Author: Nahapetian Samvel

Horizon Weekly
Contact: Nanor Manoukian
April 20, 2004 Tel: 514-603-4373
QUEBEC’S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY COMMEMORATE’S ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Montreal, QC – The National Assembly of Quebec commemorated the 89th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in the presence of his Eminence
Archbishop Khajag Hagopian, Prelate of the Prelacy of Canada as well as a
delegation from the Armenian National Committee of Quebec. Through a motion
that was unanimously accepted by all parties, parliamentarians paid tribute
to the 1.5 million victims of the Genocide and the resulting impact of the
survivors as well as their progeny.
It is noteworthy that the National Assembly of Quebec has commemorated the
Armenian Genocide since 1980 and in November 2003 it became a member of the
family of legislative assemblies that has passed a law designating April
24th as a day of commemoration for the Armenian Genocide.
The Armenian National Committee of Quebec is a grassroots organization
representing the interests of the Armenian Community in Quebec.

Glendale News-Press
LATimes.com
April 20 2004
A day of firsts for school board

Krikorian to become the first Armenian American president of GUSD
board under new rotation.
By Gary Moskowitz, News-Press
NORTHEAST GLENDALE – Greg Krikorian will become president of
Glendale’s school board today, making him the first Armenian American
to hold the position.
Krikorian was elected as a board member in 2001 and is the vice
president. Because the board changes its officers based on a rotation
policy, Krikorian will move into the president’s seat and replace Pam
Ellis during the board meeting.
According to the rotation policy, Ellis, who has been a board member
since 1995, would become a board member and board Clerk Mary Boger
would become the board’s vice president. Board member Lina Harper
would become the board’s clerk. Chuck Sambar would remain a board
member.
However, nothing is set in stone until the final board vote and
approval at Tuesday’s meeting, officials said.
“I am excited,” Krikorian said. “I want to get a good grasp of our
budget challenge, strengthen our district staffing and our programs
to make us the shining light of Southern California, so all parents
would want to move their kids into our city. When we look at these
budget challenges, it’s not just teacher-to-student ratios, but it’s
classified employees, custodians, everyone. We are one big family.
“One thing I’d like to implement this year is to give a State of the
Schools address once a year to give the status of our schools to the
community. I want to strengthen our communications with the
community,” Krikorian said.
The Board of Education had for years decided who its officers would
be based on vague descriptions of a rotation policy that in practice
allowed board members to nominate, vote for and elect its officers,
based on a majority vote in a public meeting.
But that changed in April 2003, when board members voted 3-2 in favor
of writing an official rotation policy into the board’s bylaws.
Boger and Harper voted against the policy, but the board accepted the
rotation policy and other board bylaws in June.
Ellis said that board members, at Tuesday’s meeting, have to readopt
the policy that allows the rotation policy to happen.

Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
April 19 2004
WHEN WILL BE THE ROAD TO TALISH BUILT?
April 14 was the tenth anniversary of liberation of the village
Talish. During the meeting of the National Assembly member of
parliament Valery Babayan expressed gratitude to all who have their
contribution to the liberation of the village. He mentioned that the
question of repair of the road Martakert-Mataghis-Talish has been
raised for a number of times. Ten months ago the government promised
to repair it but so far the inhabitants of Talish are deprived of
normal communication. According to the acting minister of building
Vagharshak Palanjanian, the roadworks will cost 40 million drams.
This year 112 million drams in total has been provided for repairing
the village roads. Taking into account the cost, the road of Talish
was taken out of the list drawn up in December. According to V.
Palanjanian, however, a new list is being worked out in which the road
of Talish will be included by all means.

Armenian Assembly of America
122 C Street, NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:
 
MEDIA ALERT
April 12, 2004
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]
RE: L.A. Weekly apology to Armenian-American community
An Armenian Assembly-led community meeting on March 17 with editors of the
L.A. Weekly newspaper resulted in the paper’s second apology to the
Armenian-American community for insensitive remarks it published in
February.
Assembly Western Office Director Lena Kaimian, together with Armenian
Observer Editor Osheen Keshishian, United Armenia Fund President and
California Courier publisher Harut Sassounian and Rev. Father Asbed Balian
representing Archbishop Hovnan Derderian of the Western Diocese of the
Armenian Church, told L.A. Weekly editors that their initial apology to the
community for printing “No Armenians Allowed,” under an event listing in its
calendar section, was not satisfactory.
Following the meeting, the newspaper sent Kaimian the following letter
indicating that a second apology was published in the paper addressing the
concerns of the Armenian-American community.
The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide
organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian
issues. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.
***********************************************************************
March 31, 2004
Lena Kaimian
Director, Western Office
Armenian Assembly of America
50 N. La Cienega Blvd., Suite 202
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
Dear Ms. Kaimian,
Thank you so much for taking the time to meet with us on March 17. We
really valued the opportunity to meet with you and Archbishop Hovnan
Derderian, Harut Sassounian and Osheen Keshishian. After the meeting, we
all came away with a deeper understanding of the effect that the insensitive
commentary in the Concerts section of the February 20 issue had upon the
Armenian community. We also came to know that the community was not
satisfied by our initial apology for the remark, which ran on the letters
page in the February 27-March 4 issue.
Since our meeting we received four letters from Armenians expressing their
concern over that carelessly written sentence. In response, we have run
another apology in the paper specifically directed to address the concerns
of the Armenian community. We note that while we encourage provocative
language here at L.A. Weekly in the context of useful political debate, the
particular words that appeared had no political context and, as one letter
writer put it, there was “absolutely no comedy” in what was written. Thus,
we cannot defend the statement. If those particular words had gone through
our usual editing process, it is highly unlikely that the phrase would have
appeared in print. That does not excuse the remark – our Calendar editor
was on vacation, but we should have made sure that her replacement was not
put into the position of essentially editing her own words.
Those who have been hurt by the statement should know that the writer, who
has a long history of good service at the paper, did not set out to offend
Armenians or any other group of people. She is horrified that anyone would
take the phase “No Armenians allowed” seriously. Fortunately, we live in a
place where it is unthinkable that anyone would try to ban any ethnic group
from a public event. But given the still-fresh memories of the Armenian
genocide and acts of discrimination, we understand the pain our words have
caused and would like to apologize again to all who were hurt by what was
written. We recognize the importance of the culturally vibrant and
successful Armenian community, and look forward to more positive relations
in the future.
We would also like to assert, for the record, that no one affiliated with
the concert was responsible in any way for the divisive language inserted
into the listing.
Since its founding, L.A. Weekly has attempted to educate its readers about
Los Angeles’ diverse communities. We remain committed to that goal, and
appreciate your efforts to promote cultural harmony in our city. We wish
you the best in that important endeavor and are truly sorry for this
incident.
Sincerely,
Laurie Ochoa
Editor, L.A. Weekly
NR#2004-037

Opposition leader says “civilized authorities” to come to power in Armenia
Arminfo
8 Apr 04
YEREVAN
The authorities will be replaced in Armenia even if only 10 people
join the 9 April opposition demonstration, Artashes Gegamyan, leader
of the National Unity Party, told a joint news conference of the
Justice bloc and the National Unity Party at the Armenian National
Assembly today.
According to him, Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has to show
common sense and resign a day or two after the opposition
demonstration because there is no alternative to changing the
authorities in Armenia.
“The longer the authorities delay the issue of resignation, the more
tragic the outcome will be for them,” Gegamyan said.
According to him, after Robert Kocharyan’s resignation, “civilized
authorities” will be formed in Armenia and improve the republic’s
image in the international arena. He said that after coming to power,
the opposition forces would use their election programmes to develop a
common plan to take the republic out of the current crisis. The
National Unity leader expressed his confidence that the opposition
would hold free and fair elections in the republic.
“Of course, Robert Kocharyan’s supporters will be protesting, but
those will be ‘cries in a desert’,” Gegamyan said.
The leader of the Antrapetutyun Party and former mayor of Yerevan,
Albert Bazeyan, said the international community should not interfere
in the political developments in Armenia and remain neutral. According
to him, the international community should only facilitate Armenia’s
democratic development.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 8, 2004 Thursday
Bordyuzha arrives in Yerevan for talks on situation in region
By Tigran Liloyan
Secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation
(CSTO) Major-General Nikolai Bordyuzha arrived in Yerevan on Thursday
for talks with Armenian leaders on the situation in the region, key
security problems and prospects for the creation of a collective
security system.
“This is a planned trip to prepare a June session of the Collective
Security Treaty Organisation, including sessions of the councils of
foreign ministers, defence ministers and the committee of secretaries
of the security councils,” Bordyuzha told Itar-Tass upon arrival in
Yerevan.
Earlier, Bordyuzha visited Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The CSTO
secretary-general is also expected to visit Kazakhstan and Belarus.
He will meet Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and representatives
of power-yield structures.
He said, “Armenia is one of the most active and interested
participants in the work of the CSTO. Armenian leaders join efforts
to step up cooperation with the CSTO and make this organisation more
effective and competent.”

