Author: Emil Lazarian

Armenian TV buyer denies front man charges
Arminfo
28 Apr 04
YEREVAN
In an interview with an Arminfo correspondent, the new owner of the
Armenian TV company Kentron (Centre), prominent businessman and MP of
parliament, Murad Guloyan, denied rumours that the true owner of the
controlling block of shares in the company is the chairman of the
Multi-group concern and oligarch, Gagik Tsarukyan.
Murad Guloyan stressed that he owns 100 per cent shares in the
company. “I have bought the shares in Kentron TV with my own money and
reports that I bought the company with Gagik Tsarukyan’s money do not
correspond to reality,” the MP said.
Murad Guloyan is confident that in the near future he will make huge
profit from the investment in the TV business. To recap, Murad Guloyan
bought the shares in Kentron TV from the head of the Ars-oil company,
businessman and MP of the Armenian National Assembly, Gurgen Arsenyan.

Paper reacts to USA reportedly wanting its political system in Azerbaijan
Zerkalo, Baku
30 Apr 04
Not only we, the Azerbaijanis, but international organizations, which
have interests in the region, and the leading world countries are
concerned about the future of Azerbaijan’s political system as
well. In this situation the Baku government is naturally forced to
listen to many advises and recommendations. Despite the fact that
Azerbaijan has been independent for more than 10 years, the country
has been lacking a stable political system up till now. The point is
not even about the level of democracy in Azerbaijan. There is a need
to at least determine what type of multiparty democracy we aspire to
and then move in that direction. But this is not a simple issue. The
subject of this article is, however, different. It is about the
Americans’ vision of Azerbaijan’s political system.
According to informed sources, Azerbaijan is the only country in the
post-Soviet area where the USA will try to conduct an experiment of
its kind and introduce the US system of the two-party democracy.
[Passage omitted: about US political system]
The Americans believe that in Azerbaijan, as they say, the natural
course of events helps to establish the two-party system of this
kind. They are guided by the proverb that “every cloud has a silver
lining”. They think that the regionalism, which exists in the country
at the current stage and has almost decisive impact on political
processes, creates a good base to apply in Azerbaijan the US system of
the two-party democracy. At first sight, this is a logical, but very
primitive plan.
Thus, let us detail the US plan on building our political system. They
believe that the incumbent political elite, which mostly consists of
the people born in Naxcivan [Azerbaijani exclave] and Armenia, may
become a prototype of one of the parties of this kind. All others, who
are currently united around the people born in Karabakh and who are
the most active part of the population as a consequence, will join a
second party. It is not important in this case who will be leaders of
these parties and what names they will acquire. The main thing is to
implement this scheme. In addition, the two-party democracy proposed
by the Americans, as a whole, fits in the first-past-the-post system
of elections endorsed in the Azerbaijani Constitution.
Strengthening of the regional elite will lead to two undesirable
consequences. First, in our opinion, this will lead to the complete
criminalization of the political elite. It is not a secret that the
human rights and democracy situation in the regions is much worse and
everything is under local groups’ patronage there. This, in fact,
means that local, let us name them, Mafia groups will govern
Azerbaijan’s political system for many years. Their leaders have
neither special intellect nor political tolerance.
Second, without changing the country’s administrative and territorial
division, the moves for strengthening the local elite may stimulate
separatist trends, especially given the existing Karabakh problem. In
addition, some external forces both in the country’s north and south
stimulate trends of this kind.
Authors of this plan do not take into consideration that its
implementation in Azerbaijan will most probably lead not to the fall,
but to the growth of regional confrontation because Azerbaijan is a
small country unlike the USA. The regionalism in the USA is restricted
by local boundaries. As for Azerbaijan, the regionalism of the people
born and deported from Armenia has no local boundaries, i.e. depending
on the place of their residence, their political activity may cover
the whole country. In other words, if this plan is implemented,
i.e. if the two-party system is established at the regional level, the
existing circumstances will force the aforesaid people to carry out a
power struggle both in the regions and in the whole country. The same
scenario may be applied to another strong regional group, i.e. the
Karabakh one.
Finally, the main point is that national unity is a problem number one
in Azerbaijan today. It may be more serious than the Karabakh problem
because only through national unity one could determine precisely
national priorities both in internal and foreign policies. As for the
proposed American-type two-party system with regional emphasis, it
leads not to uniting the nation, but to its split, somewhat similar to
the period of khanates in the Azerbaijani history in 17th-18th
centuries.
That is why, the US model of the political system is not suitable for
Azerbaijan…[ellipsis as published].
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Press-Enterprise, CA
April 30 2004
Inland Armenian services scheduled
By BETTYE WELLS MILLER / The Press-Enterprise
Armenian Apostolic Church
What: Church service
When: 3 p.m. Sunday
Where: All Saints Episcopal Church, 3847 Terracina Drive, Riverside

It’s been 60 years since Norma Cosby worshipped in an Armenian
Apostolic Church, a lifetime since she heard the language of her
grandparents.
Now the 67-year-old Catholic is eager to attend an Armenian service
Sunday in Riverside, the first of what Inland Armenians intend to
become monthly events in a parish created in February.
“I’m a practicing Catholic, but this is a culturally intimate thing
with the Armenian church. Your culture is a part of your religion,”
the San Bernardino resident said in a telephone interview.
Inland Armenians who want to attend services of the Eastern Orthodox
Church must drive to Los Angeles or Orange counties, or the Coachella
Valley, said Betty Kalpakian Bown of Riverside. An Armenian
congregation in Palm Desert is completing a building this year.
Services there have been held monthly. Riverside services were held
once each in 1998, 2000 and 2002.
“If we want to go to church, we drive,” Bown said by phone. “We don’t
go every Sunday. It’s too far. This has been my dream from the
beginning.”
As a mission parish of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of
North America, there will be monthly services in May and June, and
again in the fall, said the Rev. Stepanos Dingilian, who will conduct
the Divine Liturgy, or Badarak, as it is known in Armenian.
“The service we have goes back 1,700 years,” Dingilian said in a
phone interview. The hymns and much of the service will be in
Armenian, with English translations, the priest said.
Cosby said Armenian services are long, ornate, and full of ritual and
symbolism.
“It’s going to bring back a lot of nice memories of going with my
grandparents,” said Cosby, who is president of the Inland Empire
Armenian Club. The club has more than 60 families on its mailing
list, with members from Banning, Beaumont, Blythe, Corona, Hemet,
Loma Linda, Redlands, Riverside, Temecula and Yucaipa. There are
about 4,150 people of Armenian ancestry living in the Inland area,
according to the 2000 census.
More than 90 percent of the approximately 10 million Armenians
worldwide belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, Dingilian said.
There are about 1.4 million Armenians in the United States, most of
them residing in Southern California.
With Sunday’s service coming a week before Mother’s Day, the priest
said his sermon will emphasize the importance of womanhood. In June,
when many students graduate from high school and college, the service
will focus on education, a central element of the Armenian church.
“The church itself embodies respecting the value of the individual
person, and the importance of the family and the community,” he said.
Dingilian said that as visiting priest he will conduct seminars and
discussions regularly. He already has met with Armenian students at
UC Riverside.
In 301, Armenia became the first nation to declare Christianity the
state religion.
The head of the church, the Catholicos of All Armenians, lives in
Etchmiadzin, Armenia, and is elected by the National Ecclesiastical
Assembly, composed of lay leaders and clergy around the world.
The other three members of the church hierarchy are: the Armenian
Church Catholicos of Cilicia, in Antelias, Lebanon; the Patriarch of
Jerusalem, and the Patriarch of Constantinople, in Istanbul, Turkey.
The Council of Bishops is the highest religious authority in the
church. Some priests are celibate, and some are married.
The Armenian Church of America was created in 1898. The Western
Diocese, which includes California, Washington, Arizona and Nevada,
was established in 1928.
The church is central to the lives of many Armenians in a way that
differs from many denominations, Dingilian said.
“It brings all of the edification of the Bible, the meaning of
Armenian civilization and history,” he said. “They find a sense of
empowerment, fulfillment and growth.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Islam Online, UK
April 30 2004
Azeri Muslims Call For Hijab Photos
Hijab is banned in photographs used in Azeri official documents

By Damir Ahmad, IOL Correspondent
BAKU, April 30 (IslamOnline.net) – The Islamic Party in Azerbaijan
appealed to President Ilham Aliyev to allow Muslim women to wear
hijab in photographs taken for official documents.
“We presented an urgent appeal to the President to that effect, as
the female party members see the matter as part of preserving their
personal freedom,” Erada Goliefa, the party’s Women Committee
chairman, said Thursday, April 29.
The Russian NTV said security officials have refused to issue
passports and IDs to women photographed with their head covered,
forcing the women and human rights groups to file lawsuits against
the government.
Goliefa said that the wife of the country’s mufti and his daughter
only are allowed to get ID photos with hijab.
“While the rest of Muslim women are not permitted to do so,” she
lamented.
The government has recently approved a personal freedom law, which
allows any Muslim woman to choose the form of their photographs
attached to official documents.
Goliefa hoped the move should go further for hijab to appear in these
photographs, which dissuaded 2000 Muslim women from casting ballots
in the recent 2003 Presidential elections as they have no IDs.
Islam deems hijab a religious obligation which has nothing to do with
portraying any political affiliation.
Goliefa called on the government to leave Muslim women meet this
obligation.
Permanent Suffering
The hijab is a nagging issue for Muslim women in the former Soviet
Union republic.
“It causes several problems for women here while they try to get
permits for hajj and Umrah,” Goliefa complained.
University officials have warned students against wearing the gear in
campus – much to the consternation of Muslim females who considered
dropping out.
Female students at three schools in Baku, the medical institute, the
pedagogical institute and Baku State University, had said that their
lecturers ordered them to remove the hijab.
Chequered Record
Azerbaijan has a remarkably chequered record on religious freedoms.
The government is frequently accused of violating religious freedoms
in its desire to shore up the country’s secular principles.
In 2002, over a hundred Muslim women have applied for political
asylum in German and French Embassies in protest at the law banning
them from wearing hijab in their passport photographs.
The women then said that the move is an affront to their honor and
dignity.
The government had also imposed on the same year compulsory
registration of religious groups, in a move considered as a new bid
to clamp down on minority faiths.
Earlier in January, Azeri security forces detained four Islamic
activists on suspicion of attempting to cross the border into
Chechnya to join independence-seekers fighting Russian forces.
Nearly 93.4 % of the population in Azerbaijan is Muslim, nearly 2.5 %
are Russian Orthodox, 2.3 % Armenian Orthodox and the other sects
have 1.8% adherents.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Saint Paul Pioneer Press
April 30, 2004, Friday
The top 10 actresses you don’t know _ but should
by By Chris Hewitt
1. TILDA SWINTON
Tilda Swinton is the best actress you’ve never heard of.
The Scottish Swinton, who earned raves for “Orlando” and
“Adaptation,” knows exactly why she isn’t a star: She can’t stomach
it. “Sometimes, these scripts come to you. You know the movies will
be made, you know they have the money to make them, you know they’ll
win Oscars, and you just can’t do them.”
For her, it’s an issue of taste (she says, “I was too
well-brought-up” to reveal titles). The movies Swinton’s interested
in making are not the kinds of movies 15 million Americans are
interested in ponying up 8 bucks for on opening weekend. In other
words, they’re nothing like the last several Angelina Jolie movies.
Other factors work against some actresses: Sandra Oh and Paula Jai
Parker get pigeonholed by an industry where women of color who aren’t
named Halle don’t sell tickets. Judy Greer’s ability to do comedy,
like Joan Cusack and Janeane Garofalo’s before her, may have typecast
her before audiences could even figure out who she is.
And, of course, all of these talented women are competing for a
limited number of roles. Although the movie audience is 60 percent
female, the percentage of female characters is much lower (of this
month’s 30 movies, only 11 feature prominent female roles). Swinton,
who generally appears in independent films such as the new “Young
Adam,” says “industrial scripts” from Hollywood reveal how
marginalized women are there.
“The leading man is always described as ‘ruggedly handsome,’ so
everyone from Tom Cruise to Dustin Hoffman can see themselves in the
role,” she says. “The script will say he’s just a ‘regular guy,’ but
at the same time, every single woman in the script _ mothers,
daughters, waitresses, all of whom are described as incredibly
beautiful _ will go weak in the knees the minute they set eyes on
him.”
Swinton believes Hollywood _ and, to a certain extent, Joe Moviegoer
_ isn’t sure what to do with women whose looks are unconventional by
Hollywood standards. Her character in “The Deep End,” for instance,
is a mother who goes to extraordinary lengths to protect her young
son, who she believes is guilty of murder. When the character is
described as “ferocious,” Swinton disagrees.
“I don’t think of her as that way at all. I don’t think any woman has
ever described the character that way. She does what a mother does,”
says Swinton. “But the male American critics all said she’s
ferocious, and I think that’s because she didn’t wear makeup and
doesn’t look gorgeous like women are supposed to in the movies.”
Maybe it’s the rough edges and surprising behavior that keep so many
fine actresses below Hollywood’s radar. Maybe if they were getting
hired for big roles in big movies, they wouldn’t be able to do what
they do best. That’s how Swinton sees it, and that’s why she says
she’s “very happy” right where she is.
“I would like to see more women on film, and, of course, I would
absolutely love to have a six-picture deal and be paid a lot of money
by Warner Brothers,” says Swinton. “But I’m not naive, and I’m not
willing to do that if it means leaving myself outside the door.”
She’s not the only one. Here are nine other actresses who _ so far,
at least _ are unwilling to check their unique talents at the door.
2. SHIRLEY HENDERSON
She’s prolific _ seven films in 2002 alone _ but if a big part of
what makes a star is a larger-than-life quality, then it’s no mystery
why Henderson remains virtually unknown. Her characters are exactly
life-sized. Moviegoers may know her face _ she was the title
character’s best friend in “Bridget Jones’s Diary” and Moaning Myrtle
in the second “Harry Potter” _ but they aren’t getting the full
picture. She’s a woman who seems to have become a good mother just to
spite her ex-husband in “Wonderland,” a drug-addicted tearstain of a
singer in “Topsy-Turvy” and an achingly vulnerable survivor of the
romantic wars in this year’s “Intermission.” Bruised and battered,
her prickly character spends all of “Intermission” being teased for a
mustache she’s told resembles either Burt Reynolds’ or Tom Selleck’s
(glamour is another Hollywood quality Henderson lacks). She only lets
down her defenses in the lyrical finale, in which Henderson reveals
the hurt beneath her bravado.
You’ve seen her in: “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”
You should see her in: “Intermission”
3. HOPE DAVIS
Her high-profile role as Jack Nicholson’s whiny daughter in “About
Schmidt” and the one-two punch of last year’s “American Splendor” and
“The Secret Lives of Dentists” _ both well-reviewed, underseen films
_ helped her line up four big movies in the next 19 months. In those
films, which include “Proof,” opposite Gwyneth Paltrow, and “The
Weatherman,” opposite Nicolas Cage, audiences will get a chance to
see how wry and down-to-earth Davis’ talent is. When she’s miscast,
as she was as the shrewish mom in “Hearts in Atlantis,” it’s as if
she’s wearing a straitjacket. But put her in the right part _ as the
beleaguered mom in “Dentists,” coping with three daughters, her
confused husband and her own malaise _ and Davis fills in the margins
with humor, determination and a weary sense of having seen and
learned too much.
You’ve seen her in: “About Schmidt”
You should see her in: “The Secret Lives of Dentists”
4. SARAH POLLEY
She almost got left off this list because “Dawn of the Dead” has
given her enough oomph to merit an Entertainment Weekly puff piece.
But even “Dawn” fans probably aren’t familiar with Polley’s best
work. A look at her resume makes it clear she’s attracted to
iconoclastic, personal films by directors with skewed visions. Not
exactly the stuff of big box office, but this former child star in
Canada (she was Ramona Quimby in the “Ramona” series that also aired
here) hasn’t made a false move since “The Sweet Hereafter” in 1997.
That movie established her ethereal, deceptively steely, presence.
Polley has excelled in small roles in surreal experiments (David
Cronenberg’s “eXistenZ”), large roles in riskier Hollywood comedies
(“Go”) and _ when a director is smart enough to cast her _ huge role
in dramas that reveal painful, complicated emotions (“My Life Without
Me,” where she’s a woman figuring out what she wants to do before she
dies of cancer).
You’ve seen her in: “Dawn of the Dead”
You should see her in: “My Life Without Me”
5. ARSINEE KHANJIAN
Being married to a great director may hurt Khanjian’s career more
than it helps. Yeah, she gets to be in all of Atom Egoyan’s features,
but that’s practically all she’s been in. Do people assume she’s busy
working on his films? Or don’t the other movies she is offered
measure up? The Canadian-Armenian Khanjian has intriguing roles in
the French films “Late August, Early September,” “Irma Vep” and “Fat
Girl,” but her fierce intelligence is best showcased in Egoyan’s
films. Check out “Felicia’s Journey,” where she wittily hinted at the
dark side of being a domestic goddess long before Martha Stewart’s
downfall. And “The Sweet Hereafter,” where she plays a mother,
grieving for a child killed in a bus accident, who challenges the
platitudes of a lawyer urging her to file suit against the bus
company. Alone among that film’s mournful characters, she recognizes
immediately that finding someone to blame will bring her no comfort.
You’ve seen her in: “The Sweet Hereafter”
You should see her in: “Felicia’s Journey”
6. PAULA JAI PARKER
It always gives me a little lift to see Parker’s name in the credits
because I know that, even if the movie stinks, she’s going to do
something fresh and surprising. And, by the way, virtually all of the
movies she’s in do stink _ she’s at her most inventive in otherwise
worthless comedies such as “Sprung” or “My Baby’s Daddy.” As a black
woman, she’s in a double minority, movie-wise, which means she’s
competing with a very talented group of actresses for a limited
number of roles. She doesn’t end up with the best roles, but she can
make even the cliched role of a saucy hooker in “Phone Booth” seem
vivid and funny by attacking it like a dog devouring a bone. Humor
and perseverance are her weapons, and there isn’t an actress with
more energy in the movies today.
You’ve seen her in: “Friday”
You should see her in: “My Baby’s Daddy”
7. SANDRA OH
Wry, straightforward Oh made a bewitching debut as a young woman
rebelling against the Chinese traditions of her uptight family in
1994’s “Double Happiness,” and she hasn’t had a well-rounded role
since. It’s a common malady for actresses who make big, early
splashes: “Welcome to the movies, and don’t slam the door on your way
out.” Oh has taken what she could find, including providing what
humor and class she could to the wretched HBO series, “Arliss,” and
small roles in “The Princess Diaries” and “Under the Tuscan Sun”
(where she was Diane Lane’s wise-cracking pal), but here’s hoping
marrying Alexander Payne, who wrote and directed “About Schmidt,”
will lead to better roles. Anyway, she’s in Payne’s next film,
“Sideways.”
You’ve seen her in: “Under the Tuscan Sun”
You should see her in: “Double Happiness”
8. ISABELLE HUPPERT
I’ve seen Huppert in at least 40 films, and I still can’t get a bead
on her. Her characters usually have secrets _ whether it’s the
privately tormented title role in “The Piano Teacher,” the homicidal
mom in “Merci pour le Chocolat” or the prim nag in “8 Women” _ and
they’re almost always upper-class, maybe because Huppert’s slightly
turned-up nose and delicate features have a patrician air. France’s
top actress for more than two decades, Huppert wouldn’t have to take
chances at this point in her career, but she’s drawn to dark stories
that explore the extremes of emotional behavior. And her gift goes
deeper than simply protecting her characters’ secrets; by artfully
revealing and withholding information, Huppert shows us the secrets
the characters keep from themselves.
You’ve seen her in: “Heaven’s Gate”
You should see her in: “The Piano Teacher”
9. EMILY MORTIMER
A native of London, although she has a flawless American accent,
Mortimer belongs in the women’s role hall of fame for her work in
“Lovely and Amazing,” in which she played a woman who has gravitated
to a job guaranteed to make her feel rotten about herself: acting. In
a breathtaking scene in which she strips and demands that her
boyfriend tell her everything that’s “wrong” with her body, Mortimer
shows a woman coming to terms with herself. That character has formed
a template for Mortimer. In the upcoming “Bright Young Things,” where
she’s a British party girl who’s tired of martinis and cocktail
dresses, and in the musical version of “Love’s Labours Lost,” where
her charming voice doesn’t seem to match her uncertain footwork, she
seems intent on reminding us that not being sure of ourselves is a
fact of life.
You’ve seen her in: “Scream 3”
You should see her in: “Lovely and Amazing”
10. JUDY GREER
The go-to person for Joan Cusack roles that Joan Cusack doesn’t want
to do, Greer has made a nice little career out of playing the ditzy,
slightly pathetic sidekick. She’s made 20 movies in the past six
years, playing that part in virtually all of them, most memorably as
the suicidal woman who helped Mel Gibson figure out “What Women
Want.” Hollywood often slots funny women into that Eve Arden/Joan
Cusack/Janeane Garofalo role, but her career is taking a turn for the
better. In the current “13 Going on 30,” she’s still the best friend,
but a hilariously mean one. And the current “Hebrew Hammer” is no
classic, but it lets Greer play something higher-profile films
haven’t: a romantic lead, a film noir-like mystery woman who is
complicated enough to be sexy, confused and _ yes _ funny, too. Greer
has a bunch of stuff lined up, including the next film by Cameron
Crowe (“Elizabethtown”), who has a history of finding interesting
ways to use the talents of offbeat actresses such as Lili Taylor and
Frances McDormand.
You’ve seen her in: “What Women Want”
You should see her in: “The Hebrew Hammer”
___
Chris Hewitt: [email protected]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian Assembly of America
122 C Street, NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:
PRESS RELEASE
April 30, 2004
CONTACT: David Zenian
E-mail: [email protected]
ASSEMBLY ACTIVISTS MARK ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DAY IN WASHINGTON
Washington, DC — Armenian activists from across the United States, in
Washington for the Assembly’s National Conference and Banquet, gathered for
a memorial service at the Bethlehem Chapel of the National Cathedral April
18th to commemorate the 89th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
The hour-long inter-denominational service was organized by Diocean Legate
Bishop Vicken Aykazian and joined by the Archbishop of Baltimore Cardinal
William H. Keeler, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches
Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar, the Rabbi of B’nai Israel Congregation Mathew Simon,
Vicar of the Washington National Cathedral Right Rev. A. Theodore Eastman,
pastor of St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church Father Vertanes Kalaydjian, the
St. Mary Church choir and Orthodox, Presbyterian and Armenian clergy.
The deeply moving and emotional service for the repose of souls,
Hokehankist, which this year coincided with Holocaust Remembrance Day, or
Yom HaShoah, was also a celebration of life and a reflection of the unity of
purpose and values shared by inter-faith communities in the United States.
The congregation, many of whom traveled hundreds and even thousands of miles
to Washington, heard Cardinal Keeler, Rev. Dr. Edgar and Rabbi Simon speak
of their personal experiences and understanding of the Armenian Genocide.
The more than 250 participants in the Genocide memorial service included
members of the Assembly, the Armenian General Benevolent Union and the
Eastern and Western Diocese of the Armenian Church — the cooperating
partners of the Assembly’s April 18-20 National Conference and Banquet.
In his brief address, Rabbi Simon said it was no coincidence that this
solemn day in the history of the Armenian people this year coincided with
the Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“On July 16, 1915, nine decades ago, the American Ambassador to the Ottoman
Empire sent a telegram to the secretary of State in Washington warning
America that a ‘campaign of race extermination is in progress against
peaceful Armenians.’ In the language of the Torah, ‘Your brother’s blood is
crying …’ Yet the crying has continued through the decades. Sadly it shall
until we learn the correct answer to God’s first question: ‘Where is your
brother Abel?’ and the answer is, we are our ‘brother’s keeper’,” Rabbi
Simon said.
In his homily, Cardinal Keeler said it was not until his visit two years ago
to Armenia and a tour of the Genocide Memorial on the hills overlooking
Yerevan that he fully understood the magnitude of what the Armenians endured
in the early years of the 20th century.
“We now reflect together on one of the most tragic events of the 20th
century, the terrible slaughter of so many Armenians in what is aptly
described as genocide, one of the number of events in Armenian history that
brought so many to martyrdom,” Cardinal Keeler said.
In his own homily, Rev. Dr. Edgar underlined the importance of learning from
the lessons of the Genocide to avoid future injustice and bloodshed.
“It is important for us to remember what happened in 1915 to Armenians, what
happened 10 years ago to Rwandans and what will inevitably happen over and
over again. If we do not speak out against injustice wherever it might be
found, history will repeat itself. We have to always ask: When will we ever
learn?” Rev. Dr. Edgar said.
The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide
organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian
issues. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.
NR#2004-049

Heir to Air: Popular newspaper editor takes over MP-owned television company
30 April 2004
By Zhanna Alexanyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
The editor of a leading oppositional newspaper has taken over leadership of
a Yerevan television company that has tangential government affiliation.
The new director.
Aram Abrahamyan, editor of Aravot (Morning), Armenia’s leading daily, has
been named director of the former Kentron (Center) television company, an
enterprise recently purchased by pro-government National Assembly member and
businessman Murad Guloyan. The newly-named company will air May 10.
The TV company was previously owned (for one year) by another MP, Gurgen
Arsenyan. Recent coverage by the channel of oppositional party
demonstrations was not favorable for the government, leading to speculation
that Arsenyan was later pressured by authorities to sell the company.
The appointment has raised questions of whether the oppositional journalist
and the MP-owned television company will have matching ambitions for how the
station should position itself in Armenia’s media, broadly divided according
to political persuasion.
Media observers are further intrigued that Abrahamyan will be inheriting a
channel that, in its inception two years ago, helped kick A1+ off the
airwaves, stirring a controversy alleging government censorship which
continues these two years later.
(In April 2002, A1+, the republic’s leading oppositional channel, lost its
license in a disputed bidding war in which a presidential-appointed
commission gave the license to Sharm, primarily an entertainment and
advertising company that did not even have a reporting staff at the time.
Guloyan bought the company last week .)
Abrahamyan was in fact a co-founder, with Mesrop Movsisyan, of A1+ in 1991
and until the channel lost its license, was host of its most popular talk
show, “Post Script”.
Abrahamyan says he puts his journalistic reputation behind his new role and
that Aravot television will in fact join efforts to see A1+ resume
broadcast. But he says any speculation that Aravot will become the new A1+
are “absurd”.
“The Aravot TV, which I will be heading will become a rostrum from where we
will always speak about the opening of A1+,” Abrahamyan says. “I will be
participating in all kinds of events (marches, demonstrations) which will be
organized in support of A1+.”
Abrahamyan goes so far, in fact, to say that should the National TV and
Radio Commission hold a contest for the 37 th frequency (currently held by
Aravot, but previously belonging to A1+), “we will not take part in it and
will do everything possible to help A1+ win the contest”.
The new director dismisses notions that either his newspaper or his
television company should be labeled.
“Political figures can be oppositional or pro-governmental but these
categories must not touch us,” he says.
Guloyan, who is in his first term as MP, was elected on the ticket of the
Republican party (though he, himself, is not a member). Not a well-known
figure in Armenia, he is the owner of Milta, a food-production company. He
comes from the same village as Armenian strongman Gagik “Dodi Gago”
Tsarukyan. Some interested parties have speculated that the powerful
millionaire is behind the purchase of the television company, which is
believed to have sold for $500,000.
Recent news programming (prior to Guloyan’s purchase) by Kentron was praised
by Abrahamyan, especially for its coverage of the violent April 13 clash
between State police and oppositional protestors.
Kentron, “was the most independent media among all others,” Abrahamyan says.
But others are claiming that those very reports riled the government and
that Arsenyan was “forced” by high-level government officials to sell his
company because of his company’s broadcast of the clashes between police and
demonstrators.
It is an opinion shared by A1+ director Mesrop Movsesyan.
Movsesyan says that, when A1+ was denied its license, President Robert
Kocharyan promised to create another company like it. Kentron, Movsisyan
says, was to have been that channel.
“The president wanted to do that via Gurgen Arsenyan,” Movsisyan says, “but
when Arsenyan stumbled, he was forced to sell Kentron.”
Unofficial talk in Yerevan is that Kocharyan in fact called a meeting with
Arsenyan following the broadcasts of the April 13 events.
Ashot Kocharyan, spokesman for the President told ArmeniaNow there is no
record of a meeting between the President and Arsenayn. The spokesman had no
comment on rumors to that effect.
ArmeniaNow attempted to get Arsenyan’s version of the claims. He said he is
reserving comment on the matter until after the new company begins its
broadcast. Asked whether Arsenyan had been pressured into selling Kentron,
an assistant for Arsenyan said the MP “does not wish to speak about it now”.
Movsesyan, meanwhile, criticizes his former colleague Abrahamyan for taking
the directorship of a company that effectively put A1+ off the air.
“By making that decision, he (Abrahamyan) demonstrated that he has changed
his team,” Movsisyan said. “Of course, this country always needed an
imitator like Aram in the struggle of freedom of speech, and such person was
found. Aram is a good journalist and he can create an imitation of an
independent channel. I’m only surprised that he agreed to that.”
Abrahamyan, though, refutes accusations that he has switched his political
allegiance by assuming a position seen as connected to the government.
The journalist says he is confident the new owner will not use the
television company as a rostrum for advancing his politics.
“It’s just a business for him to make investments for gaining profits in the
future,” Abrahamyan says. “I’m sure this is the only way for creating
independent media. Media, but not the means for propaganda.”
Abrahamyan, a musicologist by profession, graduated Yerevan State
Conservatory and defended his Ph.D. thesis. He served as press secretary for
the first president after independence, Levon Ter Pertrosyan. He became
editor of Aravot newspaper in 1994.
Before hosting the A1+ talk show, Abrahamyan had been host of various music
programs.
“I always dreamt of working in TV,” he says. “When I first came to TV in
1983 I realized it was my world and I had always been dreaming of working
there.”
His aim at Aravot TV, he says, is to direct a company that serves the public
need for reliable information.
“The strategic goal of the TV company is to become an informational and
public channel like Freedom radio station,” says Abrahamyan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Outbreak in Aygabats: Animal deaths, threat to humans continue to plague
village
30 april 2004
By Marianna Grigoryan
ArmeniaNow.com reporter
A case of human anthrax infection is believed to have been found in the
Aygabats village of Shirak region. Last week, ArmeniaNow reported an
outbreak of the disease that had caused the deaths of 40 cattle. Tigran
Sahakyan.
On Tuesday (April 27), villager Harutyun Khachatryan, who had been in
contact with the infected animals, showed symptoms of anthrax infection and
was taken to hospital in Gyumri.
Doctors say Khachatryan is in satisfactory condition, but, in the village
tensions are high, as animals continue to die.
“This week the number of dead animals in the village has reached 48,” says
head of the village Gagik Altunyan. “The village is still in quarantine,
members of the committee pay frequent visits and do tests, but our situation
is still unclear.”
The outbreak started after April 15 when animals began to die following
anti-anthrax vaccinations.
The chief veterinary doctor of the republic Anushavan Aghajanyan visited the
village and expressed a preliminary opinion that the reason of the cattle’s
death was anthrax.
A special committee was formed to determine if the cause of the outbreak was
the vaccine. Tests were sent to Moscow for evaluation.
Minister of Agriculture David Lokyan would not reveal the name of the
company producing the vaccine. He did say, however, that if tests proved the
vaccine was faulty, compensation for the villagers would be demanded of the
company.
“Information that the reason of deaths in Aygabats is our vaccine is
slander,” said director of Biopreparat LLC Tigran Sahakyan.
Sahakyan says that only 15 days ago more than 400 cattle in the Vayk region
were vaccinated with the same vaccine and there have been no ill effects
since.
“The vaccine has been produced during five years by the same scientific
group and during those years we have done 10 million vaccinations of animals
in different regions of the republic,” says Sahakyan. “And there’s never
been such a case. Though it’s true that vaccination time coincided with the
time when animals died, that alone is not enough to accuse out company. If
during five years we provided the vaccine with absolutely no problems, this
already shows for itself.”
Sahakyan says that before the vaccine is administered it is tested by
specialists and that such tests revealed no problems with the medicine
applied in Aygabats.
The vaccine .
“There are no components in the vaccine which can cause anthrax,” he says.
“The product itself can fight against anthrax but it cannot cause that
disease.”
Doctor of veterinary sciences, Meruzhan Zadayan was among scientists
investigating the Aygabats case and says the vaccine is not to blame.
“The anti-anthrax serum is one of the few vaccinations that has strict
rules,” says Zadayan. “It is obvious that these rules have been violated in
the village.”
According to the specialist, the vaccine cannot be used for instance on
animals in the last stages of pregnancy, or during cold or hot weather, or
on exhausted animals. Nor can it be combined with other vaccines. (In
Aygabats at the time of vaccination, nights reached temperatures below
freezing.)
According to Zadayan the anti-anthrax vaccine was used on cows and mixed
with a separate vaccine for another disease.
“I don’t want to rush, but the problem in Aygabats is obviously different,
there are indexes of several diseases,” says Sahakyan. “Not only
non-vaccinated cattle has died but dogs and cats as well. They do not get
infected with anthrax.”

A1 Plus | 18:10:01 | 28-04-2004 | Social |
“GREEN SLAUGHTER” IN YEREVAN
This morning the residents of N 143 building of South-Western block
have held a protest action demanding to preserve the park they have
themselves planted nearby their houses. It has been given to someone
to build a shop there.
The residents are more concerned about the fact that Municipality has
rejected their application on improving and protecting the territory.
People say the park where the Monument for War Fighters is located was
sold at an auction. Trees were already cut for constructing the shop.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Council of Europe hearings on Armenia of benefit to Turks, Azeris – premier
Arminfo
28 Apr 04
YEREVAN
The discussions on the internal political situation in Armenia during
the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe [PACE] totally meet the interests of Turkey and Azerbaijan,
Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan said at the Armenian
National Assembly today.
According to Markaryan, this is proved by the fact that the Turkish
and Azerbaijani parliamentary delegations have voted for the inclusion
of this issue in the agenda of the PACE spring session. Rumours are
being disseminated in Strasbourg now that several opposition MPs have
been deprived of their immunity in Armenia, he said.
Markaryan believes that all this is being done to discredit Armenia in
the international arena and worsen the internal political situation in
the republic. “What is going on in Armenia and Strasbourg at the
moment is of benefit to Azerbaijan and Turkey,” he added.
At the same time, Markaryan expressed his confidence that the Armenian
delegation will not lose its mandate in PACE. Armenian Defence
Minister Serzh Sarkisyan has expressed the same opinion.