Author: Khondkarian Raffi

"LEMKIN’S HOUSE" AT 6TH@PENN THEATRE

SanDiego.com, CA
May 31 2007

The 6th@Penn Theatre is wrestling with an enterprise of overwhelming
ambition – a months-long menu of 26 plays, including several premieres
of local works, united as the Resilience of the Spirit Human Rights
Festival.

Before saying anything else, I salute this hard-working troupe,
and especially Executive Producer Dale Morris, for the passion and
the dedicated sincerity of their effort. Such virtues are always in
short supply.

Sadly, even the best of intentions usually can’t make up for lack of
assets essential to success.

Consider one of the productions presently on display, Catherine
Filloux’s "Lemkin’s House."

Its subject – genocide – is somber and urgent. Its technique – a
montage of frustration in the afterlife – has possibilities for a
plangent mixture of realism and abstract imagination. Its fragments
of history are arresting, its confrontational attitude is hard to
brush aside.

Yet there is about the play a musty, befuddled and defeated air. It
laments the reality that such a horrific subject is so universally
ignored, but it offers no gripping theory as to why this is so.

Raphael Lemkin was a Polish Jew, born in 1900, with a respected
career in international law when World War II began. He was wounded
in the Polish Army and eventually escaped the Nazis to settle in
the U.S. where he became an early outspoken denouncer of the German
holocaust, which wiped out most of his immediate family.

It was Lemkin, a consultant at the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi leaders,
who coined the word "genocide" and he it was who would serve as the
world’s conscience on the subject, endlessly badgering the United
Nations and the U.S. government to make genocide a crime.

Though he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize seven years during
the 1950s, he never won. And, when he died of a heart attack in 1959,
it still would be another 19 years before the U.S. became the 98th
country to ratify the U.N.’s anti-genocide convention.

Filloux’s play introduces Lemkin just as he dies. The 90-minute traffic
on the tiny stage is all in a purgatory-like room through which pass
Lemkin’s mother, Wisconsin Senator Proxmire, various pathetic victims,
loathsome thugs, shrugging bureaucrats and well-meaning do-gooders
offering fragmented commentary on(and assorted demonstrations of)
genocidal shame from the American Indians through Armenians, Jews,
Cambodians, Kurds, Rwandans, Bosnians and Liberians to (check the
headlines) the outrages of Darfur.

"When I was alive," laments Lemkin’s Shade, "I was haunted by the
dead. Now I’m dead and haunted by the living."

But, dead, he comes up with no more answers than he did while alive.

Maybe fewer. Because, the author seems to say, there just don’t seem
to BE any answers. Horror and workaday tedium co-exist while millions
die but billions don’t seem to notice. The more things change, the
more they stay the same.

Walter Ritter plays Lemkin with a sweetness of spirit but probably
less focus and more fecklessness than the original displayed in a
formidable career. Duane Weekly brings heft to other senior male
roles, Connie DiCrazia does well as lost women and Monique Gaffney
and Anthony Hamm supply skilled support.

Henia Belalia’s staging would benefit from a general tightening
and quickened pace but she faces an impossible task in keeping the
visual and literary aspects balanced with such primitive technical
resources. Maybe something less literal would work better. Maybe not.

It’s an overly complicated construct.

But it’s a subject so simple, so basic and so evil that it deserves
whatever attention can be directed at it.

amp;id=1bb76e4f-b5ab-47e6-8fd8-da9fbcc9bf51

ARMENIA KEEPS ON BEING ATTRACTIVE COUNTRY FOR RUSSIAN TOURISTS: POLL DATA

ArmInfo
2007-05-31 13:48:00

Armenia keeps on being the attractive country fort the Russian
tourists, the poll data of RosBusinessConsulting Agency say. Thus,
20% of respondents wished to travel just to Armenia. 21,4% of
respondents give preference to Georgia, 19,8% to Latvia and 20,8%
to Russia. Ukraine has become the most popular tourist region: 29,4%
of respondents expressed readiness to rest there. Tajikistan is of less
interest to the Russians: only 5,3% of respondents wish to leave there.

27,1% of respondents said they do not consider any of the former USSR
countries attractive for tourism. Total of 11,000 people took part
in the poll.

KEY QUESTIONS REMAIN UNRESOLVED IN MELKONIAN CASE
Ara Arabyan Ph.D.
Armand Ayaltin DNM, RHP
Nurel Beylerian Ph.D.

Cyprus Mail, Cyprus
May 29 2007

WE HAVE been following with interest the developments concerning
the Melkonian Educational Institute in Nicosia, whose ‘owner’, the
Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), has decided to shut down
the school and sell the lands despite strong opposition from Armenian
communities in Cyprus and elsewhere.

Just before Christmas 2006, the Cyprus Court of Appeal came down
with two rulings in favour of the AGBU. The first judgment freed the
properties from the protective status they had been enjoying, while the
second ruling supposedly gave the AGBU the green light to liquidate
the school and sell the lands, nullifying the court injunction that
was obtained earlier by the Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul.

We are gratified to see that concerned individuals within the
government of Cyprus have taking steps to re-instate the protection
of the historic Melkonian buildings as well as the forests, which
are permanent testaments to the will of the survivors of the Armenian
Genocide of 1915 to fight death with renewed life. Melkonian is also
a timeless testament to the good will and hospitality of the Cypriot
people and authorities which is forever appreciated by Armenians
throughout the world.

But our thoughts today centre around the second judgment of the Cyprus
Court of Appeal, which according to the AGBU, allows it to close the
school and sell the lands.

In fact, Appeal No. 58/2006 of the Cyprus Court of Appeal does no
such thing.

The Court of Appeal ruling upholds the Agreement of 1926, whose
three signatories are the benefactor, Mr. G. Melkonian, the Armenian
Patriarch of Istanbul, and the AGBU. Let us look at just three
important terms of this agreement:

* The agreement gives full rights to the AGBU to treat the properties
being transferred to it as it pleases (and this is the term being
used by the AGBU as justification for its planned action), * The AGBU
promises to maintain the Melkonian establishments in Cyprus from the
proceeds of the sale of the properties it receives, and * The AGBU
promises to pay a yearly sum to the benefactor for his living expenses.

These three terms alone explain the intent of the benefactor and
the trust he had in the strength of the agreement as well as the
commitment he was receiving from the AGBU.

Leaving aside the issue of whether the AGBU has lived up to its
promises, the key question that arises is: What properties did the
Agreement of 1926 transfer to the AGBU, on which the Cyprus Court of
Appeal ruling is based?

Answering this question is of vital importance because it alone sheds
light on the exact meaning of the court ruling.

The 1926 agreement transfers to the AGBU several properties in Egypt,
certain goods, and some company shares, with the stipulation that
the AGBU should sell the transferred assets and add the proceeds to
its general funds to be used for benevolent projects, the first of
which is identified as the maintenance of the Melkonian establishments
in Nicosia.

The 1926 Agreement specifies the assets transferred to the AGBU in
meticulous detail, and they do not include the Melkonian real estate
and properties in Cyprus.

Therefore, the Cyprus Court of Appeal ruling which asserts the
legality of the 1926 Agreement, does not apply to the transfer of
the Cyprus properties, which were part of an entirely different
transaction between the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul and the
AGBU. Mr. Melkonian was not involved in that transaction, as he never
owned the properties in Cyprus. The land in Cyprus was purchased and
the buildings were built by the Patriarchate.

Given that the ruling of the Cyprus Court of Appeal is based solely
on the Agreement of 1926 and that this agreement is in no way
associated with the Melkonian properties in Cyprus, no one has the
legal justification to apply the ruling to a different transaction
that took place between the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul and
the AGBU, to which Mr. Melkonian was not even a signatory.

Doing otherwise will set a very dangerous precedent, not only for
Cyprus, but also for the entire Commonwealth as well as the European
Union, and we doubt very much that the Cyprus Court of Appeal intends
to do anything of the sort.

The Court of Appeal decision also makes reference to the sale of part
of the Melkonian property in the past. At the time, no one challenged
the sale because generally it was agreed that it was a good way to
guarantee the future financial viability of the school.

This sale was not intended to be the first step to liquidate the
Melkonian properties, and relevant parties never forfeited their
right to challenge future sales that might hinder the operation of
the school.

We believe that a clarifying statement is needed from the Cyprus Court
of Appeal regarding the key issue raised here: did it intend to set a
precedent by applying the terms of one agreement between three sides,
to an entirely different agreement between two sides?

A clear statement will go a long way toward preventing opportunistic
groups from misrepresenting the decision and causing irreparable
damage to a venerable institution that has honourably served Cyprus
and many Armenian communities for eight decades.

Ara Arabyan Ph.D., Prof. of Mechanical Engineering, Univ. of Arizona,
USA Armand Ayaltin DNM, RHP, President, Nuvelt Ltd., Vancouver, Canada
Nurel Beylerian Ph.D., P.Eng, President, Bomar Inc., Toronto, Canada

CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS ON HELLENIC ISSUES CALLS ON ADOPTING RESOLUTION CONCERNING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 29 2007

WASHINGTON, MAY 29, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The army of
supporters of resolution 106 concerning the Armenian Genocide
gradually widens at the U.S. Congress. Democrat from New York Carolyn
Maloney and republican from Florida Gus Bilirakis, the Co-Chairmen
of the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues, having 127 members,
emphasized this week in the letter addressed to their colleagues
of the U.S. House of Representatives, that it is the time that the
American Government recognizes the Armenian Genocide. "It is the time
that the U.S. Government finally recognizes the indescribable crime
committed by the Turkish Government towards the Armenian people during
the years of the World War I and qualifies them as a "genocide." The
U.S. Government must everywhere protect the human rights, pursuing its
promises to protect the mankind from similar ferocities and recognize
the historic fact of the Armenian Genocide," is said in the letter.

As Armenian National Committee of America states, the Congressional
Caucus on Hellenic Issues closely cooperates with the Congress Armenian
Caucus and has been a supporter of resolution 106 concerning the
Armenian Genocide from the beginning. Both Congressional Caucus on
Hellenic Issues and whole Greek community of America recognized the
crimes committed by Turks agains their co-religious Christian Armenian,
calling them a "genocide."

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
May 25 2007

Azad Rehimov: If UEFA decision does not favor us, we will appeal to
Sport Arbitration Court

[ 25 May 2007 19:37 ]

`Armenian National Olympic Committee officials wanted to get
acquainted with firsthand situation in Azerbaijan

`No one tried to hide the visit of Armenian National Olympic
Committee representatives’, youth and sports minister Azad Rehimov
told APA-Sport.
Rehimov said Armenian delegation was ensured security at the meeting
organized by International Wrestling Federation.
`Armenian official wanted to get acquainted with firsthand situation
in Azerbaijan. They wanted to see that Azerbaijan is ready to admit
Armenian sportsmen and officials to the country. They took a flight
to Baku from Tbilisi. They stayed here for two days. We ensured all
conditions and safety for Armenia’s participation in the world
championship to be held in September in Baku. After the agreement the
delegation left Azerbaijan. There is nothing here to keep in secret’,
he underscored.
The minister stressed that Armenian delegation’s visit was not
announced at once.
`Armenians faced no trouble in Baku and National Olympic Committee. I
don’t accept that the information was kept in secret. But it was not
announced at once’, he said.
Rehimov said the security for wrestling competition has nothing to do
with football match. The minister noted that they still demand
European championship qualifying matches between the teams on 8 and
12 September to be played in a neutral field.
`Football is very popular and is played in stadiums before large
audience. The demands for the organization of wrestling and football
events are not the same. Our position concerning the matches is
resolute. The matches should be played in neutral fields’, he said.
The minister underscored that if UEFA decision doesn’t favor
Azerbaijan, the ministry will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for
Sports.
`Youth and Sports Ministry and AFFA officials had meetings in UEFA
headquarters for several times and explained that it is impossible to
welcome Armenian squad in Baku. We will appeal to the Court of
Arbitration for Sports if the decision is not satisfactory’, he said.
/APA-Sport/

IS SYRIA GUILTY IN EVENTS OF LEBANON?

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.05.2007 GMT+04:00

Collisions in the North of Lebanon show that "Al-Qaida" managed to
penetrate event this part of Mediterranean region, which up to this
moment was known for its moderate Islam and religions tolerance.

Again Lebanon is on the eve of a new war. This time Syria is supposed
to be the disturber of peace, which cannot get along with the fact that
having controlled Lebanon for 29 years has remained without nothing
after withdrawing its troops from the territory of that country in
2005. Western media openly accuses Syria of escalating violence,
which threatens to result in a new war.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ No serious causes were always necessary in order to
begin a war in Lebanon: last year Israeli soldier Shalit’s abduction
served as a cause for a war, this year – disorders in the Nahr el-Bared
Palestinian refugee camp. Principally nothing new, Lebanese people got
used to wars, if it is only possible to get used to such a disaster
at all.

Nevertheless, as the time goes on, the situation of people in Lebanon
becomes harder, especially the situation with the Christian community,
one of which is the Armenian rather large community. And though still
there is no serious threat to the Armenian community of Lebanon,
it is not excluded the possibility of immigration of Armenians. More
than 100 000 Armenians today reside only in Beirut, which tries not
to participate in military operations as much as possible. "However,
we are citizens of Lebanon and this imposes certain obligations
on us. We live together with citizens of Lebanon and we cannot sit
and watch how the country again turns into a arena of bloody war,"
editor-in-chief of "Azdak" Armenian newspaper Shahan Kadakharyan said.

