Author: Emil Lazarian

The (Un)Associated Student Union

Valley Star , CA (The Los Angeles Valley College)
May 7 2005

The Associated Student Union announced the results of its election last
week, revealing that all but two of the nine winners are Armenian. Not
soon after the election, some students said that this year’s winners
benefited because students voted along ethnic lines.

This issue was also raised at last year’s ASU presidential election.
Levon Bagramian earned the most votes but was not the candidate favored
by the sitting ASU officers. Bagramian brought his own flaws to office,
part of the reason the ASU Executive Board recalled him last month,
but ASU members said he only won the election because he was Armenian.

Not a great way to start a relationship among the president and his
fellow officers.

And so what if every Armenian on campus voted for Bagramian last
year or voted for this year’s ASU officers. Maybe those accusing the
Armenians of voting along ethnic lines should take a lesson from them
on organization. In addition, many of this year’s Armenian candidates
ran unopposed. Should they be charged with finding candidates to run
against themselves?

The problems with the ASU elections are not students voting along
ethnic lines, it’s the voting process. Candidates are relatively
unknown to the 18,000 students on this campus, a fact highlighted by
the less than 500 students who voted in this year’s election.

What was missing from this campaign is a campaign. Students weren’t
given the opportunity to “know” their candidates and what they
stand for.

Where is the exposure? Where were the debates that would have not
only familiarize the students with the candidates but would also
generate enough interest among them to possibly decrease the apathy
at the polls?

Without candidate information, all that students have left to
base their opinion on is their already existing information of the
candidates. And it’s not surprising that they are more likely to know
more about the candidate of their ethnicity, being a part of the same
community and all.

But unfortunately, ASU has been so caught up in their petty arguments
that the needs of the Valley students have taken a back seat to the
internal conflicts within the ASU.

ASU should instead busy themselves with increasing the student turnout
at the polls, which would result in a more balanced ethnic voting body,
minimizing the ability of one community to dominate the election.

So if the Armenian community takes it upon themselves to go out and
vote as an organized body…more power to them. There is nothing wrong
with exercising your democratic rights, even if it doesn’t fit with
someone else’s agenda.

The Guide: Radio: Friday 13 May
WILL HODGKINSON

The Guardian – United Kingdom
May 07, 2005

The miracle of the Holy Fire has, it is claimed by Orthodox Christians,
been occurring in Jerusalem’s The Church Of The Resurrection on the
first Sunday after the Jewish Passover for the last 1,000 years. A
fire is said to emerge from the stone where Jesus rose from the dead,
but since the miracle occurs behind locked doors in front of only one
witness (an Orthodox patriarch) we’ll have to take his word for it. On
The Holy Fire ( 11am, R4 ) Stewart Henderson travels to Jerusalem
to talk to devout pilgrims, sceptics, and the Israeli police that
ensure the security of the ceremony, where tempers have been known to
fray. In 2002 a Greek Orthodox patriarch and an Armenian priest came
to blows over who should be overseeing the ritual. A shoe was lost.

ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF AZERBAIJAN ON 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF VICTORY OVER FASCISM

AzerTag
[May 07, 2005, 17:34:45]

Dear country-fellows,

Esteemed war veterans,

This year, 60 years have elapsed since the victory over fascism in
the World War II. This war, for its scale, number of the involved
states and troops, for the caused material damage and human loss has
been the greatest and most terrible of the wars in the history of
mankind. The militarist forces claiming to rule the Earth, first of
all, the fascist Germany unleashed the WW II. Unleashed in September
1939, the war in short time has enveloped the entire Europe, then,
extending to other continents, has lasted six years. On 22 June 1941,
the fascist Germany attacked against the Soviet Union, of which,
Azerbaijan was a part at that time, and the sanguinary war known as
the Great Patriotic war commenced.

In the course of war, the aggressors have massacred millions of
people, erased cities and villages, destroyed production enterprises
and cultural monuments. Disastrous crimes of the fascists against
humanity could not but last long. As a result of joint efforts
of the anti-Hitler coalition formed during the war, in 1945, the
fascist Germany and its allies were defeated, and the Word War II
ended. Victory in this war was the triumph of the progressive forces
over the aggressors, of the civilization over barbarity, of humanism
over the inhuman ideology.

