Author: Garo Vardanian

Montreal Gazette, Canada
April 24 2005
Armenians gather to remember
Open wounds. After 90 years there is still no closure

ROBERTO ROCHA
The Gazette
Kartine Divanian was 4 when Ottoman soldiers burst into her home,
chained up the men and took them away to be shot. The soldiers then
came back to burn her house and everything else in the Turkish
village of Marzevan.
Her mother, fearing for her life, sent her to Greece with 16,000
other Armenian orphans. They never saw each other again.
Divanian’s wounds haven’t healed over the past 90 years, wounds she
passed on to her children and grandchildren now living in Canada.
And none of the 60,000 Armenians in the country will feel healed
until they get the closure they seek: for the Turkish government to
recognize what many historians and governments agree was a genocide
in which 1.5 million Armenians were killed or disappeared.
Last night, Montreal Armenians filled St. Joseph’s Oratory to
capacity to observe the 90th anniversary of the alleged genocide.
But they were also observing 90 years of denial by the Turkish
government.
“It’s time for closure. We still have to fight the fight,” said Taro
Alepian, president of the Congress of Canadian Armenians.
Last night’s event was a deeply devotional, multi-denominational
service exalting martyrdom and denouncing indifference.
“Our ancestors fell knowing that 90 years later we would be meeting
in churches,” said Azad Chichmanian, an Armenian community leader who
began the service.
“They knew that kind of life could not be taken away, no matter how
organized the killing or how much the Turkish government denies it.”
A choir ushered in the handful of survivors from that era, most of
whom rely on wheelchairs and are at a loss for words when
describing what they witnessed.
“Your wounds are my wounds,” said Bishop Ibrahim Ibrahim of the
Malkite Greek Catholic Church of Montreal to the survivors. “The
blood of your martyrs is immortal.”
Officials from Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist faiths followed
with their own sympathies and condemnations.
Last year, Canada became the 17th government to recognize the
genocide, and other countries followed.
Alepian said that’s a good start.
“We want Canada to join Europe to pressure the Turkish government to
recognize the genocide,” he said.
“They need to face the truth like Germany did, and it’s a better
country for it,” he added. “Just like today’s Germans aren’t Nazis,
today’s Turks aren’t the killers. Why can’t they see this?”
For Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay, last night’s service transcended
politics.
“I’m here to pray for our future, to recognize that tragic things
happen,” Tremblay said.
“If every leader in our society took the time to do the same, they
would adhere to our true job, which is to respect the values of the
people who vote for us.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Rawlings Foundation honors four in education
By Lisa Coffey Mahoney
Contra Costa Times, San Francisco
April 22 2005
STAFF WRITER
“Inspirational.” “Dedicated.” “Creative.” “Remarkable.”
School board President Ronnie Caplane used these words to describe
the 2005 Lois Blair Rawlings Educational Inspiration Award winners.
They are Piedmont Middle School Principal Carol King, Piedmont Middle
School teacher Debby Sorenson, Wildwood Elementary School kindergarten
teacher Andrea Weidkamp, and Mandarin language federal grant program
director Linda Lei.
“These people, by their work and example, are inspirational to
students,” said Caplane, who is a member of the Lois Blair Rawlings
Foundation Board.
Caplane said she and other Rawlings Foundation Board members sifted
through more than 50 nominations, “which speaks volumes about our
schools that there are that many people that other people felt worthy
of the award.”
Nominations were received from school administrators, teachers,
parents and students, Caplane said.
Rawlings’ son, Ken, created the awards to honor his mother, a teacher
in the Oakland School District for many years.
Established in 2000, the awards were designed to recognize individuals
in the Piedmont education community who have demonstrated exceptional
ability to inspire, motivate and encourage the youth of the city in
their education, character development and personal growth.
This includes, but is not limited to, the faculty and staff at each
Piedmont school, administrators, coaches and Recreation Department
employees.
A teacher at the middle school since 1981, Sorenson said she was
“completely shocked and surprised” to learn she had been selected as
a Rawlings Award winner.
“It’s pretty overwhelming,” she said. “Getting singled out and rewarded
for something I love doing is amazing.”
Sorenson teaches eighth-grade history and English.
Sorenson’s former and current students were excited to hear she is
being recognized.
Rachel Zimmerman, 27, a graduate of Piedmont High School in 1995,
still feels Sorenson’s influence.
“Junior high school is not easy. Debby Sorenson got me through it,”
said Zimmerman, now a Hollywood producer. “I often think of her.
She’s always had a special place in my heart.”
Sorenson turned eighth-grader Paul Strauch into a history lover.
“I was never too interested in history, and now it’s my favorite
class,” he said. “She really puts a lot of energy into the class, so
you really want to give her answers and be a part of the conversation.”
Strauch, of Armenian descent, was particularly impressed that Sorenson
took him up on his suggestion that she attend a local conference
about Armenian genocide.
“She went and was eager to learn something new and will be putting
(information about the topic) in her curriculum next year,” he said.
Lei was also shocked to learn she had been selected as a Rawlings
Award winner.
“It’s a great honor. I’m really speechless,” she said.
During the years her daughter Adrienne attended Piedmont schools,
Lei volunteered for various positions on parent club boards and served
on boards for support organizations like Dress Best For Less, PAINTS
(Promote Art in the Schools), and the Piedmont Educational Foundation.
Lei also has served on the Piedmont Asian American Club board.
Lei has also taught Mandarin at Piedmont Middle School.
Two years ago, on behalf of the Piedmont school district, Lei
spearheaded the effort to secure a three-year federal Mandarin language
grant worth nearly $300,000.
“The goal of the grant is to improve and expand the curriculum,”
Lei said. “And we will produce a model K-12 curriculum for other
schools to duplicate.”
Mandarin is taught at the middle and high schools and is part of
the Piedmont Language School’s after-school enrichment program for
younger students, Lei said.
Each Rawlings Award recipient receives $5,000, half of which will be
donated on the recipient’s behalf to a nonprofit of their choosing
that has been approved by the Lois Blair Rawlings Foundation Board.
A special ceremony honoring the award winners is scheduled for May
6 at Ken Rawlings’ Piedmont home.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

New York Times
April 17 2005
Turkey Says 523,000 Were Killed by Armenians Between 1910 and 1922
By SEBNUM ARSU
Published: April 17, 2005
IZMIR, Turkey, April 17 – The Turkish State Archive issued today a
list of more than 523,000 Turks whom it said were killed by Armenians
in Turkey between 1910 and 1922.
The move appeared intended to counter longstanding Armenian
contentions that Turkish Ottoman officials committed genocide during
a period of mass deportations of Armenians that began in 1915.

Turkey fears that the 90th anniversary of the start of the violence,
which Armenians and their supporters plan to mark on April 24, will
cause widespread anti-Turkish feeling. It is also concerned that the
issue could interfere with its plans to start talks with the European
Union in October for possible membership. There have been growing
calls from other countries for Turkey to acknowledge its role with
regard to the Armenians.
Last week, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish Parliament
called for an international study of the events of that period, but
senior Armenia officials turned down the proposal.
Turkey flatly denies that there was any systematic effort at killing
or forcing the Armenians out of eastern Anatolia, where the Armenians
were trying to establish a separate state. with support from the
French, British and Russians. Turkey contends that, instead, hundreds
of thousands of Turks were killed by Armenians as they tried to
establish themselves as the majority population in that region. Prof.
Yusuf Sarinay said.
The list issued today was compiled based on reports by the regional
authorities sent to Ottoman officials in Istanbul, as well as the
written accounts of international observers, said Mr. Sarinay, the
director of the Office of State Archives.
“Europe has used Armenians as a tool in extension of their policies
over Turkey, for which Turks and Armenians suffered,” Mr. Sarinay was
quoted as saying by the Anatolian news agency. “Europe should also
face her own history.”
Hirant Dink, a leading figure among Armenians in Turkey called the
list an official attempt to create an alternate version of an
internationally recognized reality. He said that such documentary
analysis and confirmation of its accuracy should be left in the hands
of international academics.
“Figures and documents should be researched and analyzed,” Mr. Dink
said, “However, talking merely in figures means that Turkey doesn’t
understand the pain of the other side; what is undermined here is the
conscience and human factor behind all.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DAUGHTER COMPANY ROLLING-STOCK SET UP
YEREVAN, APRIL 8, NOYAN TAPAN. In accordance with the RA Law on
Joint-Stock Companies, at the April 7 RA government sitting, a
decision was made to reorganize the CJSC Armenian Railway by means of
separation and to set up a daughter CJSC Rolling-Stock. The powers of
management of Rolling-Stock’s shares, which represent state property,
are reserved for the RA Ministry of Transport and Communication.
According to the RA Government Information and PR Department, the
relations between CJSC Armenian Railway as the main company and
its daughter company Rolling-Stock will regulated on the basis of
agreementss signed by them.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Council winners set to go
Kassakhian takes city clerk, Borucki remains treasurer, and voters
approve charter changes
Glendale News-Press
March 7, 2005
By Josh Kleinbaum, News-Press and Leader
GLENDALE — Voters picked three incumbents and a challenger who has
lauded the council’s direction despite an election rife with accusations
of a dysfunctional and hostile City Council.
Ara Najarian, an attorney and Glendale Community College trustee, topped
the council race with 9,054 votes, or 10.4% of the votes. Incumbents Bob
Yousefian, Frank Quintero and Dave Weaver followed Najarian. Yousefian
received 7,810 votes, Quintero garnered 7,677 and Weaver got 7,072.
The four will join Rafi Manoukian, who was not up for reelection, on the
council. Najarian, Yousefian and Quintero will serve four-year terms.
Weaver will serve a two-year term, completing the term of Gus Gomez, who
left the council in January to become a Superior Court judge.
“The majority of the community is supportive of all the good
accomplishments of this council,” Yousefian said. “We have a better
understanding of what the community wants and also, to an extent, a
mandate from the people of Glendale to say, hey, let’s move forward and
let’s make this city a great city. That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
Ardashes Kassakhian coasted to victory over eight others for city clerk,
receiving 6,244 votes. His closest challenger, George McCullough,
finished with 3,739 votes.
Ron Borucki easily won reelection for city treasurer, receiving 13,113
votes. His challenger, Phil Kazanjian, received 7,257.
Voters also approved 21 amendments to the city charter, most designed to
eliminate obsolete language and make it comply with current practice and
state and federal law. Nineteen of the 21 amendments received at least
70% support from the voters.
Kassakhian, Borucki and the four council members will be sworn in at a
reorganizational meeting at 8 p.m. Monday. Council members will also
select a new mayor at that meeting.
Despite the election of three incumbents for City Council, the results
show some dissention in the community. Challengers John Drayman and
Steve Hedrick, who called for an overhaul of the council, both received
strong support.
Drayman finished in fifth place with 6,618 votes, just 454 behind Weaver
for the final spot. Hedrick finished seventh with 6,095, trailing Larry
Miller’s 6,176 votes.
“Clearly, the public was saying, at least for three incumbents, that
they wanted them back,” Drayman said. “Ara was endorsing the notion of
this incumbency, and that obviously resonated. But I don’t think you can
discount the notion that a large segment of the community resonated with
my message as well, or I wouldn’t have been outside by so few votes.”
Drayman said he is already considering another run in 2007.
As early returns trickled in Tuesday night, Chahe Keuroghelian and
Anahid Oshagan were consistently among the top four, propelled by a
strong push for absentee votes. But both faded as results from precincts
came in. Keuroghelian finished in eighth place with 6,007 votes, and
Oshagan finish ninth with 5,831.
“I guess the community was a little skeptical about new blood,” Oshagan
said. “It was kind of disappointing because of all of the capable women
that were running. There was no affirmation of the new things, good
things, that we could do.”
JOSH KLEINBAUM covers City Hall. He may be reached at (818) 637-3235 or
by e-mail at [email protected].
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Russia, Armenia should give attention to economic affairs
By Suzanna Adamyants, Natalia Simorova
ITAR-TASS News Agency
March 23, 2005 Wednesday
MOSCOW, March 23 — Ara Abramyan, the president of the Union of
Armenians in Russia, believes “Yerevan and Moscow have very close
and warm relations in the political and military areas.”
He expressed the hope that much attention would be given to economic
matters when Russian President Vladimir Putin is on a working visit
in Armenia on March 24-25.
Abramyan believes Armenia could also state its viewpoint on the
problems of Russo-Georgian relations. “It is necessary to create a
balance of forces in the Caucasus. If Russia and Georgia have good
relations, this will also be beneficial for Armenia,” he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SFStation.com, CA
March 23 2005
Kathryn Keats and Aram Avagyan Take To The Stage
Soulful Lyricist Reclaims Her Voice
LOCATION/TIME
The Empire Plush Room
415-885-2800 940 Sutter St.
San Francisco, CA 94109
The soulful Kathryn Keats returns to the stage to reclaim her voice
and music career on March 29, 2005 at San Francisco~Rs world famous
Empire Plush Room. Performing with Ms. Keats is the Grammy award
winning Armenian composer, Aram Avagyan.
Fifteen years have passed since singer/songwriter Kathryn Keats
stepped off the stage at the height of her career to protect her
life. Today, the period she spent looking over her shoulder has
ended. Kathryn Keats is back to reclaim her voice with the upcoming
release of her CD ~SAfter The Silence~T and pursue the career that had
been put on hold, not altogether silenced.
Kathryn Keats is thrilled to perform her original music at the Empire
Plush Room after enjoying a sold out performance at The Knitting
Factory, Hollywood. Kathryn offers a crossover of music which
incorporates her vast experience in love and life.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RUSSIA SEEKS TO RESTORE CONTACTS WITH ARMENIAN DEFENSE ENTERPRISES
Novosti
2005-03-21 20:26
MOSCOW, March 21. (RIA Novosti) – Russia should pay special attention
to restoring and maintaining contacts between Russian and Armenian
defense companies, Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor
Khristenko told RIA Novosti.
He recalled that Armenian defense factories specialized on producing
radio electronic devices and equipment necessary for Russian defense
enterprises in the aviation, space, ammunition, ship-building and
radio sectors.
“At present Russian defense enterprises are interested in supplies
of products necessary for producing Su airplanes, Mi helicopters,
air defense systems, anti-tank guided missiles, guard ships and
hovercraft, as well as other types and weapons and military equipment,”
the minister pointed out.
When describing the cooperation between the two countries’ defense
enterprises, he said that scientific, industrial and business
communities of Russia and Armenia should pay special attention to
growth of innovations.
“We should be competitive on the international level. This can be
achieved only if we develop innovations,” he said.
Besides, Mr. Khristenko pointed to the importance of developing
specific mechanisms of interaction between Russian managing companies
and Armenian enterprises owned by the Russian Federation, as well
as a package of state-supported measures on the part of both Russia
and Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PanArmenian News
March 19 2005
RECURRENT MEETING OF ARMENIAN AND AZERI FMs FIXED FOR MID-APRIL
19.03.2005 03:09
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The recurrent meeting of Armenian and Azeri Foreign
Ministers Vartan Oskanian and Elmar Mamedyarov, at which the ways of
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh Conflict will be discussed, is
fixed for the middle of April. As reported by Day.az, it was stated
by Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov. «The main goal
of the talks is to lay the basis for the meeting of the Presidents of
the two countries,» he noted.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Rights watchdog urges Baku to investigate death of opposition prisoner
Turan news agency, Baku
19 Feb 05
New York, 19 February: The Azerbaijani authorities have to conduct
a fair investigation into the death of prisoner Alqayit Maharramov,
20, who had been jailed for his involvement in the October 2003
developments [post-election riots], the international rights
organization Human Rights Watch has said.
Maharramov, who died in prison No 17, had been sentenced to three
years’ imprisonment. A total of 125 people have been sentenced for
protesting at falsifications in the [15 October 2003 presidential]
elections.
“This is the tragic end of the man and an unfavourable page in the
history of Azerbaijan,” Rachel Denber, acting executive director of
Human Rights Watch for Europe and Central Asia, said. “The Azerbaijani
authorities have to find out the causes [of Maharramov’s death]
and explain what happened to this young man,” she added.
[Passage omitted: reported details]
“Maharramov was one of the dozens of people convicted after October
2003 and his death reaffirms that the government should release or
reconsider the cases of those convicted in connection with those
developments,” Denber said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress