Author: Kanayan Tamar

EXHIBITION DEVOTED TO ARMENIAN DIPLOMAT OPENS IN ROMANIA
09.08.2005 03:36
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Yesterday an exhibition devoted to famous Armenian
Romanian merchant of 18-19th centuries, diplomat, political figure
Manuk bey Mirzayan opened in Bucharest City Museum, reported the Press
Service of the Armenian MFA. Manuk bey is a famous person in
Romania. His activities actively displayed during the Russian-Turkish
war in 1806-1912. He was awarded noble titles, state ranks on behalf
of the Russian and Ottoman Empires. Using his ties, Manuk bey played
an important role in the Russian-Turkish talks as a mediator and the
Russian-Turkish peace treaty was signed in his estate in 1812. The
Bucharest City Museum Director, Armenian Ambassador in Romania,
Romanian Senate member, Chairman of the Armenian Union of Romania and
others addressed the opening ceremony. The exhibition to last a year
presents documents of Manuk bey, handwritten documents, everyday life
items, as well as clothes and other things. The Museum has also
published a book about Manuk bey Mirzayan’s activities.

Acoustic guitarist performs genre-crossing music
By Elizabeth Ziegler – Journal Writer
Idaho State Journal, ID
Aug 6 2005
POCATELLO – Critics laud his music as soulful and emotive, placing
Michael Gulezian at the forefront of the acoustic guitar world,
where he is creating haunting melodies and crossing genres alongside
acoustic music innovators Leo Kottke, Michael Hedges, John Fahey,
and Robbie Basho.
Gulezian will play in Pocatello tonight, at Pub & Duds Acoustic Cafe.
Local musician Kristi Austin said if you have never heard his music,
you’re in for a very pleasant surprise.
“Michael Gulezian continues to amaze fellow musicians as well as
audiences new to the art of solo acoustic guitar,” she said.
Although he may not be a household name yet, Gulezian is well on
his way. He recently performed on three nationally syndicated radio
shows, West Coast Live, Echoes and World Cafe. He tours extensively
throughout the United States and began recording more than 25 years
ago, producing five highly acclaimed albums along the way.
Austin describes Gulezian’s music as, “boundary-free,
horizon-expanding, genre-bending, transcendent, soulful, mind-opening,
exquisitely gorgeous instrumental solo acoustic guitar.”
With all those adjectives from a fan and fellow musician, it’s no
wonder Gulezian himself has a hard time summing up his sound into
one sentence.
“It is hard to describe,” Gulezian said, in a phone interview Friday.
“I am not a bluegrass artist, I am not a country artist or a folk
artist. I’m not really a jazz artist and I’m not classical. But it
all has elements of those types of music and it all comes out via
instrumental acoustic guitars. So it is a hybrid of a lot of different
types of music.
“There’s no band, it is just me, but I do incorporate a lot of rhythm
and it is very percussive. It is very extreme acoustic solo guitar
music that draws on a lot of influences.”
Gulezian said his influences range from the music of his
Armenian-American upbringing, to blues, jazz, bluegrass, classical,
world music and rock ‘n’ roll.
Music is universal, he said, and is a force that can unite people
from a wide variety of backgrounds.
Gulezian said he often looks out into his audiences and sees punks
sitting next to cowboys, hippies, senior citizens, young couples,
and everyone in between.
“Very early on, I recognized music’s universality, and how it brings
us together rather than separates us into different camps,” he said.
“We all are made of the same stuff. We all have hearts and souls. We
all have the same rhythm.”
If you go
– Who: Michael Gulezian.
– What: Acoustic solo guitarist.
– Where: Pub & Duds Acoustic Cafe.
– When: Today at 8:30 p.m.

Monument honors those lost
By John Ciampa/ Staff Writer
Chelmsford Independent, MA
Aug 4 2005
At the Sts. Vartanantz Armenian Church on Old Westford Road stand
three granite tablets differing in height, meaning and coloration.
The triptych lies stark and still, as if the people that it
represents are actually a million distant echoes cast within the
stoney silence of memory – voices of the past that long for us to
heed their stories of pathos and loss.
This striking memorial, erected to commemorate the 90th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, does not just ask for attention
– it demands it.
The monument’s layout is distinctive and rich with symbolism in
order to accurately reflect what happened during the genocide.
Columns of granite rise up from a round pedestal that is
encircled by rows of brick. The bricks form a cross that stretches
from the monument toward the church. Between the arms of the cross
rests a series of benches – erected for relatives who survived,
perished and one marked as “unknown,” signifying those unaccounted
for.
“That bench is very important for me,” says former Chelmsford
High principal George Simonian, a member of Sts. Vartanantz and a
direct descendent of survivors of the genocide.
“So many Armenians were simply taken away and there is no record
of them. I had relatives that were brought out to sea, thrown
overboard and that was it. Others were just taken from their homes,
never to be heard from or seen again,” he said.
Simonian says that everything about the monument is deliberate
and carefully designed. When facing the church in front of the
monument, the three stones symbolize a family – a man, woman and
child – entering the church.
In the late-afternoon sun the monolithic shadows are long and
dark, emphasizing their presence.
A pair of granite spires – cast in the likeness of the church’s
gold dome – guide visitors toward the monument along a path that
extends to the church’s front vestibule. Between the spires, the
horizon drapes a canvas behind the stones that stretch into the
foothills of southern New Hampshire, where merging shades of blue
from the mountains and sky provide a hallowed backdrop.
“We were lucky enough to get have a generous benefactor in William
Hausrath,” says Simonian. He wasn’t Armenian, but his wife Agnes
Manoogian was. He made the donation on her behalf.”
According to Simonian, Hausrath presented the church with the
funds in April 2004.
Simonian motions with his hands across the church’s property as
he recalls the careful positioning of the monument.
“We debated the location,” he explains. “When we noticed the
view from the front of the church overlooking this area, it became
clear that this would be the spot.”
Also seen from the church are a series intricate carvings that
adorn each stone.
According to Sts. Vartanantz parishioner, Jim Magarian, there
are called Khathckars, which hearken back to the stone crosses that
have historically been placed in Armenian monasteries.
“We spared no expense,” says Simonian. “The stones are made of
Barre Gray granite from Vermont, which is the best there is. Local
builders came in and did a tremendous job. We worked with Luz Granite
from Lowell, and Mark Donovan from Westford, a former student of
mine, did the brickwork.”
Dedicated to the men, women and children who lost their lives
during the genocide, each tablet eulogizes the groups who perished.
Their inscriptions read in unison: May God Enlighten Their Souls.
The Armenian Genocide signifies the widespread strife that swept
across the eastern regions of the Ottoman Empire, primarily from
1915-1922, in which Armenia sustained massive losses in both
territory and population.
One of the oldest civilizations in the world, the former
Armenian nation stretched over much of the ancient Middle East.
Today, Armenia occupies only a small area about the size of Maryland,
just north of Iran.
Armenians place blame on the Young Turks – a leading faction
that rose to power within the Ottoman ranks during this period, but
Simonian says that the seeds to the Genocide were sown well before
that.
“Going back to the late-19th century, the Ottomans were growing
increasingly weary of us. We were an ambitious and upwardly mobile
people – and the only Christians in the region.”
Throughout the 20th century, scholars and historians have
discussed the Armenian Genocide in an attempt to place it within its
proper historical context. Much of Armenia’s former lands lie in
present-day Turkey.
Turkish authorities continue to deny the genocide, instead
labeling it as consequence of war (genocide by definition, must
constitute a planned means of mass extermination). Exacerbating the
issue is the fact that it occurred during the outbreak of World War
I, with much of the world distracted by the chaos that was engulfing
Europe at the time.
“It’s not even about the land,” insists Simonian. “We’re simply
looking for some kind of admission. The Germany of today has nothing
to do with the Nazis, yet that doesn’t keep them from acknowledging
the Holocaust.”
“The Turkish government has consistently made attempts to deny
any self-incriminating evidence on the subject,” says Magarian.
“There’s ample evidence showing how they’ve suppressed dialogue and
information within their own country.”
Those who call it a genocide attest that the process by which
Armenians were killed was clinical and calculated, and not the result
of a protracted conflict.
They claim that it began with the murder of Armenian men who
were serving in the Turkish infantry, followed by the rounding up
hundreds of Armenian elites in the Turkish capital of Constantinople
on April 24, 1915, where they were executed.
“They were scholars, businessmen and politicians, essentially
our leaders,” said Simonian.
Then, after having annihilated much of the Armenian male
population, Turkish forces drove the remaining Armenian women and
children in “death marches” into the depths of what is now Syria,
where they were left to perish in the desert heat.
Henry I. Morgenthau was the American Ambassador to
Constantinople from 1913 to 1916. His memoir, “Ambassador
Morgenthau’s Story,” details much of what he witnessed in Armenia.
Published in 1918, it remains one of the most widely cited American
accounts of what took place.
“Whatever crimes the most perverted instincts of the human mind can
devise, and whatever refinements of persecution and injustice the
most debased imagination can conceive, became the daily misfortunes
of this devoted people,” wrote Morgenthau.
Despite Morganthau’s words, the U.S. stands among the nations
that have yet to acknowledge the Genocide, and both the Clinton and
Bush administrations have abstained from referring to it as such,
though President Reagan did use the term at one point during his
tenure.
“The U.S. position is based on a policy of political interest,”
claims Magarian. “Armenia is a small nation that holds little
strategic importance for the U.S., yet Turkey continues to be a key
Middle Eastern ally that we want to appease.”
The list of nations that have officially acknowledged it
continues to grow, however, and includes France, Italy, Russia,
Canada and even the Vatican, among others.
Regardless of where today’s regimes stand, most nations share
the consensus that Armenia suffered immeasurable losses.
“Most estimates place total casualties around 1.5 million,” says
Magarian.
That figure constitutes roughly 60 percent of Armenians who were
living at the time – a proportion equaling that of the Holocaust.
Adolf Hitler would come to invoke the plight of the Armenians some 20
years later when giving orders to round up Jews.
“Many more were deported or abandoned. My father was one of the
children who managed to escape,” adds Magarian.
Many others who also escaped now call the U.S. home, and the
Boston area holds one of the most vibrant Armenian communities in the
country. The Armenian Library and Museum of America is located in
Watertown. Inside, visitors can find a wealth of information on
Armenian history including archived recordings from survivors of the
Genocide.
Like the monument that now stands here in town, it is a testament to
a people who have persevered.

BAKU- TBILISI- AKHALKALAKI-KARS RAILROAD TO LINK CENTRAL ASIA TO EUROPE
[August 04, 2005, 18:12:19]
AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Aug 4 2005
The Baku- Tbilisi- Akhalkalaki-Kars railroad project is of strategic
importance for the South Caucasus, and will give impetus to economic
development of the region, Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar
Mammadyarov told representatives of business circles at the Azerbaijan
Center for Trade and Culture on August 3 in Washington D.C. “Imagine,
it will take you just 3 days to get by train to Brussels or Paris
from Baku,” he said.
Informing the attendees on his meetings in Washington D.C., the
Minister described the talks as very important saying they mainly
focused on anti-terror cooperation, joint efforts aimed at peaceful
settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, economic relations
between the two countries and democratic development in Azerbaijan.
On the same day, Minister Mammadyarov addressed before the participants
of the round table discussion including representatives of such
non-governmental organizations as National Democratic Institute,
International Republican Institute, International Foundation for
Election Systems, as well as those of the US Department of State and
National Security Council.
During the discussion held in a “question-answer” format, the Minister
spoke of the pre-election situation in Azerbaijan.

Armenia’s national-judicial staff debate constitutional amendments to underpin sustainable development
Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE)

Aug 3
/noticias.info/ YEREVAN, 2 August 2005 – Judges, prosecutors, and
staff members of Armenia’s Constitutional Court met today in Yerevan
to discuss constitutional guarantees for sustainable development in
the country.
The event, which was organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan together
with the United Nations Development Programme, among others, was
aimed at introducing key principles of sustainable development to the
participants, highlighting the need to incorporate these principles
in the Armenian constitution. The participants also discussed aspects
of the Aarhus process as well as the UN Millennium Goals relevant
to Armenia.
“Meaningful discussions about sustainable development are of particular
importance at the current stage, when the draft constitutional
amendments are being finalized,” said Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin,
Head of the OSCE Office. “Such debates make sure that these essential
principles are incorporated in the main body of Armenia’s legal
framework.”
The Chairman of the Constitutional Court, Gagik Harutyunyan, also
welcomed the initiative. “Such meetings serve as an inspiration for
future work in this field,” he said.
Karine Danielyan, President of the Association for Sustainable
Development and Chairperson of the UN Environmental Programme’s
National Committee, welcomed the event as a further step to take into
account international expertise and the principles of sustainable
development in the process of amending the Constitution.
The event was co-organized as a joint contribution to the UN Decade of
Education for Sustainable Development by Armenia’s Aarhus Centre, the
Association for Sustainable Development, and the NGO, Constitutional
Rights Centre.

PRIME MINISTER MET WITH STUDENTS
Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
27 July 05
On June 13 NKR Prime Minister Anoushavan Danielian met with a group of
representatives of the Armenian Assembly of America, students of
American universities, passing internship at the NKR ministries and
agencies. Many of the students were in Stepanakert for the second time.
The prime minister said their relationships with the youth, knowledge of
the past and present of the country, acquaintance with the history and
culture will allow them to get a realistic picture of Artsakh and its
people, the developments in different spheres of life. Suggesting the
students living and working in Karabakh after graduating, the prime
minister noted that the fate of the Armenian nation will in fact be
decided in Artsakh. It is therefore necessary for them to visit Armenia
and Artsakh more often and know the home of their ancestors. The prime
minister answered the questions of the students. The members of the
group thanked A. Danielian for the warm welcome and friendly talk and
promised `to fall ill with Karabakh’ and once come here and never leave.
AA.
27-07-2005
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Neue Zürcher Zeitung
Mittwoch 27 Juli 2005
Scharfer Protest der Türkei
Schweizer Botschafter ins Aussenministerium in Ankara zitiert
Die Türkei hat am Mittwoch den Schweizer Botschafter ins
Aussenministerium in Ankara einbestellt. Sie protestierte bei ihm
scharf gegen die Schweizer Ermittlungen gegen zwei prominente Türken
wegen Genozid-Leugnung.

Wie das türkische Aussenministerium in Ankara mitteilte, brachte
Staatssekretär Nabi Sensoy in dem Gespräch mit dem Schweizer
Botschafter Walter Gyger «die Verstimmung der türkischen Regierung
und Öffentlichkeit in scharfer Form zum Ausdruck».
Der Botschafter sei von der Auffassung der türkischen Regierung
unterrichtet worden, dass die Vorermittlungen der Justiz in
Winterthur gegen den türkischen Historiker Yusuf Halacoglu und den
Politiker Dogu Perinçek gegen internationales Recht verstossen,
teilte das Aussenministerium mit.
«Verstoss» gegen Meinungsfreiheit
In Abwesenheit eines internationalen Gerichtsurteil zu der
Armenierfrage sei die Schweizer Justiz dazu nicht berechtigt. Die
türkische Regierung erwarte, dass diese Vorermittlungen sofort
eingestellt würden, erklärte das Aussenministerium. Alles andere
werde als eklatanter Verstoss gegen die Meinungsfreiheit bewertet.
Eine solche Behandlung türkischer Staatsbürger würde «den Beziehungen
zwischen den beiden Ländern unausweichlich schweren Schaden» zufügen,
wurde dem Schweizer Botschafter nach Angaben des Ministeriums
erklärt.
EDA widerspricht türkischer Darstellung
Die Sprecherin des Eidgenössischen Departements für auswärtige
Angelegenheiten (EDA) widersprach auf Anfrage den türkischen Angaben,
wonach der Schweizer Botschafter «bestellt» worden sei. Das Gespräch
habe auf Anfrage Gygers stattgefunden. Dies habe beiden Seiten
Gelegenheit gegeben, ihre Positionen darzulegen.
Am Donnerstag kommt es auf Wunsch des türkischen Botschafters in der
Schweiz in Bern zu einem weiteren Treffen Schweiz-Türkei. Der
Botschafter wird beim EDA vom Chef der Politischen Abteilung I,
Jean-Jacques de Dardel, empfangen werden, wie EDA-Sprecherin Carey
weiter ausführte.

Neue Zürcher Zeitung
25. Juli 2005
Armenien-Resolution und umstrittenes Hitler-Zitat
Reinhard Markner (Berlin)
Der Deutsche Bundestag hat kürzlich eine Resolution verabschiedet,
die vorgeblich “zur Versöhnung zwischen Türken und Armeniern
beitragen soll”. Die Resolution wurde mit Stimmen aller Parteien
angenommen, und das hat sich in Deutschland auch in einer sehr
unkritischen Berichterstattung niedergeschlagen. So ist von niemandem
bemerkt worden, dass der angeblich am 22. August 1939 gefallene
Ausruf Hitlers: “Wer redet heute noch von der Vernichtung der
Armenier?”, diesem möglicherweise nur untergeschoben worden ist. In
der Debatte wurde das Zitat gleich von zwei Rednern als Beleg dafür
gebraucht, dass das Schweigen über den Völkermord an den Armeniern
Hitler als Argument zur Rechtfertigung seines Vernichtungskrieges im
Osten gedient habe. Ein Abgeordneter behauptete, das Zitat sei “in
den Akten des Auswärtigen Amtes dokumentiert”.
Das ist unzutreffend. Der notorische Satz entstammt einer
Niederschrift, die dem amerikanischen Journalisten Louis P. Lochner
in Berlin zugespielt wurde. Darin wird zuletzt behauptet, dass Göring
im Anschluss an Hitlers Geheimrede vor den versammelten
Wehrmachtsgenerälen auf dem Tisch getanzt habe – eine schlechterdings
undenkbare Vorstellung. In anderen Aufzeichnungen derselben Ansprache
ist weder davon noch von den Armeniern die Rede. Die Nürnberger
Anklage verzichtete vernünftigerweise auf die Verwendung des
Dokuments, dessen Urheber sie nicht feststellen konnte. Die andere
Quelle, auf die in diesem Kontext ersatzweise verwiesen wird, sind
die Gespräche, die Hitler angeblich schon 1931 mit dem Leipziger
Chefredaktor Richard Breiting geführt haben soll.
Der endgültige Wortlaut der Bundestags-Entschliessung enthält nun
zwar nicht das vermeintliche Hitler-Zitat, dafür aber die
Aufforderung, “das Werk des Dr. Johannes Lepsius” dem Vergessen zu
entreissen. Erinnerungswürdig ist gewiss, wie der Potsdamer Pfarrer
in Berlin und Konstantinopel für die Rechte der Armenier kämpfte. Zu
seinem Werk gehört allerdings auch, nach Ende des Ersten Weltkriegs
eine gefälschte, die Gleichgültigkeit der deutschen Regierung
angesichts der Berichte von den Deportationen und Massakern
verschleiernde Aktenpublikation herausgegeben zu haben. Das hat
Wolfgang Gust in seiner kürzlich erschienenen Edition “Der Völkermord
an den Armeniern” detailliert nachgewiesen. Wie schon aus dem Titel
hervorgeht, ist Gust nicht verdächtig, die offizielle türkische
Position stützen zu wollen.
Insgesamt scheint es weder die Aufgabe des Deutschen Bundestages noch
die des Schweizer Nationalrats (der ebenfalls schon eine
Armenien-Resolution verabschiedete), die Geschichte entfernter
Nationen zu schreiben.

ArmenPress
July 25 2005
ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER DOWNPLAYS AZERBAIJANI WAR RHETORIC
YEREVAN, JULY 25, ARMENPRESS: Armenian defense minister Serzh
Sarkisian downplayed last Saturday Azerbaijan’s war rhetoric saying
it would have tried to win Karabakh back by using force long ago had
it been sure of its military build-up. Addressing a youth jamboree at
Armenia’s resort town of Tsakhkadzor Sarkisian said Azerbaijani
presidents have been saying for years they are able to solve the
problem through a war, “but if they are sure of their military
capacity why they have not done this ?’ he asked.
Sarkisian also dismissed a sharp increase in Azerbaijan’s defense
spending as an “imprudent ” trick designed to bully the Armenians
into making more concessions on Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijani
president Ilham Aliyev said last June that his country’s military
budget will increase from $175 million in 2004 to $300 million this
year in response to the recent redeployment of Russian weapons from
Georgia to Armenia and claimed that the Azerbaijani military has
already gained superiority over its Armenian adversary.
Sarkisian also spoke about domestic issues, brushing aside talks
about the possibility of what is dubbed as ‘color revolutions,’
saying Armenia had already seen this scenario back in 1990. Sarkisian
said revolutions took place in those post-Soviet republics which were
ruled by former Soviet leaders. He also argued that these
‘revolutions’ were in fact coups, as no systematic changes followed.
Serzh Sarkisian also denied that Vladimir Harutunian, a Georgian
citizen of Armenian descent, accused of making an attempt on the life
of U.S. President George W. Bush in Tbilisi on May 10, has anything
to do with Armenia or Armenians. “Detained Vladimir Harutunian is a
national of Georgia and has no ties with Armenia or Armenians. And
the assumptions made by some media are absolutely incomprehensible
and inappropriate,” he told a youth jamboree in Armenia’s resort town
of Tsakhkadzor on July 23.
Armenian defense minister quoted Georgia’s chief prosecutor who
said earlier last week that `Harutunian is a Georgian citizen, the
incident took place in Georgia and naturally it has no relation with
Armenia. We are looking for all evidence and information in Georgia.
They are here and nowhere else.

Armenian defence minister says compromise needed to solve Karabakh’s status
Arminfo
25 Jul 05
YEREVAN
“If it is possible to solve the issue of Nagornyy Karabakh’s status at
all, then we have to make concessions,” Armenian Defence Minister
Serzh Sarkisyan told a meeting with participants of the third
Pan-Armenian Youth Forum today.
He said he had outlined his position to that effect during the latest
hearings at the Armenian National Assembly.
“I developed my opinion long ago and I am sure that the issue of
Nagornyy Karabakh’s status can be solved only on the basis of mutual
concessions,” the minister said and added that no conflicts in the
world could be solved without concessions and would eventually turn
into a dispute between winners and losers.
The minister spoke against the return of [Azerbaijani] territories,
Armenian public radio reports. He added that if Azerbaijan accepts the
conditions put forward by the Karabakh side (i.e. if Baku agrees that
Nagornyy Karabakh cannot be subordinated to Azerbaijan, that the NKR
[Nagornyy Karabakh Republic] cannot exist as an enclave, that Karabakh
should participate in progressive tendencies and enjoy security
guarantees), then it might be worth speaking about setting up a
security zone, he said.