Author: Hakobian Adrine

Pan Armenian News

SUCCESS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTIONS – RESULT OF US ARMENIAN COMMUNITY
EFFORTS

20.09.2005 03:51

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The success of the Armenian Genocide resolutions at the US
House panel was the result of the great efforts by Armenian National
Committees, Armenian American community and all the Armenian organizations.
Elizabeth Chouldjian, the coordinator of the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA) Washington Office, stated it in an interview with the Azdak
Beirut newspaper. When presenting the two documents, Ms. Chouldjian noted
that the first one urges the US President `to properly acknowledge the
Armenian Genocide and use that term, which should be reflected in the US
foreign policy.’ She explained that on the eve of the vote, 140 House
members endorsed the Res. 316, and about 85 members endorsed the Res. 195.
She also noted that Armenian organizations throughout the US lobbied for the
resolutions by letters, phone calls and personal meetings with Congress
members. The second resolution urges Turkey to give up its denialist policy
of the crime and start a dialogue to Armenia to decide the issue in a fair
way. Touching upon the latest reports on Turkish Embassy in the US and
Turkish organizations bribing House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) in 2000 in
order for the latter prevent the passage of resolutions favorable for
Armenians, E. Chouldjian said, `There are countries that secretly try to
affect the American legislative process. This makes convincing the society
in not transparency of political processes in America necessary.» `We are
sure that in case resolutions are submitted to the House, these will be
adopted. We will further present our approached to the MPs. We are
optimistic,» she assured, reported the Yerkir newspaper.

MUCH ADO ABOUT TURKEY
By Tulin Daloglu

Washington Times, DC
Sept 20 2005

TODAY’S COLUMNIST

Last Thursday in the House International Relations Committee, Rep.

Dan Burton, Indiana Republican, opposed two resolutions dealing with
the alleged Armenian genocide. “This thing happened almost 100 years
ago, and we’re still beating on it 20 some years after I first got
involved in the debate on the floor of the House,” he said. “We ought
to get on with problems facing this country and the world today:
terrorism, Katrina, and other things, instead of rehashing this
thing over and over and over again at every anniversary of it.” Yet
both resolutions passed, and once again, Turkey’s present and past
“image problem” in the United States resurfaced.

In New York the next day, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
called the bills “completely political,” and Rep. Tom Lantos –
California Democrat, the ranking Democrat at the committee – admitted
as much. Mr. Lantos voted against a similar bill five years ago. This
time, although he explained in detail that what had happened to
the Armenian people is not technically genocide, he said he changed
his position because Turkey refused to open its northern front to
U.S. troops going into Iraq.

While committee Chairman Henry Hyde, Illinois Republican, said the
alleged genocide was the work of the Ottoman Empire, which was and is
distinct from the Republic of Turkey, Rep. Adam Schiff, Californian
Democrat, the sponsor of both measures, wrote, “The resolution urges
Turkey to go beyond recognition of genocide and reach a just resolution
with the Armenian people.”

The efforts on behalf of these congressional resolutions are not
solely about a duty to the past, but about demands from the present
and the future of Turkey. The question, then, is what exactly makes a
“just solution.” Armenian activists have over the years made their
three goals clear: recognition of the genocide, reparations for the
victims and return of the land.

If so, Gunay Evinch, a Turkish-American lawyer and Fulbright scholar,
compares the matter of compensation and return of property to the
Japanese-American relocations during World War II. In Korematsu
vs. United States, the Supreme Court held that treating all Japanese
Americans as a security threat and interning them was constitutional
for national security purposes. Fifty years later, however, the
Supreme Court reversed Korematsu (in Korematsu II), and held that
U.S. authorities did not have sufficient information to justify such a
relocation. But not only did the United States not return property to
the wrongfully relocated and dispossessed, it also did not compensate
them at the properties’ real value.

In the meantime, Mr. Schiff discussed the case of Turkey’s most popular
novelist in the West, Orhan Pamuk. Mr. Pamuk has been charged with
insulting Turkey’s national character and could be imprisoned for his
comments on Turkey’s killing of Armenians and Kurds. “Thirty thousand
Kurds and one million Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody
but me dares to talk about it,” Mr. Pamuk was quoted as saying in an
interview with a Swiss newspaper in February. Yet, Mr.

Schiff forgot to mention that Mr. Pamuk is neither a historian nor
an expert on the matter.

But in June, a Swiss prosecutor started investigating comments made
by Yusuf Halacoglu, president of the Turkish Historical Society,
who in a speech in the Swiss city of Winterthur last year denied the
“genocide.” As denial of “Armenian genocide” is a crime according
to Swiss law, Mr. Halacoglu also faces possible imprisonment. Both
cases look equally disturbing and absurd.

Stanford Shaw, a lecturer at Ankara’s Bilkent University, called the
accusation against Mr. Halacoglu a “violation of academic freedom
and freedom of expression.” Mr. Shaw learned first-hand about the
consequences of denying the “Armenian genocide” when a bomb exploded
in front of his house in Los Angeles in 1977, and an Armenian terrorist
group called for his assassination.

Congress forgets in these bills that the Secret Army for the Liberation
of Armenia (ASALA) has killed more than 50 Turkish diplomats, and
makes no mention of the Muslims killed during the Armenian revolt.

Clearly, Mr. Lantos made a bad judgment call last Thursday if his
priority is the U.S. national interests. No one should forget the
challenge of history to the Turkish Republic in the region and its
geostrategic location in this very rough neighborhood. Iran is a
serious matter in terms of world peace, and no country would be happy
about a neighbor’s emerging nuclear power. The United States should
also realize that this is not the time to send the message that
Congress may allow Armenians to use the Diaspora to get what they want.

The people who believe that genocide occurred will believe it no
matter what. This is not about recognizing whether there was an
Armenian genocide; but this is about whether to seek compensation
and land from Turkey.

One should no wonder why every U.S. administration opposes similar
bills. But now, when the future of Iraq’s territorial integrity is
unprecedented, does Congress really want to send Turks the message
that it’s willing to divide up their country?

Tulin Daloglu is the Washington correspondent and columnist for
Turkey’s Star TV and newspaper. A former BBC reporter, she writes
occasionally for The Washington Times.

SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CONFERENCE DENOUNCED

The Anatolian Times, Turkey
Sept 20 2005

ISTANBUL – A denouncement has been filed against several Armenian
scholars who organized a conference on the so-called Armenian genocide
and used Ataturk’s picture on a poster at the University of California,
Los Angeles (UCLA).

The denouncement was filed at the Uskudar Republican Prosecutor’s
Office and had the signatures of Dr. Ibrahim Oztek, Dr. Zihni Papakci
and owner of Iktidar Magazine Metin Hacimustafaoglu.

A conference on the so-called Armenian genocide was organized at
UCLA which was attended by Armenian scholars Vahram Shemmassian,
Ardashes Kassakhian and Levon Marashlian last April. The conference
posters had Ataturk’s picture in front of puppies.

Dr. Oztek stressed that Turks and the founder of Turkey Ataturk were
insulted by the posters and conference organized at UCLA. “We will
sue those responsible for the insult against the Turks,” noted Oztek.

PATRIOT GAMES FOR YOUNG GEORGIANS
By Natalia Antelava

BBC News
Sept 19 2005

President Mikhail Saakashvili is a great supporter of the camps
Seventeen-year-old Nino drops herself into a deep trench, clutches
her Kalashnikov and squints against the bright mid-afternoon sun.

“Attention! Fire!” the instructor’s voice barks into the loudspeaker
behind her, and Nino’s fragile figure shudders as she empties the
magazine into the air.

“That was so cool,” she laughs as she jogs away from the trench,
handing the gun to the next girl in line.

Amid breathtaking mountains and pine forests at the Bakuriani
resort, hundreds of other young men and women, dressed in a bright
orange-and-blue uniforms, load their guns and wait their turn to shoot.

These are the Patriots – Georgia’s answer to the former Soviet
Pioneers.

They are aged 15 to 20, come from poor backgrounds and do well in
school. And their prize is 10 days at a camp, all expenses paid by
the Georgian government.

Presidential visits

By the end of September, 15,000 young men and women will have graduated
from four camps across Georgia. For Maka Chichilashvili, like many
here, it has been a summer like no other.

“Georgian women are really tough, it’s in our nature to be real
fighters,” Maka says. “So it’s always been my dream to learn how to
fire a gun. But the best here is that I’ve made so many friends. It’s
the best way to spend the holiday.”

It’s not about war at all. We are meeting people, we are making
friends. It’s about peace more then anything else

Irakli Khachidze

The idea came from Georgia’s President Mikhail Saakashvili – part of
his effort to rebuild Georgia after the peaceful revolution he led
two years ago.

On his frequent visits to the camps, he proudly wears the bright orange
uniform, plays football with the Patriots and checks on quality of
the canteen food.

As a former Soviet Pioneer himself, President Saakashvili says this
is as different as it can get.

“These camps are about people taking ownership of their country. They
are not run by an occupying force like the Soviet camps were. It’s
theirs, and it teaches them that their country is theirs too,” he says.

“Two years ago, no one in Georgia liked the national flag, or knew
the lyrics of the national anthem. Revolution, and the fact that
people changed the government, also changed that.”

In Bakuriani, every day starts and ends with the new national anthem.

In between, it is guns, sports, leadership training and even safe
sex education.

But in Georgia – situated in the volatile Caucasus, with two unresolved
conflicts in the breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia –
the military instruction has raised hackles among the president’s
critics.

Football and firearms are on the agenda for the young Patriots

“It’s all part of the militaristic rhetoric of this government,” says
Tinatin Khidasheli, member of the opposition Republican party. “I
would rather see the kids getting a proper education than learning
how to fire guns.”

But the Patriots say they have not come to the camps to learn how
to fight.

“Knowing how to fire a gun is useful, no question,” says 19-year-old
Irakli Khachidze. “But it’s not about war at all. We are meeting
people, we are making friends. It’s about peace more then anything
else.”

Gela Onaidze, who runs this camp, says the point is to create a
new kind of national pride, free of the heavy ideology of the USSR,
or the ethnic tensions that followed its collapse.

Camp romance

That is why the young Patriots come from all ethnic backgrounds and
are free to choose many of their activities.

“We have ethnic Armenians, Russians, even Ossetians and Abkhaz,”
Gela says. “And this is the first time in the history of independent
Georgia that young people have come together from all over the country
and been taught how to get along.”

And some, he says, get along almost too well, bringing unexpected
outcomes.

“I’ve already got six weddings to go to in September,” laughs Gela.

Around him, the Patriots are preparing for an evening of fun after
a long day at the shooting range. As a silver moon climbs over the
tents, figures in orange and blue dart about the camp. Some are
playing sports, others are preparing for dinner.

And on a wooden bench next to a tent a group of young men, arm in arm,
break into song. It is a traditional Georgian song – a patriotic one,
of course.

A1+

| 21:07:09 | 15-09-2005 | Politics |

ARMENIA REFORMS OSCE

OSCE member-states held discussions dedicated to the OSCE reformation. The
Armenian delegation headed by Deputy FM Armen Bayburdyan took part in the
discussions.

The member-states presented their position on the report on raising the OSCE
efficiency worked out by a group of diplomats and political figures.

The report touches upon the principal issues such as OSCE legislation, legal
status of the organization, efficiency of the structures and OSCE field
missions.

Armenia’s position is as follows: the RA is interested in raising the
efficiency, role and authority of the OSCE and considers that preserving a
standards base and fulfilling the commitments to the CoE it is essential to
adapt the OSCE to the realities and challenges of the 21st century. Upon
completion of the discussions it was decided to form a working group, which
will elaborate a package of proposals for presenting them at the meeting of
the OSCE FMs to be held this December in Ljubljana.

Pan Armenian News

GOOD COOPERATION PROSPECT OBSERVED IN RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN RELATIONS

15.09.2005 02:44

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Saint Petersburg Governor Valentina Matvienko visited
Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) State University in Yerevan September 14. It
should be noted that Matvienko had arrived in Yerevan yesterday to take part
in events marking the St. Petersburg Days within the Year of Russia in
Armenia. After Ms. Matvienko’s meeting with students and professors of the
University, RAU rector Armen Darbinyan handed her Grigor Narekatsi’s Book of
Mournful Motets, specially produced to mark the 1000th anniversary of the
edition. University students had prepared a cultural program in honor of the
Saint Petersburg Governor. Addressing those present V. Matvienko pointed out
the role of President Kocharian in securing high rate of economic growth. `A
good prospect for cooperation is observed in the Russian-Armenian relations,
specifically in banking and industry. The commodity turnover between St.
Petersburg and Yerevan has increased 15% thus making $9 million,’ she
stated. In her words there are over 100 enterprises with Russian capital in
Armenia. At the same time businessmen making part of the delegation hold
negotiations with their Armenian colleagues over development of cooperation
and forming of joint ventures, the Saint Petersburg Governor said. It should
be noted that during the years of V. Matvienko’s tenure St. Petersburg
budget increased from $2.5 billion to $5 billion, reported IA Regnum.

Persepolis will host Iranian Melal Orchestra

IranMania News, Iran
Sept 13 2005

Tuesday, September 13, 2005 – ©2005 IranMania.com

LONDON, September 13 (IranMania) – Iranian Melal (nations) Orchestra
conducted by Peyman Soltani will perform in Persepolis (Takht-e
Jamshid) from September 28-30.

In an interview with ISNA, Soltani said that the orchestra, which
includes 85 instrumentalists, will perform various pieces to the
accompaniment of a chorus.

According to him, the pieces include a number of foreign works and
the first national anthem of Iran, which dates back to the reign of
the Qajar king, Mozaffareddin Shah (1896-1907), and will be performed
for the first time in the country.

The piece was composed by Frenchman Monsieur Lumer to be played on
the piano but it has been set to the orchestra this time, he noted.

Performances of local pieces including Se Chekkeh, Ilcheh Beglar,
which have been set by Siavash Beizaei are also on the agenda.

Other works, including a piece by an Armenian composer, ?Dawn Bird?
by Morteza Neidavoud, ?Fog? by Peyman Soltani, ?Cry? by Aref Qazvini,
are also scheduled to be performed in Persepolis.

The conductor further said that the orchestra includes ten
instrumentalists from Armenia.

?Former head of Iran?s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization
Hoseein Marashi had issued permission for the orchestra to perform
free of charge at historical monuments including Chehelsotun Palace,
Esfahan, Kakh-e Soltan, Tehran, Soltanieh Dome, Zanjan, Fin Garden
(Kashan),? he noted.

Melal Orchestra will also perform here at Andisheh Hall of Arts Center
from October 2-5.

–Boundary_(ID_GUZLLzqnFYKd/M9BWcJRpw)–

SOUTH CAUCASUS CULTURE MINISTERS TO MEET IN KIEV

Pan Armenian News
13.09.2005 07:12

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ September 15-16 a meeting of Ministers of Culture
of the South Caucasian countries on the subject of Culture, Cultural
Policy for Development will be held in Kiev. The fifth meeting of the
Ministers is held in the Ukrainian capital within the Stage Project,
aimed at promotion of cultural exchange between Armenia, Georgia and
Azerbaijan and contributing to democracy in these countries. During
the opening ceremony Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, the CE Deputy Secretary
General, will make a statement. The Stage Project comprises the three
South Caucasian republics, as well as observer states – Germany,
Austria, Greece, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, reported the
Yerkir newspaper.

PRESS RELEASE
ARMENPAC, The Armenian-American Political Action Committee
421 E. Airport Freeway, Suite 201
Irving, Texas 75220
Contact: Jason P. Capizzi, Esq.
Tel: 972-635-5347
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

ARMENPAC GAINS CONGRESSMAN AND SENATORIAL HOPEFUL ROB ANDREWS’
COSPONSORSHIP OF RAIL BILL – H.R. 3361

Irving, TX – ARMENPAC is hard at work continually meeting with members of
the United States Congress to garner a bipartisan majority for
Armenian-American issues. Most recently, ARMENPAC met with Congressman
Rob Andrews (D-NJ) and received his commitment to cosponsor H.R. 3361, the
South Caucasus Integration and Open Railroads Act of 2005. `ARMENPAC
thanks Congressman Andrews for his ongoing support of Armenian-American
issues and for his leadership on behalf of our community,’ said ARMENPAC
Board Member Jirair Hovnanian.

Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), along with Caucus
Co-Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Congressman George Radanovich (R-CA),
recently introduced H.R. 3361, which would prohibit United States
assistance in developing or promoting rail connections that traverse or
connect Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, and bypass Armenia. H.R. 3361,
therefore, disallows United States support for the proposed
Kars-Tblisi-Baku rail link, which isolates Armenia from East-West
commercial corridors.

In a recent letter to United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
Members of Congress expressed their dismay over plans to develop the
Kars-Tblisi-Baku rail link, which is estimated to cost between $400-800
million and could take years to construct, while overlooking the existing
Turkey-Armenia (Kars-Gymuri) line, which could be operational in weeks
with only a few minor repairs. In pertinent part, the letter stated that
`[o]pen and integrated transportation routes among Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Georgia and Turkey are necessary to promote cooperation, support economic
growth and help resolve regional conflicts. Unfortunately, this policy is
being undermined by efforts to exclude Armenia in regional development
projects… In no way should the United States condone a proposal or program
that directly undermines our goal of fostering integration and cooperation
among the countries of the region.’

`ARMENPAC supports H.R. 3361, which promotes security, trade and economic
development within the entire South Caucasus, and urges Secretary Rice to
denounce Turkey’s plans to move forward with the proposed Kars-Tblisi-Baku
rail link,’ said ARMENPAC Co-Chair Edgar Hagopian.

Congressman Rob Andrews’ cosponsorship of H.R. 3361 is greatly appreciated
as ARMENPAC encourages additional Members of Congress to do the same and
help prevent Turkey from moving forward with this ill-proposed project.
To date, H.R. 3361 only has thirty-one (31) cosponsors. `Please contact
your Representative today and urge him or her to join the bipartisan
effort to prevent the Kars-Tblisi-Baku rail link from moving forward by
cosponsoring H.R. 3361,’ said ARMENPAC Co-Chair Annie Totah.

Congressman Rob Andrews is a member of the Armenian Caucus, and serves on
the Armed Services Committee and the Education and the Workforce
Committee. In addition to H.R. 3361, Congressman Andrews is a cosponsor
of H.Res. 316, an Armenian Genocide resolution reaffirming the United
States record on this crime against humanity. Congressman Andrews is
currently vying, as well as Congressmen Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Robert
Menendez (D-NJ), among others, for an appointment as Senator Jon Corzine’s
(D-NJ) successor in the United States Senate. Senator Corzine is favored
to win the New Jersey Gubernatorial election in November 2005.

ARMENPAC is an independent, bipartisan political action committee
established to shape public policy by raising awareness of, and advocating
for, Armenian-American issues. ARMENPAC provides financial support to
federal officeholders, candidates, political action committees and
organizations that actively support issues of importance to
Armenian-Americans. For more information and how to join ARMENPAC, please
visit

THE LAW NEEDS TO BE EDITED
Srbuhi Vanian

Azat Artsakh Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
11 Sept 05

On September 8 the meeting of the standing committee of finance, budget
and economic management of the NKR National Assembly took place. It
was conducted by the chairman of the committee A. Harutyunian. At
the meeting members of government and officers of the tax service
were present. The committee discussed the annual report on the state
budget of 2004, the 2005 budget message of the Ministry of Economy
and Finance, the draft decision of the NKR National Assembly on
the annual report of 2004 on the implementation of the 2004-2006
programme of privatization of the state property. A. Harutyunian
once again informed that the performance of the state budget of the
previous year was satisfactory. Presenting the annual report on the
state budget of 2004, the chief treasurer N. Baghdassarian mentioned
that the performance of budget receipts was 127.5 per cent. In 2004
budget receipts grew by 1 billion 420 million drams. The actual
outlays were totaled 94.5 per cent. In 2004 the loan provided by
Armenia totaled 11.2 million drams. The members of parliament were
interested if the factors which determined the increase of budget
receipts were analyzed. The representatives of the tax service
mentioned that the increase was mainly determined by stricter control
on tax collection, the GDP and the arrears. In answer to Member of
Parliament S. Hakobian’s question why certain spheres, such as the
health sector, were not financed 100 per cent, N.

Baghdassarian answered that the financial means were provided in
accordance with the applications presented by them, and in the health
sector the amount is determined by the number of patients. Presenting
the information on the performance of the state budget in the first
half of 2005, the treasurer mentioned that in the accounting period
against the estimated 2770.2 million drams the actual receipts
totaled 3470.8 million drams (125.3 per cent, growing by 842.5
million drams since the same period of the previous year). Instead
of the estimated 1991.3 million drams return on tax totaled 2587.4
million drams, and instead of 411.5 million drams non-tax return
totaled 415.4 million drams (100.9 per cent). The loan provided by
Armenia (which is a source of covering the budget deficit) totaled
6680 million drams. N. Baghdassarian informed that the balance
of the beginning of the year, totaling 1701.6 million drams, was
directed at covering the budget deficit. In the first half of 2005
the state budget expenditure totaled 8467.6 million drams (77.3 per
cent of the estimated amount). The treasurer also presented a set of
macroeconomic indices describing the country’s social and economic
situation. According to him, the GDP of the first half of the current
year totaled 20.1 billion drams (growing by 22.6 per cent against
the previous year). The volume of industrial production is about 7.8
billion drams, gross agricultural output is 4.9 billion drams. The
volume of building is 4.4 billion, foreign trade 28.1 billion drams
(export totaled 8.8 billion, import 19.3 billion drams). The average
salary is 49 526 drams, growing since the previous year by 29.8 per
cent. There was an increase in the income of people (by 16.8 per cent)
and the expenses (23.8 per cent). The question of privatization of
the state property caused heated discussions. It was stated that the
law on privatization of the state property needs to be edited.