Author: Kanayan Tamar

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY OF ARMENIA AND RULE OF LAW PARTY INVITED THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA TO VISIT ARMENIA

ARMENPRESS
OCTOBER 25, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 25, ARMENPRESS. In frames of the visit to the
People’s Republic of China the Secretary of National Security Council
of the Republic of Armenia Artur Baghdasaryan had a meeting with the
Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Muratbek
Imanaliyev. The National Security Committee informed “Armenpress”
that issues regarding the participation of Armenia as a watcher member
in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization have been discussed during
the meeting. Artur Baghdasaryan together with Secretary-General of
CSTO Nikolay Bordyuzha participated in a joint conference of CSTO
and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Artur Baghdasaryan and
Secretary-General of CSTO Nikolay Bordyuzha had a conversation and
discussed issues regarding the signed plan of cooperation of Armenia
and CSTO for 2013.

Afterwards he had meeting with the member of Central Committee of the
Communist Party of the People’s Republic of China Cheng Feng-Syan. A
range of issues regarding strategic cooperation of Armenia and China
have been discussed. The Republican Party of Armenia and Rule of Law
Party officially invited Cheng Feng-Syan to visit Armenia. An official
declaration about cooperation between Rule of Law Party of Armenia and
the Communist Party of the People’s Republic of China has been made.

Artur Baghdasaryan also had a meeting with the head of National
Investment Agency of PRC Syou Tszini and discussed with him issues
regarding involvement of the Chinese side in the projects representing
strategic importance for Armenia and other issues regarding investments
in different spheres.

THE AID FOR SYRIAN ARMENIANS SUCCESSFULLY ARRIVED. LILIT GALSTYAN

ARMENPRESS
OCTOBER 25, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 24, ARMENPRESS: The humanitarian aid which was
sent to Syrian in the framework of “Help Your Brother” successfully
arrived to the place. Armenpress was informed from Lilit Galstyan,
President of National Fund, who added that the next batches of aid
are going to be sent by “Syrian Airlines”.

“One ton of humanitarian cargo successfully reached the place. The
humanitarian aid has been received by the “Emergency” local group,
which coordinates the works” said Lilit Galstyan.

Earlier Lilit Galstya informed that the flight of “Syrian Airlines”
plane was operating over the air territory of Iran and Iraq, it is
more convenient to send the humanitarian aid by this way, avoiding
any unnecessary examinations and extra expenses in Turkey.

As earlier Armenpress was informed from Reisian the second Armenian
plane with humanitarian aid was already being taken out of the airport.

DES PARLEMENTAIRES SUISSES AU KARABAGH

Publie le : 25-10-2012

Info Collectif VAN – – Le Collectif VAN vous
presente cette newsletter bimensuelle sur l’actualite politique,
economique et culturelle du Haut-Karabagh mise a notre disposition
par la Representation de la Republique du Haut-Karabagh en France.

Representation du Haut-Karabagh en France

Des parlementaires suisses visitent le Karabagh

Le 30 septembre, repondant a invitation des autorites de Stepanakert,
une delegation de parlementaires suisses effectue une visite au
Karabagh, où elle rencontre le president Bako Sahakian et d’autres
personnalites officielles. Après cette visite de trois jours, qui leur
permet de prendre connaissance des realites du territoire armenien et
de mieux le faire connaitre en Suisse, qui presidera l’OSCE en 2013,
les sept responsables politiques helvètes ont conclu leur voyage
au sud du Caucase par une visite en Armenie, dont ils ont egalement
rencontre les dirigeants.

Desireux de prendre connaissance sur le terrain de la realite sociale,
politique, culturelle et economique du Haut Karabagh, un pays qui reste
encore meconnu en Suisse, si ce n’est a travers le prisme du conflit
qui l’oppose a l’Azerbaïdjan, sept elus du groupe Suisse-Armenie du
Parlement de la Confederation helvetique ont repondu a l’invitation
du president de la RHK, Bako Sahakian. Cette visite au Haut Karabagh
constitue une première pour les elus suisses, qui emboitent ainsi
le pas a leurs collègues francais, qui se rendent regulièrement dans
l’Artsakh depuis quatre ans. La delegation, composee des copresidents
du groupe Dominique de Buman (pdc/FR) et Ueli Leuenberger (Verts/GE),
des trois conseillers federaux – Christian van Singer (Verts/VD), les
socialistes Hans-Jurg Fehr (SH) et Susanne Leutenegger Oberholzer
(BL)-, du conseiller cantonal Robert Cramer (Verts/GE) et d’un
ancien elu, le populiste vaudois Josef Zisyadis, avait deja visite
une première fois l’Armenie en 2008, et sans doute cette première
approche aura-t-elle convaincu les elus suisses de la necessite de
se rendre au Karabagh pour mieux comprendre les enjeux du conflit,
a la lueur des aspirations de son peuple.

Arrivee le 29 septembre a Erevan, la delegation suisse s’est
recueillie devant le memorial du genocide de 1915 a Dzidzernagapert,
y deposant une gerbe en hommage aux victimes et visitant le musee
attenant, puis a mis aussitôt le cap sur Stepanakert, non sans
faire une halte aux portes du Karabagh, au sud-est de l’Armenie, où
elle a visite le monastère de Tatev, en empruntant le spectaculaire
telepherique inaugure en 2010, de conception suisse. Au Haut Karabagh,
la delegation a rencontre le president Sahakian recemment reelu
et d’autres responsables politiques locaux, avec lesquels elle a
discute notamment des perspectives de developpement economique du
pays, dont le dynamisme est d’autant plus louable qu’il souffre
d’un enclavement geographique et politique, mais elle a aussi mis
a profit cette visite de trois jours pour voir vivre le peuple du
Haut Karabagh, dont la tenacite a force son admiration. En visitant
l’universite ou le musee de Stepanakert, en sillonnant les routes
du pays, les elus suisses n’ont pas eu le sentiment d’etre dans un
pays en guerre, comme l’a souligne Dominique de Buman, manifestement
surpris de decouvrir un pays où règnent la paix et la securite, où
l’Etat de droit, dote d’institutions democratiques et pluralistes,
remplit sa mission confiee en toute confiance a ses dirigeants elus
par le peuple de l’Artsakh. En discutant avec les dirigeants de la
RHK, les elus suisses ont pu constater aussi qu’ils etaient animes
par un profond desir de construire une paix durable dans la region,
repondant ainsi aux aspirations de la population.

Une aspiration a la paix qui n’est de toute evidence pas partagee par
les autorites de l’Azerbaïdjan, qui ont aussitôt inscrit les sept elus
suisses sur leur ” liste noire ” des personnalites indesirables sur
le territoire azeri, où ils rejoignent leur compatriote, l’astronaute
Claude Nicollier, ” sanctionne ” de la meme manière par Bakou pour
avoir participe a une conference d’astrophysique a Stepanakert le 16
septembre, et tant d’autres personnalites qui ont eu ” l’audace ” de
se rendre au Haut Karabagh sans en aviser l’Azerbaïdjan, qui pretend
toujours a la souverainete sur le territoire. La presse suisse romande
s’est largement fait l’echo de cette interdiction de sejour prononcee
par Bakou contre les elus suisses, qui se l’expliquent d’autant moins
que leur visite avait vocation a promouvoir la paix, dans la tradition
de neutralite et de pacifisme de la Suisse, et qu’elle avait obei a un
” devoir de reserve ” diplomatique, afin de ne pas preter le flanc
aux provocations de l’Azerbaïdjan.

Toujours est-il que les principaux interesses ne sont guère
impressionnes par les sanctions de Bakou. M. de Buman en a pris acte
sur le mode de l’ironie, en remerciant l’Azerbaïdjan d’avoir retire
cette destination de son carnet de voyage que le poids des ans tend
a reduire toujours davantage, et plus serieusement, en deplorant la
nature totalitaire du regime de l’Azerbaïdjan, où il ” aurait aime
faire le meme genre de visite, afin de pouvoir y rencontrer la societe
civile et les partis d’opposition, comme nous l’avons fait au Karabagh
“…

Retour a la rubrique

Source/Lien : Representation du Haut-Karabagh en France

YOUNG ACTORS DEPICT THE LASTING PAIN OF WAR

Highland Park News
Oct 24 2012

BY MYRNA PETLICKI

Two north suburban girls are performing with one of Chicago’s finest
theater companies and having a history lesson at the same time.

Maliha A. Yousuf, a 10-year-old from Lake Forest, and 12-year-old
Allison Torf from Northbrook are featured in Silk Road Rising’s “Night
Over Erzinga.” The two rotate performances in Adriana Sevahn Nichols’
play, which is loosely based on the history of her family. It’s the
story of three generations of an Armenian and Dominican family, and
the long-lasting effects of the Armenian Genocide around the time of
World War I.

“It’s one of those stories that you have to dig a little deeper,”
Maliha said. “It’s almost the same as the Holocaust except that these
people were Armenians and the Turks were killing the Armenians.”

Maliha said that, through this play, she is learning, “how it affects
people. To think what happened to these people is terrible.”

“It’s really interesting to be part of a play that is someone’s real
life,” Allison added. “Adriana wrote this amazing play and she added
a second level. She put in places that I could have never thought of.”

Allison praised the work of dramaturg Neal Ryan Shaw in providing
background material about the atrocities in Armenia. “It really helped
you understand more about the play,” she said.

She noted that photos playwright Nichols showed the cast helped her
“visualize what is going on in the play.”

The girls play four roles, including two children who are killed
during the Armenian Genocide: a younger sister of Ardavazt and a
younger sister of Alice. Alice and Ardavazt both escape to America
where they meet, marry and have a daughter, Aghavni. Maliha and
Allison also play Aghavni as a child.

Maliha said that Aghavni “is really worried about her mother because
her mother is normally a very loving and caring person and then she
goes mentally crazy. At age eight, she gets sent into foster homes.”

The fourth role that the girls share is Aghavni’s daughter Estrella.

“She is very sweet and innocent,” Maliha said.

The challenge of these roles, Allison said is that, “We have to know
exactly what’s going on, exactly how the characters would react to
every detail. It’s all so important.”

Maliha, a fifth-grader at Deer Path Middle School, first performed in
a nativity play when she was in kindergarten and was instantly hooked.

“What I like about acting is that it allows you to use your imagination
and be a different person even if you’re the complete opposite of
that person,” she said.

Maliha, who works with an acting coach before auditioning, has
performed with the Academy at Citadel Theatre in Lake Forest. She is
represented by Gray Talent Group and hopes to become a professional
actor.

Wood Oaks Junior High School seventh-grader Allison began performing
in park district shows when she was 4 years old. By the age of 9,
she was in her first professional show at Stage Left Theatre in
Chicago and had acquired an agent, Stewart Talent. She has appeared
in Fantasea at the Shedd Aquarium, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever”
at Provision Theatre and “The Big Meal” at American Theater Company.

Allison studied acting at the Actors Training Center at Wilmette
Theatre and at Piven Theatre Workshop, and has attended 5-day workshops
at Broadway Artists Alliance in New York three years in a row.

“I have my whole life planned out,” Allison declared. “I’ll be an
actress through college. I want to go to Northwestern and study marine
biology, engineering and teaching.”

But that won’t be the end of Allison’s performing. “Acting will always
be part of my life,” she declared.

YEREVAN HOSTS SESSION OF ARMENIAN-IRANIAN INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION

Vestnik Kavkaza
Oct 24 2012
Russia

Yerevan is hosting the 11th session of the Armenian-Iranian
intergovernmental commission. Iranian Energy Minister Majid Namju
arrived to co-chair the talks, Apsnypress reports.

Armenian Minister for Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsisyan said
that relations between the two states were at a high level with an
atmosphere of mutual understanding. He emphasized the need to double
or triple the number of bilateral programs and improve cooperation
with the private sector.

Minister Namju noted that Armenia was a special highlight of Iranian
foreign policy.

The sides will discuss cooperation in trade-economics, energy,
transportation and communitations, mining, ecology, healthcare,
agriculture, labour, education and culture. The session will be
concluded with signing of a memorandum of understanding.

ISRAELI ARMS EXPORTS FUEL ARMENIAN-AZERI CONFLICT, COULD FOMENT MAJOR REGIONAL WAR – OPED

Eurasia Review
Oct 24 2012

By: Richard Silverstein
October 24, 2012

Global Post has published an important overview of Israel’s role as
major arms exporter fueling the Armenian-Azeri conflict. Recently
Azerbaijan announced a $1.6-billion arms deal with Israel that would
bring its drone fleet to 100 including Israel’s most advanced Heron
model. Here’s an inventory of arms sales to one of the region’s
wealthiest, most corrupt and autocratic leaders:

Azerbaijan had acquired about 30 drones from Israeli firms Aeronautics
Ltd. and Elbit Systems by the end of 2011, including at least 25
medium-sized Hermes-450 and Aerostar drones.

In October 2011, Azerbaijan signed a deal to license and domestically
produce an additional 60 Aerostar and Orbiter 2M drones. Its most
recent purchase from Israel Aeronautics Industries (IAI) in March
reportedly included 10 high altitude Heron-TP drones – the most
advanced Israeli drone in service – according to Oxford Analytica.

Collectively, these purchases have netted Azerbaijan 50 or more drones
that are similar in class, size and capabilities to American Predator
and Reaper-type drones, which are the workhorses of the United States’
campaign of drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen.

Azerbaijan

There is a cold war going on between the Azeris and Armenians that
regularly flares into deadly confrontations in which scores have been
killed. Given that there has been no resolution of the conflict and
no serious attempt to do so, any match dropped into the oil could be
the one that causes an explosion:

The International Crisis Group warned that as the tit-for-tat incidents
become more deadly, “there is a growing risk that the increasing
frontline tensions could lead to an accidental war.”

With this in mind, the UN and the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) have long imposed a non-binding arms
embargo on both countries, and both are under a de facto arms ban
from the United States. But, according to the Stockholm International
Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), this has not stopped Israel and
Russia from selling to them.

Who knows whether Israel’s drones, used by the Azeris to keep an
eye on their Armenians and the Iranians, might be the tipping point
toward war. Azerbaijan has an extremely tense relationship with Iran
as well. So the Azeris and Israelis both have a mutual interest in
monitoring and even sabotaging their mutual enemy.

Israel’s role in Azerbaijan reminds me of the drug dealer only too
happy to provide the poison to satiate his customer’s craving. In
this case, it’s a mad craving for advanced weapons systems:

Flush with cash from energy exports, Azerbaijan has increased its
annual defense budget from an estimated $160 million in 2003 to $3.6
billion in 2012. SIPRI said in a report that largely as a result of
its blockbuster drone deal with Israel, Azerbaijan’s defense budget
jumped 88 percent this year – the biggest military spending increase
in the world.

Israel, the drug dealer, has greater strategic ambitions which can
be satisfied by drawing Azerbaijan ever closer to its orbit. But it
has also used such arms deals with Russia and the latter’s allies
to encourage Russia to withhold major weapons systems from Israel’s
enemies:

Israel has long used arms deals to gain strategic leverage over its
rivals in the region. Although difficult to confirm, many security
analysts believe Israel’s deals with Russia have played heavily into
Moscow’s suspension of a series of contracts with Iran and Syria that
would have provided them with more advanced air defense systems and
fighter jets.

Stephen Blank, a research professor at the United States Army War
College, said that preventing arms supplies to Syria and Iran –
particularly Russian S-300 air defense systems – has been among
Israel’s top goals with the deals.

“There’s always a quid pro quo,” Blank said. “Nobody sells arms just
for cash.”

This passage outlines Israel’s strategic thinking regarding the role
Azerbaijan can play as a bulwark against Iran:

In Azerbaijan in particular, Israel has traded its highly demanded
drone technology for intelligence arrangements and covert footholds
against Iran. In a January 2009 US diplomatic cable released by
WikiLeaks, a U.S. diplomat reported that in a closed-door conversation,
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev compared his country’s relationship
with Israel to an iceberg – nine-tenths of it is below the surface.

…In the end, “Israel’s main goal is to preserve Azerbaijan as an
ally against Iran, a platform for reconnaissance of that country and
as a market for military hardware,” the diplomatic cable reads.

One thing that previous Middle Eastern conflicts has taught us is that
we have no ultimate control over how our allies use the weapons we
provide. The drone Israel arms for Azerbaijan today to protect its
Iranian flank could just as easily be turned on Armenia and fuel a
conflict there. Israel may have no interest in an Azeri-Armenian war.

But if either of those parties do, then Israel will be dragged along
into the fray, if only as an accomplice.

The more weapons proliferate in the region the easier it will be to
start a war. I just read a chilling TV review of a PBS documentary
about the Cuban missile crisis, which found that a single Russian
security officer is all that stood between a Russian submarine firing
a nuclear-tipped torpedo at a U.S. ship during the crisis. Think
what this means. If such a confrontation could take us to the brink
of nuclear annihilation, do we have so much hubris to believe that
some petty Caucasus dictators couldn’t do the same? With all the
advanced weaponry both sides are furnished by Israel and Russia,
the result would be a war much more damaging than the earlier
Nagorno-Karabakh War:

[U.S. Army War College Prof. Stephen] Blank said Israel has
made a risky move by supplying Azerbaijan with drones and other
high-tech equipment, given the tenuous balance of power between
the heavily fortified Armenian positions and the more numerous and
technologically superior Azerbaijani forces. If ignited, he said,
“[an Armenian-Azerbaijani war] will not be small. That’s the one
thing I’m sure of.”

Israel is one of the world’s leading arms proliferators. Not only
does it have 200 nuclear weapons of its own, but it exports some of
its most advanced weapons systems to regions fraught with conflict.

Not content to stir the pot in its own little Middle East backyard,
where its wars of choice are commonplace, Israel could do the same
for other regions. One result of not reigning in the Israeli-Arab
conflict and solving it, is that Israel is left to its own devices
to provoke conflict and arms races in other regions outside its own.

Once again, we have only ourselves to blame.

ARMENIAN WOUNDED FROM THE BULLET OF SNIPER IN ALEPPO

ARMENPRESS
OCTOBER 24, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 24, ARMENPRESS: Armenian was wounded from the bullet
of the sniper in Nor Gyux district of Aleppo on October 24. Armenpress
was informed from Jirair Reisian, adding that the wounded was Ghazar
Ghazaryan. Reisian also informed that the bullet had seriously damaged
the leg of the wounded. Ghazaryan underwent a surgery after being
hospitalized and now his life is out of danger. The sniper was trying
to fire at another Armenian but luckily didn’t succeed.

Recently civilians have been in danger especially in Not Gyux area
because of the snipers. So the civilians are urged to be careful and
stay away from the dangerous places.

Referring to the second Armenian plane with humanitarian aid Reisian
noted that the Aleppo emergency body is doing all the possible to
carry the cargo and transfer it from the airport.

More than 30000 people have been killed during the Syrian clashes
lasting more than 18 m

PRELACY HONORS THREE EXTRAORDINARY HUMANITARIAN ACTIONS

Posted by Florence Avakian on October 24, 2012

Banquet benefits ‘Fund for Syrian Armenian Relief’

NEW YORK-Three extraordinary life-saving humanitarian actions were
remembered and honored by the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic
Church of America on Sun., Oct. 7, at the elegant New York Palace
Hotel. The honorees included Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, the Near East Relief,
and the American National Committee to Aid Homeless Armenians. The
awards were to have been presented by His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos
of the Great House of Cilicia, during his pontifical visit to New York,
which was cancelled due to the critical situation in Syria.

2012Banquet01 250×300 Prelacy Honors Three Extraordinary Humanitarian
Actions

Marit Greve, the granddaughter of Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, accepts the
award from Archbishop Oshagan. (Photo by Zenop Pomakian)

“We who are here stand on the shoulders of previous generations who
sacrificed their life and energy so we could enjoy the fruits of this
country,” stated master of ceremonies Judge Sarkis Teshoian (RET) in
his introductory remarks. Many Armenians who survived the genocide
“ended up in Syria where today Armenian lives are at risk, as well
as their churches, schools, and institutions. This is therefore the
second reason to be here. We have an obligation to help our brothers
and sisters in Syria,” he declared strongly.

Karen Jehanian, the co-chair of the Pontifical Visit National
Steering Committee, welcomed the guests on behalf of the Executive
Council. She succinctly described the mission goals of the Prelacy and
noted that alongside its primary mission to transmit the teachings
of Christianity, the Prelacy “preserves history, educates our young
people, provides comfort to those in need, and seeks to give us a
future that is rich in culture, spirituality, and faith. By your
presence here today, by the contribution you make to your parish or
community, you are being true to that faith and upholding the noble
values of those who gave the Armenian people life-giving humanitarian
aid when most needed.”

Proceeds of the event will benefit the Fund for Syrian Armenian Relief,
a joint united effort of the Armenian Apostolic Church (Eastern
Prelacy), the Armenian Catholic Eparchy, the Armenian Evangelical
Union of North America, the Armenian Relief Society (ARS), and the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF).

Core values of all religions

In a powerful message transmitted through video, Catholicos Aram
stated, “Helping those who are marginalized is the core value of all
religions. All those who share their resources with those in need
are worthy of the highest respect by humanity. Helping others is not
just sharing material resources. It is sharing the moral partnership
to empower those who are powerless. Helping our people is crucial. We
have a large community in Syria that is critically exposed.” As he paid
tribute to the three honorees with words of praise and thanksgiving,
he asked everyone “to pray for all the suffering around the world.”

2012Banquet02 300×200 Prelacy Honors Three Extraordinary Humanitarian
Actions

Shant Mardirossian, chairman of the Near East Foundation, accepts
the award on behalf of Near East Relief. (Photo by Zenop Pomakian)

Nansen Passport

As Judge Teshoian introduced the honorees, Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan
presented the special awards that were designed and prepared by
Richard Dikran Tenguerian. The first presentation was made to Dr.

Fridtjof Nansen, the world-famous Nobel laureate, scientist, diplomat,
humanitarian, and explorer. As the League of Nations high commissioner
for refugees, he worked tirelessly on behalf of the displaced
victims of World War I. One of his major initiatives was the “Nansen
Passport” for stateless people, a certificate that permitted stateless
people, including thousands of Armenian survivors of the genocide,
to travel freely. Nansen continued his humanitarian efforts on behalf
of refugees and stateless people until his death in 1930. Archbishop
Oshagan presented the award to Nansen’s granddaughter, Marit Greve,
who traveled from Norway for the occasion. “We are a people who know
how to die in order to live,” said the Prelate passionately, as Greve
approached the podium.

In her remarks of appreciation, Greve, who has been to Armenia and
is aware of the deep respect that Armenians worldwide hold for her
grandfather, said, “One of the great disappointments for my grandfather
was that he couldn’t do as much as he wanted to do for the Armenian
people. Tonight was a wonderful experience, and I really feel very
honored to represent my grandfather. I thank you, and am so proud to
be with you tonight,” she said to a standing ovation.

Near East Relief

The second honoree was the Near East Relief, which was formed because
of the clarion call of Henry Morgenthau, Sr., the American ambassador
to Turkey who realized the Turks were carrying out a “campaign of
race extermination.” The Near East Relief made possible the dramatic
rebirth of the Armenian people and became the model for future
relief and charitable organizations in the United States. Hundreds
of orphanages were established by the Near East Relief and it was
noted that the site of one of those orphanages in Antelias, Lebanon,
became the central headquarters of the Holy See of Cilicia.

2012Banquet03 300×200 Prelacy Honors Three Extraordinary Humanitarian
Actions

Hourig Papazian Sahagian accepts award on behalf of ANCHA. (Photo by
Zenop Pomakian)

Shant Mardirossian, the chairman of the Near East Foundation (successor
of Near East Relief) accepted the award and paid homage to those who
formed Near East Relief and the thousands of relief workers. “If the
perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide represented the worst of mankind,
then the relief workers must be the inverse.

When people were forced from their homes into the desert, they provided
shelter. When there was famine, they provided food. When schools and
churches were destroyed, they helped rebuild new ones.

When businesses and properties were confiscated, they provided
vocational training. When women and children were abducted and forced
into slavery, they went door-to-door and emancipated them. Most of
all, when others sought to destroy life, they saved it.” A standing
ovation paid tribute to this organization that, in the Prelate’s words,
“saved a nation.”

ANCHA

The American National Committee to Aid Homeless Armenians (ANCHA)
was founded by George Mardikian, who received the U.S. Medal of
Freedom from President Harry Truman, and Suren Saroyan, who received
recognition from President Lyndon Johnson. ANCHA mobilized large
segments of the community to raise funds to help thousands of Armenians
in Displaced Persons camps in Europe after World War II.

Sixty-two ANCHA offices around the United States, staffed by hundreds
of volunteers and backed by massive grass roots efforts, set the
foundations that ultimately rescued thousands of Armenian. Over the
span of half-a-century, ANCHA rescued and assisted tens of thousands
of Armenians from Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

“It’s a legacy of generosity, caring, and sacrifice by ANCHA
volunteers,” declared Archbishop Oshagan as he presented the award to
Hourig Papazian Sahagian, the daughter of Arpi Papazian, a longtime
volunteer and leader of ANCHA in New York, which was a central hub
of the organization.

“The refugees came by boat, by plane to St. Illuminator’s Cathedral,
where they were greeted,” Papazian Sahagian related. “My mother
was able to direct their pathways to other parts of the United
States.” Describing her mother as a “generalissimo,” she related how
her mother unabashedly recruited friends and family to help.

Papazian Sahagian paid tribute to all of the volunteers who worked
for years-some, like her mother, from the very beginning of ANCHA
to its end. Another ovation greeted her heartfelt remarks and the
request that those in the audience who were sponsored by ANCHA to rise.

Closing the deeply inspiring program with his benediction, the Prelate,
who had also given the invocation, again paid tribute to the three
heroic honorees. “We are here because they gave the Armenians hope
and life. Dr. Nansen, will be a friend of the Armenians forever; the
Near East Relief, the first model American charitable organization,
literally saved a nation; and ANCHA came to the rescue of Armenians
in distress, who otherwise would have been lost,” the Prelate
said. “Today, as we honor and thank them, we remember our brothers
and sisters in Syria, our first diaspora community. When we continue
the tradition of helping our people, we will experience the same
satisfaction our parents did.”

Dignitaries introduced during the evening included Bishop Anoushavan
Tanielian, vicar of the Prelacy; Dr. and Mrs. Movses Abelian, United
Nations Security Council affairs division director; Ambassador Garen
and Mrs. Nazarian, permanent representative of the Republic of Armenia
to the United Nations; Jack Mardoian, Esq., and Richard Sarajian,
Esq., former chairmen of the Prelacy Executive Council; Dr.

Raffy and Mrs. Vicky Hovanessian, vice-chairman of the Diocesan
Council of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern);
Hagop Kouyoumdjian, chairman emeritus of Armenia Fund USA, and former
treasurer of the Prelacy’s Executive Council; Khoren Bandazian,
Esq., chairman of Armenia Fund USA and chairman of the Joint United
Committee for the Centennial Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide;
Dr. Hratch Zadoian, author of Our Brothers’ Keepers: The American
National Committee to Aid Homeless Armenians, vice president emeritus
of Queens College, and former vice chairman of the Prelacy’s Executive
Council; Sue Aramian, benefactor of religious, activist, and charitable
projects in Armenia and the diaspora; Dr. Antranig Kasbarian, chairman
of the Central Committee of the ARF; and Aram Cazazian and Noubar
Megerian, co-chairmen of the New York Banquet Committee.

Unforgettable event

A complimentary copy of Our Brothers’ Keepers: The American National
Committee to Aid Homeless Armenians (ANCHA) by Dr. Hratch Zadoian was
given to attendees. This recently published book, as well as earlier
published works about Dr. Nansen and Near East Relief, are available
for purchase at the Prelacy’s Book Store.

The special awards presented to the honorees were designed and prepared
by Richard Dikran Tenguerian. Constructed in two levels, the bottom
level is black symbolizing the dark past with a map of the historic
Armenian cities where the genocide occurred. The map is a replica of
the granite map on the face of the Martyrs’ Altar in St.

Illuminator’s Cathedral. The top level is clear glass, symbolic of
a bright future, with images of the major monuments dedicated to the
genocide etched on the glass.

The memorable evening began with beautiful renditions of the American
and Armenian national anthems by mezzo-soprano Solange Merdinian,
and ended with the stirring and joyous singing of “Giligia,” by all.

A gallery of photographs can be viewed on the Prelacy’s web page at

MORE ARMENIAN VICTIMS IN SYRIA NO COINCIDENCE – EXPERT

tert.am
24.10.12

More Armenians are being killed in Syria, which is no coincidence,
the political analyst Sergey Shakaryants told journalists on Wednesday.

According to him, the Syrian opposition has proved that they want to
incite Christians thus causing confessional strife.

“It is wrong on Syrian Armenians’ part to try to remain neutral. It
has come to attempts to involve Armenians in the whole matter,”
Shakaryants said.

Armenians should have warned they were establishing control over their
settlements, and anyone that attempted to attack would lose his life,
the expert said. In cooperation with the Syrian authorities, Armenians
should issue warnings. “I do not think the authorities will object,”
Shakaryants said.

As to whether such behavior is fraught with new problems for Syrian
Armenians, he said: “The more fear you show the easier you are
devoured. In 1915 Armenians were bending their heads…”

Armenians in Syria and Lebanon must announce consolidation of their
forces.

“They [the outposts] try to prevent attacks on big centers and cultural
heritage. But if the gunmen do not spare mosques, the fate of Christian
churches is clear,” Shakaryants said.

The expert stressed that Syrian Armenians are the Armenians that left
Western Armenia with arms and do not have slavish thinking.

CONGRESS DEFENDING KOCHARYAN
Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 12:45:00 – 24/10/2012

The Armenian National Congress decided to raise a very important
issue for the whole Armenia – redistribution of property. The head
of the Congress parliamentary group, Levon Zurabyan told RFE/RL that
Serzh Sargsyan, after reelection, will try to seize the property from
Robert Kocharyan, Gagik Tsarukyan and Prosperous Armenia Party.

Why did the issue on the redistribution of property occur now? After
all, Serzh Sargsyan has been the president for five years already,
and if he wanted, he could have seized Kocharyan’s and Tsarukyan’s
properties during the first term. Moreover, he could have deprived
his potential competitors of financial levers.

If Serzh Sargsyan hasn’t done it yet then, why should he do it after
reelection? Actually, Congress is becoming the advocate of the property
of Kocharyan and Tsarukyan. Does this mean that Congress approves
the legitimacy of their properties? After all, Congress leaders
have stated more than once that the national wealth was usurped
during Kocharyan’s term and that the oligarchs accumulated all their
richness again during his term of office. Now, Congress is going to
defend the oligarchic property.

The important is not Congress’s position but the reasons which make
Zurabyan speak about Kocharyan’s property. Sure, it may be a trick
with the aim to cause a conflict between Kocharyan and Sargsyan. But
it seems very primitive to be a trick. Rather, certain circles started
speaking about the upcoming redistribution of property and now everyone
wants their share.

The redistribution of property, as a rule, happens after a new
authoritarian regime comes to power. It didn’t happen in Armenia.

Initially, Serzh Sargsyan was very weakened by the March 1 events,
the pressure of the opposition and the international community. Then
he didn’t want to ruin relations with Robert Kocharyan hoping they
would agree on the second term.

It seems they did, and now nothing can hinder Sargsyan to start
the redistribution. Moreover, he has enough power. Congress was not
supposed to defend Kocharyan’s or Tsarukyan’s property but to state
about the necessity to restructure the property and nationalize the
illegally appropriated objects etc. But Congress didn’t do that,
actually, leaving the national wealth to Kocharyan and Sargsyan
without voicing the rights of the society to the usurped property.