Author: Emil Lazarian

NOBEL COMMITTEE SPLIT BECAUSE OF PAMUK
Turkish Press
Oct 10 2005
HURRIYET- It has been claimed that the Nobel committee was divided
into two because of Orhan Pamuk and couldn’t give the Nobel Literature
Prize.
The British Observer newspaper claimed that the committee which awards
the Nobel Prize for literature has delayed their decision for at
least a week amid reports of a split over honoring the controversial
Orhan Pamuk.
For the first time in at least 10 years, the literature prize was
announced neither in the run-up to, nor in the same week as the four
other main Nobel awards – medicine, physics, chemistry and peace. The
literature award is now due to be announced on Oct, 13, Thursday.
The newspaper claimed that as Pamuk has been a political figure
recently, the prize that can be given in literature to Pamuk could
be overshadowed by political debate.
GUL: PAMUK WILL WIN THE LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST HIM
ZAMAN – Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said that author Orhan
Pamuk will win the lawsuit which was filed against him due to his
statements regarding so-called Armenian genocide.
Gul said that earlier, similar lawsuits were opened in Turkey,
but courts decided that everybody has the right to express his/her
opinion. Gul noted that he did not have any doubt that the court’s
decision will be in favor of Pamuk.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

OSKANYAN IN AUSTRALIA
A1+
| 12:32:24 | 10-10-2005 | Official |
The delegation of the RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has been
in Australia since October 9.
On October 10 in Canberra Mr. Oskanyan met the Australian Minister of
Foreign Affairs and Commerce Alexander Dauner. During the conversation
the sides referred to the perspectives of the development of
the Armenian-Australian relations, and exchanged ideas about the
international situation and the recent developments in the region.
In the margins f the visit the RA Foreign Minister also had meetings
with the other representatives of the Australian Government, as well
as with the representatives of the Armenian community.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Caucaz.com, Georgia
Oct 10 2005
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Will America set up a military base in Azerbaijan?
Article published in 09/10/2005 Issue
By Célia CHAUFFOUR in Paris
Translated by Sophie LANCASTER and Simone KOSHIMIZU
The United States have denied any official military involvement in
Azerbaijan. Rumours continue to abound, however. Ariel Cohen, a
Russian and Eurasian specialist for American institute `The Heritage
Foundation’, responds to questions posed by the editorial team on
American military strategy in South Caucasus.
The press has recently been speculating over the possible opening of
a permanent American military base in Azerbaijan. The Ambassador for
the United States in Baku and the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham
Aliyev, have both firmly rejected this idea. But whilst the Pentagon
prepares to withdraw its troops from Uzbekistan on the request of the
Uzbek government, local and foreign observers have wondered about the
possibility of moving these American forces to the other side of the
Caspian Sea, to Azerbaijan. What is really going on?
This important question also raises others: what should be America’s
strategy in Eurasia? This is a issue which has been made more
delicate by recent events. Firstly, as the United States were
effectively `asked’ to leave Uzbekistan, but also because Washington
is at present paying particular attention to Iran and the EU3
(Germany, France and Great Britain), the European allies of Tehran.
Today, the priority for Washington is to determine if the US needs to
carry out an active policy in Eurasia or if, on the other hand, they
should limit their presence to the absolute minimum in order to focus
on the Middle East, in particular Iraq, before worrying about Central
Asia and Caucasus.
This debate is ongoing in Washington. Many experts have been
discussing the subject and have recommended different approaches.
However, for as long as this debate remains open and unresolved, I
think that the probability of establishing an American military base
in Azerbaijan is slim.
Do you think that America has an actual strategy for the South
Caucasus, similar to that put into place in Central Asia?
The overseas policy carried out in the South Caucasus primarily aims
to maintain relations and cohesion between Georgia and Azerbaijan.
Keeping this equilibrium is vital in order to guarantee the security
of energy supplies which pass through these territories. The main
issue here is oil.
But the links between Georgia and Azerbaijan are fairly open, free
from all foreign interference, and this is being maintained, at
present, without any American military bases. What’s more, when
Georgia negotiated with Russia for the removal of its troops, they
guaranteed Moscow that a permanent American base would not be set up
in Georgia. Also, if Washington does not set up any base in Georgia,
why would it establish one in Azerbaijan?
A permanent American infrastructure in Azerbaijan would only be
possible for two reasons. The first centres around any possible
serious risk to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline. The
second depends on Iran: if the United States sees the possibility for
an attack on Iran, they could do so from Azeri territory. But for the
time being, neither of these two events are applicable or really
probable.
At the end of July, the first Russian military convoy left Batumi.
The definite withdrawal of the 12th and 62nd Russian military bases
is planned only for the end of 2008. In August however, some members
of the Russian parliament started to reproach the agreement signed in
Moscow. The withdrawal process will probably not be affected. But
will the Kremlin be able to come to terms with the departure of their
troops from their `close neighbour’?
Russia has assured the United States that they will definitely
withdraw their military bases from Georgia. Moscow accepts to
withdraw their troops on condition that Georgia keeps a balanced and
moderate conduct towards Russia. However, the agreement on the
closing of these two Russian military bases does not change in the
least the policies imposed by the Kremlin in Abkhazia and South
Ossetia. The Kremlin does not intend to give up its influence on
these two secessionist territories. It granted Russian citizenship to
thousands of Abkhazians and South Ossetians and now claims that most
of these separatist populations are Russians.
This means a de facto annexation of these two separatist republics,
which would directly threaten the integrity of the Georgian
territory. But this situation is not linked to the withdrawal of the
military bases in Georgia. Be that as it may, the representatives in
Duma will never exercise any actual authority over the subject if
they strive to rail against the departure of the Russian troops in
Georgia.
The Kremlin and the Ministry of Defence, the two major political
actors with the power to make decisions, concluded that the closing
of the two military bases – which are independent one from each
other, difficult to defend and supply and too expensive to be
maintained – did not mean the end of Russian influence over Georgia,
a fortiori over Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Moscow also has the Georgian labour force in Russia to its advantage.
Therefore, if Moscow closes its frontiers and forbids the Georgians
to either work in Russia or to repatriate their income, that would
result in a serious setback to Tbilisi. This fact highly increases
the power that Moscow has to put pressure on Tbilisi.
You have mentioned what certain issues such as the stability and the
security of Georgia and Azerbaijan represent to the United States. Is
Armenia being relegated to the background of Washington’s strategic
plans concerning the South Caucasus?
Armenia is not located in the Caspian-Black Sea corridor. Besides
that, Yerevan is a member of the CSTO (the Collective Security Treaty
Organisation, created on 30 April 2003 during the Dushanbe summit and
which is largely dominated by Moscow) and they maintain historical
and privileged relations with Russia as well as with Iran. All these
factors put Armenia aside and out of the enclosed circle of America’s
favourite allies in the region.
In addition, Armenia is not only under the influence of South
Caucasian geo-political realities, but also under that of a very
powerful pro-Armenia lobby group in the US. Therefore, the relations
between Washington and Yerevan are more bilateral than integrated and
interdependent of American strategies in the region.
When it comes to this subject, the Nagorno-Karabakh project is of
major importance. American diplomats are optimistic and have been
working hard to put an end to the Yerevan-Baku conflict. This process
might end sooner or later and only then will it be possible to
integrate Armenia into the strategy concerning the region.
But so far among the American priorities, the main objective in
Washington has been to settle the process created under the aegis of
the Minsk group, and to develop bilateral relations with Yerevan in
order to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and support
non-governmental relations between Azeris and Armenians. Examples of
these efforts of popular democracy for the resolution of conflicts
can sometimes be observed in Georgia. From now on, they should work
on that direction to re-establish relations between Armenians and
Azeris.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMINFO News Agency
October 8, 2005
TURKEY’S INTOLERANCE AND HOSTILITY TO ARMENIA HINDER STABILITY AND
CONSTRUCTIVE DIALOGUE IN SOUTH CAUCASUS
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 8. ARMINFO. Turkey’s intolerance and hostility to
Armenia and denial of the Armenian Genocide hinder stability and
constructive dialogue in the South Caucasus, Vice Speaker of the
Armenian Parliament, ARFD member Vahan Hovhannissyan said during the
NATO Rose Roth seminar in Yerevan today.
On the other hand recognition of the genocide would give guarantees
of regional security. Meanwhile Turkey is trying to drive Armenia out
of the regional processes by initiating the construction of
Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline and Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi rail road and
by preventing the operation of Kars-Gyumri-Akhalkalaki rail road.
Concerning Turkey’s charges that Armenia violates the Kars Agreement
Hovhannissyan says that Turkey breaks the agreement itself by
blockading Armenia and refusing to establish diplomatic relations
with the country. As to the charge that Armenia has occupied 20% of
Azeri territory Hovhannissyan says that having occupied Northern
Cyprus itself Turkey has no right to talk about it.
Hovhannissyan says that Turkey’s admission into the EU may lead to
the opening of the border and the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide. The whole policy on united Europe is based on tolerance and
repentance – the notions alien to Turkey.

The Guardian/Observer, UK
Oct 9 2005
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Nobel split delays book prize
Alex Duval Smith in Stockholm
Sunday October 9, 2005
The Observer
The secretive group of intellectuals who award the Nobel Prize for
literature have delayed their decision for at least a week amid
reports of a split over honouring the controversial Turkish author,
Orhan Pamuk.
For the first time in at least 10 years, the literature prize was
announced neither in the run-up to, nor in the same week as the four
other main Nobel awards – medicine, physics, chemistry and peace.
Each marks the pinnacle of achievement in its field and is worth 10
million Swedish kronor (£730,000).
The suspected row over Pamuk – which is officially denied – comes
amid revelations about the secretive workings of the committee that,
since 1901, has chosen Nobel winners. The literature award is now due
to be announced on Thursday.
Pamuk’s latest novel, Snow, has been widely acclaimed for addressing
Turkey’s internal clash of cultures. His earlier work, My Name is
Red, established his literary prowess. But the author is
controversial for an assertion he made in a newspaper interview
earlier this year that the Turkish state was guilty of a 20th century
genocide against Armenians and Kurds. He faces trial for the comments
in his country on 16 December.
Observers of the Nobel process say that, given that the European
Union has decided to engage talks on Turkey’s entry without
condemning the Pamuk trial, some members of the Swedish Academy,
which chooses the literature laureate, feel politically exposed.
‘If the Pamuk row is real, the academy’s reluctance is not based on a
fear of being political, or controversial,’ said Svante Weyler of
Nordstedts publishers, ‘but on concern that literature must not be
overshadowed by politics.’
Others believe a split in the academy over Pamuk could be based on a
long-entrenched principle of avoiding fashions and fads. Pamuk is
widely acclaimed but, at the age of 53, is considered on the young
side. ‘The Nobel Prize must never go to the book of the season. It
exists to reward a life’s work,’ said poet and literary critic Eva
Ström.
The suspected row over Pamuk bears the hallmarks of the ‘Rushdie
affair’ – a conflict whose impact can still be felt in the Swedish
Academy today.
In February 1989, author and academy member Kerstin Ekman called on
her fellow elders to issue a statement condemning the fatwa against
Salman Rushdie. They refused, prompting Ekman and author Lars
Gyllensten to resign from the Nobel selection process.
The remaining 16 academy members are understood at this stage to have
reduced their choice to two candidates. The winner will be chosen by
majority vote.
Some observers have suggested the delay in announcing the 2005 prize
might not be related to Pamuk, and that academy members may be
grappling with a non-fiction candidate or an essayist.
Earlier this year, academy head and committee member Horace Engdahl
suggested it was time to ‘broaden’ the literature prize stating that
‘It is important that the prize develops as literature develops.’
His comments have been taken to mean that a journalist such as
Poland’s Ryszard Kapuscinski could be considered. In the same vein,
philosopher Bertrand Russell won it in 1950 and Winston Churchill was
given the literature prize three years later for his historical
writings. The favourite to win in Stockholm literary circles is
Syrian poet Ali Ahmad Said, also known as Adonis.

Cyprus Mail, Cyprus
Oct 9 2005
Armenians go to the polls
By Jean Christou
NEARLY 2,000 Armenians in Cyprus will go to the polls today to elect
a new representative to the House of Representatives after a short
but lively by-election campaign that focused on educational and
cultural issues, but also brought to the surface the divisions within
the small community in Cyprus.
For the first time since Cyprus’ independence in 1960, three
candidates, two doctors and one businessman, will vie for the
Armenian seat. Dr Antranik Ashdjian, Dr Vahakn Atamyan and
businessman Parsing Zartarian, who entered the race as a surprise
candidate, have all promised to do their best to unite the community
and put an end to the polarisation of views that currently exists.
Voting at four electoral centres – two in Nicosia, one in Limassol
and one in Larnaca – will begin today at 7am and will break from 12
noon to 1pm before resuming to close at 5pm. Results are expected to
be out by 7.30pm.
The biggest issue in the election is the closure this year of the
Melkonian Educational Institute, the only Armenian secondary school
in Cyprus and the only one for a large number of other Armenian
students in the region.
The three candidates have pledged to fight to have the school
reopened.
According to the Armenian e-zine Gibrahayer, Atamyan’s campaign has
received an endorsement from a group seemingly in opposition with
him. Atamyan was on the board of the Melkonian, but many feel he did
not do enough to save the school.
Gibrahayer said the Melkonian Alumni and Friends Association after a
marathon and turbulent session last Wednesday, endorsed Dr Atamyan’s
candidacy while another group of Melkonian graduates signed a
separate declaration calling on Melkonian Alumni not to vote for him.
Atamyan has said he did all he could to save the school.
Other election issues include the protection of the Armenian
monastery in the north, improvement of Armenian primary schools and
introducing Armenian studies at the University of Cyprus.
An online poll at hayam.org, in which 400 people have voted, gave
Atamyan 25.8 per cent of the vote, Ashdjian 48.1 per cent and
Zartarian 26.07 per cent.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Globe and Mail, Canada
Oct 8 2005
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ONE MAN’S BATTLE
A writer fights the war of words
Turkey’s Orhan Pamuk was charged with ‘denigrating’ his beloved
countryBy CONSTANCE ROOKE
Saturday, October 8, 2005 Page R12

Last February, Turkey’s most celebrated writer, Orhan Pamuk, told a
Swiss newspaper that “thirty thousand Kurds and a million Armenians
were killed in these lands and almost no one dares talk about it.
Therefore, I do.” This caused a furor within Turkey, with liberals
defending Pamuk’s right to free speech and/or the critical importance
of speaking out about this particular matter, and reactionaries
branding Pamuk a traitor, burning his books, and issuing the
anonymous death threats that have forced the writer to flee his
country.
In general, the liberal camp passionately supports Turkey’s bid for
admission to the European Union, while reactionary nationalist forces
fiercely oppose it — and the terrible story of what has happened to
Pamuk is strongly linked to this struggle within Turkey.
In July, the prosecutor’s office in Istanbul determined that Pamuk’s
words were indeed protected by free speech. However, in late August,
a district prosecutor laid charges against Pamuk — a world-famous
writer whose deep love of Turkey is palpable in all he writes — and
the furor became international. External opponents and supporters of
Turkey’s admission to the EU were appalled, and the European
Parliament launched an initiative to monitor the legal process
against Pamuk. His trial on charges of “denigrating Turkey” is
scheduled to begin on Dec. 16. Turkey’s penal code cites a penalty of
up to three years in jail for this offence, and one-third more if, as
in Pamuk’s case, the supposed insult was voiced outside Turkey.
The charge against Pamuk is in direct opposition to the United
Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the
European Convention on Human Rights. Turkey is a signatory to both.
Liberals in Turkey are rightly concerned that worldwide attention to
this outrageous charge, and suppression of debate on the darkest
chapters of their country’s history, may lead to rejection by the EU.
A powerful minority of Turks on the far right, however, have welcomed
— indeed, probably engineered — the charges against Pamuk largely
for that reason. The timing is certainly suspicious: Prime Minister
Tayyip Erdogan began his talks with the EU on Oct. 3, just over a
month after charges were brought against Pamuk.
Writers around the world have been quick to defend Pamuk and to
express their outrage. Michael Ondaatje, for example, has issued this
statement through PEN Canada: “Orhan Pamuk is one of the great
writers of our time and is also one of the most generous chroniclers
of the glories of Turkey and its culture. From The White Castle to
Snow to his recent memoir Istanbul, it is clear that this is a writer
who loves his country. That he should be accused of ‘denigrating’
Turkey and threatened with a prison term is shocking. It is an
appalling example of censorship in a country seeking admission to the
EU and clearly signals a lack of freedom of expression in Turkey.”
Within Turkey, the battle for and against free speech continues. Last
spring a group of Turkish academics tried to hold an international
conference in Istanbul on the Armenian massacres of 1915. They hoped
by ‘owning’ this issue to signal to the European community that
Turkey is a maturing democracy, intent on protecting freedom of
expression. But Turkey’s Justice Minister called the conference “a
dagger in the back of the Turkish people,” and the conference was
postponed. Then the Prime Minister voiced his support for the
conference, which was rescheduled for September so as to precede his
talks with the EU. To the Prime Minister’s great embarrassment, a
last-minute court order again prevented the conference from starting.
Organizers circumvented this by moving it to another venue, and the
conference opened the next day with stormy demonstrations for, and
against it.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister has “announce[d] to the world that there is
free speech in Turkey,” and pointed out that no verdict has been
reached on the charges against Pamuk. But the charges were brought,
and they have not been dropped. Moreover, as International PEN
reports, despite a recent decline in convictions and prison sentences
under laws penalizing free speech, there are currently over fifty
writers and publishers before the Turkish courts. In several senses,
Orhan Pamuk is not alone.
Writer and academic Constance Rooke is the president of PEN Canada.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MGM MIRAGE, Press Release
PRNewswire-FirstCall
Oct 7 2005
In Memoriam: George Mason, Longtime Member of the MGM MIRAGE Board of
Directors and Senior Managing Director of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc.,
1930-2005
Friday October 7, 6:03 pm ET
LAS VEGAS, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — George Mason, a longtime
member of the MGM MIRAGE Board of Directors and a highly respected
member of the financial community as Senior Managing Director of
Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., Los Angeles, passed away October 5, 2005.
He was 74.

“We are deeply saddened at George’s passing,” said Terry Lanni,
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MGM MIRAGE. “He was an
incredibly influential figure in the gaming and finance industries.
With his remarkable business instincts and extraordinary intellect,
he made valuable contributions to our Board of Directors for many
years. Personally, he had a warm and generous spirit and he will be
missed by the MGM MIRAGE family and so many others whose lives he
touched.”
Mr. Mason previously served as a member of the Board of Directors for
Mirage Resorts from 1973 to 2000, and was a member of the Board of
Directors of MGM MIRAGE from 2000 to present. He was a member of the
Audit, Stock Option and Bonus committees of Mirage Resorts from 1973
to 2000, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of
Directors of MGM MIRAGE from 2002 to present.
>From 1973 until his passing, Mr. Mason was Senior Managing Director
at the Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. Los Angeles office.
“George was not only highly gifted in his understanding of the world
of finance, but he was also a warm and compassionate person who was
loved and respected by all who knew him,” said Renee Fourcade, Bear,
Stearns Managing Director who, for the past 18 years was Mr. Mason’s
close business partner. “Every client was family to George and
nothing was more important to him than earning the confidence and
satisfaction of all those who entrusted him.”
Mr. Mason founded the first English-written Armenian newspaper called
the California Courier in Fresno in 1958 and served as editor of the
newspaper until 1970.
“I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that George’s California
Courier was and will be remembered as a journal of Armenian life in
Calfornia,” said Vartan Oskanian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
Republic of Armenia. “It reflected his pride in his identity and his
heritage at a time when it was not fashionable to do so. George Mason
was a man of great integrity and sincerity. He will indeed be
missed.”
At Bear, Stearns, Mr. Mason created a newsletter for clients that he
looked forward to writing each month. Some of the top “Masonisms”
published by the prolific writer included:
“Borrow from pessimists — they don’t expect it back.”
“If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”
“Here it is. In 2004, the market will go down dramatically. But it
could also continue to go up dramatically. The final possibility is
that it will just go up or down a little bit or stay about the
same. That is my opinion and I’m sticking to it!”
Mr. Mason also worked as an executive for Kirk Kerkorian’s Tracinda
Investment Company from 1970-1973.
Born in Los Angeles on Nov. 9, 1930, he was raised there and lived
his adult life in L.A. and Fresno. He served in the U.S. Air Force as
a Staff Sergeant from 1951 to 1954.
Mr. Mason is survived by his wife of 52 years, Sally, and their six
daughters, Cassandra Goehner, Melanie Goodman, Teresa Mason, George
Ann Mason, Dina Chakalian, and Mary Mason; and by his sister, Shirley
Rakoobian.
Memorial services will be held on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 11 a.m. at St.
James Armenian Church, 4950 West Slauson Ave., Los Angeles. A
reception will immediately follow at The Fairmont Miramar Hotel, 101
Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90401.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in memory of
George John Mason be made to: Nevada Cancer Institute, Continued
Research in the Field of Bladder Cancer, 10000 W. Charleston
Boulevard, Las Vegas, NV 89135. Attention: Ms. Jennifer Haley, phone
(702) 821-0018.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenians find faith in words
Detroit Free Press
October 7, 2005
BY DAVID CRUMM, FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
To the untrained eye, these sacred curves are merely cryptic rows of
hooks and notches. But to those who love them, these 38 arches form
the architecture that shelters one of the world’s oldest Christian
cultures.
Starting this weekend, the 38-character Armenian alphabet also is the
focus of a most unusual anniversary: a yearlong celebration of the
creation of this written language 1,600 years ago.
On Wednesday at the Alex and Marie Manoogian charter school in
Southfield, the 347 students were gearing up for the celebration.
Anahit Toumajian taught her fifth-graders a poem to recite at an
upcoming assembly. She reminded the students that, “Armenia never had
great armies to conquer the world, but the letters of our alphabet
were the soldiers that protected our culture.”
Girls and boys recited lines of an ode to the Armenian language that,
in translation, begins, “You give us light. You give us love. You give
us wings to fly.”
There aren’t many elementary school classes that speak so
affectionately about studying languages.
There’s a religious side to this observance, but because the Manoogian
school is a K-12 charter school, those aspects of the story are left
to Armenian churches, including the gold-domed St. John Armenian
Orthodox Church across the parking lot from the school.
These churches, including St. Sarkis Armenian Orthodox Church in
Dearborn, draw members from across the state. In the 2000 census,
15,746 Michigan adults indicated they were Armenian, although a
University of Michigan-Dearborn center for Armenian studies estimates
the population is twice that.
“Ethnic identity, culture, language and religion aren’t separate
threads for us. They are powerfully interwoven to preserve our
identity,” the Rev. Garabed Kochakian, pastor of St. John, said
Wednesday.
The creator of the alphabet was an Armenian priest, the Rev. Mesrob
Mashdotz, who needed a written form of it to spread the Bible among
the native speakers. Armenia proudly identifies itself as the first
nation to embrace Christianity as its state religion, which it did in
the year 301. But, for about 100 years, Armenian remained an oral
language and the country’s churches used copies of the Bible in other
languages.
When Mashdotz finally captured the local tongue with his dozens of
curving characters, the first words he transcribed were from the
Bible’s book of Proverbs: “That people may know wisdom.”
On Wednesday, Kochakian showed journalists as well as a group of
visiting teachers from public schools in metro Detroit through several
historical galleries at the church.
“Look, the alphabet is everywhere in our culture,” he
said. “Inscriptions are woven into our carpets; they’re on our
vestments and carved into wooden doors. And, look at this,” he said,
pointing to a case containing a 200-year-old bowed instrument, a
distant cousin of the violin. The instrument is inlaid with
mother-of-pearl inscriptions in Armenian.
“The language is such a big part of our life,” he said, though he
estimates it is regularly used by less than 20 percent of the several
thousand Armenian-Americans who consider St. John their parish.
Starting Sunday, Armenian churches and cultural organizations will
devote a year to special programs and classes about the language. In
kicking off the celebration, Catholicos Karekin II, head of the church
in Armenia, described the alphabet as so important that “the lush tree
of Armenian culture has grown tall from its gold-seeded root.”
There certainly seems to be fertile ground for this message in
Southfield. In a fourth-grade language class on Wednesday, 9-year-old
Ani Papazian explained to her class why they all must take this
seriously.
“If we don’t speak our language and keep it alive for the future,” she
said, “then it’s like there’s this long chain from Armenia that will
break. And we can’t be the ones to let that chain break.”
TELL US WHAT YOU THINK
THIS WEEK: If you’re Armenian, tell us what your culture means to
you. If you’re not, tell us something about your own family’s cultural
heritage that’s important in your life today. E-mail
[email protected] or call 313-222-1456.

Mediamax News Agency, Russia
Oct 6 2005
Armenia, Azerbaijan reach “unprecedented” rapprochement on Karabakh –
minister
Yerevan, 6 October: Armenia and Azerbaijan have reached an
“unprecedented” rapprochement of the positions on principled issues
of the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, Armenian Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanyan said in Yerevan today. He said this at a
meeting with journalists after addressing the seminar entitled
“Security in the South Caucasus” organized by the NATO Parliamentary
Assembly and the Armenian National Assembly.
Oskanyan said that the future status of Nagornyy Karabakh, problems
of the territories [adjacent to Nagornyy Karabakh] and guarantees of
security were among the “principled issues”, regarding which the
sides had managed to get their positions closer.
The minister pointed out that “there is no a new completed
[settlement] package on the table [of negotiations], but there are
specific ideas”.
“After all, after beginning to debate all these elements in detail,
one could expect a written document,” Oskanyan said. He advised to
wait for the end of the November parliamentary election in
Azerbaijan, “after which the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group will
boost the negotiations”.
Commenting on the statement of his Azerbaijani counterpart that
Yerevan and Baku have reached an agreement on mine clearing, the
Armenian foreign minister said that official agreements have not been
reached yet.
The Armenian foreign minister also said that only the OSCE Minsk
Group had an “exclusive mandate” for the settlement of the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict, but “the discussion of this problem within the
framework of other organizations is acceptable and may be useful”.
At the same time, Oskanyan stressed that the discussion of the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict in various organizations and resolutions
adopted as a result of them “cannot replace the negotiations”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress