Author: Takmazian

LOCAL ANCESTOR ROUNDUP DEMYSTIFIES GENEALOGY
By Kathleen M. Nevin

Monterey County Herald
89348
Jan 30 2009

When I look around my home office, I sometimes feel like I’m drowning
in paper. While most genealogists today store much of their family
history research on computers or "thumb drives," this popular hobby
still generates voluminous amounts of paper — backup copies, "to do"
lists, "next step" lists, books, correspondence, photographs. What
to do with it all?

I hope to get answers this Saturday at the 28th annual Ancestor
Roundup, when keynote speaker Richard Rands presents "Organizing Your
Stuff." President of the Silicon Valley Genealogy Computer Group
and director of the Los Altos Family History Center, Rands brings
more than 30 years of genealogy, computer and organizational skill
to the seminar.

"The goal is to help researchers organize their genealogy ‘stuff’
to make your research more effective and more accessible," says
Janet Brigham Rands, Richard Rands’ wife and genealogy partner of 10
years. Janet Rands is also on the schedule at the Ancestor Roundup. Her
classes will cover another hot topic in genealogy, how to harness
the goldmine of information found at Google Books and Google Earth.

Many instructors return to the Ancestor Roundup each year. Rose Marie
Capodicci will again help students find their Portuguese ancestors,
while Pamela Erickson provides the clues needed for "Finding Elusive
Females," one of the more challenging aspects of family history
research.

Local researcher, author and lecturer Linda Avakian has researched
her Armenian roots for nearly 30 years. Her classes in immigration
and naturalization provide invaluable tips for all genealogists.

Genealogy is one of the fastest growing hobbies, attracting new
people every day. It seems that nearly everyone wants to know where
they came from.

For nearly 30 years, the Monterey Peninsula has been fortunate to host
a major annual Genealogy Conference. Co-hosted by the Commodore Sloat
Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the annual Ancestor Roundup is
scheduled for this Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Ancestor Roundup includes a full day of classes and includes
lunch. Registration is $30. The all-day seminar will be held at the
Family History Center and classrooms at The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, Noche Buena and Plumas avenues, in Seaside.

For Ancestor Roundup information and registration, call event co-chair
Marilyn Knowles Riehl at 625-2513.

Some tips When tracing your family tree, sooner or later you’ll come
to a point where you need to let go of some hard-earned cash. Whether
it is for a birth certificate from the local registrar’s office, the
research shortcuts that an online database provides, or the services
of a professional genealogist, check out these savvy spending tips:
·Do your homework. Before plunking down money for a subscription
database, hit the search engines and your favorite genealogy hangouts
and ask others for their opinions. ·Be wary of ads and services that
promise a lot for a little, such as "Locate old classmates, missing
family members and loves of your past! Find anyone." While some search
services are indeed legit, others basically separate you from your
money for a set of links to freely available public records. ·Ask
yourself whether the same information might be available elsewhere
for free. While many genealogical records are only available at a
cost (it does cost money to store, maintain and provide access to
records), there are millions of genealogy records available for free
on the Internet. ·When in doubt, check with the community library
or courthouse. Librarians and court clerks are wonderful, helpful
individuals, and many are happy to help with lookup requests and
photocopies for a reasonable fee. ·Utilize the resources of your local
family history center. An arm of the Mormon Family History Library
in Salt Lake City, Family History Centers operate in 64 countries,
and more than 100,000 rolls of microfilm are circulated to the centers
each month. — From Kimberly Powell, author of "Everything Family Tree"
by Adams Media (2006).

–Boundary_(ID_PziL+E8idnEVx8auO5GjOg)–

ARMEN MARTIROSIAN: RUMORS ON A DEAL BETWEEN ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES AND EUROPEAN STRUCTURES HAVE SOME GROUNDS

Noyan Tapan

Jan 29, 2009

YEREVAN, JANUARY 29, NOYAN TAPAN. Commenting upon radical opposition’s
opinion that for not being deprived of the vote the Armenian
authorities in secret negotiations with the European structures have
agreed to make concessions in the issue of Karabakh, Armen Martirosian,
the head of the Zharangutiun (Heritage) parliamentary faction, stated
at the January 29 press conference that those apprehensions have
some grounds. According to deputy’s observation, it is also exact
that Armenia that has weakened in the international sphere will be
unprotected before any challenge, including in the respect of the
Nagorno Karabakh problem.

A. Martirosian also said that Zharangutiun party leader Raffi
Hovannisian will not take part in PACE’s work until Council of Europe
corresponds to the values adopted by it. He said that so far the
Armenian authorities have not properly fulfilled the provisions of
Council of Europe previous resolutions, therefore R. Hovannisian as
a member of the Armenian delegation in the Assembly cannot present
any implemented step to Council of Europe.

In response to the question of how Zharangutiun members treat the
issue of sending representatives of Armenian National Congress to
Council of Europe, A. Martirosian said that he does not see anything
blameworthy in it. "ANC is a political force, which has something to
say to Council of Europe and has a demand. There is nothing bad that
the Congress reported the Assembly about the situation in Armenia,"
he said.

OSCE MG HOPES FOR PEACEFUL AGREEMENT BETWEEN YEREVAN AND BAKU

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.01.2009 17:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group dealing with
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict released the following statement today:

"The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassador Bernard Fassier
– France; Ambassador Yuri Merzlyakov – Russian Federation; Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza – United States) traveled
to Baku on January 19, 2009, where they met with President Ilham
Aliyev and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, and to Yerevan on
January 20, 2009, where they met with President Serzh Sargsyan and
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.

The Co-Chairs met again jointly with Foreign Ministers Mammadyarov
and Nalbandian in Zurich on January 27, 2009, and organized a joint
meeting with Presidents Aliyev and Sargsyan in Zurich on January 28,
2009, on the margins of the World Economic Forum.

The Co-Chairs explored with the two Presidents their thoughts on how to
finalize the Basic Principles on the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict, proceeding from the proposal presented to the
sides at the OSCE Ministerial Conference in Madrid in November 2007.

The Co-Chairs agreed to work with the Foreign Ministers on elaborating
proposals for the consideration of the two Presidents on the most
important remaining differences between the sides existing within the
framework of the Basic Principles. The Co-Chairs hope the parties will
be able to bridge these remaining differences in the nearest future
to secure a peace agreement that is far better for all parties than
the status quo. Their goal is a just and balanced agreement based
on the Helsinki Final Act principles of territorial integrity,
self-determination, and non-use of force."

MESROB MUTAFYAN ASSASSINATION PLOT FOILED

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.01.2009 17:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Former officer of the Turkish Special Forces,
Kenan Temur, one of the leaders of a terrorist group is reported to
plan assassination of Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople Mesrob
Mutafyan with a rocket launcher.

According to Milliyet Turkish daily, the law enforces also disclosed
another terrorist group led by lieutenant Muhammed Sarikaya, who
was planning to kill Ali Balkiz, chairperson of Alevite-Bektashi
Federation.

TURKEY TO BUY 10 SNOOPS FROM ISRAEL

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.01.2009 20:34 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey will buy 10 snoops from Israel, Turkish
Defense Minister said.

Asked if procurement of Heron spy aircraft would be delayed after Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s harsh criticism of Israel’s attack on
Gaza, Minister Vecdi Gonul said, "Our agreement to jointly produce
Herons is still in force. They (Israel) sent two of the aircraft
late December. There is a little bit delay but I think they will send
remaining eight aircraft until the end of April."

Each Heron unmanned surveillance aircraft costs 18 million USD,
Vatan reports.

AMBASSADOR: "WE HOPE THE MEETING OF AZERBAIJANI AND RUSSIAN FOREIGN AND DEFENSE MINISTERS WILL PUT AN END TO ANXIETY SUPPOSING THAT RUSSIA DELIVERED AMMUNITIONS TO ARMENIA"

APA
Jan 27 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku. Lachin Sultanova-APA. "Russia hopes the meeting of Azerbaijani
and Russian Foreign and Defense Ministers will put an end to anxiety
supposing that Russia delivered ammunitions to Armenia", Russian
Ambassador to Azerbaijan Vasili Istratov said, APA reports.

The Ambassador said that Russia had replied Azerbaijan’s survey,
in spite of it some mass media and officials brought the issue to
the agenda.

Istratov expressed his anxiety that developments occurred 13 years
ago were dominated during discussions. He underlined that such kind
of debates were not in favor of recent strategic relations established
between Russia and Azerbaijan during 6-7 years.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov schedules to visit Azerbaijan
soon. Discussions will be conducted during the visit. The site and
date of the meeting between Defense Ministers are not known yet.

AZERBAIJAN: ARMS SCANDAL STIRS SUSPICIONS OF MOSCOW
Shahin Abbasov

EurasiaNet
Jan 27 2009
NY

Azerbaijani allegations about the reported transfer of
a multi-million-dollar stash of Russian weapons to Armenia should
prompt Baku to rethink its relationship with Moscow both in terms of
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and energy policy, local analysts say.

On January 8, the independent "Mediaforum.az" portal first
published the copy of a document allegedly signed by Lieutenant
General Vyacheslav Golovchenko, deputy commander of armaments for
Russia’s North Caucasus military district, that listed weapons and
army vehicles transferred in 2008 to Armenia’s defense ministry from
Russia’s military base in the northern Armenian town of Gyumri.

The 69-item list included 27 T-72 tanks, several armored personnel
carriers, various types of missiles and guns, grenade launchers,
machineguns, submachine guns, mines, and shells. Anonymous experts
cited by Mediaforum.az put the approximate value of the transfer at
roughly $800 million.

The document’s source was not indicated.

While both Moscow and Yerevan have denied the transfer, Azerbaijani
officials tell EurasiaNet that they have no doubts that the handover
took place.

One Azerbaijani government source, who asked not to be named, told
EurasiaNet that the signed document was "first . . .obtained by the
Azerbaijani security services via their channels in Moscow, and then
leaked to Mediaforum.az."

"We have enough information on the issue," the source said. He did not,
however, specify what further steps Baku plans to take.

In a January 15 statement, Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry noted that
the "Russian actions cause special concern . . . in the context of
strategic partnership relations between Baku and Moscow and Russia’s
mediating role in the Karabakh conflict’s resolution."

Parliamentarians have taken up the cry. Aydin Mirzazade, deputy
chairman of the parliamentary commission on defense and security,
argues that Azerbaijan should demand that Armenia return the weapons
and vehicles to Moscow – or that Moscow withdraw from a role in the
negotiations over Nagorno Karabakh, APA news agency reported.

Whether or not the transfer actually took place is not a subject for
public debate. The story has reawakened memories of the late Russian
Lieutenant General Lev Rokhlin’s 1997 accusation that the Russian
defense ministry was transferring weapons to Armenia without the
Kremlin’s assent.

Instead, analysts and parliamentarians alike are focusing on how Baku
should respond, and reasons for the alleged transfer.

Analyst Ilham Ismayil believes that Azerbaijan should now express
clear support for the Nabucco gas pipeline – a project designed to
offer an alternative to Russian supply routes to Europe – during the
January 26-27 Nabucco summit in Budapest.

"It is abnormal when a country [Russia] which you call a strategic
partner transfers arms to your enemy," Ismayil commented. Azerbaijani
observers had earlier expressed concerns that arms withdrawn from
Russia’s former bases in Georgia would end up in Armenia – the current
scandal is cited as justification for those fears.

Rauf Mirkadirov, political columnist for the Baku-based Zerkalo
(Mirror) daily, goes still further. The Kremlin, he believes, hoped to
use the arms transfer to trigger a fresh war between Azerbaijan and
Armenia over Nagorno Karabakh in 2009, and thereby block the Nabucco
project. The transfer acted as a de facto response to Azerbaijan’s
own military buildup, he said; Azerbaijani military spending now
stands at well over $2 billion per year.

"[T]aking into account all of Russia’s recent actions, the possibility
of the conflict resuming soon is unfortunately increasing again,"
Mirkadirov said.

The South Caucasus’ territorial conflicts are the only lever left
for Russia to keep its influence in the region, to oppose Georgia and
Azerbaijan’s integration with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,
and to block energy projects like Nabucco, Mirkadirov added

But while Azerbaijani tempers simmer, Moscow shows little sign of
changing its story.

On January 21, the Russian foreign ministry gave the Azerbaijani
embassy in Moscow an official note that affirms that the Russian
defense ministry did not transfer or sell to Armenia any of the arms
described in the Mediaforum.az report. The note described the report
as "disinformation, which has a clearly anti-Russian character,"
news agencies reported.

In a January 16 statement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
stated that a joint investigation with the Russian General Staff had
shown that " [t]he person whose name is mentioned in the Azerbaijani
media did not sign any documents and Russia did not supply arms
to Armenia last year. We came to the conclusion that this document
is false."

Lavrov emphasized that, as co-members of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization, Russia has programs of "military-technical cooperation"
with both Armenia and Azerbaijan. "Our Azerbaijani friends know it
and there were no concerns in the past," he said.

Editor’s Note: Shahin Abbasov is a freelance correspondent
based in Baku. He is also a board member of the Open Society
Institute-Azerbaijan.

PRESIDENT’S AMNESTY DECREE IS A COLLECTION OF DECEPTIONS, ANC STATES

Noyan Tapan

Jan 26, 2009

YEREVAN, JANUARY 26, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian National Congress
(ANC) spread a report touching upon the decree RA President Serzh
Sargsyan signed on Saturday, according to which amnesty was granted
to 16 people. The ANC statement, in particular, read:

"The regime uses its whole arsenal of deceptions and tricks, starting
absurd "circular letters" up to shameless falsehood to avoid both the
demand to immediately release the political prisoners and not to be
deprived of the vote in PACE. For that purpose, in particular, in the
past month, the regime did its best to extort appeals for mercy from
political prisoners to introduce "progress" to the Assembly. After
failing this immoral plan at the last moment usurper Serzh Sargsyan
made a new trick, an obvious falsehood, on January 23 signed a decree
on granting amnesty to 16 convicts."

The statement authors mention a number of reasons why they consider
the decree a deceit, in particular, they mention that the cases of
those persons are not connected with "arms and ammunition," 2 out
of 14 in their time confessed in the court that they were Serzh
Sargsyan’s proxies, and 1 Bargavach Hayastan (Prosperous Armenia)
party member, 10 out of the rest 11 are people unknown to ANC having
nothing in common with the demonstrants, who were sent by the regime
to organize robberies and provocations.

According to statement’s text, ANC has information, according to which
one more list of "convicts granted amnesty" is being prepared, which
will be published in PACE at the last moment so that PACE deputies
could not check the authenticity of the facts introduced by them.

ARMENIAN JUDOISTS COME 5TH AND 7TH IN TBILISI WORLD CUP

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.01.2009 14:15 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian judoists Robert Vardanyan and Hakob
Arakelyan came 5th and 7th respectively in Tbilisi World Cup.

Although the other 5 members of the Armenian team were not successful,
coach Artur Gevorgyan is pleased with the sportsmen, who returned to
Yerevan today.

"This tournament was a preparation. Our leading judoists, Armen
Nazaryan and Hovhannes Davtyan, did not go to Tbilisi but they are
training for the 2nd tour of the World Cup due in April," he told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter

International Herald Tribune, France
Jan 24 2009

Armenian leader pardons 16 more convicted rioters
The Associated PressPublished: January 24, 2009

YEREVAN, Armenia: Armenia’s president has pardoned another 16 people
convicted of involvement in the riots that erupted last March after a
flawed presidential election.

In the riots, demonstrators clashed with police in the capital,
Yerevan, over alleged voter fraud in the small South Caucasus
nation. Ten people died, hundreds were injured and the fighting
prompted a state of emergency. More than 100 people were arrested.

Saturday’s action brings to 31 the number of people President Serge
Sarkisian has pardoned.

Western observers gave an overall positive assessment of the vote,
which was won by Sarkisian, but noted serious flaws. A criminal trial
against a former foreign minister and three lawmakers for their role
in the riots is continuing.

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