Author: Emil Lazarian

Azeri leader off to Warsaw for European Union enlargement summit
ANS Radio, Baku
27 Apr 04
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev left for Warsaw today to attend the
European Economic Summit. The summit will discuss tasks of the current
EU members and new member countries and the situation in the South
Caucasus. Let us recall that the presidents and prime ministers of all
European countries are expected to attend the summit.
Ilham Aliyev will address the summit on two subjects: Azerbaijan’s
economic development and its successes and the situation in the South
Caucasus. Aliyev will also focus on the Nagornyy Karabakh problem and
its solution. Aliyev will have tete-a-tete meetings with the Polish
and Georgian presidents. The Azerbaijani president is also expected to
meet his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharyan.
On 29 April from Warsaw President Aliyev will travel on to Strasbourg
to attend a spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

When family history has to be downloaded
Chance discovery of a photo on the Internet connects one Armenian to a
painful past
By Houry Mayissian
Special to The Daily Star
Saturday, April 24, 2004
I waited impatiently for the picture that was loading, bit by bit, on
my screen. I felt that it would be a small piece of a big, unsolved
puzzle – my family’s history. After a couple of moments of waiting,
the picture loaded. There they were: My great-grandmother,Aznive
Pootchigian at the age of five, with three of her family members in
Kharpert, Western Armenia, or what is now called Turkey.
The internet is amazing when it comes to the amount of information it
can supply. But I never thought I would find a picture of my
great-grandmother taken in 1912 in her hometown, a couple of years
before it was raided by the Turks.
I sat in front of my computer, unable to move, and examined the
picture -the people in it, the background, the caption – like an
antique. The picture seemed to be taken in a garden with big trees
appearing in the background. All four people carried an object I
couldn’t identify: Something like a plant or flower, but yet seems to
be made up of cloth. My great-grandmother was the youngest in the
picture. She wore a long dress with small flowers on it. Even though
all four of them seemed to look straight into the camera at the time
the picture was taken, my great-grandmother’s look was much more
serious, much more “direct” than the others. It seemed as though she
was looking at me, right into my eyes, rather than at the camera. She
didn’t smile; she didn’t look sad; she just looked serious.
I kept thinking about the strange coincidence that had led me to her
picture. I was using the “Google” search engine to look for Armenian
music. I noticed the family name “Pootchigian” in the description of
one of the Web sites. I had heard from my grandmother that my
great-grandmother’s maiden name was Pootchigian. I also knew that I
had relatives by that name in the United States, but that contact
between our families had long since been lost.
I immediately clicked on the link that transported me to the Web site
of the Pootchigian family currently residing in the States. A whole
“new world” opened in front of me: Pictures, old and new, historic
data, a family tree, in which my mother, father and even big brother
were included. My name wasn’t there, though. Contact between the
families had probably been lost before I was born.
I knew bits of facts about how part of my great-grandmother’s family
had escaped to the US, how she had survived the Armenian genocide. But
I didn’t know all the details. Suddenly I felt the urge to have the
whole story laid out before me like the picture I was looking at.
I printed out the photo and took it to my grandmother. I didn’t know
whether she would recognize her mother at the age of five. The moment
she looked at the picture, however, tears started to come to her eyes.
“Oh my God … It’s my mom,” she exclaimed with a faint voice that
seemed to be suffocated by her tears. I had never seen my grandmother
in such a “lost” state. Her eyes were filled with pain, longing and
confusion. The rosy color of her fleshy cheeks disappeared behind her
tears.
“My uncle and his children live in the States. He has many
grandchildren as well. My mom used to say that my uncle migrated to
the States to work before the massacres started. She had another
brother who was hanged by the Turks.” And so my grandmother started
the story. A story every Armenian family has – one which brings tears
to the eyes of any listener, one which makes people wonder about how
savage humans can be.
My great-grandmother was seven years old when the Armenian genocide
started. It took the lives of more than 1.5 million Armenians and
deprived the rest of their homeland. During the years 1915-1918, amid
the confusion of World War I, the Young Turks carried out the
deliberate deportation and massacre of the entire Armenian population
of the Ottoman Empire. Most of them were massacred along the
road. Those who survived scattered across the globe. Almost nine
decades have passed, but the realization of being descendants of
genocide survivors remains firm in the minds of new Armenian
generations.
My great grandmother was deported with her mother and her two aunts,
like all the Armenians living in Kharpert.
“They spent days walking under the sun, barefoot, without food, water
or proper clothes, stripped of their dignity, stolen of their
possessions,” continued my grandmother.
My great-grandmother had been separated from her mother in Diyarbekir,
somewhere along the endless journey. She was adopted by a Turk and
never saw her mother after that.
“She used to repeat the story over and over again. She remembered the
smell of death lingering in the air, the sight of mutilated corpses on
the sides of the roads they passed by, the savage treatment meted out
by the Turk gendarmes to those who were no longer able to continue
walking, the hunger, the thirst, the rapes, everything. Despite that,
however, despite all the things that terrorized her, as a child at
least she felt secure that her mother was with her to hold her hand,
to carry her, to cover her eyes when necessary. A while later,
however, she lost even that.”
My great-grandmother was raised by the man who adopted her into his
family.”She used to tell me that she secretly kept an Armenian book
from her school books with her. She used to read it secretly when she
had time alone so she wouldn’t forget her mother tongue,” my
grandmother said. With the help of an Armenian lady, my grandmother
was married at the age of 14 to an Armenian. Later, they moved from
Diyarbekir to Aleppo and then Beirut.
After I heard the story, I went back to the Web site to see the
pictures of the relatives I never knew about. The Pootchigians are now
a well-known family in California. One of them, Chuck Pootchigian, is
a member of the State Senate.
Yet the most important thing for me remained the picture. As I looked
at it, I wondered what they knew. Did they have a clue that they would
be victims of such a great crime? Probably not. But I know, and my
children will. So will all the new generations of young Armenians. And
so will the world, despite the ongoing denial by Turkey and the
failure by the international community to properly condemn this crime
against humanity.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Our Best in Budapest?: Can Armenia’s choice handle the environment of an
international murder trial?
ArmeniaNow.com
April 23, 2004
Commentary by Naira Manucharova, ArmeniaNow Deputy Editor
Political tension in Yerevan has shifted focus from the upcoming trial in
Hungary in the death of Armenian Army Lieutenant Gurgen Markaryan.
The slain officer was memorialized in Yerevan.
Markaryan was murdered February 19 while attending a NATO “Partnership for
Peace” conference in Budapest. Ramil Safarov, an officer in the Azerbaijan
Army has been charged.
Armenians were shocked by news of Markaryan’s brutal murder, and were
outraged by commentary in Baku that turned Safarov into a national hero.
Funds have been established in Azerbaijan for Safarov’s defense and he is
regularly visited by countrymen concerned for his well being. Azeri
politicians, lawyers, public figures and his country’s ombudsman are
manipulating pre-trial developments. His family receives money from a
special fund established specifically for their purpose, called “Ramil
Safarov Stipend”.
Meanwhile Markaryan’s family is almost forgotten.
Ombudsman Elmira Suleimanova has written to Hungarian officials “reminding”
that Safarov is a victim of Armenian aggression. A chief rights advocate
attached a document to the letter “concerning outrages committed by Armenian
‘monsters’ in Khojalu”.
One needn’t peculiar insight to conclude that Azeri measures will aim at
influencing a favorable outcome in Budapest. Nor should one doubt that
neighbors to the east will be intent on a verdict that in effect indicts
Armenia, while vindicating Safarov as a victim out to avenge his family’s or
nations death.
Simply, in Budapest there is a murderer, witnesses, a weapon and, in a
Yerevan grave, a victim. But what, without these extenuating conditions
might be a routine trial, promises to be an extraordinary theater in which
relations between two republics are examined.
That the murder took place in NATO’s very front yard and was neither an
example of “peace” nor “partnership” does not inspire confidence for
Armenia-Azeri collaboration in upcoming joint-operations; specifically,
multi-national military training to take place in September in Azerbaijan.
It is logical to presume that NATO might side with the aggrieved party in
the hostility that not only escalated Armenian-Azeri hatred, but sullied
NATO in the process.
But there is no evidence of such a bias as, till now, only Azerbaijan’s
interest is obvious. Little is yet known as to how the Armenian side will
protect its citizen’s rights or its honor.
About all that is known, is that Markaryan’s rights will be defended by
Yerevan attorney Nazeli Vardanyan. And about all that could be learned about
Vardanyan, is that she specializes in environmental law.
It would be unfair to judge the attorney’s effectiveness before she’s even
had a chance to prove it. It is not unfair, however, for concerned citizens,
aware that a country is on trial, to question why someone of her specialty
has been appointed the task.
Journalists who might want to tell the citizenry who this woman is, are
rebuffed, as if her very identity represents national security. Vardanyan
herself referred us to a committee of five lawyers who will be working with
her on the case. Attempts to get information by those means were not
unsuccessful, but were dismissive.
There would be little reason for wanting to know the pedigree of an
attorney, if this were merely a case of citizen against citizen. Clearly,
though, it is not.
At stake is the reputation of a republic, and the risk of courtroom rhetoric
being perceived as national foreign policy. Don’t, then, the people of
Armenia deserve to know their representative has earned confidence?
Why did the Armenian International Lawyers Union appoint an environmental
attorney to manage a case that could have exceptional repercussions? More
significantly, why did the State react indifferently to the appointment?
Typically, secrecy is maintained during investigations. But this secrecy of
defense is something new for Armenia.
Ombudsman of Armenia Larisa Alaverdyan was asked whether Armenia, not to
mention the rights of the victim, can adequately be represented by the State
‘s appointment to the case.
“The upcoming court battles in Budapest will be too much for one lawyer,
even if he or she is very talented and clever,” Alaverdyan said. “I think
there must be at least two lawyers and one expert on the issue of the
Karabakh problem because it is clear that the Azeri side is going to use
this incident for carrying out a public trial against Armenia and Karabakh.
Besides, as I know Nazeli Vardanyan is not experienced enough in criminal
cases, moreover, in cases where crime is loaded with political and
interstate relations.”
Alaverdyan also says it is unacceptable that a second charge against
Safarov – attempted murder on the life another officer, Hayk Makuchyan – has
been completely neglected. The Ombudsman is of the opinion that the crime
against the officers was premeditated and had far-reaching political goals.
“Supporting proper representation of the Armenian side at the forthcoming
trial is a responsibility and duty of the government,” Alaverdyan says.
Why, then, trust the task to an attorney who is respected as an
“eco-jurist”, but unknown in the field of criminal prosecution?
In October of last year, Vardanyan attended an international conference on
ecology, in Hungary. Can it possibly be that Markaryan’s, and Armenia’s
representation was selected merely because she has a Hungarian stamp in her
passport?
Of course it seems absurd. But in the absence of information, we are left to
speculate.
No doubt, “environment” will have a role in the Budapest trial. It is likely
to be an environment bristling with slander, innuendo and attacks on
nationality from both sides. We hope, nonetheless, that Armenia’s counsel
has not been sent for her knowledge of enviro-law, but that she truly is a
secret weapon, worthy of secrecy.
For it is clear that our neighbors are sparing no effort and means preparing
for trial in Budapest. Head of the World Azerbaijani Congress expressed
readiness to hire the best lawyer in Europe for defending the “national
hero”. Notorious Azeri businessman Fizuli Mamedov (nicknamed Al Capone) has
offered to finance all actions of defense. At the same time, Azerbaijan is
providing the Hungarians with their peculiar history of the Karabakh
conflict.
What will be Armenia’s answer? What will our government’s mouthpiece be able
to do for protecting legal successors of Gurgen Markaryan and,
correspondingly, national dignity?
We wonder. And worry. Days into preparation for the trial, the coalition of
lawyers assisting Vardanyan complained they hadn’t yet even received the
Hungarian Criminal Code. They said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is late
with translation. They also complained that Armenia’s lead lawyer Vardanyan,
did not even have a laptop computer or roaming services on her mobile
phone – conditions that make communication a distraction if not an outright
handicap.
Internal concern over the latest opposition activity has shoved this
internationally-significant trial down the list of priorities set in
Yerevan.
Among the many questions we have about the personnel charged with defending
an officer’s rights and a republic’s name, none is more crucial than a
question that lingers while others, too, are unanswered:
Is this the best our government can do? And isn’t it worth the attention of
the public, even while Yerevan’s attention is on political rumbling?
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
April 27, 2004
DECREE SIGNED
NKR president Arkady Ghukassian signed a decree according to which
Youri Ghazarian was released from his duties in the position of the
minister of development of industrial infrastructures and building
according to his application.
AA
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARKA News Agency
April 27 2004
Romania, Italy, GB, Belarus and Kazakhstan celebrated anniversary
Armenian Genocide Victims Day
Meeting in support of TV Channel A+1 to be held in Yerevan on 3 May
Opposition powers of Armenia sure that their struggle will lead to a
result
Actions devoted to Armenian Genocide of 1915 held in Paris
**********************************************************************
ROMANIA, ITALY, GB, BELARUS AND KAZAKHSTAN CELEBRATED ANNIVERSARY
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS DAY
YEREVAN, April 27. /ARKA/. Romania, Italy, GB, Belarus and Kazakhstan
celebrated anniversary Armenian Genocide Victims Day, RA MFA told
ARKA. In London, Armenian Embassy organized procession to memorial of
victims – Cenotaph, and the representatives of the procession gave
the letter to GB Prime Minister Tony Bler.
>From the beginning of the 19th century till 1920, the Ottoman Empire,
legal successor of which is today’s turkey, regularly tormented and
persecuted Armenians. The top of barbarity was in 1915 when over a
million of Armenians was massacred in different regions of West
Armenia, part of the Empire.
The fact of the Armenian Genocide has been recognised by many
countries, including Uruguay (the first state that recognised the
genocide in 1965), Russia, France, Argentina, Greece, Lower Chamber
of Italy, 31 states of the U.S. L.D. -0–
**********************************************************************
——————————————————————————–
MEETING IN SUPPORT OF TV CHANNEL A+1 TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN ON 3 MAY
YEREVAN, April 27. /ARKA/. `The Fund for Support of Freedom of
Speech’ and the Initiative Group for the support of A+1 TV Channel
will organize a meeting in the support of the Channel on 3 May, as
the Initiative Group told ARKA.
April 2, 2002 the Commission recognised Sharm company as a winner in
the tender for the 37th decimetre frequency. As a result, A1+
opposition channel was deprived of the license for 5 years, which
aroused discontent of the opposition. Currently the information
agency with the same name published `Ayb Fe’ daily. T. M. – 0 –
**********************************************************************
OPPOSITION POWERS OF ARMENIA SURE THAT THEIR STRUGGLE WILL LEAD TO A
RESULT
YEREVAN. April 27. /ARKA/. Regular meeting of opposition started
today in Yerevan. According to the Secretary of Opposition Faction
Justice Viktor Dallakian, opposition powers of Armenia are confident
that their struggle will lead to a result. He said that since today
any dialogue with authorities will be stopped, because main demand of
opposition is not met.
He announced 10 offers of the Justice Faction that were represented
at yesterday’s political consultation at RA NA Speaker Arthur
Baghdasarian. Among basic offers are restoration of legal order,
release of political prisoners, right for free movement of the
citizens, legal guarantees of authorities on non-use of power against
peaceful rallies, punishment of guilty in violent actions on April
12-13, referendum on vote of confidence to the president. L.D. –0–
**********************************************************************
ACTIONS DEVOTED TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE OF 1915 HELD IN PARIS
YEREVAN, April 27. /ARKA/. Paris hold actions devoted to the Armenian
Genocide of 1915 in Ottoman Empire, as RA Foreign Ministry Press
department told ARKA. According to the information provided the
actions began on 23 April a day before the commemoration date of the
victims of the Armenian Genocide. At that day there was no access to
the Champs-Elysees adjacent to the Etoile Square, from where the
participants started a march to the Arc de Triomphe. As it is
mentioned in the press release, RA Ambassador Plenipotentiary and
Extraordinary in France Eduard Nalbandyan accompanied by the top
military laid a wreath to the Unknown Soldier Tomb in sign of respect
to the victims of the Genocide. During the ceremony there were
performed hymns of two countries and the Armenian and French flags
were lowered. As also mentioned in the press release, on 244 April
Paris Municipality organized a reception in memory of the Genocide
victims attended by RA Ambassador in France and Paris Mayor Bertrand
Delanoe. On the same day the Armenian church of St. Surb Hovhannes
Mkrtitch (St. John the Baptist) and on 25 April the Paris Notre Dame
Cathedral finished liturgy. The press release also mentioned about
mass actions devoted to the Armenian Genocide held in Marseille,
Lyon, Grenoble, Toulon, Valance and Cannes.
The fact of the Armenian Genocide, during which the Ottoman
authorities annihilated 1.5 million Armenians has been recognised by
many countries, including Uruguay (the first state that recognised
the genocide in 1965), Russia, France, Argentina, Greece, Lower
Chamber of Italy, 31 states of the U.S. T.M. -0–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
April 27 2004
NKR AND CYPRUS CONFLICTS HAVE DIFFERENT BASES
Commenting on the recent announcement of the Azerbaijani president
Ilham Aliev that official Baku may recognize the Turkish Republic of
North Cyprus, NKR foreign minister Ashot Ghulian mentioned that “it is
possible, it looks unexpected but in the sense of the contents there
is nothing unexpected.” According to the minister, the authorities of
Azerbaijan once again proved their inconsistency in the process of
settlement of the Karabakh conflict. “Ilham Aliev’s statement
obviously testifies that Azerbaijan does not exclude the use of dual
standards,” said Ashot Ghulian, “in his actions he is merely guided by
the political conjuncture, once supporting the right of the Turk
Cypriots for self-determination, on the other hand, denying the same
right of the people of Nagorni Karabakh.” Answering the question of
possible resemblance of the problems of Cyprus and Karabakh, the head
of the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs answered that the situation in
North Cyprus and Nagorni Karabakh are completely different. According
to him, from the aspect of their prehistory, origins, processes of
settlement these conflicts have different bases and directions. At the
same time Ashot Ghulian did not exclude that because of the extremely
different approaches of the Karabakh conflict parties its settlement
will last very long like in the case of Cyprus. “Our approach is the
following; Nagorni Karabakh is interested in the rapid settlement of
the problem because together with de jure recognition of NKR the rates
of economic development of the republic will grow,” said the minister
of foreign affairs of NKR Ashot Ghulian.Â
AA
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1 Plus | 15:03:33 | 27-04-2004 | Politics |
ARMENIAN LAWMAKERS LAYING LEGAL GROUNDS FOR FURTHER VIOLENCE AGAINST PEOPLE
Armenian Parliament voted 79 to 2 on Tuesday to adopt the bill on protest
actions, rallies and marches.
It has been one of the opposition leaders’ demands to postpone the bill
discussion.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1 Plus | 14:55:54 | 27-04-2004 | Politics |
AUTHORITIES’ BID TO BAR PEOPLE FROM ATTENDING OPPOSITION-STAGED RALLY
As it became known, a section of highway between Armenia’s town of
Echmiadzin and Armenian capital Yerevan was blocked from very dawn on
Tuesday.
Reliable sources say all buses that usually carry students to Yerevan for
their university lessons were stopped and sent back.
It should be reminded that the opposition will convene a rally on Tuesday at
16:00 local time.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address: Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel: (374 1) 517 163
Fax: (374 1) 517 301
E-Mail: [email protected]
April 26, 2004
Commemoration of April 24 in Armenia
On the morning of Saturday, April 24, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme
Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, diocesan primates, high ranking
clergymen, and members of the Brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin visited the
“Tsitsernakaberd” Memorial to the Armenian Genocide of 1915, to pay tribute
to the memory of the victims of the first genocide of the 20th century. His
Holiness offered a solemn Requiem Service in memory of the 1.5 million
Armenian martyrs who perished in Turkey and the deserts of Syria in the
final days of the Ottoman Empire.
In attendance for the commemoration were President of the Republic of
Armenia Robert Kocharian, President of the National Assembly Artur
Baghdasarian, Prime Minister of Armenia Andranik Margarian, President of the
Constitutional Court Gagik Harutiunian, high ranking government officials,
ambassadors and representatives of foreign states, and guests from Armenia
and abroad.
* * *
The same day a solemn Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the Mother Cathedral
of Holy Etchmiadzin. His Holiness Karekin II presided during the service
commemorating the 89th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, which was
celebrated by Very Rev. Fr. Arshak Khachatrian, Chancellor of the Mother
See.
At the conclusion of the Liturgy, the Pontifical procession gathered around
the Armenian Genocide Monument located north of the Cathedral on the grounds
of the Mother See, as His Holiness presided during a Repose of Souls
service.
High ranking clergymen, Apostolic Nuncio for the Roman Catholic Church Abp.
Claudio Gugerotti, and hundreds of faithful were present.
##
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian National Committee of Wisconsin
4100 N. Newman Road
Racine, WI 53406
April 26, 2004
For Immediate Release
Contact: A. Zohrab Khaligian
[email protected]
WISCONSIN ARMENIANS COMMEMORATE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
MADISON, WI–For the fourth year in a row, Wisconsin Armenian Americans
gathered at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison to commemorate the
Armenian Genocide. Over 70 people–including 13 State Representatives and
Senators–attended the reception and program held on Tuesday, April 20 in
the GAR Hearing Room. The event was co-hosted by the Armenian National
Committee (ANC) of Wisconsin, State Representatives Mark Honadel, Bonnie
Ladwig, and Jeff Stone, and State Senators Jeff Plale, Mary Lazich, and
Cathy Stepp.
The purpose of the program was to thank the Wisconsin State Assembly and
State Senate for adopting Armenian Genocide resolutions, which designate
April 24 of each year as “Wisconsin Day of Remembrance for the Armenian
Genocide of 1915 to 1923,” and to continue to educate and promote awareness
of Armenia and Armenian issues, particularly the Armenian Genocide. The
featured speakers included Robert O. Krikorian, Ph.D., Representative Jeff
Stone, and Senator Mary Lazich. The program also included the reading of
commemorative statements from US Senators Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl.
Zohrab Khaligian, representing the ANC of Wisconsin, presented the welcoming
message. Khaligian thanked everyone for attending the program and voiced
his disbelief that almost 90 years had passed since the Ottoman Turkish
government attempted to eliminate an entire nation, that their crime has
gone largely unrecognized and totally unpunished, and today the crime of
genocide continues as rumors abound about atrocities in Sudan.
Khaligian thanked the State Assembly and Senate for not ignoring the past
and setting the record straight by adopting Genocide resolutions which
reaffirm the Armenian Genocide as a fact of history. Khaligian also thanked
Wisconsin’s US Representatives Tammy Baldwin, Mark Green, Jerry Kleczka,
Paul Ryan, and F. James Sensenbrenner for co-sponsoring the Genocide
Convention Resolution–H.Res.193–which is currently waiting to be brought
to the House floor for a vote. Khaligian singled out Representative
Sensenbrenner for his leadership on the House Judiciary Committee, ensuring
that this legislation was adopted at the committee level following intense
pressure to eliminate the mention of the Armenian Genocide by pro-Turkish
lobbyist Bob Livingston and the Turkish Ambassador to the United States
Faruk Logoglu.
US Senators Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl were also thanked for cosponsoring
the Senate version of the Genocide Convention Resolution (S.Res164).
Khaligian introduced Katie Crawley from Senator Feingold’s Middleton office
and Darci Louma from Senator Kohl’s Madison office, and then read each of
the Senator’s commemorative statements. (Full text of statements below).
Guest speaker Robert O. Krikorian, Ph.D. was then introduced. Dr. Krikorian
is a historian with the Office of the Historian at the US Department of
State, a Professorial Lecturer at the Elliott School of International
Affairs at George Washington University and a fellow at the university’s
Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies. It was announced
that prior to the program, Dr. Krikorian was the featured speaker at a
series of lectures organized by the ANC of Wisconsin. The series included a
talk on Saturday, April 17th with the Racine Chapter of the Armenian Youth
Federation on Dr. Krikorian’s experiences in Armenia and Artsakh from
1988-1991. A lecture titled “Education and Responsibility” on Sunday, April
18th at St. Hagop Armenian Church in Racine and an academic lecture entitled
“In the Shadow of War: The Ottoman Empire and the Destruction of the
Armenians” on Monday, April 19th, which was presented twice, once at the
University of Wisconsin-Parkside Library, and once at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison Memorial Union. The Friends of the UW-Parkside Library,
and the UW-Madison Armenian Student Association and History Department
hosted the latter two lectures, respectively.
Dr. Krikorian explained that the Ottoman Empire’s massacre and deportation
of the Armenian people during World War I should be understood in the
context not only of the war itself, but in the decline of the empire.
Beginning in the latter part of the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire
suffered a series of military and political reverses, culminating in its
total defeat in 1918. The significant losses of territory in the Balkans,
North Africa, and Western Armenia preceding the Genocide created the
preconditions for carrying out this final solution to the Armenian Question.
The final two speakers were Representative Jeff Stone and Senator Mary
Lazich. A co-host since the first commemorative program, Representative
Stone commended the Armenian American community of Wisconsin for remembering
their history in an effort to prevent history from repeating itself.
Senator Lazich, speaking for the first time since becoming a co-host in
2002, read excerpts from an article written by Dr. Richard Hovannissian to
highlight the enormity of the Armenian Genocide.
Prior to closing the program, Zohrab Khaligian thanked Representative Bonnie
Ladwig for her support and guidance in making the State Capitol program a
success. Representative Ladwig will be retiring from the Assembly in the
Fall due to health reasons and will be sorely missed by the
Armenian-American community in Racine.
In closing, Khaligian explained that the objective for obtaining recognition
of the Armenian Genocide can no longer be to obtain justice for the Armenian
people. As the crime of genocide has continued to the present day, the
Armenian people and their supporters must strive to obtain recognition and
justice for the Armenian Genocide in order to prevent future genocides from
ever occurring again. Khaligian wondered aloud that if the crime of
genocide is allowed to continue, who will be left alive?
The Armenian National Committee is the largest Armenian American grassroots
political organization in Wisconsin and nationwide. The ANC actively
advances a broad range of issues of concern to the Armenian American
community.
####
—————————-
Statement by Senator Herb Kohl
—————————-
Dear Friends
Please allow me to extend my best wishes and greetings to all of you who
have gathered today to commemorate the 89th Anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide. I regret my schedule prevents me from attending, and I hope this
event raises awareness and pays tribute to the victims of this seminal
moment.
I also hope this event provides everyone in attendance with an opportunity
to reflect on the tragic events of 89 years ago, and steels our resolve to
prevent it from ever happening again. We have an obligation to future
generations to share our lessons and experiences so that atrocities are
never repeated. Commemorations like this lay the important foundation of
that critical task, while also offering a fitting forum to pay our respects
to the victims of the tragedy.
Thank you for your efforts to promote peace, tolerance and a memorial of the
past. Best wishes.
Sincerely
Herb Kohl [signed]
US Senator
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Statement by Senator Russ Feingold
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Statemen t of US Senator Russ Feingold
Commemorating the 89th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
April 20, 2004
“I am sorry that I am unable to attend this important commemoration. Thank
you to the Armenian National Committee of Wisconsin for organizing this
event. Today, we remember the Armenian men, women and children who lost
their lives during the Armenian genocide. 89 years ago between 1915 and
1923, the Ottoman empire undertook a policy to isolate, exile and eliminate
the Armenian population. One and a half million Armenians were
systematically murdered in this campaign. Hundreds of thousands more were
forced to flee their homes.
The Armenian genocide must not be denied or forgotten. We have an
obligation to remember and remind others of the horror that occurred. As
seen by the killings in Bosnia, Kosovo and Rwanda over the past decade,
targeting people for their ethnicity is still a frequent occurrence. Its
repetition demands that we speak out and inform others in order to prevent
future atrocities.
Today, I join you in solemnly remembering the victims of the Armenian
genocide, and in honoring their memory by reaffirming our resolve to prevent
genocide from occurring again.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress