Author: Nahapetian Zhanna

AZG Armenian Daily #171, 24/09/2005
Turkey
TURKISH-AMERICAN RELATIONS ENDANGERED
Turkey’s relations with the United States are likely to spoil to an
unpredicted extent if the House of Representative approves the two
resolutions on Armenian Genocide adopted by the Committee of International
Relations last week, an anonymous diplomat told Turkish Daily News. The
paper reminds that the Bush Administration had warned the congressmen that
adoption of the two resolutions will harm Turkish-American relations but
“the Committee labeled the killings of Armenians in early 20th century a
genocide”.

National Assembly of RA, Armenia
Sept 23 2005
Armenian Chamber Choir to Take Part in Forthcoming Festival in Halle

On September 22, Hranush Hakobyan, Chairwoman of RA NA Standing
Committee on Science, Education, Culture and Youth met Tomas
Buchholz, Chairman of `Sachsen Anhalt’ Composers’ Union of Germany
and Harutiun Topikyan, Artistic Director of the Armenian State
Chamber Choir.
Mr. Buchholz, who is also the Artistic Director of the annually
organized festival, noted that during the recent years he actively
cooperated with the Armenian musicians, the works of the Armenian
composers sound in Halle with participation of Armenian musical
groups and choirs. The German composer informed that this year at
November 11-19 forthcoming festival Armenian State Chamber Choir will
also take part, and a day of the festival will be dedicated to the
90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
Mrs. Hakobyan highlighted the development of the Armenian-German
cultural ties and expressed readiness to promote those ties to be
more strengthened.

Harvest Gallery
938 N. Brand Blvd.
Glendale, CA
PRESS RELEASE
September 19, 2005

HARVEST GALLERY presents Anahit Ar

Artist Opening Reception: Friday, September 30, 6:00 p.m. to 10:00
p.m.Exhibition Dates: September 30 through October 2 Harvest Gallery:
938 North Brand Blvd., Glendale, CA
Glendale, CA (September 19) – Harvest Gallery is proud to present the
paintings and drawings of Anahit Ar, an exhibition opening on Friday,
September 30 in Glendale, California.
Working with numerous art forms including graphic art and costume
design, Anahit Ar’s paintings showcase figurative compositions and
portraits that are strong, expressive and dramatic yet flow with a
sense of elasticity. Her work has been displayed in several
exhibitions and shows in fine art museums throughout Russia and
Armenia, as well as in private art collections.
Anahit Ar was born into a family of artists whose artistic roots span
three generations. Earning a bachelor of fine arts from Terlmezyan
Fine Arts College and a doctorate in art from the University of Fine
Arts and Theater in Armenia, Anahit Ar became an accomplished
artist-painter and international costume designer with extensive
associations with Russian drama theaters, ballet organizations and
opera houses, including the world-renowned Bolshoi Ballet.
Anahit Ar’s exhibit will be on display from Friday, September 30
through Sunday, October 2. Gallery hours are Tuesday – Sunday from
11:00 am to 7:00 pm.
For information about the exhibit, please call Harvest Gallery at
818.546.1000 or visit
###050919

Peter Balakian’s The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America’s
Response Wins 2005 Raphael Lemkin Prize
Harper Collins Publishers
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022-5299
Contact: Tim Brazier
Tel. 212-207-7520
Fax. 212-207-7901
Email: [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW YORK: Peter Balakian’s “The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide
and America’s Response” has been awarded the 2005 Raphael Lemkin Prize
for the best scholarly book in the preceding two years on the subject of
genocide, mass killings, gross human rights violations, and the
prevention of such crimes. The award is given by the Institute for the
Study of Genocide at John Jay College of Criminal Justice/CUNY Graduate
Center in New York City. The prize comes with a cash award and
commemorates Raphael Lemkin, the legal scholar who pioneered the
international legal concept of genocide. Helen Fein, Chair of the prize
committee called The Burning Tigris `a book of enduring scholarly value
and of important contemporary meaning.’ Previous winners include
Samantha Power’s “A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide”
(winner of the Pulitzer Prize), and Alison Des Forges “Leave None To
Tell The Story: Genocide In Rwanda.”

The Burning Tigris was a New York Times bestseller and a national
bestseller, and a New York Times Notable Book of 2003. Balakian is the
author of seven other books, including Black Dog of Fate, which won
the 1998 PEN/Albrand Prize for memoir, and June-tree: New and Selected
Poems. He is the recipient of honors and awards including a Guggenheim
fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, the Anahit
Literary Prize, and an Ellis Island Medal of Honor. He has appeared
widely on national television and radio. Translations of his work have
been published throughout Europe. He is the Donald M. and Constance H.
Rebar Professor of the Humanities and Professor of English at Colgate
University, where he was the first director of Colgate’s Center For
Ethics and World Societies.

The award ceremony and talk by the author will be held on Friday,
November 11 at 2:15 pm in 1311 North Hall (445 W. 59th St) at John Jay
College of Criminal Justice. Contact Helen Fein, Director, the Institute
for the Study of Genocide, [email protected].
For review copies of THE BURNING TIGRIS or to set up interviews with
Peter Balakian please contact: Tim Brazier, [email protected]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE AUTHORITIES OF ARMENIA ARE INTERESTED IN DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIC PROGRAMS, ESPECIALLY IN THE AREA OF ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATIONS
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Sept 20 2005
YEREVAN, September 20. /ARKA/. The authorities of Armenia are
interested in development of strategic programs, especially in the area
of economic transformations, as the Councilor of the RA President in
economic matters Vahram Nersisyants stated when reading the message of
the RA President Robert Kocharyan to the participants of “Armenia-2020”
All-Armenian forum. The message states that the presidents welcomes the
initiative of “Armenia -2020” program regarding development o a common
strategy for development of the country, which would be convenient
for calculating the speed of development and working out prospects of
the further progress of Armenia. “We highly appreciate the efforts of
the program “Armenia -2020″, which aim not only at anticipating the
near future but also at analyzing and offering long-term strategic
perspectives, since stable development of Armenia is our priority
goal and we are ready for cooperation”, according to the message.
The All-Armenia Forum “Growth of productiveness and competitiveness:
strategy of stable development of Armenia” was launched in Yerevan.
It’s expected to hold discussions on maintaining stable growth of
economy of Armenia, prospects and capacities of development of separate
sectors of economy. Over 350 representatives of Armenia and Diaspora,
the RA NA Speaker Arthur Baghdasaryan, RA Minister of Foreign Affairs
Vartan Oskanian, Minister of Defense Serge Sargsyan, and Councilor
of the RA President in economic matters Vahram Nersisyants will
participate in the forum. Also, participation of businessmen of
Armenian origin from different countries and world famous companies,
including Alcatel and McKinsey&Company is expected.
Armenia-2020 Program was launched in Feb 2002. Already $2 mln has been
spent of the program. The main goal of the program is to organize
and hold discussions about possible perspectives of a long-term
development of Armenia with the further development of scenarios of
development of the country till 2020. A.H.–0-

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Sept 19 2005
RA FOREING MINISTER MEETS WITH FOREIGN MINISTERS OF AFGHANISTAN,
CROATIAN FM, LITHUANIA, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA TIMOR-LESTE

NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian continued series of bilateral meetings on
his second working day in New York, where he is participating to the
60th anniversary of the UN General Assembly.
As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA Foreign Ministry’s Press and
Information Department, on Friday, Minister Oskanian met with Dr.
Abdullah Abdullah, Foreign Minister of Afghanistan, Kolinda
Grabar-Kitarovic, Croatian FM, Antanas Valionis, Minister of Foreign
Affairs of Lithuania, Mladen Ivanic, Foreign Minister of Bosnia and
Herzegovina and Jose Ramos-Horta, Senior Minister, Minister for
Foreign Affairs & Cooperation of Timor-Leste.
During meetings parties discussed bilateral issues and regional
developments. They also exchanged positions on ongoing UN reforms.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT DECORATES SHEIKH SULTAN WITH SAINT MESROB ORDER
WAM – Emirates News Agency, United Arab Emirates
Sep 19, 2005 – 10:45
Yerevan, 19 September 2005(WAM)–Armenian President Robert Kocharian
conferred the Order of Saint Mesrob Mashtots on H.H Dr. Sheikh Sultan
bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah,
who is currently on an official visit to Armenia.
Saint Mesrob order is the highest order in Armenia and was conferred on
Sheikh Sultan in recognition of his contribution to the UAE Armenian
relations in addition to his role in the fields of education and
culture.
During a meeting with President Kocharian, Sheikh Sultan conveyed to
him the greetings of President H.H Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
They also conferred on ways of promoting cultural and economic
relations between the UAE and Armenia.

Senior EU lawmaker wants EU delegation to monitor Pamuk trial in
Turkey
.c The Associated Press
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) – A senior EU lawmaker wants the European
Parliament to monitor the Turkish trial of author Orhan Pamuk, who has
been charged with insulting the country’s national character and could
face up to three years in prison.
Joost Lagendijk, the head of the EU parliament’s committee on Turkey,
has asked Parliament President Josep Borrell to send a group of
observers to Istanbul for the trial that starts Dec. 16.
“The charges against Pamuk constitute an infringement of the author’s
right to freedom of expression and contravene both U.N. and EU
conventions on human rights,” said Lagendijk, a Dutch Green deputy.
“When we consider that the implementation of a new penal code this
summer was one of the main conditions for opening accession
negotiations with Turkey, it is essential that a small delegation of
observers attends the trial and determines if the code is compatible
with the charges that have been brought against Pamuk.”
Lagendijk’s call came hours before European Union ambassadors were to
resume talks on adopting a joint position for Turkey’s EU membership
negotiations, which are due to start Oct. 3. Earlier this week, the
ambassadors could not agree on a common response to Ankara’s refusal
to recognize EU member Cyprus.
Pamuk, Turkey’s best-selling and widely translated author, could face
prison for his comments on Turkey’s killing of Armenians and Kurds in
a case that senior EU officials say violates the European Convention
of Human Rights.
In an interview with a Swiss newspaper magazine in February, Pamuk
said “30,000 Kurds and 1 million Armenians were killed in these lands
and nobody but me dares to talk about it.”
The reference to Armenians relates to killings by Ottoman Turks around
the time of World War I, which Armenians and several other nations
recognize as the first genocide of the 20th century.
Turkey vehemently denies that a genocide took place, saying the death
toll is inflated and Armenians were killed in a civil war as the
Ottoman Empire collapsed, eventually giving way to the Turkish
Republic in 1923.
Turkey, which has been trying to improve its human rights record as it
vies for EU membership, is extremely sensitive about both the Armenian
and Kurdish issues, and the new Turkish penal code makes it a crime to
denigrate Turkey’s national identity.
The code – adopted at the EU’s insistence – was debated earlier this
year and freedom of speech advocates said the clause on national
identity was too vague and could lead to the imprisonment of artists,
scholars and journalists.
Earlier this week, Olli Rehn, the EU official in charge of the bloc’s
expansion, said it was a “provocation” that Turkey chose Dec. 16 to
open the trial.
Dec. 16 is the first anniversary of the EU’s agreement to start
membership talks with Turkey on Oct. 3, and the date clashes with an
EU summit in Brussels.
09/16/05 04:48 EDT

Turkey says it “strongly hopes” U.S. Armenian genocide resolution
does not go to full vote
.c The Associated Press
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) – Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said Friday it
“greeted with sadness” the passage by a U.S. congressional committee
of two resolutions that denounce the deaths of Armenians early last
century as genocide, and hoped U.S. legislators would not allow the
resolutions out of committee.
“In the period ahead, we believe that members of the U.S. Congress
will act with a responsibility befitting the Turkish-American
relationship, and strongly hope that the resolutions will stay in the
committee and not be carried to the floor,” the statement said.
Turkey vehemently denies that the killings of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks around the time of World War I was genocide, and the Turkish
government has made it a policy to fight recognition of an Armenian
genocide.
Armenians and several nations around the world recognize the killings
as the first genocide of the 20th century.
In 2000, under direct pressure from then-U.S. President Bill Clinton,
a resolution on the Armenian genocide was shelved hours before it was
to go to vote before the full U.S. House of Representatives.
It is not clear if or when the current resolutions will be brought
before the full House.
09/16/05 13:43 EDT

EU SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE ON SOUTH CAUCASUS APPRECIATES MEETINGS OF
ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS IN KAZAN
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 16. ARMINFO. European Union Special Representative
for the South Caucasus Heikki Talvitie appreciated the meeting of
Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents, Robert Kocharyan and Ilham
Aliyev, in Kazan.
Speaking at a press conference in Baku, Thursday, Heikki Talvitie
thinks the conflicting parties should use this chance. European Union
attaches a great importance to the forthcoming elections in
Azerbaijan, Talvitie said promising to visit that country before and
after the elections. He welcomed the opposition-government dialogue
mediated by the OSCE. At the same time, he thinks the great interest
in the forthcoming elections must not neglect the Karabakh conflict.