Author: Maral Chavushian

ArmenPress
Jan 11 2005
TURKISH PM SAYS ANKARA WANTS NORMAL RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA
MOSCOW, JANUARY 11, ARMENPRESS: Turkish prime minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, who is visiting Moscow, said his government wants to
normalize relations with the neighboring Armenia.
Addressing a meeting with Turkish businessmen working in Russia,
attended also by Russia’s president Putin, Erdogan said Istanbul’s
airport is open for Armenian aircrafts. He said opening of the land
border depends on the progress in talks with Yerevan. “Our policy is
to have normal relations with all our neighbors,” Erdogan said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

“ASSYRIANS HIGHLY EVALUATE EDUCATION, WHILE EZDIS AND MOLOKANS RATE WORK HIGHER”
PanArmenian News
Dec 18 2004
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Among the representatives of the Assyrian community
education is very highly evaluated both by the pupils and their
parents, while among Ezdis and Russian Molokans education takes the
second place after children’s participation in economic activities and
devotion to traditional values,” evidence the results of the research
on education issues among representatives of national minorities,
held by Hazarashen non-governmental organization. These were presented
by Chairman of the Department for National Minority and Religious
Affairs of the Armenian Government administration H. Kharatian at the
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences
of Armenia. The research was held in 26 settlements of Armenia that
are compactly inhabited by representatives of national minorities.

FIRST LADIES OF ARMENIA AND GEORGIA VISIT NATIONAL ONCOLOGICAL CENTER
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 2. ARMINFO. The first ladies of Georgia and Armenia
Sandra Elizabeth Rulofs and Bella Kocharyan visited today the National
Oncological Center in Yerevan.
Rulofs said that Georgia also has a big oncological center so the
countries can tightly cooperate in the sphere particularly through
joint training workshops.
The director of the center Hayrapet Galstyan said that the center
treats 4,000 patients a year this including surgery, chemical therapy,
x-ray therapy. Its equipment is modernized every year.
Last year IAEA provided the center with diagnostic eqiupment and a
linear accelerator worth $1.5 mln. This allows the center to
effectively detect cancer at early stages – 12%-13% detection rate
against 5% last year. Galstyan says that in Armenia there are 30,000
people who were cured of cancer over 10 year ago. The cancer rate is
low in Armenia compared with other countries. 160 patients per 100,000
people against 450 ones in other countries.
Rulofs also visited American Rehabilitation Center. Friday she will
visit Yerevan State University, meet with Catholicos of All Armenians
Garegin II and go to the Armenian Genocide Complex.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

YOUTH NATIONAL COUNCIL OF ARMENIA TO RAISE ISSUE OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
DURING APRIL MEETING IN ISTANBUL IN 2005
Noyan Tapan
Nov 22 2004
YEREVAN, 22.11.04. The preliminary arrangement on the organization
of a meeting in Istanbul in April 2005 was reached between the
representatives of Greece, Armenia, Israel, Turkey and other
countries-participants during the Youth Forum held in Madrid on
November 11-13. RA MP Vazgen Khachikian, the Chairman of the Youth
National Council of Armenia, said about it during the November 18
press conference. According to him, the Armenian side is going to
raise the issue of the condemnation of the Armenian Genocide and make
it the theme of discussion.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Calls for Iordanescu’s resignation after draw in Armenia
.c The Associated Press
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) – Amid calls for the resignation of Romania’s
soccer coach after a humiliating draw against Armenia, soccer
federation boss Mircea Sandu said Thursday he also was considering
alternatives to replace Anghel Iordanescu.
Romania, one of the favorites in World Cup qualifying Group 1, drew
1-1 Wednesday in Yerevan, losing critical points in a tight battle for
supremacy with the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Finland.
Romania is currently second in the group, behind the Netherlands.
In Armenia, Romania missed 10 of its top players and several regular
substitutes due to injuries or suspensions.
Fans met the team at the airport Wednesday night, calling for the
coach’s resignation. The calls were echoed in the media and by sports
celebrities, who criticized Iordanescu’s selection of players.
Daily newspaper Ziua wrote that a “sorry coach and a team of losers
shamed us in Yerevan”.
A front page headline in sports newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor said
“Dead,” while another sports newspaper, Pro Sport, wrote “God
punished you!” referring to Iordanescu’s well-known mysticism. The
coach is known for being extremely superstitious and bringing crosses
to games.
Iordanescu told the media Wednesday night that he will stay on as
national team coach.
But on Thursday, the two sports newspapers reported on their Web sites
that Iordanescu is stepping down. The reports cited sources in the
Romanian federation.
The soccer federation has not confirmed the resignation, but issued a
statement saying its executive committee has scheduled a meeting with
the coach for Sunday, when “Iordanescu will present the activity of
the technical staff”.
“Until Sunday, there will be no comment on the situation,” the
statement added.
11/18/04 11:43 EST
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Kevorkian Asks for Commutation or Pardon
Monday November 8, 2004 7:16 PM
By AMY F. BAILEY
Associated Press Writer
LANSING, Mich. (AP) – An attorney for Jack Kevorkian asked the state
parole board Monday to recommend that the assisted suicide advocate
be released from prison for health reasons.
Attorney Mayer Morganroth said Kevorkian has health problems including
high blood pressure, a hernia and arthritis, and the board should urge
Gov. Jennifer Granholm to either pardon him or commute his sentence.
Kevorkian’s blood pressure “has been extremely volatile in nature
and has risen to the danger level for a heart attack at times,”
Morganroth wrote in the request.
Kevorkian, 76, has been in prison 5 years and his health has worsened,
Morganroth said.
The request comes a week after U.S. Supreme Court justices decided
against hearing Kevorkian’s appeal of his second-degree murder
conviction for the 1998 poisoning of Thomas Youk.
Youk suffered from Lou Gehrig’s disease and his death, which
Kevorkian called a mercy killing, was videotaped and shown on national
television.
Morganroth said Kevorkian would not assist in any more suicides if
he is released.
Russ Marlan, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections,
said the department had not yet received Kevorkian’s request. But
he said medical commutations are normally granted only for inmates
expected to live a year or less.
“We have plenty of prisoners that have cataracts and arthritis,
but that doesn’t mean they should be granted a commutation,” Marlan
said. “They’re only granted for offenders that have little chance of
surviving very much longer.”
The request for pardon or commutation is Kevorkian’s second. The
state parole board voted against his first request a year ago.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Federal Information and News Dispatch, Inc.
State Department
November 4, 2004
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Newscast Off the Air in Armenia; U.S.
diplomat Paul Jones expresses concern to OSCE Permanent Council
TEXT: The United States expressed concern November 4 that a Radio Free
Europe/ Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) newscast has been taken off the air in
Armenia.
Addressing the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna, Austria, U.S. diplomat Paul
Jones expressed the hope that the program will find a new broadcast
opportunity in the immediate future.
“This would demonstrate that Armenia is a state where freedom of the
media is acknowledged and respected, consistent with the OSCE
commitments we have all undertaken,” said Jones.
Following are his remarks:
(begin text)
United States Mission to the OSCE
Vienna, Austria
November 4, 2004
STATEMENT ON MEDIA ISSUES IN ARMENIA
As Delivered by ChargA(C) D’affaires Paul W. Jones to the Permanent
Council
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, we note with concern that the broadcast of the Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty newscast has been taken off the air in Armenia.
We have seen suggestions that the decision to cancel this program was
made in response to political pressure on the station manager.
In this regard, we would hope that this program will find a broadcast
opportunity in the immediate future; this would demonstrate that
Armenia is a state where freedom of the media is acknowledged and
respected, consistent with the OSCE commitments we have all undertaken.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State.)
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Russia reopens borders with Azerbaijan, Georgia following security-related
suspension
AP Worldstream
Oct 22, 2004

Russia reopened its borders with Georgia and Azerbaijan on Friday
after more than a monthlong hiatus due to Moscow’s fears of terrorism.
Russia closed the border with Georgia in early September, following
the seizure of hundreds of hostages in a school in southern Russia,
and with Azerbaijan in mid-September. Border officials in those
countries confirmed that traffic had begun traveling in both
directions on Friday.
The closed border affected not only Georgia and Azerbaijan but also
their Caucasus neighbor Armenia, which depends significantly on Russia
for some supplies amid tense relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey
because of the unresolved conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
Located in Azerbaijan, the enclave has been under control of ethnic
Armenian forces for more than a decade. A cease-fire was signed in
1994 after Azerbaijani forces were driven out in a six-year war but
the enclave’s final status has not been resolved.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
AEF Chair in Modern Armenian History
Richard Hovannisian
Department of History
University of California
Los Angeles, California 90095-1473
U.S.A.
An International Conference
After Nine Decades: The Enduring Legacy of the Armenian Genocide
CALL FOR PAPERS
Please Submit Proposals by December 1, 2004
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
April 2-3, 2005

Dear Colleagues:

The year 2005 marks the 90th anniversary of the onset of the Armenian
Genocide. Commemorative events, including a number of conferences, will
be held in many locations around the world. It is fitting that such a
conference should be held in Southern California.

I am interrupting the ongoing UCLA semi-annual conference series on
Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces to organize a conference on the
Enduring Legacy of the Armenian Genocide, to be held on the UCLA campus
on the Saturday and Sunday, April 2-3, 2005.

Presentations will be made in thematic panels, such as (but not limited to):
– Evolving Historiography and Understanding of the Armenian Genocide;
– Dynamics of State-Sponsored versus Independent Turkish Historiography;
– Armenian Genocide in the Arts and Literature;
– Armenian Genocide in Education;
– Gender, Age, and Genocide;
– Medical, Psychological, and Trans-Generational Aspects;
– Religion, Ethics, and Genocide;
– Political and Moral Aspects of Denial and Remembrance;
– Armenian Genocide in Comparative Perspective;
– Impact of the Genocide on Foreign Relations of the Republic of Armenia;
– Models for Armenian-Turkish Dialogue and Movement toward Conciliation.

Proposals for organized panels of three or four papers around a
particular theme are most welcome.
Please submit by December 1 proposals or abstracts of 300-400 words for
individual papers and of 500 words for organized panel with three or
more participants.

Kindly send them to me by e-mail at [email protected]
Telephone: 310-825-3375
FAX: 310-206-9630
For persons so requiring, there will be partial funding available for
travel and local accommodations.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

President holds meetings in USA
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 28 2004
President Ilham Aliyev visiting New York met with the OSCE acting
chairman, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Pasini at the Waldort
Astoria hotel on Thursday.
Aliyev called on the OSCE chairman to step up efforts at settling
the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper Garabagh. The parties also
discussed the future activity of the OSCE and its expansion.
President Aliyev also met with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel
Moratinos Kuyaben. The Spanish official stated that his country was
closely following the processes ongoing in Azerbaijan.
President Aliyev pointed out the great potential for expanding
bilateral relations. He said that since Azerbaijan was admitted to
the European Union New Neighborhood Policy, the country intends to
bring about a new stage in its relations with the organization and
its member-states.
President Aliyev also met with the ExxonMobil company president
Tim Seykan.
Seykan congratulated the Azeri leader on the 10th anniversary of the
Contract of the Century and pointed out the successful implementation
of Caspian oil and gas projects.
Also discussed was the future activity of ExxonMobil in Azerbaijan.
Aliyev also met with the Soros Foundation President George Soros to
discuss the Upper Garabagh problem.*
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress