Author: Karagyozian Lena

SERZH SARGSYAN: VICTORIES ARE NOT GIFTED

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.05.2008 13:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan issued a
congratulatory address on occasion of the First Republic Day.

The presidential message says in part,

"90 years ago the dream of our people came true.

Thanks to selflessness of brave sons of the Armenian nation, exploits
in heroic battles in Sardarapat, Bash-Aparan and Karakilisa, we
restored our statehood.

Each Armenian remembers those heroes, who defeated the enemy in the
fight for independence of our country.

Independence and victories are never gifted. During two years of
existence, the First Republic of Armenia condensed inspiration, grief
and losses, touching us three historical lessons. The first is the
importance of national unity. Born 90 years ago, our state system was
the result of national unity. Today, we should struggle to preserve
the spirit of unity which helped us to survive in 1918. The second
is irreplaceability of statehood. No other structure can replace a
state system; no ideology can be higher than state interests. If our
country weakens, we lose. The third is the confidence that we can
overcome all difficulties our country faces.

Today, Armenia enters a period which is extremely important for all its
citizens. We should strengthen our republic and ensure development of
political, economic, scientific and cultural life. Our country has a
brilliant future but not only leaders are responsible for it. Each
son of our nation should make his contribution for the glory of
Armenia. To be a citizen of the Republic of Armenia is an honor;
to serve our nation is the supreme mission."

PRESS RELEASE
Western Diocese of the Armenian Church
3325 N. Glenoaks Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91504
Contact: Remo Alexandri
Tel: +1 (818) 558-7474
Fax: +1 (818) 558-6333
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

May 27, 2008

Two Young Priests to be Ordained in the Western Diocese

First Ordination in the Western Diocese in 10 years

Burbank, CA – On Thursday May 29, the culmination of years of study and
dedication will take place when two young deacons are ordained to the rank
of Priest in the Armenian Church. With pride the community will gather
together to celebrate the vow to service of Deacons Vahe Abovian and Mayis
Shahbazian.

The ordination and consecration ceremony will take place at St. John
Armenian Church of Hollywood, in the heart of little Armenia, officiated by
His Eminence Abp. Hovnan Derderian, and with the participation of several
Diocesan Clergy. It’s been more than 10 years since the Armenian Church has
elevated one of its servants to the rank of Priest in the Western Diocese,
therefore this event will be a rare occasion to celebrate God’s grace and
the growth of the Armenian Community.

"The true importance of this event lies not only in consecration of two
special servants of the Armenian Church, but also in the fruition of our
Diocese’s most important initiative, the training of new and capable young
Armenians to be priests of the Armenian Church to serve our growing faith
community.," said Abp. Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese.
"There are currently 11 candidates to the priesthood who are undergoing
training to become the spiritual leaders of tomorrow’s Armenian-Americans."

The Ordination and Consecration service will begin at 6:30pm, at St. John
Armenian Church located at 1201 N. Vine St., Hollywood, CA.

EVERYBODY RESPONSIBLE FOR STRAINED ATMOSPHERE IN COUNTRY, HRANT
MARGARIAN SAYS

Y EREVAN, MAY 27, NOYAN TAPAN. Everybody is responsible for the strained
atmosphere in the country in recent period, ARF Bureau member Hrant
Margarian said at the May 27 press conference. "We did our best to
prevent the confrontation. Unfortunatelly, it happened, but we are not
trying to make it a subject of political speculation because it was a
misfortune for our statehood and nation," H. Margarian added. In his
opinion, one way to get out of the current situation is Armenian
intellectuals’ impartial assessment of recent events. "We need to
create a moral climate in which every person will feel responsible for
his attitide and behavior," he noted. Describing today’s atmpsphere, he
said that a group of aggressive press ready to sqabble has formed.

H. Margarian expressed an opinion that what has happened in Armenia
recently is an Armenian National Movement (ANM) rather than a popular
movement. "Every force, organizaton, even person permitted itself to
speak on behalf of the people. However, if a person uses the word
"people", it does not mean that his direction is popular," he pointed
out.

He considered dialog as an important step for forming a culture of
political struggle. "Some already noticeable practical steps should
become more real, with more favorable conditions for a dialog to be
created," H. Margarian said.

Responding to a question, the ARF Bureau member said that they served
as a support for neither Robert Kocharian nor Serge Sargsian. "The ARF
has its direction and it cooperates with the authorities based on its
convictions and requirements," H. Margarian stated, adding that the ARF
may become a support for the people and statehood.

ARMENPRESS

REPORTERS COVERING SPORT EVENTS TAKE PART IN IASJ
MEETING IN CHINA

YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS: Meeting of the
International Association of Sport Journalists (IASJ)
was held in Beijing May 21-25. The gathering was held
ahead of the Olympic Games focusing on a set of
specific issues.
Particularly, the focus was on increasing the role
of sporting journalists, advertising sports as a
healthy life style, propagating peace through sports
and so on.
Over 70 journalists writing on sports, including
representative of Armenia – sport correspondent of
-Armenpress- news agency – took part in the meeting.
The key note speakers were Jianni Merloni, president
of the Association and Edgar Anthony from the
International Olympic Committee.
The journalists were taken on a tour around
sporting facilities in Beijing and were shown the
future press center. They also visited several
historical and cultural sites in Beijing.

PanARMENIAN.Net

EU concerned about slow reform in Turkey
23.05.2008 15:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Commission warned
membership-hopeful Turkey yesterday not to slip back
in its reform process, saying it could not afford
-another wasted year.-

Speaking in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, EU
Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said the EU
executive body was concerned about the slow pace of
reform in Turkey.

Turkey started EU accession talks in 2005 but they
have been held back by slow progress in EU-linked
reforms, the impact of the unresolved Cyprus dispute,
and the reluctance of some EU members, such as France
and Austria, to see Turkey join.

Rehn noted concerns about moves by Turkey’s chief
prosecutor to shut down the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP), and ban Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul from
politics for alleged Islamist subversion.

Intervening in a case that threatens Turkey’s bid to
join the EU, the European Parliament called for
constitutional amendments that would prevent Turkish
courts from outlawing democratically elected parties.

Turkey needs to observe European standards, the
Parliament said in a motion passed by lawmakers
467-62. It criticized an attempt by Turkish
prosecutors to get the Constitutional Court to ban
Erdogan’s party a year after his re-election.

-Closing down a political party is not and cannot be
business as usual,- Rehn, the EU’s pointman for the
entry talks, told the Parliament. -It cannot be taken
lightly in a European democracy.-

The Parliament called on Turkey -to bring the
constitution into line- with European principles on
courts’ oversight of political parties.

The warning was coupled with a separate EU
announcement that the entry negotiations will inch
ahead next month, in a show of support for Erdogan in
his bid to anchor Turkey among the western
democracies.

In the Constitutional Court case that aims to bring
Erdogan down, prosecutors argue that the prime
minister’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) is
subverting the religious freedoms that date back to
the founding of modern Turkey in, the Turkish Daily
News reports.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Mediation should aim at cementing ceasefire
24.05.2008 17:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A treaty on armistice was signed by
3 parties to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in 1994.
Presently, the ceasefire should be cemented via
conclusion of an agreement where the three sides
rejected resolution of the conflict by use of force,
former OSCE MG Russian Co-chair, Ambassador Vladimir
Kazimirov said during Stepanakert-hosted international
conference dedicated to 20th anniversary of the
Karabakh movement.

-Azerbaijan keeps on threatening with hostilities,
what allows Armenia to justify the seizure of
territories around former NKAO,- Kazimirov said.

Azerbaijan refusal to use force can lead to withdrawal
of Armenian troops from territories, according to him.

As a guarantee of fulfillment of obligations, Amb.
Kazimirov hinted on presence of international forces
[Russian peacekeepers].

-After the incident at the contact line in early
March, Azerbaijan neglected Karabakh’s proposal to
sign an agreement on refusal from military operation.
Now, it’s the OSCE MG’s turn to make a similar
proposal. And if any of the sides rejects the
initiative, the international community’s attitude to
conflict may change. If done earlier, Azerbaijan would
have failed to pass a resolution in the UN,- he said.

-Currently, the mediators proceed from inadmissibility
pf resumption of hostilities. However, oral statements
are not enough. Incidents at the border should be
condemned; sanctions should be applied against the
side which fails to meet commitments,- Kazimirov
concluded, KarabakhOpen reports.

RUSSIAN EXPERT ALAN KASAYEV: "MOSCOW SHOULD HELP ARMENIA RESTORE RELATIONS WITH ITS NEIGHBOR COUNTRIES"

Today.Az
/politics/45196.html
May 23 2008
Azerbaijan

Moscow should help Armenia restore normal relations with neighbor
countries, said Alan Kasayev, chief of the head board of the CIS
and Baltic states of the Russian agency of international information
RIA-Novosti.

"Moscow’s task for Armenia is to encourage this process without
putting pressure on the loyal ally in Yerevan or reliable partners in
Baku and Ankara", said Kasayev on May 23 in Yerevan during a report
"The Caucasus conflicts and Kosovo precedent" at the Caucasus-2007
conference.

At the same time, Kasayev noted that prospects of Armenia’s development
do not depent either on Russia, "as anti-Armenian policy of Moscow
is impossible to image even theoretically" or the internal reserves
of the country and the people.

According to Kasayev, Russia has defined new subgroups of the
post-Soviet countries and developed a new methodology, which should
lay foundation of the new Russian external policy in the near
abroad. "Armenia and Georgia add to the list of the third subgroup
of countries and they were given time to define", said Kasayev.

As for Georgia, the expert noted that its anti-Russian rhetorics and
actions of the leadership were no positive for Tbilisi, but Russia
also did not gain anything by "undertaking response, unfortunately,
not adequate or symmetric actions".

"The sides have realized this zero balance and seem to overcome it",
said Kasayev.

PARANOIA OR REALITY: GENOCIDE
By Azad Aslan

Kurdish Globe
sp?id=4007D07D194DC5396C6DEC627B4B659B
May 22 2008
Iraq

A protester make a victory sign with his hand in front of a Kurdish
flag during a demonstration in Berlin January 26, 2008, against
cross-border operations in northern Iraq by Turkey. REUTERS

Professor Gregory Stanton, president of Genocide Watch, was in Erbil,
the capital of Kurdistan Region, and delivered a seminar on the issue
of genocide committed against the Kurds.

. His comments with regards to the Kurds in north Kurdistan (southeast
Turkey) is indeed very serious. He said: "I am afraid Turkey could
carry out genocide against Kurds since in the past Turkey committed
genocide against Armenians, yet they [Turks] deny that now. Still,
there is no punishment for them, and they also deny the existence of
Kurds in Turkey."

Coming from a distinguished scholar, this observation must be
taken very seriously and analyzed in a historical and political
context. There is real potential that Turkey may resort to genocide
against the Kurds. For some people, in this age of globalization
and interactive world-over communication, committing genocide
is unthinkable, particularly for a country such as Turkey that
is endeavoring to join the EU. Giving developments a closer look,
however, indicates a grim picture that such claim is not far-fetched.

Since its formation, the Turkish Republic has carried on a cultural
genocide against the Kurdish nation. The Kurdish language was banned
and those who spoke it were punished. The very national identity of
Kurds was classified as "mountain Turks." Kurdish names or titles of
geographical places of Kurdistan were renamed in Turkish. Millions
of Kurds in Turkey were denied education in their mother tongue. The
national identity of Kurds has not been recognized and is at most
classified in Turkish political discourse as a "sub-identity."

Despite such forceful assimilation, the Kurds proved to be resilient
and preserved their distinct cultural and national identity. Turkey,
on the other hand, has yet to make serious steps toward becoming a real
democratic country. Democratization of Turkey is undeniably problematic
and closely related to the Kurdish national question. The political
formation of the Turkish regime since 1923 has been anti-democratic and
totalitarian. At the root of this anti-democratic political formation
of the Turkish regime lies the construction of an artificial Turkish
nation upon the ruins of a multi-ethnic and multi-religious Ottoman
Empire.

The main objective of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) was to
secure the Ottoman state and make it 99% Muslim. The Turkish Republic,
which was established by Kemalists, themselves a continuation of CUP,
embarked upon a new Turkish state that was, as A. Roshwald argued,
"built on a legacy of genocide and ethnic cleansing and propagated
by a dictatorial regime with little patience for the niceties of
pluralistic policies." The main tenet of Kemalism was and still is
to make Turkey 99% Turk. This explains a grim reality that expecting
democratization of the Turkish political establishment, which grew
and evolved throughout the 20th century with a mentality of exclusive
Turkish identity, would be illusionary and misleading.

I am afraid Turkey could carry out genocide against Kurds since in
the past Turkey committed genocide against Armenians, yet they [Turks]
deny that now. Still, there is no punishment for them, and they also
deny the existence of Kurds in Turkey.

Despite EU pressures, Turkey still resists even granting the Kurds
minority status let alone recognizing Kurdish national identity. The
fact that the Kurds dispersed among four states in the Middle
East makes the Kurdish national question a regional and indeed an
international question. The relative freedom and political status of
the Kurds in south Kurdistan (Iraqi Kurdistan) and its international
recognition makes the Kurdish national question in Turkey even
more serious. The fact is that Turkey can no longer sustain its
current Kurdish policy with the existence of a legally established
Kurdistan Regional Government. Realizing that diminishing the KRG
is now an impossible task, Turkey must find a way to deal with its
own Kurds. Recognizing Kurdish national identity would shatter the
foundation of the Republic and its artificial construction of a Turkish
nation. In that sense, the Kurdish national question for Turkey is
not solely a democratic issue but a grave issue for its very existence.

The question here is whether Turkey would shift its cultural genocide
policy toward an ethnical one. This is surely not a hypothetical
but a very real question. CUP exploited World War I conditions to
eliminate the Armenians and they succeeded in that. Turkey, which is
built on the CUP legacy, may commit the same sin against the Kurds,
only within a regional context. In other words, Turkey may exploit
the chaotic political and military condition in case the Middle
East moves further into bloody conflict and regional war. The KRG’s
position with regards to Turkish policy against the Kurds would also
be detrimental in any potential Turkish move. The destiny of Iraqi
Kurdistan is closely interconnected with the Kurds in the north.

It is imperative for the Kurdish political actors throughout Kurdistan
not to take lightly Professor Stanton’s remarks. Indulging solely in
the belief that in this age of globalization democracy and human rights
would reign, the Kurds may blind themselves to the real politics of
the Middle East and face the same destiny as that of the Armenians
a century ago.

PALACE NATAVAN WILL BE RESTORED

KarabakhOpen
20-05-2008 13:03:38

In January Rebirth of Shushi Foundation organized a telebridge
Shushi-Bethlehem during which 5.7 million dollars was raised.

The Foundation sustains an Info Travel Center which is in the building
of the former coach station. Soon the ceremony of pan-Armenian awards
Golden Ladle will be held there. The Foundation set up a printing
house which will employ ten people.

What projects will be carried out on the funds raised during the
telebridge?

This question interests our readers, which we asked to the
representative of the foundation in Shushi Arthur Hambardzumyan.

According to the representative of the Foundation, about 3.4 to 4
million dollars have been directed at the reconstruction of the Palace
of Natavan which will accommodate a hotel. It is also foreseen to
reconstruct the historical Adamyan Street and the old houses on this
street. Arthur Hambardzumyan assured that the historical appearance
of the town will not be distorted.

One more project is aimed to improve water supply of the town. The
old water pipeline will be repaired which had been laid out in 1896
by Tadevos Tamiryan.

According to Arthur Hambardzumyan, by the end of the year the old
Eastern Bath will be repaired. In summer the roof of the Lyceum of
Young Ladies will be repaired, and next year the ministry of culture
and youth will move into this building.

The Green Pharmacy which is not far from the museum is also under
repair.

After repair it will be a pharmacy.

PARLIAMENT OF ARMENIA PASSES AMENDMENTS TO THE LAW ‘ON THE PROCEDURE OF ASSEMBLIES, AND DEMONSTRATIONS’ IN FIRST READING

arminfo
2008-05-20 13:06:00

ArmInfo. Parliament of Armenia passed the amendments to the Law ‘On
the order of assemblies and demonstrations’ in the first reading by
92 votes ‘for’, 6 votes ‘against’ and one ‘abstention’ Tuesday.

In his speech, the author of the bill, Speaker of the Armenian
Parliament Tigran Torosyan said the bill was drafted on the basis
of notifications and recommendation of CE Venice Commission. In
particular, it provides for the procedure of presenting reliable data
on prepared events. The organizers of assemblies, demonstrations
and processions are to inform local authorities at least 5 days
beforehand. Basing on the recommendations of the responsible agencies
regarding the danger of the planned events, the authorities have a
right to reject the application. In their turn, the organizers have
a right to appeal against the rejection. The court is to study the
appeal within 24 hours.

The bill contains a new provision on the voluntary conduct of
mass rallies, demonstrations and processions. The speaker said the
public has a right to express opinion on vital issues. Nevertheless,
voluntary assemblies with participation of over 100 people must not
be termless. For this purpose, the term of such actions is limited –
6 hours. The speaker said the bill meets international standards and
aims to boost democracy in Armenia.