Author: Yeghisabet Arthur

For some, ADL’s reversal on Armenian genocide falls short

By Robert Mills, [email protected]
Article Last Updated: 08/22/2007 11:42:33 AM EDT

LOWELL — It’s not enough.

That’s what some local Armenians are saying after the Anti-Defamation
League’s about-face yesterday in which it acknowledged the Turkish genocide
committed against Armenians in the early 20th century.

While welcoming the ADL’s change in position, local Armenians say the
organization’s continued political opposition to a Congressional resolution
acknowledging the genocide makes the acknowledgement appear half-hearted.

Some even questioned whether it was merely an effort to respond to pressure
and outrage within the Jewish community, and not a real change of heart on
the part of ADL National Director Abraham Foxman.

"I’m not so sure that this is really a change of heart on his part," said
Joe Dagdigian, former chairman of the Armenian National Committee of the
Merrimack Valley. "To be honest, it sounds a bit like a plea bargain just to
get himself out of the corner he’s painted himself into."

The flap began earlier this month when Watertown disassociated itself from
the ADL’s
No Place For Hate anti-bigotry campaign over the issue.

The ADL then fired its New England regional director, Andrew Tarsy, after he
agreed the killings were genocide. That firing prompted the immediate
resignation of two board members on the ADL’s board of directors.

Yesterday morning, officials in Acton also decided to disassociate their No
Place For Hate program from the ADL, according to State Rep. Jamie Eldridge,
who is co-chairman of the No Place For Hate program in Acton.

"With the news that the national ADL reversed their position, we’re not
taking any action," said Eldridge, also a candidate for Marty Meehan’s
vacated 5th Congressional District seat.

The ADL’s reversal came in a statement released yesterday in which Foxman
said he had consulted with Nobel prize-winning Holocaust survivor Elie
Wiesel and other respected historians before deciding the killings "were
indeed tantamount to genocide."

Nevertheless, Foxman said the ADL still thinks a resolution before the U.S.
House of Representatives that would acknowledge the genocide "is a
counterproductive diversion."

It was that statement that left local Armenians saying the reversal seemed
half-hearted.

Pearl Teague and Aram Jeknavorian, co-chairpersons of the Armenian National
Committee of the Merrimack Valley, were delighted that support from the
Jewish community had driven the ADL to finally recognize the genocide.

They, along with Dagdigian, were not as pleased with Foxman, though.

They expressed dismay that by failing to support the congressional
resolution, which is co-sponsored by 220 representatives, the ADL seems to
still be looking at the genocide as a political issue and not a moral one.

Foxman cited concerns about the welfare of the Jewish community in Turkey,
and the importance of the strong relationship between Turkey, Israel and the
United States in explaining his belief that the congressional resolution
would be counterproductive.

Turkey has long claimed no genocide occurred, and that the killings were
collateral damage in a civil war. Up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Muslim Turks between 1915 and 1923.

Local Armenians praised the New England Jewish community, saying they
understand the issue and share their concerns.

Source:

LITHUANIA ESTABLISHING EMBASSY IN ARMENIA

Baltic News Service
August 20, 2007 Monday 3:06 PM EET
Vilnius

Lithuania is planned to expand its net of embassies and to open an
embassy in Armenia in fall. On Wednesday, the Cabinet should pass
the decision on establishment of the embassy in Armenia as of Oct.1.

Currently Lithuanian embassy in Russia is representing Lithuania
to Armenia and one diplomat is residing in Jerevan. Armenia is
represented to Lithuania by Armenia’s embassy in Warsaw. According to
the government, Armenia’s representatives have unofficially informed
about intentions to open an embassy in Lithuania. Since 2004, Lithuania
has been identifying the relationship with South Caucasus countries
as a foreign policy priority — Lithuania already has a diplomatic
representation in Georgia; in January, the country established its
embassy in Azerbaijan as well. Vilnius newsroom, +370 5 2058509,
[email protected]

ARMENIA’S FOREIGN TRADE TURNOVER IN JANUARY-JULY OF 2007 INCREASED BY 37,0%

Mediamax
Aug 20 2007
Armenia

Yerevan, August 20 /Mediamax/. The foreign trade turnover of Armenia
in January-July of 2007 totaled 800.5bln drams or $ 2262.9mln, having
increased by 37,0% as compared to the same period of 2006.

As the press service of the National Statistical Service of Armenia
told Mediamax today, the export volume during the accounting period
made 222.9bln drams or $631.1mln, and the import volume totaled
577.6bln drams or $1631.8mln.

The deficit of the foreign trade balance in January-July of 2007
stood at 354.7bln drams or $1000.7mln.

WHY THEY WANT TO BE PRESIDENT OR MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT
Haik Aramyan

Lragir, Armenia
Aug 16 2007

The Armenian police have recently released a message that Artak
Alexanyan born in 1985 told the police in a fight in front of the
Relax disco club someone stabbed him and A. Simonyan with a sharp
object and fled. A. Simonyan died at the hospital. According to the
Aravot, the fight involved A. Simonyan and Haik Sargsyan, the son of
Member of Parliament Alexander Sargsyan, who is serving in the army
but is in fact a frequenter of disco clubs, and his friends. And this
someone is Ashik Misak Nazaretyan born in 1983 wanted by the police.

According to the Aravot, this is not the first case when Alexander
Sargsyan’s sons are involved in similar incidents but are never
punished.

In the parliamentary election of 2007 Alexander Sargsyan was elected
to parliament from Syunik where his opponent was the former minister
of defense of NKR Samvel Babayan. Serge Sargsyan tried his best to make
his brother a member of parliament. First he managed to persuade Samvel
Babayan with promises to withdraw his candidacy (and the latter was
unable to give any logical explanation of his withdrawal except for
"national liberation" excuses). During the meeting with the voters
of Syunik Serge Sargsyan promised to do everything if only they vote
for his brother.

In no country is an election a matter of life and death, it is just a
political event. In Armenia, however, its importance has been boosted
to vital importance to solve the problems of a group of people. For
instance, if Sashik Sargsyan were not a member of parliament, the
Armenian parliament and people would only benefit. First, someone else
would appear in the parliament instead of him who would make at least a
statement or would make at least a law. In that case Sashik Sargsyan’s
sons would behave more modestly. For its part, the state budget would
grow a little because outside the parliament this type of "activists"
would perhaps beware and start paying taxes. And so on. And there
are dozens like Sashik Sargsyan. Meanwhile, we witness the opposite –
this kind of "activists" aspire to parliamentary mandates. To avoid
taxes and for their families to avoid responsibility, for their sons
to serve in the army formally, and so on.

PRESS TV, Iran
Aug 11 2007

Armenia to enhance trade ties with Iran
Sat, 11 Aug 2007 17:34:00

Armenia seeks to improve cooperation with Iran
The Armenian Minister of Foreign affairs, Vartan Oskanian, has said
Tehran and Yerevan should enhance cooperation on different levels.

Oskanian noted the two countries cooperation in various fields,
signaling the inauguration of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline on March
19, 2007, as one of the most important instances.

Turning to the agreement for constructing a hydro power plant on the
Arras River, he said, `Officials are currently discussing future
mutual energy projects.’

Oskanian enumerated agriculture, transportation, higher education and
business as other areas of cooperation between Iran and Armenia.

He termed the intergovernmental commission established between Tehran
and Yerevan ‘positive’.

Glendale News Press
August 9, 2007
Grapes blessed for hope

Ancient Armenian religious tradition of the harvest has roots in
teachings of the Old Testament.
By Ryan Vaillancourt

Varujan Tomassian was recovering from heart surgery at Glendale
Adventist Medical Center on Wednesday, but thanks to a special gift of
grapes brought by local clergy, the Glendale resident was all smiles.

Tomassian was the first patient at the center to receive a bundle of
the blessed fruit in connection with the ancient Armenian religious
tradition known as the Blessing of the Grapes.

The ritual, which stems from teachings in the Old Testament, is
traditionally celebrated on the second Sunday in August – harvest time
in Armenia, said the Most Rev. Muron Aznikian of the Western Prelacy
of the Armenian Apostolic Church in La Crescenta.

But for Glendale Adventist patients, many of whom expect to be in the
hospital on Sunday, the tradition was brought to their bedside on
Wednesday.

Tomassian may be out of the hospital by Sunday, but if doctors say he
needs more bed-rest, he will be at peace knowing that he didn’t miss
out on a cultural celebration that he grew up honoring, he said.

"I am one of the first ones to receive the grapes," said Tomassian,
who had been serving as a translator for the U.S. Army in Iraq when
one of his heart valves became infected in April. "Everyone waits to
Sunday, but not me, so I am happy."

The special delivery of the grapes to patients came after a half-hour
morning service in the hospital’s chapel.

Aznikian was joined by clergy from St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic
Church in Glendale, including the Rev. Ardak Demirjian, the
Rev. Gomidas Torossian, Deacon Raffi Keshishian and Deacon Herayr
Tejirian.

In their traditional black robes, the group led about 60 hospital
employees, patients and family in traditional songs and blessed large
baskets full of grapes in English and in Armenian.

Though grapes have evolved into the symbolic focus of the ceremony,
the blessing extends to all fruits of the earth, Aznikian said.

"Through the grape, we bless all vegetables and fruits of the gardens
and vineyards," he said.

The blessing also extends to the recipients of the grapes, including
hospital patient Simaugul Karapetyan.

Receiving the blessed grapes gave Karapetyan a sense of hope, she
said.

"If we accept that hope, we live through that hope," she said, through
a translator. "I feel more peaceful and a lightness in my spirit."

Glendale Adventist has been celebrating the Blessing of the Grapes for
more than a decade as a way to recognize the hospital’s vast Armenian
patient population, said Irena Aghassian, one of the center’s three
in-house chaplains.

Glendale Memorial Hospital is scheduled to celebrate the tradition at
2 p.m. today in the hospital’s main auditorium at 1420 S. Central
Ave. Archbishop Hovnan Derderian of the Armenian Western Diocese is
slated to preside over the service.

s/2007/08/09/news/gnp-grapes09.txt

AZERBAIJAN INTERNATIONAL MINING OPERATING COMPANY MAY SUE RUSSIAN COMPANY

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug 8 2007

"Azerbaijan International Mining Operating Company will appeal to
the government of Russia and international organizations if this
country’s mining companies commence exploration or drilling in the
gold fields in Azerbaijan’s territory occupied by Armenia," the
company’s president Reza Vaziri told APA-Economics.

"We are attentively following what is going on in the occupied lands.

In case of any event, we will react to it," he added.

India’s Vedanta Group of Company has reportedly agreed to sell he
Ararat Gold Recovery Company to London-based Russian businessman
Sergey Generalov’s GeoProMining Company.

Ararat Gold Recovery Company is illegally tapping gold in Zod gold
field of Azerbaijan in the occupied territory.

Reza Vaziri said in accordance with the international law, no company
can work on gold fields in the occupied land of Azerbaijan.

"We will sue whichever company comes to this territory. I think,
no company would like to be involved in the process which goes to
the court," he added.

Anglo Asian Mining Plc (49%) and Azerbaijan (51%) signed a 30 year
Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) to develop previously identified
copper and gold properties in Azerbaijan that lie on the Tethyan
Mineralization Belt which runs between Turkey and Pakistan.

The six fields reflected in the agreement include one field in
Nakhchivan, one in gandja, one in gedebey, 3 in the occupied lands
(Zod Field in Kelbedjer, Kizilbulag in Aghdara, and Vajnali in
Zangilan).

LEBANON COMPLEX BALANCE

Mideast Mirror
August 8, 2007 Wednesday

The results of the latest by-elections reinforce the realities
of Lebanon’s delicate internal balance, says Mohammad Kharroub in
Jordanian al-Ra’i

No other Arab people can beat the Lebanese at political argument,
reading between the lines, and interpreting facts to suit their own
prejudices – even if such interpretations are wholly at odds with
the facts, writes Jordanian political commentator Mohammad Kharroub
in the Amman daily al-Ra’i.

TROUNCED: Lebanon’s parliamentary majority – including its politicians,
party leaders, newspapers and satellite channels – just could not
accept the fact that their candidate in last Sunday’s Metn by election,
former president Amin Gemayel – was trounced by the ‘Aounite Camille
Khouri by just 418 votes.

According to the majority, the mere fact of winning was not as
important as the numbers. The pro-government camp insists on depriving
the victory scored by the opposition of any political significance
by saying that while ‘Aoun won politically, he lost as far as the
Maronites were concerned – unlike Gemayel, who lost politically but
won the Maronites.

They point to the fact that 60 percent of Maronites voted for Gemayel,
in sharp contrast to the last election held in 2005 when ‘Aoun won
70 percent of the Maronite vote. Therefore, the pro-government camp
concluded, ‘Aoun cannot allege to represent mainstream Christian
opinion.

The pro-government, anti-Syrian camp wants to use this inaccurate
reading of Sunday’s by election result in a far more significant
battle to come: The presidential election, which began in earnest
when the results of last Sunday’s election were declared.

Between now and September 24th, when parliament is set to begin
deliberations for choosing a new president, both the pro- and
anti-Syrian camps (but particularly the leaders of the tripartite
alliance of ‘Aoun, Michel al-Murr, and the Armenian Tashnaq Party)
should indulge in a serious review of their alliances and the strength
of the popular bases. What if it was Gemayel who had won those 418
votes? Would the predictions have been the same as they are now?

And even if the ‘Aounist candidate won thanks to the Tashnaq votes,
was that enough reason to accuse the Armenian party of fraud and to
remind them that they were not genuine Lebanese – as Gemayel angrily
did? Such rhetoric will have serious ramifications for Christian
unity in Lebanon.

But let us look at the other side of the coin. The fact that an almost
unknown candidate could take on – and beat – a man like Amin Gemayel,
a former president, son of the legendary founder of the Phalange
Sheik Pierre Gemayel, and, more importantly, father of the murdered
incumbent was an impressive political feat – especially if we take
into consideration the immense amount of political, financial, and
propaganda support the anti-Syrian camp extended to Gemayel.

There is no doubt that ‘Aoun’s standing among Lebanon’s Maronite
Christians was severely dented by his 2006 alliance with Hizbollah
(although the understanding he reached with the Shiite party in
February of that year cannot technically be described as an alliance),
especially in the light of the overtly sectarian campaigns waged
against him and Hizbollah by such Maronite stalwarts as [pro-government
Lebanese Forces leader] Samir Geagea and Amin Gemayel, not to mention
attacks by Walid Junblatt, Sa’ad Hariri, and other anti-Syrian
politicians.

Yet it remains a fact that the loss of some Maronite support is not
going to detract from ‘Aoun’s political influence in the country
(his bloc in parliament now numbers 23 MPs), nor diminish his chances
of becoming Lebanon’s next president (though the chances of that
happening are now less likely than they were before because of the
split the Metn by-election caused in the Christian camp).

This does not mean however that the majority is going to have it
all its way in the presidential election, or that the next president
will come from its camp. The situation is now far more complex than
it was. Both the anti-Syrian majority and the pro-Syrian opposition
realize only too well that the issue of choosing the country’s next
president will be determined neither by the Lebanese nor even by
Syria and Iran.

All of which points to the inevitable fact that the deal by which the
next Lebanese president will be chosen will come at Lebanon’s expense –
as usual.

ALROSA TO HELP ARMENIA DEVELOP DIAMOND CUTTING INDUSTRY
By Avi Krawitz Posted: 08/07/07 05:14 [Submit Comment]

Diamonds.net, NY
Aug 7 2007

RAPAPORT… The government of Armenia has signed a cooperation
agreement with Russian diamond company ALROSA to help develop a
diamond cutting and polishing industry in Armenia.

The agreement was signed during ALROSA president Sergey Vybornov’s
visit to Armenia this week. Vybornov met with Armenia’s President
Robert Kocharyan and Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan during the visit,
as Armenia seeks to strengthen ties with the diamond mining giant.

"We intend to start the cooperation and prove that Armenia has enough
potential in this sphere on the basis of which it is possible to
implement long-term programs," ARKA News Agency quoted Armenia’s
minister of trade and economic development, Nerses Yeritsyan,
as saying.

Yeritsyan explained that the agreement predetermines three main
development prospects including the commencement and renewal of
activities in the diamond cutting sphere. He added that in the long
term, ALROSA would invest to extend the cooperation to the jewelry
sector.

Vybornov said ALROSA intends to provide Armenian companies with part
of Russian rough diamonds which are not economically viable to cut
in Russia, Arka reported.

NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT MAY BE RESOLVED ONLY THROUGH RESTORING TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF AZERBAIJAN AND THE RETURN OF REFUGEES TO THEIR NATIVE LAND: PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN

TREND News Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug 7 2007

Kazakhstan, Astana /corr. Trend E.Huseynov / The President of
Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, is sure that the only way to peacefully
settle the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the
restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the return
of refugees to their native land.

"The only way out of the situation is the restoration of the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the refugees’ returning to
their native land. There cannot be any other alternatives," said
Ilham Aliyev, in his interview with Kazakhstan’s Express K newspaper.

The conflict between the two countries of South Caucasus began in 1988
due to territorial claims by Armenia against Azerbaijan. Armenia has
occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani land including the Nagorno-Karabakh
region and its seven surrounding Districts. Since 1992, these
territories have been under the occupation of the Armenian Forces. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time
the active hostilities ended. The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
( Russia, France and USA) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.

"Currently from the point of view of the conflict settlement,
we proceed from four UN Resolutions which require immediate and
unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the
occupied territories of Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh. Similar
resolutions have also been passed by the Council of Europe. The
only way out is the withdrawal of the Armenia’s occupant forces from
seven districts around Nagorno-Karabakh and returning the refugees
(more than 700,000), including refugees from Armenia (250,000),
to their native land. In future, we are prepared to provide high
autonomy status to Nagorno-Karabakh," the President said.

According to the President, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh demand
independence, but it will never take place. "The Azeri people and
the State will never agree to this. The international community
will never recognize it. Recently they held ‘presidential elections’
in the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and it was condemned by
everyone. The USA, France, Russia, European Union, Turkey and many
countries will never recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent
state, we have tried to explain this to the Armenian side, which has
unfortunately only taken an unconstructive position," Aliyev said.

According to the State Head, Azerbaijan is still adhering to the
peaceful process and considers that the negotiations process is
not completed. "Insincerity by the opposition and its efforts to
tell untruths to the mediators and prolong time will not yield
any results. As time passes, their position is weakening, but our
position is becoming stronger. Perhaps individual politicians are
not interested in the return of the Azerbaijani land. Maybe they are
taking an unconstructive position for the sake of their political
ambitions. But this is not of interest to the Armenian people. If
the Armenian people understand this and put an end to Armenia’s
occupation policy, relations between Baku and Yerevan may normalize
and the Armenian people may achieve more from co-operating with us
than overseas," Aliyev concluded.