Author: Karakhanian Suren

PRESS RELEASE
Date: Oct. 10, 2008
Armenian National Committee of New Jersey
461 Bergen Blvd, Ridgefield, NJ 07657
Contact: James Sahagian
Email: [email protected]

ANC of NJ to Host Public Forum for Armenian Community
–To include ANC activities update, Election 2008, and local
Representatives

Ridgefield, NJ- The Armenian National Committee of New Jersey (ANC
of NJ) is pleased to announce a free public forum that will be
taking place on Friday, October 24, 2008 at the Sheraton
Meadowlands, in East Rutherford, NJ at 7:30pm. The forum will
include ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian, Congressman Scott
Garrett (R-NJ-5), and other local members of Congress that will be
announced shortly.

"We look forward to hearing from a great leader of the Armenian
American community, as well as hearing from our local
representatives. We hope to gain further insight from the community
on their interests in getting involved with the ANCA," commented
James Sahagian, ANC of NJ co-chair.

The event, organized by the ANC of NJ, is the first of a series of
quarterly "community updates" that will be organized throughout the
calendar year. Attendees will also have an opportunity to learn how
they can be involved locally and future dates of meetings and
events occurring in New Jersey. They will also have an opportunity
to hear the latest updates from Armenians for Obama and the
instrumental role the community has been playing this election.

Now in his 4th term, Rep. Garrett has had a long-standing
relationship with the Armenian American community of New Jersey.
Earlier this year, Garrett met with 96-year genocide survivor Alice
Shnorhokian, a constituent of his district in Washington, DC, where
she recounted her experiences during the 1915 genocide with the
Congressman. On April 24th, Garrett offered remarks on the House
Floor recognizing the genocide and remembering Shnorhokian’s story.

For more information about the public forum, please email
[email protected] or call 917-428-1918.

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is the largest
and most influential Armenian-American grassroots political
organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices,
chapters, and supporters throughout the United States and
affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA actively
advances the concerns of the Armenian-American community on a broad
range of issues.

####

Photo Caption #1: Cong. Scott Garrett, Armenian Genocide survivor
Alice Shnorhokian, and ANC of NJ activist and grandson Vahig
Shnorhokian

RALLY TO BE HELD NEAR THE MATENADARAN

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
09 Oct 2008
Armenia

Yesterday, the Administrative Court of Yerevan partially satisfied the
claim by which the pro-opposition activists argued the legality of the
decision of the Mayor’s Office (dated October 2) on rejecting their
request for holding a rally in the Northern Avenue on October 17. The
court offered the opposition to organize the rally in the neighborhood
of the Matenadaran but didn’t give them permission to hold a march.

Judge Artsroun Mirzoyan publicized the judgment on declaring the
decision of Gagik Baghdasaryan (authorized representative of the
Mayor’s Office) null and void and then prohibited the plaintiff
(Aram Sargsyan, Head of the "Republic" pro-opposition party) to hold
a rally in the Northern Avenue on the above-mentioned day, however,
allowed him to organize the event on the same day and at the same
hour near the Matenadaran.

KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT IS QUITE REAL: RF FOREIGN MINISTER

ArmInfo
2008-10-07 14:36:00

ArmInfo. As one of three mediators, we feel that resolution of the
Karabakh conflict is quite real. Of course, it should be resolved
by Armenia and Azerbaijan within the frames of direct agreements,
however, the mediators: Russians, Americans, Frenchmen, who perfectly
understand all the nuances and the whole sensitivity of this process,
view the resolution possible, Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov
said in an interview with the "Rossiyskaya Gazeta".

‘There are two-three issues pending which should be agreed at the
next meetings of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents. As far as
we understand, such meetings will be held just after the forthcoming
presidential election in Azerbaijan. The matter concerns, first of all,
the Lachin corridor’, the minister emphasized.

As S. Lavrov said, Armenia is per se blocked because of Nagorno
Karabakh. It is in the root interests of the Armenian people to
unblock this situation as soon as possible. There are actually not so
many geographic and political ways out. As soon as Nagorno Karabakh
settlement becomes a fact, Turkey will be ready to assist Armenia
to establish normal relations with the foreign world, naturally,
through establishment of official diplomatic relations between Ankara
and Yerevan.

Even before the Caucasian crisis, there was a very good chance to
advance in Nagorno Karabakh settlement through direct meetings of the
Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents under assistance of mediators –
OSCE MG cochairmen from France, Russia and the USA. A substantial
document was elaborated describing almost all the principles and
mechanisms of settlement, the Russian diplomat said.

‘The problems Armenia experienced concerning uninterrupted transit
of goods through Georgia, show the absolute necessity and urgency of
prompt settlement. Continuation of the situation, when South Ossetia
and Abkhazia will be under a permanent threat of military attack,
because of which a threat of interruption of the transit , important
for Armenia, will be preserved, meets no one’s interests. So, it
is in on behalf of Yerevan to unblock Nagorno Karabakh conflict as
soon as possible, that will contribute not only to normalization of
relations with Turkey but also to the opening of Armenia’s relations
with the foreign world through Turkey’s territory’, RF FM resumed.

THE "VITALLY IMPORTANT ISSUE" FOR ARMENIA IS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF GOOD NEIGHBOR RELATIONS WITH ALL COUNTRIES OF THE REGION

armradio.am
07.10.2008 17:04

"We must focus on the values, which bring us closer and not those,
which separate us. Armenia, like Azerbaijan, is loyal to the common
European values and sees its future in the integration with the
European Union," Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan said in an
interview with Azerbaijani Day.Az agency in response to the question
about the perspectives of the negotiation process on the Karabakh
conflict resolution.

"In line with the program of the New Neighborhood Program of the
European Commission, the European Union is recommended to build closer
relations with the South Caucasus countries, i.e. Georgia, Armenia and
Azerbaijan. It is necessary to see common future in 20 or 30 years
and then we will be able to find mutually profitable decisions. I
think the process will be accelerated following the elections in
Azerbaijan. We believe in Azerbaijan’s constructiveness," he added.

Asked how much the Nagorno Karabakh economy depends on all-Armenian
economy, the Prime Minister of Armenia responded that the
economy of Nagorno Karabakh "depends" on the all-Armenian economy
as much as the economy of Armenia depends on the all-Armenian
economy. "Armenia-NKR-Diaspora is a united organism, which we call
"the Armenian world." Modern realities do20not allow to consider
each of these elements in separate, as the scene will be inevitably
distorted," he said.

Regarding the statement of Day.Az that opening of the Armenian-Turkish
border is a vitally important issue for Yerevan, Tigran Sargsyan noted:
"As is known, the border with Turkey has been closed for about 15
years ago and over these years the Armenian economy has ensured high
growth, which has been two-digit through the past 10 years. Therefore,
it is necessary to clarify what the concept "vitally important issue
for Armenia" means."

"The really "vitally important issue" is the establishment of good
neighbor relations with all the countries of the region, primarily,
Azerbaijan. We approach this issue pragmatically and we consider that
the trends of the world development demonstrate that competition
between countries is growing into regional competition and in the
long-term perspective the cooperation in the region will become the
first issue on the agenda of all the countries in the region. In this
context it would be interesting to discuss "The Caucasus Stability
and Security Platform" of the Turkish President," the Prime Minister
noted. According to him, Armenia’s position regarding rapprochement
with Turkey has always been exact and clear. "We are ready to
establish diplomatic relations with Turkey without any provisions,"
Tigran Sargsyan said.

Asked whether Armenia is t rying to join the joint Baku-Kars-Akhalkalak
railway project of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, PM Tigran Sargsyan
stated: "We are interested in joining any regional project." According
to him, "a single regional transport network for all the regional
countries is of strategic importance.

And the more we have communication, the higher will be the regional
stability and the less will be its vulnerability to external factors. I
think Azerbaijan is also interested in it."

The Azeri agency was interested whether the Armenian economy sustained
great losses after the conflict in South Ossetia. In this regard,
the Prime Minister of Armenia noted that such conflicts cannot but
affect the neighbor countries, especially Armenia, which has limited
transport ways. About 70% of the external trade turnover of Armenia
is conducted via Georgia.

"The damage caused to the Armenian economy by the well-known events
makes $670 mln. These are un-collected taxes, postponed investments,
unimplemented projects and so on. The conflict became a serious test
of flexibility of the Armenian economy. Today we can say that the
flexibility of our economy has risen sharply through the past years,
Tigran Sargsyan said, adding that "like Azerbaijan, Armenia aspires
to have the Russian-Georgian relations improved as soon as possible."

ON THE SCRAP HEAP: HISTORY
By Roger Alford

Kentucky.com
Mon, Oct. 06, 2008
KY

FRANKFORT — Gene Ray cringes at the irreverence of thieves who would
steal historical markers to sell as scrap metal.

Ray, a great-great-great-great-great grandson of famed frontiersman
Daniel Boone, is calling for tougher sentences for people caught
plundering the bronze, brass, copper and aluminum plaques displayed
across the country to commemorate places of historical significance.

The issue arose after a man was sentenced in August to only four
months in jail for stealing a $10,000 plaque marking the original
Missouri burial site for Boone. Cut into pieces, the Boone marker
sold as scrap for less than $100.

"We were all just horrified," said Ray, an Atlanta resident. "That this
would happen, especially to someone of such historical significance,
infuriated many of us."

In the Western Kentucky city of Henderson, investigators are trying
to find out who took a cast aluminum marker that stood in front of
the onetime home of Gov. Augustus Owsley Stanley, who was elected in
1915. The newly refurbished marker disappeared about two months ago,
said Ronnie Browning, a superintendent in the state transportation
office in Madisonville.

In California, thieves stole a 160-pound bronze plaque last year
from the base of San Francisco’s Mount Davidson Cross. The plaque
honored victims of Armenian genocide from 1915 to 1918. Police notified
recycling plants in the San Francisco area to be on the lookout for the
marker. So far, it hasn’t been found. The Council of Armenian American
Organizations of Northern California paid $11,000 for a new marker.

Browning said the markers make easy targets for thieves because they’re
accessible and can be easily ripped from their posts or foundations. He
said he is convinced metal salvagers took the 60-pound aluminum marker
commemorating Gov. Stanley. Though such markers cost more than $2,000
to make, Browning said they probably would fetch relatively little
cash at scrap yards.

Copper was bringing $2.25 per pound on Friday at Baker Iron & Metal
Co. in Lexington. Aluminum, depending on its quality, was bringing
43 cents to 55 cents a pound. Copper alloys like brass and bronze
were just over $1 a pound.

Prices have been declining in recent months, said Bob Garino,
commodities director for the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries
Inc. in Washington.

"We’re seeing some lows that we really haven’t seen in quite some
time," he said.

Garino said wholesale prices for copper have fallen since September
from $3.15 a pound to $2.65 a pound, and aluminum is down from $1.17
to $1.04. He said the prices still are higher than five years ago,
when the average price for copper was 80 cents a pound and aluminum
was 65 cents a pound.

Cashing in with stolen scrap is risky in Kentucky and more than 30
other states where legislators have passed laws in recent years
requiring recyclers to notify police if they suspect someone has
dropped off stolen metal.

State Rep. Mike Denham, D-Maysville, said he thinks Kentucky’s law,
which went into effect July 15, has discouraged metal theft. The law
requires scrap dealers to record the names and addresses of people
who cash in recyclable metals.

Utility companies had pushed for the new law primarily to combat the
theft of copper, which has been stolen from power and telephone lines,
electrical substations and construction sites. Its ramifications
reach beyond copper wire to bronze grave markers, urns and flag
holders that can be melted down for quick cash.

Jerry Raisor, curator at Fort Boonesborough in Madison County,
said all kinds of monuments, even statues, are at risk of being
destroyed. Raisor said judges need to be tough with people who plunder
anything of historic value.

"It’s pretty pathetic," he said. "These are national treasures

DEATH BECOMES HIM: KEVORKIAN’S ARTWORK ON DISPLAY AT ARMENIAN LIBRARY
By Steve Bagley

Daily News Tribune
Oct 06, 2008 @ 10:49 AM
MA

Jack Kevorkian speaks to a large crowd at the Armenian Library and
Museum of American on Sunday afternoon, October 5, 2008 about an
exhibit of his paintings.

The dying Jack Kevorkian is trying to get his point across.

The man known in the 20th century as Dr. Death marked the opening of
his painting exhibition "The Doctor is Out," at the Armenian Library
and Museum of America in Watertown by speaking largely about his run
for Congress in his home state in Michigan.

Greeted like a rock star yesterday afternoon, the 80-year-old
Kevorkian, who fought and went to jail in his crusade for euthanasia,
brushed the standing ovations, the crowd and the encomia aside.

"There’s too much praise for someone doing their duty," Kevorkian
said. "Courage is knowing what’s right and doing it."

Diagnosed with a terminal case of Hepatitis C, Kevorkian knows he
has limited time to get his message across.

"It scares me. I’m afraid it curtails my life," he said. "Dying in
prison is a vacuous death. It’s meaningless."

Charged with second-degree murder in 1999, he was released from prison
last year.

Kevorkian is waging a campaign to bring his philosophy to the people,
by discussing his paintings and run for office.

But don’t call his pieces art.

Art takes training, Kevorkian told an audience of upwards of 300
people, packing the museum’s lobby.

"It really isn’t art. Its main mission is conveying a philosophic
point. An abstract point," he said. "I call it pictorial philosophy."

By all accounts, that philosophy is indelibly linked to Kevorkian’s
years of suicide assistance, but not in the way one might think.

Several of his paintings are grim, depicting strong images. The piece
representing Kevorkian’s statement on war features a decapitated man
with Ares, the Greek god of war, over one shoulder and his own head
on a plate in front of him, apple in mouth.

To depict death, Kevorkian painted a man screaming as he falls to a
black pit full of ghosts, his fingers clutching to cliffsides with
such ferocity as to have rent the flesh from their tips.

Simultaneously political and philosophical, Kevorkian’s basic
perspective is unified by one idea: A rejection of fear and a powerful
individual freedom.

"We have relinquished our rights because we’ve been trained to think
that way," Kevorkian said.

American politics is ruled by fear, he said, and American people,
and people of the world, are taught to be afraid of death.

"I think it carries a message," Kevorkian said of his art, "which is
all I wanted."

That message?

"When death is approaching naturally, nature prepares you for it. You
actually welcome it," Kevorkian said. "We’ll go to any length to avoid
it. Screaming, terrified, we’ll go to any lengths to avoid it. Because
we’re taught that. Remember religion says it’s our greatest enemy? Can
you imagine that?"

Kevorkian said he had to be taken to prison to get his message out,
that the American judicial system refuses to give people the right
to die as they would see fit, and they are infringing on many other
rights of Americans.

He wants to educate people about the value of the Ninth Amendment of
the Constitution, which says the Constitution cannot infringe upon
people’s freedoms.

"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not
be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people,"
it reads.

"That’s where all the rights are for the people," Kevorkian said. "
That’s why it hasn’t been used … And that’s one reason why I’m
running: to educate the people more on the Constitutional right we
have, of rights. We had it. We lost it. Can we get it back? Hard
to say."

Kevorkian was trailed by documentary filmmakers, working on
"Kevorkian," about his run for Congress he started after getting out
of prison in 2007.

Producer Steve Jones said of Kevorkian, seemingly in awe, "he’s
fearless. Absolutely fearless."

Even if you don’t agree with him, Jones said, you admire Kevorkian.

"No matter how controversial he is, he’s so logical. It’s very hard
to refute him."

Nobody among the crowd tried to refute him. Perhaps the most famous
Armenian American alive today, Kevorkian was greeted at the museum
like a hero.

"He’s among friends," Jones said. "He’s one of their own."

Kevorkian, son of two immigrant survivors of the Armenian Genocide,
turned to painting as a hobby, and produced 16 canvases over time. He
donated all of them to the museum.

"He’s a man of great integrity," said Brigham Moberly, who came from
out of state to see Kevorkian, whom he admired for his political
views. "He knows it’s time for the revolution to begin."

Artist Katherine Keogh, who traveled with Moberly, said Kevorkian’s
art spoke to her.

"His artwork is amazingly poignant," she said. "He really, really
strikes a chord with his paintings."

GEORGIA’S JOINING NATO CAN PROVOKE NEW WAR?

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.10.2008 13:59 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The future of the Caucasus depends on the countries’
willingness to maintain friendly ties, according to a Russian expert.

"Moreover, they should stop building their national policy dependently
from the powers beyond the region. The August conflict demonstrated
that Washington’s power is not universal. With Russia mediating for
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict resolution and with Turkey alleviating
tensions between Georgia and Russia, the Caucasus states will be able
to implement their economic and political strategic for the glory of
the region," senior lecturer at Saint-Petersburg State University,
deputy editor at the Center of Oriental Studies, Ph.D. in history
Alexander Sotnichenko said in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net.

"However, if some of the countries orient for the West, like Georgia
does, new conflicts are possible. Deployment of NATO troops in Georgia
will aggravate tensions between the U.S. and Iran. Escalation will
involve Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, Georgia may provoke
a new war in an attempt to take back Abkhazia and Ossetia with the
help of the U.S. forces," he said.

SERZH SARGSYAN CONGRATULATES TEACHERS

armradio.am
06.10.2008 11:51

President Serzh Sargsyan issued a congratulatory message on the
occasion of the Teacher’s Day. The message states:

"Dear teachers,

I sincerely congratulate you on the occasion of the Teacher’s Day.

For centuries the Armenian teacher has passed to the new generation
not only knowledge, but has also inspired love for Motherland and
education. Thanks to this reality, the centuries-old traditions of
our schooling and respect for teachers the esteem for teachers has
become a public norm among us.

Today you educate the Armenian citizens of new generation, who are
destined to be the carriers of the achievements of our young democracy,
as well as the national and universal values. These values should
be passed to them by the school and the teachers, who will get great
support and assistance from the state.

Once again I congratulate you on your professional day and wish health,
optimism and all the best."

istockAnalyst.com (press release), OR

Russian, U.S. Diplomats Discuss Caucasus, Ukraine
Tuesday, September 30, 2008 7:59 PM

(Source: Daily News Bulletin; Moscow – English)MOSCOW. Sept 30
(Interfax) – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin, at a
meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle on Tuesday,
"stressed the need for extensive involvement on the part of the
international community in building strong guarantees of non-use of
force by Georgia," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Karasin and
Beyrle, who met in Moscow, discussed "the security situation in
Transcaucasia in light of the implementation of the Russian-French
conflict settlement principles of August 12 and September 8," the
ministry said in a press release.

"Problems surrounding the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process and the
domestic political situation in Ukraine were also touched upon," it
said.

IRAN AWAITING BAKU AND YEREVAN’S RESPONSE TO ITS OFFER FOR MEDIATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.10.2008 13:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Iran is hopeful that Armenia and Azerbaijan will
have their say about Iran’s proposal for mediation in the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict settlement process in the near future.

"Iran is one of the countries of the region. So, it offered to mediate
tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia for soonest resolution of
the Karabakh conflict," said Nasir Hamidi Zare, Iranian Ambassador
to Azerbaijan.

"Iran will do everything in its power for establishment of normal
relations between the countries of the region," he added, the Azeri
Press Agency reports.