Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

Herald Sun
Olympics
Bungle crushes lifters
Leo Schlink
13may04
AUSTRALIA’s Olympic men’s weightlifting squad for Athens has been cut in
half in farcical circumstances.
Australia will now have only one male and one female lifter at the Games
after the national team finished second to Nauru at the Oceania
Championships in Fiji last week.
Australian Weightlifting Federation president Sam Coffa last night accepted
part of the blame for an “outrageous” blunder.
The Australian Olympic Committee described the fallout from the comical
selection handling of the weightlifting squad as “unfortunate”.
Australia would have qualified two male lifters for Greece had it won the
Oceania Championships.
But it arrogantly rested a competitor ranked No. 1 in the world because it
assumed the squad would still qualify first.
“What happened was the one or two lifters needed to get us over the line
were left behind,” Coffa admitted. “This was following advice from our
coaching panel that we had enough buffer to take us over the line and it
didn’t prove to be the case. It’s not an embarrassment, but I am completely
outraged. We are all guilty and that includes me.”
Sergo Chakhoyan, who is training in Armenia and is rated world No. 1 in the
85kg class, is the Australian weightlifter told he was not required for the
championships.
Chakhoyan’s bronze medal in clean and jerk at last year’s world titles meant
he’d virtually pre-qualified for Athens. He is expected to be nominated for
the sole spot, subject to AOC approval.
But the bungle has shattered Chris Rae, who won the 105kg-plus class in
Suva. Rae was in line to fill the second spot, pending results at the Games
selection trials in June.
“It’s devastating for me,” Rae said. “It has cost me the chance of making
the Olympics.”

YENI SAFAK SAID: HARIRI: TURKEY, AN EXAMPLE FOR ISLAMIC WORLD
Turkish Daily News, Press Scanner
May 12 2004
Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said Turkey, which is a bridge
between Europe and Asia, was an example for the Islamic world with
its efforts for modernization.
“This enhances the importance of Turkey’s role,” said Hariri.
The Lebanese premier will pay a visit to Ankara in the upcoming days
and before his visit to Turkey, daily Yeni Safak held an interview
with Hariri at his house.
“Turkey is an important country in the region and has historic
ties with Lebanon. There is no doubt that the AK Party government’s
policies have pushed the Arabs and us for new initiatives in Turkey.
That’s why, we support the AK Party’s efforts to improve its relations
with its neighbors and the Arabs,” said Hariri.
Asked about whether the European Union would open its doors to Turkey,
the premier said Lebanon supported Turkey’s EU aspirations.
“Through the reforms, Turkey proved that it is very serious and sincere
on the issue. The EU should respond to Turkey with a similar serious
and sincere way and open its doors to Turkey,” added Hariri.
Asked about whether he was thinking about acting as a mediator between
Armenia and Turkey since his country enjoyed friendly relations
with Armenia, Hariri said his visit’s primary goal was to improve
and strengthen the relations between Lebanon and Turkey and also
expressed the hope that all of the disagreements and problems in the
region would be resolved in a way that would contribute to peace.
In reply to a question concerning the U.S.-led Middle East Initiative,
Hariri said he opposed the fact that the United States launched such
an initiative without asking the peoples of the region.
The Lebanese premier is known to oppose the U.S.-led initiative.
“None of us are against democracy, reforms and freedoms but all of
them should be done in accordance with our own will and peoples’
expectations and interests. The power that will determine the future
of a region is the people of that region,” said Hariri.
Asked about the inhuman treatment in Iraq, the premier said the Arabic
world was shocked by the brutal torture against the Iraqi captives
and condemned the torture.
Hariri went on to say that the methods adopted by Britain and the
United States were not enough to control Iraq and said: “There is no
need for more troops or weapons. The only thing that Iraq needs is
a political solution.”
Hariri said that the United Nations should play a major role in the
transfer of Iraqi administration to the Iraqis and formation of a
political structure and should support the efforts to establish a
new government.
The Lebanese premier said that Arabic countries were in contact with
the big states and friendly countries for a solution that would help
Iraq’s stability and territorial integrity.

OFFICE OF THE NAGORNO KARABAKH REPUBLIC IN THE USA
122 C Street, NW, Suite 360, Washington, D.C. 20001
Tel: (202) 347-5166
Fax: (202) 347-5168
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site:
PRESS RELEASE
May 10, 2004
FIVE ARTSAKH CHILDREN RECEIVE ASSISTANCE FOR THEIR MEDICAL TREATMENT OUTSIDE
NAGORNO KARABAKH
John Kchikian of the Armenian Children’s Relief Fund awarded prestigious
Gratitude Medal
WASHINGTON, DC – The Office of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic announced today
that five more Artsakh children, whose medical conditions required
treatments outside the republic, received benevolent assistance. This direct
financial aid, made possible largely by a recent $10,000 grant from the
Cafesjian Family Foundation and provided through the Armenian Children’s
Relief Fund, will be used to organize and finance medical treatment of these
children outside Nagorno Karabakh.
A special committee has been created to oversee the proper distribution and
use of the humanitarian assistance. The Committee on Implementation of
Medical Assistance Projects (CIMAP) includes representatives of Ministries
of Health, Social Security and Foreign Affairs, a local non-governmental
organization, Motherhood, and a local liaison of the U.S.-based Americans
for Artsakh organization.
CIMAP received and reviewed applications for financial assistance and, after
scrupulous consideration, decided on the amount of financial aid to be
provided. It also outlined financial reporting guidelines for recipient
families. The five families agreed to use the funds exclusively for medical
treatment and associated expenses and to report to the committee on the
results.
The Armenian Children’s Relief Fund, under the leadership of its founder and
chairman John Kchikian, has provided over $300,000 in humanitarian
assistance for reconstruction of schools, repair of drinking water mains,
and as medical aid for dozens of veterans and children. In recognition of
Mr. Kchikian’s ongoing patriotic support of Artsakh, on April 7, 2004, the
Artsakh-based Motherhood organization awarded him with its prestigious
Gratitude Medal. Among past recipients of the award are NKR President Arkady
Ghoukasian, former Armenian Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsian, and Baroness
Caroline Cox.
Since 1998, the Cafesjian Family Foundation (CFF) has awarded more than $1.3
million in grant assistance to benefit Nagorno Karabakh, including the
sponsorship of major infrastructure projects such as the Goris-Stepanakert
and North-South highways. The grants also included some $80,000 for
reconstruction of a major school in Stepanakert and $50,000 for landmine
clearing efforts. Since 2001, the Foundation has sponsored the NKR Office,
Artsakh’s representation in the United States. In October 2003, President
Ghoukasian met with CFF President and CEO Gerard L. Cafesjian to thank him
again for his outstanding contribution to Artsakh’s overall success.
“Artsakh is very lucky to have committed Armenians like Mr. Cafesjian and
Mr. Kchikian on its side,” said Nagorno Karabakh Representative Vardan
Barseghian. “The needs are often greater than we can shoulder and we thank
those who understand the importance of continued assistance to Artsakh. Only
together can we achieve our common vision of a secure and prosperous
Homeland.”
The Office of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic in the United States is based in
Washington, DC and works with the U.S. government, academia and the public
representing the official policies and interests of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic.
* * *
This material is distributed by the Office of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic
in the USA on behalf of the Government of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. The
NKR Office is registered with the U.S. Government under the Foreign Agent
Registration Act. Additional information is available at the Department of
Justice, Washington, D.C.

The Forum, ND
May 9 2004
Other views: Armenian genocide examined
By Anna Hovhannisyan, The Forum
The Ottoman Empire carried out the annihilation of the Armenians, a
nation that accepted Christianity the first in the world in 301 A.D.
Out of a total of 2.5 million Armenians, 1.5 million were killed.
Abdul Hamid II had 300,000 Armenians slaughtered in 1885, which could
be considered the beginning of the Armenian genocide. In 1909, 30,000
Armenians were slaughtered in Adana. Upon a premeditated plan, the
ruling party of Turkey carried out the annihilation of the Armenians
in the Empire.
And this genocide is forgotten. Many countries in the world deny the
genocide of Armenians. Thirty-three states of America have recognized
it, and 166 senators and congressmen of the United States signed the
letter to President George Bush urging him to recognize the Armenian
genocide.
Leaving crimes unpunished is a prerequisite for new ones. Proof of
this is obvious as Hitler said to his generals before the Holocaust:
“Who after all remembers the extermination of Armenians?”
The movie “Ararat” about the Armenian genocide will be presented
Tuesday at 7 p.m., at Minnesota State University Moorhead, Comstock
Memorial Union, room 227.
“Ararat,” Atom Egoyan’s mysterious drama about the horrors of the
largely unknown Armenian genocide in Turkey, unrolls through a film
within the film.
The members of a film crew struggle with their own respective
interpretations of the past as they make a docudrama about the
Armenian holocaust.
Hovhannisyan is a mass communication student at Minnesota State
University Moorhead.
E-mail [email protected]

The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec)
May 8, 2004 Saturday Final Edition
Armenian tears flow over genocide vote: First world war killings
recognized. Liberal political reforms, allowing MPs to vote with
their heart, helped pass the bill
by: BRENDA BRANSWELL
Girair Basmadjian remembers the sadness that hung over family
gatherings when he was a child.
“Everybody used to cry,” said Basmadjian, 62, a Montreal
ophthalmologist.
The source of their sorrow was all the absent relatives. Basmadjian
knew his grandfather but never met the man’s siblings. His aunt and
uncles were among numerous family members who died in the mass
killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during the First World
War.
Since the 1980s, Basmadjian, president of the Armenian National
Committee of Canada, and others have lobbied Ottawa to recognize the
killings as “genocide” instead of using adjectives like “calamity” to
describe the atrocities.
Now many in the Armenian community are savouring their recent
victory. A private member’s motion adopted in the House of Commons
last month recognized the Armenian genocide of 1915 and condemned it
as an act of inhumanity.
Retired Montreal engineer Robert Kouyoumdjian, who lost 32 family
members in the genocide, called it a “a huge relief.”
Kouyoumdjian likened it to a burial garment for the Armenians who
were interred in ditches and mass graves. “I told myself they finally
have a shroud,” he said.
Describing the bittersweet elation in his community, Norair
Serengulian, head of the Armenian National Committee of Quebec,
suggests it represents “a step closer to a collective healing.”
When they began pushing for the recognition of the genocide,
Basmadjian said, people told him he was paddling upstream.
“At the time I used to say, ‘Well, I’m not rowing against the
current. I’m rowing against the falls,’ ” he recalled, with a laugh.
The committee also sharpened its lobbying tactics. In 1999, when the
subject came before a parliamentary committee, the Armenian National
Committee assembled a six-inch-thick document backing up its
insistence that a genocide occurred.
“So this time, in order for them to read it, we made it very, very
concise,” Basmadjian said, leafing through a bound 23-page document.
Political reform also helped their cause. Under reforms introduced by
Prime Minister Paul Martin, private members’ motions are now subject
to automatic votes. Moreover, the so-called two-line vote on the
motion called for cabinet solidarity but other Liberals MPs were free
to vote the way they wanted. “Without the government members this
motion would have died,” said Eleni Bakopanos, Liberal MP for
Ahuntsic riding, who supported it.
Basmadjian and a contingent of 150 people of Armenian descent watched
in the visitors’ gallery as MPs voted 153-68 in favour of the motion.
His eyes filled with tears again recently as he recalled seeing some
members of Parliament become emotional. “Seeing Armenian eyes crying
is understandable,” Basmadjian said. “But seeing the MPs crying –
that was the most touching part of all.”
The motion was brief.
In a letter sent to MPs, the Armenian National Committee of Canada
called the recognition of the Armenian genocide “an act of historical
justice” rather than one of vengeance.
But a Turkish diplomat in Ottawa contends the motives behind it
involve land claims and financial redress.
“It is not a case of genocide from our point of view. It is a
historical dispute for land … from the days of the collapse of the
Ottoman Empire,” said Fazli Corman, a counsellor at the Turkish
embassy.
The assertion of genocide “is not right because it is a travesty of
truth,” Corman added.
Turkey suggests a few hundred thousand Armenians died; however, most
non-Turkish historians contend the Turks killed up to 1.5 million
Armenians in 1915.
“We all have someone in our family tree who has been affected – who
has either been murdered by the Ottoman authorities at the time or
had a life of hardship because of that,” Serengulian said.
[email protected]
GRAPHIC: Photo: RICHARD ARLESS JR, THE GAZETTE; Robert Kouyoumdjian,
a member of the Armenian National Committee of Canada, visits the
Armenian National Monument at Marcelin-Wilson Park at the corner of
L’Acadie and Henri Bourassa Blvds., where his daughter, Celine
Kouyoumdjian, places flowers. The National Committee succeeded in
having the federal government recognize the Armenian genocide during
the First World War.

Yerevan hails Georgian leadership’s decisive policy in Ajaria
Mediamax news agency
6 May 04

YEREVAN
Official Yerevan expressed satisfaction today about that
“confrontation between the central authorities of Georgia and the
leadership of the Autonomous Republic of Ajaria settled mainly
peacefully and without bloodshed”.
As Mediamax news agency reported, the spokesman of the Armenian
Foreign Ministry, Gamlet Gasparyan announced in Yerevan today.
“Similar resolution became the main step on the way to establishing
peace and stability in Georgia, consequently in all the South
Caucasus. In this connection we welcome the consistent and decisive
policy of the Georgian authorities, thanks to which they succeeded in
overcoming this difficult barrier,” the official of the Armenian
Foreign Ministry announced.

Mansfield News Journal, OH
May 5 2004
What will it take for us to leave Iraq?
By Ron Simon
News Journal

Not long ago, USA TODAY did a piece on all the young men and women
who have been killed while serving in Iraq.
All their pictures fit on one page. Until that point, it hadn’t hit
home how few there really have been.
Not that each one doesn’t hurt like hell when that one is your
friend, your brother, your son or daughter.
And you can be sure that many, many more are coming home maimed in
one way or another.
But in all honesty, we lost that many in just one ambush in the Ia
Drang Valley.
Think back to that first awful hour on Omaha Beach. Or the bloody
black sands of Iwo Jima.
Or, God help humanity, one hot afternoon at Antietam Creek in
Maryland when the “landscape turned red.”
When I read about our difficulties in Iraq and how determined to the
death some Iraqis are to blow us out of there, I know how the British
must have felt when they occupied New York City in the 1770s.
Somebody in London decided if the Redcoats were able to occupy North
America’s major cities, that silly old revolution would die on the
vine.
So first they held Boston and found themselves trapped there. The
march to Concord was a disaster and Bunker Hill was even worse. Then,
when they found themselves staring at the mouths of cannons on
Dorchester Heights, it was time to pull out.
Next, they tried New York City and after a few brisk fights, it was
theirs. And it’s all they got. If a Redcoat thought he could go
raiding in Westchester County, Long Island or New Jersey, he was
liable to wind up dead. Trapped again.
Philadelphia wasn’t quite so deadly, but it was just another dead
end, as were Charleston and Savannah. Those damned Yankees owned the
countryside and managed to get France and Holland involved.
Time to leave.
Like the Greeks in Persia, the Romans in Germany and the Germans in
Russia, being belligerent in somebody else’s country can bear painful
results.
A lot of Vietnam veterans are going back there on veterans holidays.
They say the reception is great. Folks are friendly. It sure wasn’t
like that 35 years ago. I can’t remember ever feeling safe anywhere
when I was there.
We did have two successful occupations in Japan and Germany after
World War II and I guess it is because both countries were so
completely defeated that we could afford to be friendly and
forgiving.
We felt the same way about the South Koreans. But when you think
about it, all three countries were not too unhappy to have our
military around, considering how many enemies they had. We made a
great security blanket and spent money like water. It’s no surprise
all three countries have done so well. We primed their pumps and let
them grow behind our shield.
That’s not the case in Iraq. The Kurds like us plenty and seem to be
doing well. I hope we don’t desert them again, but they haven’t much
more historic luck than the Jews or the Armenians.
No matter how many of us get killed or injured, I don’t sense any
mood to cut and run from Iraq yet. I just wonder what it’s going to
take to get out of this one with some honor.
I hope I never see film of our last helicopters lifting off from a
building in Baghdad with people dangling from the landing skids. Once
in a lifetime is enough.

Baku Today
April 28 2004
Aliyev, Kocharyan to meet today
Baku Today 28/04/2004 12:27
Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev will meet Armenian president
Robert Kocharyan today at 13.30 Baku time in Warsaw.
The two presidents will discuss Karabakh issue. Following their close
meeting Aliyev and Kocharyan will meet with OSCE’s Minsk group
chairmen.
The chairmen are expected to inform the presidents about their stance
over the issue.
Aliyev and Kocharyan are visiting Poland for a three day economic
summit of European nations.
Aliyev arrived in Warsaw yesterday. He met with the president of
Poland Aleksander Kwasniewski.
The two presidents have talked about half hour to develop relations
between Azerbaijan and Poland.
Kwasniewski said, Aliyev’s attendance at the European summit will
have positive impact on attracting big European companies to
Azerbaijan.
Aliyev will be addressing the summit today. He will speak of economic
reforms in Azerbaijan and also Azerbaijan’s participation in large
commercial projects.

Baku Today
Aliyev meets Kocharyan
Baku Today 28/04/2004 19:46
Azerbaijani president Aliyev has met with his Armenian counterpart Robert
Kocharyan today to consider the ways of settling Karabakh conflict between
Armenia and Azerbaijan, according to ANS.
The two presidents have hold close meeting which lasted about two hours.
This is the second time Aliyev and Kocharyan have met over Karabakh issue.
Their first meeting was in December 2003 in Geneva of Switzerland.
Aliyev is now meeting with OSCE Minsk group’s chairmen.
Since 1997 United States, Russia and France have been jointly mediating
peaceful solution for Karabakh conflict in a group of three.
United States has recently appointed new chairman to the group.
Chairman of Washington based Central Asia-Caucasus Institute Frederick Starr
said, in interview to Azerbaijan’s Lider TV, new US spokesman at the Minsk
group Steven Mann is quite professional and knowledgeable person to advance
the group’s efforts for settling the conflict.
Yet Minsk group, Starr said, might have solved the problem long ago. As if
three chairmen have agreed orally to meet sometimes, he said, “to talk and
drink some wine.”
“This is cynicism,” said Starr adding “If the United States or Russia or
Europe wanted to solve this problem they could do that 10 years ago. Each
for some reason did not (solve)”.

[Congressional Record: April 27, 2004 (Extensions)]
[Page E662]
>From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr27ap04-38]

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
______

HON. PETER J. VISCLOSKY
of indiana
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in solemn memorial to the
estimated 1.5 million men, women, and children who lost their lives
during the Armenian Genocide. As in the past, I am pleased to join so
many distinguished House colleagues on both sides of the aisle in
ensuring that the horrors wrought upon the Armenian people are never
repeated.
On April 24, 1915, over 200 religious, political, and intellectual
leaders of the Armenian community were brutally executed by the Turkish
government in Istanbul. Over the course of the next 8 years, this war
of ethnic genocide against the Armenian community in the Ottoman Empire
took the lives of over half the world’s Armenian population.
Sadly, there are some people who still deny the very existence of
this period which saw the institutionalized slaughter of the Armenian
people and dismantling of Armenian culture. To those who would question
these events, I point to the numerous reports contained in the U.S.
National Archives detailing the process that systematically decimated
the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire. However, old records are
too easily forgotten–and dismissed. That is why we come together every
year at this time: to remember in words what some may wish to file away
in archives. This genocide did take place, and these lives were taken.
That memory must keep us forever vigilant in our efforts to prevent
these atrocities from ever happening again.
I am proud to note that Armenian immigrants found, in the United
States, a country where their culture could take root and thrive. Most
Armenians in America are children or grandchildren of the survivors,
although there are still survivors among us. In my district in
Northwest Indiana, a vibrant Armenian-American community has developed
and strong ties to Armenia continue to flourish. My predecessor in the
House, the late Adam Benjamin, was of Armenian heritage, and his
distinguished service in the House serves as an example to the entire
Northwest Indiana community. Over the years, members of the Armenian-
American community throughout the United States have contributed
millions of dollars and countless hours of their time to various
Armenian causes. Of particular note are Mrs. Vicki Hovanessian and her
husband, Dr. Raffy Hovanessian, residents of Indiana’s First
Congressional District, who have continually worked to improve the
quality of life in Armenia, as well as in Northwest Indiana. Three
other Armenian-American families in my congressional district, Dr. Aram
and Mrs. Seta Semerdjian, Dr. Heratch and Mrs. Sonya Doumanian, and Dr.
Ara and Mrs. Rosy Yeretsian, have also contributed greatly toward
charitable works in the United States and Armenia. Their efforts,
together with hundreds of other members of the Armenian-American
community, have helped to finance several important projects in
Armenia, including the construction of new schools, a mammography
clinic, and a crucial roadway connecting Armenia to Nagorno Karabagh.
In the House, I have tried to assist the efforts of my Armenian-
American constituency by continually supporting foreign aid to Armenia.
This past year, with my support, Armenia received $84 million in U.S.
aid to assist economic and military development. In addition, on April
16, 2004, I joined several of my colleagues in signing the letter to
President Bush urging him to honor his pledge to recognize the Armenian
Genocide.
The Armenian people have a long and proud history. In the fourth
century, they became the first nation to embrace Christianity. During
World War I, the Ottoman Empire was ruled by an organization known as
the Young Turk Committee, which allied with Germany. Amid fighting in
the Ottoman Empire’s eastern Anatolian provinces, the historic
heartland of the Christian Armenians, Ottoman authorities ordered the
deportation and execution of all Armenians in the region. By the end of
1923, virtually the entire Armenian population of Anatolia and western
Armenia had either been killed or deported.
While it is important to keep the lessons of history in mind, we must
also remain committed to protecting Armenia from new and more hostile
aggressors. In the last decade, thousands of lives have been lost and
more than a million people displaced in the struggle between Armenia
and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabagh. Even now, as we rise to
commemorate the accomplishments of the Armenian people and mourn the
tragedies they have suffered, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and other countries
continue to engage in a debilitating blockade of this free nation.
Consistently, I have testified before the Foreign Operations
Appropriations Subcommittee on the important issue of bringing peace to
a troubled area of the world. I continued my support for maintaining
the level of funding for the Southern Caucasus region of the
Independent States (IS), and of Armenia in particular. In addition, on
February 26, 2004, I joined several of my colleagues in sending a
letter to President Bush urging nim to ensure parity in military
assistance between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleagues, Representatives Joe
Knollenberg and Frank Pallone, for organizing this special order to
commemorate the 89th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Their
efforts will not only help bring needed attention to this tragic period
in world history, but also serve to remind us of our duty to protect
basic human rights and freedoms around the world.