Author: Emil Lazarian

NKR applying every effort to maintain the cease-fire
ArmRadio.am
26.08.2006 14:46
NKR Military leadership is applying every effort in the direction of
maintenance and reinforcement of the cease-fire regime at the contact
line, Head of the Press Service of the NKR Defense Ministry Senor
Asratyan told ArmInfo correspondent in Stepanakert.
In his words, the reports of the Azeri media on the truce violation
by the Armenian side are nothing more than the propaganda. “These
steps pursue the aim of misleading the international community,”
Senor Asratyan underlined, reminding about the cease-fire violation
y the Azerbaijani side, in the result of which serviceman of the NKR
Defense Army was wounded.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CanWest News Service, Canada
Aug. 26, 2006
Workplace worship
In office towers across Canada, workers openly exploring spirituality
Richard Foot, CanWest News Service
Published: Saturday, August 26, 2006
On Tuesday mornings, inside a corporate boardroom at BCE Place in the
heart of Toronto’s financial district, David Ekmekjian and two dozen
other Bay Street businessmen gather to talk — not about portfolios
or profits, but about God.
Amid a panorama of glittering skyscrapers, where millions of dollars
in hard currency is traded each day, a group of smart, confident
people come to pray to a mysterious spirit they cannot touch or see.
“We don’t just meet in that boardroom to talk about money,” says
Ekmekjian, an investment dealer with Blackmont Capital, the Bay Street
firm that hosts the meeting.
“We study the Bible and pray for those that are less fortunate
than ourselves, for the sick and the afflicted. We also pray for
spiritual guidance and wisdom. And somehow, everybody comes out of
there fulfilled and happy. It’s incredible.”
Most unusual about the prayer group is that many of its members,
including Ekmekjian, rarely set foot inside a church. Although their
faith is deep, few attend traditional Sunday services or belong to
a mainstream denomination.
“In our boardroom meetings, some go to church, but many don’t,” says
Ekmekjian, an Egyptian-born Armenian who immigrated to Canada in the
1950s. “I prefer to practise my faith on my own terms, because I find
it infinitely more fulfilling.”
Ekmekjian and many of his Christian colleagues are part of an emerging
cohort of Canadians who lead spiritual lives without any adherence
to an organized, institutional religion.
At the country’s main Christian denominations, attendance is shrinking
and many old church buildings that once boasted thriving congregations
are now being closed for lack of interest.
Yet many Canadians aren’t simply turning away from God, they’re
exploring their faith in unusual ways and unlikely places. One of
those new spiritual frontiers is the office.
“There is a real awakening, where people are being drawn to God in
the workplace,” says Bruce Smith, who leads the King-Bay chaplaincy,
a spiritual gathering place for office workers in downtown Toronto.
King-Bay has been running for several decades, but in recent years
it has been joined by similar downtown chaplaincies from Vancouver
to Montreal to Halifax, and by a burgeoning array of consultancies
and centres catering to spiritual needs in the workplace. All of it
is fuelled, says Smith, by “the growing desire of people who are not
interested in organized religion, but are interested in a relationship
with God.”
The rise of the “office church” cuts across business lines into
government and also the worlds of education and health care.
In Toronto the King-Bay chaplaincy welcomes more than 200 business
people, civil servants, retail clerks and health care workers through
its doors in a typical week.
Sherry Connolly, a King-Bay alumni, once earned a six-figure salary as
a senior manager at the Royal Bank’s head office in Toronto. She gave
that up to open the Centre for Spirituality at Work, which offers
programs and seminars to office workers hungry for metaphysical
meaning in their lives.
Connolly says the Anglican Church of the Redeemer, a large downtown
church, is transformed on weekdays into a noon-time sanctuary for
office workers, not all of them Christian, who use the church as a
quiet place to sit and pray or think during the lunch hour.
“I’ve started a noon-hour meditation on Thursdays at Redeemer,”
says Connolly. “Most of the people who come aren’t even congregation
members of the church.”
In some cases, companies themselves are encouraging employees to get
in touch with their spiritual sides.
At Toronto’s Caldwell Financial Ltd., a securities and investment firm,
chairman Tom Caldwell is organizing an in-house “Alpha” course —
an introduction to Christianity — for any employees or colleagues
who want to come, with lunch included.
While Caldwell is a regular member of a Roman Catholic parish, he
says many of those who’ll attend his company’s Alpha meetings won’t
be regular church-goers.
“There are tons of Bible studies in offices all over Toronto,” he says.
“For many office workers, they’re like an oasis of sanity in a
fast-moving and hard-driving world.”
In Vancouver, Telus Corp. has rooms on its office premises set aside
where workers can pray and meditate.
In Edmonton, the Capital Care Group recently put some of its nursing
home employees through a “spirit at work” program that while not
explicitly religious in nature, taught the same kind of values —
kindness and consideration for fellow human beings — that religions
espouse.
In Halifax, management consultant Martin Rutte recently established
the Centre for Spirituality and the Workplace at the Sobey School of
Business at Saint Mary’s University. Since 2004 the centre has been
hosting conferences and seminars on spiritual matters at work.
“There’s a renaissance of spirituality in business, in the public
sector, and in health care,” says Rutte, a Toronto-based Jew who
decided to start talking about spirituality in business after
experiencing his own religious epiphany about two decades ago.
At first, says Rutte, his colleagues warned him not to bring spiritual
matters into the office. Talking about golf was OK, but God was
off limits.
“Everybody in those days in Toronto said, `Don’t talk about this,
you’re crazy, you’ll lose your reputation.”‘
Today, says Rutte, although some North American workplaces remain
wary of spiritual matters, the stigma is washing away. One reason is
that Baby Boomers have turned to religion as they have grown older.
Rutte also says a decade of lost innocence in the workplace — thanks
to rounds of corporate layoffs as a result of technology advances,
outsourcing and cost-cutting — has shattered employees’ faith in
job security and “driven many people into the arms of spirituality.”
Rutte now lectures on the subject at workplaces around the continent.
“I can’t tell you how many times in talks I’ve given, where working
people have come up to me and said, `I thought I was the only person
in the world having these thoughts.’ Over and over I’ve heard it.
“That hunger for spiritual meaning — to know that your life makes
a difference — is part of the human condition,” he says, “but we’ve
not thought it possible until recently to have that talked about and
nourished in the workplace.”
At Blackmont Capital, David Ekmekjian is convinced that his office
prayer group does far more than nourish only the souls around the
boardroom table. He says his group prayed for many weeks for a little
girl, known to the group, who was born with a hole in her heart.
“About a year ago the hole began to close up, and cardiologists at
the Hospital for Sick Children said they’d never seen anything like it
before,” says Ekmekjian. “Strangely enough, our prayers got answered.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Local man sentenced in Armenia
25-year-old gets 10 years for murder
BY EUGENE TONG, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
Aug. 26, 2006
A Glendale man who fled to Armenia in 2005 when he came under suspicion
of strangling his girlfriend was convicted by an Armenian court of
her murder, authorities said Friday.
Artur Khanzadyan, 25, was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison
by an Armenian judge in the death of Odet Tsaturyan, of Glendale.
He was arrested in Armenia last November, about two months after
the body of the 23-year-old woman was found in the trunk of his car,
which was abandoned in Azusa.
The verdict was delivered Friday by Judge Mushegh Harutunyan at a
court in Vanadzor, a city about a three-hour drive from the capital
of Yerevan and Khanzadyan’s hometown, Glendale police spokesman John
Balian said.
“Based on the police report and the evidence provided, Khanzadyan was
found guilty of murder with the act of jealousy,” he said Friday,
citing a report from two Glendale police detectives who assisted
prosecutors and attended the trial.
“We’ll be monitoring to make sure he does the full 10 years.”
Khanzadyan has about two months to appeal the decision. The Tsaturyans
did not immediately return calls for comment Friday.
Glendale police and U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, had hoped
to try Khanzadyan in the United States, where he could have been
sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for murder, compared to the
maximum 12 years in Armenia.
But the two nations do not have a formal extradition treaty, and the
request was denied despite previous cooperation from authorities.
“Under the circumstances that we were faced with – as far as the
challenge of bringing him back over here – this was the best we could
do to bring him to justice,” Balian said.
“There will always be a difference between the two systems. But I
think it’s important the criminal element out there know that if we
have to go to Armenia to prosecute you, we will.”
Schiff, who sent two letters over the past year to Armenian President
Robert Kocharian requesting Khanzadyan’s return, hoped for better
cooperation from authorities next time a fugitive seeks refuge there.
“We are grateful that we apprehended him and that he’s not living
free in Armenia,” he said in an interview Friday. “But we felt that
justice would’ve been best served if he had been prosecuted in the
United States.”
Judge Harutunyan reached the verdict after two days of hearings that
began Tuesday. Reports prepared by Glendale police and the county
coroner’s office were submitted as evidence, and three witnesses –
Odet’s father Shagen Tsaturyan and two of Khanzadyan’s relatives –
testified, Balian said.
As part of a local custom, Tsaturyan confronted the accused about
his daughter’s death.
“At one point, Khanzadyan made disparaging remarks that his daughter
was not the angel he thought she was,” Balian said. “The judge
jumped in and said, `Be careful how you speak in my courtroom. Don’t
disrespect the victim’s father.”‘
Khanzadyan’s attorney Karine Gasparyan said her client did not
intentionally kill Odet Tsaturyan – she had stopped breathing, and
the neck injuries that pointed to strangling came from his attempt
to revive her by CPR.
She also said Khanzadyan suffered a childhood head injury that
prevented rational thinking.
“Khanzadyan apologized to anyone who was affected by the incident,
but he denied he intentionally killed Odet Tsaturyan,” Balian said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

OSCE official denies critical Azeri media reports
Turan news agency
26 Aug 06
Baku, 26 August: “I work under an OSCE mandate and agreement reached
between the sides [Azerbaijan and Armenia]. I am not going to resign.
I may only resign if the sides officially say they do not want me
in this post. None of the sides has made a statement to this effect
so far,” Andrzej Kasprzyk, the personal representative of the OSCE
chairman-in-office, has said in a telephone interview with Turan. He
was commenting on recent Azerbaijani media reports critical of him.
Kasprzyk said he does not understand the causes of the scandal
surrounding him in the Azerbaijani media. He said he does not know
who is behind the scandal either.
Kasprzyk dismissed the critical media reports that he is engaged in
carpet trade.
“I cannot file a libel suit as I am a diplomat,” the envoy said. He
expressed regret that the Azerbaijani media quote unreliable sources.
Kasprzyk said he is now in Europe and plans to come to Baku in early
September.
Kasprzyk’s report on monitoring of fires along the Armenian-Azerbaijani
front line angered official Baku. First, representatives of the
Foreign Ministry and the Presidential Executive Staff, and then the
state-controlled media accused Kasprzyk of failing to see “the obvious
truth”, taking a pro-Armenian stance, etc.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Loveland Herald Reporter, CO
Aug. 25, 2006
Steps to a better world
Cross-country trek aims to focus attention on genocide in Darfur
By Alicia Beard
The Daily Reporter-Herald
After the Rwandan genocide in which thousands of Tutsis were killed
during a 1994 civil war, international leaders declared, “never
again.”
But, 12 years later, it is happening again, says Hasmig Tatiossian.
This time in Darfur, Africa.
Tatiossian and fellow Journey for Humanity marchers are walking from
Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., to raise awareness about genocide.
This week, the group is making stops in Front Range cities, including
a visit to Loveland Thursday.
Herself a descendent of a survivor of the 1915 Armenian genocide,
Tatiossian said she feels a personal duty to help end genocide.
“That historical memory has been inscribed upon our identity,” she
said. “We feel we have a responsibility to carry the torch of
awareness.”
The group, sponsored by the United Armenian Students, is joined
during the Colorado leg of the four-month journey by the Colorado
Coalition for Genocide Awareness and Action. Essie Garrett, the 1996
Olympic torchbearer for Colorado, is also taking part in this portion
of the march.
At each of the Colorado stops, the coalition has set up its exhibit,
“The Dead Weight of Complacency.”
The exhibit captures the common traits and history of genocide,
starting in the 1400s with the Spanish Inquisition and ending with
the present Darfur genocide in western Sudan.
There, three years of militia violence has caused the death of about
400,000 people and the displacement of 2.5 million others.
Roz Duman, coalition founder, said participating in the march
provided an opportunity to confront complacency and a lack of
education.
“Every year we say, ‘never again,’ and ‘What lessons have we learned
from the Holocaust?'” she said. “We felt we had to do something about
this.”
Along the way, participants are holding rallies and meeting with
lawmakers, Tatiossian said. By the time their millions of steps take
them to Washington in October, she said she hopes a movement takes
hold; that people begin to remember that we are all part of the human
race.
“Genocide is a crime against humanity, all humanity,” she said. “It’s
a crime that affects everyone.”

Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan: War with Azerbaijan is not expected soon
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug. 25, 2006
[ 25 Aug. 2006 20:15 ]
“Armenia refused many beneficial economic projects in the South
Caucasus for the sake of Nagorno Garabagh,” Armenian political
scientist Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan said, APA reports.
He stated that the possibility of war in Nagorno Garabagh does not
sound convincing.
“War with Azerbaijan is not expected soon. It means that Armenia must
find allies for future war. If we get prepared well, there will not be
a war. We must take into consideration the civilization of our allies,
because, only coincidences in civilization can guarantee success.
Armenians are easterners. We have good relations with western
countries, but it is not integration. Iran can be the best ally for
us despite religious difference. We also should not underestimate
the alliance with Russia, Syria, Belarus and Iraq,” the political
scientist said. /APA/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TheFireAlarm.com, IL –
Aug. 25, 2006
Fire Acquire Bedrossian
French League veteran to join Fire.
Dan Gaichas · August 25, 2006
Using a portion of their allocation due them for the departure of
Damani Ralph in 2005, the Fire acquried the rights to attacking
midfielder Pascal Bedrossian. Bedrossian, who has dual citizenship
with France and Armenia, will become the Fire’s third Seinor
International alongside Andy Herron (Costa Rica), and Ivan Guerrero
(Honduras).
“We had the opportunity to bring Pascal into camp about two months
ago, and we were immediately impressed with his professionalism, his
technical ability and, most importantly, his personality from the
standpoint that he was very excited about the prospect of joining our
team and helping us win championships,” said Fire Head Coach Dave
Sarachan. “If there’s a position where we’ll always entertain
improvement, it would be in the attacking third, and Pascal’s an
attacking player that brings with him a lot of first team experience
in France. We think his addition will help us in the push towards our
goal of reaching and winning MLS Cup.”
Bedrossian joined the team for training on Tuesday, but is currently
unavailable for selection until his P-1 work visa is secured. He has
spent his entire playing career up to this point in the French
league, leading Lorient to the 2002 French Cup. In addition, he has
played for the French national team at various youth levels. However,
he last played in the 2004-2005 season with French second division
Angers SCO. Understandably, he cannot wait to get on the field with
the Fire.
“For me, coming to play in the USA is a dream come true. Nothing
makes me happier than joining the Fire. Michael Jordan has always
been my idol – as an athlete and a person. What could be better than
playing in his hometown, Chicago?” said Bedrossian. “I hope the
experience I’ve gained in France will help the Fire win
championships. The welcome my teammates and the coaching staff has
given me has been really warm. Giving them all I’ve got is my way of
saying, ‘Thanks, it’s great to be part of this team.'”
Once Bedrossian gets his P-1 work visa secured, it will be
interesting to see how he will fit in to the starting XI and what
adjustments will be made to the lineup as a whole to accomodate him.
If that visa is secured before Saturday, he would be eligible for
that night’s match against Colorado.
–Boundary_(ID_eXIpaYBccYRjoUnMFPCIBQ)- –
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

102 ARTISTS FROM 19 COUNTRIES PARTICIPATE IN 5TH GYUMRI BIENNIAL OF MODERN ART
YEREVAN, AUGUST 25, NOYAN TAPAN. The 5th Gyumri Biennial of Modern
Art taken place on August 2-16, according to the organizers, is first
of all important for the fact that the cultural life centrilized in
Yerevan moved to Gyumri for some time. The biennial organizers made
such a statement at the August 24 press conference. “Gyumri, having
great cultural traditions, seems to remain out of the cultural life,
to be out of the margin. In this sense, the biennial is an important
and great cultural event in the city life,” Arpine Tokmajian,
the organizer of the biennial mentioned. The Gyumri biennial has
been held since 1998. Its co-founders are Arpine Tokmajian and Azat
Sargsian. The biennial was financed by different sponsors, including
by the state, in different years. The Open Society Institute, the
British Council, “Zigzag,” “Counsul” and “Ararat” (brandy factory)
companies were among sponsors of this year. 102 artists from 19
countries participated in the biennial this year. 51 of them were
Armenians. The 5th biennial entitled “Sea, Dreams and Illusions”
started on the Sevan lakeside where participants had possibility to
create in a corresponding environment. As a result of contact of
Armenian and foreign artists, a series of joint works was created
which were then exhibited in 6 exhibition halls of Gyumri, with works
brought to Armenia beforehand. Mkrtich Tonoyan, for the “From Sea
to Sea Armenian Theory” performance, got during the press conference
the monitary prize fixed for Armenian artists by the Swiss “Gonche”
organizatiion. “The performance is about discrepancy of Armenia,
from sea to sea, of which I have dreamed, and our life,” the author
of the work consisting of two parts (a video and installation) says.

OVER TEN HEAD OF CATTLE IN ARTIK HAVE SOMATITIS AND NOT FOOT-AND-MOUTH
DISEASE
GYUMRI, AUGUST 25, NOYAN TAPAN. An alarm call was received on August
22 that 10-15 head of cattle in the pasture “Artik Woodlands” in
Shirak marz showed symptoms of foot-and-mouth disease. According to
the veterinary of the city of Artik, the symptoms were confirmed. The
infected animals were disinfected and isolated, measures were taken
to prevent the spread of the disease.
However, according to the information received on the following day,
August 23, laboratory examinations revealed that the animals had
stomatitis, which is not an infectious disease.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The day St. Bart lost his head
by cindy day
The Halifax Daily News (Nova Scotia)
August 23, 2006 Wednesday
Let me tell you about St Bart. Tomorrow is Aug. 24. We’ll be one
week away from the end of the month, and exactly four months away
from Christmas Eve. If you don’t like the sound of that, then let’s
focus on the fact that tomorrow is also St Bartholomew’s Day.
He certainly wasn’t one of the more popular saints, but one that
Grandma talked about every August; she never passed up an opportunity
to share his story. I used to wonder if Grandma made these things up,
but I’m constantly meeting people who confirm her lovely weather tales.
According to Grandma, St. Bartholomew was an ordinary saint, but an
extraordinary Apostle, who converted the King of Armenia. The king’s
brother had the Apostle flayed first, and then beheaded … on Aug.
24.
For days leading up to the 24th, Grandma prayed each night for good
weather on St. Bart’s Day. If anyone asked why, she was quick to
recite: “If the 24th of August be fair and clear, then hope for a
prosperous Autumn that year.”
Now that’s not the only bit of folklore surrounding the beheaded
saint. There are many people who believe that St Bart’s Day brings
in the cooler autumn weather: “At St Bartholomew, there comes a cold
dew.” According to the old pagan calendar, Autumn started August 24th
and ended November 22nd.
By the way, last year it was partly sunny and warm … and , as you
may recall, we did enjoy a lovely autumn. Tomorrow looks like a lovely
day, so we should count on another great fall in the Maritimes.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress