Author: Karakhanian Suren

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

PARIS HIGH SCHOOLS DISTRIBUTE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CIRCULAR TO 500,000
STUDENTS

Paris – In May 2006, 500,000 high school students and 80,0000
teachers and government officials of the French Ile-de-France region,
which represents the Paris metropolitan area, received an informative
brochure about the Armenian Genocide written by the Regional Council of
Ile-de-France in cooperation with the Coordination Council of Armenian
Organizations in France (CCAF-Paris). Emphasizing that the history
of the Armenians is part of the history of France, the four-page
color document, entitled "Genocide of the Armenians," was written by
historians Philippe Videlier of CNRS in Lyon, Claude Mutafian, and
Raymond Kevorkian, the Director of AGBU’s Nubarian Library in Paris.

The brochure’s content was tailored to the region’s high school
students and included the crucial facts and lessons of the Armenian
Genocide. Intended for use as an educational tool, teachers have been
using the materials during classroom discussions on the topic. The
document illustrates the context of the Ottoman Empire at the time,
the situation of the Armenian population on the eve of the Genocide,
the tragic decision to eradicate the Armenian population by the Young
Turk government, the creation of concentration camps, the role of
the Young Turk Central Committee, and the criminal Turkish trials
that followed (1919-1920). It also includes a brief history, complete
with photos and maps, of the forced Armenian exile, and presents an
overview of the Armenian diaspora and realities faced by Armenians
in present day Turkey.

The Armenian Genocide brochure was a result of the vision of CCAF,
that after seeing that the Regional Council of Ile-de-France published
several documents pertaining to the Holocaust, contacted the region
in 2004 and persuaded them of the necessity to relate an important
event that has impacted the lives of all French Armenians.

Other French regions, including Provence-Côte d’Azur and Rhône-Alpes,
are considering distributing similar informational brochures to
their students.

The Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations in France (CCAF)
() brings together the 23 French Armenian organizations,
17 of which are permanent members (AAAS, ADL, AGBU, ANACRA, CBAF,
CDCA, FRA, GIIA, JAF, MAFP, Nor Seround, SD Hentchak, UCFAF, UMAF,
the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Armenian Catholic Church, and the
Armenian Evangelical Church), to coordinate joint initiatives. In
addition the "Genocide of the Armenians" document, this year’s
CCAF activities also included the organization of April 24th
commemorations, the mobilization against Turkish denial efforts,
the inauguration of Lyon’s Armenian Genocide memorial, and the
organization of demonstrations that supported the law that would
criminalize genocide denial.

The mission of AGBU’s Nubarian Library, based in Paris, France, is
to preserve, promote and highlight the Armenian heritage. Historians,
researchers, musicians, movie producers, and journalists consult the
library’s rich archive-which includes over 40,000 books, periodicals,
photos, post cards, musical scores, and maps-for projects ranging
from academic studies to television documentaries. The library also
publishes books, as well as, the quarterly journal, "Revue Armenienne
des Question Contemporaines." Open to the public four days a week,
please contact the AGBU Nubarian Library by calling +33.1.45.20.03.18,
or email [email protected] for more information.

AGBU is the largest Armenian non-profit organization in the world
and reaches 400,000 Armenians annually in 35 countries through its
educational, humanitarian and cultural projects. For more information
about AGBU and its programs, please visit

–Boundary_(ID_8gTpXMzxQCTDtGcueKUK bA)–

PALESTINIANS MUST PREVENT CIVIL WAR: ISLAMIC CONFERENCE

Tehran Times, Iran
June 19 2006

BAKU (AFP) — Palestinian factions must fight a slide into civil
war which is being exploited by Israel, Islamic diplomats said at a
pan-Muslim conference in Azerbaijan on Monday.

"Palestinian forces should not allow a civil war to take place," the
foreign minister of Malaysia, Syed Hamid Albar, said at the opening
of an Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in Baku.

Yemen’s foreign minister, Abu Bakr al-Kurbi, said the victory of the
Palestinian Hamas faction at parliamentary elections in January was
being exploited by Israel.

"The victory of Hamas is a trump card in the hands of Israel, which
does not want dialogue with the Palestinian government," he said.

He also called on international donors to resume the aid to the
Palestinians that was cut by Western governments after the Hamas win.

"Today there are threats to blockade the Palestinian people. We demand
donor countries aid Palestine," Kurbi said.

Foreign ministers of Islamic nations have gathered in Baku
for a meeting expected to be dominated by developments in the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict and in Iraq as well as the crisis over
Iran’s nuclear program.

"We support UN calls for the Persian Gulf to be free of nuclear
weapons. At the same time Israel must also sign the nuclear
non-proliferation agreement," Kurbi said.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev also called for reforms to the
UN Security Council, which he said has "no effective mechanism for
implementing decisions.

"If a decision is made it must be executed. If a country does not
execute a decision, sanctions should be used against it," Aliyev said
in a veiled jab at Azerbaijan’s foe Armenia which Baku believes has
not complied with UN resolutions over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh
enclave.

GEORGIA CAN ISOLATE ARMENIA WITHOUT THE US HELP

Regnum Agency, Russia
June 17 2006

"If the US companies refuse to finance the project of the
Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railway construction, as the House of
Representatives Committee of the US Congress has advised them to do,
there are other countries and other institutions, such as Eurobank,
the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Black Sea
Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB), IFC, and many others who can take
part in the project," the Georgian Minister of Economic Development
Irakly Chogovadze commented to the press on the decision of the House
of Representatives committee on financial services to ban financing
of the mentioned project with the US moneys.

If the project of construction the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku
railway will be economically sound, it will be implemented, Irakly
Chogovadze declared. Today, the minister noted, the work on the
project is going through its first stage, until the consortium for its
implementation is created and the required funds are found. The project
cost is estimated at $400mln, so the issue of the US participation
in it has not even been discussed yet. Georgia’s state minister on
reform coordination issues Kakha Bendukidze told journalists that the
project was quite interesting and could be economically sound. However,
it could only be realized in the long term, since the calculations
that were submitted on the project hardly look convincing.

Issues of the railway construction, including the one of its technical
and economic assessments prepared by the Turkish Yuksel Domonik Company
are expected to be discussed at the meeting of Azerbaijan, Georgia,
and Turkey representatives that will be held soon in Kazakhstan.

The railway construction project involves building the 98 kilometers
long Kars-Akhalkalaki railroad and renovation of the railway section
of the Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi rout.

The House of Representatives committee on financial assistance has
recently advised not to finance the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku
railway construction by-passing the existing but currently
non-operative due to the closure of the Armenian-Turkish border
Kars-Giumri-Tbilisi-Baku railroad.

Earlier, a pro-Armenian lobby in the US Congress headed by Congressman
Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) addressed a letter
to the State Secretary Condoleezza Rice appealing to her to refrain
from financing the project that is conflicting with the long-term
Washington interests in the region.

A number of European politicians also commented on the inexpediency
of this particular project and any other communication project that
would go around Armenia. They contend that Turkey has to normalize
its relations with all neighboring countries, including Armenia,
before it accesses the EU. This normalization should involve opening
the border with Armenia.

Armenian specialists lean to the view that constructing a railway
from Turkey to Georgia and then to Azerbaijan around Armenia will
terminate Armenia’s communication development and make its isolation
complete. Besides, the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railway construction
project is not included in the international TRACECA program. It
stipulates the necessity of involvement of the Kars-Gyumri-Tbilisi
railroad.

Armenian government authorities have also spoken against the project.

Particularly, Armenian Minister of Transport and Communications
Andranik Manukyan announced earlier that Armenia will do the utmost
to resist the Kars-Akhalkalaki railroad construction since it is not
beneficial not only to Armenia but also to the whole region.

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said that Azerbaijan
and Georgia have no moral right to allocate funds for the
Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railway construction. Investing in the
construction is senseless, for the countries participating in the
project are already connected by a railway communication through the
Armenian territory, he argued.

HEATED PAN-ARMENIAN PASSIONS

Lragir.am
17 June 06

Armenians would no way succeed in implementing minor or major
pan-Armenian projects. Quality is meant because formally there are
innumerable pan-Armenian programs. In particular, a strange process
began after the telethon of Armenia Fund in the fall of 2005, namely
a series of mutual accusations between the leadership of Karabakh
and the fund.

