Author: Emil Lazarian

AZG Armenian Daily #085, 12/05/2005
Diaspora
ARMENIAN ‘STAR’ IN WOMEN’S BOXING IN GERMANY
The professional boxing match between Suzy Kentikian and Lucy Khornikova in
Hamburg ended on the 37th second. A mighty punch of the Armenian boxer
knocked Khornikova out bringing her the 3d victory on professional ring.
Most of the spectators were displeased with such a swift final. But not
Suzy’s fans. Boxers of Hamburg’s “Agon” boxing club arrived with posters
reading “Suzy – Golden Girl”. The 17-year-old Armenian boxer of only 1.55 cm
of height is called “a million dollar kid” in Hamburg.
Together with her family Suzy left Armenia for Hamburg in 1996. They lived
in a deportees’ camp for a few years. Despite persistent threats of being
deported from Germany, they are still there.
Suzy entered a boxing school with her brother 5 years ago. A series of
victories won her the title of master and she took up professional boxing.
Today, Suzy’s family has no problems with German authorities. Executive
director of the boxing club, Peter Hanbats, thinks that Suzy is the most
perspective boxer among Germany’s women boxers.

Frankfurter Rundschau
11. Mai 2005
Zauberin der Tasten ;
Astchik Beglaryan spielt seit zwölf Jahren Klavier und bereitet sich
derzeit auf die Endrunde des Bundeswettbewerbs “Jugend musiziert” in
Erlangen vor
Von BJÖRN HADEM
Hausen · 10. Mai · Vor zwölf Jahren bekam Astchik Beglaryan ein
Keyboard geschenkt. Jetzt, als 13-Jährige, bereitet sich die
Pianistin auf die Endrunde des Bundeswettbewerbs “Jugend musiziert”
am 15. Mai in Erlangen vor.
“Ich höre genauso Hip Hop-Musik wie alle Anderen”, sagt Astchik. Sie
liebt Tischtennis und Badminton; Sport gehört in der Schule zu ihren
Lieblingsfächern. Eigentlich ist die Gymnasiastin der Bettinaschule
eine ganz “normale” Jugendliche – wäre da nicht ihr ungebrochener
Ehrgeiz am Klavier. Mindestens drei Stunden täglich wandern Astchiks
Finger über die Klaviatur. Dann taucht sie ab in eine andere Welt:
“Wenn ich anfange zu spielen, vergesse ich Raum und Zeit”, sagt sie.
Sie hat gelernt, sich nicht von Unterhaltungen und laufendem
Fernseher stören zu lassen – praktisch für den “Ernstfall” auf Bühnen
und bei Klavierwettbewerben. “Wenn ich spiele, ist er aufgeregter als
ich”, sagt die Achtklässlerin lächelnd und zeigt auf ihren Vater
Mher. Dessen Vater war zwar ein erfolgreicher Komponist und
Hauptdirigent des Rundfunkorchesters für Volksinstrumente in Eriwan,
der Hauptstadt Armeniens, dennoch empfindet Mher das Spiel der
Tochter als “Zauberei”. “Die Hauptsache ist”, glaubt er, “dass
Astchik sich als Persönlichkeit entwickelt.” Tatsächlich wirkt die
junge Musikerin nicht vom Erfolgsgedanken ihrer Eltern oder ihres
Klavierlehrers getrieben.
Aber Vladimir Khachatryan, der sie seit ihrem vierten Lebensjahr
unterrichtet, ist von ihrer “sehr tollen Begabung” überzeugt. Er
könne sie lediglich noch korrigieren, meint der Klavierpädagoge der
Frankfurter Musikschule, der zweimal wöchentlich mit Astchik
arbeitet. In der sachlichen Werkstattatmosphäre des Unterrichts geht
es mal um die Feindosierung ihres Pedalgebrauchs, mal um das
Herausarbeiten musikalischer Akzente.
“Man spielt nicht nur eine Note”, erklärt Astchik; “man muss es
wirklich mit Gefühl machen.” Kein Wunder, dass sie Liszts virtuoses
“La Campanella”, ein Stück aus ihrem aktuellen Programm, als “einfach
ein Teil von mir” empfindet. Selbstverständlich schwelgt sie in der
Musik, ganz ohne aufgesetzten Ernst und künstliches Erwachsensein.
“Ich überfordere mich nicht”, glaubt sie selbst. “Es könnte ja auch
sein, dass ich noch andere Interessen bekomme.”
Aktuell liegt ihr aber eindeutig daran, bei “Jugend musiziert” ihr
Bestes zu geben. Die Begegnung mit anderen Talenten ihres Alters
scheut sie nicht: “Ich lerne was von den Besseren”, sagt sie. Und
sollte sie am 15. Mai in Erlangen – anders als im vorangegangenen
Landeswettbewerb – nicht den ersten Platz unter den Besten
Deutschlands erreichen, will sie optimistisch bleiben: “Dann gewinne
ich halt beim nächsten Mal.”

AZG Armenian Daily #084, 11/05/2005
Home
MORE FREE CLASSES AT MUSIC SCHOOLS
The Yerevan Municipality will allocate 10-11 percent more money for the
capitals’ music schools this year. But the music schools of Yerevan are at a
loss, as most of the parents prefer piano to all other instruments for their
children and there are less and less students at the sections of folk
instruments and those of strings and brass.
The Municipality is going to create more free classes at those sections to
attract students.
By Karine Danielian

Pan Armenian News
KOCHARIAN AND ERDOGAN SHOOK HANDS IN MOSCOW, BUT DID NOT TALK
10.05.2005 08:24
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed
dissatisfaction to the Presidents of Russia and Poland Vladimir Putin and
Alexander Kwasniewski over the stand of the Parliaments of those countries
over the issue of the Armenian Genocide. This was done in Moscow, where
Erdogan took part in celebrities over the 60th anniversary of the Great
Victory. The Turkish Premier and the Armenian President `shook hand in
Moscow, however they did not talk.’ As it is known earlier Turkish
diplomatic sources did not rule out a Kocharian-Erdogan meeting either in
Moscow on 9 May or in Warsaw within the Council of Europe summit May 15-16.
However, as stated by Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, there was
no specific arrangement on the meeting of the Armenian and Turkish leaders,
reported Regnum news agency.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Voice for Europe campaign launched in Prague
10.05.2005 15:39
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – An international Voice for Europe campaign against
Turkey’s admission to the European Union was officially launched on
May 9 in Prague, along with Warsaw, Budapest, Vienna, Bratislava and
Berlin.
The aim of the Voice for Europe initiative, which shall be running
through the beginning of September 2005, is to collect at least 1
million of signatures of European citizens who want to make the
decision-makers of the European Union hear their opinion.
In the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Austria, Germany and Slovakia,
it will be possible to sign a petition to block the opening of the
accession talks with Turkey, planned for October 3, 2005.
“The organizers firmly believe that Turkeys accession to the European
Union will not contribute to the European integration on the contrary,
it would weaken and complicate the entire process, to an extent which
will not be advantageous either for the member states of the European
Union or for Turkey itself,” a message posted on the campaign’s
website says. We support the idea of a favored partnership and we
caution our politicians against offering full membership to Turkey,
said David Gresak for Czech organizers.
The campaign in the Czech Republic is provided with organizational
backup by the Association for European Values and all participants
work for free as volunteers.
Details are available on the website
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
May 10 2005
U.S./East: Encouraging The Oppositions
By Robert Coalson

The U.S. and Georgian presidents greet the crowd at Tbilisi’s Freedom
Square on 10 May

10 May 2005 (RFE/RL) — U.S. President George W. Bush’s swing through
the former Soviet states of Latvia, Russia, and Georgia was filled
with lofty rhetoric on the universal human striving for freedom, as
well as with praise for the so-called colored revolutions that have
swept through the region.
“Your most important contribution is your example,” Bush told a crowd
of tens of thousands in Tbilisi’s Freedom Square on 10 May. “In
recent months, the world has marveled at the hopeful changes taking
place from Baghdad to Beirut to Bishkek. But before there was a
Purple Revolution in Iraq, or an Orange Revolution in Ukraine, or a
Cedar Revolution in Lebanon, there was the Rose Revolution in
Georgia.”
In an interview with Georgia’s Rustavi-2 television on 8 May, Bush
said: “I want to go to your country and thank the Georgian people for
other nations to follow.” He added that the wave of revolutions in
the post-Soviet space “was not planned by anybody or any nation. It
was just an inevitable force of human nature because everybody wants
to be free.”
Dangerous Business?
However, encouraging opposition movements in the former Soviet Union
is a potentially dangerous business. In recent weeks, Bush, Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice, and other administration officials have
spoken openly of their desire to see Belarus follow Georgia’s
“example.” In a 4 May commentary in “The Washington Times,” a
conservative newspaper, Jeffrey Kuhner, communications director of
the Ripon Society, a Republican policy institute, wrote: “With strong
American support, [the Belarusian opposition] may well unleash a
‘White Revolution’ similar to the Rose and Orange revolutions in
Georgia and Ukraine.” Kuhner lauded the Bush administration’s policy
of “helping to bolster the country’s growing opposition movement.””I
want to go to your country and thank the Georgian people for other
nations to follow.”
Belarusian opposition figure Anatol Lyabedzka flew to Georgia in the
days before Bush’s visit for high-level meetings with Georgian
officials, including parliamentarians and Prime Minister Zurab
Noghaideli. “This is a very high level,” Lyabedzka told
obozrevatel.com. “It indicates that Belarus is not a matter of
indifference for Georgia. It is very important. People who think
alike always understand one another.” Lyabedzka also hinted that he
would be seeking a meeting with Bush himself.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili told the crowd in Freedom
Square on 10 May that the Georgian government is committed to helping
the United States spread democracy worldwide, including in Belarus.
But the U.S. administration’s rhetoric is being heard beyond the
confines of Belarus. Oppositionists within Russia are also listening.
A group of Chechens living in Georgia demonstrated in Tbilisi on 10
May, calling on the United States to support Chechen independence,
Caucasus Press reported. “We hope that George Bush will use his
influence with Russia and will promote a political solution of the
Chechen people’s problems,” a demonstrator told the news agency.
Likewise, opposition figures in Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan
have taken inspiration from the so-called colored revolutions, even
taking to wearing orange clothing in emulation of the successful
Ukrainian opposition. According to RFE/RL, an opposition group called
the Tatar Public Center from another ethnic republic in Russia,
Tatarstan, hoped to send protestors to Bush’s speech in Tbilisi,
although it eventually changed its plans.
PanArmenian.net reported on 6 May that an unnamed Bush administration
source had cautioned oppositionists in Armenia and Azerbaijan —
where governments have carried out elections at least as compromised
as those that sparked the revolutions in Georgia, Ukraine, and
Kyrgyzstan — not to interpret Bush’s support for Georgia as a call
for revolution in those countries. “We welcome reforms in both power
structures and beyond them,” the source was quoted as saying.
“Opposition forces should be engaged in peaceful democratic processes
in Armenia and Azerbaijan.” RFE/RL reported that Azerbaijani
oppositionists were prevented by Georgian police from unfurling a
banner during Bush’s 10 May speech in Tbilisi.
On 3 May, about 100 opposition demonstrators rallied outside the U.S.
Embassy in the Uzbek capital Tashkent calling for Uzbek President
Islam Karimov’s ouster. According to “India Daily,” the goal of the
protest was to “attract U.S. State Department and international
attention.”
Reaction To Washington’s Words
At the same time, the U.S. statements have irked politicians in
Russia and China, as well as the entrenched regimes in countries like
Belarus. Russian analysts in recent days have been speaking more
frequently about a “coordinated campaign” against Russia. Aleksei
Zudin, director of the Political Science Department of the Center for
Political Strategy, added that the recent comments “are undoubtedly
an integral part of the pressure on Russia that began with the
so-called colored revolutions,” politcom.ru reported on 6 May.
The Beijing magazine “Shijie Zhishi” in April published an analysis
entitled “The Background Behind The Color ‘Revolutions’ In The CIS”
that described purported U.S.-led efforts to “fill the political
vacuum in this region.” The magazine charges that over the last
decade, the United States has spent “more than $21 billion” through
the Freedom Support Act to “exert influence on the political- and
economic-development process in these states.” The West “is
continually exerting political pressure and creating a ‘relaxed’
political environment for opposition political forces in these
states,” the article charges.
With opposition groups encouraged by the successes of
anti-establishment revolutions in Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan
and closely following statements from Washington that seem to be
urging them to follow these examples, the danger of crackdowns —
especially in countries like Belarus and Uzbekistan — has also been
heightened. The United States could find itself in a position similar
to the one that followed the first Gulf War in 1991, when Kurdish
oppositionists felt encouraged to rise up against Iraqi dictator
Saddam Hussein only to have their uprising savagely put down without
substantial assistance from the West.

Visitors to Turkey risk jail
The Guardian – United Kingdom
May 09, 2005

Visitors to Turkey risk jail for describing the 1915 mass expulsion of
Ottoman Armenians as “genocide” after a law governing acts “against
fundamental national interests” was extended to foreigners. Nicholas
Birch, Istanbul
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

It is Turkey’s turn to recognize
Yerkir/arm
May 06, 2005

Recently, Poland’s parliament — the Sejm — recognized the 1915
Armenian Genocide, adding to the list of the European Union countries
to recognize the Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire: Poland
followed those Cyprus, Greece, France, Belgium, the Netherlands,
Sweden, Italy and Slovakia.
Presently, the Hungarian and German parliaments are discussing the
issue of the Armenian Genocide, and in case, the White House calls the
Armenian killings genocide, the Turkish policy of denial would
register its final failure.
However, instead of getting on the path of reviewing its history,
Ankara organizes parliamentary hearings, and the state-controlled
television station TRT1 devotes its prime time to the distortion and
denial of the Armenian Genocide.
The crime of genocide has been accompanying the humankind throughout
its entire history: ancient and medieval conquerors would boast
massive massacres and victims in the territories they conquered.
The Ottoman Empire was not an exception, which, according to Turkish
scholar Ismail Metin, for centuries maintained its authority “by
threatening nations and carrying out extensive killings.” In the late
19th century and the early 20th century, along with the development of
the international humanitarian law, states began to attempt to hide
the crimes against humanity they were committing.
The development of the international humanitarian law, establishment
of the principles of the human rights and freedoms put the states in
the position of losing sovereignty before their own citizens,
according to the late medieval founder of the international
humanitarian law Hugo Grocius. In this context, the international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide, including the recognition by
Turkey itself, is just a matter of time. Today, Turkey has found
itself in a difficult situation in terms of foreign policy.
The claims of the analytical centers serving that country’s foreign
ministry that the Turkish government has succeeded in establishing a
“peaceful co-existence” zone with the neighboring countries except for
Armenia have actually evaporated. The policy of buying time through
establishment of various commissions is merely symptoms of
nervousness.

DIE WELT
6. Mai 2005
Erdogan kommt Schröder keinen Millimeter entgegen;
Kanzler vermeidet offene Kritik an türkischen Reformdefiziten und
hofft auf einen “Mentalitätswandel”
Von Nikolaus Blome
Ankara/Istanbul – Als der Rektorder Istanbuler Marmara-Universität
den frischgekürten EhrendoktorGerhard Schröder für seine Jahre als
“Ministerpräsident vonNordrhein-Westfalen” lobt und für seine
Bedeutung als “internationalherausragender Rechtsgelehrter”, da
grinsen nur die Deutschen im Saal.Der Bundeskanzler ist beides nie
gewesen, beim besten Willen nicht.”Typisch türkisch” konnte man
denken: In großer Herzlichkeit, sorührend wie unbeholfen, wird da
Deutschland und einem Kanzler gedankt,der den Türken das Tor zur
Europäischen Union weiter aufgestoßen hatals irgend jemand vor ihm in
über 40 Jahren.
Wenn da nicht, kaum sechs Stunden zuvor, die Pressekonferenz
desKanzlers mit Ministerpräsident Tayyip Erdogan gewesen wäre: Der
Türkekam dem Deutschen politisch keinen Millimeter bei den heiklen
Punktenentgegen; viele Fragen der türkischen Journalisten strotzten
vorNationalismus, und der Kanzler schließlich reduzierte die Massaker
anArmeniern vor 90 Jahren auf das Wort von “Vorgängen, die
seinerzeitstattgefunden haben”. Doch nicht einmal dafür bedankte sich
ein eisigerErdogan mit einem Lächeln. Typisch türkisch?
Es war ein schwieriges Terrain, auf das sich Gerhard Schröder
amMittwoch für einen Tag lang begab; zu gewinnen gab es nicht viel,
zuverlieren schon. In der Europäischen Union wächst die Skepsis
ganzallgemein, besonders aber gegen einen Beitritt der Türkei, die ab
dem3. Oktober mit Brüssel offiziell verhandeln soll. Auch durch die
Türkeigeht eine Welle von Abneigung gegen die Auflagen und Vorgaben
der EU,dazu kommen Ausbrüche von Nationalismus und Polizeibrutalität
alterSchule.
Doch der Kanzler blieb bei dem Motto: Krise, welche Krise? “Ich
binnicht zur Kontrolle hier”, sagte er an die Adresse Erdogans,
“sondernals Freund.” Wegen ein paar schlechter Umfragen dürfe eine
Entscheidungvon derart historischer und geostrategischer Bedeutung
nicht in Fragegestellt werden, so der Kanzler. Natürlich werde es
Probleme geben,”sogar Rückschläge”, auf dem Weg der Türkei nach
Europa. Das neueDenken, die Reformen Erdogans müßten erst das ganze
Land durchtränken.Man werde also viel Geduld brauchen, sagte
Schröder, der viel von einem”Mentalitätswandel” sprach – für den es
im türkischen Wortschatzallerdings eine gebräuchliche Übersetzung
nicht gibt.
Und so übte der Kanzler Geduld und nahm Rücksicht: am wenigsten
nochauf die Hartleibigkeit Ankaras, den orthodoxen Christen wieder
einautonom geführtes Priesterseminar zu gestatten. Schröder
besuchtedemonstrativ deren Oberhaupt, Bartholomaios I., und sprach
“die volleFreiheit der Religionsausübung” mehrfach an. Weniger
deutlich blieb derKanzler in Sachen Armenien. Er erklärte zwar, daß
jede Nation gut darantue, sich der eigenen Vergangenheit mitsamt
ihren dunklen Punkten zustellen. Doch wurde aus dem “schrecklichen
Schicksal HunderttausenderArmenier” im vorab verteilten Redetext dann
in der tatsächlichvorgetragenen Rede an der Marmara-Universität “das
schrecklicheSchicksal vieler Menschen aus Armenien”. Kleinigkeiten
sind das nur,aber es war nun einmal ein vorab derart aufgeladener
Besuch, daßKleinigkeiten zählten.
Letztlich ja auch für den Kanzler: Der türkische Ministerpräsidenthat
in den Gesprächen eingewilligt, daß eine international
besetzteHistorikerkommission das Schicksal von über einer Million
Armeniern neuuntersuchen soll – was die Armenier nun ungefähr so
berührt, wie esPolen berühren würde, wenn eine deutsche Regierung
vorschlüge, nocheinmal der Frage nachzugehen, wie eigentlich genau
der Zweite Weltkriegbegann. Trotzdem forderte Gerhard Schröder die
armenische Regierung zurZustimmung auf und lobte seinen türkischen
Amtskollegen mehrfach.Erdogan steht innenpolitisch erheblich unter
Druck, und Schröder wollteihn erkennbar stärken. Wenn der
Ministerpräsident nämlich die Reformenweitertreiben will, wie der
Kanzler sicher glaubt, dann sieht er sichwachsendem Widerstand im
eigenen Land gegenüber.
Das hängt nicht zuletzt an der Saumseligkeit der EU auf
Zypern.Während Ankara hier tatsächlich alle Vorleistungen wohl
erbracht hat,werden der türkischen Nordhälfte der Insel die
zugesagten 259 MillionenEuro EU-Wirtschaftshilfe weiterhin versagt;
blockiert in Brüssel vonden Griechen und der griechischen Südhälfte,
die ganz Zypern alsEU-Mitglied vertritt. “Typisch griechisch”, raunte
dazu ein Berater desKanzlers. Der Weg der Türken dürfte holperig
bleiben, selbst mitGerhard Schröder an ihrer Seite.
Gerhard Schröder wurde in der Marmara-Universität in Istanbul
dieEhrendoktorwürde verliehen
–Boundary_(ID_nByOGjPs48ePJsbJL7LZgQ)–

Opening Of Armenia – Turkey Border Crossing
Turkish Press
May 7 2005
ANKARA (AA) – Prof. Dr. Nizami Caferov, the chairman of Ataturk Center
in Azerbaijan, said that the only issue in which Armenia was interested
actually is the opening of border pass between Turkey and Armenia,
adding that Azerbaijan opposed to the opening of the border gate.
An international symposium was held in Ankara to discuss “allegations
on the so-called Armenian genocide and the Realities of Azerbaijan”.
Delivering a speech at the symposium, Caferov noted that if the border
gate between Turkey and Armenia was opened, Armenia would not expend
any efforts to solve the Upper Karabakh problem.
Caferov indicated, “Azerbaijan should solve this problem on its
own. However, if Turkey opens the border gate, it cannot.”