Author: Zargarian Hambik

Cyprus Armenians return to occupied monastery after 33 years

p?id=6853&type=st
06/05/2007

Two hundred Armenians returned to the abandoned medieaval monastery of
Saint Magar in the Turkish-occupied northern part of Cyprus Sunday
where prayers were said for the first time in 33 years.

The pilgrims, most of whom used to spend holidays at the monastery up
until the Turkish invasion in 1974, traveled in a convoy of five buses
escorted by a United Nations patrol and Turkish Cypriot police.

But despite the anticipation of return, the enthusiasm of many was
dashed by the poor state of the church and the destruction of all
inscriptions by prospective developers who had earlier set their
sights on transforming the monastery to a casino.

The looting of the site since the war that divided the island, had
also taken its toll on the buildings, many of which had no roof and
could fall within a few years, some bystanders said.

Archbishop Varoujan Hergelian led those present in a prayer of grace,
`Hayr Mer’ in Armenian, while some had brought candles with them to
mark the holy day of the monastery’s saint, a Coptic recluse named
Makarius, who had lived in the caves below the present site of the
monastery in the twelfth century.

`I held service and performed my last christening here in 1973,’ added
Hergelian, who had traveled in civilian clothes so as not to incite
any reaction from Islamists or Turkish nationalists living in nearby
villages.

`It is in a tragic condition,’ he said, adding that the baptismal was
totally defaced from his last visit to the derelict monastery three
years ago.

But the issue of reconstruction of the monastery dating back to 1642
is highly unlikely as the U.N. must ask the Turkish forces for
permission since the buildings and the 9,000-acre estate of olive,
citrus and carob trees that leads down to the northern sea shore, lies
within a military zone and near a Turkish Army camp near Halefka in
the Kyrenia mountain range.

`We only managed to halt the plans for development by the intervention
of the Vatican,’ said the Armenian deputy in the House of
Representatives, Vartkes Mahdessian, who had organised the trip.

Previous members of the Cypriot parliament had sought the intervention
of the Council of Europe when Turkish Cypriot developers allegedly won
the privatisation license for the land and advertised plans for a
casino, hotel and leisure cafeterias.

`I remember coming here with the scouts from the Armenian AYMA club
and we used to meet scouts from the Melkonian school,’ Mahdessian
said, adding that other youth groups also camped at the monastery
during weekends and summer holidays, often accompanied by the then
pastor of the community, Father Vazken Sandrouni.

`I will try to organise a similar pilgrimage next year as well as we
must r emind ourselves of our heritage before the older generations
start to disappear,’ the member of parliament said.

Among the crowd was Stephan Bahdjejian, a veteran who served in the
French Army during the second World War but remained tearful from
seeing the destruction of the monastery he visited every month before
the Turkish invasion.

`Only animals would cause this destruction,’ he said.

Panorama.am

18:22 05/05/2007

TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL AND SKSELA YOUTH MOVEMENT ORGANIZE ELECTION
FAIR IN KOMITAS PARK

Today, Transparency International and Sksela youth movement organized
a so called `election fair’ dedicated to corruption and upcoming
elections in Komitas park today. The fair aimed to unveil vicious
incidents, which we encounter in the course of election processes,
through humerous posters.

`We are buying votes!’
`Law on corruption effective throughout Armenia’ `Despite of reported
violations, we assess elections 2007 in Armenia as 5 cm progress
towards democracy’ `Public TV announces May 11 as day of equal
opportunities for all political parties’ (Election campaign is banned
on that day). These were some of the posters posted throughout the
park.
Avetik Ishkhanyan, leader of Armenian Helsinki committee, Ashot
Melikyan and Mesrop Harutunyan, Yerevan press club experts, Shavarsh
Kocharyan, Armenian Democratic Party (AJK), were present at the event.

Source: Panorama.am

NO PARTY WILL MAKE MAJORITY ALONE IN NA OF NEW CONVOCATION, HEAD OF SOCIOMETER SAYS

Noyan Tapan
May 03 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 3, NOYAN TAPAN. "No party will make majority
alone in the NA of new convocation," Aharon Adibekian, Head of
Sociometer independent sociological center, stated at the May 3 press
conference. Taking as a basis the results of sociological surveys held
so far, he said that the Republican Party of Armenia and the Bargavach
Hayastan (Prosperous Armenia) Party will receive two third of votes,
at that, RPA 34% and BH 32%. And ARF Dashnaktsutiun, Orinats Yerkir
(Country of Law) and National Unity can receive 11.2%, 12,8% and 7%
votes, respectively. By the way, in A. Adibekian’s words, the last
events connected with Orinats Yerkir have not received a response
among the voters yet.

In A. Adibekian’s words, the Zharangutiun (Heritage) Party, the
People’s Party, the United Labor Party and the Dashink (Alliance)
Party pretend on getting over 5% barrier. The latter, in his words,
"gathers speed rather quickly:" according to the surveys, the votes to
be given for Dashink increased for nearly three times within one month.

A. Adibekian said that the People’s Party of Armenia (PPA) has
serious problems with being represented in the parliament. According
to the last surveys, it will receive 2.2% votes in Yerevan and 1.8%
votes in the regions. In A. Adibekian’s words, "the most part of
PPA’s votes was taken away by People’s Party and Bargavach Hayastan
Party." "Maybe Karen Demirchian’s heritage was no so big for his son
to be able to gain votes in the course of years by speculating this,"
he noted adding that PPA should have found additional resources
"for preserving the electorate handed down from the father to his son."

The sociologist also touched upon reliability of the number of party
members. In his words, in consideration of the publicized figures,
it comes that there are 700 thousand partisans in Armenia or every
third citizen of Armenia is a member of a party. And according to the
center’s data, this number fluctuates between 250-300 thousand. "That
is, if BH announces that it has 380 thousand members, this is not so
realistic," A. Adibekian said.

It was also mentioned that the elections turnout will make 55-60%,
at that in the villages and in the regions this index is higher than
in Yerevan.

LICENSE TO ARMENIAN EXPRESS CJSC OPERATED REVOKED

Noyan Tapan
May 02 2007

YEREVAN, MAY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. The Board of the Central Bank of Armenia
(CBA) annulled the activity license to "Armenian Express CJSC",
a money remitter firm.

NT was informed from the CBA press service that citizens are
recommended not to use the services of "Armenian Express CJSC",
as this organization has been deprived of the right to effect money
remittances since May 2, 2007.

LIEBERMAN DOES NOT RULE OUT STRIKE AGAINST IRAN
By Janice Arnold

Canadian Jewish News, Canada
May 2 2007

MONTREAL – Independent Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman said the
United States may have to resort to military force against Iran
if economic and other sanctions don’t halt its quest for nuclear
capability.

"We can never say we will not use military force to knock out parts
of Iran’s nuclear program and at least delay it… I hope and pray
that we do not get to that point but we may have to," he said in an
April 22 speech at Congregation Zichron Kedoshim before a capacity
audience of nearly 900.

Asked who he thought would strike Iran first, the United States
or Israel, Lieberman replied that his country does not want to
"contract out" an operation so critical to its own security, but
"I don’t think Israel is going to stand back in the face of such an
existential threat."

He said the Bush administration’s attempts to cut off Iran’s
international financial lifelines is "hurting them a bit," and there
are signs of a growing reform movement in Iran that might be able
to overthrow the increasingly unpopular regime of President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad.

On Iraq, Lieberman, a strong supporter of going to war, said that if
the United States withdraws now, it would be a "disaster" resulting in
"chaos" and "ethnic slaughter" in Iraq and possibly more terrorism
on U.S. soil.

Lieberman believes it would be "a tremendous victory for Al Qaeda… It
would say that the U.S. does not have the patience to carry out a long
war… If we just give up, they will follow us back here to the U.S."

Lieberman thinks the United States should wait until at least the end
of August to see if sending thousands of more troops to Baghdad has
a positive effect. He said he believes the intensity of violence in
the last month is a reaction by Al Qaeda to the planned buildup.

"[Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden] is trying to stir up sectarian
conflict and convince the American people there is no winning… The
consequences of a pullout now would be enormously bad."

Lieberman still believes the offensive was the "right thing to do"
because deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had engaged in "ethnic
slaughter, if not genocide" and was "sponsoring terrorism" by paying
the families of suicide bombers.

He acknowledged "terrible mistakes" have been made in the prosecution
of the war, but he feels the United States can’t leave until Iraqis
are capable of assuming responsibility for their own security.

Probably the best-known American Jewish politician, Lieberman was
the Democratic candidate for vice-president in 2000, running with Al
Gore. In 2004, Lieberman unsuccessfully sought the party’s presidential
nomination. He was elected to a fourth Senate term as an "independent
Democrat" last year after he failed to secure the Democratic nomination
in his state.

Islamic extremism is as great a threat to international freedom and
security as Nazism and communism were in the last century, Lieberman
stated. "I disagree with President [George W.] Bush on a lot of policy,
but he understands the threat of Islamic terrorism."

Lieberman called House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s
meeting with Syrian president Bashar Assad "a serious mistake."

"To meet Assad gives him cover and gets the focus off of him,"
said Lieberman, citing the United Nations investigation into Syria’s
possible role in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister
Rafik Harari, its aid to Hamas and Hezbollah, and its allowing
militants to cross its border into Iraq.

When asked, Lieberman did not comment on whether he thought a
Democratic or Republican president would be better for Israel. He
said he’ll wait to see which candidates are chosen before deciding
on who to support.

"But to be fair, both parties have pro-Israel positions. One of
the few areas of bipartisan co-operation in Congress is support for
Israel. That’s because of our values and the fact that the U.S. and
Israel are lead targets for Islamic terrorists," he said, noting that
there are more Christian than Jewish Zionists in the United States.

He indicated he has no desire to be on a presidential ticket again.

"I got that out of my system. Anyway, I can’t find a party that would
nominate me."

Lieberman said he believes Americans are ready to elect a Jewish,
female or black president "depending on that person," and he said he
found great openness during his bid for the White House. He added
that he’s concerned about intolerance being directed at Republican
presidential candidate Mitt Romney because Romney is a Mormon.

Lieberman denounced former U.S. president Jimmy Carter’s book
Palestine: Peace not Apartheid, although he said he has only read
excerpts from it.

"I think it is not based on facts, but a point of view that is
absolutely wrong… The Palestinians have consistently committed
acts of terrorism against Israel, not vice versa. I reject the book
in the strongest terms. I wish he had not written it."

As for Jonathan Pollard, a former civilian U.S. naval intelligence
officer who has been in a U.S. jail since 1986 for spying for Israel,
Lieberman said he is not likely to be pardoned because it would "set
a bad precedent," but he thinks that ultimately "the highest levels
of the U.S. and Israeli government" may find a way to release him as
an act of "mercy."

Asked if he had any regrets in his political career, Lieberman said
it was initially voting against a resolution to memorialize the
Armenian genocide, partly because he did not want to jeopardize
American-Turkish relations.

However, after meeting with the Armenian community and reading
about the history, Lieberman changed his mind and has supported the
genocide’s commemoration.

Lieberman, who was accompanied by his wife Hadassah, gave the second
annual Evelyn and Samuel Margolick Memorial Lecture, which is sponsored
by their son Lionel Margolick, a prominent commercial real estate
developer based in Detroit. Lionel has not lived in Montreal since
leaving to attend the Wharton School of Business in Pennsylvania in
the late 1960s, nor were he and his late parents members of Zichron
Kedoshim.

He has, however, been friends since childhood with shul president
Norton Segal and was married there in December 2004. Lieberman’s
appearance at the free event proved so popular that the synagogue
had to open up its basement, where the overflow crowd could watch on
a video screen.

Lieberman noted that he has a personal connection to Montreal. Last
August, his daughter Rebecca married Jacob Wisse, son of Montreal
natives Leonard and Ruth Wisse, a professor of Jewish literature at
Harvard University.

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GEORGIAN ARMENIANS OBSERVE ANNIVERSARY OF "ARMENIAN GENOCIDE", RECOGNITION REMAINS CONTROVERSIAL
by Keti Khachidze, Natia KoKashvili, Georgian Times

Daily Georgian Times, Georgia
April 30 2007

About 150 ethnic Armenians living in Georgia joined their voices to the
worldwide calls for recognition of the events of 1915 as genocide. The
active Armenian community gathered at the Turkish Embassy in Tbilisi
holding banners and lighting candles in the remembrance of the
massacred victims.

"Armenians will never forget the tragedy, and we will try to make
Turkey finally recognize it as a genocide," said Gena Muradzini,
President of Union of Armenians in Georgia. "We, the Armenian community
commemorate this date every year, as this was the biggest tragedy
for our nation. April 24 is the day of mourning and we are to pay
tribute to those who perished. Turkey must recognize the genocide to
make sure that such a massacre never occurs again."

"Our aim is to finally achieve justice," said Karen Elchyan, President
of Armernian Corporation In Georgia . "What Turkey committed 92 years
ago was brutal, and many countries in the world agree with us. Many
years have passed since the tragedy, but the Armenian nation will
stand firm and we will remember our ancestors who perished on April
24. We believe that Turkey will recognize the Armenian genocide and
will change their policy toward our nation.

Their crime claimed the lives of 2,000,000 people."

The massacre started with a tragic event on April 24. In a swift move
enacted by the Ottoman government, an estimated 250 Armenians from
the intelligentsia were arrested on the night of April 24, 1915.

While there is no clear consensus on how many Armenians lost their
lives during what is now called the Armenian Genocide, there is
general understanding among Western scholars that over a million
Armenians may have perished between 1914 and 1918.

"Armenian Genocide" from Political Perspective

The Armenian community worldwide is stepping up pressure to win
recognition of the massacre as genocide.

Last week the European Union approved a framework decision aimed at
criminalizing denial of the Holocaust and other genocides following six
years of intense debate. Attempts by Armenia to qualify the incidents
of 1915 as an act of genocide by the Ottoman Turks were turned down
and were not included in the scope of the law. The end product was
described as a carefully-balanced compromise by EU diplomats, which
allows EU countries to opt out of enforcing the law if national laws
do not prohibit similar conduct.

With the apparent consideration of the political alliance with Turkey,
the US remains cautious to label the event as ‘genocide’.

Although a resolution on the issue has been on the agenda for many
years, this year George Bush again refused to use the term ‘genocide’.

In the past year, however, the struggle over the word ‘genocide’
has received international attention through a series of high-profile
news events. Last year the US Ambassador to Armenia John Evans resigned
his post after coming under fire from the State Department for calling
the 1915 massacres ‘genocide’" during a 2005 speech at the University
of California at Berkeley.

The French lower house decided on October 12, 2006 to make it illegal
to deny the Armenian genocide. The bill has yet to be ratified by
the French Senate in order to become law. But reaction has been
prompt. In April, Turkey suspended talks with Gaz de France over a
pipeline project that would bring Caspian natural gas to Europe in
reaction to a French resolution on so-called Armenian genocide.

Turkish entry talks with the EU were met with a number of calls to
consider the event as genocide, though it never became a precondition.

Georgia along with the UK, Israel, Ukraine, the US is among those
countries which do not officially use the word genocide to describe
the events. However, the parliaments of a number of countries have
officially recognized the event as genocide.

Costs of Recognition of Alleged Genocide

"Besides the political factor, Turkey does not want to recognize the
fact as genocide due to the compensation issue," says Gena Muradzini.

"If it recognizes the massacre as genocide, Turkey will have to
compensate Armenia and the families of the genocide victims. But
what is important to us is moral compensation and the recognition in
moral terms."

The compensation issue is not the only cost for Turkey, however.

Although Armenia says it has no territorial claims on Turkey, but
such claims may arise after recognition.

"I am the fourth generation of the victims genocide and my heart sinks
with grievance on this day," said Levon Chidiliani. "We are just
one part of the Armenians living in the world, and we demand those
territories from which we were expelled. Our main task is to make
Turkey recognize the genocide as every pragmatic country has done."

"Do not Hang Me Before You Judge" – Turkey’s Position

Academics in Turkey, where it is illegal to "offend Turkishness,"
widely object to the characterization of the mass killings of Armenians
in Ottoman Turkey from 1915-18 as "genocide." While it is accepted
that killings took place during the relocation of Armenians within
the Ottoman Empire during World War I, many Turkish scholars do not
believe they were the result of a deliberate campaign.

In March 2005, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan invited Turkish,
Armenian and international historians to form a Commission to
establish the events of 1915. Kocharyan rejected the proposal saying
"the suggestion to address the past cannot be effective if it deflects
from addressing the present and the future."

This year Turkey launched a wider campaign to promote its message
of ‘unearthing history’. The ads ran in the New York Times, the
Washington Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Politico and Roll
Call newspapers.

"Let us open our archives and find out the truth together," this was
also the main message of Turkish ambassador to Georgia Ertan Tezgor
in an interview with GT.

Ertan Tezgor: "We, Turks and Armenians, have been living together
for 800 years in peace. 24 ministers in the Ottoman Empire who at
that time were called vezirs were Armenians and Foreign Minister in
the Ottoman government in 1915 Armenian. Then I often ask myself a
question: ‘What happened that separated us’? We have to find out
the answer to this question in history. We are not afraid of our
history and are ready to face it. We have opened our archives and
do expect a similar move from Armenians. We invite third parties to
the commission of historians and academicians, so that we all see the
hands of everyone. Not only Armenians and Turks but other players also
intervened. Without studying the history we will not know who the main
players were, what their hidden agenda was. Now you are coming to me
and asking to apologize for the so called genocide. Then I ask you:
‘Do not hang be before you judge.’

GT: Many countries have recognized the massacre as genocide. It seems
that the world supports Armenia’s assessment?

A: Firstly, it is not the whole world. If we go back to 1915 events
and look just before that and after the date, you will find out the
players behind the game. Then you will understand which circles are
pushing for the recognition of the genocide now. We will see that
this is just one sector of the world. I can understand in the whole
world this is just one sector. Secondly, parliaments have nothing to
do with history. Parliamentarians are not scholars and they cannot
judge fairly. So, their decisions do not concern us at all, although
this certainly is an irritating factor. There are certain reasons
why politicians support the recognition of the genocide, not because
they like the eyes of Armenians. Politicians seek to gain support of
Armenian communities and win votes for the elections.

GT: Turkish entry talks with the EU were met with a number of calls to
consider the event as genocide. Is Turkey poised to make a compromise
on the genocide issue for the sake of the EU accession?

ET: There are Copenhagen criteria for Turkey’s entry into EU which
does not mention the so-called genocide as a precondition for the
entry. However, there are some circles in the EU take the Armenian
allegation of the genocide as a shield to close the door to Turkey.

Each time we do our homework and the chapter is over and certified,
another precondition arrives and this has become a non-lasting
process. Then, we have to find out: Is EU a Christian Club? We are
committed to follow the track and meet our commitments. But then maybe
one day they will say yes – "all the chapters are crystal clear" –
but we have to conduct a referendum and ask our people.

MILITARY SHOULD STAY IN THEIR BARRACKS AND KEEP OUT OF POLITICS, TERRY DAVIS SAYS

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.04.2007 15:47 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "I am very concerned about the recent public
statement by the Turkish military. This statement looks like a
deliberate attempt by the armed forces to influence the election of a
new President in Turkey. They should stay in their barracks and keep
out of politics," said Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council
of Europe.

"The Turkish people have achieved great progress in respect for Human
Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law since Turkey’s accession to
the Council of Europe in 1949. These achievements should not be put
at risk", he said.

"In a democracy, the military are under the command of democratically
elected State authorities. The armed forces do not have any
democratic legitimacy of their own and therefore cannot have a
political role. I am shocked that the military in a member state
of the Council of Europe should behave in this way in the midst of
a democratic and constitutional process such as the election of the
Head of State. I call on all political parties to take a clear stand
against interference by the armed forces in the political process."

Terry Davis added that he was confident that Turkey was a mature
democracy and capable of electing its President as provided in its
Constitution, the CoE communication unit reports.

The Turkish military high command warned government leaders early
Saturday that it was concerned about unrest in the country associated
with the vote, and said it was monitoring the situation closely.

"The General Staff’s statement has been assessed as a lunge against
the government," Cemil Cicek told a news conference in Ankara, adding
that the General Staff is a constitutional institution subordinate to
the government and that its head is responsible to the Prime Minister
for fulfilling his duties.

‘NEVER AGAIN’ FOR ARMENIANS TOO

Los Angeles Times, CA
May 1 2007

Several American Jewish groups abandon their anti-genocide zeal when
it comes to Turkey’s massacre of Armenians.

By Daniel Sokatch and David N. Myers, DANIEL SOKATCH is executive
director of the Progressive Jewish Alliance. DAVID N. MYERS teaches
Jewish history at UCLA.

THIS YEAR, Congress established April 15 as Holocaust Memorial Day,
commemorating the Nazi genocide of European Jewry. Just nine days
later, on April 24, Armenians throughout the world observed the
commemoration of their great tragedy: the massacre of as many as 1.5
million Armenians at the hands of the Turks that began in 1915.

In many ways, it was the 20th century’s first genocide that helped
set the stage for its largest, including Rwanda and now Darfur. Adolf
Hitler reportedly said, on the eve of his invasion of Poland in 1939,
"Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"

For the last 60 years, the Jewish community has labored to avoid
granting Hitler, in the words of philosopher Emil Fackenheim, "a
posthumous victory." Jews have taken as their motto "never again," and
most tend to understand that this charge refers to all of humanity,
not only to fellow Jews. One of the last surviving leaders of the
Warsaw Ghetto uprising, Simha "Kazik" Rotem, once said that the
central lesson of the Holocaust to him was that the Jewish people
should stand vigilant against genocidal acts directed at any people.

This is why it is troubling that some major Jewish organizations have
lined up in support of Turkey’s efforts to keep the U.S. Congress
from recognizing the Armenian massacres as an act of genocide. The
Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the American Jewish Committee (AJC),
the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) and B’nai
B’rith International recently conveyed a letter from the Turkish
Jewish community opposing a resolution recognizing the genocide.

The ADL and the JINSA also added their own statements of opposition,
suggesting that the massacre of Armenians was a matter for historians,
not legislators, to decide.

The American Jewish community has insisted, and rightly so, that
the U.S. Congress, the United Nations and other governmental bodies
formally commemorate the Holocaust. Why should Jews not insist on
the same in this case, especially given the widespread scholarly
consensus that what happened to the Armenians from 1915 to 1923 was
genocide? After all, the man who coined the term "genocide" to refer
to the Holocaust – the Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin – cited
the Armenian massacres as a precedent.

The unfortunate and well-known answer to the question is that
Turkey has fiercely opposed efforts to call the Armenian massacres
"genocide." Moreover, it has asked its friends to help beat back the
attempts at historical recognition.

Jewish opposition to recognizing the Armenian genocide comes mainly
from a desire to safeguard the important strategic relationship
between Turkey and Israel. Alone among the world’s Muslim nations,
Turkey has forged close military, political and economic ties with
Israel. In addition, Jews remember with a deep sense of gratitude
that Turkey served as an important haven for their forebears fleeing
persecution, from the time of the Spanish Expulsion in 1492 to the
dark days of Nazism and beyond. And it is not just that Turkey has
been kind to Israel and the Jews. It is a critically important U.S.
ally in a dangerous region racked by religious extremism.

Nobody is suggesting that Jews forget Turkey’s historic friendship.

But it is a mistake for Jews – or, for that matter, anyone – to
surrender the moral imperative of condemning genocide in the hopes
of avoiding a perceived, but by no means necessary, strategic loss.

Similarly, it would be a mistake for Turkey to hinge its own strategic
interests on the denial of past criminal acts. Coming to terms with
the past, as democratic Germany has done in the aftermath of the
Holocaust and South Africa in the wake of apartheid, is the best path
to political legitimacy.

Turkey, a trusted ally and friend of the Jews and the United States,
must come to terms with its past for its own sake. It is that battle
that leading Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel laureate Orhan
Pamuk and martyred Armenian activist Hrant Dink, have been waging
so nobly. We should do all in our power to strengthen the hands of
these figures and avoid the abyss of historical revisionism.

Sixty years (and millions of historical documents) later, the world
still has to contend with those who deny the Holocaust. We need only
recall the shocking words and deeds of Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad on this score.

In response to such denials, all decent-minded people, and Jews in
particular, must continue to declare loudly "never again" – not only
to future genocides but also to the attempted denial of past genocides,
regardless of who the perpetrators or victims are.

Armenia needs to have strong relations with Russia, US and all its
neighbors: Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and
European Affairs

Arminfo
2007-04-27 22:56:00

Armenia needs to have strong relations with Russia, with the United
States and with all its neighbors, Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State for European and Eurasian Affairs David Kramer said in a brief
interview with ArmInfo’s correspondent in New York when asked to
comment on the criticism of the complementary policy of the Armenian
authorities by the Armenian opposition.

Armenia has a very long and proud tradition in history and we
respect it.

And we look forward to deepening our relations with Armenia as we have
been trying to do since Armenia’s independence. But given Armenia its
geographical position, it is in common sense to have good relations
with Russia and with the countries in the region. That’s all in
common sense. The good relations with us should not be in conflict
with relations with Russia and vice versa: the good relations with
Russia should not contradict to us.

Speaking of Russia’s energy policy in the South Caucasus, Kramer said
that Armenia has been affected by higher prices Russia gives the power
energy to Georgia. And it is difficult. We understand it has become
difficult and we have do some concerns about the use of energy for
economic purposes by Russia. We want Russia to be a reliable energy
supplier to your country and to all the countries in the region. We
also do not support the subsidies from Russia.

That not a help for anyone. It reduces the energy efficiency. We are
concerned about not going from subsidies prices that may risk the
stabilization in the region.

Asked about the diversification of the energy supplier and about the
intention of Russia to also become the owner, Kramer said that is a
complicated issue. Diversification is important. One just needs to
be careful where you look.

Asked about his vision of the Karabakh conflict and the possible
solution, he said: "I know that my colleague Mathew Bryza is working
very hard as the other members of the Minsk Group and we continue to
try to accomplish your purpose", he concluded.

LONGED-FOR MEETING WITH ARCHBISHOP

Azat Artsakh Daily, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]
28 April 07

On April 23 the primate of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic
Church Pargev Martirosian met with the representatives of youth
organizations of NKR. Most problems that they discussed were on the
indifference of a major part of the society towards the church. There
were proposals from young people on how to bring the society and
the church closer. One of the proposals was to conduct service in
modern Armenian, not in the ancient Armenian which people do not
understand. Archbishop Pargev Martirosian said in some countries this
innovation produced the contrary of what they had expected. As to the
flourishing sects, the archbishop of Artsakh thinks this phenomenon
has a different cause. Certain religious organizations interpreted
and used the post-Soviet freedom in their own way, which is worrying
especially in Karabakh.

Especially that the small groups are backed by more powerful
organizations, which have a well-designed and prepared
program. However, it does not mean that the Armenian Apostolic Church
makes no efforts to fight sects. "In 1989 there were 28-29 Armenian
churches in the former Soviet Union, now there are over 400," said
Archbishop Pargev adding that efforts are made to expand public
relations, different books are published, radio and TV programs are
broadcast. The Artsakh Diocese also makes efforts. Certainly, there
are problems, namely shortage of money. Besides, there is a shortage
of priests. If each member of a sect is a preacher of their ideas, it
takes 10 years to prepare priests of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Yet
there are other problems. The core issue of the meeting was the role
of young people in this context. The participants arranged to meet
again in the middle of May with proposals, and involve more people.

NORAIR HOVSEPIAN.
28-04-2007