Author: Emil Lazarian

Azerbaijan foreign minister calls for dialogue over war on Karabakh
Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
19 Apr 04

[Presenter Namiq Aliyev] Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov has said that the Prague meeting [with Armenian Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanyan] was of a fact-finding character. In an
exclusive interview with Azad Azarbaycan TV, Mr Mammadyarov spoke
about the importance of meetings of this kind for a peaceful
settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.
[Correspondent, over archive footage of Prague] The main result of the
Prague meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers
is that the sides have agreed to continue the talks, Mammadyarov
said. The minister said that at the meeting the US president’s Caspian
envoy, Steven Mann, received a mandate [as OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairman] from his predecessor, Rudolf Perina. Mammadyarov said
that Mr Mann made a good impression. No specific proposals were
discussed at the meeting, he added.
[Mammadyarov] No, there are no new proposals for the time being. We
finished our fact-finding meeting.
[Correspondent] We should note that Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan said before the talks that Nagornyy Karabakh will never be
part of Azerbaijan and that its security will be guaranteed only in
two cases, either through Nagornyy Karabakh’s operation as an
independent state or its annexation to Armenia. But Mammadyarov said
that the Azerbaijani government stood firm on the issue.
[Mammadyarov] Every meeting certainly brings more hope. You are aware
of Azerbaijan’s position. We stand firm on this.
[Correspondent] Mammadyarov commented on bellicose statements from
both sides. The Azerbaijani government is going to solve the problem
peacefully and is confident that this is the most suitable way,
Mammadyarov said. He said priority will be given not to the military
option but dialogue.
[Mammadyarov] It is too early to speak about peace or war. For the
time being 20 per cent of the Azerbaijani lands are under
occupation. The point is what option should be used to liberate these
lands.
[Correspondent] Mammadyarov also said that the date of the foreign
ministers’ next meeting had not been specified in Prague. He said the
sides will decide on the issue depending on the situation.
Rasad Huseynov, Emil Aliyarli, “Son Xabar”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Daily warns of attempts to incite ethnic discord in Azerbaijan
Zerkalo, Baku
20 Apr 04

Azerbaijani newspaper Zerkalo has reported that some forces might
attempt to incite ethnic discord in the country. The Russian special
services are planning to use the ethnic minorities in the north of
Azerbaijan as a destabilizing factor, the newspaper
reported. Conflicts on religious grounds cannot be ruled out either,
Zerkalo said. It warned of a possible attack by Wahabbi militants from
Dagestan and said that Iran’s policy was to blame for the upsurge in
Islamic organizations in Azerbaijan. The following is an excerpt from
A. Rasidoglu report by Azerbaijani newspaper Zerkalo on 20 April
headlined “Are Iran and Russia sowing ethnic discord in Azerbaijan?”
and subheaded “Certain forces benefit from drawing parallels between
‘Armenian separatism’ and ‘ethnic minorities'”; subheadings inserted
editorially:
The movement For Azerbaijan (it’s noteworthy that two groups claim to
have this name) has held a round table attended by the so-called
representatives of ethnic minorities in Azerbaijan. An obscure
criterion was used, for instance, to define that the editor of Axsam
newspaper, Valid Qardasli, was a “representative of the Talis people”,
this was how he was introduced at the round table. As is known,
neither he nor other “representatives” of ethnic minorities were
entitled to speak on behalf of these people. Well, there are other
more interesting issues.
Russian intelligence to inflame ethnic discord in Azerbaijan
For instance, what prompted Russia’s justice Gen Ilqar Qasimov to
(suddenly) hold a round table on the subject “Ethnic minorities in
Azerbaijan and the Nagornyy Karabakh problem”? Is someone, as
previously, “cannot afford to relax” or is trying to play the ethnic
card purposefully drawing parallels between “Armenian separatism” and
the so-called “problem” of ethnic minorities in Azerbaijan? We know
how easy it is to incite an ethnic conflict.
There is another interesting coincidence. Round tables of this kind
coincided with information circulated in a few mass media that the
Russian special services have started to actively operate to fan the
flames of ethnic discord in our country. Are these coincidences
incidental or planned? Are there not too many of them?
According to sources, the Russian special services are currently
looking into the implementation of “work” among Kurds, Talises,
Lezgins and Avars.
[Passage omitted: more details of Russian plans]
As we have learnt, new cultural centres of ethnic minorities will be
set up and these bodies will publish their own newspapers in the near
future. As a result of these centres’ “activities”, problems might
gradually arise among the ethnic minorities living in Azerbaijan,
which will give them a cue that they have a common enemy – an
Azerbaijani Turk.
According to the sources, at the first stage they will count on a
social basis of Russian ideologists in Quba-Qusar Districts [northern
Azerbaijan] with a mainly Lezgin population, as the Russian special
services report. Moreover, there are reports that the Kurdish Workers’
Party, which also seems to have major claims to the Azerbaijani state,
has intensified its work in a northern [Azerbaijani] district.
It goes without saying that what is going on is far from being
children’s war games.
Conflicts on religious grounds not ruled out
There is another aspect of the issue. Conflicts on religious grounds
are not ruled out either. According to some reports, a militant
Wahhabi group is currently in Dagestan, in a district bordering on
Azerbaijan, and is waiting for the right time.
The Azerbaijani coast of the Caspian Sea is rather a large area
populated also by non-Turks. It is early to make conclusions about the
role of Islam in the movement of these ethnic groups. However, one
should not disregard this, especially as the Russian special services
have long been viewing them as the “fifth column”, or to put it
simply, a destabilizing factor.
Iran’s policy to blame
Finally, here is the last remark. The main factor responsible for the
development of the leading Islamic organizations in Azerbaijan is
precisely the policy pursued by Iran. Our biggest neighbour opposes
the western oil export route and Azerbaijan’s entrance into the sphere
of the West’s interests.
One should bear in mind that Azerbaijan is a multi-ethnic
country. This fact has always been in the focus of the foreign and
internal forces interested in the escalation of tension in our
country.

Renegade Georgian general accuses defence minister of “smear campaign”
Imedi TV, Tbilisi
20 Apr 04

[Presenter] Defence Minister Gela Bezhuashvili has made another
comment about the statement of the former commander of the 25th
Brigade [Roman Dumbadze who said that he took orders only from the
Ajarian leader].
Bezhuashvili has described Dumbadze as a traitor of Georgia. Dumbadze
has not confirmed the reports about a defence ministry being
established in Ajaria. He has blamed Gela Bezhuashvili for organizing
a campaign against him.
[Bezhuashvili, speaking to journalists] We should punish traitors of
Motherland with the full severity of the law.
Now, what is this about? As I said today, how can a man betray this
aspiration for the sake of selfish interest? How can he betray these
young boys, 17-18-year-old children who today spoke about the
country’s strength, the country’ future, the country’s present? This
is what it is all about. These are the values upon which our society
rests. I think that society should condemn all incidents of this kind.
[Dumbadze, interviewed] This is a total lie. Absolutely. I have not
heard such a thing in 14 years. Gela Bezhuashvili is the seventh
minister, but I have not heard such a thing from anyone, even from the
former president I have not heard such a thing. Absolutely.
I will never be a traitor. A traitor is someone who betrays his
origin, his nation. The defence minister himself is such a man. He
changed his surname and betrayed his nation. He was an ethnic
Armenian.
[Journalist] Are you speaking about Bezhuashvili?
[Dumbadze] Yes, I am speaking about Bezhuashvili.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS OFFICE
Armenian Holy Apostolic Church Canadian Diocese
Contact; Deacon Hagop Arslanian, Assistant to the Primate
615 Stuart Avenue, Outremont Quebec H2V 3H2
Tel; 514-276-9479, Fax; 514-276-9960
Email; [email protected] Website;
Bishop Galstanian urges Canadian Parliamentarians to vote for M-380
On Tuesday April 20 2004, the Primate of the Armenian Holy Apostolic
Church Canadian Diocese addressed a letter to the members of the House
of Commons of Canada urging them to vote in favor of M-380 Armenian
Genocide.
Upon the directive of His Eminence Bishop Bagrat Galstanian the
Diocesan faithful contacted Members of Parliament in their areas to
urge them to vote for M-380.
During telephone conversations with Ministers and Parliamentarians,
Bishop Galstanian expressed gratitude and thanks for their attention
and urged them to vote for the Armenian Genocide resolution. Serpazan
told the MP’s “If the Canadian parliament recognizes the Genocide of
April 24, 1915 the Armenian community in Canada will warmly welcome
and deeply appreciate the wisdom and courageous act of the Government
of Canada, which will be a clear expression of Canada’s strong
commitment to human rights and justice”.
The copy of His Eminence Bishop Bagrat Galstanian’s letter is attached
ARMENIAN HOLY APOSTOLIC CHURCH CANADIAN DIOCESE
615 Stuart Avenue, Outremont, Quebec, Canada H2V 3H2
Tel: (514) 276-9479 Fax: (514) 276-9960
Email: [email protected] Web:
House of Commons
Ottawa
Honorable members of the Canadian Parliament,
As the Primate and the spiritual leader of the Armenian Church of
Canada, I have the unique privilege and the pleasure to extend sincere
salutations to all distinguished members of the Canadian House of
Commons, and to express on behalf of all Canadian Armenians our
heartfelt appreciation of your resolve to debate in the Canadian
Parliament openly and objectively the recognition of the historical
fact of the Armenian Genocide.
Three generations after that fateful event, the Genocide remains a
deeply imbedded wound in the Armenian psyche. The wound has not
healed, because this injustice of unprecedented magnitude has not been
recognized and acknowledged by the perpetrator and by the
international community as a crime against mankind and a violation of
a fundamental standard of humanity.
Moreover, in a cruel campaign of denial, the perpetrator continues the
genocide by killing the memory of the victims. Indeed, as genocide
scholar Professor Deborah Lipstadt of Emory University states, “denial
is the final stage of genocide, because it strives to reshape history
in order to demonize the victims and rehabilitate the perpetrators.”
There are no two sides of this story. Hundreds of news accounts
published in the international media during the First World War,
numerous eye witness accounts of foreign missions and survivors –
including our parents and grandparents, thousands of state archives
around the world, scores of declarations by esteemed historians have
repeatedly established beyond a shred of a doubt, that a
state-sponsored, premeditated, meticulously planned and brutally
executed scheme of ethnic cleansing was carried out in 1915 through
1923 by the Ottoman Turkish government over its Armenian citizens
living on their ancestral homeland, who aspired only the dignity of
living like a human being. The 1915 genocide of the Armenians was the
culmination of 600 years of oppression and a diabolic attempt for a
final solution by the Ottoman authorities to the European insistence
of introducing reforms that would guarantee the most basic human
rights of minorities in Ottoman Turkey.
Dear parliamentarians,
You do not have to look far for an evidence of the Armenian
Genocide. Look at the galleries of this House, full of representatives
of the Canadian Armenian community. There are hundreds of similar
communities dispersed around the world, from the far-east to the far
west, members of the Armenian Diaspora that was created as a result of
the Genocide. The throbbing pain they have inherited from their
tormented parents and grandparents, yearns for recognition of the
truth and for justice.
France and Switzerland were the latest of more than 15 states, who
courageously defied threats and blackmail, and sided with the truth
and justice.
Honorable members of the House of Commons,
Show to the world once more that Canada upholds international ethics,
believes in human and social rights and strives for consolidation of
peace based on justice. Vote for the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide. God bless you all.
Prayerfully,
Bishop Bagrat Galstanian Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church
of Canada
DIVAN OF THE DIOCESE
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1 Plus | 17:16:41 | 16-04-2004 | Social | OCTOBER 27 TRIAL |
VRAM GALSTYAN WAS ALONE IN THE CELL
A criminal case was instituted over suicide of Vram Galstyan, October 27
case prisoner for life.
Justice Minister Press Secretary Ara Saghatelyan informed the convict was
found hung at 11:00 AM.
Employees of General Office of Prosecutor, forensic experts and
representatives of defense organizations arrived at the scene.
By the way, 3 days ago Vram Galstyan asked to move him to a solitary cell.
His request was granted.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1 Plus | 14:54:35 | 20-04-2004 | Social |
DALMA GARDENS WILL BE SEIZED
Dalma Gardens’ renters have today assembled at Municipality again. Their
problem is not settled, the territories will be taken away and the tenants
demand to prolong the contracts by 25 years.
Karen Davtyan, head of Department Real Estate Management of Municipality,
says there is a special decision of Government under which a part of gardens
is to remain as a green area and the rest will serve other purposes.
Mr Davtyan informed they follow the above decision. “Policemen have come
today with tractors to destroy our green territories”, renter Azat
Khachatryan says. Then they left warning to raze the green zones if the
appropriate decision wasn’t produced the next day.
“No Court accepts any document on Dalma Gardens to launch legal
proceedings”, renter Yntsa Hovhannissyan says.
Tenants assure policemen have today blocked the roads to Leningradyan street
and Hrazdan Sport Complex to hamper the renters to come to their gardens.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

International Herald Tribune
Development bank looks east to aid poor nations
Eric Pfanner IHT Tuesday, April 20, 2004
LONDON With the most advanced economies in the former Communist bloc set to
join the European Union next month, the multinational bank that was set up
to aid the transition to capitalism said Monday that it would pay greater
attention to poorer countries farther to the east.
The agency, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, will not
immediately cease operations in the eight Central and Eastern European
countries that, along with Malta and Cyprus, are set to join the EU on May
1. But in those countries, the bank’s “role should naturally fall away over
the years to come,” said Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, who addressed
the agency’s annual meeting in London on Monday.
The development bank, which operates in 27 countries, said Monday that it
had created a new program aimed at increasing its lending in seven of the
poorest ones – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – where more than 50 percent of the population
lives below the poverty line.
In those countries, governments are too indebted to raise new financing, and
foreign investors are often unwilling to enter, given the myriad risks – not
least, in countries such as Uzbekistan, where George Soros and other
investors have complained of a woeful human rights record. Meanwhile, the
terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, and the subsequent ouster of the Taliban
regime in Afghanistan – which borders on two of the seven countries,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – heightened the awareness in some Western
capitals of the strategic importance of former Soviet Central Asia, in
particular.
Jean Lemierre, the bank’s president, who was elected to a second four-year
term on Monday by the bank’s board, said the bank would step up its efforts
to finance small businesses, cross-border trade and small-scale
infrastructure projects, among other things.
“The bank is ready to take on the financial as well as reputational risk as
we seek to invest more in countries at the earlier stages of transition,”
Lemierre said.
The bank said it aimed to increase its combined investment in the seven
countries to about E150 million, or $181 million, a year from the current
E90 million. Because its investments typically result in additional
private-sector activity, the bank said it expected the overall effect to be
greater than that.
The bank will take on added risk in part by adhering to local law, rather
than international law, in some of its investments in the seven countries.
Bankers said that should not pose a threat to the bank’s financial health
because the activities in the seven poorest countries account for only a
fraction of the its overall investments; the bank made E3.7 billion worth of
new investments last year.
Yet new lending in the seven poorest countries had actually been dwindling.
By 2002, said Michael McCulloch, a consultant to the bank on its new
initiative, these countries were actually paying more to service previous
commitments to the bank than they were receiving in new investment flows.
In the relatively well-to-do Eastern and Central European countries that are
joining the EU, the agency has typically invested in large projects, often
in cooperation with private-sector lenders. With their financial markets
gained in depth and breadth, domestic and regional banks lend to smaller
borrowers. But the seven poorest countries have few lenders willing to
finance projects in the E500,000 to E2 million range, the bank said, yet
these will be crucial to the development of their economies.
As the bank shifts its emphasis a bit to the east, its horizon is growing.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of its board of governors and prime
minister of Luxembourg, urged other governors to complete the process of
accepting Mongolia as a country of operation for the bank. The United
States, among others, has already approved Mongolia as a country of
operation.
International Herald Tribune
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Boston Globe, MA
April 18 2004
REMEMBERING THE HOLOCAUST —
Contemporary artist Apo Torosyan is among area artists participating
in an interfaith commemoration of the Holocaust at 3 p.m. today at
Peabody Veterans Memorial High School.
Torosyan, of Peabody, presents “My Story — Everybody’s Story,” his
display about the Armenian genocide and his family’s history.
Born and raised in Turkey, Torosyan is the son of an Armenian father
and Greek mother who lost many family members in the genocide of
1915. The calamity has greatly influenced his art.
In addition to an art exhibit, the event includes a talk by
Christopher Mauriello, professor of history at Salem State College,
titled “From Memory to Hope: Myths of the Holocaust in American
Public Life.”
Ceremonies for survivors and an interfaith memorial service follows
at 4 p.m. The Holocaust Center Service Award will be presented to
Sandy Weitz.
On Thursday, Torosyan presents his video “Discovering My Father’s
Village” at Peabody City Hall during ceremonies commemorating the
Armenian genocide. The 11 a.m. event will be hosted by Peter
Torigian, former mayor of Peabody. Call 978-532-3000.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TIME
April 18 2004
Clampdown on Dissent
ARMENIA Using batons and water cannons, police broke up a rally of
thousands of demonstrators in Yerevan calling for the resignation of
President Robert Kocharian, seriously injuring 30 people and
detaining 115. Opposition leaders, who claim Kocharian rigged his
re-election last year, launched another rally at the end of the week,
in defiance of a ban on further public protests.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

New University, CA
April 19 2004
Armenian Genocide:
Affirmation Through Education
by: Taraneh Arhamsadr
Staff Writer

Graphic Illustration By Michelle Le

`Immemorial Muscians,’ a 1997 oil painting by Jacques Aslanian,
conveys a sense of loss among the older generation of Armenians.
Aslanian is known to create art based on his Armenian culture, often
using the topic of exile as a central theme for his work.

Courtesy Of The Armenian Genocide Organization

During the Armenian Genocide, hundreds of thousands of families were
broken. Children were separated from their families and ended up
spending their childhoods in large orphanages.

As inhabitants of a country that allows the free exchange of
knowledge, it is our responsibility to attempt and understand as much
as we can about the world around us. Because of all the negativity
present in our world, some find it easier to shield their eyes from
the pain and suffering, and just go through their daily lives in a
state of ignorant bliss. But it shouldn’t be like this. Upon looking
beyond the high school history books, we find that the most hateful
atrocities passed through time with hardly a whisper. One such
notably horrific event that many know nothing about is the Armenian
genocide – also known as the first holocaust of the 20th century.
Some students believe that a noteworthy cause for the Armenian
genocide in the Ottoman Empire was a rise of nationalism.
Before the late 1800s, Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks lived in
a state of mutual tolerance. But Armenians wished to gain their
independence from the empire, and the fact that the region where they
lived was in between two large Turkish regions – thereby blocking
Turkish domination – made them a much-hated target. For this and many
other reasons, Turkish nationalists began premeditating the perfect
plan to rid their land of these people.
On April 24, 1915, in the early part of World War I, Turkish
nationalists systematically killed hundreds of Armenian community
leaders.
This marked the start of what no one could possibly fathom – the mass
killing of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire.
Armenian men were drafted into the army believing that they would
contribute to the war effort, but instead were immediately killed or
worked to death.
After the men were removed from the community, the children, women
and elderly complied with commands to relocate. Led across Anatolia
to reach the Syrian Desert, the trip was not without its hardships.
During the `death march,’ many Armenians were raped, starved and
dehydrated, and many died along the way.
Upon reaching the Syrian Desert, whoever remained was immediately
killed.
Those who were able to escape, usually with help from Turkish
missionaries, usually had lost most of their family members. Children
ended up in orphanages without an identity. Women lost their
husbands, families were destroyed. In all, 1.5 million people were
massacred.
While the people of Turkey do not know much about the actions of
their predecessors, the Turkish government has been going out of
their way for decades to affirm that none of this ever happened.
Mark Levine, a professor in the department of history specializing
Middle Eastern history, feels the people of Turkey have not been
given a chance to learn what really happened because of the
government.
`I think it’s mainly the government and everyone involved with it
that’s mainly preaching the denial ideology,’ Levine said. `Though
[the people of Turkey] are more open to talking about it than they
were in the past, they’re never going to learn anything close to the
truth. It’s not going to be an issue that affects their life on a day
to day basis.’
Many Armenians believe that the Turkish government’s efforts only add
to the insult, because they feel that a solution will never be
reached unless governments own up to their past misdeeds.
This week, the Armenian Student Association at UCI is commemorating
and affirming the event. A small but dedicated group, they have
worked tirelessly to make sure that this horrible tragedy is never
forgotten.
`We just want people to know the history. As [Armenian] youth, we’ve
got to continue the story until people accept it and understand it,’
said first-year applied ecology major and ASA committee member Arda
Arjian.
Arjian worked with other ASA members to get the city of Irvine
involved in this event.
`In the city of Irvine, we passed a proclamation about Armenian
genocide, which I wrote. From now, April 24 is going to be a day of
remembrance for Armenian genocide. We don’t want this to be something
that people forget,’ Arjian said.
It is interesting to find a group of young people who have such a
vested interest in their `mother-culture,’ and this may lay in the
fact that this event is still not too far gone.
`I think it’s passed down from fathers and grandfathers, because many
young people have relatives who passed away in the genocide. One of
the biggest reasons that we’re in America to begin with is because
the genocide took place,’ said cultural director of ASA and graduate
student in mechanical and aerospace engineering Vicken Jermakian.
Students of ASA know that they are entitled to learn about anything
they wish as Americans. But they also understand that any society
will attempt to slant their eyes toward certain events while
downplaying others, and it seems that this event is one that is
lesser-known, compared to, for example, the holocaust that
took place against Jews in World War II.
`To me, it’s not about how much publicity we get compared to other
genocides, because I feel that all of them are important,’ Jermakian
said. `It’s been very hard for modern governments to grasp the fact
that genocide is evil. We want the Armenian genocide to be remembered
so as to prevent future genocides from taking place, by educating
people.’
This week, a variety of events will be taking place to commemorate
the holocaust. Armenian students would like to see their peers
participate and attempt to learn more about what happened.
On Wednesday evening, there will be a candlelight vigil at 7 P.M.
That same day, there will be a display of Armenian dancing at the
Student Center.
An important event which students should try and attend is a
screening of Atom Egoyan’s film `Ararat’ on Monday evening at 8 P.M.
in HIB 100.
`This movie depicts some of the minor atrocities of the Armenian
genocide. It will help those who know nothing about the genocide. It
gives people a good stepping stone and an idea of what happened when
everyone turned their backs,’ Arjian said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress