Author: David Nargizian

Globe and Mail, Canada
Sept 15 2004
Chechens live in fear of reprisals
Anti-Caucasian discrimination hits new high in wake of Beslan, MARK
MacKINNON reports
By MARK MacKINNON
MOSCOW — The day after the siege ended at Beslan’s Middle School No.
1, terror came to the Khadayev home outside Moscow.
Asya Khadayeva, 43, first spotted the car with the dark windows as
she left for work at about 7:30 a.m. The car followed slowly as she
and her daughter walked to the bus stop, and she was relieved when
the bus picked them up and their pursuers didn’t follow. An ethnic
Chechen, she had been worried about revenge attacks on her family
following the tragedy in Beslan.
What she didn’t know is that the men in the car were waiting for her
to leave. After the bus pulled away, about 30 men burst through her
home’s doors and windows. Some wore masks and security-service
uniforms, others carried grenades and automatic weapons.
Her three teenaged children, who were still in the house, were forced
to lie facedown on the floor with blankets over their heads. A gun
was pressed against her 15-year-old son Magomed’s skull. Her
five-year-old daughter Amina was dragged from under her bed and
forced to kneel beside her siblings at gunpoint while the home was
searched.
“She was screaming, ‘Don’t shoot me and don’t kill my brothers,’ ”
said Ms. Khadayeva, who moved to Moscow with her family four years
ago to escape the war in Chechnya. “They wouldn’t even let her older
brothers comfort her.”
The children’s father, Ramzan Khadayev, said the men identified
themselves as members of various Russian security services, including
the Federal Security Bureau.
They were at the house for several hours, Ms. Khadayeva said. Some of
the officers later drove to the food market where both parents and
Ms. Khadayeva’s brother work, and questioned all three.
“One officer told us, ‘You should leave [Moscow], it’s not your
home,’ ” she said. “I told them, ‘Okay, give me back my apartment,
which your soldiers destroyed, and the property that was stolen from
me and I’ll leave tomorrow,’ ” Ms. Khadayeva said. “They said that
wasn’t their problem. They told us we are Chechens so we are
terrorists.”
Chechens have been persecuted and feared in Russia since the 19th
century, when the armies of Czar Alexander II first tried to subdue
the fierce people who live along the north end of the Caucasus
mountain range. But the discrimination has hit new heights in recent
years as dozens of acts of terrorism across Russia have been blamed
on Chechens.
The hatred grew again after the hostage-taking at Beslan, where more
than 350 people were killed. Yesterday, Russian prosecutors charged a
Chechen man identified as Nurpashi Kulayev in the deadly
hostage-taking, the Interfax news agency reported.
With a fresh wave of anti-Caucasian xenophobia sweeping the country,
many Chechens say they now rarely leave their homes, fearful of even
their neighbours.
In Moscow, police have arrested dozens of Chechens in the past few
days, including a group of 20 men yesterday who were renovating
schools in the region. They were released later in the day. Last
week, in the Ural mountain city of Yekaterinburg, gangs of youths
armed with clubs, chains and Molotov cocktails attacked cafés owned
by Armenians and Azeris, killing one person and hospitalizing two
others.
Human-rights activists say the police are among the worst offenders
when it comes to anti-Caucasian racism.
“They have orders from the authorities to check every Caucasian
person, man or a woman. They treat every Caucasian as a potential
terrorist,” said Yuri Tabak of the Moscow Human Rights Bureau.
The situation for Chechens and other Caucasians living in Moscow has
become so dangerous that some say they’ve stopped going outside
unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Fatima Dudayeva fled the ruins of Grozny to join her sister in Moscow
a month ago, hoping to find work and “have some fun” in the big city
after almost a decade of constant war. But her arrival coincided with
a string of suicide bombings carried out by young Chechen women —
two on passenger planes and another outside a Moscow metro station.
Denied registration papers that would allow her to look for work or
rent a place of her own, she stays with her cousin in a small
apartment in the city and says she’s gone further than the corner
store only once in the past two weeks.
During that single trip out, Ms. Dudayeva was stopped by a policeman
who asked her to prove she wasn’t wearing a suicide belt. She had to
pay him a 500-ruble bribe (about $25) to avoid being taken into
custody.
“They look for a Chechen trace in everything that goes wrong,” the
dark-eyed 26-year-old said. “The next time something happens in
Moscow, the next terror act, it will be better to go back to
Chechnya, despite the war there, and stay for a while until things
calm down here.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN NOTEBOOKS TO BE ON SALE SOON
A1 Plus | 21:29:55 | 14-09-2004 | Social |
Notebooks produced in Armenia by Unicomp Company on projects and
consultations of Intel Corporation were presented Tuesday in Armenia
Mariotte hotel.
On beginning phase, the Unicomp intends to produce 100 notebooks
per month, the company director Armen Baldryan said. In his words,
the production of notebooks will increasingly grow to 1,000. He said
high quality is ensured.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
09/08/2004
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) Iran's Khatami Pledges Closer Ties with Armenia 2) NATO, US to Develop Military Aid Program in Azerbaijan 3) Abkhazia Will Never Rejoin Georgia Announces Speaker 4) Aliyev, Chirac Meet in Paris 5) Finland Defeats Armenia in World Cup Qualifier 1) Iran's Khatami Pledges Closer Ties with Armenia YEREVAN (RFE-RL)--Iran's President Mohammad Khatami described on Wednesday his country's relationship with Armenia as a benchmark of peaceful co-existence and cooperation between neighbors on the first day of an official visit to Yerevan where he was given a red-carpet reception. Khatami was greeted at Yerevan airport by virtually all members of Armenia's ruling cabinet before going into talks with President Robert Kocharian. The two leaders signed a framework treaty on bilateral cooperation which they said will further strengthen political and economic links between the two nations. They also presided over the signing of several other agreements covering the energy sector, customs administration, and culture. "The relationship between the Armenian and Iranian peoples can serve as the best example for all those who want to live side by side and respect each other's sovereignty," Khatami declared at an ensuing joint news conference with Kocharian. "We have felt obliged to establish and deepen relations with Armenia since its independence," he said. "Every year that followed 1991 saw a further development of our relations. The agreements signed today give us hope that they will continue to deepen in the future." "I declare that this relationship is to the benefit of the sides but not to the detriment of anybody else," Khatami added. "We are ready to make every effort to help resolve crises existing in the region, including Mountainous Karabagh, and to contribute to the establishment of a lasting peace and stability in the region," Khatami said in a speech at the Armenian parliament later in the day. Kocharian, meanwhile, said that Armenia and Iran should pay particular attention to developing their economic cooperation. He singled out the energy sector where the two nations plan to implement multimillion-dollar joint projects. The biggest is the construction of a pipeline that will ship Iranian natural gas to Armenia and possibly other countries. An agreement on the implementation of the $120 million project was signed by the two governments in Yerevan last May. Armenia's ambassador to Tehran, Gegham Gharibjanian, said this week that work on the Iranian section of the pipeline is already underway and will soon begin on the Armenian side. Energy Minister Armen Movsisian had said earlier that the Armenian government will receive a $30 million loan from Iran to finance the construction of the Armenian section. Despite the energy projects, the volume of Armenian-Iranian trade has steadily declined in recent years and made up only 3.5 percent of Armenia's external commercial exchange last year. 2) NATO, US to Develop Military Aid Program in Azerbaijan BAKU (Ekspress)--Commenting on the outcome of US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's visit to the South Caucasus last month, NATO general Frank Boland told Baku-based Ekspress that the US and NATO intend to launch an unprecedented military aid program in the region in the near future. "We are thinking about extending our aid to Azerbaijan within the framework of the newly-drawn up program. Discussions were held during Rumsfeld's meetings with Azerbaijani officials," commented Boland, the chief of Force Planning Section at NATO's Defense Planning and Operations Division The US Congress, according to Boland, has considered specific loans for the development of military forces in the South Caucasus countries in the current year. "This figure is higher in Azerbaijan than in other countries," he said, and revealed that Azerbaijan seeks to implement the program in the Caspian basin and its borders. According to some critics, the US and NATO project exceeds the limits of the Caucasus. Boland said the initiative will help beef up the onshore, offshore, and air security of Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan in the Caspian region. He also said that NATO is familiar with the realities of the Mountainous Karabagh conflict, and is seeking new approaches there. "We will increase our positive attempts to achieve a solution to the conflict." Addressing NATO, Azerbaijan cooperation, Boland stated that the fight against terrorism in maintaining security in the region is necessary, and that numerous projects centering on security, are nearing completion. "These projects mainly serve the development of security in the region. The interests of NATO and Azerbaijan in the region coincide." 3) Abkhazia Will Never Rejoin Georgia Announces Speaker SUKHUMI (Interfax)--Abkhazia will never voluntarily rejoin Georgia, Abkhaz parliament speaker Nugzar Ashuba said during a meeting with OSCE envoys in Sukhumi on Tuesday. "We cannot commit another fatal mistake. We are prepared for any sacrifices just to defend our freedom, so that the world not lose one more people," Ashuba said. He did agree, however, that the negotiation process between Georgia and Abkhazia should continue. The OSCE delegation visiting Abkhazia is led by Ivan Naidenov of Bulgaria and includes representatives from 23 countries, including Russia, the United States, Germany, Poland, France, Britain, Italy, Latvia, Romania, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Denmark and others. "We are here to study the situation in the region on the spot. The OSCE could be more actively involved in the processes going on here," Naidenov said at the meeting in the Abkhaz parliament with the Abkhaz parliamentary speaker and deputies. The sides discussed approaches to settling the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, Abkhazia's political status, the return of refugees, and the implementation of agreements concluded between the Russian and Abkhaz leaderships in Sochi. 4) Aliyev, Chirac Meet in Paris PARIS (AzerTag)Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev met with French counterpart Jacques Chirac in Paris on Tuesday, underlining the rapid political and economic developments between the two countries. They also focused on Azerbaijan's aspirations to integrate into the European Union, as well as Azerbaijan's regional conflicts, including Mountainous Karabagh. Chirac stressed his commitment to continued peace negotiations, and said that France would implement its mediation mission as an OSCE Minsk Group co-chair. 5) Finland Defeats Armenia in World Cup Qualifier YEREVAN (Reuters)Finland beat Armenia 2-0 in a World Cup Group One qualifier on Wednesday, lifting Finland to second place in the group on six points, three behind leaders Romania who hold a perfect record. In an often choppy game with fouls stopping the flow of play, Finland went ahead after 24 minutes when striker Mikael Forssell, surrounded by defenders, found the back of the net from the edge of the box. Finland made it 2-0 in the 67th minute when Alexei Eremenko was put through just over the halfway line for a clear run on goal before slotting the ball past Armenian keeper Armen Ambartzumyan. The 21-year-old, widely regarded as one of the best new talents of Finnish football, scored twice in Finland's comfortable 3-0 win over Andorra on Saturday. There was little for the Armenians to take from the match, whose goal tally is now 0-5 after two defeats in their opening two qualifiers. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2004 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets. From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
August 25, 2004 Wednesday 12:48 PM Eastern Time
Tehran to grant loan to Armenia for gas pipeline construction
By Tigran Liloyan
METSAMOR /Armavir region in Armenia/, August 25 – Yerevan will
receive a loan from Tehran for building part of the Armenian stretch
of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, Armenian Energy Minister Armen
Movsesyan said here on Wednesday.
The 30-million dollars loan will be extended for 7.5 years, at a 5
percent interest, the minister said, saying these terms were
acceptable.
The money will be used for building a pipeline from Agarak to
Kadzharan in southeastern Armenia to connect the country’s gas
pipeline network to Iran’s.
Armenia will pay for Iranian gas with electricity it will produce,
Mosesyan said.
He said he was hoping that the construction of the gas pipeline will
begin as early as this year. The pipeline is expected to be
commissioned by January 2007.
The agreement on building the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline was signed in
Yerevan on May 13. The whole project is estimated to cost 220 million
dollars. This sum includes the 100-million-dollar Armenian part of
the pipeline.
Iran’s Oil and Gas Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said, Iran’s gas
supplies to Armenia will make up 36 billion cubic meters.
The construction of a gas pipeline from Iran has a very important
significance in the context of ensuring Armenia’s energy
independence, the republic’s President Robert Kocharyan said.
Despite certain reports, this pipeline is intended solely for meeting
the demand for energy on the domestic market, the president said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

World Magazine
Aug 6 2004
Terror’s next target in Iraq
CHURCH ATTACKS: In the first coordinated assault on one of Iraq’s
most important minorities, Islamist insurgents murder 12 and injure
60 Christians at worship. The success of the interim government’s
response represents the next test of its legitimacy – and of national
unity in post-Saddam Iraq | by Mindy Belz

Most churches in Iraq hold services Sunday evening for a simple
reason: Here, as in the rest of the Muslim world, the Christian
Sabbath is a workday. So the coordinated attacks that struck the
Christian community on Aug. 1 arrived in time for maximum carnage.
At six in the evening – just as most services begin – a car bomb exploded
outside the Armenian church in Karada, a Baghdad neighborhood that
was the heart of the Christian community before and during British
colonial rule and where old-line churches post-Saddam thrive. Minutes
later an explosion rocked the Catholic Syriac Church, also in Karada.
Then, as the Chaldean Church of St. Peter and St. Paul emptied from
evening mass, two blasts hammered the compound. Bombers also struck
Mar Elya church in north Baghdad. At nearly the same time and 220
miles north, two car bombs exploded in central Mosul outside Mar
Polis church.
Glass sprayed into nearby homes, parked cars erupted in flames, and
massive plumes of smoke rose into the air. Fellow worshippers crawled
over the wreckage in search of Bibles, crosses on necklaces, and
other tokens to identify the scattered portions of the dead.
Ambulances and police swarmed. U.S. Army helicopters responded to the
smoke visible miles away, patrolling low overhead what had become – in
less than an instant – a war zone.
Chaldean Catholic priest Faris Toma stood in the wreckage outside his
church where dozens of cars were upended and several propelled into
the sanctuary by the force of the blasts. `We cannot understand why
or how they could do something like this,’ he said. `All we can do is
ask God to give them forgiveness and grant us peace.’
Remarkably, out of hundreds of worshippers attending targeted
churches and the snugly built neighborhoods where they reside, the
attacks killed a dozen people – 10 from Mr. Toma’s church – and injured
about 60. If the deaths were miraculously minimized, the
choreographed stab at Iraq’s Christian minority maximized the fear
factor. More than a year after war ended and insurgency began, it was
the first attack on Christian houses of worship.
Iraqi Christians now feel they are not only a minority but a targeted
minority,’ said Nabil Haj, a U.S. military engineer and
Lebanese-American who attends church in Baghdad. `Even evangelical
practice and preaching is under attack.’
Newer churches in Baghdad say they received threats ahead of the
bombings. At the Christian Missionary Alliance church two blocks from
the Catholic compound, where the worst attack took place, a warning
letter from the `Fallujah Mujahideen’ arrived four days before the
Sunday bombings. Churchgoers told WORLD that they have received a
variety of intimidating messages from militants ever since the
Fallujah siege by U.S. forces in April, linking them to Western
religion and vowing retaliation. Those threats could signal that
Christians – numbering somewhere between 700,000 and 800,000 – are next
up on the terrorists’ target list.
Experts increasingly pinpoint Fallujah and the surrounding Anbar
province as the sending agent behind bombings. The dusty city of
300,000, located in the desert 40 miles west of Baghdad, is a locus
of Saddam loyalists and Islamic fanatics. U.S. forces fought
unsuccessfully – from ground and air – to control the city and rout
opposition elements after Fallujahans killed four U.S. defense
contractors and hung their bodies from a bridge last spring.
Under a controversial pact, U.S. forces have agreed not to enter
Fallujah at all, leaving local militias and other militants in the
hands of former Saddam loyalists fueled by anti-American clerics. In
five months, the 4th Marine Regiment’s Second Battalion has engaged
in over 200 firefights in the area, absorbing close to 300 casualties
while killing more than 1,000 guerrillas, according to former
assistant secretary of defense F.J. Bing West, who is writing a book
on the fight for Fallujah.
An insurgency with churchgoers and Bible believers at its bullseye
comes as many churches, particularly those launched after the war,
are straining at the highest points on the growth chart. Just weeks
before the bombing, Christian Missionary Alliance pastor Ghassan
Thomas told WORLD his Sunday evening services – which began only a year
ago with less than 50 attendants – attract more than 450 worshippers.
The church meets in an already expanded house and is looking for its
third home. Mr. Thomas was administering communion Sunday evening
when the blasts at the Catholic complex two streets over shook the
Alliance building, knocking books from shelves and causing lights to
flutter. `It shook the whole building,’ he said, `and people started
screaming and leaving.’
How many Christians will come back is the question church leaders are
asking themselves. `Many people can no longer go to church regularly,
they are forced by bombings to meet in homes’ one pastor said. `With
this explosion many Christians are planning to leave Iraq.’
(In the aftermath, few Iraqi Christians who spoke to WORLD were
willing to be identified in print, obviously fearing for their
safety. Underscoring the concern, an Iraqi employee of The New York
Times covering the church bombings had his name withheld from the
paper’s report.)
Church leaders find themselves in an unhappy predicament: posting
guards and setting up walls around facilities where they have worked
hard to be good neighbors.
At St. Peter and St. Paul church, Catholic groundskeepers bolted
gates normally left ajar. At the Alliance church, workers hauled an
oversized flatbed truck to one end of the street as a barrier. At the
other end, they posted guards next to a barricade of bricks, logs,
and cardboard barrels. At St. George’s Anglican Church, an
evangelical congregation whose building was renovated through joint
efforts of Iraqi Christians and U.S. chaplains, signs advertising
English-language services came down.
At the Presbyterian church in Mosul, one of Iraq’s longer-standing
congregations started by missionaries in 1820, both pastor and
congregation have found themselves under increasing vigilance. Last
month the pastor’s own wedding was moved north to an affiliate church
in Dohuk after threats from a local mosque to disrupt his services.
Twelve guards stood watch outside during the marriage ceremony, even
after it was relocated. During the Sunday blasts, Iraqi police
defused a bomb near the Presbyterian church after two bombs went off
outside Mar Polis, a traditional Aramaic-speaking church in central
Mosul, killing one and wounding at least 15.
Christians have lived in Iraq for 2,000 years. The Assyrian Church of
the East is the oldest in Iraq; it was founded in a.d. 33. Chaldeans,
many of whom continue to speak and/or worship in Aramaic, the
language of Jesus, are the majority among the descendants of early
Mesopotamian Christians. Orthodox churches blend with Eastern-rite
Catholics who recognize the pope but maintain some measure of their
own autonomy – all in all, making for a liturgical soup of Armenian
Catholics and Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Catholics and Syrian
Orthodox, along with Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic communities,
Anglicans, Baptists, and evangelicals. Christians reportedly numbered
1 million before the 1991 Gulf War, when many left for the West. Now
their numbers are around 800,000.
Since the most recent war, churches are growing in both number and
size. More importantly, they are acquiring a multiethnic face, as
Assyrians and Chaldeans, Kurds and Turkomans, even former Baathists
and an occasional Muslim convert – freed from the police state – can
worship together. Clergymen, too, have formed transethnic and
transdenominational ties because for the first time in memory they
can travel the country freely and meet together. A pastor’s
conference last spring attracted dozens of clergymen, including many
recent returnees.
Once isolated congregations also are learning to work in partnership
with one another and with parachurch groups. The St. Peter and St.
Paul church, which also includes a seminary and health clinic, has
been a focus for community outreach and charity. Given the facility’s
extensive damage and security concerns, however, outreach may have to
wait.
Muslims and Christians showed signs of solidarity in the
traditionally mixed neighborhoods of Karada and elsewhere. After all,
mosques were first bombed months ago. One local glass shop offered to
repair church windows at wholesale. Muslim neighbors showed up at
hospitals to check on burn victims. Christian clergy visited Muslim
homeowners nearby to see whether they suffered damage.
Iraq’s Shiite and Sunni leaders issued public statements against the
attacks. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani denounced the `criminal campaign
targeting Iraq’s unity, stability, and independence.’ The Association
of Sunni Muslim Scholars condemned the attacks as `totally remote
from any religious or humanitarian norms.’
Iraq’s national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie said Christians
should not interpret the attacks as a warning to leave Iraq. `We
can’t afford to lose any of them, to be quite honest with you,’ Mr.
Rubaie said. `Iraq will be a big, big loser. This blow is going to
unite Iraqis.’
Government leaders have increased awareness about the importance of
the Christian minority, which has a strong business presence, higher
education levels, and more open and steady ties to the West.
Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh promised beefed-up security near
churches. He said authorities would hunt down those responsible. `The
Christian community in Iraq is respected and valued,’ he told
reporters. `They are loyal Iraqi citizens, and any attack on them is
an attack on all decent Iraqis,’ adding, `We are determined to defeat
the terrorists who so brutally seek to disrupt social peace.’
With singed cars as a reminder and fear as a companion, Christian
survivors are hard-pressed to find a silver lining in the week’s
death toll. But many may now more purposefully join Muslims, truck
drivers, government leaders, and U.S. soldiers who – left to puzzle
together the who, what, when, and where – more urgently want to know
how to stop the killings. – –
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th St., NW, Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:
PRESS RELEASE
August 5, 2004
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
ARMENIAN AMERICANS ACTIVE AT THE
DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION
— Strengthen Alliances with Coalition Partners
BOSTON, MA – Armenian Americans from throughout the United States
took part in the Democratic National Convention last week to
communicate Armenian American priorities, strengthen alliances, and
contribute to the success of the Kerry-Edwards ticket this
November, reported the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA).
Armenian American delegates to the Convention represented states,
ranging from Colorado and Iowa to New York, Massachusetts and Rhode
Island. They were joined by local community activists from
Massachusetts, invited guests, and representatives of the Armenian
American press.
Kathryn Allikian, an Iowa alternate delegate attending a national
party convention for the first time, cited a range of domestic and
Armenian American concerns which led her to lend her support to the
Kerry-Edwards ticket. “When I first heard that the Bush
Administration had placed Armenia on the terrorist watch list after
9/11. That just floored me. All they had to do is do their
homework. I’m glad that it was taken off and that they recognized
their mistake, but it took a lot of lobbying efforts from the
Armenian community’s side to get that done.” Other Armenian
American delegates included Massachusetts State Representative
Rachel Kaprielian, ANC Rhode Island activist Ani Haroian, Armene
Brown, and Mike Najarian.
Armenian Americans were also active in the Convention through
participation in the Democratic Party’s Ethnic Caucus, which took
place on July 28th. The two-hour Caucus meeting, run by Caucus Co-
Chairman and Arab American Institute Chairman Jim Zogby, featured a
range of speakers including Kerry-Edwards campaign co-chairwoman,
former New Hampshire Governor Jean Shaheen, Connecticut
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, and Kerry-Edwards Ethnic Outreach
Coordinator George Kivork. In addressing the ethnic community
representatives, Rep. DeLauro explained, “You are tireless
advocates for what makes our country unique and special. It is
that diversity of background and opinion, cultural tradition and
value. That is what our country is all about. And what you all do
is help preserve the core of the American experience and the notion
that we can build a more perfect union.”
Since its inception in the early 1990’s, the Armenian American
community’s participation in the Caucus has been through the
Armenian American Democratic Leadership Council, which actively
fosters support within the Armenian American community for the
Democratic Party and national Democratic office holders, while
promoting the election of Armenian American Democrats to political
office and encouraging participation by Armenian American Democrats
at all levels of the public policy process.
——————————————————-
State Representative Koutoujian Urges Armenian American Youth:
“Please Get Involved, We Need You.”
——————————————————-
Massachusetts State Senator Peter Koutoujian and John Kerry for
President Ethnic Outreach Coordinator George Kivork outlined the
Senator Kerry’s strong record on Armenian American concerns
including Sen. Kerry’s twenty year record in support of Armenian
Genocide recognition efforts, and leadership in the adoption of
Freedom Support Act restrictions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan due
their ongoing blockade of Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh.
The ANCA, in its official statement endorsing the Kerry/Edwards
ticket provided an extensive accounting of both Sen. Kerry’s and
Pres. Bush’s records on Armenian American concerns. The full text
of the endorsement may be read on the ANCA website at:
;pressregion=anca
Both Koutoujian and Kivork made a general call for greater Armenian
American involvement in the political process. When asked to
provide a message to Armenian American youth considering a career
in politics, Rep. Koutoujian stated, “I would say to all the young
Armenians – ‘Please get involved, we need you.’ There are only two
State Representatives up here (Massachusetts) – myself and Rachel
Kaprielian, and that’s kind of shameful. . . We really need our
young people to rise up to positions of power and positions of
influence where we can affect change, we can affect policy issues.”
Kivork’s message was equally emphatic: “Get involved. Get
involved right now. We need Armenian Americans getting involved in
every level of campaign – whether it is city council, your local
Congressman, you school board. Just get involved, because at the
end of the day, you are the face of not just the candidate, but of
all Armenian Americans. You have a unique opportunity to represent
both your community and your candidate in a positive light. Just
get involved.”
——————————————————————-
Rep. Schiff: “We are going to take every opportunity to bring the
[Genocide Recognition] fight to the floor of the Congress
——————————————————————-
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) was among the thousands of Democratic
elected officials to participate at the Convention this year. In
an interview with Horizon Armenian Television, Rep. Schiff, who
successfully spearheaded an amendment to the foreign aid bill,
which restricts the use of U.S. assistance to Turkey in lobbying
against the Genocide Resolution, outlined the next steps in
securing Congressional support for the measure.
“The amendment is part of the House Bill. It is not yet part of
the Senate Bill. We want to make sure it stays in on the
Conference Committee,” explained Rep. Schiff. “Regrettably the
House Leadership, Speaker Hastert, Tom Delay and others have
pledged to do everything they can to strip it out of the bill. So
we have a fight on our bill.” Rep. Schiff is referring to a
strongly worded statement by Speaker Hastert, Majority Leader Tom
DeLay and Majority Leader Roy Blunt, issued immediately following
the passage of the amendment, critical of the amendment and
pledging not to schedule a floor vote on the Genocide resolution,
H.Res.193. The Genocide Resolution, which was introduced by Rep.
George Radanovich (R-CA), Rep. Schiff and Congressional Armenian
Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI),
has 111 cosponsors and was adopted unanimously by the House
Judiciary Committee in May, 2003.
Following the passage of the Schiff amendment, Representatives
Radanovich, Pallone and Schiff initiated a Congressional letter to
Speaker Hastert asking him to schedule a vote on the Genocide
Resolution. The letter has already garnered over 30 Congressional
signatories. Rep. Schiff stressed the importance of nationwide
Armenian American activism in support of the letter to send a clear
message to the House leadership. “If he [Speaker Hastert] doesn’t
hear from people throughout this country, he is going to think that
people don’t care. On the other hand, if he can hear from all of
us, if we can send thousands and thousands of faxes, he’s going to
know that there is a price to making a promise to our community and
then breaching it.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PART OF LEVON ZAKARIAN’S PERSONAL LIBRARY PRESENTED TO “SPYURK”
SCIENTIFIC AND EDUCATIONAL CENTER
YEREVAN, August 2 (Noyan Tapan). The library of the “Spyurk”
(“Diaspora”) Scientific and Educational Center of the Yerevan
Pedagogical University after Khachatour Abovian was replenished with
220 valuable books concerning the Diaspora. Sons of Levon Zakarian,
editor of the “Hayreniki Dzain” (“Voice of Homeland”) newspaper,
presented the center with the complete section of related news items
for 30 years besides these books taken from the personal library.
According to Suren Danielian, Director of the Center, all this
literature will be kept in the reading room of the center as Levon
Zakarian’s personal untouched fund.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

HAILSTORM DAMAGES CROPS IN ARMENIAN DISTRICT
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
10 Jul 04
(Presenter) A hailstorm has hit Armenia’s Armavir district. The
farmers of this district have been deprived of their harvest, annual
income, and have got into serious debt. The farmers joke that what is
brought by water is also gone with water.
(Correspondent over video of villages damaged by hailstorm) About 810
hectares of vineyards, grain and vegetable fields of Armavir
District’s village of Janfida were completely damaged by a strong
hailstorm on Friday (9 July). The strong wind broke the windows and
roofs of schools, village and district houses and damaged the
village’s roads. Seven villages of the district have been greatly
damaged.
(Passage omitted: The farmers are complaining about their losses)
(Correspondent) Land is the only source of income for the farmers of
Janfida and other villages. The natural disaster has put these people
in a difficult situation. As well as being deprived of their annual
income, the farmers have got into serious debt. They do not know how
to return bank loans and pay interest rates. The farmers’ only hope is
the government’s support and selling at a high price the part of the
harvest that survived.
A special group set up in the district council is estimating the
damage caused by the hail.
Anna Vartanyan for “Aylur”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pakistan’s Musharraf assures Azeri leader of support in Karabakh issue
Azerbaijani TV Channel One, Baku
8 Jul 04
The presidents of Azerbaijan and Pakistan, Ilham Aliyev and Pervez
Musharraf, held a joint news conference following the signing of a
number of bilateral cooperation agreements. Before answering
questions, the presidents made statements.
In his remarks, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev welcomed the
visiting Pakistani president and the delegation accompanying him. He
said the visit was a significant event in the history of the two
countries and added that the two countries maintained effective
cooperation in the political, economic and cultural fields. Aliyev
said that Pakistan and Azerbaijan had always supported each other in
the international arena.
“Pakistan has always supported Azerbaijan’s fair position on the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and I would like to thank the
distinguished president on behalf of the Azerbaijani people,” Aliyev
said.
He said that Azerbaijan would also provide its political support to
Pakistan. Under such circumstances, economic cooperation will bring
the countries even closer together, Aliyev said. These issues, he
added, are permanently discussed by the intergovernmental economic
cooperation.
“There are great opportunities in the fields of tourism, energy and
agriculture. Of course, our relations in the humanitarian and cultural
areas are successfully developing as well. Pakistan and Azerbaijan are
allies, we understand each other very well, our positions on
international and regional issues overlap and I am sure that our
relations will improve even further after this visit,” Ilham Aliyev.
At the end of his statement, Aliyev reiterated his words of welcome
for the Pakistani leader and expressed the hope that the visit would
be productive and successful.
In his reciprocal address, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf
thanked his Azerbaijani counterpart for the warm welcome and for his
words about thriving Pakistani-Azerbaijani relations. He said it was a
pleasure to lead the Pakistani delegation visiting Azerbaijan.
“Pakistan and Azerbaijan enjoy very strong cultural, historic and
religious bonds, therefore, these bonds must facilitate cooperation
and collaboration in all fields, especially political and economic,”
he said.
He added that the presidents and the delegations of the two countries
had held a very comprehensive exchange of views on many areas.
“In the political field the special feature of our relationship is the
reciprocal support that Pakistan has always received and is always
grateful to Azerbaijan for its support on the Kashmir dispute. We also
support Azerbaijan in the Nagornyy Karabakh issue,” Musharraf
stressed.
“The occupation of Nagornyy Karabakh by Armenia is the cause of
concern to us, the government of Pakistan, and every individual
Pakistani. Therefore, I have assured the president of our continual
and full support in this dispute with Armenia over Nagornyy Karabakh,”
he said.
The Pakistani president pointed to complete identity of views on all
international issues and said that the two presidents had agreed to
keep in touch in order to continuously renew their approaches to
problems.
“In the economic field we have agreed that we need to identify areas
of common interest and focus on them through the creation of a joint
economic commission which must meet on an annual basis, so that we can
then proceed further for mutual benefits,” Pervez Musharraf said.
“We are extremely glad at the signing of these agreements. We look
forward and are very sure that these will be precursors for more
interaction between our two countries, for closer cooperation and
understanding between our two countries,” he said.
Musharraf said he had invited Ilham Aliyev to Pakistan and that the
invitation was accepted.
At the end of his statement, Musharraf said in Turkish: “Long live
Pakistani-Azerbaijani friendship. I believe that we are not friends,
we are brothers. Pakistan has always been together with Azerbaijan.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

US envoy urges democratic institutions in Azeri exclave
Turan news agency, Baku
7 Jul 04

Naxcivan, 7 July: The US ambassador to Azerbaijan, Reno Harnish, who
is now visiting Naxcivan [Autonomous Republic], has held a press
conference. “It is high time” to open democratic institutions in
Naxcivan, Turan news agency quotes Harnish as saying. This question
was discussed during his meeting with the chairman of Naxcivan’s
Supreme Council, Vasif Talibov.
Harnish also said that he is aware of the opposition’s hunger strike
in Naxcivan and has discussed this issue with Talibov.
He confirmed that he had said in an interview with the Guardian
newspaper that the Azerbaijani law-enforcement bodies obtain 80 per
cent of confessions through torture. He said that the US State
Department’s annual reports also discuss this issue in detail.
Journalists asked him about the decision of the US Congress to
allocate 5m dollars to Nagornyy Karabakh. Harnish said that this
humanitarian assistance will be spent on refugees. He said that
Azerbaijan will be given 13m dollars for refugees living in camps.
Harnish also spoke about the security of the Caspian basin. He said
that the USA is drafting a new programme to ensure that the Caspian is
secure from weapons of mass destruction.
He also spoke of his meeting with Azerbaijani Minister of Youth,
Sports and Tourism Abulfaz Qarayev. The USA will allocate a grant of
1.5m dollars to develop tourism.
A hospital for the disabled will open in Naxcivan, Harnish said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress