Author: Hambardsumian Paul

COE: KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT MEETS INTERESTS OF WHOLE WORLD
PanARMENIAN.Net
26.04.2006 23:45 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ CoE Secretary General Terry Davis stated he
closely watches everything what happens over the Nagorno Karabakh
problem. “It’s regretful that the problem resolution takes so much
time, since the settlement is in the interests of Armenia, Azerbaijan
and especially Nagorno Karabakh,” the CoE Sec.Gen. said.
When asked about the possibility of regional cooperation before the
settlement of the conflicts available. Mr. Davis said “cooperation
is always possible however the existence of conflicts limits its
volume and level.” When commenting on the CoE’s engagement in the
Nagorno Karabakh settlement Terry Davis said, “The OSCE Minsk Group
plays a leading role in the process. I sincerely wish success to the
Russian, American and French Co-chairs. The conflict settlement meets
the interests of the whole world. But as I have already said, the
leading role belongs to the OSCE but not to the Council of Europe,”
reported Mediamax.

WHAT ARE SERVICEMEN GOING TO THINK ABOUT FUTURE?
Lragir.am
26 April 06
The disabled people of the Karabakh war and the relatives of killed
azatamartiks (participants of the war in Karabakh) in the system
of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs are
dissatisfied with the government action. On the legislative undertaking
of the government the National Assembly introduced changes in the
law on veterans in 2003, eliminating the allowances for gas, water,
telephone and transport for the abovementioned category. Instead of
privileges the law established a benefit which formerly was 3 thousand
drams monthly and now is 6 thousand drams.
“The allowances were replaced by benefits in the law. A benefit is
paid out to the weak and the sick,” said a veteran Albert Manukyan. He
says the disabled former servicemen count 1060, and the members of
the families of killed soldiers 2700 people. Albert Manukyan says
the government cannot keep the privileges for only 3700 people,
while officials and oligarchs enjoy nonofficial privileges.
The complainers applied to the president, the president directed their
application to the government, the government to the Ministry of Social
Affairs, and the Ministry of Social Affairs told the veterans it is
not entitled to grant or restore privileges. “A disabled veteran has
to take transport every day and see the doctor.
How is he supposed to use transport twice a day and see the doctor,
pay for gas, water, electricity, telephone on 6 thousand drams. When a
public official drives in an expensive car and sees a disabled veteran
at the bus stop, who can hardly get on a trolleybus, how can this
official be so indifferent? If I bring together all these disabled
people and the families of killed soldiers, how are the members
of government going to look these people in the eye?” says Albert
Manukyan.
He believes that if today their rights are violated, the present-day
servicemen might think that they will be treated similarly tomorrow.
And it is already a question of national security, says Albert
Manukyan.

ARMENIAN YOUTH WANT FRESH START WITH TURKEY
By Selahattin Sevi, Yerevan
Zaman, Turkey
April 25 2006
Armenia leaves behind an eventful April 24 marking the 91st year of
the so-called genocide. There were traditional scenes of commemorative
ceremonies in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. Chairman of the “Union
against Genocide,” a Turkish organization in Germany, Ali Ertem’s
declaration calling on Turkey to recognize the so-called genocide is
being congratulated.
The Turkish flag is being set fire to at demonstrations organized
by the Armenian Tasnak Party Youth Branches in Opera Square, but the
opinions of Armenians about Turks and Turkey vary dramatically.
“Imagine you live in an apartment building where you speak with all
your neighbors except with one. Your relations with this neighbor are
not good and you do not know exactly why except that our grandfathers
had problems with each other years ago,” says Ali Ozinan, who was born
in Istanbul and came to Yerevan to complete his university education.
Ozinan is actively involved in the New Neighbors project aiming at
securing news and information between Turkey, Armenia, and Georgia.
“Our grandfathers were upset with each other, but at least we greet
each other… even if it is sometimes secretly.”
“They sometimes called us ‘infidels’ in Istanbul, and sometimes we miss
this because at least we remembered who we were. The identity of our
children living in France is disappearing,” 61-year-old philosopher
Agop Ardic complains.
The conscience test that asks, “Do you know the Armenian genocide?”
ends before it starts, Ardic harshly warns his friends. Zafer Atajanov
Nabijanovich, who came to Yerevan from Uzbekistan to study at a
university, is also saddened by the situation.
Everyone we met in Yerevan talks of their pleasant memories of Turks.
Offering us Turkish coffee at his house overlooking the only mosque
in Yerevan, Gok Mescit, 32-year-old Vazdges Abovyan says Armenians
prefer Turkish food stores over Russian’s in Moscow.
“Look at the shops in Yerevan, without fear, they clearly show that
the products they sell are from Turkey. That is because people are
aware of the quality of Turkish goods,” Abovyan says.
Harutyun Chilingarjan Azmenakovith, whose grandfather immigrated to
Abkhazia from the Turkish city of Ordu and who came to Yerevan to
study, talks about how Turkish youths saved him during an argument
with Russian youths in Moscow. Harutyun, who was taught that Turks
are bad and hostile, said, “But as an Armenian, I favor improving
our relations with Turkey.”
A 22- year-old master’s student at Yerevan State University
International Relations Department, Anna Kartashyan gives her
impressions about Turkey.
“It is weird, but I had positive impressions. Attitudes were kind,
and I was told that all the roads and cities were in the style of
European. I suppose however that Turkey will not become a European
Union member country if it does not recognize the so-called Armenian
genocide.”

ARMENIAN LEADER DENIES LINKS BETWEEN KARABAKH SETTLEMENT, IRAN CRISIS
Mediamax news agency
25 Apr 06
Yerevan, 25 April: “I have not noticed links between the
intensification of the Nagornyy Karabakh settlement process and the
situation surrounding Iran,” Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said
at a joint news conference with Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus
in Yerevan today.
Kocharyan said that he did not “feel any additional pressure from the
USA in the settlement process”. He pointed out that the US, Russian
and French co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group “have a single position
and coordinate their work”.
Kocharyan also said that “the negotiating process at present is in
an active phase”, adding that this was not the result of pressure
exerted by the mediators.
“The mandate on the basis of which the mediators are implementing
their activity, does not imply putting pressure on the parties to
the conflict. The mediators are only facilitating the efforts of the
sides aimed at achieving a resolution,” the Armenian president said.

TURKEY TO ADDRESS UNESCO WITH COMPLAINT AT FRANCE REGARDING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MEMORIALS
Author: R. Abdullayev
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
April 24, 2006
Turkey is going to address UNSECO with a complaint at France regarding
so-called Armenian genocide memorials, Trend reports with reference
to Turkish media.
The ground for the complaint was erection of monuments in memory of
so-called Armenian genocide in Paris and Lion. Both the monuments
are erected on grounds on the list of “world’s cultural heritage”
by UNSECO.
For instance, Lion’s monument is located on historical square
Antonin-Ponchet that was claimed the part of “world’s cultural
heritage” in 1998.
The message says also Syria has addressed UNESCO accusing Paris of
demolishing historical fortress Yejjad.

ARMENIANS OF GEORGIA MARK GENOCIDE 91ST ANNIVERSARY
PanARMENIAN.Net
25.04.2006 00:40 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A number of events dedicated to memory of 1.5
Armenians slaughtered in Ottoman Turkey in 1915 were held in Tbilisi
on April 24. On the initiative of “Nor Serund” with the assistance
of the Armenian Center of Cooperation of Georgia a protest action
was held at the Turkish Embassy in Tbilisi. A memorial service was
held in the Cathedral of St. Gevorg Church. A soiree was held in the
Armenian dramatic theater after Petros Adamyan. Later a march towards
Nor Echmiadzin Church is expected. The event will end in lighting
of candles.

LEBANON: ARMENIANS MARK ANNIVERSARY OF MASSACRES IN TURKEY
Ya Libnan, Lebanon
April 24 2006
Beirut- Lebanese Armenians marched on the main coastal highway in
Beirut, Lebanon today to mark the 91th anniversary of massacres in
Turkey that began in April 1915 and in which hundreds of thousands
of Armenians died.
Armenian communities around the world are marking the killing of of
Armenians, on April 24 each year with marches, vigils and rallies
to demand recognition from the world community, and reparations
from Turkey.
According to pan Armenian Network , “during the period of 1915-1923,
1.5 million of Armenians were killed. The Armenian Genocide was
recognized by Russia, France, Canada, Lebanon, Uruguay, Cyprus,
Argentina, Greece, Belgium, Sweden, Slovakia, Netherlands, Vatican,
Italy, Germany, Lithuania and Poland as well as over 30 states of
the U.S.”
Turkey claims the number of deaths is inflated and says the victims
were killed in civil unrest.
In Lebanon there is a sizable Armenian community of about 400, 000,
almost 10 % of the population . Most of the Armenians immigrated to
Lebanon from neighboring countries .
Here are some pictures of the Armenian march of April 24th in Beirut
courtesy of AP:
Photo: Lebanese Armenians wave a banner and hold Armenian flags as
they march on the main coastal highway north of Beirut
Photo: A Lebanese Armenian woman holds a banner during a march in
Antelias , north of Beirut to mark the 91st anniversary of massacres
in Turkey that began in April 1915 and in which hundreds of thousands
of Armenians died.
Photo: Lebanese Armenians hold a banner as they march on the main
coastal highway of Antelias, on the northern entrance to Beirut.
/lebanon_armenia.php

The Brockville Recorder and Times (Ontario)
April 22, 2006 Saturday
FINAL EDITION
REMEMBERING 20TH CENTURY’S FIRST GENOCIDE
BY SALIM MANSUR
In the spring of 1915 with Europe at war, the Turkish rulers of the
Ottoman Empire ordered the deportation and killing of the Armenian
population within their territory.
Between April 1915 and the end of the war in November 1918, the
organized destruction of a people identified by ethnicity and
religion was conducted by a government that ruled an empire in the
name of Islam.
The nationalist Turks who succeeded the defeated power-holders in
Istanbul continued the massacres of Armenians in eastern Anatolia and
into the Caucasus. Some 1.5 million Armenians perished during this
period between 1915 and 1923.
This destruction of the Armenian people was the first genocide of the
20th century, a prelude to what would come later under Hitler’s Third
Reich as the “final solution” for the Jews.
It took nearly 90 years for the Canadian parliament – by a vote of
153 (yeas) to 68 (nays) on April 21, 2004 – to pass a resolution
acknowledging the Armenian genocide and condemning it as a crime
against humanity.
Neither the passage of time required for such an acknowledgment nor
the number of parliamentarians voting on record against it came as a
surprise, since the mass murderers of our age well understand that
the human capacity to deny evil is far greater than our inclination
to oppose it.
A mere 24 countries around the world have acknowledged the facts of
the Armenian genocide, and with the exception of Lebanon – possessing
a sizable Christian population – there is a wall of silence on this
subject from the Muslim-majority member states of the United Nations.
On April 24 every year, Armenians remember their dead. It was on this
night in 1915 the Turkish government ordered arrests of Armenian
community leaders in Istanbul, marking the start of the genocide.
Turkey continues to dispute what occurred. It is a sensitive issue,
and Turks willing to critically examine the events relating to the
Armenian genocide face persecution from authorities for “insulting
Turkishness.”
Orhan Pamuk, the widely translated and respected Turkish writer, was
charged last year with the crime of insulting Turks when he told a
Swiss newspaper that “30,000 Kurds and one million Armenians were
killed in these lands, and nobody but me dares talk about it.” The
case was dropped in January this year under heavy pressure from the
European Union.
That the world is a cynical place is not news, however, nor is the
fact that human nature is flawed.
Even as I write this column, the systematic depredation of the
wretchedly poor in Darfur remains unabated – while the United Nations
and its grandees, led by Kofi Annan, quibble over the meaning of
“genocide.”
Historians and philosophers struggle to find lessons from the tales
of human wickedness, and teach future generations to do better.
It is in vain, for the collective ears of humanity remain stuffed
with wax. Prophets have admonished, as Amos of the Old Testament did:
“They drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest
oils; but they are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph.”
The lesson of history is that, to paraphrase Santayana, there is no
lesson.
Each generation gets tested by the evil of its time and, in learning
nothing from the past, fashions its denial of crimes witnessed.
The present generation, not to be outdone in ingenuity, incessantly
speaks of being history’s victim and denies bearing any
responsibility or accountability for the ruin of Joseph.
Salim Mansur is a columnist with the Toronto Sun.
The lesson of history is that, to paraphrase Santayana, there is no
lesson. Each generation gets tested by the evil of its time and, in
learning nothing from the past, fashions its denial of crimes
witnessed.

PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address:  Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact:  Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel:  (374 10) 517 163
Fax:  (374 10) 517 301
E-Mail:  [email protected]
Website: 
April 21, 2006
International Live Broadcast of April 24 Divine Liturgy
On April 24, 2006, the worldwide Armenian nation will solemnly commemorate
the 91st Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.  In the Republic of Armenia,
the commemorative events include the procession of hundreds of thousands of
people to the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial of the Armenian Genocide in Yerevan
and a special Divine Liturgy which is celebrated in the Mother Cathedral of
Holy Etchmiadzin.
The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and the Shoghakat TV Company, working in
conjunction with the “First Channel” of Armenian television (“H1”), are
pleased to announce the live global telecast of this special Divine
Liturgy.  The Liturgy will be followed by a Requiem Service in memory of the
1.5 million victims of the first genocide of the 20th century.
Armenian communities throughout the world will be able to watch this special
Divine Liturgy broadcast live from the Mother Cathedral on Monday, April 24,
2006, on the Armenian H1 “First Channel” available through satellite
providers. 
Live coverage of the day’s events begins at 10:00 AM, (Armenia Daylight
Time).  Please refer to the list below for times and dates of the live
broadcast in your community:
Republic of Armenia – Monday, April 24 at 10:00 AM
Republic of Nagorno Karabagh – Monday, April 24 at 10:00 AM
Middle East
Lebanon – Monday, April 24 at 8:00 AM
Syria – Monday, April 24 at 8:00 AM
Israel – Monday, April 24 at 8:00 AM
United Arab Emirates – Monday, April 24 at 8:00 AM
Kuwait – Monday, April 24 at 8:00 AM
Jordan – Monday, April 24 at 8:00 AM
Iran – Monday, April 24 at 8:30 AM
Iraq – Monday, April 24 at 9:00 AM
North America
United States (Eastern Daylight Time) – Monday, April 24 at 1:00 AM
United States (Central Daylight Time) – Monday, April 24 at 12:00 AM
United States (Mountain Daylight Time) – Sunday, April 23 at 11:00 PM
United States (Pacific Daylight Time) – Sunday, April 23 at 10:00 PM
Canada (Montreal) – Monday, April 24 at 1:00 AM
Canada (Toronto) – Monday, April 24 at 1:00 AM
Mexico (Mexico City) – Monday, April 24 at 12:00 AM
Europe
United Kingdom – Monday, April 24 at 6:00 AM
France – Monday, April 24 at 7:00 AM
Germany – Monday, April 24 at 7:00 AM
Austria – Monday, April 24 at 7:00 AM
Italy – Monday, April 24  at 7:00 AM
Switzerland – Monday, April 24 at 7:00 AM
Spain – Monday, April 24 at 7:00 AM
Netherlands – Monday, April 24 at 7:00 AM
Belgium – Monday, April 24 at 7:00 AM
Sweden – Monday, April 24 at 7:00 AM
Czech Republic – Monday, April 24 at 7:00 AM
Hungary – Monday, April 24 at 7:00 AM
Baltic States – Monday, April 24 at 8:00 AM
Romania – Monday, April 24 at 8:00 AM
Ukraine – Monday, April 24 at 8:00 AM
Greece – Monday, April 24 at 8:00 AM
Cyprus – Monday, April 24 at 8:00 AM
Russian Federation (Moscow) – Monday, April 24 at 9:00 AM
Russian Federation (St. Petersburg) – Monday, April 24 at 9:00 AM
Russian Federation (Krasnodar) – Monday, April 24 at 9:00 AM
South America
Venezuela – Monday, April 24 at 1:00 AM
Argentina – Monday, April 24 at 2:00 AM
Brazil – Monday, April 24 at 2:00 AM
Uruguay – Monday, April 24 at 2:00 AM
Africa
Egypt – Monday, April 24 at 7:00 AM
South Africa – Monday, April 24 at 7:00 AM
Ethiopia – Monday, April 24 at 8:00 AM
Sudan – Monday, April 24 at 8:00 AM
Asia
Turkey – Monday, April 24 at 8:00 AM
Georgia – Monday, April 24 at 10:00 AM
India – Monday, April 24 at 10:30 AM
Thailand – Monday, April 24 at 12:00 PM
Singapore – Monday, April 24 at 1:00 PM
Australia & Pacific
Australia (Sydney) – Monday, April 24 at 3:00 PM
Australia (Melbourne) – Monday, April 24 at 3:00 PM
New Zealand – Monday, April 24 at 5:00 PM
##
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RA POLICE DELEGATION TO PARTICIPATE IN SITTING OF CIS COUNTRIES’
INTERIOR MINISTERS’ COUNCIL TO BE HELD IN DUSHANBE
YEREVAN, APRIL 21, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian delegation headed by RA
Police Chief Officer Haik Haroutiunian will also participate in the
regular sitting of the Interior Ministers’ Council of the CIS
countries to take place in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, on
April 21-22. Issues relating to development of future cooperation of
the Interior Ministries of the CIS states will be discussed during the
sitting. At the same time, the “Antiterror-2006” anti-terrorism
military exercises are held in Dushanbe, in which servicemen of
special detachments of the RA Police participate as well. During the
same days, the meeting of the Chairmen of Veterans’ Councils of
Interior Ministries of the CIS member states will take place in
Dushanbe for participating in which R.Babayan, the Chairman of the RA
Police Veterans Council left for Dushanbe in the staff of the RA
Police delegation. The RA Police delegation left for Dushanbe on April
20.