Author: Nahapetian Samvel

Kommersant, Russia
March 17 2005
United States Intercepts Russian Missiles
// Arms smuggling
A huge scandal has flared up in the United States over illegal
shipments of Russian arms involving an international group of
smugglers. Yesterday the American authorities brought accusations
against 18 people, most of them natives of the former USSR. The
exposure of a network of smugglers offering weapons of every sort on
the American black market, from submachine guns and grenade launchers
to antiaircraft missiles, was the result of a unique, yearlong FBI
investigation.
At a press conference in New York, U.S. Attorney David Kelly gave the
details of this detective story, in which not only Russians,
Armenians, and Georgians appear, but also immigrants from South
Africa. According to Kelly, American special services succeeded in
uncovering and arresting an international band of smugglers headed by
Armenian Artur Solomonian and South African Christiaan Dewet Spies,
who are based in New York. Police captured both of them on Monday
night at a Manhattan hotel where the leaders of the criminal group
had arrived to approve the terms of a new deal with a potential buyer
who was an FBI informant.
According to Kelly, the mainly Russian arms smuggled into the U.S.
were acquired in Georgia, Armenia, and certain Eastern European
countries. It is a mystery how the arms landed safely in America
through three points at once – New York, Los Angeles, and Miami,
despite tightened border controls and unprecedented anti-terrorism
measures adopted by American special services in recent years. As
Kelly reported, before their arrest, the smugglers managed to sell
eight machine guns and other kinds of automatic weapons, including
AK-47’s and Israeli Uzis.
According to information in the American media, the smugglers were
exposed as a result of a yearlong special operation in which FBI
agents actively assisted their counterparts in Armenia, Georgia, and
South Africa. The investigators had tapes of 15 000 telephone calls
intercepted in recent months at their disposal, which gives an idea
of the scale of the operation. They were able to pick up the trail of
the criminal group after an informer of the American special services
reported his contact with people who had access to Russian-made arms
and wanted to sell them at a profit in the United States. At the same
time, the informer was shown photographs of pieces of military
equipment.
The ample opportunities available to the smugglers and the scale of
their operations are shown by the fact that, besides rifles, the
goods they offered included grenade launchers, antitank shells, and
shoulder-held antiaircraft systems. According to a report on the
American Fox News, the smugglers were expecting to get $2 million
just for homing missiles delivered to the United States. At the same
time, the New York Times in its version of the story wrote that the
unsuspecting Solomonian offered to sell the FBI informers enriched
uranium, which he claimed could be used in terrorists attacks in the
New York subway. However, the story that the smugglers had uranium
was subsequently not confirmed and was dropped. Kelly spoke of this
at his press conference yesterday.
If found guilty, Solomonian and Spies face a prison sentence of up to
30 years. The other accused could get from 5 to 20 years.
It is interesting that the scandal over Russian-made weapons,
including shoulder-held antiaircraft missile systems smuggled into
the United States, broke out soon after the summit of the presidents
of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and George Bush, in
Bratislava. Among other things, they discussed the sensitive topic of
trade in shoulder-held antiaircraft missile systems, in particular
the possibility of their ending up in the hands of international
terrorists. The American side had previously expressed its concerns
to Moscow more than once that this type of Russian weapon, which
could be used to carry out major terrorist acts, especially to shoot
down planes, might end up in the hands of `unreliable persons’. Then
new evidence appeared yesterday that the Americans’ concerns were not
unfounded.
by Sergey Strokan

OSCE
March 15 2005
Milestone agreement initiates first phase of OSCE police assistance
programme in Armenia
YEREVAN, 15 March 2005 – The OSCE today launched the first phase of
the Police Assistance Programme in Armenia with the signing of an
agreement to refurbish the Police Training Centre.
The agreement, signed by the Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan,
Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin, and the Armenian Chief of Police,
Lieutenant-General Hayk Harutyunyan, is aimed at bringing basic
police training conditions into line with advanced European
practices. It is also intended to provide modern equipment and
teaching aids.
“Today marks a milestone in our endeavours within the framework of
the Police Assistance Programme, as this initiative represents the
foundation for a well-trained and community-oriented force,” said
Ambassador Pryakhin at the signing ceremony.
“It is an example of fruitful and constructive co-operation between
the OSCE and Armenia in fostering democratic institutions, to the
benefit of Armenian people.”
Lieutenant-General Harutyunyan also praised the co-operation with the
OSCE Office and expressed the deep appreciation of the Armenian
authorities to OSCE participating States for their valuable technical
support and financial contributions.
“This project serves the purpose of setting up suitable logistical
pre-conditions for the development of modern basic police training
for our forces,” he said.
Under a Memorandum of Understanding signed in July 2003, four areas
were identified for the Police Assistance Programme: the
refurbishment of the Training Centre for recruits, the strengthening
of the Training Centre, the introduction of a community-policing
model in one of the districts of Yerevan, and the establishment of a
new emergency response system and infrastructure.
The project will be implemented by the OSCE Office in Yerevan
together with the Armenian Police with advice and guidance provided
by the Strategic Police Matters Unit (SPMU) of the OSCE Secretariat
in Vienna. The project is financed by Belgium, the United States and
Sweden.

For further information, please contact:

Gohar Avagyan
OSCE Office in Yerevan
89 Teryan St.
375009, Yerevan
Armenia

Tel.: +374 1 54 10 62
+374 1 54 58 45
Fax: +374 1 54 10 61
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

International Journalist’s Network
March 14 2005
Journalism research is focus of Almaty seminar
Mar 14, 2005
Journalists in Kazakhstan can now apply for a training seminar on how
to conduct journalism-related research.
The Almaty office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) is organizing the seminar, and is accepting
applications until March 21.
Media experts from Armenia, Germany, Kazakhstan and Russia will lead
discussions on research methods. Kazakh journalists will also have
the chance to discuss their own experiences with colleagues.
Applications should include a short resume, contact information, and
a two-page essay on why the applicant wants to attend the program.
For more details (in Russian):

The event is tentatively scheduled for April 6 and 7, and a series of
follow-up training events will take place in regional cities
throughout Kazakhstan.
OSCE Center in Almaty:

Snowfall causes further road closures
The Messenger
Friday, March 11, 2005, #044 (0818)
News in brief:
According to Prime News, the road to Khevsureti is closed because
of heavy snowfall and the resulting danger of avalanches. The road
to the Armenian border is also closed in the Ninotsminda zone, as is
the Zugdidi-Svaneti road.
Also affected are the Batumi-Akhaltsikhe and the Georgian military
highway north of Gudauri

FORMER US AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIAN CALLED TO INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION
OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
PanArmenian News
March 11 2005
11.03.2005 03:12
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Harry Gilmore, the first American Ambassador to
Armenia, is the latest U.S. official to publicly acknowledge the
Armenian Genocide and call for international recognition of this
crime against humanity, Armenian Assembly of America reports. In an
interview with Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) this week,
the retired diplomat said, “There is no doubt that the Armenian
events were genocide~T. He also added that the crimes against the
Armenians fit the definition of genocide as determined by the UN
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.

OSCE envoy to visit Yerevan to discuss ceasefire breaches
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 11 2005
Baku, March 10, AssA-Irada
The OSCE chairman’s special envoy Anzhei Kaspshik is expected to leave
for Yerevan on Friday. During the visit, Kaspshik will extensively
discuss with Armenian officials ways of eliminating the tensions
caused by the persistent ceasefire violations on the contact line of
Azerbaijani and Armenian troops. Kaspshik recalled the commitments on
ceasefire assumed by the conflicting sides according to the Bishkek
protocol, saying that regular ceasefire breaches are unacceptable. He
voiced his concerns over the frequent ceasefire violations, considering
the intensifying peace talks. The OSCE chairman’s envoy added that
he had notified the OSCE Vienna office of the problem.
Armenia has frequently violated ceasefire on the frontline over the
last 20 days.*

TURKEY TO ACKNOWLEDGE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE SOONER OR LATER
YEREVAN, MARCH 7. ARMINFO. Turkey realizes that sooner or later it
will be forced to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, says presidential
advisor for national security Garnik Isagulyan.
But it is concerned for the possible consequences – particularly for
possible compensation,
Nevertheless Turkey will have to revise its policy on Armenia
especially considering its aspiration to join EU.
Europe realizes that the recogntion of the Armenian Genocide
is a guarantee against similar occurrences in the future. The
acknowledgement process is being encouraged by both Armenia’s
consistent foreign policy and Turkey’s intention to become part of
the civilized and democratic European family. All this is fostering
progress in the matter.
Armenia has repeatedly stated that it is ready to establish relations
with Turkey with no preliminary conditions and it is strange that
Turkey links this issue with Armenian-Azeri relations. “In fact Turkey
has fallen hostage to its own position and is well aware of it,”
says Isagulyan.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Community & Church Council of Great Britain
P.O.Box 46207
London, W5 2YE
Email: [email protected]
A brief outline of the lecture given by Professor Richard Hovhannisian
on 27th February, 2005 at the Navasartian Centre, London.

In his 90th Anniversary Lecture to the Armenian Community at the
Navasartian Centre in London, Prof. Hovannisian referred to the
forgotten aspects of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Apart from mourning
the lost generation of approximately 1.5 Million victims, who were
murdered in the most sadistic and inhuman methods at the instigation of
the Turkish authorities, we had failed to emphasise the loss of our
Armenian Homeland and the continuity of Armenian History. We should not
forget the deprivation of land, loss of cultural heritage and the
collective wealth of the Armenian people living in the Anatolian
peninsula.
He said this great tragedy had not been rectified in any way yet. He
said Jewish people had received a great deal of compensation from the
German Republic, (even though no amount of compensation could cover the
great loss in human terms.) However, even this had not happened in the
Armenian case. No reparation, re-instatement or recompense, not even an
acknowledgement of the great physical or psychological damage done to
the Genocide victims and their descendents had yet been proferred by the
Turkish Republic. Referring to the Armenian people living in the
Diaspora he said, ‘We are all products of the Genocide.’
He said, that collective memory was short, referring to the Cambodian
Genocide during the Pol Pot regime, which had already slipped out of the
consciousness of the new generation of his students.
He said that the challenge to us as Armenians was to make the Armenian
Genocide a part of peoples’ collective existence and a part of human
history. In order for the Armenian Genocide to have a meaning to
others, the Armenian experience must be related to everyone’s
experience, in other words, it must be relevant in a universal way. The
only people who had achieved this had been Jewish people in the case of
the Jewish Holocaust.
The challenge was to find a way of educating young people to make the
Armenian Genocide relevant to their lives. The Armenian people in the
Diaspora had found this difficult to do because the people who survived
the 1915 Genocide had been mostly involved in commerce and had worked
hard to put their lives together under very difficult circumstances.
The Genocide had wiped out almost all the intellectuals in 1915 and very
few of these had survived.
He said we had to find ‘handles’ to make the Genocide experience
broader. We could draw parallels between the oppressed and second class
status of Black people in the United States to the oppressed second
class status of the Armenian population of Ottoman Turkey. Had the
government of the United States not been serious about achieving
equality for all minority groups living in the U.S.A. and had they not
only enshrined it in law but enforced the law, a genocide of Black
people could have been plausible.
Prof. Hovannisian referred to the connection between the Hamidian
massacres of the Armenian population of Ottoman Turkey, in the last
decades of the 19th Century, to the Armenian Genocide of 1915, the
‘Final Solution.’ He said although there was a continuity of violence
against a defenceless minority there were in fact differences between
the reasons for the violence and the intended effect. The Hamidian
‘pogroms’ were instigated by a traditional autocratic Sultan, Abdul
Hamid, on the Armenian Christian minority of Ottoman Turkey to suppress
and subdue any expression for a desire for reforms in order to preserve
the status quo. The 1915 Genocide, ‘the Final Solution’, on the other
hand, was the second wave of violence unleashed by the Young Turks –
after deposing the despotic Sultan – in order to create total change in
Turkey, create a homogenous Moslem Turkic population, by eliminating
the entire Armenian Christian population as well as other Christian
minorities such as Greeks & Assyrians.
It was important to study the Armenian Genocide, said Prof. Hovannisian,
because the Armenian Genocide of 1915 had been the ‘prototype’ for all
mass killings of the 20th Century, a century laden with Genocides. He
defined Genocide as the act of an ideologically driven group using
extreme violence to achieve their objective. The Young Turks to the
Armenian population, the Nazis to the Jewish population of Germany and
beyond, the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. He said that the forceful and
violent implementation of a belief system constituted genocide.
Prof. Hovannisian discussed the common denominators of Genocide. The
economic factor was a major incentive and central motive as well as the
rape of women, which was not only physical violence but a symbolic
shaming as well as actual eradication of the next generation.
Referring to the recently formed Turkish Armenian Reconciliation
Committee, TARC, he expressed scepticism of any such attempt, since he
believed that the Turkish Government only used such platforms to simply
deny the Armenian Genocide at every opportunity and therefore a genuine
reconciliation could not be achieved until Turkish people looked
critically and honestly at their past and distanced themselves from it
by condemning the Genocide committed by the Young Turks. Prof.
Hovannisian said that there were some brave Turkish historians and
writers who were trying to grapple with Turkey’s official denial of
their dark history, trying to write honestly under very difficult
circumstances. However, the idea of having to face their dark genocidal
history was causing the political elite in modern Turkey a huge
dilemma. This was because Ataturk, the first president of the ‘modern’
Turkish Republic and the great hero of the Turkish nation state, was
himself implicated in the Armenian Genocide. Apart from driving out the
last remnants of the Armenian victims towards the end of Genocide
period, Ataturk’s ministers and members of parliament consisted of the
very people responsible for implementing the Armenian Genocide.
Finally, Prof. Hovannisian quoted his friend and colleague, Prof.
Terence Des Pres, who had told him that power destroyed everyone and
everything around them and after the destruction, it sought to destroy
the memory of the people themselves. In the introduction to The
Armenian Genocide in Perspective, edited by Prof. Richard G.
Hovannisian, 1986 (Transaction Books,) Terence Des Pres wrote, “When
modern states make way for geopolitical power plays, they are not above
removing everything – nations, cultures, homelands – in their path.
Great powers regularly demolish other peoples’ claims to dignity and
place and sometimes, as we know, the outcome is genocide â€¦. Against
historical crimes we fight as best we can and a cardinal part of this
engagement is ‘the struggle of memory against forgetting.’
Prof. Hovannisian concluded by saying that in an uneven struggle and we
do the best we can for as long as we can and the weapon is ‘memory.’

THE BLIND IN ARMENIA GET A CHANCE TO “SEE” BOOKS DUE TO COMPUTER PROGRAM
YEREVAN, MARCH 5. ARMINFO. A computer center has opened at the Society
of the Blind in Armenia created with support of a charitable union
“Apaven.” Armenian Parliamentary Speaker Artur Baghdasaryan attended
the opening ceremony.
Thirty-nine people received education at the center, one of the author-
developers of the computer program for the blind “Arev,” Director of
Yerevan Scientific and Research Institution of Mathematical Sciences,
Academician Arman Kuchukyan informs journalists. The program allows
the blind to study the alphabet on the keyboard independently, to read
Armenians books and other printed materials and to use Internet
through sounds. The program also allows calculations and use of the
help service of the computer. The program “Arev” costs some $800.
Speaking at the ceremony, Artur Baghdasaryan promised assistance to
the blind as regards employment, increase in wages and allowances. He
said that in 2006 a republican educational center for the blind would
open in Yerevan. He promised assistance to 20 blind students of
Yerevan State University in purchase of personal computers. The
speaker advised the members of the union to apply to the court
demanding return of the building in Isahakayan Street 18. It should be
noted that the Municipality sold the territory in 2002. The speaker
assured those present that this territory was sold illegally and there
were all the chances to win the case.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V. Rev. Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
HIS HOLINESS ARAM I VISTS THE ST. NESHAN CHURCH
ON THE OCCASION OF MID-LENT
It has become a tradition for His Holiness Aram I to preside over the
Sunrise Service and deliver a speech in the St. Neshan Church on the
occasion of mid-Lent. Accordingly, His Holiness visited the church on
Wednesday, the 2nd of March and was greeted by Bishop Kegham Khatcherian,
Primate of the Diocese of Lebanon and believers.
During the service Bishop Kegham Khatcherian welcomed the Catholicos. His
Holiness Aram I talked during his speech about the truthful path of
Christianity, focusing mainly on the leading role of the church.
“Christ Himself is the path, the truth and life,” said His Holiness, adding
that Church is the path to salvation. The Pontiff condemned those who preach
salvation outside the church and mislead believers.
The students and deacons of the Seminary of the Catholicosate of Cilicia
also participated in the service, performing the hymns.
##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.