Author: Kanayan Tamar

ARMENIAN CIVIL AVIATION REPRESENTATIVE CONFIRMS THAT CRASHED PLANE DID NOT UNDERGO TECHNICAL EXAMINATION IN BRUSSELS
Noyan Tapan
May 11 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 11, NOYAN TAPAN. The A-320 plane that crashed near Sochi
on May 3 has not undergone technical examination by the Sabina Technics
company in Brussels this year. Serob Karapetian, Head of the Flight
Safety Inspection Unit of the Main Civil Aviation Department adjunct to
the Armenian government said this in an interview to Radio Liberty. He
said that the plane underwent techical servicing of Sabina Technics
in Yerevan in prescribed order. In his words, this year the plane
has not undergone a complete technical examination outside Armenia,
since there was no such necessity.

PRESS RELEASE
Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-689-7810
Fax: 212-689-7168
e-mail: [email protected]
Website:
Contact: Iris Papazian
MAY 11, 2006
NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY
WILL CONVENE IN NEW JERSEY NEXT WEEK
Plans are complete and the New Jersey community of Sts. Vartanantz
Church is prepared to welcome delegates and guests to the Eastern Prelacy’s
National Representative Assembly next week. Clergy conference begins on
Tuesday, May 16. The general assembly will begin Wednesday afternoon, May 17
and conclude on Friday, May 19.
The concluding reception and banquet will take place Friday evening, May
19, at the Fort Lee Hilton, Route 4 East, Fort Lee, New Jersey. During the
banquet program a number of individuals will be honored including “Persons
of the Year,” and “Youth Leadership” awards. “Certificates of Merit” will be
presented to deserving members of the local host community. To make
reservations for the banquet ($75. per person) contact any of the following:
Sts. Vartanantz Church, 201-943-2950; Bea Movsesian, 201-445-6867; Sonia
Setrakian, 201-313-7157; Lynn Mahlebjian, 201-440-3018.
The following four items all pertain to special events during the
Assembly.
CONFERENCE FOR YERETZGEENS
Archbishop Oshagan and the Religious and Executive Council are pleased
to announce that a conference for Yeretzgeens of the Eastern Prelacy will be
held in New Jersey on May 16-17, in conjunction with the National
Representative Assembly. All Yeretzgeens are invited to attend the
conference. Archbishop Oshagan will open the session with a prayer and
deliver the opening message. The remainder of the conference will feature
two sessions on various aspects of the life of a priest’s wife (family,
parish life, work) by Presvytera Athanasia Papademetriou of the Greek
Orthodox faith and one session titled, “Women of Noble Character,” by
Yeretzgeen Joanna Baghsarian.
VESPERS AND BOOK PRESENTATION
TUESDAY EVENING
Clergymen serving the Prelacy will begin their conference on Tuesday,
May 16, at 8 a.m. and continue through the day. The public is invited to
attend the Vespers service at 7:30 pm, and the book presentation that will
follow in the church’s large hall, 461 Bergen Blvd., Ridgefield, New Jersey.
The newly published Light from Light: An Introduction to the History and
Theology of the Armenian Church, by Professor Michael B. Papazian, will be
introduced with a wine and cheese reception at 8 pm, immediately following
Vespers. Archbishop Oshagan will present the book and the author, who will
be available to autograph copies of his book.
VISIT TO CATHEDRAL, PRELACY AND
ANOTHER BOOK PRESENTATION
On Wednesday evening, delegates and guests will cross the Hudson River
to visit St. Illuminator’s Cathedral, 221 E. 27th Street, where Vespers
service will take place. Immediately afterward they will go northward to the
Prelacy office on 39th Street for a reception and introduction of another
newly published book, “The Historiography of Fifth Century Armenia,” by
Archbishop Hrant Khatchadourian, of blessed memory. This work is the
doctoral dissertation of the late Archbishop, the first Prelate of the
Prelacy. It has never been published in book form. Archbishop Oshagan will
make the presentation in the presence of members of Archbishop Hrant’s
immediate family, including his brother, Antranig Khatchadourian, from
Providence, Rhode Island.
DELEGATES AND GUESTS WILL VISIT HOVNANIAN SCHOOL
On Thursday evening, May 18, delegates and guests will visit the
Hovnanian School in New Milford, New Jersey. The Hovnanian School, which
started at Sts. Vartanantz Church, is celebrating its 30th anniversary and
was recently featured in The Record, one of New Jersey’s major newspapers.
The students will make a presentation including their acclaimed Dzalabadig,
a rendition of a moving story of school children in Aleppo after the
Genocide, reading and writing while sitting cross-legged (dzalabadig). Since
the students’ original presentation in 2004 it has been repeated several
times by popular demand.
PRELATE ATTENDS JOINT MEETING TODAY
Archbishop Oshagan attended the third meeting of “Christian, Arab and
Middle Eastern Churches Together” today, at the Eparchy of St. Maron in
Brooklyn, hosted by Archbishop Gregory Marsour.
VICAR IS ATTENDING POST-ASSEMBLY WCC EVENT
V. Rev. Fr. Anoushavan Tanielian, Vicar General of the Eastern Prelacy
and Ecumenical Officer for the Eastern and Western Prelacies, is attending
the U.S. Conference for the World Council of Churches Post Assembly Event in
San Jose, California, today and tomorrow, May 11 and 12. The Conference will
focus on a discussion of the 9th Assembly of the WCC which took place in
Brazil in February.
On Sunday, May 14, Father Anoushavan will officiate at the Divine
Liturgy and deliver the sermon at St. Gregory Armenian Church in San
Francisco, California.
PRELATE WILL PRESIDE AT ST. ILLUMINATOR CATHEDRAL
Archbishop Oshagan will preside over the Divine Liturgy this Sunday, May
14-Mothers’ Day-at St. Illuminator’s Cathedral, 221 East 27th Street, New
York City.
REGISTER NOW FOR DATEV SUMMER PROGRAM
Urge your teenagers to enroll in the St. Gregory of Datev Summer
Institute. The weeklong program will take place July 2 to 9 at the St. Mary
of Providence Center in Elverson, Pennsylvania. This year the Institute is
marking its 20th anniversary and various commemorative events are being
planned. Watch the Prelacy’s web site for details.
EMMA GREGORYAN EXHIBIT OPENS TOMORROW
An exhibit of the works of noted artist, Emma Gregoryan, will open
tomorrow evening, Friday, May 12, at the Prelacy’s Vahakn and Hasmig
Hovnanian Hall, 138 E. 39th Street, New York City. The opening reception
will begin at 7 pm. The artist will be present to welcome guests.
Refreshments will be served.
Ms. Gregoryan’s works are currently being shown at the Susquehanna Art
Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, as part of an exhibition of the Armenian
art collection of the late John Vartan.
Born in Gumri, Armenia, Emma Grigoryan graduated from the Fine Arts and
Theatrical Institute of Yerevan. Her paintings have been exhibited in
Yerevan, Paris, Beirut, New York, Washington and throughout Canada.
PLG MOTHERS DAY LUNCHEON BIG HIT
The Prelacy Ladies Guild’s Mothers Day luncheon this past Monday was a
crowd pleaser on many different levels. The Roof Garden of The St. Regis was
the site of the annual luncheon, which attracted many attendees from near
and far.
Archbishop Oshagan presented the Mother of the Year award to Mrs. Araxie
Varjabedian in the presence of members of her family and friends. Mrs.
Varjabedian accepted the award with humility and thankfulness. At the
conclusion of the event a gift of $5,000 from Mrs. Varjabedian to the
Prelacy Ladies Guild was announced.
Entertainment this year included a wonderful musical interlude entitled
“Voices of Spring.” The program was put together specially for this event by
the vocalists, Ross Chitwood, Jeanette Vecchione, and Solange Merdinian,
with Vlad Iftinka on the piano.
CAMP HAIASTAN EXTENDS CAMPERSHIPS
TO EASTERN PRELACY PARISHES
Archbishop Oshagan and the Board of Directors of the AYF Camp Haiastan
of Franklin, Massachusetts, recently announced a joint program. Each parish
in the Eastern Prelacy is extended one two-week fully paid campership by
Camp Haiastan. Eastern Prelacy clergymen will select a boy or girl in their
Sunday School or church community who have never attended the camp. The
sessions being offered for the camperships are the Teen Session for 15 and
16 year olds, or Session 3 for 8 to 14 year olds.
TWO NEW VOLUMES IN KAREKIN I SERIES ARE PUBLISHED
Two new volumes in the “Karekin I Theological and Armenological Studies
Series,” were issued last week. Volume six of the series, “The Council of
Chalcedon and the Armenian Church,” is a new edition of the classic work
which was the late Catholicos’ thesis at Oxford University. Although
faithful to the original, this new edition includes translations of the many
long passages in Greek, Latin, French and German.
The seventh volume (in Armenian) is titled “Encyclicals and Messages,”
and includes the Catholicos’s major pontifical encyclicals and messages.
The series editors are Dr. Vazken Ghougassian and Iris Papazian. The
sponsor of the series is “The Haig and Elza Didizian Fund.”
The next volume (number eight in the series) is “Think and Enter,” a
translation of His Holiness’s early work in Armenian, Khorheh yev Medir.
Translated by Iris Papazian, this volume is expected to be issued later this
year.
FEAST OF THE APPARITION OF THE HOLY CROSS
This Sunday, May 14, is the Feast of the Apparition of the Holy Cross
(Yerevman Khach), which is celebrated on the fifth Sunday of Easter in
remembrance of the sign of the cross that stretched in the sky over the city
of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives to Golgotha in 351 A.D. This cross in
the sky remained for hours and was seen by the people in Jerusalem, many of
whom rushed to church to glorify God and give thanks.
SUNDAY IS MOTHERS’ DAY
This Sunday, May 14, is Mothers’ Day. Mothers’ Day was first celebrated
in 1907 when Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia persuaded her mother’s church in
West Virginia to celebrate Mothers’ Day on the second anniversary of her
mother’s death.
It was an idea that took on a life of its own. By 1911 Mothers’ Day was
being celebrated in nearly every state. Three years later, in 1914,
President Woodrow Wilson made it official, by proclamation, that Mothers’
Day would be a national holiday to be celebrated each year on the second
Sunday of May.
HAPPY MOTHERS’ DAY!
Calendar of Event
May 12-Exhibition of the works of artist Emma Gregoryan at the Prelacy, 138
E. 39th Street, New York City.
May 13-Dinner-Dance organized by the St. Sarkis Church Ping-Pong Club. For
details 718-224-2275.
May 17-19-National Representative Assembly (NRA), hosted by Sts. Vartanantz
Church, Ridgefield, New Jersey. Concluding reception and banquet will take
place Friday, May 19, at the Fort Lee Hilton, Fort Lee, New Jersey.
Reception at 7 pm, followed by dinner. For information/reservations: Sts.
Vartanantz Church office, 201-943-2950.
May 16 and 17-Conference of Yeretzgeens in conjunction with the National
Representative Assembly, hosted by Sts. Vartanantz Church, Ridgefield, New
Jersey.
May 20-Year-end Hantes for Sunday School and Saturday School, St. Sarkis
Church, Douglaston, New York. For information, 718-224-2275.
June 4-16th Anniversary Celebration of the new St. Sarkis Church,
Douglaston, New York. For information, 718-224-2275.
July 22-Ladies Guild of Sts. Vartanantz Church, Providence, Rhode Island,
and Ani Chapter of Armenian Relief Society co-host gala dance at Greek
Orthodox Annunciation Church. For information, 401-286-8107.
September 28-4th Annual Golf Outing hosted by Sts. Vartanantz Church,
Ridgefield, New Jersey. Bergen Hills Country Club, River Vale, New Jersey.
For reservations and/or information: 201-943-2950.
Visit our website at

PERSPECTIVES. ANKARA ACCENTUE LA PRESSION SUR LA FRANCE
Laure Marchand (a Istamboul)
La Croix
10 mai 2006
Les faits
Deux propositions de loi visant a penaliser la negation du genocide
armenien en France declenchent la colère de la Turquie. Ankara a
annonce lundi le rappel pour “consultations” de l’ambassadeur de
Turquie a Paris, Osman Koruturk, a cause “des informations infondees
sur un pretendu genocide armenien”, selon les termes du ministère des
affaires etrangères turc. Deposees, l’une par le groupe socialiste,
l’autre par le groupe UMP, deux propositions de loi qui devraient
etre examinees le 18 mai prevoient des peines allant jusqu’a cinq ans
d’emprisonnement et 45 000 Euro d’amende en cas de negation. Ce volet
repressif, inspire de la loi Gayssot sur la Shoah, vise a completer
la loi sur la reconnaissance du genocide armenien adoptee en France
en 2001.
L’analyse
L’initiative a declenche la colère de la Turquie, extremement
susceptible sur cette question et qui nie categoriquement l’existence
d’un genocide a l’epoque de l’Empire ottoman. Pour les medias et la
classe politique turcs, ces deux propositions de loi visent a recuperer
les voix de la communaute armenienne lors de l’election presidentielle
francaise de 2007. Du coup, le porte-parole du ministre des affaires
etrangères, Abdullah Gul, a evoque des “dommages irreparables” dans les
relations entre les deux pays si la loi passait. Le president de la
commission des affaires etrangères du Parlement a evoque un boycott
des importations francaises et la mise a l’ecart des entreprises
francaises lors d’appels d’offres. Areva, sur les rangs pour la
construction de la première centrale nucleaire turque, pourrait
etre parmi les premières cibles. Danone, Renault, Peugeot, L’Oreal,
Axa et d’autres sont deja vises: une liste de produits francais,
accompagnee de caricatures de Jacques Chirac, a fait son apparition
sur Internet et circule dans les ministères.
L’avenir
Ces mesures de retorsion viennent d’etre employees contre les Canadiens
en reponse aux declarations de leur premier ministre en faveur des
commemorations du genocide armenien. L’ambassadeur de Turquie au Canada
a ete rappele en meme temps que son homologue a Paris. La Turquie
est coutumière de ces repliques sur le terrain economique. En 2001,
lorsque la France avait vote la reconnaissance du genocide armenien,
des entreprises francaises avaient ete penalisees. Parallèlement, une
delegation de deputes turcs est arrivee hier a Paris pour convaincre
les parlementaires francais de faire marche arrière.
–Boundary_(ID_5SF0ZR3OXAe4w/xqjXrUAQ)–

ARMENIAN DM: NAGORNY KARABAKH WON IN WAR IMPOSED BY AZERBAIJAN
Stepanakert, May 10. ArmInfo. “I don’t agree with the view that
our victory in the war imposed by Azerbaijan was just half the
work. Victory is victory.
I think that Nagorny Karabakh was won,” Armenian Defence Minister
Serzh Sargsyan said during the May 9 celebrations in Stepanakert.
Sargsyan said that the Karabakh problem must be solved
through mutual concessions. “No peace is possible without
mutual concessions. Azerbaijan must recognize the right of the
Nagorno-Karabakh people to free life. They must understand that a
people has the right to live the way it wants,” Sargsyan said.

Ajax USA
May 9 2006
Knee surgery for Egdar Manucharyan
08 May: Edgar Manucharyan underwent knee surgery in Amsterdam on
Monday. The operation was necessary because there was a tear in his
right kneecap. The 19 year-old Armenian will need most of the summer
break for his recovery, but is expected to be fit for Ajax’s first
training of the new season on Tuesday 04 July.
Everyone at Ajax firmly believes in the talent of Edgar Manucharyan,
but the young Armenian has been very injury-prone in his first season
in the Dutch capital. Manucharyan, who can play as a ‘number 10’ but
also at every position in the forward line, joined Ajax on a try-out
in late 2004. His first appearance for Ajax-1 was in the 14 December
2004 friendly against FC Barcelona, but the unfortunate youngster
broke a metatarsal after precisely 13 minutes of action.
The club promised Manucharyan a second chance after his rehab. He got
it in April 2005, impressed the technical staff and penned a
three-year contract on 15 April 2005. In his first season as an
Ajacied Manucharyan had four official appearances in the Eredivisie
and one in the Champions League. He only had one full game: at Sparta
Rotterdam on 02 October 2005. He made an excellent impression as a
left winger, but his injuries turned out to be persistent. They
haunted him throughout the year.
July 2006 will hopefully mark the real start of Edgar Manucharyan’s
career at Ajax. (MP)
Source: Ajax.nl

CALIFORNIA PARLIAMENT PRESENTS DRAFT ON INVOLVING ARMENIAN LANGUAGE IN
EXAMS TO GET TEACHING CREDENTIAL

GLENDALE, MAY 8, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Saro Nazarian
(Glendale), a representative of the Armenian community of California
gave Noyan Tapan additional information concerning the draft law
presented by Dario Frommer, the California State Assembly Majority
Leader. We informed about the draft on May 2 as well. Saro Nazarian,
whose efforts greatly supported presentation of the draft, explains
that Frommer’s draft relates not to teaching the Armenian langauge at
state schools of California (Armenia is already tought in some state
schools of California cities populated with many Armenians), but to
the issue that this draft affirms involvement of the Armenian language
in the state exams called CSET held for getting a Teaching
Credential. The above-mentioned credential, that the California
Commission on Teacher Credentialing confirs, is needed for occupying a
teacher’s post at state schools of California. Without it,
educational regions may not give a job even to experienced teachers.
And one of the most important demands for getting that credential is
passing of two state exams called CBEST and CSET. The level of an
entrant’s knowlegde of English and Mathimatics is estimated by the
CBEST, and by the CSET exam, an entrant factually gets a possibility
to teach different subjects at state schools. And one of those
subjects is language. According to the CSET, the Spanish, French,
German, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian and Vietnamian languages
are considered foreign languages in the sense of the state. As Saro
Nazarian emphasized in one of his articles and in letters addressed to
Sacramento officials on educational and legislative issues, the
Armenian language is not officially involved in the CSET foreign
languages’ list, while California is one of the places of the world
populated with too many Armenians, in state schools of one of biggest
educational regions of which, Los Angeles, many thousands of Armenian
pupils study. The Armenian community representative asked to do works
in the direction of involving the Armenian language in the CSET.
As a result, Deputy Dario Frommer presented the State Parliament draft
No2913 by which the Armenian language is involved in the CSET foreign
languages’ list. “By involvement of the Armenian language in the CSET
foreign languages’ list, our Claifornian Armenian young people,
particularly those pupils of Los Angeles Armenian secondary schools,
who intend to devote themselves to the teaching sphere in future, are
able from now on to seriously think about getting their Teaching
Credential with the Armenian language and becoming a teacher of the
Armenian language,” Saro Nazarian emphasized.

AREA STUDIES MUSEUM OF GEGHARKUNIK MARZ NEEDS URGENT FUNDAMENTAL
REPAIR

GAVAR, MAY 8, NOYAN TAPAN. No repair works were ever held at the
Gegharkunik marz Area Studies Museum which was founded in 1953: only
the building roof “was patched up” in 1993. But, as Byureghik Hoveyan,
the museum Director informed the Noyan Tapan correspondent, during the
rains it drips in all rooms of the museum what is negatively reflected
on exhibition models of great historic-cultural value kept in the
museum. It was also mentioned that the museum is not heated and the
sanitary system does not function. According to B.Hoveyan, two former
Ministers of Culture, Tamar Poghosian and Hovik Hoveyan, promised to
assist the museum during their visits paid to the marz. But, because
of the short terms of their officiating, those promises left
imperfect. As a result, the museum building appeared in a sad state
and needs urgent repair. “Though there are many problems, we do our
best to keep the museum models. We take care of every exhibit to pass
them to generations.” B.Hoveyan said. More than 9000 exhibits are at
preset kept and exhibited at the Gegharkunik marz Area Studies
Museum. According to the Director, the most ancient of them are of the
second century B.C. Pupils of education institutions and tourists
visiting the marz are main visitors of the museum.

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
May 6 2006
Goran Lenmarker: My report is representing facts
Source: Trend
Author: E.Huseynov
06.05.2006
Azerbaijan’s dynamical progressing can play a significant role in
various spheres, including conflicts resolution, reportedly said Goran
Lenmarker, PACE chairman’s special representative for Azeri-Armenian
conflict.
At his meeting with vice-speaker Bahar Muradova May 5 in Baku, Mr
Lenmarker highly appraised PACE’s and PA NATO’s attention to this
conflict resolution. Alongside, he assured Ms Muradova that his report
would met the reality.
In turn, Muradova said Azeri public hopes for OSCE in resolution of
the conflict.

Armenian Prime Minister: cannot speak of A-320 crash objectively
until investigation is over
Regnum, Russia
May 7 2006
Speaking of the situation that lead to the crash of the A-320 plane,
a unified objective assessment will be made, instead of several
subjective ones, Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan asserted
at a news briefing..
The Armenian Prime Minister suggested not to jump to conclusions and
wait for official results, a REGNUM correspondent reports. “We take
an active part in the investigation. Armenian defense minister is now
in Sochi, and we are thoroughly informed on the issue. Let us wait for
the official conclusions. Since it could happen that what seems obvious
is not actually true. This is a very serious issue, and I do not want
to make preliminary conclusions,” Andranik Margaryan confessed.
He thanked both the Russian and Georgian sides for the quick response
to the disaster. “France is also paying special attention to the
situation. They have sent their specialists to the plane’s crash
site. We needed data received by Georgian air traffic controllers.
Georgian authorities said they were ready to deliver the information,
and they did deliver it, for which we are grateful. As for the
participation of Georgian specialists in the investigation, that is
to be decided by the two countries,” Margaryan added.
Armenian Minister of Finance and Economy Vardan Khachatryan informed
reporters that a number of transfers have already been made to a
designated account: “There is a transfer from the Union of Armenian
Businessmen. The money will be donated to the victims’ relatives.”

KARABAKH MINISTER SAYS PEACEKEEPERS’ DEPLOYMENT “HARDLY POSSIBLE” -ARMENIAN PAPER
Aykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
4 May 06
Text of Kristine Khanumyan’s report in Armenian newspaper Aykakan
Zhamanak on 4 May
NKR [Nagornyy Karabakh republic] foreign minister Georgiy Petrosyan’s
first interview with Karabakh’s [opposition] newspaper Demo.
“We are worried that a worsening of Iranian-American relations may
affect the Karabakh conflict, as well as the whole of the South
Caucasus. Any settlement to the Iranian problem that will involve
changing the military balance in the region is a potential danger
to the interests of all the players in the region. For this reason,
we back balanced political decisions through negotiations, decisions
which will not disturb the fragile stability and security in the
region,” Petrosyan said.
Touching on the possible deployment of peacekeepers in the region in
Iran “sauce”, he said that this seemed hardly possible. “I believe
that the military and political balance in the region, which has
been preserved since the signing of a cease-fire agreement by the
three parties to the [Nagornyy Karabakh] conflict, will prevent the
issue of peacekeepers’ deployment from being speeded up artificially,”
the minister said. He added that there were also several complicated
problems connected with the deployment of peacekeepers such as terms,
procedures, mandate, responsibility and others, which should be
resolved within the framework of settlement and agreed with all the
parties to the conflict, especially with the NKR. But the minister
said the deployment of peacekeepers could be unnecessary since there
was the self-regulating factor as the contact line, which had been
emphasized by many international experts.
Touching on the recent hearings in the NKR parliament [on the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict settlement], Petrosyan said that the fact of holding
hearings was positive in itself but one should admit that “it is a
little bit late” to openly discuss painful problems in parliament. “I
am glad that all the political forces of the NKR had the same view in
principle on the Karabakh problem which coincides with the general
foreign policy of our state. Moreover, taking into account the
fact that the Karabakh issue is often discussed by international
organizations, it is time for the NKR parliament to intensify its
efforts taking account of the vital significance of the problem,”
Petrosyan said.