Author: Tadevosian Garnik

PanARMENIAN.Net

European structures try to avoid issues referring to
unrecognized republics
24.05.2008 18:08 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In their policy, European structures try to avoid
issues referring to unrecognized republics, which are situated within
the CoE borders, Armenian National Assembly Speaker said.

-Europe’s attitude is incorrect. The people living in unrecognized
states are victims of conflicts. Now, they are subjected to
discrimination on the part of European organizations, which often
forget that human rights protection is the main European value, no
matter whether people live in a recognized or unrecognized
state,-Tigran Torosian told the international conference dedicated to
the 20th anniversary of the Karabkah movement.

Cooperation between European structures and Karabakh would be useful,
according to him.

-Democratic standards have been developed for Kosovo and the condition
-first standards, then recognition- was reconsidered. However, in my
opinion meeting European standards is of utmost importance. Karabakh
is prepared to partner with Europe. So, we should be more resolute,-
Mr Torosian said.

For his part, NKR NA Speaker Ashot Ghulyan remarked that Karabakh
wishes to join a number of European and international conventions,
KarabakhOpen reports.

ELIN SULEYMANOV: "BARAK OBAMA IS REALLY CLOSE TO BECOMING A CANDIDATE FROM THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY"

Today.Az
itics/45195.html
May 23 2008
Azerbaijan

Day.Az interview with Azerbaijan’s consul general in Los Angeles
Elin Suleymanov.

-How would you comment on information of various mass medias, which
state that Barak Obama is close to becoming a candidate to US President
from the Democratic Party?

-I would like to mention that I will speak as an exterior observer,
as being representatives of foreign countries, we do not interfere
with the internal political processes in the United States. At the
same time, like most other diplomats, accredited in the United States,
we are observing the election campaign with great interest. Though
election of politicians is an internal affair of Americans, everyone
realizes that Washington’s policy has a great influence both on
the international climate and the bilateral relations with each US
partner country.

In this context, I would like to share some personal observations. On
the whole, the US press mostly adhering to liberal outlooks, highlights
Obama more positively that other candidates. At the same time, Obama
is really close to becoming a candidate from the Democratic Party.

-How would you explain the popularity of this politician?

-I think a number of factors play a role in this issue, for example,
the reduced popularity of the Republicans party which in turn
increases chances of democrats. Obama himself is a young politician
of afro-American origin is an unusual candidate for position of the
president. This and his declamatory abilities promoted his popularity.

He successfully positioned himself as a candidate of changes, which
complies with the moods in the American society. It is important
that he has appeared not too long on a national political arena of
the United States and voters and not so much informed about him. This
strengthens his image of a candidate of changes and doubts regarding
sufficient experience to govern the country.

-How great are his chances to become the US president?

-This will be shown by the US voters in November. As is seen, the
election campaign this year is unpredictable so I will abstain from
any forecasts.

-What is the difference between his promises and the promises of the
candidate from Republicans, senator McCain?

-There are serious differences between senators McCain and Obama and
between McCain and senator Klinton both in the internal and external
policy. Perhaps, the problem is not the promises but the possibility
of their execution in case of victory of one of the candidates.

I would like to note that some promises made during the campaign
by each of the candidates, are quite unreal. This is more likely an
attempt to voice issues, important for candidate. Voters seem to be
aware that the common trend and priority of the policy of candidates
and not the obligatory execution of each definite promise.

-Do you think the US President will recognize the 1915 events in the
Osman Turkey as "a genocide of Armenians" in period of presidency of
those, fighting now for the post of the US head of state?

-Practice shows that different US Administrations are aware of the
importance of relations of Turkey-one of the most reliable allies
of the United States, and abstain from accusations of the so called
"genocide". At the same time, the Armenian diaspora has intensified its
activity on the issue and the pressure on different level politicians.

Thus, I would not like to make definite forecasts in this
case. Certainly, the assessment of the 1915 events in the Osman empire
has nothing to do with history and reflects political interesys of
definite politicians. Unfortunately, the leaders of Armenian diaspora
are more interested in it than the development of Armenia and even
more than the long-term interests of the United States in our region.

-It is said in Azerbaijan that Obama’s inauguration would increase
US pressure on Azerbaijan in the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict. Is it true?

-Everything will depend on who will win the presidential elections
in the United States. Both Washington and the United States are aware
of the importance of strategic partner relations with Azerbaijan. In
this context, pressure on Azerbaijan is not a productive form of
building relations.

