Author: Khondkarian Raffi

Armenian opposition party elects new chairman

Noyan Tapan news agency
16 Apr 05

YEREVAN

Aram Sarkisyan, former prime minister of Armenia and brother of
Armenian ex-Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisyan, who was killed in the 27
October 1999 terrorist act, was elected chairman of the political
council of the Republic Party during its 4th congress on 15 April.

[Passage omitted: details]

Speaking to his companions, Sarkisyan said that being chairman of the
Republic Party is a greater honour for him than being Armenian
president. He thanked Albert Bazeyan [member of the party], noting
that he is a friend and companion of his brother.

Hinting that his party is initiating a national movement, Sarkisyan
said that “the revolution will be a surprise”. He also said that he
knows more but cannot say anything.

[Passage omitted: About changes in the regulations of the party]

Turkish Press
April 15 2005

Erdogan’s Letter To Armenian President Kocharian

ANKARA – Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter to
Armenian President Robert Kocharian officially proposing the
formation of a joint commission to undertake researches about the
developments and incidents that took place in 1915.

A Foreign Ministry statement noted on Thursday that Prime Minister
Erdogan said in his letter that the Turkish and Armenian peoples who
shared a common history and geography in a critical region of the
world lived together for long years, but there were differences
between them in their interpretations and evaluations of a part of
their common history.

Erdogan said in his letter that those differences which left painful
memories to both peoples didn’t facilitate the improvement of the
relations, noting that main opposition party leader Deniz Baykal also
shared that view.

Prime Minister Erdogan proposed in his letter (as the common proposal
of the Turkish ruling and opposition parties) the formation of a
group to be composed of both Turkish and Armenian historians and
experts who would investigate the developments and incidents of 1915
by using not only Turkish and Armenian archives, but also all
archives found in third countries and to announce their findings to
the international public opinion.

Foreign Ministry said that Erdogan stressed in his letter that such
an attempt would both enlighten the history and serve normalisation
of the relations between Turkey and Armenia, expressing his hope that
Armenia would accept it. ”If Armenia accepts Turkey’s proposal,
Turkey is ready to discuss the details of the proposal,” Erdogan
added in his letter.

Turkish Press
April 14 2005

Yakis: Turkish – German Relations Will Be Negatively Affected If
Armenian Bill Passes From German Parliament

BERLIN – ”Turkish-German relations will be negatively affected if
the bill prepared by German Union Parties’ (CDU/CSU) parliamentary
group defending Armenian claims of genocide passes from the German
Parliament,” Yasar Yakis, chairman of the Turkish parliamentary
commission for EU adjustment, said on Thursday.

Yakis, speaking at a press conference staged to give information
about his meetings with the German officials, said they conveyed the
uneasiness felt over the bill.

Yakis stated that CDU politicians told him that the bill was prepared
to contribute to Turkish-Armenian relations. ”We have told them that
Turkish-Armenian relations in fact would be damaged from the bill,”
Yakis noted.

Yakis said the bill was used as a tool for domestic policy by some
parties, and reiterated that the bill was full of mistakes.

Yakis and the other group members later left for Istanbul.

El Pais, Montevideo – Uruguay
Miércoles 13 de abril de 2005

EDITORIAL
Se cumplen 90 años

DENTRO de unos días se cumplirán nueve décadas del genocidio de los
armenios, una masacre planeada, ordenada y cometida por las fuerzas
del Imperio Otomano, que comenzó el 24 de abril de 1915 mientras en
Europa se libraba el segundo año de operaciones de la primera guerra
mundial. Ese conflicto bélico de gran alcance – en el que los otomanos
figuraban como aliados de los imperios centrales, Alemania y Austria –
puede haber funcionado como deliberada cortina de humo aprovechada
por los turcos para que la masacre de armenios pasara inadvertida,
pero de todas maneras luego del horrible episodio, que se prolongó
largamente a través de la ruta de huida de los armenios desde las
montañas de Anatolia hacia el Mediterráneo, las autoridades otomanas
sólo reconocerían unos pocos miles de muertos, cuando la contabilidad
más creíble sobre esa carnicería hace subir el total de víctimas a
1:500.000 personas.

SEGUN se ha dicho, el genocidio armenio fue “el primer plan de
exterminio sistemático de un grupo humano en el siglo XX” dato que
podría retocarse si se incluye en esa categoría la matanza colosal de
los pobladores del Congo por parte del rey Leopoldo II de Bélgica,
que cubrió desde fines del siglo XIX hasta 1905, por lo menos, y
liquidó a millones de personas bajo el empuje de un insaciable
espíritu de lucro y tomó finalmente una notoriedad internacional que
obligó al monarca belga a detener el método y pasar el Congo – que
hasta entonces era una suerte de feudo personal – a la administración
colonial de su país. Desoladoramente, el caso del Congo y luego el
espanto de la masacre de los armenios no cerrarían el capítulo
genocida en la historia reciente, porque serían continuados por la
mortandad provocada en la Unión Soviética con la colectivización
forzada del agro y el desplazamiento masivo de comunidades bajo
Stalin, luego de lo cual vendría el holocausto de millones de judíos
europeos durante el gobierno nazi, así como la muerte de decenas de
millones de chinos bajo el Gran Salto Adelante (y después la
Revolución Cultural) ordenados por Mao.

No todo terminó allí, en materia de genocidio, ya que después vendría
el exterminio de camboyanos en la década del 70 bajo el régimen de
los Khmer Rouges (que ultimó a la mitad de la población de ese país
indochino) y finalmente la masacre de la comunidad tutsi por orden de
sus rivales hutu en Ruanda durante los años 90, donde murieron
800.000 personas en unos pocos meses. Tanto espanto no debe
condicionar la memoria, empero, de manera que al cumplirse noventa
años de la persecución de los armenios el hecho debe recuperar todo
el horror que le corresponde, como si hubiera ocurrido ayer. En la
perspectiva del cruento siglo que pasó, es uno de los picos de muerte
que ningún inventario de las crueldades humanas debe saltear.

UNA de las lecciones duraderas que pueden dejar al hombre de hoy esos
episodios de ayer, es el de un convencimiento colectivo: el de que no
deben repetirse jamás.

Mientras sigue en ejercicio la Corte Penal Internacional instalada en
La Haya desde julio de 2002, y funcionan asimismo dos tribunales
penales especiales para la guerra de la ex Yugoslavia y la mencionada
matanza de Ruanda, puede razonarse que esas instancias judiciales
marcan una ventaja con respecto al mundo del pasado reciente: hoy ya
no es posible que alguien cometa crímenes de guerra o crímenes contra
la humanidad y pretenda quedar impune, porque esas cortes penales
sabrán echarle el guante, como ocurrió con Milosevic, sin ir más
lejos. Es notoria la zozobra con que se mueve hoy Henry Kissinger
luego de ser requerido por la Justicia francesa para hacer frente a
alguna de las múltiples acusaciones que pesan sobre él por las cosas
que permitió hacer a otros (en Chile, en Timor o en Vietnam, por
ejemplo) mientras se desempeñaba como secretario de Estado.

YA no será posible que esas cortes juzguen a los culpables de otros
hechos más remotos: la muerte natural o el suicidio los ha salvado de
enfrentar a un tribunal. El genocidio de los armenios ha quedado muy
atrás, pero lo que sigue vivo es el recuerdo del horror, junto a la
necesidad de no perder el recuerdo de ciertas manchas que han
oscurecido la historia contemporánea.

Reivindicación

En tiempos de reivindicaciones históricas, es importante recordar un
hecho que marcó el futuro de este país. El 11 de abril de 1831 el
gobierno de la flamante república del Plata decidió utilizar a su
ejército para hallar una solución definitiva y terminante al tema
“charrúa”. No fue una batalla frontal ni un enfrentamiento honorable
entre guerreros y soldados, sino una emboscada, una masacre o matanza
– como se desee llamar – , pergeñada recurriendo al engaño y a un cierto
nivel de confianza que aún existía entre líderes de ambos bandos, que
habían peleado juntos contra los invasores extranjeros de este
territorio.

La masacre de Salsipuedes significó un punto de inflexión en nuestra
historia, porque terminó con lo que quedaba de una unidad cultural y
étnica de los pobladores originales de estas tierras.

Nuestros aborígenes nómades, que vivían en la edad de piedra y que
nunca aceptaron asimilarse a esa nueva sociedad, poseían un estilo de
vida antagónico con el de la sociedad criolla. Como nunca se les
reconoció derecho alguno sobre su suelo, el paso del tiempo no hizo
más que agravar el conflicto de intereses existente entre ellos. Han
transcurrido 174 años desde aquel luctuoso día.

Lo que sigue pendiente en el seno de la sociedad uruguaya es la
reivindicación de ese colectivo, especialmente en lo que tiene que
ver con su consideración y presencia en la historia oficial de este
país.

Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Deutschland
13 April 2005

Turkey wants Armenian Genocide be examined by a commission of historians

Türkei will Massaker an Armeniern untersuchen lassen
Gemeinsame Historiker-Kommission

Die Türkei hat dem verfeindeten Nachbarn Armenien die Einrichtung
einer gemeinsamen Historikerkommission vorgeschlagen. Sie soll den
Vorwurf des türkischen Völkermords an den Armeniern untersuchen. Dies
forderte das Parlament am Mittwochabend in einer Entschliessung.

Aussenminister Gül vor dem Parlament
(Bild ap)

(sda/afp) Der türkische Ministerpräsident Erdogan habe in einem
Brief dem armenischen Präsidenten Robert Kotscharian die Bildung
einer Historiker-Kommission vorgeschlagen, sagte Aussenminister
Abdullah Gül vor dem Parlament in Ankara. Die Regierung sei zu
Gesprächen mit Armenien über die Zusammensetzung und Arbeit dieser
Kommission bereit. Dies könne ein Schritt zur Normalisierung der
Beziehungen sein, sagte Gül weiter.

Aussöhnung als Ziel
Die Kommission soll «unbegrenzt» in den nationalen Archiven
recherchieren und ihr Ergebnis der internationalen Öffentlichkeit
bekannt geben. Hierfür sei die Kooperationsbereitschaft der
armenischen Regierung «Bedingung». Alle Länder, die eine Aussöhnung
zwischen Armenien und der Türkei wünschten, sollten diesen Vorschlag
unterstützen.

Völkermord wird bisher bestritten
Die Beziehungen zwischen der Türkei und Armenien werden vor allem vom
Streit über die Massaker von 1915 belastet. Armenien spricht von
einem gezielten Völkermord der damaligen osmanischen Behörden, dem im
Osten der heutigen Türkei mehr als eine Million Menschen zum Opfer
fielen. Die Türkei räumt zwar ein, dass bei Zwangsumsiedlungen und
Massakern mehrere hunderttausend Menschen starben, weist den Vorwurf
des Völkermords aber zurück. Die beiden Nachbarländer unterhalten
keine diplomatischen Beziehungen.

A1plus

| 14:58:24 | 13-04-2005 | Politics |

GOD HELP US

`If the Armenian authorities ask me, I can do something to free the Armenian
pilots arrested in Guinea’, Ara Abrahamyan, head of the Union if Armenians
of Russia had announced recently.

Today answering a question from a journalist how Vardan Oskanyan refers to
the fact that Ara Abrahamyan will free the pilots till June the latter
answered, `God help him’.

But when he noticed that his words caused laughter in the hall, he said that
he is completely serious and will be very thankful to Ara Abrahamyan if he
manages to do what he has said.

Armenpress

YEGHISHE CHARENTS MUSEUM TO OPEN ALAN HOVHANNES STUDIES CENTER

YEREVAN, APRIL 11, ARMENPRESS: The director of Yeghishe Charents Museum
in Yerevan, Henrik Bakhshinian, told Armenpress that after a major repair
the museum, which features the life and the works of prominent Armenian
poet, will open a special center for studying the legacy of
American-Armenian composer Alan Hovhaness.
Alan Hovhannes became acclaimed for his talent to meld Western and Asian
musical styles creating a unique melodic blend of his own. He died in June
2000 at the age 89.
Hovhaness wrote more than 400 pieces, including at least nine operas, two
ballets, more than 60 symphonies, and more than 100 chamber pieces.
He was born Alan Vaness Chamakjian, in Somerville, Massachusetts, in
1911. His mother was Scottish and his father, an Armenian chemistry
professor.
His early compositions were thoroughly Western. But the influences of
Eastern musical styles became more evident after he attended Bohuslav
Martinu’s master class in composition in 1942 at the Berkshire Music Center
at Tanglewood.
Hovhaness was the first Western composer asked to write music for an
orchestra comprised entirely of Indian instruments.

PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address: Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel: (374 1) 517 163
Fax: (374 1) 517 301
E-Mail: [email protected]
April 11, 2005

His Holiness Karekin II Leads Armenian Church Delegation at Funeral of Pope
John Paul II

His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians,
accompanied by an official delegation of the government of the Republic of
Armenia, arrived in Rome on April 7 to participate in the funeral rites for
His Holiness Pope John Paul II, the 264th successor to the Apostolic See of
St. Peter.

At Ciampino Airport, the Pontiff of All Armenians was met by a special
commission of high-ranking Vatican officials and Rev. Fr. Aren Shahinian,
parish priest for the Italian Armenian Apostolic community.

>From the airport, His Holiness was escorted to the Vatican and St. Peter’s
Cathedral, where he offered his prayers up to heaven standing before the
body of John Paul II, lying in state.

On the morning of April 8, Holy Mass commenced in St. Peter’s Cathedral.
According to the traditions of the Catholic Church, 164 cardinals
simultaneously celebrated the three-hour long mass. His Eminence Joseph
Cardinal Ratzinger, Dean of the College of Cardinals, presided during the
funeral services for the Roman Pontiff.

Present for the services were 70 heads of state, delegations from nearly 200
countries, and leaders and representatives of sister Churches, including
Ecumenical Patriarch His Holiness Bartholomew II; Ethiopian Orthodox Church
Patriarch His Holiness Abba Paulos; Archbishop of Athens and Greece His
Beatitude Christodoulos; and Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Kyrill, among
others.

Following the funeral services, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger greeted the
Ecumenical delegations which had arrived in the Vatican from throughout the
world.

Representing the Armenian Church at the funeral of His Holiness John Paul II
were: His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All
Armenians; His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia;
His Beatitude Archbishop Mesrob Mutafian, Armenian Patriarch of
Constantinople; His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern); His Grace Bishop Nareg
Alemezian, Director for Inter-Church Relations of the Catholicosate of
Cilicia; Rev. Fr. Aren Shahinian, parish priest of Italy; and Rev. Fr.
Geghard Vahuni, Staff-bearer of the Catholicos of All Armenians.

His Holiness Karekin II returned to the Mother See on April 9.

Glendale News Press
April 11 2005

Newly elected to take office

City and school officials to repeat their oaths tonight; City Council
to select new Glendale mayor.
By Robert Chacon, News-Press and Leader

GLENDALE — Victors of Tuesday’s election will take office tonight,
ending the most hotly contested race for City Council in Glendale’s
history. And a new mayor of Glendale will be chosen.

Newly-elected city and school officials will be ushered into their
seats after they take the oath of office. And the City Council will
choose a new mayor to serve for the next year.

Three Glendale Community College trustees, a city clerk, city
treasurer and four councilmen will deliver their oath of office at 8
p.m. in City Council chambers. And newly-elected members of the
Glendale Unified School District, who will have been sworn in at a
ceremony earlier in the day, will be introduced.

There were many historic components to the race of 43 candidates for
12 offices. It was the first time 19 names have ever appeared on a
City Council ballot and the first in more than half a century that
voters selected four out of five council members. It’s also the first
time that more than two candidates have raised more than $100,000 for
their campaigns. This year, four of them broke the $100,000 barrier.

It’s also the first open race for city clerk since 1929, which led
nine candidates to compete for that spot — the largest clerk field
in the city’s history. Another first encompassed the amounts those
candidates raised.

But tonight the city’s new leaders will look forward as they elect
the city’s next mayor.

Rafi Manoukian, who has been a councilman since 1999, is expected to
be that next mayor. Typically, the chairman of the Redevelopment
Agency is voted into the mayor’s seat, but with the departure of Gus
Gomez, who resigned to take a judgeship earlier this year, that
designation is Manoukian’s, the vice chair of the agency.

Though the mayoral rotation has remained consistent over the years,
Manoukian is not counting his chickens before they hatch.

“Nothing is certain until the votes are cast,” said Manoukian, who
has already served one stint as mayor in 2001-02.

It takes three votes from the council to approve a choice for mayor,
and the council has rarely faltered in approving the next in line.

“It has happened, but I cannot think of the last time that it did
happen,” outgoing Mayor Bob Yousefian said. “It’s a matter of if you
can muster up three votes.”

The process will begin with a nomination from one of the councilmen.
A vote will then be taken and repeated until a new mayor is chosen.
The new mayor will preside over the remainder of the meeting.

Ardashes Kassakhian, who is replacing Doris Twedt as city clerk, will
perform the procedure. Though this will be his first function as city
clerk, it will go smoothly he said, adding that he will prepare by
watching videos of past mayoral selections.

“I have been going to City Hall since the election,” he said. “I have
met with folks in the management office and staff in the clerk’s
office. Doris has been very helpful. I’m crossing my fingers and
hoping there are no kinks.”

The mayor’s role requires considerably more time than being a
councilman, Yousefian said.

“People don’t realize how difficult it is to be mayor,” he said. “It
is extremely time consuming, and by the end of the year, they are
usually ready to hand over the gavel to someone else. I am in exactly
the same position.”

Yousefian will cast his vote in favor of Manoukian becoming the next
mayor, he said, citing his past experience in the position.

“At this point, I would want to be mayor,” Manoukian said. “Who
wouldn’t want to serve their city in this capacity?”

* ROBERT CHACON covers La Cañada Flintridge and La Crescenta. He may
be reached at (818) 637-3239 or by e-mail at
[email protected].

NEW FOREIGN SHAREHOLDER OF INECOBANK TO BE ANNOUNCED IN TWO WEEKS

YEREVAN, APRIL 11, NOYAN TAPAN. Inecobank will make public the name of
its new shareholder in two weeks. NT correspondent was informed from
the bank’s marketing department that this is a large internationally
recognized foreign company. It was also noted that Inecobank will
issue new shares in this connection. According to preliminary
information, sales of new shares worth 1.5 mln USD are envisaged.