Author: Chavushian

ARMENIAN SCHOLAR COMMENTS ON IRANIAN LEADER’S FAILURE TO VISIT
GENOCIDE MEMORIAL

10/24/07

A EurasiaNet Partner Post from BBC Monitoring

Text of report by Armenian news agency Arminfo

Yerevan, 23 October: Historian Hayk Demoyan, director of the Armenian
Museum and Institute of Genocide, does not think that Iranian
President Mahmud Ahmadinezhad’s refusal to pay a visit to the Armenian
Genocide Memorial is due to his personal position on the known
historical event.

In remarks to Arminfo, he said: "I don’t think that the refusal to
visit the memorial is due to the Iranian president’s position on the
Armenian genocide. It should be taken into account that he is the
leader of a Muslim state, and this is a delicate issue," Demoyan said.

He, however, mentioned that there were precedents when high-ranking
Iranian officials, such as former President Mohammad Khatami, visited
the memorial.

"Therefore, it would not be a problem if Mahmud Ahmadinezhad visited
the memorial either," Demoyan said.

Editor’s Note: Source: Arminfo, Yerevan, in Russian 0656 gmt 23 Oct 07

Source:

TOP ADMIRAL BLASTS GENOCIDE VOTE
By Tom Topousis

New York Post, NY
news/top_admiral_blasts_genocide_vo.htm
Oct 23 2007

October 23, 2007 — The commander of U.S. military forces in Iraq
and Afghanistan yesterday blasted congressional leaders for pushing a
resolution to recognize the Armenian genocide, saying "it just sticks
a knife" in Turkish officials when America needs them most.

Adm. William Fallon, appointed to the helm of the U.S. Central Command
in March, yesterday took a shot at the measure, spearheaded by House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, during a meeting with Post editors who asked
about the prospects of Turkish troops crossing into northern Iraq to
pursue Kurdish rebels.

"I don’t think they really want to do this. But I think they’re really
frustrated," Fallon said of a Turkish military incursion into Iraq.

"And as if they don’t have enough [to worry about], we do things like,
however well-intended, this resolution in the House last week on
Armenian genocide. It just sticks a knife in and just runs it around."

At Pelosi’s urging, the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Oct. 11
passed a resolution formally declaring the deaths of up to 1 million
Armenians at the hands of Turkish troops in 1915 a genocide – a
declaration that has infuriated Turkey.

Despite pressure from the White House to pull the resolution, Pelosi
vowed to put it up for a vote on the floor.

Asked if there could have been any worse timing for the resolution
to move forward, Fallon said, "I’m hard pressed to find it."

Fallon called the mountainous border between Turkey and the
Kurdish-dominated northern Iraq "a tinderbox."

Kurdish rebels who have been waging attacks inside Turkey – which is
home to millions more Kurds – have used northern Iraq as a base of
operations for years. Turkish leaders last week paved the way for an
incursion, but have yet to make the move.

Fallon said he had not spoken directly to Turkish leaders about their
anger over the resolution, "but I certainly got it indirectly."

"It’s pretty obviously going to tick them off," he added.

Turkey provides crucial supply routes into northern Iraq for
U.S. forces, as well as air bases and fly-over routes for military
aircraft.

Furthermore, northern Iraq is one of the few sections of the country
that has been relatively peaceful, with new economic development.

After the House committee’s vote, Turkish leaders in Ankara hinted at
withdrawing their support for U.S. military operations in Iraq. And
now Democrats appear to be abandoning their support for the resolution.

ADMINISTRATION WALKS FINE LINE ON BLASTS FROM TURKEY
by John Gizzi

Human Events, DC

Oct 23 2007

In less than a week from some sharp verbal blasts from both the prime
minister of Turkey and the commander of the Turkish armed forces,
the Bush Administration is walking a fine line on how to respond to
the leadership of a country enraged over the affirmative vote on the
Pelosi-champioined Armenian genocide resolution by the House Foreign
Affairs Committee.

"The President has talked to [Turkish] Prime Minister [Recep
Tayyip] Erdogan since the vote in the House earlier this month," one
Administration source told me on background this afternoon, adding
that the White House, and State and Defense Departments have made it
clear to Ankara that passage of the measure so distasteful to Turkey
"was a calculated move by the leadership of the House."

But there was no public rebuttal to recent, sharply-worded statements
by Erdogan and General Yasar Buyukanit warned of estrangement from
the US over the Armenian genocide resolution. In an interview with
the Times of London Sunday, Prime Minister Erdogan warned that
"those who sign up to a campaign against Turkey in relation to the
so-called Armenian genocide are really the ones firing a bullet at
the friendship between America and Turkey."

Asked how he would retaliate if the full House approved the resolution
(which came out of the Foreign Affairs Committee on a vote of
27-to-21), Erdogan told the Times: "There is a saying in Turkey:
you do not measure a nappy for an unborn child."

His comments came a week after Gen. Buyukanit, commander of Turkey’s
armed forces, told the Turkish daily newspaper Milliyet "If this
resolution passed in the committee passes the House as well, our
military ties with the US will never be the same again."

The same Administration source cautioned me not to put significant
stock in "a couple of public statements" and noted that both the
prime minister and Gen. Buyukanit have "an internal situation they
have to deal with. . .Turkey is just coming off national elections."

There is some confidence within the Administration that the Ankara
government understands that the committee vote was achieved with
the strong support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the vocal
opposition of the President. In his interview with HUMAN EVENTS
before being recalled for consultation with the prime minister after
the House committee vote, Turkish Ambassador Nabi Sensoy told us he
would make it clear to Erdogan that the President was strong in his
opposition to the measure and that Speaker Pelosi had made it clear
she was strongly behind his passage. Erdogan himself noted to the
Times that he "would like to thank President Bush and Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice and all other representatives of the senior
administration who have made efforts in this direction."

But, the same Administration source also told me, under these
circumstances, "of course, one is worried."

The Armenian Weekly On-Line
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The Armenian Weekly; Volume 73, No. 42; Oct. 20, 2007

Interviews:

An Interview with Serj Tankian
By Khatchig Mouradian

The following interview with System of a Down’s frontman Serj Tankian was
conducted on Oct. 16 at the Paradise Club in Boston, Mass. Tankian is on
tour promoting his new album-set to be released on Oct. 23-"Elect the Dead."

Khatchig Mouradian-Talk about your experience putting this album together.

Serj Tankian-Making this record has been a real learning experience, a
strong positive experience for me, and very organic. I have my own studio, I
go in and record as I please. I have hundreds of songs and I picked out
songs that would lend themselves to my voice for this particular project. I
recorded all the pianos and most of the strings (I brought in a couple of
string players but I wrote all the string parts), programmed all the drums,
then brought in drummers later to play them live, performed most of the
guitars, most of the bass and vocals, pretty much produced it myself and
recorded it myself and put it out on my own label through Warner, the
distributor.

K.M.-You say, "With this record all success or failure rests with me. It
made me realize that I have an amazing life and I’m getting to make a lot of
my dreams come true." Talk about those dreams.

S.T.-Well I have dreams every night. [Laughs.] I love doing music and it’s
become my work. It was my passion and now it’s also my work. I’ve also
devoted part of my life to learning other things around me, whether it’s
spiritual, political or ecological. And, you know, I have a lot of things I
want to accomplish. But accomplishments aren’t really important personally.
I enjoy this process of not just putting a record out but involving
different people, different video directors, different artists, website
designers and journalists, and enjoying the process and learning from the
process.

K.M.-Referring to the song "The Unthinking Majority," you say "it is unlike
any song on my solo record and meant to inspire collective action." What
collective action would you like to see?

S.T.-Ultimately I’d like to see some type of deep perspective and
understanding of what civilization means. I think we’re all addicted to this
thing called civilization that started 10,000 ago. We as Armenians have been
at the beginning of that civilization, yet we don’t know what we were before
civilization even as Armenians. We just know that we had multiple gods like
the Greeks and many other cultures, but we don’t know much about those times
and where the true character of spirituality comes from. So it’s very
important for me to explore our indigenous past, not just as Armenians but
as humans. We’re a part of the progression of things on this planet. A lot
of radical changes are occurring and will continue to occur, and it’s
important for us to know where we stand.

K.M.-You mentioned civilization. You’ve said, "Civilization itself is not
sustainable. Civilization is over." Can you explain that?

S.T.-At the current rate of progression, based on overpopulation coupled
with the accelerated rate of destruction of the world’s natural resources,
civilization is scientifically unsustainable.

K.M.-Talk about the role System of a Down played in.

S.T.-Ending civilization? [Laughs.] That would be a great question! Sorry,
what was your question?

K.M.-The role System of a Down plated in your career and your life.

S.T.-It’s been my band for 11 years. It launched my musical career. It
included my friends that I’ve played with and learned from and love and care
for. And it’s brought me to where I am today to explore the type of artistic
avenues that I have been exploring and to be able to have a platform of
speech. But System of a Down is not a brand, it’s a collective of four
friends that are artists that play together when they so desire, and I am a
part of that collective, and my voice has always been a part of that
collective.

K.M.-From music to poetry to grassroots activism, where do you find yourself
and how do you feel in these different avenues?

S.T.-I do whatever, I follow my heart, you know? If I feel like making a
call and doing something in terms of activism or going out there and
planting something or if I feel like writing a song, it’s just all a part of
the natural progression of my life.

K.M.-What do you have to say about the current discussion regarding the
Armenian Genocide Resolution?

S.T.-I just said it on a radio station in Boston. You can’t deny a genocide
or holocaust based on political expediency. It makes absolutely no sense. If
we claim as America that we’re a democracy then we have to look in the
mirror and ask: Can we lie about a genocide or hold off its recognition for
the sake of geopolitical or strategic gains or a military occupation that is
unfair in itself? It’s trying to undo one mistake with another mistake and
it doesn’t make sense. That’s why a lot of Congressmen are behind the
resolution, and it passed [the House Foreign Relations] Committee and I’m
confident that it will pass the House. And it’s got Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi’s
support.

I feel like there’s always going to be an excuse. You know, we’ve waited 92
years, but ultimately I want to go further and say, recognition is not that
important. Recognition is one part of the just solution. If someone came to
my house, killed my family and robbed my house, I’m not going to run after
them for a hundred years and beg them to recognize that crime. That makes no
sense, I’m going to take them to court and I’m going to loudly request
justice, and that’s what needs to be done ultimately. But obviously, we all
know that this is the first step, so we got to keep the goal in mind.

K.M.-On the same issue, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that "The
passage of this resolution indeed will be very problematic for everything we
are trying to do in the Middle East."

S.T.-I’m scared of everything they’re trying to do in the Middle East. Maybe
the resolution will help them put their asses in place.

NOR JRABERT IS RECONSTRUCTED BY THE BENEFACTOR

KarabakhOpen
22-10-2007 15:22:42

The population of the village of Nor Jraberd had been displaced
from the region of Shahumyan and the occupied villages of the region
of Martakert.

They settled here because the land is fertile, there are good
conditions for cattle breeding, and 32 families have been living here
for many years without electricity, water supply, roads.

A few days ago the government delegation led by Prime Minister Ara
Harutiunyan visited the region. The prime minister learned about
life in the village and promised to help the villagers to lay out
an electricity line, build public establishments, repair roads
and build houses. Most importantly, however, Mkrtich Malkhasyan, a
Canada-based Armenian, who visited the village, is ready to support
the reconstruction of the village.

He promised to back the construction of the municipality, the school
and the nursery school. For the time being, the village got a bus to
transport the children of Nor Jrabert to the school of the neighboring
village.

>From now on October 19 will be marked as the day of reconstruction
of Nor Jrabert.

NALBANDIAN DEFEATS TOP-RANKED TENNIS-PLAYER

A1+
[01:21 pm] 22 October, 2007

After a long interval, Argentine Armenian tennis-player David
Nalbandian reached finals after defeating Rafael Nadal and Jokovich
by the score of 6:1, 6:2 at tennis Madrid Masters.

Nalbandian’s contender at the final was renowned tennis-player Roger
Federer. The Armenian sportsman beat his Swiss rival 6:3, 6:3 at the
last two sets thus becoming the tournament champion.

Reuters, UK
Oct 19 2007

Turkish PM calls for reconciliation with Armenia
Fri Oct 19, 2007 5:06am EDT

powered by SphereANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s prime minister called
for dialogue and reconciliation with Armenia on Friday as the U.S.
Congress weighs whether to approve a resolution calling the 1915
massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks genocide.

"While we search for ways to address this painful issue and develop
our relations with Armenia, we cannot live in the past. Our sincere
offer for dialogue and reconciliation is on the table," Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan wrote in an opinion piece published in
Friday’s Wall Street Journal, European edition.

"It is incumbent on Armenia to take the next step," he added.

The U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee backed
the resolution last week proposed by a California Democrat with many
Armenian-Americans in his district. It must now decide whether to
hold a House vote on the resolution.

Turkey has recalled its ambassador to the United States for
consultations in response to the vote and has warned that if the
non-binding but symbolic resolution is approved by Congress it will
inflict great damage on relations between the NATO allies.

The Bush administration has lobbied against the resolution.

Turkey rejects the Armenian view, backed by many Western historians
and some foreign parliaments, that up to 1.5 million Armenians
suffered genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks.

Many Muslim Turks died as well as Christian Armenians in inter-ethnic
conflict as the Ottoman Empire crumbled, it says.

"The truth is that the Armenian allegations of genocide pertaining to
the events of 1915 have not been historically or legally
substantiated," Erdogan wrote.

Erdogan asked in his opinion piece why Armenia was evading Turkey’s
offer to establish a joint history commission to examine together the
events of 1915 through bilateral dialogue.

Armenia says it would consider taking part in such a history
commission if its border with Turkey were opened and normal
diplomatic ties established between the two countries.

Turkey shut its border with the tiny ex-Soviet republic in 1993 to
protest against Armenia’s occupation of territory inside Azerbaijan,
Ankara’s close Turkic ally.

Lragir, Armenia
Oct 19 2007

MINISTER MET CROWN PRINCE

On October 19, in the United Arab Emirates on the occasion of the
Taste of Armenia Cultural Week, Minister Oskanian met with Crown
Prince Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, of Ras Al Khaimah Emirate and
signed the Joint Declaration on Coopeation between the Emirate of Ras
Al Khaimah and Armenia, citing specifically the need to advance
cooperation in energy, mining industry, transport and
telecommunications, as well as in the tourism spheres, the press
office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.

The Minister and the Crown Prince discussed cooperation in economic
spheres and discussed some regional issues. The Minister also met
with Dr. Khater Massad, principal advisor to the Crown Prince, and
head of RAKEEN Development and Al Hamra Real Estate, principal
sponsor of the Armenia Week.

The previous day, in Abu Dhabi, Minister Oskanian was received by Dr
Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs
of the UAE. They held an extensive discussion on regional matters of
economic and political interest, as well as the sectors of possible
cooperation between the United Arab Emirates and Armenia.

GERMANY INTERESTED IN DEVELOPING RELATIONS WITH THE COUNTRIES OF THE SOUTH CAUCASUS

armradio.am
18.10.2007 12:20

October 18 RA Deputy Foreign Minister Armen Baibourtian received
the members of the Germany-South Caucasus Deputy Friendship Group
of the Bundestag of the Federative Republic of Germany headed by
Stephen Raiche.

Greeting the guests, Armen Baibourtian attached importance to the
visit of the delegation of the Germany-South Caucasus Deputy Friendship
Group to Armenia, noting that Armenian-German relations are on a high
level and have broad perspectives of development.

Presenting the aim of the visit, Stephen Raiche said the South Caucasus
is of special importance for his country and Germany is interested
in developing relations with the countries of the South Caucasus. He
also informed that the number of members of the Germany-South Caucasus
Deputy Friendship Group has reached 24.

In turn, Mr. Baibortian underlined that the adoption of the
Action Plan of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) and its
successful implementation are of primary importance for the Armenian
Government. Turning to the ENP, Mr. Raiche noted with appreciation
that Armenia is a leader in the region with regard to effectiveness
of execution of the Action Pan.

The parties turned to issues of regional cooperation, as well. It
was noted that the European Neighborhood Policy is a good platform
not only for establishment of the atmosphere of trust, but also for
creation of a joint value system.

At the request of the guests, Mr. Baibourtian presented the
current state of settlement of the Karabakh conflict and dwelt on
Armenian-Turkish relations.

PRESS RELEASE
The Paros Foundation
918 Parker STreet, Suite A14
Berkeley, CA 94710
Contact: Peter Abajian
Tel: US 310.400.9061
Tel: Armenia 093.99.80.99
Email: [email protected]
Web:

A PAROS CHAMBER CHOIR PERFORMS AT THE VANDAZOR MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

Vanadzor, Armenia – On Tuesday, October 16, 2007 the people of Vanadzor
were treated to a concert by the Yerevan based Paros Chamber Choir,
which performed at the Vanadzor Museum of Fine Arts. The concert was
organized and sponsored by the Paros Foundation.

The concert, entitled "Autum Songs," attracted more than 250 guests to
the second floor exhibition hall of the museum. This location was
ideal both esthetically and acoustically. Sitting amidst an
impressive sampling of the Museum’s collection of paintings, the
audience was treated to musical selections from well known composers
including Komitas, T. Altunian, A. Ter-Ghevorkian and C. Kara-Murza.

The Vanadzor Museum of Fine Arts was established in 1974 and is one of
the most prominent cultural centers in the Lori Region. The museum
houses more than 1,700 works of art including paintings, sculptures,
drawings, prints and decorative arts. The museum is dedicated to
excellence in art by increasing the knowledge and appreciation of art
through its collection, exhibition and education for diverse
audiences.

"It was quite exciting to listen to such beautiful music surrounded by
the impressive artwork of the Vandazor Museum of Fine Arts," said
Roger Strauch, Chairman of the Paros Foundation. "I am delighted that
we were able to bring these two organizations together to produce the
event for Vandazor."

Since 1993, the Paros Chamber Choir has dazzled audiences throughout
Armenia, the Middle East and Europe with its repertoire of classical
chamber music and ethnic folk music by Armenian, Russian and Western
composers. The Paros Chamber Choir has blossomed into a beacon of
hope for people with disabilities in Armenia as most members of the
Choir are individuals with spinal cord injuries and are well chair
bound. The mission of the choir is to strive for musical excellence,
while at the same time raising awareness of the conditions of the
disabled in Armenia and beyond. The Choir entertains worldwide
audiences, participates in international competitions, and encourages
people with disabilities to live full and active lives

More information about the Paros Chamber Choir and the Paros
Foundation can be found at

The Paros Foundation is a Berkeley, California based foundation and
was formed in 2006 to support non-governmental organizations in the
Republic of Armenia. Since its inception, it has identified and
supports several organizations including the Paros Chamber Choir, the
UNISON NGO-Supporting People with Special Needs, Manana Youth Center
and the Vanadzor Museum of Fine Arts. The Foundation was founded by
the Strauch Kulhanjian family and takes a special interest in
organizations that nurture and harness Armenian artistic talent. The
Paros Foundation hopes to serve as a beacon for people and
institutions who seek guidance towards exemplary innovative NGOs in
Armenia. More information about the Paros Foundation can be found at
or by contacting Peter Abajian, Executive
Director at (310) 400-9061 (in the US) or (093) 99-80-99 (in Armenia).

Be sure to visit our website at