And the people of Azerbaijan have made its worthy contribution to
the victory over fascism. IN liberation of Russia, Ukraine, Moldova,
Belarus, the Baltic, as well as the Eastern European countries,
in success of the Resistance Movement in the Western Europe, our
compatriots have played important role. In 1941-1945s, 700 thousand
of our country-fellows were sent to forefront, and they courageously
fought against the cruel enemy. Half of them died at the battlefields.

Along with courage and heroism at the forefronts, the Azerbaijanis
also demonstrated unprecedented selflessness and in the back areas,
provided the fighting troops with fuel, arms, food and cloths. Unlike
the previous wars, the World War II was not the war of cavalry and
infantry, but, first of all, of motor-tanks, fighter-bombers, and
other battle machines. Without oil and oil products, the troops would
not be able to steer the techniques and overcome the enemy. During the
years of war, the Azerbaijani oilmen, despite all difficulties, have
demonstrated unprecedented fortitude and selflessness and provided the
armed forces with sufficient fuel. Today, every Azerbaijani is proud
that at that time 70 percent of the oil produced then in the Soviet
Union fell on share of Azerbaijan. In those years, the Azerbaijani
oilmen not only provide the forefront with oil, but also developed
new oil deposits, which later in the history of oil industry was
called as the “Second Baku”.

History of the WW II, too, shows that the policy and ideology basing on
force, aggression and occupation, hate for other peoples and enmity,
finally, doom to defeat and collapse. Our people, who witnessed the
hardships and deprivations of war, and nowadays facing its miseries,
are decisively against new sanguinary wars and conflicts. We have
been for over teen years stated our adherence of settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict, which was unleashed as a result of the
Armenian territorial claims and military aggressions, peacefully
and by negotiations. And today, we use every chance given by the
international law and diplomacy for liberation of our lands from the
Armenian occupation.

The leadership of Azerbaijan believes in complete restoration of the
sovereign rights and territorial integrity of our country, trusts
in triumph of justice and truth. Our powerful National Army, active
attacks of the Azerbaijan diplomacy in all fronts and the growing
economic potential of our country ensure success in our fair cause.

On this day, we pay tribute and respect to memory of all our sons
and daughters who gave their lives in the name of achievement of
victory over fascism and victims in fights for territorial integrity
and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, let Allah rest their souls in peace. I
cordially congratulate the veterans of war who fought at the forefront,
and also those who demonstrated selflessness in rear, all citizens
of Azerbaijan on this significant event – the 60th Anniversary of
the Victory, I wish our nation peace, tranquility and welfare.

Ilham Aliyev,

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Baku, 6 May 2005

Murder Of Turkish Consul General Gunduz By Armenians To Be Announced To World

Turkish Press
May 7 2005

IZMIR (AA) – Friends of Turkish Honorary Consul General in Boston Orhan
Gunduz, who was murdered by members of an Armenian terror organization
in the United States on May 4th, 1982, started an initiative to remind
this murder to the whole world.

Prof. Dr. Sedat Isci of Aegean University American Culture & Literature
Department said, “friends of Gunduz who are prominent scientists in
various universities in Turkey and the United States are determined
not to forget this murder.”

“Armenian terrorists killed many Turkish diplomats and personnel in the
past. However, murder of Gunduz has a different meaning because it was
committed at the headquarters of Armenian Tasnaksutyun organization,
and terrorists had close connections with that organization,” he added.

Isci said, “friends of Gunduz gave me an archive comprising of many
photos and documents. I will publish this archive and not allow people
to forget the murder of Gunduz.”

Gunduz was murdered by Armenian terrorists in Cambridge, USA, on May
4th, 1982.

Attacks started on January 27th, 1973 with the murders of Turkish
Consul General in Los Angeles Mehmet Baydar and Turkish diplomat
Bahadir Demir by an Armenian. As of 1975, 34 Turkish diplomats and
their relatives were killed and nearly 100 Turks and foreigners were
injured. Thus, attacks turned to be organized crime. Armenian people
and organizations having connection with Tasnaksutyun staged armed
and bomb attacks in 38 cities of 21 countries during that years.

MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE DID NOT DECLARE TERMS OF SIGNING
AGREEMENT WITH RA GOVERNMENT

Pan Armenian News
06.05.2005 06:34

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Representative of the Millennium Challenge Account in
Armenia Alex Rosin expressed satisfaction with the program presented
by the Armenian government. In his words, mission of the corporation
is to find out Armeni’s degree of correspondence to the standards for
the further financing.”We are at the initial stage presently and are
making preliminary assessments, then we will proceed to purposeful
implementatio”, he stated during a press conference in Yerevan. He
also informed that in the near future the Armenian working group will
be introduced to the corporation after what an analogous group from
the American part will be formed. However he did not rule out that
some difficulties may emerge resulting in delay of financing. At
the same time expressed hope that cooperation with Armenia will
be”as efficient and rapid as with other states” In his turn Armenian
Minister of Finance and Economy Vardan Khachatrian informed that the
Millennium Challenge Account Corporation insisted that the members
of the working group should not be engaged in any other activities
besides the tasks to be fulfilled within the program. To note, when
presenting the Millennium Challenge Account in 2002 President Bush
stated that it will “reward nations that root out corruption, respect
human rights, and adhere to the rule of law, invest in better health
care, better schools and broader immunization and have more open
markets and sustainable budget policies, nations where people can
start and operate a small business without running the gauntlets of
bureaucracy and bribery” The total fund of the program for the first
year will make $1 billion, for the second $2.5 billion. 17 states in
Africa, Asia, and Latin America as well as two former USSR republics-
Armenia and Georgia. The amount of the funds provided depends on
the programs presented by the countries. Armenian expects to receive
about $700-900 million during three years, IA Regnum reported.

SERGE SARGSIAN MET CSTO ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL

Pan Armenian News
06.05.2005 03:22

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Yesterday Secretary of the Security Council
under the RA President, Defense Minister Serge Sargsian met with
Assistant to Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization Valery Semerikov, RA Defense Minister’s Press Secretary,
Colonel Seyran Shahsuvarian informed. During the meting the parties
exchanged opinions on the process of preparation for the sitting
of the CSTO Defense Ministers and the sitting of the Secretaries of
Security Councils.

When hairy can be scary
By Stella Aslibekian, Health Columnist

Stanford Daily
May 5 2005

The issue of body hair had never concerned me much until one memorable
Saturday morning at the Fitness First gym in downtown Washington,
D.C. Feeling a little under the weather after a night’s very happy hour
at my summer job, I attempted to make up for my unhealthy behavior
with a sacrifice to the exercise gods. As I lethargically pushed the
pedals of the elliptical trainer, I looked around the room, trying
to figure out if the other gym visitors were guilty masochists like
me or healthy people committed to regular exercise.

It was then that I caught a glimpse of possibly one of the hairiest
creatures in the metropolitan D.C. area. This guy was engulfed in
thick reddish bristle from the neck down — it was everywhere but
his head. All of his body hair was glistening with sweat, which
didn’t drip down to the floor as the laws of gravity suggest, but
accumulated in each of the curls on his chest and back. It was a sight
to remember. As much as I tried to remain calm and nonjudgmental, my
hung-over self could not take much more. For the rest of my workout,
I deliberately stared in the other direction, wondering how much the
prissy hair salon in Dupont would charge to wax a beast like that.

Mind you, I am usually a lot more tolerant of body hair for several
reasons: first, I happen to be of Armenian descent, which means that
most of the people in my family are very hairy and some even have
unibrows; second, I have lived in Europe, which is notorious for
people sporting body hair au naturel; and third, I consider myself
a liberal, feminist, even pseudo-hippie human being who appreciates
human bodies the way they are. That guy in the gym, however, made me
seriously reconsider my stances on this issue.

Even Hollywood, the land of Brazilian waxes and unattainably artificial
beauty, cannot seem to come to a conclusion on body hair. A couple of
years ago, Julia Roberts exposed her fully grown armpit hair in front
of the camera during the Notting Hill premiere, provoking a lot of
discussion among fashionistas and feminists alike. Was it a political
statement or was Julia just too lazy to call an esthetician? Or was
it perhaps a requirement for her role in a new movie? Or was she
starting a new fashion trend?

To the disappointment of the body hair activists, Julia Roberts’
choice turned out to be not much of a statement but rather a matter
of personal preference, her movie characters remained feminine (and
presumably waxed), and the trend has failed to captivate Tinseltown
and the rest of the country. Women and metrosexual men everywhere
continue to endure the pain of waxing, while most guys (including my
friend at Fitness First) don’t stress about their body hair at all.
And both camps seem to be perfectly content.

Getting rid of body hair could be a costly enterprise — most waxing
salons in the Palo Alto area charge no less than $50 for a leg wax
and $75 for (ouch!) a Brazilian bikini wax. The procedure has to be
repeated approximately every month, so you do the math. To a large
extent, cost is the reason why most people I know at Stanford prefer
the old-fashioned shaving method, which requires more maintenance work,
but is much cheaper than the salon treatments.

The bottom line is that the “to wax or not to wax” decision
should remain a matter of personal preference for men, women or
Hollywood celebrities. Just, you know, use deodorant and keep things
aesthetically pleasing — especially if you like working out on
Saturday mornings.

@@line:Stella Aslibekian is a junior majoring in Human Biology.

German chancellor, Turkish PM discuss relations, EU membership
By Valery Litvinenko

ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 4, 2005 Wednesday 3:05 PM Eastern Time

ANKARA, May 4 — Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder have discussed bilateral, political,
economic and cultural relations and the outlook for Turkey’s admission
to the European Union.

Schroeder arrived in the Turkish capital on a two-day working visit
on Tuesday.

The HaberTurk television channel has said Erdogan and Schroeder also
raised the problem of Cyprus and the theme of genocide of Armenians
in the Ottoman Empire. Schroeder supported Turkey’s position on the
issue of settlement in Cyprus and promised that Germany would back
any steps by Ankara aimed at improving relations with Armenia.

The German chancellor spoke highly of Ankara’s efforts geared to
securing its admission in the E.U. He said Turkey had complied with
all of its commitments to the European Union.

Later in the day Schroeder will be received by Turkish President
Ahmet Necdet Sezer. The schedule of the German chancellor’s visit
also includes participation in the Turkish-German business forum in
Istanbul and a meeting with Patriarch Bartholomew, of Constantinople.

THE PARLIAMENT CHANGING THE RA CONSTITUTION

A1plus
| 13:43:24 | 04-05-2005 | Politics |

Today at 12:40 p.m. the discussion of the three draft constitutions
started in the NA. Right away Rafik Petrosyan, head of the NA
Standing Committee on state and legal affairs, is representing the
coalition draft to the delegates. By the way, when Arthur Baghdasaryan
announced while representing the draft that the authors are the three
members of the coalition and the fraction «Democratic Delegate»,
Karen Karapetyan, head of the fraction, announced that they will not
represent the corresponding chapter of the draft. «Do you decline
the draft? », asked Arthur Baghdasaryan. No, we simply are not
co-authors», said Karen Karapetyan.

The discussion of the draft constitutions has special procedure in
the NA. 60 minutes are given to the representation of each draft.

Rafik Petrosyan representing the coalition draft informed that by the
first draft constitution 1 article has bee removed, 25 have been filled
up, and 97 have been improved from the RA present Constitution. Before
representing the changes Rafik Petrosyan informed the delegates with
a long introduction why constitutional amendments are done. «The
Constitutional amendments have perspectives», he announced adding
that they are done not to solve the present problems but to reflect
the internal and foreign policy of the Republic in the Constitution.

At present Rafik Petrosyan has finished his speech and the delegates
are asking him question.

–Boundary_(ID_cc/JccGBSQFsZOPEkSeEvg)–

Halacoglu: Target is not me, it’s Turkey

Journal of Turkish Weekly
May 4 2005

President of the Turkish Historical Society, Prof. Doctor Yusuf
Halacoglu, has said that it is not he who is on trial in Switzerland,
but the Republic of Turkey.

“They tried Galileo, but the world continued to turn,” said Halacoglu,
in reference to the move by a prominent Swiss prosecutor to have him
brought in for questioning for his views on the Armenian allegations.

Said Halacoglu further: “It is not possible to understand how countried
like France, Belgium, and Switzerland could have moves to forbid
the expression of rejection of the Armenian genocide. What sort of
democracy, what sort of freedom of thought is this?”

Halacoglu points out what he sees as the inherent conflict in what
EU countries are doing: while curtailing his research and his right
to express it, they question Turkey’s democracy, freedom of thought,
and human rights situation.

Dr. Nilgun Gulcan said Switzerland has to arrest almost all Turkish
academicians “because all of us support Halocoglyu and all we us
think that Armenians lie” said Dr. Gulcan.

Gulcan further continued:

“This is a dirty game. They try to limit, they try to control our
thought. This is not the Europe we know. They back to the Dark Ages.
They deny the new Europe. I condemn Switzerland. And I declare that I
do dont accept Armenian allegations. They massacred more than 523,000
Muslims in 1915 and they blamed their neigbours.”

Agencies