Author: Emil Lazarian

HIS HOLINESS ARAM I MET WITH SPIRITUAL LEADERS OF THE ARMENIAN CATHOLIC AND EVANGELICAL CHURCHES
ArmRadio.am
02.11.2006 16:00
His Holiness Aram I met with the spiritual leaders of the Armenian
Catholic and Evangelical Churches in two separate meetings on
October 30. V. Rev. Fr. Norayr Ashekian, V. Rev. Fr. Krikor Chiftjian
and Mr. Tsolag Tutelian from the Central Executive Council of the
Catholicosate accompanied His Holiness, Office of Communication of
the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia informs.
The meeting with Patriarch Nerses Bedros Tarmouni XIX was held in
the presence of several Armenian Catholic Bishops and priests. His
Holiness then met Rev. Meguerditch Karageozian, President of Armenian
Evangelical Churches in the Near East. The President of Haigazian
University, Rev. Dr. Paul Haidostian as well as several Evangelical
pastors and community leaders also attended.
The main focus of the talks was the relationship between Armenia
and the Diaspora particularly in light of the Third Armenia-Diaspora
conference held this summer in Yerevan. The three spiritual leaders
also discussed the importance of strengthening the Diaspora and
reviving Armenian schools in particular.
They reiterated the crucial importance of preserving the internal
unity of the Armenian community of Lebanon.
On these and other issues, all three highlighted the role of close
cooperation between the Armenian Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical
Churches and the adoption of united stands towards issues of national
concern.
Following these two meetings, His Holiness made the following
statement: “The main purpose of our meetings was the reinforcement
of our internal national unity. There might be difference in
our approaches and evaluations, but we consider that a natural
phenomenon in the life of any nation. However, it is essential that
our communities, our nation become united in basic issues affecting
our life. Today more than ever, it is imperative that we gather around
pan-national projects and visions.”
“The Armenian community of Lebanon should concretely prove that it
has a unique role and place in the life of our nation in general
and the Diaspora in particular. Therefore, the energizing of our
institutions and in this context the revival of the Armenian school,
the backbone of the Armenian community of Lebanon, should become
a priority for all of us. The stronger an Armenian school becomes,
the stronger an Armenian community becomes.”
“The Catholicosate of Cilicia and We personally in cooperation with
the ” Gulbenkian”, “Lincy” and “Khatchig Babikian” Foundations,
are striving to keep the Armenian school strong in its educational
mission. Financial assistance alone, however, is not enough. It is
our expectation that Armenian parents send their children to Armenian
schools. An Armenian school becomes truly an Armenian School when it is
filled with Armenian students; when it conveys the Armenian language,
religion and history as a spirit, faith and commitment to Armenian
students, making them the pillar of Christian Armenian formation.
Therefore, Christian education and Armenian education for us, are
closely interconnected; they are two dimensions of one process”,
said His Holiness Aram I.
The Pontiff concluded by calling on the Lebanese Armenian Members
of Par liament, parties and community leaders to work together for
safeguarding the rights of the Lebanese Armenian community and for
preserving the integrity and independence of Lebanon.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN TEAM LOSES RIGHT OF CONTINUING STRUGGLE
Noyan Tapan
Nov 02 2006
LARNACA, NOVEMBER 2, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian team competed on
November 1 with representatives of Hungary by the group tournament
program of the elective stage of the Europe championship of below 19
football players being held in Cyprus. It was defeated with a score
of 1;4 and, with the team of Cyprus, lost the right of continuing
the future struggle. Teams of Hungary and Azerbaijan entered the
next stage.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

40 REFUGEE FAMILIES IN GORIS GIVE HOUSE-WARMING ON NOVEMBER 1ST
Noyan Tapan
Nov 02 2006
GORIS, NOVEMBER 2, NOYAN TAPAN. 40 refugee families in Goris gave
house-warming on November 1 within the framework of the “Program on
Providing with Flats Refugees Taken Shelters in Administrative Houses”
being jointly implemented by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
and the Government of Armenia. RA Minister of Urban Development
Aram Haroutiunian, Syunik Governor Surik Khachatrian as well as UN
High Commissioner for Refugees Peter Nicolaus participated in the
solemn ceremony of putting the building into operation. To recap,
construction of the building having 1-4-room flats lasted 1.5 years. It
is e nvisaged within the framework of the program to build another
dwelling building in Goris.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Press Release
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Father 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 ARAM I MEETS WITH THE SPIRITUAL LEADERS OF THE ARMENIAN
CATHOLIC
AND ARMENIAN EVANGELICAL CHURCHES
His Holiness Aram I met with the spiritual leaders of the Armenian Catholic
and Evangelical Churches in two separate meetings on October 30. V. Rev. Fr.
Norayr Ashekian, V. Rev. Fr. Krikor Chiftjian and Mr. Tsolag Tutelian from
the Central Executive Council of the Catholicosate accompanied His Holiness.
The meeting with Patriarch Nerses Bedros Tarmouni XIX was held in the
presence of several Armenian Catholic Bishops and priests. His Holiness then
met Rev. Meguerditch Karageozian, President of Armenian Evangelical Churches
in the Near East. The President of Haigazian University, Rev. Dr. Paul
Haidostian as well as several Evangelical pastors and community leaders also
attended.
The main focus of the talks was the relationship between Armenia and the
Diaspora particularly in light of the Third Armenia-Diaspora conference held
this summer in Yerevan. The three spiritual leaders also discussed the
importance of strengthening the Diaspora and reviving Armenian schools in
particular. They reiterated the crucial importance of preserving the
internal unity of the Armenian community of Lebanon.
On these and other issues, all three highlighted the role of close
cooperation between the Armenian Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical Churches
and the adoption of united stands towards issues of national concern.
Following these two meetings, His Holiness made the following statement:
“The main purpose of our meetings was the reinforcement of our internal
national unity. There might be difference in our approaches and evaluations,
but we consider that a natural phenomenon in the life of any nation.
However, it is essential that our communities, our nation become united in
basic issues affecting our life. Today more than ever, it is imperative that
we gather around pan-national projects and visions.”
“The Armenian community of Lebanon should concretely prove that it has a
unique role and place in the life of our nation in general and the Diaspora
in particular. Therefore, the energizing of our institutions and in this
context the revival of the Armenian school, the backbone of the Armenian
community of Lebanon, should become a priority for all of us. The stronger
an Armenian school becomes, the stronger an Armenian community becomes.”
“The Catholicosate of Cilicia and We personally in cooperation with the
“Gulbenkian”, “Lincy” and “Khatchig Babikian” Foundations, are striving to
keep the Armenian school strong in its educational mission. Financial
assistance alone, however, is not enough. It is our expectation that
Armenian parents send their children to Armenian schools. An Armenian school
becomes truly an Armenian School when it is filled with Armenian students;
when it conveys the Armenian language, religion and history as a spirit,
faith and commitment to Armenian students, making them the pillar of
Christian Armenian formation. Therefore, Christian education and Armenian
education for us, are closely interconnected; they are two dimensions of one
process”, said His Holiness Aram I.
The Pontiff concluded by calling on the Lebanese Armenian Members of
Parliament, parties and community leaders to work together for safeguarding
the rights of the Lebanese Armenian community and for preserving the
integrity and independence of Lebanon.
##
View photos 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

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER RAISES ISSUE OF KARS-TBILISI RAILWAY AT MEETING OF BSEC FOREIGN MINISTERS
Noyan Tapan
Nov 01 2006
MOSCOW, NOVEMBER 1, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian raised the issue of Kars-Akhalkalak-Tbilisi railway during
the 15th meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Black
Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC). “The BSEC intends
to implement a serious program – to create a transport link in the
region. In this context, an issue was raised and brought to everybody’s
attention: there is a railway section that is not used for political
reasons and an attempt is made to replace it. Given the cooperation
spirit of the organization, we believe that the organization should
itself raise this issue before Turkey so that more serious approach
can be shown,” V. Oskanian told Radio Liberty.

EU COMMISSIONER URGES “CREDIBLE” ENTRY TALKS WITH TURKEY
Liberation , France (translated)
Nov 1 2006
European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has said “credible” EU
membership negotiations with Turkey mean support for the country’s
pro-reform forces. “Otherwise there is a major risk that these
tendencies will turn away from Europe, with all the dangers that this
would entail”, he said. If the EU suspended membership negotiations
with Turkey, it would be difficult to break of the “vicious circle”
of mutual disappointment, he said. The following is the text of
interview with Rehn by Jean Quatremer in Brussels “a fortnight ago”,
entitled “‘Our relations with Ankara are schizophrenic'”, published
by French newspaper Liberation website on 1 November; first paragraph
is Liberation editor’s note:
Brussels: Should we or should we not freeze membership negotiations
with Turkey, since the latter still denies Cypriot ships and aircraft
access to its ports and airports, in violation of the Ankara protocol,
despite being a signatory? The European Commission, which will be
submitting a report on the matter to the EU’s 25 member states at the
beginning of November, opposes it, though it criticizes the “slowness
of the reforms”. In an interview given to Liberation a fortnight ago,
Finland’s Olli Rehn, commissioner for enlargement, explained why:
[Quatremer] Should negotiations be suspended?
[Rehn] No, if Turkey does what it is supposed to do. Though we must
be strict with Ankara, we must also be fair.
On the one hand, we must demand strict observance of the criteria,
especially as regards fundamental freedoms such as freedom of
expression and religion, criminal law, and so forth. But on the other
hand, the EU must keep its word: We promised Turkey membership once
it is ready.
Our relations with this country are schizophrenic. Within the EU,
we underestimate its strategic importance, whereas, conversely,
Turkey places it at such a level that it considers it possible to
obtain a more lenient assessment of the criteria. This will not happen.
On top of this, there is the negative spiral that has recently begun:
There is a feeling of disappointment in Turkey because they think
that “the Europeans do not want us in the EU”. As for the EU, it is
disappointed with the slowness of the reforms, which lack sufficient
credibility, which prompts public suspicion. It is a real vicious
circle, which I want to break, and it will be difficult to do so if
we suspend membership negotiations.
[Quatremer] What is to be done to force Turkey to abide by the Ankara
protocol?
[Rehn] This is the key question this autumn. In September 2005 the
Twenty-Five declared that if Turkey did not implement the protocol
there would be negative consequences for the negotiation process.
However, the Turkish government forms a link between this issue and
that of direct trade between the EU and the Turkish Cypriot community,
which we have promised to authorize (but which Nicosia blocks –
Liberation editor’s note,) a link that we reject. The Finnish
presidency, backed by all its partners, is currently negotiating
with both Cypriot communities and with Turkey with a view to finding
a solution.
[Quatremer] The Turkish military have just made it known that, as
far as they are concerned, there can be no question of returning
to their barracks once and for all, as the EU requires. What do you
think about this?
[Rehn] The democratization of relations between civilians and the
military has made great progress. For instance, there is now a majority
of civilians in the National Security Council, and its chairman, also
the prime minister, and secretary-general are civilians. But it is
necessary to go further. I respect the Turkish Army’s responsibility
for defence matters, but the military clearly must submit to the
authority and supervision of the civil authorities.
[Quatremer] The army occupies a special position in Turkey because
it is the guarantor of democracy and secularism. By asking the army
to stay in its barracks, are you not playing into the Islamists’ hands?
[Rehn] The EU does not want to help the Islamists – I can assure you
of that. The guarantee that the army claims to provide is a false one;
for instance, whenever the army has intervened, it has not prevented
Islamist schools from developing.
People in Europe have an excessive tendency to forget that membership
negotiations are a support offered to the modernizing forces at work in
Turkey, whether within the Kemalist nationalist tendency (powerful in
the army, the judiciary and the administration – Liberation editor’s
note;) the post-Islamist tendency, currently in power, which sees the
EU as a guarantee against a military intervention; or the middle class,
who are probably the most pro-European at present, through they lack
their own political expression.
As long as the negotiations remain credible, the pro-reform forces will
be supported. Otherwise there is a major risk that these tendencies
will turn away from Europe, with all the dangers that this would
entail.
[Quatremer] Is Turkey’s recognition of the Armenian genocide a
precondition for membership?
[Rehn] It is not a membership criterion. However, it is absolutely
clear that reconciliation is a fundamental value in Europe, which
is why I have regularly called on Turkey to conduct an open debate,
without taboos, on this issue.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE EU SHOULD HELP RESOLVE THE TURKISH-ARMENIAN CONFLICT
by Nicolas Tavitian
EUobserver.com
November 1, 2006 Wednesday 8:44 AM GMT
EUOBSERVER / COMMENT – Turkey’s accession process provides a historic
opportunity to bring about a transformation of the country, and of
its relationship with its neighbours. But in embarking in this new
enlargement in 1999, the EU seems to have taken on more than it
initially believed.
A case in point: the recent vote in the French parliament in favour
of criminalising the denial of the Armenian genocide. The vote
generated an unprecedented interest in relations between Turkey and
the Armenians. It is the clearest demonstration yet that, by opening
enlargement negotiations with Turkey, the EU has unwittingly taken
on the Armenian issue as well.
This is a welcome crisis. In 2000, the European Commission and the
council [EU member states] both curtly dismissed the entire matter
as a “historical debate,”and left it off the agenda of enlargement
negotiations.
They should have known better. The issue is anything but historical.
The republic of Turkey – with 65 million inhabitants and the largest
NATO army in Europe – has blockaded the tiny Republic of Armenia –
3 million inhabitants – for more than 13 years now, and refused to
establish diplomatic relations with it.
The issue of the Armenian genocide is quite different: most of the
million or so Armenians in the EU are the descendants of the survivors
of the 1915 genocide, which happened on the territory of modern Turkey
but which is still being denied by Ankara. Without dwelling on the
point, let us note the incredibly dehumanising barbarity of the
event. It marked the survivors, and their descendents, for generations.
The current blockade of Armenia lends credibility to the notion that
Turkish politics are still driven by a strong anti-Armenian impulse –
or so Armenians generally see it. Little has happened in past decades
to prove them wrong. It is hardly surprising that Armenians in the
EU are not thrilled by the prospect of Turkish accession.
The Armenian government, by contrast, pins its hopes on the beneficial
transformation of Turkey which EU accession is bound to bring about.
Turkish-Armenian border
At the same time, a great many Turks – businessmen in particular –
would like to see the Armenian border opened. Many more aspire to
opening up Turkish society and rediscovering its past. But Turkish
leaders are unlikely to take the political risk of engaging with
Armenia or Armenians of their own accord without some encouragement.
The EU could help. Regrettably, over the past four years, the
commission not only ignored the whole problem, but helped it fester
on occasion.
In 2002, Guenter Verheugen, enlargement commissioner at the time,
persuaded the European Parliament not to include wording on the
closed border and the genocide in one of its Turkey resolutions,
arguing this would interfere with a dialogue which was ongoing in
the US-sponsored Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission.
The Armenian members of this commission, who saw the dialogue was
being abused as an excuse for EU inaction, soon after withdrew from it.
Yet there is another way. By addressing the question of relations
between Turkey and the Armenians head on, the EU could help resolve a
conflict, contribute to Turkey’s transformation and generate support
for Turkey’s membership in the EU.
In the first place, the EU should contribute to the establishment of
two dialogues: one governmental and one between civil societies. The
first is to be conducted between the republics of Armenia and Turkey:
together, the two states must decide, with EU help, on the steps
required to establish diplomatic relations and open the border.
Two dialogues
The second dialogue should involve Turkish society and EU citizens of
Armenian descent – the Armenian Diaspora. That will be a more open
and diffuse process, but it is indispensable to Turkey’s successful
integration into Europe.
It must involve the rediscovery by Turkey of its own Armenian heritage,
and by Armenians of a changed Turkey. Most importantly, a successful
civil society dialogue will contribute to appeasing Turkey’s still
strident sense of national pride, open the way to rediscovering
history, and help anchor Anatolia to the European mainland.
The experience of the only existing Turkish-Armenian group, the
Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council, should be valuable
in this regard. Since 1997, against the odds, this non-governmental
network has helped establish links between Armenians and Turks at
all levels, and on several continents.
Both these dialogues must be sponsored and monitored by the EU.
Without a credible mediator, and publicity where possible, dialogues
are unlikely to produce results.
Secondly, the EU should lay down the rules with clarity. The
commission has indeed relentlessly and effectively fought for freedom
of expression. But Turkey is also already obliged in theory, under
the current customs union agreement which entered into force in 1995,
to entertain commercial relations with Armenia.
It should be made quite clear to the country that it will not join the
EU until those borders are opened and trade relations fully functional.
Finally, whatever else it does, the EU should not subsidise the
blockade of Armenia. The most destitute part of the Turkey is along
the closed Armenian border, just 50 km from the Armenian capital,
Yerevan, and its million consumers. But rather than opening the border
to trade with its neighbour, Turkey prefers to rely on subsidies from
Brussels – ¤40 million this year – to sustain the local economy.
Ultimately, the EU public opinion’s acceptance of Turkish membership
depends in large part on whether it feels that Europe is changing
Turkey or that Turkey is changing Europe. Turkey’s Armenian question
will help us find out whether the EU is still serious about its ideals.
Nicolas Tavitian is director of the Turkish Armenian Business
Development Council (TABDC) in the EU and also heads the Inside
Europe Resource Centre, a public policy centre dedicated to EU affairs
relating to Armenia.
–Boundary_(ID_UTdcmLc721L9lHpYwZxIVg)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RF-ARMENIA TRADE IS HAMPERED BY TRANSPORT COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS
by Natalia Slavina
ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
October 31, 2006 Tuesday 06:01 AM EST
Russian-Armenian economic cooperation and bilateral trade are on
the rise, but this process is hampered by transport communication
problems, Armenian President Robert Kocharian said at a meeting with
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov on Tuesday.
This problem “is compensated for by serious investment projects,”
he said.
“We witness the growth of investments in our cooperation, mainly in
processing, construction and electric power,” he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SKYLARK FARM
Kirkus Reviews
November 1, 2006
One family’s heartbreaking experience during the 1915 Armenian
genocide.
In a small Anatolian hill town, Turks and Armenians live together
in relative harmony for generations. But when, in 1915, the Ottoman
Empire allies itself with Germany in the brewing world war, Turkish
citizens are forced to take sides. Sempad Arslanian, however, remains
oblivious to political change.
Head of his large, wealthy clan and benefactor to his neighbors —
Turk, Greek and Armenian alike — he spends the Spring of 1915
joyfully preparing for a reunion with his brother Yerwant, who,
at 13, left Skylark Farm, the family’s country estate, to study in
Italy. Preparations by both brothers rival ceremonial planning for
royal visits: Sempad orders stained glass windows from England and
levels a pasture for a tennis court; Yerwant outfits a red Isotta
Fraschini for his road trip south, his monogram in silver on the
doors, and stocks it with a great number of small gold and silver
gifts to give away on his arrival. On May 24, days before Yerwant is
to leave, Italy closes its borders and joins the War. And in Sempad’s
village, as throughout the Empire, all Armenian heads of household
are arrested. Sempad flees from his house in town to Skylark Farm.
What happens there — later that night the freshly dug tennis court is
used as a mass grave for all the Arslanian men — is only the first
of countless horrors the Arslanian women (and one boy disguised as
a girl) endure on their forced death-march across the Syrian desert,
where they are raided periodically by the Kurds, raped by their Young
Turk “guides” and starved. The story of survival that follows is the
unexpected solace of this fearless tale.
An Armenian Schindler’s List.
Publication Date: 1/24/2007 0:00:00 Publisher: Knopf Stage: Adult Star:
1 ISBN: 1-4000-4435-9 Price: $23.95 Author: Arslan, Antonia
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKISH-DUTCH LOBBYISTS TRY TO PUNISH POLITICAL PARTIES OVER ARMENIAN QUESTION
By Toby Sterling, Associated Press Writer
Associated Press Worldstream
October 31, 2006 Tuesday 3:22 PM GMT
Amsterdam Netherlands
A lobby group began a campaign Tuesday to urge Dutch voters of Turkish
ancestry to boycott any party that labels the 1915 mass killing of
Armenians in Turkey genocide.
The campaign three weeks before Nov. 22 national elections is a
setback for both major parties, the governing Christian Democrats
and the Labor Party, which have struck ethnic Turk candidates off
their rolls for refusing to use the term “genocide” to describe the
killing of Armenians during World War I.
Events that took place far beyond Dutch borders nearly a century ago
have became a surprise campaign issue in elections otherwise focused
on bread-and-butter economics.
The lobby group, which calls itself Turks Forum, distributed posters
urging voters to write in a candidate of the small centrist D-66
Party in the elections. D-66 is the only mainstream party that doesn’t
refer to the slaughter as genocide in its stated positions.
The European Parliament has said Turkey should be required to
recognize the killings as genocide before it is considered for EU
membership. The French parliament voted for a bill that, if enacted,
would make denying the genocide a crime.
“Who should the Turkish community’s votes go to? Let’s use the voting
ballot to teach a lesson to those who want to limit our democratic
rights!” said the Turks Forum poster. It is being distributed in
the country’s largest cities, where ethnic Turkish populations are
concentrated.
The poster carries pictures of ethnic Turk candidates with a red
cross and the words “definitely not” in Turkish next to the names of
parties that say the killings constituted genocide. At the top of the
list is a photo of a candidate for the D-66 party, Fatma Koser Kaya,
with the word “evet,” Turkish for yes.
Koser Kaya wrote on her Web site that allowing open debate on the
matter was a matter of free speech. “Many hundreds of thousands of
Armenians were slaughtered” in 1915, she wrote.
“Definitely, there can be no doubt about it. There needs to be,
in Turkey, too, an adult and scientific debate over what exactly
happened during the fall of the Ottoman Empire, who is responsible,
and how those events should be described.”
“But the point is … why are Dutch candidates of Turkish descent
being pilloried and forced to confess a ‘genocide’ standpoint?”
D-66, which has been in a decade-long decline, was forecast to
disappear entirely during this election. But the Turkish issue has
helped it recover slightly, and recent polls show it holding two
seats in the 150-seat Dutch parliament.
Meanwhile, Labor, which led in most polls a month ago, has now fallen
slightly behind the incumbent Christian Democrats. Immigrant voters
traditionally have supported Labor or other left-leaning parties.
In an apparent attempt to limit political fallout, Labor’s National
Party Chairman Michiel van Hulten wrote to local party offices in
The Hague and Rotterdam instructing them not to use the issue as a
litmus test for Turkish-Dutch candidates, newspaper Trouw reported.
The killings of 1 million or more Armenians starting in 1915 has
been the subject of academic and political debate across Europe,
especially in view of Turkey’s application for EU membership.
Most European governments consider it a genocide. Turkey denies the
deaths resulted from systematic slaughter, saying estimates of 1.5
million dead are wildly inflated and that both Armenians and Turks
were killed in fighting during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
The U.S. government does not use “genocide” to define the killings.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress