Author: Karapetian Hovik

ALMA ARMENIAN LEGIONNAIRE TRAVELING EXHIBIT BEGINS NATIONWIDE TOUR

ticle/2009-08-19-alma-armenian-legionnaire-traveli ng-exhibit-begins-nationwide-tour&pg=2
Wednesd ay August 19, 2009

Watertown, Mass. – Legion Armenienne: The Armenian Legion and Its
Heroism in the Middle East is a traveling exhibit developed and
prepared by the Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA) in
honor of the Legionnaires and their devotion to their nation and to
the cause of liberty during World War I. The exhibit explores the
formation, training, military action, and postwar activities of this
all-volunteer force through photographs and narratives.

ALMA will premiere the exhibit at Northbridge Town Hall (7 Main St.,
Whitinsville Mass.) from Aug. 31 through Sept. 22. The exhibit is
open to the public Monday 8:30 am to 7 pm; Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; and Friday 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

On Monday, Sept. 14, ALMA will host a free public reception at
Northbridge Town Hall from 5 to 7 p.m. in celebration of the exhibit
embarking on its first nationwide tour. Following its premiere in
Whitinsville, "Legion Armenienne" will travel to the West Coast
in October.

The story of the Armenian Legion reflects the community’s attempts
to come to grips with the destruction and devastation following
the Armenian Genocide. It also represents the successful efforts of
Armenians from different social, economic, and political backgrounds
to work together for a common cause. The Legion encompassed a
group of remarkable individuals–some of them officers, others of no
special rank or distinction–who volunteered throughout the Diaspora,
overcoming tremendous difficulties in order to serve their people and
nation courageously, often at great personal sacrifice. Their lives
are well worth remembering.

Example of dedication

One of these individuals, Hagop Arevian, provides an example of
the dedication exhibited by the Legionnaires under extraordinary
circumstances. Born in 1894 in a small village near Sebastia (Turkey),
he experienced the tragedy and dislocation that have affected so many
Armenians. His family miraculously survived the massacres ordered
by Sultan Abdul Hamid in 1894-1896, and moved to the capital of
Constantinople (Istanbul), where Hagop’s father, Nazareth, obtained
work as a port supervisor. However Nazareth was soon arrested and
imprisoned by Ottoman officials on charges of illegal political
activism. Despite repeated appeals to the authorities, even to the
Sultan himself, Nazareth remained in prison and ultimately died there.

Hagop received his education in Mekhitarist schools in the capital, and
in 1914 he went to Alexandria, Egypt, to join his older brother. With
the outbreak of World War I, he resolved to fight for the Allies and he
went to Marseilles, France, to volunteer for the French Foreign Legion.

After training in Algeria, he joined the French Army in France. On
leave in Paris, he met Boghos Nubar Pasha and learned of the plans
to form the Armenian Legion to fight with the French/British forces
in the Middle East; as part of the plan the Armenians were promised
autonomy in the regions of Cilicia, southern Turkey, which had been
allocated to France, according to World War I secret agreements
between the Allies (France, England, and Russia).

Arevian, now a corporal first class, returned to the battlefield in
France and was seriously wounded at Vitry-le-Francois. Receiving the
valued Croix de Guerre, he was detached from the Foreign Legion in 1917
and assigned to the Armenian Legion, which was then training in Cyprus.

After helping to train the Armenian volunteers in Cyprus, Arevian
joined the Legion as it marched to Palestine to join in the campaign
being waged by British General Edmund Allenby. As a member of the Fifth
Battalion, Arevian participated in the Legion’s victory at the Battle
of Arara (near Rafat, Palestine) against a combined Turkish/German
Army commanded by Mustapha Kemal (later Ataturk). The victory marked
the collapse of the Turkish/German forces and culminated in the end
of the war in November 1918.

Marching north with General Allenby’s forces, Arevian joined
other Legionnaires in rescuing Armenian women and children who had
survived the death marches of the Genocide. The Armenian Legion was
now assigned as the advanced guard to occupy Cilicia. Lt. Col. Louis
Romieu, commander of the Legion, granted Arevian’s request for his
section to have the honor of being the first to land in Cilicia,
at the port of Mersin. Arevian was subsequently stationed in Adana,
the center of the French occupation in Cilicia, where he served for
the following two years.

By 1920 the political landscape had shifted drastically. France
turned Cilicia over to the Turkish nationalists, thus abandoning
thousands of Armenians who had returned to their homes under the
promise of French occupation and protection. France quietly disbanded
the Armenian Legion, and Arevian (now a citizen of France) returned
to Egypt, where he married and established a family and a successful
business. He died in Paris in 1965.

Enthusiastic response

In recognition of the importance of remembering the Legionnaires
and their devotion to their nation and to the cause of liberty,
the Armenian Library and Museum of America prepared a major exhibit
in 2001. The exhibit was curated by Ardemis Matteosian in close
collaboration with ALMA Board Members Dr. Barbara J. Merguerian and
Arakel Almasian. The enthusiastic response to the exhibit revealed
a tremendous interest in this overlooked and in many ways unwritten
story.

In response to requests to bring the exhibit to other locations in
the United States and as part of its goal of a broader community
outreach, ALMA commissioned this traveling exhibit, incorporating
the community spirit of the original into an informative historic,
literary, and artistic presentation.

The traveling exhibit was made possible by a grant from K. George
and Carolann S. Najarian, M.D. Foundation with additional support
provided by The Armenian-American Veterans of Milford, Mass., Inc.

CONCERT TAKES PLACE IN MONTEVIDEO ON OCCASION OF RADIO ARAX ANNIVERSARY

Noyan Tapan
Aug 20, 2009

MONTEVIDEO, AUGUST 20, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The Arax Armenian
radio program of Uruguay marked the second anniversary of its being
on air on August 16.

More than 500 spectators listened to RA Merited Figure of Culture,
Art Director of the Taron children’s choir, singer Gevorg Chakmanian,
the Yerevan 50 orchestra of Uruguay, and members of the Masis dancing
ensemble of Argentina joined them.

According to the representatives of the Arax radio program, another
concert took place in the same hall the next day for students of
Nersesian and Nubarian-Alex Manoogian Armenian schools and Armenia
local school to sow love for Armenian folk song among the children.

Radio Arax has launched special music programs on the occasion of
Gevorg Chakmanian’s visit. Beloved singer Alla Levonian participated
in one of these programs over the telephone, and the activity of
People’s Artists of Armenia Ofelia Hambartsumian and Ruben Matevosian
was presented and appreciated in the other programs.

BLOODY PAGES OF TURKISH MURDERS

Panorama.am
13:50 18/08/2009

Bloody pages of encroachments and murders fill the history of
recent 30 years of Turkish Republic. During those 30 years about
30 scientists have been murdered, including journalists, writers,
two ministers and one prime minister. Some of those crimes are not
yet revealed (or else they are so presented to the public), another
part is addressed to foreign terrorists’ groups.

Turkish "Sabah" writes that the killers and clients differ while the
styles of murders remain unchanged. Most often the murders are done
by fire-arms, bombs, etc.

It is also said that Hrant Dink’s murder was conducted by "JITEM"
group, retired General Vely Qjuchuk and Security forces.

SUREN PETROSYAN TAKES 10TH PLACE IN WORLD CYCLING CHAMPIONSHIP

PanARMENIAN.Net/
17.08.2009 17:51 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The delegation of the Armenian cyclists returned
today from Moscow, where two representatives from Armenia participated
in the World by cycling Championship on the road and track.

As Karen Grigorian, executive director Cycling Federation of Armenia
told a PanARMENIAN.Net, Suren Petrosyan appeared on the track in two
disciplines, finishing in the team race 17th and in the scratch – 10th.

Another Armenian cyclist Aram Melikyan as a result of a collision on
the highway, injured leg and was not able to continue the race.

Armenian delegation headed by the vice-president of Cycling
Federation of Armenia Ashot Khachatryan, left for Moscow on August
2. The delegation included also coaches Armen Gyozalyan and Andranik
Arustamyan.

According to Karen Grigoryan, Armenian cyclists in September and
October to take part in three tournaments on the "road" in Iran,
the first "Nazandaran Tour" will take place September 23-28.

PRIMATE PERFORMS DEDICATION RITE OF NEWLY PURCHASED CHURCH IN SANTA CLARITA

erforms-dedication-rite-of-newly-purchased-church- in-santa-clarita/?utm_source=newsletterBeta&ut m_medium=email&utm_content=Text&utm_campai gn=News
Aug 14 2009

On August 9, 2009 His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, accompanied
by His Eminence Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian; Rev. Archpriest Fr. Sipan
Mekhsian, Chancellor of the Western Diocese; Rev. Fr. Avedis Abovian,
Youth Director; Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Nerses Hayrapetyan and a number
of Deacons and Acolytes performed the Dedication Rite of the Armenian
Church of Santa Clarita, during the celebration of the Divine Liturgy.

The procession of Clergy and faithful led by the Primate came outside
after the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer during the celebration of
the Divine Liturgy for the first part of the Dedication Rite. After
conducting the blessing of the door, they proceeded inside where
the Primate assisted by His Eminence Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian
consecrated the holy altar and a cross-stone which was then installed
near the holy altar of the church.

In his sermon, the Primate noted that with the Grace of God the
Armenian Church of Santa Clarita was able to acquire this property, and
this great achievement became possible as a result of the persistent
efforts of Rev. Fr. Nerses Hayrapetyan, Parish Priest, and members
of the Parish Council.

A large number of enthusiastic faithful had filled the pews of the
church to witness the dedication of their church in the area. A
beautiful reception was held after the church service in celebration
of that significant day in the history of the Armenian Church of
Santa Clarita.

The Armenian Church of Santa Clarita is located at 24626 Kansas St.,
Newhall, CA 91321.

CIS AND TURKEY TO JOIN KPMG EUROPE LLP

Consultant News
13/08/2009

The partners of KPMG CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States)
and KPMG Turkey have overwhelmingly voted to join KPMG Europe LLP
(ELLP) alongside the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium and
the Netherlands.

CIS and Turkey to join KPMG Europe LLP Partners of KPMG CIS, which
consists of Russia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Armenia and
Georgia, approved the merger proposal in a vote last month. The ELLP
partners have now also voted in favour of the agreement.

As part of the merger, Andrew Cranston, Senior Partner for KPMG CIS,
will join the ELLP board.

In a separate vote, the partners of KPMG Turkey have also decided to
join ELLP. This agreement has also been approved by the ELLP partners.

The combined firm will have 30,000 partners and staff working from
more than 100 offices – with net revenues of [email protected] in 2008.

The decision of the CIS and Turkey partners to join enhances KPMG’s
position as the most fully integrated accountancy firm across Europe.

Rolf Nonnenmacher and John Griffith-Jones, Joint Chairmen of ELLP,
said: "We warmly welcome the decision of our colleagues in KPMG CIS and
KPMG Turkey to join ELLP. We are convinced that this is a significant
and vital move towards creating an integrated firm with the strength
and resources necessary to compete effectively in the changing global
economic environment and we look forward to further strengthening
our position as other member firms join in the near future."

KPMG CIS offers the full range of KPMG services. Since its
establishment in the early 1990s, it has grown rapidly to become the
second biggest firm in the CIS accounting markets and has developed a
large client base, which includes Lukoil, Rusal and a number of other
Russian companies operating globally. In the year to September 2008
revenues were ~@210m.

Andrew Cranston added: "The merger will increase our ability
to retain and target major audit clients, especially those with
international operations and ambitions, and to target the largest
advisory opportunities.

"We also believe that closer access to and involvement in innovation,
initiatives and tools, will enhance quality and efficiency across
our practice. All of this will be positive for our people, providing
additional development and career opportunities."

KPMG Turkey is an established full service practice with revenues of
USD42 million in 2008.

Ferruh Tunc, Chairman and Senior Partner for KPMG Turkey said: "Our
decision to join KPMG Europe could not come at a better time. There
is an important change planned for 2010 which will require auditor
rotation in Turkey and this will generate significant opportunities
for us, which this merger will help us to maximise."

US HOPES FOR SARKISIAN VISIT TO TURKEY

Asbarez
us-hopes-for-sarkisian-visit-to-turkey/
Aug 10, 2009

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)-The United States hopes that President Serzh
Sarkisian will visit Turkey in October to continue the so-called
"soccer diplomacy" with Ankara, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State Matthew Bryza said over the weekend.

Bryza acknowledged at the same time that the U.S.-backed
Turkish-Armenian dialogue has stalled of late and that he is now less
optimistic about chances for the normalization of relations between
the two estranged neighbors.

"What I had hoped was going to happen did not happen," he told RFE/RL’s
Armenian service. "Sometimes, if I’m asked to make a prediction, the
prediction does not come true. I thought that there was a specific
step that was about to occur."

"There is no reason why those steps still can not happen, and we
are working together with the Swiss mediators to try to help the
parties think through what it is that they each can do to get the
process moving again. I do have some hope that that will happen,
but I can’t predict how quickly or what can be agreed," he added.

Speaking to RFE/RL on May 28, Bryza insisted that Armenia’s
rapprochement with Turkey has not reached an impasse despite Ankara’s
renewed linkage between the normalization of bilateral relations
and a Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. Visiting Yerevan two weeks later,
Philip Gordon, the newly appointed U.S. assistant secretary of state
for Europe and Eurasian, likewise sounded upbeat on the normalization
prospects.

Sarkisian has since increasingly expressed his frustration with Ankara’
stance, implicitly accusing the Turks of reneging on agreements reached
during year-long negotiations with his government. The Armenian leader
made clear last month that he will not accept Turkish President
Abdullah Gul’s invitation to watch with him the October 14 return
match of the two countries’ national soccer teams unless Turkey takes
"real steps" to reopen its border with Armenia. The two presidents
attended the first game played in Yerevan in September last year.

In Bryza’s words, Sarkisian’s visit to Turkey would be "very good news
for America" because it would mean that "two of our friends are coming
together." "We were so pleased when President Gul came to Yerevan
and we would be happy if President Sarkisian went to Turkey," he said.

Bryza stressed, however, that Washington will not press Sarkisian to
accept Gul’s invitation. "It’s important not to conflate or confuse our
desire for something to happen with pressure," he said. "I have seen
some absolutely ridiculous accusations by some here in Armenia that the
United States is pressuring Armenia to agree to one thing or another."

Bryza also insisted that the success of the Turkish-Armenian dialogue
does not hinge on a breakthrough in Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks
mediated by the U.S., Russia and France. "These two processes are
separate," he said. "What is true is that, as I’ve said so many times,
if there is progress in one process, that will help to generate a
more positive mood throughout the entire region and then help to
reduce tension and facilitate progress in the other process."

GEORGIA’S PRESIDENT SAYS RUSSIAN PM DETERMINED TO KILL HIM

12:18 08/08/2009
Panorama.am

Georgia’s President said British Times in his interview that Russian
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin remained determined to kill
him. Georgian President called Russian PM a street guy who is afraid
of policeman. `But the guy is getting desperate. From his perception
there is unfinished business in Georgia,’ M. Saakashvili said.

CASCADE INVESTMENTS HAS INTRODUCED INTERNET TRADING SERVICE

ArmInfo
2009-08-07 18:50:00

ArmInfo. For the first time in Armenia Cascade Investments has
introduced an internet trading service providing online access to
the world’s biggest stock exchanges.

Director General of Cascade Investments Hayk Papyan says that, today,
due to widely spread internet technologies, the customer can be aware
of the situation on different stock exchanges, carry out transactions
and invest his money without even leaving his office or house.

The key advantage of internet trading system is the quickness and
cheapness of transactions. Modern systems allow one to trade at
several stock exchanges and to use different financial instruments
at one and the same time.

In order to get access to this system, a customer will have to sign
a broking contract with Cascade Investments and to open a broker’s
account.

The company will give him access (password and login) and installs
special software on his PC. The customer can deal with different types
of securities at almost all big stock exchanges, including New York,
Frankfurt, London, paris, Tokyo.

In its turn, Cascade Investments will download information from the
servers of partner brokers concerning stock exchanges, terms, prices
and transactions and will provide it to the customer and the Central
Bank in the form of a standard broker report in Armenian.

"We will do it with the help of special back office programs we have
developed for four years," says Papyan.

He says that internet trading service will not affect the deals of
NASDAQ OMX Armenia as the latter is not connected to the system but
may attract corporate and individual investors. This will enhance the
interest of investors in our market. On the Armenian stock exchange
there are good opportunities to earn big money. If an investor spends
money on securities in Armenia and waits for 3-4 years, he may get
much bigger profits than he would on developed markets.

Western countries have applied internet trading for already a decade.

The owner of Cascade Investments is Cascade Capital Holdings.

ARMENIA: GEORGIA’S DEFEAT PREVENTED WIDER CAUCASUS WAR

Center for Research on Globalization
&aid=14684
Aug 7 2009

Armenia would be in a state of war should Georgia’s plan not have
failed in 2008

-Azerbaijan was preparing a war against Armenia along with Georgia,
yet Russia’s actions frustrated its plans. "Armenia would be in a
state of war should Georgia’s plan not have failed in 2008."

Last year’s August events in Georgia showed the true position of
interested parties, politologist Sergey Shakaryants told a news
conference in Yerevan.

According to him, the Georgian-Russian conflict played a crucial
role for Armenia. "I thought that the NKR [Nagorn Karabakh Republic]
conflict settlement will serve a as precedent to other unacknowledged
states of Transcaucasia, but the opposite happened," the Armenian
politologist said, stressing that even unacknowledged states like
Abkhazia and South Ossetia were acknowledged, still the NKR was not.

According to Sergey Shakaryants, Azerbaijan was preparing a war
against Armenia along with Georgia, yet Russia’s actions frustrated
its plans. "Armenia would be in a state of war should Georgia’s plan
not have failed in 2008," he said, adding that last year Azerbaijan
thrice attempted attacks on the NKR, yet the attempts were frustrated
thanks to NKR forces.

On August 8, during the night and early morning, Georgia launched
a military offensive to surround and capture the capital of [the]
Republic of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, thus breaking the terms of the
1992 ceasefire and crossing into the security zone established therein.

The heavy shelling, which included Georgian rockets being fired into
South Ossetia, left parts of the capital city in ruins, causing a
humanitarian crisis.

Russia sent troops across the Georgian border into South Ossetia. In
five days of fighting, the Russian forces captured the regional
capital Tskhinvali, pushed back Georgian troops, and largely destroyed
Georgia’s military infrastructure using airstrikes deep inside the
smaller country’s territory.

On August 12, Russian President Medvedev said that he had ordered
an end to military operations in Georgia. Later on the same day,
Russian President Medvedev approved a six-point peace plan brokered by
President-in-Office of the European Union, Nicolas Sarkozy, in Moscow;
both sides were to sign it by the 17th.

On August 27, President Medvedev of the Russian Federation signed
two Presidential decrees recognizing the Republic of Abkhazia and
the Republic of South Ossetia as sovereign independent states to
authorize the drafting of treaties of friendship, cooperation and
mutual assistance with the new states.