Author: Emil Lazarian

A1 Plus | 23:23:31 | 28-04-2004 | Politics | PACE SPRING SESSION |
COMMISSIONS OF THE ARMENIAN DELEGATION WILL BE DISCUSSED IN PACE IN
SEPTEMBER
PACE decided to postpone the issue of the commissions on the Armenian
delegation to September, 2004.
It was suggested in the preliminary report to cease the commissions of the
Armenian delegation in Assembly in June in case of not fulfilling PACE
demands.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
April 28 2004
Azerbaijani, Armenian Presidents Meet
28 April 2004 — The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan today met on
the sidelines of a European economic summit in Warsaw and discussed
their countries’ dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
AFP quoted an unidentified diplomat as saying that Azerbaijan’s
President Ilham Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian
had a “constructive” discussion on the issue, and agreed to hold
further talks. However, no date was set for those talks.
Armenian-backed forces drove Azerbaijan’s army out of the ethnic
Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s, in a war
that killed 30,000 people and left about 1 million homeless. A
cease-fire was signed in 1994, but no agreement has been reached on
the territory’s final status.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ArmenPress
April 28 2004
EUROPEAN ECONOMIC SUMMIT OPENS IN WARSAW
WARSAW, APRIL 28, ARMENPRESS: Armenian president Robert Kocharian
is among some 20 presidents and prime minister, along with 600 other
ministers, central bankers, representatives from the EU and other
international organizations, and 50 companies from 45 countries who
have gathered in the Polish capital at the start of a three-day
European Economic summit devoted to the economic impact of the
European Union’s May 1 enlargement.
Organized by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum, the summit has
been held every year in Salzburg, Austria, since 1996. This year, as
an exception, the meeting is being held in Poland, the biggest of the
10 mainly former communist bloc countries set to join the EU on May
1, along with Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,
Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia. The summit is taking place
amid tight security, due to the expected presence of thousands of
anti-globalization demonstrators. On the sidelines of the summit
presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Ilham Aliyev and Robert
Kocharian Armenia will discuss ways of settling the Nagorno-Karabagh
conflict today. The meeting is expected to last two-hours today
evening. Both presidents may also meet with co-chairmen of the OSCE
Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabagh from the US, Russia and France.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
04/28/2004
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) Kocharian, Aliyev Foresee More Frequent Meetings 2) Uruguay Parliament Marks 89th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide 3) Georgia War Games near Defiant Rebel Region 4) Council of Europe Head Offers to Mediate Armenia Standoff 5) Armenian Dram Hits Three-year High against US Dollar 1) Kocharian, Aliyev Foresee More Frequent Meetings WARSAW (AFP/Armenpress)--The presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia met on Wednesday on the sidelines of a European economic summit to discuss the Mountainous Karabagh conflict. "They had a constructive discussion. They have agreed to meet again. No date was set," said a diplomat, after what was only the second meeting between Armenian President Robert Kocharian and his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev. The two last met in December, while the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan have met more recently. President Kocharian told reporters that an agreement was reached for the foreign ministers of both countries to meet regularly. Armenia's foreign minister Vartan Oskanian and his Azeri counterpart Elmar Mamedyarov will meet in May. In turn, the presidents agreed to meet on the sidelines of international summits, conferences, and meetings to continue peace talks. Kocharian said he was satisfied with the basic nature of the Warsaw meeting. The entire body of the Minsk Group, a 13-nation grouping within the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that has been seeking to mediate between the two sides, was present during the meeting. "The Azeri side wants to regulate this issue; a similar will is noticed from the Armenian side as well. That's why we may find a way out and progress," Aliyev said. Mamedyarov said that Azerbaijan's approach in negotiations is to propose the return of "occupied" lands and restoration of transportation routes. Asked whether Azerbaijan demands that negotiations start from scratch, and whether previous Azeri President Heidar Aliyev's approach was wrong, the foreign minister said, "We do not say that the peace talks must be started from the very beginning," and suggested that previous negotiations and headway be reassessed based on the most recent dialogue between Kocharian and Aliyev. 2) Uruguay Parliament Marks 89th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide RESOLUTION ON 'DECLARING APRIL 24 AS DAY TO CONDEMN AND REJECT ALL GENOCIDES' TO BE SUBMITTED TO UNITED NATIONS MONTEVIDEO--For the fourth year running, on April 24, the Parliament of Uruguay, in cooperation with the Armenian National Committee, organized the year's main commemorative event on the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The grand hall of the Parliament, reserved for special ceremonies, was packed with members of the Uruguayan Armenian community. Present at the invitation of the Parliament's Presidency were high-level diplomats, including the ambassadors of Greece, Russia, Peru, Bolivia, and Romania. Those who addressed the solemn gathering included Members of Parliament from the four political groupings represented in Parliament: the Colorado Party, the National party, the New Sector/Space Coalition, and the Progressive Encounter/Broad Front Coalition. The left-wing Progressive Encounter's representative, Enrique Pintado, who is Chairman of the Chamber of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, announced, "Our Committee unanimously decided 'to declare April 24 as a day to condemn and reject all genocides' and will pursue with our foreign minister the submission of this decision to an upcoming session of the United Nations." On behalf of the Armenian community of Uruguay, Sarkis Kouyoumdjian addressed the commemorative gathering, expressing words of appreciation to the parliament, government, and people of Uruguay for their support of the Armenian Case. Other Armenian Genocide commemorative events taking place in Uruguay April 22-25 included a youth vigil, a showing of the movie Ararat, a service for the repose of souls, and a wreath-laying ceremony. The events were organized by the Armenian National Committee and "Armenia" youth organization. News sources: Uruguay Armenian National Committee and Diocesan Executive. 3) Georgia War Games near Defiant Rebel Region TBILISI (Reuters)--Georgia positioned more troops and armor close to Ajaria on Wednesday for a major military exercise certain to fuel further tension with its rebel Black Sea region. The three-day Dioscuria-2004 maneuvers start on Friday as a standoff continues between new Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and Ajarian leader Aslan Abashidze over control of the region that has a lucrative oil port at Batumi. Abashidze, who has been engaged in verbal dueling with Saakashvili for weeks, denounced the exercise. "Tbilisi is heating up tensions to the extreme with such unprovoked actions," he told Russia's Itar-Tass news agency. But Saakashvili, on a visit to Poland, said Ajaria was not a target of the exercise at the Kulevi training ground 30 km (20 miles) from its border. "No kind of military action can be taken anywhere in Georgia, especially in Ajaria," Saakashvili told reporters in Warsaw. "In Ajaria everything will be sorted out peacefully." Ajaria, is one of three regions that slipped out of Tbilisi's control after Georgia gained independence from the Soviet Union in late 1991. But unlike separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which fought bloody wars with Tbilisi, Ajaria has never claimed formal independence from Georgia. Nearly 2,000 servicemen from ex-Soviet Georgia's armed forces and a quarter of its 120 pieces of armor--tanks and armored vehicles--will take part in the exercise. Military aircraft were expected to arrive on Wednesday. Georgia's Defense Ministry said the exercise will provide training on protecting oil pipelines from "terrorists" and on carrying out raids on illegal drug-producing laboratories. Georgia's Black Sea coast has no major pipelines, but an international pipeline is under construction to take Caspian oil to the Mediterranean through the eastern part of the country. Tbilisi and the region came close to military confrontation last month after Saakashvili was initially blocked from entering the province. He subsequently traveled to the Ajarian regional capital of Batumi where he held inconclusive crisis talks with Abashidze. Abashidze turned the region into a relatively prosperous personal fiefdom amid turmoil across Georgia in the 1990s. Ajaria, which apart from the oil port hosts a key customs point on Georgia's border with Turkey, does not contribute to the national budget and has its own military force. Saakashvili, who became president after leading a bloodless coup against former President and ex-Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze last November, has promised to restore Tbilisi's control over the whole country and has accused Abashidze of turning Ajaria into a haven for criminals. 4) Council of Europe Head Offers to Mediate Armenia Standoff URGES OPPOSITION TO RETURN TO PARLIAMENT FROM THE STREETS YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--The secretary general of the Council of Europe Walter Schwimmer, on Wednesday called on the Armenian government and the opposition to resolve their bitter dispute through negotiation and offered to mediate in such a dialogue, and urged the opposition to "return to parliament from the streets." "The Council of Europe supports the dialogue between the authorities and the opposition, and has a successful experience of sponsoring it in various countries," Schwimmer told a news conference in Strasbourg. He said his permanent representative Yerevan Natalia Voutova, is ready to assist in arranging direct contact between the two sides. The offer came just hours before the organization's Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) was due to discuss the tense situation in Armenia. The issue was included on the agenda of the PACE's spring session at the last minute despite objections voiced by Armenian lawmakers. A draft PACE resolution drawn up by a committee monitoring Armenia's compliance with its membership commitments notes that the authorities have ignored Council of Europe demands to stop using the country's controversial Code of Administrative Offenses for imprisoning participants of opposition rallies. It does, however, say that the Armenian opposition "should refrain from attempts to use street demonstrations to reverse the results of last year's elections, which have been, in spite of the irregularities, validated by relevant national and international bodies." Opposition representatives and leaders of the three parties represented in Armenia's coalition government met this week to try to ease the tensions. The talks broke down on Tuesday, with the opposition accusing the government coalition of showing no signs of accepting any of its ultimatums, including one calling for a referendum of confidence in Kocharian. 5) Armenian Dram Hits Three-year High against US Dollar YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--The Armenian national currency, the dram, gained more ground against the US dollar on Wednesday, registering its highest exchange rate since October 2000, despite weeks of political turmoil in the country. The dram was trading at an average of 549 per dollar in Yerevan's currency exchange bureaus, making its value almost 3 percent higher than two months ago. Analysts found it hard to explain the phenomenon that countered recent global currency rate trends of recent weeks. The Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) denies any role in the dram's strengthening, insisting that its floating rate is determined by the market factors of demand and supply. According to Tigran Jrbashian of the Sed Marsed consulting firm, demand in the dram is pushed up by payment of first-quarter profit taxes by businesses which began on April 1. "The main reason for the dram's strengthening is the collection of quite a lot of taxes in the course of this year," he said. The Armenian government reported a 30 percent jump in its profit tax revenues collected in the first three months of this year. The increase followed a toughening of penalties for the widespread evasion of the 20 percent corporate income tax. The dram's gains have been twice as stronger against another major world currency--the euro. One euro is currently worth 652 drams, down from 702 drams registered in late February. The difference seems to result from a recent rebound in the dollar's value in the international currency markets. The dram thus remains effectively pegged to the dollar despite the European Union's status as Armenia's number one trading partner. The EU's common currency drained the greenback of nearly a fifth of its value last year. The dram similarly fell by almost 14 percent against the euro during the same period. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2004 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets. From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
______

HON. PETER J. VISCLOSKY
of indiana
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in solemn memorial to the
estimated 1.5 million men, women, and children who lost their lives
during the Armenian Genocide. As in the past, I am pleased to join so
many distinguished House colleagues on both sides of the aisle in
ensuring that the horrors wrought upon the Armenian people are never
repeated. On April 24, 1915, over 200 religious, political, and
intellectual leaders of the Armenian community were brutally executed
by the Turkish government in Istanbul. Over the course of the next 8
years, this war of ethnic genocide against the Armenian community in
the Ottoman Empire took the lives of over half the world’s Armenian
population. Sadly, there are some people who still deny the very
existence of this period which saw the institutionalized slaughter of
the Armenian people and dismantling of Armenian culture. To those who
would question these events, I point to the numerous reports contained
in the U.S. National Archives detailing the process that
systematically decimated the Armenian population of the Ottoman
Empire. However, old records are too easily forgotten–and
dismissed. That is why we come together every year at this time: to
remember in words what some may wish to file away in archives. This
genocide did take place, and these lives were taken. That memory must
keep us forever vigilant in our efforts to prevent these atrocities
from ever happening again. I am proud to note that Armenian
immigrants found, in the United States, a country where their culture
could take root and thrive. Most Armenians in America are children or
grandchildren of the survivors, although there are still survivors
among us. In my district in Northwest Indiana, a vibrant
Armenian-American community has developed and strong ties to Armenia
continue to flourish. My predecessor in the House, the late Adam
Benjamin, was of Armenian heritage, and his distinguished service in
the House serves as an example to the entire Northwest Indiana
community. Over the years, members of the Armenian- American community
throughout the United States have contributed millions of dollars and
countless hours of their time to various Armenian causes. Of
particular note are Mrs. Vicki Hovanessian and her husband, Dr. Raffy
Hovanessian, residents of Indiana’s First Congressional District, who
have continually worked to improve the quality of life in Armenia, as
well as in Northwest Indiana. Three other Armenian-American families
in my congressional district, Dr. Aram and Mrs. Seta Semerdjian,
Dr. Heratch and Mrs. Sonya Doumanian, and Dr. Ara and Mrs. Rosy
Yeretsian, have also contributed greatly toward charitable works in
the United States and Armenia. Their efforts, together with hundreds
of other members of the Armenian-American community, have helped to
finance several important projects in Armenia, including the
construction of new schools, a mammography clinic, and a crucial
roadway connecting Armenia to Nagorno Karabagh. In the House, I have
tried to assist the efforts of my Armenian- American constituency by
continually supporting foreign aid to Armenia. This past year, with
my support, Armenia received $84 million in U.S. aid to assist
economic and military development. In addition, on April 16, 2004, I
joined several of my colleagues in signing the letter to President
Bush urging him to honor his pledge to recognize the Armenian
Genocide. The Armenian people have a long and proud history. In the
fourth century, they became the first nation to embrace
Christianity. During World War I, the Ottoman Empire was ruled by an
organization known as the Young Turk Committee, which allied with
Germany. Amid fighting in the Ottoman Empire’s eastern Anatolian
provinces, the historic heartland of the Christian Armenians, Ottoman
authorities ordered the deportation and execution of all Armenians in
the region. By the end of 1923, virtually the entire Armenian
population of Anatolia and western Armenia had either been killed or
deported. While it is important to keep the lessons of history in
mind, we must also remain committed to protecting Armenia from new and
more hostile aggressors. In the last decade, thousands of lives have
been lost and more than a million people displaced in the struggle
between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabagh. Even now, as we
rise to commemorate the accomplishments of the Armenian people and
mourn the tragedies they have suffered, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and other
countries continue to engage in a debilitating blockade of this free
nation. Consistently, I have testified before the Foreign Operations
Appropriations Subcommittee on the important issue of bringing peace
to a troubled area of the world. I continued my support for
maintaining the level of funding for the Southern Caucasus region of
the Independent States (IS), and of Armenia in particular. In
addition, on February 26, 2004, I joined several of my colleagues in
sending a letter to President Bush urging nim to ensure parity in
military assistance between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Mr. Speaker, I
would like to thank my colleagues, Representatives Joe Knollenberg and
Frank Pallone, for organizing this special order to commemorate the
89th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Their efforts will not only
help bring needed attention to this tragic period in world history,
but also serve to remind us of our duty to protect basic human rights
and freedoms around the world.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

89TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Weiner) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. WEINER. Mr. Speaker, this month many of us pause to remember the
Holocaust in Yom Hashoah commemorations. But on April 24, 1915, the
first genocide of the 20th century began. The Ottoman Empire began
rounding up a group of more than 250 Armenian intellectuals and civic
leaders. Then soldiers of Armenian descent who were serving in the
Turkish military were moved to labor camps and eventually murdered.
Across Anatolia, Armenian leaders were arrested and killed. So, too,
were the most powerless, children, women, and the elderly, all driven
from their homes into the Syrian desert. These mass deportations were
in fact slaughters. They were death marches. Soldiers themselves not
only permitted the attacks on the deportees but participated in the
killing and rapes. The inevitable end was thousands upon thousands
dying of starvation or simply being worked to death, but sometimes
these victims were the lucky ones.
When the Turks deemed deportations impractical, the genocide took
other vicious forms. In communities near the Black Sea, Armenians were
forced onto boats, driven out into the middle of the ocean, and
drowned.
In the end, 1.5 million Armenians were killed in the genocide as the
world stood by. Henry Morganthau, the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, who
pleaded with world leaders to intervene, described the Ottoman effort
to eliminate the Armenian population this way: “The whole history of
the human race contains no such horrible an episode as this.” An
American diplomat stationed in eastern Anatolia cabled back to
Washington that “it has been no secret that the plan was to destroy
the Armenian race as a race, but the methods used could not have been
more cold-blooded and barbarous, if not more effective, than I had
first supposed.”
Like communities that survived the Nazis efforts at extermination,
the Armenian community today is often faced by those who deny the
Turkish effort to commit genocide ever occurred. Despite records and
accounts preserved in our own National Archives, there have been those
bent on erasing this horrible memory from the annals of history.
We will not let that happen. That is why today’s commemoration here
in the United States Congress and those going on this week is so
crucial. If the world fails to remember the Armenian genocide of the
early 20th century, we do more than a grave injustice to those who
perished. We do a disservice to the generations who have come after us
who would be left without the collective memory that binds those who
understand the depth of evil that one community is capable of
unleashing upon another.
Yet even as we remember and grieve, we thank those in the Armenian
community for the contributions they have made around the globe since
emerging from terror 89 years ago. One need not look too far to find
Armenian-Americans who have become pillars of American society.
Armenian-Americans are influential businessmen, like Kirk Kerkorian;
famous writers, like William Saroyan; and international sports stars,
like Andre Agassi.
In New York, internationally renowned scholar and Carnegie
Corporation president Vartan Gregorian spent 8 years as president of
the New York Public Library. Arshile Gorky was a leader of the abstract
expressionist school that flourished in New York during the 1940s. And
I am particularly proud that Raymond Damadian, who invented the MRI,
was not only a resident of New York but was a neighbor of mine in
Forest Hills. His parents were survivors of the genocide.
As we gather, we also pay tribute to those who have become famous
public servants, football coaches, astronauts and others. As we gather
to commemorate the Armenian genocide, we do so as a lesson to one
another that we must not forget the lessons that were learned. We also
gather to pay a message to those who would deny that the Holocaust ever
happened. But perhaps most importantly, we gather to send a signal
across the world that those who seek to deny the Armenian genocide do a
disservice to all of us.
We here in the United States House of Representatives should delay no
further in making our voices heard in this debate. It is worth noting
that the very same people who would deny this Holocaust actively push
that we do not consider the resolution that the gentleman from
California (Mr. Schiff) has proposed.
We gather here today to pay tribute, but we also gather to put
pressure on this United States Congress to finally designate what we
all know to be the case as genocide. The first genocide of the 20th
century was not the last, tragically; but it is time that we correct
the history in the minds of many and finally declare the Armenian
genocide the holocaust that it was.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

[Congressional Record: April 27, 2004 (Extensions)]
[Page E667-E668]
>From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr27ap04-50]

COMMEMORATING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
______

HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY
of new york
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, as a proud member of the Congressional
Caucus on Armenian Issues, and the representative of a large and
vibrant community of Armenian Americans, I rise today to join my
colleagues in the sad commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.
Today, we continue the crusade to ensure that this tragedy is never
forgotten. This 89th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide is an
emotional time. The loss of life experienced by so many families is
devastating. But, in the face of the systematic slaughter of 1.5
million people, the Armenian community has persevered with a vision of
life and freedom.
Armenian Americans are representative of the resolve, bravery, and
strength of spirit that is so characteristic of Armenians around the
world. That strength carried them through humanity’s worst: Upheaval
from a homeland of 3,000 years, massacre of kin, and deportation to
foreign lands. That same strength gathers Armenians around the world to
make certain that this tragedy is never forgotten.
Without recognition and remembrance, this atrocity remains a threat
to nations around the world. I’ve often quoted philosopher George
Santayana who said: “Those who do not remember the past are condemned
to repeat it.” And to remember, we must first acknowledge what it is–
Genocide.
Tragically, more than 1.5 million Armenians were systematically
murdered at the hands of the Young Turks. More than 500,000 were
deported. It was brutal. It was deliberate. It was an organized
campaign and it lasted more than 8 years. We must make certain that we
remember.
Now, we must ensure that the world recognizes that Armenian people
have remembered, and they have survived and thrived.
Out of the crumbling Soviet Union, the Republic of Armenia was born,
and independence was gained. But, independence has not ended the
struggle.
To this day, the Turkish government denies that genocide of the
Armenian people occurred and denies its own responsibility for the
deaths of 1.5 million people.
In response to this revisionist history, the Republic of France
passed legislation that set the moral standard for the international
community. The French National Assembly unanimously passed a bill that
officially recognizes the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians in Turkey
during and after WWI as genocide.
Several nations have since joined in the belief that history should
beset straight. Canada, Argentina, Belgium, Lebanon, The Vatican,
Uruguay, the European parliament, Russia, Greece, Sweden and France,
have authored declarations or decisions confirming that the genocide
occurred. As a country, we must join these nations in recognition of
this atrocity.
[[Page E668]]
I am proud to join more than 100 of my colleagues in cosponsoring H.
Res. 193, which emphasizes the importance of remembering and learning
from past crimes against humanity. We must demand that the United
States officially acknowledge the forced exile and annihilation of 1.5
million people as genocide.
Denying the horrors of those years merely condones the behavior in
other places as was evidenced in Rwanda, Indonesia, Burundi, Sri Lanka,
Nigeria, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Iraq. Silence may have been the
signal to perpetrators of these atrocities that they could commit
genocide, deny it, and get away with it.
As Americans, the reminder of targeted violence and mass slaughter is
still raw. We lost nearly 3,000 people on September 11. I cannot
imagine the world trying to say that this did not occur. The loss of
1.5 million people is a global tragedy.
A peaceful and stable South Caucasus region is clearly in the U.S.
national interest. Recognizing the genocide must be a strategy for this
goal in an increasingly uncertain region. One of the most important
ways in which we an honor the memory of the Armenian victims of the
past is to help modern Armenia build a secure and prosperous future.
The United States has a unique history of aid to Armenia, being among
the first to recognize that need, and the first to help. I am pleased
with the U.S. involvement in the emphasis of private sector
development, regionally focused programs, people-to-people linkages and
the development of a civil society.
I recently joined many of my colleagues in requesting funding for
Armenia including for Foreign Military Financing, for Economic Support
Funds, and for assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenia has made impressive progress in rebuilding a society and a
nation in the face of dramatic obstacles. I will continue to take a
strong stand in support of Armenia’s commitment to democracy, the rule
of law, and a market economy–I am proud to stand with Armenia in doing
so. But there is more to be done. Conflict persists in the Nagorno-
Karabakh region.
Congress has provided funding for confidence building in that region,
and I will continue my support of that funding and the move toward a
brighter future for Armenia. But in building our future, we must not
forget our past. That is why I strongly support the efforts of the
Armenian community in the construction of the Armenian Genocide
Memorial and Museum. Because so many Armenians have spoken of the
destruction, they have made certain that we remember.
Nothing we can do or say will bring those who perished back to life,
but we can imbue their memories with everlasting meaning by teaching
the lessons of the Armenian genocide to the next generation and help
Armenia build its future.
____________________
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918 Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
April 28, 2004
Contact: Armen Carapetian 818.500.1918
Co-Chairman of Kerry Presidential Campaign Praises ANC for Genocide
Recognition Efforts
Los Angeles, CA – Antonio Villaraigosa, the national co-chairman of the John
Kerry Presidential Campaign, read Senator Kerry’s April 24th statement
before thousands of Armenian-Americans at an event sponsored by the Armenian
National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR). The gathering
occurred in the shadow of the Armenian Genocide Monument in Montebello,
California on April 24, 2004.
`The City of Los Angeles will never forget the Armenian Genocide and I,
along with the Armenian National Committee, will do whatever I can to honor
the memory of the 1.5 million martyrs,’ said Councilmember Antonio
Villaraigosa. `In the ten years that I have served in public office, the
Armenian National Committee has consistently been the leading advocate of
issues relating to the Armenian-American community, and I have always valued
the close relationship we share.’
`We want to thank Senator Kerry for his April 24th Armenian Genocide
Statement and Councilman Villaraigosa for sharing this message with our
community,’ stated ANCA-WR Chairman Raffi Hamparian. `Councilman
Villaraigosa understands our long struggle for justice,’ he added.
Villaraigosa participated in an ANCA-WR sponsored Armenian Genocide program
held at Los Angeles City Hall on April 23, 2004. The Councilman spoke to
Armenian-American leaders at that solemn commemoration and then joined his
colleague and event sponsor Councilman Eric Garcetti in passing a resolution
affirming the historical facts of the Armenian Genocide. The resolution
emphasized the need to challenge those who deny crimes against humanity like
the Armenian Genocide.
Villaraigosa is the former Speaker of the California State Assembly and now
serves as a member of the Los Angeles City Council.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is the largest and most
influential Armenian American grassroots political organization. Working in
coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout
the United States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA
actively advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad
range of issues.
####

Minneapolis Star Tribune , MN
April 29 2004
Strong backing for St. Paul immigration ordinance

Illegal immigrants deserve to feel safe in their communities without
fear that police will report them to the federal government,
according to a unified message sent to the St. Paul City Council on
Wednesday.
Backers of a proposed ordinance that would free St. Paul police from
having to concern themselves with immigration status packed City
Council chambers at a public hearing. Among the speakers were
representatives of unions, religious organizations and a lawyers’
group, and immigrant and civil rights activists.
“The war on terrorism is becoming a war on immigration,” said Howard
Goldman, who represented the Jewish Community Action.
Ilean Her, executive director of the state Council on Asian Pacific
Minnesotans, told of a young Filipino woman who came to the United
States as what she described as a “mail-order bride.”
She was beaten by her husband, who took her passport and forced her
into prostitution, Her told the council. Police were alerted when the
woman sought help at a domestic violence shelter, Her said.
“She did not know she could go to the police,” Her said. “She did not
know they could protect her. … There should not have been this fear
that her immigration status would stop the police from treating her
humanely.”
Council Member Pat Harris, who sponsored the ordinance, got choked up
as he recalled the previous generations of his family who immigrated
from Armenia, Ireland and Germany.
“I’m very proud to do something like this today,” he said, his voice
shaking as he urged the council to support the measure.
The council is scheduled to vote on May 5. Most of the seven council
members have voiced their support, as has Mayor Randy Kelly.
Jackie Crosby
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Washington Post, DC
April 29 2004
Held Over by Request
An Impromptu Assist Turns Into a Six-Week Booking
By Jonathan Padget
Washington Post Staff Writer
Music is integral to the new play “Rosemary and I” at Alexandria’s
MetroStage. The tale of a singer, Rosemary, and her intense,
mysterious relationship with her female accompanist is staged with
live musicians — New York pianist John Hodian and his wife, vocalist
Bet Williams — who add a haunting soundscape, composed by Hodian, to
the intricate drama.

Critical reaction to the play has been mixed, though Hodian and
Williams have garnered positive notice for their musical
contribution. They have also taken advantage of their MetroStage
engagement to give concerts as Epiphany Project, their identity for a
genre-blurring musical collaboration that combines everything from
avant-garde folk and Americana to classical art song and art-pop.
