Author: Khondkarian Raffi

Collective Security Treaty officials hold consultations in Moscow
ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 18 2004
MOSCOW, May 18 (Itar-Tass) – Consultations of deputy foreign and
defence ministers and deputy Security Council secretaries of the
Organisation of the Collective Security Treaty (CST) member states
were held in Moscow on Tuesday.
CST Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha and Russian First Deputy
Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Trubnikov attended the meeting.
The press service of the CST secretariat told Itar-Tass the
consultations participants exchanged views “on the development of the
situation in the CST responsibility zone and realisation of measures
to fight modern challenges and threats.”
The officials devoted special attention to “the situation formed
in Afghanistan, as well as strengthening of cooperation of the
organisation members in the post-conflict settlement in the country,”
said the press service.
The sides discussed the fulfilment of decisions adopted at the Dushanbe
session of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation and priorities
in the organisation’s activities.
CST members are Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
and Tajikistan.
The press service also said the meeting participants “on the whole
approved drafts of the documents planned to be considered at the June
CST session in Astana.”

Thousands Protest In Yerevan Against Kocharian
Radio Free Europe, Czech Rep.
May 15 2004
15 May 2004 — Several thousand Armenian opposition supporters
protested in the streets of the capital Yerevan late on 14 May to
demand the resignation of President Robert Kocharian.
Interfax reported that police estimated no more than 4,000 people
participated in the peaceful demonstration, while organizers claim
30,000 people attended the rally.
The protest was the latest in a series of demonstrations since last
month. Opposition members says Kocharian rigged a presidential runoff
in March 2003 to secure a second term in office and is demanding that
he either organize a national referendum of confidence in his rule
or step down.
Kocharian was in Moscow for talks with Russia’s President Vladimir
Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov during the protest.

Armenian lives come into focus
By Bob Strauss, Film Critic
Long Beach Press-Telegram, CA
Redlands Daily Facts, CA
San Bernardino Sun, CA
May 15 2004
Vahe Babaian’s serious, slightly autobiographical film “After
Freedom” comes well-packed with worthy intentions. Set in Glendale’s
Armenian-American community, it’s perceivably honest about the
day-to-day struggles of recent – and not-so-recent – immigrants. It
also tries to tell a kind of “Mean Streets” story of aimless, somewhat
criminal young men without resorting to cheap melodrama.
The film succeeds on those counts. But in his first feature, Babaian
is both too close to the material and not seasoned enough of a
writer-filmmaker to generate much audience involvement. Despite some
solid performances (and partly because of a few lousy ones), the film
is sabotaged by clunky dialogue and sequences that go on too long,
often to nowhere.
Although it isn’t made clear in the opening narration, the film’s
protagonist Michael Abcarian (Mic Tomasi in a controlled, soulful
performance) is probably an Iran-born Armenian, like Babaian. This
would explain his father’s good job back home with a British airline.
(I could be wrong, but I don’t believe there were many flights between
London and small Soviet republics during the Cold War.) Anyway, once
Dad moved the family to Glendale, the American dream proved elusive.
Now elderly, widowed and defeated by a series of demeaning jobs,
Michael’s father, Leon (Greg Satamian), worries about the employment
prospects of an old man who can’t drive. Michael, who does dead-end
supermarket work himself, feels both guilty for not doing better and
responsible for keeping what’s left of the family intact.
This doesn’t sit well with his ambitious girlfriend Ana (Sophie
Chahinan), who has an opportunity to open a store in San Francisco.
But she’s also a fairly patient type who puts up with Michael’s
endless hours of cruising and hanging out at the gun shop with his
dopey pals, blustery small-time crook Avo (Shant Bejanian, in the
film’s best performance) and trouble-prone Mato (Ioannis Bogris), who
is obsessed with smuggling his brother into the country through Mexico.
We get some of the usual immigrant movie moments; there’s a wedding
and a first-time walk on the beach by a character in his 20s. But for
the most part, Babaian displays a knack for immersing viewers in the
small distinctions and similarities of Armenian-American life without
overloading on the ethnic signifiers.
In tone and presentation, “After Freedom” is about as far away from the
“Big Fat Greek Weddings” of the world as it can be, and its realism in
that regard is only to be lauded. But next time, hopefully, Babaian
will display a better sense of what’s interesting and what’s not
about the world he knows and appreciates so well.

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
May 13, 2004
___________________
DIOCESE WORKS TO BRING COLLEGE STUDENTS TO FAITH
By Jake Goshert
The Eastern Diocese’s newly established college ministry program
completed its first full semester this spring, during which it partnered
with the St. Peter Church of Watervliet, NY, to hold a series of visits
in the Albany area.
“We want to send a welcome to these students, let them know they’re
always a part of our church family,” said Jason Demerjian, the Diocese’s
college ministry facilitator. “We’ve been working to be visible on
campuses, to meet with students, and to answer their questions. College
is a difficult time, and we want them to know we’re there for them
anytime they need our help.”
ARMENIAN IDENTITY
In the Albany area Demerjian and Fr. Stepanos Doudoukjian, pastor of St.
Peter Church, visited with students at the State University of New York
in Albany, Siena College, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Their
first visits were a discussion on the Armenian Christian faith and how
it fit into the concept of Armenian identity.
“This is a good experience to get knowledge of our people,” said David
Mahserjian of Siena College. “I appreciate those of you who support us
and let us continue the things we do as Armenians.”
The campus gatherings brought out dozens of Armenian students to explore
their tradition. The visits were also a chance for students to explain
their faith to non-Armenian friends.
“As a member of the Roman Catholic Church, I found the visit to be
informative and an encouraging sign that faith is important to college
students,” said Meaghan Horn, a student at Siena College. “We want to
hold an inter-church prayer service next year, as something that further
affirms the idea that faith is important to college students.”
CONTINUING EFFORTS
In response to the desires of the RPI students following the initial
visit, Demerjian and Fr. Doudoukjian organized a follow-up barbeque
party. It was a chance for the students to be social, but also served
as the starting point for what could become an officially recognized
Armenian students club at the school.
“The visits were an excellent start to what I hope will turn into a
monthly club meeting, for Armenian college students to gather and
recognize their culture,” said Haig Seferian, a student at RPI. “I
think it was an excellent introduction to how we can get things started.
Thank you Jason and the Diocese for coming up with and initiating this.”
The core group of students at RPI are going to work in coming months to
plan cultural and religious events at the school. They’re also going to
organize service projects for Armenia that can involve the non-Armenian
student population as well.
“We finally took the all-important step of starting a club,” said Jason
Garabedian from RPI. “The school has always had an Armenian population,
and now Armenian kids will have more of a reason to attend RPI, besides
the fact that it is a good school.”
LOCAL SUPPORT
This is the first full semester for the Diocese’s new college ministry
effort. Along with the ventures into the Albany area, Demerjian also
went on a number of successful visits to colleges around Boston, MA.
The goal of the college ministry program is to work with local parish
clergy and lay leaders in identifying students and coordinating
follow-up contacts. Since Demerjian is the sole staffer, he cannot make
regular visits to all campuses with Armenian populations. That’s why
the success of college ministry outreach will depend on people in the
local parishes such — as Fr. Doudoukjian, who has taken an interest in
the success of the Albany area.
“I feel there’s a great need for ministry to college students,” said Fr.
Doudoukjian, who as a deacon in 1993 worked to reach out to college
students. “When 17- and 18-year-olds go to college, there’s a newfound
independence. And with that comes a desire to carve out who they are as
individuals. That’s one of our last opportunities to reach out to youth
through campus ministry. If we come to their home territory on campus
and say, ‘Yes, the Armenian Church cares,’ and provide guidance, the
results can be unbelievable.”
Fr. Doudoukjian also said parents need to take action when their kids go
away to school, so their children can get connected to those new
ministry efforts.
“The parents need to get involved, and let the Diocese and local
parishes know when their kids go away to school,” he said. “Will all
this work and make them involved in the life of the church? If you’re
not in there doing ministry, you have little chance at all. If you are
out there and affecting people’s lives in a positive way, the chance is
greater. You plant the seed, and never know what fruit will blossom.”
— 5/13/04
E-mail photos available on request. Photos also viewable on the Eastern
Diocese’s website,
PHOTO CAPTIO (1): A group of students at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute (RPI) in the Albany, NY, area gather for a barbeque this
spring with Jason Demerjian, the Eastern Diocese’s college ministry
facilitator, and Fr. Stepanos Doudoukjian, pastor at the St. Peter
Church of Watervliet, NY.
PHOTO CAPTION (2): With the energy provided by the Eastern Diocese’s
college ministry program, students at RPI in Albany, NY, are now working
on creating an on-going Armenian cultural association.
PHOTO CAPTION (3): Social gatherings organized through the Eastern
Diocese’s new college ministry outreach program — such as this barbeque
at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute near Albany, NY– give the local
priests and Diocesan staff a chance to get to know and serve as role
models for Armenian college students.
# # #

Greece, Turkey seek end to feud
By Andrew Borowiec, THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Washington Times
May 14 2004
NICOSIA, Cyprus — Greece and Turkey have embarked on what diplomats
describe as a period of “optimism and hope” with the ultimate goal
of ending their centuries-old feud.
A meeting in Athens last week between Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Greek counterpart, Costas Karamanlis,
sparked diplomatic dispatches and newspaper editorials forecasting
an unprecedented era of cooperation.
Above all, the prime ministers pledged not to let their long-standing
dispute over Cyprus stand in the path of a rapprochement.
“The European Union has accepted the whole of Cyprus — with a
special dispensation for its northern sector,” Mr. Karamanlis said.
“For us, the issue has been solved and has been dealt with.”
He also stressed Greek backing of Turkish efforts to join the European
Union and for planned Turkish political and economic reforms.
Mr. Erdogan said, “Greek-Turkish relations must not be affected by
the Cyprus issue. … The improvement of bilateral relations between
Greece and Turkey will be to the benefit not only of the two countries
but to stability, peace and cooperation in the whole region.”
The statements caused considerable concern in Greek-Cypriot political
circles, where it was understood that the new chapter in Greek-Turkish
relations was facilitated by the Greek-Cypriot rejection of a U.N. plan
to unite the island — and a Turkish-Cypriot vote of acceptance.
International sponsors of the plan quickly moved to reward the hitherto
ostracized and boycotted Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, putting
the legal Greek-Cypriot government on the defensive.
The fear now is of a loss of international interest in the island’s
future.
Since the Ottoman massacre of Armenians and the post-Ottoman wars of
the 1920s, Greece and Turkey have rarely seen eye to eye. Although
both are partners in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, their
military preparations have been mostly aimed at each other.
Greece and Turkey nearly went to war three times in recent years —
in 1974 because of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in retaliation for
a Greek coup, in 1987 when Turkey sent an oil drilling ship into
the disputed areas of the Aegean Sea, and in 1996 over a disputed
uninhabited Aegean islet.
The Erdogan-Karamanlis meeting follows a steady search for better
relations, marked by 25 bilateral agreements in the past five years.
The conservative Athens daily Kathimerini, however, added a note
of caution:
“Both men seek to hammer out relations based on sincerity and trust
which will allow them to resolve nagging hitches. But the EU will
never begin accession negotiations with a state in which political
life is under the shadow of the military.”
Turkish officials and diplomats insist that Turkey has made strides
toward major changes in its political outlook.
Hakan Altinay, of the Open Society Institute in Turkey, said, “A
transformation wrought by the soft power of the European Union has
gone unnoticed by Europe. … The death penalty was repealed, draconian
laws that restricted speech and the press for decades were abolished.
“The state of emergency that curtailed basic liberties in southeast
Turkey was lifted after 25 years. The extraordinary powers of the
National Security Council which subordinated civilian rule to military
authority were eliminated.”

Turkey Wants Good Relations With Armenia
Anadolu Agency
May 12 2004
ANKARA – Turkey wanted good relations with Armenia, Turkish Foreign
Ministry Spokesman Namik Tan said on Wednesday.
Tan told a weekly press briefing that the Caucasus and Armenia were
important regions for Turkey.
Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tan stated that there were chronic
problems in the region.
Everybody should fulfil his responsibilities, Tan noted.
Tan added that only Turkey`s efforts would not be sufficient to
overcome those chronic problems.

Institute for War and Peace Reporting
May 12 2004
Azerbaijan: No Glory for Veterans
Former combatants struggle to survive, and veteran status offers
little solace or practical help.
By Mamed Suleimanov in Zakatala and Baku (CRS No. 233, 12-May-04)
Rahim volunteered to go to the front in the war against the Armenians
in 1992, when he was 23. In January 1993, he was wounded and taken
prisoner near the town of Fizuli.
Eleven years on, Rahim is reluctant to talk about his time as a
prisoner-of-war. “I’ve told this story so many times to the state
commission on prisoners, so go and talk to them,” he told IWPR.
But over a cup of tea, he relented and agreed to tell his story.
“I spent more than a year in captivity. For about a month they kept me
behind bars next to another Azeri man called Oktay. Then I ended up in
the family of an Armenian man whose son had also been taken prisoner. I
spent many long months in the countryside around Hadrut, in this
man’s house. His name was Kamo. They treated me much better there.”
After more than a year in captivity, Rahim’s family managed to win
his freedom after paying a ransom. He was exchanged for a body of an
Armenian plus some money. He declined to say how much money changed
hands, but said that it was the intermediary who kept it anyway –
a field commander nicknamed Fantomas, a former tractor driver who
spent the war involved more in the “business” of trading prisoners
than in the actual fighting.
Rahim returned an invalid to the small town of Zakatala in
north-western Azerbaijan where he lives. Even though he cannot move
the fingers on his left hand because of war wounds, he managed to
become a professional hairdresser.
The local authorities gave him a small room in a local hotel, which
he turned into a hairdressing salon. Then his luck turned sour again.
Survivors of a fire in an apartment block were re-housed in the hotel,
so Rahim lost his means of making a livelihood.
Now Rahim is unemployed. He has a family and three children, but
no house and nowhere to turn to for help. The town authorities have
long forgotten about him, and now he is saving up to move to Russia,
where he hopes he can find a job as a market trader.
Another veteran, 38-year-old Azer, had more luck. He too volunteered
for the war, serving as a driver ferrying ammunition to the front. He
was badly wounded by a landmine in Aghdam, and spent over a month in
intensive care. Twelve years later, he still gets bad headaches from
the skull injury he suffered.
After he left hospital, Azer managed to get a fairly lucrative job by
local standards, working at a customs checkpoint on the border with
Georgia. He says that to avoid standing out from his colleagues, he
took bribes and shared them with his superiors, just like the other
customs officers.
After ten years on the job, he managed to save up a decent sum, got
married, bought a house in Baku and started his own business. But a
year ago he was sacked from customs because, he says, “they sold my
workplace to someone else”.
The stories of both Rahim and Azer illustrate how Azerbaijan’s veterans
of the Nagorny Karabakh war have had to fend for themselves in the 10
years since the ceasefire agreement of 1994. Most say they are ignored
by the state they fought for, and that they survive only on their wits.
Recently a local television channel reported that a war invalid from
the town of Imishli has been living with his wife and children in an
old bus for three years, because he lost hope that he would ever be
able to get a proper home.
The primary concern for most veterans is feeding their families. The
pension for invalids from the war is about 27 dollars a month, well
below the bread line.
Veterans used to enjoy some benefits, travelling free on public
transport and receiving gas and electricity supplies for nothing.
However, former Azerbaijani president Heidar Aliev cut those benefits
from the beginning of 2002.
Rei Kerimoglu, a spokesman for the Karabakh Gazileri (Karabakh
Warriors) organisation, one of several veterans’ groups, told IWPR that
benefits for invalids are sometimes misappropriated. For instance,
specially-adapted vehicles should be provided to invalids free of
charge, but officials demand a bribe of 300 to 400 dollars to hand
them over.
Kerimoglu said that in recent years, abject poverty has driven 36
war invalids to kill themselves, and 75 more have been treated by
doctors after attempting suicide.
Mekhti Mekhtiev, chairman of the Public Union of Karabakh War
Invalids, Veterans and Families of Martyrs’ Families, told IWPR, “We
have been facing a difficult situation since our benefits were cut.
When Baku mayor Hajibala Abutalibov had illegally-built structures
demolished, some trading booths belonging to Karabakh veterans also
got destroyed. These people are unable to work due to their health,
and trading is their only source of income. Now many veterans are
simply starving.”
Labour and welfare minister Nagiev denies that veterans are being
neglected. He said the 8,000 Karabakh war invalids on his ministry’s
books get priority treatment from the state. “Compared with others,
they have much higher pensions, they receive free medical treatment
at home, and those who need to have treatment abroad are given a
certain amount of money every year,” he said. The minister said the
state has handed out nearly 800 cars and 350 apartments to veterans
free of charge since 1997.
Altay Mamedov, who heads the Azerbaijani Association for Veterans of
the Great Patriotic War, an organisation originally set up to help
Second World War participants, said part of the problem is that there
are so many different veterans’ groups.
“In other countries there is one centralised body that deals with all
the problems facing veterans. But we have nine state organisations
doing it, and as a result there are differing interpretations of the
criteria for granting veteran status, and varying numbers of veterans
are cited,” said Mamedov. “The state claims there are 74,000 veterans
of the Karabakh war in the country. But our data indicates that the
number of war veterans is exaggerated. Our association is proposing to
unite all organisations that [have the power to] grant veteran status.”
Neither Rahim nor Azer is a member of any of the veterans’
organisations.
“It’s all politics, and the heads of all those organisations just
want to grab a piece of the pie,” said Rahim. Azer agreed, saying,
“If you hang around waiting for help from the state, you could easily
starve to death.”
Neither man likes reminiscing about the war, and they do not take
part in army reunions. The memories of what they did then are a burden
they carry alone.
Mamed Suleimanov is a reporter for the Baku newspaper Novoe Vremya.

International Journalist’s Network
May 7 2004
Armenian news directors to learn new computer program
A seminar for Armenian TV news directors and editors is aimed at
teaching them how to use News Factory – software that can help them
organize their newsrooms.
Internews-Armenia has scheduled the seminar for May 24 at its offices
in Yerevan. No more than one representative from each participating
TV company may attend.
Trainers Konstantin Naumov and Denis Shchevchenko of Internews-Russia
will lead the seminar. They will present the News Factory program,
which facilitates the organization of newsroom work for TV stations.
Internews-Russia created the software to help regional stations
automate their news production, while creating computerized archives
of their local news reports. According to an October 2003 release
from Internews, more than 300 stations across Russia are using the
software.
For more information about the software, visit

For information about the course, contact David Aslanyan at
[email protected], telephone +374 1 58-36-20. Internews-Armenia:

ArmenPress
May 5 2004
AVET TERTERIAN FESTIVAL SLATED FOR AUTUMN
YEREVAN, MAY 5, ARMENPRESS: The Union of Armenian Composers will
hold a festival in autumn dedicated to the 75-anniversary of great
composer Avet Terterian. The chairman of the Union, Robert
Amirkhanian, told Armenpress the festival will bring to Yerevan
prominent performers, critics and composers from many countries.
Considered by many as one of the most progressive and original
composers of the end of the 20th century who introduced new and
revolutionary ways in the development of modern symphony. Terterian
is the author of eight symphonies (the ninth was left incomplete),
two operas “Ring of Fire” and “The Earthquake”, ballet “Richard the
3rd”, vocal-symphonic cycle, and many chamber works. His symphonic
works are often performed in the European musical centers and his
opera “The Earthquake” received its world premiere in Munich in 2003
with an unprecedented public reception and wide ranging critical
acclaim.
Avet Terterian was awarded by German Az-Abendzeitung newspaper the
title of Star of the Year for his opera “The Earthquake.”
Terterian’s creativity is rooted in the ancient traditions of
Armenian music. Melodic flourishes are present, but are used as sound
gestures contrasting with passages rich in tone color. The point of
departure of Terterian’s style is often a single tone held out over
long stretches of time.
Terterian was born in Baku, Azerbaijan in 1929 and died in 1994 in
Yekaterinburg, Russia.

A1 Plus | 17:30:22 | 28-04-2004 | Politics | PACE SPRING SESSION |
CE FOLLOWING EQUALITY PRINCIPLE
CE Secretary General Walter Schwimmer whose CE commissions end this June
said at today’s press conference that CE role becomes wider.
“Council of Europe is more important than European Union. It is beyond
controversy that CE must and does support all the states which are on the
democratization way”, Mr. Schwimmer said.
Talking about Armenia’s problems he voiced hope that CE will have its good
offices for establishing stability in Armenia.
CE demands the Armenian Authorities to honor the democratic ideas towards
CE, human rights and legality and to engage in a dialogue with the political
powers.
“Ayb-Fe” asked Walter Schwimmer: “What do you mean saying the situation in
Armenia must be settled in a democratic way only?”. “Respect to lawfulness
of human rights, responsibility of the Armenian Government and the legal
bodies not to commit violence against the protestors, especially freedom of
MPs, are the most essential. I call both Opposition and protestors for the
same. But it is impossible to come out of the political crisis through
violence and rallies. Sides must engage in a dialogue and to find peaceful
ways. CE is well-experienced for eliminating crisis and our representative
can assist parts in the dialogue”, Walter Schwimmer said.