Author: Kamalian Hagop

Ertugrul Ozkok:Even the Armenian MPs want us in Lebanon

Hurriyet, Turkey
Aug. 18, 2006

What will happen if Turkish soldiers take up a position in the United
Nations peace-keeping force headed for Lebanon? How will the people
of Lebanon react?

The most meaningful answer to this came during Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul’s visit to Beirut this week; it came during a dramatic
moment at a dinner for four foreign ministers given by Prime Minister
Fuat Siniora.

*****

The dinner given by Siniora took place in a large salon in the Prime
Ministerial buildings in Beirut. The beauty of the salon apparently
touched everyone present at the dinner. The Lebanese Prime Minister
Siniora placed Gul at the same table as the French Foreign Minister
as well as ministers from both Pakistan and Malasyia. There were also
9 ministers present from the Lebanese cabinet. They were sitting at
different tables throughout the salon. Siniora said to Gul at the
dinner "Yours was the first civilian airplane to land at the Beirut
Airport following the start of the war."

*****

The most important topic at the meal was the peace-keeping force to
be sent to Lebanon. PM Siniora underlined that, as far as he was
concerned, it was a necessity for Turkish soldiers to be present in
that force. When Gul asked Siniora how the Lebanese people would
react to the presence of Turkish soldiers, the answer he received was
"Even the Armenian minister on our cabinet wants the Turkish soldiers
to come." The French minister in particular was surprised by these
words. But before this sense of surprise could pass, Siniora pulled
another trick out of his hat: he called over the Armenian cabinet
minister, who happened to be one of the 9 Lebanese ministers present,
to the table where Gul was sitting. Holding the Armenian minister’s
arm, Siniora asked "You also want the Turkish soldiers to come, don’t
you?" The Armenian minister answered in the affirmative. Of course,
this did surprise the Turkish authorities present in the salon,
especially since only that same morning, the Lebanon-based Armenian
Tashnak Party had issued a declaration announcing that it was against
the arrival of Turkish soldiers as a part of a possible peace-keeping
force.

In Lebanon, where the Armenians number around 120 thousand, the
Tashnak Party holds 6 seats in the Armenian Parliament. Clearly the
Armenian minister and the Tashnak declaration were at odds. It is
impossible to know whether the Armenian minister was speaking out of
the need to be polite, or in all honesty. Interestingly, Gul told
reporters at the meal who witnessed this exchange that Ankara was
"not taking seriously" the claims that the Armenian lobby in the US
was trying to prevent the Turkish soldiers from coming to Lebanon.

******

But going further, what do the Lebanese Shiites and in particular the
Hizbollah think of this all? Of the 9 government ministers present at
the dinner, 5 were Shiites known to be Hizbollah supporters. The
Shiite Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nebih Berri, answered the
question of how it was that the Lebanese Shiite community viewed the
potential arrival of Turkish soldiers in their country. Said Berri to
Gul at the dinner: "I speak in the name of the Shiites in Lebanon. We
want from our hearts that the Turkish soldiers participate in the
peace-keeping forces."

*****

These are some of the behind-the-curtains events from Gul’s visit to
Beirut two days ago. And so, what will we say after all this to the
idea of our soldiers going to Lebanon? I don’t know what other people
think, but I have shared my views on this before: the Turkish
soldiers must join in the peace-keeping mission in Lebanon. We should
all prepare ourselves to think like this. The CHP is, however, is
against this. Which is why I want to remind them of this: even Spain
and Italy, who are busy withdrawing their military forces from Iraq,
are preparing to send their forces to Lebanon.

*****

Turkey is the strongest and most effective country in the region.

It must fulfill its duties on this round. But it must also take care
to minimize the risks for its soldiers on this mission. If only the
political opposition in Ankara would see fit to be helpful on this
front, our soldiers would go off with much more boosted morales.

45.asp?gid=74

YEREVAN MIGHT LEAVE NAGORNO-KARABAKH TALKS

Interfax, Russia
Aug. 17, 2006

YEREVAN. Aug 17 (Interfax) – Armenia might leave negotiations on
Nagorno-Karabakh if Azerbaijan initiates a discussion of the issue
at the UN, Armenia’s representative in the UN Armen Martirosyan told
the Svododa radio.

Martirosyan reminded reporters that last year Armenia and Azerbaijan
reached an agreement that the Nagorno-Karabakh problem will be
solved exclusively in the format of the Minsk group of the OSCE,
whose co-chairmen are Russia, France and the U.S., and that Baku will
not try to take the Karabakh issue to the UN.

Azerbaijan, however, recently sent a letter to UN, he said.

He said that Azerbaijan in its letter tried to initiate a discussion
of the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh at the UN, and, in particular, was
calling on the UN to "help in recovering the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan."

"If Azerbaijan persists in calling for a discussion of Nagorno-
Karabakh at the UN, and attempts to push for a vote on issues related
to Nagorno-Karabakh at the UN, Armenia may leave negotiations,"
he stressed.

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x109
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

AGBU NAMED AS BENEFICIARY OF $10 MILLION TRUST ESTABLISHED BY
PIONEERING SCIENTIST AND EDUCATOR DR. JACK MUNUSHIAN

George R. Phillips, 2005 Man of the Year of the AGBU Southern
California District, officially announced AGBU’s designation as an
income beneficiary, along with the American University of Armenia, of
the Jack Munushian Charitable Trust estimated at $10 million. Faithful
to Munushian’s wishes, Co-Trustees Phillips and Zouhrab Bassmajian
will select AGBU projects that support educational and other charitable
endeavors in Armenia and the Diaspora.

"Generous yet firm in mind and spirit, Jack was the kind of person who
remembered anybody that did anything nice for him and rewarded them
in kind," said longtime associate Phillips. "His superior intellect,
foresight, and humor, and above all, his humility, earned my respect
and admiration from the very beginning."

A hallmark to a legacy of intelligence, integrity and humanitarianism,
the personal and professional achievements of the late Dr. Jack
Munushian have long endured to outlive their maker. Innovative and
visionary in the fields of engineering, education and computer science,
his contributions to society engrained a lasting impression on his
peers and for generations to come.

Born in Rochester, NY in 1923, Munushian, a World War II veteran,
received a B.S. in physics from the University of Rochester in 1948. He
later went on to earn a Ph.D. in physics in 1954 from the University
of California at Berkeley, representing one of the first servicemen
to receive a doctoral degree on the GI Bill.

Employed throughout the 1950’s by Aerospace Corporation and Hughes
Aircraft Company as a scientist and manager, Munushian joined the
working world of academia in 1957 as a part-time lecturer at the
University of Southern California’s (USC) School of Engineering. Ten
years later in the fall of 1967, USC hired Munushian as a full
professor to develop its engineering program and, in due course,
he became the Director of the Graduate Center of Engineering Sciences.

Although formally trained in electrical engineering, the capable and
talented Munushian is credited for founding the Department of Computer
Science, now one of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s largest
and strongest departments. In 1972, his first year serving as the
Department’s founding Chairman, Munushian created the Instructional
Television Network (ITV) to facilitate the higher education of
engineers and scientists in Southern California via closed-circuit
television from the workplace.

"To an extent few people realize, we at the Viterbi School live in a
house that Jack built," said USC Viterbi Dean Yannis Yortsos, referring
to the building that Dr. Munushian acquired for the department. "Our
eminence in computer science and distance education grows directly
out of his hard work and foresight."

A precursor to today’s multi-billion dollar distance learning industry,
the tuition revenue generated by Munushian’s ITV enabled USC to hire
much of the faculty that shaped the engineering school into a premier
research institution. In 1988 when the IEEE (Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers) awarded its highly coveted Major Educational
Innovation Award to Munushian for his creation, the USC Viterbi
School had recorded more than 50,000 ITV enrollments. Munushian’s
ITV successor, USC’s Distance Education Network, remains an important
part of the Viterbi School of Engineering today.

In 1994, the deserving Munushian was conferred as Emeritus Professor
of electrical engineering, and recently in his honor, the USC Viterbi
School of Engineering established a newly endowed chair named the
Jack Munushian Early Career Chair.

Near retirement, Munushian’s health regrettably declined resulting
in the unfortunate loss of his sight. With resilience and unyielding
courage, he persevered to conduct his new life as loyally to his old
by setting up a special audio system that allowed him to "read" books
and newspapers, and swimming regularly using the ropes as his guide.

"I will remember Jack in his recent years as a survivor who vanquished
all physical handicaps and for his strong belief in the power of
positive thinking," said Dr. Mihran Agbabian, lifetime friend,
former AGBU Central Board Member and former President of the
American University of Armenia. "I also will remember him for the
many scientific and technical challenges that he faced throughout
his career and for all the valuable contributions he made to higher
education. But most of all, I will remember him as a person who always
did the best he could to brighten the lives of others."

Munushian’s devotion to charitable causes was unwavering as witnessed
by his lifetime support of the USC Swim for Mike Benefit, the Armenian
Assembly, the Armenian Church, AGBU, the Grtasirats Armenian School in
Aleppo, Syria, and named in memory of his friend Dr. Zohrab Kaprielian,
he renovated the Grtasirats Cultural Association Auditorium and was
responsible for the dedication of USC engineering building Kaprielian
Hall.

"I would like to express my gratitude to all donors of AGBU and, on
this occasion, pay homage to the memory of Jack Munushian who entrusted
the organization with such an important bequest. This bequest also
holds a special meaning as it happened during the Centennial year of
the organization," said AGBU President Berge Setrakian. "This is a
tribute to all the programs that AGBU has run for over a century for
the betterment of the lives of Armenians worldwide and the promotion
and preservation of the Armenian identity and cultural heritage. We
are only able to achieve our goals with such success through the
generosity of our donors and benefactors, such as the late Munushian."

AZERI LEADER URGES "INFORMATION OFFENSIVE" AGAINST ARMENIAN LOBBY

ANS TV, Baku
14 Aug 06

[Presenter] We will not allow creating a second Armenian state in
Azerbaijan; the conflict should only be resolved within the framework
of international law and stage by stage, President Ilham Aliyev
said during today’s meeting with the diplomatic corps representing
Azerbaijan abroad. He said that Azerbaijan would never concede its
national interests and would not allow any power to turn Azerbaijan
into an arena for rivalry.

The head of state also said that some ambassadors were not actively
involved in informing the international public about the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict.

[Ilham Aliyev] In some countries this advice is being heeded,
but in some – I do not want to name them – they remain passive. I
demand that all embassies be active and realize this practice in
their daily activities. I have said it on many occasions and I want
to reiterate that we must start an information offensive. We must
unmask Armenia’s expansionist policy, especially since this is the
real state of affairs.

Armenia has occupied Azerbaijan’s land. As a result of Armenia’s
policy of aggression and ethnic cleansing, more than one million
of our compatriots have been displaced from their lands. However,
the propaganda by the Armenian lobby portrays a completely different
picture in some countries.

Although Armenia as a state has very limited resources for diplomacy,
even though the country lags far behind Azerbaijan in terms of its
economic potential and cannot afford opening embassies in various
countries, the Armenian lobby acts as its embassy. They act in concert
and they have one target, that is Azerbaijan.

SOME ARMENIAN JEWS AFRAID AS COUNTRY TAKES IN HUNDREDS OF LEBANESE REFUGEES
By Yasha Levine

Jewish Telegraphic Agency, NY
Aug. 10, 2006

YEREVAN, Armenia, Aug. 10 (JTA) – Armenia’s Jewish community is bracing
for a possible wave of anti-Semitism as hundreds of Lebanese Armenians
taking refuge from the fighting in southern Lebanon stream into the
former Soviet republic.

Weeks after Israel began its retaliation against Hezbollah forces,
more than 500 Lebanese Armenians and Armenian nationals living in
Lebanon had arrived in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, on chartered
flights from Aleppo, Syria.

More are expected to arrive as the fighting continues and creeps
closer to the Armenian quarter in eastern Beirut.

"I’m really scared. I think that politically motivated anti-Semitism
is beginning to show itself," Inna Astvatsatryan, a contributor to
Magen David, the community’s newspaper, told JTA.

Astvatsatryan was vague about the details, but her fear is echoed by
many in Armenia’s tiny Jewish community, which numbers anywhere from
100 to several hundred.

The Israeli army is not targeting Beirut’s Armenian quarter, nor are
there reports of Armenians being killed by Israeli fire, but Lebanese
Armenians feel affected by Israel’s war on Hezbollah.

"People talk about the fact that they are only bombing south Beirut,
but they don’t realize that Beirut is a tiny city. If you’re bombing
one part, you’re bombing the entire city," said Shogher Margossian,
23, a Lebanese Armenian who flew to Yerevan from Beirut a few days
after the conflict broke out.

Lebanese Armenians have close ties with Lebanon, as harbored Armenian
refugees fleeing the Turkish massacre of Armenians in the early 20th
century. An estimated 80,000 ethnic Armenians live in a tight-knit
community in Beirut.

On the streets of Yerevan, Lebanese Armenians are unanimous: They do
not support Hezbollah’s military activity, but they consider Israel’s
offensive unwarranted and counterproductive.

Some local Jews fear that anti-Israeli sentiments the displaced
Lebanese Armenians are bringing with them may translate into
anti-Semitic views that remain long after the rockets stop falling.

Other than the defacement of a Holocaust memorial stone in Yerevan two
years ago in connection with the conviction of an extremist politician
for inciting ethnic hatred, Armenian Jews are hard pressed to remember
an anti-Semitic incident. Swastikas can be seen in graffiti around
Yerevan, but they hardly seem fresh or connected to Israel’s conflict
with Hezbollah.

Evgenia Kazaryan, editor of Magen David, is taking a wait-and-see
approach.

"I think that it is only a matter of time for the effects to be seen,"
she said.

According to Kazaryan, there have not been open cases of anti-Semitism
because the Israel-Hezbollah conflict is too fresh.

"Not enough time has passed for the impression the Lebanese Armenians
bring back with them to sink in," she said.

The worry has prompted Rimma Varzhapetyan, chairwoman of the Jewish
community of Armenia, to consider organizing an Armenian-Jewish
roundtable to discuss Israel’s political motivation behind its conflict
with Hezbollah, as well as Israel’s failure to officially recognize
the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Turks almost a century ago.

Suren Gregoryan, an Armenian journalist, supports Varzhapetyan’s idea
and believes disinformation and stereotypes about Jews flow into
Armenia from the Armenian Diaspora in Syria and Iran. He insists
there needs to be more freely available information in Armenia on
Israel and Jewish culture.

Rabbi Gersh-Meir Burshtein remains skeptical about the possibility
of anti-Semitism. Burshtein, who heads a small Chabad-sponsored
community center, school and synagogue, rejects the idea that the
Hezbollah-Israel conflict will cause a spike in anti-Semitic sentiment
in Armenia.

Unlike Jewish communities in Georgia and Azerbaijan, which have long
Jewish histories, Armenia’s current Jewish community is made up of
Jews who began settling in the country from elsewhere in the Soviet
Union during World War II.

Some came first as evacuees from the Nazi advance into Ukraine and,
as word spread of the absence of anti-Semitism in Armenia, many other
Jews came as professionals, Burshtein explains. He said he has walked
the streets of Yerevan in Chasidic garb for more than 10 years without
confronting bigotry.

Burshtein believes the fact that Israel does not recognize the Armenian
genocide is not as important to the Armenian population as some think:
Poverty, energy self-sufficiency and the possibility of conflict with
neighboring Azerbaijan are more pressing issues.

For her part, Margossian doubts that the conflict between Hezbollah
and Israel will affect Armenian Jews. She explained that her accounts
of life under Israeli bombing make little impression on local Armenians
because they have suffered so much: During the early 1990s, Azerbaijan
imposed an energy and trade blockade that forced Armenia’s population
to ration electricity and food.

Armenians do not feel sympathy for Lebanon because "most Armenians
think of Lebanon as a Muslim country," Margossian told JTA. "They view
the conflict as a war between Israel and a terrorist organization
in which civilian casualties are justified. And if Armenians viewed
Lebanon as a Christian country, things would be much different for
the Jews."

RUSSIA TO MEET EUROPEAN DEPOSIT INSURANCE NORMS BY 2010-2012

ITAR-TASS News Agency
August 8, 2006 Tuesday 01:10 PM EST

The State Agency for Bank Deposit Insurance thinks that Russia will
meet European deposit insurance norms of 20,000 euros in 2010-2012,
Agency Director General Alexander Turbanov told a Tuesday press
conference.

As of now, Russia’s deposit insurance policies are higher than those
in CIS member countries. For instance, Armenia guarantees the return
of $5,000, Kazakhstan – $3,000, and Ukraine – $1,600.

Amendments to the Law on the Insurance of Individual Deposits at Banks
of the Russian Federation," which enlarge the insurance policy from
100,000 to 190,000 rubles, will enter into force on August 9.

That will enlarge the amount of compensations to $7,500.

The enlargement of insurance policies to 190,000 rubles is beneficial
to a number of banks, Turbanov said. In one-third of banks the
insurance policies of 100,000 rubles covered only 10% of individual
deposits, which was costly for banks. Now the number of such banks
will reduce to 40%, he added.

The agency will suggest the enlargement of insurance policies from
190,000 to 300,000 rubles in early 2007, Turbanov said.

"Depending on the formalities, the law may enter into force on July
2007 or later," he said.

The deposit insurance fund has reached 29.2 billion rubles. As of
July 1, 2006, the deposit insurance system incorporated 934 banks,
which are holding 346.7 million individual deposits. The amount of
individual bank deposits in these banks has grown by 377.6 billion
rubles or 13.8% since the beginning of this year.

"ASALA IS NOT A TERRORIST STRUCTURE" HISTORIAN VLADIMIR PETROSIAN IS SURE

YEREVAN, AUGUST 8, NOYAN TAPAN. "I came to the conviction that there
is no international terrorism: who did not like a national-liberation
movement, he called it "terrorism." Vladimir Petrosian, Doctor of
History, Professor made such a statement at the August 7 presentation
of his "Let’s not Forget…"

("Chmoranank…") book. According to him, "the main author and
organizer of terrorism is the United States of America which,
to mask their own terrorism, ascribe it to others just at the
beginning." According to V.Petrosian, when writing the "Let’s not
Forget" book, he made an attempt to find out if the Armenian Secret
Army, ASALA (Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia),
is a terrorist organization. Studying the ASALA activity of the last
three years, the author came to conviction that one may not qualify
this organization as a terrorist structure as the Armenian Secret Army
was created based on patriotic ideology and led a national-liberating
struggle. Even more, according to V.Petrosian, the ASALA ideology
may be put in the basis of today’s state foreign policy.

IT’S NOT THE POWER OF THE LOBBY, BUT RIGHTEOUSNESS OF ITS CAUSE

ArmRadio.am
08.08.2006 16:47

In recent years, as Armenian Americans have been getting better
organized in carrying ut their political objectives, there has
been repeated talk about "the powerful Armenian lobby." The most
recent example is Julie Corwin’s report on Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty on August 2, titled: "Confirmation Row Shows Power of Diaspora
Lobbies." The analyst for RFE/RL expresses her surprise that a large
number of Senators, Republicans and Democrats, challenged the Bush
administration’s refusal to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, during
the confirmation hearing of Ambassador-Designate Richard Hoagland.

The current U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, is being dismissed
for speaking publicly and truthfully about the Armenian Genocide. On
August 1, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee postponed, for
the second time, Amb. Hoagland’s confirmation. Corwin wrote: "The
prominence of the issue is due in large part to the efforts of two
powerful lobbying groups "the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA), and the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA). There are lobbying
groups representing the concerns of nearly every diaspora community in
the United States. The Armenian lobby is one of the most successful."

Another interesting article about the Armenian lobby, written by
Heather S.Gregg, a doctoral candidate in the MIT Political Science
Department, has been published a number of times in different
versions and lengths (from 6 to 30 pages) over the past five
years. The article is titled: "Divided They Conquer: The Success of
Armenian Ethnic Lobbies in the U.S." Various Turkish publications
and websites have featured this article to explain why the Armenian
lobby is "so powerful." Gregg writes: "Within the last decade,
Armenian lobby groups in the United States have achieved considerable
success in gaining political and material support from Congress, the
White House and other federal bodies." She explains this success by
"the intense lobbying efforts of Armenian-Americans in the United
States. The lobbying success of this small ethnic minority is largely
the result of two factors. First, an inter-community rivalry within
the Armenian-American population represented by two lobby groups
in Washington,the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
and the Armenian Assembly of America (the Assembly), has led to
hyper-mobilization of this ethnic group’s resources.

Second, the Armenians have formed key alliances in Washington
including members of Congress, other lobby groups and organizations,
and the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues in the
House of Representatives, which have rallied behind Armenian policy
objectives. Together, hyper-mobilization and alliance building have
allowed the Armenians considerable success in achieving specific
policy objectives."

Why is there such a fascination, to the point of obsession, with the
Armenian lobby? Why Turkish and Azeri publications and officials
make frequent references to the "powerful Armenian lobby?" There
are three possible reasons as to why Turkish and Azeri officials,
political organizations and media outlets are interested in presenting
the Armenian lobby as being all too powerful:

1) To help rally domestic and international support to their side; 2)
To create sympathy among their supporters for having to face such a
"powerful enemy;" 3) To cover up their errors and incompetence after
losing a particular political battle.

One must not exclude the possibility that all those who are lobbying on
behalf of Turkey and Azerbaijan, be they U.S. lobbying firms, Jewish
organizations or Israeli government officials, are intentionally
exaggerating the power of the Armenian-American community in order
to exact a higher price from Ankara and Baku for their artificially
inflated services.

It is simply amazing that a powerful country like Turkey and oil
rich Azerbaijan, with their political clout, financial resources,
lobbying firmsin Washington, D.C., and the support of the highest
officials of the Bush administration, are complaining about the
political activities of the tiny Armenian-American community. Turkish
and Azeri officials along with their U.S. cohorts, on a regular basis,
pressure, censure and threaten, anyone around the world who dares to
support an Armenian issue. And yet, they are the ones crying "wolf!"

While it is true that the Armenian American community has become
politically more active and effective in recent years, the fact remains
that no matter how many millions do the Turks and Azeris spend, they
cannot whitewash their lies and present them as the truth. They are
simply wrong on the issues. What empowers the Armenian lobby is the
righteousness of its cause!

PRESS RELEASE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of Australia & New Zealand
10 Macquarie Street
Chatswood NSW 2067
AUSTRALIA
Contact: Laura Artinian
Tel: (02) 9419-8056
Fax: (02) 9904-8446
Email: [email protected]

9 August 2006

NOURISHMENT FOR THE THIRSTING SPIRIT

Sydney, Australia – Many of us fortunate to live in well-established
Armenian communities of the Diaspora often take for granted the sustenance
accorded our Armenian spirit by partaking in Holy Mass on a Sunday at the
Armenian Church or attending our children’s end of year Armenian School
concert.

But for small parish communities like the Armenian Community of Adelaide
which numbers around 30, it is an opportunity to ‘be’ and ‘feel’ Armenian
again when a special guest arrives bringing with him the manifestation of
the Armenian faith.

On Saturday, 5 August, His Eminence Archbishop Aghan Baliozian, Primate of
the Diocese of the Armenian Church of Australia and New Zealand made his way
to the capital city of South Australia for his annual pastoral weekend with
the Armenian Community of Adelaide. The Archbishop was met at the airport
by Mr Alec Balayance who is President of the Armenian Cultural Association
of South Australia and plays a pivotal role convening the Armenians of
Adelaide.

On Saturday evening, community members eagerly gathered in a suburban
community hall to be in the company of the Archbishop and enjoy the warm
hospitality that is created when compatriots come together to form their own
little hamlet. During discussions, Archbishop Baliozian shared his vast
knowledge of the Armenian language as well as giving direction on the
upcoming Australian census. Accurate numbers of Armenians have been near
impossible to identify in Australia from past census data by way of the
questions posed, particularly since ‘place of birth’ is a non-indicator of
Armenian ethnicity. However, the 2006 census will identify Armenians as a
minority ethnic group through the question of ancestry and faith if answered
correctly.

On Sunday morning community members and friends congregated in the Chapel of
the Christian Brothers College to partake in the Divine Liturgy of the
Armenian Apostolic Church offered by the Archbishop. The sermon of the day
focussed on living faith and the Armenian spirit, providing spiritual
comfort and nourishment to the Armenian congregation who have special
yearning to partake in the Holy Mass of their mother language. Following
the church service, Archbishop performed a baptism.

The same evening, a dinner was hosted at the residence of Garnik and
Vartouhi Kalamkarian when community members had their final opportunity to
enjoy the Archbishop’s company and discuss the possibility of conducting
their own worship services in the absence of a clergyman. Archbishop
Baliozian explained how in the 1940’s, the first Armenians in Sydney would
regularly congregate in a church to sing hymns and enjoy fellowship, an
example that could be theirs to follow. There was also much enthusiasm for
the Archbishop to make two pastoral visits to Adelaide each year which he
said he will endeavour to include in his annual schedule.

The Primate returned to his residence in Sydney on Monday, 7 August. He
will next visit the parish of Melbourne this weekend for the Feast of the
Assumption of the Holy Mother of God where he will conduct the Episcopal
Mass at St Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church.

For information on Armenians in Adelaide, contact can be made with Mr Alec
Balayance at [email protected]

FRENCH ARMENIAN PHOTOGRAPHER INTENDS TO PUBLISH BOOK CONCERNING JAVAKHK

AKHALKALAK, AUGUST 3, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. French Armenian
photographer Antoin Agoujian has been in Javakhk during the recent
days. According to the "A-Info" agency, A.Agoujian took few thousands
of photos in the territories of a number of settlements and historic
monuments of Javakhk. A.Agoujian intends to publish in France a book
picturing by his photos the past and present of Javakhk.