Author: Jilavian Emma

Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region
104 North Belmont
Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918
Fax: 818.246.7353
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: April 25, 2007

Contact: Haig Hovsepian

Tel: (818) 500-1918

ANCA-WR Welcomes Armenian Genocide Proclamation from Mayor of Los
Angeles

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Armenian National Committee of America-Western
Region (ANCA-WR) welcomed a proclamation by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio
Villaraigosa in remembrance of the Armenian Genocide. This came just
days after the Mayor and the City Council of Los Angeles presented
the Armenian American community of Los Angeles with a resolution
recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

"The Mayor’s proclamation again signifies the deep commitment of
the City of Los Angeles to the protection of human rights and to end
the cycle of genocide," stated Andrew Kzirian, Executive Director of
the ANCA-WR. "The Mayor and the City of Los Angeles have served as
a beacon of moral leadership to the rest of the country – all
Angelenos should be proud of Mayor Villaraigosa and the City of Los
Angeles," he added.

The full text of the Proclamation is below.

The Armenian National Committee of America is the largest and most
influential Armenian American grassroots political organization.

Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and
supporters throughout the United States and affiliated organizations
around the world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns of the
Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

###

Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa

City of Los Angeles

Statement of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Armenian Genocide
Remembrance Day

Today – on the 92nd Anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian
Genocide – the people of Los Angeles stand in solidarity with
Armenians around the world in remembering the 1.5 million Armenian
men, women and children barbarically killed by the Ottoman Empire.

Almost a century of history has removed the horrors of the genocide
from our immediate collective consciousness. And yet as the
assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink reminded us
in January, the pernicious threat of genocide denial still openly
thrives around the world.

As Mayor of America’s preeminent Armenian community, I urge all
Angelenos to reflect not only on the vast scale and ruthlessness of
genocide, but on the horror of the global silence under which it took
place. Today I urge Angelenos simply to never forget.

April 24, 2007

HISTORIAN SAYS GEORGE BUSH DOES NOT USE WORD GENOCIDE UNDER TURKISH PRESSURES

Panorama.am
20:20 27/04/2007

"He, of coarse, understands his mistake and should use the right
word," Richard Hovannisyan, a historian, said speaking about April 24
address of U.S. President George Bush. The historian said Bush does
not use the word "genocide" under the Turkish pressures. "But if you
read the statement, you will see that everything is said," he said,
also saying "there is progress against several years ago."

In the words of Richard Hovannisyan, 40 states of USA have recognized
the Armenian Genocide and hundreds of cities and towns recognize
it year by year. Asked what is the likelihood that Congress will
adopt the resolution on the Armenian Genocide, Hovannisyan said,
"That country has recognized genocide still under the administration
of Wilson but later subjected it to amnesty."

Source: Panorama.am

ARMENIAN DEFENCE MINISTER DECLINES TO COMMENT ON RUSSIA’S MORATORIUM DECISION

Arminfo
27 Apr 07

Yerevan, 27 April: Armenian Defence Minister Mikayel Harutyunyan
has not commented yet on yesterday’s statement by Russian President
Vladimir Putin about a moratorium on compliance with the Conventional
Forces in Europe Treaty.

Harutyunyan refused to comment on the statement and told reporters
today that Armenia must fully examine the issue and make conclusions
afterwards. "We are strategic partners. We will consult the Russian
side on the issue, and will give an answer after that," he said.

6 ARMENIAN NGOS TO GET GRANTS

Noyan Tapan
Apr 26 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 26, NOYAN TAPAN. 6 Armenian public non-profit
organizations will get grants from the World Bank and Open Society
Institute Assistance Foundation for implementation of programs
addressed to stimulation of civil involvement. The Noyan Tapan
correspondent was informed about it by the World Bank Yerevan Office.

The Forests of Armenia organization will organize two-days seminars
in four marzes of Armenia and Yerevan with the got grant.

With the help of the grant the Goris Press Club will give possibility
to socially needy and isolated groups of four communities of the
marz of Syunik to present the issues they are interested in through
journalism publications.

The Valuable Life organization was given a grant for holding a
propaganda mission on awaring the public concerning the current
problems of 13 thousand invalids living in the marz of Lori, and the
Social Dialogue Center organization was given a grant for estimating
efficiency of approaches of civil involvement in the state and
private sectors.

The We Plus organization will secure transparence of activity of the
Gyumri Mayor’s Office and councillor. The Childhood Planet organization
will implement monitoring of the children’s rights what will allow
to reveal problems arising in front of children in the spheres of
health care, education and human rights.

To recap, 47 local NGOs got in total 431 thousand U.S. dollars grants
during the recent 5 years.

WORLD-FAMOUS ACTRESS JEANNE MOREAU TO VISIT ARMENIA WITHIN FRAMEWORK OF GOLDEN APRICOT FILM FESTIVAL

Noyan Tapan
Apr 25 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN. Golden Apricot (Voske Tsiran) film
festival’s this year’s greatest surprise will be the visit of Jeanne
Moreau to Armenia. As festival’s Director General, film director
Haroutiun Khachatrian informed NT correspondent, the actress will
be given festival’s Grand Prix for her great contribution in the
world cinema.

H. Khachatrian also said that a new program, festival of French films,
will be implemented for the first time this year within the framework
of the film festival. "For the first time there will be a new festival
within the festival, thanks to which the Armenian spectator will
have a possibility to get acquainted with the modern French cinema,"
he emphasized.

In the film director’s words, the French film festival will be held
within the framework of Golden Apricot every year, during which 7-10
new French films will be shown. Applications of 16 films have been
already received for that program.

KOCHARIAN VOWS ‘PARTICULAR ATTENTION’ TO ARMY
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
April 25 2007

President Robert Kocharian promised more government efforts to reform
and strengthen the military as he introduced Armenia’s newly appointed
defense minister, Colonel-General Mikael Harutiunian, to the Defense
Ministry staff on Wednesday.

The appointment was announced by Kocharian’s office late Tuesday.

In a separate presidential decree, Harutiunian, 61, was dismissed as
chief of the army staff and discharged from the Armed Forces to run
the Defense Ministry as a civilian. That significantly increases his
chances of serving as defense minister in Armenia’s next government
to be formed after the May 12 parliamentary elections.

Harutiunian, 61, was until now not regarded as the favorite to occupy
the post that became vacant following Serzh Sarkisian’s appointment as
prime minister on April 4. Two other top army generals, Seyran Ohanian
and Artur Aghabekian, were thought to be more likely to get the job.

Addressing the ministry staff, Kocharian said Harutiunian will
strengthen the army and carry on with defense reforms stemming from
Armenia’s individual partnership action plan with NATO. "Security
is a high priority for the country, and our policy is aimed and
will be aimed at further boosting the army’s combat-readiness and
paying particular attention to security issues in general," he said
in televised remarks.

Kocharian also thanked Sarkisian for his "large-scale and effective
work" at the helm of the Defense Ministry.

TELEGRAMS OF CONDOLENCE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

National Assembly of RA, Armenia
April 26 2007

Mr. Tigran Torosyan, President of the National Assembly of the Republic
of Armenia sent telegrams of condolence to Mr. Boris Gryzlov, Chairman
of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation
and Mr. Sergey Mironov, Chairman of the Council of Federation of the
Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on the occasion of the death
of the first President of the Russian Federation Mr. Boris Yeltsin.

"With deep grief I learned about the death of the distinguished
political figure, the first President of the Russian Federation Mr.
Boris Yeltsin. Great was the contribution of Mr. Boris Nikolayevich
in the development and strengthening of ties between independent
Armenia and Russia, as well as for the establishment of democracy
in Russia. I express my sorrow to you, Russian people, Mr. Boris
Nikolayevich’s relatives and close friends."

LOCAL MARCHERS COMMEMORATE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Michael Muskal, Times Staff Writer

ktla 5, CA
April 25 2007

Armenians and their supporters gathered on the streets of Hollywood
today to commemorate the 92nd anniversary of one of the first acts
of genocide in the 20th century.

"We are recalling the attack on the night of April 24, 1915, when,
in Istanbul, the leaders of the Armenian community were executed,"
Haig Hovsepian, community relations director for Armenian National
Committee of America Western Region, said this afternoon.

Hovsepian described the act as the beginning of years of violence
against the Armenian community by Turks. An estimated 1.2 million
were killed between 1915 and 1918, the last days of the Ottoman
Empire during World War I. Turkey maintains that the deaths were not
sanctioned by the government and disputes that a genocide took place.

Even though the violence took place early in the past century, its
commemoration has continued to be laden with political overtones.

Los Angeles police estimated that the crowd along Fairfax Avenue at
about 1,000 protesters, but Hovsepian said he thought it was double
or triple that number this afternoon and growing as the demonstration
neared the Turkish Consulate in Hollywood. Thousands also marched
earlier in the day.

The demonstrations were peaceful with no arrests or traffic disruption,
said LAPD spokeswoman Officer Karen Smith.

SIX PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS WIN GRANTS FROM WORLD BANK

Panorama.am
19:30 25/04/2007

Today Yerevan Office of World Bank and Armenian Office of Foundation
for Support to Open Society Institute announced results of competition
for Small Grants 2007.

Six public organizations are declared winners, among them Yerevan
Forests, Goris Press Club, Comprehensive Life, Social Dialogue Center,
We Plus, and Planet of Childhood.

The winners were chosen among some 80 applications.

BAGHDASARIAN CONDEMNS ‘COMPROMISING’ REPORT
By Ruzanna Stepanian and Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 23 2007

Opposition leader Artur Baghdasarian on Monday condemned a
pro-government newspaper for disclosing purported details of his
confidential meeting with a British diplomat that reportedly focused
on Armenia’s upcoming parliamentary elections.

The publication, "Golos Armenii," claimed on Saturday to have obtained
the audio of Baghdasarian’s dinner with an unnamed senior official from
the British embassy in Armenia which it said took place in a Yerevan
restaurant last February. The Russian-language paper published what
it described as excerpts from the secretly recorded conversation. The
former parliament speaker was quoted as urging the European Union
to strongly criticize the Armenian authorities’ handling of the May
12 vote.

In a written statement, Baghdasarian’s Orinats Yerkir Party, a major
election contender, charged that the report is part of a "well-prepared
smear campaign" waged against it by the Armenian authorities. But
it stopped short of explicitly denying the fact of the meeting or
specific comments attributed to its leader.

"We hope that you have the recordings of all of our meetings," read
the statement addressed to the authorities. "While listening to them,
you will become convinced that Orinats Yerkir says the same thing in
private and public meetings: Armenia’s upcoming elections must meet
international standards because that is required by the country’s
interests and the international community."

According to "Golos Armenii," during the conversation Baghdasarian
said that the ongoing election campaign has already been marred by
serious violations and wondered whether the EU will issue "some signal
of alarm" before the vote.

"They (the authorities) have to cross the line before we can do
something," the diplomat was quoted as responding. "But they don’t
do that. I suppose that they are smarter and wiser than we. And many
Europeans understand that. There has to be some blatant violation in
order for the EU to come up with such a statement."

The diplomat also allegedly claimed that only three of the eight EU
countries having diplomatic missions in Yerevan — Britain, Germany,
and Poland — are genuinely interested in the freedom and fairness
of the Armenian elections. Countries like Italy and France are
doing little to promote democratic change in Armenia, he was quoted
as saying.

"You can’t say that everything is alright if there are falsifications,
if people take to the streets, if 100-200 people get arrested, which
is inevitable," Baghdasarian is said to have countered. "And France
won’t be able to say that everything is alright if they beat people."

"Golos Armenii," which is staunchly supportive of President Robert
Kocharian and Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian, said the conversation
was recorded on a compact disk sent to it by unknown individuals. The
paper claimed that it knows the identify of the diplomat cited in
the report but will not publicize it in the hope that he will provide
"clarifications on some parts of the dialogue."

The British embassy declined to comment on the report on Monday.