Author: Emil Karabekian

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V. Rev. Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
HIS HOLINESS MEETS WITH THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ETHIOPIAN PATRIARCH
His Holiness Aram I received a delegation from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church
on May 5. The delegation included two bishops representing the spiritual
leader of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Abouna Paolos, as well as
the spiritual leader of the Ethiopian Community of Lebanon and the
Ambassador of Ethiopia in Lebanon.
The delegation conveyed the Ethiopian Patriarch’s greetings to His Holiness.
The two sides talked about the construction works of an Ethiopian church in
Lebanon.
The friendly relations between the Ethiopian Church and the Catholicosate of
Cilicia had led the two spiritual leaders to plan constructing an Ethiopian
church for meeting the spiritual needs of the growing Ethiopian community of
Lebanon. The church will be built on a land belonging to the Catholicosate
of Cilicia.
The close ties between the Catholicosate and the Church had been further
deepened during an official visit by Patriarch Paolos to Antelias in 2003,
when he had requested His Holiness to look after the Ethiopian community of
Lebanon.
##
Picture here:
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Ecumenical
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KOCHARIAN LEAVES FOR MOSCOW TODAY
Pan Armenian News
07.05.2005 02:36
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian President Robert Kocharian is leaving
for Moscow on a working visit. In the Russian capital the Armenian
President will take part in events marking the 60-th anniversary
of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The delegation headed by
R. Kocharian will return to Yerevan May 9.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

WAIS Document Retrieval
[Congressional Record: April 28, 2005 (Extensions)]
[Page E829-E830]
>From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr28ap05pt2-67]

IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
______

HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF
of california
in the house of representatives
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the one and a half
million Armenians who perished in the Armenian Genocide that began 90
years ago on April 24, 1915. This is a sacred obligation that we
undertake each April–to ensure that future generations of Americans
remember the first genocide of the 20th century and to ensure that the
men, women and children who perished at the hands of the Ottoman Empire
are not lost to history.
Mr. Speaker, there is no dispute that what happened to the Armenian
people is genocide. Thousands of pages of documents sit in our National
Archives. One of these documents is a report from the American Consul
in Trebizond, Oscar Heizer. On July 28, 1915, Heizer cabled the U.S.
Embassy in Constantinople to report on the massacre of 180 Armenian
road workers, who were shot and stripped of their clothes before being
buried in the woods.
Newspapers of the day were replete with stories about the murder of
Armenians. “Appeal to Turkey to Stop Massacres” headlined the New
York Times on April 28, 1915, just as the killing began. On October 7
of that year, the Times reported that 800,000 Armenians had “been
slain in cold blood in Asia Minor.” In mid-December of 1915, the Times
spoke of a “Million Armenians Killed or in Exile.”
Prominent citizens of the day, including America’s Ambassador to the
Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau, and Britain’s Lord Bryce reported on
the massacres in great detail. Morgenthau was appalled at what he would
later call the “sadistic orgies” of rape, torture and murder. Lord
Bryce, a former British Ambassador to the United States, worked to
raise awareness of and money for the victims of what he called “the
most colossal crime in the history of the world.” In October 1915 the
Rockefeller Foundation contributed $30,000–a sum worth more than half
a million dollars today–to a relief fund for Armenia.
Last week at the annual commemoration of the genocide here on the
Hill, I had the honor to meet, Henry Morgenthau, the grandson of
Ambassador Morgenthau. He is still carrying on his grandfather’s
mission to make America and the world aware of what happened.
The generation of Armenians with direct memory of the genocide is
almost gone; their children are aging. Much of the rest of the world
has moved on, reluctant to dredge up “unpleasant” memories and risk
the ire of modern Turkey.
But even now, almost a century after the start of the genocide, some
survivors are still with us. One of them, Ghazaros Kademian, is a
constituent of mine. He is 96 now, but his mind is sharp and he
remembers clearly the day when, as a six-year-old boy he and his family
were forced from their house. He was from the village of Zaitoun,
located southeast of present day Turkey. Kademian’s father stayed
behind to defend his homeland and was murdered. His mother took his
hand and ran away.
[[Page E830]]
Kademian and his mother had no shoes, coats, food, or money. They had
to leave everything behind for the Turks. He does not remember all the
details of their long journey, except it was harsh, cold, and
dangerous, because they had no idea where they were going.
The boy and his mother ended their flight in Kirkuk, in what is now
northern Iraq. He remembers very vividly that the first night in Kirkuk
they hugged each other for warmth and slept in front of a church for
protection. In the morning he woke up; but his mother did not move, she
was frozen and dead. He was left alone, homeless, in a town where he
did not speak the same language.
What happened to Ghazaros Kademian’s family was terrible and tragic,
but not uncommon. All over the Ottoman Empire Armenian children and
their parents fled from their homes with only the clothes on their
backs. But for those of us who care deeply about this issue, Kadmian’s
story is a reminder that we must redouble our efforts to ensure that
our nation, which has championed liberty and human rights throughout
its history, is not comp1icit in Ankara’s effort to obfuscate what
happened between 1915 and 1923. Worse still, by tacitly siding with
those who deny the Armenian Genocide, we have rendered hollow our
commitment to “never again” let genocide occur.
Within the next few days, several of my colleagues and I will be
introducing a resolution commemorating the Armenian genocide. This
should be an easy resolution for all of us–Republicans and Democrats–
to support.
The reason that we have yet to succeed in passing a resolution
honoring the murdered Armenians is simple: The government of Turkey
refuses to acknowledge the genocide and has spent millions of dollars
and expended countless hours of diplomatic effort to prevent us from
commemorating the suffering of the Armenian people. Turkey’s opposition
has always centered on its assertion that acknowledging the victims of
its Ottoman forebears would cause an irreparable rift between the
United States and an important ally.
Last summer, during consideration of the fiscal year 2005 Foreign
Operations Appropriations bill, I offered an amendment to prohibit the
Government of Turkey from using U.S. foreign aid to lobby against H.
Res. 193, a resolution introduced by Representatives Radanovich, Schiff
and the co-chairs of the Armenian Caucus, Representatives Knollenberg
and Pallone, that officially recognizes the Armenian Genocide. H. Res.
193 had been cosponsored by 110 of our colleagues on both sides of the
aisle.
My amendment touched off a flurry of activity by Turkey’s lobbyists.
According to a Foreign Agents Registration Act filing, lobbyists for
the Government of Turkey made at least 32 separate contacts with U.S.
Government officials over a 3-day period in an attempt to kill my
amendment. These included telephone calls to the Speaker of the House,
other Members, numerous congressional staff, an Assistant Secretary of
Defense, National Security Council staff, the Office of the Vice
President, and other State and Defense Department staff.
While Ankara’s agents did not succeed in blocking adoption of the
amendment by the House, it was stripped in conference and the full
House never did vote on the Genocide Resolution.
In the name of Ghazaros Kademian and those no longer with us, I call
upon the distinguished Speaker of the House to allow us to vote on a
Genocide resolution this year. We must do it soon, for with each year
the events of 1915-1923 recede a bit more into the dark of history.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Le Devoir
Lundi, 25 Avril 2005
90e anniversaire du début des massacres perpétrés par les Turcs
ottomans – Les Arméniens se souviennent
Erevan — Les Arméniens, ceux de la mère-patrie comme de la diaspora,
se sont recueillis en très grand nombre dimanche pour le 90e
anniversaire du début des massacres perpétrés par les Turcs ottomans,
qu’ils souhaitent voir reconnus comme génocide par la communauté
internationale, et surtout par la Turquie.
Des dizaines de milliers de personnes, brandissant des drapeaux et
portant des fleurs, se sont rendues à pied depuis Erevan au mémorial
de Dzidzernagapert, au sommet d’une colline dans la banlieue de la
capitale arménienne. La foule a déposé des oeillets autour de la
flamme du souvenir tandis qu’un choeur vêtu de noir chantait des
cantiques.
La Turquie refuse toujours de reconnaître le génocide qui a coûté la
vie à 1,5 million d’Arméniens entre 1915 et 1917. Elle affirme qu’il
y a eu cinq fois moins de victimes et qu’elles ont été tuées ou
déportées dans le contexte des désordres internes qui ont accompagné
la chute de l’Empire ottoman.
Des messes commémoratives ont été célébrées hier dans toute l’Arménie
et dans une centaine de pays où vit aujourd’hui la diaspora
arménienne.
Une minute de silence a été observée dans toute l’Arménie. Les
habitants d’Erevan étaient invités, à la tombée de la nuit, à placer
des bougies à leurs fenêtres.
La diaspora arménienne de par le monde a aussi commémoré le 24 avril
1915 avec des messes, des défilés et des dépôts de gerbes. À Moscou,
plusieurs centaines de personnes ont participé à un service religieux
sur le futur emplacement d’une église arménienne. Dans le nord-est de
la Syrie, quelque 4000 personnes se sont rassemblées à Marqada où
reposent plusieurs milliers de victimes.
Les premières rafles des autorités ottomanes ont eu lieu le 24 avril
1915 à Istanbul. Elles visaient les notables arméniens, intellectuels
et personnalités influentes. Par la suite, c’est presque toute la
population arménienne de l’est de l’Anatolie qui a été massacrée ou
déportée dans le désert syrien où peu ont survécu.

La France et la Russie, ainsi que plusieurs autres pays, ont reconnu
le génocide de 1915, le dernier en date étant la Pologne mardi
dernier, ce qu’Ankara a aussitôt condamné.
La communauté arménienne américaine fait pression sur le Congrès
américain pour que les États-Unis reconnaissent eux aussi le premier
génocide du XXe siècle.
«La reconnaissance et la condamnation internationale du génocide est
un objectif que doit atteindre l’Arménie et pas seulement elle», a
déclaré le président Robert Kotcharian, selon les propos rapportés
par l’agence russe ITAR-Tass. «L’Arménie est prête à établir des
relations normales avec la Turquie. Toutefois, la politique
poursuivie par Ankara est surprenante, pas seulement en Arménie mais
partout dans le monde.»
Ankara, qui n’entretient pas de relations diplomatiques avec Erevan,
a proposé ce mois-ci une enquête conjointe des historiens des deux
pays. Mais le ministre arménien des Affaires étrangères avait déjà
indiqué en février qu’Erevan n’avait nullement l’intention de
conduire de nouvelles recherches sur un événement qui est, à ses
yeux, un fait historique avéré.
L’année dernière, le président français Jacques Chirac avait estimé
que la Turquie devait reconnaître le génocide arménien pour pouvoir
adhérer à l’Union européenne.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Estrella Digital,España
lunes 25 de abril de 2005
Los Armenios llaman a condenar el genocidio de millón y medio de sus
compatriotas en 1915

El considerado primer holocausto del siglo XX “cambió radicalmente la
vía normal” del pueblo armenio, según explicó su presidente, Robert
Kocharian

Ana Mkrtschan/Efe
Ereván

Centenares de miles de armenios acudieron ayer al monte de
Tsitsernakaberd para recordar al millón y medio de compatriotas que
hace 90 años cayeron víctimas del genocidio de 1915 y pedir la
condena universal del primer holocausto del siglo XX. Hacia el
mediodía, más de 200.000 personas habían ascendido al monte sagrado y
depositado ofrendas florales al pie de la Llama Eterna del conjunto
conmemorativo erigido en memoria de las víctimas del genocidio.
Las autoridades llamaron a todos los armenios a rendir su homenaje y
esperan que durante la jornada asciendan al Tsitsernakaberd millón y
medio de personas, igual número que el de las víctimas de la matanza
de 1915, cuyo reconocimiento reclaman los armenios desde el fin de la
I Guerra Mundial.
“El reconocimiento internacional y la condena del genocidio no es
sólo una tarea de Armenia. Hoy en día debe ser tratada en el contexto
de la política regional e internacional”, subrayó en un mensaje a la
nación el presidente de Armenia, Robert Kocharian.
Quince Estados, incluido el Vaticano, reconocieron el genocidio de
1915 contra el pueblo armenio, así como varias comisiones de la ONU,
la Asamblea Parlamentaria del Consejo de Europa, el Parlamento
Europeo y 32 de los 50 estados de EEUU.
El presidente armenio destacó que “los armenios no sienten odio” y
que “Armenia declara su disposición a desarrollar relaciones normales
con Turquía”.
Turquía reconoció en 1991 la independencia de Armenia, pero hasta el
día de hoy entre los dos países vecinos no existen relaciones
diplomáticas. La negativa de Ankara de reconocer el genocidio de hace
90 años “provoca incertidumbre no solo en Armenia, sino también en la
comunidad internacional”, subrayó el presidente armenio.
Los trágicos sucesos de hace 90 años fueron, según Kocharián, un
“crimen que no tuvo analogía en la historia del pueblo armenio y de
la humanidad, y que ni siquiera tuvo nombre. Sufrimos millones de
víctimas, pérdidas incalculables en nuestro legado cultural,
espiritual y material”, añadió.
Kocharian señaló que “las graves consecuencias del genocidio se dejan
sentir hasta el día de hoy en la vida del pueblo de Armenia y de toda
la diáspora. 1915 se convirtió en umbral en los destinos de todos los
componentes del pueblo armenio, cambió radicalmente la vía normal de
su desarrollo”, dijo.
También el presidente del Congreso Armenio Mundial, Ara Abramián,
pidió ayer “una valoración sensata” del reconocimiento de la
responsabilidad de Turquía en el genocidio. “El genocidio de los
armenios sigue siendo un agudo problema de la política y la legalidad
internacionales”, recalcó en un mensaje en ocasión del aniversario.
“No dudo que el tema del genocidio estará presente en la agenda de
negociaciones entre la Unión Europea y Turquía, previstas para
octubre próximo. Mucho quisiéramos que la UE ponga el reconocimiento
del genocidio como condición para el ingreso de Turquía”, dijo a Efe
Vardan Oskanián, ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Armenia.
Actualmente en Armenia viven 550 personas que sobrevivieron aquella
matanza y las fotografías de 50 de ellos se exponen en el centro de
Ereván bajo el título de “Los ojos que vieron el genocidio”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Portland Press Herald, ME
April 23 2005
Portland: Anglicans to commemorate Armenian Holocaust Sunday
The Anglican Cathedral of St. Paul will commemorate the Armenian
Holocaust at High Mass on Sunday.
After the 10 a.m. Mass, a procession will take place to the Armenian
Community Memorial on Cumberland Avenue in Portland.
This will be the third year St. Paul’s Cathedral has marked the
Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923, when
more than 1.5 million Armenians died.
Portland’s Armenian community dates back to the late 19th century. A
memorial was dedicated to the community in Portland last year.
The cathedral is at 279 Congress St.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The New Hampshire
April 12 2005
Quick glimpse of the Kurdish people
By Ben Carder
The Kurdish people live predominantly in Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran
and Armenia-collectively known as Kurdistan-comprising 20-25 million
of the countries’ populations.
Traditionally, Kurds were recognized as a goat and sheep-herding
people until World War I when they were forced to abandon their
peripatetic lives due to the breakup of the Ottoman Empire. Since
then, Kurdish people have been ruled by neighboring factions for most
of their history but were freed of totalitarian reign in 1991,
precipitated by Kurdish uprisings of 1919, 1923, 1932, 1970, 1974 and
1988.
Two groups represent the Kurdish people: Kurdistan Democratic Party
(KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Between 1994 and
1998, bloody battles ensued over absolute power in Northern Iraq. The
two sides brokered a peace deal of sharing power in September 1998;
the Kurdish people have endeavored to follow a democratic system of
government since 1999.
The Kurdish people are predominantly Sunni, one of the two main
belief systems in the Islamic faith, which compromises 85 percent of
all Muslims. The fundamental difference between the two sects-Sunni
and Shiite-stem from arguments over the prophet Muhammad’s successor
as caliph, the leader of Muslims.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Messenger
Tuesday, March 29, 2005, #056 (0830)
After Kyrgyzstan
For Georgia, democratic change in other CIS countries can be regarded as
wholly positive
The recent upheaval in Kyrgyzstan cannot be described exactly as a velvet
revolution in the mold of the recent revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine,
although there were clearly some similarities, and the precedent set in
Tbilisi and Kiev doubtless played a part in the events that unfolded in
Bishkek.
Several analysts suggested after Ukraine’s Orange Revolution that Kyrgyzstan
might be the next contender to be affected by the “wave of liberation” that
Saakashvili and Yushchenko described back in January as rolling across
post-Soviet space. And although instability and uncertainty have taken hold
of Kyrgyzstan and it is far from clear what will be the final outcome there,
already some commentators have turned their attention elsewhere and are
speculating which country will be next. Given that Armenia and Azerbaijan
have both been mentioned in this context, this is clearly of importance for
Georgia.
2003 was a year of elections for the three countries of the South Caucasus.
In Armenia President Kocharian won re-election in the presidential poll,
while his party came out on top in the parliamentary. In Azerbaijan,
meanwhile, the presidential election was won by Heidar Aliev’s son Ilham.
The opposition in both countries failed, and although election observers
condemned the elections as marred by irregularities, the results stood. The
same was expected in Georgia, but here the events developed very
differently, the people taking to the streets in protest at the falsified
elections, bringing about the first velvet revolution in post-Soviet space.
Since then governments relying on the falsification of elections to ensure
their longevity have been ousted in Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, while democratic
steps have been taken in Moldova, and the possibility of change in other CIS
countries seems all the greater.
Many analysts believe that there is a real possibility of democratic change
in Armenia, where the 2003 elections were condemned as fraudulent. The
internal political situation there has changed as a direct result of the
revolutions in Ukraine and Georgia, and many believe that the government
will not again be able to get away with falsifying the elections, although
as German Foundation of Scientific and Political Development Uwe Halbach
notes, “The only problem in Armenia is that they do not have a Saakashvili
who will be able to mobilize the country and change it in a peaceful way,”
as quoted by Rezonansi. Should Armenia find an opposition leader behind whom
they can unite, this would pose a serious threat to the current
administration.
In Azerbaijan, meanwhile, the various opposition parties are planning to
unite to fight the parliamentary elections slated for this autumn. Ilham
Aliev, who was able to win the 2003 presidential election only by
manipulating the process, will be under severe pressure, although, as in
Armenia, whether the opposition will be able to organize themselves to
capitalize on the expected electoral irregularities remains to be seen. As
in Georgia and Ukraine, much will depend on Western election observers to
quickly provide an objective opinion on the fairness and openness of the
election process.
One important factor here is that the opposition parties in Ukraine and
Georgia were notably western-oriented, and both Yushchenko and Saakashvili
have expressed their desire to lead their countries into NATO and the
European Union. In Armenia, in particular, such a western-orientated
government coming to power is made less likely by the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue; but some analysts believe that the continuing existence of the frozen
conflict makes a velvet revolution less likely.
For Georgia, democratic change in other CIS countries can be regarded as
wholly positive. Following the Rose Revolution, Georgia was more or less
isolated within the CIS, but since the Orange revolution it has gained an
important ally with similar problems and goals in Ukraine. Velvet
revolutions elsewhere, Georgians hope, will lead to the creation of more
friends.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkish Press
March 28 2005
Justin McCarthy: A one-man army

BY TUFAN TURENC
HURRIYET- It’s obvious why we can’t disprove the Armenian
allegations, because we don’t know what happened in the years
1915-16. Moreover, unlike the Armenians’ fervent belief in their
allegations, we don’t have a strong belief in the fact that we are
right. As with every issue, we are so lazy that we prefer to stay
silent instead of fighting. I was thinking about this when I was
talking with Justin McCarthy from the University of Louisville after
his conference at Marmara University. `The Armenian allegations are a
great lie and their documents are false. Turkey has to fight these
slanders, but I have to admit I’m not positive that it will do so,’
he told me.
I asked McCarthy how he began his research on the issue. As a Ph.D.
student at the University of California Los Angeles in 1976, McCarthy
found out that 3 million Muslims had been killed in the Balkans and
Turkey, and he started to look into this. His studies drove him to
research the Armenian genocide allegations. `I have to say that until
then I also believed the Armenian genocide allegations, but as I
looked deeper into the issue the truth came out,’ he said frankly.
`As my research continued, I found out that the documents of the
Armenians were fake. The Turks were facing a great lie and slander.’
McCarthy came under pressure. He was threatened with losing his job
if he continued his research. His family had to get police
protection. This didn’t intimidate McCarthy.
Many of his colleagues who signed an open letter published in The
Washington Post saying that there was no genocide withdrew after
receiving threats and gave up their research on the allegations. Only
McCarthy stood firm. `I would always say the same things, because
they’re true,’ said McCarthy. He also exposed that the people and
accounts in `The Blue Book’ by British historian Arnold Toynbee were
nothing more than fiction. He found out that there had been no
genocide at the places mentioned in the book. `Toynbee did it wrong.
He wasn’t honest in his profession,’ said McCarthy. `I think he was
embarrassed. History can’t be written with such lies, because this
isn’t history.’ I believe that McCarthy’s honesty and courage won’t
let him give up his fight.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THEY DO NOT FREE FREQUENCIES
A1+
23-03-2005
The Armenian-Greek LTD «ArmenTel» created obstacles for the second
operator in the communication field – «K-Telecom». According
to Andranik Manoukyan, RA Minister of Connection and Transport,
there are three problems – Enumerating plan, Signing of program,
and freeing of frequencies by «ArmenTel» for «K-Telecom».
The first two problems, according to the Minister, will soon be solved,
and new codes will be put into application. The two companies will
soon sign a program to be able to act equally in the same field.
As for the greatest problem – freeing of frequencies, up to May 15
«ArmenTel» is committed to free about 10 megahertz frequencies,
and up to the end of August – to provide «K-Telecom» with the
frequencies necessary for its activity.
–Boundary_(ID_1iaukbi8ul5w3SYN5ghROw)–