Author: Tavakalian Edgar

PRESS RELEASE

Professor of Comparative Religion and Armenian Studies
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
ContacT: Michael E. Stone
Fax: + 972 2 642 6631
Email: [email protected]

EDUCATION
INSPIRATION
BEARING COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY

NINETY YEARS AFTER THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

——JERUSALEM— Monday, May 2 was the first chilly evening of many
Jerusalem nights in recent weeks, a fitting backdrop for the Hebrew
University Armenian Studies Program’s Armenian Genocide memorial
event. In the crisp air, a sea of Armenian priests dressed in black
robes and members of the community joined with their Israeli friends at
the Givat Ram University Campus to commemorate — 90 years later — the
murder of one-and-a-half million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman
Turks, a holocaust still not officially recognized by the Jewish State.
There was laughter, there were tears, and through the pain the speakers
(who presented materials in English, Hebrew, Armenian and Russian),
offered sentiments of empowerment, outlooks of hope.

His Beatitude Patriarch Torkom II, the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem
was present. Steven Kaplan, Dean of the Department of Humanities
at the Hebrew University, attended, as well. Mr. Tsolag Momjian,
Honorary Consul of the Republic of Armenia, inspired the crowd with
his personal story. And leading scholars in the field of genocide,
including keynote speaker Professor Israel Charney and Armenian Studies
Program Director Professor Michael E. Stone, offered educational and
inspirational lectures on the importance of remembering the Armenian
genocide, but also the Nazi Holocaust and the massacres in Rwanda
and Sudan.

There was standing room only as during a musical interlude famous
Israeli/Armenian composer, Noubar A. Aslanyan, performed a special
song written in honor of the 90 year anniversary of the genocide.
Two Armenian deacons played traditional duduk music, and Father Kousan
Aljanian’s presentation of the song “Lord Be Merciful” begat an
ocean of tears.

This Hebrew University event is unique to the Armenian world.
On the official date for Armenian Genocide commemoration, April 24,
the date in 1915 on which 300 Armenian leaders and professionals
in Constantinople (Istanbul today) were deported and murdered, and
5,000 laymen were killed in the streets and in their homes, Armenians
across the world hold memorial events. But the HU event in Jerusalem,
pushed off this year due to the Passover holiday, is among the most
noteworthy, since it represents the uniting of the two populations
that suffered the most severe genocides of the twentieth centuries.

His Beatitude made a strong connection between the Jewish and Armenian
holocausts as he depicted his recent visit to the new Yad Vashem
Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem. “Our tour guide took
us through the various rooms depicting the stories of the Jewish
Holocaust. The museum illustrates Hitler’s plan from beginning to
end, and as I came to the final section I saw a picture of a young boy,
his hands in the air. He was asking, ‘What have I done?’ ‘Why
me?’ All of a sudden I realized, this museum is telling the story
of my people. You could replace those photos with shots of Armenian
women and children and you would have an Armenian Genocide memorial.”

His Beatitude’s equation was emphasized throughout the evening.
Said Abraham Chobyan, chair of the Armenian Association in Israel,
“Remembering the Armenian Genocide is not solely a question of paying
respects to the survivors or their children, but rather necessary to
ensure that future genocides do not occur. In 1915 nobody believed
there would be a holocaust in 1945. After the Holocaust, nobody
foresaw the current massacre in Sudan.

“If we don’t recognize one genocide, it will easy to ignore another
and then another.”

Adolf Hitler knew this fact. In one of his many speeches he drew
comparisons between the Armenian Genocide and the acts he plotted
to carry out, and used the Armenian tragedy as a means to encourage
his followers. He said, “I have issued the command – and I’ll
have anybody who utters but one word of criticism executed by a firing
squad – that our war aim does not consist in reaching certain lines,
but in the physical destruction of the enemy. Accordingly, I have
placed my death-head formations in readiness … with orders for them
to send to death mercilessly and without compassion, men, women and
children of Polish derivation and language. Only thus shall we gain
the living space … we need. Who, after all, speaks today of the
annihilation of the Armenians?”

Many people, to answer Hitler’s question, including Armenians,
historians, and scholars, especially Professor Michael E. Stone.
As head of one of the most important Armenian Studies programs in
the world – there are an estimated 15,000 Armenians living in Israel
– Stone has brought Armenian culture, art and genocide recognition
to the forefront, both in the academic and political realms. As a
Jew and as an Israeli, Stone has dedicated his more than 30 years of
professional academic experience to studying, preserving and teaching
the vast history and culture of the Armenian people, which the Ottoman
Turks attempted to eradicate. He organized Monday’s event, as he has
organized similar events in past years.

In his short but poignant remarks Monday night, Stone declared that
his work in general, and the memorial event in particular, is not
solely about remembering those needlessly murdered, but serve the
purpose of creating positive results from evils that have occurred.
“From evil, make good,” said Stone. And many participants said as
they left the event, this is exactly what the evening accomplished…

For further details contact the Armenian Studies Program: Phone:
+972-2-588-3651 Fax: +972-2-588-3658 E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

Falling SUV sales

The Guardian – United Kingdom
May 09, 2005

GM’s woes have been widely reported. The company reported a $1.1bn
loss in the first quarter, its worst performance in a decade. It
faces dwindling market share in the US, a worsening product mix as
sales of sport utility vehicles plummet, rising raw material costs
and the soaring cost of providing healthcare for its American workers.

Wall Street, dismissing the comments of Mr Kerkorian’s lawyer, is
anticipating further action.

Among the many suggestions: he could attempt to pressure the company
into selling its profitable finance arm, force his way on to the
board, increase pressure to cut costs, or strong-arm the firm into
handing some of its cash pile back to shareholders. He could also be
just enough of a thorn in the company’s side that it buys his shares
back – delivering him a quick profit.

Mr Kerkorian, born in Fresno, California, to Armenian immigrants,
does have a history of highly active investing.

A boxer and then a civilian pilot for the Royal Air Force during the
second world war, he made his first million in the airline business
when he started out flying charters to Las Vegas after the war.

He built some of the largest hotel casinos in Las Vegas, including
the MGM Grand. He sold his empire there once but returned to build the
MGM Mirage business, in which he still has a controlling interest. The
company earlier this year bought a rival, Mandalay, for $8bn.

He bought and sold the MGM film studio three times. In the most recent
transaction, he sold the business to a group of investors led by Sony
for $5bn.

Mr Kerkorian has already had a brush with the auto industry. In the
mid-1990s he launched a failed takeover bid for Chrysler that left him
with a large stake in the company. When it then merged with Daimler
he made about $3.5bn.

Earlier this year he lost a lawsuit claiming that Daimler’s deal
with Chrysler had robbed shareholders of billions of dollars more by
casting it as a merger when it was really a takeover.

At Blockbuster there is no pretence at civility. Mr Icahn has
attacked the firm’s chief executive, John Antioco, over the size of
his compensation and railed against his strategy to find new revenue
streams to replace the diminishing video rental market.

Mr Icahn, who owns almost 10% of the company, has proposed a slate of
his own directors to be voted on at the firm’s annual meeting. He
hijacked an analyst conference call to discuss Blockbuster’s
first-quarter results and grilled Mr Antioco over his bonuses. He
wants Blockbuster to focus on its core business, pay out huge dividends
and to put itself up for sale.

Schools fear lawmakers will cram in more courses
By Grace Aduroja and Erika Slife

Chicago Tribune, IL
May 8 2005

Tribune staff reporters
Published May 8, 2005

As far as students this year in teacher Lionel Allen’s history
class are concerned, the 1920s were nearly non-existent. Same for
the Depression.

The Oak Park and River Forest High School educator says he’s had
to make some difficult curriculum choices to ensure that students
receive a smorgasbord of historical topics.

“Why does it have to be a give and take? Time,” said Allen, who focused
on both World Wars, including the Holocaust, and the Vietnam War. “I
think that’s a challenge that every history teacher has to deal with.”

It’s a common dilemma among Illinois educators who must incorporate
a slew of required topics into already jam-packed curriculums. This
legislative session, Illinois lawmakers have proposed more than 40
bills that could require even more of schools, including several that
would lengthen the list of must-teach subjects.

One proposal, which the House passed, would broaden an existing
mandate that requires that high school students get a unit on the
Holocaust. The measure, which is awaiting Senate action, would also
require schools to add instruction on other recent occurrences of
genocide, including the slaughter in Rwanda in the 1990s and the
atrocities done to Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s.

“Every year they add new requirements that teachers have to teach,
and students have to learn and they never increase the school day or
school year,” complained Ben Schwarm, associate executive director
of the Illinois Association of School Boards. “That’s why they have
to impose each one, one by one. It’s drip by drip but pretty soon
the bucket gets full.”

Out of bounds?

The genocide bill has educators discussing how far lawmakers in
Springfield should be allowed to step into their classrooms and if
they are qualified to legislate teacher curriculums.

“It’s always an interesting quandary when non-professionals
consistently dictate what professionals in the field are doing,” said
Lorie Cristofaro, a Glenbard East High School teacher for 11 years,
said. “That’s our job as social studies teachers, to make (students)
more aware of things going on in the world.”

What is especially frustrating to some educators is that, while
districts are wrestling with budget deficits and overcrowded classes,
legislators are talking about adding more things to teach.

Already swamped by the pressure to comply with state testing standards,
some teachers say added teaching mandates will only siphon off more
time from classroom instruction.

But supporters of the genocide bill argue that failing to teach
students about the prevalence of ethnic and political killings would
be more detrimental than the strain of increasing teacher workloads.
Awareness could be a key factor in stopping future acts of genocide
and curbing indifference, they say.

“This is a lesson that has never been learned. It’s entirely
appropriate guidance,” said Steve Buenning, a world history teacher
at Fremd High School in Palatine. “I don’t think it’s unnecessarily
burdensome at all.”

Illinois was at the forefront of national education policy in 1990
when it required schools to incorporate study of the Holocaust into
curriculums. If the new measure is passed, Illinois will join select
states, including California and Rhode Island, trying to broaden
education about genocide.

In addition to Cambodia and Rwanda, the bill would require teaching
about genocide in Armenia and Ukraine as well as more recent atrocities
in Bosnia and Sudan. Proponents say that schools should not limit
discussions to those tragedies but include others as well, such as the
disappearances of political dissenters in Argentina and Chile; or human
rights violations that have occurred in places such as El Salvador.

Movie highlights issue

The recent Oscar-nominated film “Hotel Rwanda” highlights this problem
in its depiction of the United States and much of the world turning a
blind eye a decade ago to the slaughter of 800,000 Rwandans by their
countrymen during a 100-day killing spree.

“Genocides are still happening, and we need to expand our knowledge
on it, ” said Katya Mischenko-Mycyk, a board member for the Ukrainian
Genocide Famine Foundation, a Chicago group that supports the bill.
“It’s almost unfair to students just to see a small piece of the
historic picture.”

Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago), the bill’s sponsor, said incorporating
recent events into classroom lessons would resonate with students
who live in a fast-paced world where today’s technological advances
are ancient history tomorrow.

“I have a 9-year-old daughter. In her mind, learning about something
that happened 60 years ago is the same as learning about something that
happened 200 years ago,” he said. “This brings the reality of genocide
much closer to home for them and they’re much more able to grasp what
it is they’re being taught and that’s really what this is about.”

Other lawmakers argued that schools already desperate for cash would
have problems covering the costs of supplies for new topics. However,
Fritchey said that non-profit organizations already have pledged to
donate literature and volunteer speakers.

Instead, some opponents suggest that lawmakers consider more sensible
solutions that wouldn’t bog districts down with unfunded rules.

Rep. Suzanne Bassi (R-Palatine), a former educator who was one of the
11 House members to vote against the bill, said she agrees with the
spirit of the legislation but is against the lack of funding to help
carry it through. She suggests educators be taught how to incorporate
the subject of genocide in their lessons as a more reasonable fix.

“They can bring it into our classroom without writing a state law
for it,” she said.

Glenbard East’s Cristofaro says that she and many of her peers are
already doing this. At the beginning of each class, she engages her
students in a brief discussion on current events, including the ethnic
strife in Sudan.

“It is imperative that we treat educators as professionals and trust
that they are teaching these human-rights issues in the classroom,”
she said.

While many educators say that is a laudable goal, they also say it
is made that much harder every time the legislature orders schools
to teach something specific.

“We’ve not extended the school day, we’ve not extended the school
year,” said Deanna Sullivan, director of governmental relations for
the Illinois Association of School Boards. “When is it too much?”

ARMENIA STOPS PROVIDING GEORGIA WITH ELECTRICITY

AZG Armenian Daily #081, 05/05/2005

Economy

International Energy Corporation CJSC stopped providing Georgia with
electricity from Armenia. Mels Hakobian, deputy head of the company
told this to Novosti agency. He explained this with stabilization
of AMD against the US dollar, which makes the import of electricity
unprofitable.

“We purchase the energy in AMD and sell it in dollars, but now we are
suffering great loses like all the importers of Armenia,” he said. The
company negotiated with the Georgian Telacy Company. The Georgian
side said that are not able to import energy on higher tariffs.

En Turquie, le déni à l’oeuvre

Le Monde (France)
Mis à jour le 23.04.05
Article paru dans l’édition du 24.04.05

Par Philippe Videlier

Il existe dans certaines bibliothèques turques des livres du Britannique
George Orwell. C’est une bonne chose. La Turquie a de belles traditions,
depuis qu’au XIIIe siècle Nasreddine Hodja dispensait sa sagesse à qui
voulait l’entendre. Un jour qu’il cheminait assis à l’envers sur son
âne, il rétorqua aux villageois interloqués : “C’est l’âne qui est dans
le mauvais sens.”

Mais la Turquie contemporaine ne médite pas assez les histoires de
Nasreddine Hodja. C’est pourquoi la lecture d’Orwell, plus moderne, peut
lui être profitable.

Non que la Turquie manque de grands écrivains. Nazim Hikmet et Orhan
Pamuk lui ont taillé une place à sa mesure dans les lettres
internationales. Seulement, elle les apprécie moyennement. Ainsi, en
mars 2002, le ministre de l’intérieur a demandé qu’Hikmet soit rayé à
titre posthume des registres de l’état civil, afin de parfaire la
décision administrative prise du vivant du poète, en 1959, de le priver
de sa nationalité turque. Pour que la mesure soit entière, que le passé
se conforme au présent, il fallait qu’il ne soit plus né turc.

Les vérités de Nazim Hikmet heurtaient autrefois les oreilles des
militaires et des fonctionnaires gouvernementaux : “Les lampes de
l’épicier Karabet sont allumées/Le citoyen arménien n’a jamais
pardonné/Que l’on ait égorgé son père/Sur la montagne kurde/Mais il
t’aime/Parce que toi non plus tu n’as pas pardonné/A ceux qui ont marqué
de cette tache noire/Le front du peuple turc.”

Le poète mourut en exil. Les vérités d’Orhan Pamuk (lire ci-dessous) sur
le génocide des Arméniens et la répression des Kurdes irritent
aujourd’hui les tympans des officiers et des officiels, déclenchant,
comme par automatisme, les “Deux minutes de la haine”. “Pamuk a fait des
déclarations sans fondement contre l’identité turque, les militaires
turcs et la Turquie dans son entier”, s’est emporté l’un de ses
procureurs, tandis qu’une figure de l’Union des historiens n’hésitait
pas à qualifier le rappel du massacre d’un million d’Arméniens en 1915
de “grand mensonge”. Le quotidien Hürriyet a traité l’écrivain de
“misérable créature”.

Les “Deux minutes de la haine” étaient dans 1984 la manifestation
rituelle d’orthodoxie politique et d’allégeance au gouvernement à
laquelle tout citoyen devait sacrifier. Dès l’apparition sur un télécran
du traître, de celui qui réclamait la liberté, chacun, en une “hideuse
extase”, se devait de hurler à la mort. Tel était le mode de
fonctionnement d’une société totalitaire qui avait détruit son passé
pour le remplacer par la Cause nationale obligatoire. Et tous, à de
rares exceptions, communiaient dans cette Cause, où le présent
commandait au passé.

1984 a été considéré, à juste titre, comme le roman exemplaire d’un
monde auquel il était vital d’échapper. La conjoncture l’a longtemps
identifié au seul modèle soviétique. C’est une erreur. L’Etat turc
emprunte bien des traits à cet Etat de fiction. La Turquie officielle
s’est défini de grandes Causes nationales qui demeurent foncièrement
étrangères à toute rationalité démocratique : la négation du génocide
arménien de 1915, la négation de la question kurde, le refus de
reconnaître Chypre.

Ces trois thèmes, qu’à une autre époque on aurait dits constitutifs
d’une idéologie impérialiste, forment le ciment d’un illusoire socle
national.

Pendant que Pamuk était voué aux gémonies, les agences de presse
annonçaient que “la gauche turque”, représentée par l’ancien parti
unique kémaliste, était prête à s’associer au gouvernement “pour contrer
la propagande arménienne”. De cette convergence est né le projet insensé
d’interpeller la Grande-Bretagne sur la validité du “Livre bleu”,
recueil de documents et de témoignages sur l’extermination des
Arméniens, publié en 1916. “Cela fait, la Turquie passera de la position
d’accusée à celle de plaignante”, a commenté un député d’Istanbul.

Mieux, le chef du Parti des travailleurs, issu de la mouvance
communiste, a annoncé que son parti avait mené des recherches dans les
archives soviétiques et qu’il y avait trouvé la preuve que “les
allégations selon lesquelles la Turquie aurait perpétré un “génocide”
contre les Arméniens durant la première guerre mondiale ne sont pas vraies”.

On se figure ces marxistes-léninistes allant vérifier à Moscou si un
génocide a bien eu lieu en Turquie en 1915… Ces étonnants hérauts des
travailleurs concluent en déposant une gerbe sur le monument dédié à
Talaat Pacha, principal responsable de l’extermination des Arméniens.

Comme dans tous les cas de génocide, des unités spéciales avaient été
constituées pour le meurtre de masse. Ces bandes, appelées “Organisation
spéciale”, étaient dirigées notamment par un médecin idéologue du
nettoyage ethnique, le docteur Behaeddine Chakir. Il donnait les ordres
sur le terrain : “Qu’il ne reste plus d’Arméniens !/Egorger les
grands/Choisir les belles/Déporter les autres.” Condamné à mort par
contumace en 1920 par un tribunal ottoman, cet exécuteur du génocide
tomba sous les balles d’un justicier arménien en 1922, à Berlin, comme
Talaat Pacha un an plus tôt.

Aujourd’hui, le président du département d’histoire de la médecine et
d’éthique médicale de la faculté d’Istanbul réclame que ses restes
soient ramenés en Turquie, afin qu’honneur leur soit rendu. Imagine-t-on
les responsables de la faculté de médecine de Berlin demander au Brésil
le rapatriement des restes du docteur Mengele, afin de lui rendre
hommage ? Imagine-t-on que le ministère allemand de la culture ouvre un
site Internet comportant une rubrique “assertions juives et vérité” ?

En Turquie, celui du ministère de la culture et du tourisme contient des
pages “assertions arméniennes et vérité”. La pathologie négationniste
qui affecte la société turque, en partant du sommet de l’État, prend des
formes inouïes.

Cependant, la science avance à grands pas. Le ministère de
l’environnement et des forêts a découvert avec stupéfaction que certains
animaux sauvages refusaient de se conformer à la Loi nationale et
étaient entrés en dissidence. Ainsi en est-il du renard rouge Vulpes
Vulpes Kurdistanica, du chevreuil Capreolus Capreolus Armenus et du
mouflon Ovis Armeniana. Cette déviation intolérable vient donc d’être
rectifiée. Le renard rouge s’appellera désormais Vulpes Vulpes, cessant
d’être kurde (bien qu’il reste rouge). Le chevreuil transformé en
Capreolus Cuprelus Capreolus et le mouflon en Ovis Orientalis Anatolicus
cesseront d’être arméniens. Les noms anciens, indique le nouveau
ministère de la Vérité naturelle, avaient été choisis par des
scientifiques étrangers dans le but délibéré de “menacer l’intégrité de
l’Etat”.

La Ferme des animaux n’est pas démodée. Elle existe. Son septième
commandement, devenu unique, y est strictement appliqué : “Tous les
animaux sont égaux. Mais certains le sont plus que d’autres.”

Et l’âne persiste à marcher dans le mauvais sens.

Philippe Videlier est historien chercheur au CNRS.

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–Boundary_(ID_UMNl6IkhP6kXIT9XMWV7Mw)–

To reconcile Turks and Armenians
By O. Faruk Logoglu

The Washington Times
May 3 2005

Last month, Armenians worldwide remembered a sad chapter in history,
when many of their ancestors perished during the waning days of the
Ottoman Empire.

In the midst of these remembrances, Armenian activists urged political
leaders, legislatures and nations to recognize their suffering on
terms they alone have defined.

As Armenian calls for recognition of their tragedy grow louder, Turks
around the world are also remembering, albeit in a silent manner. They
recall not only their forebears who perished during the same years in
war-torn Anatolia but also compatriots targeted by Armenian terrorists
in the 1970s and ’80s.

Indeed, during the First World War, hundreds of thousands of
Turks and Armenians died as a result of the Armenian revolt in the
Eastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire. The cataclysmic war-borne
forces of disease and famine also played a great role in this human
suffering. This was a grievous time for both sides.

We should therefore acknowledge the grief and sadness felt by present
generations of Armenians over the terrible losses suffered by their
parents and grandparents. The same compassion must be extended to
the Turkish people.

While it is important to recognize and respect the emotions evoked
by past memories, we cannot let our unreconciled views of a specific
era dictate our present or our future. Indeed, our history is also
replete with centuries of friendship, fraternity and mutual respect
between Turks and Armenians.

The imperatives of good neighborliness, common sense and mutual
interests demand that Armenia and Turkey — and their expatriates
around the world — come to terms with the past and move forward in
renewed friendship and harmony.

Let’s opt for the positive, for the reasonable and for what will bond
our peoples in mutual acceptance. This can only be achieved through
open and honest dialogue.

That is why Turkey has made a multipronged effort to engage the
Armenian side in dialogue. Our scholars have tried to sit down with
Armenian colleagues. Turkish leaders and officials meet with their
counterparts from Armenia. Even third parties in the United States and
Europe have worked to bring together Turks and Armenians to discuss
their past.

None of these initiatives or contacts has yielded progress. This is
understandable because such dialogue is painful for both sides after
so many years of diametrically opposed monologues. But these efforts
must not be abandoned, as results will come only through development
of mutual trust and confidence through regular discourse.

Today, we have before us an unprecedented initiative that may
finally lead both sides toward reconciliation. In a letter to Armenian
President Kocharian earlier this month, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan
proposed establishing a group of historians and other experts to study
the events of 1915 not only in the archives of Turkey and Armenia,
but in all relevant archives. Their findings would then be presented
to the international community. The Turkish parliament has endorsed
this unprecedented opening by our government in clear demonstration
of a national will to close the issue based on an impartial assessment
of the facts.

If this opportunity is seized, the 90th anniversary of the 1915
events might also mark a historic and positive turning point in
Turkish-Armenian relations. President Bush expressed the same hope
in his annual message to the Armenian people on April 24.

After years of disagreement and troubled relations, it is time
for one-sided agendas to be replaced by open, introspective and
results-oriented dialogue. This will require bold leadership.

Turkey has taken an important first step in this direction. We
hope our Armenian neighbors will test our commitment, join in this
endeavor and seek the common understanding we both should desire.
Once a process is under way, there will be no turning back until the
truth is known. That is what we all need.

Ours is a shared history, and the tragedies of this difficult chapter
belong to both our peoples. Closure, therefore, can only come by
reconciliation between us. No amount of third-country advocacy or
outside interference will lift the burdens of history — or provide
such an opportunity for both our peoples to look together toward a
peaceful and prosperous future.

O. Faruk Logoglu is the ambassador of Turkey to the United States.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Network of America, Washington Chapter
P. O. Box 100865
Arlington, VA 22210-9998
Email: [email protected]

Washington, DC. The Armenian Network cordially invites you to a
presentation on the art and works of Armenia~Rs premier sculptress
Mariam Hakobyan.

This event is hosted by the Embassy of Armenia, where sculptress
Hakobyan will discuss her works and have samples of miniature
bronze sculptures and oil paintings on exhibit. More of her
works can be viewed at or

The presentation is scheduled for 6:30pm, Wednesday, May 11, 2005, at
the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia, 2225 R Street, NW, Washington,
DC 20008.

Wine and cheese reception. Event is free.

RSVP is not required but appreciated to [email protected].

The Armenian Network of America, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) non-profit
membership based organization dedicated to the advancement of the
Armenian American community.

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
April 28 2005

Ankara, Yerevan in secret talks, Turkish reports say

Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers have developed a secret
protocol on cooperation to bring the Turkish and Armenian peoples
closer until the problems between the two countries are solved,
influential Turkish media reported.
Ministers Abdullah Gul and Vardan Oskanian are holding private
meetings in different countries to put an end to historical
differences and restore diplomatic ties, the reports said.

Prior to establishing diplomatic relations, the two countries
developed a special protocol laying groundwork for collaboration. The
document called “Turkish-Armenian approach” includes 10 items, which
envision opening Turkish and Armenian air space for the two
countries’ air travel, implementing joint tourism projects,
interacting in mutual preservation of historical monuments and
setting up models of cooperation between state agencies and media.
The protocol also covers conducting joint scientific research,
strengthening relations between NGOs and government bodies, seeking
ways of cooperating within international organizations, discussing
issues meeting the two countries’ interests and intensifying
inter-parliamentary dialogue.
Turkey has put forth four conditions to Armenia to sign the protocol,
as the latter is to withdraw the provisions on territorial claims
against Turkey from its Constitution and recognize Turkey’s borders
set by the 1921 Gars Treaty. Armenia is also required not to make its
claims on false “genocide of Armenians” a priority in its foreign
policy and observe UN resolutions on the withdrawal of its troops
from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.
According to Turkish reports, the sides have failed to sign the
protocol twice. Talks on its provisions started in 2002 and continue
between Turkish and Armenian diplomats in neutral countries.

Journal of Turkish Weekly
April 28 2005

Council of Europe Calls Armenia to Accept Turkish Call

JTW – Members of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE)
are expressing support for Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s recent suggestion to Armenian President Robert Kocharian
that the two sides establish a joint commission to study the
historical disputes between Turkey and Armenia.
Speaking to Turkish news channel NTV on Tuesday, European Council
General Secretary Terry Davis described Tayyip Erdogan’s overture as
“a very good idea.”

Calling the joint investigation by Turkish and Armenian historians a
“reasonable undertaking,” Davis said that Erdogan had made a
“positive gesture.” “I see Erdogan’s suggestion as a positive gesture
towards understanding these historical events in order to attain to a
common perspective, and I support it,” he added.

PACE calls on Kocharian to accept Erdogan’s overture

News of the Council of Europe’s support for Erdogan’s joint
commission came earlier this week from the institution’s
Parliamentary Assembly.

Some 80 assembly members signed on Monday a written statement during
a general assembly meeting in Strasbourg that called on Kocharian to
accept Erdogan’s proposition.
PACE had named Armenia as aggressive and occupier country in the
Caucasus. Armenian forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijani
territories for more than a decade and Armenia rejects all calls to
withdraw.

KOCHARIAN SUGGESTS INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION

Armenian President Ropert Kocharian replied last week to Erdogan’s
letter by putting forth a very different option. “The political
atmosphere should be prepared for dialogue,” Kocharian said. He
proposed the formation of an intergovernmental commission to study
all the problems between the two countries. However Turkish side
found the Armenian reply `tricky’. According to Ankara, Kocharian
tries to manipulate the Turkish call. Turkey and Armenia has no
diplomatic relations. Ankara asks Armenia to withdraw its armies from
Azerbaijan and recognize Turkey’s national borders.

Compiled by Jan SOYKOK,

Deccan Herald, India
April 28 2005

Baby jumbo to stay put

DH News Service Bangalore:

India’s gift to Armenia, a four-year-old elephant, will not be
delivered, thanks to sustained agitation by animal rights activists
and the timely intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on
Wednesday.

But perhaps the happiest are the caretakers of Veda, the female
elephant, at Bannerghatta Biological Park on Thursday. The
announcement that Veda will be sent to the Yerevan Zoo to mate with a
sole male elephant housed there had created an uproar in December
2004. Animal rights activists, globally, protested against the move,
as they feared that Veda’s life will be put in danger due to sub-zero
temperatures prevailing there.

`Veda is not going anywhere. We received official confirmation from
New Delhi through a fax on Thursday. As these agreements were
happening in diplomatic levels, we had very little say. But now we
are happy that Veda will continue to live in the familiar environs of
the Park,’ said Deputy Conservator of Forests, BBP, Mr Markandaiah.