Author: Emil Lazarian

FAREWELL TO AMBASSADOR
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| 13:25:01 | 28-09-2005 | Official |
Today Robert Kocharyan had a farewell meeting with the Greek Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia Antonios Vlavianos who
is finishing his diplomatic mission in Armenia.
The sides agreed that Robert Kocharyan’s upcoming official visit to
Greece will become a new impetus for the continuation of political
dialogue between the two countries and the economic cooperation.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SYSTEM OF A DOWN TURNS POLITICAL FOR HOUSE BILL
By Lisa Friedman, Washington Bureau
Los Angeles Daily News
Sept 27 2005
WASHINGTON – A San Fernando Valley-based rock band plans to rally
today in front of House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s Illinois office
in the hope of pressuring Congress to pass a politically sensitive
resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide.
Serj Tankian, lead singer of System of a Down, said he and fellow
band members – all of Armenian descent – hope to “get attention for
the cause” and encourage Hastert to bring the bill to House vote.
The resolution sponsored by Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, would
have Congress formally declare that the Ottoman Empire engaged in
genocide against 1.5 million Armenians after World War I. The House
International Relations Committee passed it 35-11.
The State Department opposes the resolution, arguing that its passage
would undermine U.S. relations with Turkey, which continues to deny
that a genocide took place.
Hastert and other GOP leaders have vowed to prevent a full House vote.
Hastert officials referred questions on the genocide bill to Majority
Leader Tom DeLay. A DeLay spokesman said the resolution is not
scheduled for a vote because Gulf Coast hurricane legislation is
Congress’ top priority.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

POLITICAL ANALYSIS: SURVEY OF ANALYSTS ON ARMENIAN ISSUES
By M. Alkhazashvili
The Messenger, Georgia
Sept 27 2005
The non-profit group Armenian Assembly of America recently conducted
a survey in which 24 American and Western European experts, former
statesmen and analysts took part. An analysis of the survey shows
that in the opinion of these specialists, the situation in the frozen
Azeri-Armenian conflict may undergo a tidal shift to the benefit of
Azerbaijan in the coming years.
Since 2004, the Armenian Assembly’s Office of Research & Information
has conducted an annual survey in an effort to gauge analysts’
opinions of how Armenian issues are perceived in the United States
and Western Europe.According to the paper AZG Armenian Daily, the
survey was conducted by Tim Manook at St. Andrews University, UK,
and supervised by Emil Sanamyan at the Armenian Assembly.
When asked “which state of the near east would have positive or
negative influence on Armenia?” the answers were, as reported by
Akhali Taoba: 45 percent Azerbaijan, 16 percent Turkey, 11 percent
Russia and 9 percent Georgia.
Forty two percent of those questioned stated that if war takes place
in the next decade Armenia would win, though 29 percent stated that
conflict would result in a stalemate. The remainder did not answer.
But the situation changes after 2015. Thirty-three percent of
respondents believe that Azerbaijan will gain a military victory
over Armenia if war breaks at that time and only four percent predict
victory for Armenia in such a case.
As for the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, 62 percent of specialists
polled think that a change in the status quo of the region is not to
be expected in the near future.
Analysts pessimistically evaluate the prospects of U.S. relations
with Russia and Iran. At the same time they expect that U.S.
influence in the Caucasus region will increase.
As for Turkey’s integration into the European Union, the respondents
stated that this is unlikely to happen before 2020-2025 because,
according to their prognosis, Ankara will not recognize the Ottoman
Turks’ massacre of Armenians and will seek to deepen its relations
with Washington instead.
However, some of the analysts predicted that the U.S. itself would
recognize the Armenian genocide within the next five years. A
significant step toward such a recognition occurred on September
15, when the U.S. House of Representatives’ International Relations
committee approved a resolution to recognize the events as genocide by
a vote of 40-7. The government of Turkey has maintained that the events
in question were not caused by a state intention to eliminate Armenians
and that fewer people were killed then claimed by the Armenian side.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KENTRON COMMUNITY HEAD NOT CHANGED
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| 12:59:18 | 26-09-2005 | Politics |
According to the Local Electoral Committee head Eghish Terteryan,
Gagik Beglaryan has been re-elected as head of the Kentron Community
with an advantage of votes about 32 thousand against 4 thousand.
According to the head of the Local Electoral Committee, the absence of
clear-cut data is accounted for by the fact that the computer failed
right when the final results were almost ready.
Worker of the CEC Tsovinar Khachatryan informed that the preliminary
results will be ready today at 02:00 p.m.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

COURT COMING IN ACTION
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| 18:55:13 | 26-09-2005 | Politics |
“If the court decides that the 129 ballots voted for Arayik Qotanjyan
which were considered invalid are valid, he will be elected head of
the Qanaqer-Zeytun community without second elections”, this is the
opinion of the NA independent deputy Manouk Gasparyan who supports
the candidate. He also informed that an action has been brought to
the Court of Appeal.
Let us remind you that the Local Electoral Committee had announced
the results of the September 19 election in Qanaqer-Zeytun and fixed
new elections.
After the reports of the LEC the ballot packs were torn and according
to the NA deputy 54 ballots from one area and 75 from the other were
“spoilt by hand” and considered invalid. The action by Arayik Qotanjyan
is about the “fate” is these ballots.
Manouk Gasparyan thinks that tomorrow the Court will send an order
to the LEC not to organize elections until the court makes a decision.
It is noteworthy that Arayik Qotanjyan was not recognized community
head as the number of errors exceeded that of the difference
between the votes received by Mr. Qotanjyan and his opponent Valeri
Haroutyunyan.

UNE CONFERENCE SUR LE GENOCIDE ARMENIEN PROVOQUE UNE NOUVELLE BOUFFEE NATIONALISTE
par Marie-Michèle Martinet
Le Figaro, France
24 septembre 2005
TURQUIE A quelques jours de l’ouverture des negociations d’adhesion a
l’Union europeenne
Le genocide armenien reste decidement un sujet tabou en Turquie. Pour
la deuxième fois en moins de six mois, une conference organisee
sur ce thème par deux prestigieuses universites stambouliotes,
a ete suspendue… avant d’etre finalement reprogrammee, in
extremis, dans une troisième universite de la ville. Cette nouvelle
bouffee nationaliste, qui intervient a la veille de l’ouverture des
negociations d’adhesion europeenne de la Turquie prevue le 3 octobre,
suscite certaines interrogations sur la capacite d’Ankara a s’engager
dans un veritable processus democratique.
A l’occasion du 90 e anniversaire du genocide armenien celebre en avril
dernier, les universitaires turcs avaient cru possible d’ouvrir enfin
le debat, en Turquie, plutôt que de continuer a balayer les miettes
de l’histoire sous le tapis de la mauvaise conscience. L’idee etait
simple : inviter une soixantaine d’intellectuels critiques a exposer
leur analyse sur les massacres de 1915, dont Ankara se refuse toujours
a admettre le caractère genocidaire.
Programmee pour le 25 mai, la conference fut suspendue a la dernière
minute, sous l’impulsion du ministre de la Justice, Cemil Cicek,
qui declarait alors qu’un tel debat ne pouvait avoir lieu car il
constituait une offense a la nation, un ” coup de poignard dans
le dos du peuple turc “. Quelques mois plus tard, le meme scenario
vient de se reproduire : a la suite d’une plainte deposee par des
juristes, le tribunal administratif d’Istanbul annoncait jeudi soir
la suspension de cette conference, dont l’ouverture etait prevue pour
le lendemain matin.
Hier soir, nouveau rebondissement : a la suite de vives protestations,
tant de l’Union europeenne qu’au plus haut niveau du pouvoir
gouvernemental turc, la conference etait finalement maintenue :
les debats s’ouvriront donc ce matin, a l’heure dite, mais dans une
autre universite, celle de Bilgi qui n’est pas concernee par l’ordre
de suspension.
L’honneur est donc sauf. Il n’empeche que ces blocages a repetition,
dignes d’un mauvais theâtre de boulevard, qui interviennent a la
veille de l’ouverture des negociations europeennes de la Turquie,
prevue pour le 3 octobre, reactivent certaines interrogations sur
la capacite d’Ankara a engager un veritable processus democratique
dans le pays : ” Nous regrettons vivement cette nouvelle tentative
d’empecher la societe turque d’avoir un debat sur son histoire “,
declarait hier Krisztina Nagy.
La porte-parole du commissaire europeen a l’Elargissement, Olli Rehn,
qualifie la decision des juges turcs de ” nouvelle provocation ”
illustrant les ” difficultes de la Turquie, et en particulier de son
système judiciaire, a assurer une application reelle et constante
des reformes “.
On peut s’interroger sur les intentions reelles de ceux qui, en
s’efforcant de jouer le blocage a quelques jours de la date cruciale
du 3 octobre, compliquent indiscutablement la tâche des diplomates
turcs, deja embarrasses par la delicate question de la reconnaissance
de Chypre. Veulent-ils purement et simplement saboter le dialogue
difficilement engage entre la Turquie et l’Europe ? Le premier ministre
turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, dont l’avenir politique reste très lie au
succès des negociations, avait sevèrement condamne, dès jeudi soir,
la decision des juges : ” La cour a jete une ombre sur le processus de
democratisation et sur les libertes dans mon pays “, a-t-il declare,
en s’interrogeant au passage sur les competences du tribunal.
En decembre prochain, le romancier turc, Orhan Pamuk, dont les livres
sont publies en France par Gallimard, sera juge pour avoir affirme,
dans un journal suisse, qu’ ” un million d’Armeniens et trente mille
Kurdes ont ete tues en Turquie “. Ces propos, consideres comme une
insulte a l’identite turque, peuvent lui valoir une peine de six a
neuf mois de prison, conformement au nouveau Code penal.
Le Parlement europeen a deja fait savoir qu’il designerait des
observateurs pour s’assurer du bon deroulement de ce procès, ce
qui exaspère de nombreux Turcs qui voient, dans cette demarche, une
volonte d’ingerence de l’Europe : ” Arretez de faire de Orhan Pamuk un
faux heros ! “, s’insurge Bedri Baykam, qui dirige le très kemaliste
Mouvement patriotique, proche du principal parti d’opposition, CHP.
Soucieux des consequences de cette nouvelle crise armenienne ravivant
les crispations nationalistes dans le pays, Hrant Dink, le redacteur
en chef du journal bilingue Agos, publie en turc et en armenien,
s’est efforce de calmer le jeu, en appelant ses interlocuteurs au
calme et a la reflexion. Jusqu’a present, la communaute armenienne
de Turquie s’est declaree favorable a l’adhesion a l’Europe, sachant
qu’un tel ancrage serait la meilleure protection pour l’avenir des
minorites dans le pays.
–Boundary_(ID_Is/SAmRZYmSeoBGFUd4zzA)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
ARPA Institute
18106 Miranda St.
Tarzana, CA 91356 &
Mousa Ler Association of California
Tel: (818) 596-9660
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

ARPA Institute and Mousa Ler Association present the Lecture: “Musa
Dagh Genocide Resistance in Light of New Evidence”(In Armenian) by
Vahram Shemmassian, Ph.D. on Thursday, September 29, 2005 at 7:30 PM
in the Merdinian school auditorium.

The Address is 13330 Riverside Dr., Sherman Oaks, CA 91403.
Directions: on the 101 FWY exit on Woodman, go north and turn right on
Riverside Dr.
Abstract: `Musa Dagh’ is a household name among Armenians and `rings a
bell’ among other people. In July 1915, during the early phase of the
Genocide, about 6,000 Armenian highlanders living near the biblical
town Antioch were given deportation orders by the Ottoman
government. About one-third heeded the order and was exiled to the
Syrian town of Hama, but the majority decided to take arms and resist.
No published study exists regarding the fate of those who were
dispatched to Hama. Memoirs published in recent years and archival
materials not used before will be cited to shed new light on certain
aspects of the resistance. A replica of the cross and pictures will
also be presented.

Professor Vahram Shemmassian, professor of Armenian Studies in the
Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures at the
California State University, Northridge, holds a Ph.D. in History from
UCLA. His doctoral dissertation, entitled `The Armenian Villagers of
Musa Dagh: A Historical-Ethnographic Study, 1840-1915,’ is currently
being revised for publication. Dr. Shemmassian has taught Armenian
History, Armenian Language, Sociology, and Western Civilization at the
National University, Fresno, CA; Pasadena City College, Pasadena, CA;
and Los Angeles Valley College, Van Nuys, CA. In 1989-1990, he was
the Chair of the Armenology Department at the now-defunct American
Armenian International College, La Verne, CA. As such, in addition to
teaching Armenian subjects, he organized a one-day symposium on
`Armenian-Genocide Issues, 1915-1990.’
He has conducted extensive research in some thirty governmental and
non-governmental archival repositories in the United States, Europe,
and the Middle East, gathering data on such areas of interest as the
Armenians of Musa Dagh and northwestern Syria in general, as well as
Armenian Genocide survivors in the Middle East at the end of World War
I. He has published several scholarly articles, delivered lectures at
community events and in universities, and participated in symposia and
conferences.
Dr. Shemmassian’s experience is not limited to higher education and
scholarship, for he has served in the capacity of principal of three
Armenian day schools in the greater Los Angeles area, namely, Chamlian
School, A.G. Minassian School, and Merdinian School.
For Information Please call Dr. Hagop Panossian at(818)586-9660

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:
THE CATHOLCIOSATE OF CILICIA PARTICIPATES IN THE MEETING OF ORTHODOX
AND ORIENTAL ORTHODOX CHURCHES
A meeting was held between the representatives from the Orthodox Churches
and the Oriental Orthodox Churches in the Greek city of Volos on September
19-22.
The purpose of the meeting was to set the direction of discussions between
these two churches and the United Bible Societies.
Bishop Nareg Alemezian, Ecumenical Officer of the Catholicosate of Cilicia,
participated in the meeting on behalf of the Catholicosate. Hratch
Sarkissian, director of the Bible Society of Armenia, represented the
Catholicosate of All Armenians.
The participants discussed the results of the 1999 and 2004 meetings of
Orthodox Churches and Bible Societies in Larnaca and Antelias respectively.
They laid out the plans for future cooperation.
Bishop Nareg highlighted the warm cooperation between the Catholicosate of
Cilicia and the Bible Society of Lebanon, especially in the fields of
translation and preparation of textbooks.
The participants decided to hold the next meeting between the Orthodox
Churches and United Bible Societies on October 15-22.
His Holiness Aram I has played an important role in the strengthening of
cooperation between United Bible Societies and the Orthodox Churches. Four
years ago the General Secretary of the United Bible Societies visited His
Holiness Aram I to consult on issues related to cooperation between the
society and the Orthodox Churches. Two meetings between the two sides, one
in Larnaca the other in Antelias, followed.
On his way back to Antelias, Bishop Nareg visited the Coptic Orthodox church
being built in Athens. He conveyed His Holiness’ greetings to the believers
and delivered a lecture entitled “The Birth of the Armenian Church and the
Catholicosate of Cilicia Today.”
##
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

Anatolia news agency, Ankara, in English
23 Sep 05
TURKISH MINISTER SAYS OPPONENTS OF ARMENIAN CONFERENCE HARM EU COURSE
New York, 22 September: Commenting on the decision of the Istanbul
Administrative Court to put on hold a conference titled “Ottoman
Armenians during the empire’s fall: Scientific responsibility and
problems of democracy”, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said:
“We are harming ourselves.”
“These are the last efforts of those who are trying to obstruct our
road before 3 October (when the EU is expected to launch full
membership negotiations with Turkey),” added Gul.

Cape Cod Times, MA
Sept 25 2005
Rock star
Mason’s elaborate stonework becomes two-year dream project
By JOHANNA CROSBY
STAFF WRITER
EAST DENNIS ”’ Only a portion of Tigran Gichunts’ ”masonry
paradise” is visible from the road in this seaside neighborhood.

Tigran Gichunts’ stone work at Fawaz and Jo-Ellen El Khoury’s home
in East Dennis began with a wall to stop erosion, and blossomed into
a “masonry paradise” that took two years to build.
—————————————————————-

Halfway up a long driveway, a rambling yellow, federal-style house
perched on a hilltop comes into full view. The sloping front lawn is
framed by two tiers of stone walls.
But Gichunts didn’t stop there. His handiwork includes 10,000 square
feet of stone walls that wrap around most of the secluded 3-acre
property. Some of the 4 1/2-foot-high walls – which run for 1,500
feet, or more than a quarter of a mile – flaunt built-in planters and
graceful columns.
Gichunts also built three patios – a large one of Turkish marble in
the backyard with an outdoor gourmet kitchen for entertaining; a
fieldstone patio in the backyard; and a side-yard rectangular patio,
made of concrete pavers that resemble bricks, that is designed with a
herringbone pattern. He combined landscape materials of different
textures and colors throughout the project. In the front yard, a
network of fieldstone pathways trimmed with cobblestone is connected
by a circular walkway of concrete pavers. The formal entranceway is
made of tumbled bluestone edged with granite.
The ambitious project took Gichunts, a masonry designer whose
business is based in South Yarmouth and Brewster, two years to
complete. He finished it last month.
His first day on the job, he walked the property and ideas began
percolating in his mind.
Gichunts did not work from a blueprint. Instead, he relied on his
mind’s eye to detail the plans.
”I’m usually a hands-on kind of person,” says owner Fawaz El Khoury
of Westborough, a real estate investor
who is also in the import/export business. But after seeing Gichunts’
work on the entranceway he was hired to build, El Khoury and his wife
Jo-Ellen had confidence in Gichunts’ talent and vision and gave him a
fairly free hand on the project. The designer would run his ideas by
them and they usually agreed.
The couple declined to say how much the project cost. But Gichunts
says he builds fieldstone walls for an average of $50 per square
foot, including material and labor.
A family trade
Gichunts, 24, was eager to showcase his stonework skills on such a
grand scale.

This gourmet kitchen built by mason Tigran Gichunts boasts a double
chimney oven made of river rocks and fire bricks, with an upper oven
for baking and a larger one below that can accommodate a whole pig or
lamb.
(Staff photos by VINCENT DeWITT)
—————————————————————-

”It’s an art,” he says, of doing masonry, a trade that apparently
runs in his genes. Gichunts is a native of Armenia and his
grandfather was a mason.
Piecing 15 truckloads of stones together artfully to build a wall is
like putting together a giant jigsaw puzzle, he says. It’s also very
detailed, labor-intensive work. The rocks were secured with mortar,
but it was recessed so it wouldn’t show.
The two stone walls in the front yard are primarily decorative. But
they also help to prevent erosion of the hilly terrain. ”At first we
had a concrete wall, but it was ugly,” El Khoury says.
With an artist’s eye toward aesthetics, Gichunts came up with the
idea for two levels of stone walls. He chose attractive tan-colored
New England fieldstone, which blends in with the surrounding
landscape. Besides its natural beauty, the stone was chosen because
it’s durable and maintenance-free, Gichunts says.
But Gichunts wasn’t finished with just the two tiers of stone walls
on the hill. Instead, the walls grew longer and one of his ideas led
to another.
”I never in my wildest dreams thought it would go around the entire
yard,” El Khoury says. ”It became an addiction. Once you do a stone
wall, you want to do another.”
Besides the privacy it affords, the wrap-around stone walls are in
keeping with the historic integrity of the neighborhood and provides
a ”certain harmony” with the natural landscape, Mrs. El Khoury
adds.
Their own castle
The sprawling yard is landscaped with numerous plantings, including
100 rose bushes along one of the stone walls. Hydrangeas, flowers and
other shrubs dot the sweeping front lawn.
At night, when the landscape lights are turned on, the house looks
like a castle, Gichunts says.
The El Khourys bought the 3-acre site, which is bordered by
conservation land, four years ago. They helped design their spacious
12-room summer house, which has a view of Cape Cod Bay from the
second floor. There is also an attached guest suite.
Mrs. El Khoury has fond memories of summering on the Cape as a child
and learning how to swim at nearby Cold Storage Beach. Her parents
live in the neighborhood. The setting attracts an assortment of
wildlife, including birds and deer.
”It’s a dream to be here,” Mrs. El Khoury says.
The couple, who have four children, enjoy entertaining outdoors and
cooking for their guests. Gichunts built a gourmet kitchen at the
edge of the large backyard patio, which is made of marble slabs in a
geometric pattern and a granite border. The 37-foot-island is fully
equipped with a stainless steel bar sink and faucet, stove,
refrigerator, ice machine, and charcoal gas grills.
The double chimney oven – made of river rocks and fire bricks –
features two separate ovens, a small one for baking breads, pizza and
cake and a large one that can accommodate a whole pig, lamb or 10
chickens. The counter top consists of a mosiac of tiny tiles and
sleek granite.
A circular fieldstone walkway from the backyard patio leads to a lawn
area where the owners plan to build a swimming pool. Gichunts is
already envisioning his next project: a patio for the pool.