When Hodian started work on the play last year, though, he had no
idea that he and Williams would relocate to Alexandria for six weeks
of rehearsals and performances, with their 4-month-old son and a
nanny in tow. It was a much simpler proposition at first.
A fan of playwright Leslie Ayvazian since seeing an earlier work of
hers, “Nine Armenians,” Hodian asked her to write the libretto for an
Armenian-themed opera he envisions. The artists share Armenian
heritage, and Ayvazian responded enthusiastically to Hodian’s
request, with one condition: She would collaborate on the opera if
Hodian would first write music for her “Rosemary and I.”
Fair enough, Hodian thought. By the time a staged reading was held
last summer during a new-play festival at the Kennedy Center, he had
recorded the piano-vocal score with the help of Williams, and
traveled to Washington for the reading. He was expecting merely to
cue music from a CD. But a planned technical rehearsal fell through,
and suddenly the cast was in a room with only a piano for last-minute
preparations before taking the stage.
So much for simplicity.
Though Hodian had written the score, he hadn’t memorized it. But he
was undaunted. He sat down at the piano and did a little improvising.
Ayvazian was reading the part of the elderly Rosemary’s adult
daughter Julia (which she also plays now at MetroStage), and she had
enlisted a longtime friend, Oscar-winner Olympia Dukakis, to read the
part of Rosemary in preparation for directing the full MetroStage
production.
“As soon as I played the first cue,” Hodian recalls, “Olympia goes,
‘Wow, that was great. I wish we were doing that instead of what’s on
the CD.’ ” Her enthusiasm grew with every musical interlude until she
proclaimed that Hodian must perform for the reading, which at that
point was about 30 minutes from starting. Center staff nixed the idea
at first, Hodian says, “but then she kind of does her Olympia thing,
and suddenly there’s a nine-foot Steinway onstage — and it’s tuned.”
While the shift to live music for the current run of “Rosemary and I”
was unexpected, Hodian and Williams have no complaints about the
upheaval of their New York routine. It’s a “nice family project,”
says Hodian of the opportunity to work with Williams on both theater
and concert performance.
“What makes it so interesting,” says Judith Roberts, the actress who
plays Rosemary, “is that here is a woman who’s much later in her
life, and you hear this young voice . . . coming at you in a way from
the past, which reinforces the idea of searching for memories. It’s
very evocative, and [Williams] has a wonderful voice — very
powerful.”
Roberts was in the audience for Hodian and Williams’s Epiphany
Project concert Sunday night, featuring songs from their self-titled
2001 album on their independent label, Epiphany Records. Another
concert is scheduled for this Sunday.
“For each song, we just do the things we love,” says Williams,
describing their unbounded approach to musicmaking. A follow-up album
is in the works.
Though many independent musicians relish not being easily
categorized, says Hodian, he wouldn’t mind Epiphany Project having a
clearer market niche.
“We’d love to be categorized,” he says. “I wish we could say, ‘Hey,
it’s this,” and we could go play all the blues festivals, or play
classical music venues only, or whatever. But it really is a bunch of
different things. We do whatever we feel like musically.”
Epiphany Project bookings have been easier to come by in Europe,
where Hodian and Williams have found audiences and club owners
especially receptive to their eclectic style. Still, Epiphany Project
enjoys a devoted fan base in the United States, drawn from occasional
exposure on public radio and crossover from Williams’s work as a folk
solo artist.
“The people who like it,” Williams says, “like it a lot.”
“We have enough fans to keep buying the records,” adds Hodian, “and
to enable us to make another one, and who’ll keep coming to shows.
That’ll continue to make it worth us coming out for.”
Epiphany Project, at MetroStage, 1201 N. Royal St., Alexandria.
Sunday at 7 p.m. $20.
Rosemary and I continues through May 9. $32-$38. Call 703-548-9044 or
visit
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress