Author: Kalantarian Kevo

California Courier Online, December 2, 2004
1 – Commentary
Turkish Official Accuses U.S.
Of Committing Genocide in Iraq
By Harut Sassounian
California Courier Publisher
**************************************************************************
2 – Glendale Public Library Receives 12,500
Armenian Books from Defunct College
3 – Ararat-Eskijian
Museum Hosts
Dec. 12 Lecture
4 – Memorial Tribute For Archbishop Mesrob
Ashjian Will be Held Dec. 10 in Glendale
5 – Kassakhian Will Run for Glendale
City Clerk in April Election
6 – Free Flu Shots
Offered Dec. 4 for
Glendale Community
7 – Simonyan to Box Vasquez
Dec. 28 for IBF Title
*************************************************************************
1 – Commentary
Turkish Official Accuses U.S.
Of Committing Genocide in Iraq
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
Turkish officials seem to have the nasty habit of accusing everyone else of
genocide, except their own country — the real culprit!
A couple of years ago a major controversy erupted when Bulent Ecevit, the
former Prime Minister of Turkey, accused Israel of committing genocide
against the Palestinians. Even though Ecevit and other Turkish leaders
repeatedly and profusely apologized for the use of this very offensive
word, they paid a heavy price for that indiscretion. They ended up
antagonizing their supporters in Israel and in the American-Jewish
community.
A similar scenario is developing now, except that this time the Turks are
accusing the United States of genocide.
Mehmet Elkatmis, Chairman of the Turkish Parliament’s Human Rights
Commission, accused Washington of committing genocide in Iraq, and behaving
worse than Adolf Hitler. The Los Angeles Times reported the Turkish
official’s words last week under the headline: “Turk Compares U.S. to
Hitler.” The Times quoted Elkatmis as saying: “The occupation has turned
into barbarism. The U.S. administration is committing genocide in Iraq.
Never in human history have such genocide and cruelty been witnessed. Such
a genocide was never seen in the time of the pharaohs nor of Hitler nor of
Mussolini.” Elkatmis is a prominent member of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party.
Elkatmis was further quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying: “The
Americans first committed genocide against the American Indians, then
against the Vietnamese; they used the nuclear bomb in Japan, and are the
main culprits in the Palestinian tragedy. The Americans are guilty of
crimes against humanity since hundreds of thousands of people were killed
in Iraq. It is time for the world to think of taking actions to prevent
such unspeakable cruelty, barbarism and terrorism.” Elkatmis even raised
the specter of Americans using chemical and nuclear weapons in Fallujah,
Iraq, given the large number of civilian casualties in that city.
The Times said the American Embassy in Ankara rejected these accusations,
saying “they were potentially damaging to Turkish-U.S. relations.” The
newspaper quoted a U.S. diplomat as saying: “Such unfounded, inaccurate,
exaggerated claims are not good for relations, especially at a time of
strain when Turkish public opinion is so critical of what the United States
is trying to do in Iraq.” According to the Turkish media, a U.S. Embassy
spokesman said: “The Turks know well the meaning of genocide and are
appropriately very sensitive when that word is used. Therefore, they should
not resort to exaggeration in their criticisms.”
These anti-American accusations have created a new crisis in U.S.-Turkish
relations, exacerbating the tensions caused by the Turkish government’s
earlier refusal to allow U.S. troops to enter Iraq from Turkey. While
anti-American sentiments have been growing in Turkey, accusing the U.S. of
genocide could antagonize the Bush administration.
Elkatmis is not the only Turkish official, however, to make such
anti-American statements. Bulent Arinc, the Speaker of the Turkish
Parliament, said that he agreed with Elkatmis and accused the U.S. of
violating international law. Prime Minister Erdogan himself “called on
Muslims to unite in the face of ‘ruthless’ U.S. power,” according to
Bloomberg. He also described the insurgents killed by U.S. troops as
“martyrs.” The Turkish press reported that Erdogan, during a recent phone
conversation with Vice President Dick Cheney, harshly criticized the U.S.
attacks on Fallujah. U.S. officials described Erdogan’s highly critical
words to Cheney as “going outside the bounds of proper diplomatic
discourse.”
Turkish newspapers have been publishing scores of anti-American
commentaries in recent days. Erhan Bayurt wrote in Zaman: “The U.S. has
openly violated human rights and principles of warfare under international
law.” Another Zaman commentator, Ekrem Dumanli, described how an Islamic
preacher in his Friday sermon cursed both Israel and the United States to
the wild cheers of the gathered worshippers in a Turkish mosque. The
Turkish Daily News reported that 1,500 worshippers leaving Istanbul’s
Beyazit mosque last Friday shouted anti-U.S. slogans and burned American
and Israeli flags. Similar anti-American protests were held in at least
seven other Turkish cities, including Ankara. Nihail Karaca, in her column
in Zaman, described American soldiers as “monsters.” She accused the
American people of being “accomplices in a crime against humanity” by
re-electing George Bush.
It is ironic that while the Bush Administration is overly sensitive not to
offend the sensibilities of the Turks by opposing all references to the
Armenian Genocide, Turkish officials do not seem to have any qualms in
accusing the United States directly of genocide! Why is the world’s only
superpower behaving with such reticence after handing out billions of
dollars in foreign aid to Turkey during the past 50 years? This is a
perfect example of the tail wagging the dog!
It remains to be seen whether the Bush administration would publicly rebuke
these Turkish officials or would it once again act deaf and dumb. If
American officials could muster a little courage to respond to these
offensive Turkish accusations, they could allow a vote on the genocide
resolution in the House and the Senate, thus pointing the finger back to
Turkey as the country that has committed real genocide!
**************************************************************************
2 – Glendale Public Library Receives 12,500
Armenian Books from Defunct College
By Josh Kleinbaum
News-Press and Leader
GLENDALE – Whenever the Glendale Public Library tried to add
Armenian-language books to its collection, the library always had to pay a
premium. The books are hard to find, and because they are hard
to find, they are expensive.
This week, the library hit pay dirt.
The American Armenian International College, a school affiliated with the
University of La Verne that has been closed for more than a decade, is
donating its entire Armenian-language collection to Glendale.
The donation of 12,500 books, which Glendale officials value at about
$500,000, will quadruple the library’s collection of 4,000
Armenian-language materials. Because of the size of the donation, Glendale
is expected to share the books with neighboring libraries.
“Forty percent of the population of Glendale is Armenian,” said Cindy
Cleary, assistant director of libraries. “We have 660,000 books in our
collection and only 4,000 are Armenian language. It’s an incredible
resource, not only to Glendale but to the surrounding neighborhoods.”
For some of the city’s large Armenian American population, especially the
elderly who did not grow up in the United States, having more
Armenian-language books will be welcomed.
“Much of the elderly, they may know how to speak English and read a few
things, but their native tongue is Armenian,” said Armen Carapetian,
government relations director of the Armenian National Committee’s western
region. “The books will come in particular use by that segment of the
community. It’s a tremendous gift.”
The library expects to receive the books next week, but Cleary said it will
be six months before any of them are incorporated into the library’s
collection. The city is expected to give some of the books to other area
libraries, including public libraries in Pasadena and Burbank and Cal State
Northridge’s library.
“From the beginning, it was clear that no one institution could take the
entire collection, just because of the size of the collection,” said Beth
Walker, principal librarian for the Pasadena Public Library. “We don’t know
if it’s the largest, but certainly a significant one outside of Armenia.”
The collection of books is primarily eastern Armenian, and includes history
and literature from 1980 to 1992, including translations of classics and
books on the Armenian Genocide.
“There’s a lot of Armenian literature that is in demand and is not
available in the bookstores or other libraries around,” Councilman Rafi
Manoukian said. “A collection of that magnitude certainly will go a long
way in meeting that need.”
For the past 12 years, since the college closed its doors to students in
1992, the collection has remained in La Verne but viewed by appointment
only. Last year, the college’s board members approached the Pasadena Public
Library about a donation. They also had discussions with the University of
Michigan library, which has an Armenian Research Center at its Dearborn
campus.
“The reason we picked Glendale, the whole board agreed to it, it’s a real
hub of a lot of Armenians,” said Jack Jandegian, a member of the college’s
board of directors. “With the supplement of all these books with what
you’ve already got there, it’s going to be a real big asset for the city of
Glendale.”
The college is also donating $25,000 for moving and processing the
collection. The City Council unanimously approved the donation last week.
***************************************************************************
3 – Ararat-Eskijian
Museum Hosts
Dec. 12 Lecture
MISSION HILLS, CA – The Ararat-Eskijian Museum will present a lecture in
English on Dec. 12 at the Museum, featuring Knarig Avakian, of the
Institute of History, National Academy of Sciences in Yerevan, addressing
“The Emigration of the Armenians to the United States: Evidence from the
Archives of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople (from the beginning
to 1924.)”
Avakian is the author of “The History of the Armenian Community of the
United States: From the Beginning to 1924.”
The lecture will start at 4 p.m. at the Ararat Eskijian Museum, 15105
Mission Hills Road, Mission Hills.
Admission is free.
For more information, call (818) 838-4862.
**************************************************************************
4 – Memorial Tribute For Archbishop Mesrob
Ashjian Will be Held Dec. 10 in Glendale
GLENDALE – A memorial tribute will be held Dec. 10 in Glendale’s United
Community Church for the memory of scholar and author, Archbishop Mesrob
Ashjian.
The Hamazkayin Western Regional Executive and the Land and Culture
Organization are organizing the tribute to their late friend on the
occasion of the first anniversary of his passing.
Open to the public, the event is being held under the joint auspices of
Western Diocese Primate Archbishop Hovnan Derderian and Western Prelate
Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian.
The Master of Ceremonies for the evening is Prof. Richard Hovannisian.
The program will include guest speakers Kegham Kevonian, of Land and
Culture Organization, Paris, and
Rita Vorperian, Ph.D. The program includes performances by Hamazkayin
“Kousan” Chorale, conducted Prof. Ara Manash and slide and video
presentations of Surpazan Ashjian’s life.
Organizers said, “Please join us on Friday, December 10, 2004 at United
Community Church, 333 Colorado Blvd., Glendale, at 8 p.m., as we honor
Surpazan’s spiritual strength, humble presence and gentle humor with which
he blessed and touched us all.”
**************************************************************************
5 – Kassakhian Will Run for Glendale
City Clerk in April Election
By Josh Kleinbaum
News Press
GLENDALE – Glendale could have a competitive election in April to determine
the city’s chief election official for the first time in more than 75
years. Now, that race has its first competitor.
Ardashes Kassakhian, executive director of the Armenian National
Committee’s Western Region, announced that he will run for City Clerk, a
position that will be vacated in April when Doris Twedt retires at the end
of her term.
“I’ve always had a passion for public service,” Kassakhian, 28, said. “It’s
a noble calling. If you really want to be an active citizen and
participant, you have to take on challenges and you have to address them
head on.”
Kassakhian should have some competition, although nobody else has entered
the race. Candidates do not have to file any paperwork to run for City
Clerk until January. The job’s salary alone — $105,000 per year, minimum
— will likely draw out candidates to make the race competitive.
As an officer for the Armenian National Committee, Kassakhian is a
community activist who has lobbied the federal government for recognition
of the Armenian genocide and urged Glendale’s Armenian community to vote.
If elected, he said he would focus on increasing voter turnout and
advancing the technology inside the clerk’s office.
“He’s a very capable individual, and he knows very well what the job
entails and how to handle it,” said Councilman Rafi Manoukian, who received
support from the Armenian National Committee in his reelection bid.
“Having come from a community activism background, that gives him better
insight into the operations of the city clerk.
**************************************************************************
6 – Free Flu Shots
Offered Dec. 4 for
Glendale Community
GLENDALE – The Armenian American Nurses Association has organized free
influenza immunization outreach clinic for the senior members of the
community on Dec. 4, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at St. Mary’s Armenian
Apostolic Church, 500 S. Central Ave., in Glendale.
All seniors 65 years of age and older will be given immunizations.
The event is sponsored by Glendale Adventist Medical Center.
***************************************************************************
*
7 – Simonyan to Box Vasquez
Dec. 28 for IBF Title
EL CAJON, Calif. – International Boxing Federation Association junior
featherweight champion Israel Vasquez will defend his title for the first
time when he meets undefeated and No. 1-ranked contender Art Simonyan, Dec.
28, at the Sycuan Resort & Casino in El Cajon, Calif.
The world championship card will be held in the Spotlight Showroom at the
Sycuan Resort & Casino.
The IBF 122-pound championship will be a belated birthday gift for one
these two boxers.
Vasquez turns 27 on Christmas Day while Simonyan becomes 29 on Dec. 27.
Vasquez, originally from Mexico City but now living in Los Angeles, has a
record of 36-3 with 26 knockouts.
Simonyan, who was born in Armenia but now lives in Glendale, Calif., has a
record of 14-0-1 with seven knockouts. He earned the right to challenge
Vasquez with a 12-round decision over Fahsan Por Thawatchai in a title
elimination bout May 21 in Elk Grove Village, Ill.
***************************************************************************
The California Courier On-Line is a service provided by the California
Courier. Subscriptions or changes of address should not be transmitted
through this service. Information in that regard should be telephoned
to (818) 409-0949; faxed to: (818) 409-9207, or e-mailed to:
[email protected]. Letters to the editor concerning issues
addressed in the Courier may be e-mailed, provided it is signed by
the author. Phone and/or E-mail address is also required to verify
authorship.

The Messenger, Georgia
Nov 29 2004
Fight against corruption continues
By M. Alkhazashvili
A billboard near Rike: “Georgia without corruption”
Soon Georgia wil receive another report by Transparency
International on its performance in fighting coruption
Back in October, NGO Transparency International published its
Corruption Perceptions Index for 2004, in which only seven of the 146
countries ranked were perceived as being more corrupt than Georgia.
The government has sought to eradicate corruption from the top down,
putting many corrupt high ranking officials from the Shevardnadze
administration behind bars, at least until they agreed to pay a
suitable “ransom.”
Although President Saakashvili has stated that in the “high echelons”
of the new administration, there is no corruption, and that he trusts
the new ministers and officials, nevertheless, the fight against the
corruption will continue, and even in the new administration some
officials, judges, and even one MP have been accused of corruption.
At Tuesday’s congress of the National Movement and United Democrats,
President Saakashvili reiterated this telling party members that the
government has been “cleared [of corrupt officials], though the rats
have moved the battlefield to the regions and plan to return to power
from there.”
The government’s anti-corruption measures against the former
authorities are appreciated by the Georgian population, but even so,
the need to fight corruption, and equally importantly, to be seen to
be fighting corruption, is as important now as it was when the Rose
administration came to power. Because, as Transparency
International’s index shows, corruption is still perceived to be a
major problem in the country.
While Georgia has the same rating as Indonesia, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Cote d’Ivoir, the Democratic Republic of Congo and
Angola, neighboring Azerbaijan is perceived as even more corrupt
(140th out of 146) but Armenia (82nd) and Russia (90th) are seen as
less corrupt.
The three Baltic countries Estonia (31st place). Lithuania (44th) and
Latvia (57th) are perceived as the least corrupt post-Soviet
countries, while the seven least corrupt countries are Finland, New
Zealand, Denmark, Island, Singapore, Switzerland and Swiss. In
December, Transparency International will release its Corruption
Barometer and provide a clearer picture of what considers as the
government’s achievements in the past year to improve transparency in
the country.

Baku says NATO role in Karabakh possible
Nov 26 2004 3:26PM
BAKU. Nov 26 (Interfax-Azerbaijan) – The Azerbaijani authorities said
that NATO may play a role in settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“NATO’s participation in resolving the conflict may become possible. In
our opinion, using this organization’s resources would be helpful,”
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov told a workshop
organized by the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Baku on Friday.

Vasquez Defends IBF Junior Featherweight Championship Against Simonyan
BoxingTalk
Nov 27 2004
Press release: International Boxing Federation Association junior
featherweight champion Israel Vasquez defends his title under the
Sycuan Ringside Promotions banner for the first time when he meets
undefeated and No. 1-ranked contender Art Simonyan Tuesday, Dec. 28,
at the Sycuan Resort & Casino in El Cajon, Calif.
The world championship card will be held in the Spotlight Showroom
at the Sycuan Resort & Casino.
Tickets for this championship card are on sale 24 hours daily in the
gift shop at the Sycuan Resort & Casino. Tickets also can be ordered
by calling 619-445-6002 or 619-659-3380 24 hours daily.
This is the fifth boxing card presented by Sycuan Ringside Promotions
since it burst onto the international boxing scene earlier this year.
The IBF 122-pound championship will be a belated birthday gift for
one these two boxers.
Vasquez turns 27 on Christmas Day while Simonyan becomes 29 on Dec.
27.
Vasquez, originally from Mexico City but now living in Los Angeles,
won the IBF junior featherweight championship in his most recent bout,
March 25 in Los Angeles, when he stopped Jose Luis Valbuena in the
12th round.
Vasquez has a record of 36-3 with 26 knockouts. He has a mark of
16-1 dating back to 1999, that lone loss coming in a bout for the
World Boxing Council super bantamweight championship during 2002.
Simonyan, who was born in Armenia but now lives in Glendale, Calif.,
has a record of 14-0-1 with seven knockouts. He earned the right to
challenge Vasquez with a 12-round decision over Fahsan Por Thawatchai
in a title elimination bout May 21 in Elk Grove Village, Ill.
Sycuan Ringside Promotions is considered by many to be the
fastest-growing and most dynamic promotional entity in the sport.
Sycuan Ringside Promotions made its promotional debut during February,
but already has presented world championship bouts on premium cable
networks.
Sycuan Ringside Promotions has many notable boxers in its stable,
including, in addition to Vasquez, IBF lightweight champion Julio
“The Kidd” Diaz, World Boxing Organization junior featherweight
champ Joan “Little Tyson” Guzman, former World Boxing Association
cruiserweight king Orlin “Night Train” Norris and highly regarded
welterweight Antonio Diaz.

Radical group’s picket thwarted by police
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Nov 26 2004
On Thursday morning more than 50 GLO members attempted to hold a
protest action outside the Hyatt Regency Hotel to disrupt the 58th
“Rose Roth” seminar of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in protest
against the planned participation of Armenians in the event.
The action was prevented by the police and some of the protesters were
taken to police precincts in the Sabayel district, but were released
after a warning.*

Armenian opposition parties oppose plans to send troops to Iraq
Associated Press Worldstream
November 25, 2004 Thursday 3:34 PM Eastern Time
YEREVAN, Armenia — Armenia’s opposition parties said Thursday they
would interrupt their boycott of parliamentary sessions to oppose a
government plan to send troops to Iraq during its expected discussion
in parliament.
Armenian President Robert Kocharian pledged 50 troops in September,
but the final decision on sending troops is to be made by the
Constitutional Court and parliament.
The Constitutional Court is expected to rule within the next few
days. In case of the Court’s positive conclusion, it will be up to
parliament to decide whether to dispatch a team of bomb disposal
experts, doctors and transport specialist to Iraq.
Deputy leader of the opposition National Unity party, Aleksan
Karapetian, said Thursday that by sending troops to Iraq, Armenia
would endanger the 25,000-person Armenian community living in the
Middle Eastern country.
Leader of the Justice opposition alliance Viktor Dallakian said
they would break their boycott of parliament sessions and would
“categorically” oppose sending Armenian soldiers to Iraq.
Two dozen opposition deputies have been boycotting parliamentary
sessions since February to protest last year’s re-election of
Kocharian, a vote the opposition charges was marred by widespread
irregularities.
Pro-government parties make up a majority in the 131-member
parliament. However, the leader of one of the pro-government factions,
Galust Saakian, also expressed opposition on Thursday to the plan to
commit troops to Iraq. He said the idea would not be backed by the
Armenian people.
The former Soviet republic has sought to portray the decision to send
troops to Iraq as a way to boost ties with Europe.

Azerbaijan urges UN intervention
tvnz.co.nz
Nov 24, 2004
Azerbaijan urged the UN General Assembly to intervene in a long and
bitter territorial dispute with neighboring Armenia over its breakaway
Nagorno-Karabakh region.
But France, Russia and the United States, which have been trying to
resolve the dispute on behalf of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, asked the assembly to stay on the sidelines
and not interfere with their efforts.
Talks “can only progress in an atmosphere of confidence between
the parties. Anything in the direction of building confidence and
of avoiding a division of the General Assembly is helpful,” said
U.S. envoy Susan Moore, speaking on behalf of the OSCE initiative
led by Paris, Moscow and Washington.
Rival claims have hung for years over tiny, mountainous
Nagorno-Karabakh, a mainly ethnic Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan suffered a humiliating defeat in a 1988-94 war with Armenia
over the region after its inhabitants tried to break from Azeri rule.
An estimated 35,000 people were killed and one million refugees fled
to Azerbaijan, where they remain. At the same time, thousands of
ethnic Armenian refugees fled to Armenia.
A cease-fire ended the conflict but the dispute persists despite
international efforts to broker a deal.
Azerbaijan’s foreign minister, Elmar Mammadyarov, said his government
had decided to take the issue to the General Assembly because Armenia
was pursuing an “illegal settlement policy” by flooding the disputed
area with Armenians, with an eye to annexing the enclave.
He called on the assembly to adopt a resolution affirming its
“continued strong support” for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity
and the right of Azeri refugees to return to their former homes in
the enclave.
But Armenian Ambassador Armen Martirosyan said Azerbaijan’s proposal
was aimed at torpedoing the OSCE-sponsored negotiations.
The assembly put off a vote on the draft resolution until an
unspecified later date.

US MILITARY IN AZERBAIJAN
PanArmenian News
Nov 22 2004
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ As reported by Independent Military Observer Russian
newspaper on November 19, over 50 NATO servicemen, mostly Americans,
were quartered in the village of Chukhanly of the Salyani region
of Azerbaijan in a training center belonging to Azeri the Defense
Ministry. According to the newspaper, beginning with the next year, the
US military are going to implement in Azerbaijan a program analogous
to the one carried out in Georgia. Member of the Azerbaijani Defense
Ministry press service Ilgar Verdiyev confirmed the information to the
journalists, stating, however, that the foreign servicemen are arriving
in Azerbaijan only for the participation in concrete projects aimed at
Partnership for Peace NATO program realization. Yet head of the press
service Ramiz Melikov completely refuted the information and said that
he does not possess any data of the US instructors who are allegedly to
train Azeri soldiers. At the same time Azeri Foreign Ministry Deputy
Araz Azimov does not rule out the possibility of stationing US mobile
forces in Azerbaijan. Former high rank official of the Azeri Defense
Ministry Uzeir Jafarov holds the opinion that the Azerbaijan-NATO
cooperation long ago exceeded the limits of Partnership for Peace
program. In Jafarov’s words, the program similar to the Georgian
one is in active preparation in Azerbaijan at present and will to
all appearances be launched in 2005. However Azerbaijani FM Elmar
Mamedyarov stated that “Azerbaijan is not negotiating on dislocating
foreign military bases in its territory”. “A military base is a
stationary object that cannot be deployed during one night. Multi-stage
negotiations are needed for it”, the Minister noted. As expert of
the East-West Center of Political Research Azer Rashidoglu told the
newspaper reporter, the EU is expected to unanimously speak against
the US anti-Iranian operation. (The complete version of the article
read at ). To remind,
the hearsay on using the Azeri territories for probable US military
operations against Iran revived recently. As for stationary military
bases in Azerbaijan, according the Pentagon new military doctrine
on mobile bases, there will be no need in them. Thus, nominally,
military bases in their classical meaning might not exist.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TROUPE OF SUNDUKIAN THEATER COMES BACK FROM U.S. WITH NINE VALUABLE DIPLOMAS
OF GRATITUDE
YEREVAN, November 19 (Noyan Tapan). From October 23 to November 7,
the National Academic Theater after Sundukian was on a jubilee tour in
the US in connection with the 80th anniversary of its foundation. The
Sundukian troupe performed Levon Shant’s “Old Gods” and American
playwright Ray Coon’s “Night Feast” plays at the famous “Alex” and
“Academy-Police” auditoriums of Los Angeles.
Vahe Shahverdian, Artistic Director and head producer of the theater,
said during a press conference that the tour was a great success, and
nine valuable diplomas of gratitude, including the diplomas given by
the US Senate, the Governor of California, the municipal authorities
of Los Angeles to the troupe are the evidence of this fact. “Old Gods”
received an especially enthusiastic welcome, that’s why Levon Shant’s
this work was performed instead of two announced performances of
“Night Feast”.
V. Shahverdian noticed that the tour was finished with the jubilee
celebration held at “Academy-Police” on October 29. Representatives
of foreign embassies, two members of the Armenian higher orders of
clergy, the RA Minister of Culture and Youth Affairs, the American
high-ranking officials, Armenian philanthropists from the Diaspora
were also present there. It was also noticed that the tour was widely
covered by the Diasporan and American press.
According to V. Shahverdian, the tour was held at the private
invitation of the Armenian- American Cultural and Musical-Theatrical
Union, but then it turned to an arrangement of state level due to
its quality and good organization. The organizers also invited the
troupe of the theater to give performances in th e US next year.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Priority objective for economic development
Editorial
Yerkir/arm
November 19, 2004
During the recent period, Armenia has been experiencing economic
and political stability which enables development of a mid and long
term strategies.
However, there are some obvious arguments here. Supporters of active
constructive policy, justly referring to the failures of the market,
unjustly propose increasing of role of the government, especially in
branch industry policy. On the opposite side, neo-liberals propose
to continue liberalization of the market.
These parties have more in common than they admit. Both stand on the
role of institutes (in the first case Рstate, in the second ̢~@~S
market). However, both views are dubious from practical policy
standpoint for the reasons of actual need to change the available
policy or lack of resources.
Anyway, how can we contribute to proportional development of the two
institutions? Note that only in case of successful balance we can
have prosperous and competitive economy.
We single out the following basic approaches: first, unification
approach of government and market. This means a strategy that would
enable establishment both of the state and the market. Second,
effective use of knowledge. Institutional reforms take time. If
knowledge is properly used, the reforms may speed up.
Third, approach of institutional innovations. It takes turning
knowledge into behavior of economic stakeholders and the society to
make the knowledge work, to make it demanded by the market. This is
about social education.
In other word, issues number one for the development of the Armenian
economy is the development of the knowledge “industry”. This is a
pledge for transition to a competitive market.
Creative usage of market and technological knowledge enable solution
of many transitional issues. On the other hand, without development
of the knowledge “economy” it will be difficult to provide desired
economic and consequently strategic-political security level.
–Boundary_(ID_QYWEuljQON7+/igX58r43Q)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress