Author: Tumanian Talar

Queens woman killed in Garden City Park crash
BY ERIK GERMAN | [email protected]
October 8, 2007

A 62-year-old Queens woman died after her car was struck in Garden
City Park by a sport utility vehicle whose driver was intoxicated,
Nassau police said.

The victim, Jania Torosian, of Rego Park, was pronounced dead at
Winthrop-University Hospital shortly after the accident late Saturday
night, police said. Torosian’s passenger, Manousch Shaolian, 47, of
Forest Hills, was admitted to Winthrop with serious leg injuries,
police said.

The driver of the 2002 GMC Yukon, David Scarapicchia, 30, of Floral
Park, was charged yesterday with vehicular manslaughter and driving
while intoxicated after police said he slammed into Torosian’s 2002
Honda Civic as it turned left onto Jericho Turnpike >From Second
Avenue. Scarapicchia couldn’t be reached last night.

The accident occurred at 11:10 p.m. just after the Honda, with best
friends Torosian and Shaolian inside, left the home of Torosian’s
sister on Second Avenue, family members said.

"My mom actually ran out when she heard the sound," said Hamlet
Keshishyan, 29, Torosian’s nephew. "She watched as they took my aunt
out of the car. They had to rip the door off."

Torosian was pronounced dead at 11:51 p.m., police said. The news was
a blow to family members who remember her as a vivacious, fun-loving
debater who visited them every weekend. "She was like a lawyer,"
Keshishyan said. "You couldn’t really win an argument with her."

Widowed several years ago, Torosian had three grown children and two
grandchildren, Keshishyan said, and she worked as an accountant.

Torosian and her family immigrated to the United States in 1980,
family members said, leaving behind the post-revolutionary turmoil of
Iran’s capital, Tehran.

Like her best friend, Shaolian, Torosian was fluent in English, Farsi
and Armenian, the language spoken by their families. Both daughters of
Tehran’s close-knit Armenian community, the two women struck up a
friendship in America while singing together in a choir affiliated
with the Armenian Society of New York in Little Neck.

Copyright © 2007, Newsday Inc.

NO PLACE FOR DENIAL
October 5, 2007

rnational-association-of-genocide_05.html

Interna tional Association of Genocide Scholars Letter on Armenian
Genocide Resolution

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GENOCIDE SCHOLARS

The Honorable Tom Lantos, Chairman
The Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Ranking Member
House Foreign Affairs Committee
US House of Representatives

Dear Chairman Lantos and Ranking Member Ros-Lehtinen:

We write to you as the leading international organization of scholars
who study genocide. We strongly urge you to pass H. Res. 106.

In passing this resolution the US Congress would not be adjudicating
history but instead would be affirming the truth about a genocide that
has been overwhelmingly established by decades of documentation and
scholarship.

Truth of the Scholarly Record

It is disingenuous of the government of Turkey to use the red herring
of a "historians’ commission," half of whose members would be
appointed by the Turkish government, to "study" the facts of what
occurred in 1915. As we have made clear in our Open Letters to Prime
Minister Erdogan (6/13/05 and 6/12/06), the historical record on the
Armenian Genocide is unambiguous. It is proven by foreign office
records of the United States, France, Great Britain, Russia, and
perhaps most importantly, of Turkey’s World War I allies, Germany and
Austria-Hungary, as well as by the records of the Ottoman
Courts-Martial of 1918-1920, and by decades of scholarship. A
"commission of historians" would only serve the interests of Turkish
genocide deniers.

The abundance of scholarly evidence led to the unanimous resolution of
the International Association of Genocide Scholars that the Turkish
massacres of over one million Armenians from 1915 to 1918 was a crime
of genocide.

America’s Own Record

The Joint Congressional Resolution recognizing and commemorating the
Armenian Genocide will honor America’s extraordinary Foreign Service
Officers (among them Leslie A. Davis, Jesse B. Jackson, and Oscar
Heizer) who often risked their lives rescuing Armenian citizens in
1915. They and others left behind some forty thousand pages of
reports, now in the National Archives, that document that what
happened to the Armenian people was government-planned, systematic
extermination – what Raphael Lemkin (the man who coined the word
genocide) used in creating the definition.

By passing this resolution, the U.S. Congress would also pay tribute
to America’s first international human rights movement. The Foreign
Service Officers and prominent individuals such as Theodore Roosevelt,
Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, and Cleveland Dodge, who did so much to
help the Armenians, exemplify America’s legacy of moral leadership.

The parliaments of many countries have affirmed the fact of the
Armenian Genocide in unequivocal terms, yet H. Res. 106, a
commemorative, non-binding resolution, has faced opposition from those
who fear it would undermine US relations with Turkey. It is worth
noting that, notwithstanding France’s Armenian Genocide legislation,
France and Turkey are engaged in more bilateral trade than ever
before. We would not expect the US government to be intimidated by an
unreliable ally with a deeply disturbing human rights record,
graphically documented in the State Department’s 2007 International
Religious Freedom Report on Turkey. We would expect the United States
to express its moral and intellectual views, not to compromise its own
principles.

The Armenian Genocide is not a controversial issue outside of Turkey.
Just as it would be unethical for Germany to interfere with the
historical memory of the Holocaust, we feel it is equally unethical
for Turkey to interfere with the memory of the Armenian Genocide. Elie
Wiesel has repeatedly called Turkey’s denial a double killing, as it
strives to kill the memory of the event. We believe the US government
should not be party to efforts to kill the memory of a historical fact
as profound and important as the genocide of the Armenians, which
Hitler used as an example in his plan to exterminate the Jews.

We also believe that security and historical truth are not in
conflict, and it is in the interest of the United States to support
the principles of human rights that are at the core of American
democracy.

Sincerely,

Dr. Gregory H. Stanton
President
International Association of Genocide Scholars

EXECUTIVE BOARD:

President,
Gregory Stanton
Genocide Watch

First Vice-President,
Steven Leonard Jacobs
University of Alabama

Second Vice-President
Alex Hinton
Rutgers University

Secretary,
Marc I. Sherman
Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide, Jerusalem, Israel

Treasurer,
Jack Nusan Porter, Newton, MA

ADVISORY COUNCIL:

Joyce Apsel
New York University, USA

Peter Balakian, USA
Colgate University, USA

Ben Kiernan, USA
Yale University, USA

Daniel Feierstein
U. of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Charli Carpenter
University of Pittsburgh, USA

Henry Theriault
Wellesley College, USA

Immediate Past President:
Israel W. Charny
Institute on Holocaust & Genocide, Jerusalem, Israel

PUTIN: CSTO MEMBER STATES CAN BUY RUSSIAN ARMAMENT AT INNER PRICE

PanARMENIAN.Net
08.10.2007 16:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Member states of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization will purchase Russian armament at our country’s inner
prices, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in Dushanbe October 6.

This agreement crowned the CSTO summit, he said.

In all, leaders of the CSTO member states signed over 20 documents.

"Adoption of normative documents on peacekeeping forces will be a
good basis for formation of CSTO peacekeeping contingent. We have
formed collective quick response forces for combating terrorism and
drug traffic," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters
upon completion of the summit.

"Now, the anti-terror component will be supplemented by a normative
basis for formation of peacekeeping forces," Mr Lavrov said adding that
the CSTO peacekeeping forces will not be sent for resolving conflicts
between Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, IA Regnum reports.

BUSH TELLS TURKEY HE OPPOSES ARMENIA GENOCIDE MEASURE

TREND Information
Oct 6 2007
Azerbaijan

(DigitalJournal) President George W Bush reassured Turkey’s prime
minister Friday that he opposes efforts by US lawmakers to denounce
the Ottoman Empire’s killings of Armenians as genocide, the White
House said Friday.

Bush’s phone talk with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan came as
a US House of Representatives panel prepared to vote on a resolution
on the deaths of as many as 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to 1923.

Turkey vehemently rejects the genocide label and fights efforts by
other countries to apply it. The Bush administration fears that the
resolution would anger a key ally in NATO whose support is critical
for stabilizing neighbouring Iraq.

"The president reiterated his opposition to this resolution, the
passage of which would be harmful to US relations with Turkey," said
Gordon Johndroe , a spokesman for Bush’s National Security Council.

He recalled that Bush has described the events of 1915 as a tragedy,
but believes that determining whether it was genocide is up to
historians, not lawmakers, Johndroe said in a statement.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee is due to vote on the genocide
measure Wednesday. A similar bill is pending in the US Senate,
adding to pressure on the administration to recognise the Armenian
deaths not just as "forced exile and murder" – Bush’s words in 2004 –
but as genocide.

In a full-page advertisement Friday in the Washington Post, the Turkish
embassy to the US called the pending legislation "one-sided" and warned
it would "affect relations between the United States and Turkey."

A senior State Department official said US lawmakers risk provoking
a severe backlash from Turkey.

Applying the genocide label would harm US interests, including
"our forces deployed in Iraq which rely on passage through Turkey,"
Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried said Friday.

He said it was a historical fact that up to 1.5 million Armenians
were killed or forced into exile from 1915 through the early 1920 –
something recognised by Bush as well as former president Bill Clinton.

Bush denies Armenian genocide

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 22:33:05

US President has opposed moves to term the deaths of hundreds of
thousands of Armenians during the Ottoman Empire as ‘genocide’.

A US House resolution would ask the president to declare the killings
of as many as 1.5 million Armenians nine decades ago a genocide.

In a statement, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said " Bush has
reiterated his opposition to this resolution," adding that "the
president has described the events as one of the tragedies of the 20th
century, but believes the determination of whether or not the events
constitute a genocide should be a matter for historical inquiry, not
legislation."

Turkey denies that a systematic slaughter of Armenians took place,
saying Armenians and Turks alike were killed in ethnic clashes between
1915 and 1923 after Armenian groups sided with Russia in World War I.

Turkey as a key regional ally for the United States has warned that
the passing of the draft would have defective consequences for the two
countries’ relations.

A similar draft to the resolution before Congress was pulled from the
House floor in October 2000 following an intervention by then
president Bill Clinton.

Source: ;sec tionid=3510203

The Armenian Festival of Orange County
PO Box 3136
Laguna Hills, CA 92654-3136

PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Tom Kalajian
[email protected]
(949) 309-2900 Ext 17 | (888) HYE-FEST (493-3378)
Contact: Seta Mergeanian
[email protected]
(949) 309-2900 Ext 15 | (888) HYE-FEST (493-3378)
Contact: Paul Aslanian
[email protected]
(949) 309-2900 Ext 11 | (888) HYE-FEST (493-3378)

Images available for download at

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Armenian Festival Organizers Thanked for Sponsorship of Orange County
Triple X Fraternity’s First Annual Charity Golf Tournament

MISSION VIEJO, CA (SEPTEMBER 27, 2007) – Armenian Festival of Orange
County (AFOC) executive committee members contributed to the launch of
the 1st annual charity golf tournament organized by the Orange County
Chapter of the Triple X Fraternity, held Thursday, September 27, 2007 at
Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, California.

Nearly 110 players enjoyed a round of golf on an exquisite Southern
California day to support the Ararat Home, The Armenian Eye Care Project
and Orange County education. Afterwards, a delicious dinner was served
and awards presented. Armenian Festival organizers Paul Aslanian, Krikor
Mahdessian and Tom Kalajian personally funded a sponsorship for the
fraternity’s initial launch, which is one of nearly twenty Armenian
organizations operating in Orange County. The fraternity is sponsoring a
booth at the Festival this year, and is donating its use to the Big
Brothers and Sisters organization of Orange County.

Earlier, executives of the Armenian Festival coordinated volunteers with
the Orange County Armenian Professional Society in a pledge drive for
Orange County PBS station KOCE, which broadcasted the Armenian Genocide
documentary, resulting in record-breaking pledges of more than $123,500
on the initial live broadcast. Subsequent re-broadcasts in June and
September generated over $30,000 more. Armenian Festival committee
chairman Paul Aslanian said, "Cooperation among progressive Armenian
organizations really works to make all Armenians stronger, not weaker."
He continued, "We have learned that by working together, we accomplish
more without giving up group identities or goals. In many cases, we have
common objectives and core values, like helping all Armenians, so we
work together on that basis," he emphasized.

Founding Festival committee member Krikor Mahdessian agrees. "This
collaboration between forward-thinking Armenian organizations in Orange
County is part of our vision," he says. "We Armenians should do more to
help each other, between our groups. We are all Armenians, and we should
keep that in mind above all," he continued.

For example, both the Triple X Fraternity and the Armenian Festival are
supporting the Ararat Home, the Armenian Eye Care Project and Armenian
education in Orange County. "We’re on the same path working towards the
same goals together," said founding Armenian Festival organizer and
fraternity member Tom Kalajian. "We’re breaking new ground here in
Orange County where the most progressive Armenian organizations are
coordinating their efforts to lead change. This fundamental level of
change is not always met with universal acceptance at first, but we’re
patient with everyone who has good intentions," he said. "The positive
energy we’re creating is rippling through the community like a pebble in
a pond," he continued.

Originally conceived by Executive Director Paul Aslanian and a few
friends in 2005, the Armenian Festival of Orange County has been
successful every year. The festival is a non-denominational,
non-political, all-inclusive, qualified tax-exempt organization
administered exclusively by non-affiliated independent unpaid Armenian
volunteers.

The 2007 Armenian Festival of Orange County will be held on the weekend
of October 13 and 14 again at the Laguna Hills Community Center, 25555
Alicia Parkway, Laguna Hills, California, located on the corner of
Alicia and Paseo De Valencia, about 1 mile west of the Alicia exit on
the 5 freeway. Hours of operation are noon to 10 PM on Saturday, and
noon to 8 PM on Sunday.

Continuous entertainment is planned with live dance music by the Knar
band, with guest singers, and dance groups. Plenty of great Armenian
food, kids zone with bounce houses and covered seating for over 500
guests are part of the unique attractions of this annual event for the
whole family.

The festival’s Mission Statement and Statement of Core Values are posted
on its web site, as are letters of appreciation from organizations which
the festival sponsored in prior years. Congratulatory letters from
dignitaries and the festival’s colorful flyer, applications for booth
reservations, volunteers or information for sponsors, a photo gallery of
prior festivals, and much more information is available by visiting the
Festival’s web site at or by telephoning the
24-hour information hotline at either (949) 309-2900 or toll-free at
(888) HYE-FEST (493-3378).

30

——————————— ————————————-

Caption for image #0821: Orange County Triple X Charity Golf Tournament
Committee Chairman John Gulugian presents sponsorship plaque to Armenian
Festival of Orange County (AFOC) committee members. Shown left to
right, AFOC Founding Committee Member Krikor Mahdessian, Triple X Golf
committee chairman John Gulugian, AFOC Executive Director Paul Aslanian
and AFOC Founding Committee Member Harry Krikorian.

RUSSELL JOHNSTON WILL PASS CONCERN TO PRESIDENTS

Karabakh open
Oct 2 2007

Davit Harutiunyan, head of the Armenian parliamentary delegation
visiting Strasburg for the fall session of the PACE, met with Russell
Johnston, head of the PACE committee on the Karabakh conflict. The
head of the Azerbaijani delegation Sammed Seyidov was also present.

Davit Harutiunyan underlined the importance of the longed-for visit
of the committee to Karabakh and regretted that the visit is impeded
by Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan demands that the committee should visit
Karabakh via Azerbaijan. Davit Harutiunyan said the international
delegations always go to Nagorno-Karabakh via Armenia.

Russell Johnston voiced concern regarding another delay of the visit
to Karabakh. Presently, there is no certainly regarding the future.

Most probably, Russell Johnston will pass his concern to the presidents
of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The head of the Armenian delegation to the PACE Davit Harutiunyan
said in the fall session of the PACE he met with the CoE Secretary
General Terry Davis. The Armenian delegation asked Davis to focus on
the fact that Azerbaijan is impeding the visit of the CoE and PACE
delegations to Nakhidjevan to study the demolition of the cemetery
of Djolfa, Regnum reported.

PROTEST MARKS BEGINNING OF TRIAL OF TURKISH-ARMENIAN JOURNALIST’S KILLERS

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Oct 1 2007

As many as 100,000 people took part in a rally in Istanbul earlier
this year to condemn the slaying of the well known journalist.

ISTANBUL – Hundreds of people gathered outside an Istanbul courthouse
Monday as the trial resumed of 19 men accused of involvement in the
murder of prominent Turkish Armenian journalist and rights activist
Hrant Dink.

Dink was shot and killed outside the office of the Argos newspaper,
of which he was editor, on January 19. A 17 year old Turkish man,
who cannot be named due to his age, has admitted committing the
murder. A further 18 men were implicated in the plot to kill Dink,
though only five of those are currently in custody.

There have been claims from lawyers representing the Dink family that
not enough has been done to track down those who planned the murder
and that there may have been state involvement in the killing. Many of
those accused of having links to the murder of Dink have connections
to far right wing nationalist groups.

There have also been suggestions that security officials were warned
by informants that an attempt would be made on Dink’s life but that
no action was taken.

Many of those who attended the protest outside the Besiktas court
on Monday carried banners saying, "We are all witnesses, we demand
justice".

HIS HOLINESS KAREKIN II COMMENCES PONTIFICAL VISIT TO THE DIOCESES OF THE USA

ArmRadio – Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 1 2007

On September 30, His Holiness Karekin II Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians departed for the United States to pay a
pontifical visit to the Armenian Dioceses of North America, Information
Services Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin reports.

>From September 30 to October 3 His Holiness Karekin II will visit the
Western Diocese and preside over the celebrations dedicated to the
80th anniversary of the founding of the Diocese. The Armenian Pontiff
will also consecrate the Main Altar of the newly constructed St.

Gregory the Illuminator Church of Pasadena, and preside during the
inauguration ceremony of the Daghlian Cultural Center of the Armenian
community of Hollywood at the St. John Armenian Church.

>From October 3 to November 2, His Holiness Karekin II will visit the
Eastern Diocese. During this Pontifical visit His Holiness will visit
different Armenian communities and parishes throughout the Eastern
United States, meeting with the faithful, Parish Leadership and Youth
Groups. Additionally, he will hold meetings with various ecumenical
and inter-church organizations and individuals, government heads and
officials. Please visit the special website created by the Eastern
Diocese for the exact dates and times of all scheduled public events.

NKR PRESIDENT: NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT SHOULD BE SETTLED VIA NEGOTIATIONS AND BASED ON MUTUAL CONCESSIONS

ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
October 1, 2007 Monday

"We have never had such heroic and responsible period in the age-long
history of our people. No one will understand us and nothing will
justify us if we yield in a diplomatic field. The conflict should
be settled via peaceful negotiations and based on such mutual
concessions which assure inviolability of the NKR people’s right for
self-determination, that will allow to overcome the consequences of
the armed confrontation set by step. This is the Karabakh people’s
will and the authorities’ position", NKR President Bako Sahakyan said
during the meeting in Stepanakert with the delegation of RA Foreign
Ministry’s central administration, RA ambassadors and consuls, headed
by RA FM Vardan Oskanyan.

Having noted the complexity of the Karabakh issue, the NKR president
expressed confidence that both the foreign political and internal
difficulties are overcomable. In addition, B. Sahakyan emphasized the
role of Armenia’s diplomatic corps in solution of these issues. In
particular, the present state of the process and the prospects of the
Karabakh conflict settlement, different aspects of mutual cooperation
were discussed during the meeting. B. Sahakyan touched on the principal
issues set to the NKR. He added that the Nagorno Karabakh Republic,
though unrecognized by the world community as yet, hopes for active
assistance of Armenia’s diplomatic representations abroad.