Author: Torgomian Varazdat

PRESS OFFICE
Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 889-5150; Fax: (212) 889-4849
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

July 7, 2008
______________

Teens raise funds to help children in Armenia

WHITE PLAINS YOUTH RAISE MONEY TO HELP FAR’S PROGRAM FOR HOMLESS CHILDREN

When members of the Armenian Church Youth Organization of America
(ACYOA) Jrs. chapter at the St. Gregory the Enlightener Church of
White Plains, NY, began planning their recent car wash fundraiser,
they weren’t quite sure where the money should end up.

The chapter’s advisor, Nectar Munro, decided to ask the parish priest,
Fr. Krikor Kasparian, his opinion on what the 17 young ACYOA Jrs.
members should support with their donation.

"Nectar discussed it with me and said that it would be wonderful if
this money was sent somewhere worthwhile," Fr. Kasparian said. "I
told her that there are homeless children in Yerevan and there is a
project FAR [the Fund for Armenian Relief] sponsors to help them, so
why not send the money to them. We thought that would be wonderful."

The group raised about $300 through the carwash, and sent it all to
FAR for its Yerevan Homeless Children’s Center, which works
proactively to keep at-risk children in in-tact, loving, functional
homes and out of institutionalized care.

"Our kids in ACYOA Jrs. are guided by a principal of serving, of
making the organization worthwhile by five activities," Fr. Kasparian
said. "They have sports, social events, spiritual activities,
service, and educational experiences. They thought this donation was
in keeping with the goals of the local chapter to serve."

Fr. Kasparian said while the money raised could have gone to other
less-pressing needs in the parish community, he was glad the ACYOA
Jrs. members decided to help others in Armenia.

"For them to know that instead of appropriating the money for anything
else here, where we may have less need, but rather to send it to
Armenia where the need is greater, that makes me proud," he said.

And the ACYOA Jrs. are not the only group at St. Gregory the
Enlightener making Fr. Kasparian proud. This past Mother’s Day, the
seventh and eighth grade Sunday School class, taught by Edward Dorian
Jr., sold breakfast to the community and sold plants. They raised
about $450, and again decided to send the money to the homeless youth
of Armenia through FAR.

"The children thought it would be wonderful to send to children around
their age, preferably the homeless children in Armenia," Fr. Kasparian
said. "They learn in Sunday School the importance of serving and
outreach and extending themselves to people who are needier than they
are. This donation is their education put into action."

Fr. Kasparian noted that the donations reflect the teachings of the
church to serve others.

"It makes me feel great," Fr. Kasparian said of the two donations.
"What they’re learning in Sunday School and as members of ACYOA Jrs.
is not just theoretical knowledge. It can be translated into action.
However humble and small this might be, it is the fruits of their
labor and the love share with people in Armenia."

"They also do this because, in a sense, they realize it is setting an
example to other children," he added. "So they are witnessing to
their faith in a very tangible way. I think that’s a mature
attitude."

OTHERS HELPING

While the children of White Plains were busy washing cars and selling
flowers, they were not the only young people helping their peers in
Armenia.

Julia Masotti, a junior at Kellenberg Memorial High School in
Uniondale, NY, on Long Island, is half Armenian. She recently started
an organization called Kids Helping Kids, which aimed to turn youthful
volunteer activities into action to make life easier for children.
Her group raised $400 by selling used books, and they decided to
donate the money to FAR to buy school supplies for children in
Armenia.

"I hope I can make a difference in the life of children," she said.

By providing hope and opportunity to the next generation of Armenians,
FAR aims to empower them to build Armenia’s future. FAR’s programs
for youth include its Homeless Children’s Center and the development
of an modern foster care system for Armenia.

FAR also works with the Women’s Guild of the Diocese of the Armenian
Church of America (Eastern), by handling the logistics of its Children
of Armenia Sponsorship Program (CASP), through which donors around the
globe provide structured, direct financial support to orphans in
Armenia.

Other FAR programs that directly aid children include the renovation
and operation of several schools throughout the nation, college
scholarships, choirs, arts training programs, summer camps, and the
Gyumri IT Center which is training the next generation of computer
specialists in the northern, earthquake devastated region.

For more information on FAR or to send donations, contact us at 630
Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016; telephone (212) 889-5150; fax (212)
889-4849;¨web ; e-mail [email protected].

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

ent/article/2008/07/04/AR2008070402408.html

Board Members Resign to Protest Chair’s Ousting
Leader in Georgetown-Based Agency Encouraged Scholars to Research Mass
Killing of Armenians

By Susan Kinzie
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 5, 2008; B05

The issue that has roiled U.S.-Turkish relations in recent months — how
to characterize the mass killing of Armenians in 1915 — has set off a
dispute over politics and academic freedom at an institute housed at
Georgetown University.

Several board members of the Institute of Turkish Studies have resigned
this summer, protesting the ouster of a board chairman who wrote that
scholars should research, rather than avoid, what he characterized as an
Armenian genocide.

Within weeks of writing about the matter in late 2006, Binghamton
University professor Donald Quataert resigned from the board of
governors, saying the Turkish ambassador to the United States told him
he had angered some political leaders in Ankara and that they had
threatened to revoke the institute’s funding.

After a prominent association of Middle Eastern scholars learned about
it, they wrote a letter in May to the institute, the Turkish prime
minister and other leaders asking that Quataert be reinstated and money
for the institute be put in an irrevocable trust to avoid political
influence.

The ambassador of the Republic of Turkey, H.E. Nabi Sensoy, denied that
he had any role in Quataert’s resignation. In a written statement, he
said that claims that he urged Quataert to leave are unfounded and
misleading.

The dispute shows the tensions between money and scholarship, and the
impact language can have on historical understanding.

Hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed when the Ottoman Empire
collapsed after World War I. Armenians and Turks bitterly disagree over
whether it was a campaign of genocide, or a civil war in which many
Turks were also killed.

In the fall, when Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)
championed a bill that would characterize the events of 1915 to 1917 as
genocide, the Bush administration fought it and several former defense
secretaries warned that Turkish leaders would limit U.S. access to a
military base needed for the war in Iraq.

The Turkish studies institute, founded in 1983, is independent from
Georgetown University, but Executive Director David Cuthell teaches a
course there in exchange for space on campus.

Julie Green Bataille, a university spokeswoman, wrote in an e-mail, "we
will review this matter consistent with the importance of academic
freedom and the fact that the institute is independently funded and
governed."

The institute’s funding, a $3 million grant, is entirely from Turkey.

A few years ago, Quataert said, members of the board checked on what
they thought was an irrevocable blind trust "and to our surprise it
turned out to be a gift that could be revoked by the Turkish
government."

Quataert, a professor of history, said the institute has funded good
scholarship without political influence. The selection of which studies
to support is done by a committee of academics on the associate board,
he said, and approved by the board, which includes business and
political leaders. Never once, he said, did he think a grant application
was judged on anything other than its academic merits.

He also noted that during his time there, no one applied for grants that
would have been controversial in Turkey. Asked if any of the research
characterized the events as genocide, Cuthell said, "My gut is no. It’s
that third rail."

Roger Smith, professor emeritus of government at the College of William
and Mary, questioned whether the nonprofit institute deserves its
tax-exempt status if there is political influence — and whether it is
an undeclared lobbying arm for the Turkish government.

Cuthell said none of the institute’s critics ever bothered to check the
truth of Quataert’s account with the institute: It does not lobby,
Cuthell said, and "the allegations of academic freedom simply don’t hold
up."

The controversy began quietly in late 2006 with a review of historian
Donald Bloxham’s book, "The Great Game of Genocide." Quataert wrote that
the slaughter of Armenians has been the elephant in the room of Ottoman
studies. Despite his belief that the term "genocide" had become a
distraction, he said the events met the United Nations definition of the
word.

He sent a letter of resignation to members of the institute in December
2006, and one board member resigned.

But in the fall, around the same time that Congress was debating the
Armenian question, Quataert was asked to speak at a conference about
what had happened at the institute. He told members of the Middle
Eastern Studies Association that the ambassador told him he must issue a
retraction of his book review or step down — or put funding for the
institute in jeopardy.

His colleagues were shocked, said Laurie Brand, director of the school
of international relations at the University of Southern California.

Ambassador Sensoy, who is honorary chairman of the institute’s board,
said in a statement this week, "Neither the Turkish Government nor I
have ever placed any pressure upon the ITS, for such interference would
have violated the principle of the academic freedom, which we uphold the
most. The Turkish Government and I will be the first to defend ITS from
any such pressure."

Since the May 27 letter from the scholars association was sent, several
associate and full members of the board have left. Marcie Patton, Resat
Kasaba and Kemal Silay resigned; Fatma Muge Gocek said she would resign,
and Birol Yesilada said his primary reason for stepping down at this
time is his health, but that he is concerned about the conflicting
accounts of what had happened. "It’s a very difficult line that scholars
walk," Patton said, "especially post-9/11, especially because of the
Iraq war."

AIR FEE TO BE INCORPORATED IN AIRFARE IN ARMENIA

July 3
ARKA

The 10,000 Drams’ air fee collected from air passengers leaving
Armenia in the country’s airports will be incorporated in airfare.

The respective law is expected to be passed by the country’s
parliaments by the end of this year, Armenian Minister of Finance
Tigran Davtian said.

Yet, the air ticket price will remain unchanged as the final cost is
formed based on offer and demand, not on the prime cost, he said. This
practice is used in many countries, the Minister said.

The incorporated air fee will be transferred to tour operators – to
the corresponding air company; the latter, in its turn, will transfer
it to concessionaires and then to the state budget, he said adding
that air fees paid to the state budget total $20-30mln every year. -0–

MOST IMPORTANT INSTRUMENT OF FIGHTING CORRUPTION IS PUBLICITY, TIGRAN SARGSIAN CONSIDERS

NOYAN TAPAN

Ju ly 2

The first Anti-corruption conference was held on July 2 in Yerevan. It
discussed Armenia’s international anti-corruption commitments within
the framework of the UN Anti-corruption Convention, Eastern Europe and
Central Asia Anti-corruption Network of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development, and Council of Europe’s Group of States
Against Corruption (GRECO). The role of anti-corruption strategy in
securing fulfilment of these commitments was also discussed.

U.S. Charge d’Affaires Joseph Pennington said that the conference gives
the government, the private sector, and the civil society an arena for
fighting corruption jointly. According to him, the U.S. government
welcomes the important steps taken by the RA government by assuming
various important international commitments.

RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian said that the government will work
out an anti-corruption program by the end of the year. According to
him, that program is important for Armenia not only in the respect
of fulfilment of international commitments, but also in the respect
of the deep conviction that "it is a serious public evil."

In Prime Minister’s opinion, the most important instrument of
fighting corruption is publicity. "The public should feel that
our actions and programs give real results," he said. According
to T. Sargsian, it is important that wide layers of society, NGOs,
opposition representatives take part in elaboration, implementation,
and control of these programs.

Answering journalists’ questions, the Prime Minister said that all
bases nourishing corruption in Armenia are just in the sphere of tax
and customs administration. "We have made these spheres our targets
and if we have quality improvements in the above mentioned spheres
in the coming three years, we can be sure that we will live in a
different society in the respect of quality in the coming five years,"
T. Sargsian said.

ARMENIA CALLS FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH TURKEY

Public Television of Armenia
June 26 2008

President Serzh Sargsyan’s position on Armenian-Turkish relations
have not changed, the press-secretary of the country’s president
said today, commenting on the latest speeches Serzh Sargsyan has
made in Moscow. Samvel Farmanyan said that [Sargsyan’s position is]
clear and leaves no room for ambiguity.

He went to explain: Turkey has suggested establishing a commission of
experts to study historical facts about the [Armenian] genocide. We
are not against any study, even that of apparent facts and widely
accepted realities. A study does not mean questioning the authenticity
of facts. However, the establishment of such a commission would
be logical only after establishing diplomatic relations between our
countries and opening the borders. Otherwise, it can become a tool for
prolonging and misusing the existing problems for years. End of quote.

DEVELOP OR CONSERVE?

Pasadena Star-News
CA
06/30/2008

There is a great deal of talk about a water shortage, and in the
summer also we are told to save electricity.

We all know that there are too many cars, both moving and parking.

I am still amazed at the amount of building, both residential and
business, in Pasadena. It is obvious that a household like mine cannot
save enough water to supply one new household.

Does our local government have a plan to furnish their new buildings
with water from a new source? Someone must make money from building
these new homes so they could be donating to a fund to clean up
the groundwater.

Please, someone that knows, tell us what the plan is to have more
water, electricity and space for cars.

Crescence Waterhouse

Pasadena

A helpful backgrounder

Here is where you can find the state recall manual:

Here is the Web site for the constitutional amendment against gay
marriage:

The recent court ruling bypassed California constitutional founders,
since gays were in the closet at the time of that writing. It was
clear that marriage then was defined as man and wife, which is the
intent of the Constitution. This is the rational for the recall.

And the following book further defines, the founders’ principles
printed before 1864 "Christian Life and Character of the Civil
Institutions of the U.S." (Book & CD-ROM)

I don’t like using this book as a reference. I would prefer all
churches and legal nonprofit charters revoked in light of the
Rev. Jeremiah Wright and All Saints churches (like the 700 Club),
so that the taxpayers are not advancing any agenda.

Bryan Ranger

Altadena

Voices shouting

In their ad hominem attack on Jason Epstein ("Armenian genocide
still haunts Turkey," June 13), Zanku Armenian and Dickran Tabakian
show off the hateful and intimidating tactics that are unfortunately
commonplace within the Armenian National Committee of America.

The authors ignore the thrust of Epstein’s op-ed ("Armenians need
real, not symbolic help," April 25), which unambiguously urges
Armenian-American activists to do more to support democracy, economic
progress and peace in and around Armenia.

Instead, Armenian and Tabakian do their usual best to shout down
any voices that do not fall in lockstep with their own, nevermind
that most Turkish Americans living in Southern California and many
eminent Western scholars, including Bernard Lewis, Guenter Lewy,
Norman Stone, Andrew Mango, Stanford Shaw and Lieutenant Colonel
Edward Erickson (ret.), believe that the tragic events of 1915 did
not constitute genocide.

Bruce Fein

Resident Scholar

Turkish Coalition of America

New York, N.Y.

Initiative misses mark

"I say, we will have no more marriages; those that are married already,
all but one, shall live; the rest shall keep as they are." – Hamlet,
Act III, Scene 1

Perhaps Hamlet was being a bit too severe, but he was trying to make
a point about the quality of marriage as he saw it about him. Had
he been living in today’s socio-political times, he might have taken
his exhortation even further by imploring all who wish to be married:
"To a nunnery, go!"

The California State Supreme Court recently ruled that marriage between
same sex couples is as legal a process as between any heterosexual
couple. Thus, it ruled that any form of discrimination against
homosexual marriage is unconstitutional in the state.

In response (retaliation?), those who oppose "gay marriage" have
qualified an initiative amendment for the ballot in November that
would enshrine in the state Constitution that only marriage between
one man and one woman would be recognized in California. The issue
will be voted by the people this November.

To all those who oppose same-sex marriage, I ask the following
question: What is "marriage" to you? Is it a legal ceremony or a
religious one? If it is the former, then it must be treated fairly
and equally for all people – irrespective of race, color, creed or
sexual preference. (True, there are some valid arguments against
incest and polygamy, but these are not at issue here and, in fact,
are not addressed by the proposed initiative amendment.)

If, however, marriage is a religious ceremony, then it should be
conducted solely within the religious community and bear no legal
standing whatsoever.

This really is a very simple situation. Either marriage provides a
civil or a religious contract between two people. It truly cannot
be both, because our nation is based upon the separation of church
and state. So, the proposed initiative amendment is focused in the
wrong direction: It either should eliminate marriage entirely as a
legal process, or it should be withdrawn as blatantly discriminatory
against one group of people.

To satisfy those of the religious right who oppose same-sex marriage,
the better solution would be to separate the religious and civil
aspects of marriage permanently and without equivocation for all
people. Let all couples who wish to have a civil union be granted
equal status before the law, and let all couples who wish to have a
religious bond be granted such by the religious institution of their
choice. Two ceremonies: one civil and one religious. Either, in fact,
could be held without the other – with appropriate legal or religious
consequences. In its present form, however, the initiative amendment
only imposes discrimination against a minority, and does it cloaked
in the mantle of religion.

As Hamlet might say: "Think on this when you vote in November."

Ron Streicher

Pasadena

Judge from his street

This letter is in response to your June 17 editorial "Get on board
the trash train," "Our View."

I think anyone who thinks the waste-by-rail project is a good idea
should move to my neighborhood. They should have to listen to the
noise of the facility running.

The people that approve of it should have to fight the excess traffic
from diesel exhaust spewing trucks that are hauling trash to the
station.

We must suffer the health risk associated with living next to a rail
yard, such as cancer, which is quite an unpleasant way to die, or
having their children suffer from asthma or birth defects from the
contaminants. How would you like to live in my area?

CONGRATULATIONS TO PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN

armradio.am
30.06.2008 11:53

RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan congratulated President of the
Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on his 54th birthday and wished
him success in the high and responsible position of the Head of State,
Information and Public Relations Department of RA Government informs.

Speaker of the National Assembly Tigran Torosyan also congratulated
Serzh Sargsyan on the occasion of his 54th birthday and wished him
happiness and success in all endeavors targeted at Armenia’s peace
and prosperity.

"HOSTILITIES MIGHT BEGIN ANY MOMENT"
Vladimir Soloviov

WPS Agency
June 27, 2008 Friday
Russia

An interview with President of Armenia Serj Sarkisjan.

Question: The so called NATO Week began in Armenia the day your visit
to Moscow began. What was that? Try as I might, I do not recall any
weeks of the CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization in Armenia.

Serj Sarkisjan: There may have been no weeks of the CIS Collective
Security Treaty Organization indeed, but it will be running its first
Border’2008 military exercise in Armenia this September. All I can say
is that we attach more importance to the forthcoming exercise than to
this NATO event. On the other hand, there is nothing extraordinary
about this latter either. There are NATO Information Centers in
Yerevan and Moscow.

We are determined to develop relations with the Alliance within the
framework of the individual partnership program. I trust out Armed
Forces will benefit from the experience. Anyway, we keep saying that
membership in NATO is not on the foreign political agenda.

Question: Armenia will chair the CIS Collective Security Treaty this
year. Do you perhaps intend to reorganize the structure somehow?

Serj Sarkisjan: I do not think that it needs any radical
reforms. Membership in the CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization
is extremely beneficial. Our Armed Forces are shaped in accordance
with the Soviet military doctrine. Practically all weapons and military
hardware they wield are Soviet- or Russian-made. All of that has to be
maintained and upgraded, and membership in the CIS Collective Security
Treaty Organization enables us to do so. Status of a privileged partner
in military-technical cooperation with Russia suits us just fine.

Question: Armenia and Azerbaijan procure military hardware with the
abandon that leads observers to the conclusion that hostilities over
Nagorno-Karabakh might resume…

Serj Sarkisjan: Yes, this is a possibility that should be allowed
for. Moreover, the Azerbaijani leadership all but admits that sheer
strength of arms might be deployed by way of a solution. At least
two men in Armenia (supreme commander-in-chief and defense minister)
should always remember that the hostilities might begin any moment.

Azerbaijan is the only country that takes pride in its mounting
military expenditures. Should Baku accept even for a moment the premise
that it will defeat the Armenians, it may give order to the regular
army. If you ask me, however, it is not a solution. There must be a
peaceful solution, and we discussed the matter from precisely this
angle at the meeting with President Ilham Aliyev in St.Petersburg. The
meeting was quite constructive.

Question: Gazprom is out to up gas prices for all CIS consumers
including Armenia, Russia’s strategic partner…

Serj Sarkisjan: We understand Gazprom and believe its top managers
when they say that the decision to up prices is not political. On the
other hand, we would appreciate it if the process is gradual. And yes,
Armenia and Russia are strategic partners.

Question: Running the Armenian railroads, Russian Railroad intends
to restore railroad service with Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Russia via
Georgia. Do you think it possible?

Serj Sarkisjan: Its absence is a major hindrance indeed. Unable to use
land routes, we are compelled to use ferries and that means additional
costs. I think I detect a certain improvement of the relations with
Ankara. Opening of the borders will benefit us all, I’m convinced. At
the same time, we understand that Turkey will treat the matter from
the standpoint of the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. In any event,
the world is changing and it behooves us to change with it.

GORAN LENNMARKER: "YEREVAN AND BAKU HAVE A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY TO RESOLVE NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT"

Today.Az
June 30 2008
Azerbaijan

Yerevan and Baku have a golden opportunity to resolve the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict, according to OSCE President.

"We have been working to find a solution to the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict for several years. There is an interim decision which will
have a positive impact on the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. The
sides have a golden opportunity to resolve the conflict," Mr Goran
Lennmarker said in his address to 17th session of the OSCE PA in
Astana, Interfax reports.

Meanwhile, he mentioned, the Karabakh issue will not be discussed.

"The agenda includes issues referring to Georgia," he said. "OSCE
member states support Georgia’s territorial integrity. Abkhazia is a
part of Georgia and a peaceful solution should be found in this vein."

It’s the first-ever OSCE PA session held in Astana, the capital of
Kazakhstan, which will assume presidency in the OSCE in 2010.

BELLICOSE STATEMENTS COMPLICATE NEGOTIATION PROCESS, ARMENIAN FOREIGN
MINISTER SAYS

Y EREVAN, JUNE 28, NOYAN TAPAN. Receiving the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
Bernard Fassier (France), Matthew Bryza (US) and Yuri Merzlyakov
(Russia), and the Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office Andrzei Kasprzyk on June 27, the RA foreign minister
Edward Nalbandian spoke about Armenia’s approaches to the proposals
that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs presented in Madrid in November
2007. He underlined that the bellicose statements made by Azerbaijani
leaders complicate the creation of an atmosphere of trust during
negotiation process and progress in negotiations.

NT was informed by the RA MFA Press and Information Department that the
co-chairs informed E. Nalbandian about the results of their meetings
with Azerbaijan’s president and foreign minister in Baku, stressing the
necessity to solve the Karabakh problem only in a peaceful way. They
assured the RA foreign minister that they will continue efforts on
bringing the sides’ positions closer – based on the Madrid proposals.