Author: Toneyan Mark

UNITED STATES HAS DOUBLE STANDARD AT HOME AND ABROAD
by Ivan Eland

Media Monitors Network, CA
888
Oct 23 2007

"If the United States is going to criticize other countries’ behavior,
both historical and current, it should eliminate the double standard
at home and abroad, and clean up its own act first."

The Bush administration is attempting to soothe the Turkish
government’s apoplectic reaction to the House Foreign Affairs
Committee’s label of "genocide" on Turkey’s slaughter of 1.5 million
Armenians, which occurred almost a century ago. The administration
fears that an enraged Turkish ally, already threatening to invade
northern Iraq in order to suppress armed Turkish Kurd rebels seeking
refuge there, will also cut off U.S. access to Turkish air bases
and roads used to re-supply U.S. forces in Iraq. The administration
essentially wants to allow the Turks to continue to deny a historical
fact that preceded even the existence of the current Turkish system
of government.

Similarly, the United States has never been too enthusiastic about
criticizing Japan’s denial of having used Chinese and South Korean
women as sex slaves (so-called "comfort women") during World War II.

More generally, the United States never really says too much when the
current Japanese government regularly tries to whitewash in school
textbooks the atrocious conduct of the Imperial Japanese regime before
and during World War II. Again, a principal ally who does not face
up to important historical facts is not reproved.

Yet the administration is still repeatedly bringing up Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s December, 2005 denial of the historical
fact of the Jewish holocaust at the hands of the Nazis.

That’s because the U.S. government chooses to get along a lot less with
the Iranian government (than it does with the governments of Turkey
and Japan); because Israel, Iran’s nemesis, is a U.S. ally; and because
the administration can win points with its domestic Israeli lobby.

In the same vein, the administration is supposed to be supporting the
expansion of democracy overseas–that’s why the United States invaded
Iraq, right?–but does so only in less friendly countries, not close
allies. The United States has pressured weaker Arab countries near
Israel to hold elections and make democratic reforms, for example,
among the Palestinians and Lebanese, but it has not pressured Israel
to remove the second-class citizenship of the Arab population living
within its borders. The administration has aided opposition forces in
Iran, even though the groups don’t want the support, while making only
half-hearted attempts to democratize its autocratic allies in Pakistan,
Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Of course, the United States doesn’t really
need to coddle despotic regimes just to win their lukewarm support
for the "war on terror," their promise not to attack Israel, or their
agreement to pump oil which their own economic interest would cause
them to sell on the world market anyway. But neither does it need to
meddle in the internal affairs of adversaries, such as Syria and Iran.

But if the United States were to have the same standard for all
countries-both friend and foe-and join the international community in
identifying and strongly condemning all documented cases of genocide,
other war crimes, and repressive behavior by all countries, then
perhaps there would be a chance that history might not be repeated.

First though, the United States needs to clean up its own act. Other
countries may have acted terribly in the past, but U.S. citizens should
not be blinded to the sins of their own government. Since World War
II, in terms of numbers of military adventures, the United States
has been the most aggressive country in the world. And many such
interventions cannot be blamed on the need to combat international
communism. Even after the United States’ major foe-the Soviet
Union-collapsed, the U.S. expanded its informal empire and stepped
up military activities across the globe. The United States bombed
Serbia and Kosovo; invaded Panama, Afghanistan, and Iraq (twice);
and intervened in Somalia, Haiti, and Bosnia. Furthermore, the United
States has kidnapped people and illegally rendered them to secret
prisons in countries where torture is perpetrated, or simply had the
CIA or U.S. military do the honors. These prisoners have been denied
both the rights of prisoners of war and the rights of the accused
that the U.S. Constitution guarantees–for example, their right to
challenge detention using a writ of Habeas Corpus. It’s likely that
a substantial portion of these inmates are innocent.

If the United States is going to criticize other countries’ behavior,
both historical and current, it should eliminate the double standard
at home and abroad, and clean up its own act first.

STABILITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST: AMERICAN HYPOCRISY, TURKISH PATIENCE
By Christopher Vasillopulos, Ph.D.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Oct 23 2007

Displaying a breathtaking combination of arrogance and ignorance,
the US has warned Turkey not to take unilateral action against Kurdish
terrorists in northern Iraq.

The US claims to be concerned that Turkish military incursions would
destabilize the region. I grant that the Bush administration has turned
destabilization into an art form and that it has destabilized the
lives of millions of people in the Middle East. The policies of the
US have resulted in the division and subdivision of one state after
another in the region. This has reached the logical conclusion of
retribalizing sections of Iraq in an effort to defeat al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Let us define our terms. For American policy makers, regional
stability means that all Middle Eastern states must support US
policies, especially its alliance with Israel. Stability means that
Middle Eastern states must follow the US when it ignores two of
the most destabilizing factors in the region: Israel’s oppression
of Palestine and Israel’s monopoly of nuclear weapons. Instability
has many meanings in the vocabulary of US foreign policy: any act
which either the US or Israel disapproves of; any effort of the
Arab world to unify in the pursuit of long-term regional economic,
social and political development; any act which links Palestine to the
broader problems of the region; any effort by Iran to influence its
neighbors, including the healing of its wounds with Iraq; any effort
by Turkey to have good relations with its neighbors, especially its
former Ottoman peoples; any action which does not subordinate Turkish
interests and sensibilities to American objectives in the region; the
Turkish rejection of the label of "genocide," notwithstanding Turkish
admissions of needless deaths of Armenians perpetrated by the Ottoman
Empire during World War I; any Turkish military action which secures
its borders and protects its people against the predations of Kurdish
terrorists supported by the de facto Kurdish state in northern Iraq.

As the world’s only superpower, the US apparently believes it can
define terms, like stability and instability, as it pleases. In
the process the US is demonstrating that the abuse of language and
the abuse of power are blood brothers — or, as in George Orwell’s
classic, "1984," big brothers. And it is necessary, after all, to
love big brother.

Let us consider what stability in the Middle East really means,
what the region requires if it is to have the opportunity to deal
with its many problems. First of all, let me mention a factor which
virtually all Western commentators ignore or misperceive: Stability
means encouraging and reinforcing the tradition of Islamic liberalism.

Islam from its beginnings has been an anti-tribal and progressive
force. As the region’s leading secular, democratic Muslim state and
as the non-Arab nation with the deepest experience in the Arab world,
Turkey must play a positive and independent role in the region. This
cannot be done if Turkey is seen as a subordinate of the US.

Stability in the region will require several developments. First of
all, it will necessitate an end to the Israeli oppression of Palestine
as well as an end to Israel’s monopoly on nuclear weapons in the
region, either by unilateral disarmament or by nuclear guarantees to
other powers. The US issued such guarantees in Europe and in Asia,
to protect Germany and Japan. Does anyone believe that the US would
threaten to retaliate against any Israeli nuclear attack? Next,
stability will require the use of oil revenue to repair and unify
Iraq and to develop the region. It will also call for the generous use
of American aid — far less than the 12 billion a month now expended
on combat — to secure the compliance of those factions essential to
the reunification of Iraq. Stability means the respect of all Middle
Eastern electorates, not only those who meet the approval of the
US. Finally, stability entails a respect for the high civilizations
and vibrant contemporary cultures which have found their home in the
Middle East. Even if one excludes the Greeks, whose Middle Eastern
connections were profound, what other region can boast of Persia,
Egypt, Mesopotamia or Assyria?

In the current climate this list may seem daunting, unrealistic or
utopian. Given the damage which has been done and which is continuing,
perhaps it is. It should be remembered, however, that before World War
II, the US generally supported the policies for stability outlined
here. What is more, the region concurred with the efforts of the
US. Of course, the US did not have pure motives.

Nevertheless, it believed a stable and modernizing Middle East was
in line with US interests. I am not urging purity of motive, only
the end of hypocrisy. Unfortunately, while there seems to be no end
to American hypocrisy, the end of Turkish patience may be at hand.

*Christopher Vasillopulos is a professor of International Relations
at Eastern Connecticut State University.

HENCEFORTH FOUR COUNTRIES AND WINNER OF PREVIOUS CONTEST TO ALWAYS TAKE PART IN FINAL OF EUROVISION

Noyan Tapan
Oct 23, 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 23, NOYAN TAPAN. The European Braodcasting Union has
reconsidered the rules of the Eurovision Song Contest. According
to the information provided to a Noyan Tapan correspondent by
Diana Mantsakanian, the Head of International Relations at ARMTV,
henceforth, two semi-finals will be held. 10 countries will be elected
in each semi-final, 9 out of which by telephone calls and messages
of television watchers, and the other one by the jury. Besides
the 20 countries, which passed those stages, and the winner of the
previous contest, since 2008 four countries: England, France, Spain,
and Germany, which pay the greatest sums for the participation in
the Eurovision Song Contest, will always take part in the final of
the contests.

It was mentioned that both of the semi-finals will be broadcast on
the same day, that will be a live broadcast, however, Armenians will
watch only that semi-final, in which the representative of Armenia
will take part.

Diana Mnatsakanian stated that they have already started to accept
participation applications for the Eurovision-2008 and that it will
continue until the end of December. Public hearings will be held by
"H1" (Public TV) in February 2008, and the singer, who will represent
Armenia in the contest will be decided on the bases of the messages
sent by television watchers.

It was also mentioned that according to the rules developed by
"H1", henceforth singers are to present the works of only Armenian
composers. "We do not want to present the works of foreign composers
of songs in the authoritative contest. We aim at presenting the
songs written by Armenian composers in the contest. Thus, both famous
composers, as well as beginners have an opportunity to present their
works to society," Diana Mnatsakanian mentioned.

IRAN’S AHMADINEJAD PRAISES GROWING TIES WITH NEIGHBOUR ARMENIA

Agence France Presse
Oct 22 2007

YEREVAN (AFP) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday praised
growing economic and political cooperation with Armenia, shoring up
closer ties with the ex-Soviet republic on Iran’s northern border.

"We consider our neighbourly relations with Armenia to be very
important and a means of strengthening security and stability" in
the region, Ahmadinejad said after meeting his Armenian counterpart,
Robert Kocharian, on the first day of a two-day visit here.

The presidents announced the opening of a new highway linking the
two countries and plans to build a cross-border railroad. They also
said they had discussed joint projects to build an oil refinery,
a hydroelectric power plant and wind power stations along the border.

"We will decisively and quickly realize joint programmes on the
establishment of major infrastructure projects," Ahmadinejad said.

"This is in the interest of our two countries and the region as
a whole."

Kocharian said the new railway was in the planning stages and praised
new transportation links as a chance to "increase the flow of goods
between our two countries."

Landlocked Armenia has sought closer links with Iran because of an
economic blockade imposed by neighbours Azerbaijan and Turkey over
the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region, as well as Armenia’s efforts
to gain international recognition of Ottoman-era mass killings of
Armenians as genocide.

Backed by Armenia, ethnic Armenians seized control of Nagorny Karabakh
during a bloody war in the early 1990s that left thousands dead and
forced nearly a million people on both sides to flee their homes.

In March, Kocharian and Ahmadinejad inaugurated a 150-kilometre
(93-mile) pipeline that will deliver 36 billion cubic metres (1.27
trillion cubic feet) of gas from Iran to Armenia over 20 years.

Armenia will pay for the gas with electricity it produces at a
Soviet-era nuclear plant.

The United States has raised concerns about Armenia’s growing ties
with Iran, with the top US diplomat in Yerevan saying in June that
the country should participate in international sanctions aimed at
convincing Iran to halt its nuclear programme.

Ahmadinejad, who has caused outrage by saying the Holocaust is a
"myth," was scheduled on Tuesday to visit a memorial to victims of
the Ottoman massacres of Armenians between 1915 and 1917.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen died in orchestrated
killings during the final years of the Ottoman Empire.

A pending US Congressional vote on a resolution labelling the
massacres as genocide has angered Turkey, which says 250,000 to
500,000 Armenians were killed during civil strife and rejects the
notion that it was genocide.

