Author: Nadirian Emma

NO VIOLATIONS FIXED IN THE COURSE OF NKR AND AZERI ARMED FORCES CONTACT LINE’S MONITORING

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Oct 13 2005

On October 11 the OSCE mission conducted a planned monitoring along the
NKR and Azeri armed forces’ contact line in the direction of Aghdam,
in the region of populated locality of Yusifjanly.

According to the De Facto correspondent in Stepanakert, from the
positions of the NKR Defense Army the monitoring group was headed by
the OSCE Chair – in – Office’s Personal Representative Ambassador
Andrzey Kasprzyk (Poland). The OSCE Chair – in – Office’s Field
Assistants Olexander Samarsky (Ukraine) and Harry Eronen (Finland),
as well as the OSCE Top Level Planning Group Head Tomaso Strgar
(Slovenia) participated in the observation mission.

Monitoring was held according to the schedule, no cease – fire
violations were fixed.

>>From the Karabakh party the observation mission was accompanied
by representatives of Nagorno Karabakh Ministries of Defense and
Foreign Affairs.

RECURRENT ATTEMPT TO TENSE SITUATION IN SAMTSKHE-JAVAKHETIA

Pan Armenian
13.10.2005 00:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ As PanARMENIAN.Net came to know from A-info
agency, on October 12 night in the town of Akhalkalaki of the
Samtskhe-Javakheti region of Georgia unknown persons stuck leaflets
signed by some “Akhaltsikhe Liberation Brigade” to the walls of
buildings. The leaflets tell the Armenian population “to immediately
abandon the region and go to Armenia, Russia or America.” “Otherwise
you will be subjected to genocide like your ancestors in 1915”,
the leaflets say. The Council of the Armenian organizations of
Samtskhe-Javakhetia and the majority of the Akhaltsikhe residents
rated it as a recurrent attempt to provoke the Armenian population of
the region, since tension of the situation is not profitable either
for the Armenian or Georgian party.

EP REPRESENTATIVES URGE TURKEY TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Pan Armenian
11.10.2005 20:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Members of the European Parliament Human Rights
Subcommittee led by Helene Flautre last week paid a visit to the
Turkish Parliament. During the meeting, delegation members urged
Ankara to recognize the Armenian Genocide and consider the issue of
education in Kurdish. Polish members of the delegation noted that
Poland had to acknowledge its part in the Jewish holocaust and asked
when Turkey would face up to its own history.

Afterwards, Ozlem Cercioglu said, “There were losses on both sides
during the war.” “Although Turkey has opened up all of its archives,
Armenia still refuses to open theirs,” Cercioglu added, reported
the Yerkir.

City News Service
October 7, 2005 Friday

Investment Scam

LOS ANGELES

A Van Nuys man accused of fraudulently raising about $20 million via
his Glendale-based investment firm made his initial appearance in
federal court today on mail fraud and other charges. Melkon
Gharakhanian, 43, also known as Mike Garian, was indicted Wednesday
by a federal grand jury on eight counts related to his operation of
National Investment Enterprises Inc. Gharakhanian, who was arrested
yesterday, could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted of all of
the charges against him, according to Thom Mrozek of the U.S.
Attorney’s Office. The defendant’s bond hearing was postponed to
Tuesday, so he will remain confined over the weekend, Mrozek said.
Arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 17. Last year in a civil action,
the Securities and Exchange Commission won a $2.6 million judgment
against Gharakhanian and his firm, Mrozek said. From late 1999 to
2001, Gharakhanian falsely told investors he had an inside line on
initial public offerings for Internet- and technology-related
securities, promising quick profits, the indictment alleges. But
Gharakhanian, who targeted people of Armenian descent, never used
investor funds as promised, though he sent out false account
statements supposedly documenting the purchase of highly sought-after
IPOs, the government alleges. Some National Investment Enterprises
clients recouped their initial investments but, when the firm
collapsed in 2001, investors lost about $5 million, Mrozek said.

Business Online, UK
Oct 9 2005

France is the big obstacle to Turkey’s EU ambitions

By : Jonathan Gorvett in Istanbul October 09, 2005

WITH Turkey finally starting European Union (EU) accession talks 46
years after first applying, a 10-year road of tough negotiations and
difficult decisions lies ahead. And after all that, enlargement could
still be vetoed, especially by France, which changed its constitution
earlier this year to stipulate that a referendum must be held before
Turkey is allowed to join – a prospect facing opposition from
ordinary French voters.

The first new step is on 20 October, when EU chiefs will assess what
needs to be done before the real talks on membership can begin. Then
in November, the European Commission publishes its scorecard report
on Turkey’s progress in economic and political reforms – a document
likely to be critical of the country’s human and minority rights
record.

And after this, talks may begin, focusing on 35 subjects – known as
chapters – in which Turkey will have to show conformity with EU
standards. On each occasion, the approval of existing member states
will be needed before one can be closed and the next opened.

These chapters cover everything from foreign policy to intellectual
property rights, from environmental standards to trans-European
highways.

Many feel that Britain, which currently holds the EU presidency, will
also want to close at least one chapter before the end of this year,
establishing the accession process. Most likely then, the first
chapter chosen will be an easy one – such as science and research
rules.

A series of more irksome issues is likely to follow. Raymond James
Securities chief macroeconomist Ozgur Altug says: `Number one of
these will be Cyprus. When it comes to the chapter on the free
movement of goods and services, there could be serious problems here
for Turkey.’

The difficulty is that at this point Turkey will likely come up
against demands from Nicosia that it open its ports and airports to
Cypriot traffic.

Turkey is technically obliged to do so under the terms of the customs
union agreement it has with the EU. Yet Ankara has not recognised the
Greek Cypriot dominated government on the island since it invaded
back in 1974 and has so far refused to open its doors.

The second difficulty is likely to be farming. About 40% of Turkey’s
70m population works on the land, mainly in co-operatives and
individual holdings. Farmers have been used to receiving subsidies in
price supports from the state for decades, while many staple products
– such as tomatoes, sunflower and olive oil and oriental leaf tobacco
– are oversupplied by other EU countries. Other sectors remain
protected against imports, breaking EU trade policies.

Agricultural Minister Mahdi Eker said last week that he recognised
that `a difficult time lies ahead’ for farming, while placing his
faith in a new Agriculture Strategic Action plan, due to begin
implementation in January 2006. This will roll back price supports
and, advocates hope, boost competitiveness – yet it is also likely to
cause political and social discontent.

Then there is the environment. The chapter on this requires the
Turkish private sector to spend E35bn to meet EU environmental
standards, from health and safety at work to food hygiene standards.
Yet for the years 2005-07, the total financial assistance Turkey can
expect from the EU will be E350m a year.

Another area of concern though is minority rights. Turkey’s now-small
but once large ethnic Greek and Armenian populations have long
complained that much of their property has been taken from them over
the years by government. Sorting out restoration rights will be a
complex legal process; minority groups have already stated that they
do not see the latest government draft law on this issue in a
favourable light.

With support for EU accession in Turkey dwindling in recent months –
according to a recent newspaper poll to 57% – the government will
also have to watch its back, while its presents its front to
Brussels.

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| 14:21:32 | 08-10-2005 | Politics |

WE WILL LIVE IN AUTHORITATIVE STATE

It would be advisable if the upcoming referendum ended the same way as in
1991 at the referendum on independence. Today people trust to no one,
chairman of the Helsinki committee Avetik Ishkhanyan considers.

In his opinion, the nation will express its attitude towards the
authorities. `I think that the number of people supporting the incumbent
leadership does not exceed 20%. Thus, in case of free and fair election the
amendments will not be adopted.

According to A. Ishkhanyan, in case the referendum fails the RA authorities
will be in a very awkward position however it will give us the possibility
to start a new process of constitutional reform. `I was inspired to think
that we will have a good constitution but I was mistaken’, he said

Contrary to him, Mikael Danielyan is convinced that the authorities will
falsify the outcomes of the referendum. `If the draft is adopted, Robert
Kocharyan will have the possibility to run for President for the third time.

The International Herald Tribune (France)
Friday, September 23, 2005
page 5
(A full page advertisement)

A LETTER FROM THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GENOCIDE SCHOLARS

President Vice-President Secretary-Treasurer
Israel Charney Gregory H. Stanton Steven Jacobs
(Israel) (USA) (USA)

TO PRIME MINISTER RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN

TC Bashabanlik
Bakanlikir
Ankara, Turkey

June 16, 2005

Dear Prime Minister Erdogan,

We are writing you this open letter in response to your call for an
`impartial study by historians’ concerning the fate of the Armenian
people in the Ottoman Empire during World War 1.

We represent the major body of scholars who study genocide in North
America and Europe. We are concerned that in calling for an impartial
study of the Armenian Genocide you may not be fully aware of the
extent of the scholarly and intellectual record in the Armenian
Genocide and how this event conforms to the definition of the United
Nations Genocide Convention. We want to underscore that it is not
just Armenians who are affirming the Armenian Genocide but it is the
overwhelming opinion of scholars who study genocide: hundreds of
independent scholars, who have no affiliations with governments, and
whose work spans many countries and nationalities and the course of
decades. The scholarly evidence reveals the following:

– On April 24, 1915, under cover of World War 1, the Young Turk
government of the Ottoman Empire began a systematic genocide of its
Armenian citizens, an unarmed Christian minority population. More
than a million Armenians were exterminated through direct killing,
starvation, torture, and forced death marches. The rest of the
Armenian population fled into permanent exile. Thus an ancient
civilization was expunged from its homeland of 2,500 years.

– The Armenian Genocide was the most well-known human rights issue
of its time and was reported regularly in newspapers across the
United States and Europe. The Armenian Genocide is abundantly
documented by thousands of official records of the United States and
nations around the world including Turkey’s wartime allies Germany,
Austria and Hungary, by Ottoman court-martial records, by eyewitness
accounts of missionaries and diplomats, by testimony of survivors,
and by decades of historical scholarship.

– The Armenian Genocide is corroborated by the international
scholarly, legal, and human rights community:
1) Polish jurist Raphael Lemkin, when he coined the term genocide in
1944, cited the Turkish extermination of the Armenians and the Nazi
extermination of the Jews as defining examples of what he meant by
genocide.
2) The killings of the Armenians is genocide as defined by the 1948
United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the
Crime of Genocide.
3) In 1997 the International Association of Genocide Scholars, an
organization of the world’s foremost experts on genocide,
unanimously passed a formal resolution affirming the Armenian
Genocide
4) 126 leading scholars of the Holocaust inluding Elie Wiesel and
Yehuda Bauer placed a statement in the New York Times in June 2000
declaring the incontestable fact of the Armenian Genocide and urging
western democracies to acknowledge it.
5) The Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide (Jerusalem) and the
Institute for the Study of Genocide (NYC) have affirmed the
historical fact of the Armenian Genocide.
6) Leading texts in the international law of genocide such as William
A. Schabas’s Genocide in International Law (Cambridge University
Press, 2000) cite the Armenian Genocide as a precursor to the
Holocaust and as a precedent for the law on crimes against humanity.

We would also note that scholars who advise your government and who
are affiliated in other ways with your state controlled institutions
are not impartial. Such so-called `scholars’ work to serve the agenda
of historical and moral obfuscation when they advise you and the
Turkish Parliament on how to deny the Armenian Genocide. In preventing
a conference on the Armenian Genocide from taking place at Bogacizi
University in Istanbul on May 25, your government revealed its
aversion to academic and intellectual freedom – a fundamental
condition of democratic society.

We believe that it is clearly in the interest of the Turkish people
and their future as proud and equal participants in international,
democratic discourse to acknowledge the responsibility of a previous
government for the genocide of the Armenian people, just as the
German government and people have done in the case of the Holocaust.

Approved unanimously at the sixth biennial meeting of
The International Association of Genocide Scholars
June 7, 2005, Boca Raton, Florida

Contact:
Israel Charney, President, International Association of Genocide
Scholars; Editor in Chief, Encyclopedia of Genocide.

Gregory H. Stanton, Vice President, International Association of
Genocide Scholars; President, Genocide Watch; James Farmer Visiting
Professor of Human Rights, University of Mary Washington;
[email protected]

SERB “GOVERNMENT-IN-EXILE” HOPES TURKEY CAN HELP EXPOSE CROATIAN “GENOCIDE”

SRNA news agency, Serbia
Oct 4 2005

Belgrade, 4 October: The Republic of Serb Krajina [RSK, wartime
Croatian Serb self-proclaimed statelet] government-in-exile hopes the
Turkish government will help it shed light on the Croatian genocide
against Serbs during World War II and the 1990-95 secessionist war
in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and in war damage compensation
for Serb people.

In a letter to the Turkish embassy in Belgrade, the RSK
government-in-exile expressed hope that the Turkish government during
its EU membership negotiations would make use of facts about the
Croatian genocide against Serbs “which are a heavy burden for other
European states”.

The letter points out that all European states are obliged to take
a position on crimes committed in Europe and only then would they
have a right to participate in investigations of such occurrences in
other continents.

“It is strange that they are asking for proof of Turkish crimes against
Armenians in 1915, while failing to mention Croatian crimes of genocide
about which there are documents, academic debates, published books
by witnesses and the Croatian death camp ‘Jasenovac’ section in the
Holocaust museum in New York,” the letter says.

The letter adds that by refusing to shed light on Croatian genocide
crimes against Serbs, the EU member states are ignoring the UN charter
on the rights of man and other international law documents, according
to which they are obligated to enable the punishment of criminals.

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

October 6, 2005
___________________

SYMPOSIUM PROVIDES NEW TOOLS, IDEAS FOR ARMENIAN LANGUAGE EDUCATORS

The numbers of Armenian speakers and readers in the United States are
declining each year. The Diocese of the Armenian Church of America
(Eastern) is committed to keeping the Armenian language and heritage
alive through several educational programs.

Key to the effort are local parish Armenian Schools. On Saturday,
September 10, 2005, more than 70 educators from New York, Connecticut,
New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island attended a symposium
designed to give them direction, advice, and resources to spread the
Armenian language in their home parishes.

“Each one of these dedicated volunteers is passionate about our history
and culture, and they are all working to see that the next generation of
Armenian Americans continues to use our mother language,” said
Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Eastern Diocese. “They are
giving of their time and skills to teach our children and for that each
one of them should be commended.”

FACING THE CHALLENGE

One of the guest speakers at the symposium, Dr. Anny Bakalian, associate
director of the Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center at the
Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), outlined the
numbers for the educators.

She said her research shows that assimilation and the maintenance of
ethnic identity are not contradictory — that it is not a zero sum pie.
She spoke about immigration, integration in American society, and
assimilation.

“It is impossible to find Armenianness meaningful or functional if they
are not taught to appreciate it,” Dr. Bakalian said, stressing that
culture and traditions are taught, not imbedded in our genetic make-up.
“Where is Armenianness nurtured? In the family, with grandparents,
traditions, and rites of passage.”

She told the educators that to be a “good Armenian” one must be a “good
American citizen.” The solution, she said, is to become bicultural, be
conversant fluently and comfortably in two worlds.

“The teacher is not an authority figure in the new millennium, but a
coach to encourage,” she said. “Pedagogues have discovered that
language is best taught when the child is eager to learn. It cannot be
imposed by force.”

CELEBRATING 1,600 YEARS

This year, the local educators will be in the spotlight as the worldwide
Armenian community celebrates the 1,600th anniversary of the creation of
the Armenian alphabet by Mesrob Mashdots. During the symposium, Aram
Arkun, coordinator of the Diocese’s Zohrab Information Center, outlined
the historical and geopolitical background of the invention of the
Armenian alphabet, detailing the evolution of the written word from
pictures and hieroglyphics to cuneiform and later the Armenian alphabet.

Arkun highlighted the religious and sociopolitical motives for the
invention of the alphabet, dealing in unfamiliar details and historical
information that attendees said would prove useful in their classroom
work.

HONORING SERVICE

The Symposium was also a chance for the Diocese to thank longtime
educators. Central to the list of those devoting their time to teaching
Armenian was Sylva der Stepanian, who recently stepped down as
coordinator of Armenian studies at the Diocese after several decades of
service.

Honored for 25 years of service were Sue Ayrassian and Irene Eranosian
of Providence, RI; Zabel Hatem and Lucy Martayian of Bayside, NY; Nazeli
Sanentz of Watertown, MA; and Marie Yapoujian of White Plains, NY.
Honored for 10 years of service were Chake Dereyan of Livingston, NJ;
and Susan Aprahamian Clark of Fair Lawn, NJ.

Following the opening prayer and an introduction by Mrs. Shakeh
Kadehjian, Fr. Untzag Nalbandian, director of youth and education at the
Diocese, spoke about the challenges teachers face and the importance of
the collaboration between parents and teachers.

“While it is the parents, initially, who take their children’s hands and
walk them to school, it is also the teachers who make sure the children
are happy and learning at school,” he said.

Fr. Untzag elaborated on the educational programs being planned by the
Armenian Diocese to celebrate the 1600th anniversary of the Alphabet.

Gilda Buchakjian-Kupelian, coordinator of Armenian studies at the
Diocese, praised those long-time educators and stressed the role of
teachers to be “the primary and most important factor in language
learning.”

In her presentation, the new Armenian studies coordinator, underscored
the functionality of the Armenian language and suggested stylized,
practical pedagogical methods to accommodate the student profiles of
different age groups.

“We are as effective as our resources, especially our human resources,”
she said. “Not only should we be concerned with training teachers, but
we should focus on teacher preparation as well. After all, how we learn
is as important as what we learn.”

MANY EFFORTS

The local parish Armenian schools are just one of the ways the Diocese
is working to strengthen the Armenian language here in America. Through
its Khrimian Lyceum, which opened on September 24, 2005 in New York City
and is expected to open in Massachusetts, students who graduate from
parish Armenian schools attend monthly classes in Armenian language,
culture, history, and civic education.

The Diocese is also working to educate adults through its Mesrob
Mashdots Institute, weekly language classes held at the Diocesan Center
in New York City. Two classes with a total of 25 students began on
September 21.

Plans are under way to prepare new teaching resources and outreach
program to benefit all parish schools.

— 10/6/05

E-mail photos available on request. Photos also viewable in the News
and Events section of the Eastern Diocese’s website,

PHOTO CAPTION (1): Gilda Buchakjian-Kupelian, coordinator of Armenian
studies at the Diocese, right, and Fr. Untzag Nalbandian, director of
youth and education at the Diocese, honor several local educators for
their years of service to parish Armenian schools during a symposium at
the Diocesan Center in New York City on September 10, 2005.

PHOTO CAPTION (2): Dr. Anny Bakalian, associate director of the Middle
East and Middle Eastern American Center at the Graduate Center of the
City University of New York (CUNY), speaks to educators from local
parish Armenian schools during a symposium organized by the Eastern
Diocese on September 10, 2005.

PHOTO CAPTION (3): Participants in the symposium organized by the
Eastern Diocese for local parish Armenian school educators share ideas
and teaching tips at the Diocesan Center in New York City on September
10, 2005.

PHOTO CAPTION (4): More than 70 people attended the Eastern Diocese’s
symposium for local Armenian school educators at the Diocesan Center in
New York City on September 10, 2005.

TURKEY WILL HAVE TO ACCEPT EU DEMANDS: ARMENIA’S DEPUTY FM

ArmInfo News Agency
Oct 4 2005

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4. ARMINFO. Turkey should realize that today is not
early XX but early XXI, says Armenia’s Deputy FM Gegam Garibjanyan
commenting on the delayed start of the talks for Turkey’s membership
in the EU.

It would be good for Armenia to have an EU neighbor but Turkey will
have to accept the EU demands to recognize Cyprus and the Armenian
Genocide and to open its border with Armenia. Turkey will hardly avoid
fulfilling these demands if it wants to be EU member, says Garibjanyan.

To remind, the talks were to start Oct 3 but have been put off because
of Turkey’s refusing to accept the requirements to recognize the
Republic of Cyprus and the Armenian Genocide.