Author: Tvankchian Parkev

baltimoresun.com

U.S., Turkey shun genocide label

Proposal on killings of Armenians to go before House

Associated Press

October 7, 2007

WASHINGTON

Turkish and American officials have been pressing U.S. lawmakers to
reject a measure this week that would declare the World War I-era
killings of Armenians a genocide.

On Friday, the issue reached the highest levels as President Bush and
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan talked by telephone about
their opposition to the legislation, which is to go before the House
Committee on Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.

The dispute involves the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians
during the waning years of the Ottoman Empire.

Armenian advocates, backed by many historians, contend that the
Armenians died in an organized genocide. The Turks say the Armenians
were victims of widespread chaos and governmental breakdown as the
600-year-old empire collapsed in the years before Turkey was born in
1923.

Armenian supporters of the congressional measure, who seem to have
enough votes to get approval by both the committee and the full House,
have also been mustering a grass-roots campaign among the large
diaspora community in the United States to make sure that a successful
committee vote leads to consideration by the full House.

One interest group, the Armenian National Committee of America, has
engaged about 100,000 supporters to call lawmakers about the issue,
Executive Director Aram Hamparian said.

Similar measures have been debated in Congress for decades. But
well-organized Armenian groups have repeatedly been thwarted by
concerns about damaging relations with Turkey, an important NATO ally
that has made its opposition clear.

Lawmakers say that this time, the belief that the resolution has a
chance to pass a vote by the full House has both Turkey and Armenian
groups pulling out all stops to influence the members of the
committee.

"The lobbying has been the most intense that I have ever seen it,"
said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Adam B. Schiff, a California Democrat.

Though the largely symbolic measure would have no binding effect on
U.S. foreign policy, it could nonetheless damage an already strained
relationship with Turkey.

After France voted last year to make denial of Armenian genocide a
crime, the Turkish government ended military ties.

Many in the U.S. fear that a public backlash in Turkey could lead to
restrictions on crucial supply routes through Turkey to Iraq and
Afghanistan and the closure of Incirlik, a strategic air base in
Turkey used by the United States. Lawmakers have been hearing
arguments from both sides about those concerns.

The Turkish government has been holding back from public threats while
making clear that there will be consequences if the resolution is
passed.

"There will be a backlash, and no government can be indifferent to
that," said the Turkish ambassador in Washington, Nabi Sensoy.

But Armenian groups charge that behind the scenes, Turkey has been
much more clear.

"Turkey has been threatening every sort of doomsday scenario," said
Hamparian. "We have been saying that Turkey would harm itself more
than the United States if it carries through with these threats."

Copyright (c) 2007, The Baltimore Sun

Source: ocide07oct07,0,4364777,full.story

Global Insight
October 5, 2007

Poverty-Reduction Programme Remains on Track in Armenia, IMF
Concludes

by Venla Sipila

The latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) assessment of the
Armenian economy restates that the economy is performing well and has
achieved sound progress with restructuring, but sizeable reform
challenges still remain.

Reforms on Course

The IMF in September conducted a mission to Armenia, to discuss
near-term policy framework for the fifth review under the country’s
Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) arrangement. The mission
held meetings with government and Central Bank of Armenia (CBA)
officials and representatives of the business sector and the
international donor community. In particular, the Fund hoped to reach
an understanding of appropriate macro-economic policies in the light
of the need to manage strong foreign-exchange inflows, and to find
the best way to deal with intensifying expenditure pressures
connected with the planned pension increases and the further rise in
the price of gas, potentially to be tackled in 2009.

Global Insight Perspective
Significance After concluding its latest mission to Armenia in
September, the IMF commended the country’s strong economic
performance and pointed out that prudent fiscal policy has supported
high growth, low inflation, and modest public debt levels.
Implications Armenia’s relationship with the IMF and other
international lenders remains good, and its access to concessionary
financing should thus prove unproblematic. This is important, as the
country still faces considerable challenges on its reform path.
Outlook As highlighted by the IMF, one of the most pressing areas
calling for further reform effort is continued strengthening of tax
administration; additionally, improving financial intermediation and
increasing domestic competition are key tasks.

After concluding the mission, the IMF issued a statement outlining
its views of Armenia’s reform progress and the remaining challenges.
The Fund concluded that the economic outlook for next year and beyond
remains positive, while the PRGF-supported reform programme remains
on track.

It has been reported that the IMF will consider approving the fifth
tranche under the current PRGF arrangement in the near future.
According to ARMINFO, the executive council of the IMF may extend a
further sum of over US$5 million in assistance under the programme in
November. The fourth tranche under the current assistance programme
was approved in May (seeArmenia: 25 May 2007:).

Tasks Ahead

The Fund-supported development programme will continue to focus on
maintaining macro-economic stability and on implementing structural
reforms necessary to improve tax administration and to support
increased financial intermediation. The IMF stressed that keeping to
responsible fiscal policy is essential in order to achieve this and
to maintain external competitiveness, and also to support foreign
investment. In addition, increasing the ratio of tax revenue to GDP
further and enhancing the transparency and fairness of tax collection
will be of crucial importance in order to finance important
infrastructure projects, reduce poverty, and to strengthen the
business environment.

The IMF also stated that while import growth continued to exceed the
rate of export growth, the extent to which the widening trade deficit
is translated into a weakening current account is mitigated through
strong remittance inflows, as these dampen the impact of an
appreciating dram exchange rate on the overall external balance.
However, the expected continued strength of foreign currency inflows
further underlines the crucial need to support external
competitiveness by adhering to suitably tight monetary and fiscal
policies as well as to make further progress with structural reform
in order to enhance growth potential.

Further, the Fund noted that while inflation remains within the
authorities target band of 4% +/- 1.5%, the CBA should be willing to
step in and tighten monetary policy if inflationary pressure
increases. The IMF also stated that while the recent acceleration in
credit growth is positive in that it supports the goal of increasing
financial intermediation, it also poses risks and needs to be
combined with appropriate regulation and risk management. Among other
things, this calls for implementing high prudential standards and
seeking to improve corporate governance.

Outlook and Implications

The newest IMF assessment reiterates the persistent, key challenges
on the Armenian reform path; it is vital to strive and improve tax
administration further, while it is also imperative to keep
macro-economic policies compatible with sustainable management of the
strong foreign currency inflows.

One key problem with Armenian public finances is that revenue
collection is still suppressed by the vast shadow economy. The budget
proposal put forward by the government targets fiscal revenue at some
21.2% of GDP (see Armenia: 4 October 2007:). According to ARKA News,
the government hopes to boost revenue next year by suppressing the
black economy. A more transparent tax administration would also help
in supporting productivity and competitiveness. Increasing general
competitiveness of the industrial sector also has a connection to the
tax policy in that reforms in the system of tax rebates and fixed
payments would be needed in order to create an even playing field for
producers, and to support efficient allocation of resources. This,
further, is necessary in order to increase Armenia’s long-term growth
potential and export earnings capacity.

The Armenian monetary authorities have let the dram appreciate
strongly in response to sizeable foreign currency inflows in the form
of workers’ remittances from the Armenian diaspora and FDI. A
flexible exchange rate has been a prerequisite for implementing an
inflation targeting policy, where the Central Bank of Armenia has
been relatively successful. There should still be some strengthening
capacity for the dram without the threat of overvaluation. However,
in the longer term, further continued appreciation may start to harm
the competitiveness of Armenian domestic industries. Given the
importance of foreign currency remittances in the economy, continued
dram appreciation may also become politically more difficult in the
long term, as dram appreciation reduces the domestic currency value
of US$-nominated revenue. This scenario also would risk making the
task of lowering dollarisation in the economy more difficult. This,
further, would make monetary control in the economy in general more
challenging. Consequently, increased financial-sector development is
of crucial importance in order to increase the means available for
monetary authorities for sterilising currency market interventions.
In addition, more developed financial markets would allow exporters
increased opportunities to hedge exchange rate risk.

RSF CALLS FOR FULL INVESTIGATION

BÝA, Turkey
Oct 3 2007

Just before the second hearing of the Dink murder trial, the RSF
urged Turkey to investigate the murder fully.

As the Dink murder trial resumes, authorities urged to prosecute all
those who knew about murder plot.

Appeal just before second hearing

On the eve of the second hearing in the trial of the alleged killers
of Armenian-Turkish newspaper editor Hrant Dink, who was gunned down
on 19 January, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) today (28 September)
called on the authorities to go after all those who instigated or
knew about the plan to kill him.

"Thanks to the Dink family’s efforts, some progress has been made since
the first hearing on 2 July," the press freedom organisation said.

"It shows the authorities have begun to realise the seriousness of
this case, and we welcome that. But this initial progress is not
enough. All the people who participated in this murder, and all
those who were aware of its preparation and did nothing to stop it,
must also be prosecuted and punished according to the law."

Widow’s letter to Prime Minister

The second hearing in the trial is due to be held on 1 October in
Istanbul. Nineteen persons are being tried for Dink’s murder or
complicity in his murder. Only eight of them are currently detained
after the court decided to release four of the suspects – Salih
Hacisalioglu, Veysel Toprak, Osman Alpay and Irfan Ozkan – during
the first hearing.

As a result of a 15 March letter from the victim’s widow, Rakel Dink,
urging Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to investigate what happened
during the months prior to Dink’s death, Erdogan announced that he
has assigned the case to his Commission of Enquiry, a special team
that is permanently at his disposal.

Investigation in Trabzon

Two of the commission’s investigators reportedly went to the northern
city of Trabzon, where all the defendants live, to look into the
accusations that have been levelled against its security forces.

Two members of the city’s police were already being investigated as
a result of allegations made by Coskun Igci, the 19th person to be
charged. Igci claims he was employed as an informant by the police
and warned them that an attack was being prepared on Dink.

Intelligence and police chiefs not to be prosecuted

After the Dink family filed a new complaint, the family and the two
of the leading suspects, Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel, were formally
questioned again as to what they knew about the role of two police
officials in the case.

Nonetheless, Trabzon’s governor decided on 7 August that intelligence
chief Ramazan Akyurek, and Trabzon police chief Resat Altay are not
to be prosecuted for failing to prevent the murder despite repeated
warnings.

The Dink family has appealed against the decision not to bring
prosecutions against them and against police officers Engin Dinc,
Faruk Sari, Ercan Demir, Ozkan Mumcu, Muhittin Zenit and Mehmet
Ayhan.

–Boundary_(ID_+7nB0sFUBPfFIZ5FmmrV AQ)–

The Cafesjian Family Foundation, Inc.
15 South Fifth Street, Suite 900
Minneapolis, MN 55402
Tel. (612) 359-8991
Fax. (612) 359-8994
PRESS RELEASE

September 28, 2007

Contact: John Waters
Tel: (612) 359-8991
Email: [email protected]

Hirair Hovnanian and others are sued over Genocide Museum
Trustees Endeavor to Exclude Chief Donor

Minneapolis, MN, Sept. 28/–The Cafesjian Family Foundation (CFF),
individually and on behalf of the Armenian Genocide Museum and
Memorial, Inc. (AGMM), filed suit today in the United Sates District
Court for the District of Columbia, against the Armenian Assembly of
America, Inc., and AGMM Trustees Hirair Hovnanian, Van Krikorian and
Anoush Mathevosian. The legal action seeks to enjoin these Trustees
from attempting to exclude CFF from decisions impacting the
development of AGMM, and seeks monetary damages for any actions taken
without the required approval of CFF.

CFF Vice-president and the CFF designee to the AGMM Board of
Trustees, John J. Waters said, `Several weeks ago, a few members of
the AGMM Board of Trustees issued a press release. The announcement
came as a complete surprise. CFF controls three of the six authorized
AGMM Board votes. Contrary to AGMM governance procedures, CFF was
neither given notice nor consulted regarding the proposed actions
announced in the release. This failure is inexplicable.’

Pursuant to a grant agreement, Mr. Gerard L. Cafesjian and CFF
have made grants to AGMM valued in excess of $17.5 million. Cafesjian
is the major and by far the largest contributor to the AGMM project.

`CFF can not be excluded from board deliberations,’ said
Mr. Waters.`The AGMM by-laws, as well as the Cafesjian grant
agreement, mandate that the CFF designated Trustee be included in all
board discussions and decisions.’

The recent announcement is the latest in a series of maneuvers
apparently intended to deprive Mr. Cafesjian and CFF of their rights.

`I am at a loss to explain these tactics,’ said Mr. Waters.`The
animosity towards Mr. Cafesjian is unwarranted, given Mr. Cafesjian’s
significant support for the AGMM project, the Armenian Assembly of
America, Inc. (Assembly), and all that he has done for the Armenian
cause in the Republics of Armenia and Karabakh.’

In 2000 Mr. Cafesjian and CFF contributed $3.5 million dollars to
help fund the purchase of the National Bank of Washington, and pledged
an additional $1.5 million dollars for the installation of a
memorial. In addition, CFF loaned the Assembly $500,000, interest
free, to help complete the purchase.

`For an Armenian Genocide museum and memorial to have political
and social impact in Washington, a city of museums and monuments, it
has to stand out,’ said Mr. Waters. `From the outset, Mr. Cafesjian
has been committed to a project that offers the entire Armenian
community the opportunity to benefit from: a project that has a strong
vision, secure managerial and financial support, and a program that
treats the Armenian Genocide and the memory of its victims with the
utmost of dignity and respect; a project that can be a cultural center
and gathering place for all Armenians; and a project that creates a
permanent voice in our nation’s capital, to ensure that
Armenian-American issues and concerns, past and present, are never
ignored again.’

From inception in 2000, until the project was subsequently
transferred to AGMM in November of 2003, the Assembly controlled the
undertaking. During that period, little was done to move the project
forward. Nevertheless, two things did become clear: (1) the National
Bank of Washington property alone was not sufficient to house a
project that would meet the objectives set forth above; and (2), the
project would need the support of the entire community to be a
success.

Toward those ends, in 2003, Mr. Cafesjian supported the creation
of a new independent entity, the Armenian Genocide Museum and Memorial,
Inc. He helped launch the new entity with a donation of four additional
real estate parcels valued at over $12.5 million.

As of September 2006, the contributions funded by current and
former Board of Trustee members for the benefit of the AGMM were as
follows:

Gerard Cafesjian and CFF $14,400,000
Anoush Mathevosian $ 3,500,000
Hirair Hovnanian $ 1,500,000
John Waters $ 25,000
Robert Kaloosdian $ 100
Van Krikorian $ 0
Total Board of Trustee Contributions$19,425,100

For four years, the minority who now want to take credit for promoting
the project blocked all proposals to proceed with development of a
museum and memorial that made use of the entire site, rejected the
consensus professional advice that the bank building alone was
inadequate to achieve project goals, refused to transfer funds held by
the Assembly for the benefit of AGMM to the AGMM, and inhibited
efforts to broaden the base of community involvement.

The Assembly’s attorney inadvertently revealed the real agenda last
June: sell the four additional properties donated by Cafesjian and use
the proceeds to convert the bank building into a paltry exhibit. In a
June 22, 2007 Minneapolis Star Tribune article about the museum
project, the attorney representing the Assembly said, `I think that
what may happen is the whole project may be downsized…to just the
old National Bank Building.’

`This revelation is the crux of the AGMM board dispute’, said
Mr. Waters.`They are attempting to take advantage of Mr. Cafesjian’s
generosity, misuse his contributions to fund an inferior project, and
to take credit for doing so.’ `The recent announcement perplexed CFF
by suddenly trumpeting some vaguely described initiative. Even though
the undertaking is undefined and the contributions and input of the
AGMM’s largest donor are discounted, this development purports to move
the project forward?’ questioned Mr. Waters.

`To date, CFF’s $500,000 loan has not been repaid and the Assembly is
disavowing any obligation to repay the debt. In an apparent effort to
further some secret agenda, the Assembly suspended Mr. Cafesjian and
me from the Assembly board, and now it appears that our role on the
AGMM board is being undermined.’

`We have attempted to resolve these issues amicably, but the other
board members seem to have no interest in achieving a fair
resolution.’

`Unfortunately, this dispute has landed us in court,’ said Waters.`It
is a huge waste of both time and money, but we have to fight to
protect the vision of AGMM and the interests of other donors who have
so generously supported the project.’

`In spite of all that has happened, Mr. Cafesjian remains committed to
supporting a project that properly honors the memory of the victims of
the Genocide.’

WORLD BANK AGAIN DEFENDS USE OF ARMENIA WATER LOAN
By Ruben Meloyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 4 2007

The World Bank on Thursday again shrugged off embarrassing allegations
about gross misuse of a $30 million loan to Armenia that were
first made by an Armenian parliamentary commission in 2004 and have
resurfaced in recent weeks.

The loan was part of a 1999 World Bank project designed to upgrade
the country’s water infrastructure and improve Yerevan residents’
access to drinking water. The Armenian parliament formed in 2003 an
ad hoc commission to investigate the effectiveness of these and other
large-scale infrastructure projects financed by Western donors.

In its first report made public in March 2004, the commission headed
by deputy speaker Vahan Hovannisian concluded that the water scheme
has failed to achieve its main objectives to due to mismanagement and
corruption among government officials and private firms. The report
deplored the fact that 27 percent of the World Bank funds have been
spent on project management, overheads and logistics.

The World Bank office dismissed the claims at the time, insisting
that the project’s implementation has been a success.

The Washington-based institution, which has been Armenia’s principal
lender, was again put on the defense recently by Bruce Tasker, a
Yerevan-based British engineer who had participated in the 2003-2004
parliamentary inquiry as an expert. Tasker detailed those allegations
on his website and effectively implicated the World Bank in the
alleged corruption.

"The fact is it was not an isolated case of a few thousand dollars
here or there, it was tens of millions of dollars," Britain’s "The
Observer" newspaper quoted him as saying on Sunday.

The paper said the British ambassador to Armenia, Anthony Cantor,
has urged the World Bank to investigate Tasker’s claims. But it said
the bank is in no rush to do that, having cited a backlog of such
cases brought before its management.

"Our country office and teams from Washington have disclosed fully all
information available on this project to the parliamentary commission,"
the head of the bank’s Yerevan office, Aristomene Varoudakis, told
reporters on Thursday. "That includes all external technical audits
and financial audits of the project."

"So based on this information made available back in 2004 and 2005,
when this investigation was initiated, there was no evidence of any
fraud or mismanagement in this project," said Varoudakis.

Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian also weighed in on the case late
Wednesday, saying that his government is ready to again look into the
corruption allegations. "The World Bank looked into his claims and
found no serious violations," he said. "I think in spite of that we
will once again address the matter because the opinion of the English
engineer is extremely important for us."

Sarkisian at the same time questioned the credibility of the
allegations, saying that Tasker has a personal grudge against a French
company that currently manages the Yerevan water network and its
Italian predecessor that used the World Bank loan. "That engineer used
to work with the Italians, then the French didn’t hire him and then
other events took place and he appealed to the World Bank," he said.

The World Bank loan was tied to the Armenian government’s sweeping
reform and restructuring of the country’s obsolete water and sewerage
network. As part of that reform, hundreds of thousands of Armenian
households had to buy and install water meters in their homes. The
government had promised that, as a result, virtually all Yerevan
residents will have running water 24 hours a day by 2004. It has
clearly failed to fulfill the pledge.

Veolia Eau, the French utility giant running the Yerevan network, has
said that it will need a decade to ensure 24-hour water to the vast
majority of local households. The operator argues that as much as 80
percent of drinking waters leaks out of eroding pipes before reaching
consumers. The World Bank funds were supposed to significantly reduce
the huge losses.

THE PROSPECT OF RECOGNIZING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Vardan Grigoryan

Hayots Ashkharh Daily, Armenia
Oct 4 2007

The issue of recognizing the Armenian Genocide is again in the
focus of the European and American legislators’ attention and has
already been included in the agenda of EU-Turkey and EU- United
States relations. Simultaneously, Armenia and Turkey have entered
into interstate negotiations, the first signal of such negotiations
being the October 2 meeting between both countries’ Foreign Ministers
held in the United States.

It is noteworthy that the US House of Foreign Affairs Committee will
discuss Resolution #106 on October 10, just a week after the meeting
between V. Oskanyan and A. Babajan.

It is also necessary to bear in mind that the European Union will
resume the negotiations with Turkey during the coming months, and the
outcome is expected to be achieved on December 14. In this context,
Ankara is receiving new and new signals, admonitions and demands
from the United States in favor of the policy of opening its borders
with Armenia and in general – leaving our country out of the regional
project.

Thus, the official Ankara is again becoming faced with the fact of
the existence of Armenian Issue.

And although the Turks are trying to sidestep the issue by using
their characteristic persistence, during "internal discussions" they
do confess their own country’s defeat on the international arena. In
the meantime, there is an increasing number of Turkish politicians and
experts who demand that their authorities distinguish the international
aspects of the Armenian Issue from the Armenian-Turkish bilateral
relations, and for that purpose they deem it necessary to initiate
a direct dialogue with Armenia and open the border.

That’s why, during the upcoming months while the US House of Foreign
Affairs Committee is discussing the Resolution and submitting it to
the final decision of the plenary session, Turkey will have to make
a difficult choice. After all, which is more advantageous to it?

The American legislators’ recognizing the Armenian Genocide or speeding
up the dialogue with Armenia and opening the borders?

Judging the official Ankara’s attitude, Turkey is trying to use
some trick with the purpose of excluding the Armenian Issue from
the agenda of Congress. And the appeals addressed to Nancy Pelosy,
Speaker of the House of Representatives, by the former US Senators
and former Heads of the defense sphere are the successive evidence
of this fact. The "unexpected appearance" of such documents can be
considered an attempt of torpedoing the October 10 discussions to be
held in the US House of Foreign Affairs Committee.

However, bringing the Armenian-Turkish relations in compliance with
the minimum standards required for a country seeking EU membership
in the 21st century is, in some sense, an imperative of time. And
it is impossible to delay the solution to this problem either for
the sake of Azerbaijan’s alliance with Turkey or for the sake of
realizing the unrealizable goal of extorting unilateral confessions
from Armenia. It is obvious that in view of the inevitability of
resuming the negotiations with the European Union and the existence
of the clear signals received by the United States, the present-day
Turkish authorities, being moderately Islamic, will be forced to
mitigate their attitudes towards Armenia.

Therefore, the positive or negative solutions to the problem will be
greatly dependant upon the attitude of the Army which has the power of
"pronouncing its final word" in the country and which has always been
the fundamental and irreconcilable opponent of opening the borders
with Armenia and de-blockading our country.

We believe that the command of the Turkish Army and the whole "in-depth
state" can make some provocative steps inside their own country in an
attempt to assume the role of an "advocate" of the Turkish diplomacy
who holds no office and who loses the relevant resources of resisting
the international community’s pressures.

In such conditions, Armenia has to be consistent in its efforts of
disseminating the idea that the recognition of such an undeniable
fact may, instead of becoming an obstacle, serve as a turning point
not only towards the regulation of the Armenian-Turkish relations,
but also towards Turkeys internal democratization.

Moreover, the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the US Congress
may shake the positions of the forces that lay obstacles to Turkey’s
modernization and European integration by way of breeding intolerance
towards the Armenian Issue and the Armenians.

Pontifical Visit Media Advisory

His Holiness Karekin II
Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians

Pontifical Visit of the
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)

630 Second Avenue New York, New York 10016

Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate
Pontifical Visit
Media Relations Office

Michael O’Hurley-Pitts, Ph.D.
Director
Telephone: 212.686.0710 ext. 154
[email protected]
Facsimile: 212.689.1934
Cellular: 212.533.0335

Sylvie Keshishian
Public Relations Director
Telephone: 212.686.0710 ext. 160
[email protected]
Facsimile: 212.689.1934

4 October 2007

His Holiness Karekin II Presents Diocesan Employee with Pontifical Medal

New York, N.Y. – His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) announced today that His
Holiness Karekin II, Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, awarded
Jacqueline Dechkounian with the prestigious St. Nerses Shnorhali award. The
ceremony took place at Diocesan Headquarters in Manhattan.

The St. Nerses Shnorhali award is one of three medals given by the
Catholicos of All Armenians. This particular award recognizes a member of
the community of the Armenian Church whose service to the Church goes above
and beyond the call of duty.

An employee of the Armenian Church for over 26 years, Jacqueline Dechkounian
has served the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) as a chef
with the love and care of a doting Mother. His Holiness Karekin II
explained, "When Jacqueline introduced herself to me as "the Diocese’s
mother", I found this extremely touching. so today we award her today as a
small gesture of our appreciation for everything Her dedication and love for
her Church, her work and her sons and daughters, her colleagues, is a rare
gift she has given us for so long."

Jacqueline Dechkounian was born in 1938 in Saida (Beirut) to Suzan Matic
(originally of Mosul) and Michael Kassab Ekmekjian (originally from Urfa).
She was born the youngest girl of 6 girls and 2 boys. Jacqueline and her
family grew up on Arakatz street in the Bourdj Hammoud district of Beirut
where she went to the Hripsimeants school until the age of 11. Jacqueline’s
father, Michael Kassab Ekmekjian, was a General in the Lebanese Army. Upon
his retirement, Mr. Ekmekjian opened a bakery in Bourdj Hammoud where
Jacqueline worked as a young woman after leaving school. Always very
religious, as a young girl Jacqueline knew she wanted to serve the Church
and even contemplated becoming a nun. She worked in her father’s bakery
until she married her husband, Hohvannes Dechkounian in 1959 at the age of
21.

Bourdj Hammoud has consistently been home to a large number of Armenians.
While Jacqueline was growing up, this lively section of Beirut was around
75% Armenian. The Armenians of Bourdj Hammoud were known for their
hard-working spirit and were all small business owners with shops selling
anything from jewelry to bread. Hovannes Dechkounian was a neighbor of the
Ekmekjian family. He fell in love with the young Jacqueline and they were
married. Hovhannes started a factory making shoe heels which became a
family business where many of the male members of the Dechkounian family
worked. Heels were produced in the factory for shoe businesses locally,
nationally and even for places as far away from Lebanon as Iraq.

Jacqueline has lived a very Armenian Christian life. Her maternal aunt,
Soeur Philippe Marie, was a nun in Iraq. A cousin of hers in Haleb was an
Archbishop. All of her sisters are alive today, and like many families of
the Diaspora, they live all over the world; one sister currently lives in
France, another in Syria and the other sisters live in the USA.
Jacqueline’s brother lives in Australia, but unfortunately her other brother
drowned at the age of 18 while he was serving in the Lebanese Army. Her
brother saved a drowning man, but himself drowned in the river. It is this
extreme sort of selflessness that seems typical of the Ekmekjian family.

The Dechkounian family moved to the US from Lebanon in 1980, like so many
Armenians because of the Lebanese Civil War. They have been living in
Astoria since they arrived. And since their arrival, Jacqueline has served
the Armenian Church. Jacqueline has been "cooking for Armenians" for the
past 22 years at the Diocese and before was cook at Armenian Aged Home in
Flushing for 3 years. While Jacqueline is known for her delicious choregs,
koftes and boreks, she is loved for her warmth and her kindness to all. She
makes a comfortable kitchen for Archbishops from around the globe just as
she does for young children and the employees of the Diocese. She is a
truly warm and loving person who makes the Diocese, and the Church, a better
place.

Just four years ago, Jaqueline lost her beloved Hovhannes. Jacqueline and
Hohvannes Dechkounian had two children together, Maral Serce (secretary at
the Diocese) and Roupen Dechkounian (a pharmacist). Jacqueline has been
blessed with three grandchildren. Maral has a daughter and son, Tamar and
Jack and Roupen has a son, Zareh. All of Digin Jacqueline’s grandchildren
speak Armenian, which is a great source of pride for her.

His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the
Armenian Church of America explained, "It is a pleasure to have an employee
like Jacqueline Dechkounian. Her hard work and dedication to the Diocese
and to her Church remind us all of the selflessness taught by the life of
Christ. Jaqueline Dechkounian is a very deserved recipient of the St.
Nerses Shnorhali award and I am grateful that she is a part of our Church."

For more information on the Pontifical Visit of His Holiness Karekin II,
including supplemental media advisories and background papers, please visit:

# # #

ALVINA GIULUMYAN AGAIN TO REPRESENT ARMENIA AT EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Panorama.am
15:17 03/10/2007

Alvina Giulumyan has been reelected as a judge from Armenia in the
European Court of Human Rights during the voting at the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) late yesterday, Lana
Mshetsyan, press secretary of the justice ministry, told Panorama.am.

Giulumyan’s powers of a judge ended in October, this year. Armenia
had proposed the candidacies of Alvina Giulumyan, acting judge of
the European Court of Human Rights, Gevorg Kostanyan, deputy minister
of justice ministry and Nelly Harutunyan, head of international and
legal relations division at the Armenian general prosecutor’s office.

FABRICATING THE PRETEXT FOR ANOTHER WAR
By John V. Walsh

CounterPunch, CA
Oct 1 2007

Ahmadinejad is Not My Enemy

I had any number of Yossarian moments this last week as the entire
apparatus of respectable opinion unleashed everything they had at
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. But what has Ahmadinejad done
to me or anyone in the U.S.? Nothing that I know of.

On the other hand Israel and its Lobby, whose hand was very much
in evidence at the Columbia demonstrations against Ahmadinejad, is
very much my enemy. Along with the industrial/Congressional wing
of the military industrial Congressional complex, Israel and its
fifth column in the U.S. (aka the Lobby) drove us into war in Iraq,
killing thousands of American soldiers and 1 million Iraqis. So there
is the Yossarian moment. Ahmadinejad is not trying to get Americans
killed, but these other guys sure are–and they have been remarkably
successful. So who is our Colonel Cathcart, the commanding officer in
Catch-22 trying to drive Yossarian into ever more life-threatening
missions? Not Ahmadinejad, that’s for sure. (It is striking that
Bush and the Democratic Congress are literally latter day Cathcarts,
cruelly extending the length of combat missions and multiplying them
endlessly based on fine print. Catch-22 is not lost on our rulers.)

And now the Lobby and its allies want to kill Iranians too. In fact
they would like to destroy Iran, its army and its infrastructure.

Why? Because Iran wants nuclear power? That is hardly believable. At
that rate we should be pouring into the streets the next time Sarkozy
who presides over a densely nuclear France bares his chest in the
U.S. again. And if Iran has nuclear power, so what?

Now do not tell me, as radicals (of both Libertarian and Leftist
stripe) are being duly advised by liberals these days, that we are
making the classical mistake of identifying the enemy of my enemies
as my friend. For I am not saying that Ahmadinejad is my friend. In
fact I know very little about the man–except what I hear through the
filters of pundocratic respectability and the spin put on his words by
the chorus of neocons. He apparently feels that historical Palestine
should have room for Arabs and Jews both, as Iran apparently does. That
is fine with me. A modern secular state for Arabs and Jews together
in historic Palestine is inevitable in the long term anyway, so why
not get on with it? (I would differ with Ahmadinejad that Iran should
remain an Islamic state and I would like to tell him so. But I find
that those who would argue for a Jewish state, or more accurately a
Jewish apartheid state, are on thin ice when arguing this point with
my non-enemy Ahmadinejad.) He says he wants to study the Holocaust
more–and he may even be a genocide denier. But so what? Freedom to
discuss things should be open ended.

And Abe Foxman and company deny the Armenian genocide, but their
praises are sung far and wide, high and low. So Ahmadinejad may not
be my friend–but he is not my enemy.

Nor is Iran my enemy–although the U.S. owes Iran a mighty big set
of apologies, and Iran should certainly consider our government a
power hostile to it. For consider what has been done to Iran with
our tax dollars. "Our" CIA overthrew the democratically elected
Iranian government of Mohammad Mossadegh in the 1950s because his
social democratic party wanted Iran to control Iranian oil–in place
of Anglo/American corporations. The U.S. installed the Shah and with
the aid of Israel, according to Uri Avnery, trained his vicious secret
police who tortured and killed untold numbers of Iranians to maintain
his pro-U.S. rule. Then when the Shah was ousted, we supported Saddam
Hussein in his vicious war on Iran with chemical weapons. A million
people died in that war. Oh, the Iranians did hold a handful of
Americans hostage at the time they overthrew our puppet, the Shah,
certainly a hostile act but a pin prick compared to the death and
destruction we and our Israeli ally have visited on Iran and plan to
do again.

So I am really not impressed by the forces arrayed against Ahmadinejad
at Columbia and in the neocon "think" tanks. From William Kristol
to Michael Lerner (who has also gone after those in the wonderful
Jewish Voice for Peace who advocate a one-state solution), they were
all attacking the Iranian Pres and Iran itself last week.

But the Iranians have not tried to kill Americans–in fact for hundreds
of years they have a pretty good record of staying at home, avoiding
aggression and defending themselves. They may have a thing or two to
teach us on that score. Perhaps Ahmadinejad is right when he says he
is just a teacher.

John V. Walsh can be reached at [email protected]

ARMENIAN MP: YEREVAN IS INTERESTED IN POLITICAL STABILITY IN GEORGIA

Regnum, Russia
Oct 1 2007

The current situation in Georgia is not a kind of pre-election
phenomenon, but mostly is a post-revolutionary echo, Secretary of the
Republican Party of Armenia faction Samvel Nikoyan saying under this
very reason one must not expect such events in Armenia.

According to him, any change of power via revolution has certain
post-revolutionary rules and this concerns not Georgia only. "If
you analyze post-revolutionary developments all over the world,
you will see that such processes are seen quite often," Nikoyan
added. He mentioned that in countries where instead of clear-cut norms
"individual, missionary way of ruling functions" even in its positive
manifestation, such developments are impossible. "Naturally, I would
prefer that political stability is achieved in the neighboring country,
which is in interests of Armenia too, but such events are inevitable
anyway," Nikoyan concluded.

Earlier, Georgian ex-defense minister Irakli Okruashvili spoke out
with a statement accusing President Saakashvili in masterminding
a number of assassinations and promising to make public details of
death of former prime minister Zurab Zhvania. Several days after that,
Okruashvili was arrested under the charge of corruption and sentenced
to two months in custody.