Author: Hovhannisian John

The Gazette (Montreal)
April 10, 2005 Sunday
Final Edition
‘Beyond human redress’: This month marks the 90th anniversary of the
slaughter and exile of Turkey’s Armenian population, a human tragedy
that still haunts both the persecuted and the persecutors
by TARO ALEPIAN, Freelance
The year 2005 marks the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. It
will be commemorated by the 60,000 Canadians of Armenian descent,
sons and daughters of the 1.5 million Armenians who were tortured and
massacred in this crime against humanity. Millions of Armenians
around the world will do the same.
On the evening of April 23, a multi-denominational ecumenical service
will be held in St. Joseph Oratory to mark the occasion. Cardinal
Jean-Claude Turcotte will lead the prayers.
The events that took place 90 years ago in Turkey are considered the
first ethnically motivated genocide in a century filled with
holocaust, genocide and ethnic cleansing. They were not random
events, but a government-sponsored and led program of ethnic
annihilation including torture, rape, starvation and the killing of
innocent men, women and children.
Many governments and parliaments around the world, including
Canada’s, now recognize the genocide. Although it was a catastrophe
of epic proportions, its denial by Turkey and the apathy of the
civilized world in the decades that followed set the tone for what is
arguably the most murderous century in history.
Adolf Hitler, in persuading his army commanders on the eve of the
Second World War that the merciless persecution and killing of Jews
would bring no retribution, declared: “Who, after all, speaks today
of the annihilation of the Armenians?”
These infamous words speak volumes. They clearly demonstrate that
denial was not just a betrayal of the Armenian people, but of
humanity, and that the apathy of the West was not only unfair, but
precedent setting.
With the eyes of the world on Turkey as it campaigns to join the
European Union, human-rights issues and the Armenian genocide are now
being discussed worldwide and, perhaps more importantly, are being
put on the negotiating table by the leaders of the European Union.
Canada, as a world leader and a respected voice of reason, must join
the nations of Europe in calling on Turkey to recognize this genocide
and to grow into the respectable and honourable member of the
community of nations that it strives to become. After all, Canada is
the nation that taught the world to use military force as a
peacekeeping tool and that set the benchmark for a just society based
on human rights, individual freedoms and democratic principles. That
is why we, as Canadians, expect more than a House of Commons
resolution. We expect action.
That genocide took place is no longer a debate. It is an accepted
fact, based on a mountain of factual evidence.
The United States ambassador to the Ottoman Empire at the time, Henry
Morgenthau, Sr., wrote: “I am confident that the whole history of the
human race contains no such horrible episode as this. The great
massacres and persecutions of the past seem almost insignificant when
compared to the sufferings of the Armenian race in 1915. The killing
of the Armenian people was accompanied by the systematic destruction
of churches, schools, libraries, treasures of art, and cultural
monuments in an attempt to eliminate all traces of a noble
civilization with a history of more than 3,000 years.”
Winston Churchill wrote: “As for Turkish atrocities – massacring
uncounted thousands of helpless Armenians, men, women, and children
together, whole districts blotted out in one administrative holocaust
– these were beyond human redress.”
There are numerous writings by American, German, Swiss and Italian
missionaries, diplomats and newspaper reporters who witnessed the
genocide, documenting the facts. The volume of evidence speaks
clearly for itself.
What remains, however, is to transform this fact, this genocide, from
calamity to lesson – from grievance to a collective “turning of the
page.”
Turkey today is a country trying hard to modernize itself. It is
addressing its human-rights issues, working to improve its financial
situation and campaigning to join the European Union. It has a rich
history and its people are justly proud of their recent achievements
as they look forward to a brighter future.
It takes leadership and courage to right past wrongs. The time is
right for the Turkish government to recognize that genocide was
perpetrated by a predecessor regime in a past generation.
Modern Turks can then disassociate themselves from the sins of their
ancestors, and finally bury this unfortunate event in the pages of
history where it rightly belongs. The world will respect them for
doing so, and it will remove one of the thorny issues hindering their
acceptance into the family of European nations.
Turkey can certainly benefit from some courageous leadership right
now. Perhaps Canada can help those courageous leaders who surely
exist in Turkey to stand up and take action.
Taro Alepian is president of the Congress of Canadian Armenians.

ARMENIAN TOURIST OPERATORS DISCONTENTED WITH TAX POLICY
YEREVAN, APRIL 8, NOYAN TAPAN. Head of the Department of Indirect
Taxes of the State Tax Sevice Andranik Muradian stated at the April 7
discussion that since 2004, tourism into Armenia has been exempt from
VAT, whereas VAT was imposed on tourism out of the country last year.
According to him, these changes aim to promote tourims. Yet this
explanation did not satisfy the members of the Armenian Union of
Tourist Operators into the Country who had initiated the discussion.
In particular, they underlined the necessity of granting certain tax
privileges to tourist operators in case of participating in exhibitions
and running advertizing campaign abroad. They expressed an opinion that
the maximum amount of representative costs per day abroad (which makes
50 thousand drams or abou 101 USD) needs reviewing. Director of the
company First Travel & Service Karen Andreasian touched upon another
sensative issue of the Armenian tourist operators. According to him,
tourist operators who own buses have to pay a fixed tax in the amount
of 120 thousand drams for renting a bus for a day. K Andreasian
stressed that this makes most tourist operators without autopark
bear part of the tax burden, which in its turn leads to an increase
in the tourism package cost. In his view, such taxation will result
in the closure of almost all the tourist agencies in Armenia. So it
was proposed that VAT should be introduced instead of the fixed tax
in case of motor transport rent. The Union’s executive director
Arayik Vardanian told NT correspondent that such discussions with
representatives of the Tax Service and other state bodies will make
it possible to solve somewhat the problems in the sphere. He said
that certain legislative improvements and a favorable investment
field are necessary to promote tourism into the country.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1plus
17:09:29 | 08-04-2005 | Sports |
THE FAILURE OF “PYUNIK” IN THE ARMENIAN CUP
The Armenian Champion and cup-winner “Pyunik” disqualified from the
Armenian Cup 2005. In the second match against “Kilikia” no goals
were scored, and as far as “Kilikia” had won the previous game 1:0,
they will continue to play.
The failure of “Pyunik” testifies to the fact that the team has serious
personnel problems, and with these players it cannot pass the barrier
of the first phase of the Champions League. It is difficult to say
if in the coming Championship of Armenia “Pyunik” will be invincible
or not.
It is already known that the champion will soon have a new foreign
coach who at the same time will be the coach of the National Team.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DISCORDS BETWEEN COMMITTEE OF ARMENIAN CAUSE AND ARMENIAN CONGRESS
Azg/arm
8 April 05
Turkish Hurriyet newspaper informed in its April 6 issue under the
title “Split among Diaspora Armenians in the USA” that contradiction
arouse between the Committee of Armenian Cause and the Armenian
Congress over the Armenian Genocide issues.
Hurriyet said that the committee accessed the congress of a conspiracy,
stating that Bush administration tries to carry out a plan according to
which the Armenians should abandon any territorial claims or demands
of compensations from Turkey against the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide. While the Armenian Congress, supporting the abovementioned
plan, participates the conspiracy of the US.
It’s hard to say whether Hurriyet told the truth but it is well-known
that the Committee of the Armenian Cause and the Armenian Congress
always compete.
By Hakob Chakrian
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenians Will Hold a Majority on Glendale Council
By Nicholas Shields, Times Staff Writer
It is a first for an ethnic group that makes up more than a third of the
city’s population. Ardashes Kassakhian elected city clerk.
Los Angeles Times
April 7, 2005
For the first time in its history, the Glendale City Council will
have an Armenian American majority following this week’s municipal
elections.
In unofficial returns, Ara Najarian topped a field of 19 candidates
in Tuesday’s election with more than 10% of the vote.
He was followed by Mayor Bob Yousefian with 9%, Frank Quintero with
8.8% and Dave Weaver with 8.2%.
The three top vote-getters will serve four-year terms and Weaver will
complete a two-year term left when Councilman Gus Gomez stepped down
late last year.
Armenian Americans Najarian and Yousefian and Councilman Rafi Manoukian
will hold three of the five City Council seats.
More than one-third of Los Angeles County’s nearly 153,000 Armenians
Americans live in Glendale, which has the second-largest population
of people of Armenian descent of any city in the country, behind
Los Angeles, according to census officials. There are about 205,000
residents in the city.
“There are a lot of Armenians in Glendale, and we just happen to be
fortunate enough to be elected,” said Najarian, whose goals include
tackling traffic problems.
“I know these gentlemen, and we’ll be dedicated and committed to
serving all of Glendale,” he added.
In Glendale’s first contested city clerk election in 75 years,
Ardashes Kassakhian will replace City Clerk Doris Twedt, who retired
after serving five years.
Treasurer Ronald K. Borucki was reelected with 64% of the vote.
Assistant City Clerk Rita Buchanan said a number of absentee ballots
remain to be counted. The results are not expected to change the
outcome of the election.
Meanwhile, voters in Inglewood on Tuesday reelected incumbent council
members Curren Price Jr. with a 61% majority and Judy Dunlap with 55%
of the votes.
,1,4512890.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

Opposition leader predicts repeat of Kyrgyz revolution in Armenia
Arminfo
4 Apr 05
Yerevan, 4 April: “A revolution in Armenia should not be based only on
social contradictions, otherwise the Kyrgyz scenario can be repeated,”
the leader of the opposition New Times Party, Aram Karapetyan, stated
during a meeting with representatives of the Armenian intelligentsia.
He described as a mistake the statements about the ethnic physiological
incompatibility of the Armenians and Kyrgyz and about the impossibility
of the Kyrgyz revolution repeating itself in Armenia. The events
of 1990 and 1996, when an outraged crowd beat up the speaker of
parliament, point to a possible repeat of the Kyrgyz scenario,
Karapetyan said.
The leader of the New Times Party thinks that various strata of
the population might unite around a charismatic leader in Armenia,
as was the case in Georgia and Ukraine.
He noted that “a revolution without a leader is inconceivable and
even in cases when revolutions were led by several leaders, one leader
remained in the end”.
Karapetyan welcomed the readiness of the Orinats Yerkir [Law-Governed
Country] Party for a dialogue, adding that further cooperation is
possible only if Orinats Yerkir quits the ruling coalition.

Anti-terror war games in Tajikistan start with firing exercises
Interfax-AVN military news agency web site, Moscow
4 Apr 05
Dushanbe, 4 April: The Rubezh 2005 command post exercises of the
Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which began in
Tajikistan on 2 April, will train troops to respond to attacks by
international terrorist groups in the south of Tajikistan, First
Deputy Chief of the CSTO Unified HQ Lt-Gen Vasiliy Zavgorodniy told
Interfax-Military News Agency today.
“Tajik Defence Minister Col-Gen Sherali Khayrulloyev, who supervises
the Rubezh 2005 exercises, will hear the decision of Maj-Gen Sergey
Chernomordin, commander of the Collective Rapid Deployment Force,
on using collective security units and support assets in the
anti-terrorist operation on the Tajik territory,” Zavgorodniy said.
Tactical actions and firing exercises will be held on the Eshak-Maydon
training range, about 200 km southwest of Dushanbe, on Tuesday [5
April], he said.
“Over 1,000 servicemen of the Collective Rapid Deployment Force in
Central Asia will be involved in the training. They will be using
about 300 pieces of military equipment,” the general said.
Russian warplanes stationed in the Kant air base in Kyrgyzstan will
take part in the exercises, he said.
The defence ministers of the CSTO member nations will observe the
active stage of the exercises, Zavgorodniy said. They will arrive in
Tajikistan to attend the event together with CSTO Secretary General
Nikolay Bordyuzha.
The Collective Rapid Deployment Force was established on 25 May,
2001, under a decision reached by the Russian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz and
Tajik presidents. It is comprised of over 5,000 servicemen.
The CSTO is made up of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia and Tajikistan.

Court to hear Frontera Resources suit against SOCAR in May
AssA-Irada (Baku)
25/03/2005
The lawsuit filed by US Frontera Resources against the State Oil
Company (SOCAR) will be considered in May. The suit is completely
groundless and this will be proven in court, SOCAR President Natig
Aliyev said.
The International Court of Justice is currently involved in procedural
work to get ready for the litigation, Aliyev said.
Frontera Resources claims it faced certain technical difficulties
several years ago while working in Azerbaijan, thereby demanding that
damages be paid.
The US company held a 30% stake in the development of Azerbaijan’s
Kursanghi and Garabagli offshore oil fields.
However, the company transferred its stake to EBRD after it was unable
to repay the loan it borrowed from the bank. The share was later sold
to a Chinese company.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
04/01/2005
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) ANCA Seeks Adoption of Darfur Accountability Act 2) Erdogan Strongly Refutes `Accusation of So-called' Armenian Genocide 3) Kocharian Pays Unexpected Visit to Georgia 4) Youth Set the Course for Humanity 5) Follow Tara's Lead on April 5 6) Board of Regents Invites Active Community Participation and Support in Strengthening Our Schools 7) Armen Movsisian in Concert 1) ANCA Seeks Adoption of Darfur Accountability Act --New ANCA WebFax Campaign supports Decisive US Action to Stop Genocide in Sudan WASHINGTON, DC--The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has joined the growing coalition seeking decisive US action to stop the ongoing Genocide in Darfur, Sudan. In an action alert circulated to more than 50,000 activists in every US state, the ANCA called on Armenian Americans to work for the adoption of Congressional resolutions in favor of the appointment of a Presidential Special envoy to Sudan and the imposition of sanctions against the Sudanese Government. Known as the Darfur Accountability Act of 2005 (S.495), the measure, introduced on March 2 by Senators Jon Corzine (D-NJ) and Sam Brownback (R-KS), calls for a new UN Security Council resolution with sanctions, an extension of the current arms embargo to cover the Government of Sudan, and as well as the freezing of assets of those responsible for genocide and war crimes in Darfur. The Special Presidential Envoy for Sudan would work with all parties and the international community to stop the genocide in Darfur and help craft a comprehensive peace plan. The ANCA WebFax letter reminds legislators, "The international community watched as Turkey massacred over 1.5 million Armenian civilians and drove hundreds of thousands more into the desert to die during World War I. After this first genocide of the 20th Century, the nations of the world pledged to prevent such atrocities in the future. And yet, over 6 million Jews and millions of others were exterminated by the Nazis during World War II. The world community again vowed to stop future atrocities, proclaiming, 'Never again.' And yet again, over 1.7 million Cambodians were killed under Pol Pot's repressive regime in the 1970's, and less than 20 years later after that, 800,000 Tutsi civilians were slaughtered in Rwanda in 1994. I urge you to take action to end this cycle and move us to finally realize the call 'Never Again.'" Joining Senators Corzine and Brownback in cosponsoring the Darfur Accountability Act in the Senate are Evan Bayh (D-IN), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Mark Dayton (D-MD), Mike DeWine (R-OH), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Russell Feingold (D-WI), John Kerry (D-MA), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Benjamin Nelson (R-NE), and Jim Talent (R-MO). Similar legislation was introduced in the House on March 17 by New Jersey Democrat Donald Payne and has 11 cosponsors including Representatives Michael Capuano (D-MA), John Conyers (D-MI), Tom Lantos (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Gregory Meeks (D-CA), Joseph Pitts (R-PA), Charles Rangel (D-NY), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Thomas Tancredo (R-CO), and Bennie Thompson (D-MS). Following the introduction of the Darfur Accountability Act, Illinois Senator Richard Durbin spoke in the support of the measure, citing a state's inherent responsibility to stop genocide: "'Genocide' is a word this is rarely used in human history," explained Sen. Durbin. "There have been genocides against the Armenian people and the Jewish people during the Holocaust, perhaps in Pol Pot's times in Cambodia, and other times we can point to. Rarely do we use the word. It is a word that is freighted with responsibility. You cannot just say there is genocide in some part of the world and isn't that a shame. We signed a genocide treaty that said once we detect a genocide, we go to international organizations--the United States does-- and demand action. So using the word "genocide," as the Bush administration has done, is a good thing because it prods us to do something, but it is a challenge that we must meet on something this timely and important." The escalation of Congressional efforts regarding the Darfur Genocide coincides with an expanded Sudanese government effort to deny its role in the ongoing tragedy. In a March 22nd front page Washington Post article, Sudan's First Vice-President Ali Uthman Muhammad Taha argued that, "his government had received an unfair share of the blame for the war in Darfur." The Washington Post article, which presented highlights from an interview with the First Vice-President continued: "We do understand and appreciate people having sympathy with the victims of Darfur," said Taha, 57, who called the situation a 'sad chapter' in Sudan's history. But he added: "This was not genocide, but an unfortunate internal conflict... that has nothing to do with ethnic cleansing. We urge people to see the difference between the innocents caught in the middle and the rebels who are escalating their claims to gain sympathy." "Genocide denial--of past atrocities or ongoing massacres--only serves to encourage perpetrators, emboldening them with the knowledge that their crimes can be committed with impunity," said Hamparian. "As Armenian Americans, we are reminded by the Sudanese government's efforts to blame the victims--like its hollow claims of self-defense--of the Turkish government's campaign--now in its ninth decade, to escape responsibility for the Armenian Genocide." Express your support for the Darfur Genocide Accountability Act of 2005 by sending a free ANCA WebFax to Congress from the ANCA website <; Additional information about the Darfur Genocide can be found at: Africa Action <; or Save Darfur <;www.saved arfur.org. 2) Erdogan Strongly Refutes `Accusation of So-called' Armenian Genocide RABAT (AFP)--During a news conference on the last day of his tour of North Africa, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan firmly stated on Thursday, `Turkey does not accept the accusation of the so-called Armenian genocide. Documents refute such slander.' When asked about the Incirlik Air Base and allegations that the US has requested use of the Air Base with approval of a resolution about the Armenian genocide by US Congress, Prime Minister Erdogan responded, `As a democratic, secular, and social state of law, Turkey will continue supporting its ally under the structure of NATO and under the United Nations humanitarian relief efforts. However, it is impossible to meet all requests every time. We do not have any problem about principles. In the meantime, we will regret any attempts to relate it to so-called Armenian genocide. The US parliament has never done such a thing, and I believe that it will not do so in the future.' Stating that Turkey had opened its state archives in an effort to clarify the facts, Prime Minister Erdogan told reporters that `the United States should also take action by charging historians and jurists to carry on detailed research.' `Turkey has never cherished any resentment or hatred against Armenia. We declared that we have opened our state archives, and called for research; however, they rejected our proposal. Their baseless slander is totally unacceptable. Turkey does not accept the accusation of so-called Armenian genocide since documents refute it. Turkey will make a decision soon, and inform all countries approving resolutions to recognize the so-called Armenian genocide,' he said. 3) Kocharian Pays Unexpected Visit to Georgia TBILISI (RFE/RL)--President Robert Kocharian left for Tbilisi Friday on an impromptu visit which may be connected with renewed tensions in Georgia's Armenian-populated areas. In a brief statement, President Kocharian's office said the two-day visit was initiated by Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and will have a `private' character. It gave no further details. Kocharian's trips abroad are usually announced by the presidential press service in advance. The Georgian news agency Caucasus Press cited Saakashvili's press service as saying that the two men will meet in the resort town of Gudauri and discuss a `wide range' of issues of mutual interest. `This is not an official visit,' Gela Bezhuashvili, secretary of Georgia's National Security Council, told Imedi television in Tbilisi. `We will discuss regional issues, as well as bilateral relations.' Asked whether the situation in the Armenian-populated Javakhk region will be on the agenda of the talks, Bezhuashvili replied, `We will discuss everything.' The restive and economically depressed area bordering Armenia and Turkey is home to one of the two Russian military bases in Georgia which Tbilisi has been trying to have closed. Saakashvili's administration has stepped up its pressure on Moscow in recent weeks, threatening to declare the Russian military presence illegal. The Russian base in Akhalkalak is Javakhk's single largest employer and most local Armenians are opposed to its closure. Thousands of them took to the streets of Akhalkalak on March 13 to protest against withdrawal of the troops. They staged another demonstration there on Thursday. According to the local A-Info news agency, the latest rally was dominated by socioeconomic issues, with organizers demanding that the government in Tbilisi pay greater attention to the local population's needs. They called, in particular, for an urgent repair of local roads and simplification of customs procedures. The authorities in Yerevan likewise press Tbilisi to address those problems. But they have at the same time urged the Javakhk Armenians to exercise caution, mindful of Georgia's geopolitical significance for Armenia. Many Georgians, for their part, feel that the local population is being manipulated by Russia and accuse Moscow of playing the ethnic card to prolong its military presence in Georgia. Saakashvili and Kocharian might also discuss a dispute over the ownership of 15th century Armenian church in Tbilisi which threatens to sour Georgian-Armenian relations. The local diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church has accused the Georgian Orthodox Church of seeking to `misappropriate' the church and destroying Armenian monuments across Georgia. A high-level delegation of Armenian clerics is due to travel to Tbilisi this month in an attempt to settle the dispute. 4) Youth Set the Course for Humanity By Ani Agnessa Avetisyan Starting today, Serouj Aprahamian, 23, will walk from Fresno to Sacramento--and remember. He will walk to honor the memory of his grandfather, who was only four when he was forced to walk through the deserts of Turkey into Syria. And he will walk to honor the 1.5 million Armenians who walked to their deaths. Ninety years ago, an estimated 1.5 million Christian Armenians were exterminated. They marched for hundreds of miles for months without food or water and were left to starve and die in the desert. Others were killed, raped, and tortured in a premeditated act of genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks--a genocide the United States refuses to recognize and Turkey denies to this day. The "March for Humanity," which begins today, will pay tribute to the lives lost during the Armenian Genocide and all other genocides. Aprahamian will be among 16 Armenian youth between the ages of 18 and 25 who will walk the entire time, for about 15 miles each day, rain or shine, for a total of 215 miles and 19 days. They will sleep in community centers, churches, schools and in tents on the road side. "We're saying we are going to do everything in our power to get the issue resolved and the genocide recognized! The march is to show our determination," said Aprahamian. Thousands of Californians will eventually come together at the State Capitol Building on April 21, 2005 at 11a.m. for a rally thanking the California State Legislature and 36 other states' legislatures for officially recognizing the Armenian Genocide. The "March for Humanity" was originated within the "Miatsial Marmeen" (United Body), an annual Armenian Genocide committee comprising 26 major, national Armenian organizations dedicated to furthering the Armenian cause. Aprahamian is a member of the Armenian Youth Federation and one of its representatives for the committee. "As youth, we are spearheading the event," said Aprahamian. "But we need the entire Armenian community to support it." Close to $200,000 in donations came in from various Armenian organizations nationwide, including $2,000 from each of the 13 Armenian Youth Federation chapters. The Armenian community has been commemorating the genocide in every possible way as far back as Aprahamian can remember, but he feels that this march is one of the biggest and best efforts yet, and that it will send out the strongest message. All the marchers want justice for those who perished and for most of them their passion is deeply rooted in personal ties to the victims of the genocide. Several of them have grandparents who were survivors, but who passed away without any sense of justice or closure, as did Aprahamian's grandfather. Aprahamian's grandfather, Apraham Chakrian, was one of few survivors, an eyewitness to the unpunished crime of genocide committed against his people between 1914 and 1921. "He didn't really like to talk about that part of his past," said Aprahamian. But Chakrian's story was passed on from generation to generation: His whole family was killed. And while he passed away a couple of years after Aprahamian was born, Aprahamian says his grandfather vividly remembered his brother being murdered right in front of him. Chakrian then marched with his neighbors from the Ottoman Empire into Syria. He remembered people teaching him the Armenian letters in the sand. Eventually, he was taken in by an Arab family who raised him as an Arab. "But he always knew he was Armenian," said Aprahamian. When he turned 18, Chakrian refused to marry an Arab girl and ran away to Alepo, Syria in search of his Armenian roots. When Aprahamian's father brought his family to America, he changed his family's name from "Chakrian," which has a Turkish root, to "Aprahamian," an Armenian last name in honor of his father. Today, Aprahamian refuses to forget what happened to his grandfather nine decades ago, and he is doing everything he can to find justice for the Armenian people. Aprahamian, who initially became very active in the Armenian cause in his freshman year at Cal Poly Pomona, was the "March for Humanity" coordinator. He worked about 75 hours per week for about two and a half months planning and promoting the march and expects hundreds of supporters and activists from across the country and Canada to join the march. Aprahamian was part of a five member administrative board organizing the march, but his efforts have been part of a much bigger undertaking, one on behalf of an entire people--all resolute, most still angry and hurting. For the Aprahamian's story is similar to that of many Armenians today, who during and after the genocide escaped to countries in the Middle East, Europe and the United States. Their story is one of pain and perseverance, of courage and dedication. They refuse to forget what happened and they claim they will never waiver in their efforts until both Turkey and the U.S. recognize the genocide. But the realization of that goal seems distant. The Turkish Government has been frantically seeking tougher measures to counter the upcoming Armenian observances which prominent Turkish journalist Mehmet Ali Birand described as the approaching "Armenian tsunami." Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul announced last July that a government task force was being formed to promote the denial of the Armenian genocide and counter the planned commemorative events. Despite overwhelming evidence documenting the Armenian Genocide, the Republic of Turkey continues to carry out a well-funded campaign, both in Washington, DC and throughout the world to deny the genocide and erase it from the history books. And every US administration since 1982 has feared that properly recognizing the Armenian Genocide would offend the Turkish government, endangering America's safety and economic ties with a country strategically located to aid in the war against Islamic terrorism and serve as a bridge to oil producing regions in the Middle East. Consequently, presidents have repeatedly opposed the passage of Congressional resolutions commemorating the Genocide and have avoided the use of the word "genocide" to describe the systematic annihilation of the Armenian people. Several countries, however, have officially recognized the Armenian Genocide through legislation and state declarations. The Dutch Parliament, Swiss National Council, Canadian House of Commons, Argentinean Senate, and the French National Assembly are some of the more recent ones to do so. These countries have acknowledged the importance of recognizing past genocides and crimes against humanity in order to prevent future ones. It was just a couple of decades after the Armenian genocide, in 1939, when Hitler convinced his generals to conquer Poland: "I have given orders to my Death Units to exterminate without mercy or pity men, women and children belonging to the Polish-speaking race...After all, who remembers today the extermination of the Armenians?" 5) Follow Tara's Lead on April 5 By Vahe Peroomian My quality time with my daughter Tara is a precisely timed 11 minutes every morning as I drive her to school. During this time, we talk about many subjects, as varied as the phases of the moon and why the moon can sometimes be seen during the daytime, her performance on one test or another, and, recently, the upcoming elections in Glendale. Tara is only seven years old (seven and a half, if you ask her), but she's already voted in every election in the last three years. No, this is not a case of voting early and often à la Chicago of the early 20th Century. She takes pride in accompanying me to the voting booth, carefully arranging the sample ballot next to the ballot, punching, or more recently, coloring in my/her choices, and receiving an "I Voted" sticker for her effort. I have watched Tara's political knowledge grow by leaps and bounds in the last several years. She has gone from blindly punching the ballot (remind you of any adults you know?), to asking why we're voting for someone, identifying lawn signs, and even pointing out our two possible polling stations, both of which happen to be on our drive to school. Her most recent request, though, clearly caught me off guard. Our mailbox hasn't been spared the deluge of colorful candidate mailers and pre-filled absentee ballot request cards that are characteristic of every election season. A couple of days ago, I mentioned that I needed to send in my absentee ballot request, as election day was bound to be hectic, and the number of charter amendments on the ballot would ensure long lines at the polling stations. Tara was adamant, though. She'd rather vote in person. Somehow, to her young mind, voting absentee did not carry the same weight--the same significance--as going through the effort of voting in person. I had to make sure that this was not about the "I Voted" sticker. It was not. She was very clear, as every demanding seven year old can be, that we were not going to vote absentee, even if it meant that we would have to leave the house 30 minutes earlier than normal on April 5. I wish that everyone is faced with a similar dilemma during this election: to vote in person or absentee. What I was hoping to instill in my daughter when I taught her about the electoral process, was a sense of what it takes to run a city or a nation, to give her firsthand knowledge of what she would eventually learn in her civics classes. She has voted with equal enthusiasm in every election she's voted in--local and statewide special elections, statewide primaries, and the most recent presidential election. To her, every election is as eventful as any other, and that should be Tara's lesson for everyone. Is a presidential election really more important than a local election? Absolutely not. After all, the most divisive issue in Glendale isn't whether we're a red city or a blue city embedded within a blue state, but how densely to build on our hillsides, how to accommodate the lower-income segment of our city's populace, how to best serve the diverse population of the city, how to navigate from one end of Glendale to the other in less than one hour, and many similar issues that the President of the United States has no interest in even being cognizant of. The April 5th elections are in fact historic in many respects. The City of Glendale will celebrate its 100th birthday next year. Yet, never before has there been so much interest in city elections. The last time there was an actual contest for the office of City Clerk, 75 years ago, our citizens were still giddy with the roaring 20s. Now, we have nine candidates for this position. Nineteen is the magic number of city council candidates, their names, backgrounds, and the issues they represent as diverse as the Jewel City they hope to represent and lead. None of the contests in this election are a formality. Simply put, everyone in Glendale has an opinion on these issues; everyone wants their voice to be heard. Where else in the US would you get more of a turnout for a local special election than a presidential election as contentious as that of November past? Tara is also curious about the choices we'll be making on Election Day. She's grilled me like no candidate forum could, and I think she trusts her dad's explanation of the long process by which the Armenian National Committee reached its endorsement decisions. After all, the number of times I've had to tell her I'll be coming home late because of meetings has increased exponentially in the last two months. Having evaluated every single candidate, and having interviewed many of the electoral hopefuls, I feel that I'm not misleading my child or anyone else in the community. What everyone should obviously do is vote, regardless of whether they take the time to evaluate each candidate themselves, or trust the ANC's judgment as to what's best for our community, in general, and Armenians residing in Glendale, in particular. If you haven't already voted absentee, Tara and I hope to see you in line on Election Day. 6) Board of Regents Invites Active Community Participation and Support in Strengthening Our Schools LOS ANGELES--The first Armenian all-day school in the United States, Holy Martyrs Ferrahian, was established over forty years ago. The network of Prelacy Armenian schools has been expanding ever since, and today a total of 2,736 boys and girls attend our seven preschools and six schools across California--from San Francisco to Orange County. The higher academic standards achieved by our schools and the growth of our community challenge us to further expand the network of our schools to better serve the educational needs of the new generation. We are charged to meet this challenge collectively with even greater commitment and perseverance. The more our schools accomplish, the more we must strive to surpass our own achievements. The Western Association for Schools and Colleges (WASC) has accredited all of our schools, and four of our pre-schools have National Association of Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation. The students attending the Prelacy Schools have also been consistently progressing in terms of academic performance. This fact is evinced by students' impressive performance in interscholastic competitions, the number of students receiving awards for academic excellence, the high acceptance rate of our seniors into first tier universities, and the merit-based scholarships that those same students receive. The Board of Regents has embarked on a mission to further improve the overall quality of the Prelacy Schools in the community, with specific emphasis on professional development of our teachers and Armenian education. The Board has already taken steps toward realizing this goal, which entails preparing teachers who have not only mastered the material in their own fields, but who are also versed in contemporary teaching methods and approaches to learning. It is important for teachers to know and understand the psychology of Armenian students growing up in the multicultural American society. In this regard, we have been organizing our own summer courses for Armenian subject teachers for the past two years. The weeklong Summer Institute provides the Armenian subject teachers with an opportunity to be introduced to teaching strategies by specialists, specifically focusing on methodology, Armenian language and literature, and contemporary teaching principles and techniques. In addition, all of our teachers participate in an annual daylong seminar with experts in child education and psychology. Furthermore, in order to evaluate the role of the Armenian identity with respect to curricula and teaching methods, in June 2004, the Board of Regents organized a two-day conference titled "Armenian Education in North America: Reassessment in the Context of the Changing Armenian-American Identity" at Woodbury university. The participants of the conference included Armenian school principals, teachers, intellectuals, university professors, and students from the US and Canada. Finally, with the help of specialists in education and Armenian history, the Board of Regents also standardized the content and lesson plans for teaching our students about the Armenian genocide at all grade levels. In this way, a methodical, structured and incremental approach to teaching the Genocide was established throughout the course of students' education. Last April, the standards, outlined in a 275-page document, were distributed to all of the Armenian schools in the US and Canada and will be subject to evaluation after the second year of their implementation. Among the Board's forthcoming projects and objectives is the development of a Standardized Test in Armenian language and history for grades 5th, 8th, and 12th. The Board of Regents, in collaboration with the Education and Finance Councils, principals, directors and local committees is currently revising the Salary Scale of our teachers to improve their compensation, who deserve our respect and admiration for their dedicated and professional services. In addition, starting in May of this year, with the establishment of the Board of Regents newsletter, we hope to create a stronger bond between the community and the Prelacy Armenian Schools. The Board of Regents, as a result of the popular demand of the community, also intends to expand the Vahan and Anoush Chamlian Armenian School, currently serving first through eighth grades. This long-term project of adding a high school is estimated to cost more than $10 million. As indicated by the progress of our schools, in the past, our challenge was to provide education and Armenian instruction to the young generation as a means of survival on foreign soil. The education was meant to ensure students' future success, while at the same time preserving Armenian cultural, linguistic and religious values. However, today, we must strive for more far-reaching goals. As we are living in an era of social and economic globalization and in a multi-cultural society, we are mandated to reach educational excellence, strengthen the Armenian identity of our students, and prepare well-rounded individuals, who are confident and equipped in their abilities to succeed as Armenian-American citizens and contributing members not only within the Armenian community, but in society at large. If in the past our goal was to preserve the Armenian identity, today we must begin to look for new ways to channel the richness and applicability of such an identity as an asset in contemporary society. According to Dr. Rubina Peroomian, the chairperson of the Board of Regents, "Our mission is to make the Prelacy Armenian schools an environment where students forge a balanced sense of their Armenian identity within the context of contemporary reality. It is our responsibility to tap into our multitudinous resources, in order to successfully produce generations of students with a clear sense of 'Armenianness' and with the competence to excel in American society and culture. In other words, it is our goal to provide our students with the necessary tools to function as good citizens with an intelligent awareness and understanding of both the American and Armenian aspects of their identities. Realizing the benefits of a balance between the two is of utmost importance for the future of our children." The Board of Regents intends to embark on this mission with COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY and COLLECTIVE ACCOUNTABILITY. We have placed great emphasis on the word collective, because the Prelacy Armenian Schools belong to our communities, to us all, COLLECTIVELY. Together, we are much stronger in preserving and ensuring the progress of our schools, while at the same time providing our new generation with the best educational opportunities possible in the United States. In order to further advance our educational mission and to meet the challenges of the 21st century, the Board of Regents has decided to establish an Endowment Fund for Prelacy Armenian Schools. Only the dividend of this inviolable fund will be used toward the educational needs of the Prelacy Armenian Schools. Hovan Tashjian, Executive Director of the Board of Regents of the Prelacy Armenian Schools, described the significance of the establishment of the Endowment Fund: "We have a strong and impressive network of schools in the community. By initiating efforts to further enhance the quality of the schools and by involving the community, we hope to spark a general revival and celebration of our past accomplishments and objectives we have set for the future." With this goal in mind, the Board of Regents has organized its first Annual Banquet-Awards Night on Friday, May 6, at 7:30 p.m. to initiate the efforts toward establishing the Endowment Fund for Prelacy Armenian Schools and to honor our dedicated and long-serving teachers, staff, and volunteers as they are the ones responsible for bringing excellence to our schools. During this event, the Board will acknowledge individual achievements of teachers, staff, and volunteers, thereby recognizing their hard work and exemplary commitment to educational progress of our students. By honoring the pillars of our schools, we reaffirm our dedication to the growth of our academic institutions as a priority in our communities. The Board of Regents intends to embark on this mission with COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY and COLLECTIVE ACCOUNTABILITY. We have placed great emphasis on the word collective, because the Prelacy Armenian Schools belong to our communities, to us all, COLLECTIVELY. Together we are much stronger in preserving and ensuring the progress of our schools, while at the same time providing our new generation with the best educational opportunities possible in the United States. --Prelacy Armenian School Board of Regents 7) Armen Movsisian in Concert April 2 at 8:00 PM Barnsdall Gallery Theatre 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood Tickets are $25, and available at Barnsdall box office before the concert, or by calling 818-265-0506. It's difficult to describe the music of Armen Movsisyan; his mellow, heartfelt style is compared to that of Ruben Hakhverdian's, but Movsisyan explains the difference in the driving force behind their music: "Since Ruben is the one who put the first stone in the wall of this genre of music, then it's natural for people to compare me to him. However, our understanding of the world, ways of thinking, and even our approach to music differ. As for his art... Ruben Hakhverdian, Artur Meschian, these are people that have begun the genre...and by the way, it's not the "worst" genre in Armenian music." By Ishkhan Jinbashian Armen Movsisyan is a man of many surprises. For starters, he was trained as an art historian and, of all things, a physicist. His lifelong dream had everything to do with becoming an astronaut, nothing with making music. And then the coup de grace: before 1988, when he suddenly decided to become a musician, he couldn't sing a note, let alone play the guitar. Furthermore, he had no benefit of formal training, whether vocal or instrumental, either before or after his first public appearance. Thus his new career was risky at best, with a considerable chance of attracting ridicule. But what happened next was something of a happy anomaly. For his first-ever concert, Movsisyan decided to test the waters by performing for a tiny Yerevan audience of university students, as hard-to-please a crowd as any. He came to the fore with a repertoire he had just composed, a guitar he had only recently learned to play, and a voice barely for unleashing. He was an instant success. About his out of the blue eagerness to become a singer-songwriter, Movsisyan has this to say, lacing it with minimal drama and a conspiratorial grin: "I fell in love." The rest was history--literally. Because Movsisyan's rise to prominence coincided with a large historical moment which would never cease to fuel his imagination and art. Nothing would be the same after 1988. The epochal year saw not only the Spitak earthquake which ravaged nothern Armenia and especially the city of Gumri, Movsisyan's birthplace, but also the beginning of Armenia's freedom movement. Watching at close quarters, Movsisyan became one of the earliest artists to express the poetics of loss and regeneration in a country impatient to reinvent itself. By 1992, Movsisyan was devoting himself solely to music. He was also becoming the poet of a theoretically purer, gentler Armenia, where faith and hope were never meant to be dirty words. Movsisyan's musical sensibilities came of age in a decade that took Armenia on a chaotic ride from the euphoria of independence to the hangover of the day after, and at last the long drawn reckoning with the realities of a socio-economic downward spiral. Despite the appalling living conditions, government corruption, and rampant cynicism, Movsisyan was among those who refused to join the mass exodus from the country. He stayed put and absorbed the often surreal phenomena borne of extreme circumstances, always on the lookout for the life-affirming aspect in a collective dream gone awry. Starting with his initial concert in 1988, when he registered an instant rapport with an audience of disenchanted students, Movsisyan's stance was as simple as it was challenging. Leaving is for losers, he seemed to say. He also had to work very hard to prove his point. For both inspiration and a renewed sense of dignity, Movsisyan looked to the freedom fighters of Karabagh, the treasure-trove of Armenian folk music, the dialect of his ancestral Moush, and the immutable pleasures of living in Yerevan. He says he rediscovered swaths of meaning all around him, and was moved incessantly to celebrate the lot in his music. Neither he nor the growing base of his fans would be disappointed. As in his albums 'Love, Hope, Remembrance' and 'We're Armenians, Armen Movsisyan Unplugged' can be heard as a string of intimate fireside chats, with the earnest voice of a modern-day minstrel constructing tales and pastiches on the soothing lines of acoustic guitar. The effect, as always, is quaintly uplifting. With the massive influx of movies, music, and literature vying for Armenia's new consumer culture these days, it may come as no surprise that the country's musical tastes are shifting rapidly. "Too much Easternization and way too much Westernization," Movsisyan says, referring to the inherent identity crisis in most pop music coming from Armenia. "The trick is to remain true to your essence while absorbing whatever disparate influences. The world is still waiting for that modern Armenian sound that is irreducibly and unmistakably Armenian. The geuine article." All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2005 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets. From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Jordan Times
Friday-Saturday, April 1-2, 2005
Dancing to Amman’s new rhythm
Ahmad Y. Majdoubeh
Has Amman changed? Is Amman changing? Yes.
All cities in the world change. Political, economic, social, demographic and
other factors affect size (with respect to both area and population), rhythm
and culture of cities. We live in a fast-changing world, and expansion and
diversification are quite natural.
Amman, however, is changing at a faster pace than most cities. It is
expanding physically in all directions, encompassing suburbs outside its
suburbs. Its population, due to natural and abrupt causes, is fast
increasing. But it is also becoming the hub of all kinds of regional and
international activities: political, economic, technological.
Look at traffic. Aside from the few morning hours on Fridays, and the late
night hours, its roads are – despite the large number of tunnels,
overpasses, bridges, new avenues and streets – extremely busy. Look at
people’s activities: primarily shopping, dining out and visits. Their
momentum has also increased immensely.
Look also at the number of students (from the country, the region and
abroad) who come to study at its schools and universities, the number of
patients who come for medical treatment, the number of people who come to
conduct business, the number of tourists. There are big increases at all
these levels.
The story of Amman, in fact, is a story of big cities, changes and
expansions – from the start. The other day, I was rereading Abdul Rahman
Munif’s masterpiece about Amman, `A Tale of City’. It is an autobiographical
novel describing the early days of Amman: primarily the 1930s, 1940s and
1950s, when the farthest point was the First Circle in Jabal Amman. Where is
Amman’s farthest point now? I think it is impossible to tell.
The point here is that in each decade of the past century, Amman went
through a big shift and a big change. Amman of the 1980s was very different
from that of the 1970s, and that of the 1990s was very different from that
of a decade earlier. Amman today is very different from that of even two
years ago.
Where is it heading? Where will this city with no borders stop? We started
with Amman, and for some time now we have been talking about `greater’
Amman. Many people would view this expansion positively, despite the
discomforts. Amman, from the start, has been a home to those who lost their
homes (like Circassians, Palestinians, Armenians, and others). Additionally,
due to its attractive political, economic, educational and social
environment, it has attracted all types of individuals and groups who have
found a haven in it. Furthermore, Amman’s variety and diversity, this ever
changing, ever expanding rhythm, have made it a very special city – in
addition to its physical location, its hotels, restaurants, markets, ancient
ruins.
For its inhabitants, however, and this is the point I wish to stress here,
the shifts and changes that the city witnesses need to be complemented by
shifts and changes in people’s way of dealing with life in the city on a
daily basis.
My theory (hypothesis if you like) has been that most of us who have come to
Amman from the countryside or the badia (a majority of Amman’s inhabitants)
have not prepared ourselves (mentally, psychologically, as well as with
respect to training and know-how) for living in an urban centre. For year,
maybe even until now, we have treated Amman as an extension to the
countryside or the badia. Such false assumption has had its grave
consequences, in addition to the discomfort, the chaos, the bad planning,
etc.
This is one level of the problem. Another has to do with the fact that we
have not taken the shifts and changes over the decades into account. We have
been living in Amman decade after decade in the same way, as if the city’s
rhythm were constant or static when, in fact, it has been dramatically
changing. This has created a gap, a rift between our ways and that of the
city. As a result, our relation with it has not been one of harmony or
complementarity, but of difference, tension and some alienation.
Amman is a real cosmopolitan city. It is also a great city, which has its
charms and challenges. We need to catch up with it, and dance to its tune
and rhythm, so that life in it will be both less discomforting and more
enjoyable.
Friday-Saturday, April 1-2, 2005
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress