Author: Chatinian Lara

BAKU “DOESN’T RULE OUT KARABAKH HAVING CONSTITUTION”
PanARMENIAN.Net
26.05.2006 13:44 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Azerbaijan adheres to the peaceful settlement of
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, however we should understand that 20%
of territories are seized and sooner or later we will do the utmost
to return them,” Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov
told reporters on May 25. He remarked that the OSCE MG Co-chairs
comprehended Azerbaijan’s position and voiced hope that this position
will be spelled out to Yerevan.
“The matter concerns not new proposals but new ideas of the OSCE Minsk
Group. Azerbaijan can agree with some of them and disagree with the
others. However diplomacy implies the method of compromises and we are
awaiting the outcomes of the Yerevan talks,” Elmar Mammadyarov said.
He also noted that Nagorno Karabakh “is a constituent of Azerbaijan
and any variant of the conflict settlement should proceed from the
postulates of the Azeri Constitution. At that he did not rule out that
Karabakh may have its Constitution. “Nakhichevan autonomous republic,
Tatarstan and Bashkortostan have their Constitution, for example,”
he said.
In his words, Montenegro’s secession from Serbia is a not precedent for
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. “We understand that Karabakh’s status
should be determined sooner or later, but not Armenians should do it.
First, Azeris should return to their homes and then the issue will
be put on the agenda,” Mammadyarov said. The Azeri FM advised not
to hurry with conclusions on the outcomes of the OSCE Minsk Group’s
visit and wait for a formal statement.

ARAM HARUTIUNYAN’S QUESTION IS GOVERNMENT’S PROBLEM
Lragir.am
24 May 06
Of the officials who left the Orinats Yerkir Party Sergo Yeritsyan
was very quickly dismissed from the post of the minister of education
and culture. Aram Harutiunyan, the minister of city planning, is
still in office. He is not a party affiliate any more. “Has anyone
given you a guarantee that you will not be dismissed?” In answer to
this question he said, “It is not a problem that I should decide,
it is a problem to be decided by the government. I have expressed my
willingness; if the government assesses my work, I will fulfill my
duties,” answered Aram Harutiunyan. Aram Harutiunyan is unlikely to
affiliate with any political party in the nearest future.

2ND RECORDER RECOVERED FROM ARMENIAN PLANE
Niagara Gazette, NY
May 24 2006
MOSCOW
Searchers on Wednesday recovered the second flight recorder from an
Armenian airliner that crashed into the Black Sea three weeks ago,
killing all 113 people aboard, local media reported.
The flight data recorder was lifted by a diving apparatus from a
depth of about 1,640 feet after it was separated from a thick layer
of silt, said Transport Ministry spokeswoman Svetlana Kryshtanovskaya,
according to the RIA-Novosti news agency.
The data recorder was discovered within 50 feet from where workers
on Monday found the plane’s cockpit voice recorder.
Russian television channels showed a yellow, remote-controlled
apparatus lifting the red recorder from the sea surface.
Investigators hope the two recorders will help answer why the Armavia
Airbus A-320 plane plunged into the sea May 3 in heavy rain and poor
visibility. The flight had been en route to the southern Russian sea
resort Sochi from the Armenian capital, Yerevan.
Prosecutors almost immediately dismissed the possibility that
terrorists had brought the plane down, and officials point to rough
weather or pilot error as the likely cause. Armavia officials have
suggested, however, that air traffic controllers were at least partly
to blame.
Top Armenian aviation officials will travel to Moscow Thursday for
deciphering the recorders, a process that could also take place in
Paris with the involvement of Airbus, said Gayane Davtian, a spokesman
for Armenia’s civil aviation authority.
Meanwhile, the victims’ relatives are to receive compensation of
$20,000 each, the insurance company liable for the payments said
Wednesday.
“The insurance payments will not depend in any way on the cause of
the catastrophe,” said Artak Antonian, head of the Grand insurance
company.

WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY HALF CLOSED?
By Aghavni Harutyunian
AZG Armenian Daily
25/05/2006
“I am not desperate about it [Nagorno Karabakh conflict]; I wouldn’t
say I’m optimistic. It depends on the two parties concerned, Armenia
and Azerbaijan.
They have to come to an agreement. We can try to [help] them to do
so, but they need to come to an agreement,” OSCE chairman in office,
Belgian foreign minister Karel De Gucht told RFE/RL. “Sometimes you
have more hope, and sometimes the hope is fading away.
What we must do is continue to the end of the year, to the bitter
end of our chairmanship-in-office, to try to find ways and means to
get out of this frozen conflict,” he said. Among the stambling block
on the way of Nagorno Karabakh regulation Karel De Gucht mentioned
the closed Armenian-Turkish border: “the closure of the border with
Turkey is one of the elements that is complicating the whole conflict.”
Curiously enough the OSCE chairman in office says for the first time
that 2006 will not be a solution year contrary to statements of the
mediating mission. Up to this moment, only the negotiating sides used
to reveal such pessimism. Perhaps, one can assume that the OSCE does
not see the “window of opportunity” on the other side of which “laid”
conflict regulation.

ACCORDING TO ARAM KARAPETIAN, INNER-POLITICAL CRISIS OF ARMENIA RULED OVER BY AUTHORITIES
Noyan Tapan
May 22 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 22, NOYAN TAPAN. A state of ruled over crisis has
been created in Armenia. Aram Karapetian, the Chairman of the “Nor
Zhamanakner” (New Times) party expressed such an opinion at the May
19 meeting taken place at the National Press Club. According to him,
the “Orinats Yerkir” (Country of Law) party’s and its head Artur
Baghdasarian’s actions are ruled over by the authorities. According to
Karapetian, on the one hand, the OYK actions are provided by the French
factor, on the other hand, by country President Robert Kocharian’s and
OYK Chairman Artur Baghdasarian’s mutual relations. In his opinion,
Baghdasarian has had rather good relations with Kocharian, due to
what he became the NA Speaker then: “I do not think that all those
were forgotten, and Artur Baghdasarian is so opposing that may act
in some way without agreeing.”
According to the opposing figure, all these are connected with the
expected geo-political developments. Suppose, if a necessity arises to
gain time connected with the Karabakh issue, in the case of a rulable
crisis, it is possible to dissolute the Parliament at any moment,
to hold new parliamentary elections and to state that a critical
situation is created in the country. In Aram Karapetian’s opinion,
one of the goals of the ruled over crisis is to create a parliamentary
crisis. According to him, either special parliamentary or special
presidential elections will be in Armenia. He mentioned that connected
with the Iran issue, the Karabakh problem, processes taking place in
Georgia, Armenia will appear in a state when force majeurs may become
basis for a serious process. In Karapetian’s opinion, the one, that,
according to him, the President had not to leave the country to avoid
any compulsion connected with the Karabakh settlement, speaks about the
fact that Armenia has no role today in the geo-political field. In the
opinion of the “Nor Zhamanakner” Chairman, in the created situation,
any action of the authorities, either it is a special parliamentary
or a special presidential election, or any mistake made while rulling
over the crisis, may result a big revolutionary wave.

ARMENIAN AND AZERI PRESIDENTS MAY MEET IN BUCHAREST
PanARMENIAN.Net
22.05.2006 16:30 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The OSCE Minsk Group for the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict settlement proposed to hold a recurrent meeting of the
Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents in Bucharest, June 4-6 within
the framework of the “Black Sea for Partnership and Dialogue” summit,
Russian mediator Yuri Merzlyakov informed.
In a conversation with a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, RA President’s
Spokesman Victor Soghomonyan neither refuted nor confirmed the
information. In his words, it’s premature to speak of anything precise
until the end of the talks.
It should also be noted that Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Grigory Karasin, French MFA Political Director Stanislas de Laboulaye
and U.S. Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of European and Eurasian
Affairs Daniel Fried will arrive in the region with the mediators.

California Courier Online, May 25, 2006
1 – Commentary
Turkey Fails to Defeat French Bill
Despite Threats and Blackmail
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
2 – Cong. Napolitano’s “Women of Year” Event
Recognizes Unsung Armenian Heroines
3 – Oriental Orthodox Churches Hold
Joint Divine Liturgy at Diocese
4 – Genocide Seminar Held for High School Students in Fresno
5 – May 28 Festival to be
Held in Little Armenia
6 – Black Maria Gallery Will Host Exhibit
Of New Sculptures by Kardash Onnig
******************************************** *****************************
1 -Commentary
Turkey Fails to Defeat French Bill
Despite Threats and Blackmail
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
At the request of the French government, the Speaker of the French
Parliament, Jean-Louis Debre, resorted to crass manipulation and shameful delay tactics
last Thursday, to postpone the vote on a bill that would have banned the
denial of the Armenian Genocide. The Speaker blocked the measure for now, realizing
that the overwhelming majority of Parliament members were ready to vote for
it.
The Turkish government had sought to defeat the bill outright by exerting
extraordinary political and economic pressure on France including threats,
blackmail and boycott of French products. The Turkish Foreign Ministry, therefore,
expressed its disappointment at the postponement of this bill, as it could be
reconsidered by the French Parliament next November.
The bill’s supporters now have 6 additional months to counter Turkish
pressures on the French government and garner wider public support for the proposed
law. Ankara, on the other hand, has to go to the trouble of re-enacting its
elaborate lobbying campaign and marshalling all its resources for this purpose
all over again. There is a good chance that the French public and government
officials would get fed up by Turkey’s repeated bullying tactics. The continuous
Turkish threats not only could backfire on Ankara for this particular bill,
but also increase the French public’s opposition to Turkey’s admission to the
European Union. In addition, the six-month delay would put the reconsideration
of this bill that much closer to the upcoming French Presidential elections,
making the parliamentarians more responsive to the wishes of their constituents.
Here is a list of seven major actions the supporters of this bill could
undertake in the next 6 months in order to improve the chances of its adoption:
— Explain to the public that the proposed law does not infringe on freedom
of expression, since Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights
allows certain restrictions which are also approved by French courts.
— Point out that the bill simply seeks to complete the law on the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide that was adopted in 2001, by designating a
punishment for those who break that law.
— Explain that the threatened boycott of French companies and goods by
Turkey is not only morally reprehensible, but also an empty bluff. In 2001, when
France recognized the Armenian Genocide, Turkey initially cancelled some
French business deals, only to have mutual trade resume as normal and even exceed
the levels of the previous years.
— Establish direct contact with the media, explaining the rationale for
the proposed law and pointing out that there should not be a double standard on
banning the denial of the Holocaust, but not the denial of the Armenian
Genocide.
— Contact a large number of French historians, professors and legal
scholars asking them to sign a joint statement in support of the proposed law.
Publicize widely such a statement, explaining that this law would not hinder the
work of historians, but sanction the liars and denialists.
— Explain to prominent French Jewish intellectuals that unless they throw
their support behind the Armenian Genocide bill, certain historians and
advocates of free speech would next campaign for the removal of the law against the
denial of the Holocaust. The Union of Jewish Students of France (UJSF) has
already issued a statement supporting the proposed law on the Armenian Genocide.
The UJSF said that blocking this bill “for the sake of political and economic
considerations is offensive to the memory of 1.5 million victims of the
Armenian Genocide of 1915 and their descendants.” The list of similarly supportive
Jewish organizations should be expanded in the coming months.
— Make maximum use of the French government sponsored “Year of Armenia in
France,” which begins in September, to present a comprehensive image of
Armenian history and culture. This unique opportunity could sensitize the French
public and government officials to the unique heritage of the Armenian nation.
It took several decades for the French government to recognize the Armenian
Genocide. The supporters of this bill can surely wait a few more months or even
longer until it is finally adopted. All the while, the proposed law would be
hanging like a Damoclean sword over the head of the Turkish denialist state,
forcing it to expend untold energy and resources to continuously fight against
its passage!
A member of the Turkish Parliament proposed last week that the Turkish
legislative body adopt a resolution that would condemn France for committing
“genocide” in Algeria and make its denial a crime! This is one threat that Armenians
hope the Turkish state would carry out because it would create such a backlash
in France that it would virtually guarantee the adoption by the French
Parliament of the proposed ban on the denial of the Armenian Genocide. Furthermore,
the adoption of such a resolution by the Turkish Parliament would help silence
once and for all Turkish critics who have been claiming that parliaments have
no business recognizing the Armenian Genocide and should not legislate
history. A second member of the Turkish Parliament proposed making any reference to
the Armenian Genocide a crime in Turkey. If adopted, such a law, on top of
other existing draconian laws, would make it virtually impossible for Turkey to
join the EU.
With parliamentarians like these, Turkey does not need any enemies on the
outside!
**************************************** **********************************
2 – Cong. Napolitano’s “Women of Year” Event
Recognizes Unsung Armenian Heroines
MONTEBELLO, Calif. – On the eve of the 91st anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide, across from the Montebello Genocide memorial, Angela Savoian, Chair of
the Armenian Relief Society of Western U.S.A., was the keynote speaker to the
“Women of the Year” Unsung Heroines event by Congresswoman Grace Napolitano
(Dem-38th District).
Among the 26 “Unsung Heroines” recognized by Cong. Napolitano, were two
Armenians from the Montebello area. Goharik “Go” Gabriel was recognized for her 40
years of dedicated service to the Mesrobian Armenian School, and Barbara
Harutunian was recognized for her long years of service at Holy Cross Armenian
Apostolic Cathedral.
“It was a privilege to be invited to speak — the topic was so relevant, and
gave me an opportunity to relay my gratitude to all
the unsung heroines in general and the Armenian heroines in particular,” said
Savoian following the event attended by over
250 people, including Montebello Mayor Bob Bagwell, and councilmembers Norma
Lopez-Reid, Jeff Siccama and Rosemarie Vasquez.
Welcoming remarks were made by City Treasurer Gerri Guzman, who is also
Senior Field Representative to Cong. Napolitano. Savoian, quoting writer Zabel
Yessaian who wrote about the massacre survivors, noted, “And all these women in
their
incessant moral agony, retain the firm conviction that their suffering will
be acknowledged and that their superhuman
sacrifice will be sanctified.” She added, “The blood of those heroines flows
through me.” Savoian’s address was a very personal
as well as a universal one. Her story about her first “Unsung Heroine,”
started with her own mother’s survival at German labor camps during World War II.
She continued with her childhood in the US, presenting the Armenian culture
through dance, raising her four boy, and losing her youngest son. Her recital
moved the audience. She told of the influence of her mother-in-law whose
unconditional love, wisdom and tireless support helped her get involved to become
active in the community, and particularly in the Mesrobian School and Armenian
Relief Society (ARS).
Savoian praised the ARS saying, “I feel so indebted to those great, dedicated
unsung heroines who founded the ARS and to those members who continued to
serve and believe in the ARS ideals… ARS members were those rare women, who
gracefully nurtured their families and still found time to belong to an
organization that has grown to be an International organization that continues to
serve.” She then thanked all the men for their support of all the “Unsung Heroines..
The event concluded with Congresswoman Napolitano’s remarks, praise and
thanks to the participants and sponsors of the event.
************************************************** ************************
3 – Oriental Orthodox Churches Hold
Joint Divine Liturgy at Diocese
BURBANK, CA – On the morning of May 11, 2006, a joint Divine Liturgy took
place at the Western Diocese under the auspices of and with the participation of
the Prelates of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, Archbishop Moushegh
Mardirossian, archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Bishop Serapion of the Coptic Church, and
Archbishop Mor Eugene Kaplan of the Syriac Orthodox Church. Serving at the altar
were Very Rev. Fr. Muron Aznikian and Very Rev. Fr. Barthev Gulumian.
Participating in the Liturgy were clergy members from each church.
With the singing of `Hrashapar’ the four Prelates approached the altar. It
was touching to see the Prelate’s greeting each other during the moment of the
“kiss of peace.” Later on, during Holy Communion, clergy members formed four
rows to receive Holy Communion from the Prelates.
Following Mass, Archbishop Derderian welcomed the Prelates and clergy members
on this `historic day’. He then invited the Prelates individually to deliver
their remarks. Prior to each Prelate’s remarks, clergy members of that
respective church sang a hymn. The Prelates expressed thanks and gratitude for the
special day and express the necessity of such gatherings to become more
familiarized with each other and be enriched from each other. They also recognized
the four religious leaders of each church, H.H. Aram I, H.H. Karekin II, Pope
Shnouda III, and Patriarch Zacha.
Following the Prelate’s remarks, Very Rev. Fr. Dajad Yardemian delivered the
message of the day. After the remarks, a group picture was taken followed by
lunch.
Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian then presented all those in attendance with
copies of Garo Bedrossian’s `Feasts and Traditions of the Armenian Church’ and
`Sundays of Great Lent’ books.
The Prelates also had closed meetings to discuss the possibility of similar
events in the future. The gathering then concluded in the same warm atmosphere
in which it began.
******************************************* ********************************
4 – Genocide Seminar Held for High School Students in Fresno
FRESNO – One hundred and ten students from Junior High and High Schools of
Fresno and Clovis participated in a successful Genocide Seminar on May 13, at
the Armenian Community Center in Fresno.
The Seminar speakers Dr. Matthew Ari Jendian and Hasmig Tatiossian addressed
similarities between the mass killings and the political ramifications and
social issues surrounding the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides,
and the implications for individual and collective responses to these events.
Hygo Ohanessian, chairperson of the Armenian National Committee of Central
California, introduced the speakers. The event was organized by the ANC and
funded by the Bertha and John Garabedian Foundation.
Sato Sanikian, learning director from Selma high school, advised the students
on conduct, rules and regulations to abide at the seminar.
The speakers began the day with an ice-breaker exercise that celebrated the
diversity in the room and emphasized that we are all part of the human race,
the most similar of all species on the earth.
They then discussed the word “genocide,” (literally “race murder” from the
Greek word “genos” and the Latin “cide”) coined by Raphael Lemkin in 1944.
Unfortunately, after almost every case of genocide, denial has been a common
response. This denial, Tatiossian said, can grow over time and come to define
the identity of the person or people who are denying the events. As Cornell
West has said, “Denial of history represents a lack of maturity.” The first
step towards healing is to acknowledge the wrong we have done.
With each case of genocide discussed–Armenian, Cambodian, and Rwandan–the
speakers pointed to the lack of intervention of the international community
and, specifically, the United States. As Stephanie Power, in her book A Problem
from Hell, notes, the most common response to the question of “Why does the
world and the United States stand so idly by when genocide is occurring” is, “We
didn’t know” or “We didn’t fully appreciate the magnitude of the situation.”
But these answers are demonstrably not true. However, Power says, the real
reason the United States has not done what it could do and should do to stop
genocide is that US leaders lacked the will to do something-they believed it was
wrong, but they were not prepared to invest the military, financial,
diplomatic, and domestic political capital needed.
As Dr. Jendian said, “Knowledge is potential power; it becomes powerful when
it is acted upon.” Taking action on behalf of others requires empathy–seeing
the yourself in the other person(s) and identifying strongly with the
circumstances and pain of another human being.
One of the greatest lessons from Dr. Martin Luther King that should be passed
on to students is that the struggle for justice is not pitted against people;
rather, it’s against injustice itself. Instead of having students think that
they need to do the right thing by fighting against a person–the
“enemy”–the student must understand that the real enemy is injustice, not the person
committing it.
The seminar closed with an inspirational message about the difference that
one person can make and attempted to answer the question of “Why are we here?”:
because we’re the only species that can protect every other species–including
ourselves.
Dr. Jendian is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Director of the
American Humanics Nonprofit Administration Program at California State University,
Fresno. He received his Baccalaureate degree from CSU, Fresno in Sociology
with minor degrees in Psychology and Armenian Studies, and his Master’s and
Doctoral degrees from University of Southern California. Dr. Jendian teaches
courses on race and ethnicity, terrorism and genocide, and contemporary social
issues at California State University, Fresno.
Tatiossian is the Southern California Regional Assistant Coordinator of The
Genocide Education Project, a nonprofit organization whose mission it is to
assist educators in teaching about human rights and genocide, particularly the
Armenian Genocide, by developing and distributing instructional materials,
providing access to teaching resources and organizing educational workshops (see
). Tatiossian received her Baccalaureate degree from UC
Berkeley in International Relations with an Emphasis on Genocide and Human
Rights Violations.
********’***************************** ************************************
5 – May 28 Festival to be
Held in Little Armenia
HOLLYWOOD – The Armenian Cultural Foundation in conjunction with The Armenian
Youth Federation-Western Region will host a festival in commemoration of the
Armenian independence, which was established on May 28, 1918. The festival
will take place on Hollywood Blvd between the streets of Alexandria and Vermont
in Little Armenia between 10am and 6pm.
The festival will feature well-known singers and performers such as, Element,
Vokee, Sako, Ara Sahagian, Karnig Sarkissian, Nersik Ispirian, Paul
Baghdadlian, Gor Mkhitarian, Ara Shahbazian, and many more, all of which will be
accompanied by the Knar Band. In addition to the many singers there will also be
various dance groups performing traditional and contemporary
Armenian folk dances.
The festival is organized to promote the Armenian culture and raise awareness
within the greater Los Angeles community. The festival will encompass the
Armenian culture in its vast entirety through different vendors, entertainers,
performers, writers and traditional Armenian foods, and artifacts.
The Armenian organizations participating in the festival include the Armenian
Relief Society, Shant Student Association, Homenetmen, and Armenian National
Committee of America.
“The Armenian Youth Federation celebrates and recognizes the importance of
our nation’s victories in establishing, after 600 years of oppression, the first
independent republic of Armenia on May 28, 1918, which set the foundation to
today’s independent republic,” said Tro Tchekidjian chairman of the AYF
Western Region.
****************************************** *************************
6 – Black Maria Gallery Will Host Exhibit
Of New Sculptures by Kardash Onnig
LOS ANGELES – Black Maria Gallery announced a major installation by Kardash
Onnig, featuring new and recent works by the New York-based sculptor. Opening
on Thursday, June 8, at 7 PM, the exhibition will continue until Sunday, June
11.
“We’re extremely proud to organize this installation,” said Zara
Zeitountsian, owner of Black Maria Gallery. “Kardash is one of the most innovative
sculptors working in America today, and if his past exhibitions are any indication,
his upcoming show will be an event to remember. We’re also proud to host an
exhibition whose proceeds will support a peace mission launched by the artist.”
Kardash’s installation is part of his evolving “Tools” project, now entering
its third decade, that consists of sculptures based on the idea of the
quaternary.
“It’s all about universality,” Kardash explained. “Virtually every culture on
the planet has symbols and metaphors deriving from the quaternary, or the
principle of four. Think of the four seasons, the four elements, the four corners
of the world. In other words, our most profound cultural aspirations speak of
the universal, of embracing the whole, whereas we’re stuck in two-dimensional
modes of thinking such as nationalism or corporate globalization, and we
worship two-dimensional devices, such as our technological wonders, that actually
prevent us from experiencing things beyond our cocoons. The ‘Tools’ project is
my way of shattering the barriers of two-dimensionality, of crossing borders,
to both acknowledge and experience ‘the other.'”
Kardash said his project owes much to his travels throughout the world. He
has lived and worked in a number of diverse societies, and many of his sojourns
have inspired him to undertake various teaching and writing initiatives. For
the past 20 years he has conducted a Teen Apprenticeship Program in New York,
fostering unfettered artistic expression grounded in advanced techniques and
discipline. He has also authored several monographs and children’s books, all of
which share a message of nonviolence and cultural concordance through mutual
understanding.
According to Zeitountsian, the installation at Black Maria Gallery will serve
to raise funds in support of a peace mission that Kardash plans to undertake
in Turkey. The mission will include the creation of linkages with Turkish
artists and cultural leaders, collaborative projects designed to promote
cross-border dialogue, and a teen apprenticeship program in sculpture and carving
taught by Kardash.
“Ninety-one years have passed since the Genocide of Armenians in Ottoman
Turkey, yet Armenian-Turkish dialogue is not only nonexistent today, it’s an
enormous taboo,” Kardash explained. “But I’m not pursuing a specifically political
mission by trying to create links with Turkish cultural workers and teaching
sculpture to talented kids. I’m just doing my thing as a sculptor and as
someone genuinely interested in advancing peace across national divides. In the
past, I’ve conducted similar programs in Nagorno-Karabagh and elsewhere, and I’m
not interested in only the Armenian-Turkish issue. I believe the canvas of
peace and mutual understanding should be spread throughout the world, irrespective
of one’s background.”
Kardash’s installation at Black Maria Gallery will include an interactive
feature whereby visitors will be encouraged to move around his sculptures to form
distinct “ensembles” and set-ups. These movements will be taped by an
overhead camera and projected onto a screen in the main space of the gallery. There
will also be shown a mini documentary on Kardash, including clips of the artist
discussing the concept of the quaternary.
Black Maria is located at 3137 Glendale Boulevard in Atwater Village. Gallery
hours are Tuesday through Friday, 12 to 6 PM; Saturday, 7 to 11 PM. For more
information, call 818.613.9090.
************************************ ***************************************
********** ************************************************** ******************
**
The California Courier On-Line is a service provided by the California
Courier. Subscriptions or changes of address should not be transmitted through this
service. Information in that regard should be telephoned to (818) 409-0949;
faxed to: (818) 409-9207, or e-mailed to: [email protected]. Letters to
the editor concerning issues addressed in the Courier may be e-mailed, provided
it is signed by the author. Phone and/or E-mail address is also required to
verify authorship.

SOUTH AFRICA PLAN TO SELL ARMS TO LIBYA
Nic Dawes
Mail & Guardian Online, South Africa
May 19 2006
Denel CEO Shaun Liebenberg hopes to provide Libya and Turkey with
Rooivalk helicopters
Planned weapons sales to previously taboo customers, such as Libya and
Turkey, are part of the package of measures adopted by the troubled
parastatal defence conglomerate Denel to turn around persistent losses
and declining sales.
Briefing Parliament’s portfolio committee on public enterprises on the
status of his turnaround plans for the company, CEO Shaun Liebenberg
said new markets were opening up as the company won improved political
backing for its marketing efforts and sought more flexibility from the
National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC), which regulates
arms exports, ostensibly limiting sales to repressive regimes and
conflict zones.
The company will record a loss of about R1billion for the 2005
financial year, he said. “There are markets where I can go right now
and get R1billion worth of business, but those markets are closed
to us for very good reasons,” he said. Other markets, however, were
closed for what he described as “legacy” reasons. Libya, which is
enjoying dramatically improved diplomatic relations with the West
as its dictator Moammar Gadaffi opens it borders and oil fields to
foreign investment, is one potential customer.
A more immediate prospect, however, is Turkey, where Denel hopes to
conclude the first major sale of its hi-tech attack helicopter, the
Rooivalk, despite persistent concerns from human rights organisations
over the use of helicopters by Turkish forces in suppressing internal
dissent. This deal, worth between R12billion and R15billion, would
rescue the Rooi-valk programme from commercial oblivion. Despite
its impressive capabilities, the helicopter has been unable to find
international customers in competition with European and United
States alternatives.
“Technically, we are looking very good,” Liebenberg told the committee,
but he warned that Turkey might feel constrained to buy from a European
country, given the support it needs in its quest for European Union
accession. The deal is already being used to apply political leverage
in the increasingly bitter stand-off between Turkey and France.
Denel is competing against the Franco-German firm Eurocopter, which
manufactures the Tiger, Italian firm Augusta with its a-129 Mangusta
and Russia’s MI-28 havoc. It narrowly lost out to Eurocopter in a
bid to sell the Rooivalk to Australia, but has been in talks with
the firm over a strategic equity partnership for aspects of its
helicopter business.
According to French and Turkish media reports, Eurocopter has sent a
strongly worded letter to French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin,
protesting at proposed legis-lation that would make it a crime to
deny the “genocide” of Armenians at the hands of Turkish troops during
World War I.
The Bill exacerbated tensions between the two countries, which are
already at odds over French opposition to Turkish entry into the EU.
Some Turkish newspapers have said that the contract will most likely
go to Denel if the French Parliament passes the Bill, which was due
to be debated as the Mail & Guardian went to press.
Liebenberg said Turkey had traditionally been off limits because of
sensitivities about its internal situation, but the Rooivalk deal
now had backing at presidential and Cabinet level, and two ministers
would soon visit Ankara to press for a deal.
NCACC approval for this transaction, should it happen, has not yet
been sought, said Liebenberg, but he is confident that the political
backing of the Presidency and Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin,
who sits on the committee, is in place.
Turkey has, since 1996, sought to conclude a major helicopter
purchase to assist in its crackdown on the activities of Kurdish
separatist rebels in the east of the country. A previous deal to buy
145 King Cobra helicopters from the American firm Bell Textron ran
into intense international opposition over human rights concerns,
and the US ultimately withdrew its bid on the grounds that it was
dissatisfied with the tender conditions.
Amnesty International has been protesting since the mid-1990s about
the use of military helicopters for both transport and attack purposes
in operations that have apparently targeted civilians in remote parts
of the country. It has repeatedly said helicopter exports under these
circumstances violate international law.
South Africa’s National Conventional Arms Control Act prohibits the
export of military equipment if there is a risk it will be used in the
violation of human rights. Sales to Libya, where economic opening has
not been accompanied by democratic reforms, may also attract scrutiny.
Denel has often expressed frustration in the past with the approvals
process at the NCACC, which is charged with applying the provisions
of the Act, but Liebenberg says the company is working much better
with the committee now as government support for his restructuring
plan becomes more coordinated.
The committee, chaired by Minister of Provincial and Local Government
Sydney Mufamadi, is supposed to report annually to Parliament on
weapons exports. Its 2004 report is more than a year overdue and
2005 statistics, which were due at the end of March, have yet to
be tabled. It has been criticised in the past for allowing sales to
countries with poor human rights records or messy internal conflicts.
Denel is restructuring into a holding company with focused subsidiaries
working in areas such as missile technology, aircraft components,
optical systems and artillery. Equity in each of these is likely to
be sold to international partners with the heft to assist in market
access and the capital to help scale up production.
As the M&G has previously reported, the government has agreed to
provide about R5,1billion to recapitalise Denel and rescue it from
bankruptcy over the next three years.
leid=272200&area=/insight/insight__national/

RF HOUSE COMMISSION CONDEMNED ACTS OF VANDALISM COMMITTED BY AZERBAIJAN
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
May 19 2006
May 17, 2006 a sitting of the Russian Federation House Commission
for Cultural and Spiritual Heritage was held under the chairmanship
of Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borov. The issue “About
Appeal of the Moscow Round Table Participants: Armenian Cultural
Monuments of Nakhijevan – Object of Azerbaijan’s Vandalism” was
discussed during the sitting. According to the information DE FACTO
Information-Analytics Agency received at the “Yerkramas” newspaper of
the Armenians in Russia, the report made by the “Armenian Friendship
and Cooperation Association” President Victor Krivopuskov ran in
December 2005 Azerbaijan had committed an act of vandalism on the final
destruction of an ancient Armenian cemetery having 4 000 khachkars
(cross stones) – medieval monuments of the Christian architecture –
in the populated locality of Old Jugha. Then it was mentioned that
during the years Nakhijevan was within Azerbaijan 27 000 centers of
the Armenian cultural heritage of VII – XIX centuries were destroyed,
including churches, monasteries, khachkars of historical and cultural
value common to all mankind. “Actually, the policy of destruction of
the ethnical evidence of Nakhijevan’s belonging to Armenia is pursued
at the state level in Azerbaijan”.
While addressing the audience, a historian and film director Kim
Bakshi, a writer, member of the Union of Writers of Russia Supreme
Creative Council Valentin Osipov, the President of the International
Academy of Spiritual Unity Among the Peoples of the World Georgy
Trapeznikov, “Russian-Armenian Commonwealth” organization President
Yuri Navoyan not only mentioned numerous facts of destruction of
the ancient Armenian monuments in Azerbaijan, but referred to the
fact that Azerbaijan had recently implemented the state policy of
falsification of the Russian and Armenian history, disoriented and
misled its own nation and the world community, which affected Russia’s
interests, its interstate relations with Azerbaijan and Armenia and
had an adverse effect on the establishment of trust and development
of friendship between the nations.
Metropolitan Kliment stated the Armenian historical and cultural
monuments destroyed by the Azeris had been the property of the modern
world civilization and added their destruction had entailed irreparable
loss for the world cultural and historical heritage.
The House Commission unanimously condemned Azerbaijan’s acts of
vandalism against the monuments of the Armenian spiritual culture
in Old Jugha and stated it intended to study the present state and
maintenance of the cultural and spiritual heritage of other nations
by Azerbaijan together with the concerned commissions on tolerance
and freedom of consciousness, culture, globalization and national
development strategy, the international cooperation and public
diplomacy.

“THE GREATEST PROBLEM OF THE OYP WAS SERGO”
A1+
[03:32 pm] 19 May, 2006
“The OYP was a project, not a party, and every project has its
beginning and its end,” Leader of the New Times Party Aram Karapetyan
announced in the National Press Club and noted that the OYP tried
to become a party and today only those people “who were in the party
and not in the project” remain there.
“But the greatest problem of the OYP was Sergo,” Aram Karapetyan
announced and added that he was member of the political team and if
he has left, he did not like the ideological tendency of the party, in
particular and announcements of the head of the party about membership
in the EU and in the NATO.
“That is to say, Sergo became a pro Russian body,” otherwise Aram
Karapetyan dose not understand what could make the founding member
of the party leave it.
But it is clear for Karapetyan and not only him that Sergo preferred
his chair.
By the way, Aram Karapetyan tends to think that the crisis is
controllable and he does not exclude the possibility that Kocharyan
and Baghdasaryan are involved in a political game together.