Author: Torgomian Varazdat

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT GREETED BY ANGRY DEMONSTRATORS PROTESTING STEPS TOWARDS NORMALIZING

naharnet.lb
07 Oct 09, 09:09
Beirut

Armenian-Turkish ties

Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian was greeted by thousands of angry
demonstrators as he arrived in Lebanon on Tuesday to discuss with
the local Armenian community plans to establish ties with Turkey.

The demonstrators — men, women and children — carried placards
that read "no to the agreements" and "the blood of Armenians not up
for sale" as they marched outside Sarkisian’s hotel on the outskirts
of Beirut.

Some demonstrators clashed briefly with anti-riot police who had
deployed around the hotel, and a handful of people were lightly
injured by batons, an AFP correspondent said.

Sarkisian’s short stop in Beirut is part of a week-long international
trip aimed at calming concerns among the Armenian Diaspora over
Turkish-Armenian efforts to normalize relations.

But such plans have angered many in Lebanon’s 140,000-strong Armenian
community, mostly made up of the descendants of those who survived
massacres in eastern Anatolia under Ottoman rule almost a century ago.

"After nearly 100 years of fighting for our cause, how can our enemy
become our friend in the blink of an eye," asked a visibly angry
Koko Marashlian, a store owner in Beirut’s Armenian neighborhood of
Borj Hammoud.

Hagop Pakradounian, one of six Armenian deputies in Lebanon’s
parliament, said the community was all for improved ties between
Armenia and Turkey but not at any price.

"This issue concerns Armenians worldwide and not just those in
Armenia," Pakradounian told AFP.

"We are not talking about a simple economic accord between two
countries but a historic one that concerns each Armenian family,
whatever its nationality," he said.

Community members have drawn up a petition condemning the agreements
set to be signed later this month between Turkey and Armenia on
establishing diplomatic ties.

Stores in Borj Hammoud also shut down on Tuesday afternoon in protest.

"We remember, we demand, we refuse," read placards put up throughout
the neighborhood, where Armenian patriotic music blared.

"These agreements will sound the death knell of our cause," store-owner
Marashlian said. "As descendants of those exiled, we are the main
victims of these agreements."

Keborg Abajian, 55, who runs a coffee shop, said he was ready to take
up arms to prevent the normalization of ties.

"I will shut down my shop to go fight so that our martyrs are not
forgotten," he said. "We want to recover our land. My ancestors owned
huge plots of land in Urfa," in southeast Turkey.

Some members of the younger generation, however, appeared to adopt
a more conciliatory tone, saying it was time to move on.

"The state of Armenia has made a decision and who am I to decide
what is best for its people," asked jeweler Haig Asmarian, 34. "My
grandfather still has the titles to his property but it’s time to
turn the page.

"And who knows, maybe this will benefit Armenia economically."

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were systematically
killed between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart.

Turkey rejects the genocide label and argues that 300,000-500,000
Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when
Armenians took up arms against their Ottoman rulers and sided with
invading Russian troops.

Sarkisian’s tour has also included stops in France and the United
States and was to conclude in Russia.(AFP-Naharnet)

GUL: ARMENIAN GENOCIDE "NOT A PROVEN FACT"

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.10.2009 11:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Genocide "is not a proven fact", Turkish
President said in Paris.

"We wish to establish a commission to study the events which happened
100 years ago. Of course, these were tragic events and both sides
suffered. Now, our objective is peace, stability and cooperation,"
said Abdullah Gul, who arrived in the French capital in the framework
of Season of Turkey in France.

On the occasion, the Eiffel Tower was illuminated with the colors of
Turkish flag, freelance journalist Jean Eckian told PanARMENIAN.Net.

TURKISH WOMEN LEFT BEHIND AS COUNTRY PROGRESSES

Hurriyet Daily News
Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Turkey continues to score an abysmal rank on the UNDP’s Human
Development Index, despite an increase in Turkey’s life expectancy
rates, literacy and gross national product over the past 27
years. Overall the country has slipped three places this year,
but specifically the role of women in society has earned the worst
mark. Turkey ranked 101 out of 109.

Despite progress in some vital indicators of a healthy society, the
role of women in Turkish society remains very low and the country
has regressed on the U.N. Human Development Index.

Turkey ranked 101 out of 109 countries in the 2009 Gender Empowerment
Measure, or GEM, released on Monday as a part of the United Nations
Development Programme, or UNDP’s, Human Development Index.

Turkey dropped three places in this year’s Human Development Index,
ranking 79 out of 182 countries, but the alarmingly low rank in the
Gender Equality Index is a strong indicator that the country has a
long way to go to empower women politically and economically in order
to achieve gender equality.

The GEM bases its rankings on indicators such as the active role
played by women in politics and the economy. The GEM was included in
the Human Development Index for the first time in 1995.

Despite an increase in Turkey’s life expectancy rates, literacy and
gross national product over the past 27 years, the country continues
to be ranked low on the UNDP’s Human Development Index. When spilt
into the four sections of extremely developed, developed, developing
and undeveloped, Turkey falls into the category of developed with Cuba
and Saudi Arabia, which are ahead of Turkey’s neighbors Armenia and
Iran. But in the GEM results, Turkey is only ahead of Tonga, Morocco,
Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bangladesh and Yemen.

"The results demonstrate that Turkey is at a stand still, there are no
reforms being implemented to show development," said Pinar Ä°lkkaracan,
coo ~Ys Human Rights Foundation, in her result analysis. Ä°lkkaracan
said in the 2000s there have been significant changes to the Turkish
Penal Code and development toward gender equality, but today these
changes are not being taken forward. According to Ä°lkkaracan, the
issue of employment also needs to be addressed in order to progress
in the area of gender equality.

President of the Association to Support and Train Women Candidates,
or KADER, Hulya Gulbahar, said she was not at all surprised by
the figures, and said KADER had warned political parities ahead of
the local elections in March about the fact that in 39 out of 81
provinces in Turkey there was not one female member of the municipal
council. "Half of Turkey is being run without any female member of
council, and until this problem is solved the figures will not change,"
she said.

The Human Development Index considers factors such as poverty,
gender, democracy, human rights, cultural liberty, globalization,
water scarcity and climate change. In the poverty index, Turkey is
ranked 40 out of 135 countries, in the under 40’s mortality rate it was
ranked 50, and in the literacy index it ranked 77. The lowest-ranked
position for Turkey was in the gender empowerment measure.

IN THE CLASSROOM: AT CHOCOLATE-SQUARE ONE
By Michael J. Arvizu

Glendale News Press
09/10/05/education/gnp-classroom100609.txt
Monday, October 5, 2009 7:21 PM PDT

Brittany Markarian, 11, and Alexa Arejian, 11, uses a chocolate bar
to learn about fractions at Chamliam Armenian School on Monday. (Roger
Wilson/News-Press)

Sixth-grade math teacher at Chamlian Armenian School uses Hershey’s
bars as a visual aid.

Unwrapping a Hershey’s bar, the first thing students noticed was that
the bar is divided into 12 squares — four squares in three rows.

Their first task of the assignment was to figure out how much candy
was in one-third of a bar.

Students in Tsolaire Aghamanoukian’s sixth-grade math class Monday
morning at Chamlian Armenian School in Glendale worked in teams to
isolate the correct portion of candy on their desks and write out
the answer on their miniature white boards.

Aghamanoukian said she uses objects such as the candy bars and white
boards with her students because she believes it helps them learn by
visualizing the problem they are working on.

"I tell them, give me the answer for that," Aghamanoukian said. "They
will write it on the board, and they will show it."

For student Sevag Keosseian, 11, solving math problems using a
Hershey’s bar made it easier to recall information while taking a test.

"You learn it, and it gets stuck in your brain," Sevag said. "It’s
hard in the beginning, but once you learn it, it’s very easy."

The entire class is involved in the problem-solving process, said
Aghamanoukian, who first applied her teaching formula to her two
grade-school-aged children when they were struggling with fractions.

Some students, before coming to class, see mathematics only as numbers
on paper and not as something that can be applied in real life,
she said.

"This, I already know on paper," said Lori Berberian, 11. "But it’s
nice to also see it visually."

And what kid doesn’t like Aghamanoukian asked with a laugh. The bars
not only offer a real-life lesson in mathematics, but also offer a
tasty snack at the end.

"When they do [use the bars], I think they will get it better,"
Aghamanoukian said. "And the kids like it."

For Monday’s lesson, Aghamanoukian used text from "The Hershey’s
Milk Chocolate Bar Fractions Book," published by Cartwheel Books. The
book contains exercises such as dividing the bars into thirds, halves
and fourths.

"I’m going to say, ‘What’s one-third of this bar?’" Aghamanoukian
said. "And they’re going to say, ‘Uh-oh, one-third of what?’ And then
they are going to think of the 12 blocks of Hershey’s, and then it’s
going to make more sense to them."

Examples like those found in the book can be applied to other grades
as well, even as high as grade 12, she told her class.

"When you’re doing the basic operations, you’re doing it yourself;
you’re changing the numbers," said Lara Rostomian, 11.

KIDS TALK BACK

The Glendale News-Press visited the sixth-grade math class of Tsolaire
Aghamanoukian at Chamlian Armenian School in Glendale, where students
were taking part in a hands-on math lesson. We asked: "Does solving
math problems using Hershey’s bars help you understand math better?"

"I can see better, and it’s easier. Math may be hard for a lot of
kids. That’s why I think a lot of teachers should have their students
engage in the way we did the Hershey’s bars. Kids should be engaged
in the learning process."

LORI BERBERIAN, 11

"It helps me understand math better, because by visualizing it in
front of me, it helps me grasp and understand it better."

LARA ROSTOMIAN, 11

"It helps me visualize all the fractions we are learning in class."

ALLEN SOTIRI, 11

"With the Hershey’s bar, you can actually see what you’re doing,
instead of just thinking it in your head."

SEVAG KEOSSEIAN, 11

LEBANON ARMENIANS REVOLT AGAINST PLANNED TURKEY DEAL

AFP
Oct 7, 2009

7 October 2009, BEIRUT – Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian was greeted
by thousands of angry demonstrators as he arrived in Lebanon on Tuesday
to discuss with the local Armenian community plans to establish ties
with Turkey.

The demonstrators — men, women and children — carried placards
that read "no to the agreements" and "the blood of Armenians not up
for sale" as they marched outside Sarkisian’s hotel on the outskirts
of Beirut.

Some demonstrators clashed briefly with anti-riot police who had
deployed around the hotel, and a handful of people were lightly
injured by batons, an AFP correspondent said.

Sarkisian’s short stop in Beirut is part of a week-long international
trip aimed at calming concerns among the Armenian diaspora over
Turkish-Armenian efforts to normalise relations.

But such plans have angered many in Lebanon’s 140,000-strong Armenian
community, mostly made up of the descendants of those who survived
massacres in eastern Anatolia under Ottoman rule almost a century ago.

"After nearly 100 years of fighting for our cause, how can our enemy
become our friend in the blink of an eye," asked a visibly angry
Koko Marashlian, a store owner in Beirut’s Armenian neighbourhood of
Burj Hammud.

Hagop Pakradounian, one of six Armenian deputies in Lebanon’s
parliament, said the community was all for improved ties between
Armenia and Turkey but not at any price.

"This issue concerns Armenians worldwide and not just those in
Armenia," Pakradounian told AFP.

"We are not talking about a simple economic accord between two
countries but a historic one that concerns each Armenian family,
whatever its nationality," he said.

Community members have drawn up a petition condemning the agreements
set to be signed later this month between Turkey and Armenia on
establishing diplomatic ties.

Stores in Burj Hammud also shut down on Tuesday afternoon in protest.

"We remember, we demand, we refuse," read placards put up throughout
the neighbourhood, where Armenian patriotic music blared.

"These agreements will sound the death knell of our cause," store-owner
Marashlian said. "As descendants of those exiled, we are the main
victims of these agreements."

Keborg Abajian, 55, who runs a coffeeshop, said he was ready to take
up arms to prevent the normalisation of ties.

"I will shut down my shop to go fight so that our martyrs are not
forgotten," he said. "We want to recover our land. My ancestors owned
huge plots of land in Urfa," in southeast Turkey.

Some members of the younger generation, however, appeared to adopt
a more conciliatory tone, saying it was time to move on.

"The state of Armenia has made a decision and who am I to decide
what is best for its people," asked jeweller Haig Asmarian, 34. "My
grandfather still has the titles to his property but it’s time to
turn the page.

"And who knows, maybe this will benefit Armenia economically."

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were systematically
killed between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart.

Turkey rejects the genocide label and argues that 300,000-500,000
Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when
Armenians took up arms against their Ottoman rulers and sided with
invading Russian troops.

Sarkisian’s tour has also included stops in France and the United
States and was to conclude in Russia.

RA PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARGSYAN RECEIVED A DELEGATION OF RAMGAVAR AZADAKAN PARTY

Monday , 5 October 2009

RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received a delegation of Ramgavar
Azadakan Party (RAP) representatives from the USA, Canada, Europe and
Middle East who are in Armenia on the occasion of the RAP-Armenakan
Party joint congress.

Tigran Sargsyan highlighted the important role of the RAP and expressed
hope that the latest congress might give a boost to RAP’s political
activity and would help enhance its operational efficiency.

The delegation thanked the prime minister for in-depth discussion by
wishing him every success in his future undertakings.

UNIFYING CONGRESS OF RAMKAVAR AZATAKAN PARTY AND ARMENAKAN RAMKAVAR AZATAKAN PARTY HELD IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
Oct 5, 2009

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The Unifying Congress of the Ramkavar
Azatakan Party (RAP) and the Armenakan Ramkavar Azatakian Party
was held in Yerevan on October 3. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
sent his congratulatory message to the congress participants. "For
over a century in the history of our people, the Ramkavar Azatakan
Party with its prudent, balanced and practical policy has occupied
a special place in the national and political palette. Returning to
the Motherland in the 1990s, the party became a direct participant
in the declaration of Armenia’s independence and the active political
life of the newly-independent country, at the same time giving renewed
impetus to its patriotic activities in the Diaspora. Both in Homeland
and Diaspora, the party has had internal difficulties in recent period
in finding common aspects for dialog with the forces sharing the same
ideology. I am hopeful that during this Congress today and in the
future, you will be guided by the spirit of unity and consolidation of
forces, thus reasserting your vision of a homeland-centered party. We
have much work to do together in the name of our state, our people
and their unity," the message of the RA president reads.

Member of the Armenakan-Ramkavar Azatakan Party Board, editor-in-chief
of Azg daily Hakob Avetikian said that in the 1990s RAP became
established in Armenia and founded the Tekeyan Cultural Center and Azg
daily and due to its enthusiasm and devotion, RAP was one of the six
parties which signed the statement on the declaration of Armenia’s
independence. The first split in the party occurred because of the
internal undermining work done by the Armenian National Movement
Party (ANM)-led authorities – for the reason that RAP with its
somewhat oppositionist position was the second largest faction at
the parliament. Later, during the 2003 elections when RAP was the
best prepared party in Armenia and had more than 8,000 members and
some 80 partisan structures, it succeeded in conducting a successful
campaign but suffered a defeat. According to H. Avetikian, the reason
for RAP’s defeat was that the elections in Armenia were turned into
an "exchange of financial and economic deals", for which RAP was not
prepared. "In an atmosphere of disappointment following that defeat,
several swindlers took the party in their hands and a full-scale
degradation began in all marzes, with the swindlers neutralizing
each other, until one swindler – the most ignorant and impolite one –
remained who continues discrediting the party, " H.

Avetikian noted. As a result, RAP was defeated in three elections
at once: the presidential, parliamentary elections and the elections
of Yerevan City Council. The party has no presence in the political
life. For that reason the stalwarts of RAP initiated the party’s
recreation in Armenia in May and called it Armenakan RAP, respecting
the letter of the Armenian law and returning to the roots. Over 3
months the party has already set up 17 structures.

H. Avetikian declared that the party will open its doors to youth. In
response to the question: "Will your party be a progovernment or an
opposition one?", he replied: "We have never been a progovernment party
and cannot be such because we have not been in power and I do not think
we will come to power in the near future. We have not been and will
not be radical opposition, but we will act as opponents regarding the
issues where the executive authorities will make mistakes or neglect
their duties and we will encourage all those initiatives that the
authorities will efficiently carry out for the benefit of our people".

H. Avetikian reminded the party’s definition by its one-time Chairman
Ruben Mirzakhanian: "We are a pro-state party, we are a party of
quiet force and will remain so".

Speeches of welcome were made by Boston-based Nubar Berberian, former
editor of RAP’s several newspapers, and Dr. Arshavir Gyonjian, former
Chairman of RAP Central Board, a founding member of AGBU. According to
the latter, the party, which established itself in Armenia, was engaged
in constructive work in a most difficult period: the Artsakh war, the
earthquake, the transition period after the country’s independence,
but "later it lost its position and capacity". "Today we do not share
at all its feature or activity. We have come to greet the revived
and reorganized party. We, the tradition preserving leaders of RAP
have come to combine our efforts and our activity with the work of
Armenakan-RAP, to support its work and advance the supreme interests
of the native people and statehood. We should provide our numerous
centers in the Diaspora, our newspapers and all confidence enjoyed
throughout Diaspora for the united work of Armenakan-RAP and RAP’s
tradition-preserving members in order to promote the main democratic
principles in the Homeland for the sake of the Armenian people,"
he stated.

Speeches of welcome were also delivered by some guests of the Congress.

Chairwoman of the RA Union of Journalists Astghik Gevorkian said the
unification is taking place at the right time: it is necessary to
unite the Armenian people in the name of the nation, the state and
the Diaspora.

Chairman of the Public Council, leader of the National Democratic Union
Vazgen Manukian said the party has a great history, it has passed a
long path and still has a considerable way to go. He considered it
symbolic that the unification is taking place at the time "when a new
situation is starting to form between Armenia and Turkey. We face a
complex way which will require our unity and it will also require
us not to forget our roots and to pursue those tasks that we have
pursued so far, and in order to make use of the advantages in this
new situation, we need a new quality, including a new quality of
management, otherwise we will fail to use these advantages and will
also lose those we have gained".

In the words of Deputy Chairman of Republican Party of Armenia (RPA)
Galust Sahakian, "this day is a really historical one". Secretary of
"Prosperous Armenia" faction Aram Safarian said on behalf of Prosperous
Armenia Party’s Chairman Gagik Tsarukian that PAP is prepared to
cooperate for resolution of the problems of the utmost importance for
the nation, both in the field of domestic policy and the international
recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide.

Chairman of the National Self-Determination Union Paruyr Hayrikian
handed Hakob Avetikian a document, called a "Model of Perfect
Democracy" signed by six parties. He expressed a hope that
Armenakan-RAP will be the seventh one.

"Armenia can become one of the most democratic countries in
the world. With a 100% representative parliament, we will make
Armenia a really democractic state," he declared. He pointed out the
existence of such problems as the unification of churces and the use
of single orthography: the nation is detached from its roots and
is split. According to him, there is also a serious psychological
problem: Artsakh should not be called Karabakh, and it is necessary
to struggle not for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, but
for the elimination of its consequences.

TURKISH PRESIDENT OFFICIALLY INVITES PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA TO VISIT TURKEY IN ORDER TO WATCH FOOTBALL MATCH TOGETHER

Noyan Tapan
Oct 5, 2009

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan
has received Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s official invitation to
visit Turkey in order to watch together a football match between the
national teams of the two countries, Radio Liberty reported.

The 2010 World Cup qualifier match between Turkey and Armenia is due
to be played on October 14 in the Turkish city of Bursa.

MORE THAN 12,000 PROTEST SARKISIAN, PROTOCOLS IN LOS ANGELES

Asbarez
-protest-sarkisian-protocols-in-los-angeles/
Oct 5th, 2009

LOS ANGELES-More than 12,000 Armenian Americans from throughout
California converged on the Beverly Hilton Hotel to protest the
Turkey-Armenia protocols as Armenia President Serzh Sarkisian met
with representatives of Armenian American organizations to defend his
decision to sign the flawed documents. The protest was organized by
the Stop the Protocols Campaign.

Protesters held signs proclaiming, "Serzh Don’t Betray the
Armenian People," "Turkey Accept the Genocide!" and "No to the
Protocols!" Meanwhile, planes overhead were carrying banners which
stated "Stop Turkish-Armenian Protocols," as large moving vans drove
around the hotel with billboards picturing presidents Sarkisian and
Gul with the slogan "Don’t Betray us."

Prior to the beginning of the community meeting, Sarkisian’s delegation
stood out on a 12th floor balcony and watched demonstrators, who called
out in hopes that the President would address them directly. Sarkisian
chose not to address the people.

During the fourth hour of the protest, several hundred frustrated
demonstrators broke through the barricades and stormed across the
street to the hotel entrance, yelling "votch, votch," stopping traffic
on Wilshire Blvd.

Meanwhile ARF Western Region Central Committee member Hovan Tashdjian,
who had just left the meeting with the President, described a
tense Sarkisian faced with overwhelming opposition by community
representatives, attempting to defend the formation of a so-called
"historical commission" and arguing that the Protocols would not
affect the Karabakh peace process.

Tashdjian commended the thousands who had turned out for the Sunday
afternoon protest, ensuring that their voices were heard at the meeting
since "your representatives conveyed your anger and frustration over
the protocols."

Sarkisian has embarked on a Diasporan junket to gain support for the
beleaguered Turkey-Armenia Protocols, which have met with resounding
rebuke by Armenians around the world. He has been met with protests
in Paris, New York and Los Angeles, with additional demonstrations
planned in Lebanon and Russia.

Inside the Meeting

Representing the Armenian National Committee-Western Region, Steve
Dadaian described the meeting to Asbarez as being tense. Of the 65
or so participants, only 29 were allowed to speak, of who only three
individuals expressed complete or partial support for the protocols.

"He was unprepared to discuss the text of the agreement. This is the
emperor’s new clothes tour-he’s naked and he’s expecting everyone to
say ‘you look great.’ It was sad," explained Dadaian.

During his three stops on his Diaspora tour, Sarkisian’s message has
been that the Diaspora should have faith in this initiative, which
he underscored by initiated by Armenia without any external pressure.

He assured his largely skeptical audience that the normalization
of Turkish-Armenian relations would create an atmosphere of mutual
confidence.

Sarkisian gave assurances that there would not be a discussion of
the Armenian Genocide within the framework of the protocols.

"The only question in connection with the Genocide that can become
a subject for discussion is how we can help the Turkish people to be
more unbiased in going through the pages of their own history or, to
be more precise, how to overcome the consequences of the Genocide,"
Sarkisian stressed.

"I believe that it is possible to have normal negotiations, have normal
relations with Turkey and benefit from it," Sarkisian underscored.

The participants of the Los Angeles meeting echoed sentiments by their
Diasporan counterparts in New York on Saturday and Paris on Friday
that the protocols were loaded with dangers to Armenia’s national
security and to the future of the Armenian people.

Sona Madenlian, speaking on behalf of the Armenian Relief Society
explained that throughout its existence, the ARS has devoted all
its efforts to provide for the needs of the homeland from the time
of the Genocide to the present. Under the current circumstances,
Madenlian wondered out loud whether all that work was necessary.

In the wake of the protocols, Madenlian also asked the president what
the message should be to the younger generations.

"They are used to protesting Turks, not protesting the Armenian
President. How will we be judged by our future generations?" pondered
Madenlian.

The AGBU’s Albert Boyadjian framed the protocols as the best thing for
Armenia, extolling that as a result Armenia will prosper economically.

Meanwhile, Sarkisian’s spokesman Samvel Farmanian on Monday
confirmed to RFE/RL that the Armenian president had received an
official invitation from his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul to
visit Turkey to attend the return match between the two countries’
national football teams.

Montebello Martyrs Monument

Hundreds of Armenian-Americans answered an urgent call to action
and converged on the Montebello Martyrs’ Monument Monday morning in
anticipation of a visit by President Serzh Sarkisian, who is in the
Southland on the third leg of his Diaspora tour.

On Sunday, more than 200 people answered another immediate call to
action to rally at the Montebello Memorial, forming a human barricade
around it to prevent Sarkisian from using the monument for a publicity
stunt while in Los Angeles on his tour of the Diaspora. The Monday
crowd was estimated to be larger.

The president, however, did not visit the Montebello Martyrs Monument,
and as such concludes his visit to LA, leaving the largest Armenian
community outside of Armenia dissatisfied and angry.

Angry Picketers Greet Sarkisian in New York

Armenian-Americans answered the ARF’s call to form a picket
line Saturday across the street from the New York Palace Hotel,
where Armenia President Serge Sarkisian was scheduled to meet
with representatives of eastern United States Armenian American
organizations to discuss the controversial Armenia-Turkey protocols.

>From the picket’s start the mood was serious and the demonstrators
were indignant and angry. The atmosphere quickly grew intense with
chants of "Turkey is guilty! Turkey must pay!" Early on, the crowd
sang Armenia’s national anthem, "Mer Hairenik" ("Our Fatherland").

Sarkisian and meeting attendees were already in the hotel when the
picket began at 4 p.m. The meeting was scheduled to start at 5 p.m. and
last for over two hours. The area inside and outside the hotel was
heavily guarded by New York City police officers and plain-clothed
agents, as well as Sarkisian’s own security guards.

In the hotel, a small group of protesters representing the Association
of Concerned Young Armenian Americans attempted to deliver a letter
to Sarkisian expressing their opposition to the protocols. They were
met with resistance. During a heated discussion with members of the
president’s security team, they demanded to deliver their letter
personally to Sarkisian, saying that too much discussion on the
protocols was occurring behind closed doors and challenging Sarkisian
to honor his earlier promises to hear all opinions on the protocols
during his tour of major diasporan cities.

Security permitted one of the young people to enter the secure area
near the meeting room to deliver the letter, only if the others left
the building. The association’s representative was told to wait until
Sarkisan’s meeting concluded to deliver the letter. After waiting
for over three hours to deliver the message from Armenian American
youth-with no response from Sarkisian-the representative departed
with the letter in hand.

At around 7 p.m., as the picket entered its final minutes, dozens of
picketers moved from the picket area across the street to assemble
directly in front of the Palace Hotel’s entrance, where they chanted
and sang Armenian patriotic songs. Police moved in to force picketers
out of the area and back across the street from the hotel, where they
remained until dispersing around 7:30 p.m.

ARMENIAN CLERGY ATTEND APPEAL OF CONSCIENCE FOUNDATION AWARDS DINNER

29-armenian-clergy-attend-appeal-of-conscience-fou ndation-awards-dinner
September 29, 2009

New York – On Tuesday, September 22, Archbishop Vicken Aykazian,
Legate of the Eastern Diocese and president of the National Council of
Churches, represented the NCC at the annual awards dinner of the Appeal
of Conscience Foundation in New York City. The Rev. Fr. Tateos Abdalian
represented Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the
Armenian Church of America (Eastern). Archbishop Barsamian, who is a
long-serving vice president of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation,
was in the midst of a working visit to Armenia.

More than 450 civic and religious leaders were present at the
gathering, including Archbishop Demetrios, leader of the Greek
Orthodox Church in the United States; Roman Catholic Cardinal
Theodore McCarrick; former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger;
media mogul Rupert Murdoch; Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barack;
and Bono, lead singer of the rock band U2.

Each year the Appeal of Conscience Foundation recognizes individuals
who have helped support programs and initiatives that promote religious
freedom and human rights. The 2009 honorees included Prime Minister
Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom; Bernard Arnault, CEO of Louis
Vuitton; and Muhtar Kent, CEO of Coca-Cola.

As he recognized Muhtar Kent, who was born to Turkish parents, Rabbi
Arthur Schneier, the founder of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation,
encouraged improved relations between Armenians and Turks. Mr. Kent
later approached Archbishop Aykazian and the two shared a cordial
conversation, both wishing the best for a peaceful future for Armenia
and Turkey.

Archbishop Aykazian was also able to speak with pop singer and human
rights activist Bono. "Our two peoples, the Armenians and the Irish,
have had similar stories of sufferings and challenges, but we have
survived," Archbishop Aykazian said. He then blessed Bono for the
good work he has done around the world, and prayed that God would
give him strength to continue his efforts. "He was truly grateful,
and I was very impressed," Archbishop Aykazian said of the artist
who has been recognized for his humanitarian efforts, and whose music
often deals with Christian themes.

The Appeal of Conscience Foundation, a coalition of business and
religious leaders established in 1965, promotes peace, tolerance,
and ethnic conflict resolution. The Eastern Diocese has been a strong
supporter of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation since its inception,
and both Archbishop Torkom Manoogian and Archbishop Barsamian have
been deeply involved with the foundation’s activities.