Author: Zakarian Garnik

NEVER AGAIN, WE SAY, BUT STILL THE DEVILS ON HORSES COMMIT GENOCIDE
By Ronan Mullen

Daily Mail (London)
April 25, 2007 Wednesday

WE WERE well aware that as guards of Auschwitz, we would not be treated
kindly some of the things that happened there weren’t necessarily in
accord with human rights.’ That statement by a former Nazi camp guard
must rank as a particularly chilling example of understatement. The
scale of the crimes committed in Auschwitz, where more than a million
Jews were murdered, still has the capacity to shock.

Or does it? Every year the world commemorates the liberation of
Auschwitz in 1945. And every year, the great and the good intone the
phrase most associated with the Holocaust, ‘Never again’.

But the expression has an increasingly hollow ring. It seems that we
only mean it to apply to light-skinned people, or those from Europe.

Just ask the people of Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and, today, Sudan.

In the late Seventies, the Khmer Rouge murdered approximately
1.7million people.

In the early Nineties, Bosnian Serbs, aided by Serbian president
Slobodan Milosevic, killed tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslims. In
1994, Hutu militias took just 100 days to murder more than 800,000
Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda.

Apart from unimaginable suffering, the common denominator in each
case was the indifference of the international community.

Today, it’s Darfur. More than 200,000 people there have been killed
by the government backed Janjaweed militia since 2003.

Villages are raided by ‘devils on horses’ who kill men, women and
children. The Sudanese government supports these raids by bombing
villages.

About 2.3million people are thought to have fled.

Of course, there have been UN resolutions, monitors, embargoes and
threats of sanctions. But no sign of effective military action. So
the killing goes on.

‘Never again’ has become ‘Same again’.

Only last week, the UN accused the Sudanese government of violating
an arms embargo into Darfur, and using UNmarked planes to do it.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon expressed ‘deep concern’. He expects
‘full cooperation from the government of Sudan, and all other parties
to provide prompt clarification’.

That’s a bit like expecting Kilkenny to win the All-Ireland Football
Championship this year.

The Sudanese government denies everything. Reports of their continued
role in the indiscriminate bombing of civilians are merely ‘lies
designed to further the agenda of those who want to impose United
Nations peacekeepers’.

At the moment, there are 7,000 African Union troops in the region,
supposedly keeping the peace. But the soldiers haven’t been paid in
months, their morale is poor and there are too few of them. Their
deputy commanding officer admits that the mission is almost hopeless.

A plan to put in place a force of 20,000 UN troops has been ruled
out by the Sudan government.

Meanwhile, the plight of the refugees grows worse. Aid workers are
pulling out of the region, the situation being too

volatile. Many of the displaced Darfurians have fled to neighbouring
Chad, but even there they are not safe from the Janjaweed.

The U.S. and the UK have called for tougher UN sanctions if the
Sudanese government does not agree to the larger force.

But China, which has an oil deal with Sudan, says it will veto any
such plan.

The reality is that the international community simply doesn’t care
enough to sacrifice blood and treasure on people who live in mud
huts. Last week 32 people died in a university in Virginia. It was
a shocking tragedy. But how many were killed in Darfur in the same
week? Given the rate of killing over the past few years, we can reckon
that it was just shy of 1,000 people.

You didn’t hear that on the news.

The killings in Darfur became headline news for a few weeks in
August 2004.

It was clear that tens of thousands were being raped and murdered
by government sponsored thugs. It looked as if public interest might
force international action.

But then the Beslan school tragedy happened, with the loss of 300
lives.

Again, a horrific story. Yet while weighing human lives in some sort
of cosmic balance may be inappropriate, the Beslan tragedy was hardly
on the same scale as the mass killing in Darfur.

THEN again, the skin tone of the victims was considerably lighter. In
fact, it’s hard to avoid concluding that, in some western eyes,
African lives matter less than those of Americans or Europeans. It’s
understandable, of course, that the U.S. media would focus on an
American tragedy. But does the rest of the world have to follow suit?

Even allowing for greater media access, the contrast between the
saturation coverage of the Virginia Tech murders and the media vacuum
surrounding the daily butchery in Darfur is stunning.

Hitler is said to have poured scorn on the notion that there would be
an international outcry about his campaign of genocide-Who, after all,
speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?’ he asked.

He was wrong about the Holocaust not being remembered. But the evidence
of Darfur suggests that he wasn’t entirely wrong about human nature.

This isn’t to say that Irish people don’t care about people in the
developing world.

Just last week, the Government pledged to increase its contribution
to TrUcaire from e52.7million to e116million between now and 2011.

BUT WE need more than charity.

We need a sense of global solidarity, a radical sense that the bell
doesn’t just toll for Darfur tribesmen, or starving Ethiopians or
for war-torn Rwandans, but for all of us.

We have to stop regarding Africans as ‘those poor people’. We must
see them as fellow global citizens. We need to see events in Darfur
as no more remote than what happens in Denmark or Dusseldorf.

Otherwise, we should stop mouthing empty platitudes like ‘never again’
and simply shrugging our shoulders at the latest outrage.

Global solidarity would mean taking direct, forceful action against
genocidal thugs whether in Darfur, Rwanda or Bosnia. It could mean
getting embroiled in factional disputes in Africa or Asia. But there
is a strong possibility that one determined and cohesive blow against
such evil, would make other oppressors think twice.

The UN is the obvious candidate to sponsor such a force. But infighting
among its various factions has led only to inertia.

Effective action requires approval from the Security Council.

Countries like China and Russia can always use their veto power to
stymie any effective action. Far from being, as President Kennedy once
said, ‘our last, best, hope’, the UN is now hopeless. Its resolutions
noted for being irresolute.

Ask Paul Rusesabagina. He’s the man who saved over 1,200 Rwandan lives
in 1994 while the UN fiddled. The UN bent over backwards to avoid
describing what was happening there as genocide, an international crime
which would have required action. Instead they used the expression
‘acts of genocide’, allowing the powers of the Security Council to
sit on their hands.

Rusesabagina is unsparing in his criticism. ‘A detachment of well-
equipped peacekeepers, made up of less than one twentieth of the
American troops now stationed in Iraq, could have easily stopped the
killings and sent the powerful message that the world would no longer
tolerate mass murders of civilians.’ If the UN is not to lead such
a force into Darfur, then who will?

A difficult question.

It comes down to political will. If people in Europe and the U.S.
want these outrages to stop, they must make it clear to their elected
representatives.

All that would be needed would be a show of military strength. Just a
demonstration of our refusal to tolerate genocide, ethnic cleansing or
any other euphemism used to describe actions ‘not necessarily in accord
with human rights’. Otherwise, we might as well stop commemorating
Auschwitz or any of the other Nazi death camps.

TROUBLE AT THE L.A. TIMES
By Daniel Hernandez

LA Weekly, CA
April 26 2007

An editor kills a Page One story on Armenian genocide, and charges
of bias fly

Did the Los Angeles Times kill a front-page article about the fight
over the recognition of the Armenian genocide because its writer,
Mark Arax, is Armenian?

It’s a question L.A. Times managing editor Douglas Frantz would
probably prefer not to address.

News broke earlier this week that Frantz killed Arax’s story in a
terse email message to the writer because, Frantz said, Arax had
"a conflict of interest" and a "position on the issue." Frantz was
referring to a 2005 letter in which Arax, four other Armenian Times
staff writers and legal affairs reporter Henry Weinstein reminded the
paper’s top editors to refer to the genocide as genocide, in accordance
with the paper’s style rules. The 2005 letter had been well-received,
acknowledged, and, sources at the paper tell the L.A.

Weekly, forgotten.

But in his recent email to Arax, obtained by the Weekly, Frantz
characterized the letter as a "petition," as in some form of
activism. He also told Arax that he "went around [the] system" in a
bid to land the story assignment, by dealing with an editor in the
Times Washington bureau, Robert Ourlian, who is Armenian American.

So Frantz reassigned the story to Washington reporter Rich Simon, who
turned around a decorous and somewhat routine take on Turkey’s ongoing
mission to block Congress from recognizing the slaughter of more than
1 million Armenians by Ottoman Turkey during World War I, something
several Western developed countries – including France and Canada –
have already done. The revised Times article ran under the headline,
"Genocide Resolution Still Far From Certain" on Saturday, April 21,
four days before Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day in L.A.

Arax was given a consolation tagline at the end of the article for
having "contributed" some reporting.

Arax, sounding incensed, sent an email to some of his fellow reporters,
which made its way to the Weekly.

Here’s how it started: "Colleagues, You should know that I had a
Page One story killed this week by Doug Frantz. His stated rationale
for killing the piece had nothing to do with any problems with the
story itself. In an email to me, he cited no bias, no factual errors,
no contextual mishaps, no glaring holes."

Arax then spelled out the holes he saw in Frantz’s objections,
reiterating that the 2005 letter was not a petition, and that the
standard process was used with Ourlian to assign and edit the story.

And he pushed the dispute up a notch, going so far as to suggest that
the only person in the dustup who has a bias or personal stance is
Frantz, who lived in Turkey for years.

Said Arax, in his email: "Because his logic is so illogical, questions
must be raised about Frantz’ own objectivity, his past statements to
colleagues that he personally opposes an Armenian genocide resolution
and his friendship with Turkish government officials, including the
consul general in Los Angeles who’s quoted in my story. Frantz is
heavily involved and invested in defending the policies of Turkey."

Arax ended the note by sharing the news that he has filed
a discrimination complaint against Frantz inside the paper, and
that a Times Human Resources Department inquiry was launched. The
reporter, based in Fresno and officially assigned to the paper’s
West Sunday magazine, declined to speak to the Weekly, citing the
internal investigation. Ourlian, the Washington editor, and Frantz,
also declined to comment. Times editor James O’Shea and publisher
David Hiller did not reply to interview requests.

But Harut Sassounian, publisher of the local Armenian paper The
California Courier, has been more than willing to publicly address
the dispute. On Tuesday, Sassounian began circulating a scathing
article he penned calling for Frantz’s resignation, accusing Frantz
of discriminating against Arax because of his ethnic background.

Sassounian framed the dispute in terms the rest of Los Angeles media
can easily digest. "By the same logic, Frantz is implying that Latinos
will be barred from writing on illegal immigrants, African-American
journalists from covering civil rights, Jewish-American reporters
from writing about the Holocaust and Asian-Americans [from] covering
issues peculiar to their community," Sassounian wrote.

Sassounian told the Weekly he learned about the matter from people
who had been interviewed by Arax and were waiting for his story to
be published. He said Arax never called him. The Courier publisher,
based in Glendale, said he had recently met David Hiller at a dinner
event and had a cordial conversation with him. So he called the Times
publisher directly to find out what happened to Arax’s piece. Within
minutes, Sassounian said, he got a call back – from Douglas Frantz.

Sassounian said Frantz was "abrupt" and "evasive," telling Sassounian
that there was "no problem" and that the story needed "depth and
balance." Sassounian said he warned Frantz that if it turned out
Arax’s story was axed simply because Arax is Armenian, a confrontation
would arise between the paper and the L.A. Armenian community, which
happens to be the largest in the world outside Armenia. That’s when
Frantz went bonkers, Sassounian said.

"He says to me, ‘I’m going to hang up on you! You’ve threatened me! I
said, ‘I didn’t threaten you.’ He said, ‘You threatened me. I’m going
to hang up.’"

And Frantz did, he contends. Hiller and O’Shea, Sassounian said,
treated him much differently. Sassounian said that in conversations
with the Times publisher and editor, they apologized for Frantz’s
behavior and said they would not tolerate any bias against the
Armenian community in their paper’s pages. "They all apologized for
his behavior, for accusing me of threatening him," Sassounian said.

When the Sassounian piece started making the rounds, Frantz quickly
shot back, defending his actions to media blog LAObserved: "I put a
hold on a story because of concerns that the reporter had expressed
personal views about the topic in a public manner and therefore was
not a disinterested party," Frantz told the blog.

But who’s really the disinterested party here?

Frantz was a longtime correspondent based in Istanbul for both The
New York Times and the L.A. Times. As Sassounian noted, Frantz is
scheduled to be back in Istanbul next month to moderate a panel for the
International Press Institute’s World Congress that is titled, "Turkey:
Sharing the Democratic Experience." Among the panelists is Andrew
Mango, who Sassounian describes as a "notorious genocide denialist."

And then there’s the matter of Frantz’s coverage of the Armenian
genocide while at The New York Times. In January 2001 the paper ran
a correction on Frantz’s reporting, for downplaying the genocide. A
month later, the Armenian National Committee of America put out an
action alert again accusing Frantz of downplaying the genocide and
casting it as merely an Armenian allegation. The paper never ran
a second correction. Frantz joined the L.A. Times as a reporter in
Istanbul, brought on by his friend, then-managing editor Dean Baquet,
who left the paper in spectacular fashion late last year and then
rejoined The New York Times.

The L.A. Times dispute over Arax’s killed story became public on
Tuesday, April 24 – the massacre’s traditional remembrance day. All
day long, cars and trucks driving in Little Armenia in Hollywood were
draped with Armenia’s red, blue and orange flag. A somber march and
rally was held on Hobart Street. The few young people the Weekly spoke
with after the Unified Young Armenians rally said they had not heard
of the controversy at the L.A. Times, but spoke with a refreshing
sense of naunce about the imperatives of history.

"It’s politics," said Sevak Ghazaryan, 19, a student at Glendale
Community College. "Turkey and United States are very close. The
United States has a military base in Turkey, and businesswise they
import a lot of goods from Turkey for cheap price, likewise for oil.

So therefore, Turkey plays a big role in business and economy for
the U.S. It’s just politics."

/trouble-at-the-la-times/16232/

CANDIDATE FOR DEPUTY AT ELECTORAL DISTRICT No10 VILHELM POGHOSIAN WITHDRAWS

Noyan Tapan
Apr 25 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN. Non-partisan Vilhelm Poghosian
registered by the majoritarian electoral system as candidate for
deputy at electoral district No10 of Yerevan officially presented an
application on withdrawal.

Secretary of the Central Electoral Commission Hamlet Abrahamian
informed the Noyan Tapan correspondent about it. So, NA deputy,
non-partisan Khachatur Sukiasian, Chairman of the Christian-Democratic
Union of Armenia Khosrov Haroutiunian and non-partisan Tadevos
Hovhannisian continue the electoral struggle at the mentioned
electoral district.

To recap, NA deputy, non-partisan Aghasi Arshakian recently officially
refused the electoral struggle by the majoritarian electoral system
at electoral district No6 of Yerevan. He will continue the electoral
struggle by the proportional electoral system, in the electoral list
of the Zhoghovrdavarakan Ughi (Democratic Path) party.

So, as of midday, April 25, 131 candidates continue the electoral
struggle in 41 electoral districts by the majoritarian electoral
system. None of the 1314 candidates registered by the proportional
electoral system with electoral lists of 24 parties and 1 alliance
officially presented application for withdrawal. To recap, Garik
Martirosian occupying the 2nd horizontal of the list of the United
Liberal National Party publicly stated on April 21 about his refusing
the electoral struggle.

To also recap, the deadline for presenting self-rejection by the
candidates for deputy registered by the proportional and majoritarian
electoral systems is May 2.

LEADER OF HERITAGE: WE’LL COME TO POWER AFTER THE PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION, SO WE NEED NO DEALS WITH THE PRESENT AUTHORITIES

Arminfo
2007-04-25 21:33:00

"We’ll come to power after the May 12 parliamentary election, so
we need no deals with the present authorities," Raffi Hovannisian,
the leader of the opposition Heritage party and the first foreign
minister of independent Armenia, said to ArmInfo correspondent.

According to him, some mass media’s absurd rumors about the Heritage’s
collusion with the authorities, along with other various defamatory
information, are the direct evidence of the fact that the Heritage
party has turned into a large political force. "So our enemies only
have to spread rumors verging on nonsense, which cannot hinder our
victory," R.Hovannisian said in conclusion.

"ARMENIA" ALTERED TO "ARMENIAN ARMED FORCES" IN US DEPARTMENT OF STATE REPORT
By A. Haroutiunian

AZG Armenian Daily
24/04/2007

The US Department of State revised a mistake in the 2006 Human Rights
Report, which said that "Armenia has occupied the Nagorno-Karabakh
and 7 regions of Azerbaijan."

As Foreign Minister of Armenia Vardan Oskanian informed on April
22, the statement is altered to the following: "Armenian armed
forces are holding several territories of Azerbaijan, adjacent to
Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian officials state that Armenia ‘has not
occupied’ Nagorno-Karabakh".

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version:

POPE SHENOUDA III, PATRIARCH ZAKKA I AND CATHOLICOS ARAM I
SIGN A COMMON DECLARATION

April 19-21, 2007, the Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, who
have their headquarters in the Middle East, His Holiness Pope Shenouda
III of the Coptic Church, His Holiness Patriarch Zakka I of the Syrian
Church and His Holiness Catholicos Aram I of the Armenian Church-Holy
See of Cilicia, held their 10th annual meeting, at St. Ephrem Syrian
Orthodox Monastery, Damascus-Syria. This fellowship of three Oriental
Orthodox Churches was founded in 1996, by the initiative of His
Holiness Aram I, at the Holy See of Cilicia, Antelias, Lebanon.

April 16-18, the Standing Committee of the Fellowship convened its
meeting in Antelias and Damascus. The representatives of the Holy See
of Cilicia in this six-member Committee are His Eminence Archbishop
Sebouh Sarkissian (Primate of Tehran) and His Grace Bishop Nareg
Alemezian (Ecumenical Officer).

During their deliberations, Heads addressed issues related to the
family of the Oriental Orthodox Churches and its theological dialogues
with various Churches, and discussed matters related to dialogue
with the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Roman Catholic Church, the
Anglican Communion and the Lutheran World Federation Churches of
the Reformation.

Pope Shenouda III and Patriarch Zakka I asked Catholicos Aram I
to follow up the issues related to these theological dialogues to
deepen the collaboration between the Oriental Orthodox Churches and
these Churches.

The spiritual Heads encouraged the continuation of their relations
and collaboration with the Russian Orthodox Church and the Oriental
Orthodox Churches with the United Bible Societies.

Regarding the official theological dialogues, three important decisions
were taken: First, to re-activate the Eastern Orthodox-Oriental
Orthodox theological dialogue, according to the decisions taken
during recent meetings in Antelias. Secondly, it is expected that
the Archbishop of Canterbury hold an official meeting with Catholicos
Aram I to clarify the current situation in the Anglican Communion and
discuss practical steps for the resumption of the dialogue. Thirdly,
to welcome the invitation received through Catholicos Aram I from the
Lutheran World Federation to strengthen relations with the Oriental
Orthodox Churches and to establish an instrument for regular bilateral
contacts.

Underlining the visible unity of church as a priority, their Holinesses
renewed their commitment to and active participation in the ecumenical
movement through the World Council of Churches and the Middle East
Council of Churches. Pope Shenouda III and Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I
extended their deep gratitude to Catholicos Aram I for his ecumenical
involvement of so many years and his leadership in the World Council
of Churches, especially as its moderator for the last fourteen years.

Analyzing the socio-political situation in the world and particularly
in the Middle East, they called their faithful to work constantly
for peace with justice. They also expressed their full support to the
Christian-Muslim dialogue as integral to the history and cultures of
the Middle East.

At the end of their meeting, Heads signed a Common Declaration.

The 11th meeting of the three Heads will be hosted by the Armenian
Church – Holy See of Cilicia, in Antelias-Lebanon, May 8-10, 2008.

THE TENTH MEETING OF THE HEADS

OF THE ORIENTAL ORTHODOX CHURCHES

IN THE MIDDLE EAST

St. Ephrem Monastery, Ma’arat Saydnaya,

Damascus, Syria

April 19-21, 2007

C O M M O N D E C L A R A T I O N

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; Amen.

We, Pope Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See
of St.

Mark, Patriarch Mar Ignatius Zakka I, Patriarch of Antioch and all the
East, and Catholicos Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenians of the Great
House of Cilicia, give thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ for granting
us, once again, the opportunity to pray and to reflect together on
issues and challenges of common concern, at St. Ephrem Monastery,
in Ma’arat Saydnaya, Damascus, Syria. This is the tenth time that
we meet as Heads of Churches within the framework of the Fellowship
that we have established in 1996. The Standing Committee that we have
appointed has joined us.

In our meeting here in Ma’arat Saydnaya we reaffirmed our unity of
faith that, for centuries, has been the basis of our common doctrinal
position and theological teachings. Deeply rooted in the Holy
Scriptures, the Apostolic Faith and Tradition, the three Ecumenical
Councils (Nicea 325, Constantinople 381, and Ephesus 431) and the
teachings of our Church Fathers, our unity has sustained the life and
witness of the Churches of the Oriental Orthodox Family becoming a
living source of spiritual strength and missionary engagement. For
the Oriental Orthodox Churches the full communion and the visible
unity of churches are based on the unity of faith which is manifested
through Eucharistic communion and other Sacraments of the church.

In our unity of faith we are not confined to the family of the Oriental
Orthodox Churches; we feel also responsible to strive for the unity
of all churches, both in our region and in different parts of the
world. We consider the visible unity of church a priority. We remain
firmly committed to the ecumenical movement both through the World
Council of Churches, as a global ecumenical fellowship, and the Middle
East Council of Churches, as a regional ecumenical fellowship. We
will continue our active role in the World Council of Churches. We
express our satisfaction for the adoption of the consensus decision
making by the World Council of Churches. The Ninth General Assembly
of the World Council of Churches has already conducted its business
in Porto Allegre, Brazil, according to this procedure. We encourage
the Permanent Committee on Consensus and Collaboration to continue
the mandate of the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the
World Council of Churches. We will also continue our active role in the
Middle East Council of Churches, and we look forward with hope to the
next General Assembly of the M.E.C.C. in Cyprus, November 26-30, 2007.

H.H. Pope Shenouda III and H.H. Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I extend
their deep gratitude to H.H. Catholicos Aram I for his ecumenical
commitment for so many years and his leadership in the World Council
of Churches, especially as its moderator for the last fourteen years.

In our endeavor for the unity of the church, our Churches are engaged
in a number of bilateral theological dialogues. We believe that these
theological dialogues with the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic,
Anglican, Lutheran and Reformed Churches will further affirm the
orthodoxy of the Christological teachings of the Oriental Orthodox
Churches. Those theologians, who used to call us monophysite
(single nature), have came to realize that we are miaphysite
(one united nature), following the teachings of our common father
St. Cyril of Alexandria. There still exist differences of doctrinal,
ecclesiological, liturgical and ethical nature, which need more
dialogue and discussion with other churches. We should keep in mind
that the reception of the agreements of theological dialogues by the
churches needs time and patience.

Concerning the Theological Dialogue between the Eastern Orthodox and
the Oriental Orthodox Families, His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew I has commissioned the new co-president of the Joint
Commission of the dialogue Metropolitan Emmanuel of France to meet
Catholicos Aram I asking his assistance for the reactivation of this
theological dialogue.

Subsequently the two co-presidents of the Joint Commission,
Metropolitan Emmanuel and Metropolitan Bishoy met at the Armenian
Catholicosate of Cilicia, Antelias, Lebanon, on April 17, 2007 and
discussed the future steps.

The International Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between
the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches held its
fourth meeting from January 28 to February 3, 2007 in Rome. The
fifth meeting of the Commission will take place at St. Ephrem Syrian
Orthodox monastery, Ma’arat Saydnaya, Damascus, Syria, from January 27
to February 2, 2008, by the invitation of Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I.

The Archbishop of Canterbury H.G. Rowan Williams recently sent a
delegation to visit us in Lebanon, Egypt and Syria to discuss the
possibility of resuming the work of the Commission of Theological
Dialogue between our Churches and the Anglican Communion. In order
to be able to achieve this goal, we expect that the Archbishop of
Canterbury hold an official meeting with Catholicos Aram I, who is in
charge of the theological dialogues of our Fellowship. The purpose of
this meeting will be to clarify the current situation in the Anglican
Communion, share with the Archbishop the views and concerns of our
three Churches, and discuss practical steps for the resumption of
the dialogue.

We received through Catholicos Aram I an invitation from the Lutheran
World Federation to strengthen relations with the Oriental Orthodox
Churches and to establish an instrument for regular bilateral
contacts. We welcome this invitation. We will convey this invitation
also to the other Churches of our Family.

We are fully aware of the events surrounding us in our region. Our
churches are called to work constantly for the just peace in the Middle
East. The Christian-Muslim dialogue has been integral to the history,
civilizations and cultures of the Middle East. Our churches in this
region have been in existential dialogue with Islam. Due to emerging
new situations and new developments taking place especially in Iraq
and Palestine, continuous efforts must be made to deepen mutual
respect and understanding between Muslim and Christian scholars and
community leaders. Everybody has the right to explain and defend his
or her religion without becoming aggressive and offensive towards
the other religion. The same should apply to media which became a
highly sensitive agent affecting the relations between cultures,
religions and nations.

We condemn all forms and expressions of violence. Religion should
be a promoter of love, hope and reconciliation, peace, justice and
human rights.

Religion cannot be exploited for non-religious purposes. We urge all
those who, for one reason or other, use violence to resolve their
problems. The problems must be resolved through dialogue, mutual
understanding and mutual respect.

We focused our attention on Iraq which is exposed to the destructive
activities of evil forces. This prevailing critical situation obliges
a great numbers of people, both Muslims and Christians, to emigrate
from their homeland. We encourage the United Nations (U.N.) and all
the humanitarian organizations to support the suffering people of
Iraq, wherever they are, till the Lord gives their country security
and stability.

We believe that the peace process must continue with new impetus,
and the Palestinian people must have its independent state and the
right to return home. Israel must implement all Resolutions of
the U.N. Security Council by withdrawing from the occupied Arab
territories, including the Farms of Shabaa in South of Lebanon,
Golan Heights and Jerusalem. Only full justice will bring about
comprehensive, real and permanent peace in the Middle East.

We pray and hope that the Lebanese leaders may soon reach, through
frank dialogue, to mutual understanding leading Lebanon to security,
peace, and unity with the participation of all communities.

We noted with satisfaction that the Christians in Iran are
participating in the social, cultural and economic life of the country
and enjoying the freedom of practicing their Christian faith.

We greet the President of the Republic of Syria, His Excellency
Dr. Bashar Al-Assad, the heads of all religious communities and the
people of Syria. We noted with joy that the Christians in Syria are
engaged in a renewal process: they are experiencing religious freedom;
they are organizing church activities; they are building new churches
and monasteries; and they are playing an active role in society and
contributing to the progress of the country.

We appeal to our faithful, in the Middle East and throughout the
world, to remain firmly attached to the Gospel, its values and
imperatives, and participate more actively in the church’s total life
and witness. We are committed to intensify and deepen further our
collaboration within this Fellowship. We are also committed, under
the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to give a renewed efficiency and
vitality to the witness of our Churches particularly in educational,
theological, diaconal, evangelistic and ecumenical spheres.

As we conclude our Tenth Meeting, we would like to express our
thanks to His Holiness Patriarch Mar Ignatius Zakka I for his warm
hospitability.

May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all the faithful of
our Churches.

Shenouda III Mar Ignatius Zakka I Aram I

Pope of Alexandria and Patrairch of Antioch Catholicos

Patriarch of the See and all the East of the Great

of St. Mark House of Cilicia

##

View the photos here:

s87.htm

tos88.htm

*****

The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates
of the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the
Ecumenical activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer
to the web page of the Catholicosate, The
Cilician Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is
located in Antelias, Lebanon.

LATVIA VERY INTERESTED IN ASSISTING ARMENIA ON WAY TO EUROPE

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.04.2007 13:49 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ During his visit to Armenia Latvian Foreign Minister
Artis Pabriks signed a memorandum on cooperation in different fields,
Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian stated to a joint press
conference with his Latvian counterpart in Yerevan. He said, Latvia
is ready to share her experience in European integration. "We singled
out a number of programs, where our countries can cooperate in the
framework of the European Neighborhood Program. I must underline the
meeting was very productive," the RA FM said. Vartan Oskanian also
noticed there exist a possibility of cooperation between the both
countries in the framework of Armenia-NATO Individual Partnership
Action Plan (IPAP) – in military- technical sphere.

In his part Latvian Foreign Minister stressed, his country is ready
to provide technical assistant to Armenian in realization of programs
in EU framework.

"We are very interested in assisting Armenia on the way to Europe –
it concerns all spheres of cooperation," he underscored.

MILITARY ESCALATION AROUND IRAN THREATES WITH INVOLVEMENT OF WHOLE CENTRAL ASIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2007 18:30 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In a timely decision, Azerbaijan recently (mid-March)
granted NATO the permission to use two of its military bases and
an airport to "back up its peace-keeping operation in Afghanistan"
including support for NATO’s "supply route to Afghanistan". NATO’s
special envoy Robert Simmons insists that the agreement has nothing
to do with U.S. plans to wage aerial bombardments on Iran.

Media sources in Baku have intimated that this timely agreement is
directly related to ongoing U.S.-Israeli-NATO war plans. Its timing
coincides with U.S. naval deployments and war games in the Persian
Gulf.

The airport and two military bases are slated to be "modernized to
meet NATO standards". Washington has confirmed in this regard that
it would "support the modernization of a military airport in the
framework of the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) signed
between Azerbaijan and NATO.

Azerbaijan is also strategic in view of its maritime border with
Iran in the Caspian sea. In this regard, the U.S. Navy is involved
in supporting the Azeri Navy, in the area of training. There is also
an agreement to provide U.S. support to refurbish Azeri warships in
the Caspian sea.

The U.S. sponsored Caspian Guard Initiative was launched in 2003 to
"coordinate activities in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan with those of
U.S. Central Command and other U.S. government agencies to enhance
Caspian security." The initiative was implemented under the cover of
preventing narcotics trafficking and counter- terrorism, Its ultimate
objective, however, is to provide USCENTCOM with a strategic naval
corridor in the Caspian sea basin.

The U.S. has also participated in joint Naval exercises with the
Azeri Army’s 641st Special Warfare Naval Unit, headquartered at the
Azeri Naval Station outside Baku.

More generally, both the U.S. and NATO are in the process of deepening
their military cooperation with Azerbaijan. In recent developments,
military-political consultations between the U.S. and Azerbaijan
are scheduled to be held in Washington in the second half of April,
according to a U.S. Embassy source in Baku.

The timing of these consultations is crucial. They coincide
chronologically with a process of advanced military planning. Military
escalation around Iran threates with involvement of whole Central Asia

Azerbaijan could be the object of retaliatory strikes by Iran, if
the country’s military bases are used by NATO-U.S. forces as a launch
pad for waging war on Iran.

Media sources in Baku have suggested that retaliatory bombings by
Iran could include Azeri oil fields and oil and gas pipelines. The
strategic Baku-Ceyhan pipeline, which links the Caspian Sea to the
Eastern Mediterranean could also be a target. The Baku Ceyan pipeline
is controlled by an Anglo-American consortium led by British Petroleum
(BP), Global Research reports.

AZERBAIJAN SOLDIER’S TRIAL TO BE CLOSED

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
April 19 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku / corr. Trend S.Ilhamgizi / On 19 April, Judge Jamal
Ramazanov presided over a preliminary session in the Court on Heinous
Crimes of Azerbaijan with regards to the criminal case of Azerbaijan
Army’s Soldier, Vusal Garajayev. Mr. Garajayev was captured and held
as a prisoner of war in Armenia.

The court case was scheduled for 30 April and the trial will continue
but at the preliminary session it was decided the trial would be
closed to the public.

A criminal case has been filed in the Investigation Department for
Heinous Crimes against Garajayev in compliance with the article 274
(selling out the Mother-Land) and 338.1 (breaking rules of watch).

Mr. Garajayev, born in 1988 was drafted to military service last
year by the Military Registration Office of the Balaken district of
Azerbaijan. He had been taken as a prisoner of war by the Armenian
military on 7 December in the territory of Agdam district and was
released from captivity on 23 December.

AZERBAIJAN "WILL NEVER AGREE" TO ARMENIA’S PARTICIPATION IN REGIONAL PROJECTS
By M. Alkhazashvili
Translated by Diana Dundua

The Messenger, Georgia
April 18 2007

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev recently stated Azerbaijan would
never agree to Armenia’s participation in regional projects.

"We will never agree to Armenia’s participation in regional projects.

The country’s occupational and aggressive policy towards neighbouring
states has caused its own isolation," declared Aliyev, as quoted in
the newspaper 24 Saati.

According to Azerbaijan, they have already applied to the EU and
other financial institutions to drum up financial support for
the Kars-Akhalkalaki railway project but they were met with some
resistance. They say the difficulties weren’t economic in nature but
political. Pro-Armenian forces and the Armenian lobby was applying
pressure to the international financial institutions, azrebaijan
claims.

The Azeri president stated that the same organizations did not decline
giving money to construct the oil and the natural gas pipelines
that also bypassed Armenia because they were in great need of energy
carriers.