Author: Emil Lazarian

Polls in separatist Karabakh “better” organized than in Britain, observer
says
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
20 Jun 05
[Presenter] Nagornyy Karabakh is a small state but it has a great
democratic future, the head of the American observers’ group (?Jim
Huper) said. The international observers assessed the elections in
Artsakh [Karabakh] as fair and transparent, announcing that the voting
was held without any serious violations.
Paul Williams, a representative of the Public International Law and
Policy Group, announced that the elections in Artsakh were fair and
transparent which will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the
process of settling the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.
The observer from the British Helsinki Human Rights Group, Mark
Almond, noted that the election process was democratic. Many known
states could have followed Karabakh’s example. The elections here were
better organized than in Great Britain, he said.
[Correspondent Vage Kostandyan from Artsakh] The fourth parliamentary
elections in the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic deemed valid, no serious
violations were registered, the leaders of the American, Russian and
Great Britain observer groups told a new conference on 20 June.
[Mark Almond, captioned in English with Armenian voice over] The
elections proved that a system of self-determination has been
established in Karabakh. I hope that the OSCE Minsk Group will take
this into consideration in settling the Karabakh problem.
[Passage omitted: chairman of the Karabakh Central Electoral
Commission announced the preliminary results of the election]
Vage Konstandyan, Tigran Babayan, “Aylur”, Stepanakert.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1plus
| 20:26:49 | 20-06-2005 | Politics |
DO NOT DICTATE TO ARMENIA
`No one must dictate to Armenia what form of governing we want to have’,
said RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan referring to the negative opinion
of the Venice Commission and the offer of the political Committee to include
the discussion of the Armenian Constitutional Reforms into the PACE session
agenda as an urgent issue.
He noted that we must admit the offers about the general European standards,
but the nation must decide itself what it wants. `It is the problem of the
nation’, said the Minister.
Naturally, Vardan Oskanyan preferred to speak about the RA policy directed
to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Oskanyan announced that Armenia
highly appreciates the resolution adopted by the Bundestag. This resolution
is especially important for the fact that Germany admits its fault in the
tragic events of 1915 and calls on Turkey to reconcile with its past.
`The Bundestag resolution is another important step in the inclusion of the
Armenian issues into the Turkish commitments to the EU the coming fall’,
said Vardan Oskanyan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Daily Trojan via U-Wire
University Wire
June 15, 2005 Wednesday
USC engineering school pioneer dies
By Archana Prakash, Daily Trojan; SOURCE: USC
LOS ANGELES
University of Southern California educator, innovator and
administrator Jack Munushian, largely responsible for starting the
Viterbi School of Engineering’s Distance Education Network and
creating the computer science department, died on May 28 of heart
failure at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. He was 81.
“Jack had an enormous influence on the school of engineering,” said
William Steier, professor of electrical engineering and close friend
of Munushian. “We will forever be indebted to him.”
Munushian began teaching at USC in 1957 and played an integral role
in making the school of engineering at USC one of the major research
schools in the nation, Steier said.
Solomon Golomb, a professor of electrical engineering who met
Munushian in 1957, said Munushian had experience writing successful
proposals to the U.S. Department of Defense.
Having worked in the aerospace industry, Munushian also had the
advantage of seeing firsthand the struggles engineers had obtaining
higher education in the university setting.
“Jack realized that there was a tremendous need to provide graduate
education to the thousands of employees in an efficient fashion,”
said Leonard Silverman, professor of electrical engineering systems.
“At the time they had to drive to USC or UCLA after work in heavy
traffic.”
Munushian had the idea for the Instructional Television Network
(ITV), a system where classes could be broadcast on television so
that industry professionals could attend school more easily.
Convincing the Olin foundation to help the school create such a
program, Munushian also used his ties to the aerospace industry to
make ITV successful.
“Jack persuaded them to give the university some of the last
available frequencies broadcasted from Signal Hill, at a time where
television channels were hard to come by,” Golomb said. “He handled
all the details of what became an unbelievably successful activity in
the late 1960s.”
Thousands of workers soon obtained their masters degrees through ITV,
and the tuition revenue generated helped hire much of the faculty
that made the engineering school a premier research institution,
according to Silverman. USC’s Distance Education Network, ITV’s
successor, remains an important part of the Viterbi School of
Engineering.
As a service to the school of engineering and his good friend Zohrab
Kaprelian, the dean of the school of engineering, Munushian also took
a major role in organizing the school’s computer science department,
despite being trained as a materials scientist.
“He was an excellent administrator,” said George Bekey, professor of
computer science. “He would push for new projects and ideas without
making people angry.”
In addition to his administrative duties, Munushian also taught
electromagnetics and entrepreneurial classes.
“Jack was a great person to work for and work with,” Steier said.
“His students really looked up to him.”
Born in Rochester, N.Y., to Armenian immigrant parents, Munushian
lost his mother and brother at a young age. Munushian served in the
army during World War II and later attended the University of
California at Berkeley where he received a Ph.D. in physics. He was
one of the first to receive his higher level education on the GI
Bill.
Munushian was always very respectful of his background and heritage,
said Mihran Agbabian, professor emeritus of civil engineering and a
good friend of Munushian.
“When we were in graduate school together, we went to San Francisco
to see a movie made in Armenia. It was the sort of film that could be
easily ridiculed, but Jack told us to remember it was about Armenia,
and that we should not make fun of it,” he said.
Munushian worked for Hughes Aircraft Co. and Aerospace Corporation in
managerial positions before becoming a full professor in 1967. He
remained a professor emeritus until his death.
Toward the end of his life, Munushian’s health rapidly declined and
he lost his sight. An avid reader, Munushian set up a special audio
system that allowed him to “read” books and newspapers.
Agbabian said Munushian took a very scientific approach to
understanding the degenerative disease that caused him to lose his
sight, and he became a generous benefactor to the Foundation Fighting
Blindness.
Munushian always had a soft spot for the less fortunate, and while at
USC he became very involved with Swim with Mike, as he was an
excellent swimmer himself. Despite his blindness, he continued to
swim laps at the YMCA, using the ropes as his guide.
“Jack will be remembered in his recent years as a survivor who
vanquished all physical handicaps and for his strong belief in the
power of positive thinking,” Agbabian said.
Munushian was a resident of the Bel-Air neighborhood of Los Angeles.
He never married and is survived only by distant relatives.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

New Straits Times (Malaysia)
June 19, 2005, Sunday
Hairy, scary and violent..ZO: A-ALL
by Shanon Teoh; Jeremy Mahadevan
MEZMERIZE
System Of A Down
(Columbia/Sony)
Review by Shannon Teoh
SINCE time immemorial, man has been a creature whose every primal
instinct is to rule, conquer and beat up anyone who refuses to bow
down
to its power. Stanley Kubrick himself said so, in his epochal film,
2001:
A Space Odyssey.
Never mind that I never got to the space bits I keep hearing about.
The
first half containing those hairy hominids in their tribal wars still
rings true today. Hairy men need to rock and roll!
It’s hard to get more manly than the likes of System of a Down
(SOAD).
It’s hairy, scary and violent as hell. It’s not just riff after riff
of
inane thrashmetal, the assuredness with which it constructs such
in-your-face loud-soft-loud-barking dynamics is sheer all-conquering
power of Dodge Viper-like proportions.
Interesting then that it wears its anti-American Imperialism on its
sleeves. But could you blame these bug-eyed-on-testosterone (real men
don’t take drugs you see, unlike, ahem, some bands) Armenians whose
homeland was ravaged by civil war? And like real manly men who beat
their
chests and do the Maori Hakka, these warriors are heroes who sound
the
gong of a new era.
A new era that began in the late 1990s when SOAD’s eponymous debut
slayed the arena of nu-metal gladiators with one fell swoop. The
dominion
of all that is phallic about the 21st century continued with
Toxicity.
Fuelled by irresistible pheromones induced by the fire breathing
pipes
of Serj Tankian and Daron Malakian’s songcraft, singles such as the
aptly
titled Chop Suey – which describes the miscellany that is signature
to
their bewildering mix – caught on in mainstream consciousness,
signalling
its intent on clubbing even more cavemen and women.
Mezmerize builds on this intensity and even so, it is but part one of
a
new agenda. The autumnal ascension of Hypnotize later this year from
the
band’s melting pot of grinding guitar chops and 1980s synth-rock
looks
set to fully cement SOAD’s masculine butts to the throne of
alternative-hardcore.
Wearing sociopolitical commentary (read: dissatisfaction) like badges
on its breastplates and marching out with pyromancy and irrepressible
choruses, Mezmerize does exactly that, culminating in the closing
track
Lost in Hollywood.
Telling us that we “should’ve never trusted Hollywood” with its nest
of
“maggots smoking fags on Sunset Boulevard” who tell us lies about
being
“the best they’ve ever seen”, it is hardly the cleverest stuff on the
planet but it makes for immediate, straightforward momentum in
today’s
political climate that takes longer than grannies sewing Christmas
stockings to resolve anything.
While the album does suffer from a bit too much of Malakian’s
contribution on the mic, it hardly distracts from an album armed with
gems like Violent Pornography and This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I’m
On
This Song – both surely candidates for song titles of the year.
And titles like song of the year, employee of the month, Time Man of
the Year (ironically, most recently won by Dubya Bush himself) and
“rockingest” band of all time are the sort of milestones in what will
surely lead to SOAD being immortalised in bronze and pigeon droppings
one
day. Real men go out in style.
Righthand men… Rage Against the Machine, Mars Volta, Tool.
Lord and Master over… Metallica, Limp Bizkit, Korn.
Best listened to while… priming yourself to face the music after a
late night out with the boys… and especially not while shaving.
LULLABIES TO PARALYZE
Queens of the Stone Age
(Interscope/Warner)
Review by Jeremy Mahadevan
LISTEN, pal: you just got to get your mitts on this album. A little
discussion on manliness first, though: what makes manly men manly?
What
exactly did Captain Arthur Phillip see in those aborigines across
Sydney
Harbour, back in 1788, that made him name the spot Manly Cove?
I think we can all agree that hairy chests and gruesome faces just
don’t cut it. Anybody can decide to stop shaving for three months.
No,
really manly folk are the ones who just don’t give a hoot.
A manly man is the one you see cruising across desert roads in his
Shelby Cobra, one hand on the wheel at all times, speeding but never
in a
hurry. He’s got things to do, he’s at peace, and he’ll be relaxing
even
in the middle of Armageddon. Smooth and cultured, the man never
speaks
until he’s got something worth saying. People might be rioting and
looting outside, but he’ll still be at the bar, sipping his bourbon
and
trying to decide if it’ll be Lisa or Denise for dinner tonight. Then
he
waits for them to call. Because a manly man never shows you how he
really
feels.
Lullabies to Paralyze is a lot like some sort of Armageddon through
the
eyes of the world’s manliest men. The Queens of the Stone Age (QOTSA)
have always been very adept at maintaining composure through squalls
of
its own creation. The music is always heavy, somehow, even when they
turn
down the volume.
The excitement is in seeing the new ways in which it manipulates that
ancient formula of guitars, drums, bass and vocals – there’s no
mistaking
the laid-back, measured nuances of QOTSA’s sound, it plays with
texture
and explore different melodies through to its conclusions, always
keeping
the tension up.
What could be hopelessly tepid and lifeless ends up with a certain
lazy
cigar-chomping vigilante cool, commanding attention without ever
having
to resort to manic tempo changes, wrecking-ball aesthetics or over
baked
theatrics.
Lullabies is more sober and spooky than previous QOTSA efforts –
perhaps a reaction to the sudden ejection of lynchpin member Nick
Oliveri
from the band prior to the recording of this material.
Some compare losing Oliveri to losing an arm, and tell me, what’s
manlier than sawing off your arm and just getting on with whatever it
was
you were doing before, as if nothing ever happened?
Songs like Everybody Knows That You are Insane and Someone’s in the
Wolf crackle with the same sort of fiery energy that kept previous
QOTSA
work lean and mean, but at the same time there’s a growling menace
permeating the whole thing that makes it unnecessary for the band to
ever
have to shout and shriek at you in some unmanly manner.
All right, so you can tell I’m making none-too-thinly-veiled digs at
that other band featured today. But let’s face it: anything that goes
out
of its way to be so visceral, so affecting, so hairychested – well,
it’s
just not very manly, is it? It’s trying too hard. Not that Mezmerize
isn’t a good album, it’s absolutely stunning and probably better than
Lullabies – it just isn’t as masculine.
Unsmiling like… Soundgarden, Jimi Hendrix, MC5.
Unamused by… Guns n’ Roses, Staind, KISS.
Best listened to while… sipping bourbon, one hand at the wheel of
your Shelby Cobra, chasing down werewolves and trying to decide
whether
it’s going to be Lisa or Denise for dinner tonight.

Competition, not confrontation
Yerkir/Arm
June 17, 2005

At a news conference in the National Press Club on June 16 Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Bureau representative Hrant Margarian
shared his opinions on the current stage of the Karabakh conflict
settlement, ARF’s participation in the parliamentary election in
Karabakh as well as Armenia’s domestic and foreign policy.
What is Armenia’s position in the negotiation process? Are Armenia’s
policies regarding the Karabakh settlement process weak? Commenting on
these questions, Hrant Margarian noted that Karabakh remains on the
top of Armenia’s policy agenda. `I believe that Karabakh should have
much better conditions to develop and flourish.
I believe that our people should be much closer to the government and
this is why the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Party will be
actively participating in the coming elections in Karabakh,’ Margarian
said at the same time expressing his concern with the corrupt
practices that can be witnessed today in Karabakh such as misuse of
administrative resources and voter bribing in some case. Margarian has
visited Karabakh and met with the president of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic Arkady Ghukasian. He has voiced his concerns regarding the
above-mentioned issues.
`I hope these phenomena can be eliminated.’ Arkady Ghukasian has
assured Margarian that the elections will be held without
violations. `Either he will prevent the violations and prove that he
can keep his promise or he will fail to prevent them and will prove
the contrary.’ Commenting on the question why ARF is in the opposition
camp in Karabakh, Margarian noted that the government had moved ARF to
the opposition camp.
`We never see Karabakh as a place where we can struggle for
power. However, we were dissatisfied with certain issues connected
with socio-economic governance. We had a different position on those
issues.
Several months ago we tried to solve some of those problems while
being in the government. After we were forced into the opposition camp
we are now trying to do the same as an opposition force. But even now
we know our limits and we will never go beyond them. Stability is very
important in Karabakh and our opposition to the current government
should not lead us to a confrontation. Today we are in a situation of
competition rather than confrontation as an end in itself’.
Commenting on the current stage of the Karabakh conflict negotiations
process Hrant Margarian said that it is wrong to create a defeatist
environment in Armenia.
Margarian Margarian said his impression is that on the one hand the
international forces pressure Azerbaijan to accept that Karabakh (and
probably Lachin, too) should be joined to Armenia, and on the other
hand they pressure Armenia to accept that the liberated territories
should be returned to Azerbaijan.
“I don’t believe there is an Armenian who wants the liberated
territories to be reutnred,” Margarian mentioned. “But I admit that
the issue can be touched upon during the talks process for tactical
reasons, but when Azerbaijan refuses at all to consider the issue of
ceding Karabakh to Armenia de jure — on the contrary, militant
rhetoric prevails in Azerbaijan — then I don’t understand why are we
creating a seemingly defeatist mood among our people?
This is unwise, to say the least. Our people have paid a big price for
the liberation of Karabakh and will not let anyone surrender
territories.” He added that concessions should not include such issues
as Karabakh’s sovereignty, national identity and today’s factual
borders.
Margarian believes one should speak publicly about things around which
no compromise can be accepted while issues around which compromise can
be achieved should be discussed at a negotiation table. He says the
borders of any country are defined based on certain considerations.
The borders of the administrative unit that was called
Nagorno-Karabakh and was part of the Soviet Azerbaijan should not be
considered as a starting point while defining the borders of
Karabakh. Historic realities and security issues should be considered
as the basis for defining the borders of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic. This is what matters when defining the borders of any state.
`Karabakh was a bit late in this respect since it has not yet declared
control over the liberated territories. In this respect our activities
in Karabakh become political struggle’, Margarian noted. What will
ARF’s position be if Azerbaijan agrees to give up Karabakh including
Lachin?
Margarian will be glad for that since such an act will constitute 50%
of Armenia’s victory after which he will be waiting for the other 50%
– the liberated territories joining Armenia as well. `Those
territories were the guarantor of peace in the past years,’ Margarian
said noting that any agreement reached through negotiations should be
approved by the people.
Margarian commented on the issue of eliminating the ban on dual
citizenship from the Armenian Constitution. `The opinion that after
adoption of dual citizenship an uncontrolled situation will be created
is wrong. The law on dual citizenship will allow the Armenian
government to grant citizenship at the same time defining the new
citizens’ rights and obligations.
This is what they do in all the countries. The issue of dual
citizenship should be considered in this context. It is wrong to think
that millions of people will come to Armenia and others will be
deciding the country’s future. The opinion that thousands of Diaspora
Armenians will come to Armenia is exaggerated as well. I wish it could
be so. That would be a great potential and strength for Armenia’.
The relations between Armenia and Turkey and the process of Genocide
recognition. Margarian first expressed his doubt whether there are any
relations to speak about. `Any such relations were suspended on the
day when Turkey closed the border and put forward preconditions for
relations with Armenia.
Those preconditions are unacceptable. If we overlook them and speak
about relations with Turkey we put ourselves into a humiliated
position. Turkey is the one who closed the border and put forward
preconditions and says that it will open the border only if its
preconditions are satisfied,’ Margarian said noting that some people
tend to forget about this as if Armenia is the one who has closed the
border with Turkey.
`I can’t understand this. Relations with Turkey were severed because
of this country’s hostile policies towards Armenia. Of course, we need
relations with Turkey but such relations should be based on the
dignity of the two nations. Recognition of the Genocide is what the
Turkish nation needs itself so that it can free itself of the complex
of a genocide perpetrator,’ Margarian said.
How realistic are the rumors regarding the possibility of organizing a
revolution in Armenia? What is ARF’s position in this respect ` is it
pro-Russian or pro-Western?
These questions become urgent against the background of the statements
made by various opposition leaders regarding their political
orientation. `I would prefer all of our political forces, whether
pro-governmental or opposition, to derive from the interests of our
nation, to have an Armenian orientation. We are pro-Armenian and I
think the reason why some of our political forces turn to external
forces is their weakness,’ Margarian said adding jokingly that some of
our political leaders have started learning English.
Margarian advised the organizers of revolutions not to assume that a
revolution is like a theater performance that starts and ends at a
certain time. `If there is a revolution one cannot go on a vacation,
neither can one have any other interests. A revolutionary person is A
fighter. This is not what we have now when the opposition leaders go
to Spain for their vacation after the opposition demonstrations fail
to have a rest before coming back and starting a new revolution.
Revolutionaries have a hard life, they often have to work
underground. They are taken to prisons; they work with the people and
not go to vacations abroad. And if we see revolution as an attempt to
improve our lives ` well, then this is exactly what ARF is doing,’
Margarian said. Commenting on the activities of the political
coalition and the responsibilities of the member parties, Margarian
said all of the parties are responsible. He believes the coalition is
functioning only formally.
This is why ARF is doing its best to restore the Coalition Council
meetings. `If we are responsible for something we have to be truly
responsible. No one should try to cheat the others. We have to face
the reality. We are doing our best and I think we have succeeded in
achieving our goal. I hope we will be able to come to a situation when
we will be able to be truly responsible for the work of the
Coalition. I think this was a temporary difficulty and we will be able
to overcome it in the near future,’ Margarian said.
Commenting on the struggle against corruption, Margarian noted that
publicizing names will not change anything. The coming presidential
elections were also discussed at the meeting in the Press Club ` will
ARF support Robert Kocharian if he is nominated for the third time?
`ARF will have its own candidate in the coming presidential
elections. There is no point in speaking about a third term for
president Kocharian since he himself has excluded this possibility,’
Margarian concluded.
By Karine Mangassarian
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Journal of Turkish weekly
June 20 2005
Armenia Arrests Turkish Researcher Studying on Armenian past
Yektan Turkyilmaz, the first Turkish researcher to receive a
permission to study Armenian international archives, has been
arrested at the Yerevan Airport. Turkyilmaz is accused by Armenia of
attempting to take history books to Turkey.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had called Armenia and Tashnaks
to open their archives. Turkish Ottoman archives have been opened for
the decades to all researchers from all over the world.
Armenia has resisted to open its archives. It is also argued that the
Tashnasks archives in the US contain vital documents about the 1915
events, Armenian immigrations and Tashnak-Nazi collaborations.

A1plus
| 12:00:44 | 20-06-2005 | Politics |
ELECTIONS IN NAGORNO KARABAKH
Yesterday the Parliamentary elections took place in the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic. 7 political powers had put forward their candidacy by the
proportional electoral system. They were – «Armenian Revolutionary
Federation – Movement-88» bloc (18+20 candidates), Artsakh Democratic Party
(25+10 candidates), Artsakh Communist Party (10+5 candidates), «Our Home is
Armenia» party (4+3 candidates), «Social Justice» party (3+1 candidates),
«Moral Renaissance» party (3 candidates), and Artsakh Armenakyan party (1
candidate).
6 of all the candidates put forward are up to 30 years old, 64 are 30-50
year old, and 36 are older than 50. 97 of them have higher education, 5 have
medium specialized education, and 4 have finished secondary school.
Yesterday at 8:00 a.m. the elections of the 4th National Assembly started,
and the 22 Electoral Committees took up their responsibilities. At 8:30
there were already queues in the electoral areas, which testified to the
high activeness of the electors.
Let us also mention that many observers followed the course of election –
from USA, Russia, Iran, etc. But of course, the overwhelming majority of the
observers were from Armenia.
The course of the elections was relatively quiet. There were no written
complaints from the candidates or from the electors.
At 8:00 p.m. Sergey Nasibyan, head of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Central
Electoral Committee, announced the end of the elections and the final
results of the activeness of electors. According to him, 73.6% of all those
having suffrage, that is – 66 197 electors participated in the Parliamentary
elections. In Yerevan 149 citizens of the NKR voted, securing 93.7%
participation. And in Karabakh the highest index of participation was
recorded in the Azokh N12 electoral area – 90.5%. In contrast to that, the
lowest was in the Stepanakert N6 electoral area – 55.5%.
ANNA ISRAYELYAN
Correspondent of `Aravot’ especially for `A1+’
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DELEGATION HEADED BY NORWEGIAN STORTING PRESIDENT TO ARRIVE IN YEREVAN
ON OFFICIAL VISIT ON JUNE 21
YEREVAN, JUNE 16, NOYAN TAPAN. The official visit of the delegation
headed by Jorgen A.Kosmo, President of Norwegian Parliament, Storting,
to Yerevan is planned for June 21-24. According to Noyan Tapan’s
information, the delegation will meet with Armenian parliamentarians,
as well as country’s high-ranking leaders. The results of the visit
will be summed up at the press conference at RA National Assembly.

In Caucasus enclave, Internet puts young in touch with outside world
Agence France Presse
June 19 2005
STEPANAKERT, Azerbaijan (AFP) – For 15-year-old Albert, who lives in
Nagorno Karabakh, the Internet is an exciting venue for meeting
people of his own age from any nation but one, Azerbaijan, which
remains dead against any moves to have the enclave recognised as an
independent state.
“I have never seen a single Azeri in my life, but I consider them
enemies. If it hadn’t been for the war with them, my father would
not have died and our house would not have been destroyed,” said the
teenager from Nagorno Karabakh, a mostly ethnic Armenian enclave that
lies within Azerbaijan.
As the territory holds parliamentary polls Sunday, hoping to convince
the world it should be recognised as an independent country, Albert’s
resentment of Azerbaijan, which surrounds Nagorno Karabakh, is typical
of many young people here.
Nagorno Karabakh seceded from Azerbaijan upon the Soviet Union’s
1991 collapse, leading Armenia to fight Azerbaijan for control of
the territory in 1993 and 1994, with the loss of an estimated 25,000
lives and the displacement of millions of people, most of them Azeris.
Just over a year old when the fighting erupted, Albert remembers
nothing of the bombings and underground shelters where families
sought refuge.
But the loss of his father and the family home have led him to
passionately oppose any Azeri attempt to retake his homeland.
Continued border clashes and ideological sniping make laying past
grievances to rest all the harder.
“We live very well without Azerbaijan and to be honest I can never
understand those politicians who want to see us subject to Azeri rule
again,” said another young resident, Narek, a 17-year-old economics
student.
Propped up by Armenia — itself supported by a large Armenian community
in the West — Nagorno Karabakh has in recent years taken on more of
a stable appearance.
Whereas its young people used to have to travel to the Armenian capital
Yerevan for higher education, institutes have sprung up in Nagorno
Karabakh’s main city of Stepanakert, offering their own degrees.
The political landscape has also grown more diverse.
While young people alot a healthy amount of time to the main
entertainment of evening walks and bar-hopping, the weeks prior to
Sunday’s poll found many of them vigorously discussing the programmes
of the seven parties vying for parliamentary seats, and some joining
in the campaigning.
And among the territory’s young there are some who feel the only
way forward is to reach out to Nagorno Karabakh’s large, oil-rich
neighbour, Azerbaijan — especially as rumours persist that Baku may
try to take back the territory by force.
“I am afraid of war and don’t want it to happen again,” said Sveta,
a 27-year-old lawyer, explaining that she had many Azeri friends she
chatted to over the Internet.
“We need to communicate, to know each other better, to learn to trust
each other,” Sveta said.
For others the important thing is that the vote should be fair, so
that Nagorno Karabakh can win the international community’s respect
and eventually recognition of its independence.
“We want peace and to enjoy our youth in an economically developed
and democratic country,” one teenager said.

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:
DR. NORA BAIRAKDARIAN IS APPOINTED THE NEW CHAIRWOMAN
OF THE ECUMENICAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE OF THE CATHOLICOSATE OF CILICIA
The Ecumenical Relations committee of the Catholicosate of Cilicia
held a meeting in the Catholicosate on June 16. His Holiness Aram I
presided over the meeting.
Ecumenical Relations officer Bishop Nareg Alemezian talked about the
ecumenical conferences and meetings in which the Catholicosate of
Cilicia participated during the last few months. He focused on events
and aspects important to the Armenian Church and the Catholicosate.
His Holiness then identified the significant aspects of the present
ecumenical landscape by spelling out the specific role of the Armenian
Catholicosate of Cilicia. Aram I praised the seriousness and the
commitment of the delegates who represented the Armenian Church in
various ecumenical activities.
His Holiness announced that he has appointed Archbishop Sebouh
Sarkisian (Primate of the Diocese of Tehran) and Mrs. Teny
Pirry-Simonian, the executive secretary of the Relations Department
of the World Council of Churches, as two new members of the committee.
Aram I said prayers for the soul of the recently deceased chairwoman
of the committee, Ms. Manoushag Boyadjian. Then the Committee members
unanimously welcomed the nomination of Committee member Dr. Nora
Bairakdarian-Kabakian by His Holiness Aram I as the new chairwoman
of the committee.
Dr. Bairakdarian is a professor of international law and political
science in the Lebanese University. In the last few years she has been
very active in ecumenical relations, representing the Catholicosate
of Cilicia in various international meetings.
##
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