Author: Tvankchian Parkev

CAPTURED AZERI ANAR ALIYEV: THE SOLDIERS I MET WHILE WALKING ALONG THE RIVER TOOK ME TO THEIR PLACE

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug 3 2007

"I was walking along the river, when suddenly I met soldiers. They took
me to their place. I feel normal. They talked to me today. I came here
as I was pensive. I am well. They promised to inform my family about
me. I will possibly return with mediation of International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC). Do not worry about me, I am well. Anar,"
says the letter written by Terter resident Anar Aliyev captured by
Armenians on August 2 to his family, APA Karabakh bureau reports.

The committee handed the letter to Anar’s brother. Representatives of
ICRC Nagorno Karabakh office today visited the Azerbaijani civilian
captured by Armenians.

Anar Aliyev’s father Maarif Aliyev told APA’s Karabakh correspondent
that his son suffered from nervous breakdown in the past one
year. Witnesses saw his son yesterday visit his mother’s grave at
about 12.00 and walk along Terter river.

"He liked being alone and reacted very nervously to everything. We
heard that Anar was captured from media," he said.

Anar Aliyev is 29 years old, got higher education, did his military
service and is single. He was captured by Armenians on August 2.

TIPPING THE SCALES OF JUSTICE: THESE CATERERS BRING ORDER TO L.A. COURTS
by Sonya Geis, Washington Post Staff Writer

The Washington Post
Suburban Edition
August 2, 2007 Thursday

PASADENA, Calif.

In the nine months she spent sequestered as a juror on the O.J. Simpson
trial, Carrie Bess gained 50 pounds. Fifty pounds. And Harry and Gary
Hindoyan are at least partially responsible.

The Hindoyan brothers have become the de facto house chefs for Los
Angeles celebrity murder trials. The private caterers fed lunch to
Bess and the rest of the Simpson jurors every day. When the criminal
trial was over, the Hindoyans fed the Simpson civil trial jurors.

They fed the juries who decided the fates of actor Robert Blake
(not guilty of murdering his ex-girlfriend), the Menendez brothers
(convicted of murdering their parents in Beverly Hills) and Reginald
Denny’s attackers (most found not guilty of attempted murder for
beating the truck driver during the 1992 L.A. riots).

The employees of the downtown Los Angeles criminal courthouse
love the Hindoyans’ food. Judge’s birthday? Call Gary. Prosecutor
retiring? Order the chicken. Don’t want jurors wandering the streets
at lunch, where unscrupulous news reporters could pounce, tainting
the eventual verdict? At a cost of $12 to $15 per person per meal,
the Hindoyans take care of it all.

"We know exactly where the elevators are, where to enter, which floor
to go to, where the jury room is behind the bench," Harry Hindoyan
says. They’ve been catering for juries for almost 20 years.

It started with former district attorney Ira Reiner’s wife, Hindoyan
recalls. She liked their food. So did a lot of local lawyers, who
hung out at the Hindoyans’ Middle Eastern/American restaurant.

The court catering gigs really took off after the Denny case. Feeding
jurors lunch is cheaper than sequestering them, but still keeps
them away from the media, court spokesman Allan Parachini says. The
Hindoyans are convenient, cost-effective and they know the drill. So
they get the call for almost every trial where a judge wants jurors
to stay indoors.

On a recent morning Harry Hindoyan sits at a front table at Burger
Continental, which he owns with his brother. The place is a narrow
brick cave with a few tables on the sidewalk, wait staff who know
the customers; it offers belly-dancing at night, and a lunch buffet.

Hindoyan’s chef jacket bears stains from meals long past, but looks
freshly laundered. He takes a break from his omelet with kalamata
olives to talk courthouse culinary stuff.

He is struggling now to come up with interesting food for Phil
Spector’s murder trial jurors. The case has plodded along in a
downtown L.A. courtroom since April; the defense announced yesterday
it’s close to resting. For those losing track of Celebrities in
Very Big Trouble, Spector is a record producer best known for his
"wall of sound" technique and work with the Beatles and 1960s girl
groups. He is accused of murdering Lana Clarkson, a B-movie actress
he picked up at a Sunset Strip nightclub.

As the trial enters its fourth month, it’s tough for the Hindoyans
to provide variety.

"Chicken kebabs, beef shish kebabs, shrimp brochettes, lamb chops, our
signature plates: Chicken Erotica and Seven Veils Chicken," Hindoyan
lists recent lunches. Chicken Erotica? Do tell. "Our specialty,"
he says. Chicken breast stuffed with jumbo shrimp and wrapped in bacon.

Bacon.

"Plus Greek salad, hummus, tabbouleh. And American versions, like
veggie wraps. Rice pilaf. And dessert, nice things: eclairs, fruit
tarts, tiramisu, baklavas."

"Oh, I remember it being darn good," Carrie Bess, 53, says by telephone
as she reflects on the chow during her Simpson trial days.

"Like I told you, I gained 50 pounds. Everybody gained weight."

The Hindoyans bought their restaurant in 1971. Armenian immigrants
from Lebanon, they took over the business after Harry Hindoyan, 57,
had waited tables there for several years. He once thought he might
be a lawyer, but the restaurant was good to him. "I just stuck, stuck,
stuck, and the rest is history," he says.

He likes the insider view of court cases. He got friendly with
Simpson’s criminal trial judge, Lance Ito, and sat in court to watch
the cast of characters enter in the morning before the reporters came
in to snap up all the seats. "You get mesmerized, sitting there. Here
comes O.J. Here comes Shapiro. It’s like Jay Leno saying, ‘Our guest
tonight is Johnnie Cochran.’ "

So O.J. — did he do it? "My gut feeling is, probably, yes, he did
it," Hindoyan says. Many of the lawyers came around his restaurant,
and he got to know prosecutors Marcia Clark and William Hodgman.

"They were spilling their guts out as to how guilty this guy was."

Simpson was charismatic, Hindoyan says, but "Spector’s different. The
guy looks weird, or eerie, from the outside. He’s got bodyguards all
around him the whole time."

But back to those hungry jurors. What to cook? "Even though we’re
not supposed to talk to the jurors at all, we asked the sheriff,
what do they want to eat?" Hindoyan says. The bland-ish answer:
Grilled cheese sandwiches. BLTs.

"You want to impress the jury and judge," Hindoyan says. "But when
they say BLT sandwiches, turkey sandwiches — perfect. That was a
great alternative that we can go that route."

Despite weeks of testimony about blood spatter — a gun went off in
Clarkson’s mouth — Spector’s jurors have been clean-plate-club kids.

"They devour everything. They devour everything," Hindoyan says.

"Everything is gone. Whatever’s left over, the sheriffs come in and
graze the whole thing."

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:

PRESS RELEASE

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Alexis Govciyan Receives France’s Highest Honor, Legion d’Honneur

On June 9, 2007, longtime AGBU member Alexis Govciyan was awarded the
prestigious Legion d’Honneur medal by French Senate President M.
Christian Poncelet. Govciyan was President of the Ile de France district
from 1993 to 1996 and served as Vice President of AGBU France from 1995
to 1996. He recently rejoined the AGBU France Committee.

The "Legion d’Honneur" is the premier order of France, established by
Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. Other recognizable French Armenian
recipients of the award have been devoted philanthropist and AGBU France
District member Sona Attamian and renowned singer Charles Aznavour.

For more information on AGBU and its worldwide chapters, please visit

INHABITANTS OF 11 DISTRICTS OF YEREVAN PROTEST AGAINST DELAY OF PRIVATIZATION PROCESS OF DWELLING SPACES

Noyan Tapan
Aug 1, 2007

YEREVAN, AUGUST 1, NOYAN TAPAN. Inhabitants of eleven districts
of Yerevan organized an action of protest against the delay of the
privatization process of their dwelling spaces in front of the building
of the RA government on August 1.

Samvel Mkrtchian, the Chairman of the "Community and Right"
non-governmental organization, made assertions that Serge Sargsian, the
Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, assigned Yervand Zakharian,
the Mayor of Yerevan, to speed up the privatization process of the
real estate in the territories of the districts having a 13 thousand
population, including Demirtchian, Manandian, Moskovian, Aygestan
streets, and Myasnikian avenue on May 22, however the assignment of
the Prime Minister has not been accomplished as yet.

Kamo Areyan, the Deputy Mayor of Yerevan, assured the demonstrators
that two more commissions will be created in the municipality which
will implement measurements in every district after which they will
carry out the formation and disposition of privatization certificates.

ARMENIAN DEFENCE MINISTER OFF TO KOSOVO

Arminfo, Yerevan
31 Jul 07

31 July: An Armenian Defence Ministry delegation left for Kosovo
today. The delegation is led by Defence Minister Mikayel Harutyunyan,
ministry spokesman Seyran Shahsuvaryan told Arminfo.

Meetings are planned with the top brass of the multinational forces
and the Armenian servicemen carrying out a peacekeeping mission in
Kosovo. The Armenian peacekeepers are carrying out their mission as
part of the multinational peacekeeping forces in Kosovo.

Passage omitted: Armenia currently has 34 troops in Kosovo

ARMENIA’S DEFENSE MINISTRY DENIES REPORTS ON BUYING WEAPONS FROM ALBANIA

armradio.am
26.07.2007 17:05

The Armenian Defense Ministry has denied reports on buying weapons
from Albania. Spokesman for the ministry Seyran Shahsuvaryan said "no
agreements have been reached about delivery of weapons from Albania
to Armenia" and he heard of it for the first time. Leaks in the media,
Shakhsuvaryan said, were another lie.

According to some media, including Gazetashqiptare (Albania), an
Armenian Defense Ministry official got in touch with his colleague
in Albania and ordered a large shipment of weapons including flak of
various calibers varying from 75 mm to 122 mm. After MEIKO Company
having experience in the field was instructed to establish ties with
officials in Armenia in charge and strike a deal. The source also notes
that the Armenian side was supposed to pay for the shipment. However,
Turkish authorities allegedly denied transit to it, and the ship with
60 containers aboard turned back. They in Albania are sure that the
Turkey’s motion was caused by its harsh relations with Yerevan. MEIKO
leadership, in its turn, believes that Albania has nothing to do with
the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, because all selling
procedures were carried out properly and legalized, so, today, the
Albanian side is searching for other routes to deliver the shipment
to Armenia.

ARMENIAN FREESTYLE WRESTLERS REWARDED WITH 2 MEDALS IN EUROPEAN YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP

Noyan Tapan
Jul 26, 2007

WARSAW, JULY 26, NOYAN TAPAN. The European Youth Championship of
free-style wrestling finished in Warsaw on July 25. Hayk Manukian
(46kg, Yerevan) took the second place and Narek Sirunian (42kg,
Vanadzor) took the third place.

VICTIMS OF PUBLIC NEEDS CLAIM OWNERSHIP RIGHTS BACK FROM GOVERNMENT

Panorama.am
17:28 25/07/2007

"About 40 residents of Byuzand Street and Northern Avenue, who have
not signed a compensation contract with the state, have appeared
in the status of a "rogue." They are taken out of registration and
stripped of the Republic of Armenia citizenship," Sedrak Baghdasaryan,
chairman of "Victims of Public Needs" NGO, told a news conference
today. In his words, Human Rights Ombudsman Armen Harutunyan has
applied to the Constitutional Court (CC) concerning the problem. In
the words of the NGO chairman, according to CC ruling "the legal acts
on compulsory alienation of property for public needs do not comply
with the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia."

Baghdasaryan said "the government has been raiding ownership from
dozens of citizens and throwing them out to street violating their
human rights." Victims of Public Needs and several victimized citizens
demand from the government "to recover their violated rights."

HEAD OF MIGRATION SERVICE SAYS MORE PEOPLE ARRIVE IN ARMENIA THAN LEAVE

Panorama.am
17:29 25/07/2007

Migration and Refugees Department Head Gagik Yeganyan told a news
conference today "21,000 more people arrived in Armenia last year than
left" referring to lower migration flows since 2003. "Passenger flows
tend to rise by 15-18 percent each year as against previous year,"
the department head said. The passenger flow is expected to rise up
to 2 million 200 thousand in 2007 whereas in 2002 this indicator was
only 1 million 118 thousand. Yeganyan said: "Armenia is becoming a
place of interest for many."

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:

PRESS RELEASE

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

AGBU Hye Geen Sponsors Conference on "The Status of Armenian Communities
Living in the United States"
=09
On Saturday, April 28, 2007, the Kennedy Library of California State
University, Los Angeles (CSULA) was teeming with Armenian academics, who
had come to exchange ideas about the Armenian community. The seminar,
spearheaded by AGBU’s Hye Geen/Forum for Armenian Cultural and Social
Studies (FACSS) and Armenian Social Work Caucus at CSULA, was the second
event of its kind after its debut in 2006, and the successful turnout
promised to make it an annual tradition.

This year’s discussions focused on connecting Diaspora Armenians and
understanding the issues facing them, including assimilation, language,
identity, philosophy, and religious practice.

After opening remarks made by principal event organizer Nellie
Yeretsian-Yacoubian (MPA) and Dr. Karin A. Elliott-Brown, Professor at
the School of Social Work at CSULA, Hye Geen Chairperson Sona Yacoubian
introduced Dr. Lyudmila Harutyunyan, Dean of the Sociology Department at
Yerevan State University, who had especially flown in from Yerevan to
deliver her message.

Dr. Harutyunyan called for the creation of an "Armenian Universe" that
integrates the Motherland and the dispersed communities around the
globe. Despite the end of the 20th century marking the birth of an
independent Armenian state, major problems remain. In particular,
Armenia and the Diaspora are segregated. Dr. Harutyunyan stressed that
only by networking within the "Armenian Universe" can the brain drain
from Armenia be turned into a brain gain, when the departed
professionals return with higher qualifications to deal with the
economic and political shortcomings of Armenia, particularly with regard
to human rights issues.

The speech was followed by a panel presentation on challenges of
Armenian life in the Diaspora, moderated by Dr. Ellie Andreassian, Ed.D.

The panelists included Ph.D. candidate Arsineh Ararat, Dr. Chiara
Hayganush Megighian-Zenati, Ms. Talin Sesetyan, M.A., and Dr. Matthew
Jendian. Respectively, they presented their research on the effect of
the Genocide on the mental health of Armenians across generations, a
morphogenetic approach to dealing with post-Genocide trauma called The
Systemic Approach of Family Constellations, trends in inter-ethnic
marriage, and factors contributing to the extent to which an individual
considers him or herself Armenian.

After the discussion, there was a brief video presentation on the
discovery of Tigranakert buried under rubble in Karabakh.

Ms. Sona Zeitlian, well-known author of "The Armenians in Egypt,"
moderated the second panel.

Dr. Lisa Arslanian, Psy.D., clarified misconceptions pervading the
Armenian community about psychological disorders. Armineh Lulejian,
candidate for Ed. D., shared her findings of a study she conducted on
the health of Armenian elderly in America. Dr. Sara Karakainen-Terian,
Ph.D., discussed the religious divide among Armenians who advocate
shorter services and accessible language and those who insist on
maintaining the use of classical language to preserve the
religious-cultural aspect of the Armenian Church.

Professor Osheen Keshishian, M. Ed., talked about the Armenian
experience in America, which began as far back as 1556 when, according
to the earliest available records, George the Armenian introduced
tobacco to Virginia. He called the Armenian Experience in the United
States an "arduous journey." Despite discrimination, social injustices
and harassment, the Armenian-American community today boasts high rates
of affluence and education levels. At present, said Professor
Keshishian, the need for maintaining the ethnic identity is high on the
agenda as retention of the Armenian language is dwindling.

Finally, Dr. Jack Der-Sarkissian, M.D., a family practitioner in
Hollywood, California’s "Little Armenia" neighborhood, who has a great
interest in education, spearheaded the Round Table Discussion about the
pros and cons of instituting charter schools for Armenian students.

At present, close to ninety-five percent of ethnic Armenian children do
not attend private Armenian schools because of the prohibitive cost and
other factors. The average annual expenses per student are around
$7,000.

Dr. Nadya Sarafian, Ed. D., retired Principal of AGBU Alex and Marie
Manoogian private school in Southfield, Michigan, which was accredited
as a charter in 1995 due to her efforts, expounded on the benefits of
converting from private to charter status. Charter schools are not
limited by district, they are allocated funds like public schools,
religion is taught without objection, and non-Armenians are expected to
follow the mandated courses. As a result, school registration readily
increased, and Armenian culture was introduced to non-Armenian students,
making it overall a positive experience.

Dr. Minas Kojayan, Ph. D., Chairman of the Armenian Department in the
AGBU Manoogian-Demirjian School in Canoga Park, author, columnist, and
teacher, argued that the juxtaposition of Armenian and non-Armenian
students would undermine efforts for the preservation of the Armenian
identity. He believes in the traditional segregation of Armenians from
others to preserve the purity of the Armenian character.

Medea Kalognomos, who holds a master’s degree in Pupil Personnel
Services and is a retired teacher and guidance counselor of the Glendale
Unified School District, said that, in public schools, Armenian children
learn to respect other ethnicities, exchange information, get acquainted
with civic duties, and learn about the system of government. Approval
for teaching specialized courses, like Armenian, can be obtained where a
high concentration of Armenian students justifies doing so, as has
happened in places like Hollywood or Glendale.

Overall, the conference helped shed light on several dynamics of the
Armenian community in the United States, stimulating thought and
discussion and the anticipation for next year’s seminar.

Part of the AGBU Southern California District, AGBU Hye Geen preserves
and honors the achievements of Armenian women around the world, promotes
the role of women in family and society through research, education and
advocacy and provides overall support for the empowerment of women as
guardians of the Armenian heritage. For more information on AGBU Hye
Geen, please call the AGBU Pasadena Center at (626) 794-7942.

For more information on AGBU and its worldwide chapters, please visit

This article has been prepared with material from Mary Terzian
().