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the dioceses of
the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of the
Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.

ARMENIA’S PRIME MINISTER HAS NO NOTION OF ECONOMY: OPPOSITION MP
YEREVAN, MAY 21. ARMINFO. The Armenian Government is presently
implementing several programs of economic development absolutely
unreal and contradicting one another, says opposition MP, doctor of
economic siences Tatul Manaseryan.
These are Strategic Poverty Reduction Program, Program of Government
Activities, Interim Program of Economic Development and Program of
Ruling Goalition Activities. All of them are declarative, unreal and
contradictory. Their only goal is to gain the favor of international
credit organizations and meet the interests of local clans.
Program of Government Activities in 2000-2004 presented recently by
Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan is a real disgrace. Its authors were
not even ashamed to openly say that today the imports in Armenia is
twice as big as the exports. Manaseryan says that 80% of construction
and trade is in shadow so one cannot speak of any GDP growth.
Manaseryan says that he has repeatedly asked Margaryan to specify which
of the programs is a priority and has proposed his own project to make
Armenia a regional scientific-educational center. But he received no
response in two days as stipulated by the law. Manaseryan knows why
Margaryan did not answer – “he does not know what to answer because
he has no idea of economy.”

System of a Down passes through Austin, spouts poetic propaganda
By Austin Powell, Daily Texan; SOURCE: U. Texas
Daily Texan via U-Wire
University Wire
May 3, 2005 Tuesday
AUSTIN, Texas — There was no opening band. There were no real props
or backgrounds. An Armenian flag was held proudly by audience members
as they chanted the band’s name before it took the stage. At 9:17 p.m.,
the lights went black.
The anticipation built. It was one of only 10 tour stops in the
United States for System of a Down and its first in Austin since
February 2002. Only a selected few have had the privilege to preview
tracks from their upcoming release, “Mesmerize.” The band has kept
the release of details regarding the album to a minimum in hopes of
avoiding another disaster like the one that led to the release of
the mockingly clever “Steal This Album.”
For months now, guitarist Daron Malakian has been in hiding. He
enslaves himself to the music he creates. In his solitary state, he
breeds insanity. Last Saturday night, it seemed as if he came out of
seclusion for the first time. The sold-out crowd lunged forward as
he launched into the Euro-death metal guitar intro for their latest
single, “BYOB.” As if he couldn’t remain silent for another second
longer, he let out a piercing high scream with “Why do they always
send the poor?”
This one song can sum up their entire performance. It is, in itself,
a contradiction. Juxtaposed with the wackiness of Serj Tankian’s
poetic propaganda is Malakian’s redundancy of half-truths conveyed
with the simplicity of sound bites. The thrashing snare drums are met
with a hard double bass that sounds like the soundtrack to guerilla
warfare movement.
Then it breaks; it shifts gears; it smiles at you. It makes you forget
your troubles with a dance-club hook that screams of commercialism. The
song bounces back again from relaxed to insane, driving home how easy
it is to get caught in ethnocentrism and consumerism before drilling
sounds of brutality and harsh, uncensored truths.
This same purposeful contradiction riddled System of a Down’s entire
show. While they played prophetic past hits such as “War?” and
“Suggestions,” the crowd danced to the self-explanatory pogo hit
“Bounce.” Between the social commentary of “Prison Song” and “Toxicity”
were moments of peace and tranquility in “Streamline” and “Roulette”
that had bassist Shavo Odajian on the ground smoking and singing along.
Adding to the many contradictions in performance was the appearance of
the band. Tankian and Malakian both were clean-shaven. Tankian donned
a pin-striped, button-down, long-sleeved shirt tucked into black
jeans that were held up with a large silver belt buckle. Malakian
began the night wearing a black vintage suit top. Not as noticeable
was the person who occasionally helped comb John Dolmayan’s hair from
behind his drum kit.
The songs, nevertheless, remained the same, if not louder and more
schizophrenic than ever. New tracks such as “Kill Rock ‘n’ Roll” and
“Holy Mountains” had the crowd so riled up that the band actually
had to turn on the house lights to ask people to stop pushing so hard
for fear they were going to break the barricades.
“Back off, back off! We don’t want people to get hurt. We want them
to get smart,” Malakian remarked during “Mr. Jack.” One song later,
during “Needles,” Malakian was on his back, crowd-surfing and playing
guitar, causing an onslaught of fans to push toward him.
A crazed fan actually managed to get on stage during “Suite-Pee” and
proceeded to bear-hug Tankian until he was pulled off by security. By
the end of the night, even the discotheque intro to “Sugar” seemed
normal.
By utilizing various elements that contradicted one another,
System of a Down created a unity of diversity, both of sound
and presentation. Watching the mouths of everyone around me
simultaneously repeat the band’s political views — seeing them move
as if controlled by their music in the same way Malakian does with
his own guitar — I realized why their upcoming albums are entitled
“Mesmerize” and “Hypnotize.” System of a Down is more in control of
its life, its performances and its music than ever before. Psycho.
Groupie. Cocaine. Crazy.

Wells graduate Millian picked for internship in Armenia
Portland Press Herald (Maine)
May 19, 2005 Thursday, York Edition
WELLS
Wells High School Class of 2004 graduate Christian Millian has been
accepted to participate in an international internship this summer.
Millian will travel to Armenia to work with the Armenian Tree Project,
a non-governmental organization based in Watertown, Mass., and Yerevan,
Armenia.
While in Armenia, Millian will spend nine weeks living with a host
family and working in the village of Aygut. His internship will
involve working with the local people to plant community orchards in
an effort to obtain an environmentally sustainable source of income
for the region. He will fly to Armenia at the end of May and return
to Wells at the end of July.
Millian recently completed his freshman year at Princeton University,
where he is majoring in molecular biology and biophysics. He is the
son of Chuck and Marcia Millian.