Presidnet of the Czech Repulic congratulates
armradio.am
08.03.2008 12:47
The President of the Czech Republic Václav Klaus congratulated RA Prime
Minister Serge Sargsyan on his victory n the presidential elections.
The message says, in part:
`Dear Mr. President,
On behalf of the Czech people and myself, let me congratulate you on
the occasion of your election to the post of the President of the
Republic of Armenia. I wish you sound health and a lot of success in
your work.’
Turkey is bracing for a joint military operation with Azerbaijan in
Nagorno Karabakh?
07-03-2008 10:48:05 – KarabakhOpen
Turkey is bracing for a joint military operation with Azerbaijan in
Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijan’s daily Yeni Musavat writes in today’s
edition. According to the newspaper, the preparations are under way for
a comprehensive military operation in Nagorno Karabakh against members
of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who were forced out from northern
Iraq by the Turkish Army. Yeni Musavat’s article, which was cited in
several Turkish media today, says that "even US approved such a move."
The daily further says that a joint Turkish-Azeri headquarter has been
already set up. Nagorno Karabakh is an enclave formed on the territory
of Azerbaijan, populated with Armenians.
Makfax Agency
Istanbul /06/03/ 14:23
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WESTERN DIOCESE E-NEWSLETTER
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Bible Readings
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Diocesan News
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PRIMATEÂ’S EASTER MESSAGE: A LIFE WITH GOD
`Let us celebrate the glorious Resurrection of Christ our Lord’
The History of humanity and the world has not yet registered a
magnanimous event which equals to the glorious Resurrection of Christ
our Lord. The Resurrection of our Lord reflects the divine
strength. Christ our Lord resurrected from the dead and graced us with
the message of everlasting life.
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PRIMATEÂ’S VISIT TO AGBU MANOOGIAN-DEMIRJIAN SCHOOL
On February 25, 2008, His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian visited
AGBU Manoogian-Demirjian School in Canoga Park, California, and met
with the fourth -grade students.
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ARMENIAN FESTIVAL AT WOODBURY UNIVERSITY
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PRIMATE MET WITH ST. KEVORK PARISH COUNCIL
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HOVSEPIAN SCHOOL STUDENTS VISIT WESTERN DIOCESE
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PRIMATEÂ’S PASTORAL VISIT TO SACRAMENTO
On February 26, 2008, His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian paid a
pastoral visit to the St. James Armenian Church in Sacramento,
California.
(http://www.armenianchurch wd.com/news/story.php?id=888)
MEDIAN DAY OF LENT AT WESTERN DIOCESE
In the evening of February 27, 2008, the church service for the
Median Day of Lent was held at the Western Diocese.
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ARMENIA FUND MEETING
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PRIMATEÂ’S PASTORAL VISIT TO STS. SAHAG-MESROB ARMENIAN CHURCH
OF REEDLEY
( ory.php?id=891)
UCLA CONFERENCE AT WESTERN DIOCESE
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CHRISTIAN EDUCATION COUNCIL EVENT
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PRIMATEÂ’S PASTORAL VISIT TO SAN FRANCISCO
( story.php?id=894)
OUR HOME-MER DOON GALA CONCERT AND RECEPTION
In the afternoon of March 2, 2008, His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian presided over the Our Home-Mer Doon concert and reception, held at St. Peter Armenian Church in Van Nuys, California.
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AGBU HIGH SCHOOL EVENT IN PASADENA
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ARMENIAN SOCIETY OF LOS ANGELES ANNUAL CONCERT
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CHAIR OF EGYPTIAN AGBU VISITED WESTERN DIOCESE
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UPCOMING EVENTS
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Upcoming Events
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The Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, providing
spiritual guidance and leadership to the Armenian Apostolic community,
is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit, tax-exempt organization comprised of 47
churches in 16 western states. It was established in 1898 as the
Diocese of the Armenian Church encompassing the entire United States
and Canada. In 1927 the Western Diocese was formed to exclusivly serve
the western United States.
3325 North Glenoaks Blvd. Burbank, CA 91504
Tel: (818) 558-7474 Fax: (818) 558-6333
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
ALL GOES QUIET IN ARMENIAN CAPITAL
By Frale Oyen
Pacific Daily News
AID=/20080306/OPINION02/803060322/1014/OPINION
Mar ch 5 2008
GU
All remains quiet in the Armenian capital Yerevan.
The city remains locked down following violent clashes this past
Saturday between security forces and demonstrators contesting the
results of the country’s recent presidential election. This was the
worst civil violence in Armenia since its independence from the Soviet
Union in 1991.
The government has imposed a state of emergency, which will remain
in effect until March 20. Much of the capital has been cordoned off.
Residents have been warned against gathering in groups and a press
blackout has been imposed.
Police and military presence in the capital remains high. Armored
vehicles and tanks are parked along the streets. Soldiers stand guard
outside government buildings in the city center and checkpoints have
been set up on all major thoroughfares.
The atmosphere is subdued but local residents are determined to
carry on as normal. Folks are heading off to work, to school and to
the shops. Flower sellers and food vendors are ignoring the heavy
military presence, setting up their tables and peddling their wares
amid groups of soldiers.
On the surface, it’s business as usual. However, just about
everywhere you go, people are quietly discussing the events of this
past weekend. All are uneasy about what will happen after the state
of emergency is lifted.
Main Opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan has vowed that the protests
would continue. He maintains that the election process was rigged
to ensure the government’s favored candidate, Prime Minister Serzh
Sargsyan, would emerge victorious.
Ter-Petrosyan has asked the Constitutional Court to nullify the
results of the Feb. 19 election. The case was heard today and all
motions were denied.
Local attorneys do not think the verdict will lead to a public outcry
or demonstration but many in the community are taking a wait-and-see
attitude.
Officially, eight people died and more than 100 were injured in
the March 1 confrontation, which began early in the day when police
stormed Liberty Square. Ter-Petrosyan supporters had been holding
rallies and nightly vigils there since Feb. 20.
Eyewitness accounts, however, indicate the number of deaths and
injuries may be higher, but under the state of emergency imposed,
journalists and mass media outlets are not allowed to disseminate
any information other than that issued by official media sources.
The violence escalated when Opposition supporters, who regrouped in
another part of town, clashed with security forces outside the French
and Italian Embassies in central Yerevan Saturday evening.
The result: chaos and mayhem. People were beaten. Cars torched.
Property damaged. Businesses looted.
Barbara Edin, who lives close to the French Embassy and who watched
the night’s events unfold from her back window. "It was bloody,
very bloody," she said.
American Robert Evans, who lives by the Russian Embassy in downtown
Yerevan, where demonstrators were throwing Molotov cocktails and where
sounds of small arms fire was heard, said a lot of "reprehensible
actions were committed by both sides."
The U.S. Embassy continues to advise citizens living outside
the capital to stay away and those living in downtown Yerevan to
"exercise caution, avoid any large groups and minimize unnecessary
movements outside."
Some, fearing further escalation in the violence, have prepared for
the worst. Mary Ann Coxson and her husband, who is working in Armenia
on a USAID project, have each packed a small suitcase and are keeping
their passports close in case they get the call to evacuate.
Hopefully, it won’t come to that.
Frale Oyen and her husband, Fredrik, who works for HSBC Bank, currently
live in Yerevan, Armenia. She worked for the Pacific Daily News from
1989 to 1995.
TIGHT CONTROL OVER PRICE RISE NEEDED AT ARMENIAN FOOD MARKET
ARKA
Feb 29 2008
YEREVAN, February 29. /ARKA/. Tight control over price rise is needed
at Armenian food market, Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said
Friday speaking before Yerevan State University students.
He said monitoring must be held to see whether the price rise is
artificial or not. He said all wrongdoers must be punished. The head of
state thinks the authorities must cope with price rise consequences
quicker by means of indexation of low-income people’s pensions,
benefits and wages.
Kocharyan said the government must make every effort to relieve
people’s losses.
He said that food prices are growing all over the globe. He finds it
natural that the worldwide price rise has impacted Armenian market.
He said that price rise at world markets is caused by two factors. The
first factor is that fuel price grew to $100 per barrel and the second
is bio fuel usage.
Kocharyan said that the United States spent 25% of crops for bio fuel
generation in 2007 alone, and Japan is planning to target 25 to 30%
of its crops in 2009 and 2010.
"This drives grain crop, flour and fodder prices up. Prices for
derivative products, such as butter, grow as well. I think the world
will face price rise throughout 5 to 15 years", Kocharyan said.
Statistical figures show that food prices at Armenian markets grew 4.4%
in January 2008, compared with December 2007.
Annual inflation on foodstuff was recorded at 10.3%.
FURTHER PRESENCE OF "DASHNAKTSUTIUN" IN THE GOVERNMENT DEPENDS ON THE STANCE OF RPA AND "PROSPEROUS ARMENIA", SECRETARY OF THE FACTION STATED
Mediamax
February 29, 2008
Yerevan /Mediamax/. "Dashnaktsutiun" party is expecting a response from
the ruling coalition to its proposal on coming out of the agreement,
signed following the results of the parliamentary elections of May
12 of 2007.
As the Head of the parliamentary faction of "Dashnaktsutiun" party
Hrayr Karapetian stated in Yerevan today, the further presence of
the party in the government depends on the stance of the Republican
Party of Armenia and "Prosperous Armenia" party, which enter the
ruling coalition.
Commenting on the situation present in the country after the
presidential elections of February 19, Hrayr Karapetian spoke for
ruling out methods with use of force both from the part of the
authorities and the opposition. He noted the necessity "of holding
talks between the authorities and the opposition on issues of improving
the electoral system, real provision of freedom of speech and handing
a number of authority opportunities over to the opposition".
According to Karapetian, "realization of such structural reforms will
help to take the country out of the present situation".
ARMENIE: TENSION GRANDISSANTE DANS LA RUE ENTRE LE POUVOIR ET L’OPPOSITION
Karen Minasyan/AFP
Le Monde, France
26 fevrier 2008 mardi
Des partisans de l’ancien president Levon Ter Petrossian, manifestent
a Erevan, dimanche 24 fevrier. L’opposition armenienne, reunie autour
de M. Ter Petrossian, a de nouveau rassemble près de 20 000 personnes
dans le centre de la capitale. Elle denonce le resultat officiel de
l’election presidentielle du 19 fevrier, a l’issue de laquelle Serge
Sarkissian a ete elu dès le premier tour. Des tentes ont ete dressees
sur une des places centrales de la ville. Limoge après son ralliement
a M.Ter Petrossian, le procureur general adjoint, Gagik Djangirian,
a ete arrete samedi, parmi d’autres figures de l’opposition . D’autres
hauts responsables de l’administration ont egalement rejoint le camp
de M.Ter Petrossian. Samedi, au terme d’un rassemblement de 50 000
personnes dans la capitale, le president sortant, Robert Kotcharian,
a denonce " une tentative de prise de pouvoir " et s’est dit pret a
prendre " toutes les mesures necessaires " pour restaurer l’ordre. –
(AFP.)
–Boundary_(ID_d8znZH3QRlADbxcRUcDYDg)–
SOUMGAIT TRAGEDY BECAME PROLOG OF MASS ETHNIC CLEANSINGS IN 1988-1991
DE FACTO
Feb 28, 2008
YEREVAN, 28.02.08. DE FACTO. "It is the 20th anniversary of the
Soumgait atrocity, and we state with pain that during the past
years we have not managed to reveal and punish the organizers and
those responsible for this crime. The Soumgait atrocity has become a
prolog of mass ethnic cleansings and lawlessness perpetrated against
Azerbaijan’s Armenians in 1988-1991.
As a result of violent actions by the Azerbaijani authorities and
criminal elements over half a million Armenians had to leave Azerbaijan
to save their life and became refugees", a statement of the Network
of Civil Society "Refugees and International Law" circulated on the
occasion of the 20th anniversary of anti-Armenian pogroms in the
Azerbaijani town of Soumgait runs.
It is underscored in the statement that the mournful anniversary of
the Soumgait tragedy "is another cause to remind Armenia’s authorities
that the fact of violation of rights of thousands of Armenian refugees
cannot be ignored".
According to the statement’s authors, the Karabakh talks have not
yielded results, because the Armenian party did not display adherence
to principle and as early as in the beginning of nineties consigned
to oblivion the issue of Armenian refugees.
BAGHDASARIAN ‘IN COALITION TALKS WITH SARKISIAN’
By Astghik Bedevian
Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Feb 28 2008
Opposition leader Artur Baghdasarian is discussing with Prime Minister
Serzh Sarkisian the possibility of joining a new coalition government
which Armenia’s president-elect has pledged to form after taking
office, a pro-government lawmaker said on Thursday.
Sarkisian has offered to defuse rising political tensions in Armenia
by cutting a power-sharing deal with those "constructive" opposition
forces that will recognize his victory in last week’s disputed
presidential election. He said on Wednesday that several of his
election challengers have responded positively to the offer.
In the words of Eduard Sharmazanov, a parliament deputy and spokesman
for Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK), those include Baghdasarian
and his Orinats Yerkir Party. "We are now discussing that with Orinats
Yerkir as well," he told reporters.
According to the government-controlled Central Election Commission,
Baghdasarian won over 16 percent of the vote, trailing both
Sarkisian and the main opposition candidate, former President Levon
Ter-Petrosian. The former parliament speaker on Tuesday described the
February 19 vote as deeply flawed but stopped short of challenging
the legitimacy of Sarkisian’s victory. He promised to ascertain his
and his party’s position by Thursday.
Baghdasarian and other Orinats Yerkir leaders were meeting late in
the evening to discuss their next steps. An Orinats Yerkir spokeswoman
said their decision will be submitted to the party’s larger governing
board which is scheduled to meet on Friday. She did not deny that the
issue of teaming up with Sarkisian is on the agenda of the discussions.
Orinats Yerkir Party was already a member of Armenia’s governing
coalition from 2003-2006.
SERJ TANKIAN WORKS OUTSIDE THE SYSTEM
By Doug Miller
MSNBC
/
Feb 27 2008
Former System of a Down singer gets personal on his solo album
Serj Tankian is the Lebanese-born, Armenian-American singer and
keyboard player from metal band System of a Down who recently
released his first solo album, "Elect the Dead." In addition to being
a political activist – he and former Rage Against the Machine and
Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello co-founded a non-profit organization,
Axis of Justice, in 2002 – Tankian’s also a poet and essayist. Six
Questions caught up with him recently to talk about life.
Doug Miller: You own a second home in New Zealand, and there’s a
rumor going around that you will live there until the war in Iraq is
over. Say it ain’t so.
Serj Tankian: That’s not true at all. I have no idea where it came
from. Maybe a lot of Americans think that because I had the audacity
to buy a house in another country that it was a political move, but
it wasn’t. I’d love to spend more time there, but because of family
and my work, I end up spending more time here.
The bottom line is New Zealand is just a great place. It’s a
non-nuclear country with non-genetically modified foods, and it’s
gorgeous. It’s also very politically neutral, underdeveloped and very
green. Ecologically it’s one of the most developed nations you’ll
find. I went there a few times and just felt really comfortable
there. Then I researched it and traveled around and discovered more
about it. I definitely see myself spending a lot more time there later
in my life. I mean, where I live there’s one small grocery store,
and it’s open until 5 p.m.
Miller: Shania Twain has a huge compound there. Is your place as big
as hers?
Tankian: (Laughs) It’s probably as big as her little tool shed.
Mine’s a small house. I don’t have a "station," which is a huge land
block with thousands of acres, which is what she has. She built that
house and a lot of people rejected that the government allowed her
to do that. There was a strong backlash by New Zealand’s government
to allowing major construction projects like that from overseas. They
started an overseas investment council. Good on her, as they say down
there, but it did make it tougher for the rest of us.
Miller: So how’s life on your own after all those years in System?
Tankian: Not as different as you might think. I’ve toured a lot for
last 10 years and been on a lot of the same stages. It’s very organic
and natural going up and doing solo shows, but I’m comfortable and
confident. The people are coming out because there’s a new record
out and there’s new music and it’s exiting. They want to see it.
Miller: And the new material?
Tankian: Instead of writing and recording with a band, I wrote on my
own and composed it. It’s very much piano- and strings-based, more
so than System, which is mostly guitar-based. It’s classical and has
operatic dynamics; it’s more dramatic. There are also acoustic guitar
songs that have a Spanish, gypsy kind of vibe and a certain swing.
Lyrically, it’s a lot more intimate. It’s only me that I’m
representing.
There are more personal stories on this record than anything I’ve
ever done. It was a joy making it myself, mixing it myself in my
own studio, and it was an amazing feeling doing it all and doing it
successfully. As far as the stage show, it’s a lot more vaudevillian,
more dramatic and humorous than System is on stage. It still has
heavy influxes of politics and serious stuff, but it’s still funny,
too. It’s a real show.
Miller: What’s the most ridiculous thing that’s happened on tour
so far?
Tankian: I don’t know about ridiculous, but we have fun every day
with each other cracking silly jokes before we get on stage. Some
people hype themselves up. I like to relax and I like to laugh. So
we do a little huddle, and whoever’s got a good joke tells it, and
you get up on stage in a funny mood with a positive vibe and have a
great show. One good story from the tour is that one of our tech guys
almost burned down the hotel in Manchester, England. He loves candles,
and I think he blew it out, but it hadn’t totally blown out.
Nothing burned, but it was getting close. So we were calling him
"Candlebox," and when he brought out the guitar in front of 10,000
or 15,000 people, I said, "Everyone say hi to Candlebox."
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Miller: When reporters ask you if System is going to get back together,
do you just roll your eyes or do you actually answer them at this
point?
Tankian: What I do is I’ve taken the top 20 questions I’ve ever been
asked and made cue cards with my answers. I just show them the cards,
and it makes the whole process a lot easier.
And here’s System question No. 1: "What is the status and future of
System of a Down? Do you have plans to record another album with SOAD
in the future?" So the answer to that question is also on my FAQ on
my Web site (The answer: "SOAD is currently on an indefinite hiatus
after 10+ years of being a touring and recording band. SOAD is not
a corporation that needs to put out a product every year to sustain.
We’re a group of artists and we create music together when we want
to. We are enjoying prioritizing other artistic and personal efforts.
We’re all friends and supportive of each other’s art. If and when we
need to speak as one to the world, the world will be aware.").
It’s great to do it that way. When you’ve answered the question
perfectly at least a couple of times out of the 700 or 800 you’re
asked, you just want to capture that moment.