Author: Emil Lazarian

ARMENIANS ASSASINATED IN RUSSIA

Lragir.am
27 April 06

Armenia must be neutral in the U.S.-Iran conflict and temporize, and
the best way of temporizing is change of power, believes the leader
of the Nor Zhamanakner Party (New Times).

According to him, the question of accepting or rejecting deployment
of American peacemakers in the liberated territories cannot have an
answer that would favor us: if we accepted it, we would have problems
with Iran, if not, with the United States. If we had problems with
Iran, at least 150 thousand refugees would come to Armenia, Iran
would station forces in the liberated territories, preventing the
United States, and considering the position of Nakhidjevan and Turkey,
it would be difficult to prevent an attack on Maghri, forecasts Aram
Karapetyan. He believes that the special services of Iran have worked
hard enough to be able to provoke instability in the countries of
the South Caucasus. This somber picture will not become reality if
Armenia remains neutral.

Russia will not be neutral. Aram Karapetyan thinks Armenia can enter
a confederation with Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan.

However, this does not suggest breaking relations with the United
States. Aram Karapetyan assures that he has never met a serious
politician or analyst who would suggest breaking relations with the
United States and neglecting the 1.5 million Diasporan Armenians in
the United States. Similarly, the Armenian community of Russia cannot
be neglected.

For the nationalist tensions in Russia, Aram Karapetyan says the
assassination of the Armenian young man in Russia was intended; they
killed a native of Karabakh. “Russian-Georgian relations are bad,
but in Russia they do not assassinate Georgians.” According to Aram
Karapetyan, the actions of nationalists in Russia are coordinated,
and they push Armenians because “there is no trust in the Armenian
leadership.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKISH EMBASSY IN BAKU MAKES STATEMENT ON THE INFORMATION ON TERROR THREATS TO THE EMBASSY

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 26 2006

Turkish embassy in Azerbaijan made a statement on the information on
terror threats to the embassy. The embassy told APA that Azerbaijan
media spread exaggerated information and comments on the matter.

“Turkish Security Bodies cautioned the embassy against the probability
of terror acts in the embassy on April 24. We contacted relevant police
body and beefed up the police forces and strengthened the security
in the embassy. Azerbaijani official bodies reacted immediately and
send up additional forces to the embassy. Armenians stage protests
outside Turkish embassies in various countries every year on April
24-false Armenian Genocide day. There is a doubt that the threat may
be connected with Armenian society. There is no concrete information
confirming the source of intimidation to be Armenians. No actions were
held outside the embassy. We feel ourselves at home in Azerbaijan”.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SYSTEM OF A DOWN LEAD ARMENIAN RALLY

Online Rock Radio, Greece
April 27 2006

System Of A Down singer Serj Tankian and drummer John Dolmayan
led a rally of more than 1,000 people outside the Turkish embassy
in Washington D.C. on Monday (April 24th), according to Armenian
newspaper Yerkir. The rally was held to urge the Turkish government
to end its denial of the Armenian genocide that the Turks undertook
between 1915 and 1923. The rally began a three-day visit to the U.S.

capitol by the System members, and Dolmayan told us he was pleased
with the results: “It’s been good. There’s been a lot of attention.

We’ve seen a lot of kids out there protesting and being involved,
and we’re seeing a lot more people that are not of Armenian descent
actually coming out, which is very good, and we believe that will
continue until this issue is brought to justice.”

The rally was organized by the Armenian National Committee of America
and the Armenian Youth Federation.

Tankian and Dolmayan capped their trip to Washington last night
(Wednesday, April 26th) with the 11th annual commemoration of the
genocide on Capitol Hill, attended by members of Congress, diplomats,
human rights activists, Armenian-Americans and others.

The System members also hosted a Congressional screening on Tuesday
(April 25th) of Screamers, a new documentary about the band’s ongoing
efforts to foster recognition for the genocide.

Meanwhile, a brand new book called System Of A Down: Right
Here In Hollywood is being published on April 30th. According to
Blabbermouth.net, the book features new interviews with the band and
will be “the first and definitive account of this remarkable act.”

The author, Ben Myers, has previously written books on Green Day,
Muse and John Lydon.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

HISTORY THAT DARES NOT SPEAK ITS NAME

GetReligion, DC
April 27 2006

It is one of the most controversial events in the history of the 20th
century and hardly anyone in America knows about it.

If a government managed to kill off nearly 80 percent of the members
of a particular ethnic group within its borders, while also striving
to destroy its history and memory, what would you call it?

Genocide? A hoax?

A massacre? A holocaust, even?

What if the victims represented a branch of Eastern Christianity
that few in the West knew about? What if the nation being accused of
committing genocide were a crucial U.S. friend in the Muslim world
and, now, a nation urgently trying to change its image in order
to enter the European Union? And how would you treat this event
in public schools? Would you allow it to be debated by partisans,
pitting those who descended from the survivors against the various
interest groups who want this issue to go away?

We are talking, of course, about the 1915-18 massacre of Armenians by
the Turkish government. A recent Los Angeles Times story by Elizabeth
Mehren offered readers a glimpse into the controversies surrounding
the genocide by focusing on a lawsuit in Massachusetts – backed by
Turks and others – that says students should hear evidence that the
genocide never happened or that it has been blown out of proportion.

Is this a case where free speech is absolute? Or is it somehow similar
to cases involving – prepare for thunderbolts – Holocaust denial?

How emotional is this? How loaded are these debates? Listen to
these voices:

She was only 3 when her family fled their Turkish homeland 91 years
ago. Alice Shnorhokian and her brother were too small to walk the
long road to safety in the Syrian desert, so their parents strapped
them in boxes on the sides of a donkey that carried the family
possessions. . . . Shnorhokian saw fellow Armenians trying to escape
from every village she passed. There was no food, water or shelter,
she said. Babies and old people were dying along the way. Eventually,
about 1.2 million Armenians would perish.

“In Turkey, in genocide times, we Christian Armenians had three
options,” Shnorhokian said. “We paid a heavy tax, became Muslim
or died.”

Then there is high-school senior Ted Griswold, who filed the lawsuit
backed by Tuskish-Americans.

The plaintiffs contend that Department of Education Commissioner
David P. Driscoll and other state officials violated the 1st Amendment
by removing material from a human rights curriculum that questioned
whether the mass killings nearly a century ago constituted genocide.

“It’s a case of academic freedom,” said Griswold, who lent his name to
the suit to show his support for freedom of speech, and who admitted
he knows little about Armenia or the genocide. “A greater perspective
makes the truth easier to find,” he said, adding: “This is nothing
personal about the Armenians. I realize it is an emotional issue
for them.”

This story is just beginning. You can also say that it will never end
(even as the destruction of Armenian churches and history continues).

The question, for me, is whether other newspapers and networks
care enough about foreign news and, yes, religion news to cover this
debate. Why cover religion story on the other side of the planet, even
when the controversy reaches into American courtrooms and classrooms?

Why cover a story that offends so many different groups of people?

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

413,000 ARMENIANS FORCED TO EMIGRATE
By Sezai Kalayci, Istanbul

Zaman Online, Turkey
April 27 2006

The chair of the Turkish History Council, Professor Yusuf Halacoglu
informed that the number of Armenians forced to relocate in 1915
was 413,000.

While claiming that these figures according to “The Secret Note Book of
Talat Pasha” were exaggerated, Halacoglu noted that the information in
the book published by the General Staff also confirmed his assessment.

“The number of Armenians sent to Syria was 413,000, a figure that I
wrote in my book and that the General Staff confirmed. The figure of
924,000 is not the actual number that was sent, but was probably the
planned number,” said Halacoglu.

The idea of forced emigration of Catholic and Protestant Armenians was
abandoned and in some cities, children and women were not relocated.

Halacoglu noted that the information Murat Bardakci, a columnist for
Hurriyet daily, took from the secret notebook of Talat Pasha, lacked
authenticity and what he wrote about as history, was just a story.

Highlighting that the population of Ankara was 44,000 in 1914,
Halacoglu continues: “According to Mr. Bardakci, the number of
Armenians that emigrated from Ankara was 47,000 and the number who
could not emigrate was 12,000. If you add these together it equals
60,000; therefore, refuting the accuracy of his quoted emigration
figures. I think Mr. Bardakci simply wants to remain popular.”

Baskent University faculty member Professor Servet Mutlu said the
notebook, which was supposedly written by Talat Pasha, might have
been written by somebody else. The accuracy of information could be
ascertained if the notebook describing the emigration was examined
at chronology laboratories.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERBAIJAN ATTACHES STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE TO COOPERATION WITH USA VISIT OF AZERBAIJAN PRESIDENT TO USA MEETING AT COUNCIL OF FOREIGN RELATIONS
[April 26, 2006, 12:01:15]

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
April 27 2006

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, in the frame of his first visit
to the United States, on 26 April held a meeting at the Council on
Foreign Relations in Washington.

The former US president’s National Security Advisor general Brent
Scowcroft opened the meeting. He updated on the biography of Ilham
Aliyev, noting that Azerbaijan is one of the strategic partners of the
United States. Speaking of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh
conflict, he said the Armenian troops had occupied territories of
Azerbaijan. He appraised Azerbaijan’s efforts for settlement of the
conflict and stressed they would and henceforth support Azerbaijan’s
fair position.

President Ilham Aliyev gave a speech. He, in particular, said
Azerbaijan experiences the period of development. He spoke of
hardships in the first years of independence, on the socio-political
situation that led the country to verge of civil war. And when
Heydar Aliyev returned to power in the Republic, it was he who
established socio-political stability in the country and launched
many international projects.

President Aliyev said Azerbaijan attaches strategic importance
to partnership with the United States of America. There is mutual
understanding on cooperation with USA in the field of safety and
economy, he stressed.

The President informed on riches of Azerbaijan and the huge investments
involved in the country’s economy. He also gave detailed information on
the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh conflict, its hard sequences
and negotiation process for settlement of the problem.

President Ilham Aliyev answered many questions.

The head of the Azerbaijan State also dwelt on the Azerbaijan-Russia
relations, noting these ties successfully develop. Azerbaijan is on
economic progress and never will become a space of confrontation,
he emphasized.

President Aliyev responded the questions on democratization process
in Azerbaijan, bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and USA and
“orange revolutions”.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SABINA FREIZER: “US SHOULD THINK OF NK CONFLICT SETTLEMENT”

Today, Azerbaijan
April 27 2006

“Energy and security issues are likely to dominate the 28 April meeting
of President Bush and President Ilham Aliyev. It will be Aliyev’s
first visit since becoming Head of the oil-rich state bordering both
Russia and Iran; and Teheran’s nuclear ambitions are undoubtedly one
of the main reasons Aliyev has been invited to the White House.”

As APA reports, International Crises Group Caucasus project leader
Sabina Freizer has told that while expressing her attitude to
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to the US. Sabina Freizer
stated that if the U.S. is keen to protect its energy and security
interests, the main issue on the table should be the unresolved
conflict in Nagorno Karabakh. For more than a decade, only a shaky
cease-fire has kept Armenia and Azerbaijan from resuming their
full-scale fighting over the small mountainous territory wedged
between them and Iran. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and soon
to be completed Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, which Washington
sees as critical to the West’s energy security, pass within 30 miles
of this flashpoint.

In the past months, President Aliyev has intensified his bellicose
rhetoric, threatening to withdraw from peace talks and to militarily
recapture all territories currently occupied by Armenian backed
forces. He doubled the 2005 military budget to $600 million in 2006,
over 16% of Azerbaijan’s total budget. He has also pledged to make
military spending equal to the entire state budget of Armenia, and,
propped up by oil revenues, the Azeri leader’s threat is very real.

In Washington President Aliyev should be told clearly that a military
resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is unacceptable.

Instead, the US Government should – while making clear that it will
be pressing Armenia equally strongly – push Azerbaijan to accept
now the principles of a comprehensive peace deal which would include
the renunciation of the use of force, the incremental withdrawal of
Armenian-backed forces from all occupied territories around Nagorno
Karabakh, the safe and voluntary return of all displaced persons,
the reopening of all transport and trade routes closed as a result
to the conflict, and a guarantee that the people of Nagorno Karabakh
will be given the right to self-determination based on a referendum
to be held after clear conditions are met.

This is close to what the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe proposed in February, but there was little international
pressure on Armenia and Azerbaijan to encourage them to sign the
deal. As a first step President Aliyev should allow people-to-people
contacts between the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides.

Until now, the Bush Administration has claimed to have a
three-dimensional approach to Azerbaijan, focusing on security,
energy, and freedom through reform. President Aliyev was not granted
an earlier visit to the White House because the 2003 presidential
elections were considered to be seriously flawed and were followed by a
violent crackdown on the opposition. The 2005 Azerbaijani Parliamentary
Elections were another disappointment, which should have precluded an
invitation to Aliyev less than six months after they were held. Some
of the three dimensions are clearly more important than others.

Even as democratic reform was lagging, Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld traveled to Baku three times in 2003-2005. Most observers
in Baku consider these visits to be cementing the relationships that
could ease the way for the possible deployment of American troops
in Azerbaijan to be used in actions against Iran. Today’s invitation
may be part of the Bush Administration’s attempts to ratchet up the
pressure on Tehran. Interestingly, however, Aliyev is preparing to
welcome Iranian President Ahmadinejad in Baku in May, the second such
meeting in Azerbaijan after the two countries signed a non aggression
pact last year.

According to Sabina Freizer, if US wants to ensure Azerbaijan’s
long-term support of its policies towards Iran, and overall regional
security, its best bet is to first focus on securing a peaceful
resolution of the existing Nagorno Karabakh conflict. While the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains unresolved, Azerbaijan can ill
afford to undermine its improving relations with Tehran. At the same
time, if Azerbaijan makes good on its threat to take military action
against Nagorno-Karabakh, close to Iran’s northern borders, it will
undermine U.S. energy and security interests and cause the flight
of foreign investment from Azerbaijan. The volatile South Caucasus
region, plagued also by unresolved conflicts in Georgia, risks being
completely destabilized, dragging into the fight neighboring Russia,
Turkey and Iran. This perilous scenario is worth talking to Aliyev
about as much as the threats of a nuclear Iran.

URL:

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT RULES OUT PARTICIPATING IN ACTION AGAINST IRAN
By Stephanie Ho

Voice of America
April 27 2006

Washington
26 April 2006

The president of the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan has begun
a visit to the United States with a call for a diplomatic solution
to the crisis over Iran’s nuclear program. He also said he hopes
Washington can help push for a solution to a dispute with Armenia over
Nagorno-Karabakh, the predominantly Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan. The
Azeri leader came Washington for several days of meetings.

Ilham Aliyev (file photo)

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev’s first official stop was to address
a session at the Council on Foreign Relations, a private foreign
policy organization.

Azerbaijan has been helpful to the United States in the war on
terror. So, it was perhaps not surprising that the Azeri leader was
asked about his country’s position on neighboring Iran, which is at
the center of an international controversy over its nuclear program.

He voiced his trust in the United States but also made clear that
Azerbaijan did not intend to be involved in any military action
against Iran.

“In our relations with the United States, we have [a] very high level
of mutual confidence and trust, and we’ll continue our military
cooperation because it’s to the benefit of both countries. At the
same time, Azerbaijan, of course, will not be engaged in any kind
of potential operations against Iran, and our officials made it very
clear, including myself, in the past,” he said.

He expressed the hope that the issue of Iran’s nuclear program can
be resolved diplomatically and added that a settlement is important
for regional security.

Georgetown University Professor Angela Stent said that although Mr.

Aliyev may try to steer clear of discussions about Iran, it is an
issue that will undoubtedly come up in his Washington meetings.

“They’re [Azerbaijan] neighbors with Iran. They do have a military
relationship with the United States, although I think he was clearly
implying that they wouldn’t be used in any U.S. military operation.

It’s still clearly an issue that has to be discussed,” she said.

She says in the past, Washington has criticized Azerbaijan’s human
rights record. But now, she adds, the international crisis over Iran
has apparently overshadowed that issue in the eyes of Washington
officials.

“There were parliamentary elections last fall that were not judged
free and fair. And they are going to be re-run again, but they haven’t
happened yet. And I think there are concerns about democratization and
human rights, but I would think that at the moment, the issues, the
strategic issues, must be considered to be more important,” she said.

State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said the U.S. government
is trying to balance a wide range of issues in its relations with
Azerbaijan.

“There are a number of significant interests in our relationship
with Azerbaijan: human rights most definitely, democratic development
most definitely, energy security, stability in the region, the fight
against terror. And we pursue all of these in parallel, while at the
same time sticking to our principles and not sacrificing expediency
for principle,” he said.

In his remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations, President Aliyev
also referred to the problem with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh,
saying he hopes the United States “as a superpower,” will contribute
to the resolution of the conflict.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous territory in southwestern Azerbaijan
that is under Armenian occupation. A 1994 ceasefire ended years of
bloody fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia, although the issue
has yet to be resolved.

The Azeri leader will be in Washington several days. He meets with
members of Congress and with officials from non-governmental groups
such as Freedom House and Human Rights Watch. On Friday, he is
scheduled to visit the Pentagon and the White House.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MANN OPTIMISTIC OVER KARABAKH ISSUE

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.04.2006 19:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev regards the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict as his country’s major problem. He made
a statement while addressing to the Foreign Relations Council,
which commenced his first official visit to the United States. The
President voiced his hope that the current talks on Nagorno Karabakh
“will create necessary conditions for just and durable peace, based
on the principles of the international law.” “We hope that the
United States as a superpower and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing
states will contribute to the resolution of the conflict,” Aliyev
underscored. Baku is sure that the settlement can be peaceable and
“only the international rule of law can be a base for talks,” he
emphasized. “The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is recognized
by UN and all world countries, except Armenia,” he stated.

US Ambassador Steven Mann, an OSCE Minsk Group co-chair, who was
present at the meeting, stated he was gong to visit Moscow next week
for next round of consultations which his colleagues. He is optimistic
and he believes “an efficient base for compromise is discovered.” The
US Ambassador particularly considered important the principle of
refusal from attempts of complete resolution of the exiting problems
available once and for all. He explained that the current approach
was just the opposite: movement forward step by step and leaving some
difficult issues for future, Itar-Tass reports.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

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:

ANTE LIAS ARCHIVES UNDERGOES COMPLETE REORGANIZATION

The Archives department of the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is
currently undergoing complete reorganization under the supervision of
Catholicos Aram I.

Within the Catholicosate’s general restoration works a special place was
dedicated for the storage of archives. With the kind support of its
director, Dr. Zaven Yegavian, the Department of Armenian Affairs of the
Gulbenkian Foundation has accepted to meet the costs of the establishment of
the Archives department.

The new department is located on the right hand of the Catholicosate’s main
entrance and occupies a large area. It is supplied with special cabinet
archives imported from Italy. Before the establishment of the Archives
department, Mr. Krikor Shahinian worked on the reorganization of the
Catholicosate’s archives. The department’s general director now is V. Rev.
Fr. Yeghishe Mandjigian with Rev. Fr. Movses Boyadjian as his assistant.

The general director of the official Archives department of the Republic of
Armenia, Amadouni Virabian, had visited the Catholicosate of Cilicia about
five months ago and made a thorough examination of the Archives department
in Antelias. He then presented his written proposals for the department’s
reorganization to the Pontiff.

Virabian has now returned to Antelias with a team of seven professionals to
work on the reorganization process which will conclude at the end of May.

The Catholicosate of Cilicia has rich archives related to the Armenian
Genocide, the status of Armenians in the post-Genocide era, the
Catholicosate’s efforts in the field of the Armenian Cause, writings by
Catholicoi, research and writings by Armenian national leaders and
intellectuals and the role of the Catholicosate of Cilicia in the Diaspora
in general. The department also has a rich collection of photographs and
films.

The Archives department is already open to the public. Intellectuals and
researchers from Armenia and foreign countries come to conduct researches in
the Catholicosate’s Archives department.

##
View photos here:
es60.htm

*****

The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
mission 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.