Author: Maghakian Mike

NKR PRESIDENT HELD A WORKING CONFERENCE

Azat Artsakh Tert, Armenia
Dec 4 2007

On December 3, Nagorno-Karabakh President Bako Sahakian held a working
conference devoted to the course and results of the "Hayastan"
All-Armenian Fund’s 2007 telethon in the USA. The Speaker and the
Vice-Speaker of the NKR National Assembly, the Prime Minister, the
Government members, the Prosecutor-General, Supreme Court Chairman
and other officials attended the meeting.

Representatives of the mass media were also present.

The head of the state expressed his satisfaction in the course and
results of the telethon calling them efficient. Bako Sahakian informed
those present that during the meetings in the Diaspora issues of
vital significance for Artsakh were discussed, and the necessity of
involving the Diaspora in their solution was mentioned.

According to the President our foreign compatriots expressed their
readiness to continue and develop the mutual cooperation.

Bako Sahakian noted that during the meetings in the Diaspora issues
concerning the spheres of health, agriculture, energy, water supply,
realization of investment programs, as well as the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict were mainly discussed.

The President emphasized that one of the most significant guarantees
of constant and effective relations between Artsakh and the Diaspora
was the creation of an appropriate information field. He instructed
the heads of the corresponding structures to undertake concrete
steps in this direction in the nearest future. The same day Bako
Sahakian had a separate meeting with the heads of the republic’s
law-enforcement bodies.

Armenian National Committee of America
Western Region
104 N. Belmont, Suite 208, Glendale, CA 91206 * Tel. (818) 500-1918
Fax. (818) 246-7353 * [email protected]

PRESS RELEASE ~ 2007-12-04
Contact: Haig Hovsepian ~ Tel: (818) 500-1918

Clark Magnet High School Engages Community Through
ANC-WR Internship

Los Angeles, CA – As part of the 2007 Autumn Session of the Armenian
National Committee-Western Region Internship-Externship Program
(ANC-WR IEP), Rafi Orphali has learned a lot about civic engagement
while working as a Public and Media Relations intern. While his
primary responsibility as an intern was to assist in media coverage
for organizational activities, he has also been a worked with fellow
interns at this past September’s "Songs for Darfur" benefit concert,
to assisting staff with media monitoring while the Armenian Genocide
resolution was making its way through the US House Committee on
Foreign Affairs.

At 16, Orphali is one of the youngest individuals to intern at the
ANC-WR office, but this was not his first time working with the
organization. During the summer of 2006 he volunteered at the office,
an experience he credits with motivating him to apply for the program
this year and helping prepare himself for the rigors and challenges of
government-oriented work.

"When I volunteered last summer, I was fascinated with what the ANC
does for the Armenian American community," said Orphali. "Not only did
I get to see what the organization did, but how students like me could
help be a part of that," he added.

Orphali will also be incorporating his internship experience into his
high school senior project. Dealing with the issue of civic
engagement, Orphali will feature his fieldwork as an intern with the
ANC-WR.

"Though the session is coming to an end soon, I look forward to
staying involved. This program has given me the hands-on experience
and tools needed so I can jump right in and contribute to the
community through my local ANC," noted Orphali.

Established in June 2006, the ANC-WR IEP is a selective and intensive
program that provides student leaders and activists with an
opportunity to participate in an intensive internship designed to
provide an in-depth introduction to Armenian American issues as well
as advocacy efforts on the federal, state and local level. The program
hosts spring, summer and autumn sessions. You can find more
information about the IEP by visiting
iew.php.

The Armenian National Committee – Western Region is the largest and
most nfluential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in
the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of
offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States
and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANC-WR advances
the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of
issues.

###

EU AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY HELP ARMENIA WITH EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.11.2007 14:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The UK jointly with the European Union and entire
international community helps Armenia with integration in European
structures, UK Ambassador to Armenia Anthony Cantor said at Poland’s
Experience in European Integration and Lessons for South Caucasus
States international conference. "Armenia’s participation in the
European Neighborhood Policy as well as experience of the EU member
states is very important for the purpose," Ambassador Cantor said.

For his part, Polish Ambassador to Armenia Tomasz Knothe underscored
that the goal of such conferences is to exchange experience in
implementation of European programs.

Chairman of the Analytical Center for Globalization and Regional
Cooperation Stepan Grigoryan said that Baltic states and Poland can
cooperate with the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
which includes the South Caucasus countries.

FRENCH CO-CHAIR OF OSCE MINSK GROUP: ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTERS ARE GIVEN FULL LIST OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF SETTLEMENT

arminfo
2007-11-29 17:53:00

ArmInfo. During the meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministers Vartan Oskanian and Elmar Mammadyarov in Madrid, the
ministers received no new proposals but they were given the full list
of fundamental principles of settlement, which may become a start for
drawing up the document on settlement, French Co-chairman of the OSCE
Minsk Group Bernard Fassier said. As ArmInfo correspondent in Madrid
reports, the OSCE MG co-chairs, Russian and French foreign ministers,
US assistant secretary of State, and the personal representative of
the OSCE chairman-in-office were present at the meeting.

B.Fassier said that the co-chairs continue their meditation in
the peaceful talks, frequently visit the capitals of Armenia and
Azerbaijan, meet the countries’ presidents and foreign ministers and
try to narrow the circle of unsettled issues. "Today we formulated all
these issues, presenting in a certain manner how a single initiative of
the co-chairs may be", said B.Fassier. He added that the parties also
take into account the fact that presidential elections will shortly be
held in both countries. To note, within the next few weeks the OSCE MG
co-chairs will visit the region, meet the presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan, and at the end of 2007 or beginning of 2008 again visit
the region to see the presidents’ reaction to the question what is
unacceptable this time and what ideas have arisen.

Afterwards the two presidents will approve these principles, and
then it will be possible to start the work over the main document
with experts, B.Fassier noted. According to him, the mediators’
participation in the talks can’t fail to succeed. "I have 4 sons, a
daughter and ten grandchildren and I dream of seeing no more Armenian
and Azeri children killed", he said.

Agence France Presse — English
November 29, 2007 Thursday 5:35 PM GMT

Mediators present plan to end Nagorno Karabakh dispute

MADRID, Nov 29 2007

An international group mediating the dispute between Armenia and
Azerbaijan over the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh said
Thursday it had presented both sides with a plan to end the conflict.

It is "an official offer of the three mediating countries to propose
to the sides to discuss the overall concept of conflict settlement,"
said Bernard Fassier, the French co-president of the OSCE’s Minsk
group which is mediating the dispute.

He declined to provide details, but said it is "not a new proposal.

"It’s a comprehensive presentation of all the basic principles which
could pave the way for drafting a peace settlement," he told
journalists on the sidelines of the annual meeting of foreign
ministers of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OSCE).

He said the offer was handed to the foreign ministers of both
countries so that they "will have a basis for discussion at any
moment," particularly in view of upcoming presidential elections in
both Armenia and in Azerbaijan.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s break from Azerbaijan in 1991 precipitated a
full-blown war between the former Soviet republic and its neighbour
Armenia, claiming some 25,000 lives before ending with a ceasefire in
1994. The region’s status remains unsettled, despite years of
diplomatic talks.

The Minsk Group was created in 1992 by the OSCE to bring about a
peaceful resolution between the two countries.

The co-chairs of the Minsk group are Russia, the United States and
France.

Representatives of the group plan to travel to Armenia and Azerbaijan
by the end of January to gauge the views of both governments to the
plan, Fassier said.

About 40 countries are attending the conference of the OSCE, Europe’s
security watchdog, which runs until Friday.

Boston Globe, MA
Dec 2 2007

Town weighs break with ADL program

By Laura M. Colarusso
Globe Correspondent / December 2, 2007

Needham officials are facing a decision on whether to remain in the
Anti-Defamation League’s No Place for Hate program, or leave over the
ADL’s refusal to refine its stance that the atrocities committed by
the Ottoman Empire against the Armenians are "tantamount to
genocide."

more stories like thisThe Needham Human Rights Committee has
recommended to the Board of Selectmen that the town suspend its ties
to the program, which supports efforts to combat racism and bigotry.

The committee had wanted the ADL to clarify its position by dropping
the word "tantamount" during its national commission meeting last
month.

The vote on the fate of No Place for Hate in Needham could come as
early as Tuesday, said Gerald Wasserman, chairman of the Board of
Selectmen. Several other municipalities, including Newton and
Watertown, have withdrawn from the program over the ADL’s position.

Myrna Shinbaum, a spokeswoman for the national ADL, said the
organization "has nothing more to say" about its perspective on the
Armenian genocide, except that leaving the No Place For Hate program
"would be an injustice" for Needham.

"We hope the selectmen will reject the recommendation of the Human
Rights Committee," Shinbaum said in a written statement. "ADL
provides a wealth of expertise in fighting hate and promoting
diversity," she said, and the No Place for Hate program "has proven
to be an important resource for the people of Needham."

Several members of the Board of Selectmen expressed concern that the
ADL has not acquiesced to calls for changing its stance. Selectman
John Cogswell said he would support the Human Rights Committee’s
recommendation "until such time as the ADL changes their position."

Selectman John Bulian praised the committee for its "slow and
measured approach" to the issue.

"Yes, we hang on words, but words are important," Bulian said. "There
is no question that a genocide occurred. . . . I just think that we
have to be open to elements of tragedies that have occurred in
history and recognize them for what they are."

The antibias program, which has provided funding for tolerance and
diversity education in roughly 60 communities statewide, has been
surrounded by controversy since August, when the ADL fired its top
New England executive, Andrew Tarsy, for going beyond the national
group’s position in recognizing the Armenian genocide. He has since
been reinstated.

Needham’s Human Rights Committee sent a letter in September to the
ADL, asking that it reconsider its position and support legislation
labeling as genocide the mass killings of more than 1 million
Armenians between 1915 and 1923. When the ADL decided not to take
further action, members voted 6-1 to recommend the town distance
itself from the No Place for Hate program, said Debbie Watters,
committee chairwoman.

The ADL has recognized the genocide and is allowing its officials to
use that term, according to Michael Sheetz, a Needham resident and a
20-year member of the ADL.

There is no ambiguity in the organization’s policy toward the
Armenians, said Sheetz, who has represented the ADL before the town’s
Human Rights Committee.

"How can you throw out all the good that’s been done just because you
disagree with the wording of a press release?" Sheetz asked. "It’s
semantics over substance."

NATIONAL ARCHIVE EXHIBITS MATERIALS OF GARZU

Panorama.am
19:31 03/12/2007

This year is the 100th anniversary of famous French Armenian artist
Garzu (Garnik Zulumyan). Different cultural establishments organize
events on the occasion. Today the National Archive opened an exhibition
of materials related to Garzu.

"Ninety percent of the materials are from the archive document. Some
materials are brought from the museum of Martiros Saryan, and the
personal archives of Shahen Khachatryan and Vardges Hamazaspyan.

"The archive exhibits the letters of Garzu, his wife’s letters,
official letters addressed to the artists and congratulations notes,"
department head at the National Archive Marine Martiosyan said.

US DIPLOMAT UPBEAT ON LATEST PEACE PLAN ON KARABAKH

Day.Az
Nov 29 2007
Azerbaijan

A senior US diplomat has called the latest set of principles proposed
by international mediators on Nagornyy Karabakh as the "most logical
formula" to resolve the long-standing conflict between Armenia and
Azerbaijan.

"For today, what is on the negotiation table now is the most logical
formula to resolve the conflict," Matthew Bryza, US deputy assistant
secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, was quoted by
Azerbaijan’s Day.az website as saying. "I think that every person
who has common sense would accept these principles."

The mediators formally presented the principles to the Azerbaijani
and Armenian foreign ministers in Madrid on 29 November. Azerbaijan’s
Foreign Ministry has said that the principles include withdrawal
of Armenian troops from the Azerbaijani territories surrounding
Nagornyy Karabakh, return of refugees to their homes and restoration
of communications between the conflicting sides, among others.

Turan news agency quoted the ministry spokesman, Xazar Ibrahim, as
saying that the sides had failed to agree only one of the proposed
principles, which he did not specify.

Speaking to Day.az, Bryza said that the proposals were the "most
rational" ones made in the past 10-15 years. He added that the
mediators were now waiting for response from the Azerbaijani and
Armenian presidents.

"We have made the best proposals for compromises, and now are
looking forward to hear from the presidents. But this is not a new
initiative. This is the end of the initiatives. And now, as I said,
we are waiting for response from the heads of states," Bryza was
quoted as saying.

PRESS RELEASE
ARPA Institute
18106 Miranda St. Tarzana, CA 91356
Contact: Hagop Panossian
Tel: (818) 586-9660
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

ARPA Institute presents the Lecture/Seminar: `The Folk Tradition of
Musa Dagh"," by Mrs. Sona Zeitlian, on Thursday, December 6, 2007 at
7:30 PM at the Merdinian School auditorium.

The Address is 13330 Riverside Dr., Sherman Oaks, CA 91403.
Directions: on the 101 FWY exit on Woodman, go north and turn right on
Riverside Dr.

Abstract: The folk tradition or the orally transmitted stories
engender a strong connection that links the generations. Those
folktales are vehicles of age-old manners, customs and folk wisdom. As
such, they are instruments for asserting cultural identity, based on
shared experiences and values. The oral tradition has been central to
the lives of Musa Daghtsis as a form of popular entertainment during
festivals and especially as a means to while away the long winter
nights. Its importance has waned as the living conditions have changed
after the relocation of Musa Daghtsis to Anjar, Lebanon and
Armenia. The heroes of the Musa Dagh folktales are mostly kings,
princes, princesses, traders and peasant men and women. The virtues of
the folk hero integrate physical aptitude with a dedication to
justice, integrity and audacity, as well as a merciful attitude,
modesty, hard work, honest gain and patience. The hero seeks freedom
and proudly endures hardships for the sake of boldly asserting his
independence of thought and action. The heroines of the tales have the
defining role of either motivating the hero to realize lofty ideals or
letting him sink into the depths of despair. The patient, diligent and
conciliatory heroine overcomes difficulties and always stands by her
husband. She is modest, loyal and rates the family honor as a precious
gift. Motherhood ennobles her, deepens her great capacity for love,
even enables her to make the ultimate sacrifice for her children. Musa
Daghtsis consider such a heroine `the greatest treasure on earth.’

Sona Simonian-Zeitlian was born in Cairo, Egypt. Political turmoil in
the early 60s forced her and her family to leave for Lebanon. Then the
hardships of the Lebanese Civil War and the tragedy of the abduction
of her husband, Sarkis Thomas Zeitlian forced Sona and her four
children to finally settle in California. A graduate of the American
University in Cairo, she has held teaching posts in Cairo and
Beirut. In 1995 she was nominated by the Near Eastern Studies Center
at UCLA to become a member of its Advisory Board. She has also
lectured extensively about social and cultural issues and has been
recognized and awarded for her educational and community service.
Zeitlian’s first major work was The Role of Women in the Armenian
Revolutionary Movement which won the Kevork Melidinetsi prize
presented annually by the Catholicosate of Cilicia. Then she published
The Folktales of Musa Dagh based on the oral tradition that she
recorded for the first time in Anjar, Lebanon. Two of these folktales,
The One and Only and Grateful Animals have also appeared separately as
bilingual (Armenian/English) illustrated publications.During the 80s,
Sona Zeitlian wrote four volumes about the Armenian national
tradition, namely such legendary heroes as the Patriarchs Haig and
Aram, early princely leaders Ara the Handsome and Dikran Yervantian,
the powerful head of state King Ardashes and the heroic
commanders-in-chief Mushegh Mamigonian and Kyle Vahan.After years of
research of her own roots, the Egyptian-Armenian community, she
published first in Armenian then in 2006, an expanded English edition
of Armenians in Egypt: Contribution to Medieval and Modern Egypt.

For more Information Please call Dr. Hagop Panossian at (818)586-9660

RA PRESIDENT SURPRISED THAT THERE ARE PRO-TURKISH FORCES IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
14.11.2007 15:23 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "It was a surprise to learn that there political
forces in Armenia, which think that Turkey and Azerbaijan should
become Armenia’s major strategic partners," RA President Robert
Kocharian told reporters in Yerevan.

"I did not expect such a pro-Turkish grasp even from the Armenian
National Movement. If there are people or parties sharing this opinion,
they can unite and then explain their vision of Armenia’s future,"
the President said, Novosti Armenia reported.