Author: Vardapetian Ophelia

Iranian envoy hails ties with Azerbaijan
Turan news agency
8 Feb 05
Baku, 8 February: Relations between Iran and Azerbaijan are developing
successfully in all directions and are based on mutual confidence and
a solid contractual basis. Bilateral agreements envisage cooperation
in the political, security, economic and cultural fields, the
Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan, Afshar Soleymani [Mowla-Yusef],
told today’s press conference to mark the 26th anniversary of the
Islamic revolution.
Soleymani believes that Iran spares no effort to achieve stability
in the region. “Iran’s foreign policy is based on justice. Iran does
not accept pressure and does not resort to it,” the ambassador said.
Soleymani also expressed his attitude towards the latest statements of
US officials on Iran. “The Islamic revolution is 26 years old. Since
the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, not a single Iranian
citizen has been arrested on charges of involvement in terror
attacks. However, citizens of America were detained for involvement
in terrorism,” Soleymani added.
He believes that a US military operation against Iran is unreal. The
ambassador assumes that no country supports the US policy against
Iran. “Until now the Americans have failed to maintain peace in Iraq
and Afghanistan,” Soleymani said.
Speaking on Iranian-Armenian relations, the ambassador said that among
Iran’s neighbours, Azerbaijan is the closest country. The security
of Iran and Azerbaijan is closely connected. “As for some trade
relations between Iran and Armenia, they are not against Azerbaijan,”
the ambassador said.
The ambassador played down reports on displaying the Azerbaijani
national flag upside down during Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Iran [on
24-26 January 2005]. He thinks that some forces are interpreting
“negatively” the Azerbaijani president’s “fruitful” visit to Iran.
Soleymani described an agreement on cooperation in the field
of railways as an important outcome of the visit. A meeting of
representatives of the Azerbaijani, Iranian and Russian railways
will take place in Baku on 9 February to set up a consortium for the
building of a junction of the Astara-Rasht-Qazvin railway, which will
link the railways of the three countries.
Iran is also for the repeal of the visa regime between the two
countries. An agreement has been achieved providing for four visa-free
visits to the territories of the two countries within the limit of
45 km. He also said that negotiations on Baku-Tabriz flights were
under way.

Kommersant, Russia
Feb 7 2005
VTB Raised Subordinated Loan Through Eurobonds
Vneshtorgbank (VTB) has raised $750-million subordinated loan to
become Russia’s first bank with the loan financed by placing 10-year
eurobonds (call option) on cross-border markets, VTB said in a press
release on February 7, 2005.
Lead managers are Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and JP
Morgan. The order book set forth $1.2 billion. As much as 116
investors, most of them from Europe, took part in the placement. For
instance, U.K. investors bought out 49 percent of the issue, other
European investors covered 27 percent, Asian investors accounted for
8 percent. Fixed half-year coupon was set at 6.315 percent on year,
corresponding to the yield of 222 basic points above 5-year midswap.
Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings assigned BB- and BB+ credit
ratings to the eurobonds respectively, Moody’s Investors Service
granted investment rating of Baa2 category, in line with the senior
unsecured liabilities of the VTB.
The bonds were released by VTB Capital SA. The raised funds are
transferred to the VTB subordinated loan agreement and will be spend
to strengthen capital base of the bank.
Vneshtorgbank is one of the leading universal banks in Russia and the
largest one in terms of authorized capital. State-run stake stands at
99.9 percent. Other holders are Gazexport, Sberbank,
Energomashexport, Ingosstrah, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the
Russian Federation.
In Russia, the VTB has the broadest network of correspondents, while
its foreign network is represented by four subsidiaries: in Zurich
(Switzerland), in Limassol (Cyprus), in Vienna (Austria) and in
Erevan (Armenia) as well as by the associated banks in Luxembourg and
Frankfurt-on-Main (Germany), representative offices in Milan (Italy),
Beijing (China), Kiev (Ukraine) and Minsk (Belarus).

ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH CELEBRATES SHROVETIDE (“BUN BAREKENDAN”) ON
FEBRUARY 6
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4. ARMINFO. The Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates
Shrovetide holiday on February 6.
The press-service of AAC Ararat Diocese told ARMINFO that in
conformity with church traditions, Shrovetide is marked on the eve of
Lent. Shrovetide symbolizes the life in paradise. This holiday is
celebrated also in Russia and European states. During the evening
service on the eve of Shrovetide, the altar is closed by curtains up
to the end of Lent, which start on February 7.

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TRYING TO STRENGTHEN THE RA POSITION IN THE WORLD
A1+
4 Feb 05
3 international structures – NATO Parliamentary Summit, PACE and OSCE
are preparing reports about the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, refugees in
our region and the Mass Media. This fact, as well as the Atkinson
report, which Arthur Baghdasaryan does not consider the victory of the
Armenian diplomacy, made our Parliament reconsider its international
activities.
The National Assembly intends to sign up not only for the NATO
Parliamentary Summit and the Francophone Parliamentary Summit, but
also for the West-European Union and the Arabian Countries
Parliamentary Summit. The participation in these Summits even as an
observer is very important not only from the parliamentary, but also
from the political point of view. In this case the Karabakh conflict
and the regulation of Armenia’s relations with the Muslim world are
taken into consideration. In this context the National Assembly
official delegation will soon visit the countries of the Persian bay.
The RA National Assembly is also taking measures to sign up for the
Parliamentary Assembly of the American countries and to get the
position ofobserver in the Parliamentary Summits of American
countries.
All this is necessary for Armenia to occupy the proper position in the
international field, `The people sitting in the great capitals do not
think about Armenia’, says Arthur Baghdasaryan, meaning that Armenia
must make efforts to strengthen his position in the world.

Chief of Romanian Army meets crisis management representatives
Rompres news agency
2 Feb 05
BUCHAREST
Chief of Romanian Army General Staff, Gen Eugen Badalan, on Wednesday,
2 February, at the Military Command Operational Centre met
representatives of the structures with attributions in the field of
crisis management, part the National Crisis Committee on the occasion
of the NATO CMX 05 exercise.
Analysed at the meeting was the activity of the 91 participants, as
regards the cooperation and the right answer to situations created by
the leaders of the exercise, as well as the first lessons taught after
the CMX 05.
Gen Badalan at the end of the meeting said that a permanent
cooperation among the elements of the National System of Answer to
Crisis was necessary, as well as their connection with similar
sub-systems of NATO. A conclusion of the meeting was that a joint
draft law should be adopted, that is to integrate all institutions of
the national system with attributions in the field of crises
management, Badalan underscored.
This type of exercise, organized each year under the chairmanship of
the NATO secretary-general was conducted by the International
Secretariat, the International Military General Staff and the two NATO
commands (Allied Command Operations and the Allied Command
Transformation), designed to maintain and strengthen the alliance’s
capacity to manage crisis situations.
The nine NATO partners involved in the CMX 05 exercise’s planning and
execution together with the alliance’s members are Armenia, Austria,
Azerbaijan, Croatia, Switzerland, Finland, Ireland, Macedonia and
Sweden. Attending the exercise, as observers were representatives of
the UN, EU and OSCE.
The hypothetical scenario of CMX 05 included a NATO answer operation
to a crises situation, under an UN mandate, outside the Euro-Atlantic
space, with the purpose of easing tensions between two countries. The
scenario also mentioned the possibility of a conventional conflict to
emerge, and took into account an asymmetric dimension of it, that
included terror threats and the use of mass destruction weapons
against the NATO and partner forces. No troops have been dispatched on
the field during the operation.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
02/02/2005
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) Karabagh TV Airs Flip-flopping by PACE's Atkinson 2) AGBU Addresses Lawsuit Filed by Archbishop Mutafyan 3) Phillips Discusses History of TARC in New Book 4) Nine Candidates Approved for City Clerk Race 1) Karabagh TV Airs Flip-flopping by PACE's Atkinson STEPANAKERT (Combined Sources)--The Public TV and Radio Broadcasting Company of Mountainous Karabagh Republic recently aired a 1993 interview with the current Parliamentary of Council of Europe's (PACE) Rapporteur on Mountainous Karabagh David Atkinson, in which Atkinson affirms the rights of the people of Mountainous Karabagh, and condemns Azerbaijan for launching the war in the region. "I think the people of Karabagh have the right to decide their own destiny and future. Our organization and I shall personally do everything so that the Karabagh Armenians live a free and full life on their land," David Atkinson notes in a 1993 interview conducted in the village of Kichan, in the Mardakert region of Karabagh. But after his 2004 appointment as Rapporteur, he sharply announced that the principle of right to self-determination is not applicable to Mountainous Karabagh Republic. Just last week, in his recommendations presented to PACE, Atkinson criticized Armenian forces for occupying considerable parts of Azerbaijan's territory, and said that the 1988-94 war has led to large-scale ethnic expulsions and the creation of mono-ethnic areas that "resemble the terrible concept of ethnic cleansing." In 1993, Atkinson categorically blames Azerbaijan for starting the war, "What I have seen is above my imagination. Here is a real war which is taking away many lives on a daily basis. It is obvious that Azerbaijan launched this war; Azerbaijan will not be a member of the Council of Europe unless it is stopped." He further describes the Azeris as "vandals" for desecrating Christian churches in Shushi. 2) AGBU Addresses Lawsuit Filed by Archbishop Mutafyan NEW YORK--The AGBU Central Board of Directors responded to the lawsuit filed by Archbishop Mesrob Mutafyan against the New York-based organization on January 13. The suit was filed in the Superior Court of the State of California, addressing the formal announcement made by the AGBU in March 2004 that it would be closing the Melkonian Educational Institution in Nicosia, Cyprus at the end of the 2005 school year. In a statement released on January 28, the AGBU Board of Directors expressed that Archbishop Mutafyan "has not been fully informed of the true position with regard to AGBU's operation of the Melkonian Educational Institute." The statement continues to stress AGBU's committment "to serve and pursue the best interests of the Armenian nation and not the particular interests of the few, no matter how vocal." "The decision to close the Melkonian Educational Institute was carefully considered and is fully permitted under the terms of the unconditional grant made to AGBU. In addition, contrary to the allegations made, through the years AGBU has paid to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, pursuant to Garabed Melkonian's wishes, all sums provided for by him and much more, as evidenced by receipts and other documents," it concludes. 3) Phillips Discusses History of TARC in New Book YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--In a new book titled `Unsilencing the Past,' former chair of the Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission (TARC), David Phillips offers his perspective on the activities of the controversial organization, and its relationship with high-ranking government officials and political organizations in Armenia and abroad. The 170-page publication delves into the history behind the creation of the panel, which was largely the brainchild of the US government. According to the book, Phillips was approached by Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman in 2000 with the idea of creating an Armenian-Turkish joint commission. At the time of their meeting, Phillips held senior positions at the Council on Foreign Relations, the American University in Washington and the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. He also served as an advisor to the State Department on issues of democracy and regional stability. Additionally, Phillips had in the past worked to help bridge the Greek and Kurdish communities with their Turkish neighbors. The United States's approach, labeled `Track-Two diplomacy,' held that various sections of civil societies can facilitate the resolution of long-running ethnic disputes through meetings in which root causes are dissected and analyzed. According to Phillips, Grossman believed that the Track-Two efforts, as applied in Turkey and Cyprus, could be used to resolve the Turkish-Armenian conflict, `one of the world's most intractable problems.' Once the work began, the State Department, as noted by Phillips, covered only `some of TARC's direct costs' and `never interfered in [his] work.' That work was effectively catalyzed by Armenian threats to veto the choice of Istanbul as the venue for the December 1999 summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, in protest of Turkey's refusal to normalize relations with Armenia. Phillips contends that the threats were used by the authorities in Yerevan to provoke stronger US pressure on Ankara. He also states that Van Krikorian, the then chairman of the Armenian Assembly of America who would later become a key member of TARC, was asked to `undertake discussions with the State Department,' circumventing Armenia's ambassador to Washington. Once the foundation was laid, senior State Department officials approached the Armenian and Turkish governments several months later with a formal offer, which according to Phillips, was welcomed by both sides. Discord, however, resulted in October 2000, when President Clinton blocked a congressional resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide. The process regained momentum soon after, when the sides agreed to meet in Vienna in early 2001. The idea, according to Phillips, was backed by Armenian officials. `I had met with [Foreign Minister Vartan] Oskanian on several occasions to brief him,' he writes. `At every turn, he endorsed the initiative. Robert Kocharian also directly communicated his support for TARC.' The first official reaction from the Armenian government offered support to the newly developed group. `Armenia has always had a positive attitude towards public contacts and dialogue between the two peoples, which allow for the exchange of opinions and discussions on the existing problems,' a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman stated. However, according to Phillips, when pressure was exerted by a number of Armenian groups, most notably the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, the Armenian government decided to reverse its stance. `Instead of publicly endorsing the initiative, which Oskanian had committed to do, the Armenian government got nervous about being associated with TARC,' the book reads. Armenian critics of TARC argued that it has no popular mandate to deal with the issue and accused the Armenian members of the commission of participating in a Turkey-US conspiracy to derail international recognition of the genocide. Given this sentiment, Phillips asserts that the Armenian commissioners insisted during the process that then government of Turkey needs to come to terms with its past. The commissioners and were also `incensed' with comments made by TARC member Gunduz Aktan, whose aggressive denials of the genocide nearly disrupted initial efforts to form the commission. `Do you know how we feel when you try to embarrass us by introducing resolutions in parliaments around the world? Our feelings are hurt,' Aktan is quoted in the book as telling his Armenian counterparts at the Vienna meeting in 2001. `How do you think we feel?' former Armenian foreign minister Alexander Arzoumanian is said to have replied. `We are the ones who were genocided.' `The Armenians saw TARC as a vehicle for approaching Turkish elites and initiating a dialogue about the genocide. Even if the Turks are sympathetic to the suffering of Armenians, they were not prepared to have TARC acknowledge the genocide,' Phillips explains. This problem, Phillips notes, is rooted in the `selective memory' of the modern Turkish state founded by Mustafa Kemal in the aftermath of the Armenian genocide. `Turks refuse to acknowledge the genocide because acknowledgement contradicts their noble self-image...In addition, the government of Turkey fears that the campaign is laying the legal groundwork for reparations or territorial claims.' Turkey's persistent denials of the genocide prevented TARC from conducting meaningful work. Meeting in New York in November 2003, the organization agreed to ask the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), a New York-based human rights organization, to conduct a study on the applicability of the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide to the mass killings and deportations of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey. Shortly afterward, two of the Turkish commissioners bypassed their colleagues by instructing the ICTJ to `refrain from studying the subject matter.' The Armenian members responded with an angry statement stating that `TARC is not going to proceed.' `I insinuated that Ankara was responsible for scuttling the initiative. Just mentioning the Genocide Convention stirred anxiety in the Turkish Foreign Ministry,' Phillips writes. He then appealed to US officials to help salvage the endeavor. Despite the dispute, TARC decided to go ahead with the ICTJ study when its members converged on the Turkish resort town of Bodrum in July 2002. According to Phillips, Van Krikorian and Aktan appeared before an ICTJ panel in September 2002 to present the Armenian and Turkish interpretations of what happened in 1915. Aktan, in Phillips's words, promised to `destroy' ICTJ researchers with his legal arguments but appeared `nervous' after making his case. He had reason to be edgy. On February 4, 2003, the ICTJ submitted to TARC a detailed analysis which concluded that the slaughter of an estimated 1.5 million Ottoman Armenians includes `all the elements of the crime of genocide as defined by the [UN] Convention.' The study at the same time found that the Armenians can not use the Convention to make `legal financial or territorial claims arising out of the Events.' `In a private conversation with Van, Oskanian `offered congratulations' and said it was a great accomplishment,' Phillips says. `However, he refused to publicly embrace the ICTJ analysis.' Armenian political groups and public figures also barely reacted to it. Phillips's discontent with the Armenian government's repudiation of his work found an outlet in his article on Armenia that appeared in `The Wall Street Journal' last April. It slammed Kocharian's regime as `corrupt and inept' and welcomed opposition attempts to topple the Armenian president. In his book, Phillips bluntly accuses Kocharian of `stealing' the 2003 presidential election from opposition leader Stepan Demirchian. TARC, meanwhile, held several more meetings before announcing the end of its mission in Moscow on April 14, 2004 and submitting a list of policy recommendations to the Turkish and Armenian governments. The first and foremost of them was an unconditional opening of the Turkish-Armenian border. However, Ankara seems unlikely to drop its preconditions for lifting Armenia's economic blockade in the foreseeable future. Although the initiative failed, Phillips believes `TARC broke the ice and helped catalyze a wide array of civil society Track Two activities,' he concludes. `It was also a lightning rod for criticism, thereby enabling other civil society initiatives to proceed `under the radar.' Though people-to-people contacts cannot solve core political problems, they can help prepare the ground for negotiations.' 4) Nine Candidates Approved for City Clerk Race GLENDALE (Combined Sources)--As the city clerk race heats up, the petitions of nine candidates have been finalized for the April 5 municipal election. The City Clerk verified the petitions to certify that the candidates have been nominated by a minimum of 100 registered voters. The list of qualified candidates and the order in which the names will appear on the ballot was announced on February 2. Ardashes Kassakhian began a 10-week sabbatical from the Armenian National Committee to focus on his campaign for city clerk. He will campaign full-time for the April 5 election, he said. The other eight candidates are Paulette Mardikian, a customer service representative for the city's Building and Safety Department, Lorna Vartanian, a financial accounting manager for a law firm, Narineh Barzegar, a graduate student, Stephanie Landregan, a landscape artist, George McCullough, Gary Sysock, deputy executive officer with Los Angeles County Clerk of the Board, Kathryn Van Houten, an attorney, and Stephen L. Ropfogel, an independent business owner. All candidates filed the necessary signatures to appear on the ballot by Tuesday's deadline. Since 1929, the city clerk position has been a political hand-me-down, with incumbents retiring mid-term and the council choosing a replacement. During those 75 years, the incumbent has never lost. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2005 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets.

Text on Armenian genocide cut from schoolbook
Germany
Index on Censorship
29.01.2005
A brief reference to the Armenian genocide will be deleted from a
school book in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, following
Turkish diplomatic protests.
A chapter entitled War, Technology and Civilian Populations included
text that cited “for example, the genocide of the Armenians population
of Anatolia” – a passage that would now be removed from school
textbooks, Die Welt reported on 26 January. Turkish diplomats
complained to state Prime Minister Matthias Platzeck, who complied,
telling the paper that genocide was too important an issue to be dealt
with in just half a sentence. Most historians agree that between
600,000 and 1.5 million Armenians were killed in 1915 and 1916 under
the Ottoman Turks during World War I. The Turkish government, which
denies that a genocide took place, speaks of 200,000 dead.
Index on Censorship was founded in 1972 by a dedicated team of
writers, journalists and artists inspired by the British poet Stephen
Spender to take to the page in defence of the basic human right of
free expression.
Since then Index on Censorship has published an extraordinary range of
opinion, analysis, comment and reportage from all corners of the
world.
Today it is one of the world’s leading repositories of original,
challenging, controversial and intelligent writing on free expression
issues. Index on Censorship continues to log free expression abuses in
scores of countries world wide in its Index Index section. reported
on censorship issues from all over the world and has added to the
debates on those issues.
The list of writers who have contributed to Index on Censorship is
long and distinguished and includes: Jonathan Mirsky, Vaclav Havel,
Nadine Gordimer, Salman Rushdie, Doris Lessing, Arthur Miller, A S
Byatt, Yang Lian, Aung San Suu Kyi, Noam Chomsky, Julian Barnes,
Ronald Dworkin, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Umberto Eco, Jack Mapanje, and many
more.

ArmenPress
Jan 27 2005
REFERENCE TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO BE INCLUDED IN TURKISH TEXTBOOKS,
REMOVED FROM GERMAN TEXTBOOKS
ANKARA, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS: Turkey’s Education Ministry
recently announced that elementary-level history textbooks will, for
the first time, include reference to the genocide committed against
the Ottoman-Armenians. The textbooks, however, will include both,
what Turkey refers to, the “Armenian version” of the genocide, and an
“official” government sanctioned version of the events.
The chairman of the Education Ministry’s committee on textbooks,
Moustafa Safran, explained that the inclusion of the genocide arose
from the fact that Armenians have insisted that the events that
occurred between 1915-1923 qualify as “genocide.” In order to address
the issue, Safran said, the committee decided to include both the
Armenian and Turkish perspectives–a move allowing students the
information necessary to form an educated opinion–according to the
committee.
Safran noted his committee realizes that it is impossible nowadays
to shield Turkish school children from “Armenian claims,” and that it
is their intention to bolster the government’s position on the issue
by including archival Ottoman documents, which reportedly prove that
the genocide never occurred.
Safran’s committee has also decided to exclude incendiary remarks
such as “we crushed the Greeks,” and be particular in its definitions
of “heroes” and “traitors.” Textbooks will note that numerous Kurdish
tribes assisted Mustafa Kemal’s efforts in establishing a “modern”
Turkey.
Meantime German DPA news agency reported that pressure from Turkey
has resulted in the removal of a reference to the Armenian genocide
from a German school curriculum.
The eastern German state of Brandenburg has eliminated half a
sentence on the Armenians included in ninth and tenth grade history
classes after a Turkish diplomat complained to state Prime Minister
Matthias Platzeck, the newspaper Die Welt reported.
In a chapter entitled “War, Technology and Civilian Populations”
the school book text said “for example, the genocide of the Armenians
population of Anatolia.” That passage has now been removed from
school textbooks, the newspaper said.
Platzeck met regularly with Turkish diplomats and was “steeled”
against their influence, the newspaper quoted him as saying. The
prime minister added that genocide was too important an issue to be
dealt with in just half a sentence. “Brandenburg’s curriculum was the
only one in Germany which up until now included a reference to the
murder of the Armenians,” said Die Welt.
The head of the Central Committee of Armenians in Germany,
Schavarsh Ovassapian told Die Welt the move was “a scandal.” “It is
depressing, if what’s in schoolbooks in Brandenburg can be dictated
from Ankara,” he said.

COMMUNISTS OF CIS COUNTRIES APPEAL PRESIDENTS OF THEIR STATES TO
RECOGNIZE GENOCIDE OF ARMENIANS AT OFFICIAL LEVEL
YEREVAN, JANUARY 26. ARMINFO. The Council of Union of Communist
Parties (CUCP) adopted the Statement “On Genocide of Armenians in
1915” at its regular sitting held in Moscow January 22, the first
secretary of the Central Committee of Armenia’s Communist Party Rouben
Tovmasyan told ARMINFO.
Leaders of the Communist Parties of the former soviet republics called
the Genocide of Armenians one of the most criminal actions of world
imperialism. It is reminded in the statement that several European
countries, such as France, Slovenia and others, recognized the direct
responsibility of Turkey for that bloody crime towards humanity and
demand from Turkey to admit the historical responsibility for
Armenians’ Genocide as a condition for accession to the EU. It is
also emphasized that the USA and some satellites are conducting open
pro-Turkish policy, on the one hand calling all the people to fight
against terrorism, and, on the other hand, preventing world-wide
condemnation of the Armenians’ Genocide.
The draft of the CUCP was proposed by the delegation of Communist
Party of Armenia and was accepted unanimously. According to
R. Tovmasyan, none of the delegations prevented adopting of the
statement.
To note, the Communist Parties of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova,
Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kirghizia form the
Council Union of communist parties. -R-

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
01/21/2005
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) US Assistant Secretary of State Apologizes for Statement About Karabagh 2) ANCA Congratulates President Bush on His Second Inauguration 3) Turkey Begins Self Reflection over Armenia 4) Community Honors California State Senator Charles Poochigian 1) US Assistant Secretary of State Apologizes for Statement About Karabagh YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)--Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian told the Armenian public on Friday that US Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Jones has conveyed her apologies for a recent statement on Mountainous Karabagh. In an interview on Armenian Public Television, Oskanian said that Jones assured him that she was not referring to Mountainous Karabagh and its authorities when saying "criminal secessionists" must be removed from power. During a January 13 video conference with journalists in US Embassies in Moscow, Rome and Bratislava, Jones, in discussing US bi-lateral relations with Russia, called for increased engagement in resolving regional conflicts in the former Soviet Union, stating: "It is in Russia's interest for these areas, for Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh, for these areas to be stable, for corruption to end there, for the criminal secessionists who rule there to be removed. It is not appropriate for this kind of instability and criminality to exist right in the middle of Europe." The statement caused a wave of protests in Armenia and in Armenian communities abroad. Azbarez has also learned that the US Ambassador to Armenia John Evans also appeared on TV in Armenia to clarify the US position on this matter. The exact nature, however, were not yet known as we were going to press. 2) ANCA Congratulates President Bush on His Second Inauguration Calls for stronger ties, constructive dialogue between White House and Armenian American Community WASHINGTON, DC--The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) congratulated President George W. Bush on his inauguration to his second term as President of the United States, wishing him well as he prepares to lead the nation for the coming four years. The ANCA, in a letter to the President, welcomed his second Administration as an opportunity to build strong ties between the White House and America's one and a half million citizens of Armenian heritage, to strengthen US-Armenia relations, constructively address outstanding issues of concern to the Armenian American community, and to reinforce the longstanding friendship of the American and Armenian peoples. During the course of the hard-fought and closely contested 2004 Presidential election campaign, Armenian Americans demonstrated an unprecedented level of activism - as voters, party activists, policy advocates, and financial contributors. Armenian American contributions to federal-level Republican candidates and committees totaled well over $1,500,000 during the 2004 election cycle, with more than $350,000 going directly to the Bush-Cheney re-election effort. An additional $430,000 was raised for the Republican National Committee; $140,000 for the National Republican Congressional Committee, and; $24,000 for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. In addition to these figures, Armenian Americans contributed over $550,000 directly to the campaigns of Congressional Republicans. 3) Turkey Begins Self Reflection over Armenia ISTANBUL (AFP)--While an exhibition in Istanbul devoted to the daily life of the Armenians in Anatolia at the start of the 20th century is breaking attendance records, Turkish society is beginning to reflect on the Armenian question, erased from official history for the past 90 years. According to organizers, The exhibition "My Dear Brother," which opened on January 8, has attracted 6,000 visitors in 12 days--a record for local galleries. Through 500 postcards from the period, the exhibition seeks to portray, city by city and with supporting figures, how omnipresent Armenian communities were across the Ottoman territory and their role in society. "In Turkey, history has always been taught about one people--the Turks, as if there had never been any other people on the territory. When we speak of Armenians, they are not described as an integral group of society, but as a source of problems," explains exhibit director Osman Koker. "It's to fill this void, because I have an 11-year-old daughter who is getting this kind of education at school, that I have decided to publish a book and put on this exhibition," said Koker, a historian turned editor. "Without this realization, it will remain impossible to discuss the events of 1915," he said, referring to the Armenian massacres committed between 1915 and 1917 by the Ottoman armies. Convinced of Turkish society's growing curiosity about its past, Koker, nonetheless acknowledges that any change in mentality will take time. "A majority of the public, especially in the rural areas, consider the simple word 'Armenian' an insult," he said. Even if a handful of academics and amateur historians have attempted to re-examine Turkish history, it is not easy to break the deep taboo which has been deeply ingrained in the general consciousness by official history. "Until 1980, Turkish school textbooks quite simply didn't mention the Armenian massacre," explained Fabio Salomoni, author of a book on the Turkish education system. "With the first acknowledgments of 'genocide' by Western governments and the increasing number of attacks by Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), a paragraph was then added excluding all Turkish responsibility for the deaths of Armenians, explaining [their deaths] in the context of a war..." he said. Even if Turkey acknowledges the massacres, it objects to the term 'genocide' and the figures of 1.2 to 1.3 million killed, and estimates the numbers to be between 250,000 to 300,000. Even though Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently opened an Armenian museum in Istanbul--just before the European summit in Brussels which gave a date to Ankara to start negotiations for joining the European Union--there is no question of overturning the existing orthodoxy concerning the Armenians. Several [Turkish] state-subsidized organizations continue to conduct research aimed at showing that if there was a genocide, it was more likely committed by Armenians against the Turks. "We can't talk of a major change at the level of the state," said Tarin Karakasli, of the Armenian newspaper Agos. Even though "an evolution has occurred amongst the elite intellectuals who are starting to openly discuss the subject and to encourage the publication of alternative books". Karakasli congratulated the EU and the role it has played in "breaking the Armenian taboo" by encouraging the democratization of Turkey--but criticized the position of France, which has sought to make acknowledgment of the genocide a precondition for joining the EU. "These pressures will achieve nothing, the question can only be resolved by internal dynamics," she said. "The Turkish population has still not fully acknowledged the problem; in this context, imposing a solution can only provoke hostile reactions," said Etyen Mahcupyan, an Armenian from Istanbul and writer for the daily newspaper Zaman. 4) Community Honors California State Senator Charles Poochigian On January 13, 2005, Armenian-American community leaders, activists and philanthropists from all over Southern California gathered at the Universal Sheraton to honor one of California's favorite Armenians sons, State Senator Charles Poochigian. Over 600 people gathered to thank the Senator for his years of service in two Governors' administrations and as a prominent and highly respected State Senator. Boardmembers of the Armenian National Committee of America--Western Region, ARF Central Committee members, as well as the Armenian Cultural Foundation and a number of other civic and philanthropic organizations turned out to support the Senator who is a candidate for state wide office. The evenings guest speakers were former Congressman Kuykendallband former Governor George Deukmejian. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2005 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets.