Author: Emil Lazarian

Baltic News Service
April 8, 2005
ARMENIA HAS MADE GREAT PROGRESS IN ECONOMIC, DEMOCRATIC REFORMS —
LITHUANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER
VILNIUS
Armenia has made considerable progress in the fields of economy and
democracy and is becoming more and more resolute in declaring its
interest in closer cooperation with the European Union and NATO,
Lithuania’s Defense Minister Gediminas Kirkilas, who visited Armenia
on an official visit this week, has told BNS.
“During meetings with Armenian officials, I saw that they understood
that the Mountain Karabakh problem could hardly be solved without the
participation of the EU and NATO. There is increasing apprehension
that the conflict is hindering Armenia’s international integration,”
Kirkilas said.
There is an ongoing military conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia
over Mountain Karabakh, large Azerbaijan region dominated by ethnic
Armenians. The 1988-1994 war over the disputed territory claimed the
lives of over 35,000 people. There is only a fragile truce between
Armenia and Azerbaijan at the front line in Mountain Karabakh, still
occupied by Armenia.
In Kirkilas’ words, Armenia, just like Lithuania that was creating
its army several years ago, “understands that there is a lack of
knowledge” and therefore is first of all interested in “investing in
people” — training servicemen, reorganizing army management and
planning, properly organizing military education, gaining experience
in international missions.
“I congratulated Armenia which has sent its troops to the mission in
Iraq now that the situation there remains tense and some allies are
withdrawing their forces,” Kirkilas said. Armenia has sent several
dozen drivers, medics and staff officers to the peace operation in
Iraq and is planning to expand its participation in the mission.
In Kirkilas’ words, Yerevan maintains good relations with Russia,
Iran and Georgia.
“A Russian contingent of 5,000 troops has been deployed in Armenia,
which Armenia considers to be one of ‘deterrent factors’,” Kirkilas
said.
During the visit to Yerevan, Kirkilas met with Armenian Prime
Minister Andranik Margaryan, Defense Minister Serzh Sargsyan, Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanyan, parliament officials and the Catholicos of
all Armenians Karekin II.
Kirkilas and Sargsyan signed an agreement on further studies of
Armenian officials at a captain course at the Lithuanian Military
Academy. Since 2003, 4 Armenian officers have attended the captain
course at the LMA. Another 4 Armenian officers are scheduled to
attend the course in Vilnius this year.
For several years, Lithuania’s Defense Ministry has been implementing
an initiative aimed at sharing the Baltic states’ experience in the
military field — armed forces modernization, legal base development
— with South Caucasus countries.
In addition to the LMA captain course, Lithuania pays for the studies
of an Armenian officer at the Baltic Defense College in Tartu,
Estonia.
Armenia has been involved in the Partnership for Peace program since
1994.
Vilnius newsroom, +370 5 2681508, [email protected]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azad-Hye, Dubai
April 8 2005
Syrian Armenians: Sheikhs of Syrian Arab tribes visit Armenia

AZAD-HYE (Dubai, 8 April 2005): Three years ago in 24/4/2002, the
Armenians of Aleppo and Northern Syria publicly honoured the heads of
Arab tribes of the Syrian Al Jazeera Region (located between the
Euphrates river and the Syrian-Iraqi border, in North-Eastern Syria),
whose forefathers have rescued many Armenians during the Genocide of
1915.
The celebration took place in the cultural center of the city of Deir
Ez-Zor, known to the Armenians as the final post (a sort of Armenian
Auschwitz) in the annihilation campaign orchestrated by the Ottoman
Turks.
The descendants of the Arab tribes were bestowed with letters of
gratitude and symbolic gifts commemorating their heroic efforts
during the WWI difficult times, when they defied government orders
and sheltered the surviving Armenians.
The Mufti of Der Ezzor expressed his sorrow on the events of 1915
that plagued the city and the surroundings. Some places in the Syrian
Al Jazeera Region carry names stemmed from the atrocities that the
Armenians faced (see below).
See text about this ceremony in Arabic language.
On 29th March 2005, almost three years after the honorary ceremony in
Syria, the same heads of the Syrian Arab tribes were visiting
Armenia, to take part in the official ceremonies dedicated to the
Genocide anniversary.
Qatari English daily “The Peninsula” reported in its 3rd April 2005
issue that Mohammad Al Razzaka (61), one of the tribal leaders said
in an interview: “Armenians who grew up with us under our roof told
us about the genocide. We came to Armenia in order to honor the
memory of thousands of innocent people”. [Click Read More]
Al Razzaka laid flowers at the Genocide memorial in Yerevan. “Our
fathers and grandfathers not only helped the Armenians survive but
also taught them to farm since most of the refugees were craftsmen.
We are proud that we helped thousands of innocent people survive and
live through this tragedy”, he added.
Nawaf Ragheb Al Bashir, from the Al Bagara tribe, said: `My
grandfather used to tell me how in those far away years, thousands of
Armenians crossed the desert without food and water. There were so
many killed and injured that one village was called Margateh, which
means a collection of corpses, and another was called Shatateh which
means genocide’ he added, expressing hope that the Armenian people
who has a long history and is gifted with creative abilities will
reconstruct his homeland in a short period of time and achieve
well-being and prosperity.
The visit of the Syrian Arab tribesmen was one of a series of
seminars, visits and ceremonies that authorities in Armenia planned
to mark the 90th anniversary of the start of the killings, leading up
to the official genocide remembrance day on April 24.
The tribe leaders met with the Prime Minister, the Ministers of
Foreign Affairs, Defence, Agriculture, Health, Labor and Social
Security, with representatives of the National Assembly factions, as
well as with students of the Oriental Science Department of Yerevan
State University.
Before their return to Syria on 3rd April 2005 they met also with the
Syrian students currently studying in Yerevan, visited the town of
Abovian, where a large number of Armenian repatriates from Syria
live. They also visited the Matenadaran (the library of manuscripts
and ancient books) and Holy Echmiadzin where they were received by
the Catholicos of All Armenians.
Jirair Reisian, head of the delegation of the Armenian Church of
Aleppo and environs said to Noyan Tapan News Agency that the purpose
of this visit organized at the initiative of the Armenian community
of Aleppo is to pay homage once again to the leaders of the tribes
that provided shelter to the Armenians who had survived the genocide
and reached the Syrian land, and to give them an opportunity to
become acquainted with Armenia and the Armenian people.
Head of the “Bagara Al Jabal” tribe Sheikh Abdul Suahab Isa Suleiman
noted that the Armenian community of Syria plays a prominent role in
the country’s social, economic and political life, with the Armenian
deputies always being included in the Syrian parliament.
Head of Al Harb tribe Sheikh Hasan Oubeid Al Khalil called on all the
states and international organizations to reconsider their approach
to the Armenian genocide and to meet the just demands of the Armenian
people.
In their 1st April 2005 press conference, the leaders of the Syrian
tribes said that “All the Arabs know about the Genocide and they have
done many services to the Armenian nation”. Asked why Syria has not
yet officially recognized the Genocide, they said that in that issue
Syria is like Armenia: “There has been no need to recognize an issue
which is testified to by every stone of the country”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian leader rules out revolution in his country
Mediamax news agency
11 Apr 05
YEREVAN
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan urged the opposition not to be
“preoccupied” with their failure to stage a revolution like in
Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan in reply to questions of the students
of Yerevan State University’s Economic Department today.
“They have failed to do so not because they did not do enough for
this, but because our country is better and the authorities are
working more effectively,” Kocharyan said. He added that “one should
seriously analyse the events in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan since,
despite obvious similarities, they were different in terms of their
nature and also the cultural environments where they happened”.
“All these revolutions took place when these countries had elections
and the weakness of the authorities was obvious,” the Armenian
president said. “For instance, in Georgia, people could not get their
pensions for years. They received electricity only three hours a
day. Kyrgyzstan was in the same economic situation. The state budget
of this country in 2004 was smaller than in 2003. Generations changed
in all three countries – younger and more dynamic leaders replaced old
Soviet leaders. The same kind of change of generations happened twice
in Armenia, in 1991 and 1998.”
Kocharyan also said that those who came to power in Georgia, Ukraine
and Kyrgyzstan had occupied senior government positions several years
before. He said the reason the people who are currently in top
positions in Tbilisi, Kiev and Bishkek had resigned and opposed their
governments was that they aspired to more intensive reforms, which led
to conflicts within the governments.
The Armenian president said an analysis of the aforementioned factors
clearly shows that the situation that led to revolutions in Georgia,
Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan “has nothing in common with what we have in
Armenia today”.

Pan Armenian News
US CONGRESSMEN MARK FOLEY URGED TURKEY TO FACE ITS OTTOMAN PAST
11.04.2005 03:12
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian Assembly commended Congressional Caucus on
Armenian Issues Member Rep.
Mark Foley today for urging Turkish officials who are calling for an
investigation into the
Armenian Genocide to instead use the opportunity to come to terms with their
Ottoman legacy, the AAA reported. Foley, in a statement issued before
Congress, said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s calls for a
`political settling of accounts with history’ appeared to be a delaying
tactic meant to escape the judgment of history. `That accounting has already
been done,’ Foley said. He added that experts in Holocaust and Genocide
studies, as well as foremost authorities on WWI, have attested that the
crime of genocide was committed by Ottoman Turkey. Foley also added that if
Turkey is prepared to acknowledge the truth, its leaders should immediately
engage in direct dialogue with their Armenian counterparts. If Turkey is
still unwilling to take this essential step with Armenia, it could take a
number of intermediate actions to demonstrate its shared values with
countries of the European Union. The EU agreed last December to open
membership talks with Turkey. Foley called upon the government of Turkey to
consider the following preparatory steps: decriminalize speech on this
subject within Turkey, destroy all monuments, museums and public references
to the specious notion that the Armenian minority committed genocide against
the majority Turks, end denial within Turkey, specifically within textbooks
& reference books, officially condemn attacks against any Turk that
acknowledges the facts of history, end the global campaign of threats
against any nation that is in the process of affirming the Armenian
Genocide.

GEORGIAN MP REFUTES INFORMATION OF GEORGIAN NEWSPAPER
Arminfo
AKHALKALAKI, APRIL 8. ARMINFO. Gergian MP Van Bayburyan has refuted
information published in a Georgian newspaper “Alia.”
According to the publication in the above newspaper, in the course
of April 5-6 negotiations between Armenian and Georgian presidents,
the issue of the Armenian President’s contribution to dispersal of
demonstration sentiments in Akhalkalaki and easing the situation
in Samtskhe-Javakhetia was discussed. The newspaper says that in
return Robert Kocharyan allegedly asked Mikheil Sahakashvili to
activate Abkhazian railway branch in direction Sochi-Yerevan as soon
as possible.
A-INFO reports today that Van Bayburyan participating in the meeting
of Armenian and Georgian presidents says in connection with the
publication in the above newspaper that it does not correspond to
reality. He does not rule out that activation of the railway section
was discussed by the presidents tete-a-tete. However, he categorically
refutes the information of the Georgian newspaper. “No bargaining
was and could be between the two presidents as ‘Alia’ writes,”
Bayburyan says.

Mullah-run Majlis Speaker Attends Pope’s Memorial Service in Tehran
tml
Apr 9, 2005, 17:32
Iran’s mullah-run majlis speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel known as
“Gholam Shire’i” in majlis, attended a memorial service held for
late Pope John Paul II here on Friday at Tehran’s St. Joseph Church,
IRNA reported.
In the ceremony, held by Tehran’s Assyrian Catholics, religious
authorities of the Iranian Armenian, Assyrians, Jews, Armenian deputies
in Majlis, military attache of Italy’s Embassy in Tehran and Tehrani
Catholic citizens paid tribute to the late pontiff.
In a brief interview with the reporters, Gholam Shire’i said that
the world today needs peace and justice more than anything else,
notifying that the real basis for peace and justice is believing in
God and the Resurrection Day.
He also said that that basis is common among followers of all
monotheist religions and that consolidations among followers of
various true religions would lead to prevalence of peace, justice
and freedom throughout the world.
Concerning the character of the late Pope John Paul II, the world
Catholics’ leader, Haddad Adel reminded “We respect his grave efforts
aimed at promotion of peace and justice in the world.”
Gholam Shire’i stressed that all religious minorities in he country
are fully respected and speaker that the minorities have been living
peacefully with their Muslim fellow citizens for centuries in Iran.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Genocide Claims Offensive: Sezer
4/9/2005
Source: NTV
Claims that the Ottoman Empire had committed genocide against its
Armenian citizens were offensive and hurt the Turkish nation, the
country’s President said Thursday. Addressing a conference at the
Turkish War Academy in Istanbul, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said
scientific objectivity should be used when assessing historical events.
Research should be conducted into the allegations by making use of
documents that were objective and unbiased, the President said.
Turkish citizens of Armenian origin were and indispensable part of
Turkish society who have equal rights and responsibilities in the
modern Turkish Republic, said Sezer.

A1plus
| 15:44:20 | 08-04-2005 | Politics |
NOT YET TIME FOR CHANGE OF AUTHORITIES
“We consider the developments in Kyrgyzstan undesirable. We are against
bloodshed, but the authorities do everything to realize the Kyrgyz
variant in Armenia”, said Viktor Dallakyan, secretary of the Justice
bloc in the today’s press conference in the club “Azdak”. This was said
in answer to the questions what the opposition will do on the threshold
of the 1st anniversary of the events on the Baghramyan avenue.
As we have already informed, on April 12 or 13 the opposition will
not take any drastic measures. Only a forum will be organized in
which representatives of the political powers will take part. Asked
why this variant was chosen Rouzan Khachatryan, press secretary of
the Armenian Democratic Party explains: meetings with the society
prove that the people are decisive, and if we once again go out to
the streets the problem will be solved once and for all.
“We will choose the proper moment to realize change of authorities
as a result of the public movement”, says Viktor Dallakyan.

A1plus
| 17:31:42 | 08-04-2005 | Sports |
COMPETITION OF JOURNALISTS IN ODESSA
The Armenian football team of journalists will leave for Odessa to take
part in the Football International mini Competition. It will be devoted
to the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and will be held on April
10-13. Other National Teams of the CIS countries will take part in the
competition which was organized by the Odessa Sport Journalists Union.

A1plus
20:21:02 | 08-04-2005 | Politics |
RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR LEAVING ARMENIA
Today the Russian Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary
to Armenia Anatoly Dryukov rendered his last press conference as
ambassador.
By the existing criteria Dryukov has been ambassador for quite a
long time. Before leaving Armenia Anatoly Dryukov thanked all those
with whom he had worked for keeping the Armenian-Russian relationships
on a high level.
“The Russian Federation considers Armenia as an independent and
sovereign state which has its profits”, mentioned the ambassador.
By the way, the ambassador who has worked in Armenia for many years
foresaw that in the near future the starting of military actions
between Armenia and Azerbaijan is impossible.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress