Author: Tvankchian Parkev

IT WAS VERY GOOD
By Fadime Ozkan

Turkish Press
May 15 2009

STAR- The clouds were dispersed in Baku and now the spring is in
the air. The resentment, which has occurred between Turkey and
Azerbaijan recently with a potential to turn in to a crisis, ended
with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Baku. We sounded
out Baku which had the idea that the meetings aimed at normalizing
Turkish-Armenian relations would result in opening the Armenian border
before Nagorno-Karabakh recovers from occupation. Before Erdogan’s
visit, Azerbaijan was very offended and feared that Turkey would
leave it alone.

All the people whom we spoke to expressed their love for Turkey. They
said that Turkey was the only country which understands Azerbaijan and
that when Armenia occupied their lands, Turkey has always been next
to them. They also said that we are brothers and that they consider
our prime minister as their prime minister as well. But they conclude
their sentences by saying that they hope Turkey wouldn’t disappoint
them. When we met with a couple of authors, Azeri-Turkish Women Society
Chairman Assoc. Prof. Tenzile Rustemhanli said that she wished that
problems between Ankara-Yerevan and Baku are solved, Armenia leaves
Azerbaijani lands and the peace prevails in the region. She added
that but the EU, US or Russia wouldn’t allow this.

The Azeri media, which has made the Azeri public’s sensitivity more
fragile based on the news covered by the Armenian media, approaches
the issue more fervently. Before the visit, all the people in Baku
have been holding their breath, watching the Turkish TV channels
and waiting for Erdogan to visit and tell them that he is next to
them. Erdogan said following his meeting with Azeri President Ilham
Aliyev that borders wouldn’t be opened, unless Armenia withdraws
from the lands it had occupied. So all of these people who were very
concerned started to smile.

Two statesmen gave the message to the people of these two friendly
countries that there is no problem and that we are and we will continue
to remain as two states and one nation. Aliyev said in Brussels that
Turkey was asking a simple question of whether Karabagh is covered by
the road map. Following his meeting with Erdogan, Aliyev gave a very
simple and clear answer to his question by saying that the remarks
made by his dear friend are the most valuable answer and that he was
very grateful to Erdogan. When I asked some Azeri friends how the
visit was paid by Erdogan, they said very clearly and simply that it
was very good.

CHIEF NEGOTIATOR BAGIS SPEAKS TO SPANISH EL PAIS

Anadolu Agency
May 15 2009
Turkey

MADRID (A.A) – 15.05.2009 – Turkish State Minister & Chief Negotiator
for EU talks Egemen Bagis said on Friday that German Chancellor
Angela Merkel and French President Nicholas Sarkozy used Turkey’s EU
membership for their domestic policies.

In an exclusive interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais, Bagis said he
examined all the laws in effect and all the documents between Turkey
and the EU but could not see a "privileged partnership" expression
in the documents.

Bagis said all the Muslim world was closely following process of
Turkey’s EU membership. "Turkey is eager to be a center for peace,"
he added.

Commenting on dialogue process between Turkey and Armenia, Bagis said,
"a stable cooperation is needed between Azerbaijan and Armenia to
maintain the dialogue. Turkey proposed a stability pact for the
Caucasus. We believe that solving the problems on negotiation table
is the best solution. Turkey wants to be a center in energy flow from
the Caspian Sea to Europe."

Bagis also said Turkey did not have a Kurdish problem, but a terrorism
problem.

HEAD OF VISA AND PASSPORT DEPARTMENT OF ARMENIAN POLICE: 771 353 VOTERS REGISTERED IN PRELIMINARY ELECTION LISTS

ArmInfo
2009-05-15 12:48:00

ArmInfo. As of 20 April 771 353 voters have been registered in
preliminary election lists in Yerevan, Head of Visa and Passport
Department of Armenian Police Norayr Muradkhanyan said at today’s
press-conference and added they are registered at 439 ballot
stations. He also said the lists are being specified all the time
because of the registration process of citizens.

He also said 1093 people out of the total number have a refugee status
and 1418 are entrants which were registered in Yerevan a year ago.

He added that in general the number of voters in Armenia have grown
by 50 432 if compared with the data of 1 June 2008.

To recall, the municipal elections will be held in Yerevan on 31 May.

IMAGE – PROFESSIONAL APOLOGIZERS FOR OBAMA
by Jim Clark

Post Chronicle
12230248.shtml
May 14 2009

Dear President Obama,

In view of your imminent speech scheduled for Egypt in June, when
you kick-off your Mid-East round of apologizing for the existence
of the United States – let me congratulate you on your marvelous
apologizing on your London/Turkey visit – I’m taking the liberty of
suggesting that you avail yourself of the services of my company,
the Institute for Modifying All Governmental Entities, known as
IMAGE, for short. While your apologizing efforts are commendable,
I believe they can be improved. You may remember that the president
of Uganda called President Clinton’s remarks in his African round of
apologies so much "rubbish;" therefore, you need to be on your guard
about fouling up apologies since some shabby apologies have been
known to start wars. It is widely known that Hitler invaded Russia
because Stalin did not properly apologize for calling sauerkraut the
"fruit of the outhouse," or something like that.

One tool of IMAGE designed for proper apologizing is called the
Guidebook for Repentance Obviating Vicious Empire Legitimizing,
(GROVEL, for short). The instructors using this manual will help you
learn to apologize for the invasions of Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq,
and Guantanamo, as well as just thinking about invading Pakistan, as
you’ve lately threatened to do. Just saying that all this invading was
the Bushes’ fault will not help you since Middle-easterners not only
have short memories but multitudes of them are illiterate, as well,
so they never read al Jazeera and only watch the Buzkashi shows on
TV, sort of like American Polo but played using a dead goat as the
ball. Grovel will help you properly apologize in Egypt for Anwar
Sadat’s assassination by Muslim jihad-mongers not long after he met
with Jimmy Carter and shook hands with Menachim Begin, Islamists’
most hated Israeli at the time. Carter should apologize but no one
would believe him, so you should.

Grovel will also help you apologize for the fact that Saddam was
hanged in Iraq without the proper number of TV crews in place and for
the water-boarding of Sheik Khalid and the fact that a caterpillar
or earthworm was allowed to attack him in his cell at Guantanamo,
thus making him upchuck on his prayer rug while he was reciting the
Beheading-Vows. Grovel will probably suggest a side-trip to Armenia
and help you appropriately apologize to the Armenians for apologizing
to the Turks after you called attention to the genocide of 1915 in
order to get the Armenian-American vote. You also need to properly
apologize to the Afghani poppy-growers for claiming they should be
put out of business, especially since Ambassador-Supreme Holbrooke
said in March that to do so would be wasteful. Opium is their only
cash crop. Additionally, you would lose the vote of the hopheads in
this country.

The IMAGE department for facilitating good relations with those who
hate us is the Agency for Befriending All Sensitive Enemies (ABASE,
for short). Apologies to sworn enemies are very important. You should
immediately but carefully apologize to Iran President Ahmadinejad for
the remarks made to him by Columbia University President Bollinger in
2007, when the insensitive educator, just before Ahmadinejad gave a
speech there, said to him that he exhibited "all the signs of a petty,
cruel dictator." Bollinger was right, of course, but ABASE will fashion
for you an apology that will make him the equivalent of Attila the Hun
while making Ahmadinejad into the "pearl of the east," and also teach
you how to properly abase yourself with an appropriate genuflection
to any available ayatollah, imam, or other religious jihad-miscreant.

FOUR PEOPLE DIED AS A RESULT OF FIRE AT NAIRIT PLANT

ArmInfo
2009-05-15 12:16:00

ArmInfo. According to the last results, 4 people died and 8 were
injured because of the fire happened at Nairit plant yesterday,
press-secretary of the plant Anush Harutyunyan told ArmInfo
correspondent. She also added the four died were Nairit workers,
four of the injured people also were the plant workers and the rest
four injured – life-savers. Yesterday around 6.40 p.m. two explosions
occurred at caoutchouc manufacturing Nairit plant; later the fire
erupted. The fire is localized at the moment. The incident did not
lead to serious ecological problems and no discharging was registered,
Harutyunyan said and added that the reasons of the emergency are being
specified at present. She also said that the rest technological lines
of the plant are functioning, and since today production of caoutchouc
has been restored. At the same time, emergency regime was declared at
the plant and the production control was made more severe. At present
the leadership of the plant shows aid to the families of the workers
died and suffered because of the accident.

OSCE OFFICE IN YEREVAN CONDEMNS CASES OF VIOLENT ATTACKS AGAINST MEDIA WORKERS AND THUS AGAINST FREE SPEECH IN ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2009-05-13 18:40:00

ArmInfo. The OSCE Office in Yerevan condemns the cases of violent
attacks against media workers and thus against free speech and expects
that the law enforcement bodies will investigate the cases with new
dynamism to find and punish perpetrators with speed and thoroughness
that the cases deserve",- Ambassador Sergey Kapinos, Head of the OSCE
Office in Yerevan said when replying to ArmInfo’s question.

"Prompt disclosure of those standing behind the cases and bringing
them to justice will prevent other such cases in future, create a safe
working environment for journalists and help public fully and freely
exercise their right to receive pluralistic information",- he added.

He said that the OSCE Office in Yerevan, in accordance with
its mandate, closely follows the state of media freedom in the
country. "The recent repeated cases of violent assaults against media
professionals have marred the current media freedom situation in
Armenia. The last two weeks saw two attacks on journalists, including
the severe beating of Argishti Kiviryan, Coordinator of Armenia Today
Information Agency, and the beating of Nver Mnatsakanyan, a well known
commentator of Shant TV. The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the
Media, Miklos Haraszti, has asked the Armenian authorities to swiftly
investigate the acts of violence committed against media professionals,
stressing that "The lack of results into cases of violence against
journalists creates an atmosphere of impunity for the perpetrators
and can provoke other cases of violence against media workers". The
Representative also expressed concern over previous violence against
journalists in Armenia referring to the undisclosed cases of violence
against Lusine Barseghyan from the opposition newspaper Haykakan
Zhamanak; Hrach Melkumyan, the acting Chief of Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty’s Yerevan bureau; and Edik Baghdasaryan, the Chairman of the
Investigative Journalists’ Association.

The Ambassador added that the OSCE Office in Yerevan sent letters
to the law enforcement agencies of Armenia with enquiries concerning
the results of investigation of the above and other cases of assaults
against independent reporters.

USA PROMISED TO WORK OUT HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO BE PROVIDED TO NKR AFTERWARDS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
12.05.2009 20:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "In response to news reports carried recently by
several media outlets regarding assistance from the United States
for Armenia, I would like to inform you of the following: Since
international assistance to Armenia began over twenty years ago with
the relief effort following the 1988 earthquake, the U.S. government
has provided almost two billion dollars of humanitarian aid and
development assistance for Armenia’s economic, social and governance
sectors. The Obama Administration’s request for Armenia for FY 2010
($30 million) is 25 percent above the last Bush Administration budget
request ($24 million was requested for FY 2009; Congress doubled this
request to $48 million). The actual level of assistance for Armenia
for FY 2010 has not yet been determined by the U.S. Congress," US
Ambassador to Armenia Mari Yovanovich stated.

"With respect to funding for Nagorno-Karabakh, there has never been
a budget request sent to Congress because there is no mechanism for
doing so in the budget process. Rather, the humanitarian assistance
provided to Nagorno-Karabakh is worked out afterwards, during the
budget negotiation between Congress and the Administration.

The United States remains committed to its longstanding partnership
with Armenia and the Armenian people. Helping the people of Armenia
has been, and continues to be, a high priority."

US administration in his Fiscal Year 2010 International Affairs
budget requested cut aid to Armenia. The budget request also upsets
the balance of military aid parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

In particular, the U.S. administration proposes to provide $30 million
in Economic Assistance. Additionally, the budget did not include
funding for Nagorno Karabakh, while in FY 2009 Congress approved
$8 million.

Besides, the Administration’s FY 2010 funding proposal for Foreign
Military Financing calls for $3 million for Armenia and $4 million for
Azerbaijan. The proposed budget also suggests $900,000 for Azerbaijan
versus $450,000 for Armenia in International Military Education and
Training assistance.

PRESS RELEASE
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)
395 Concord Ave.
Belmont, MA 02478
Tel.: 617-489-1610
E-mail: [email protected]

IMPACT OF WORLD WAR II ON ARMENIAN-AMERICAN
IDENTITY TO BE DISCUSSED IN NAASR LECTURE

Gregory Aftandilian, author and consultant on Middle East affairs, will
give a lecture entitled "The Impact of World War II on Second-Generation
Armenian-American Identity," on Thursday, May 14, at 8:00 p.m., at the
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) Center,
395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA.

Aftandilian, a member of the NAASR Board of Directors since 2004, has
previously worked at the National Democratic Institute for International
Affairs, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the U.S. Department
of State. A recognized expert on Middle East affairs, he is the author
of two books: Egypt’s Bid for Arab Leadership: Implications for U.S.
Policy and Armenia: Vision of a Republic: The Independence Lobby in
America, 1918-1927. He holds degrees from Dartmouth College, the
University of Chicago, and the London School of Economics.

A Defining Era

Sociologists and historians have long considered World War II a
watershed period for millions of ethnic Americans. A 1970s study stated
that "The war afforded a way of openly affirming (and asserting through
proof) that one was American" and children of recent immigrants "outdid
themselves and sought to outdo everyone else" in being "more American
than the Americans."

Through research interviewing Armenian-American World War II veterans,
studying the letters they wrote to their families and to the
Armenian-American newspapers, and reading the anthologies on
Armenian-American service men and women, Gregory Aftandilian applied the
earlier studies on ethnic Americans in general to the Armenian-American
second generation experience in particular.

By and large, the Armenian-Americans who served in the military during
World War II were the sons and daughters of genocide-survivor
immigrants, and grew up in tight-knit ethnic enclaves in the cities of
the East Coast or Midwest or on farms or in "Armenian Town" in Fresno.
Their parents were mostly laborers or farmers, eking out a meager living
to the best of their abilities given the language barriers and social
discrimination they faced, and tried to instill a sense of ethnic
solidarity and pride in their children. Outside of their neighborhoods,
many encountered an unfriendly world where they were demeaned as
"foreigners."

For many of these second-generation Armenian-Americans, the war was a
defining life experience that not only enhanced their American identity
but also their Armenian identity, as the conflict made them more
conscious of their parents’ suffering as genocide survivors and brought
these soldiers into contact with the worldwide Armenian diaspora.

Admission to the event is free (donations appreciated). The NAASR
Bookstore will open at 7:30 p.m. The NAASR Center is located opposite
the First Armenian Church and next to the U.S. Post Office. Ample
parking is available around the building and in adjacent areas. The
lecture will begin promptly at 8:00 p.m.

More information about the lecture is available by calling 617-489-1610,
faxing 617-484-1759, e-mailing [email protected], or writing to NAASR, 395
Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478.

GaziAntep Haber27, Turkey
May 9 2009

ISRAEL GOVERNMENT AGAINST be recognized the Armenian Genocide

Israel Parliament (Kneset) The Armenian Genocide has declined to take
the agenda.
09 May?Ä?±s 2009 Cumartesi 12:31

"Noyan Tapan" news source in the Turkish media, Israel ‘Merets Party’
general president react to the draft prepared by Hayim Oron Israel
came from the government. Government to disclose the name gilad Erda,
the problem of the Armenian Genocide ‘Kneset’te is not about political
negotiations’ are highlighted as’ Israel’s open and based on
historical documents to support the negotiations’ save’ the memories
of victims of the Armenians to mention is our moral
obligation. However, historical evidence on this matter should be
discussed openly. This is not the place of the parliament said.

In voting on May 5 as Kneset’te configured to remember the Armenian
Genocide of the draft agenda was accepted to be oy?Ã?§oklu?Ä?uyla. One
of the next Parliament which Israel otuumlar?Ä?±ndan commission will
investigate the issue would be decided.

ARMENIAN EVANGELICAL UNION HONORS GUEKGUEZIAN
By Alexander and Philip Tavlian

Belmont Citizen-Herald
news/lifestyle/religion/x2133275078/Armenian-Evang elical-Union-honors-Guekguezian
May 8 2009

Belmont, Mass. – More than 500 people gathered on the campus of
California’s oldest Armenian Church to salute a former Belmont cleric
for 55 years of pastoral ministry in the Old and New Worlds.

The Armenian Evangelical Union of North America paid tribute to
Reverend Bernard Asadoor Guekguezian at a gala banquet on March 21,
at the First Armenian Presbyterian Church of Fresno, boyhood church
of authors William Saroyan and A.I. Bezzerides.

The celebration included music by virtuoso pianist Michael Krikorian
and vocalist Jennie Gray, and warm testimonials by the honoree’s
sons, Rev. Ara Richard Guekguezian of Fresno and attorney Asbed
Bernard Guekguezian of West Newton, as read by eldest grandson,
Peter Guekguezian.

Rev. Berj Gulleyan and Rev. Gregory V. Haroutunian, Rev. Bernard’s
pastoral successors in Paramus and Belmont, respectively, spoke
movingly about his impact on the Armenian faith communities of the
Garden State and Middlesex County.

Andrew Torigian, executive director of the New Jersey-based Armenian
Missionary Association of America, praised the honoree’s passion
for Christian evangelism and missions work. Rev. Avedis Boynerian
of Watertown, and Rev. Joseph Matossian of Glendale, California paid
tribute to their colleague’s faithful labors in the Old and New Words
since his student days in the Near East.

Edward Saliba, chairman of the AEUNA Committee on Stewardship,
announced the creation of the Reverend Bernard and Mrs. Knar
Guekguezian Endowment Fund to prepare deserving graduate students
for pastoral ministry in the 21st Century.

The evening was rounded out by a video presentation entitled, "The
Life of a Faithful Servant," and the sharing of numerous official
proclamations, including the Fresno City Council’s declaration of
"Reverend Bernard Guekguezian Day" on March 21 throughout the City
of Fresno.

The youngest of nine children, Rev. Guekguezian was born near Antioch,
Turkey, in the summer of 1927. After attending local schools, he
immigrated to the Middle East in 1939 for further studies at Armenian
Evangelical educational institutions in Beirut, Lebanon and the Aleppo
College of Syria.

He completed a combined course of study at the American University
of Beirut and the Near East School of Theology in 1952, earning a
Bachelor of Arts degree and a Diploma in Theology.

Guekguezian served as a licensed pastor at the Armenian Evangelical
Church of Alexandria, Egypt for two years and then came to the United
States for additional ministerial training. He studied at Fuller
Theological Seminary in Pasadena and New York Theological Seminary,
where he earned a Master of Arts degree in Christian Education.

The Congregational Conference of Massachusetts ordained Guekguezian
a Minister of the Word in 1959. That same year he was called
to serve as pastor of America’s oldest Armenian congregation —
the Armenian Congregational Church of the Martyrs in Worcester,
Massachusetts. During his seven-year tenure in that pulpit, he engaged
in doctoral studies in Modern European History at Clark University.

In 1966, Rev. Guekguezian accepted a call to the Armenian Presbyterian
Church of Paramus, Bergen County, New Jersey, where he served for
a dozen inspiring years. On Dec. 10, 1978, he was installed as the
tenth pastor of Fresno’s First Armenian Presbyterian Church.

Rev. Guekguezian’s ministry at the Fresno church was marked by outreach
to native Californians as well as to Armenian émigrés from the Near
East and Republic of Armenia. At the conclusion of his record 22 years
in the pulpit, the Fresno congregation named him Pastor Emeritus. He
then relocated to New England where he served as Interim Pastor of
the First Armenian Church of Belmont for three years (2001 to 2003).

In addition to his pastoral duties, Guekguezian has served multiple
terms as moderator of the AEUNA, vice-president of the Armenian
Evangelical World Council, vice-president of the Armenian Theological
Students’ Aid, Inc., and member of the Presbytery of San Joaquin
Committee on New Church Development.

He is married to the former Knar Kazanjian of Aleppo, Syria and
they have five grandchildren in addition to their two sons and
daughters-in-law.

Headquartered in Glendale, Calif., the AEUNA is an ecclesiastical
confederation of Armenian Protestant churches, missions,
and fellowships in the United States of America and Dominion of
Canada. Rev. Joseph Matossian is Minister to the Union and Rev. Avedis
Boynerian is the Moderator.