Author: Kajoyan Gevork

BREAKING PROMISE CAUSED ADOPTION OF DECISION

Panorama.am
16:51 27/08/2009

Armenian Cause Office of America addresses a letter to U.S. President
Barack Obama stating: "You have promised to recognize the Armenian
Genocide, but the fact, that You have not recognized it, gave
authorizations to California Court of Appeal to make a decision
which is, in fact, a deep blow for the recognition of the Genocide
in America." Giro Manoyan, the director of Armenian Cause Office
in Yerevan, told about the letter to U.S. President, today at news
conference.

It’s worth reminding that U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals created Code of
Civil Procedure which extended the deadline for suing on life insurance
policies issued to "any person of Armenian or other ancestry living
in the Ottoman Empire during the period of 1915 to 1923, inclusive,
who died, was deported, or escaped to avoid persecution during that
period," and expanded state court jurisdiction over such claims.

It is said the law interfered anti-constitutionally the foreign policy
of America.

"Not pronouncing "Genocide" should not forbid any state to recognize
Armenian Genocide. Armenian Community of America is aimed at working
hard for the U.S. President announces if he has not said "Genocide"
word on 24 April, does not mean that any other state should not
recognize Armenian Genocide," diplomat said.

G. Manoyan says it is possible Turkish lobby has some influence
upon this very decision. "I would not like to believe that this is an
attempt by America to make pressure on Armenia. But anyway, it is fact,
irrespective of the court decision, that America has some pressure on
Armenia. I guess, Hillary Clinton’s previous telephone conversation
with President Sezh Sargsyan was on this respect," he said.

ARMENIA IRRIGATION REHABILITATION EMERGENCY PROJECT

World Bank Group
Aug 26 2009

The Armenia Irrigation Rehabilitation Emergency Project (IREP),
approved by the Board of Directors on July 28, is helping people
revive agriculture in the most remote parts of the country, such
as the village of Aghavnadsor located in the mountainous region of
Vayots Dsor. Vigen Sargsyan and Tatevik Mnatsakanyan of the Armenia
communications team, tell the story.

Vahram Matevosyan, whose vineyards have enlarged over new lands
irrigated by water in Aghavnadsor village, says: "The situation has
improved drastically. I am establishing new vineyards with optimism,
being sure that they will never wither."

Nature has endowed Vayots Dsor region of Armenia with severely dry and
mountainous land. Yet, if irrigated, it delivers some of the best wine
grapes in the country. The village of Aghavnadsor spreads across a
high-altitude valley at the foot of rocky mountains–insurmountable
and non-arable at first glance. However, recently farming, the
traditional occupation of the local people, has ‘migrated’ high into
the mountains. This is the result of the newly-introduced irrigation
system in the area. The construction of Vayots Dzor gravity pipeline,
spanning nearly 70 kilometers, if far more efficient than the old
system of pumps which took huge volumes of electricity consumption.

Through the World Bank-sponsored Irrigation Development Project (IDP),
the basis for an effective and sustainable management of irrigation
infrastructure has been created in Armenia, including conversion
from pumping to gravity, and rehabilitation of some of the main
irrigation structures and tertiary canals. As a result, irrigated
land had increased by 15 000 ha by the end of 2008. Conversion from
pumps with high electricity costs to gravity irrigation has resulted
in saving around 51 million KWT electricity annually, amounting to
a total of US$ 3.5 million.

Michael Grigoryan from Aghavnadsor turned to large-scale farming
only two years ago, when the outcomes of the Project reached the
lands surrounding his village. He leased land on the hill above the
village and started the mass planting of young vines.

"Irrigation had always been a major issue, for us, as well as for
the neighboring communities, ever since the system collapsed in the
early nineties. I became extremely enthusiastic, when I learnt two
years ago that the lands above had become irrigable, so I started a
new vineyard," says Michael. "I rejoice every time watering my young
plants and watching them grow day by day. I am very optimistic that
already next year I will reap a good harvest and enjoy the first
portion of wine from my land."

Many farmers have switched from wheat to higher value crops. Artak
Sargsyan, with his 17 hectares of land in Talvorik village of Armavir
region, is one of them. "Irrigation used to be a huge constraint,
and farmers were unable to bring in the crops they would have with
better access to water," he says. "Not anymore. Now I am confident
of what I am cultivating."

Armavir, the main canal that takes water from the Araks river, was one
of the greatest achievements of the project. The reconstruction of the
head gate redoubled the capacity of the intake – up to 53 square meters
of water per second. The irrigation water supply in Armavir region has
dramatically improved due to reconstruction of the head intake on the
canal and to rehabilitation of the on-farm irrigation network. As a
result, Artak is now planting new vineyards in the vicinity of where
old ones used to be. Moreover, special software installed in the Water
Users Associations allows him, as well as all water users, to follow
how much water he has used and how much he has paid against it.

The establishment of Water Users Associations was a real revolution
in the maintenance of the irrigation system in Armenia. Through
this initiative 14 public agencies responsible for irrigation water
delivery were replaced. There are 44 Associations operating in the
country currently, signing agreements with farmers, delivering water
and maintaining the irrigation network.

The success of the Water Users Associations is tangible. "Whether
through institutional reform, or development of infrastructure,
we strive towards one goal–delivering more water to farmers, at
the time and in the quantity required by the farmer," says Adibek
Ghazaryan, Director of the Water Sector Development and Institutional
Improvements Project Implementation Unit. "Statistics, including that
of decreased water loss and huge increase of payments collection,
shows that we are achieving success."

Upon this success will be built a new World Bank-sponsored project –
the Irrigation Rehabilitation Emergency Project (IREP). Resources
will be channeled to the rehabilitation of almost 84 km of the main
canals in Armavir and Talin that will reduce losses of up to 70
thousand cubic meters of water and could help to bring 7,300 ha of
land back to irrigation. The project will go one step further in the
institutional reform process, by providing further support to the Water
Users Associations, in particular through creation of Federations of
Water User Associations. The new project also aims to create jobs on
the ground, and thus alleviate the poverty of the local people.

FEAST OF SAINT BARTHOLOMEW

Examiner.com
x-20747-Virginia-Beach-Religious-Holidays–Festiva ls-Examiner~y2009m8d24-Feast-of-Saint-Bartholomew
Aug 24 2009

Virginia Beach Religious Holidays & Festivals Examiner Alison Kowalski

For Roman Catholics, August 24th is the day to celebrate Saint
Bartholomew. (Orthodox Christians honor the saint on June 11th.)

Bartholomew appears only four times in the Christian Bible, and even
then he is only mentioned as one in the list of the twelve apostles
(Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:14, Acts 1:3). Scholars typically
identify Bartholomew with Nathanael, one of Jesus’s followers who is
mentioned only in the Gospel of John. Some explain that the confusion
results simply from the author of the Gospel of John referring to
the apostle by his given name, Nathanael, while the other books use
his surname, Bartholomew, from the Hebrew Bar-Tolmai, meaning "son
of Tolmai."

The identification of Bartholomew with Nathanael sheds more light on
the saint’s life and works. A resident of Cana in Galilee, Nathanael
met Jesus through the intercession of his friend and fellow apostle,
Philip. Upon meeting Jesus, Nathanael identified him as "the Son
of God… the King of Israel" (John 1:49). The Biblical record also
notes that Nathanael saw Jesus after the resurrection (John 21:2).

Biblical commentators and local traditions describe Bartholomew’s work
after Jesus’s ascension into heaven. Records note that the apostle
traveled east to India, in order to baptize new Christians and to
exorcise demons. Bartholomew also traveled to Asia Minor with fellow
apostle Thaddeus to preach Christianity. Both were martyred around 60
AD after laying the foundation for the Armenian church. Records are
unclear on the method of Bartholomew’s martyrdom, but he is sometimes
depicted in art as having been flayed alive, as in Michelangelo’s Last
Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. Others suggest that Bartholomew may
have been crucified or beheaded. Regardless, Christians celebrate
Saint Bartholomew as a model of faith, unwilling to denounce his
message even in the face of his own death. August 24th serves as a
time for Roman Catholics to celebrate Bartholomew’s faith and ministry,
and for Armenian Christians to honor their patron saint.

For more info, check out: American Catholic.org’s Saint of the Day:
ts/saint.aspx?id=1117
Lives of the Saints: New Advent
Catholic Encyclopedia:
The Armenian Church:

State Department Documents and Publications
August 10, 2009

Hope and Friendship Take Over

SECTION: NEWS FROM AMERICA.COM AND THE WASHINGTON FILE

By Romain Vezirian

A French college student of Armenian heritage arrives at the
University of Oklahoma to discover he is sharing a room with another
student who represents the traditional nemesis of his people. How he
handles the moment changes his life. Romain Vezirian is a 26-year-old
information manager for a communication agency in Paris. He spent a
semester at the University of Oklahoma in 2005, and graduated from the
Blaise Pascal University of Clermont-Ferrand in 2007.

"This cannot be happening. This just can not be happening!"

This was almost my first thought when I arrived at my new apartment on
the campus of the University of Oklahoma, far different from what I
had imagined. After all, I had been accepted for one semester, and the
simple fact of being on campus was a dream come true for the young
French student that I was. Everything was bigger, the girls were
prettier, the people were more friendly. In short, I was in pretty
high spirits when entering the door of my new apartment.

That changed fast.

I had agreed, mainly to save money, to share a room with another
foreign student whom I knew nothing about. I was aware that he had
arrived a day earlier, but the apartment was empty when I got there. I
started unpacking and noticed that my roommate had left his passport
on his desk.

"A quick look at it, just to know what he looks like," I thought. Next
thing I knew, I had the passport in my hands, and what I saw did not
please me at all. My roommate for the next semester would be
Turkish. Not a big deal for many. But being half Armenian, it made a
huge difference to me.

The history between Turkey and Armenia is a series of awful
events. The vast majority of western historians have acknowledged that
massacres between 1915 and 1917 were state-sponsored mass killings,
more commonly known as the Armenian genocide. The Armenian diaspora
has been campaigning for official recognition of the events as
genocide for more than 30 years. In 1915, Ottoman authorities arrested
some 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in
Constantinople. Thereafter, the Ottoman military uprooted Armenians
from their homes and launched a campaign of forced marches and
deportations ending with an estimated 1 to 1.5 million deaths. To this
day, Turkey does not accept this recounting of the events, even though
most genocide scholars and historians agree on this view. These same
events forced my grandparents to leave their country. Both of my
great-grandfathers were killed.

Getting Past Stereotypes

With this family history, I definitely had resentment toward the whole
country, but having grown up in France, I had never really met a
single person from Turkey. Now I was about to have to share my own
room with one for a whole semester! Obviously, I was upset, but what
could I do? Blatantly ignore him? Refuse to talk to him? Bearing a
grudge would definitely ruin my plan for a fun semester in the United
States. I decided I would give the guy a chance (his name was Goko)
and see where it would lead. In retrospect, this was one of the best
decisions I ever made.

I believe getting past stereotypes is one of the hardest things to do
in life. But that’s what happened in the first 10 minutes I talked to
Goko. Against all odds, we hit it off instantly, and all the bad
thoughts I had about Turkey and Turkish people were destroyed. I
remember these moments so vividly, probably because they were my first
step toward forgiveness. I was not very talkative at first, not
wanting to lower my guard, but quickly realized it was no use fighting
against good vibes and the beginning of a friendship. It was still a
bittersweet feeling, because I could not stop wondering: "What would
my grandparents think if they could see me right now?" Until I
realized Goko was just a young student like me, enjoying life, and was
more than happy to talk about our many common interests.

He was also, obviously, not responsible for what previous generations
had done before him. It almost sounds like a cheesy movie, but we
became best friends and spent most of our free time together. I really
cannot imagine what my semester at the University of Oklahoma would
have been like without him.

Cherished Memories

When I look back on it, I remember the great teachers, the amazing
facilities, the American friends I made, but what I cherish the most
is my relationship with Goko and how much it changed me as a person. I
now fully understand that ignorance causes wars and massacres like the
one that took place in 1915. When people get together and try to
understand each other’s cultures and views, hope and friendship
quickly take over.

I even became good friends with some other Turkish guys Goko
introduced me to! If I had stayed in France, this would have never
happened. If somebody had told me that I would become friends with a
Turkish guy, I would never have believed them. I would just have
stayed with my stupid ideas for the rest of my life. It was only one
of many good experiences I had at the University of Oklahoma, but this
one alone was worth the trip. It allowed me to become a more
open-minded person, willing to get out of my comfort zone and meet
different people. There is not only one right way of living or doing
things, I learned, there are many. This is what makes our world so
diverse and worth discovering.

I left the University of Oklahoma right before Christmas. Even if
Goko, as a Muslim, does not celebrate Christmas, I wanted to get him a
gift and found a t-shirt that I thought he would like. The funny thing
is that he had the same idea, and actually bought me the exact same
present! We ended up looking like two idiots wearing the same clothes:
one Turkish, one from Armenian descent, laughing just like two
brothers.

Four years after their stay in Oklahoma, Romain and Goko still keep in
touch. They plan on seeing each other again, whether in Paris or
Istanbul.

The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the
views or policies of the U.S. government.

Trend, Azerbaijan
Aug 12 2009

OSCE U.S. co-chairman prefers not to comment on Armenian politician’s
statement

Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug. 12 / corr Trend News E.Tariverdiyeva /

U.S co-chairman of OSCE Matthew Bryza prefers not to comment on
Armenian politician’s proposal to declare him "persona non grata" in
Armenia.

"I’d prefer not to comment much on the statement by one or a few
Armenian politicians. I only wish to note that all the people involved
with the Minsk Group negotiations, and I myself, know how fair I have
always been in negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh, offering countless
ideas on how to resolve the differences between the parties,"

Chairman of the Constitutional Right Union party Aik Babukhanyan
criticized sharply Bryza’s recent statements on the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict and proposed to declare him "persona non grata" in Armenia,
Armenia Today news agency said.

"About a year ago I said that the Armenian authorities should declare
Bryza "persona non grata", and still I hold the same opinion. That is
what a person, a foreign diplomat, who does not respect the Armenian
nation, the state and the authorities deserve," Babukhanyan said at a
news conference.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding
districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in
1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the
U.S. – are currently holding the peace negotiations.

TURKEY RENAMES VILLAGE AS PART OF KURDISH REFORMS
By Ibon Villelabeitia

Reuters
Thu Aug 20, 2009 6:35am EDT

ANKARA, Aug 20 (Reuters) – Turkey has begun restoring names of Kurdish
villages and is considering allowing religious sermons to be made
in Kurdish as part of reforms to answer the grievances of the ethnic
minority and advance its EU candidacy.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has said his government will push
democratic reforms to address decades-old grievances from the Kurdish
population and help end a 25-year conflict between the state and
separatist guerrillas.

Erdogan, who has given few details on the measures and their
timeframe, is seeking public, military and parliamentary support
for his "Kurdish initiative", aimed at persuading Kurdistan Workers’
Party (PKK) rebels to lay down arms and end an insurgency that has
killed some 40,000 people.

The conflict has long hampered Ankara’s European Union membership
bid and weighed on the local economy.

Analysts say some of the expected measures will require difficult legal
and constitution reforms for which Erdogan needs broad consensus,
but the main opposition parties have rejected a call for talks,
arguing the process threatened Turkey’s unity.

Turkey’s estimated 12 million Kurds out of a population of 72 million
have long complained of discrimination by the state.

Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted AK Party, which first came to power in 2002,
has taken some steps to expand political and cultural rights for Kurds,
partly under pressure from the EU.

Haberturk daily said the provincial council of Diyarbakir in the mainly
Kurdish southeast had restored the old Kurdish name to a hamlet and
the state-appointed provincial governor had not objected. The governor
had challenged similar moves by the council in court in the past.

"POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT" Villagers had applied to the council for it
to accept the name Celkaniya for their settlement in place of the
Turkish name Kirkpinar. The council is dominated by the pro-Kurdish
Democratic Society Party (DTP).

"This is a very positive development. We are still in shock. The
government’s democratic initiative project is bearing fruit for the
first time in Diyarbakir," the paper quoted council chairman Sehmus
Bayhan, from the DTP, as saying.

More than 12,000 village names, some 35 percent of the total, were
changed in Turkey between 1940-2000 under a "Turkification" drive,
according to a report by Milliyet daily.

The name change initiative, dating back to the Ottoman era before
World War One, was also designed to give Turkish names to places with
Armenian, Greek and Bulgarian names, it said.

Hurriyet newspaper reported Interior Minister Besir Atalay, who
has been holding talks with political parties, business groups and
Turkey’s generals on the "Kurdish initiative", as saying he would
discuss with the country’s religious authorities the possibility of
sermons being made in Kurdish.

Under the plan, sermons in the main cities in the southeast will remain
in Turkish but in villages where the population is completely Kurdish,
preachers will be allowed to choose whether they conduct sermons in
Turkish or Kurdish.

Erdogan was due to chair a national security meeting later on Thursday
to discuss the Kurdish reforms with ministers and the country’s top
commander, General Ilker Basbug.

The jailed guerrilla leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, had been
expected last weekend to issue a "road-map" of his own on how to
resolve the conflict, but this has been delayed. (Additional reporting
by Daren Butler in Istanbul) (Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)

"YERKIR" UNION OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS FOR REPATRIATION AND
SETTLEMENT

Press-release
Contact: Robert Tatoyan
Mobile: +(374 94) 36 17 93
E-mail: [email protected]

August 18, 2009
Yerevan, Armenia

THE GEORGIAN AUTHORITIES FORBID THE ARMENIAN LAWYER STEPAN VOSKANYAN TO
VISIT HIS CLIENT, JAVAKHETI ARMENIAN POLITICAL ACTIVIST VAHAGN CHAKHALYAN

On August 17, 2009 Stepan Voskanyan, the Armenian lawyer of the Javakheti
Armenian political activist Vahagn Chakhalyan, attempted to visit his
client, who is presently detained in the penal colony number 2 in Rustavi.
However, the administration of the establishment refused to allow the
meeting of the lawyer and his client, under the pretext that the documents
by which the Armenian lawyer previously had the right to meet with Vahagn
Chahalyan are no longer valid.

On the same day, Stepan Voskanyan turned to the office of the Public
Defender of Georgia, whose officers, having examined the documents submitted
by the lawyer, considered the decision of the administration of the colony
as completely groundless.

Stepan Voskanyan also submitted a written complaint on prohibition of the
meeting with his client addressed to Ombudsman Sozar Subari and the
administration of Rustavi colony.

"Yerkir" Union considers the decision deny Vahagn Chahalyan the right to
meet his lawyer as a next shameful violation of human rights of the
Javakheti political activist, aimed at preventing the proper preparation for
the trial hearings of the Chakhalyan case that will be resumed on September
18 of this year. By this step the Georgian authorities also seek to restrict
significantly Vahagn Chahalyan’s access to information from the Armenian
mass-media, which was provided to him by his Armenian lawyer during his
visits.

Taking into account the above-stated situation, the <Yerkir> Union calls on
the Public Defender of Georgia Sozar Subari, the international human rights
organizations, accredited in Georgia, the international organizations and
diplomatic missions to provide a proper assessment of this flagrant
violation by the Georgian authorities of the rights of the Javakheti
political activist Vahagn Chakhalyan, as well as to eliminate the
consequences of this step by ensuring in the future that the defendant has
an unimpeded access of to his lawyer.

BOOK "THE MEN AND WOMEN. UNINVENTED STORIES" PRESENTED IN YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.08.2009 19:01 GMT+04:00

Presentation of the book "The men and women. Uninvented stories"
held on August 19 in Yerevan. The book, prepared by the Association
of Journalists "GenderMediaKavkaz" is a collection of short stories
describing the lives of ordinary people in Armenia, Artsakh, Georgia
and Azerbaijan.

The publication of short stories collections was a result of the
BBC project. The project of "Radio Diaries" in the South Caucasus
was carried out within 2002 and 2006 in Georgia and Abkhazia, and
in 2003-2007 in Armenia, Artsakh and Azerbaijan. "Radio Diaries"
were broadcast by the public radio and Radio Van in Armenia.

"Within the first year of project implementation Armenian stories
were not broadcast in Azerbaijan and it took a year to transfer
records from the Armenian to Azeri language," the representative of
the project from Nagorno Karabakh Karine Ohanyan said.

RA PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARGSYAN RECEIVED OUTGOING POLISH AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA TOMAS KNOTHE.

Tues day, 18 August 2009

The head of the Armenian government thanked the Ambassador for his
tenure-long active efforts toward strengthening Armenian-Polish
ties. The parties highlighted the progress made in bilateral relations.

In conclusion, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan wished the Ambassador
every success in future activities.

FOREIGN POLICY REPORTS ARMENIA HAS MORE STABILITY IN REGION AMONG FAILED STATES

Panorama.am
13:24 18/08/2009

American famous Foreign Policy magazine published its report on
failed states. It is a sobering time for the world’s most fragile
countries-virulent economic crisis, countless natural disasters,
and government collapse.

Using 12 indicators of state cohesion and performance, compiled through
a close examination of more than 30,000 publicly available sources,
the magazine ranked 177 states in order from most to least at risk
of failure. The 60 most vulnerable states are listed in the rankings.

According to that index Armenia occupies a better position – 101st,
while its neighbors are in worse conditions – Turkey – 85th, Georgia –
33rd and Azerbaijan 56th.