Author: Nargizian David

Business Wire (press release), CA
Oct 31 2007

Children of Armenia Fund Raises $3.5 Million From its Annual Gala
Evening

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) is pleased
to announce that it raised a record $3.5 million from the 2007 Save a
Generation Awards Dinner, held Friday, October 19, at Cipriani 42nd
Street in New York. The money raised will be directed at reversing
the ongoing impoverished conditions affecting significant numbers of
children in rural Armenia through COAF’s Model Village program.

`Due to the tremendous ongoing commitment from our donors, COAF is
able to implement significant projects that dramatically improve the
conditions of rural Armenian communities especially in the areas of
health, education, infrastructure as well as social and economic
development,’ said Garo H. Armen, PhD, founder and chairman of COAF.
`With the money raised from the gala, COAF can continue executing a
broader, sustainable revitalization program that has the potential to
impact a combined population of 17,000 – of whom nearly 5,000 are
children.’

COAF hosted more than 350 guests for the annual gala event. Sherry
Lansing, Oscar-winner of the Humanitarian Award in 2007 and former
chairwoman of Paramount Pictures, delivered the keynote address in
the context of an interview hosted by Lesley Stahl, a 60 MINUTES
correspondent and Charlie Rose, Emmy award winning journalist. Ken
Davitian, co-star of the critically acclaimed 2006 blockbuster,
BORAT, was master of ceremonies.

The COAF annual awards dinners have raised more than $8.5 million
since 2001, placing funding emphasis on the Model Village project,
the first such program ever to be undertaken. The project has been
recognized by international aid agencies, such as the United Nations
Development Programme and the World Bank, as an exemplary template of
sustainable development throughout the world.

About COAF

Founded in 2000, the Children of Armenia Fund is an independent,
nonprofit, nongovernmental organization (501(c)(3). COAF seeks to
reverse the impoverished conditions affecting significant numbers of
Armenia’s children by revitalizing Armenia’s villages and
implementing projects that provide immediate and sustainable benefits
to children and youth.

Contacts
For Children of Armenia Fund
Sunny Uberoi, 212-994-8206

MONITORING RESULTS OF THE CIVIL SERVICE RECRUITMENT TO BE PRESENTED NOVEMBER 2ND

armradio.am
01.11.2007 11:54

Monitoring results of the civil service recruitment and attestation
procedures will be presented at Congress Hotel on November 2. The
presentation will be followed by a discussion.

The monitoring has been conducted by the Union of Armenian Government
Employees NGO in co-operation with the Armenian Civil Service Council
with financial support from the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the Eurasia
Foundation. It aims to improve the civil service recruitment and
attestation procedures fostering transparency and openness, in order
to minimize corruption risks.

Based on the initial monitoring results and recommendations a
Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Union of Armenian
Government Employees NGO and the Armenian Civil Service Council
that outlines the scope of co-operation and reconfirms the Council’s
commitment to implement the monitoring recommendations.

Ambassador Sergey Kapinos, Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan,
Ms. Juliet Stein, Associate Country Director of the Eurasia Foundation,
Mr. Manvel Badalyan, Chairman of the Civil Service Council of Armenia,
Mr. Vache Kalashyan, Chairman of the Union of Armenian Government
Employees will present the project and the monitoring results.

COMMUNISTS: "WITH A SOCIALIST MASK, DASHNAKTSUTYUN IS FIGHTING AGAINST SOCIALISM"

Panorama.am
18:43 31/10/2007

Armenia’s communist party leader, Ruben Tovmasyan, up to now still
doesn’t know just what Dashnaktsutyun wants. Tovmasyan announced
this today while meeting with journalists, answering questions
about the possibility of the coming together of the communists and
Dashnaktsutyun. He read words from a 1906 message from Stepan Shahumyan
to Dashnaktsutyun: "With the mask of socialism, you are doing your
best to destroy it, along with the workers’ movement in the Caucasus.

You even call yourself a revolutionary party, yet for 15 years
are fighting against revolution. Now you label yourself as both
revolutionary and socialist, yet battle against both."

Tovmasyan reminded that, as part of the government in recent years,
Dashnaktsutyun presented no bills pertaining to socialist ideals.

THE TIMES WHEN TURKEY AND THE USA WERE ALLIES, HAVE FADED INTO OBLIVION

PanARMENIAN.Net
Analytical Department
27.10.2007 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey thinks that it has won a regular round in its
fight of the Armenian Genocide denial, since the authors of Resolution
106 congressmen Adam Schiff, Brad Sherman, and congresswoman Anna Eshoo
addressed a letter to the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
Nancy Pelosi with a proposition to postpone the vote of the Resolution
with the fear that it won’t be approved.

"We suppose that the overwhelming majority of our colleagues are
willing to support the Resolution, and will certainly do so but at
a more favorable moment.

We will continue working on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide
committed by the Ottoman Empire, but the time for the final voting
may be scheduled for later or for the year of 2008," says the letter
addressed to the Speaker.

"Before both parties picked the words addressed to each other with
thoroughness. It resulted from mutual needs during the cold war. Today
everything has changed, and I believe this is what will cause further
deterioration of the relations. This is very serious.

Both parties stopped paying enough attention to the key problem of
their interrelations; i.e. the lack of understanding over the issue of
strategic interrelations," says the Director of the Turkish Project
of the Strategic and International research Center in Washington
Bulent Aliriza. In this regard it should be reminded that the tension
between Ankara and Washington was created in March 2003 when the
Turkish Parliament refused to take the decision according to which
the U.S. troops could enter the territory of Iraq through the Turkish
border. It is quite natural that the Pentagon still remembers what
happened in March of 2003, and the Capitol Hill has already understood
that Turkey is not at all a good ally.

Turkey’s key argument in its dispute with the USA is the Kurdish
issue and security of the U.S. troops in Iraq. However, the letter of
the congressmen was immediately followed by the announcement made by
Recep Erdoghan saying that "the decision about the launching of the
military operation in Northern Iraq will be made by Ankara without
any outer help; the powers have already rejected the call of the USA
to restraint".

The announcement humiliating the USA was made exactly when the
White House and the State Department put superhuman efforts to make
the congressmen change their mind. According to the ANCA Executive
Director (Armenian National Committee of America) Aram Hambaryan,
"Allowing Turkey to deny the Armenian Genocide, the USA undermines
its capability of positively influencing on the situation in the
Middle East and in the whole world." He also thinks that "after the
confusion resulted by the threats passes, the two-party majority will
speak against the Turkish policy of threat and will vote in favor of
the Resolution standing for the human rights." One of the authors and
the initiators of Resolution 106 the congressman Adam Schiff emphasized
that unfortunately the reality showed that the Turkish lobby deserves
the money it is paid. "The worst is when what is planned doesn’t
bring the desired success. Turkey thinks that its campaign on the
Genocide denial has been successfully completed. Unfortunately our
State Department also had its role in this process and supported them,"
emphasized Schiff.

"Turkey achieved its goal, but it happened for the last time. The USA
canceled the voting in exchange for Turkey’s promise not to unleash
war in the Northern Iraq. However, I think that during the next session
of the Congress in 2008 the Resolution will in any case be put to the
vote, and will be adopted. Turkey has no more resources for displaying
pressure on the USA," assures Ruben Safrastyan. In fact it turned
out that Turkey’s promises mean nothing at all, and right were those
congressmen who said that "the true allies do not use threats against
each other." In its turn the Director of the Caucasian Institute of
Mass Media Alexander Iskandaryan emphasized that Turkey played on the
nerves of the USA and such an outcome was no surprise. "In the given
case the role of the political advisability was great, but practically
the Armenian Genocide was recognized by the congressmen," he believes.

PRESIDENT RECEIVES NEWLY APPOINTED AMBASSADOR OF THAILAND

Panorama.am
17:59 30/10/2007

Ambassador of Thailand Kingdom to Armenia Sutop Tirakaosal presented
his credentials to President Robert Kocharyan today. President press
services report that Kocharyan voiced his assurance that the rich
diplomatic experience of the ambassador will contribute to development
of relations between the two countries.

The president underscored the partnership with Thailand in the Asian
policy of Armenia and mentioned that in the course of recent few
years the bilateral relations have become more active to a significant
level. The parties touched upon possible fields of cooperation. They
highlighted that these aspect must become clear and the potential
must be fully utilized.

The ambassador’s headquarters is in Moscow. He has worked in Thailand
embassies in Vietnam and Italy.

Tirakaosal has also taken positions in Thailand missions to UN and
other international organizations.

Glendale News Press, CA
Oct 27 2007

FROM THE MARGINS:
Recognition is the right thing to do

By PATRICK AZADIAN

A couple of weeks ago City Council members put their differences
aside and voted unanimously to pass a symbolic resolution to urge the
U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill to recognize the
Armenian Genocide.

Gloomy Gus may argue that with a large segment of the residents
tracing their roots to the Armenian highlands, the act was an
expedient move to avoid political isolation. I briefly chatted with a
couple of council members; I got a different vibe.

Council members genuinely believed this was the right thing to do.

Why? Let’s look beyond historic evidence to understand this
well-timed gesture. Living in a city with so many of the descendants
of the survivors of the genocide, it has become second nature for
some to realize this is the right thing to do.

Council members understood how much this meant to many of the
residents.

Yet, I am often asked why can’t Armenians just move on. After all,
it’s argued, Poles and Jews have suffered in Europe and have `gotten
over it.’ African-Americans are dealing with the tragic chapters of
their history. History has not dealt a much better hand to the Native
Americans. The Irish have certainly recovered from the Potato Famine.
And Darfur still bleeds today.

The assumption is that every one of these groups is now healed and
has recovered. I don’t think that’s the case.

Genocide has left a scar on the Armenian people. If Turkey does not
give acknowledgment, the offspring of the genocide generation will
not heal. If the scars do not heal, it is difficult to look to the
future. There seems to be no escape from this paradox but
acknowledgment. advertisement

Why is it important for Turkey to admit, I am asked.

The obvious answer is: It’s the right thing to do.

Fortunately, Turkey can’t just say `it wasn’t us’ and get away with
it. Actually it can say, it wasn’t modern Turkey, it was the
Ottomans, but we’re sorry. But by working so hard to deny the
genocide, Turkey has become the inheritor and an accomplice to the
crime.

Denial is not an easy task. For the denial to make mathematical
sense, Turkey has to argue that not too many Armenians actually
existed before the 1915. The disappearance of 1.5 million people is
not easy to cover up.

To put things into perspective, exterminating 1.5 million people is
the equivalent to filling the Rose Bowl to seating capacity with men,
women and children, murdering everyone, getting rid of the corpses,
and repeating it 16 1/2 times.

Let’s take a minute to have that sink in.

How do you deny such a crime? One could argue they all left the
stadium willingly. But then the question is, where are they now? One
could also argue that all the 1.5 million willingly converted to
Islam.

`Modern’ Turkey’s approach is to deny the existence of the Armenians
on those lands. To do this, Turkey needs to toy with history to show
that the Armenian civilization was not a major presence before World
War I. And to do this, monuments and churches need to be
re-categorized and history books need to be revised.

The denial of the genocide is a denial of the existence of a
civilization.

It may be a tough task for Turks to come to terms with their history,
but they also need to move forward and heal. The time will come when
the Turkish state has to put its denial policies aside and live with
the consequences of the crime.

This issue is not going away. Unless of course, Turkey executes yet
another scheme to eliminate what’s left of the Armenian civilization
to the east. As long as the world has not unanimously condemned the
first genocide of the 20th century, given the right opportunity and
Turkey’s history of aggression in Cyprus, such a possibility
shouldn’t be discounted.

It would have been the right thing for the U.S. House of
Representatives to pass the resolution reaffirming the Armenian
Genocide. Despite Turkey’s threats to turn its back on America, it
would not dare refuse our tax dollars. Besides, where is Turkey going
to go – into the bed of radical Islam or into the arms of the newly
refurbished Russian empire?

City Council members had the right spirit. Thank you, council
members, for acknowledging the pain of my grandparents. Thank you for
reaffirming that their sufferings were real.

Sometimes, even in politics, doing the right thing is the right
thing.

 PATRICK AZADIAN is a writer and the creative director of a
local marketing and graphic design studio living in Glendale. He may
be reached at respond@ fromthemargins.net.

0/27/columns/gnp-margins27.txt

ARMENIAN UNDER-19 TEAM PROCEEDS TO THE SECOND ROUND OF THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

armradio.am
26.10.2007 12:55

The under-19 football team of Armenia played a draw with the team of
Poland in eh qualification round of the European Championship, thus
acquiring the right to continue the competition in the championship,
gaining 5 points.

In the first two games the Armenian team scored 2:2 against Lithuania
and won a 1:0 victory over San Marino.

Armenian footballers led by head coach Armen Gyulbudaryants, have
achieved a permit to participate in the second round of the European
Championship.

A SERJ OF CREATIVITY; SOAD SINGER GOES SOLO FOR ELECT THE DEAD
Mitchell Peters, Billboard

The Calgary Herald (Alberta)
October 23, 2007 Tuesday

Spotlight
Elect the Dead is in stores today.

– – –

When System of a Down (SOAD) frontman Serj Tankian goes solo, he
really goes solo.

On Elect the Dead, "I wrote all the music, perform the majority of it,
I produced it myself and it’s on my label — it can’t get more solo
than that," Tankian said while lounging in a Hollywood practice studio.

The artist is exhausted on this drizzly evening in late September,
having just finished a daylong rehearsal session for his current
U.S. theatre tour. But a hectic schedule of writing songs, promoting
his album, overseeing his label Serjical Strike, volunteering his time
to political/social causes, publishing books, producing albums and
scoring music for films and video games doesn’t seem to slow him down.

"They’re all things in my vision that I know I’m supposed to do,"
he said. "I’m just trying to enjoy it, and when I feel overwhelmed
I try to gain objectivity, walk away and breathe."

But life’s path wasn’t always as clear. Tankian, a former software
developer, said that when SOAD released its self-titled debut in 1998,
"I had no clue we’d have this kind of popularity."

Before the Los Angeles four-piece went on "indefinite hiatus" in 2006
to focus on solo projects, its five albums had sold nearly 10 million
units in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. "We were
doing things our way, trying to be true to our music and ourselves,"
Tankian said. "I still look at things that way."

With Elect the Dead, Tankian hasn’t strayed far from SOAD’s politically
edgy lyrical themes and guitar-heavy riffs, spiced with hints of his
Armenian musical heritage. To help achieve that sound, he tapped SOAD
drummer John Dolmayan and former Primus drummer Bryan "Brain" Mantia,
along with guitarist/bassist Dan Monti, to contribute.

The 12-track set reveals a softer side of Tankian, demonstrated
through songs about love and heartbreak, accompanied by classical
piano, acoustic guitar, stringed instruments and operatic harmonies
from soprano Ani Maldjian.

SOAD "had the political and humorous stuff, but didn’t have the
personal stories or philosophical theorization that this album
does," Tankian said. He added, however, that album track The
Unthinking Majority — "the closest song to what System has done"
— was first released on MySpace not only because of its "blatant
political message," but as an homage to SOAD fans "who carried my
band . . . for the past 11 years."

And fans have responded positively. The album’s first radio single,
Empty Walls, a shred-fest that includes references to "bodies burning"
and "choking from intoxication," has climbed to No. 9 on Billboard’s
Modern Rock chart.

After completing his stateside tour in late October, Tankian will
head overseas to open for the Foo Fighters in U.K. arenas. Then he’ll
return for a handful of TV spots and radio shows in December, to be
followed by a full-fledged tour in 2008.

As for future solo albums, expect to hear much more. "I have hundreds
and hundreds of pieces of music, from electronic to experimental to
classical to rock to punk to noise — whatever," Tankian said.

"Anything that I say I want to do, I already have a record’s worth
of songs."

BINDING AHMADINEJAD’S DEPARTURE WITH SARGSYAN’S U.S. VISIT STUPID

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.10.2007 17:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Sometimes domestic circumstances demand presence of
the President. The agenda of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s
visit was reconsidered by this reason, RA National Assembly Speaker
Tigran Torosian told reporters today.

According to him, suppositions that Mr Ahmadinejad left Armenia over
unwillingness to attend the memorial to Armenian Genocide victims are
illogical. During yesterday’s meeting with YSU students the Iranian
leader represented his standpoint on the issue," the Speaker said.

"They could also presume that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad doesn’t respect
Islam, since he didn’t attend Blue Mosque in Yerevan," he noted.

The Armenian Speaker described journalists’ suppositions that Mr
Ahmadinejad’s departure was conditioned by RA Prime Minister Serge
Sargsyan’s visit to the United States as "masochistic and stupid."

Mr Torosian also informed that he accepted the invitation of his
Iranian counterpart and will visit Iran till the yearend, IA Regnum
reports.

A new round of the EU-Iran talks has opened in Rome today. The
Iranian delegation is led by Saeed Jalili, who is close to President
Ahmadinejad and is considered a hard-line diplomat.

As reported earlier, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad interrupted
his formal visit to Armenia and returned to Tehran. Informal sources
said the schedule was changed over unforeseeable consequences in Iran.

Mr Ahmadinejad was expected to attend the Memorial Complex to Armenian
Genocide victims and Blue Mosque in Yerevan. He was also scheduled
to address the RA National Assembly.

"Today’s program was cancelled and the Iranian leader is departing
for Tehran," the RA President’s press office said.

COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS GATHER IN WASHINGTON, DC, TO PRESS FOR ADOPTION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

armradio.am
23.10.2007 10:10

His Eminence Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate of the Western
Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church and citizen-activists from
across the US will be arriving in Washington, DC this week to urge
passage of the Armenian Genocide resolution, H.Res.106, reported the
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

The adoption of the resolution by the House Foreign Affairs Committee
on October 10th sparked a firestorm of media coverage over the
Turkish government’s threats to retaliate against America if the
measure were approved by the full House of Representatives. Turkey
has poured millions of foreign dollars into the US political system,
paying former Members of Congress to make its case and public relations
firms to spin the media coverage against this human rights legislation.

In a first wave of community visits to Washington in the wake of the
panel vote, advocates for this legislation – Americans committed to
the growth of a genuine an anti-genocide constituency – are working
with their elected officials to put America back on the right side
of this fundamental moral issue. The ANCA, Armenian Assembly, and a
range of other community groups are taking part in this effort.

"We are pleased to be joined by so many friends from across the
country in helping to put American back on the right side of this
fundamental moral and human rights issue," said ANCA Executive
Director Aram Hamparian. "We welcome their devotion and energy and
look forward to working with them to encourage legislators to stand
up against Turkey’s efforts to exercise a veto over the recognition
of the Armenian Genocide by the U.S. Congress."

Activists from over 15 states, including California, Connecticut,
Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island and Texas will be meeting with Members of Congress and staff
in Washington, DC, with activists in remaining states reaching
out to their Congressional district offices. The Washington DC
advocacy effort, expands on the nationwide ANCA Call-in and write-
in campaigns, which have been underway since the Armenian Genocide
resolution was introduced in January, 2007, by Rep. Adam Schiff
(D- CA) and spearheaded by Representative George Radanovich (R-CA),
Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe
Knollenberg (R-MI), Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Rep. Thaddeus McCotter
(R-MI), Ed Royce (R-CA), and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA). In March, the
ANCA joined with the Genocide Intervention Network in sponsoring the
"End the Cycle of Genocide" Advocacy Days, calling Congressional
attention to the denial of the Armenian Genocide and the need for
urgent action to stop the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan.

This past Sunday, the ANCA hosted a special three hour presentation
on Horizon Armenian Television, titled "ANCA Special Project: Call
for Justice", spotlighting the growing Armenian American community
activism in support of H.Res.106. The special included remarks by
His Eminence Moushegh Mardirosian, His Eminence Hovnan Derderian,
Primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church,
Glendale City Clerk Ardashes Kassakhian, and a of host community
organization leaders urging ongoing grassroots activism in support
of the Armenian Genocide resolution. Congressmen Adam Schiff (D- CA)
and Brad Sherman (D-CA) both called into the program to offer personal
insights into the path of this legislation.

Among the highlights of the program were updates from ANCA Chapters
from across the United States, documenting their efforts to pass
H.Res.106 and encouraging Armenian Americans to get involved locally
and nationally. The unified voice of the Armenian American community
in support of Armenian Genocide legislation was heard loud and clear
throughout the broadcast, as citizen-activists from Los Angeles to
New York called in to pledge their commitment to this human rights
legislation.

His Eminence Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate of the Western
Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, serves as spiritual leader of
Armenian Prelacy Churches in the Western United States. The Prelacy’s
region in California extends from San Francisco to Fresno, Los Angeles
and Orange County. The Prelacy also provides services and spiritual
assistance to the Armenian communities in other states in the western
United States, including: Utah, Oregon, Colorado, Arizona and Nevada.