Author: Virabian Jhanna

"DASHNAKTSUTYUN STILL NEEDS TO BE PERCEIVED AS OPPOSITION"

A1+
06:26 pm | April 29, 2009 |

"The Heritage party has already made a statement on the forthcoming
mayoral election. The party called its electorate to vote for the
opposition candidate during the May 31 election," Leader of the
parliamentary Heritage faction, Armen Martirosyan said in the National
Assembly on April 29.

The Dashnaktsutyun is already considered an opposition in Armenia. In
reply to A1+’s question whom the Heritage meant by saying "opposition",
Mr. Martirosyan said: "We meant the Armenian National Congress
(HAK). The ARF- Dashnaktsutyun declared itself as an opposition
only two years ago. One needs to act to prove that he is an
oppositionist. You can do nothing with words."

Armen Martirosyan says Dashnaktsutyun still needs to be perceived as
an opposition.

The Heritage is not going to fill the vacant posts of NA Committees’
chairmen, added Mr. Martirosyan.

GRAND PRIX TOURNAMENT: LEADERS FIGHTING FOR VICTORY

Panorama.am
13:01 29/04/2009

In the twelfth round of FIDE Grand Prix tournament in Nalchik Armenian
GM Levon Aronian, though having advantage over his rival ended his
set with Gata Kamsky in draw. Currently Levon Aronian has 7,5 points
and he shares the first place with Peter Leko. The final round is
going to be an uneasy one because Aronian’s rival is Leko.

Grischuk and Alekseev, who follow Aronian with 6,5 points, have equal
scores with another Armenian GM Akopian and they all share 3-5 places.

VTB BANK ARMENIA EXPANDS ONLINE REGIONAL NETWORK

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.04.2009 20:36 GMT+04:00

VTB Bank Armenia expands its online regional network. Branches in
Hrazdan, Vedi, Artashat and Masis have been already linked. Up to
June 20, 2006 VTB Bank (Armenia) has operated under the name Savings
Bank of the Republic of Armenia. Armsavingsbank was founded in 1923
with an aim to render banking services, particularly to attract
savings and grant consumer loans. Since April 2004 one of the RF
leading banks, Vneshtorgbank, became the shareholder of over 70%
of Armsavingbank shares, thus Armsavingsbank became integrated into
the network of Vneshtorgbank subsidiaries operating worldwide. In
June 2006 Armsavingsbank was renamed to VTB Bank (Armenia) CJSC.

In July 2007 VTB acquired 30% less one share from Mika Armenia Trading
LTD company and became the sole shareholder of 100% shares of its
subsidiary in Armenia, VTB Bank (Armenia) CJSC.

Activity Program of VTB Bank (Armenia) envisages further expansion of
Armenia’s economy financing. Beside, the Bank constantly renews the
range of services offered to retail business customers and enlarges its
activities in most diverse spheres of business, from small enterprise
servicing to expansion of collaboration with major corporate clients.

Bank has 78 branches and 848 employees.

Interfax, Russia
April 24 2009

MEDVEDEV WELCOMES CONSTRUCTIVE ATTITUDES TO KARABAKH SETTLEMENT

ZAVIDOVO April 24

Meetings with the Azeri and Armenian presidents confirmed their desire
for a constructive solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, President
Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.

"This is a two-way process in the right direction. It is made up of
small but significant steps," he said.

The status of Nagorno-Karabakh is the main problem, Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan said.

"For years Azerbaijan has been speaking about its territorial
integrity and a military solution of the problem," he noted.

Sargsyan welcomed results of the Moscow visit of Azeri President Ilham
Aliyev, "including his adherence to international rules, and the
position of Russia, which said that the problem could be resolved
exclusively on the basis of international laws and principles."

"We agree with that. Now we have a possibility to progress in the
resolution of the problem," Sargsyan said.

RIA Novosti, Russie
25 avril 2009

Etats-Unis: la diaspora arménienne reproche à Obama de ne pas
reconnaître le génocide de 1915
13:45 | 25/ 04/ 2009

EREVAN, 25 avril – RIA Novosti. L’Assemblée arménienne d’Amérique
(AAA) a accusé le président Barack Obama de ne pas honorer sa promesse
électorale de reconnaître le génocide arménien.

"Dans son intervention du 24 avril, le président Obama avait la
possibilité de définir une politique nouvelle, axée sur la
normalisation des rapports entre l’Arménie et la Turquie et de
reconnaître le génocide des Arméniens, mais il n’a pas tenu sa
parole", lit-on dans une déclaration de l’AAA dont RIA Novosti a
obtenu copie samedi.

Le président américain a fait vendredi une déclaration consacrée à la
Journée de commémoration des victimes du génocide arménien dans
l’Empire ottoman. Dans son discours, M. Obama n’a pas prononcé une
seule fois le mot "génocide", manquant ainsi à sa promesse – formulée
à quelques jours de l’élection présidentielle – de reconnaître comme
génocide le massacre de plus de 1,5 million d’Arméniens en 1915,
indique le document.

L’Uruguay est le premier pays à avoir reconnu en 1965 le génocide
arménien. Son exemple a été imité par la Russie, la France, l’Italie,
l’Allemagne, les Pays-Bas, la Belgique, la Pologne, la Slovaquie, la
Suède, la Suisse, la Grèce, Chypre, le Liban, le Canada, le Venezuela,
l’Argentine et par 42 Etats des Etats-Unis.

Le génocide arménien a été également reconnu par le Vatican, le
Parlement européen et le Conseil mondial des Eglises.

La Turquie nie avoir massacré les Arméniens pendant la Première guerre
mondiale et réagit péniblement aux reproches qui lui sont adressés sur
ce point.

Glendale News Press, CA
April 25 2009

FROM THE MARGINS:
Hate the act, not the people

By PATRICK AZADIAN
Published: Last Updated Friday, April 24, 2009 10:03 PM PDT

I clearly remember my first April 24 experience. I could not have been
any older than 7 or 8 when my mom took me to a protest that was
organized at the grounds of our neighborhood Armenian church.

I even remember the taxi driver. He was a middle-aged Iranian man with
a heavy 5 o’clock shadow. As he pulled up to the gates of the
St. Sarkis Church in Tehran, he was puzzled by the dense and
vociferous group of protesters. He asked (in Persian): `What are you
Armenians protesting against?’

My mom briefly explained what all the commotion was about. She did an
efficient job of jamming the entire history of the Armenian Genocide
from the time the question was posed to the time she paid the driver
in Iranian tumans. I remember her holding the tumans in her hand as
she was completing the story of the unpunished injustice that befell
the Armenian people.

The taxi driver was sympathetic. He shook his head from side to side
and after a deep sigh, exclaimed: `We (Persians) have not seen too
much good from the Turks either.’ He could have been referring to the
encroachments of the Ottoman Empire on territories of the Persian
kingdom in the past century. His reaction could have also been based
in the mythical rivalry of Iran and `Turan’ (a mythical Turkic state
in the north of Iran). Or, he could have simply been empathizing with
the moment.

Regardless, I was satisfied. I felt our cause was so just that even
the taxi driver was on our side. He displayed the sophistication of a
schooled politician and the kindness of a true humanitarian.

As we walked out of the taxi and set foot in the enclosed grounds of
the church, it struck me that no protester was on the
sidewalk. According to a government decree, demonstrators were allowed
within the church grounds but anyone stepping outside the legal zone
would have been breaking the law. This made the demonstration quite
self-serving. But the message of the speakers was quite
clear. Apparently we had turned a new leaf. We were not supposed to
mourn anymore, but to demand rights.

My childish mind was new to the mourning idea; I knew something bad
had happened to our people, but my grandfather, for example, who was a
survivor of the genocide, had never really shared his experiences with
me. My parents had also not indoctrinated me with the graphic details.

Nevertheless, returning home I burned my first Turkish flag. I did it
in the privacy of our balcony under the gentle spring sun. The
procedure was intricate. As I did not have a ready-made flag, I had to
cut out a small piece of paper, painted it in red and left the star
and the moon of the Turkish flag as white. This was not an easy
process, as I was intrigued by miniature items. I glued my tiny flag
to the mast of a small needle. The sacrifice took a few seconds, but
it sent chills down my spine. I was momentarily satisfied.

I did feel some guilt. That would be my last flag burning. I never
warmed up to the idea.

The next day, I turned my attention to our grocer. I vaguely knew he
was a Turk. I was looking to hold someone accountable for the grand
loss. I asked my mom about his involvement in the genocide!

My mom knew where I was going with my line of questioning. She was
quick to kill the process.

`Leave Gholam alone,’ she said. Interestingly, `Gholam’ means
`servant’ (probably of God). `Gholam is a nice old man,’ she
continued. Just to make sure that my childhood imagination did not
create any false enemies, she emphasized the fact the Gholam was an
Iranian Turk.

Despite my parents’ well-intentioned attempts, from that day on, I
could not separate the contempt I had for the Turkish people from the
one I had for the act of genocide.

It has taken me years to get the rid of the former. It has been
consuming.

Many kids and teenagers will have participated in the demonstrations
protesting the Armenian Genocide around the world. They will have the
same challenges as I experienced with the feelings of contempt when
growing up. I think my grandparents would have wished the new
generation could only have contempt for the act of injustice.

Given the aggressive denial campaign of the Turkish state, this will
be almost impossible.

82ND ANNUAL DIOCESAN ASSEMBLY TO BE HELD AT ST. JAMES, Los Angeles
by Lily Balian

Apr 23 2009

Los Angeles, CA – The 82nd Annual Diocesan Assembly of the Western
Diocese, Armenian Church of North America will be held at St. James
Armenian Apostolic Church, 4950 West Slauson Avenue, Los Angeles,

April 29 to May 2, 2009. His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian,
Primate of the Western Diocese, reports that plans and preparations are
underway for the 82nd Annual Diocesan Assembly. Under the direction
of Lily Balian, Chair of the St. James Host Committee, subcommittees
have been formed and meetings have been held to organize and plan the
daily sessions, events and gala banquet. Dr. Sarkis Mesrobian, Chair
of the St. James Parish Council, states that St. James is pleased and
honored to host the Annual Diocesan Assembly bringing together the
clergy, members of the Ladies Societies, delegates and Parish Council
members from throughout the Western Diocese for the four day assembly.

The Assembly will begin on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 with the Clergy
conference sessions. The Central Council Ladies Society meeting will
be held on Thursday, April 30, headed by Araxie Boyamian, Chair.

On Friday, May 1st fro 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. delegates will be
registering from parishes in Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Nevada,
Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Utah and from cities and regions
throughout California The Chair of the 82nd Annual Diocesan Assembly,
Adrienne Krikorian, will be conducting the Delegates Sessions on
Friday, May 1st and Saturday, May 2nd. During the Assembly reports
will be given from the Diocesan Departments and Committees; attendees
will hear messages from His Holiness Karekin 11, Catholicos of All
Armenians and the Primate. Delegates will consider the 2009 Proposed
Budget, the report of the nominating committee and other agenda items.

Rev. Fr. Arshag Khatchadourian, Pastor of St. James, states that
excitement reigns high at St. James at the opportunity to once again
host the Annual Diocesan Assembly after twenty years. He commended the
committee comprised of members of the Parish Council, Ladies Society,
Mr. and Mrs. Club and all the church organizations for devoting their
time and efforts to achieve a memorable and most successful Assembly.

A Gala Banquet will be held on Friday, May 1st at 6:00 p.m. in John
Gogian Hall. The highlight of the banquet will be the presentation
of the Archbishop’s Awards by the Primate. The 2008 recipients are
Robert Barsam, St. James Armenian Apostolic Church; Velo Herbekian,
Armenian Apostolic Church of the Desert; and Chris Yaldezian, St. Peter
Armenian Church of Van Nuys. The Primate expressed his pride in the
honorees stating that each of them have served the Western Diocese
and their respective parishes for many years with tireless and
selfless dedication. The Primate stated "Each of them have given
from their hearts with a firm commitment, with love and passion,
for the strengthening of the mission of the Western Diocese."

Chair of the Host Committee, Lily Balian, anticipates a capacity crowed
to pay tribute to the three honorees in recognition of their years of
service to the Western Diocese and to the Armenian community. Members
of the Host Committee include: Dr. Sarkis Mesrobian, Lucille Bogosian,
Sylvia Salmastlian, Arpi Barsam, Robert Barsam, Viken Kuyumjian,
George Mardikian, Ben Ammeian, Hrant Adourian, Kevork Khedesian, and
Levon Kemkemian, The Committee promise an enjoyable and fun evening
with music, dancing, a special raffle and lively entertainment.

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA: ARMENIA COUNTS ON NEARLY 5 BILLION DOLLARS RUSSIAN INVESTMENTS FOR COMING YEARS

ArmInfo
2009-04-24 11:39:00

ArmInfo. Armenia counts on up to 5 billion dollars investments from
Russia for the coming 3-4 years, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan
told his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev Thursday in Moscow,
ITAR-TASS reported.

‘Russian investments have already exceeded 2.5 billion dollars given
the real interest of Russian companies in Armenia, particularly in the
projects of construction of a new NPP and uranium exploration. All
this will increase investments to 5 billion drams for the coming
three-four years’, S. Sargsyan said. He mentioned that 1250 companies
in Armenia have Russian capital and the commodity turnover between
the two states has reached 1 billion 50 million dollars.

A LA CARTE ~ AN ARMENIAN FAMILY RECIPE

Stonington Times
es/archive/2009/04/24/a-la-carte-an-armenian-famil y-recipe.aspx
April 24 2009

We rarely get to see Kathryn and Haig Casparian, who live in Manhattan
and summer in Nantucket. We fixed that this Easter. Kathryn, who’s
in investment banking, is light and lovely and quieter than her
husband, Haig, but everyone is a little quieter than Haig. He is a
born storyteller and his words would keep the young and the older
transfixed. He retired some years ago from Wall Street before it went
belly-up. (We all asked Kathryn if she had met Bernie Madoff. She
said she’d served on a committee with him. Her take? One of the nicest
guys you’d ever want to meet, she said.) A few years ago, Haig wrote
a memoir about Wall Street and his job with Drexel Lambert. It was
a terrific book and he named names. He had no plans to publish the
book because no publisher could hire enough lawyers, he laughed.

Now he’s written another book, this time an Armenian cookbook with
lots of stories. In order to have recipes in the book, there were
some caveats: All the recipes had to come from the Casparian/Hovsepian
family and had to be recipes that are made regularly.

His recipe for Armenian salad, using no lettuces, may have been my
favorite dish at Easter dinner. And that’s saying something, since
we shared a leg of lamb with rosemary, baked ham and pork tenderloin,
rice pilaf, scalloped potatoes, corn pudding, sweet potatoes, roasted
potatoes, roasted carrots, and two kinds of asparagus. Oh, and around
eight desserts…

You can’t buy Haig’s cookbook, but I am sharing his salad recipe. I
made it the next day. It’s easy and delicious, low in calories, and
high in nutrition. I have written down how much of each ingredient
to use, but all of this is "to taste." You can use a little vinegar;
I had some pomegranate balsamic vinegar and used it sparingly. And
this is the time to use a mandoline, if you have one.

Haig’s Armenian Salad

Adapted from Cooking with Haig and Family

Serves 6 to 8

2 large hot-house cucumbers cut thin and small (English cucumbers
would be great)

5 to 6 of the best tomatoes (I used more than a pint of grape tomatoes
halved or quartered)

1/2 to 1 white onion, sliced very thin

Freshly squeezed lemon juice (Haig uses 4 lemons for 4 tomatoes)

Half a bunch of fresh Italian parsley, minced

A bunch of fresh dill, fronds chopped

Excellent extra-virgin olive oil

Small amount of balsamic vinegar (optional)

Salt and pepper, to taste

In a large bowl, place cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions. In a small
bowl, squeeze lemons and remove seeds. (I roll the whole lemons
on my counter with the heel of my hand, and then toss them into the
microwave for maybe 30 seconds to get all the juice I can.) Pour lemon
juice over the vegetables and toss with hands. Add salt and pepper to
taste. Toss the parsley and fresh dill, some olive oil, and a little
bit of vinegar, if using. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

I let the salad rest on the counter for an hour and we had it with
dinner. I do think it would be even more luscious if it rested in
the refrigerator overnight.

Nibbles: A Recommendation by Lee

A couple of weeks ago, Stephanie Lyness asked us to have dinner at
Roy Ip’s Le Petit Café in Branford. We hadn’t visited in at least
two years, way too long to stay away from this lovely, food-heaven
restaurant. I think the prix fixe menu may be around $50 per person
(less tax, tip, and drinks), but when you can have a choice of
appetizers that include housemade pate; a perfect salad with warmed
goat cheese; entrees that include rack of lamb, pork tenderloin,
and swordfish; plus incredible desserts, Le Petit Café is a bargain.

Both Stephanie and I ordered poached pear–she got hers warm, and I
got mine cold. It was amazing that these two very same desserts could
be so different: Stephanie’s sauce was nearly brothy and would have
been a perfect choice on a cold night sitting next to a fireplace. My
sauce was almost syrupy, tasting rich, high-caloric. Of course, it
was the same sauce. I thought about that dessert for at least a week.

Le Petit Café 225 Montowese Street Branford 203-483-9791

Lee White of Old Lyme has been a food editor and restaurant reviewer
for more than 25 years. You can e-mail her at [email protected].

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS WERE COMMEMORATED AT ARMENIAN CEMETERY IN ISTANBUL

PanArmenian News
April 24 2009
Armenia

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Agos Newspaper staff held a commemorative event
at Armenian cemetery in Istambul, Hrant Dink burial site. Around 20
people lay wreaths at the grave of Hrant Dink and memorial to1894-1896
massacres’ victims.

The ceremony was attended by Armenian journalists and an editor
and writer Ragis Zarakolu. 1909 Adana massacre victims were also
commemorated by those present, Nouvelles d’Armenie reported.