Author: Jalatian Sonya

FORMER ADVISOR OF US PRESIDENT PROPOSES ARMENIA TO RECIPROCATE OLIVE BRANCH EXTENDED ERDOGAN
Pan Armenian News
13.09.2005 03:59
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A key U.S. House panel, American Turkish Council
(ATC) Chairman Brent Scowcroft urged Speaker Dennis Hastert to decline
discussion of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, reported the Armenian
National Committee of America (ANCA). Scowcroft’s message specifically
notes he is “gravely concerned about plans to debate in the House
of Representatives H. Con. Res. 195, a resolution “Commemorating
the Armenian Genocide”.” In his words, the discussion on the floor
of the U.S. House would be “counter-productive to the interests of
the United States.” The ATC Chairman reminded that when the French
Senate passed such a resolution, “it cost France over $1 billion in
cancelled contracts and lost business opportunities.” “We strongly
urge you to review the attached letter that Turkish Prime Minister
Erdogan sent Armenian President Robert Kocharian on April 10, 2005,
seeking to normalize bilateral relations as well as address painful
long-standing historical issues. Although Armenian President Kocharian
rejected his offer, we are encouraged that Prime Minister Erdogan
and his government, by reaching out to Armenia with an offer for an
open dialogue on difficult issues involving Turks and Armenians,
are taking an historic step. Turkish-Armenian rapprochement is in
the best interests of both nations, and the ATC believes now is the
time for reconciliation. We sincerely hope that President Kocharian
and his government will take the opportunity to reciprocate the olive
branch extended by Prime Minister Erdogan,” Scowcroft’s letter notes.

YEREVAN CELEBRATING 2787-TH BIRTHDAY
Pan Armenian News
12.09.2005 08:56
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Festivities dedicated to Yerevan’s 2787-th birthday
will be organized in the Armenian capital city September 8-9, Deputy
Mayor of Yerevan Arman Sahakian noted. The events will start with a
solemn sitting in the Opera and Ballet Theater. The holiday will end
in a firework. To note, Erebuni-Yerevan holiday was for the first
time was celebrated in 1968.

THE RA PRIME MINISTER LEAVES FOR NEW YORK TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 60TH SESSION OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
ARKA News Agency
Sept 12 2005
YEREVAN, September 12. /ARKA/. The RA Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan
and RA Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian left for New York to
participate in the 60th session of the UN General Assembly. According
to the RA Government’s Press Service Department, the RA Prime Minister
will participate in meetings at top levels that will take place on
Sep 14-18 in the UN Central Office. Meantime, he will participate in
the top-level meeting “For the Financial Development” together with
other top officials of states, held at the meeting of francophones.
Margaryan will have several meetings in New-York, in particular,
with the administration of the Millennium Challenges corporation,
the Executive Director of the UN Population Fund, the Coordinator
of UN Development Program, and will participate in the ceremony of
putting wreaths to the Memorial of victims of the terrorist attack of
September 11. Margaryan will also meet representatives of the Armenian
Community of America. In the framework of the visit Margryan and his
wife will participate in a reception organized by the US President
Jorge Bush and his wife.
Margarya’s speech at the session of the General Assembly is to take
place on Sep 16. On Sep 18 Margaryan will return to Yerevan. A.H.
–0–

YEREVAN DAY TO BE CELEBRATED
A1+
| 14:20:32 | 12-09-2005 | Social |
Yerevan deputy mayor Arman Sahakyan confesses that in connection
with the Yerevan Day there will be a huge celebration with a lot
of fireworks. He mentioned about it during today’s briefing in the
municipality.
By the Government decision the Yerevan Day is celebrated every second
Saturday of October. This year it will be October 8. The event will
last two days. The director of the event is Vigen Stepanyan.
The deputy mayor also referred o the other fields of his arrangement.
Speaking about the commerce and service field, he confessed that
there is still street commerce in Yerevan. “We must realize that the
problem cannot be solved in 2-3 years”. The most terrible thing is
probably the open-air sale of construction materials. There are 256
suchlike places in the city.
The combat against mourning accessories street sale is also in
process. The hope of the municipality is the law which is still
being discussed. According to the law, the sale of coffins must be
realized near the cemeteries only.
Referring to culture once again Arman Sahakyan informed that the fees
of the pupils with special needs studying in musical schools will be
paid by the municipality.

Sudan Tribune, The Sudan
Sept 9 2005
Chronology of a Failure to Stop Genocide: Bush Administration Policy
on Darfur since September 9, 2004
On this day last year, the White House declared that genocide was
taking place in Darfur, Sudan. This announcement was the result of
political pressure from Congress and citizen pressure from across the
U.S. The legal finding was itself based on overwhelming evidence from
a study of the region completed by the State Department the previous
month. The U.S. remains the only government to acknowledge the crisis
in Darfur as genocide, thereby invoking special responsibilities to
act.
However, since September 9, 2004, the Bush Administration has done
little to stop the violence and provide protection to the people of
Darfur. Despite important opportunities and obligations, and growing
public pressure, the President has failed to take the necessary steps
to ensure an urgent multinational intervention to stop this genocide.
Instead, the Bush Administration’s other interests in Sudan have
inhibited its response to the crisis in Darfur. U.S. diplomatic
engagement in ending the long-running civil war between the northern
government and southern rebels, and the U.S. desire to maintain an
intelligence-sharing relationship with the Sudanese government in
context of the so-called “War on Terror” have both been considered
more important than saving lives in Darfur.
A decade after the U.S. blocked international action on the genocide
in Rwanda, the White House has abdicated its responsibilities to stop
the genocide in Darfur. It has left the African Union (AU) to deal
with this crisis, even while it knows that the AU lacks the capacity
and the mandate to protect the people of Darfur. The death toll in
Darfur now exceeds 400,000 people, more than 2 million people have
been displaced and left homeless, and the genocide continues. It is
clear that U.S. financial support for humanitarian efforts in Darfur,
limited official travel to the region, and occasional remarks about
U.S. engagement have failed to substitute for assertive international
leadership to provide the protection to the people of Darfur
necessary to stop the genocide.
Genocide is a unique crime against humanity and it demands a unique
and urgent response. Once the U.S. recognized that genocide was
occurring in Darfur, it should have immediately acted to provide
protection to the people of Darfur – to stop the killing and rapes,
to restore security to the region, to facilitate the urgent delivery
of humanitarian assistance, and ultimately to support the voluntary
return of displaced people to their land. A multinational
intervention mission, approved by the United Nations (UN) Security
Council under Chapter 7 of its Charter, would provide the mandate and
authorize the force necessary to build on the AU mission and stop
this genocide. Instead, while the U.S. has drafted all UN resolutions
on Darfur in the past year, it has not once sought to achieve such an
intervention to stop this genocide.
The following is a chronology of the failure of the Bush
Administration over the past year to stop the genocide in Darfur:
September 9, 2004: President Bush issues a press statement
acknowledging that genocide is taking place in Darfur. Then-Secretary
of State Colin Powell testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee that genocide has been committed in Darfur, and that the
government of Sudan and its proxy militia bear responsibility, but he
denies logic by stating that “no new action is dictated by this
determination.”
September 18, 2004: The United Nations (UN) Security Council passes a
weak U.S.-sponsored Resolution (1564), which presses the Government
of Sudan to end the violence in Darfur but fails to impose strong
measures to ensure this outcome. Indeed, this follows the expiration
of a deadline set in a previous resolution, by which the government
was supposed to have disarmed the Janjaweed militia. Resolution 1564
also requests that the Secretary-General establish an International
Commission of Inquiry to investigate reports of violations of
international humanitarian law and human rights law in Darfur.
September 21, 2004: President Bush briefly mentions the “terrible
suffering and horrible crimes in Darfur” in remarks to the UN General
Assembly, and reiterates the U.S. finding that genocide is occurring,
but he fails to propose urgent international action to stop the
genocide.
October 1, 2004: President Bush responds to a question on Darfur
during the first Presidential debate by emphasizing that genocide is
occurring but failing to propose action to address the crisis. He
simply states that the AU observer mission in Darfur should be
supported.
October 18, 2004: President Bush commits to supplying two military
transport aircraft to support the small African Union mission in
Darfur.
November 1, 2004: President Bush extends Executive Order 13067, which
was first invoked in 1997, and which maintains sanctions against
Sudan and states that the actions and policies of the Sudanese
government pose an extraordinary threat to U.S. national security.
November 19, 2004: The UN Security Council passes a weak
U.S.-sponsored Resolution (1574), which again demands that the
government, its militia forces and the rebel groups cease violence in
Darfur, and expresses support for AU plans to increase its mission to
3,320 observers.
January 9, 2005: President Bush commends the signing of the
North-South Peace Agreement in Sudan, and urges the government of
Sudan to end atrocities in Darfur and allow the free movement of
humanitarian workers and supplies.
February 1, 2005: In response to the UN Commission of Inquiry report
on Darfur, a State Department spokesperson emphasizes that the U.S.
stands by its conclusion that genocide had been occurring in Darfur,
and states that the continued accumulation of facts on the ground,
and the facts in the UN report itself, support that view, and that
the U.S. continues to hold that position.
March 31, 2005: The U.S. abstains as the UN Security Council adopts a
resolution to refer cases of war crimes in Darfur to the
International Criminal Court (ICC).
April 14-15, 2005: U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick
travels to Sudan to meet with senior officials from the genocidal
regime in Khartoum. While in Sudan, Zoellick evades media questions
on the crisis in Darfur and refuses even to use the word “genocide”.
April 20-22, 2005: Maj. Gen. Salah Abdallah Gosh, Head of the
Sudanese intelligence agency, is flown to Washington on a Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) jet to discuss intelligence sharing in the
context of the so-called “War on Terror.” Gosh has been accused by
numerous human rights groups and members of Congress of planning
attacks on civilians in Darfur.
April 25, 2005: Media reports indicate that the White House has
leaned on Congressional allies to strike the Darfur Accountability
Act from the budget supplemental appropriation bill, claiming it
might impede the North-South peace process in Sudan.
May 27, 2005: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and
European Union (EU) agree to send air transport, vehicles, training
and other materials to support the expansion of the AU mission in
Darfur. The U.S. agrees to provide additional financial support for
this mission.
May 31, 2005: Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick again travels
to Sudan, continuing a policy of constructive engagement on the part
of the Bush Administration with the genocidal regime in Khartoum.
June 1, 2005: President Bush breaks months of silence on the crisis
in Darfur by repeating his Administration’s position that genocide is
occurring, but offers only a transport plane to support the AU
mission.
June 9, 2005: NATO agrees to help the AU with airlifts and training
for its mission in Darfur.
June 22, 2005: Deputy Secretary Zoellick’s testimony before the House
Committee on International Relations confirms that the U.S. has an
intelligence-sharing relationship with Sudan, which is impacting the
U.S. response to the crisis in Darfur. Zoellick emphasizes that U.S.
support for the small AU operation is the centerpiece of U.S. policy
on Darfur.
July 7, 2005: NATO begins a three-month airlift of AU observers into
Darfur, and the U.S. commits to supporting NATO’s work in the coming
weeks by transporting about 1,200 Rwandan troops and equipment from
Rwanda to Sudan to participate in the AU observer mission.
July 9: Deputy Secretary of State Zoellick again visits Khartoum to
represent the U.S. at the inauguration of the Government of National
Unity. Zoellick also makes a third, and uneventful, trip to Darfur to
meet with local leaders, NGOs and humanitarian groups and internally
displaced people (IDPs).
July 21: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits Sudan to meet
with senior government officials in Khartoum and to visit camps for
displaced people in Darfur. However, a fracas between Sudanese
security officers and Rice’s entourage appeared to generate greater
attention and indignation from U.S. officials and media than did the
ongoing genocide in that country. Rice repeats that the
Administration’s position remains that genocide is occurring in
Darfur.
July 26, 2005: The State Department announces the appointment of
Roger P. Winter as Special Representative of the Deputy Secretary of
State for Sudan, tasked with engaging with the new Government of
National Unity and advising the Secretary and Deputy Secretary on
policy related to Darfur and to Sudan in general.
August 1, 2005: President Bush issues a statement expressing
condolences to the family of Dr. Garang, First Vice President in the
Government of National Unity, who has just died. Secretary of State
Rice emphasizes that the U.S. remains committed to the cause of peace
in all of Sudan, including resolution of the “humanitarian crisis” in
Darfur.
September 8, 2005: For more than two years, a growing number of
communities and organizations across the U.S. have been demanding
leadership from the White House to stop the genocide in Darfur. This
diverse movement now includes a range of religious groups, student
activists, African-American groups, relief agencies, and human rights
organizations of all kinds.
On the one-year anniversary of the Bush Administration’s declaration
of genocide in Darfur, a coalition of these groups and their
supporters gather outside the White House to condemn the failure of
political leadership on the part of the President in ensuring
protection for the people of Darfur, and to urge immediate action to
stop the genocide in Darfur.
This event, called “A Day for Darfur”, is co-sponsored and endorsed
by the following groups: Africa Action, American Jewish World
Service, Armenian National Committee of America, Darfur
Rehabilitation Project, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America,
Faithful America, Greater Washington Jewish Task Force on Darfur,
Human Rights First, NAACP, National Council of Churches, Religious
Action Center of Reform Judaism, Save Darfur Coalition, Sojourners,
STAND, Sudan Peace Advocates Network, TransAfrica Forum, and the
United Methodist Church.
NOTE:
U.S. Humanitarian Assistance for Darfur (2003-present) = $710,000,000
U.S. Spending on Iraq War & Occupation (2003-present)
$192,000,000,000
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Karabakh launches own currency – Russian report
ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow
9 Sep 05
YEREVAN
One million copies of the currency of the unrecognized Nagornyy
Karabakh Republic (NKR) – the Karabakh dram – has been put into
circulation, the president of the Central Bank of Armenia, Tigran
Sarkisyan, said.
The decision to issue the Karabakh dram has been taken by the NKR
government and the NKR Ministry of Economy and Finance is the office
of issue. In fact the dram is a collector’s item for numismatists, but
formally it can be used as a payment instrument in Armenia as well,
Sarkisyan said.
Specimens of the new currency “were circulated all over the world and
have already raised interest among the collectors”, added Sarkisyan
who also heads the All-Armenian Academy of Philately and
Numismatics. This ” will give millions of people an opportunity to get
to know Nagornyy Karabakh”, he added.
For over 12 years NKR has been using the official currency of Armenia
– the Armenian dram.
NKR’s Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance Narine Azatyan said in
Stepanokert that the Karabakh currency was issued in banknotes of two
and 10 drams and coins of one and five drams and 50 lum [one dram is
equal to 100 lum]. There are no plans to issue other denominations
yet.

A1+
| 19:28:39 | 08-09-2005 | Official |
ARMENIAN PRESIDENT RECEIVED ARMEN JIGARKHANYAN
Today Armenian President Robert Kocharian met with head of the Moscow
Dramatic Theater, actor Armen Jigarkhanyan.
The President appreciated the contribution of A. Jigarkhanyan to the cinema.
Having noted Jigarkhanyan’s role in the development of Armenian-Russian
cultural relations, R. Kocharian considered actor’s participation in events
on the occasion of the Year of Russia in Armenia and Year of Armenia in
Russia scheduled in 2006 desirable.

Anchoring Ankara
Leader
Friday September 9, 2005
The Guardian
Europeans, or more precisely the EU member states, voted for Turkey last
Christmas when they solemnly promised to start long-awaited negotiations
with Turkey on its membership of the club. The date they gave was
October 3 2005, now less than a month away, and there is a whiff of
panic in the air that maybe, after all the fuss, this may not happen.
Turkey, long a trusted member of Nato, thought its European “vocation”
had been finally and definitively recognised in 2003, when the then
15-member EU was finalising its historic 10-country enlargement. But
anti-Turkish feeling in several countries and last summer’s rejection of
the union’s new constitution in France and the Netherlands have created
grave doubts. Thus yesterday’s warning by Jack Straw, in the hot seat of
the EU presidency, that it is vital to stick to that solemn promise,
even if, as expected, the actual negotiations take many years.
The biggest problem is the ever-tangled question of Cyprus, one of last
May’s newcomers. It had been hoped that UN efforts to reunite the island
would bear fruit before it joined. Since they did not (though more
because of the Greek than the Turkish side), and Ankara is refusing to
recognise the Nicosia government, the start of accession talks is in
jeopardy.
France has been very negative. But there is a bigger obstacle looming in
Germany, assuming Angela Merkel’s CDU wins this month’s election. Ms
Merkel wants Turkey to be offered only a “privileged partnership,” not
the full membership that has awaited all other candidates at the end of
their negotiations. To offer something different exclusively for Turkey
would seem to prove the resentful charge that the EU is a “Christian
club” that cannot accommodate the world’s only secular Muslim democracy
– and risk a dangerous backlash.
It bears repeating that the magnet of EU membership has already
generated huge advances under the conservative government of Recep
Tayyip Erdogan. Torture has been banned; there are now Kurdish language
broadcasts and the grip of the military has been weakened. It is thus
regrettable – and a gift to Turkey’s enemies – that at this delicate
moment the renowned novelist Orhan Pamuk is facing Ataturk-era charges
of “belittling Turkishness” over his brave comments about the Armenian
genocide of 1915. Countries that join the EU must be able to confront
their own past, and respect free speech. Still, Mr Straw is right. The
talks must begin on schedule. Any delay would be a betrayal of trust
that could weaken Europe’s battered credibility, and damage Turkey’s
reforms.
,7369,1565932,00.html#article_continue

PRESS RELEASE
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research
395 Concord Avenue
Belmont, MA 02478
Tel.: 617-489-1610
E-mail: [email protected]
Contact: Marc A. Mamigonian
DR. CAROLANN NAJARIAN TO SPEAK AT NAASR ON ARMENIAN FOLK MEDICINE
Dr. Carolann Najarian of Lincoln, Mass., will speak at the
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) Center in
Belmont, Mass., on Thursday evening, September 22, at 8 p.m., on
“Healers, Holy Books, Mountains, and Gardens: Armenian Folk Medical
Beliefs and Practices.” The lecture will be cosponsored by NAASR and
the Armenian International Women’s Association (AIWA).
Every culture has a belief system regarding healthcare, and,
notwithstanding the variations within the society, Armenians are no
different. Many of the belief systems that affect the practice of
healthcare in Armenia today are also familiar to diaspora Armenians.
Others may not be as familiar as they come from the Soviet Armenian
experience.
Modern Practices Rooted in Tradition
Armenian society today is undergoing tremendous upheaval and
change that challenge long held values. How are these changes affecting
healthcare and its practice given the traditional beliefs of Armenians?
One of the answers is that people are returning to traditional forms of
healthcare as a way of coping with uncertainty. Many of these practices
are rooted in Armenian traditional medicine – which is a product of
Armenia’s history and location and is supported by aspects of what we
might call its “national character.”
Dr. Carolann Najarian, stepping out of her role as a medical
doctor, has sought to understand this phenomenon through the eyes of a
medical anthropologist. (Medical anthropology is the study of healthcare
beliefs and practices.) She will present her findings and illustrate
them with the many stories she has heard – some of miraculous cures, all
of Armenians struggling to survive despite the uncertainty of their
lives today. Members of the audience will likely recall stories of what
their own parents and/or grandparents believed and what they did.
Dr. Najarian is the founder and president of the Armenian
Health Alliance, and her work in Armenia and Karabagh has brought her
numerous honors. A graduate of the Boston University School of
Medicine, she has been a practicing internist in the Cambridge-Watertown
area and an instructor in clinical medicine at the Harvard Medical
School. In 2004 she completed a Masters Degree in Medical Anthropology
with a thesis on Armenian folk medical practices.
Admission to the event is free (donations appreciated). The NAASR
Bookstore will open at 7:30 p.m. The NAASR Center and Headquarters is
located opposite the First Armenian Church and next to the U.S. Post
Office. Ample parking is available around the building and in adjacent
areas. The lecture will begin promptly at 8:00 p.m.
More information about the lecture is available by calling 617-489-1610,
faxing 617-484-1759, e-mailing [email protected], or writing to NAASR, 395
Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478.
# # # # #
Belmont, Mass.
August 22, 2005

NEW ARMENIAN CHURCH TO BE BUILT IN WASHINGTON
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 7. ARMINFO. The construction of a new Armenian
church will be started din Washington in 2006.
This issue was discussed during the meeting of Armenian Parliament
Speaker Artur Bagdassaryan and members of the Council of the St
ariam-The Mother of God Church in Washington.
The project is estimated at $8 mln. The sides also discussed the
problems of the Washington Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church.