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 8, 2004 Thursday
Attempt on RF commander’s life is provocation – Bordyuzha
By Tigran Liloyan
The attempt on Russian troops in Transcaucasia commander Alexander
Studenikin’s life in Tbilisi is a provocation, said Major-General
Nikolai Bordyuzha, secretary-general of the Collective Security
Treaty Organisation (CSTO).
Bordyuzha arrived in Yerevan for talks with Armenian leaders on
Thursday evening.
“This is a pure provocation to destabilise the situation in Georgia
and strain relations between Tbilisi and Moscow,” Bordyuzha told
Itar-Tass.

Minister’s Son Arrested in Armenia for Shootout That Injured Five
Russia, Saint-Petersburg
Date: 2004.04.05 18:28
YEREVAN, April 5. The son of the Armenian construction minister, Ara
Aramian, was arrested Monday in connection with a criminal ‘settling of
scores.’ As reported to a Rosbalt correspondent by the press office of the
Armenian Procurator’s Office, Aik Aramian was arrested for his role in a
March 12 shootout which left five people hospitalized with gunshot wounds. A
criminal investigation established that the minister’s son had been the
shooter.
The gunfight took place less than 50 meters from the jazz cafe Aragast,
where a meeting between Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and Armenian
President Robert Kacharian was going on at the time.
————————————————————————
©2001-2002 Rosbalt News Agency

Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
March 30, 2004
NK AGAIN CONFIRMS
The NK authorities confirm their willingness to receive the
international monitoring group and prove the falsehood of the
accusations on the part of Azerbaijan whose representatives keep
insisting that the territory of the region serves for illegal transit
of narcotics. NKR vice foreign minister of Masis Mayilian told the
Stepanakert reporter of the news agency “Regnum” that the government
of the republic is willing to provide necessary conditions for the
international monitoring group to work in all the parts of the
republic. “The members of the group must be truly independent
international experts who will be ready for conducting an unbiased
survey,” mentioned M. Mayilian. The vice minister denied the claims of
official Baku that Nagorni Karabakh and the nearby areas under the
control of the Karabakh party have been turned into a transit area of
which the drug dealers of the southern route make successful use.
Masis Mayilian reminded that in spite of the wishes of Baku, in the
strategic account of the US State Department on drugs control Nagorni
Karabakh is not mentioned at all, whereas it is stated once again that
the territory of Azerbaijan is one of the main international transit
routes of narcotics. “The NKR authorities are greatly responsible for
the situation in the republic and the nearby territories under its
control. For preventing the groundless and openly hostile accusations
of Baku the NKR authorities have for a great number of times in the
recent years applied to the UN, PACE, OSCE and other influential
international organizations, as well as the corresponding body of the
US State Department with the request to send an independent monitoring
group to Nagorni Karabakh to get acquainted with the situation on the
spot,” mentioned Mayilian. By the way, during the meeting of the UN
Office on Drugs and Crime Control held in Vienna one of the
suggestions discussed was the necessity of inviting a group of experts
of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, as well as experts of the
Interpol and other international organizations to study the situation
in a number of countries, including Nagorni Karabakh in relation with
narcotics. According to the UNODC, the claims of Azerbaijan that the
territory of Nagorni Karabakh is allegedly used for transit of drugs
were not confirmed by the UN. In answer to the question whether Baku
has proofs to this, the UN department on drugs and crimes gave a
negative answer.
AA

Armenian agency says Azerbaijan “destroyed” possible Karabakh peace plan
Mediamax news agency, Yerevan
29 Mar 04

Armenian news agency Mediamax has claimed that preliminary agreements
were reached during mediated talks between the Azerbaijani and
Armenian leaders in Key West, the USA, in 2001. Under the agreement,
Nagornyy Karabakh and the corridor linking it to Armenia were to go to
Armenia, the agency said, quoting reliable sources. However, the then
Azerbaijani president, Heydar Aliyev, did not think of putting into
practice the Key West agreement, but gained time to ensure the
handover of power to his son. The incumbent Azerbaijani president “is
finishing the game started by his talented father”, the agency
said. The following is an excerpt from report by Armenian news agency
Mediamax on 29 March headlined “Key West agreements dead”; subheadings
inserted editorially:
It became obvious last week that the Paris and Key West [Florida, the
USA] agreements on the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
reached in the spring of 2001 by the Armenian and Azerbaijani
presidents with the mediators’ participation are “dead”.
Talks started between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents with the
participation of the OSCE Minsk Group cochairmen in Key West three
years ago, on 3 April 2001. The initiative to hold the meetings in Key
West came from the USA – the US cochairman of the OSCE Minsk Group,
Carey Cavanaugh, suggested meeting in Florida after two rounds of
negotiations between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in Paris
with the active participation of French President Jacques Chirac.
Key West agreement did exist
Mediamax agency has for a long time possessed information from
reliable sources about the content of agreements reached in Key
West. We did not disclose this information taking into account the
fact that formally the Key West agreements remained on the negotiating
table. Today we think we have the right to make public some excerpts
from this document.
Despite the statements by the Azerbaijani authorities about the
absence of a “hardcopy” of the Key West agreements, it was precisely
the “rough draft” of a peace accord drawn up by the mediators after
the Paris meeting that the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders discussed
during the talks in Florida. It was expected that the peace agreement
would be drawn out on the basis of this “rough draft” and that it
would be initialled by the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in the
presence of the US, Russian and French foreign ministers at a meeting
in Geneva in June 2001. A final and comprehensive peace agreement was
expected to be signed later in the capital of one of the co-chairing
countries of the OSCE Minsk Group with the participation of George
W. Bush, Vladimir Putin and Jacques Chirac.
Karabakh was to go to Armenia
Thus, it was written in black and white in the document discussed in
Key West that Nagornyy Karabakh together with the Lachin corridor
[linking Armenia and Karabakh] “shall be handed over under Armenia’s
sovereignty”. That was why Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan
said in Yerevan on 17 March that “the content of talks between
Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents Robert Kocharyan and Heydar Aliyev
had justified the fact that Karabakh representatives were not involved
in them”. Vardan Oskanyan explained that this was a reason for a
recent statement by the Armenian Foreign Ministry saying that “if Baku
wants to start the negotiations from scratch it should appeal only to
Stepanakert”.
In exchange, Baku would get back the occupied territories and a
highway linking Azerbaijan and the Naxcivan exclave. Despite rumours
spread by the Armenian opposition that Armenia had agreed to cede the
region of Megri to Azerbaijan, in reality the document said that an
Azerbaijan-Naxcivan highway remained under Armenian control, and the
possible attraction of international peacekeeping forces to ensure its
security would be negotiated further. Moreover, the mediators
presented five highway routes to the parties and only one of them was
contiguous with the Armenian-Iranian border. Preliminary construction
estimates were attached to each route description.
Heydar Aliyev’s “brilliant game”
Heydar Aliyev’s consent to solve the problem this way seemed
unbelievable. That was why, according to Mediamax sources, before the
Key West talks Armenian top negotiators had several times asked Carey
Cavanaugh whether the US mediator was sure that Heydar Aliyev was
really ready to confirm the “Paris principles” on the paper? Every
time Cavanaugh’s answer was affirmative. For this reason, the
statement by US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage that “the
parties reached progress but not agreements” in Key West can be
argued, since Heydar Aliyev said “yes” in Florida, i.e. he gave his
preliminary consent, and said “no” a month after he returned to
Baku. Therefore, we have every reason to say that in reality there
were the Key West agreements.
Although Armenian leaders, and in particular Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan, say that Heydar Aliyev was ready to take “decisive steps” to
solve the problem, we think that the late Azerbaijani president played
a brilliant game, pulling the wool over the eyes of both Armenia and
the mediating countries. There is every reason to suppose that Heydar
Aliyev did not really think of putting into practice the Key West
agreements. He was just trying to gain time necessary to pass power to
his son. The policy pursued by Aliyev junior today attests that he is
finishing the game started by his talented father.
Today, when three years have passed since the Key West agreements, we
decided to present in a chronological order all the main developments
and statements of the parties around these talks. In our opinion,
having read this material, any reasonable person will understand that:
a) the Paris and Key West agreements did exist;
b) the mediators were trying to keep in force those agreements until
recently;
c) the previous and current Azerbaijani authorities did everything to
destroy the peace plan drafted with the active participation of
Russia, the USA and France.
[Passage omitted: chronological order of events in 2001-2004]