Author: Karakhanian Suren

ABOUT 100 CITIZENS APPLY TO RA OMBUDSMAN REGRADING RESORATION OF THEIR RIGHT
TO RECEIVE COMPENSATION
YEREVAN, AUGUST 3, NOYAN TAPAN. About 100 citizens, whose health
suffered during the process of work but who were deprived of the right
to receive compensation, have applied to the RA Ombudsman Office. NT
was informed about it from the RA Ombudsman Information and PR
Department. Under the RA government decision No. 579 of November 15,
1992, point 16, if an organization stops operating as a result of its
liquidation or restructuring, the damage done to health is compensated
by its legal successor, and in case of the latter’s absence – by
the social security body with state budget resources. Article 1086
of the RA Civil Code that took effect in 1999 stipulates that in
case of liquidation of the legal entity responsible for damage done
to life or health, the payments to be made are capitalized in order
prescribed by law or other legal acts – in order to pay them to the
person who suffered. However, neither law nor a governmental decision
have established such an order over the past 7 years. Instead, the RA
government made a decision on November 11, 2004, under which point 16
of the above mentioned law lost its force. As a result the problem
remains unsettled. According to the press release, the RA Ombudsman
called the Prime Minister’s attention to the problem, proposing that
respective measures be taken in the shortest possible time in order
to fill in this legislative gap.

Armenian Youth Federation-YOARF Eastern US
80 Bigelow Ave
Watertown, MA 02472
Tel. (617) 923-1933
Fax (617) 924-1933

Press Release
For Immediate Release ~ August 3, 2006
(617) 923-1933
AYF-YOARF Hosts Successful Picnic at Camp Haiastan
WATERTOWN, Mass. — On July 23, over 540 AYF members, alumni, Camp
Haiastan campers, parents and staff gathered on the camp’s picnic
grounds to enjoy a regional picnic sponsored by the AYF-YOARF Central
Executive.
Aimed at celebrating its past achievements and its future prospects,
the AYF-YOARF Central Executive said the picnic succeeded in again
gathering Armenians to celebrate their history. The picnic featured
kebab, salad and pilav prepared and served by Central Executive as
well as current and alumni members.
As campers, staffers and parents stopped by the picnic for lunch
or dinner, old friends were reunited and new friendships were
established. The AYF’s fraternal spirit was once again passed on from
generation to generation.
“It was great to see ungers and ungerouhis from all different chapters
working together, especially in the kitchen. It was definitely a fun
time and we all worked really hard,” said Greater Boston AYF chapter
member Anoush Essajanian. “I think the picnic was a great success
and a fabulous day overall.”
The event also featured music by the Aravod Ensemble, tables with
information from various organizations and vendors who sold such
items as framed pictures from Armenia, t-shirts and jewelry.
PHOTO CAPTIONS: Ungers and Meat: (L to R) AYF Central Executive member
Masis Koumrigian and chairman Jim Kzirian preparing the meat, fresh
off the grill Preparing the Food: AYF members from Boston, Providence,
Philadelphia, and New Jersey worked together to prepare food for the
AYF Regional Picnic

MARGARYAN WANTS POLICE OUT OF RUNDA HOUSE
The Standard, Kenya
Aug 2 2006
By Judy Ogutu
One of the alleged Armenian brothers being probed by the Kiruki
Commission of Inquiry, Artur Margaryan, wants the High Court to order
the removal of police officers from his former rented home.
Through his lawyer, Oscar Avedi, he moved to court under a certificate
of urgency and named Police Commissioner and the Attorney General as
respondents to the suit.
“The applicant most urgently needs the court’s intervention in this
matter where members of the Kenya police have invaded his home and
property and denied him access to the same,” said Avedi.
Margaryan wants the court’s greenlight to seek orders quashing the
Police Commissioner’s decision to send officers to the Runda house.
Lease agreement
Avedi said under the commissioner’s command, the officers forcibly
occupied and took possession of his client’s property after he left
the country in June.
Margaryan has expressed fears that since he is out of the country,
his property could be damaged, stolen or lost as a result of the
alleged illegal occupation.
He said having established huge investments in East Africa, he had
set up a base in Kenya, got into a lease agreement and went on to
buy furniture worth millions of shillings and vehicles.
“As things stand, one of the applicant’s dogs has died as a result
of neglect,” his lawyer said.
Margaryan, who claimed to be a businessman and director of Brotherlink
International and Kensington Holdings, said he was “very attached to
these dogs and they are of great sentimental value”.
Court vacation
The police chief, he claimed, also chased away his employees in his
absence, an action that amounted to trespass and a denial of his
right to quiet enjoyment of property.
Avedi said the police officers invaded his client’s property without
a court order.
Margaryan, who is seeking to stop the proceedings of the Kiruki
Commission, failed to convince the court to hear the case during
vacation.
Avedi told Lady Justice Joyce Aluoch that the commission, chaired by
Shedrach Kiruki, had denied him an opportunity to be heard.
Justice Aluoch directed him to file a further affidavit on behalf
of the applicant to enable her to decide whether to admit the matter
for the court vacation.

Turkish Writer Indicted for “Insulting Turkishness”
PanARMENIAN.Net
01.08.2006 14:46 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Arizona University professor, writer of Turkish
origin Elif Shafak is indicted for “insulting Turkishness”. Novel
Father and Illegitimate Son gave cause for criminal prosecution
on article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Code, which provides for
imprisonment up to 3 years. The novel of the 35-year-old writer tells
about the events in 1915 in the Ottoman Empire, reports United Press
International.
“Armenians and Turks live in different eras. If we want a genuine
dialogue between the two parties, we need to recognize this time
factor,” Shafrak writes. One of heroines of the novel is Armenian
Armanush, who tells about her ancestors, killed in the Armenian
Genocide and waits for repentance.

NEW UNDERGOUND STATION TO BE BUILT IN YEREVAN SOON
Yerevan, July 31. ArmInfo. In 2008-2009, the construction of the new
“Achapniak” underground station will be completed in Yerevan. Yervand
Zakharian, Mayor of Yerevan City, said this at today’s press
conference.
He said that the construction of “Achapniak” underground station
began few years ago, but wasn’t completed because of the lack of
financial sources. According to the plans of the previous years,
about $22 million were required for the construction works. In 2007,
new project account documents will be elaborated for the construction
works. As for the transport issues, Zakharian said that in September
2006, new 76 “Bogdan” mini busses will be brought to Yerevan. Besides,
25 new Russian trolley busses will be purchased for the capital. Each
of the trolley busses costs $70 thousand. The Mayor’s Office also
envisages to complete the renovation works of the bus stations,
100 of which will be exploited already in September.
In total, AMD 1,6 billion of work was carried out in the sphere of
the capital’s transport.

OSCE MINSK GROUP U.S. CO-CHAIR SAYS HIS MEETING WITH NKR PRESIDENT CONSTRUCTIVE
Arka News Agency, Armenia
July 31, 2006
YEREVAN, July 31. /ARKA/. U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk group Matthew
Bryza said that his meeting with NKR President Arkady Ghukasyan in
Stepanakert was constructive.
“The atmosphere during the meeting was very constructive and
creative. We exchanged opinions and looked for joint approaches to
contribute to the progress,” Bryza told reporters after the meeting
on last Saturday.
Commenting on this meeting, Ghukasyan said that “no doubt that one
of the issues was Nagorno Karabakh’s participation in the negotiations.
“I think that Mr. Bryza understands that the conflict cannot be
resolved without Nagorno-Karabakh. Not only him, but also all the
other mediators realize that,” Ghukasyan said.
At the same time, he pointed out that without visiting the NKR and
being introduced to the situation there, Bryza could not have a full
idea of what takes place in the region.
NKR Foreign Minister Georgy Petrosyan, who was present at this meeting,
pointed out that “a rather creative approach both from the president
and the U.S. co-chair was displayed during the meeting”.
He said that they talked over ideas, which are still to be clarified,
agreed and discussed for a long time.
“I am gland that Bryza visited us as he had promised. We agreed on
this in the USA. Mr. Bryza is rather energetic and ready to act in
a constructive way,” Petrosyan said. R.O. -0–

OKLAHOMA GUARDSMEN RECOGNIZED AZERBAIJAN
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
July 31, 2006
A few days ago a delegation of the U. S. servicemen headed by the
Head of Okhlom-, sorry, Oklahoma National Guard Major General Harry
Wyatt visited Azerbaijan. According to the Azeri tradition, any
guest from the U. S. is received by the most high-ranked persons of
the identical profession. Naturally, the Major General was received
by the Azeri DM Safar Abiyev. The guest was shown the most important
sight of Baku: a monument to the Azeri nation’s outstanding chieftain
Heydar Aliyev situated on the square bearing his name. Having put
flowers to the legs of the bronze chieftain, the American General
with those accompanying him drove along the avenue named after the
father of the current President of Azerbaijan to the Republic MOD,
where he participated in a splendid banquet with black caviar and
Armenian cognac with the label “Khazar”.
According to the tradition, a guest of any rank in the course of a
banquet in his honor must say a phrase, the point of which is that
he inveighs (recognizes, protects, respects – the options depend on
the guest’s professional activity and the degree of his modesty and
breeding) Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. The guest with shoulder
straps and stripes did not surprise anyone with his modesty.
In the course of the banquet the Oklahoma General, being deeply touched
by the caviar with cognac and unusual total attention managed to utter
what he has learnt: “the U. S. recognized and recognize Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity”. However, it was not enough for the brave
General, so he went on swaggering. As if getting ready for the
assault of the Afghan fortress of Tora Bora, behind the strong walls
of which Usama Ben Laden’s phantom is hiding, he resolutely exhaled:
“within the frames of the USSR’s era”.
Oh, General, oh, maladroit person, who remembers about the USSR’s
existence and has forgotten (or did not know) the map of the U. S.
President Wilson. And yet it is said there are no former presidents
in the U. S. Though Wilson – it was so long ago, in the first years
of Azerbaijan’s Sovietization, so the present generals could forget
about it.
The Azeri generals, by the way, turned to be more diplomatic than
their colleague from abroad, who can feel comfortable everywhere.
Having pretended that they know nothing about the Azeri Republic’s
refusal from the Azeri SSR’s succession, they amicably applauded
following their Minister.
The Azeri MOD Press Service informed with unconcealed pride that the
MOD Chief delivered an address, having noted the successful development
of cooperation between Azerbaijan and NATO. “We highly appreciate
the role the U. S. has played in the development of cooperation
between Azerbaijan and NATO. The Subdivisions of Azerbaijan’s Armed
Forces actively participated in the peacemaking operations in Kosovo,
Afghanistan and Iraq”.
Having paid tribute to decency and reminding the Oklahoma inhabitant
of Azerbaijan’s great contribution to the NATO peacemaking activity,
Abiyev came to the point: “the Armenian – Azeri conflict has not been
resolved yet, the activity of the OSCE Minsk group dealing with the
conflict settlement cannot be considered satisfactory. We speak up for
the conflict’s settlement within the frames of the standards of the
international right and on the basis of observance of the principle
of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. We also request that the
Armenian troops should be immediately withdrawn from the occupied
territories. The Armenian party adopts a destructive stand in the
conflict’s settlement and does not wish to take into consideration
the current situation. Taking the above-mentioned into account,
Azerbaijan has to undertake adequate measures”.
Abiyev did not verify who they “request” and who they have to
“undertake adequate measures” against. However, his expansive speech
made necessary impression: according to those present, without habitual
encirclement of the brave corporals the Oklahoma General worried,
not to say was afraid. What if the Minister has taken him as someone
else? Though he is a Minister, he tried cognac as well.
Worried Wyatt began to carefully remonstrate to his too zealous
interlocutor, stating that all the conflicts must be settled by
diplomatic way. “We are ready to help you in the issue”, he said,
“the U. S. highly estimate the Azerbaijan’s efforts in the direction
and we are ready to help you. We believe Azerbaijan will demonstrate
its strong stand and will in the issue and at the negotiating table”.
Abiyev, who a bit cooled off the words and affirmations, also started
affirming that personally he, Safar, was against any hostilities. In
general, Azerbaijan, which denied Soviet heritage, is still devoted
to the slogan “Peace to the world”.
I do not know what about the American uncle, but I believe in his
words’ sincerity. Safar Abiyev really speaks up for peace and arms
race. First, arms race is the Azeri Minister’s favorite and quite
profitable business; second, it is easier, than to run around the
world searching for his own deserters and others’ disposable pilots.
Finally, being a son of a benefactor father, I. Aliyev every year
increases the Republic’s military budget twice. It should be noted
that Abiyev himself manages the state budget. According to the Azeri
proverb, a dog will not run away from meat, while Abiyev has been
brought up on the traditions of deep respect to the national wisdom of
his tribe. Why should one wage war, if it’s possible to buy armament
in Ukraine, on the points of collection of black and colored metal, and
then register it at the astronomic prices and put the difference in his
own pocket? And yet, a war is a war. What if after a current failure
one will have to lose his profitable post? For instance, the Karabakh
war made a lot of Ministers tender their resignation. Some were even
sent to jails. It should be noted that Abiyev is not Don Quixote.
Levon MELIK-SHAHNAZARYAN

Ambassador to Armenia designate responds to Senators’ questions

ArmRadio.am
28.07.2006 15:43
As the Senate Foreign Relations Committee weighs the nomination of
Richard E. Hoagland as America’s next Ambassador to Armenia, the
Foreign Service officer says that if confirmed, he will uphold the
President’s policies with respect to the Armenian Genocide, which
neither denies nor properly acknowledges the events of 1915.
Several Committee Members including Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA),
Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Russell Feingold (D-WI), John Kerry (D-MA) and
Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) submitted a series of questions to Hoagland
following the June 28 proceedings. The lawmakers asked Hoagland to
clarify US policy on the Armenian Genocide and to explain what, if
anything, the State Department has directed him to say publicly on the
Armenian Genocide.
“The State Department has not directed me to make or avoid specific
statements about the tragic events that occurred at the end of the
Ottoman Empire, but has rather provided me with information on the
President’s policy which, if confirmed, I will represent faithfully,”
Hoagland stated in his response to Kerry. Hoagland did not deviate in
his response to Committee Members with similar policy questions.
Kerry also asked Hoagland to explain why the Administration refuses to
recognize the crimes as genocide. Hoagland provided the following:
“The US believes that the question of how to characterize these
horrific events is of such enormous human significance that it should
not be determined on the basis of politics, but through heartfelt
introspection among academics, civic leaders and societies.”
Feingold asked Hoagland how he plans to respond to those in the
Armenian community who are upset by Ambassador John M. Evans’
premature departure. Hoagland replied that the US and Armenia have a
deep and robust relationship, stating “this relationship is based on
close ties and mutual interests on a variety of issues. We expect this
relationship to continue and deepen.”
In response to a question from Chafee on what he might say to
Armenians and Armenian-Americans on April 24, Hoagland said he will
work to draw attention to the events as the President has done. “I
will work to encourage dialogue between Armenia and Turkey on this
issue and to encourage all parties to examine the historical events of
this time with honesty and sensitivity,” he stated.
Hoagland, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, currently
serves as United States Ambassador to the Republic of
Tajikistan. Prior to this, he served as Director of the Office of
Caucasus and Central Asian Affairs at the Department of State. Earlier
in his career, he served as Director of the Office of Public Diplomacy
in the Bureau of South Asian Affairs.

Semneby: EU for Solving Karabakh Issue Peacefully
PanARMENIAN.Net
25.07.2006 17:11 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Secretary of the National Security Council
at the Armenian President, Armenian MOD Head Serge Sargsyan met
with EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby,
Spokesperson for Armenian Defense Minister, colonel Seyran Shahsuvaryan
told PanARMENIAN.Net. German and Finnish Ambassadors Haike Renate
Peitsch and Terry Akala were present at the meeting. During the meeting
the parties discussed the EU-Armenia action Plan. They exchanged
views on settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and relations
with neighboring countries. Semneby reaffirmed EU is for peaceful
settlement of Karabakh issue. The interlocutors also discussed EU
involvement in coming parliamentary election in Armenia.

100 years of sorrow and joy
Montreal Gazette , Canada
July 24, 2006
Ask ‘Nene’ about the Armenian genocide, and her awful memories unfold
in novelistic detail. But through a life of quiet, patient dignity,
she has been a guiding light to her large family Article Tools
ANNETTE AGHAZARIAN, Freelance Published: Monday, July 24, 2006
Some people touch the lives of everyone they meet without ever
realizing the effect they have. They don’t need to write a book or
govern a country to hold such great power; in their own simple way,
they can restore your faith in God and humanity.
This month, Arousiag Aghazarian turned 100 years old. You would never
know it by looking at her, but if you take the time to listen to her
stories, she will transport you to a time and place unimaginable.
Although her health is failing, her mind and heart are still strong,
and she has forgotten nothing.
Memories unfold behind her now blind eyes, like the pages in a
history book. If you ask her about her life, she will describe it
in such detail that you might think she was reading passages from
a novel. She can tell you how she witnessed the horrors of genocide
as a child and travelled like a fugitive for more than a decade in
her bare feet. She has seen entire families, churches and villages
obliterated. She has experienced the ugly brutality of war but remains
strangely optimistic, because she has always lived her life as a true
survivor and never as a victim. If you listen very closely, you will
understand the concept of faith: someone who quietly and courageously
moves forward under tragic circumstances and never once asks, “Why me?”
Imagine sitting atop a family tree spanning five generations and
knowing that somehow, by the grace of God, your life was spared for
reasons you never would have expected. You lived through a massacre,
were married off at 13, and gave birth to your first child at 15,
when you were still a child yourself. You are the mother of six,
grandmother of 13, great-grandmother of 22, and you now await the
grandchild of your own grandchild. Would you have ever dreamed that
all these children would speak a language (Armenian) you were forbidden
to learn?
“Nene” means grandmother in Turkish. And all her children, from 85 down
to to 2 years old, call her Nene. She lives with her only daughter,
who refuses to put her in a convalescent facility. She has spent a
century washing and cooking and mothering for so many, and to take
her away from her home and her family would be unthinkable.
When I suffered through eight years of infertility and had given up
hope, Nene never once lost faith. She told me she would not leave
this Earth until I produced a child. Only after my son was born did I
truly understand the beauty of her perseverance. When I looked at his
perfect little face, I felt what she always knew: to feel great joy,
you must first know great sorrow.
Nene never blames anyone for the events of her life. She knows her
fate lies with a higher power. Through the atrocities of war, she
followed a divine path that only her eyes could see. With the birth
of each child, her heart grew stronger, as did her patience. When I
asked her through what miracles she survived, the simplicity of her
words fell heavy on my chest: “It was my silence that kept me alive.
My silence and my patience – that is what God gave me.”
There are no diplomas on Nene’s shelves. There isn’t a Nobel Peace
Prize for all her accomplishments, but her house is full of awards.
On every wall, table or dresser there is the photo of a child Nene
has raised. Every single one of us holds a memory deep in our hearts
of a time when she made us feel worthy of her love.
Some people escape tragic circumstances but allow their pain to
consume them. Others live their lives with a quiet dignity and
lead by example. Like Holocaust writer Elie Wiesel, Nene has often
wondered why her life was spared when so many others were destroyed.
She never questions God’s will, but as she reached 100 years on this
planet she couldn’t help but ask why she’s still here.
Perhaps we, her family, need to be reminded to be grateful for what we
have and for how far we have come. And that without Nene’s strength
and courage, none of us would be here today. She has taught us the
importance of family and the appreciation of simple things.
There are far too many of us now to be seated at one table for a
Sunday meal, but we all can remember the wonderful smells that danced
in Nene’s kitchen. Until she went blind at 90, she still prepared with
her own hands the delicacies that take all day to make – the home-baked
bread, dolma, stuffed meatballs, roasted lamb, and her famous mantee.
Nene’s hands now lie still in her lap, but they are waiting. There is
one more child on the way and she wants to be ready. She must rock
him to sleep as she rocked so many of us when our own mothers were
too tired. It is her legacy to soothe our cries.
Annette Aghazarian is a Montreal writer and granddaughter of Arousiag
Aghazarian.
algazette/news/arts/story.html?id=5f03e5e0-b5a3-4f ef-98e7-f4daeb39e3ec