Author: Chatinian Lara

ARMENIAN EYE CARE PROJECT OFFERS REWARDS TO ITS PATIENTS, VOLUNTEERS
By John A. Hovanesian, MD

OSN SuperSite NJ
Cataract Surgery

Ocular Surgery News U.S. Edition September 15, 2007

Thanks, in part, to ophthalmologists’ efforts dating back to 1992,
the country boasts state-of-the-art technology and research today.

Why would a practicing ophthalmologist, at the last minute, delay
a family vacation and fly alone through 12 time zones to a country
where he had never been?

John A. Hovanesian – Photo

"Because I got a fax asking for help," said Roger Ohanesian, MD,
of Laguna Beach, Calif., the founder and president of the nonprofit
Armenian Eye Care Project (AECP).

The fax arrived in September 1992 from the foreign minister of the
then newly independent Republic of Armenia. It was sent to dozens of
U.S. physicians, asking for help in the fight against a "growing wave
of blindness" shortly after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Within
2 days of a scheduled family vacation, Dr. Ohanesian gathered whatever
medical supplies he could and rescheduled his itinerary to instead
travel to the Caucasus region, while his wife and 12-year-old son flew
to London. Dr. Ohanesian had no idea that this would be the first of
30 trips to Armenia.

Bad old days

"Armenia is a country the size of Maryland that borders Iran, Turkey,
Azerbaijan and Georgia," Dr.

Ohanesian said. "In addition to the economic challenge of its new
independence, it had two other significant setbacks during this time:
a 7.2-magnitude earthquake in 1988 that destroyed most of Armenia’s
infrastructure and a war with neighboring Azerbaijan in the same
year that tapped its resources and touched off an epidemic of ocular
trauma."

"When we arrived on those trips in the early ’90s, people were
literally lined up for half a mile to see us," said Richard Hill, MD,
professor of ophthalmology at UC-Irvine, who has been to Armenia with
the AECP more than 20 times, each time traveling at his own expense,
as do all of the volunteer physicians. "Many of the slit lamps were of
an old Soviet style with horrible optics and nonfunctional bulbs. We
used penlights for illumination instead of the slit beam."

Sleeping only a few hours on cots in a spare hospital room,
Dr. Ohanesian, Dr. Hill and a number of other volunteers (see sidebar)
learned to improvise in the early days, as did the Armenians. "I
remember a freezing cold day in the operating room doing a membrane
peel procedure," said Sanford Chen, MD, a retinal specialist
from Laguna Hills, Calif., and clinical assistant professor at
UC-Irvine. "Just as I had grasped the premacular fibrosis with forceps,
the lights went out. I had to hold the instruments steady while the
staff ran to the hospital basement to fire up the generator. It took
forever. I later learned, because someone had stolen the fuel for
the generator, they had to find more."

Teaching a man to fish For several years, Drs. Ohanesian and Hill
traveled to Armenia twice a year, each time spending 2 weeks. "I soon
realized that I was spending one-twelfth of my life with my friend
Roger in a Third World country," Dr. Hill said. "We just couldn’t
do all the surgery ourselves, so we designed a residency program in
Armenia similar to ours at UC-Irvine. Very quickly, Armenia’s best
and brightest young ophthalmologists stood out, and we allowed a few
to come to the United States for fellowship training."

Baruch Kupperman, MD, professor of ophthalmology at UC-Irvine said,
"I still enjoy a close friendship with Armen Vardanian, the AECP
retina fellow who trained with me."

Dr. Kupperman, who has traveled twice to Armenia, has witnessed
Dr. Vardanian, and other AECP trainees, not only perform much of his
own surgery for free but also duplicate his training in the other
young doctors.

"It’s incredibly gratifying to see that we have built an entire
tertiary care ophthalmology department from a vacuum."

The mother of invention

Still, Armenia’s health care system had many needs.

"One of the oddest innovations by our residency graduates in Armenia
was the use of sterile cigarette filters in place of expensive
Merocel sponges," said Anthony Aldave, MD, associate professor at
the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute, who has also traveled twice
to Armenia. "They actually work extremely well for wicking away
aqueous, blood and vitreous. They start with a 6-inch long strip
of round cigarette filter material with the end cut at an angle to
make a point, and when the tip becomes wet, the nurses simply cut it
shorter to create a fresh, absorbent end."

Dr. Aldave laughed as he recalled, "They actually use the word
‘cigarette’ in the Armenian language, and I remember one case where
the surgeon asked the assistant in Armenian for ‘another cigarette’
and the patient, under local anesthetic, asked, ‘Doctor, is this
really a time for smoking?’"

Expanding to rural areas "I’ll never forget a tiny, 4-foot tall
grandma from the villages," Dr. Ohanesian said. "After her cataract
surgery, she took off her patch and looked at her 3- and 6-year-old
grandchildren for the first time. We all cried together." She, like
two-thirds of Armenia’s population of 3 million, lives outside the
capital city of Yerevan, but many local villagers are too poor to
travel for medical care. To reach them, the AECP between 2002 and 2004
raised $1 million to build a fully functional eye hospital on wheels.

"Every expert in Third World medical care told us that a mobile
hospital program was a mistake – that it just wouldn’t work,"
Dr. Ohanesian said. Yet in the 5 years since its deployment,
the AECP mobile hospital program has screened 160,000 patients,
performed 6,000 major surgeries (mostly cataract/IOL), 2,500 lasers
and has diagnosed tens of thousands of patients with disease requiring
medical intervention. "Because of the support of our donors, all this
care has been completely free of charge," Dr. Ohanesian said. The
mobile hospital program has been so successful that the U.S. Agency
for International Development has asked the AECP to provide guidance
on developing mobile programs for other medical specialties in Armenia.

Research in the Third World "Who knew that … Armenia could
offer a valuable research facility?" said Sarkis Soukiasian, MD,
of the Lahey Clinic in Massachusetts. So far, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration has accepted data from Armenia for phase 2 and phase
3 clinical trials for two different intravitreal injections and one
glaucoma tube-shunt device.

Today, the department supported by the AECP boasts its own telemedicine
consultation lab, a training classroom and library, a wetlab with
four Alcon Legacy phacoemulsification machines and video relay Leica
surgical microscopes, three modern operating rooms, and its own eye
bank. All these resources were either donated to the AECP by industry
sources or purchased by the AECP at substantial discounts with funds
from private donors.

"What’s most exciting now is that many patients travel to Armenia from
neighboring countries like Iran, Georgia and Russia because they’ve
heard it is an ophthalmic center of excellence," Dr. Ohanesian said.

The rewards

All of the AECP volunteers agree that friendships with patients and
other doctors, both Armenian and American, have been their greatest
payback for the work in Armenia. And many return trips for some have
only heightened their connection with this beautiful little country.

For more information: John A. Hovanesian, MD, FACS, is a
clinical instructor at the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute and
is in private practice in Laguna Hills, Calif. He can be reached
at Harvard Eye Associates, 24401 Calle De La Louisa, Suite 300,
Laguna Hills, CA 92653; 949-951-2020; fax: 949-380-7856; e-mail:
[email protected].

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: nian.htm

"A WORK OF ART SHOULD PROGRESS
TOWARDS IMMORTALITY"

The management of the Catholicosate of Cilicia’s Seminary organized an
evening of art in the "Prapion Doumanian" hall of the Seminary in Bikfaya on
September 6.

The event was organized under the auspices of Catholicos Aram I, who
attended the lecture along with the Members of the Cilician Brotherhood and
the Seminary students.

Prominent Lebanese-Armenian sculptor Zaven Khedeshian spoke about the art of
sculpture, focusing particularly on his creation of the Monument dedicated
to the victims of the Armenian Genocide in Bikfaya. In addition to
presenting his achievements in this field of art, the sculptor described how
the idea of the monument was conceived, how the preparatory work was carried
out, the collective efforts of the Armenian Community of Lebanon in the
project and finally its achievement. Khedeshian communicated information
valuable for historical purposes, demonstrating the Armenian artist’s will
to overcome difficulties and pass his legacy onto history.

Talking about art in general, Khedeshian said that each work of art should
have an eternal journey towards immortality. He cited the monument in
Bikfaya and some of his other works as examples of this conception of art.

The Pontiff praised the artist for his achievement both in the past and the
present. He emphasized the importance of spiritual values in art,
considering them true to the human spirit.

During the next academic year, Zaven Khedeshian will deliver several
lectures to the Seminary students, enriching their understanding of art and
their artistic taste.

##
View photo here:
tos/Photos33.htm
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Theological
Seminary 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.

Lragir, Armenia
Sept 8 2007

DAVIT SHAHNAZARYAN’S RHETORICAL QUESTIONS ON OPPOSITION AND GOVERNMENT

In a news conference on September 8 at the Azdak press club Davit
Shahnazaryan, a member of the All-Armenian Movement, asked questions
which were rhetorical and compared the government and the opposition.
Thereby Davit Shahnazaryan tried to show that without a fundamental
change in actions and stance the opposition is doomed to failure
because it has accepted the rule of the game of the government and
got adjusted to it.

`Who acts more transparently, the government or the opposition? Where
are there more intrigues, in the government or in the opposition? Who
is more irresponsible, the government or the opposition parties? Who
makes more controversial statements, the government or the
opposition?’ Davit Shahnazaryan said leaving it up to the society to
answer these questions.

COMMISSION ADVISES SELECTMEN TO PULL OUT OF NO PLACE FOR HATE PROGRAM
By Cassie Norton

Belmont Citizen-Herald, MA
001486
Sept 7 2007

Belmont, Mass. – The Human Rights Commission voted unanimously to
recommend to the Board of Selectmen that Belmont withdraw from the
No Place for Hate Program and sever all ties with the Anti-Defamation
League Thursday night.

The committee cited the ADL’s failure to unambiguously recognize
the Armenian Genocide and its continued opposition to Congressional
resolutions recognizing the genocide of hundreds of thousands Armenians
in the early 20th century.

Town Administrator Tom Younger said the HRC will be on the agenda
for the Sept. 17 selectmen meeting, unless the board decides otherwise.

ADL¡¯S ABE FOXMAN PICKETED AT THE 92ND STREET Y

Blogger News Network

Sept 7 2007

NEW YORK, September 6, 2007¨CAbe Foxman¡¯s limo circled the 92nd Street
Y warily a couple of times to give him a chance to survey the scene
across the street. A group of 40 to 50 young Armenians and Jews were
protesting the Anti-Defamation League¡¯s continued lobbying to have
HR/SR 106 (a symbolic Congressional resolution that recognizes the
Armenian Genocide) die without a floor vote, at the behest of Turkey.

Finally, Foxman ducked into the building to participate in a
panel discussion on ¡°anti-Semitism in the modern world and its
implications.¡± Ironically, the discussion was moderated by Fordham Law
Professor Thane Rosenbaum, author of ¡°The Myth of Moral Justice: Why
Our Legal System Fails to Do What¡¯s Right.¡± The event had been sold
out for days, so The Stiletto does not know whether Rosenbaum asked
Foxman why he failed to do the right thing in recognizing the Armenian
Genocide until several communities in MA refused to accept the ADL¡¯s
tolerance promotion program, ¡°No Place For Hate¡± in their schools.

Some protestors were holding handmade signs demanding that the ADL
fire Foxman over his Armenian Genocide denial, others were holding
signs demanding that Foxman support HR/SR 106. Among the slogans they
chanted non-stop for more than an hour:

¡°Fox¡¯s bargain is a shame!

No more denial in our name.¡±

¡°Gars, Auschwitz, Rwanda Sudan.

Many a murder, when will it end?¡±

¡°What did Hitler say?

Who remembers the Armenians?

We do. We do. We do.¡±

¡°ADL must support Resolution 106¡å

And the ever-popular:

¡°What do we want? Justice.

When do we want it? Now.¡±

The Stiletto caught up with a woman who gave her age as ¡°60ish,¡± just
as she was about to enter the Y to hear Foxman. She was interested in
what Foxman had to say about ¡°contemporary anti-Semitism.¡± Asked what
she thought about the crowd protesting the ADL¡¯s Armenian Genocide
denial, she mused, ¡°Does ¡®never again¡¯ mean for everybody or just
for Jews?¡± She answered her own question: ¡°It is important for
Jews to recognize the Genocide. We are conscious of other people¡¯s
oppression, not just our own.¡±

As it was nearly 8:15 pm and the rest of the ticket-holders were
scurrying inside so they could take their seats before the evening¡¯s
program got under way, The Stiletto crossed the street to meet some
of the protesters and find out why they opposed Foxman¡¯s positions
on the Armenian Genocide and on HR/SR 106.

¡°I am Jewish,¡± said documentary filmmaker Lauren Kesner, 30, ¡°but
I have very strong Armenian connections because I lived in Armenia
for several years working on a film¡± about the 1994 war between
Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno Karabakh region. That film,
¡°A Story of People In War & Peace,¡± had its U.S. premiere (video
link) at the Tribeca Film Festival a few weeks ago.

Kesner believes the ADL¡¯s position on the Armenian Genocide is
realpolitik, plain and simple: ¡°Turkey is Israel¡¯s most important
ally in the Middle East. Because the Jewish community supports Israel,
they don¡¯t want to get on Turkey¡¯s bad side.¡± Recognizing that the
Armenian Genocide is ¡°a sensitive issue¡± for supporters of Israel,
she nevertheless insists that, ¡°Jews ¨C of all people ¨C need to
stand up to the injustice of genocide, because of how the Holocaust
traumatized the Jewish community worldwide.¡±

The Armenians she lived amongst are still haunted by the Genocide,
and ¡°it rubs salt in the wounds to deny it.¡±

The anti-Foxman protest is the first of many that will bring Armenians
and Jews together to fight for justice, said Doug Geogerian, 38, who
sits on the board of the Eastern Region of the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA), a grassroots lobby that promotes
Armenian-American issues. He marvels at how Foxman ¡°is using the
ADL and its reputation of having fought the KKK and neo-nazis,
to collaborate with the Turkish government and deny the Armenian
Genocide.¡±

Geogerian added, ¡°Supporting Turkey benefits Israel. But there is
also a cost – a cost in public integrity. Many Jews are starting to
feel that the cost is too great.¡±

Note: The Stiletto writes about politics and other stuff at The
Stiletto Blog.

–Boundary_(ID_3BGk+/VC/6cR3ZefQKkq0g)–

MAN IN FRAUD CASE MARRIES
By Paul Grimaldi, Journal Staff Writer

Providence Journal, RI
Sept 7 2007

PROVIDENCE – A California man who agreed to plead guilty in May to
federal fraud charges got married this summer while being held in
the intake center at the Adult Correctional Institutions, according
to a court document.

Intake-center marriages are uncommon events, according to the man’s
lawyer and a prison official.

"No. It’s not usual at all," said John E MacDonald, of Larochelle &
MacDonald in Providence. "This was my first in 12 years of practice."

Prison officials field three or four requests a year to allow the
ceremonies, which they are required to grant, according to Tracey
Poole, an ACI spokeswoman. Marriage ceremonies are typically
overseen by a Family Court judge, as was the case July 17, when
Arman Ter-Esayan, of Valley Glen, Calif., married Araz Setaghaian,
of Glendale, Calif.

Ter-Esayan, an Armenian who settled in the Los Angeles area four years
ago, faces the prospect of being deported as a result of his role in
diverting $132,000 from the bank and credit accounts of customers at
two Stop & Shop stores in Rhode Island.

It’s unlikely that the July wedding will lessen his chances of being
deported, or even help reduce a potential prison sentence, legal
observers said.

"It’s not clear to me at all a marriage would have a substantive
effect on his ability to stay in this country," said Peter Margulies,
a professor of law at Roger Williams University. Margulies specializes
in immigration law and national security.

Ter-Esayan, 22, is one of four Californians arrested in February
at a Stop & Shop in Coventry as they tried to retrieve a doctored
personal identification number (PIN) pad from a checkout lane. The
other men are: Gevork Baltadjian, 20, of Winnetka; Mikael Stepanian,
28, of Studio City; and Arutyun Shatarevyan, 20, of Los Angeles.

Videotape evidence links the men to 1,100 account thefts at Stop &
Shops in Providence, Cranston and Coventry, and ultimately, to ATM
withdrawals made in California, according to the U.S. Secret Service.

In the days leading up to their arrest, the men removed or tried to
remove original PIN pads from at least six stores in Rhode Island
and Massachusetts, according to authorities.

"It is clear from the offense facts that neither Ter-Esayan nor any
of his coconspirators had any connection whatsoever to Rhode Island,"
said Lee H. Vilker, an assistant U.S. Attorney, in a court document.

"The defendants simply viewed Rhode Island as a location they could
quickly victimize before they returned to California and transferred
Rhode Islanders’ account information to others involved in this
conspiracy."

All four men agreed this year to plead guilty to charges of conspiracy
to commit fraud and aggravated identity theft as a result of deals
they signed with federal prosecutors.

Ter-Esayan and Baltadjian are set to be sentenced this morning in
U.S. District Court, Providence. Sentencing for Stepanian is set for
Nov. 2. Shatarevyan is scheduled for sentencing Nov. 30.

All four could get up to five years in prison on the first charge
and at least two more years in prison on the second charge, as well
as fines of up to $250,000 on each charge, according to federal court
documents. The men would remain on probation for at least three years
after their release, if U.S. District Judge William Smith approves
the agreement.

Smith could reject the deal they’ve struck with the government and
impose some other sentence; including adding the possibility of being
deported should they commit a crime after their release from prison.

None of the four men being held in connection with the theft is a
U.S. citizen, according to statements made in earlier hearings.

The four men are Armenian, though they hold permanent-resident alien
status in the United States, said Magistrate Judge David L. Martin.

Three of the men – Stepanian, Baltadjian and Shatarevyan – arrived
in the United States from Armenia in 1993, and Ter-Esayan in 2003.

In a document filed in advance of today’s hearing, Ter-Esayan’s
lawyers tried to depict him as having established strong ties to his
California community.

In Glendale, outside of Los Angeles, about one-third of the city’s
206,000 residents are Armenian. Among them is Setaghaian, who
Ter-Esayan began dating after he joined his family in this country,
according to the document.

"They fell in love and eventually Mr. Ter-Esayan proposed," the
document states.

The wedding was set for Nov. 8.

According to the Aug. 31 filing, Setaghaian was "stunned" by the news
of Ter-Esayan’s arrest. Attempts by The Journal to contact Setaghaian,
or confirm, the date and place of the wedding, were unsuccessful. She
apparently agreed to go through with a wedding, move up the date and
travel to Rhode Island for the event.

It’s uncertain, though, how soon the couple could be together.

If the court accepts his guilty plea, and the deal that goes with it,
Ter-Esayan will probably spend more time in jail.

"The prison time in this [case] doesn’t really matter," said Carl
Krueger, a lawyer with the International Institute of Rhode Island

After that, the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement could
begin deportation proceedings against him. "The immigration law
creates a presumption that it’s a sham marriage," Krueger said.

If he’s deported, Ter-Esayan could be barred from legally reentering
the country for at least 10 years, Krueger and others said.

"The reality is [that] it is nearly impossible to lawfully reenter
the United States after deportation," MacDonald said.

CZECH YOUTH FOOTBALL TEAM ARRIVED IN YEREVAN

armradio.am
07.09.2007 17:20

The youth football team of the Czech Republic arrived in Yerevan
today. On September 8 the Czech team will hold a qualification match
with the youth football team of Armenia in the framework of the
European Youth Championship.

ARMENIA 32ND IN THE OF ECONOMIC FREEDOM

armradio.am
07.09.2007 17:06

Armenia has been ranked 32nd in the 2007 Index of Economic Freedom,
which measures and ranks 161 countries across 10 specific freedoms,
things like tax rates and property rights.

Armenia is an absolute leader in the South Caucasian region. With
the same number of points Armenia shares the leading position with
Kazakhstan over the CIS territory.

Among the post-Soviet states Estonia has the freest economy and
occupies the 8th position. Russia is 112th.

The investigation of economic freedoms was carried out by American
economist, Professor James Gwartney Robert Lawson.

NAGORNYY KARABAKH LEADER PRIORITIZES RECOGNITION OF NKR REPUBLIC

Public Television of Armenia
7 Sep 07
Yerevan

The newly-elected president of Nagornyy Karabakh, Bako Sahakyan,
has outlined the main goals of his presidency in the next five
years. Speaking at his inauguration ceremony in the Nagornyy Karabakh
capital of Stepanakert, broadcast live by Armenian Public TV,
Sahakyan said that his main goal is to build a viable, socially
just, economically developed, and politically stable state and
achieve the international recognition of Nagornyy Karabakh. We have
a clear-cut programme to solve the republic’s problems and ensure
its full participation in the negotiating process with Azerbaijan,
he said. The following is an excerpt from report by Armenian Public
TV on 7 September. Subheadings have been inserted editorially:

By taking over the post of president of the Nagornyy Karabakh
republic, I take the oath of loyalty to the constitution. I
will protect citizens’ and people’s rights, ensure the republic’s
self-determination, independence, territorial integrity and security
in the name of the Nagornyy Karabakh republic and our nation.

[Passage omitted: Religious ceremony]

Honourable President of the Republic of Armenia, honourable Mr. Arkadi
Ghukasyan, Your Grace Holy Father, dear chairman of the national
assembly, dear deputies and guests, ladies and gentlemen.

Independent statehood

Assuming the high and responsible post of the president of the
Nagornyy Karabakh republic, I would like to thank our people first
for their active participation in the 19 July presidential elections
and my constituency for their confidence. I appreciate the position of
those citizens who voted for other presidential candidates too. This
means that they are concerned about development and progress in our
country. These will be definitely taken into consideration.

The past elections once again proved the unified will of
the Artsakh people to live in a free and sovereign historical
motherland. Simultaneously, they demonstrated the decisive role of
the country’s public and political circles in forming the state’s
supreme authority. In the coming five years we will continue to build
a free and prosperous country ensuring cooperation between all strata
of our society in order to achieve this purpose.

Taking the opportunity I would like to thank all governmental
and non-governmental structures of foreign states, international
organizations and mass media that observed the 19 July elections and
covered this important event for our state. The assessments of the
observers will substantially contribute to increase the rating of
our country. We also highly assessed their remarks and suggestions,
which will be taken into consideration in the further democratization
of our country.

These assessments prove that the foundation of our independent
statehood is quite firm. In this context, I would like to express my
respect and gratitude to the first president of the Nagornyy Karabakh
republic, the president of the Republic of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan,
for his services and contribution to the NKR’s declaration as an
independent state, for the effective organization of the republic’s
defence against aggression, for the development of state institutions,
economic recovery in the first post-war years, as well as for his
input in the just settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.

Achievements in the recent period gave me grounds to thank the second
president of the Nagornyy Karabakh republic, Arkadi Ghukasyan, on
behalf of the people. During his leadership in the last 10 years, our
country registered considerable progress in carrying out socioeconomic
reforms, democratization of public and political life, and finally
adopted its main law – the Constitution of the NKR. We are confident
that Mr. Ghukasyan will continue to use his rich experience as a state,
political and national figure for the interests of the motherland.

During the campaign I got another chance to visit almost all
settlements of the republic and become acquainted with problems and
concerns of our people.

It was very important for me to see and hear about all these issues. In
the coming five years we will definitely take into account suggestions
and advice given during these meetings.

Main goals

The main goal of my presidency will be to have a viable, socially just,
economically developed, and politically stable state. The strength
of the state to a great extent derives from our policy towards the
needs of youth and socially vulnerable strata. The authorities have
much to do in this field.

Being guided by the constitution we will continue to build a state,
which will protect the interests of its citizens. Ethnic minorities
will also enjoy special protection.

We have a clear-cut programme on solving the problems that have
faced our republic. In order to implement this programme, we need
to reshape the policy of socioeconomic development and put special
emphasis on exploring investment resources directing them into the
most perspective fields. The scientific and intellectual potential
will also serve this purpose.

The international recognition of the Artsakh Republic, which is a
pillar of our foreign policy, will give a serious impetus to the pace
of our development. This also arises from regional interests. The
NKR defence army will be ready to rebuff any attack against our state
and people.

The issues of army building, strengthening defence capacity and
solving social problems of servicemen will always be in the centre
of our attention.

We are exclusively adherent to the principles of the peaceful
settlement of the Karabakh-Azerbaijan conflict. Highly assessing
the efforts of international mediators, we hope that our opponents
will eventually realize that there is no alternative to the full
participation of the Nagornyy Karabakh republic in the negotiating
process.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The international recognition of the Nagornyy Karabakh republic is the
most important task that requires hard work to further consolidate the
potentials of Artsakh, Armenia and the diaspora and deepen traditional
cooperation. Our strength is in our unity.

AZERBAIJAN DISTORTS SOUTH CAUCASUS HISTORY TO SATISFY NATIONAL INTERESTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.09.2007 14:25 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Last year the National Academy of Sciences of
the Republic of Armenia warned of Azerbaijani scientific society’s
engagement in conjunctive rewriting of South Caucasian peoples’
history with the purpose of political service to the despotic and
anti-democratic state, director of the institute of national and
strategic studies at the RA defense ministry, adviser to the defense
minister, political scientist, senior expert of ethnic and national
security political sciences, major general Hayk Kotanjian said in an
interview posted at the defense ministry’s web site.

"The fact of total distortion and suppression of true information
in Azerbaijan is reflected in the statements of Freedom House and
is described as one of the most vivid signs of the anti-democratic
regime of this country. Generally, the menace is that the distortion
of the facts committed under personal supervision of the head of
state acquired a form of systematic destruction of the possibility to
build trust between the Armenian and Azeri people. Modern and ancient
history of the Armenian people published by authoritative scientific
schools of the world is being falsified.

In an aspiration to undermine trust to valid Armenian sources, the
"denouncers" accuse of falsification not only modern authoritative
schools but also generations of historians and figures from many
states who published works during centuries-long communication with
the Armenian people.

The Aliyev regime ascribes to Armenians the crimes against
"Azeri people" even during the times when Turkic ancestors of
modern Azeris had not penetrated from Central Asia into the South
Caucasus. These faked-up materials are filled with terms ‘Azerbaijan’
and ‘Azeri’. These terms are also used for description of Indo-European
and Caucasian peoples who lived in Eastern Transcaucasia long before
Turks’ invasion.

Thus, the Aliyev regime canonizes the whole scope of centuries-old
cultural and historical activities of Medians, Persians, Armenians,
Talishians, Lezghins, Avarians, Udins and others as ‘Azeri’. All
this is nothing but attempts to poison the good neighborhood between
Armenians and the heirs of their historical neighbors – the ethnic
minorities of today’s Azerbaijan," Hayk Kotanjian said.