Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918 Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
May 5, 2004
Contact: Ardashes Kassakhian
Telephone: 818.500.1918
ANC PRAISES REPUBLICANS ADVANCING GENOCIDE REAFFIRMATION IN CONGRESS AND
ACROSS THE NATION
GOP Elected Officials Spearhead Efforts For Genocide Acknowledgment In
Congress and Western United States
Los Angeles, CA – The largest Armenian-American grassroots public
affairs organization in the Western United States issued a statement
today praisinga number of Republican legislators in the U.S. Congress.
The statement issued by the Armenian National Committee of America –
Western Region praisedGOP members of Congress for their outstanding
support on issues of concern to tens of thousands of Armenian American
voters throughout California, Nevada and other western states.
The statement went on to praise Republican Governors in the states of
Idaho, Montana, and Nebraska for joining the growing list of states
that have officially acknowledged the Armenian Genocide. April 2004
marked a month when a record number of Governors issued proclamations
acknowledging the Armenian Genocide and April 24th as a Day of
Remembrance. The list includes Republican Governors Dirk Kempthorne
of Idaho, Judy Martz of Montana, and Mike Johannsof Nebraska.
In addition to praising these states for their acknowledgement of the
Genocide, the ANCA-WR praised Republican Governor of California,
Arnold Schwarzenegger for designating April 24th in the State of
California, as a Day of Remembrance for the Genocide. Republican
State Senator Chuck Poochigian presented the proclamation to the
Armenian-American community at the ANCA-WR organized April 24
Commemoration in Montebello, California.
`We appreciate the work of our Republican friends, particularly
theGovernors and members of Congress who supported the ANC’s
initiatives to raise awareness about the Armenian Genocide and urge
Congress to pass resolutions acknowledging this crime against
humanity,’ stated ANCA-WR Government Relations Director Armen
Carapetian.
Last week the Nevada ANC honored Senator John Ensign (R-NV) as the
â=80=9CANC Man of the Year’ for his staunch support of Armenian
American issues. Senator Ensign introduced Senate Resolution 164,
which reaffirms America’s commitment to preventing genocides and
punishing perpetrators of genocide. The legislation also clearly
recognizes the mass murder of Armenians from 1915 to 1923 as a case of
genocide. Currently the bill has the support of over 39 Senators,
including 9 Republican Senators.
Several months ago, the Orange County ANC honored Congressman Ed Royce
(R-Fullerton) with the local chapter’s Freedom Award. Rep. Royce
serves on the influential International Relations Committee and has
had a long track record of support of issues that are of concern to
his Armenian-American constituency. During his remarks at the ANCA
Capitol Hill Armenian Genocide Observance last week, Rep. Royce
renewed his pledge to fight for official acknowledgment ofthe Armenian
Genocide.
The ANCA-WR honored Republican Congressman George Radanovich
(R-Fresno) as its `Man of the Year’ several months ago at its largest
event of the year. Radanovich is the principal author and sponsor of
H.R. 193, which acknowledges the Armenian Genocide. That legislation,
which was passed unanimously by the House Judiciary Committee on May
21, 2003 is awaiting a vote on the House Floor.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is the largest and
most influential Armenian American grassroots political
organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices,
chapters, and supporters throughoutthe United States and affiliated
organizations around the world, the ANCA actively advances the
concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of
issues.
#####

ArmenPress
April 28 2004
AUTHORITIES IN KARABAGH SAY MAY 8 MARCH AIMS TO STIR UP PROVOCATIONS
STEPANAKERT, APRIL 28, ARMENPRESS: Authorities in Nagorno Karabagh
responded on Tuesday to purported plans of so-called Azerbaijani
organization Karabagh Liberation Organization (KLO) to march to
Karabagh on May 8, the date of the “occupation” of the second-largest
town of Shushi by Armenian troops.
A statement issued by Karabagh foreign ministry says the march,
portrayed in Azerbaijan as a public initiative, is a propaganda and
populist idea, designed by top authorities of that country. The
statement says this initiative could have been be assessed as a move
aimed at building the climate of confidence should not it have been
plotted by KLO leader Akif Naghi, who has won a notoriety by his
anti-Armenian and racist announcements. The statement also says there
is no doubt that the “peaceful march” has been designed to instigate
provocations on the line of contact between Azeri and Armenian
troops.
Earlier Akif Naghi was quoted by Azeri news media as saying that
the Turkish embassy in Baku and some political parties were
indifferent towards his plans. Naghi said the KLO was going to
determine the route of their planned march. He said 7,150 people are
expected to start action from the Martyrs’ Alley in Baku on May 8 “to
let the world community know about the real truths of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.”

[Congressional Record: April 27, 2004 (House)]
[Page H2397-H2398]
>From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr27ap04-138]
{time} 1945

IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 89TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Burgess). Under a previous order of the
House, the gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff) is recognized for 5
minutes. Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the one and a
half million Armenians who perished in the Armenian genocide that
began 89 years ago on April 24, 1915. I consider this a sacred
obligation, to ensure that future generations of Americans remember
the first genocide of the 20th century and to ensure that the men,
women and children who perished at the hands of the Ottoman Empire are
not lost to history. We have always recognized the transience of
memory. It is why we set aside holidays and build monuments to honor
our heroes and the events that have shaped our societies. The stone
and concrete of a memorial serve to freeze history and to preserve it
for those who will follow. The written word cannot be burned when it
is etched into rock. Time is the ally of those who would deny or
change history. Such has it been with the government of Turkey and the
Armenian genocide. Although the genocide was perpetrated by modern
Turkey’s predecessor, generations of Turkish leaders have steadfastly
denied that the genocide ever took place, despite overwhelming
evidence to the contrary. Time is on their side. The generation of
Armenians with direct memory of the genocide is gone. Their children
are aging. Much of the rest of the world has moved on, reluctant to
dredge up unpleasant memories and risk the ire of modern Turkey. For
those of us who care deeply about the issue, we must redouble our
efforts to ensure that our Nation, which has championed liberty and
human rights throughout its history, is not complicit in Ankara’s
effort to obfuscate what happened between 1915 and 1923. Worse still,
by tacitly siding with those who would deny the Armenian genocide, we
have rendered hollow our commitment to never again let genocide occur.
Among historians there is no dispute that what happened to the
Armenian people was genocide. Thousands of pages of documents sit in
our National Archives. Newspapers of the day were replete with stories
about the murder of Armenians. Appeal to Turkey to stop massacres
headlined the New York Times on April 28, 1915, just as the killing
began. On October 7 of that year, the Times reported that 800,000
Armenians had been slain in cold blood in Asia Minor. In mid-December
of 1915, the Times spoke of a million Armenians killed or in exile.
Prominent citizens of the day, including America’s ambassador to the
Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau, and Britain’s Lord Bryce reported on
the massacres in great detail. Morgenthau was appalled at what he
would later call the sadistic orgies of rape, torture, and
murder. Lord Bryce, a former British ambassador to the United States,
worked to raise awareness of and money for the victims of what he
called the most colossal crime in the history of the world. In October
1915, the Rockefeller Foundation contributed $30,000, a sum worth more
than half a million dollars today, to a relief fund for Armenia.
Others, too, reacted in horror to what Ambassador Morgenthau called,
for lack of a specific term, race murder. In the early 1930s, 10 years
after the genocide, a young Polish attorney named Raphael Lemkin, who
had read of the genocide as a child, tried to get European statesmen
to criminalize the destruction of ethnic and religious groups. He was
dismissed as an alarmist. A few years later, when Hitler invaded
Poland, Lemkin lost 49 members of his family in the Holocaust. Lemkin
escaped, first to Sweden, where he documented the horrors going on in
Nazi-occupied Europe and then to the United States, where he worked
for the Allied war effort. He resolved to create a word to convey the
mass atrocities being committed by the Germans. In 1944, while working
for the U.S. War Department, he coined the term “genocide,” citing
the slaughter of Armenians three decades earlier. In 1948, in the
shadow of the Holocaust, the international community responded to Nazi
Germany’s methodically orchestrated acts of genocide by approving the
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide. It confirms that genocide
[[Page H2398]]
is a crime under international law and defines genocide as actions
committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or
religious group. The United States, under President Truman, was the
first Nation to sign the convention. Last year marked the 15th
anniversary of President Reagan’s signing of the Genocide Convention
Implementation Act. Just over a year ago, I introduced H.R. 193 with
my colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Radanovich), with the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), with the gentleman from
Michigan (Mr. Knollenberg), and other Members of this House. This
resolution reaffirms the support of the Congress for the genocide
convention and commemorates the anniversary of our becoming a party to
this landmark legislation. On May 21 of last year, we achieved a huge
victory when we passed the genocide resolution by a very strong
bipartisan vote. This should be an easy resolution for all of us now
to support on the House floor. Genocide is the most abhorrent crime
known to humankind; and unfortunately, it still exists. Exactly 10
years ago, before the cameras of the world, Rwanda’s majority Hutus
exterminated over 500,000 Tutsi in just over 3 months’ time, mostly
with machetes and homemade axes. The reason that we have not yet
succeeded in passing this resolution on the House floor is simple. The
government of Turkey refuses to acknowledge the genocide and the
strongest Nation on Earth fears their reaction if we do. All over the
globe–from South Africa, to Argentina, to the former Yugoslavia,
governments have set up truth commissions and other bodies to
investigate atrocities. Nowhere has this process been more extensive
than in Germany, which has engaged in decades of soul-searching and
good works that have not only restored the nation’s standing, but also
its moral authority. I call upon the government of Turkey and our own
government to do the same. When the burden of the past is lifted, then
the future is brighter. As long as Ankara engages in prevarication,
equivocation and evasion, Turkey will exist under a cloud–not because
of its past, but because of its refusal to address that past. And as
long as we fail to do our duty in this country, in this Congress, we
do not live up to our great name and our great heritage. I also call
upon the distinguished Speaker of the House to allow us to vote on the
Genocide Resolution. One hundred ten of my colleagues have cosponsored
this resolution and I expect that it would pass overwhelmingly if
given the chance, but we must do it soon, for with each year the
events of 1915-1923 recede a bit more into the dark of history. Time,
Mr. Speaker, is not on our side. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent
for 1 additional minute. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair cannot
recognize that unanimous consent request. The gentleman’s time has
expired.

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th Street, NW, Suite 904,
Washington, DC 20006
Phone: (202) 775-1918 Fax: (202) 775-5648
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
April 29, 2004
Contact: Elizabeth Chouldjian
Telephone: (202) 775-1918
NEBRASKA, TENNESSEE AND LOUISIANA BECOME NEWEST STATES TO ACKNOWLEDGE
THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Total Number of States That Have Acknowledged the Genocide Reaches
36
WASHINGTON, DC – Tennessee, Nebraska and Louisiana have joined the
fast growing number of states who have acknowledged the Armenian
Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA). Democratic Governor Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, Republican
Governor Mike Johanns of Nebraska and Democratic Governor Kathleen
Babineaux Blanco issued proclamations citing a “Day of Remembrance
of the Armenian Genocide,” referring to the Ottoman Turkish
campaign of eliminate the Armenian population from 1915-1923. The
total number of states in the U.S. reaffirming he Armenian Genocide
has now reached 36.
“The Nebraska, Tennessee and Louisiana proclamations emphasize the
ultimate futility of Turkish efforts to distort the facts about the
Genocide,” commented ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.
“Governors Johanns, Bredesen, and Blanco should be commended for
taking a stand against denial and Turkish revisionism,” he added.
In the course of the last month, five new states have issued
proclamations for the Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide. All of
the proclamations mark April 23rd or 24th as an official Day of
Remembrance. The ANCA website () provides a diagram
that displays all of the states that have issued proclamations or
passed legislations recognizing the April 24th as a day of
remembrance.
The proclamations follow a concerted grassroots education campaign
by the ANC Chapters across the country to increase awareness of the
Armenian Genocide on the state and local level. ANC Tennessee
Chairman, Dr. Shant Garabedian, worked actively with the Tennessee
Armenian community, circulating a petition to Gov. Bredesen in
support of the proclamation. Garabedian discussed the initiative
following Easter Church services in Nashville this month.
Massachusetts State Republican Committee man Bob Semonian spoke
extensively to Governors Bredesen, Johanns and Blanco during the
National Governors Association conference held in Washington DC,
last month. He has since worked with local ANC activists in the
effort to secure Armenian Genocide proclamations from a series of
states across the country.
Semonian, who resides in Watertown, MA, is running for delegate for
the Republican National Convention. Registered Republicans in the
towns and cities of Arlington, Belmont, Everett, Framingham,
Lexington, Lincoln, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Natick, Revere,
Stoneham, Waltham, Watertown, Wayland, Weston, Winchester,
Winthrop, and Woburn can support his candidacy at the Republican
Caucus vote his Saturday, May 1st, to be held beginning at 9:00am
at
295 Arsenal St., in Watertown, MA.
#####
State of Nebraska
Proclamation
Whereas, One and a half million Christian Armenian men, women and
children were the victims of the brutal genocide perpetuated by the
Ottoman Turkish Government from 1915 – 1923; and
Whereas, The Armenian genocide and massacres of Armenian people
have been recognized as an attempt to eliminate all traces of a
thriving and noble civilization over 3000 years old; and
Whereas, Recognition of the eighty-ninth anniversary of this
genocide is crucial to guarding against the repetition of future
genocides and educating people about the atrocities connected to
these horrific events; and
Whereas, Armenian-Americans living in Nebraska have greatly
enriched our state through their leadership in business,
agriculture, academia, government and the arts;
Now, therefore, I, Mike Johanns, Governor of the State of Nebraska
DO HEREBY PROCLAIM the 24th day of April 2004, as
DAY OF REMEMBRANCE OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE OF 1915-1923
in Nebraska, and I do hereby urge all citizens to take due note of
the observance.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand, and cause the
Great Seal of the Stae of Nebraska to be affixed this Twenty-Third
Day of April, in the year of our Lord Two Thousand Four.
/State seal/ – Attest: John A. Gale, Secretary of State
Mike Johanns, Governor
===============================================
TENNESSEE PROCLAMATION
State Capitol
By Phil Bredesen, Governor, on behalf of the people of Tennessee
By virtue of the authority vested in me, I herby confer upon
Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide
A Day of Recognition
Given under my hand and the Seal of the State of Tennessee
In Nashville, this 23rd day of April 2004
/State Seal/ Phil Bredesen, Governor
===============================================
United States of America
State of Louisiana
Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco
Proclamation
Whereas, One and one half million Christian Armenian men, women and
children were victims of brutal genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman
Turkish Government from 1915-1923; and
Whereas, the Armenian Genocide and massacres of Armenian people
have been recognized as an attempt to eliminate all traces of a
thriving and noble civilization over 3,000 years old; and
Whereas, recognition of the eighty-ninth anniversary of this
genocide is crucial to guarding against the repetition of future
genocides and educating people about the atrocities connected to
these horrific events; and
Whereas, Armenian-Americans living in Louisiana have greatly
enriched our state through leadership in business, agriculture,
academia, government, and the arts.
Now, therefore, I, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, Governor of the state
of Louisiana do hereby proclaim April 24, 2004 as
DAY OF REMEMBRANCE OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
In the state of Louisiana
Kathleen Babineaux Blanco
#####

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 29, 2004 Thursday
Aliyev calls for gradual settlement of conflict with Armenia
By Yuri Ulyanovsky
STRASBOURG
Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev favoured the settlement of the
conflict with Armenia on a gradual basis.
The first step is “to withdraw Armenian troops from the seven
districts of Azerbaijan” that are not part of Nagorno-Karabakh,
Aliyev said.
Speaking at the PACE spring session on Thursday, the Azerbaijani
president said this initiative has become an important step towards
strengthening trust. This idea has been discussed by Europarliament
and other European structures and supported by them, he added.
“It is inadmissible when one of the Council of Europe countries is
occupying part of another country, which is also a CE member. Armenia
will win nothing neither in an economic nor moral aspect. This only
can infringe upon Armenia’s prestige at the international arena. I
believe that Armenian leaders are beginning to understand this,” the
Azerbaijani leader stressed.
At the same time, Aliyev pointed out that Azerbaijan will never agree
to develop economic cooperation with Armenia till Armenian troops are
not withdrawn from these districts. “Azerbaijan cannot cooperate with
a country that occupies part of its territories,” Aliyev emphasised.

New York Daily News, NY
May 1 2004
Love story has faith, hope – and a charity

We interrupt this war to bring you a love story. And news of a very
important charity. They’re connected. First, the love story:
On May 10, Carol Channing, the great Broadway star of “Hello Dolly,”
will celebrate her first wedding anniversary to Harry Kullijian, 84,
her very first love, with whom she reunited last year after 67 years
apart.
On Friday, Channing will perform at Molloy College in Rockville Centre,
L.I., followed by a party and silent auction to raise money for the De
La Salle School in Freeport, a small Christian Brothers Catholic school
that provides a highly structured Catholic education for 25 inner-city
kids.
“Recently a foundation was formed to support Catholic schools in
disadvantaged areas that educate over 4,000 underserved students in 18
states,” says Marty Bevilacqua, who was a wild Brooklyn kid before his
parents enrolled him in the La Salle Military Academy, which changed
his life.
Bevilacqua and other La Salle alumni, working with Brother Thomas
Casey, founded the Freeport School two years ago to keep the traditions
of Lasallian education alive.
“The goal is to help young boys become civilized ‘gentlemen,’ ready to
thrive in society,” Bevilacqua said.
While at La Salle, Bevilacqua, today a successful builder, became a
gentleman and developed a deep love for opera and Broadway musicals,
which has made him a patron of the arts.
Through his association with Glenn Roven, a Broadway conductor,
Channing has agreed to do the benefit concert for the De La Salle
School to help those inner-city kids get a shot in life.
The concert will be Friday at the Hayes Theater of Molloy College.
Tickets are $75 for the show and $50 for the meet and greet party with
Channing afterwards.
Which brings us back to the love story.
“I love what this charity stands for,” Channing says. “I also truly
love my new husband, Harry. Harry was my first love. We went steady as
teenagers. But at 16, I went away to Bennington College in Vermont and
later to New York to become an actress.
“I always loved Harry, but I wasn’t aware that I was still in love with
him.”
The two lost touch. While Channing strode the Broadway boards to fame
and fortune, she married three times before she was widowed in 1998.
Meanwhile, back in California, Harry Kullijian, a successful real
estate entrepreneur had become a widower.
“I thought sure Harry must be dead,” Channing says.
Then last year, a good buddy of Kullijian’s read Channing’s
autobiography, “Just Lucky, I Guess,” in which she wrote glowing words
about her first love. The friend urged him to give ole Carol a buzz. He
did.
A week after that, he drove 125 miles north from Imperial Valley to
Channing’s condo in Rancho Mirage. Channing said, “Hello, Harry!”
It was so nice to have each other back where they belonged after all
those years.
“It was like we just picked up our lives where we left off 67 years
ago,” says Channing.
“Two weeks later, I proposed to her,” Kullijian says.
They married, moved into Kullijian’s Modesto farmhouse, and they’ve
been running around the country like a couple of newlyweds ever since,
doing paid gigs and charity benefits, many for Kullijian’s favorite
Armenian organizations.
When Roven asked her to do a concert for underprivileged kids at the La
Salle School in New York, Channing jumped at the opportunity.
“Carol will also be getting the Oscar Hammerstein Award while we’re in
New York,” Kullijian says.
“This marriage is going to work,” Channing says. “I’m happier than I’ve
ever been. It’s my pleasure to spread some of this good feeling
around.”
For tickets, call (516) 536-2223.

Fresno Bee (California)
April 25, 2004, Sunday FINAL EDITION
Channing wows crowd at Armenian Home Broadway legend stars in two
shows in Fresno to raise funds for home.
by Louis Galvan
THE FRESNO BEE
It didn’t take long for actress Carol Channing to win over the staff
and residents at Fresno’s California Armenian Home for the Aged
during her tour there Saturday.
Channing, the 83-year-old Broadway legend, is in Fresno to help raise
funds for the home, including a two-show performance today at the
Tower Theatre.
“You’re just so cute!” she told 99-year-old Anna Tusan, one of two
residents chosen to greet her and her husband, Harry Kullijian.
“Welcome to the California Armenian Home,” said a shy Tusan, who had
nervously rehearsed her message for 20 minutes before Channing’s
arrival.
“I want to make sure I say it right,” Tusan told Elizabeth
Manaselian, 81, the other resident chosen to take part in the
welcome.
Tusan, the second-oldest resident of the facility in southeast
Fresno, will turn 100 on July 8.
Introduced to Nikki Vartikian, the home’s administrator, Channing
held her hand and slowly repeated her surname. “Vartikian … what a
beautiful name,” said Channing. “I love it.”
A few minutes later, she stood in front of about 100 residents, many
of them in wheelchairs, and she joked about soon having to join them
at the home.
She was coaxed into singing the title song of one her biggest
Broadway shows, “Hello, Dolly,” and also did a soft-shoe number,
accompanied by her husband.
And of course, she told her fans, she too is proud now to have an
Armenian name.
“You can call me Mrs. Kullijian,” she said.
Last year Channing married Kullijian, 84, a prominent Modesto
real-estate entrepreneur who has long been involved in charitable
Armenian causes and whose sister, Lucille Pilibos, lives in Fresno.
Marian Arakelian, a cousin of Kullijian’s, is a resident at the
Armenian home.
Channing is best known to generations of fans for her work on
Broadway, including 5,000 performances in the role of Dolly Levi in
the musical comedy “Hello, Dolly,” and hundreds of appearances on
television variety and talk shows.
She is scheduled for two performances today at the Tower Theatre of
“Hello, Fresno” to benefit the Armenian home. The shows also will
feature Fresno native Mike Connors, formerly Krekor Ohanian, of TV’s
“Mannix.”
George Juarez, assistant administrator of the Armenian home, said the
benefit will raise funds for improvements, including:
A remodeling project.
The purchase of equipment, including wheelchairs and beds.
The updating of the physical therapy room.
“We also need a lot of work on the floors,” he said, “including some
new carpeting.”
Channing also was treated to a luncheon put on by the home’s Ani
Guild, celebrating its 37th anniversary. Jennifer Glove-Croghan, Miss
California USA in 2001 and Miss California in the 2002 Miss America
Pageant, entertained at the luncheon.
The reporter can be reached at [email protected] or (559)
441-6139.
INFOBOX
SHOWTIMES
What: Carol Channing’s “Hello, Fresno”
When: 2 and 7 p.m. today
Where: Tower Theatre, Fresno
Cost: $40 for matinee, $45 for evening show
Details: Patrick’s Music, (559) 224-7287, or Tower Theatre, (559)
485-9050
GRAPHIC: JOHN WALKER — THE FRESNO BEE Nick Zakarian is hugged by
Broadway legend Carol Channing during her Saturday visit to Fresno’s
California Armenian Home for the Aged.

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION LEADER’S AIDE DEPORTED TO USA
A1+ web site
27 Apr 04
27 April: An aide to Armenian People’s Party leader Stepan Demirchyan,
Artur Vardanyan, who is a US citizen, was deported from Armenia last
night.
Let us recall that he was arrested on Friday evening (23 April) and
was accused under Articles 300 and 329 of the Armenian Criminal Code
(calls for the change of the authorities and crossing the border
illegally).

A1 Plus | 20:47:28 | 22-04-2004 | Social |
INTELLECTUALS DON’T BELIEVE LAW MACHINERY
Intelligentsia has today referred to violence committed to Ashot Manucharyan
and disclosure of it. They announce they distrust the Armenian Police and
will launch their own investigation.
“It’s the consequence of the atmosphere Authorities have created and they
are responsible for that”, intellectuals announce. They say to fear for the
future of Armenia.

Today in History – April 24
.c The Associated Press
Today is Saturday, April 24, the 115th day of 2004. There are 251 days
left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On April 24, 1800, Congress approved a bill establishing the Library
of Congress.
On this date:
In 1792, the national anthem of France, “La Marseillaise,” was
composed by Captain Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.
In 1877, federal troops were ordered out of New Orleans, ending the
North’s post-Civil War rule in the South.
In 1898, Spain declared war on the United States after rejecting
America’s ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba.
In 1915, the Ottoman Turkish Empire began the brutal mass deportation
of Armenians during World War I.
In 1916, some 1,600 Irish nationalists launched the Easter Rising by
seizing several key sites in Dublin. (The rising was put down by
British forces several days later.)
In 1953, British statesman Winston Churchill was knighted by Queen
Elizabeth II.
In 1962, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology achieved the first
satellite relay of a television signal, between Camp Parks, Calif.,
and Westford, Mass.
In 1968, leftist students at Columbia University in New York began a
week-long occupation of several campus buildings.
In 1970, the People’s Republic of China launched its first satellite,
which kept transmitting a song, “The East is Red.”
In 1980, the United States launched an abortive attempt to free the
American hostages in Iran, a mission that resulted in the deaths of
eight U.S. servicemen.
Ten years ago: Bosnian Serbs, threatened with NATO air strikes,
grudgingly gave up their three-week assault on Gorazde, burning houses
and blowing up a water treatment plant as they withdrew.
Five years ago: On the second day of a NATO summit, the alliance ran
into objections from Russia and questions among its own members about
enforcing an oil embargo against Yugoslavia by searching ships at
sea. President Clinton urged Americans to be patient with the bombing
strategy in the meantime.
One year ago: U.S. forces in Iraq took custody of Tariq Aziz, the
former Iraqi deputy prime minister. China shut down a Beijing hospital
as the global death toll from SARS surpassed 260. In Red Lion, Pa., a
14-year-old boy shot and killed his school principal inside a crowded
junior high cafeteria, then killed himself.
Today’s Birthdays: Critic Stanley Kauffmann is 88. Actor J.D. Cannon
is 82. Actress Shirley MacLaine is 70. Author Sue Grafton is 64.
Actress-singer-director Barbra Streisand is 62. Chicago Mayor Richard
M. Daley is 62. Country singer Richard Sterban (The Oak Ridge Boys) is
61. Rock musician Doug Clifford (Creedence Clearwater Revival) is
59. Actor-playwright Eric Bogosian is 51. Actor Michael O’Keefe is
49. Rock musician David J (Bauhaus) is 47. Rock musician Billy Gould
is 41. Actor-comedian Cedric the Entertainer is 40. Actor Djimon
Hounsou is 40. Rock musician Patty Schemel is 37. Rock musician Aaron
Comess (Spin Doctors) is 36. Actor Derek Luke is 30. Country singer
Rebecca Lynn Howard is 25. Singer Kelly Clarkson (“American Idol”)
is 22.
Thought for Today: “I know of no method to secure the repeal of bad
or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution.” –
Ulysses S. Grant, U.S. President (1822-1885).
04/12/04 12:15 EDT