Quite recently the prime minister of Karabakh was asked why the
reconstruction of infrastructures in the region of Martakert has not
started in 8 months after the telethon on November 25, raising about
7.5 million dollars. Anushavan Danielyan gave a marvelously simple
answer, something like "ask Armenia Fund," and added that as far
as he knew 5 million dollars had been raised. The fund will surely
explain why Martakert has not received the first "consignment" of
millions. There is not much to explain. Either the millions were not
raised in reality, or were raised but the problem of their management
has not been solved yet, so nobody wants to start without being sure
that they will be the director of work. It should not be forgotten
that over 7 million dollars are concerned. This number will be growing
because donations for the reconstruction of Martakert will go on.

Perhaps the battle for leadership is the reason why the prime minister
of Karabakh places the responsibility on Armenia Pan-Armenian Fund,
for the NKR prime minister could have explained why the work has
not started yet. Throughout his career Anushavan Danielyan has had
to explain a lot of things, and an explanation would hardly take
him much effort. But if he had told that the money was not raised,
his words would have lost their meaning. Whereas when it is said "ask
Armenia Fund," the question of responsibility for donations is raised.

The leadership in Karabakh is said to be interested in replacing the
executive director of Armenia Fund. It may be a little surprising,
because the executive director used to be member of the same NKR
leadership, namely minister of foreign affairs. Hence, it seems
that the executive director could not have been more "their man."
Though, on the other hand, proxies appeared to be defiant in most
cases in history.

What could have happened? The executive director of Armenia Fund Naira
Melkumyan bought an apartment in Yerevan thanks to the government of
Karabakh, on the NKR state budget. Soon after having a budget under her
disposition Naira Melkumyan probably forgot about her former bosses.

Formally the Fund has an executive director, who is accountable to the
Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees is headed by the president
of Armenia. The NKR president is a member of the Board, so are the
second and third persons of Armenia and NKR. The Board of Trustees of
Armenia Fund is perhaps the only organization where the leadership of
Armenia and NKR do not have a deciding role. The majority of members
of the board are those rich people, who guarantee fund-raising. And
if their vote were ignored, the funds would decline. Consequently,
the board is the only organization where the leaders of Armenia
cannot impose their will, or they persuade rather than impose. But if
persuading is concerned, a government post will stop being important,
because the ability to persuade is like a gift. And unlike a post,
a gift is innate.

An effort to highlight someone else’s power at the expense of one’s
own power can be considered highly gifted, considering the reality
when everyone wants to highlight their own power. And maybe this is
the reason why NKR President Arkady Ghukasyan persuaded rich people in
the United States to donate money to the Fund for the reconstruction
of Martakert. Why was he persuading if afterwards the prime minister
of Karabakh would be placing the responsibility on the fund? Why did
Ghukasyan assume the responsibility of persuading rich people them? By
the way, after the telethon Naira Melkumyan announced that unlike
the previous years less money was raised because the millionaires
had donated little. It appears that Naira Melkumyan stated indirectly
that Arkady Ghukasyan had not worked well, that is he had failed to
persuade the rich people. But who knows, maybe he had persuaded?

HAKOB BADALYAN

MEN’S DEPARTMENT TO OPEN IN 2007 OCTOBER IN ARMENIAN-AMERICAN MEDICAL CENTER OF YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
Jun 15 2006

YEREVAN, JUNE 15, NOYAN TAPAN. It is planned to open also a men’s
department in 2007 October at the Armenian-American Medical Center
of Yerevan, where only women are rendered medical services for the
present. As Noyan Tapan was informed from Center Director Khachanush
Hakobian, examinations of prostate, kidney and bladder will be
carried out at the newly opened department. Besides, operating-rooms
will open on the Center’s third floor where light operations will
be done. According to Kh.Hakobian, they have reached agreement with
one of the leading clinics of the U.S. about giving modern medical
equipments to the department.

Kh.Hakobian said that at present repairs are being done in the Center
with the assistance of the USAID. After the end of the repairs the
circle of the services rendered at the Center will enlarge.

UN TO HELP AZERBAIJAN

A1+
[02:53 pm] 14 June, 2006

WFP Executive Director, James Morris, has approved a two-year operation
in Azerbaijan, which will provide 26,833 metric tons of food assistance
to 143,500 people displaced by the conflict with Armenia over the
disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Under the new operation, valued at US$15.7 million, WFP will
provide food aid to the most vulnerable of the displaced population,
particularly women and children.

“This is likely to be the last phase of WFP’s operation in
Azerbaijan. In order to ensure a smooth handover to the Government
towards the end of the project, the continued financial support from
donors is crucial,” said Amir Abdulla, WFP’s Regional Director for
the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, in an appeal to the
international donor community for continued support in this critical
period of transition.

Inadequate conditions

Since leaving Nagorno Karabakh 13 years ago, many displaced
Azerbaijanis still live in inadequate conditions and have severely
limited assets.

A WFP Food Security and Nutrition Assessment – the first of its kind
in Azerbaijan – was released last year and warned that nearly 300,000
of the one million Azerbaijanis displaced by the conflict with Armenia
would continue to rely on food aid for the foreseeable future.

Only 40 percent of the households covered by the survey have access
to agricultural land. In all instances most of the produce grown is
for family subsistence.

New operation

In designing the new operation, WFP incorporated the findings from
the survey and took into consideration the ongoing activities of
the government to assist the displaced population by reinforcing its
current assistance and benefit programmes.

The operation is aligned with the State Programme for Poverty Reduction
and Economic Development and will help Azerbaijan work towards the
Millennium Development Goals to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger,
achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality and
empower women.

A Food for Education component of the operation will address declining
enrolment rates of primary school children and help stabilize
attendance by providing school meals.

More employment opportunities

A Food for Work project will increase employment opportunities for
rural households, many of whom are displaced people. “Seventy percent
of WFP’s beneficiaries are women and children – they are extremely
food insecure. Any discontinuation of food assistance at this time
will seriously affect their health and nutritional well being.

To avert a disruption of what has been achieved so far with the help
of the government, funding is crucial,” said Rahman Chowdhury, WFP’s
Representative for Azerbaijan.

Over the past decade, WFP has been pivotal in alleviating the suffering
of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis displaced by the conflict
with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh that started in the early 1990s.

WFP has provided over US$100 million in food assistance to Azerbaijan
in the past twelve years to ease the hardships of the displaced
population.

PRESIDENT AND ECOLOGY MINISTER DISCUSS LAKE SEVAN AND OTHER ISSUES

Armenpress
Jun 13 2006

YEREVAN, JUNE 13, ARMENPRESS: President Robert Kocharian and nature
protection minister Vartan Ayvazian discussed today a set of issues
regarding the growing level of Lake Sevan, effective use of mineral
resources and management of state-run reserves.

Kocharian’s press office said the minister said the level of the lake
has risen 2.8 meters flooding many areas which he said are being now
cleaned. The president ordered to regulate the procedure of setting
fees for use of natural resources and apply more efforts to detect
shadow businesses in this sector and ensure transparency in holding
tenders for use of mineral resources.

The two men also spoke about development of ecological tourism,
restoration of forests and air pollution.

REORGANIZATION IN THE GOVERNMENT: TWO MINISTRIES TO BE ABOLISHED?
By M. Alkhazashvili

The Messenger, Georgia
June 13 2006

Big changes are planned in the government. State Minister of Reforms
Coordination, Kakha Bendukidze, states that by the end of 2006 the
Energy Ministry and the Ministry of Economic Development should be
closed. Bendukidze argues that the technical rehabilitation of the
energy sphere-the responsibility of the energy minister-has already
been accomplished; and that as soon as the privatization process is
complete the Ministry of Economic Development will be obsolete as
well. The newspaper Rezonansi quotes Bendukidze as saying flatly that
“Possibly by 2007 the Ministry of Economic Development will no longer
be necessary in Georgia.”

This statement led to something of a media hullabaloo, with journalists
rushing to the respective ministries to get the reactions of the soon
to be ex-ministers. However, neither Nika Gilauri (Minister of Energy)
nor Irakli Chogovadze (Minister of Economic Development) objected to
ttheir possible redundancy “I will welcome any rational solution,”
said Chogovadze.

Not everybody approves Bendukidze’s statements. Economist Soso
Tsiskarishvili says that the closure of these ministries will have
dire results for the country. Analysts point out that if the closures
do go ahead, a reshuffle of the cabinet will be necessary, and that
this is likely to lead to other staff changes as well.

According to the local press-pack the Minister of Agriculture and
Food, Mikho Svimonishvili, may also have to look for a new job. The
president is said to be discontented with his style of working,
he recently inquired why Georgian production techniques were more
expensive than Armenian, and a short while ago made him taste some
of the now infamous “Svanchkara” falsified wine-it that there may be
some things on the horizon that are even more difficult for Mr.
Svimonishvili to swallow.

AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN FMS TO MEET IN PARIS TOMORROW

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
June 12 2006

Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers are due to meet in Paris
tomorrow, Armenian FM Vardan Oskanyan told journalists (APA). He
said the details of these talks for the settlement of the Nagorno
Garabagh conflict have not been specified but the Foreign Ministers
are prepared to this meeting.

“We’ll try to reach an agreement on the issues that the Azerbaijani
and Armenian Presidents failed to solve at the meeting in Bucharest.

We’ll make efforts to reach common agreement at tomorrow’s meeting.

Despite the presidents’ failure to reach a consensus in Bucharest
talks, there exist positive nuances for peaceful solution of the
Nagorno Garabagh conflict. We must try to benefit from these nuances
and prepare next meeting of the Presidents,” Oskanyan said.

The Armenian Minister also said that there is a document with some
details agreed on the negotiations table and stressed the parties
could not agree on some issues regarding this document.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Taghizadeh in his
statement to APA confirmed the information on meeting of Azerbaijani
and Armenian foreign ministers scheduled for in Paris tomorrow. He said
this meeting is the continuation of the Prague process, the two foreign
ministers will have talks in the frames of the Prague process.

“THIRD FRONT” FOR ARMENIANS?
Hakob Badalyan

Lragir.am
12 June 06

It was not calm on the Russian-Armenian “front” on the weekend. For the
time being this word can be taken in inverted commas, but murder of
another couple of Armenians, and we can surely state that the third
front is open. Moreover, independent from us and in an unexpected
direction for us. Another Armenian was killed in Moscow, only several
hours after another Armenian was trying to assure the public in Armenia
that the Russian government is not to blame, and there is no need to
become hostile with Russia.

Several hours later the Police found the killer, thus showing that
maybe the government is not related to these murders, if the government
can be not related to serial killings of people belonging to another
nationality in a country at all. However, since there is no evidence
to this relation, we cannot insist that what happened was organized by
the government. However, the government should prevent crime along
with punishing the guilty to prove that they are not related to
the anti-Armenian surge, that they neither organize nor connive in
murders. It does not seem to happen, and there are no signs that it
will do. Moreover, there is no confidence that the real murderer was
found, considering the dependence of the judiciary on the executive
in most post-Soviet countries, particularly in Russia.

He may be a scapegoat, who will be tried in public, whereas nobody
can be sure that the convict will not be released on the next day or
the convict will not become a hero in jail for destroying the foes
of Russia.

In the meantime, there are reasons to doubt the consistency of the
Russian government, and these reasons are widely known. The verdict
of the court leaving the killers indicted for the horrible murder of
the nine-year-old Tajik girl almost unpunished makes it pointless to
recall other examples. And it is surprising why this would not arouse
concern in Armenia, both among the society and the government.

Whereas the problem is much serious than it might seem at first
sight. The silence following every murder directly strikes the Armenian
state. Hence, the authority of the state is diminishing among its
own citizens, who can see that they are not protected abroad, that
their own government is avoiding practical steps in this direction.

The foreign minister of Armenia says Russian-Armenian relations are
administered directly, not through letters. It may be better and
also more effective. It is certain, however, that besides personal
contact it is necessary to make a statement, at least once. In order
for the citizens of Armenia and the Armenians living abroad, namely in
Russia and other post-Soviet countries, to see, to hear and to feel
that there is an Armenian state, which thinks about its compatriots
and does not keep silent about repeating murders. If there is anxiety
that the Russian-Armenian relations will become tense, we can easily
bid farewell to these relations, if the dignity of Armenia and the
Armenians is the price for sustaining them.