Author: Frangulian Shushan

People’s Daily Online
May 12, 2007
Kosovo issue solution should not set precedent for other areas: Romanian PM

Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu said Friday that Romania does not want the
way in which the Kosovo issue will be solved to set a precedent for other
areas with frozen conflicts, the Rompres news agency reported.
"Our concerns regarding Kosovo may be summed up: firstly, we do not want the
way of settling the Kosovo issue to set a precedent for other areas with
frozen conflicts, and secondly, we do not want the Kosovo solution to hint
at the manner of collectively approaching minorities’ rights," Tariceanu
said in Zagreb, where he was attending the Southeastern Europe Cooperation
Process Summit.
The UN Security Council is to decide on the status of Kosovo, which wishes
to break away from Serbia, on the basis of a plan proposed by UN mediator
Martti Ahtisaari.
This plan provides for the independence of the province, initially
supervised by an international mission led by the European Union.

ARTASHES GEGHAMIAN HOPES THAT PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS TO PROCEED IN
CORRESPONDENCE WITH DEMAND OF LAW

YEREVAN, MAY 12, NOYAN TAPAN. "I think that the parliamentary elections
will proceed in correspondence with the demand of the law," Artashes
Geghamian, the Chairman of the Azgayin Miabanutiun (National Unity)
party informed journalists after voting at his polling station on May
12. He hopes that fair elections will be held in Armenia for the first
time during the last 15 years.

Stratfor
May 12 2007

Armenia: Elections Close
May 12, 2007 21 46 GMT

Armenian parliamentary elections closed May 12 without incident, The
British Broadcasting Corp. reported. Results are expected to be
released within a day; the ruling Republican Party led by Prime
Minister Serzh Sarksyan is expected to win. The last election, held
in 2003, was ruled undemocratic by foreign monitors; monitors from
the Organization for Security and Cooperation of Europe are
monitoring this year’s election closely.

PRESS RELEASE
Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-689-7810
Fax: 212-689-7168
e-mail: [email protected]
Website:
Contact: Iris Papazian

May 10, 2007

NATIONAL FUNERAL FOR K. YERVANT TERZIAN
WILL TAKE PLACE MONDAY IN PHILADELPHIA
The Eastern Prelacy issued the following announcement today on the death
of K. Yervant Terzian.
"It is with heartfelt sorrow that His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan
Choloyan and the Religious and Executive Councils of the Eastern Prelacy of
the Armenian Apostolic Church of America announce the death of Karnig
Yervant Terzian, a beloved son of the Armenian Church and nation, a Prince
of Cilicia, and a former World General Assembly delegate, which took place
on Thursday, May 10, 2007.
"A National Funeral Service will take place on Monday, May, 14, 2007 at
11:00 a.m. at St. Gregory the Illuminator Church, in Philadelphia, PA, with
the Prelate, His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan presiding. Interment will
follow at Calvary Cemetery.
"We honor his memory and pray for his soul to rest in everlasting
peace."
Mr. Terzian is survived by his wife, Helen Shamlian Terzian, and many
relatives.

FUNERAL SERVICES FOR KENNETH KEGHAM ASBEDIAN
Kenneth Kegham Asbedian died on May 6, in Massachusetts where he was
attending a christening. He was 64 years old. Ken, with his family, was a
faithful member of the Sts. Vartanantz Church parish in Ridgefield, New
Jersey, where he served as a trustee for many years. He was the founder of
the church’s endowment fund and was the chairman for the committee
overseeing the funds. He is survived by his wife, Andrea, and daughters,
Jennifer and Katherine, and a brother, Val. Funeral services will take place
tomorrow morning, May 11, at 9:30 a.m., at Sts. Vartanantz Church, 461
Bergen Boulevard, Ridgefield, New Jersey. His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan
Choloyan will preside.

SECOND OF THREE ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS
FOR PRELATE WILL TAKE PLACE SATURDAY
The second of the three regional celebrations marking the 40th
anniversary of Archbishop Oshagan’s ordination to the priesthood, will take
place this Saturday, May 12, at the Marriott at Glenpointe in Teaneck, New
Jersey.
Last Saturday the first of the celebrations successfully took place in
Providence, Rhode Island, where the New England community gathered to honor
Archbishop Oshagan’s milestone anniversary.
The third celebration will take place during the National Representative
Assembly (NRA) which is being hosted by St. Sarkis Church in Dearborn,
Michigan. This will take place on Friday, May 18, at Double Tree Hotel in
Dearborn, with the participation of the parishes in the Mid-West, as well as
the NRA delegates and guests.

ECUMENICAL COMMUNITY COMES FORTH
TO CONGRATULATE ARCHBISHOP OSHAGAN
An Ecumenical Reception took place last Friday, May 4, at the Prelacy
offices in New York City in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the
ordination of His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan. Many ecumenical friends
attended and offered their congratulations to the Prelate.

VICAR ATTENDS INTERNATIONAL PRAYER CONFERENCE
His Grace Bishop Anoushavan Tanielian, Vicar of the Prelacy and
Ecumenical Officer in the United States on behalf of the Catholicosate of
Cilicia, attended a conference organized by the International Prayer Council
(IPC) yesterday, May 9, in New York City. "Prayer leaders" from various
churches attended this meeting in preparation for a gathering in September
2007, which aims to bring together 200 prayer leaders from around the world
to pray for United Nation’s Millennium goals and issues facing the General
Assembly and for New York City. The founder of IPCD, John Robb, has carried
out this noble mission in almost all continents, inviting the faith
communities in general and Christian denominations in particular to
transform the world through prayer.

HIS HOLINESS ARAM I RETURNS FROM GENEVA
His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, returned
from Geneva on Monday, May 7, where during the course of a week he
participated in several meetings with prominent officials in ecumenical and
inter-religious cooperation circles. The meetings focused on the planning of
several conferences to be held in Antelias in the future. Communications
Officer of the Catholicosate, V. Rev. Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, accompanied His
Holiness on the visit.

HIS HOLINESS SENDS CONGRATULATIONS TO
NEWLY ELECTED FRENCH PRESIDENT
His Holiness Aram I sent a letter of congratulations to the newly
elected president of France, Nicholas Sarkozy. He Holiness wrote:
"It is with particular joy that we received news of your election as
President of the Republic of France. We welcome your election and
congratulate you on this occasion from the headquarters of the Armenian
Catholicosate of Cilicia, in Antelias, Lebanon.
"As you well know, religious, cultural, social and political ties have
bound the French and Armenian nations together since centuries. This
relationship further developed during the Cilician Kingdom of Armenian
history and have evolved into a contemporary friendship based on shared
values.
"We have high regard for the strong stance of the French nation and
government towards human rights issues, and in this context, towards the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Being familiar with your thoughts on
this issue, we are confident that you will continue on the same path based
on the principles of justice and peace.
"We wish you success in your mission."

GARABED SARKESSIAN ORDAINED SUB-DEACON
Last week we reported that Garabed Sarkessian would be granted the right
to wear the stole (oorar) at St. Gregory Church in Philadelphia. We should
have reported that he was to be ordained a sub-deacon. He had received the
oorar two years ago.

2007 DATEV INSTITUTE SUMMER PROGRAM
The 21st annual St. Gregory of Datev Institute Christian summer studies
program will take place July 1 to 8 in Elverson, Pennsylvania. For details
click

2007 NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY IN DEARBORN
The 2007 National Representative Assembly (NRA) will convene next week
in Dearborn, Michigan, hosted by St. Sarkis Church. For details click

Clergymen should note that the religious conference will begin Tuesday
afternoon, May 15, not Wednesday as previously announced.

PLG MOTHERS DAY IS GREAT SUCCESS
The popular Mothers Day luncheon presented by the Prelacy Ladies Guild
took place last Monday, May 7, at the St. Regis in New York City. The
weather was perfect and spirits were high with good representation from the
New York-New Jersey metropolitan area, as well as Philadelphia and Rhode
Island.

IN CELEBRATION OF THE YEAR OF THE ARMENIAN LANGUAGE.
His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, has
designated 2007 as the Year of the Armenian Language. In celebration of this
year-long tribute, each week we will offer an interesting tidbit about the
Armenian language.

THE ARMENIAN LANGUAGE
The Armenian language is an orchard where I walk
under green trees growing in the shadow of the past.
The words are clustered fruit I pick one by one.

My Armenian language is a garden I love, that grows
beside a ruined palace; heavy boughs
alive with the flow of sap and sun.

I walk the shade of fruit trees and admire
their arching branches, their wide roots
amazed how they weathered the storms
that felled the vast countryside.

I hold rounded words, fruits both tart
and sweet with juices uncounted suns made ripe;
words that anoint the lips, bless the palate
and give comfort to the heart.

Written by Vahan Tekeyan
Translated by Diana Der Hovanessian and Marzbed Margossian

To read the message of His Holiness in Armenian click
.
To read the message of His Holiness in English click

DAIL Y BIBLE READINGS
Bible readings for today, May 10, are: Luke 13:10-21; Acts 19:1-20; 1
John 2:24-25; John 8:21-30; Matthew 15:1-20; Mark 7:31-37.
Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon
towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to
him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to
lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and
put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then
looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, Ephphatha, this is, "Be
opened." And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and
he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he
ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded
beyond measure, saying, "He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf
to hear and the mute to speak." Mark 7:31-37.
For listing of the entire week’s Bible readings click

MOTH ER’S DAY AT ST. ILLUMINATOR’S CATHEDRAL
A luncheon and program dedicated to Mother’s Day will take place
following the Divine Liturgy on Sunday, May 20, 2007, at St. Illuminator’s
Cathedral, 221 E. 27th Street, New York City. Honored as the Mothers of the
Year will be Yn. Vartouhi Der Kaloustian, Mrs. Azadouhi Vartanian, and Mrs.
Lusig Khatchadour. For information contact the church, 212-689-5880.

SUNDAY IS MOTHER’S DAY
This Sunday, May 13, is Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day was first conceived
by Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia. Ms. Jarvis vowed at her mother’s funeral
that she would dedicate her life to the wishes of her mother of having a
national holiday in honor of mothers. With financial assistance provided by
John Wanamaker (the department store tycoon) in 1907, she began a seven-year
effort which included letter-writing, speech making, and lobbying in
Washington. In 1914 Congress passed a joint resolution, which President
Woodrow Wilson signed, establishing Mother’s Day as a national holiday.
Mother’s Day has become the most popular day to eat out, and is
generally the day when the most long-distance phone calls are made.

Calendar of Events

May 12-40th anniversary of ordination of Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan in Mid
Atlantic area will take place at the Marriott at Glenpointe, Teaneck, New
Jersey.

May 12-Soorp Asdvadzadzin Church, Whitinsville, 50th anniversary concert
featuring Onnik Dinkjian and John Berberian.

May 12-Armenian Dance party, St. Gregory Church, Indian Orchard,
Massachusetts.

May 18-40th anniversary of ordination of Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan in
Midwest will take place at the National Representative Assembly.

May 20-"Hello Ellis Island" and Reception, St. Stephen’s Church Hall,
Watertown, Massachusetts. $20 per person. Information, 617-924-7562.

May 20-Divine Liturgy, Luncheon and Program dedicated to Mother’s Day, St.
Illuminator’s Cathedral, New York City, Sunday, May 20. Honored mothers: Yn.
Vartouhi Der Kaloustian, Mrs. Azadouhi Vartanian, and Mrs. Lusig
Khatchadour. For information, 212-689-5880.

July 1-8-St. Gregory of Datev Institute, 21st annual summer Christian
studies program for junior and senior high school students, at St. Mary of
Providence Center in Elverson, Pennsylvania. For information click

July 7-St. Gregory Church, Indian Orchard, Massachusetts, gathering at the
home of the parish priest, Rev. Father Bedros Shetilian.

July 21-Sts. Vartanantz Church Ladies Guild, Providence, Rhode Island, and
ARS Ani Chapter present "A Hye Summer Night 2." For information
401-286-8107.

August 7-Soorp Asdvadzadzin Church, Whitinsville, Massachusetts, annual golf
tournament at Blackstone Country Club.

August 19-Soorp Asdvadzadzin Church, Whitinsville, Massachusetts, annual
church picnic.

September 27-Sts. Vartanantz Church, Ridgefield, New Jersey, 5th Annual Golf
Outing at River Vale Country Club, River Vale, New Jersey. Registration
begins at 11 a.m. and tee time at 1 p.m. For information, 201-943-2950.

September 29-Soorp Asdvadzadzin Church, Whitinsville, Massachusetts, 50th
anniversary banquet at Pleasant Valley.

December 1-Soorp Asdvadzadzin Church, Whitinsville, Massachusetts, annual
church bazaar.

December 9-St. Stephen’s Church, Watertown, Massachusetts, 50th anniversary
celebration. For information, (617) 924-7562.

Visit our website at

CONFLICT OF INTEREST OR MERE COINCIDENCE? LA TIMES KILLS LEADING STORY ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BY WRITER WITH ARMENIAN ROOTS–CATALYZING CHARGES OF BIAS

Sirius Information, Inc
Bulldog Reporter’s Daily Dog
April 30, 2007 Monday

Rumors are running rampant that the Los Angeles Times killed
a front-page article about the fight over the recognition of the
Armenian genocide because its writer, Mark Arax, is Armenian. It’s
a question LA Times managing editor Douglas Frantz would probably
prefer not to address, the LA Weekly reports.

News broke earlier this week that Frantz killed Arax’s story in a
terse email message to the writer because, Frantz said, Arax had
"a conflict of interest" and a "position on the issue." Frantz was
referring to a 2005 letter in which Arax, four other Armenian Times
staff writers and legal affairs reporter Henry Weinstein reminded the
paper’s top editors to refer to the genocide as genocide, in accordance
with the paper’s style rules. The 2005 letter had been well-received,
acknowledged, and, sources at the paper tell the LA Weekly, forgotten,
reports Weekly writer Daniel Hernandez.

But in his recent email to Arax, obtained by the Weekly, Frantz
characterized the letter as a "petition," as in some form of
activism. He also told Arax that he "went around [the] system" in a
bid to land the story assignment, by dealing with an editor in the
Times Washington bureau, Robert Ourlian, who is Armenian American.

So Frantz reassigned the story to Washington reporter Rich Simon,
who turned around a decorous and somewhat routine take on Turkey’s
ongoing mission to block Congress from recognizing the slaughter of
more than 1 million Armenians by Ottoman Turkey during World War I,
something several Western developed countries have already done. The
revised Times article ran under the headline, "Genocide Resolution
Still Far From Certain" on April 21, four days before Armenian Genocide
Remembrance Day in LA. Arax was given a consolation tagline at the
end of the article for having "contributed" some reporting.

Arax, sounding incensed, sent an email to some of his fellow reporters,
which made its way to the Weekly. "Colleagues, You should know that
I had a Page One story killed this week by Doug Frantz," the letter
began. "His stated rationale for killing the piece had nothing to do
with any problems with the story itself. In an email to me, he cited
no bias, no factual errors, no contextual mishaps, no glaring holes."

Arax then spelled out the holes he saw in Frantz’s objections,
reiterating that the 2005 letter was not a petition, and that the
standard process was used with Ourlian to assign and edit the story.

And he pushed the dispute up a notch, going so far as to suggest that
the only person in the dustup who has a bias or personal stance is
Frantz, who lived in Turkey for years.

He continues: "Because his logic is so illogical, questions must be
raised about Frantz’ own objectivity, his past statements to colleagues
that he personally opposes an Armenian genocide resolution and his
friendship with Turkish government officials, including the consul
general in Los Angeles who’s quoted in my story. Frantz is heavily
involved and invested in defending the policies of Turkey."

Arax ended the note by sharing the news that he has filed a
discrimination complaint against Frantz inside the paper, and that
a Times Human Resources Department inquiry was launched.

INSTITUTION OF CRIMINAL CASE TOWARDS US HAS GOAL TO KEEP OPPOSITION
FIELD IN TERROR, VAHAN SHIRKHANIAN SAYS

YEREVAN, MAY 7, NOYAN TAPAN. Institution of ungrounded criminal case
towards former RA Foreign Minister Alexander Arzumanian and towards
him has the goal to persecute opposition forces and to "keep them in
terror" in the preelection period. Former RA Deputy Defence Minister
Vahan Shirkhanian said on May 7 in his interview to Noyan Tapan
correspondent.

Commenting upon the statement of National Security Service that
allegedly he and A. Arzumanian being in Moscow on April 24-26 "reached
an agreemet with RF citizen Levon Marcos, to organize with their help
moving to Armenia and legalization of sums having doubtful origin,"
V. Shirkhanian said that in the above mentioned period he indeed was
in Moscow. He met with his friends there, whom he asked for money for
organizing his daughter’s coming wedding and covering the expenditures
of Yerevan’s Shanghai Club. "I respect L. Marcos very much, but I have
not received any money from him," the former Deputy Minister said.

The same day in the interview to journalists A. Arzumanian qualified
the incident "as a political order." "I have spent my whole life in
Armenia, I have nothing to conceal, I have been never engaged in
economic activity and I consider the incident and the accusations
brought to us as absurd," he stated. In the words of the former
Foreign Minister, the current regime, which tries to reproduce himself
by all means and plans to commit unprecedented electoral
falsifications for that purpose, is already trying to create an
atmosphere of fear in the country. As A. Arzumanian affirmed, after
the elections the authorities will strengthen the acts of violence for
even more. "They will not manage to do anything, they cannot reduce us
to silence, we will struggle till the end, we call for pan-national
anger," A. Arzumanian stated.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Account of Armenian Genocide wins Minnesota Book Award

07.05.2007 17:44 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ An account of the Armenian Genocide written by Taner
Akcam, a visiting professor at the University of Minnesota won a
Minnesota Book Award this weekend.

Taner Akcam was honored for writing "A Shameful Act: The Armenian
Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility."

Judges called it a "pioneering work" and "scrupulous account of
Turkish responsibility for the killing of 1.5 million Armenians" and
praised Akcam and his publisher, Metropolitan Books, for "challenging
the country’s 90-plus-year denial of intentional genocide."

Akcam left Turkey in the 1970s after being prosecuted, jailed,
threatened, vilified and harassed.

"I’m deeply honored to accept this award," Akcam said, "in the hope of
preventing further genocides."

He dedicated his award for best general nonfiction book to his close
friend, Hrant Dink, a Turkish Armenian newspaper editor who was gunned
down outside his office in Istanbul in January, allegedly by extreme
nationalists, the AP reports.

CHARLES AZNAVOUR: I’D HAVE BEEN MOST FAMOUS TUKISH AND NOT FRENCH
SINGER IF THERE HAD NOT BEEN GENOCIDE

PARIS, MAY 7, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The forld-famous French
singer of Armenian descent Charles Aznavour said that if his ancestors
had not died during the genocide, he would have been the most famous
Turkish singer now. According to Haberler.com, Aznavour stated this
during a program "Vivement Dimanche" broadcast by TV channel
"France-2".

Speaking about the life and activities of Charles Aznavour, the
program presenter Michel Ducker pointed out the fact of the Armenian
Genocide’s recognition by the French parliament and added that while
commenting on Eurovision Song Contest last year, he expressed a hope
that one day Turkey will recognize the Armenian Genocide, and Turks
objected to these words by sending numerous messages.

In response to M. Ducker’s question about whether he is not a Turkish
Armenian, Aznavour replied: "I am a Turkish Armenian. My family was
from Izmir. When Turkey awarded Armenia 10 points at last year’s
Eurovision, I welcomed this step in a sincere way and said that I give
Turkey 12 points, and nobody thanked me for it. But if my ancestors
had not died during the genocide, now I’d have been the most famous
Turkish rather than French singer."

Delegation headed by NA Speaker to leave for NKR

ArmRadio.am
07.05.2007 16:03

On May 8 the delegation headed by the Speaker of the National Assembly
of Armenia Togran Torosyan will leave for the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic to participate in the celebration of the liberation of
Shoushi and the Victory Day, Public Relations Department of RA
National Assembly informs.

PopMatters, IL
May 6 2007

Armenian Americans battle with Los Angeles Times

FRENSO, Calif. – A well-known Fresno author and journalist is waging
a heated battle with his boss at the Los Angeles Times – a very
public struggle that has outraged many in Southern California’s large
Armenian community.

It’s also reverberating in Fresno, not only because of the sizable
local Armenian population, but because Times staffer Mark Arax lives
here and is of Armenian descent.

`People I talked to locally are really upset,’ said Varoujan Der
Simonian, executive director of the Armenian Technology Group, a
Fresno-based nonprofit that provides support for Armenian farmers.

The dispute revolves around an article Arax wrote – but the paper
refused to publish – to mark April 24, the 92nd anniversary of the
Armenian genocide. An estimated 1.5 million Armenians died between
1915 and 1923 at the hands of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.

The modern Turkish republic contends that no genocide occurred, but
for Armenians – and many Armenian Americans – the issue remains
critically important.

Hygo Ohannessian, who chairs the local chapter of the Armenian
National Committee of America, said the Arax family has deep ties to
Fresno and has long shown loyalty to its Armenian community.

`We all want to come to (Arax’s) aid, not just because he is
Armenian, but because he has good values,’ she said. `I stand behind
him 100 percent.’

The latest twist in the controversy came late Tuesday, when the
Armenian National Committee of America urged members to call for the
resignation of Times Managing Editor Douglas Frantz, whom Arax blames
for killing his story.

Harut Sassounian, a Southern California Armenian leader, and others
say thousands of e-mails have flooded the Times – and they plan to
continue pressing the matter.

The dispute erupted in early April after Arax completed a story on
the Armenian genocide resolution in Congress.

According to Sassounian and accounts in the online political journal
LAObserved.com, Arax’s article looked at how the resolution battle
was dividing not only Turks and Armenians, but also the Jewish
community. Some Jews feel a kinship with Armenians because both were
victims of genocide, while others don’t want to damage Israel’s
alliance with Turkey.

Frantz declined to comment on why he halted publication of the story.
But LAObserved.com has published several internal Times memos on the
issue, as well as a comment by Frantz.

`I put a hold on a story because of concerns that the reporter had
expressed personal views about the topic in a public manner and
therefore was not a disinterested party, which is required by our
ethics guidelines, and because the reporter and an editor had gone
outside the normal procedures for compiling and editing articles,’ he
wrote in an e-mail to LAObserved.com.

Frantz said he was concerned about bias because the writer, along
with several other staff members, had signed a memo in the fall of
2005 to top Times editors. The memo pointed out that the paper wasn’t
adhering to its written policy of unequivocally referring to the
Armenian genocide as a historic fact.

Arax, a longtime Times staffer who currently is assigned to the
paper’s Sunday magazine West, declined to comment on the dispute.
However, he wrote a lengthy memo to his Times colleagues on Monday
that was posted on LAObserved.com in which he defended himself and
said he deserved a public apology from Frantz.

In the memo, Arax said an internal investigation found the reasons
cited by Frantz to be baseless. He offered no evidence of this
finding, however.

After Frantz stopped the story, a Times reporter in the Washington
bureau used some of Arax’s reporting to fashion a different story
that appeared on the paper’s front page April 21.

An April 26 memo by Editor James O’Shea to the staff that also was
posted on LAObserved.com said the published story `was the best one.’
O’Shea noted that Arax’s story was not killed but had been sent back
for additional reporting. Arax could have had a double byline but
rejected it, O’Shea wrote.

Bill Erysian, coordinator of grants and international projects for
the Armenian Agribusiness Education Fund, a nonprofit based at
California State University, Fresno, said he has known Arax since
college. Arax has always been unbiased – even on Armenian issues –
Erysian said.

`The whole irony to this situation is Mark Arax is not an activist,
not a `professional Armenian,” Erysian said.

Arax, however, has taken public stances on other issues. Last year,
he tangled publicly with Fresno County Supervisor Bob Waterston at a
meeting of the Local Agency Formation Commission, and also criticized
the LAFCO board for its failure to discuss urban sprawl.

Arax also wrote a letter to the editor criticizing The (Fresno) Bee
after it offered its Fresno Unified school board endorsements. The
Bee had not endorsed his sister, Michelle Asadoorian, who later went
on to win one of the trustee seats.

Local Armenians maintain that Frantz’s logic in the matter is flawed.
If his claim that Arax’s signature on a memo showed he has a
pro-Armenian bias, then the same claim could apply to other ethnic
minorities.

`Are you saying no Jewish people can write about the Holocaust?’
asked Barlow Der Mugrdechian, a lecturer in Armenian studies at
Fresno State. `That seems a little ludicrous.’

Some Armenian activists feel Frantz has his own bias on the issue.
Before becoming managing editor of the Times, he was a longtime
correspondent in Istanbul, Turkey, and is scheduled to moderate a
panel discussion this month in Istanbul titled `Turkey: Sharing the
Democratic Experience.’

In the end, many in the Armenian community say, something has to give
in the dispute.

Said Sassounian, the Armenian leader who first rallied a defense for
Arax: `There’s no way Douglas Frantz and Mark Arax can exist in the
same newsroom after what has happened. One of them has to go, and
hopefully not the one who is innocent, but the one who is guilty.’

– John Ellis [McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)] 1:01 am | Permalink

ost/34030/armenian-americans-battle-with-los-angel es-times