Author: Kalashian Nyrie

‘TOGETHER WE WILL WIN’: DEMONSTRATION OF DEFIANCE ON STREETS OF TBILISI
By Shaun Walker in Tbilisi

Independent
Wednesday, 13 August 2008
UK

They flocked to Rustaveli Street in their thousands, waving Georgian
flags, chanting and straining their necks to get a view of the
politicians on stage, whose words were boomed across central Tbilisi
via loudspeakers. There was a party atmosphere as helpers handed out
free ice creams, and the speakers milked the crowd like rock stars.

There have been many surreal sights in this short, nasty war, but
none quite so puzzling as that which unfolded on the main street of
the Georgian capital yesterday. Little more than 12 hours after the
country’s army had quite literally run away from the key strategic
city of Gori without so much as firing a shot, the Georgian President,
Mikheil Saakashvili, and his ministers held a rally that bore all
the hallmarks of a victory celebration.

The proceedings began shortly after Russia’s President, Dmitry
Medvedev, claimed that military operations were over, but many in
the 150,000-strong crowd still seemed to believe the misinformation
spread on Monday by the Georgians that the Russian army had captured
Gori and were preparing an assault on Tbilisi, 45 miles away.

They were in defiant mood, as a Georgian minister shouted out to the
crowd: "All nationalities together in Georgia – the Armenians, the
Azeris, the Georgians and the Ossetians! We will be together! We will
win! Together we will win!" Shouts of approval went up in the crowd.

One after another, top government officials gave speeches in the same
vein. "We will never surrender and we will tell this to the enemy
thousands and thousands of times," said Georgia’s Deputy Foreign
Minister, Giga Bokeria, one of Mr Saakashvili’s closest allies.

"We will never allow the Russians to do this!" said Gia Loria, 53,
who was in the crowd with his friends. "We are a nation of warriors,
and we will fight until the end. We will destroy the Russians and
retake Gori; we’ll drive them out of South Ossetia and we’ll take
back Abkhazia as well! Onwards!"

Sukhumi and Tskhinvali, the respective capitals of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia, were "the same as Jerusalem is for Israel", he said, and the
Georgians would fight until the last to regain them. It was brave
talk, but totally at odds with the reality of a population fleeing
westwards from the Russian army. Gori had been abandoned without a
fight, and people in Tbilisi reported a mass flight of residents to
the region of Kakheti, so terrified were people that the Russians
were advancing on the capital.

Moscow has made it clear that it wants the pro-Western Mr Saakashvilli,
who was educated at Columbia, out of office. But for now at least,
the mood in Tbilisi suggests that the six-day war has made him more
popular among Georgians. Among the Georgian flags in the crowd, there
were banners proclaiming "I love you Misha", the diminutive form
of the President’s first name. When speakers praised his leadership
during the conflict, the crowd roared its support.

The last time crowds of this magnitude massed on Rustaveli Street was
last November, when opposition parties demanded Mr Saakashvili step
down and many Georgians took to the street in protest against his
government before being brutally dispersed. Over the past year there
has been pressure from opposition figures who challenged the Georgian
leader over his democratic credentials and demanded he step down.

But this time it was the President himself doing the talking. In
defiant, finger-wagging mode, he said he was pulling Georgia out of the
Commonwealth of Independent States, and declared Russian peacekeepers
in Abkhazia and South Ossetia "occupying forces". The crowd lapped
up his words, and even those who had wanted him out just a week ago
had been converted to his biggest fans.

"I, and a lot of my friends, used to be against him," said Niko
Durchashvili, 57. "But he’s our president, we elected him, and if we
don’t like him, we’ll remove him ourselves, without Russia. This war
has made Georgia united."

Opposition leaders have been conspicuous by their absence. As the
conflict erupted last Friday, an opposition leader announced a
"moratorium on confrontation" with the authorities.

"The situation is very difficult in the country. I think that there
is no time for internal political disputes," Davit Gamkrelidze, head
of the opposition New Rights Party, said at the time. "Under such
conditions – it is an unwritten law – internal political confrontations
and disputes should be stopped."

But for all his defiance yesterday, the hot-headed Georgian President’s
days may be numbered. He came to power pledging that Abkhazia and
South Ossetia would soon be part of a united Georgia, and if people
on Rustaveli Street seemed still to believe that yesterday, it surely
won’t be long before they realise that this military defeat has made
the prospect almost unimaginable.

That is when Mr Saakashvili’s reputation, already badly weakened on
the international stage, may start to falter at home.

"Most of Georgia is unified behind the President now," said Alexander
Rondeli, a senior political analyst. "But there are certain rascals
who are waiting for the moment to start to talk about his mistakes
during this crisis."

CONTENT OF HARMFUL SUBSTANCES RECORDED IN ARAX RIVER IN LINE WITH POLLUTION STANDARDS

Noyan Tapan

Au g 12, 2008

YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, NOYAN TAPAN. The 10th meeting of the
Armenian-Iranian working group on study of pollution of the Arax River
was held in Yerevan on August 12. The working groups of Armenian and
Iranian experts were set up in 2005 in accordance with provision 4
of the Memorandum of Mutual Understanding between the RA Ministry
of Environmental Protection ad Iran’s Environmental Protection
Department. The working groups conduct joint studies in order to
find the causes of the Arax River’s pollution and to prevent the
consequences.

In the words of Alfred Nersisian, head of the Ministry’s Water
Resource Management Agency, every month the Armenian working group
takes samples in Meghri-Iran interstate section adjacent to the Arax
River. The samples are taken in the observation points determined in
advance. These are places where sewage of industrial enterprises flows
into the river. A. Nersisian assured those present that the content
of harmful substances recorded in the Arax River is in line with the
pollution standards and does not pose any danger to the environment.

Ali Maleki Milani, the executive official of the Water Resource
Management Agency of the Iranian province of Atrpatakan, stated
that the waters of the Arax River have become quite clean thanks to
bilateral coopeartion.

According to him, the governments of the two countries attach special
importance to the joint struggle for cleanness of the Arax.

It was stated that hydrological obsevations, as well as collection
and analysis of data on the river basin will be carried out under the
Strategy and Action Plan of the RA National Water Program. Besides,
it is envisaged to update the geographical map of the Arax River,
the plans of the river basin which were developed in the Soviet time,
and the transborder agreements on management of water quality and
water resources.

GEORGIA’S EMBASSY IN ARMENIA DOES NOT HAVE SPECIFIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE NUMBER OF THE PEOPLE KILLED AS A RESULT OF BATTLE ACTION IN SOUTH OSETIA

arminfo
2008-08-11 15:16:00

ArmInfo. Georgia’s Embassy in Armenia does not have specific
information about the number of the people killed as a result of battle
action in South Osetia, Georgia’s Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Ambassador Revaz Gachechiladze told ArmInfo correspondent.

‘There is no specific number. And I don’t want to comment on what
Moscow publishes. I don’t even know how many people were killed when
bombing of the base in Senaki. They say, from 16 up to 60. Their
number will be calculated later, but it is already clear that there
is a big number of the killed and wounded people’, – the ambassador
said. Asked how Georgian authorities may shoot at their own citizens,
since they say that citizens of south Osetia are citizens of Georgia,
the ambassador replied similar question rose when Russian troops were
attacking Grozniy. ‘As for Tskhinvali, all the attacks were pinpoint
at government buildings and accumulation of military bands but not at
apartment houses. By the way, Russian airplanes ruined the theatre
and several buildings when bombing Senaki. One cannot account the
attack absolutely strictly’, – the ambassador added.

Javno.hr, Croatia
Aug 10 2008

Four Croatians Being Evacuated from Georgia

Four Croatians who were on a student trip to Georgia are currently on
a bus driving towards the Armenian border.

ZAGREB, CROATIA – Four Croatians who were travelling through Georgia
on a student trip are currently being evacuated from Georgia with the
help of the Croatian Embassy there. This information was officially
confirmed by the Croatian Foreign Ministry.

– They are currently being evacuated through Armenia. They are on a
bus and their visas and all the necessary documents will be waiting
for them on the Armenian border, said ministry spokesman Mario Dragun.

– They are currently being evacuated through Armenia. They are on a
bus and their visas and all the necessary documents will be waiting
for them on the Armenian border, said ministry spokesman Mario Dragun.

According to Berislav Zivkovic at the ministry, the bus started off at
around 4 pm local time and it is presumed that the Croatians already
crossed the border.

They should be safe in Armenia before nightfall

As we learnt, the four Croatians are Oliver Anderlin, Drago Mezga,
Stjepan Bukovcak and Lukrecija Kireta. The four found themselves in
Georgia when the war with Russia started.

The Croatian Embassy in Greece, which is in charge of Armenia and
Georgia, is working on getting the four young people to Croatia
safely.

– The Greek Embassy has notified their families and the four young
people are communicating with us via text messages. We think they
should be safe in Armenia’s capital before nightfall ` Croatian Charge
d’Affaires at the Croatian Embassy in Athens, Vojko Senker, said.

id=170927

LERNIK HAKOBIAN APPOINTED NKR MINISTER OF CULTURE AND YOUTH ISSUES

Noyan Tapan

Au g 8, 2008

STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 8, NOYAN TAPAN. By the August 7 decree of the
NKR president Bako Sahakian, Lernik Hakobian was appointed minister
of culture and youth issues of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, NT was
informed by the NKR Presidential Staff’s Main Information Department.

NY Hyortik AYF Chapter
69-23 47th Ave.
Woodside, NY 11377
(718) 651-1530
[email protected]
July 30, 2008
For Immediate Release

New York AYF Hosts Annual Summer Bar Party, Proceeds Benefit ARS
Sponsor-A-Child Program

NEW YORK – On July 26, the New York Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) Hyortik
chapter brought to together youth from all corners of the Armenian community
for its annual summer bar party. Armenians from New York, New Jersey and as
far away as Boston and Philadelphia, packed a room at Latitude Bar in
Manhattan where they danced all night to the music of DJ Ash.

Attendees talked, mingled and danced under the large Armenian flag centering
the room as they watch photos and video projected on TVs in the bar
depicting the activities of the New York AYF, the AYF Eastern Region, and
AYFers around the world. "Our members had a great time at the Annual AYF
Summer Bar Party this past weekend. We can always count on the New York AYF
to saturate Armenian celebrations with wholesome happiness, excitement, and
pride in our heritage. It is with great joy that I partake in AYF events.
Keep us posted!" said Columbia University Armenian Club president Shaunte
Baboumian.

The Hyortiks donated a portion of the event proceeds to the ARS
Sponsor-A-Child Program. Established in 1992, the program provides financial
support to children whose parents were killed in the devastating 1988
earthquake in Gyumri, Armenia and in the Artaskh struggle for
self-determination. Over 7,000 children have been assisted by generous
sponsors who annual contribute $130 per child, per year.

HEATED RACES IN TENNESSEE DRAW NATIONAL COVERAGE

Memphis Commercial Appeal
ug/07/heated-races-draw-national-coverage/
Aug 7 2008
TN

When polls opened at 7 a.m. in precincts throughout Shelby County,
coverage of the State and Federal Primary and County General Election
had extended to national newspapers and websites closely following
Greater Memphis’s two contested Congressional elections.

Much of the coverage focused on the 9th Congressional District
Democratic Primary, where incumbent Steve Cohen was in a rematch of
sorts with corporate lawyer Nikki Tinker in a heated campaign that
pushed to a boil in the hours before polls opened. State Rep. Joe
Towns Jr. is also on the ballot, as are two others.

The New York Times ran a 700-word story in its A section. A
well-followed Washington Post blog had this headline on a lengthy
writeup: "Tennessee Primary Gets Nasty". National political
publications like The Hill, CQ and Politico.com gave extended coverage
to the race. Cohen won the 2006 Democratic primary with 31 percent
of the vote to Tinker’s 25 percent of the vote and won the general
election to succeed 30 years of Harold Fords serving the district.

It was Politico.com that first reported, on Wednesday, that the
pro-choice feminist political action committee EMILY’s List was
distancing itself from Tinker because of two ads her campaign put
out in the campaign’s final days attacking Cohen.

"We were shocked," said the group’s director, Ellen Malcolm,
according to Politico.com. "We believe the ads are offensive and
divisive. EMILY’s List does not condone or support these types of
attacks."

MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann also weighed in Wednesday, naming Tinker as
his show’s featured "Worst Person In The World."

"It has no place from a Democratic candidate, nor a Republican
candidate, nor a white candidate, nor a black candidate. It is
shameful," he said of the ads.

In one ad, Tinker’s campaign raised the issue of Cohen’s 2005 Center
City Commission vote against removing the statue and remains of Nathan
Bedford Forrest from a park near the Medical Center. Using images of
the Ku Klux Klan wearing robes and hoods and burning crosses, the ad
attempted to paint Cohen as a pandering hypocrite whose 3-year-old
vote should be weighed against his success last week in pushing
Congress to approve a resolution apologizing for slavery.

The other ad, first seen Wednesday, featured the voice of a little
girl reciting the prayer "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" and attacked
Cohen for his 1997 State Senate vote against a bill the ad claims was
meant to protect the right of students to pray in school. Cohen is
white and Jewish in a Congressional district that is mostly Christian
and 60-percent black.

Cohen pushed back hard against both ads, with his campaign organizing
a press conference Saturday featuring local black leaders defending
Cohen’s three decades of liberal public service and successes as a
first-term Congressman advocating for African-Americans in his district
(60 percent of 9th District voters are African-American). Cohen has
said he felt that voting to remove the statue and remains would have
been a mistake because it would have unnecessarily stirred racial
tensions.

Cohen said Wednesday he is not opposed to prayer in schools but
objected to that bill because he considered it meaningless and an
attempt by legislators to pander to voters.

Tinker has not responded to numerous requests for comment since the
release of the first ad last Friday.

The Washington Post quoted Cook Political Report’s David Wasserman,
who closely follows House races, as saying: "The final ads of this
race seem more like a Hail Mary than a long, well-thought out plan
of attack."

Wasserman added that "usually ads as immediately acerbic as these do
not play well."

Cohen’s press conference, at his Overton Park home, got off to a
rocky start when the Congressman’s campaign staff refused to allow
a documentary cameraman to participate. The staff told the man,
an Armenian-American activist named Peter Musurlian, that only
invited local media were allowed into Cohen’s house. Cohen eventually
intervened by saying he would grant an interview outside.

When Musurlian retreated to the door, Cohen grabbed his forearms with
both hands and shoved him out. "Outta here," he said.

Musurlian, from Glendale, Calif., said he is in town producing a
documentary on the race. Armenian-Americans from around the country
have donated between $25,000 and $30,000 to Tinker. Cohen has angered
Armenian-Americans because of his opposition to a Congressional
resolution that would condemn Turkey for a genocide against Armenians
as the Ottoman Empire disintegrated during and after World War 1.

Cohen said his opposition is related to a request received from
Gen. David Petraus while on a trip to Baghdad not to pass the
resolution because it would result in Turkey cutting off aid to the
American forces in Iraq and could harm American troops. That stance
is in agreement with all U.S. presidents going back to Jimmy Carter
and many former secretary of states.

Whether that incident will have an impact is yet unkown. Polls close
at 7 p.m.

The 7th Congressional District Republican primary between
U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn and challenger Tom Leatherwood, Shelby
County’s register of deeds and a former state senator has revolved
basically around charges and counter-charges the two have lobbed at
each other. Leatherwood first attacked the incumbent for becoming part
of a Republican majority that "squandered" its power by failing to
accomplish many of its conservative goals and then lost its majority
after several ethical lapses.

He repeatedly hammered away at her on media reports that her
daughter pocketed over $325,000 in commissions as a paid fundraiser
for Blackburn’s campaign, and Blackburn’s son-in-law’s Washington
lobbying career that grossed him nearly $1 million in fees since
Blackburn took office in 2003.

The Blackburn campaign insisted that daughter Mary Morgan Ketchel’s
commissions are not out of line and that Blackburn never discusses
issues with her son in law, Paul Ketchel III, that he is lobbying on.

Blackburn returned fire with a barrage of campaign mailers that
Leatherwood says are "outright lies," with considerable evidence to
back up his claim.

Blackburn’s mail pieces all revolve around the claim that in a
Clarksville speech June 3, he said he supported the 2007 federal
legislation to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program,
or S-CHIP. The mailers cite a June 4 Commercial Appeal article as
the basis for the charges.

But the article contains no such assertion; in fact, it quoted
Leatherwood as telling the Montgomery County audience that opposed
illegal immigration. And he never said he supported S-CHIP.

Instead, he used the June 3 speech to attack what he called the
"hypocrisy" of Blackburn’s vote against expanded funding for the
Regional Medical Center at Memphis while voting for earmarked funding
for the Houston zoo. Leatherwood said — when asked by a reporter after
that speech which vote on funding for The Med he was referring to —
that it was the S-CHIP bill.

Blackburn defended the mail piece Tuesday. "It was a legitimate issue.

Leatherwood stayed close to his home base this morning, campaigning
in Bartlett. Around lunchtime, he was greeting voters at the Bartlett
Elementary School precinct while seeking shelter from the sporadic
showers. Like many precincts around Shelby County, the turnout was
light where Leatherwood was campaigning.

"We have two more cars coming up," Leatherwood said by
telephone. "We’re having a bit of a flurry here."

A light turnout is not to the challenger’s favor in his effort
to unseat Blackburn of Brentwood, who is seeking her fourth term
representing the district that stretches from the outskirts of
Nashville to the outer edges of Shelby County. Leatherwood said
earlier this week, he needed a strong showing in West Tennessee and
a heavy swaying of undecided voters to his side of the ballot if he
was to have a chance.

"I would have preferred the heavier turnout," Leatherwood said. "I’m
hearing from people working other polls for me that it’s been kind
of a mix. There’s been steady traffic in places like Collierville
and Germantown, but still not heavy."

GEORGIA TO START WAR AGAINST SOUTH OSSETIA BY SEPTEMBER

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.08.2008 16:34 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Georgia will start war against South Ossetia by
September, said Eduard Kokoyty, the South Ossetian President.

"We have irrefutable evidence that large-scale operations will
be launched by September. Saakashvili’s plan is being developed,"
he said, RIA Novosti reports.

ISRAEL, U.S. EXACTING DATE OF ATTACK ON IRAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.08.2008 16:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Al-Siyassa Kuwaiti daily quoted sources in Washington
as saying that the date of an Israeli and American attack on Lebanon
and Iran is approaching.

According to the sources, preparations for the attack were coordinated
during recent frequent visits by senior Israeli officials to the U.S.,
and that Israeli Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi has got a green light
from President Bush to carry out an extensive air and ground attack
against Hezbollah. The sources added that this attack, which could be
in late September or early October, would be a prelude to an expected
attack on Iran in November or December.

It was also reported that the Israelis informed the Bush administration
about the transfer of surface-to-air missiles from Iran to Hezbollah,
that the missiles had already been positioned in the Beq’a Valley
and at the foot of Mt. Lebanon, and that all Hezbollah missiles were
deployed in extensive areas of the country.

Also according to the sources, Syria was refraining from arming
Hezbollah with similar missiles that it and Iran received several
months ago from Russia. They said that in recent talks in Turkey
between Israeli and Syrian representatives, Syria had received
guarantees that it would not be attacked, and at the same time the
Syrian representatives announced the removal of a surface-to-air
missile network from the western mountain chain bordering Lebanon,
placed there out of fear of an Israeli aerial attack.

Kayhan Iranian daily, which is close to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei, stated that the frequent trips by senior Israeli officials
to Washington attest to Israel’s fear of concessions being made by
the U.S. in light of Iran’s increasing demands, and that these trips
were unplanned and not routine, MIGnews reports.

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:

PRESS RELEASE

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

AGBU Camp Antranig Opens in Armenia

On July 24, 2008, the AGBU Camp Antranig, which will cater to Armenian
scouts from around the world, officially opened in the forests near
Lermontovo village, between the cities of Vanadzor and Dilijian, in
the Lori region of Armenia. Executive Director of the Armenian Youth
Association (AYA) of Lebanon Kevork Santourian is the director of the
new scout camp.

The opening ceremony, which was widely covered by the Armenian media,
was attended by a number of dignitaries, including Lori Governor Aram
Kocharian; Bishop Sepuh Chuldjian, Primate of the Gugark Diocese of
the Armenian Apostolic Church; Bishop Ararat Galtakchian, Grand Sexton
of the Holy See of Etchmiadzin; Simon Ter-Simonian, President of the
Republic of Armenia’s Humanitarian Aid Committee; Ashot Kirakossian,
Director of the Armenian Social Investment Fund; Ashot Ghazarian, AGBU
Armenian Representation Director; Hovig Yeordekian, AGBU Armenian
Representation Deputy Director; and other Lori region officials.

The event began with a procession of scouts and was followed by
Santourian’s welcome speech. After declaring the opening of the first
scout camp in Armenia as a historic occasion, he thanked all those who
contributed to the success of the camp. Bishop Chuldjian also took
part in the opening and conducted a blessing ceremony for the
facility. Bishop Galtakchian passed on the blessing of His Holiness
Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians.

Lori governor Aram Kocharian and AGBU representative Ashot Ghazarian
also welcomed the scouts and talked about the symbolism of the camp,
which seeks to unite scouts of Armenian heritage around the world
through camping. In addition to the educational activities organized
in the camp, the facility will also organize trips to historic
landmarks throughout Armenia for visiting scouts.

During his visit to Armenia in the fall of 2007, Berge Setrakian,
President of Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), laid the
foundations for the first scout camp in Armenia, among other national
programs of AGBU. For that purpose, AGBU purchased private land in the
village of Lermontovo in the northern Lori region of Armenia, which is
renowned for its natural beauty. The planning, preparation and
construction was able to be completed in a very short period of time.

Three hundred scouts are expected to attend the two sessions, which
run from July 22-August 5, and August 8-22, 2008. This year’s visiting
scouts hail from cities across the region, including Aleppo, Baghdad,
Damascus, Kamishli, Tehran and various Lebanese locales (Antelias,
Beirut, Zahlé).

Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU
preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through
educational, cultural and humanitarian programs, annually serving some
400,000 Armenians on six continents.