The conflict began when early in the morning of May 22 the Lebanese
Army tried to attack an apartment in Tripoli, working out a version
that connects the recent robbery of a bank with a group of radical
Islamists known as "Fath al-Silam". The group responded with an attack
on army positions around the refugee camp. Despite the fact that the
organization has some 200 members, "Fath al-Islam" is involved at
least in a series of blasts, which took place in Christian districts
of Lebanon during recent years.

The leader of extremists Shaker Absi assures that he is loyal to Usama
bin Laden. In other words, collisions in the north of Lebanon show
that "Al-Qaida" managed to penetrate even this part of Mediterranean
region, which up to this moment was known for its moderate Islam and
religions tolerance.

Indeed, a lot of cabinet members of Lebanon are sure that militants
of "Fath Islam" are only marionettes of Syria. They say "Fath Islam"
has close ties with Syrian special services, the group up to this
moment considered Syria as its patrimony, despite the fact that Syria
withdrew its troops from that country two years ago.

The Times in one of its columns writes that the situation is dangerous
and tangled for Lebanese soldiers placed around the Palestinian
refugee camp.

"Their enemies want exactly it, the newspaper added.

Syria wants the international community to stop its efforts to clear
if Damascus is involved in the murder of Rafik Hariri. In other words,
the matter is about state blackmail. And it is necessary not to allow
those who blackmail to succeed," Times indicates.

Experts think Syria’s goal is to destroy the hope of Lebanese
government to establish an international tribunal for the suspects
who allegedly are involved in the series of political assassinations,
which started in 2005 with Rafik Hariri’s murder. And though Syria
rejects its participation in the above-mentioned assassinations or
the recent violence acts, there exist obvious evidences for those
crimes. A day before his assassination Hariri was busy with mobilizing
political forces, in order to challenge the Syrian State. Mass
protests after the death of Hariri made Syria to withdraw his troops
from Lebanon. However still there are a lot of forces in Lebanon,
which share the Syrian viewpoint on Lebanon as a stronghold in the
struggle against western influence.

OSCE MINSK GROUP CO CHAIRS MEET ELMAR MAMMADYAROV

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
May 25 2007

Yuri Merzliakov, Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group
and his French colleague Bernard Fassier together with OSCE
Chairman-in-Office’s personal representative Andrzej Kasprzyk met
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

The discussions focused on the core principles of the settlement of
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, planned meeting of Azerbaijani and
Armenian Presidents, APA reports.

The Co-chairs and OSCE Chairman-in-Office’s representative went to
meet President Ilham Aliyev later.

PRESS RELEASE
May 23, 2007
Anahid Yeremian
P.O. Box 655, Menlo Park, CA 94026
<mailto:[email protected]>anahi [email protected]
(650) 926 – 4444

India Joins Cosmic Ray Division’s SEVAN Network

Last week India joined SEVAN, the world wide Space Environmental Viewing
and Analysis Network, led by the Cosmic Ray Division (CRD) of Yerevan
Physics Institute. At a May 19 meeting of the International Heliophysical
Year-07 conference in Bad Honnef, Germany which established cooperation
among the IHY-07 participants, CRD’s head Prof. Ashot Chilingarian and
Prof. Saumitra Mukherjee of the School of Environmental Sciences of
Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi signed a memorandum of
understanding for their cooperation.

SEVAN will consist of portable, state-of-the-art space weather detectors
designed by the CRD scientists in Armenia which will be placed in countries
around the earth’s circumference for an extensive program of space weather
observation, analysis, and forecasting. The most technical and sensitive
parts of the detectors will be built in Armenia. The mechanical framework
and heavy support components will be built and assembled in the host
countries. The collected data will flow via the internet to the control
center in Yerevan. Prof. Ashot Chilingarian is the author and Principal
Investigator of the project. SEVAN detectors will also be placed in
several secondary schools in Armenia and Artsakh for a broad coverage of
the region and to allow students to participate is this research.

SEVAN was named the Observatory of the Week, and Professor Chilingarian was
named the Personality of the Week, in IHY07’s weekly newsletter. The IHY07
article may be viewed at:
< shtml> .shtml

Last week in Bad Honnef a second CRD proposal to the IHY committee,
"Research of Highest Energy Solar Cosmic Rays", was approved. The details
of this cooperative effort will be worked out in the coming months.

For more information about the Cosmic Ray Division and the Diaspora
partnership visit
<;http://www .crdfriends.org

LALISH FOR YEZIDS

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
May 24 2007

A temple for Yezids will be built in the Republic of Armenia. It will
be called "Lalish", by analogy with the Ezid temple complex situated
in the north of Iraq.

RA leadership has granted consent to the construction of Lalish,
leader of the World Yezdi Union Aziz Tamoyan told IAA DE FACTO. The
temple will be built in the suburb of Zovuni village, near Yerevan.

"Lalish is our sacred object. Each Yezid should have the opportunity
to serve our religious ceremonies and pray to our gods. Armenia is
a tolerant country, where Yezids have been granted the opportunities
to preserve ethnical originality and develop national culture", Aziz
Tamoyan said. "We are grateful to RA government for positive response
to our request", he added.

Tamoyan noted over 500 000 Yezids had been killed in Turkey in
1915-1918, while thousands of Yezids living in Armenia had lost their
relatives during the Genocide.

An account has been opened at Ardshininvestbank. The account’s number
is 247010004692/0001. Contact line in Yerevan is 091413855.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian General Benevolent Union Inc.
Rita Kuyumjian MD
Chairperson
805, Manoogian street
Ville St-Laurent, QC H4N 1Z5
Tel: 514-748-2428
Fax: 514-748-6307
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

Montreal, May 18, 2007 – Baroness Caroline Cox arrived this evening to St.
Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Montreal to the thunderous drums of the
AGBU Montreal Scouts’ marching band.  Beavers, cubs, scouts and venturers
were in uniform to greet her and salute her dedication to serve others.  At
the doorstep of the cathedral she was greeted by The Primate of the Armenian
Diocese of Canada, His Grace Bishop Bagrat Galstanyan and his entourage.

After the formal entrance into the cathedral, the hundreds of the faithful
present were enthralled by a moving concert of spiritual and folkloric songs
performed by the wonderful Komitas Choir of the cathedral under the
leadership of the talented choirmaster Maestro Varoujan Markarian.

In his welcoming words, Bishop Bagrat greeted the Baroness and said, `You
might be only a baroness in Great Britain, but in the heart of every
Armenian you will always be a queen’.  He subsequently presented her with a
hand carved glass khatchkar by Montreal artist Yeghia Bekmezjian.

Afterwards, everyone moved to the official reception in the Mary Manoogian
Hall of the cathedral.  The MC of the evening, the president of the parish
council, Mr. Levon Afeyan introduced the Baroness who then took the stage. 
She addressed the crowd, and specifically the young members of the scouting
movement with a passionate speech, she recounted her memories of girl
guiding, of her parents and their memories of Lord Baden Powell himself, the
founder of scouting, who was a friend of her father.  She also told stories
of young boys and girls in Artsakh and how they courageously faced the most
difficult hardships during times of war and destruction.  At the end of her
speech, she gave to the AGBU scouts a personal gift, an important historical
archival wedding photograph of her parents, who had chosen to get married in
a chapel in the basement of the humble scouting quarters in East London, in
the presence of Lord Baden Powell.

She was followed by the president of the AGBU Scouts’ Council Ms. Aline
Egoyan-Pederian who gave an emotional speech about the high personal
leadership example that the Baroness Cox has given to all the youth
present.  She then declared the Baroness an honorary member of the worldwide
AGBU scouting movement.  Subsequently, Ms. Sossie Nahabedian-Rezian, Group
Leader, gave the Baroness her honorary neckerchief with the AGBU badge, and
with a silver hand carved woggle by the Montreal artisan jeweler Setrag
Tarakjian.

Then, in recognition of her inspirational role for youth, and for her long
service with the Girl Guides of the UK, the official delegation of the SMM,
of the Association of Scouts of Canada in the person of Mr. Paul Saint
Jacques, the chairman of its board of directors, and Mr. Guy Gauthier, its
vice chairman, presented the Baroness Caroline Cox of Queensbury with the
highest designation of a Knight of the Scouting Honorary Society, and
decorated her with her medal. `My father would have been very proud of me’,
said Lady Cox.

The event concluded with a special song dedicated to the children of
Artsakh, performed by members of the AGBU scouting movement.  Books by and
about the Baroness were on sale and were autographed by her, with all
proceeds going to the Nor Jraberd project.

For further information, please contact the email address
[email protected]. or [email protected], or [email protected]
 Information can also be found at the NKR Nor Jraberd website
, the AGBU website or the Armenian
Diocese at