Author: Khoyetsian Rose

WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?
By Kay Azadabeen

Kurdish Aspect
ml
May 14 2008
CO

According to a humorist, one of our relatively respectable senators
had been portrayed to be confused about the Iraqis while needing
a nap. Although tired, he was awake enough not to confuse Shiites
and Sunnis with the Kurds. A main advantage for the Kurds during the
Iraq war has been to be known as they are, non-sectarian, religiously
neutral, and ethnically distinct.

The uninformed senator responded to the question if the Kurds confuse
him the way Shiite and Sunnis do. He simply responded "who the hell
are the Kurds?" For a few minutes I was disappointed in his statement
and than realized he is not to blame but the Kurds themselves. I
think he deserves to hear from the Kurds who the hell they are.

Many Kurds have been in hell for too long. The senator might have
intended to ask the Kurds of which hell, instead of who the hell are
the Kurds. As an experienced politician he must know there are two
Arab hells, a Turkish ,and Persian one for the Kurds. In these hells
many Kurds have been prisoners of war, a traumatic experience that
the senator is familiar with.

In the Iraqi hell over 180000 Kurds were killed by the Ba’ath
regime. In the Syrian hell many Kurds still have no citizenship and are
treated brutally by one of the member states of the so called "axis of
evil". In the Persian hell, a main center of the so called "religious
fascism", many Kurds have been bombed, hanged, and assassinated. In the
Turkish hell, the Kurds have gone through similar cultural and ethnic
genocide as Armenians went through. Despite denial of their rights to
be equal with their neighbors, the majority of the Kurds have lived
in peace with their Turkish, Arab, and Persian neighbors. However,
a minority of them have responded to force with force, something that
the senator must be familiar with.

In all of the four hellish states the determined Kurds, who do not
accept anything less than self determination and the freedom of
learning their own language at public schools, have been labeled as
separatist by the states that have separated and divided them between
themselves. The leaders of these hells treat the Kurds the way Russian
leaders treated other nations before the collapse of the Soviet empire,
or the way the British Kings treated their colonies in America before
1776, something that the senator must be familiar with.

Despite their betrayal by some American corporations many Kurds
still trust the American people as they share their dreams. They have
recognized that without the approval of the liberated Americans, the
captive nations of the world have a much harder time to be liberated
in this era. They are watching American leaders carefully and support
those who support them, whether it is a traumatized, experienced, and
forceful prisoner of war, a caring mother, spouse, and free woman,
or an energetic, intelligent, and progressive black man. If any of
them don’t take the Kurdish dream for liberty and justice seriously,
the Kurds would respond to them who the hell are you.

NEWTON’S DAVID BOYAJIAN RECOGNIZED FOR ROLE IN COUNTERING GENOCIDE DENIAL

Watertown TAB & Press
867421906/Newton-s-David-Boyajian-recognized-for-r ole-in-countering-genocide-denial
May 13 2008
MA

WATERTOWN – The Governor’s Council issued a resolution at the
Massachusetts State House on April 30 honoring Newton resident David
Boyajian for his role in the campaign against the Anti-Defamation
League’s denial of the Armenian Genocide and for questioning the
appropriateness of towns’ affiliation with the ADL’s No Place for
Hate anti-bias program.

The resolution was introduced by Marilyn Petitto Devaney, a Governor’s
Council member and Watertown Town Councilor.

The resolution cited Boyajian’s leadership in "successful efforts to
have communities sever ties with the ADL’s No Place for Hate and to
end the Massachusetts Municipal Association’s sponsorship" of the
program. The resolution further described the ADL’s opposition to
Congressional affirmation of the Armenian Genocide as "depriving the
Armenians of their history."

The ADL has yet to unambiguously acknowledge the genocide and has
opposed recognition of it by the U.S. Congress.

Boyajian, Armenian-Americans and human rights advocates have argued
that No Place for Hate’s human rights mission is incompatible with
the stance of the ADL on the widely recognized genocide committed
against Armenians by Turkey from 1915 to 1923.

Boyajian’s letter in the Watertown TAB on July 6, 2007, and his
subsequent activism sparked the issue, which soon became international
news.

In acceptance remarks, Boyajian thanked the Armenian National
Committee of America for its efforts in the campaign and praised
"the human rights commissioners, elected officials and citizens" in
the towns that dropped No Place for Hate. Boyajian urged people to
"strive for consistency, not selectivity, in recognizing genocide
and human rights violations."

He also thanked the people "even in other countries, of all ethnic,
religious and political backgrounds" who supported the campaign to
censure the ADL.

Boyajian singled out "Jewish Americans who have stood for principle"
by criticizing the ADL "when they could have remained silent."

He concluded by saying, "If you think you see injustice, speak
up. Individuals and organizations will hear you, and sometimes the
world may wind up being a better place because of it."

About 50 people attended the proceedings, many of them
Armenian-Americans. A group of Wellesley High School political science
students on a field trip to the State House also attended. Wellesley
is affiliated with No Place for Hate.

Watertown decertified its No Place for Hate on Aug. 11, 2007. In the
months following, Arlington, Bedford, Belmont, Lexington, Medford,
Needham, Newburyport, Newton, Northampton, Peabody, Somerville and
Westwood followed suit.

The Massachusetts Municipal Association, the umbrella organization for
the state’s cities and towns, voted April 8 to cease its sponsorship
of all No Place for Hate programs. The program still exists, however,
in more than 40 Massachusetts municipalities and in several states,
including California, Colorado, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas.

The ADL established No Place for Hate in 1999 in Massachusetts towns
and owns the federal trademark for the program’s name.

On April 22, the Watertown Town Council issued a proclamation sponsored
by Council President Clyde Younger also honoring Boyajian for his
journalism and activism regarding genocide denial.

In a recent article in TAB newspapers, Boyajian called on Blue Cross
Blue Shield of Massachusetts to stop funding No Place for Hate and
to drop its designation as a No Place for Hate company.

SEYRAN OHANYAN: THE CEASE-FIRE SHOULD BE MAINTAINED

armradio.am
13.05.2008 10:51

"We must do everything for the cease-fire regime to be maintained. The
authorities of our country do everything for the Nagorno Karabakh
issue to have its logical continuation and be solved in a peaceful
manner," RA Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan told reporters at the
National Assembly.

Asked about the possible threat of war, the Minister said "there is
no such situation today."

Turning to the fate of the four Armenian citizens that crossed the
border of Nakhijevan, the Minister said they have information about
them, and the citizens will be returned after corresponding work
is done.

"They had to return them a week ago, but we were informed that the
Ministry should take corresponding measures, after which our citizens
will be released," Seyran Ohanyan said, saying it’s hardly possible
that they will not be returned.

IN LEVON MELIK-SHAHNAZARIAN’S OPINION, NAGORNO KARABAKH PROBLEM WILL BE SOLVED THROUGH ANOTHER WAR

Noyan Tapan

Ma y 12, 2008

YEREVAN, MAY 12, NOYAN TAPAN. The Nagorno Karabakh problem
will be solved through another war. Political scientist Levon
Melik-Shahnazarian expressed such an opinion at the May 12 press
conference. According to him, that war will not happen soon, as the
supplies of oil and gas in the region are still interesting for the
world. "When these supplies finish or lose their economic significance,
then we will try to solve our problems with each other," the political
scientist said.

L. Melik-Shahnazarian also said that the negotiations of Nagorno
Karabakh settlement are doomed to failure, as Nagorno Karabakh does
not take part in them. "It is impossible to make a decision without
taking into account one of the conflict sides. Armenia has never been
a side of this conflict: it just helped, supported its compatriots,"
the political scientist said. He also reminded to journalists that
NKR representatives also signed the cease-fire Bishkek agreement
signed on May 12, 1994, being a direct side of the conflict.

‘WE ARE NOT ROOTED IN RELIGION’

Newsweek, NY
May 12, 2008
International Edition

Because of our good relations with Syria and Israel, we were asked
by both of them to effect better communication.

By Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Despite a landslide election win last summer, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
Turkey’s prime minister, is fighting for his political life. Turkey’s
Constitutional Court is considering an indictment accusing Erdogan and
70 other figures from his party, the AKP, of "seeking to undermine
the secular state." Prosecutors demand that the accused be banned
from politics for five years and the AKP closed down. The morning
that the party submitted its defense to the court, Erdogan spoke to
NEWSWEEK’s Owen Matthews in Ankara. Excerpts:

Matthews: Can Islam and modernity coexist?

Erdogan:Turkey has achieved what people said could never be achieved–a
balance between Islam, democracy, secularism and modernity. [Our
government] demonstrates that a religious person can protect the
idea of secularism. In the West the AKP is always portrayed as being
"rooted in religion." This is not true. The AKP is not a party just for
religiously observant people–we are the party of the average Turk. We
are absolutely against ethnic nationalism, regional nationalism and
religious chauvinism. Turkey, with its democracy, is a source of
inspiration to the rest of the Islamic world.

You have made speeches calling for new thinking in Islam.

We as politicians cannot enter into debates about modernizing Islam. As
politicians we do not have the right. Nor do Islamic scholars. But
we can speak about the place of Muslims in modern society and their
contribution to a modern way of life. We can speak about the place
of women. For example, in Turkey today the AKP is the best way for
women to take an active part in political life. We have the largest
number of female M.P.s.

If you have such a liberal vision, why is it that you are being
prosecuted for allegedly being too Islamist?

I cannot comment while the case is still being considered by the court.

How have religious attitudes changed in Turkey during your lifetime?

The rules of religion stay the same, but people’s attitudes
towards religion have changed. The urbanization of the country has
brought increased wealth and a different understanding of life. In
the past, people had no alternatives. Now we have given people
freedom of choice. We have also enhanced the rights and freedoms of
non-Muslims. For instance we have made changes to the building codes
so that they do not refer to "mosque" but to "place of religious
worship." We put government money into restoring the Armenian church
on Lake Van. And we have changed the law to help religious foundations
[regain property confiscated by the state].

But you haven’t reopened the Orthodox seminary on Halki island
[near Istanbul].

That is an educational problem, not a religious problem. We have to
overcome some mutual problems with Greece, such as questions about
the education of ethnic Turks in western Thrace. We hope to overcome
these issues soon.

What is Turkey’s role in facilitating recent negotiations between
Israel and Syria?

For 40 years Turkey had no diplomatic relations with Syria. When
[the AKP] came to power we decided to normalize these relations. Our
policy is to win friends, and not to make enemies. Because of our good
relations with both Syria and Israel we were asked by both of them to
effect better communications. We’ve been speaking to the leaders of
both countries. It’s important for us to try to gain some ground–if
we can help achieve peace in the Middle East, that will have a major
positive impact on the region.

Is it your belief that Israel wishes to attack Iran?

For a politician to speak about other countries’ intentions is a
big mistake. But I don’t want to see anything like that happen. If
it did, I cannot comprehend what will happen in the Middle East. We
shouldn’t even think about this. My biggest hope [for peace] is that
Israel stops its excessive use of force in the West Bank. Civilians
are being killed in Gaza; children and old people. We have to be
just–we cannot say that it’s right if one side [uses force] but
condemn the other side for doing the same.

PRIME MINISTER CONSIDERS 2007 BUDGET COMPLETE

Panorama.am
17:37 12/05/2008

The state budget of 2007 is a full completed one, well organized
which gave a chance to implement all the notified projects and to
make extra expenses disposed to the social, education, scientific and
health fields, said the Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan,
in a meeting discussion evaluating the state budget of 2007.

According to the Prime Minister last year tax collecting activities
were extremely high and this way should be kept. Besides, he mentioned
that the Government should pay much attention on the decrease of
poverty level.

Talking about the 2007 state budget the Prime Minister reminded that
the organizational activities were implemented in such a political
atmosphere when parliamentarian elections were held and preparedness
achieved for the presidential elections.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Serzh Sargsyan off to Stepanakert to participate in
events dated to Shushu liberation
08.05.2008 15:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ NKR President Bako Sahakian met
Thursday with Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan, who
arrived in Stepanakert to take part in festivities
dedicated to the Victory Day, NKR Defense Army
formation and the 16th anniversary of Shushi
liberation.

The Presidents discussed a wide scope of issues
referring to bilateral relations, reported the press
service of the NKR presidential administration.

Black Garden Tufenkian to build travel center in Shushi

07-05-2008 12:58:23 – KarabakhOpen

On May 6 the NKR government sold the premises of the state-run company
of repair and upkeep `Barekargum’ in Shushi to the Black Garden
Tufenkian organization. The total value of the fixed assets is 21.2
million drams.

The organization is likely to build a major travel center and invest
465 thousand dollars within several years.

Tufenkian Foundation carries out large-scale investment and charity
programs in Karabakh.

TWO REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES PRETEND FOR POST OF MAYOR OF HRAZDAN

YEREVAN, MAY 6, NOYAN TAPAN. On May 5 Electoral Constituency Commission
25 registered 2 Republican candidates, the current Mayor Aram Danielian
and Mesrop Mesropian, who had placed a nomination order for the May 25
elections of the Mayor of Hrazdan. This information was provided to a
Noyan Tapan correspondent by Andranik Apoyan, the Chairman of the
commission. According to him, the two other candidates, who had placed
a nomination order beforehand: non-party former Mayor Rubik Baklachian
and Liparit Arakelian, took back their nomination orders before the
registration.

Fixed-Line Telephone Users to Block Their Outgoing Calls from Home

YEREVAN, May 7. /ARKA/. From now on, the users of Armenian fixed-line
telephone network can block international access of their telephones
from home.

The Public Relations Department, ArmenTel Company, reports that the
company has decided to provide a new service because many dial-up
Internet users complain of bills received for allegedly made
international calls. To prevent such cases, the subscribers can now
make use of a new free service and encode the international access of
their telephone lines before getting connected to the Internet. To
block international calls, subscribers have to dial any four-digit code
plus any of the following extensions:

01 (to block outgoing international calls, as well as fringe services
rendered for extra payments (090),

02 (to block outgoing international calls, calls to the Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS), as well as fringe services rendered for extra
payments (090),

03 (to block outgoing international calls and the CIS countries,
long-distance calls inside the country, as well as fringe services
rendered for extra payments (090),

04 (to block outgoing international calls and calls to the CIS
countries, long-distance calls inside the country, mobile calls, as
well as fringe services rendered for extra payments (090),

05 (to block outgoing international calls and calls to the CIS
countries, long-distance calls inside the country, local calls, as well
as fringe services rendered for extra payments (090),

ArmenTel has a monopoly operation right to the country’s fixed-line
telephone network. It is one of the two mobile operators in Armenia.
VimpelCom Company is full owner of ArmenTel.`0′