Author: Markos Nalchajian

Turkish historian produces documents refuting Armenian genocide claim
NTV television, Istanbul
15 Apr 05
Turkish Historical Society President Yusuf Halacoglu has produced
documents in response to Armenian genocide allegations. Halacoglu
revealed for the first time an original document, dated 28 May 1915,
pertaining to the return of deported Armenians to their homes.
Halacoglu stated that the works entitled “Deaths from epidemic
diseases”, “Armenian incidents in French diplomatic documents” and the
English-language “Three colours over Taurus Mountains” document that
the genocide allegations are not correct.
Halacoglu said that the original document, dated 28 May 1915, which
was given to him by the then 3rd Army commander, Capt Nurettin
Pekeroglu, and which he is revealing to the public for the first time,
will invalidate the genocide allegations. Halacoglu explained that the
document, which was sent to the provinces, as well as to the executive
authorities, includes provisions for procedures to return deported
Armenians to their homes, adding that this clearly demonstrates that
the Ottomans did not intend to commit genocide.
Halacoglu said that another US document, dated 1921, also goes to
refute the allegations. The document, which was drawn up for purposes
of UN assistance, includes information on the Armenian population in
the world. Halacoglu also emphasised that it is necessary to open
every archive in order to resolve the issue.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
April 15 2005
Ankara is waiting for Yerivan’s response

Erdoðan said that resolving the problem of so-called genocide would
open the way to bilateral relations with Armenia.

April 15 – Turkey’s Prime Minister has sent a letter to
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan calling for an objective study of
claims the Ottoman Empire committed genocide against its Armenian
citizens during World War I.
The letter from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan, submitted by
Turkey’s embassy in the Georgian capital of Tblisi as Turkey and
Armenia do not have direct diplomatic relations, said that historians
should research the claims of genocide and that this work should be
conducted by a joint committee.
Not only Turkey but Armenia and other countries should open
the holdings in their archives on the Armenian issue, the Prime
Minister said.
Ankara is waiting for the response of Yerivan on the matter.
Turkey has long denied that any massacre of the Ottoman
Empire’s Armenian citizens took place and points to the killing of
many thousands of Turkish civilians in the east of the country during
the war.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azerbaijan News Service
April 14 2005
FOREIGN MINISTERS OF AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA TO MET IN LONDON OVER
QARABAQ CONFLICT
2005-04-14 09:50
Peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Daqliq Qarabaq
conflict expected now to proceed with negotiations in London on April
15. Foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia Elmar Mammadyarov and
Vardan Oscanian will meet here with OSCE Minsk group co-chairs
mediating peaceful process. In his interview with ANS Elmar
Mammadyarov informed that the issues within the so-called Prague
process stand on the agenda of the meeting. First we shall meet with
OSCE Minsk group co-chairs because the last time we had a broad
discussion with co-chairs in Prague. But Armenian minister could not
attend the meeting due to his health illness. We made our position
known. First of all it is a continuation of Prague process and we
shall carry on discussions within this frame. As to earlier statement
by Russian co-chair Yuriy Merzlyakov that a package of concrete
proposals readied to present to the sides Mr. Mammadyarov said If the
co-chairs consider it is time to put concrete proposals on the table
we are ready to work within Prague process. Maybe during meeting with
Oscanian he agreed that experts may proceed within Prague talks.
Regarding in stage settlement of Daqliq Qarabaq conflict Azerbaijani
minister says if would be known after London meeting at the same time
not ruling out failure to achieve concrete results here. Maybe there
would be a need for more meeting or meeting between heads of states.
Foreign ministers of the conflicting sides are going to discuss
issues last word remaining up to presidents.

Catholicos Aram I makes statement in the wake of Pope’s death
04.04.2005  16:34    
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Cilicia Catholicos Aram I made the following
statement expressing his profound sadness following the announcement
by the Holy See of the death of His Holiness Pope John Paul II:
“His Holiness Pope John Paul II will remain an outstanding figure
in the modern history of world Christendom. In fact, his relentless
effort to make the Gospel of Christ a living reality in the life of
people, his unyielding prophetic witness to make the moral values
the guiding principles of human societies, his firm commitment to the
cause of Christian unity, his openness to other religions with a clear
vision of living together as a reconciled community in the midst of
diversities, and his continuous advocacy for justice, human rights
and freedom made him an exceptional figure of great achievements As
moderator of the World Council of Churches central committee and as
the Armenian Catholicos of Cilicia, I had the privilege to meet His
Holiness on different occasions and witnessed the strength of his
faith, the depth of his wisdom and the clarity of his vision.”
–Boundary_(ID_mXOcItnB+s57CVtK9zVrsg)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Ethnic Armenians protest against closure of Russian base in Georgia
Rustavi-2 TV, Tbilisi
31 Mar 05
The Armenian population of Akhalkalaki [southern Georgia] is
protesting against demands for the withdrawal of the Russian military
base there. They have gathered in the centre of the town and are
supporting the Russian military base. Their demands include the
opening of a passport office in Akhalkalaki and repairs to local
roads, but the main issue is Russian military support for the
town. The protesters are waving banners in the street.

Kommersant, Russia
March 28 2005
Yushchenko to Come Back to His Veterans
// Ranks of the presidents at the May 9th celebration in Moscow thin
Victory day
Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko Saturday put an end to the
question of his participation in the May 9 celebrations in Moscow
marking the 60th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.
He will attend the CIS summit on May 8 but he will celebrate the
Victory Day in the Kyiv’s central Kreshchatik street together with
the Ukrainian WW2 veterans. Thus, Ukrainian president has joined
the ranks of those ex-Soviet republics’ leaders who declined to take
part in the Moscow festivities. Thus the event will evidently lack
the propagandistic impact Russian leadership wanted it to have.
“I will feel uneasy when our Ukrainian veterans celebrate the great
Victory down here, in Kyiv, while I will be in Moscow,” Ukrainian
president said Saturday. Victor Yushchenko made a promise, though,
that he would come to Moscow the day before, on May 8, when an
informal CIS summit would take place. He said he hopes that “Mr.
President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and other counterparts will
understand” his decision. Earlier, on March 18, in an interview with
Interfax Ukrainian president gave quite a different itinerary of his:
according to that version he was to celebrate the Victory Day first
in Kreshchatik, then come to Moscow for a few hours.
Be that as it may, Ukrainian president has entered the list of
the ex-Soviet republics’ leaders who refused to take part in the
Moscow celebrations. Earlier this month, Lithuanian president Valdas
Adamkus and his Estonian counterpart Arnold Rüütel turned down
the invitation to visit the Russian capital. The issue of coming is
not settled with the leaders of other countries but according to the
Kommersant’s information, the good half of the post-Soviet countries’
presidents may decline to arrive.
Every leader has his formal reason for the refusal. For instance,
Baltic countries account it for the fact that the WW2 finished for
their countries not in 1945, but in early 90s when the Russian
“occupation” troops were withdrawn. At the same time, the fact
that an opportunity to meet a large number of world leaders may be
missed has not influenced the decision of Lithuanian and Estonian
presidents. The problem has been solved in a simple way: on his way
to Moscow U.S. President George W. Bush will visit Riga on May 6,
where the U.S.A – Baltic states summit will be held.
According to the latest reports Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili
is not going to visit Moscow either. He pleads the necessity to get
prepared for the visit of the U.S president who will arrive in Tbilisi
on May 10 after the Moscow festivities are over.
If one believes the hints that come from Baku, Azerbaijani president
Ilham Aliyev may refuse to take part in the CIS summit and the Victory
Day celebrations in Moscow as well. The problem here is of a different
kind: Moscow laid its hopes to take advantage of this occasion to
make Azerbaijani president resume talks with Armenian president Robert
Kocharian on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. But the Baku officials lately
have been very skeptical about the way the conflict is being settled
and are not likely to be ready for high-level negotiations.
As a result, the propagandistic impact may prove to be far weaker than
Moscow wanted it to be, since the Kremlin was going to hold the 60th
Victory Day celebrations with even more impressive grandeur than the
300th anniversary of St. Petersburg.
Moreover, the leaders who confirmed they would attend the
Moscow festivities are going to put a fly in the ointment. Polish
President Aleksander Kwasniewski will put forward the question of the
condemnation of Molotov-Ribbetrop Pact which enabled Nazi Germany to
invade Poland and divide the country. Moreover, the Polish president
wants to explain his country’s viewpoint on the Yalta agreements as
of 1945 which split Europe into the two confronting parties.
Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, the only one of the Baltic
leaders who is to come to Moscow, does it reluctantly. On the one hand
there is a good reason for the visit: the desire to improve tense
relations with Russia. On the other hand, the problems accumulated
cannot be resolved within a couple days spent in Moscow. At any rate,
the political declaration on the principals of relations, which Moscow
was looking forward to be concluded, is not to be signed.
And finally Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s participation
in the Moscow celebrations looks very improbable. Media reported
several weeks ago that Japanese PM declined to visit Moscow pledging
the celebrations contemporizing with the second half of the Parliament
session. This lame excuse must have seemed so unconvincing even for
the Japanese officials that the Japanese Foreign Ministry immediately
retracted saying that its final position is not determined yet. It
seems that the question is still being decided upon, and Tokyo still
can’t choose which fits their interests best – a gesture of good will
or the demonstration of steadfastness in the country’s dispute over
the four South Kuril islands.
by Boris Volkhonsky
–Boundary_(ID_voptkMrQt1JRyQpEZrmW7w)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Political Affairs Magazine, NY
March 26 2005
Iraqi Students Strike in Protest of Religious Extremist Violence
By IFTU
Several iraqi bloggers report that students from Basrah and Shatt
Al-Arab universities in Basra City have been on all-out strike for the
last three days as a reaction to the attack on 15 March by religious
hardliners and Mahdi Army militiamen on students organising a field
trip or a picnic at Al-Andalus park in the Al Makhal area of Basra.
The Kuwaiti arabic newspaper Al-Qabas also reported that hooded men
assaulted the students with rubber cables and truncheons which resulted
in severe injuries to an Armenian Christian girl, Zihoor Ashour who
lost one eye because of being beaten on her head very hard with a
thick stick of wood. Another student (a boy) who came to her rescue
after militiamen had torn off her clothes and were beating her was
shot in the head and died subsequently from his injuries.
One Iraqi email correspondent writes: “It was a tragedy. The students
of all colleges are in what you can say a revolution because of this.
They made many demonstrations against Al-Mahdi army and Al-Sadr
demanding to remove their offices from the universities and also a
group of the students went to Sayid Al-Sistani to make him talk to
Al-Sadr and advise him to be sensible in his actions.”
Students say that their belongings, such as mobile phones, cameras,
stereo players and loudspeakers, were stolen or smashed to pieces
by the militiamen. Girl students not wearing headscarves, most of
them Christian, were severely beaten and at least 20 students were
kidnapped, taken to Sadr’s office in Al-Tuwaisa for ‘interrogation’
and were only released late at night.
Students also say the police and British soldiers were nearby but
did not intervene.
A Sheikh As’ad Al-Basri, one of Sadr’s aides in Basrah, stated that the
“believers” of the Mahdi Army did what they did in an act of “divine
intervention” in order to punish the students for their “immoral and
outrageous behaviour” during the ‘holy month of Muharram, while the
blood of Imam Hussein is yet to dry.” He added that he had sent the
“group of believers” to observe and photograph the students, and on
witnessing them playing loud music, “the kind they play in bars and
discos”, and openly talking to female students, the “believers had
to straighten things out”. Do you subscribe to Political Affairs?
click image to find out how
Thousands of students have been demonstrating in front of the Basrah
Governorate building in Asharr for the last three days, shouting “No
to political Islam”, “No to the new tyranny” and “No to Sadr”. The
police (who are loyal to Da’wa in Basrah) reportedly attacked the
students in order to disperse the demonstrations.
One Iraqi blogger writes: “The Governor of Basrah appeared on Fayhaa
TV on Sunday 20 March claiming that problems with Sadr’s office had
been resolved peacefully. The Governor (who is a member of Da’wa)
apparently met with representatives from Sadr’s office under the
mediation of Shia Islamic parties in Basrah (Da’wa, SCIRI, Fadheela,
Thar Allah) and it appears that Sadr’s aides agreed to ‘punish the
guilty parties under a special religious court that would convene
for this purpose’ and to compensate the students and to return
all stolen items to the students. The Governor claimed to have met
with the family of another Christian girl who was badly injured,
‘generously’ offering her free treatment in any country she chooses.
“No mention of the rule of law here. No involvement of Basrah’s civil
courts at all. The whole incident was mopped up in a tribal-religious
meeting, but this time at the Governorate level. The guilty parties
were sinisterly assigned the job of punishing themselves. A great
lesson in democracy. But then, no one was punished for the executions
and torture at religious courts in Najaf the last time anyway.
“What is even worse, the official statement from Sadr’s office in
Basrah. It asks for the names of the students that were ‘allegedly
mistreated’ in order to compensate them. And listen to this; ‘Sadr’s
office in Basrah offers to provide the universities of Basrah with
groups to protect the students in their future field trips.’ This
following Sheikh As’ad Al-Basri’s fiery statements that the students
had ‘disobeyed his orders, and the stick was for those who disobeyed,’
alasa limen asa. He also alleged that the students had shouted ‘No
to Islam’ in their demonstrations this week, insolently adding that
the students should be punished for their ‘blasphemy’.
“The Governor literally appointed Sadr’s office as judge, witness
and law-enforcer. We might even say that the Sadrists were in fact
rewarded for their vile act…
“The students of Basra have made their demands clear; bringing
the Sadrist militiamen to a public trial in the presence of
representatives from Basrah’s student groups, banning Islamist armed
groups from entering campus or running Islamist student groups, and
the dissolution of the infamous ‘Security Committee’ which operates
in most of Basra’s colleges, and which is reminiscient of the Ba’ath’s
‘University Security’ but taking a Shi’ite Islamic appearance instead
of a fascist nationalistic one.
“Student groups from Baghdad, Arbil and Suleimaniya have sent
statements of support to Basra. Incidentally, four students were
injured in Suleimaniya during demonstrations that have been taking
place for the second week in row against the privatisation of
educational institutions in the Kurdish region.
“Still no condemnation from the the Hawza, when the attack against
the students was done in its name.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RUSSIA HAS TURNED FROM GREAT POWER INTO BIG COUNTRY: ULP LEADER
YEREVAN, MARCH 24. ARMINFO. Today Russia is more concerned for
its corporative business interests in Armenia rather than for
Russian-Armenian government ties with the former being presented as
high level strategic partnership, says the leader of the United Labor
Party of Armenia Gurgen Arsenyan.
Russia should pay attention to this problem as this approach can lose
that country its positions in Armenia. Russia has not yet got rid
of Soviet psychology and does not take Armenia as a sovereign state.
“They treat us as elder brothers,” says Arsenyan. They say “we will
solve your problems” while true strategic partnership implies equal
cooperation. This approach may lead to negative attitude to Russia in
Armenia. Many in the country have already begun criticizing Russia.
“I could never imaged before that I would criticize Russia myself but
I do now. Russia is turning from a great power into a big country.”
“They should understand that Armenia is a sovereign country and should
build up their relations with us accordingly,” says Arsenyan.
He is satisfied with the level of Armenian-Russian cooperation in
politics, military and culture but not in economy saying that the
countries should seek closer mutually beneficial economic integration.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

UCLA Armenian Student Association
405 Hilgard Ave.
Kerckhoff 146
Los Angeles, CA. 90095
Contact: Arpine Hovasapian
Email: [email protected]
Web:
Feb. 23, 2005
Contact: Public Relations Director, Arpine Hovasapian [email protected]
UCLA Armenian Students Express Culture through Comedy with Vahe Berberian
Westwood, California – The Cooperage Cafeteria in Ackerman Union was not
your traditional afternoon eatery on Thursday evening. With the lighted
stage, UCLA ASA 60th Anniversary banner hung, and theater style seating,
the Cooperage was transformed into an `ASA entertainment venue’.
The UCLA Armenian Student Association (ASA) continued its tradition of
Open Mic Night by hosting an Armenian cultural comedy night with famous
Armenian artist and comedian Vahe Berberian. The events purpose was to
entertain as well as educate Armenian students and ASA members about
modern Armenian culture and assimilation in the Diaspora.
`The UCLA ASA is honored to have Vahe Berberian express his creativity on
stage with our members. Comedy is a unique medium through which one’s
culture can be expressed with a humorous slant’ proclaimed UCLA ASA
cultural director Lucy Tagessian.
The event drew in over 75 students and parents, all of which were excited
to listen to Vahe Berberian’s latest comedic skit, `Dagaveen.’ Berberian
poked fun not only at modern Armenian culture, but traditions and culture
in the United States as well.
`It is intimate events like these that really bring together the UCLA
Armenian community,’ proclaimed UCLA ASA president, Raffi Kassabian.
`Comedy is always a great way to get students to take a break from their
studies. The ASA is appreciative of Berberian’s dedication and efforts to
the Armenian-American student community.’
The UCLA ASA is one of the oldest Armenian-American student groups in the
United States. This year marks the 60th anniversary of its existence. The
UCLA ASA seeks to cultivate a true understanding and appreciation of
Armenian history, heritage, and culture through cultural, social, and
recreational activities.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Wheatfield soul train
MEDIUM COOL
Toronto Eye Weekly
03.03.05
BY JASON ANDERSON
In the months since it opened, Atom Egoyan and Hussain Amarshi’s
Camera media bar near Queen and Ossington has attracted no shortage of
photo spreads for its chic design. Now they face a trickier task than
impressing the style mavens: establishing a consistent sensibility for
the programming.
While some Camera selections have been appropriate to the vanguard
nature of the space — and its one major limitation, the lack of a
35mm projector — others could have just as easily appeared at the
Carlton or a rep theatre. Of course, those places tend to discourage
viewers from slugging back vino, so Camera wins points there. But due
to its unusual combination of functions (cinema, bar, gallery) and
Egoyan’s rep as both auteur and cinephile, Camera can also afford to
be more adventurous than other venues and show work that defies the
conventions not just of multiplex fare but the middlebrow titles that
dominate the art-house circuit.
Opening this weekend for a seven-night run, Clive Holden’s Trains of
Winnipeg () is exactly the sort of movie that belongs at Camera —
idiosyncratic, independent and supremely inventive. Holden’s first
feature-length work, it’s part of a multidisciplinary project that has
already yielded a book of poems, a spoken-word disc and a website, all
with the same prosaic yet oddly endearing title. (Could anything be
more Canadian?) Consisting of 14 “film poems,” Trains of Winnipeg
juxtaposes the poet and filmmaker’s ruminations on landscape and
memory with a wide array of visual strategies, including home movies,
travel films and found footage, which are then goosed up with
hand-processing effects and digital treatments. The richly detailed
sound design incorporates eerie, loop-based music by Christine Fellows
and the Weakerthans’ Jason Tait and John K. Samson (Winnipeggers all).
As much as I love Holden’s movie — it’s one of the finest
non-narrative movies ever made in this country — I can understand if
you cringe at the phrase “film poems.” I did too. I imagined a
slow-motion shot of geese in flight and a wispy-voiced narrator
murmuring about the ineffable sadness of a beach at twilight — in
other words, something too pretentious to work in either medium, let
alone both at once. There’s also the larger question of whether film
and poetry really belong together. If the best poetry consists of
words arranged to create the purest, most indelible form of linguistic
expression, then film strives to speak entirely through images. The
ultimate ambition of each form is to negate any need for the other.
Yet the film poem has existed for nearly as long as cinema. Sometimes
cited as the first American avant-garde film, Charles Sheeler and Paul
Strand’s Manhatta (1921) used intertitles by Walt Whitman. Man Ray’s
L’Etoile de Mer (1928) is taken from a poem by Robert Desnos. The
surrealists’ flagrantly poetic school of filmmaking eventually yielded
such works as Jean Cocteau’s Blood of a Poet (1930) and Jean Vigo’s
marginally more narrative-based L’Atalante (1934). The exquisite
collaborations between director Marcel Carné and poet Jacques Prévert
in the ’30s and ’40s (most famously Children of Paradise) also bear
traces of the French film-poem ideal. With Meshes of the Afternoon
(1943), Maya Deren fused her interests in poetry, dance and cinema to
establish a new mode of expression. The aphorism-filled essay films of
Agnès Varda and Chris Marker established another, as did the wild and
wordy fantasias of Derek Jarman. In Canada, the precise, haiku-like
short films of Philip Hoffman have greatly influenced the experimental
film scene.
Holden deploys many of these approaches in Trains of Winnipeg as he
explores and subverts relationships between word and image. In the
opening piece, “Love in the White City,” Holden’s wry examination of
urban dread is accompanied by the sight of his legs walking in the
four corners of the screen — the repetitiveness of the image and the
looping, crackly music enhance the effects of the poem’s subtler
rhythmic structure and sense of futile motion. In “Burning Down the
Suburbs,” a family of miniature figures watch a model car in flames,
dramatizing a scene that is not described in the poem but still
complements the ones that are. The grainy, distorted home-movie
fragments in “Nanaimo Station” seem as degraded as the narrator’s
falsely idyllic memories of his family in a time when “the food was
like magazines and the cars were all big.” In “Hitler! (revisited),” a
tribute to Holden’s schizophrenic brother Niall, onscreen text
replaces the voiceover, a stylistic tack that emphasizes the
interiority of Niall’s existence. In the title piece, the words
disappear altogether, replaced by the amped-up visual poetry of the
trains.
By the time the wheels stop moving, Holden has provided ample proof of
the film poem’s ability to engage and enlighten. Wry, wise and damn
near sublime, Trains of Winnipeg makes you wish there were more movies
just like it. Alas, the challenges of cine-poetry remain daunting, as
they probably should — when this stuff goes wrong, it can go
eye-bleedingly, teeth-grindingly wrong. Even so, I hope Camera’s run
of Holden’s mesmerizing work will inspire others to forego familiar
tactics and try dreaming in verse.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress