Author: Khoyetsian Rose

EXHIBITION OF ARMENIAN ARTISTS’ WORKS OPENED IN SAINT PETERSBURG

Noyan Tapan
Apr 03 2006

SAINT PETERSBURG, APRIL 3, NOYAN TAPAN. Within the framework of
the Year of Armenia in Russia and the 15th anniversary of the RA
independence, an exhibition of Armenian artists living in Petersburg
opened at the “Manezh” central exhibition-hall of Saint Petersburg
on March 30. Works of 25 Armenian artists and sculptors are presented
here. Works of most of them, including Valeri Apinian, Greta Manukian,
Zaven Arshakuni, Levon Lazarev, are today exhibited at the world-known
Russian State Museum, Fine Arts State Museum after Pushkin, Tretyakov
State Gallery and numerous other famous exhibition-halls. According
to the information submitted to Noyan Tapan by the RA Foreign
Ministry’s Press and Information Department, Ruben Hakobian, the RA
Consul General to Saint Petersburg made welcome speech at the opening
ceremony of the exhibition. A concert of the Armenian classic Music
with the participation of RF Honourary Artist, tenor K.Akopov, Saint
Petersburg Trio and Academy Quintet was organized on the occasion of
the event. The exhibition will be open till April 10.

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Chris Zakian, Coordinator of Public Relations
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 44; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

April 3, 2006
___________________

“NEW DIRECTIONS IN THE TURKISH RESPONSE TO THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE” IS TOPIC
OF PANEL DISCUSSION IN NYC ON THURS., APRIL 20

Prof. Israel Charny, Dr. Dennis Papazian, & Mr. Aram Arkun are Featured
Speakers

* * *

Over the past several years, the Armenian Genocide has become a topic of
intense discussion among Turks both within the Republic of Turkey and
abroad. The European Union, United States, and other states have raised the
issue directly and indirectly with the Turkish state.

Unexpectedly, recent years have also seen an increase in Genocide discussion
among Turkish intellectuals. These remarkable recent developments will be
the subject of a panel discussion on the evening of Thursday, April 20,
titled “New Directions in the Turkish Response to the Armenian Genocide.”

Professor Israel Charny, of Jerusalem, a leading international scholar of
genocide, will head the roster of distinguished speakers. He will be joined
by Dr. Dennis Papazian and Mr. Aram Arkun.

The event is being jointly sponsored by the Krikor and Clara Zohrab
Information Center of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America
(Eastern), and the Mid-Atlantic Knights and Daughters of Vartan.

DR. ISRAEL CHARNY, Ph.D., founder and director of the Institute on the
Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem, is a leading international scholar in
the field of genocide who has published extensively on the subjects of
genocide as well as on marriage and family therapy. He is editor-in-chief
of the acclaimed Encyclopedia of Genocide, which has appeared in English in
the U.S. and U.K., with a partial edition in French, and which can also be
purchased for computer use in an electronic edition. He is a clinical
psychologist and a professor of Psychology and Family Therapy in the Program
for Advanced Studies in Integrative Psychotherapy, which he founded in 1993,
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His latest book, Fascism and
Democracy in the Human Mind (forthcoming from the University of Nebraska
Press) has been hailed as “one of the most important books of this decade,”
and as a momentous and innovative work of scholarship. He recently took
part in a conference in Istanbul on Turkish-Armenian relations.

(Please note that on the afternoon of Sunday, April 23, 2006, Dr. Charny
will be the main speaker at the annual Genocide commemoration organized by
the Knights of Vartan, in Times Square, New York City.)

DR. DENNIS R. PAPAZIAN is a professor of history and director of the
Armenian Research Center (ARC) at the University of Michigan, Dearborn. He
is a former president of the Society for Armenian Studies, former editor of
the Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies, an international lecturer,
and a frequent radio, TV, and newspaper commentator. A former university
administrator, he has been the recipient of various grants, awards, and
honors, and recently received a medal from Armenia’s Genocide Institute.
Dr. Papazian has worked with objective Turkish scholars who oppose the
denialist narrative of the Turkish state to encourage research and
publication for the education of the Turkish public. It was Dr. Papazian
who brought Taner Akçam to America as a researcher at the ARC.

Aram Arkun is coordinator of the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center
of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of American (Eastern). A specialist
in modern Armenian history, he has delivered research papers on topics
pertaining to the Armenian Genocide; participated in conferences on
Armeno-Turkish relations; and conducted research in the Ottoman state
archives in Istanbul. He has published a number of articles and annotated
translations on Ottoman and Iranian Armenian topics, as well as on
contemporary Armenian events, in scholarly journals, encyclopedias, and
books. He is editor of the periodical Ararat, chairman of the Armenian
Student Association “Arthur H. Dadian Armenian Heritage Award” committee,
and a member of the board of directors of the Columbia University Armenian
Center.

The panel discussion on “New Directions in the Turkish Response to the
Armenian Genocide” will take place on Thursday, April 20, beginning at 7:15
p.m., in Guild Hall of the Diocesan Center, Second Avenue (corner of 35th
St.), New York City. Admission is free and open to the public. For
information, please contact: Dr. Arthur Kubikian at (718) 786-3842; or Aram
Arkun, at (212) 686-0710, ext. 26, e-mail [email protected].

–4/3/06

Georgian defence chief accuses Russia of lying about Abkhazia base

Rustavi-2 TV, Tbilisi
31 Mar 06

Georgian Defence Minister Irakli Okruashvili has accused Russia of
“lying” about the closure of the Russian military base in Gudauta,
Abkhazia. In a live interview with Rustavi-2 TV on 31 March,
Okruashvili said that the Gudauta base was still in active service.

Okruashvili also said he hoped that the Russian “so-called”
peacekeepers would leave South Ossetia by the end of 2006. Commenting
on the Russian import ban on Georgian wine, Okruashvili suggested
that the ban could eventually cost Russia dearly.

The interview began with Okruashvili’s comment on the signing of the 31
March agreement on the time scale and procedures for the withdrawal of
Russian bases and other military assets from Georgian territory. The
minister said that Russia had been procrastinating over it for a long
time. “Active negotiations started in early June [2005]. As I have
said, we spent almost a year to agree some meaningless details. The
process had been delayed, but fortunately it ended today. In the
near future, there will be several serious NATO and other summits in
Europe, so apparently the Russians did not want to find themselves
in an awkward situation and be accused of failing to fulfil their
international obligations. That’s why we worked on this document so
fast during the past two weeks,” he noted.

Answering a question about possible complications with Azerbaijan
because of the planned transfer of the military hardware to the Russian
base in Armenia, Okruashvili said that this issue was “not of principal
importance” for Georgia. “Two thirds of the hardware will be taken to
Russia and one third will be transferred to the Russian military base
in Armenia, but this is not of principal importance for us. Russia
is not going to donate this hardware to the Armenian government and
its armed forces. Russia will deploy it at its military base,” he said.

“I have said that the signing of today’s agreement launched the main
stage of the process of ending Russia’s military presence in Georgia.

By the main stage I mean that this agreement will close only two
bases, but the question of the third base [in Gudauta] remains. For
years, they have been lying to us and telling us that it was closed,
but this is not so. Just three days ago, an armed group of Abkhaz
bandits attacked the Russian military base in order to seize weapons.

Several Abkhaz were wounded by Russians there. This once again shows
that the base is not closed. It still has quite an active component
of military servicemen, with their arms and helicopters. Naturally,
we want the international community to take a principled position,
so that the actual situation is exposed and this base is closed just
as the Akhalkalaki and Batumi bases will close,” Okruashvili said.

“In addition, we still have [Russian] peacekeepers, these so-called
peacekeepers who don’t quite fit this title, in Abkhazia and South
Ossetia. These peacekeepers are not the subject of today’s agreement,
but the Georgian parliament has launched separate procedures with
respect to them. The Georgian government is working on this issue
too. I hope that by the end of this year, the procedures with respect
to at least one of these uncontrolled areas will be finished and the
peacekeepers will leave South Ossetia,” he noted.

At the end of the interview, when asked about his opinion on the
Russian import ban on Georgian wine, Okruashvili said: “Generally,
my attitude towards Russia’s current policy towards Georgia is well
known. However, I am a political official and I do not have the
right to express my subjective views about them openly. However, it
is sometimes quite difficult to force middle-ranking or low-ranking
state officials to treat our neighbours with sympathy when they
[Russians] are creating such absurd problems for us. I do not want
someone to think that I am referring to an analogy, but there was a
time when Georgians, loaded with money they easily made in Moscow,
would encounter North Caucasian bandit groups while travelling back
to Georgia. Then a Georgian traveller would be offered to buy a brick
for 10,000 dollars [implying that otherwise the brick would smash the
traveller’s car]. So, I do not want the Russians to find themselves
in a situation when they will have to buy every brick from us for
the price of 100 boxes of wine,” Okruashvili said.

ARMENIA RECEIVES OPPORTUNITY TO SUBMIT BIDS FOR PROGRAMS OF ANOTHER
40 MLN USD TO WORLD BANK

YEREVAN, MARCH 31, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenia received the opportunity to
submit bids for programs worth another 40 mln USD to the World Bank,
RA Minister of Finance and Economy Vardan Khachatrian stated on March
31. According to him, the allocation of these extra funds has become
possible thanks to the effecient implementation of the previous
programs. The minister said that Armenia ranks third by this index
among the World Bank’s borrowers.

PILGRIMAGE TO TEGHERI MONASTERY ON APRIL 1

YEREVAN, MARCH 31, NOYAN TAPAN. A pilgrimage to the Tegheri monastery
of the Aragatsotn diocese was organized on the initiative of the
Gevorgian Theological Academy and Vazgenian Theological Academy,
on the occasion of the Mutn in Virap holiday of St. Grigor the
Illuminator. Students of the Yerevan Kh.Abovian State Pedagogical
University, Yerevan State Economy University, V.Brusov Linguistics
University and the American University of Armenia will participate
in the pilgrimage joint with students and staffs of the Theological
Academies. The Saint Liturgy was celebrated at the Surb Astvatsatsin
Church of the Tegheri monastic complex, after what a cultural event
will be organized with joint efforts of students and staffs of the
Theological Academies and Universities. According to the information
submitted to Noyan Tapan by the Information Services of the Mother
See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the pilgrims will start from the Yerevan
St. Grigor the Illuminator’s Cathedral (in front of the hall of
lighting candles) early at 9:00.

LAW-DEFENDER OF ARRESTED AZERI OFFICER TO LEAVE FOR BUDAPEST ON 2 APR
Author: E.Javadova

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
March 29 2006

Adil Ismayilov, a law-defender, will leave for Budapest on 2 April
to attend the hearings on the case of Azerbaijani officer charged
in murder of his Armenian fellow during the military exercises in
Hungary in 2004, Trend reports.

The last hearings of the case of Ramil Safarov, an Azerbaijani
officer who is accused of assassination of An Armenian officer,
Gurgen Markarian in Budapest, was held on 7 March

The last 4th examination for definition of psychological state
of Safarov defines that accused committed the crime in state of
responsibility. The judge appointed the appearance for 4 April,
while the issue of sentence for 14 April.

After the last hearings Ismayilov stated to a news confreec in Baku
that the Hungarian court openly defended the Armenia’s stance and
held a tendension position in respect to Safarov.

ARMENIA SHOULD OCCUPY ITS PLACE WITH SOVEREIGN RATING ON WORLD’S FINANCIAL MAP: CBA CHAIRMAN

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
March 28 2006

YEREVAN, March 28. /ARKA/. Armenia should occupy its place with
the sovereign rating on the world’s financial map, Chairman of the
Central Bank of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan during the international
banking conference on foreign trade financing.

According to him, as a result of the Armenian Government’s negotiations
with two world rating companies, Armenian will be awarded a sovereign
investment rating during the nearest months.

“It is important for Armenia that all potential investors recognize
Armenia on the financial map and followed changes of our rating
afterwards,” Sargsyan said.

He believes that the sooner this process starts, the better, because
the country needs to have a rating history. “One cannot guarantee that
the rating will be high or low, because it should be real,” he added.

The international banking conference on foreign trade financing is
held in Armenian on March 28-30. The conference is organized mainly
by the EBRD and “Armeconombank”.

DEPUTY FM STYLIANIDIS TO VISIT YEREVAN

Macedonian Press Agency, Greece
March 28 2006

Deputy Foreign Minister Evripidis Stylianidis will be on a formal
visit to Yerevan, Armenia on March 29-30.

The 4th Greek-Armenian Joint Inter-Ministerial Committee meeting will
take place during the visit as well as the signing of the bilateral
economic cooperation protocol. Also, a memorandum of understanding
will be signed by the Federation of Greek Industries, SEV, and the
association of manufacturers and businessmen of Armenia.

The Deputy Foreign Minister will have talks with Armenian President
Robert Kocharian, Prime Minister Andranik Margarian, Minister of
Agriculture Davit Lokian, Minister of Commerce and Economic Development
Karen Chishmaritian, Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosian and
Patriarch Karekin II of Armenia.

Mr. Stylianidis will also visit Scholl 132 in Yerevan, the
construction of which was funded by Hellenic Aid, the Foreign
Ministry’s International Development Cooperation Directorate, and he
will lay a wreath at the Monument of Genocide.

ANTHOLOGIST HELPS KICK OFF FRESNO COUNTY’S SESQUICENTENNIAL
Jim Guy The Fresno Bee

Fresno Bee (California)
March 24, 2006 Friday
Final Edition

Author celebrates Valley’s voices

When writer Gerald Haslam published “Many Californias,” an anthology
of California writers, he drew fire from a critic at the San Francisco
Chronicle because much of the work was by Fresno poets.

The critic argued that there should be more representation for other
California poets from cities such as Berkeley.

Haslam was quick to challenge the critic. What poets had Berkeley
produced in the past 40 years, Haslam asked, that can stand up to
the work of Valley poets? Haslam says the critic had the grace to
concede the point.

Haslam, a widely published author himself, spoke about “Fresno of the
Mind” on Thursday night in downtown Fresno to help kick off the first
event in the Fresno County Sesquicentennial, a yearlong celebration
of Fresno County’s 150th year. Books by Haslam include “The Great
Central Valley: California’s Heartland,” “Working Man’s Blues” and
“Coming of Age in California.”

Much as crops from all over the world have flourished here, Haslam
credits a diversity of people with hardworking roots for making the
written word blossom in the Valley.

He traces much of that back to William Saroyan, who was first to
acknowledge the complexity of society taking shape here in the early
part of the the 20th century through stories like “70,000 Assyrians,”
about an Armenian boy getting a haircut and a history lesson from
the victim of another diaspora.

Longtime California State University, Fresno, professor Philip Levine
is credited by Haslam for carrying on the tradition through nonelitist
poetry that pays homage to the everyday person.

“He put himself through school while wearing a shirt with his name
on it,” Haslam said. “He understood poverty. He understood diversity.”

Haslam cites “Death of a Hog,” a seemingly simple poem about a boy’s
coming of age as he helps slaughter a hog, as evidence of that.

“I think it’s possible that no one has done more to invent the
‘Fresno of the Mind’ than Levine,” he said.

Modern heirs of the tradition, Haslam says, include the prolific
author Gary Soto and historian/polemicist Victor Davis Hanson. The
two may have very different points of view, but that’s part of the
diversity, too.

UC Riverside, CA
March 24 2006

Ambassador Ghougassian Speaks at UC Riverside About Recent Diplomacy
in Iraq

Inland area residents have a chance to hear one part of the Iraq
story from someone who was there
(March 23, 2006)

U.S. Forces accompany Ambassador Ghougassian at Bahgdad University

RIVERSIDE, Calif. () — UC Riverside will welcome The
Honorable Joseph Ghougassian, Ph.D., J.D., former Ambassador of the
United States to the State of Qatar and a government advisor in Iraq,
for a public lecture at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 18 in the University
Theatre. He is the final speaker in the 2006 Chancellor’s
Distinguished Lecture Series.

His topic is “Diplomacy: A Tool for Peace, Education and Human
Rights,” and he will draw on his experience as an advisor on higher
education issues to the Coalition Provisional Authority – the
U.S.-led organization charged with running Iraq until power shifted
to the Iraqi-led transitional government.

Ambassador Ghougassian has an interesting story to tell. He worked as
a senior adviser to President Ronald Reagan in the Department of
Domestic Policy; directed the Peace Corps in the Yemen Arab Republic;
and then was named Ambassador to the State of Qatar, which shares a
border with Saudi Arabia. He was the first naturalized U.S.
Ambassador from the Middle East, and in the job he honed his skills
in bringing disparate, antagonistic peoples together, realizing such
skills could change the world. He was able to negotiate an end to a
14-century ban on the public practice of Christianity in Qatar, and
was subsequently knighted by the Pope in the Order of St. Gregory the
Great. Most recently, he was tapped to help find a solution to the
turmoil in Iraq.

`Our job was go to Kirkuk, look into the property disputes between
the Turks, the Kurds, the Arabs and the Christians, and to calm down
the situation.” Ghougassian was well qualified. `My fluent Arabic won
the confidence of the Arab tribal sheiks; my Armenian ethnicity
helped me with the Kurds and my Christian religion put the people at
ease, because Christians in Iraq are viewed as fair-minded and honest
people.”

In his role as advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq
in the effort to rebuild the country’s higher education system, he
directed the Iraq Fulbright Program that brought the first 25 Iraqi
scholars to American universities after a long absence. During his
time as an advisor, he lived in one of Saddam Hussein’s former
palaces in the `green zone.’

Born in Cairo, Egypt, he was an early bloomer in academics, receiving
his first two degrees (a B.A. and an M.A. in philosophy) from the
Gregorian University in Rome, Italy, in 1964 and 1965. He earned a
doctorate in philosophy from Louvain University in Belgium by the age
of 22, and was brought to the United States by a job offer: teaching
philosophy and psychology at the University of San Diego. He
subsequently received a bachelor of science degree in family studies
from Louvain University in 1974 and a master’s degree in
international relations and a law degree from USD.

He is back in the U.S. now, writing articles on diplomatic and
international affairs for the media, and lecturing. He is on the
faculty at Trinity College, Anaheim and chairman of Arabian Gulf
Consultants, an international business and international law
corporation. He speaks Armenian, English, French, Arabic, Italian and
Spanish.

Sponsored by the Office of the Chancellor, the distinguished lecture
series is an annual event featuring personalities from the arts,
sciences, letters, and other sectors of society. It’s purpose is to
stimulate the region’s intellectual community, inspire students to
think beyond the lecture hall and lab, and to involve members of the
community in the academic life of the UCR campus. The theme this year
is, “Beyond Boundaries: Explorations and Experimentation in Science,
Art, and Statecraft.’ In addition to formal public presentations,
each lecturer will participate in seminars with undergraduate and
graduate students and visits with faculty

The first speaker in this year’s lecture series was Richard R.
Schrock, an MIT professor who spent his undergraduate years at UCR
and recently shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The second speaker
was former U.S. Poet Laureate and UCR alumnus, Billy Collins.

The lectures are free and open to the public. Parking on campus costs
$6. The talk will be followed by a reception on the patio outside
University Theatre.

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