Author: Badalian Vardan

Ukrainian president talks cooperation with visiting Armenian premier
Inter TV, Kiev
12 May 04
President Leonid Kuchma discussed bilateral cooperation and Armenian
Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan during their meeting in Kiev today.
On the last day of his official visit, Markaryan will lay flowers at
the monument to the victims of the Ukrainian famine of 1932-1933.

Anadolu Agency, Turkey
May 10 2004
Gonul: 135 Million Tons Of Oil Were Transported Through Turkish
Straits
BERLIN – Turkish National Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul has said,
”135 million tons of oil were transported through Turkish Straits
last year. This amount is expected to increase by nearly 50 percent
in 2010.”
Speaking at a panel discussion on ”Security in Black Sea Region”
under the 21st International Workshop on Global Security Conference
in German capital Berlin, Gonul highlighted important of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project, saying that the project
would enable them to transport 50 million tons of oil annually.
Expressing Turkey’s satisfaction with co-operation in efforts to
provide peace and stability in the Black Sea region despite ongoing
crises in Moldova, Georgia and Azerbaijan, Gonul said that trade in
the region had accelerated, stability had been provided and relations
between regional nations had been improved since 1992.
Stressing that Turkey attributed great importance to regional and
international co-operation and solidarity, Gonul recalled that Turkey
had been actively supporting the Balkan Stability Pact, Southeast
European Defense Ministers’ Initiative and the Black Sea Economic
Co-operation (BSEC).
Noting that Turkey had further improved its bilateral relations with
the regional countries after the Cold War era ended, Gonul said that
23 separate conventions and protocols were signed with the Black Sea
littoral countries to this end.
Recalling that co-operation agreements were signed with Russia and
Ukraine, Gonul noted, ”Turkey’s bilateral relations with Bulgaria,
Romania and Georgia have further improved following the Cold War era.
Another significant security dimension of the Black Sea stems from
its strategic position as a transit corridor for energy resources.
Besides Russian oil, Caspian oil has also been transported through
the Black Sea. Meanwhile, Turkey is seriously concerned over
increasing vessel traffic in the Black Sea and in the Turkish
Straits.”
Referring to political problems in the Black Sea region, Gonul said,
”Southern Caucasus has begun gaining more importance due to
transportation of oil, natural gas and foodstuff. Any instability in
the region would have negative impacts not only on the region, but on
the whole Europe and Atlantic.”
Listing autonomous Republic of Adzharia and the Upper Karabakh
disputes as the most important sources of instability in the region,
Gonul called on the regional countries to exert more efforts to
resolve these crises.
Gonul added, ”the Black Sea countries should also take some further
steps in fight against international terrorism, organized crimes and
weapons of mass destruction. I believe that improvement of bilateral
relations in the region would make a valuable contribution to efforts
to provide peace and stability in the region.”
Later, Gonul left Germany for Turkey.

Pasadena Star-News, CA
May 6 2004
Rushing to defense
Marshall High students, teachers support embattled principal
By Gretchen Hoffman , Staff Writer
PASADENA — At the same time that a group of community members are
circulating petitions calling Marshall Fundamental High School
Principal Steven Miller a bigot who should be removed from his post,
students and teachers are rallying to his support.
Miller is anything but a racist, students and staff say, and he has
reduced school violence and increased student performance. He
motivates teachers and students alike, and is always willing to lend
an ear, they add.
One thing about Miller is certain, however. The road he travels at
Marshall these days is rocky. Some Armenian parents are upset that
middle school dean Kevork Halladjian was told he will not be
returning to his post next year. His lawyer, Dale Gronemeier, is
threatening a lawsuit if Halladjian is not reinstated, and alleges
Miller is a racist who did not do enough to halt violence during a
March 5 fight between Armenians and African Americans at the school.
Halladjian’s lawyer is married to Temetra Gronemeier, whose lawsuit
against the Pasadena Unified School District alleging age
discrimination was thrown out recently. She was seeking the principal
position, which was given to Miller.
Students said Marshall has always had racial conflict but that it has
largely abated under Miller’s guidance. Incidents like the March 5
fights, which resulted in a lockdown on campus and several
expulsions, were more common before Miller instituted peer-mediation
programs, they said.
“He doesn’t sit in his office filling out worksheets, he’s making
sure that each and every race is satisfied,’ said tenth- grader
Clarissa Belombre. “Instead of pointing to the one who’s running the
school, which is what people do, you need to point to the students.
They’re the one who caused it. He took care of the situation as he
could.’
Senior Veronica Gonzalez said she thought the accusations have been
made by people who do not know Miller.
“It seems like these are because of the position he holds,’ Gonzalez
said. “His main priority is us, the students. The thing that I think
is really just out there is that these people that are accusing him
are saying they’re here for the students but … it’s not helping us,
it’s tearing us apart.’
Senior Tina Lee said the petitions are from people who do not have
children at Marshall.
“They don’t even have grandchildren who go here,’ Lee said. “They
have no relation to anyone who has first-hand knowledge. I think they
have no right to say anything.’
Students and teachers said Miller’s detractors are focusing on the
fights as an excuse to get him thrown out of Marshall.
“For people to try to hang his career over one incident that
occurred, I don’t think that’s fair,’ teacher Darlene Davenpot said.
“Right now at Marshall, we do not need another principal.’
Teacher Rebecca Vasquez said discipline has been Marshall’s Achilles’
heel since she started there six years ago.
“I think he’s taken action where it hasn’t been taken before, and
that’s why he’s being targeted,’ Vasquez said. “It’s not productive
for anybody. It’s interesting that people outside our school are
coming in and creating problems.’
Teacher Patricia Kavanagh said she “can’t think of someone who is
less likely to be a racist. He’s been under more pressure than I can
imagine. He’s unknowingly become a part of … antagonism that was
here before he started.’
Many students said they had never seen Miller treat a student
differently because of his or her race and alleged that deans
Gronemeier and Halladjian gave preference to students of their own
race.
“I feel like Mr. Halladjian favors the Armenians, I guess because he
feels Ms. Gronemeier is African American and he needs to stick up for
the Armenian people,’ senior Rita Manoukian said. “Our own deans are
trying to mess up our school. How does that help us?’
Dale Gronemeier said his client and his wife have a “special
sensitivity’ toward students of their own race but operate with
complete fairness.
“What goes with the territory of disciplining students is that you
are dealing with students and parents in a negative and oftentimes
adversarial (role) because people don’t like to be disciplined,’
Gronemeier said. “Mrs. Gronemeier has 20 years’ experience as a
teacher and as an administrator at Marshall. There are legions of
Armenian students and parents who would swear by her fairness.’
Halladjian said he has an open door policy for all students
regardless of race.
“Anybody can come to my office, I’ll definitely make time to see them
right away,’ Halladjian said. “I try my best to deal with all
students at Marshall with the same fairness.’
Other students pointed to honors awarded to Marshall under Miller’s
tenure. The school was ranked in the top 4 percent of the country’s
public high schools in Newsweek’s 2003 Challenge Index. It was also
selected last year as one of three schools in the nation to receive a
College Board Inspiration Award in recognition of its work in
broadening economically disadvantaged students’ access to college.
“When Mr. Miller came, I felt he brought peace,’ senior Alexandria
Parker said. “I think he’s the bridge or the tie that connects
everyone together and by severing that cord, you’re severing Marshall
and all we’ve worked together to build. I think in the end, the truth
will speak for itself.’

The Globe and Mail, Canada
May 1 2004
PM peeved at Pettigrew pronouncement

The Prime Minister blows a gasket
It was a furious Paul Martin at this week’s caucus meeting, according
to Liberal sources. His face was red; he was gesticulating angrily,
and some say he was shouting. All this because of remarks by Health
Minister Pierre Pettigrew, who had suggested to a Commons committee
that the government was prepared to allow the provinces to
“experiment” with private health-care delivery.
Mr. Martin told his caucus that he had watched his father, Paul Sr.,
work hard to bring in medicare and wasn’t prepared to stand by to
watch it all unravel, according to a source. He told his MPs that Mr.
Pettigrew was going to march out of the caucus and correct the
impression he had left about the publicly funded system. Following
orders, Mr. Pettigrew did exactly that. He marched out of caucus and
read his clarification from a (PMO?) prepared text.
Brian Mulroney
to be a grandfather
Last month the former Progressive Conservative prime minister, Brian
Mulroney, became a senior citizen. In October he becomes a
grandfather. And he and his wife, Mila, couldn’t be more excited.
Their daughter Caroline Mulroney, 29, who married Andrew Lapham in
September, 2000, is expecting a baby in October. This will be the
first grandchild for the Mulroneys. Meanwhile, the entire Mulroney
clan is off to Antigonish, N.S., where Mrs. Mulroney is to receive an
honorary doctorate from St. Francis Xavier University Monday in
recognition of her charity and volunteer work, especially for cystic
fibrosis.
Of cabinet solidarity
and genocide
Behind the closed doors of the cabinet room last week, Prime Minister
Martin singled out Revenue Minister Stan Keyes as a shining example of
cabinet solidarity after he voted against a private member’s motion to
recognizes as genocide the mass killing of Armenians during the First
World War.
There were reports after the controversial vote that Mr. Keyes was
cursing the fact that some of his colleagues had missed the vote while
he was forced to vote against the motion, a gesture that was not
without political cost for him. This was acknowledged by Mr. Martin,
who was angry with some of his cabinet ministers for abstaining or for
ducking the vote by leaving the House without permission. The Liberal
back bench voted with the opposition, and the motion passed.
Meanwhile, the rule, according to a senior Liberal, is that cabinet
ministers must seek permission in advance to miss the vote. Mr. Keyes,
who had sought that permission, was already in the chamber when the
vote began and decided not to leave because, as he told someone,
“[I’d] feel like a heel walking out.”
Hot and not
Not: The Prime Minister’s briefers who neglected to inform him what
the gift he’d received from President George Bush.
Foreign leaders always exchange gifts on visits. After a prompting by
Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham, Mr. Martin told reporters he
received a “pen.”
The Martins gave the President a riding vest and Margaret MacMillan’s
celebrated book, Paris 1919.
Hot: Nova Scotia Liberal MP Scott Brison for trying to sell
U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice on a summer vacation
in his home province. Milling around the White House Rose Garden
yesterday, Mr. Brison did a hard sell on the breathtaking ocean views
of Cape Breton’s Cabot Trail. Shameless.
Not: The White House. The U.S. President says the White House is nice
but his ranch is better. And he says this in front of Paul and Sheila
Martin. Was that an invite to the Crawford, Tex., enclave? Jean
Chrétien was never invited to the ranch.
Hot: Dennis Mills, the editor.
Not: Dennis Mills, the MP. NDP Leader Jack Layton thanks Dennis Mills
in the preface of his newly released book. Why? Dennis Mills and
Mr. Layton are already in a pitched battle for the riding of
Toronto-Danforth.
Coincidentally, however, Mr. Layton’s editor is also named Dennis
Mills. He clears up the confusion in his book, writing it’s the
editor, not the MP.
Hot: Conservative MP Brian Pallister is inducted into the Manitoba
Softball Hall of Fame today.
He’s a pitcher of some renown in the province. “There are a lot of
similarities between softball and politics,” he writes. “The bad: the
cutoffs, the put outs, the heckling . . . the clash of egos. The good:
The sacrifice . . . and as a pitcher, something I always appreciated
. . . when someone is caught stealing.”

Azeri defence chief not to attend Armenia-hosted CIS talks
Ekho, Baku
4 May 04
Azerbaijani Defence Minister Safar Abiyev will not attend the 21 May
2004 gathering of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) defence
ministers in Yerevan, Azerbaijan’s daily Ekho quoted the press
secretary of the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry, Ramiz Malikov, as
saying on 4 May.
“Azerbaijan does not knock on the door of its enemy,” Malikov said.
“It is Armenians who are shamelessly keen on visiting Baku”. Malikov
said that this will be a regular meeting and Azerbaijan will lose
“absolutely nothing” from not attending it.
Military expert Uzeyir Cafarov told Ekho that had the gathering been
held in any other country of the CIS, then Abiyev would have
definitely taken part in it.

Two Loudouners involved in Fairfax fatal crash
By Emily Tjelmeland
04/30/2004
Two Loudoun residents were involved in a crash April 29, and one has
since died, according to Fairfax Police.
Sterling resident Haik Vartanian, 53, was crossing Leesburg Pike at
Old Gallows Road and had just entered the second traffic lane when he
hesitated. Vartanian, who was not in the crosswalk, was in the path
of a 2000 Nissan sedan, which struck him. The vehicle was driven by
Courtenay Byron Hicks, a 34-year-old Potomac Falls resident.
Vartanian was transported via a Fairfax Police helicopter to Inova
Fairfax Hospital in critical condition, and succumbed to his injuries
the next day. Hicks, who was not injured, has not been charged in the
incident.
According to investigators, speed and/or alcohol were not factors in
the crash.
©Times Community Newspapers 2004

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION HALTS “PRETENCE” DIALOGUE WITH AUTHORITIES
Mediamax news agency
27 Apr 04
YEREVAN
The Armenian opposition decided to halt its participation in political
consultations with the ruling coalition, which took place at the
initiative of the speaker of the Armenian National Assembly in
parliament yesterday and today, member of the Justice opposition
block’s faction Viktor Dallakyan told journalists today.
A Mediamax parliamentary correspondent reported that Dallakyan pointed
out that the meetings between opposition and coalition
representatives, which took place in the Armenian parliament on 26-27
April, cannot qualify as “dialogue” between the authorities and the
opposition. According to Viktor Dallakyan, “these were political
consultations the holding of which is envisaged by the Armenian
National Assembly’s regulations”.
Viktor Dallakyan said that the opposition decided to halt its
participation in the consultations after the coalition
representatives, having a majority in the parliament refused to
discuss two out of 10 items presented by the opposition. In
particular, the deputy said, the coalition refused to consider the
issue of providing the Armenian citizens with the right to free
transportation and decided not to delay the voting for the bill “On
the procedure of staging meetings, rallies, marches and
demonstrations” in the third final reading scheduled for tomorrow.
Viktor Dallakyan said that today the authorities have again blocked
the highways connecting Yerevan with regions of the republic in order
to hamper the opposition adherents’ participation in the rally, which
will take place on Freedom Square, in the centre of the Armenian
capital, at 1600 today. “The authorities want to create the pretence
of a dialogue with the opposition but they continue to pursue a terror
policy in relation to their own people,” Viktor Dallakyan said. He
added that the opposition will not resume its participation in the
political consultations till the ruling coalition and the authorities
ensure the observance of rights and freedom of the Armenian citizens.

Armenian foreign minister wants normalization of ties with Turkey
TRT 2 television, Ankara
24 Apr 04

Armenia wants a dialogue without preconditions with Turkey. Armenian
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan talked to our correspondent Olcay
Kirac in Yerevan.
He said: We want normal relations with all our neighbours. Also with
Azerbaijan, but especially with Turkey. We are going through a period
when there are no important issues between the two countries. There
are certain historical issues between us. We cannot ignore them but we
must be able to put them aside and engage in a normal dialogue between
the two countries. In order to do that, we need good neighbourly
relations. At this stage, I see no reason why our dialogue with our
neighbour Turkey cannot be normalized. We expect the Turkish
government to lift the conditions it has been positing for the
normalization of our relations. We expect that. Let us leave aside the
preconditions and let us sit at the negotiating table. Let us discuss
our bilateral issues, solve them and normalize our relations.

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
April 24 2004
US ANALYSTS CALL NATO TO STRENGTHEN ITS ROLE ON SOUTHERN CAUCASUS
As was reported by correspondent of AzerTAj from the USA, the Central
Asia-Caucasus Institute of Studies in Washington has prepared
research work on the subject `Establishment of stability on Southern
Caucasus: multilateral safety and the role of NATO’. Authors of
research are known experts on the region Frederic Starr, Vladimir
Sokor, Svante Cornell, William O’Malley and Roger McDermott.
At the forum, which has been lead by institute, authors have
acquainted representatives of political circles in Washington with
the basic moments of the uncompleted research. The 90-page scientific
work included conditions of safety in each of three states of
Southern Caucasus, interests of various geo-politic forces in region,
military potential of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, the detailed
information on the program `Partnership for Peace’, carried out here
by NATO, the materials displaying the military assistance by the USA
and the Western circles to Georgia and Azerbaijan. Then, the authors
have presented their recommendations concerning policy of NATO in the
states of Southern Caucasus.
Speaking at the forum, Vladimir Sokor noted that earlier the West
looked at Southern Caucasus as the region located on border of Europe
and Asia. Recently such approach has changed. The reason is connected
to three factors – weakening of the authority of Russia in region,
revealing of huge natural resources of the Caspian basin being a key
for the future power resources of the West, and the role, which plays
the region in antiterrorist struggle. Vladimir Sokor marks that there
is a need for wider participation of the NATO in the region. In his
opinion, summit of the Alliance, which will be held in Istanbul in
June of this year, can become a favorable forum for demonstration of
support of intentions of Georgia and Azerbaijan to become members of
the NATO and for statement by the Alliance of priorities of safety on
Southern Caucasus. The cooperation offered by NATO to these two
countries, should touch and Armenia. However, the question on
membership of Azerbaijan and Georgia in the Alliance should not
depend on objections of Armenia and Russia.
Speakers at the forum have emphasized that to speak about regional
economic or social development, not having provided safety of
Southern Caucasus, is inappropriate. In this sense, the
Armenian-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh conflict and other conflicts in
region should be shortly settled, and available foreign military
forces should be removed from the region.

Statement On The Commemoration Of The Armenian Genocide, April 24, 2004
April 21, 2004
Between the years of 1915 and 1923, a million and a half of Armenians were
brutally murdered as a result of a calculated plan to eliminate Armenians
from the Ottoman Empire. Men, taken from their families and homes, were
separated out and killed. Women, children and elderly were sent on forced
death marches across the Syrian desert. These actions constituted the first
genocide of the 20th century and one of the most vicious and tragic events
in world history.
One and one-half million Armenian lives were lost, countless more were
persecuted, and the entire Armenian community suffered. As we reflect on
these horrible years, Armenian Americans know this story and its relevance
in history. Tragically, some question its historical accuracy. To prevent
future genocide is to face the reality that it exists. Knowledge of past
genocides in different parts of our world assists in arming us to prevent
such acts from occurring again.
At the outset of the Jewish Holocaust, Adolph Hitler said that no one
remembered what happened to the Armenian people during the genocide. He then
proceeded to implement his Final Solution.
Today, Armenians are continuing to work to rebuild and strengthen their
great nation. After facing years of injustice and persecution, the Armenian
people’s spirit remains strong.
I join you in commemorating the 89th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.
As we remember these sad years, we must never forget that an act of genocide
is not only an act of hatred toward one particular group, but toward all
humankind. May we learn from the tragedy of the Armenian genocide and
recommit ourselves to full equality, respect, and acceptance for all people.
An important first step is the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the
United States Government and the world as a whole.