Ahmadinejad was also scheduled Tuesday to visit Yerevan’s Blue Mosque
and to meet with members of the Iranian community here.

KOCHARYAN-SARGSYAN COMPETITION

Lragir
Oct 22 2007
Armenia

Although Robert Kocharyan and Serge Sargsyan are competing over
dividing power, they nevertheless have no major controversy and they
will reach agreement on dividing power, stated the leader of the SIM
Party Hrant Khachatryan who was hosted at the Friday Club on October
22. According to Hrant Khachatryan, Robert Kocharyan would like to
be prime minister if the president were not Serge Sargsyan to share
little part of his power.

"Meanwhile, he will have to share with Serge Sargsyan much more in
ruling the country. Besides, Serge Sargsyan would like to have his
prime minister be a more modest activist," Hrant Khachatryan says.

According to him, these wishes do not mean, however, that they may
have major controversies.

"Considering that they may have to share power with someone else,
they both may be reluctant to share with others. This is important.

We can see competition in the elite but we are giving it more
importance than the competition has, which is in parts visible and
explicable," Hrant Khachatryan says. According to him, this competition
will last until the presidential election.

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Oct 20 2007

No Threat of Vahhabism in Azerbaijan: Deputy Interior Minister

Azerbaijan, Baku / corr. Trend I. Alizade / Criminal situation is
under control in Azerbaijan and there is no threat of Vahhabism in
the country, Deputy minister of Internal Affairs, General Vilayat
Eyvazovm said during the talks with journlists on 19 October.

According to Deputy Intreior Minister, generally 20,000 crimes are
comitted in Azerbaijan a year. It means that every 100,000 people
commit from 200 to 220 crimes. This indicator is higher in
neighbouring countries. Thus, every 100,000 people perpetrates 300
crimes in Armenia and Georgia. It exceeds 600 In Ukraine and 2,000 in
Russia.

There is no tension and threat to the statehood in Azerbaijan,
Eyvazov stated. `A criminal showed armed resistance to police in
Gusar during the arrest and ran away. Necessary measures were taken
for his arrest, posts were organized in this area, and the Interior
Ministry and other law enforcement agencies are in search of the
criminal,’ he said.

According to Eyvazov, the measures were outlined in Zakatala District
in advance and carried out in accordance with the minister’s
instruction. `In accordance with the minister’s instructions,
training is being conducted in the regions. During the training the
arrest of armed criminals and security in the roads are studied.

According to the deputy minister, an armed attack was made today [19
October] on the ABU Petrol filling station. No one injured, but
criminals stole some $1,500 from the cash desk of the filling
station. `We already have information about them and measures are
taken for their arrest’.

On 19 October five mask-worn men committed an armed attack on ABU
Petrol filling station, which is located in Mushfig village of
Absheron region.

Azat Artsakh Tert, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Oct 18 2007

Working conference in the NKR National Assembly

On October 16th the Speaker of the NKR NA Ashot Ghoulian convened a
working conference. The theme of the discussion was the question of
carrying out the next conventional session of the 5th conference of
NA. By the information of the Speaker, the program of the activity of
the NKR newly formed Government was put into official circulation
from October 15th. At the same time, he pointed, the official
suggestion of the President about appointment of the chairman of the
NKR Supreme Court and the question of electing the chairman of the
permenant commission of Defence, Security and observance of the law
of NA were liable to urgent discussion. Exchange of opinions took
place, in the result of which the organization problems come from
mentioned questions were corrected. According to the legislative
standards, the Speaker of the Parliament announced, that the
conventional session of NA would be convened on October 17th, at
11:00, in the conference hall of NA.(press service of the NKR
Government reported).

Los ANgeles Daily News
Oct 19 2007

Burbank mountaineer conquers the Seven Summits

BY MARIO AGUIRRE, Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 10/19/2007 06:08:02 AM PDT

He’s skied the North and South poles, conquered the Seven Summits and
planted the flags of the United States and Armenia atop Mount
Everest.

Now, 47-year-old adventurer Karo Ovasapyan has set his sights on
Greenland, where he hopes to make a 285-mile cross-country skiing
trek across the icy landscape of the world’s biggest island.

"It’s another challenge. You’re challenging yourself," said
Ovasapyan, who lives in Burbank. "It gives your life more meaning."

While Ovasapyan’s upcoming journey will be grueling – he’ll take only
the supplies he can carry in his backpack – it will be far less
strenuous than the 61-day expedition to the top of the world.

"I can’t describe how it felt like, standing on top of Mount
Everest," said Ovasapyan, the first Armenian to conquer the so-called
Seven Summits – the 29,035-foot behemoth in the Himalayas, as well as
the tallest mountains on the six other continents.

"People ask me what I was thinking when I got up there, and I tell
them that I lost my dream because I was dreaming of it for 25 years
and I was finally here."

Ovasapyan grew up in Charentsavan, Armenia, one of six children in a
family passionate about the outdoors. While his father organized
regular weekend camping trips to the nearby mountains, Ovasapyan
wanted to emulate his Uncle Samuel, a mountaineer whose photographs
were prominent in the family scrapbooks.

"I always dreamed of being the person in those pictures wearing the
backpack and having the mountain in the background.
"I think every kid tries to copy someone. For some people, they want
to be actors. For others, they want to be singers. For me, it was my
uncle. I wanted to be like him."

Ovasapyan buried himself in books dedicated to Arctic explorers. He
wrestled competitively, building a muscular physique well-suited to
mountaineering.

He spent many a winter night sleeping on the balcony of his family’s
home, getting used to sleeping in below-freezing temperatures.

And, he said, "there was always a Karo inside of me who wanted to see
the sun rise from Mount Everest’s summit."

But Ovasapyan had to make a living. He served in the Siberian
National Army, then returned to Armenia as a wrestling coach.

After a year, he moved to Russia, joining his Uncle Movel in a
cabinet-making business.

In 1989, they moved to Glendale – a city with the nation’s largest
Armenian population – and with two of Karo’s brothers started a
cabinet-making business in neighboring Burbank.

And he began climbing mountains, tackling smaller peaks at first,
then embarking on bigger challenges.

In January 2001, he found himself skiing in Antarctica with
mountaineer Jon Krakauer, who wrote the best-selling "Into Thin Air"
after four members of the author’s climbing team died on Everest in
1996.

At the South Pole, Krakauer was filming "Mountain of Ice," a
documentary about Mount Vinson for PBS’ "Nova" series. He included a
scene of Ovasapyan, clad in his underwear, bathing in the snow.

"When you love this sport the way I do, you don’t care about
comfort," Ovasapyan said. "Of course it’s cold, but you don’t care.

"You know what’s waiting for you up in the summit."

Ovasapyan signed on with teams of elite mountaineers and began lining
up corporate sponsors to defray the steep cost of scaling the world’s
highest peaks.

He embarked on a training regimen, heading to Mount Whitney, the
tallest mountain in the continental U.S. at 14,494 feet. Realizing
that the summit of Mount Everest was more than twice that elevation,
Ovasapyan enhanced his workouts by dragging a heavy tire from a rope
tied to his belt.

He also steeled himself for the mental and emotional challenges of
the expeditions. The death of a training partner, killed in a plunge
after being struck by a falling rock, was a reminder of the danger
that accompanies every step.

"That was just really warning me to be extremely careful," Ovasapyan
said.

"That can happen to anyone at any moment. But you know that going in
because that’s the life you’ve chosen.

"You know how dangerous it is and you’re always risking your life out
there when you do that."

Ovasapyan began his Seven Summits quest in the fall of 2002, scaling
Aconcagua in the Andes Mountains of South America. He made two major
climbs in 2004 – Denali (also known as Mount McKinley) in Alaska and
Mount Elbrus in Russia.

While many Seven Summits climbers delay Everest until the end,
Ovasapyan didn’t want to take the chance that anything would
interfere with his lifelong dream.

"Many things can happen from one mountain to the next. You could have
injuries and not continue," he said. "Who knows what could have
happened, if I would have lived, before ever reaching Mount Everest?"

A member of a Russian climbing team organized by the 7 Summits Club,
Ovasapyan flew to Tibet in the spring of 2005. The 15 climbers and 10
Sherpas began a two-month excursion up the north ridge of Everest,
camping at ever-higher altitudes as they adjusted to the thinning
oxygen.

About a week before his own summit attempt, Ovasapyan was monitoring
the radio at base camp – about 17,700 feet – listening as two
Slovenian climbers reached the top despite high winds and whiteout
conditions.

The weather deteriorated as the pair descended, and one of them
apparently had problems with his oxygen tank. Marko Lihteneker became
a fatality of Everest, one of the roughly 5 percent of climbers who
perish on the mountain.

About 6:15 a.m. May 30, 2005 – one day after the 52nd anniversary of
Edmund Hillary’s conquest of Everest – Ovasapyan and his team made
their own summit bid.

There were six Sherpa porters in the group, along with Ovasapyan and
a half-dozen other climbers. They included Nikolay Cherny, who at age
65 was making his fourth attempt to reach the top.

Breathing supplemental oxygen, they left Camp 4 – at an altitude of
roughly 27,400 feet – and began their ascent of the three "steps," or
rock climbs, that would take them to the top.

Ovasapyan pushed himself hard and reached the pyramid summit ahead of
the others in his group.

There, 5 and 1/2 vertical miles above sea level, Ovasapyan planted
the flags of his native and adopted countries, as well as a pennant
honoring American POWs.

"I’m an American citizen and I respect that. The POW flag is respect
to the soldiers fighting for this country and for those lost giving
their lives to this country.

"And I’m an Armenian, so I represent Armenia, too," he said.

After returning the flags to his backpack – he carries them on all of
his expeditions – Ovasapyan began the descent, a trek made even more
treacherous by exhaustion, dehydration and shrinking oxygen supplies.

Even two years later, other members of Ovasapyan’s team remember his
camaraderie and selflessness during the ordeal.

"In all my years working as a guide, I’ve never met a person so
helpful to others," said Mingma Gelu, a Sherpa of Tibet who worked as
a guide on the expedition.

"Karo has shown how strong he is by completing the Seven Summits and
helping others along the way reach similar goals."

Just six months after his victory over Everest, Ovasapyan ascended
Kilimanjaro in Africa.

In 2006, he climbed Kosciuszko in Australia and Vinson in Antarctica
– the last after an aborted attempt to run a marathon at the South
Pole – making Ovasapyan only the 197th climber to achieve the Seven
Summits. One more climber has achieved that goal since then.

Last year also saw him conquering Mount Rainier in Washington state,
and Mount Ararat in Turkey – a site revered by Armenians as their
spiritual home.

"For climbers, it’s a symbolic mountain," Ovasapyan said. "But for
Armenians, it’s holy."

After returning home to Southern California, Ovasapyan was recognized
for his accomplishments by the Burbank City Council, as well as by
leaders of the local Armenian community.

"First and foremost, Karo’s achievement is symbolic of our community
as we strive to reach new heights. He embodies the philosophy we
embrace that a single person can achieve great things and make a
difference," said Zanku Armenian, a board member of the Armenian
National Committee of America.

Ovasapyan talks openly when asked about his adventures, but they’re
not something he brings up with the customers of his family’s
woodworking business.

"It’s not that I didn’t want a lot of people to know about this, but
I just don’t tell too many people about it," he said.

"I didn’t do it to prove to other people that I could do this. I did
it for myself because I knew I could do it."

Staff Writer Naush Boghossian contributed to this report.

[email protected]

—

Mountaineering challenge

Karo Ovasapyan of Burbank is one of 198 climbers – and the only
Armenian – to scale the Seven Summits.

Aconcagua Nov. 10, 2002

Elbrus April 7, 2004

Denali July 2, 2004

Everest May 30, 2005

Kilimanjaro Nov. 25, 2005

Kosciuszko Feb. 2, 2006

Vinson Dec. 18, 2005

TREND News Agency, Azerbaijan
Oct 19 2007

Armenia Keeping Peaceful and Soon Settling Karabakh Conflict:
Armenian Prime Minister

Armenia is keeping the peace and soon the resolution of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh will be achieved
through compromise, Serj Sarkisian, the Armenian Prime Minister said
during a meeting with Dick Cheney, the US Vice President, and Robert
Gates, US Defence Minister, the Armenian Department on Public and
Press Relations Department at the Armenian Government Administration
reported to the ARKA on 19 October.

Sarkisian said discussions and negotiations within the framework of
the OSCE Minsk Group would cause positive results.

Cheney said the US was interested in regulating the conflict. The US
would support OSCE Minsk Group attempts to peacefully settle the
Karabakh conflict.

The Associated Press
October 19, 2007 Friday 6:16 PM GMT

>From afar, Armenians closely watch maneuvering in U.S. Congress over
genocide resolution

By AVET DEMOURIAN, Associated Press Writer

The chatter these days in Yerevan’s Anahit Deluxe beauty salon isn’t
only about hairstyles, celebrity gossip or the coming winter it’s
also about whether the U.S. Congress will agree that the World War
I-era killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks was genocide.

"If it passes, I’ll treat all my girlfriends and customers that day
to candy," said the salon’s owner, Anait Gezalian.

Thousands of miles from Washington, U.S. House Resolution No. 106 is
the talk of the town for Yerevan and the rest of this landlocked
former Soviet republic of rugged highlands and grinding poverty.

If Congress recognizes the killings as genocide, it could be a
cathartic moment for Armenians. They have striven for decades to gain
wide international recognition for their view of the long-ago
bloodshed, creating a dispute that has poisoned relations with modern
Turkey.

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I. Scholars view it as the
first genocide of the 20th century, but Turkey says that the toll has
been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and
unrest.

Jubilation followed the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s approval of
the resolution Oct. 10, with Armenian lawmakers giving a standing
ovation to their American counterparts and a pro-government newspaper
declaring in a headline: "Historical Justice is Restored."

Sentiments have sobered since, as the fate of the resolution is now
in question.

Turkey, a U.S. ally and NATO member, recalled its ambassador from
Washington for consultations in protest, warning the U.S. of serious
damage to relations and complications for the U.S. military operation
in Iraq. The Bush administration opposes the resolution, and House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that prospects for a House vote
were now uncertain.

In Yerevan, where a slow construction boom is bringing Western
stores, flashy nightclubs and upscale restaurants to a run-down city,
Armenians are closely watching events unfold through television and
newspaper reports, on the Internet and with the help of the more than
1 million-strong diaspora in the United States.

"The Fate of the Resolution is Uncertain," one newspaper declared.
"Congressmen regret that they voted for the resolution," another
reported. Another publishes a running tally of U.S. lawmakers, pro
and con.

"How much longer can Turkey … blackmail Washington, plot demarche,
threaten worse relations, frighten and so on?" asked Karen
Vartazarian, a 28-year-old Web designer.

"We’re convinced that the House of Representatives will make the
right decision and will not abandon the democratic values the United
States was founded on," said Arpi Vartanian, regional director of the
Armenian Assembly of America, an advocacy group.

Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian went to Washington on Thursday for
World Bank and other meetings. He also met with Defense Secretary
Robert Gates, though Gates told reporters later that the genocide
resolution was not discussed.

Some Armenians fear the resolution could cause trouble for Armenians
living in Turkey, or the thousands who try to make a living by going
there to buy goods for resale back home.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 during a war between
Armenia and Azerbaijan, a Muslim ally of the Turks, and maintains a
virtual blockade that has all but crippled Armenia’s economy, which
relies heavily on investment and support from Armenians abroad.

After years of disappointment, suffering and isolation, many
Armenians are not counting on a vote by Congress.

"So many times has recognition of the genocide been promised and so
many times (the promise) hasn’t been fulfilled. (But) one can live
through this," said Artem Yerkanian, a commentator on the state-run
channel Shant.