Author: Emil Lazarian

The Ottawa Sun
April 26, 2004 Monday Final Edition
HISTORY OF HATE
BY PAUL STANWAY, EDMONTON SUN
Armenians around the world today commemorate the beginning of what
they view as the darkest period in their long history, which is
saying something for a people who have been subject to almost
constant invasion and persecution.
On Wednesday the House of Commons voted overwhelmingly (153 to 68) in
favour of a motion that “acknowledges the Armenian genocide of 1915
and condemns this as a crime against humanity.”
The history of Armenia is a litany of tragedy and suffering,
endlessly repeated. But it is also a story of survival, against all
the odds and in the face of every possible indignity and handicap we
humans are capable of imposing upon one another.
The Armenians are the oldest Christian nation on earth, a forgotten
remnant of the ancient world from a time before Islam conquered the
Near East. You may not think you know any Armenians, but unless
you’ve never heard of Cher (full name Cherylin Sarkissian), tennis
great Andre Agassi or chess master Gary Kasparov, you are wrong.
GREAT DIASPORA
They are all children of the great diaspora that followed the
massacre of Turkish Armenians in 1915 — the “crime against humanity”
deplored by a majority of our MPs. It began on April 24, 1915 with
the arrest of Armenian professionals and intellectuals, and ended two
years later with Turkey’s Armenian population having been reduced
from around 3 million to fewer than 200,000.
What happened to the missing Armenians is still a matter of hot
debate for our NATO ally, Turkey, which vehemently denies systematic
slaughter. Hundreds of thousands fled to Russian Armenia, and
thousands of others eventually made their way to Europe and North
America, but somewhere between 600,000 and 2 million died as a result
of forced relocation, starvation and the actions of Turkish troops
and civilians.
The actual number seems less important than the fact a brutal
slaughter took place, documented by eyewitness accounts from
survivors, and from credible reports by mostly American diplomats and
aid workers on the scene. There was no Auschwitz, no Treblinka, and
the weapons of choice seem to have been the bayonet and the knife,
but the massacre of the Armenians was in no way less systematic and
inhuman than the Holocaust. An entire population was driven from land
it had occupied since the beginnings of recorded history, and those
who were not killed were left to starve or die of exposure.
There is no little irony in the fact Adolf Hitler used this genocide
as a prototype for his own final solution, apparently noting that 25
years later no one remembered what had happened to the Armenians. But
at the time he was wrong. The story of the Armenians received wide
publicity in the years between the world wars, particularly in the
U.S., Canada and Britain.
There was even a time when the Turkish authorities themselves
acknowledged what had happened. Several of those responsible were
tried for their crimes by Turkish courts and executed. But as a
valuable ally during the Cold War years, as NATO’s bulwark against
Soviet Central Asia, there was a concerted attempt to forget and
finally to deny Turkey’s past.
SIMPLE HONESTY
What’s the point of remembering a regrettable slice of the past?
Apart from simple honesty, humanity is the accumulation of its
history and it is impossible to learn from events if we deny they
happened. In Turkey’s case, denying the massacre of the Armenians
guarantees the memory will fester.
Some Turkish leaders in 1915 were openly critical of their
government, others bravely refused to implement genocidal policies,
while ordinary Turks were summarily executed for trying to help their
Armenian neighbours.
The present Turkish government would do better to remember their
example than to deny history.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 26, 2004 Monday
Great Russian culture treasured by Armenians
By Tigran Liloyan
YEREVAN
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan addressed a message of greetings
to participants in the Russian Culture Days in Armenia, that begin on
Tuesday. The president believes, “This is a remarkable event in
Armenia’s cultural life”.
“Great Russian culture is treasured by every Armenian”, the president
notes. He remarked that works of Armenian writers, poets, composers
and artists are well known and appreciated in Russia.
“Armenian-Russian cultural ties have the history dating back many
centuries and, I am sure, have good prospects”, the Armenian
president noted.
“Friendship and spiritual closeness of our peoples have been
accumulated by many generations “, the message says. “The deepening
and development of cooperation based on this legacy, the treasuring
of traditions is the boon we must preserve for the succeeding
generations, Kocharyan pointed out.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Glendale News Press
LATimes.com
April 26 2004
GREG KRIKORIAN
‘With great pride’

GUSD Board of Education’s first Armenian-American president seeks to
open dialogue with parents, get artificial turf installed at high
schools
By Gary Moskowitz, News-Press
NORTHEAST GLENDALE – Greg Krikorian recently became president of
Glendale’s Board of Education, making him the first Armenian-American
president of the school board.
Krikorian was elected to the board in 2001. He was the board’s clerk
in 2002-03 and, prior to Tuesday’s board meeting, was the vice
president. Krikorian moved into the position based on the board’s
policy of rotating its officers each year.
He replaced Pam Ellis, who is now a board member alongside Chuck
Sambar. Lina Harper is now the board’s clerk, and Mary Boger is the
vice president.
Krikorian, 41, was born and raised in Hartford, Conn. He lives in
Glendale with his wife, Christine, and their five children, Armen,
Gyaneh, Haig, Seran and Shant. Their four school-age children attend
Toll Middle and Balboa Elementary schools.
Krikorian is a co-founder of Cal-Conn Enterprises Inc., a
Glendale-based publishing and marketing firm.
The News-Press recently interviewed Krikorian about taking on the
role of president of the school board.
NEWS-PRESS: How does it feel to become president, and what can the
community expect from your leadership?
GREG KRIKORIAN: I am extremely humbled to be here and serve this
community. I initially wanted to join the board because I felt there
was a need to have a parent who was also a businessperson on the
board. My business background helps add long-term vision to
supporting our schools. People can expect from me a leader that will
pool resources and knowledge of our colleagues to come up with a
vision and set policy for our kids. We are planning not just for
2005, but also for 2010. I realize that what we do as a board is a
team approach, and that team includes parents, staff, teachers, the
community and students.
NP: Why is it significant that you are the first Armenian-American
president of the board?
GK: I think having me on the board, and especially as president,
provides a mentor for all 10,000 or so of our Armenian kids. It’s a
social responsibility. [Former mayor] Larry Zarian opened up the door
for all cultures. I think that I represent the entire community, not
just Armenians, and hopefully I can help open the door for other
communities as well. The challenges that all minorities go through
and the need to work harder and assimilate and become better
citizens, I take this on with great pride.
NP: What are some specific goals you have for the school district in
the next year?
GK: One thing I’d like to do is invite students and their parents to
lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance at board meetings, which would
bring parents to district headquarters more often. Technology is
something we need to hunker down on. We are in a financial crisis
with state budget cuts, and we need to be prudent with how we
purchase. We have started piggybacking with other districts on
technology spending, but we are still all over the place with it and
need to step back a little. I also want to see artificial turf
installed at Moyse Field and at CV High. I think it’s time, and if we
can partner with local businesses to purchase the fields, the initial
cost would balance out our long-term field maintenance costs in seven
years.
I want to raise the bar a little on nutrition and fitness. We could
continue to offer healthier foods for our kids and we could
strengthen our physical education programs by partnering with local
groups like AYSO and Little League to give our kids more chances for
extra activities.
NP: Because of the state budget deficit, the district is reducing its
spending by about $7 million for the 2004-05 school year. Why does
the board continue to spend money on outside consultants for
evaluating things like technology spending?
GK: When you hire consultants, it helps you fine-tune your spending
and slim down. There are people in our workforce being paid up to
$100,000 in some cases who should have the expertise to not need
consulting but, in some cases, you really need it to reduce spending
in the long term.
NP: This board voted to approve spending as much as $3.1 million in
reserve funds each year for the next three years. If you are planning
ahead for the future of the district, what is the plan to replenish
those reserves?
GK: We are required to save a certain amount of money, but reserves
are there for times like these. If we didn’t use reserves right now,
we would have to lay people off. That’s why we are also consolidating
and filling vacant positions. We’ve committed to spending reserves
for the next three years, and at that point, we would start building
our reserves back.
NP: Do you have other goals for the next year that people should be
aware of?
GK: I would like to start giving a “State of the Schools” address
every fall to inform the community about the status of our schools.
I’d also like to host a vendor fair, where local businesses could get
involved in the bidding process for purchasing, plumbing, roofing and
providing supplies for our schools. I plan to be more visible in the
community by creating a “Board Member in Your Neighborhood” monthly
event, where I could meet with people at schools or over coffee in
the mornings.

US general hails Armenia’s plans to sign partnership accord with NATO
Mediamax news agency
26 Apr 04
YEREVAN
“The United States hails Armenia’s intention to sign the Individual
Partnership Action Plan with NATO,” the deputy commander of the US
European Command, Gen Charles Wald, said in Yerevan today.
Gen Wald said that the signing of the Individual Partnership Action
Plan with NATO “will contribute to the expansion of Armenia’s
cooperation with the alliance members both on a multilateral and
bilateral basis”.
The US general said today that “the United States is not going to
build military bases on the territory of any of the South Caucasus
countries”. According to him, the United States is successfully
cooperating with all the Caucasus countries and Russia in the struggle
against international terrorism. However, this does not mean that the
USA is considering the issue of its military presence in the region.
Charles Wald expressed gratitude to the Armenian authorities for their
readiness to send military specialists to Iraq to take part in the
post-conflict reconstruction of this country.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

26 April 2004
Report on CIS-7 Poverty Reduction Initiative Released
Initiative aims for economic growth in seven countries
Four international financial institutions (IFIs) released April 26 an
overview of economic trends and developments in the seven low-income
countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) that are the focus
of the CIS-7 poverty reduction and economic growth initiative — Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.
“The primary objective of the CIS-7 Initiative was to revitalize the
partnership between the countries and the international community, as well
as among the countries themselves, to achieve faster economic growth and
poverty reduction,” said an International Monetary Fund (IMF) press release.
A ministerial meeting in April 2002 in Washington formally endorsed the
initiative.
The IFIs agreed “to assess the continued relevance of the Initiative” in the
seven countries “compared with alternative cooperation mechanisms.”
In addition to the IMF, other institutions involved in the CIS-7 Initiative
are the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD), and the Asian Development Bank (AsDB).
The full report is available at:
Following is the IMF press release on the report:
International Monetary Fund
Washington, D.C.
April 26, 2004
IMF, WORLD BANK, EBRD AND ASDB RELEASE REPORT
ON CIS-7 INITIATIVE
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the Asian Development Bank (AsDB)
are releasing a joint review of recent trends and developments in the seven
low-income countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The
report
() focuses on growth and
poverty, debt and fiscal sustainability, governance and the business
climate, and regional cooperation. It also describes donor activities in
support of reforms in these areas. This report pulls together the results of
three years of work under the CIS-7 Initiative, as outlined below.
In early 2001, the staffs of the IMF and World Bank, in consultation with
the AsDB and EBRD, issued a report on the external debt and fiscal
sustainability situations in CIS countries eligible for concessional funding
from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA). The
report examined the causes and consequences of the large external debt
incurred by Armenia, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova and Tajikistan
since 1991 and concluded that they faced a difficult fiscal and external
outlook in the coming decade. While massive external shocks and inadequate
policy responses, combined with an overestimation of debt carrying capacity
by lenders (including IFIs), had contributed to this situation, corruption
and poor governance, lack of policy ownership, and weak implementation
capacity had exacerbated the problem. The report urged a strengthening of
adjustment and reform efforts, coupled with increased concessional
assistance and debt relief. The report attracted considerable interest from
the international community and led to calls for a broader examination of
the transition challenges facing these countries.
A second report in 2002 on poverty reduction, growth, and debt
sustainability in the low-income CIS countries featured a widening of the
analysis and added two IDA-eligible countries — Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.
This report was considered at a conference in London in February 2002, which
recommended the launch of a special time-bound initiative for the seven
countries.
The primary objective of the CIS-7 Initiative was to revitalize the
partnership between the countries and the international community, as well
as among the countries themselves, to achieve faster economic growth and
poverty reduction. Specific efforts were aimed at raising awareness about
the countries’ plight; improving donor coordination; increasing knowledge
services and delivery; building capacity; and promoting regional
cooperation. A ministerial meeting in April 2002 in Washington. formally
endorsed the Initiative.
A large body of analytical work was commissioned in 2002 focusing on the
transition experience and challenges facing the CIS-7 and the role of the
international community. This work, which was discussed at a second
conference held in Lucerne in February 2003, included wider participation of
countries and institutions, including international and CIS-7 non-government
organizations and academics. Since then a number of topical seminars in the
region have sought to foster capacity-building in key areas, including
participatory approaches to poverty reduction strategies; public expenditure
management; reforms in the energy sector; and in health, education and labor
markets; financial sector supervision; public debt management; and regional
public goods. Participants at the conference noted the increasingly
divergent performance of the CIS-7 countries, the growing importance of
other fora dealing with the agenda, and the difficulties in addressing
entrenched country and regional issues in the CIS-7 format. They agreed that
it would be useful to review the situation in 2004 to assess the continued
relevance of the Initiative compared to alternative cooperation mechanisms.
The four IFIs have recently completed such a review in consultation with the
CIS-7 governments, which is summarized in the report being issued.
Since the launch of the Initiative, donor awareness and coordination for the
benefit of the countries have become demonstrably stronger. Donors have
responded in some cases with debt rescheduling and more concessional
assistance, and supported a growing range of activities in knowledge
creation, cross-country dissemination, and capacity building. With
cooperation increasingly being focused at the sub-regional level and the
growing divergence in policies and performance across the CIS-7, several of
the countries would like to move beyond the Initiative. The IFIs will
continue to work with these countries to define new modalities of
cooperation on specific issues, involving sub-regional vehicles as
appropriate. Sub-regional efforts show signs of promise in Central Asia,
while Moldova is being drawn into the EU’s Wider Europe Initiative. Clearly,
the South Caucasus would benefit considerably from improved economic
relations among the three countries, and the international community is
expected to focus much more on fostering such relations.
There is considerable potential for enhancing the development prospects of
the CIS-7 through the Poverty Reduction Strategy process. For the countries
themselves, better progress is needed to define priorities and link them
closely with their budgets, while donors are expected to insist that their
assistance be framed within the context of country poverty reduction
strategies. Levels of assistance should be consistent with commitments made
with respect to attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in these
countries.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: )
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1 Plus | 17:26:09 | 26-04-2004 | Politics |
ARAMAZD ZAQARYAN KEEPS STRIKING
“Justice” Bloc member Aramazd Zaqaryan who went on hunger-strike in
“Yerevan-Center” Criminal-Executive establishment on April 24 keeps
striking.
Advocate of the arrested informed Zaqaryan has been hunger-striking for the
third day despite the persuasion of the head of the establishment to cease
it.
Let’s remind that Aramazd Zaqaryan was arrested within the criminal case
instituted against “Justice” Bloc and he was charged with calls for power
seizure and outraging the Authorities.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1 Plus | 16:31:30 | 24-04-2004 | Official |
ROBERT KOCHARYAN LEAVING FOR FRANCE
President Robert Kocharyan will depart for Paris on April 25. Armenian
Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Economic Development are in the
delegation headed by Kocharyan.
Armenian President will meet President Jacques Chirac in Paris. Robert and
Bella Kocharyans will be present for the concert of famous songster Charles
Aznavour.
On April 27 the Armenian delegation will leave for Warsaw to partake in the
European Economic Forum activity. Kocharyan will take part in the sitting on
“Caucasus”. In Warsaw he will meet Poland President Alexander Kwasniewski
and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Toronto Star
April 25 2004
Turkish historians facing Armenian facts
Scholars tearing away at Turkey’s `curtain of silence’ Most experts
agree 1915 killings were a case of genocide
BELINDA COOPER
NEW YORK TIMES
MINNEAPOLIS – Taner Akcam doesn’t seem like either a hero or a traitor,
though he has been called both.
Akcam, a Turkish sociologist and historian currently teaching at the
University of Minnesota, writes about events that happened nearly a
century ago in an empire that no longer exists: the mass killings of
Armenians in the Ottoman empire during World War I.
But in a world where history and identity are closely intertwined,
where the past infects today’s politics, his work, along with that of
like-minded Turkish scholars, is breaking new ground.
A slight, soft-spoken man who chooses his words with care, Akcam, 50,
is challenging his homeland’s insistent declarations that the
organized slaughter of Armenians did not occur.
And he was the first Turkish specialist to use the word “genocide”
publicly in this context – a radical step, when one considers that
Turkey has threatened to sever relations with countries over this
single word.
In 2000, for example, Ankara derailed a U.S. congressional resolution
calling the 1915 killings “genocide” by threatening to cut access to
military bases in Turkey.
“We accept that tragic events occurred at the time involving all the
subjects of the Ottoman Empire,” explains Tuluy Tanc,
minister-counsellor at the Turkish embassy in Washington, “But it is
the firm Turkish belief that there was no genocide but self-defence
of the Ottoman Empire.”
Scholars like Akcam call this a misrepresentation that must be
confronted.
Most experts outside Turkey agree the killings are among the first
20th-century examples of what the 1948 Genocide Convention defined as
acts “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a
national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”
During World War I, the government of the disintegrating Ottoman
Empire, fearing nationalist activity, organized mass deportations of
Armenians from its eastern territories.
In what some consider the model for the Holocaust, Armenian men,
women and children were sent into the desert to starve, herded into
barns and churches that were set afire, tortured to death or drowned.
The number of deaths is disputed: Armenians say it was 1.5 million;
some Turks insist it was more like 300,000.
In the official Turkish story, the Armenians were casualties of a
civil conflict they instigated by allying themselves with Russian
forces working to break up the Ottoman Empire.
In any case, atrocities were documented in contemporary press
reports, survivor testimony and dispatches by European diplomats,
missionaries and military officers.
Abortive trials of Ottoman leaders after World War I left an
extensive record and some confessions of responsibility.
A legal analysis commissioned last year by the International Center
for Transitional Justice in New York concluded that sufficient
evidence exists to term the killings “genocide” under international
law.
Yet unlike Germany in the decades since the Holocaust, Turkey has
consistently denied that the killings were intended or that the
government had any moral or legal responsibility.
In the years since its founding in 1923, the Turkish Republic has
drawn what Turkish historian Halil Berktay calls a “curtain of
silence” around this history at home and used its influence as a Cold
War ally to pressure Western governments to suppress opposing views.
—————————————————————-
`It is the firm Turkish belief that there was no genocide but
self-defence of the Ottoman Empire’
Tuluy Tanc, Turkish diplomat
—————————————————————-
Turks fear to acknowledge the crimes of the past, Akcam says, because
admitting that the founders of modern Turkey, revered today as
heroes, were complicit in evil calls into question the country’s very
legitimacy.
“If you start questioning, you have to question the foundations of
the republic,” he says, speaking intensely over glasses of Turkish
tea in the book-lined living room of his Minneapolis home as his
12-year-old daughter works on her homework in the next room.
Akcam and others like him insist that coming to terms with the past
serves Turkey’s best interests.
Their views echo the experience of countries in Latin America,
Eastern Europe and Africa that have struggled with similar questions
as they emerge from periods of repressive rule or violent conflict.
Reflecting a widespread belief that nations can ensure a democratic
future only through acknowledging past wrongs, these countries have
opened archives, held trials and created truth commissions.
Akcam thinks some headway is being made, particularly since the
election of a moderate government in 2002 and continuing Turkish
efforts to join the European Union.
And he is convinced the state’s resistance to historical dialogue is
“not the position of the majority of people in Turkey.”
He cites a recent survey conducted by scholars that appeared in a
Turkish newspaper showing that 61 per cent of Turks believe it is
time for public discussion of what the survey called the “accusations
of genocide.”
But his views and those of like-minded scholars remain anathema to
the nationalist forces that still exercise influence in Turkey.
Akcam has been building bridges since 1995, when he met Greg
Sarkissian, founder of the Zoryan Institute in Toronto, a research
centre devoted to Armenian history.
In what both men describe as an emotional encounter, they lit candles
together at an Armenian church for Sarkissian’s murdered relatives
and for Haji Halil, a Turkish man who rescued Sarkissian’s
grandmother and her children.
Akcam and Sarkissian say Halil, the “righteous Turk,” symbolizes the
possibility of a more constructive relationship between the two
peoples.
But like most Armenians, Sarkissian says Turkey must acknowledge
historical responsibility before reconciliation is possible.
“If they do,” he says, “it will start the healing process, and then
Armenians won’t talk about genocide any more.
“We will talk about Haji Halil.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Tehran Times, Iran
April 26 2004
Iran to Launch 3 LNG Projects
TEHRAN (PIN) — Iran is determined to launch three big liquefied
natural gas (LNG) projects, Minister of Oil Bijan Namdar Zanganeh
said Sunday. “One project will be handled by French Total and
Malaysian Petronas to produce 10 million tons of LNG. The second
project goes to British Shell while the third one will be implemented
inside the country,” Zanganeh told reporters on the sidelines of a
conference on gas exports being held in Tehran.
“At moment, we can allow up to 49 percent of foreign investment and
welcome foreign companies to help us launch LNG projects,” the
minister said.
Deputy Oil Minister Mehdi Mirmoezi said Iran has decided to award
French oil giant Total a 1.2 billion dollar contract to develop phase
11 of the massive South Pars offshore gas field. “Total has been
chosen to develop phase 11 of South Pars,” he said. “The final
negotiations are in progress, and unless there is a problem, the
contract will be signed in one or two months.” Zanganeh also said
that Iran has already signed an oil exports deal with a company from
the United Arab Emirates. “We are negotiating with Kuwait and our
talks are going on with Armenia for gas exports.”
Regarding oil prices, he said that he believed an oil price hovering
around 28 dollars per barrel would be a “good price” for the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
“I consider that 28 dollars a barrel is a good price for OPEC, or one
or two dollars more or less,” the minister told reporters.
“The objective should be to maintain the price of a barrel in the
upper part of the 22 to 28 dollar bracket,” said the minister.
Iran is OPEC’s second exporter. OPEC ministers agreed in March to
press ahead with an output cut of four percent from April 1,
dismaying importers such as the United States. But Zanganeh blamed
the high prices on “refining problems in the United States and the
political tensions in the Middle East, and OPEC can do nothing to
solve these two problems.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Portland Press Herald (Maine)
April 24, 2004 Saturday, FINAL Edition
Mass, procession will mark Armenian genocide
The Anglican Cathedral of St. Paul in Portland will commemorate the
Armenian holocaust at a High Mass at 10 a.m. Sunday.
After the Mass at the cathedral at 279 Congress St., a procession
will go to the Armenian Community Memorial on Cumberland Avenue.
A reception will be held in St. Paul’s Parish Hall after the
procession. All are welcome.
More than 1.5 million Armenians died during the genocide by the
Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923. A memorial was dedicated last
year to the Armenian community in Portland, which dates back to the
late 19th century.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress