Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

SERGE SARGSYAN IN NEW YORK

5409.html
12:39:33 – 05/10/2009

The second stop of the pan-Armenian trip was New York. Here, on
October 3, Serge Sargsyan had a meeting with the representatives of
the U.S. Eastern coast and representatives of the Armenian communities
in Canada. The deputy head of the Hayastan pan-Armenian Fund trustee
board Gagik Harutunyan, Ambassador with Special Assignments, the
former NKR president Arkadi Ghukasyan as well as the Minister of
Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan also took part in the meeting.

In his opening speech, Serge Sargsyan dwelt on the main concern
heard on the Armenian-Turkish protocols and reiterated that Armenia
is establishing relations with Turkey without preconditions.

Dwelling on the concern that we did not calculate all the possible
consequences and influence of border opening, Serge Sargsyan said
that in reality it is impossible to calculate all the scenarios.

As to economic expansions, Serge Sargsyan considered groundless this
concern saying that the country has enough mechanisms and means to
solve possible problems and challenges.

Serge Sargsyan also reiterated that the fact of genocide cannot be
discussed in the framework of the normalization of the Armenian and
Turkish relations.

In the end, Serge Sargsyan said he believes in Armenia’s good future
because we have chosen the right way. The press service of the
president informs.

SPEECHLESS WITNESSES OF THE HISTORY

06-10-2009

To the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the re-establishment of
the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church has not remained
apathetic and the Artsakh State Museum of Local History. In the years
of persecutions and pursuits, numerous exhibits were returned to the
storage into the museum. And recently on the organized exhibition
were presented some of the saved relics from spiritual genocide.

On September 27, the opened exhibition in Artsakh Museum of Regional
History visited the Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, accompanied
by the Speaker of the NKR National Assembly Ashot Ghulyan, primate of
the Artsakh diocese the Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan and spiritual
leaders of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

The director of the museum Melanya Balayan told the dignitaries about
the advanced exhibits. The most ancient relic – found in Dadivank a
stone knob of a crozier – dated from the fifth century. A bishop’s
throne is also found in Dadivank, dated 12-13 centuries.

The most "young" exhibit is an embroidered portrait of John the Baptist
(1912). Garegin the Second astonished the director of museum with
questions that could only specify the most enlightened visitor: how
was a relic of Russian origin find in Artsakh and whether they knew
what kind of exhibits, which are concerned to the Artsakh diocese,
are kept in museums in Armenia?

Catholicos of All Armenians left a note in the book of the museum. "So
carefully preserved relics of the church are a witness of the noble
and strong faith of Artsakh,"- Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin
II gave such estimation to the work of the museum.

The director of the museum said that much remained to be done. The
considerable part of the history kept in the funds of the displays
is almost unknown.

YEARS OF STRUGGLE AND RESURRECTION FROM THE ASHES
Norayr Hovsepyan

p
06-10-2009

The events, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the re-establishment
of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, began on
Sept. 26 from Gandzasar. Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II came
to Artsakh.

The Primate of the Artsakh Diocese Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan,
NKR officials headed by the chairman of the National Assembly Ashot
Ghulyan, leaders and representatives of the dioceses of the Armenian
Apostolic Church met him.

Gandzasar was chosen not by chance, as the starting point of events
dedicated to the re-establishment of the Artsakh diocese. 20 years
ago thanks to the Catholicos of All Armenians Vazgen I, the Artsakh
Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church again began to operate, which
was closed in the 30-ies of the last century. On October 1, 1989 in
Gandzasar Church of St. John the Baptist, the current Primate of the
Artsakh Diocese Archbishop Martirosyan Pargev finished a service the
first liturgy.

"The rebirth of the Artsakh diocese at its height of the Artsakh
movement is not accident," – said the Speaker of the NKR National
Assembly Ashot Ghulyan.

"It symbolizes our return to the values left by our ancestors, – noted
the Minister of Education and Science of NKR Vladik Khachatryan.-And
everybody needs in spiritual food- and old and young".

Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II and the pastors of the Armenian
Apostolic Church did church service in Gandzasar Church of St. John the
Baptist, after which four sides of the Artsakh country were blessed.

Then the ceremonial procession directed towards the cross stone set at
the entrance in Gandzasar. Dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the
re-establishment of the Artsakh Diocese Garegin the Second blessed
the khachkar. Then he turned to the audience. Patriarchal word was
kind of assessment of 20-year activity of the Artsakh Diocese and
the Armenian of Artsakh. "We brought to Artsakh our blessing from
Echmiadzin with love.

We are proud that Artsakh regained freedom by the efforts of all
Armenians, – said the Catholicos of All Armenians.-And a priest
together with soldiers took up a weapon in his hand, as our holy
fathers bequeathed, we must change the cross into an arm in the name
of rescuing of the native land".

After 20 years in Gandzasar, they pray with the same zeal as the
first day. They pray heartily, with an awareness of loss and faith
in victory. So, in Gandzasar the bells never fall into silence.

American boy scouts help preserve future site of AGMA
03.10.2009 11:24 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ As part of their community service program, a Boy
Scouts of America troop from the Washington, DC, region is
volunteering to help preserve the National Bank of Washington (NBW)
building, which is a designated site on the National Register of
Historic Buildings.

As plans proceed to convert the 1920s structure into the Armenian
Genocide Museum of America (AGMA), the preservation of the historic
building has remained one of the priorities of the museum project. The
renovation plans will restore the site to its original grandeur, as
well as allow for the installation of full-scale exhibits on the
tragic ordeal of the victims and the long struggle of the
survivors. The NBW structure has historic designation for both the
exterior and the interior main hall of the former bank space.

"As we pull together the AGMA plans and exhibits, we also want this
historic site to be presentable and available to the local community,"
said Van Z. Krikorian, museum trustee and chairman of the project’s
building and operations committee. "We are honored by the offer of the
Boy Scouts of America to pitch in with our efforts to improve the site
for public use. Their volunteer spirit exemplifies the best of our
country’s values and is especially appropriate since the Boy Scouts of
America in the past honored Armenian Assembly of America chairman and
AGMA board of trustees chairman Hirair Hovnanian with their
Distinguished Service Award for serving on their National Board."

The reviews and approvals of the District of Columbia Historic
Preservation Review Board (HPRB) and the architectural plans developed
according to HPRB specifications have clarified which portions and
what details of the existing structure must be preserved and will be
renovated. The review also identified aspects to the interior of the
building that were later additions or are features that do not
constitute part of the original integrity of the historic building.

Not on The Extra Mile: Points of Light Volunteer Pathway, which is a
new national monument dedicated to the spirit of service in
America. The Extra Mile honors heroes of the nation’s service movement
with a series of large bronze medallions, including William D. Boyce,
founder of the Boy Scouts of America. Other honorees include
suffragist Susan B. Anthony, abolitionist Frederick Douglas, advocate
for the blind Helen Keller, civil rights leader Martin Luther King,
Jr., Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and American Red
Cross founder Clara Barton, who led American relief efforts in
response to the 1896 Armenian massacres. The AGMA offices are also
located across the street from the Church of the Epiphany, which is
one of the starting points of the Civil War to Civil Rights: Downtown
Heritage Trail.

U.S. GOVERNMENT PROVIDES 36 MILLION DOLLARS TO REHABILITATE PUMPING STATIONS

armradio.am
01.10.2009 14:48

The Millennium Challenge Account – Armenia (MCA-Armenia) SNCO signed
a contract with a French consortium – Farmex Technologies, Florian
Lopez and Gaxieu Ingenerie – to rehabilitate 17 pumping stations as
part of the MCA-Armenia’s Irrigation Infrastructure Project.

In the presence of Armenia’s Deputy Prime-Minister and Minister of
Territorial Administration, Armen Gevorgian, and senior officials
of the U.S. and Armenian governments, the contract was signed
by MCA-Armenia CEO Ara Hovsepyan and Farmex Chairman Noureddine
Smali. These works represent the largest single contract under
the Irrigaton Infrastructure Project and play a significant role in
helping to reduce rural poverty in Armenia by increasing the economic
performance of its agricultural sector.

Rehabilitation of these 17 pumping stations will provide reliable
irrigation water, increased electricity efficiency and improved
agricultural productivity to over 182,000 beneficiaries in 100
communities throughout Ararat, Armavir, Aragatsotn, Gegarqunik,
Tavush and Syunik marzes.

Currently, over 31,000 hectares of arable land receive water from
these pumping stations, which serve as the only source of irrigation,
especially for household plots.

Additional works under the MCA-Armenia’s Irrigation Infrastructure will
involve the rehabilitation of six main irrigation canals, construction
of four gravity schemes, upgrading of tertiary irrigation systems in
over 70 communities and improvements to the Ararat valley drainage
system.

TO TAKE THE MANDATE

os15364.html
17:19:17 – 30/09/2009

The leader of the Heritage party honourable Mr. Raffi Hovhannisyan,
several days after his resignation, decided to withdraw it.

Raffi Hovhannisyan explained his step saying that first he felt
betrayed but after he heard appeals form his compatriots from Armenia
and Diaspora to "accept the challenge and regardless inequality of
force to use the National Assembly limited possibility to work for
the sake of truth and justice". To be honest, reading these lines,
I remembered a joke. When a dance group after its fist performance
is called to the stage for a second performance by applauds, then
for the third, for the forth and fifth times when in the end they
understand that the spectators just made fun of them.

So, you do not know what the aim of the Armenian citizens and
Armenians from Diaspora is when they ordered Raffi Hovhannisyan to
come back. You do not know whether the Armenian citizens and the
Armenians from Diaspora were the authors of these pleads or maybe
Raffi Hovhannisyan’s political rivals sent messages and called Raffi
asking to come back and presented it as a "national plead" for him
to withdraw his resignation to appear in a ridiculous situation.

The fact that the situation is quite ridiculous may arouse doubts
only in Raffi Hovhannisyan otherwise he would not take back his
already laid down mandate. After this, Raffi Hovhannisyan’s words are
completely superfluous, because the society never knows if a person
who withdraws his resignation will not renounce his words either.

Raffi Hovhannisyan is not ruled out to have believed someone else’s
words and laid down his parliamentary mandate for some expectation
for example for a higher post but he remained without nothing having
to retake his mandate. Raffi Hovhannisyan is possible to be silent for
so long right because he was looking for an honourable way to withdraw
his resignation. And it is either ruled out that not the political
rivals sent the "national appeals" through all the possible means of
technology but Raffi Hovhannisyan organized it for the sake of an
honourable return. No, perhaps, Raffi Hovhannisyan tried to repeat
Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s impressive return but came out not to have
enough patience to wait for 10 years. Whereas, he had to realize that
the effect was not in the form of return but in waiting for ten years.

Apparently, the Heritage board has to withdraw Zoya Tadevosyan,
Vardan Khachatryan and Movses Aristakesyan’s dismissals. After,
the Heritage will withdraw its registration at the Ministry of Justice.

ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL ZODCHESTVO-2009 IN MOSCOW

Russia-InfoCenter
28.09.2009

The largest Russian architecture festival Zodchestvo-2009 will be
held in the Central Exhibition Hall "Manege" in Moscow from the 15th
to 18th October.

"Today the festival Zodchestvo is the only one and the largest
exhibition space, where one can see at once the results of
architectural and town planning activity of numerous cities and
regions of Russia, project institutions, studios and offices, young
architects, students of architectural universities and departments,
as well as children’s architecture art groups" – President of Russian
Association of Architects Andrei Bokov said.

The forum will gather architects from more than thirty cities of
Russia, as well as representatives of other countries, including
Germany, USA, Holland, Switzerland, Austria, Bulgaria, Armenia and
Canada. The climax of the festival will be the ceremony of the national
award in architecture "Crystal Daedalus".

RT

Capitol Hill: sex & drugs & Turkish `soap’

27 September, 2009, 01:38

Lesbian Congresswomen, gay Senators and other `sinners’ of the US
establishment fall victims of an espionage scandal. Former FBI
employee tells how Turkish intelligence gathers information on Capitol
Hill.

A 34-year-old, Turkish-born woman of Azerbaijani descent, Sibel
Edmonds, joined the FBI as a Turkish and Farsi translator a few days
after 9/11. Her duties included translation of recordings of
conversations between suspected members of Turkish intelligence and
their American contacts.

However, in April 2002 Edmonds was fired after she raised concerns
that one of the staff in her section was a member of a Turkish
organization that was under investigation for bribing senior US
government officials and members of Congress, drug trafficking,
illegal weapons sales, money laundering, and nuclear proliferation.

Despite the fact that no one has ever disproved any of her
revelations, no effort was made to address the corruption that she had
been monitoring. That is according to The American Conservative
magazine, which has had the opportunity to interview the former FBI
translator.

The cases disclosed by Sibel Edmonds may well be considered the most
incredible story of corruption and influence peddling in modern US
history.

`If this were written up as a novel, no one would believe it,’ The
American Conservative quoted the woman as saying.
Before and after 9/11

According to documents that Sibel Edmonds had access to, intelligence
agents repeatedly reported Al-Qaeda plans to arrange a series of
large-scale terrorist attacks on American soil. Despite that, their
chiefs dismissed the reports as dubious.

Moreover, John Ashcroft’s Justice Department twice invoked the State
Secrets Privilege on the files so Edmonds could not tell what she
knew, while the 9/11 Commission did not have a chance to see them
either.

Interestingly, between 1997 and 2001, not once did anybody use the
word `Al-Qaeda,’ the woman says. It was always always `bin Ladens’ `
plural.

`There were several bin Ladens who were going on private jets to
Azerbaijan and Tajikistan. The Turkish ambassador in Azerbaijan worked
with them¦ People and weapons went one way, drugs came back,’
Edmonds continues.

`A lot of the drugs were going to Belgium on NATO planes. After that,
they went to the UK, and a lot came to the US via military planes to
distribution centers in Chicago and Patterson, New Jersey. Turkish
diplomats, who would never be searched, were coming with suitcases of
heroin,’ she explained.
Generous Turks, helpful congressmen

After having been sacked, Sibel Edmonds had revenge on her former
employer by telling journalists that entire groups of American
congressmen and diplomats were permanently `supported’ by Turkish
intelligence and lobbyists in Washington DC.

For instance, they allegedly recruited Marc Grossman for regular
payouts, who was a US Ambassador to Turkey between 1994 and 1997.

On top of that, Edmonds lists several high-profile officials among his
collaborators, including the 13th US Deputy Secretary of State,
Richard Armitage, senior Pentagon officials, Richard Perle and Douglas
Feith, and Air Force Major Douglas Dickerson.

Simultaneously, she says, Grossman arranged for several US congressmen
to lobby Ankara’s interests on Capitol Hill, while compensation
reached up to $400,000.

`The number-one Congressman involved with the Turkish community, both
in terms of providing information and doing favors, was [a former
Republican Representative from Louisiana] Bob Livingston,’ Edmonds
said in an interview.

Bob Livingston ` also the founder of the renowned lobbying group, The
Livingston Group `was allegedly paid a monthly compensation of
$105,000 by the Turkish Embassy in Washington DC. In total, the woman
says, his family received $13 million between 2000 and 2005.

`Number-two after him was [a member of the US House of Representatives]
Dan Burton, and then he became number-one in Congress until [Dennis]
Hastert bec l, Janet Reno, was briefed on the investigations, and
since they were Republicans, she authorized that they be continued,’
Sibel Edmonds has said.

Employing the basic instinct

Yet, what really surprises is the way the Turkish intelligence
allegedly approached Janice, or "Jan" Schakowsky ` a Democratic member
of the US House of Representatives.

They arranged for the bisexual woman and her spouse, Robert, to be
seduced by a pretty Turkish lesbian ` all it took to get everything
the Turkish agents needed.

Even these few examples of Edmond’s disclosures of US officials
provides a glimpse of the overall scale of corruption in US
governmental institutions, as well as of the activity of Turkish
intelligence there.

Quite interestingly, all the US MPs who have been listed by Sibel
Edmonds were the first to actively oppose the pro-Armenian resolutions
concerning America’s recognition of the Armenian genocide by the Turks
in 1915.

All in all, Turkish agents reportedly received numerous strategic
secrets about the American military and, even more importantly, a
number of compromising ties that certain politicians, diplomats and
military officials established with various international criminal
syndicates.

op_News/2009-09-27/capitol-sex-drugs-turkish.html

Amb. Evans Calls Protocols `Flawed Document’

vans-calls-protocols-%e2%80%98flawed-document%e2%8 0%99/
By Asbarez Staff on Sep 25th, 2009

WASHINGTON – Former US Ambassador to Armenia John Evans, during an
international webcast of an Armenian National Committee of America
town hall meeting Thursday, called the Armenia-Turkey protocols
`flawed.’

`This is a flawed document,’ said Evans.

`I think that the impulse to try to get diplomatic relations started
and to get the border opened was a good impulse. In the execution
there may have been, and there certainly were some shoddy work,’ added
Evans who prefaced his remarks by noting that he was speaking on his
own behalf and not as a representative of any government or
organization.

The 90-minute program, organized by the ANC of Greater Washington,
touched on many facets of the protocols on the establishment and
development of relations between Armenia and Turkey and featured Evans
as a speaker.

The retired diplomat, who was fired by the State Department for
speaking honestly and calling the events of 1915 Genocide, addressed a
broad range of legal and diplomatic concerns related to the
protocols. The full scope of his remarks, as well as the ANCA
presentation and question and answer session, are available on-line at
anca.org/townhall

Gunaysu: Neither Yes, Nor No
By Ayse Gunaysu – on September 24, 2009

naysu-neither-yes-nor-no/

really cannot remember how many times I wrote that Turkey is a country
full of paradoxes, where there is an unusually high number of
questions you can neither say yes, nor no to. Furthermore, it
generates paradoxes constantly.

For example, the government’s initiative to resolve the `Kurdish
issue,’ in its present form, is both acceptable and unacceptable. It
is right and acceptable in aiming at peace, but unacceptable in its
vagueness and the government’s contradictory practices.

The Ergenekon case, against the suspects charged of plotting against
the government, is both approvable and disapprovable; it is deserves
support for challenging the militaristic state tradition in Turkey,
but it’s objectionable because of its doubtful final objective and
lack of determination to really put an end to illegal formations
within the state apparatus.

I support Islamic intellectuals in their struggle for democracy and
their demand for true civilian rule, but I can’t possibly stand with
them side by side as long as they continue with their anti-Semitism,
using Israeli government policies and practices as a pretext.

I didn’t sign the famous `apology’ petition initiated by a group of
Turkish intellectuals, but would by no means campaign against the
petition, knowing that thousands of people signed it with total
sincerity in their protest against denialism and that the petition
would, despite its drawbacks and deficiencies, ultimately serve as a
step towards recognition of the genocide.

I can mention many more instances where one, in the very chaotic
environment of Turkey, can say both yes and no to an initiative, a
practice, or an undertaking of a political nature.

The detailed reasons for this inability to take an unconditional stand
in major questions, the sociological, economic, cultural, historical
factors playing part in this state of being always paradoxical, is a
subject to be studied by academics. But looking at the big picture, it
is easy to see that the change Turkey has been undergoing is
generating a potential to move the foundation stones of the already-
poorly built structure of the establishment, leading to shifts in
certain balances and turning the traditional positioning of political
wings upside down.

The signals of a normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia
is one of such questions that I feel myself saying neither no, nor
yes, to, or saying both yes and no at the same time.

The matter has many dimensions and many levels to discuss. It has many
facets, all of which bear different significance and meaning. It is
certainly not the same if you are an activist who has devoted his/her
life to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide; or if you are a
citizen of Armenia who desperately needs the border to be opened to
earn a living; or if you are an Armenian but a Turkish citizen who has
given all of his/her life to maintain and promote Armenian language,
culture and educational, social and religious institutions in Turkey,
a country where ethnic, religious, and cultural uniformity is
constantly upheld; and it is surely a different case if you are a
person in Turkey who sees his/her meaning of life in contributing – no
matter how tiny the contribution might be – to the democratization of
the country and to the defeat of a denialist culture.

On my part, I say yes to the normalization process because we in
Turkey, who refuse Turkish nationalism, are desperately in need of
anything that would weaken Turkey’s deeply rooted traditional way of
seeing Armenia as a hostile country. I say yes because we cannot lead
a decent life when our Armenian friends here are continuously harassed
by such nationalism. I say yes because Turkish nationalism sees the
protocols signed between the two countries as a threat to their
existence. I say yes because erasing the name of Armenia from the maps
at schools, including the Armenian schools, was among the first
practices of the military dictatorship of 1980. I say yes because
Delal Dink said if the border is opened, her father would rise from
the sidewalk where he has been lying since the moment he was shot
dead.

But at the same time, I say no to the protocols because the
organizations of the Armenian Diaspora, the children and grandchildren
of the genocide victims, were excluded from the process as a whole. In
this way, the protocols, regardless of whether or not it was done
intentionally, play in the hands of the Turkish public’s widespread
`good Armenian’ (Armenians of Turkey and to some extent Armenia) and
`bad Armenian’ (Armenians of the diaspora) pattern of thinking. I
can’t applaud the signing of the protocols as long as the textbooks
with which children in Turkey are raised contain expressions
instigating feelings of animosity and hatred towards Armenians. I
can’t possibly be happy with the so-called `normalization process ` as
long as the websites of not only government institutions, but also
semi-official and non-official organizations still embody a
historiography full of lies and anti-Armenian propaganda, and as long
as well-known academics, retired ambassadors, and popular opinion
makers audaciously express views dishonoring the memory of genocide
victims and damaging the dignity and honor of their grandchildren
living in Turkey and elsewhere. I can’t support the protocols because
it does not include a commitment on the part of Turkey to put an end
to all of these and other manifestations of denial, not only of the
genocide but also of the all-round suffering inflicted in this country
on Armenians in the past and at present as well.

But I can’t possibly – even if I wanted – campaign against the
protocols because I see this initiative as part of the process of
change presently underway in Turkey. The official ideology has been
for generations reinforcing the anti-Armenian feelings in Turkey. Even
the declaration of a will to establish friendly relations with Armenia
is in total contradiction with this ideology that has been
internalized by the Turkish public. So it feels good to see the
mainstream press publishing news items and articles in favor of the
normalization process. But it still hurts and infuriates to know that
the culture of denialism is as strong as ever.