Author: Chakrian Hovsep

Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918
Fax. (202) 775-5648
[email protected]
Internet

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
July 8, 2009
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

GENOCIDE AWARENESS ACT CLEARS CA STATE ASSEMBLY EDUCATION COMMITTEE

SACRAMENTO, CA — The California State Assembly Education
Committee unanimously passed SB 234, the Genocide Awareness Act
this afternoon, reported the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA). The legislation, authored by CA Senator Mark Wyland (R-
northern San Diego County), calls on the CA State Curriculum
Commission to consider the inclusion of an oral history component
to its already mandatory genocide education curriculum.

Testifying on behalf of the Armenian National Committee, San
Francisco resident and former Human Rights Commissioner Haig
Baghdassarian urged members of the committee "to help foster
generations of citizens who have been sensitized to the horrors of
such crimes against humanity by providing them with an opportunity
to hear first-hand accounts from genocide survivors."

Also testifying in support of the bill was Dr. Stephan Astourian of
the University of California, Berkeley’s History Department. Dr.
Astourian also serves on the Board of Directors for the Genocide
Education Project.

Opening his testimony, Astourian noted that, "I will start with a
statement attributed to Stalin that justifies ironically enough the
importance and usefulness of this bill: the death of one man is a
tragedy, the death of millions a statistic. The introduction of
oral history in the curriculum will put the human face and voice on
that statistic. It will personalize and humanize the inhumane
abstraction that is genocide."

Both the curriculum and SB 234 make explicit reference to the
Armenian Genocide in addition to several other genocides of the
20th Century. The Turkish lobby has actively sought to undermine
the legislation as it progressed through the California State
Senate, which unanimously passed the bill on June 3rd this year.

Bruce Fein, the infamous Washington, DC-based professional Armenian
Genocide denier and lobbyist who had testified against SB 234
during the CA Senate Education Committee, once again traveled to
Sacramento in an attempt to derail the anti-genocide bill. His
efforts were rebuffed by Senator Wyland and the anti-genocide
advocates participating in the hearing.

When discussing the legislation after it passed through the CA
Senate Education Committee, Senator Wyland noted that, "only by
acknowledging horrific events of the past can we effectively
transform the future. The more we educate our kids, the closer we
are to determining why it is genocide happens over and over again."

"With over six million public school students, California has the
unique opportunity to influence a huge number of the next
generation of citizens by helping our children understand the
terror of genocide so it doesn’t happen again," he added.

Having cleared the CA State Assembly Education Committee, SB 234
now moves to the CA State Assembly Appropriations Committee for
consideration.

THE KIMBALL CHRONICLES: DON KING’S VICTORY TOUR
By George Kimball

The Sweet Science
Sunday Jul 5, 2009

You may not see Don King moon-walking on the July 11 Showtime telecast,
but before the night is over you may see more of the World’s Greatest
Promoter and the late Michael Jackson than you do of Joseph Agbeko
and Vic Darchinyan.

King celebrated the Fourth of July a day early, hosting a barbeque
at his Deerfield Beach offices last Friday, eight days after Jacko’s
death and eight days before the bantamweight title bout down the road
at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, and announced that his plans
to turn the latter occasion into a Michael Jackson tribute.

"I was shocked and saddened when I learned of Michael’s passing,"
said King. "One never knows how they will react to something like
this, and I found it hard to do media interviews or even issue a
statement. Like so many other people around the world, I have been
trying to find a way to remember this musical genius, who I loved and
was a good friend of mine. My next boxing event is on July 11, so I
have decided to pay tribute to him there in any way we can think of."

How? King said that he had searched through his archives and found some
"rare, behind-the-scenes video clips" depicting himself and Michael
from the star-crossed 1984 Victory Tour, and plans to show them at
the boxing event as a tribute to the Gloved One.

Now, the cynic might note that the advance sale for Agbeko-Darchinyan
had heretofore been just about what you’d expect for a fight between
one guy from Ghana and another from Armenia in South Florida in the
hottest month of the year, and that even 25 year-old Jackson videos
might help.

The Victory Tour is not exactly remembered as a high point of Michael
Jackson’s career, but King may recall it with more fondness than
anyone, with the possible exception of Robert Kraft.

DK was just about the only non-Jackson who didn’t lose money on
the Victory Tour, and as for Kraft? Well, suffice it to say that
if King hadn’t struck his alliance with Michael Jackson that year,
Kraft probably wouldn’t own the New England Patriots today.

President of Armenia meets German ambassador completing her diplomatic
mission in Armenia

2009-07-04 13:18:00

ArmInfo. Today, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan met German
Ambassador to Armenia Andrea Victorini who is completing her diplomatic
mission in Armenia.

As the presidential press service reported, S. Sargsyan thanked the
ambassador for her activity in development of the Armenian-German
cooperation and said a bilateral political dialogue essentially
activated in the last few years, moreover, not only the
financial-economic, but also cultural and educational programmes
extended. The president emphasized with satisfaction that Germany is
the second trade partner of Armenia and one of the biggest investors.

For her part, the German ambassador pointed out success of the
Armenian-German cooperation. She emphasized the importance of the
upcoming session of the bilateral intergovernmental commission to be
held in July and expressed confidence that it will become the beginning
of new initiatives.

The parties also expressed satisfaction with cooperation in security
and defense. The president of Armenia wished success to the German
ambassador in her further activity.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE COVERAGE NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

Western Queens Gazette
July 1, 2009

Cover art from the online exhibition of front-page coverage of the
Armenian genocide by foreign media.

Armenian genocide has always been in the spotlight of foreign
media. Foreign media publications condemning the violence of Ottoman
power against Armenians serve as indirect evidence of the fact that
the Turkish atrocities were, indeed, genocide committed against
Armenians. Global media coverage is vital in that it touches upon
numerous issues concerning Armenian genocide. Especially notable
are English, Russian, French and American coverage and publications
on issues pertaining to Hamidian massacres, Adana atrocities and,
of course, the Genocide of 1915-1922. Publications with photos are
especially remarkable, for they convey valuable information about
genocide as a phenomenon, its process and consequences.

An exhibition of front-page coverage of the Armenian genocide by
foreign media is now available online for the first time. The coverage
of the issue began appearing at the beginning of the 19th century and
continues finding its place in modern-day media publications. These
publications evidence the worldwide response on the Armenian genocide
issue confirming its actuality, importance and awareness among the
international community. The online exhibition presented by the
Armenian Genocide Museum- Institute, although valuable, is only a
modest part of such publications open for new material submissions.

To view the online exhibition, visit http://genocide-museum.

RUSTAMIAN SAYS PACE RESOLUTION BALANCED

Yerkir
30.06.2009 15:11

Yerevan (Yerkir) – Armen Rustamian has said that while the March 2008
events were in the core of the amnesty but it was incomplete, leaving
"tails" which are going to cause serious problems for our country.

Rustamian, the chairman of the National Assembly’s Foreign Relations
Committee, said that the amnesty had a political context aimed at
March 1-2 events. "We have left some ‘tails" that will cause serious
problems in future. I am sure the reservations do not go in line with
the spirit and essence of the amnesty," he told a news conference
on June 30. He added that the amnesty should have applied to all the
defendants in the March 1 case.

He said he shared the expert findings of the PACE monitoring commission
that political speculations inside the fact-finding group became the
reason why the group was dissolved. He added that both the government
and the opposition had to be blamed for this. He also said that as a
result separate reports to be filed by the group members would leave
the parliamentary commission to draw conclusions.

Speaking of Zaruhi Postanjian’s statement that he did not join her
proposal, Rustamian said. "If not mentioning any other reason, I can’t
see me in a group with Ms Hajibaili who is a staunch anti-Armenian. I
don’t believe that Azerbaijanis are sincere i n helping bring democracy
to Armenia."

71% OF RESPONDENTS: ARMENIAN ECONOMY ALREADY STRICKEN BY GLOBAL RECESSION

ARKA
June 29, 2009

YEREVAN, June 29. /ARKA/. On Monday, Armenian Marketing Association,
summarizing the results of the survey held in April, said: "71%
of respondents are convinced that the global recession has already
struck at the country’s economy".

The Association says this figure has grown trice since the previous
survey in November 2008 (22%).

Only 20% of respondents against 47% in November think the crisis will
impact Armenian economy.

Five percent of surveyed citizens (against 18%) expect a partial
impact and three percent (against nine) think Armenia will manage to
avoid adverse consequences of the global crisis.

The association surveyed 1,082 residents of Yerevan, provincial
centers and villages were surveyed.

Armenian Marketing Association, a member of Eurasian Monitor, was
established by a group of marketing experts in 2002.

The necessity to establish this NGO emerged because of precipitous
competition growth on Armenia’s market.

The company was established for improving quality of marketing
consultations and analyses.

The Association’s mission is to establish ties among Armenian marketing
companies, to provide trainings to marketing experts and intensify
cooperation between Armenian and foreign organizations and develop
marketing institution in Armenia.

Trend, Azerbaijan
June 27 2009

OSCE to monitor contact line between Azerbaijani, Armenian armies
27.06.09 12:10

Azerbaijan, Baku, June 27 /Trend News/

On June 30, monitoring will be held on the contact line between
Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces near Khoka Nabi village of Tovuz
region, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry told Trend News. The
monitoring will be held after a mandate by the special envoy of the
OSCE chairman.

The monitoring will be held on the Azerbaijani side by OSCE
Chairman-in-Office Personal Representative field assistants Anjey
Kasprshik, Pieter Ki and Jaslan Nurtazin.

The monitoring will be held on the opposite side, which the
international community recognizes as Azerbaijani territory, by OSCE
Chairman-in-Office Personal Representative field assistants Imre
Palatinus, Irji Aberli and Vladimir Chountulov.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan
lost all of Nagorno-Karabakh except for Shusha and Khojali in December
1991. In 1992-93, Armenian armed forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and 7
districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed
a ceasefire in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia,
France, and the U.S. – are currently holding the peace negotiations.

ARMENIAN CHURCH HISTORY INVOLVED IN UNESCO NEW EDITION

Noyan Tapan
June 26, 2009

ANTELIAS, JUNE 26, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The UNESCO published
a valuable edition recently, entitled "Cultural Aspects of Christian
and Islamic Religions."

According to the information from the Antelias Patriarchate, the
History of the Armenian Church is given an important place in the book
published in the Arabic language. The Commission on International
Relations of the Catholicosate of Cilicia, particularly, Commission
member Jean Salmanian assisted publication of the book.

RA DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER TAKES PART IN ANNUAL OSCE CONFERENCE ON SECURITY

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
26.06.2009 20:24 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ RA deputy foreign minister Arman Kirakosyan on
June 23 took part in the annual OSCE conference in Vienne devoted
to security problems. Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov made
a speech at the conference. Armenian deputy foreign minister made
presentations at the conference. As Arman Kirakosyan particularly
stressed during discussions, tt the core of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict is the right of nations to self determination and ensuring
the security of the people of Nagorno Karabakh, press office of the
ministry of foreign affairs of Armenia reports.

G-8 BACKS TURKEY-ARMENIA TALKS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
26.06.2009 23:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A declaration published by the G-8 foreign ministers
in Italy’s Trieste city made a referral to Turkish-Armenian relations
on Friday. The declaration included evaluations made by the G-8
ministers. In their declaration, the G-8 ministers touched on the
"Caucasus" and said that they appreciated Turkey’s and Armenia’s
efforts to normalize relations, AA reported.