As for the US efforts to assist in the peaceful resolution of the
conflict, the best approach for our US friends is a support of the
model of fair resolution on the basis of international law. This
means not pressure but equal dialogue.

Moreover, with all my respect to mediators I consider that the most
important factors of the conflict resolution lie in our region, but
not out of its bounds. I do hope that the realities of the region
development, in particular Azerbaijan, will help the Armenian side
realize the lack of prospects of ethnic expansion and self-isolation
on the one hand and dividends of cooperation on the other hand.

YOU CAN’T SPLIT THIS ATOM; EGOYAN’S ADORATION; SMALL FILM GAVE DIRECTOR A CHANCE TO EXPERIMENT
by Chris Knight

National Post (Canada)
May 23, 2008 Friday

CANNES – Atom Egoyan was the victim of an unfortunate overlap in
scheduling at Cannes yesterday, when the press conference for his new
film, Adoration, coincided with another event featuring Madonna and
a master class in filmmaking by Quentin Tarantino. Perhaps the world
press felt that, since this is the Canadian director’s 12th trip to
the film festival, they’d just catch up with him next time.

In any case, it made for a relaxed atmosphere for some 50 journalists
in a room that can hold at least five times that number. If Egoyan
was upset by the turnout, he didn’t show it.

Earlier in the day, he sat down to talk about what it means to present
a film in competition near the end of a festival. "People might be
exhausted, or they’ve already made certain decisions," he said, "or
maybe they’re looking for something." Egoyan has been in competition
four times previously, and was a jury member at Cannes in 1996.

He admitted to being not very tuned in, as he arrived in Cannes only
Wednesday from Israel, where he was discussing his 2002 film Ararat,
about the genocide in Armenia early in the 20th century. "Normally
I have a sense of what the feel at the festival is," he said. "In a
way that makes it really different."

Adoration is a much smaller film than Egoyan’s last, 2005’s
Where the Truth Lies, which starred Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth
and Rachel Blanchard. It’s also more personal, revolving around
themes of communication and technology, with which he has long been
fascinated. In the movie, high-school student Simon (Devon Bostick)
is persuaded by his French teacher (Arsinee Khanjian, Egoyan’s wife) to
present himself as the child of a terrorist who once put a bomb in the
luggage of his wife when she travelled while pregnant. Thanks to the
internet, the story spirals beyond the confines of the classroom. Scott
Speedman plays Simon’s uncle, and Blanchard returns to portray his
mother, in flashback.

"I wasn’t sure what to expect," Speedman said of the movie. "The script
was so convoluted, and you never knew what the end product was going
to be." Nevertheless, he was certain he wanted to work with Egoyan,
and flew from Los Angeles to Toronto to meet with the director in
spite of the fact that the part called for a man at least 10 years
older than Speedman, who is 32.

Egoyan was soon convinced. "It was his doing," he said. "He touched
me. There must have been something in the script that he got." He
added: "With a smaller film you have a lot more room to experiment. You
don’t need a bulletproof, industrially approved blueprint. It’s much
more malleable." Making Speedman someone who gave up his twenties
rather than his thirties to raise his nephew after the boy’s parents
died changes the dynamic of the character. "There’s still a possibility
to learn from this experience," Egoyan said.

Although Speedman and Blanchard are very much known figures in
Hollywood, Egoyan stresses that it wasn’t necessary to cast name
actors. "Sometimes nobody’s in it that you’ve ever heard of and that
doesn’t diminish the film. It doesn’t translate into anything unless
the film is any good."

The stars clearly enjoyed working with the Canadian auteur. "I’d
say the whole experience was full of adrenaline," said 16-year-old
Bostick. "I’d just watch him every single day. I’d watch him watch
people. He was my subconscious. He was my thoughts, I guess."

"I’d had this image of him in black suits behind the camera," Speedman
said, but the feeling on the set was anything but austere. Blanchard
said: "He’s really accessible as a director, as complex as his themes
may be." Looking directly at him, she added: "I adore you. I do."

Adoration, which had its gala screening last night at 10:30,
is Canada’s second shot at the Palme d’Or this year. Blindness,
a Canadian co-production that opened the festival, suffered from
middling reviews and largely disappeared from sight (pardon the pun)
amid the media attention focused on Indiana Jones, which had its first
press screening here last weekend. Popular discussions are raising
hopes for Clint Eastwood’s The Exchange to take the top prize,
but often the jury favours a smaller, less showy, more visionary
film. Adoration could prove to be just that.

SURVIVOR TOLD CHILLING TALES ABOUT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Jim Steinberg

Fresno Bee

May 22 2008
CA

George Hakalmazian was 99 or 100 when he died May 15 in Fresno. His age
and birth date were an impenetrable mystery, but not the place of his
birth, Peri, Armenia, nor the horrors he witnessed there as a child.

Ninety-three years ago, turmoil and massacres at the hands of Ottoman
Turks nearly killed him, and did kill some 1.5 million other Armenians.

His family retells his death-defying experience as one boy’s chapter
in the sad saga of the Armenian genocide.

Grandson Scott Tejerian recounted the word-of-mouth family history
that passes from one generation to the next. As an Armenian boy of
6 or 7, Mr. Hakalmazian escaped Peri, but without certification of
his birth. There was no time to retrieve documents.

In an uncanny family coincidence in Fresno, Scott Tejerian’s father,
Thomas, died Friday of cancer, one day after Mr. Hakalmazian.

Scott’s father and his maternal grandfather were not blood relatives,
but they were close friends who shared vital history, Scott Tejerian
said, because they shared memories of mass slaughter not far from
the Yeprat River, better known as the Euphrates.

Mr. Hakalmazian never forgot the brutal and terrifying massacre he
witnessed as a small boy.

He talked about it often with his grandson in his still-thick Armenian
accent, and Tejerian retells it, keeping alive his grandfather’s
account of the Armenian genocide:

Mr. Hakalmazian’s sister was forced to marry a son of the Turkish
mayor of Peri. The sister, whose name Tejerian doesn’t know, married
the Turk on the promise that these nuptials would guarantee the safety
of Mr. Hakalmazian’s family. That promise was betrayed, Tejerian said.

His mother and father were taken and killed.

Turkish soldiers took Mr. Hakalmazian and an older brother, Hagop,
for slave labor. A third brother, Marderos, already had left Armenia
and was living in Chicago.

Soldiers grabbed Mr. Hakalmazian’s small nephew, too small for labor,
and threw him into the Yeprat to drown. But the nephew, whose name
has disappeared in the century since, had often swum the Yeprat.

He stroked easily until, as family history has it, horrified relatives
saw soldiers shoot him dead in the water.

That execution haunted Mr. Hakalmazian forever.

"It didn’t matter how old he was," Tejerian said. "As he told us that
story, he cried."

Mr. Hakalmazian was taken for slave labor for a Turkish farmer and
toiled for him for several years. A cousin in his late teens sometimes
sneaked into the camp to check on him until the night he finally took
Mr. Hakalmazian and several others and shepherded them to an orphanage,
Mr. Hakalmazian’s daughter, Margaret Tejerian, recalled.

The orphanage arranged for them to get to another orphanage in Lebanon.

In 1923, brother Marderos Hakalmazian sponsored them for immigration
to the United States.

In a fitting coincidence, Mr. Hakalmazian entered his new country on
Ellis Island under the watchful gaze of the Statue of Liberty on the
Fourth of July, 1923. Mr. Hakalmazian always treasured the timing.

U.S. Customs agents asked the teen for his birth date, which was
a mystery to him and his surviving relatives. They didn’t know,
so they told the agents it was that day, July 4.

"He always loved that," Margaret Tejerian said. "It made him very
proud to have the same birth date. … He was happy be alive and go
to school."

Mr. Hakalmazian arrived with no English. Marderos Hakalmazian
brought him to Chicago, where he got work in a print shop and learned
English. He started first grade as a teenager and graduated from high
school at 21.

He worked in a Chicago dry cleaning shop and learned to become
a tailor.

Later, he moved to Glendale — whose large Armenian community welcomed
him — and opened his own dry cleaning store with money he had saved
in Chicago.

Scott Tejerian grieved for his father and grandfather this week.

What he said of his father, who served under Gen. George S. Patton
in World War II, applied as well to his grandfather: "My dad was a
very proud man. He didn’t talk about it a lot. He loved the Armenian
traditions, but loved being American. He said this was the best place
to live."

SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE DEDICATED TO THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF WILLIAM SAROYAN

AZG Armenian Daily
23/05/2008

Culture

On the initiative of Culture Ministry, Yerevan State Linguistic
University after V. Brusov and the Union of Writers in Armenia an
international scientific conference will be held on October 6-10 in
Armenia dedicated to the 100th anniversary of birth of distinguished
writer William Saroyan.

The aim of the conference is to throw light on different sides of
William Saroyan’s creative heritage observing it as cultural value,
Public Relations Department of the Ministry informed "Noyan Tapan".

Lecturers, writers, scientists and artists will participate in the
conference.

Reports and programmes on several themes e.g. "Saroyan’s aestheticism",
"Armenia’s destiny in Saroyan’s works", "Saroyan and modern American
literature", etc. are anticipated.

GEORGIA’S ENCROACHMENT ON CHURCH "NORASHEN" SPEAKS OF THE HOSTILITY OF THE OFFICIAL TBILISI TOWARDS ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.05.2008 GMT+04:00

Since the day of the declaration of the Georgian independence the
authorities of the country have been promising the Armenian community
to pass the law on religions, however, the law is not passed yet.

The authorities of Georgia, most probably, have decided to follow
Azerbaijan’s example and have started appropriating the Armenian
architectural-cultural monuments. There is nothing new in all this:
the given nation is not capable of creating something of its own, and
is starting to appropriate someone else’s culture. At the meantime,
they believe for some unknown reasons, that the nation, whose monuments
they are trying to steal, will not mind it, and even if it does,
it will only be on public level. The case of the Armenian church
"Norashen" in Tbilisi is a rather sad one.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Norashen" is one of the most outstanding and
attractive Armenian cultural structures in Tbilisi, having a domical
basilica, whose fronts are distinguished by decorative arcade. A
middle sized delicate rotunda of the bell tower is situated over the
western facade of the roof. The interior of the church is decorated
with fresco by an Armenian famous artist Hovnatan Hovnatanyan. The
Church was founded in 1467 by Sadat.

The special group that voted for the destruction of "Norashen"
had been created in the connection of the construction of the
street in the years of 1924-1925 called "Armenian Bazaar" (now
Leselidze). Fortunately the decision was not approved of and the church
was not destroyed. In 1937 the church of "Norashen" like many other
churches on the territory of the USSR, was closed. In the following
years the building was used as archive.

Attempts of "Georgianizing"of church "Norashen" started already in
1989, and in 1994-1995 the priest of Georgian Orthodox Church Tariel
Sikinchelashvili destroyed the alter of the church. On February 8,
1995 the inscription on the walls made by Master Petros, which stated
facts about the reconstruction of the dome in 1650, were ruined. Other
Armenian inscriptions, two Khachkars and two beautiful frescos dating
back to XIX, which were the works of the representatives of the school
of the Hovnatan were also ruined. The doors with Armenian epigraphy
were replaced. St. Echmiadzin gave no response to all that was going
on. Moreover, when in 2001 the Georgian Patriarch Iliya II arrived
in Yerevan, the Catholicos of all Armenians did not even touch upon
the question about the Armenian churches in Georgia.

The same is happening now. No Synod session of the Armenian Apostolic
Church in Holy Echmiadzin regarding the Armenian church "Norashen"
in Tbilisi is going to take place. According to one of the sources,
"the Armenian Apostolic Church has taken all the possible measures
to preserve the Armenian church in Tbilisi.

We have done our best, and now it is the government that is to
decide." The Holy Echmiadzin does not answer any question, as if the
Armenian Church in Tbilisi indeed belongs to the Georgian Orthodox
Church. In the main, if things keep on going like they are now, church
"Norashen" will indeed become a Georgian temple. It is very unlikely
that the Georgian priest would dare such a sacrilege, if he did not
have permission from higher authorities and certainty in the fact
that the Armenian Church will not strongly mind it.

In the opinion of the political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan,
Georgia’s encroachment on the church "Norashen" speaks of the hostility
of the official Tbilisi towards Armenia. "These rough actions towards
the Armenian church in Tbilisi have been continuing for many years
now against the background of complete inactivity of the Armenian
Apostolic Church and careless attitude of the Armenian Church towards
the religious problems the Armenians have to face in Tbilisi and
Samtskhe-Javakheti. Losing the Armenian church "Norashen" will
definitely bring to the breakdown of the Armenian Community in Tbilisi.

And after the Armenians living in the capital the complete destruction
of Samtskhe-Javakheti will start.

We hope that Garegin II will prove to be a real Catholicos of all
Armenians and will not leave the Armenians from Tbilisi alone in
this fight; especially taking into consideration the fact that the
Catholicos of all Armenians will carry the responsibility of losing
the Armenian church "Norashen", says Melik-Shahnazaryan.

In his tern the chairman of the Armenian Collaboration Center of
Georgia Karen Elchyan announced, that the construction works in the
yard of the Armenian church "Norashen" in Tbilisi were stopped on
May 18 after the interference of the Armenian Community in Georgia.

"However, the question is still "hanging in the air".

Since the day of the declaration of the Georgian independence the
authorities of the country have been promising the Armenian community
to pass the law on religions, however, the law is not passed yet. The
religious organizations, except for the Georgian Orthodox Church,
may be registered only as non-governmental or public institutions. In
this way, practically there is only one church existing in Georgia,
and that is the Georgian Orthodox Church.

This state does not have any legal formation yet, but I believe, that
it will happen in the near future," said Elchyan. He also mentioned
that if the Georgian authorities and the Armenian Apostolic Church do
not take any measures to stop "Georgianizing" the Armenian churches,
the Armenian Collaboration Center will have to take actions considering
the created situation.

Though Karen Elchyan did not say anything about what exactly the
measures are going to be. "There are only 6 Armenian churches in
Tbilisi, 2 of which function; the church St. Gevorg and St. Virgin
Mary in Havlabar.

If we are able to save "Norashen", we will have 3 functioning
churches," he said, then added that the Armenian churches are not
returned to the legitimate owner; the Armenian Apostolic Church.

The Georgian eparchy itself does not have any legal status, which
means that even if the demands that the churches are returned, from
the legal point of view it is not possible. The case of "Norashen"
and the other historical-cultural monuments in Georgia contradicts
the friendship between Georgia and Armenia announced by the official
Tbilisi. Indeed, the disagreements between the two Christian countries
of the South Caucasus cannot be qualified as nonsense. However, one
should not forget to mention that Georgia has always been strongly
attracted to the Islamic world, which is proved by the ties that
Georgia establishes with Turkey and Azerbaijan.

RA PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS TO THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE ARF CONGRESS

armradio.a
21.05.2008 14:39

President Serzh Sargsyan addressed the 30th Congress of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF). The President stated, in part:

"I greet the Deputies and the guests of the Congress of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation.

ARF has traditionally had its unique role in the political life of
both the Motherland and Diaspora as a political force the biography of
which is closely interrelated with contemporary Armenian history, our
peoples’ struggle for liberation, recognition of historical justice,
preservation of the Armenian national identity and the process of
contemporary heroic fights.

Being one of our traditional parties, Dashnaktsutyun managed to
reestablish in the Motherland, raising the culture of political
struggle to a new qualitative level. As party represented in the
Parliament, today it forms part of the coalition, bringing its
important contribution to the stability and development of our country.

Today our country faces two major problems, the solution of which
requires the unification of efforts of the whole Armenian nation,
and every individual and organization concerned with the fate of the
Motherland plays its role in overcoming these challenges. We must
modernize the political field and economy, restore public conformity,
regaining the international image of the country, give a deeper
connotation to Armenia-Diaspora ties, reach the peaceful settlement
of the Artsakhi issue.

These problems are not unsolvable and require joint work, clarity of
views and purposes.

I hope that together with our relable partner – the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation – we shall manage to build a more democratic,
defended and firm state.

I wish success and fruitful activity to the Congress."

SAMVEL FARMANYAN APPOINTED PRESIDENT’S SPOKESMAN

armradio.am
21.05.2008 15:07

According to RA President Serzh Sargsyan’s decree of May 20, Viktor
Soghomonyan was dismissed form the position of the Press Secretary
of RA President.

According to another presidential decree, Samvel Farmanyan was
appointed RA President’s Press Secretary.

DISABLED SAN FRANCISCAN TO COLLECT 1 MILLION SIGNATURES BEFORE OLYMPICS
By Perple Lu

The Epoch Times Ireland
8204536
May 20 2008
Ireland

SAN FRANCISCO–"I am asking students, civilians across the United
States and globally to join with us in a town meeting," said Tatiana
A. Kostanian, a disabled San Franciscan, who has taken it as a
personal mission to collect one million signatures, including from
the disabled and the severely disabled, to end organ harvesting in
China. "Our voices, lives are the least and last invited in on both
local and global issues."

At 65, wheelchair bound, and on life support, Kostanian, who spends
her time visiting physicians and the Mayor’s Disability Council
in San Francisco, nevertheless, took up a new mission to help
save the myriads of lives that are in danger of involuntary organ
harvesting. According a Canadian human rights lawyer and coauthor of
an independent organ-harvesting investigation, David Matas, transplant
tourism banking on the organs of Falun Gong practitioners has become
a billion-dollar industry.

Thirty-five years ago, Kostanian started her work with a support
group for survivors of violent trauma. "I have had in my life, every
conceivable issue thrown my way…from toddler-hood to my late age of
65," said the founder of MHONA International, a nonprofit group for
the disabled. Having faced multiple challenges in getting around,
of not being heard, and not being included, Kostanian finally took
up the issue of universal human rights.

Together, four sides of Kostanian’s family experienced the Armenian
genocide, the Ukrainian genocide, and the Holocaust. "As a family,
we’ve faced communist tyranny, treachery, traitors, torturers,"
Kostanian recalled. "I have faced extremes of rape, torture and
starvation, abuses as a child into adulthood from a father who was
tortured by the communists in Russia."

After attending the Human Rights Torch Relay in San Francisco in
early April, she soon came up with the idea for a million-signature
Internet petition. "What I want to do is to gather signatures from
around the globe of both people who are disabled/profoundly disabled
as well as friends and families," wrote Kostanian on April 13, to stop
"the extremes of abuses, torture and killing actions of the Chinese
Communists, as well to stop the selling and harvesting of organs,
tissues, of the Falun Gong and other prisoners incarcerated in the
Chinese communist’s Gulag Prisons and Slave Labor Camps."

Tatiana A. Kostanian collects signatures at Union Square, in the heart
of San Francisco’s shopping district. (Perple Lu/The Epoch Times)On
May 1 Kostanian set up her own petition website. "Yes, I’m on life
support, but I can’t sit back ready to die, without giving something
of definite purpose," she said. "I believe it is time for our lives
to step forward and show the world what we feel, think about these
crimes against humanity as individuals and as disabled communities."

Her mission to collect a million signatures was only the beginning,
however. Kostanian showed up in her wheelchair in San Francisco’s
Union Square again on May 10 to collect signatures. She recalled
many people who passed by the table, shocked to see a picture of
a woman terribly charred from electric shock tortures, started to
talk and to ask questions, but then suddenly looked away and said,
"This has nothing to do with me."

"In that moment of their statement, it is I who look shocked,
not quite believing that any human being can walk away and deny
a simple signature that just might be the key to stopping the
continuum of genocide in operation in Mainland communist China,"
she later recounted.

"We may have less of finances, or every day needs met, but our hearts,
our very conscience is not empty in wanting our message to reach every
available heart," she said, referring to the community of disabled.

But some people have also been particularly quick to offer their
signatures. They include tourists, locals and young children.

"Organs from the poorest of the poor to give to the
rich. Disgusting!" Sherri O’Connor of Canada left her signature and
commented on Kostanian’s petition website on May 15.

Another signer, Kathleen A. H. of Arizona wrote, "It is barbaric,
and we, as human beings should be held accountable for such savage
acts against other humans!"

Isabella Hillmayr from Greece wrote of the prisoners of conscience
on the website, "Your thoughts and mind is free, while your body is
imprisoned–my spirit is with you."

With only three months to go and less than 200 signatures so far,
Kostanian is not daunted. "I will not sit back … and let my voice,
or the voices of my sisters and brothers … who gave up the ultimate,
their life, and their organs and tissues, to say we can’t gain a
million or more signatures," she wrote on May 10.

"I want to see if we might be able to reach out to some people of
leadership in San Jose as well," she said on May 13, referring to a
global town meeting of disabled and non-disabled people alike. "It
has to be done and pulled together by the people, not by leaders of
governments, or nations, but by the heart of everyday human beings."

SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE IN STEPANAKERT

KarabakhOpen
20-05-2008 13:08:24

On May 24 and 25 the scientific conference "Karabakh Movement:
Reality and Prospects" will be held in Stepanakert, announced the
state commission of organization and coordination of celebrations of
the 20th anniversary of the Karabakh movement.

We have learned that political scientists and experts from Russia,
France, the United States and other countries have been invited to
the conference.