Author: Tambiyan Samvel

Lragir, Armenia
Dec 1 2006

A BETTER THING – RECOGNITION OF KARABAKH INDEPENDENCE

The meeting of Kocharyan and Aliyev in Minsk for the settlement of
the Karabakh issue was positive, the atmosphere was constructive, the
presidents focused on the problems which remain unsettled, the talks
have not reached a deadlock, but it would not be precise to state
that the presidents reached agreement on these questions because
there are still controversies, stated the Armenian minister of
foreign affairs Vardan Oskanyan December 1 in Yerevan.

With regard to the statement of the Azerbaijani president that
Azerbaijan will not change its stance, and this stance is the
principle of territorial integrity, Vardan Oskanyan stated that
Armenia will not change its stance either, which is the right of the
nations for self-determination. `These two principles could be
combined in a referendum. It is necessary to enable the people who
live and used to live in Nagorno Karabakh to decide and choose
between territorial integrity and self-determination,’ Vardan
Oskanyan stated, adding that he means a right for self-determination
without any restrictions. Armenia may reject the proposal on holding
a referendum in Karabakh in case something better is offered, a good
alternative. For instance, if the independence of Karabakh is
recognized.

The president of Azerbaijan had also stated that the negotiations
have reached the final stage. The minister of foreign affairs of
Armenia finds it difficult to enumerate the present stage, however,
he thinks, this is not the last stage. The question of engagement of
Karabakh in the talks remains. If it were the last stage, Karabakh
would also take part in the talks for settlement. `Settlement is
impossible without the participation of Karabakh.’

The International Crisis Group has announced that the outcome of the
referendum on Constitution to be held in Karabakh will not be
recognized internationally. With regard to this Vardan Oskanyan
suggests realizing that the independence of the people of Karabakh
and their independent existence is a fact. Everyone who understands
this cannot make such statements which may frustrate the people of
Karabakh and lose their reputation among the people of Karabakh. They
cannot make statements which `encroach on the achievements of the
people of Karabakh.’

Vardan Oskanyan describes the mentioning of the right of nations for
self-determination in the EU-Armenia action plan as positive, and the
mentioning of the territorial integrity in the NATO statement on the
South Caucasus as standard. If NATO decided to dwell on the problem
of Karabakh in detail, it would mention that the problem should be
settled through negotiations between the sides, Vardan Oskanyan says.

ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Dec 1 2006

MEETING OF AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS TO BE HELD IN
STRASBURG, END OF JANUARY, CHAIRED BY LORD RUSSELL JOHNSTON

A meeting between the parliamentarians of Azerbaijan and Armenia will
be held in Strasburg at the end of January, 2007, chaired by the
Chairman of PACE Subcommittee for Karabakh, lord Russell Johnston. As
the Baku "Trend" informs, lord Russell told about it the day before
in Baku.

According to him, the meeting will be held within the frames of PACE
session. "I think it is important for the two states, despite they
are the members of the Council of Europe, to start talking with each
other separately from the existing dialogue, which goes on at the
level of Presidents as, for instance, the recent meeting of Ilham
Aliyev and Robert Kocharyan", lord Russell said. He added the
parliamentarians have to just meet at first and get to know each
other. "It is unnecessary to immediately touch upon the serious
issues. It is not my purpose to immediately and magically resolve all
the problems, it is impossible. It is necessary to try to create a
better atmosphere and then to discuss the issues in which a dialogue
can be achieved, for example, the issue on transport means", he
added.

Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Nov 30 2006

Turkey: Pope visits St. Sophia, prays at Sultanahmet Mosque, Armenian
church

Istanbul, 30 November: Pope Benedict XVI, who is currently in Turkey
upon invitation of Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, visited
Ayasofya Museum (Hagia Sophia) in Istanbul today.

Dr Haluk Dursun, the Curator of Ayasofya Museum, briefed the Pontiff
on Ayasofya, the remains of the Second Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia)
Church, and the artifacts dating back to the Ottoman era.

Dursun also informed Pope Benedict XVI about the architectural
features and history of the museum.

At the museum, Pope Benedict XVI chatted with Lokman Ayva, an MP from
the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), who gave the Pontiff
a letter about the problems of the disabled.

The pope told Ayva, "God wants all of us to be brothers, and help
each other. We are praying for them."

Signing the Museum Protocol Register, Pope Benedict XVI wrote, "we
find monotheism within differences. God should illuminate us and help
us find the path of love and peace."

Pope Benedict XVI later visited Sultanahmet Mosque (Blue Mosque).
During the visit, Istanbul Mufti Mustafa Cagrici said that this visit
has opened a significant door, and there should be further
initiatives.

"The messages you gave when you arrived in Turkey, your remarks
appreciating Turkish society, and your messages that Islam is a
religion of peace and based on reason and knowledge have been
welcomed by our people," Cagrici noted.

"As religious personalities, we will do everything in our power to
contribute to world peace. We have been appreciating your ideas and
decisive position on agonies, pains and ethical crises in the world,"
he stated.

Cagrici said, "we hope and we are sure that these positive steps will
continue. We will try to fulfil our responsibilities to ensure world
peace, and happiness of the mankind."

"Your visit will give a new dimension to relations among religions,"
he added.

Then, Cagrici briefed the pope on the history of the mosque.

Pope Benedict XVI also visited Sourp Asdvadzadzin (Virgin Mary)
Church in Kumkapi, and was welcomed by Mesrob II, the Patriarch of
Armenians in Turkey.

Pope Benedict XVI conducted a religious ceremony at the Sourp
Asdvadzadzin (Virgin Mary) Church in Istanbul.

The ceremony lasted about half an hour, and was attended by about 600
people.

After the ceremony, Pope Benedict XVI and Patriarch Mesrob II had a
tete-a-tete meeting.

YEREVAN MUNICIPALITY TO PURCHASE 20 TROLLEYBUSES

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Nov 30 2006

YEREVAN, November 30. /ARKA/. The Yerevan Municipality is to purchase
20 trolleybuses in 2007, Yerevan Vice-Mayor Slava Avanesyan told
reporters.

"This is a most positive fact for us because the Yerevan Municipality
has not imported trolleybuses since 1987," he said.

Avanesyan reported that the trolleybuses will be imported from Russia
and Belarus because their price in Europe is too high. One Russian
trolleybus costs $170-$180ths.

Avanesyan pointed out that the Yerevan Municipality is already
negotiating with the producers.

He said that the Yerevan Municipality intends to purchase 20-30
trolleybuses yearly until 2010.

ARMENIA’S FORESTS COULD DISAPEAR

United Press International
Nov 30 2006

YEREVAN, Armenia, Nov. 30 (UPI) — Armenia faces its worst
environmental crisis in its history. At current rates of deforestation,
World Bank estimates it will be a desert in about 20 years.

If nothing is done, the impact of severe deforestation on the country’s
forests and natural resources will be irreversible. Even worse, 40
percent of Armenians — primarily the rural poor — will be forced
from their villages and will face possible starvation and exposure
to freezing temperatures.

To solve today’s global environmental crises, the Armenia Tree
Project, based in Yerevan and Boston, delivers on-the-ground,
practical solutions to empower the rural poor. ATP’s work includes
restoring forests, planting trees in local communities, reducing
poverty and providing environmental education throughout Armenia. ATP
has successfully planted nearly 1.5 million trees and established
programs with the ability to produce two million new trees a year.

WISH OF MUNICIPALITY HEAD TO CO-OPERATE WITH ARMENIA CAN NOT AFFECT FOREIGN POLICY OF TURKEY – HEAD OF IGDIR MUNICIPALITY
Author: E.Javadova

TREND, Azerbaijan
Nov 30 2006

The wish of the municipality head to co-operate with Armenia can not
affect the foreign policy of Turkey, the Head of the Igdir Municipality
(Turkey), Nurettin Aras who is on the visit to Azerbaijan briefed
the media on November 30,Trendreports.

He stressed that the Turkish Government condemns Kars for its effort
to co-operate with Armenia in various spheres. "Armenia still maintains
Nagorno-Karabakh under occupation and wants our lands, and we consider
that it is impossible to release their hands. We also consider the wish
of the municipality head to co-operate with Armenia as impossible,"
Aras said.

He expressed his regret for the erection of a monument in Kars,
which is the symbol of fraternity with Armenia.

ONE WORD POPE DARES NOT SPEAK
Sandro Contenta

Toronto Star, Canada
Nov 30 2006

Armenians won’t mention what most consider genocide, but Turks tend
to dismiss as legend

ISTANBUL, turkey-At the Armenian Patriarchate in this city’s old town,
His Beatitude Mesrob II is surrounded by icons and relics that speak
to his flock’s long history in Turkey.

But on the most tragic part of that history – the mass slaughter
of Armenians in 1915 – the Patriarch expresses a personal ignorance
typical of his followers.

Mesrob knows that five of his grandfather’s brothers were deported
to the Syrian dessert, where hundreds of thousands were massacred,
but has no idea what became of them.

His parents never spoke of their fate, despite hints that one or
two may have survived and their offspring might be living in the
United States.

"They never talked about it because I think they didn’t want us to be
at odds with our Muslim neighbours," he said in an interview. "That’s
the usual case in Turkey. We don’t tell our children about historic
events so they won’t face any problems."

For Armenians in Turkey, it’s best not to mention what most of them
consider genocide, but many Turks dismiss as a legend.

Simply mentioning the massacre often guarantees a trial on charges of
"insulting Turkishness" – a legal catch-all the justice ministry uses
to stifle challenges to state orthodoxy.

So sensitive is the topic here that Pope Benedict’s meeting with
Mesrob today will be closely watched for any allusion to the Armenian
tragedy. Benedict’s predecessor, John Paul II, recognized the killing
of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide in a 2000 document.

Any mention of the word would likely cause a political storm and
destroy the charm offensive Benedict XVI has conducted since arriving
Tuesday for his four-day trip. If he strays into this political
minefield, most observers believe he’ll follow Mesrob’s example and
duck the word genocide.

Asked if he acknowledges genocide occurred, Mesrob paused awkwardly
for a moment before replying, "Ahh, I acknowledge that people were
killed, many people lost their lives."

Mesrob, whose church belongs to the family of Oriental Orthodox
churches, calls it an act of "ethnic cleansing" carried out as the
Ottoman Empire was collapsing. Some historians estimate 1.5 million
Armenians, most of them Christians, were systematically slaughtered.

An estimated 100,000 Armenians live in Turkey, one third of them
guest workers.

Murat Belge, a leading Turkish scholar who last year organized a
conference on the treatment of Armenians in 1915, said Mesrob did
well to avoid the word.

"If he had said there was an Armenian genocide, it’s very likely that
he would be assassinated by some fascists, the Patriarchate would
be burned and Armenians leading their daily lives would be shot by
unknown people," Belge said in an interview.

"And all this would be attributed by the media to the injured
nationalist feelings of the Turkish people, and the Patriarch would
be blamed for starting it all," he added.

Belge heads the publishing house that produces the novels of Orhan
Pamuk, the Nobel Prize-winning novelist charged last year for telling
a Swiss newspaper, "A million Armenians were killed and nobody but
me dares to talk about it."

Charges of "insulting Turkishness" were later dropped on a
technicality. Months later, novelist Elif Shafak was charged because
a fictional character accuses Turks of committing the genocide.

Those, too, were eventually dropped.

Turkey’s denial has hurt the Muslim country’s bid to join the 25-nation
European Union. Last month, French President Jacques Chirac said
recognizing the genocide should be a condition for membership.

The French parliament also incensed the Turkish government by passing
a bill making it a crime to deny the genocide.

Egemen Bagis, foreign policy adviser to Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, noted Erdogan made a groundbreaking gesture last
month by offering to set up an independent inquiry with historians
on both sides of the Armenian issue. But it was rejected by Armenia
as little more than a ploy.

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KOCHARIAN, ALIYEV AND PUTIN WILL PROBABLY AGREE ON NEW MEETING OF SAME FORMAT

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.11.2006 17:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The meeting of Armenian and Azeri leaders over
Nagorno Karabakh is of most interest among bilateral summits in
Minsk, to say nothing of the possible Russia-Georgia meeting. The
Kocharian-Aliyev meeting will be held "under the auspices" of Vladimir
Putin. As the Commersant writes, "Public in Yerevan does not conceal
that Kocharian goes to Minsk for the sake of that meeting." "Public in
Baku say that the meeting may have results, "if Putin puts pressure
on Kocharian." If it is the case, according to Azeri experts, Aliyev
may agree with expected Moscow’s demand of Baku not to assist Georgia
in gas and electricity supplies," the article author believes.

However, in the opinion of the edition, the Azeri President is no
less concerned over Russian Government latest decision to reduce the
number of foreigners in retail trade, which threatens to hundreds
of thousand Azeri traders. "All these problems will probably not be
solved in Minsk today and the three Presidents will most likely agree
over a new meeting of the same format in Moscow," the newspaper writes.

PRESS OFFICE
Department of Communications
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 160; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

November 28, 2006
___________________

DIOCESE JOINS MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY IN ORGANIZING ARMENIAN ALPHABET EVENT

The Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) recently joined
Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ, to celebrate the beauty and
lasting power of the Armenian alphabet.

As part of the 1,600th anniversary of the creation of the alphabet by St.
Mesrob Mashdots, the Diocese and university joined together in organizing
"Armenian Alphabet in Word and Image: A 1,600th Anniversary Exhibition,"
featuring unique artifacts highlighting the importance of the alphabet in
the life of the Armenian people. It ran from November 6 to 9, 2006.

"Our alphabet is uniquely tied to all aspects of our heritage," said
Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Eastern Diocese. "Working with
our new friends at Monmouth University, we created a compelling exhibit that
highlighted the fact that our alphabet has been the keystone to the
continuance of our unique Armenian Christian heritage."

The exhibit included artifacts from the Diocesan collection dating from the
17th century, along with items loaned by Congressman Frank Pallone of New
Jersey. The items helped explain the origins of the alphabet, the inventor
of the alphabet, its importance in religious practices, and historical
examples of various styles and forms of script.

The exhibit came about by chance. The brother of Gilda Buchakjian-Kupelian,
Diocesan coordinator of Armenian studies, mentioned to an official at
Monmouth that his sister worked in education. He introduced the two, and
the week-long exhibit was the result, thanks to a dedicated committee of
Diocesan staff, Monmouth University leaders, and parishioners from the St.
Stepanos Church of Elberon, NJ.

"I am exhilarated about the whole exhibit," Buchakjian-Kupelian said. "The
fact that we have come out of our enclave to present one of the living
vestiges of our heritage to the general public makes this exhibit special."

Along with the public exhibition of artifacts, the week included a keynote
address by historian Aram Arkun on November 8, 2006. More than 100 people
joined the Primate at the lecture in the university’s Wilson Hall, including
Monmouth University President Paul Gaffney, Armenia’s Ambassador to the
United Nations Armen Martirosyan, and Kevork and Sirvart Hovnanian.

A doctoral candidate in Armenian history at the University of California in
Los Angeles, Arkun is a specialist in Armenian history. He is also editor
of the literary quarterly Ararat and secretary of the board of directors of
the Armenian Center at Columbia University. His main area of study is on
the Armenians of northern Cilicia after World War I.

He spoke of how the Armenian alphabet played an important role in the
development and maintenance of the Armenian identity for over 16 centuries.
"Perhaps no other people are as attached to their alphabet as the
Armenians," Arkun said. "What other background displays its alphabet in the
home, like a work of art, the way Armenians do?"

The link between Monmouth University and the Armenian community arose
through Dr. Tavit Najarian, a university trustee who has worked to establish
an Armenian institute at the institution. Congressman Pallone recently
requested $500,000 in federal funding for the project.

"This is a wonderful start of a journey between Monmouth University and the
Armenian community," said Dr. Saliba Salasar, the associate vice president
for academic program initiatives at Monmouth University whose introduction
to Gilda Buchakjian-Kupelian initiated planning for the exhibit. "What
better way than to celebrate the Armenian alphabet."

— 11/28/06

E-mail photos available on request. Photos also viewable in the News and
Events section of the Eastern Diocese’s website,

PHOTO CAPTION (1): Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate, joined by Dr.
Tavit Najarian, a trustee of Monmouth University, left, the university’s
president, Paul Gaffney, and Armenia’s ambassador to the United Nations,
Armen Martirosyan, during a lecture at the school on November 8, 2006, which
was part of the exhibit organized by the school and the Diocese to celebrate
the Armenian alphabet.

PHOTO CAPTION (2): From left, Gilda Buchakjian-Kupelian, Diocesan
coordinator of Armenian studies, and Dr. Saliba Salasar, associate vice
president of Monmouth University, whose introduction spurred the recent
exhibit on the Armenian alphabet at the school are joined by Susan
Doctorian, counselor to the university’s president.

EX-PREMIER, EX-FOREIGN MINISTER DO NOT RULE OUT ELECTORAL BLOC
By Ruzanna Khachatrian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Nov 23 2006
Two prominent oppositionists who served as Armenia’s premier and
foreign minister in the early 1990s do not rule out that they may
team up ahead of the next parliamentary elections.
In an RFE/RL interview on Thursday leader of the opposition
National-Democratic Union (AZhM) Vazgen Manukian denied that his
cooperation with Zharangutyun (Heritage) party leader Raffi Hovannisian
is a ‘pro-western bloc established at dictates from abroad’.
Manukian, however, did not rule out that the initiative of the civil
forum will ultimately mount to an electoral alliance with Armenia’s
ex-foreign minister.
“Only a power change does not solve the problem. It is a necessary
but not sufficient condition for the public to become masters of
this country,” Manukian, who served as the country’s prime minister
in 1990-1991, told RFE/RL on Thursday.
The civil forum will meet on Saturday, with its initiators saying that
“the doors will be open for anyone to attend.”
However, neither Manukian, nor Hovannisian gave concrete names of
people or forces that will attend the forum.
“I think that almost all of our compatriots want our country to be
free, fair, and citizens want to feel not alienated from political
processes, they want to rediscover their belonging to the Republic
of Armenia,” Hovannisian told RFE/RL.
Manukian said that he and Hovannisian share common views on some
fundamental issues, such as democracy, freedom, national issues,
including the Karabakh problem.
“We want to establish a structure that would have its own life
irrespective of whether Vazgen Manukian and Raffi Hovannisian are in
this structure or not,” he said.
Manukian denied that this would be a pro-western alliance.
“Knowing me for so long, can you describe be as pro-western
politician?” the AZhM leader said, adding that he can speak both
against the West and Russia whenever the interests of Armenia require
that. “I don’t need to prove it once more that I am what I am,”
Manukian stressed.
“If we participate in elections and seek to establish a bloc I
think naturally that we will see it based on cooperation with Raffi
Hovannisian plus other political figures. But now this question is
not under discussion,” Manukian said.