Author: Taslakhchian Andranik

PR Web (press release), WA
Sept 28 2005

Arpa International Film Festival Opens with “Khachaturian” and “One
Dollar Curry”

Beginning on Monday, October 3, 2005 the Arpa International Film
Festival kicks off its 8th annual event at ArcLight Cinemas,
Hollywood. More than 50 features, documentaries, shorts and animated
films from 18 different countries will be presented through Thursday,
October 6.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) September 28, 2005 — Beginning on Monday,
October 3, 2005 the Arpa International Film Festival kicks off its
8th annual event at ArcLight Cinemas, Hollywood. More than 50
features, documentaries, shorts and animated films from 18 different
countries will be presented through Thursday, October 6.

This year’s nominated feature films are Jodi Binstock’s `Call
Waiting’, produced by Don Roos; Vijay Singh’s `One Dollar Curry’;
Tahmineh Milani’s `Unwanted Woman’; and Rene Gabri’s `Love &
Suicide.’ Nominated documentaries are Peter Rosen’s `Khachaturian’;
Carmen Labaki’s `Armenians of Lebanon’; Aaron Weisblatt’s `Between
Two Worlds’; Gary Null’s `The Drugging of Our Children; and Hagop
Goudsouzian’s `My Son Shall be Armenian’.

2005 Arpa Official Selection includes the work of Caroline Aaron,
Shohreh Aghdashloo, Ed Asner, Catherine Bell, Eric Bogosian, Dan
Bucatinsky, Vikram Chatwal, Erica Christensen, Andy Dick, Jenna
Elfman, Isaac Hayes, Roger Kupelian, Danica McKellar, Michael Moore,
James Oxford, Timilee Romolini, Jane Seymour, Diego Velasco, and
Sevag Vrej. Joanelle Romero will receive the Armin T. Wegner Award
for `American Holocaust – When It’s All Over I’ll Still Be Indian’,
an examination of the link between Adolf Hitler’s treatment of German
Jews and the U.S. government’s “ethnic cleansing” of American
Indians.

Arpa is a resource for international filmmakers who address the
issues of diaspora, multi-culturalism and global empathy. The
non-profit art organization has grown into a dynamic forum for world
cinema in Los Angeles.

The festival concludes with a gala awards ceremony at the Hollywood
Roosevelt Hotel on Friday, October 7.

For more information, please visit or call (323)
663-1882

Last-minute talks on Turkish membership stall

The Independent,UK
03 October 2005

By Stephen Castle in Luxembourg

Eleventh-hour talks to agree on the launch of EU membership negotiations
with Turkey remained deadlocked early this morning as Austria held out
despite massive pressure and hours of frantic diplomacy.

After a hectic series of meetings, Britain, which holds the presidency of
the EU, postponed discussions until 9.30am today, just hours before formal
negotiations with Turkey were due to begin.

Going into last night’s crucial meeting, Austria was still blocking the
start of talks, calling for consideration of a possible alternative to EU
membership for Turkey. Such demands are anathema to Ankara, which first
sought to join the bloc more than four decades ago.

During the course of a dramatic evening, the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw,
held a series of face to face meetings with his Austrian counterpart, Ursula
Plassnik. Meanwhile Tony Blair spoke by phone to Austria’s Chancellor,
Wolfgang Schüssel, and the Europe minister, Douglas Alexander, called the
Turkish Foreign Minister, Abdullah Gul, who was waiting to learn whether to
make the journey to Luxembourg to start talks.

Germany, France and Greece all backed British efforts to launch the talks
with Turkey today. But Austria continued to press for changes to the
language of the negotiating mandate.

It remained unclear whether there was enough progress to clinch a deal.
Asked about the prospects, a senior official replied: “God knows.” As talks
broke just after midnight Mr Straw said: “It is a frustrating situation but
I hope and pray that we may be able to reach agreement.”
Amid mounting tension, supporters of Turkey’s accession argued that a rebuff
to Ankara would provoke a crisis in the EU’s relations with the Muslim
world.

The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking at a resort
outside Ankara, said Europe was at a historic crossroad. “Either it will
show political maturity and become a global power, or it will end up a
Christian club,” he said.

“No EU decision will deviate Turkey from its course” toward further
democracy and reforms, Mr Erdogan added. “We will, however, be saddened that
a project for the alliance of civilisations will be harmed.”

Asked if a deal could be reached, Ms Plassnik, replied: “I hope so. We will
listen to each other, come towards each other in a good European spirit. ”
None of the main Austrian political parties backs Turkish accession. But
despite his tough stance on Turkey, Mr Schüssel, appeared to have suffered a
blow in regional elections in Austria yesterday.

Turkey has been knocking on Europe’s door for decades, and has instituted a
massive reform programme to get to the point of opening membership talks.
Originally scheduled for this morning, the negotiations are now due to begin
in the late afternoon.

However Mr Gul has made it clear that he will not make the journey to
Luxembourg if the negotiating text is deemed unsatisfactory. Mr Erdogan
phoned the Austrian Chancellor on Friday to make clear that second-class
status was not acceptable to Turkey.

If they open today, the negotiations with Ankara will take a decade and at
least two EU nations will have to hold referendums before giving Turkey the
green light to join. Even starting the talks has proved highly
controversial, despite all 25 member nations agreeing last December that
they should begin today.

Since then the referendum “no” votes on the EU constitution in France and
the Netherlands have changed the climate, and surveys show the majority of
the EU population against Turkish accession.
Austria was seeking to delete a passage in the negotiating mandate which
states that the objective of the talks is accession. Vienna’s preference is
for the inclusion of an alternative, “privileged partnership”.

History ensures Austrians remain bitterly opposed

Across Europe, opinion may be divided on whether Turkey should be allowed to
enter the EU. But in Austria there is little sign of a debate because
history ensures that the issue touches the rawest of nerves.

In 1683 the Ottoman army of Kara Mustafa Pasha was routed at the gates of
Vienna in a defeat that marked the last Turkish effort to take the city. All
around the Austrian capital are reminders of the battle and so strong is the
event in the national consciousness that newspapers have characterised
Ankara’s EU bid as a new siege of Vienna.

To complicate matters further Austria is a strong supporter of (Christian)
Croatia, which also wants to join the EU. This step has been held up because
of a row over Zagreb’s lack of co-operation in surrendering a suspected war
criminal, Ante Gotovina.

Austrians feel it would be wrong to start talking to Turkey while holding
back on Croatia. Vienna’s critics suggest darkly that Austria’s own past may
prompt it to worry less about punishing war crimes than other nations.

Taking a tough stance has proved politically popular for the Austrian
Chancellor, Wolfgang Schüssel, but his party was crushed in regional
elections yesterday.

Elsewhere in Europe, the echoes of history have played a part in the debate.
France, home to Europe’s largest Armenian population, has sometimes had
difficult relations with Turkey. In 2001 its parliament formally recognised
the Armenian genocide (during the collapse of the Ottoman empire) provoking
fury from Ankara.

Ironically Ankara’s biggest rival, Greece, has not sought to hold up talks,
believing that a Turkey inside the EU would be more modern, restrained and
susceptible to outside influence.

Stephen Castle

A1+

| 17:13:57 | 28-09-2005 | Social |

HIGH SALARY AND BUDGET DEFICIT

The Government has approved the RA draft Law on `RA 2006 State Budget’ which
will be represented to the RA NA. According to the RA 2006 budget there will
be 465 billion ARMD as income and 534.9 billion AMRD as expense. The deficit
will be 69.9 billion AMRD.

In 2006 the budget allotments to the social, health and education fields
will be increased. Alongside with that, the civic workers and the NA workers
will have a raise of salary by 50%, and diplomatic workers – by 40%.

Measures have been taken to raise the salaries of court workers. As for the
minimal monthly salary, it has been raised from 13 thousand ARMD to 15
thousand ARMD.

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x137
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:

PRESS RELEASE

Thursday, September 29, 2005

AGBU MANOOGIAN-DEMIRDJIAN SCHOOL DONATES OVER $12,000 TO RED CROSS FOR
HURRICANE KATRINA VICTIMS

Van Nuys, CA – On September 22, 2005, the AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian
School Student Council Executive Committee and School Business Manager
Levon Keshishian hand delivered a check in the amount of $12,035.50 to
the American Red Cross San Fernando Valley Headquarters in support of
Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

In quick response to one of the most destructive natural disasters in
U.S. history, the School’s Student Council organized a two-week
fundraising campaign. Reinforcing the value and importance of
charitable giving, the entire School community, including
administration, faculty, Parent Teacher Association and students, came
together to support the Student Council’s fundraising efforts.

Upon receipt of the donation, Jennifer Bailey, American Red Cross Van
Nuys Service Center Program Manager, thanked the Student Council
Executive Committee for their generous work extending her
congratulations on their achievement.

Founded in 1976, AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School is a
pre-kindergarten through 12th grade co-educational private school
located in Canoga Park, CA providing instruction to approximately 1000
students. For more information on AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School,
please visit or call (818) 883-2428.

In response to the natural disaster in the Gulf States, the AGBU
Central Board, through special relief contributions, has donated
$100,000 to the American Red Cross in support of Hurricane Katrina
emergency efforts. AGBU encourages its worldwide membership to
continue donating to charitable organizations that are providing
Katrina relief efforts. For more information on AGBU, please visit

ARMENIA RECEIVES 260.000 TOURISTS ANNUALLY

AZG | YEREVAN–These six months 108.517 people visited Armenia of which only
20.474 people stayed at the hotels. The rest of them preferred staying at
their friends and relatives or to rent apartments. The tourism agencies are
really concerned about this statistics. According to the State Statistic
Service, 32.7% of the tourists were from the CIS countries, 28% from the EU
and 19,5% from the U.S.

Yesterday was International Day of Tourism. Armenian tourism agencies
represented the current situation in the Armenian market of tourism. “The
Union of Armenian Tourism Operators” was created in early 2005. This
organization unites 13 tourist agencies. According to the specialist, some
progress has been fixed in the sphere recently, but there is still much to
do. “We need to enlarge the number of specialists of the sphere. We need
guides and administrators that keep in line with the European standards,”
Karen Andreasian, head of “First Travel” agency said.

He added that large-scale investments are needed to make in the sphere,
including both the capital and the regions.

According to the research of international organizations, Armenia is quite
capable to receive 500.000 tourists annually, in case relevant substructures
are created. Today 260.000 tourists visit Armenia every year.

By Tamar Minasian

DAYS OF WORLD ARMENIAN CONGRESS STARTING IN RA AND NKR TODAY

Pan Armenian News
28.09.2005 03:37

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Traditional days of the World Armenian Congress
and the Union of Armenians of Russia (UAR) are starting in Armenia
and Nagorno Karabakh today. The events are initiated by outstanding
public figure and entrepreneur, head of the World Armenian Congress
and UNESCO Good Will Ambassador Ara Abrahamian. The presentations
of UAR editions will be held in the National Academy of Science. The
opening ceremony of the Days will take place in the National Theater
of Opera and Ballet after Alexander Spendiarov. The members of the
Russian delegation will meet with Armenian writers, servicemen of the
Armenian Armed Forces and Russian frontier guards. “Together Forever”
festival of schoolchildren symbolizing the age-old friendship between
Armenia and Russia will be as well organized.

SYSTEM OF A DOWN FIGHT FOR THE FORE-FATHERS
by Eve Jenkin

Undercover Music News, Australia
Sept 27 2005

Armenian American band System Of A Down are proud of their heritage,
and have always fought to raise awareness of the Armenian genocide
of 1915-1923, in which approximately 1.5 Armenians were destroyed
by Turkey.

In a bid to gain official acknowledgement of this injustice, SOAD –
along with their fans, the Armenian National Committee of America,
Axis of Justice and the Armenian Youth Federation – will attempt to
sway the pending Armenian Genocide legislation.

By visiting the Batavia office of Representative Dennis Hastert, the
convoy will proceed to ask him to keep his word and hold a vote on
the upcoming legislation. As a member of the House of International
Relations Committee, Hastert has twice prevented the Armenian Genocide
legislation from coming to a full vote in the House despite have
expressed great enthusiasm for the measure since 2000.

If successful and the Speaker votes “Yes” to the Armenian Genocide
Resolution, he will allow the House’s 435 US members to cast their
ballots on the human rights movement. Ultimately, this will repay
for injustices victims of the genocide have suffered.

Serj Tankian, who along with his fellow SOAD members lost family to
the genocide, had this to say on the matter:

“Dennis, do the right thing…I just visited my 97- year-old
grandfather, my only link to the far past, and promised him that I
would go and try to talk to Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House,
and make sure that he takes this opportunity to bring up the Armenian
Genocide Resolution to the floor of the House of Representatives.

This is a personal issue to me and System.”

A1+

| 16:01:40 | 25-09-2005 | Politics |

JOURNALISTS HAVE FREE ENTRANCE

Today in several electoral areas, particularly in 9/41 and 9/15, the heads
of the Committees tried to hinder the work of the journalists of «A1+».

In the Kentron community 9/15 area the secretary tried to prove that «A1+»
is not registered and the journalist has not right to take photos or to stay
in the area. They allowed us to enter the area only after calling the
Central Electoral Committee.

And in the area 9/41 the claimed that the journalist certificate is not
enough to take photos. It was allowed again after calling the Central
Electoral Committee.

It is worth reminding that the Central Electoral Committee has announced
that the journalists can enter the electoral areas with their certificates
and highlight the course of elections without any problems.

TURKEY-THE DOOR IS STILL OPEN
Gwynne Dyer

Trinidad & Tobago Express, Trinidad and Tobago
Sept 22 2005

The near-tie in the German election, in which Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder came from 13 percentage points behind conservative challenger
Angela Merkel in late August to less than one point behind her by
the vote on 18 September, has thrown German politics into turmoil,
but one thing is clear. The door through which Turkey hopes to enter
the European Union, which Merkel had promised to slam shut, is still
open. The entry negotiations begin on October 3, and Turkey is still
a candidate for full membership.

Merkel launched a high-profile campaign last month to block Turkey’s
entry into the European Union, sending letters to EU leaders in other
countries asking them to offer Turkey not full membership but only
“privileged partnership”. “We are firmly convinced,” she wrote, “that
Turkey’s membership would overtax the EU economically and socially
and endanger the process of European integration.” In other words,
Turks are poor (though she did not object to other candidates like
Bulgaria and Romania that are not significantly richer), they’re
Muslim, and there are far too many of them.

It was a cynical appeal to the anti-Turkish and anti-Muslim prejudices
of German voters who are already uncomfortable with the growing
diversity of their county (about three per cent of Germany’s 80 million
people are of Turkish origin), and fear a further influx of immigrants
if Turkey joins the EU. It was also bit late in the day to raise such
objections, since Turkey has been a recognised candidate for full EU
membership for the past six years. But if Angela Merkel had become the
leader of a strong majority government in Germany, the biggest country
in the EU, the Turks would have been betrayed and rejected once again.

Turkey has tied itself into knots in order to meet the EU’s standards
for membership, and that has been a good thing for the Turks, who
now live in a far more just, equal and democratic country than they
did a decade ago. But they do feel that they have kept their side of
the bargain, and only six months ago all three of the most powerful
EU countries, Germany, France and Britain, firmly backed Turkey’s
membership.

But then came the French and Dutch votes last May and June that
rejected the proposed new EU constitution, and the whole scene
turned sour.

To make matters worse, Turkey announced that while it would sign a
customs deal opening up trade with all 25 EU members, it would still
not recognise the government of the Republic of Cyprus, one of the ten
countries that joined the EU in May, 2004. French President Jacques
Chirac promptly tried to turn that declaration into a proof of Turkish
bad faith, insisting that it “poses political and legal problems and
is not in the spirit expected of a candidate to the Union”.

Even the start of Turkey’s membership talks early next month was
looking in doubt.

Cheat the Turks on that and they would surely walk away, abandoning
the vision of a broader Europe that rises above the old mutual fear
and suspicion between Christians and Muslims, and also ending all hope
that countries east of Turkey like Georgia and Armenia might one day
qualify for EU membership. The situation looked pretty grim-and then
Angela Merkel stumbled.

She may yet end up as chancellor of Germany at the head of some
awkward three-party coalition-the outcome may not be known for a month
or more-but it would not be the kind of strong, cohesive government
that could impose a de facto German veto on Turkish membership of the
EU. And it could even be the Comeback Kid himself, Gerhard Schroeder,
a strong supporter of Turkey, who forms the next German government.

As for Cyprus, EU ambassadors agreed in Brussels last Monday that
while Ankara must eventually recognise the government of Cyprus, that
can happen at any point in the entry negotiations, which are expected
to last up to ten years. That leaves plenty of time for a settlement
that includes Turkish-Cypriots too, so Ankara will go along with it.

One more crisis has been surmounted, and the talks will begin on
October 3 as planned.

– Gwynne Dyer is a London-based

independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries.

ARF OFFICIAL ENDORSES REFERENDUM IDEA FOR KARABAKH

Armenpress
Sept 22, 2005

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS: Armen Rustamian, a senior official
of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, endorsed today the idea
of holding a referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh to decide its political
status, saying it would allow people of Nagorno-Karabakh to decide
their future by application of the principle of self-determination.

But he said the proposal must be scrutinized to avoid any loophole
that would play into the hands of Azerbaijan. Rustamian then spoke
in favor of Karabakh’s inclusion in the talks, since the conflict is
between Azerbaijan and Karabakh.

He also said any resolution option must envisage exclusion of Karabakh
as part of Azerbaijan, it must provide a border with Armenia and high
security guarantees to its people.