Author: Zargarian Hambik

February 24, 2007
Press Release
Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate
6252 Honolulu Avenue
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Tel: (818) 248-7737
Fax: (818) 248-7745
E-mail: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
Website: <;

PRELATE WELCOMES YEREVAN MAYOR AND CONSUL GENERAL TO THE NEW PRELACY
HEADQUARTERS

On Thursday, February 22nd, Yerevan Mayor Yervant Zakharian, who
is in Los Angeles for the inauguration of the Los Angeles-Yerevan Sister
City program, visited the Western Prelacy becoming the first public official
to visit the new headquarters.
The mayor was accompanied by Consul General Armen Liloyan, and
aides Vartan Amaryan, Samuel Tanielian, and Armen Soghoyan. The Consul
General was accompanied by Consul Haroutioun Khojoyan and Consulate staff
member Hagop Hovannisian.
The reception took place at the Prelacy’s `Dikran and Zarouhi
Der Ghazarian’ Hall, where the guest were greeted by H.E. Archbishop
Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate, Clergy, Executive Council, Ladies Auxiliary,
representatives of the A.R.F. Central Committee, Homenetmen, A.R.S.,
Hamazkayin, Armenia Fund, United Armenia Fund, and Glendale city council
member Rafi Manoukian.
The Prelate welcomed the guests and expressed gratitude that the
first official guests at the new location were the mayor of Yerevan and the
Consul General. Mayor Zakharian thanked the Prelate for the warm welcome
and explained his mission in Los Angeles and the nature of the reception
that was to take place on Friday morning at Los Angeles City Hall. The
mayor also spoke in detail of the development taking place in Yerevan
stressing that the project is scheduled to conclude in the year 2020. He
concluded by expressing congratulatory remarks on the completion of the
Prelacy building.
Remarks were also made by the Consul General who hoped that this
would be the first of many visits for the mayor, and for collaboration
between the officials and citizens of Los Angeles and Yerevan reach new
heights.
At the conclusion of the official program, the Prelate presented
Mayor Zakharian with the book `Rescued Treasures of Cilicia’ after which the
reception took place. During the reception, guests had the chance to tour
the new building and become more closely familiarized with the endeavors of
the Prelacy.

PRESS RELEASE
UCLA AEF Chair in Armenian History
Contact: Prof. Richard Hovannisian
Tel: 310-825-3375
Email: [email protected]

HRANT DINK: His Legacy and His Challenge – A Tribute

Sunday, February 25, 2007
147 Dodd Hall, UCLA
3:30 pm

Hrant Dink was a taboo-breaking member of the Armenian community in Turkey
and editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos newspaper. A
prominent critical voice and a sincere advocate of Turkish-Armenian dialogue,
he was shot and killed in front of his newspaper office on January 19, 2007.

Sponsors: UCLA Armenian Studies Program, Center for Near Eastern Studies,
Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures, and the Organization of
Istanbul Armenians, and Initiative of Turkish Students to Commemorate "Our
Hrant"

Opening: The Legacy and the Challenge, Richard Hovannisian, UCLA
Brief Reflections: Simon Acilac, President, OIA, and Zeynep Türkyilmaz, UCLA
Comments: David Myers; Director, Center for Jewish Studies
Musical Interlude: Albert Gyunasdyan, Violin
Address: Ayse Gül Altinay, Sabanci University, Istanbul
Video Presentation: `Our Hrant,’ Stepan Partamian, Producer
Address: Ruben Cetinyan, UCLA
Musical Interlude: Mamekon Arutunyan, Duduk

`Helva’ and Refreshments

For more information, contact Prof. Richard Hovannisian,
<mailto:[email protected]& gt;[email protected]
or Zeynep Turkyilmaz,
<mailto:[email protected]>zeynep@u cla.edu.

Parking along Hilgard Avenue or UCLA: Structure No. 2 ($8.00), Enter from
Hilgard Ave. at Westholme

RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN AIR DEFENCE SYSTEM HELPS CREATE BUFFER ZONE – TV REPORT

RTR Rossiya, Moscow
17 Feb 07

[Presenter] CIS air force commanders have monitored how a new
joint Russian-Armenian air defence system is operating. After the
Russian-Belarusian system [was created] it became the second stage of
setting up a buffer air defence zone around Russia. Our correspondent
Aleksey Baranov has the details.

[Vladimir Mikhaylov, Russian air force commander-in-chief] Good
afternoon. I am flying to Armenia, my call sign is 75499.

[Correspondent] While air force commander-in-chief Mikhaylov pilots
an Il-18 aircraft, servicemen are performing routine combat duties
at the Russian air base near Yerevan. A unit of MiG-29 aircraft forms
part of the single air defence system of the CIS.

Obviously, it is the most remarkable aircraft at the Russian air base
in Armenia. An aircraft technician who has constantly worked with
this aircraft over six years painted a snow leopard on the MiG-29. In
Russian military aviation it is the technicians who are permanently
assigned to each aircraft, whereas pilots change depending on the
duty schedule.

The deputy squadron commander has served abroad for eight years. He
says that combat aircraft made 18 years ago are still the best light
fighters in the world.

[Valeriy Ded, captioned as deputy squadron commander] It is simple
work for real men, serving [in the army]. I would like to master
another type of aircraft, the MiG-35. I saw it on TV.

[Correspondent] It is not an inspection, it is a working visit. CIS air
force commanders are studying Armenia’s experience. The most modern
joint Russian-Armenian air defence system serves as a model for the
coalition military structures in the Caucasus and in Central Asia.

Armenia’s air defence command post is also an element of the single
system of the CIS air defence. Col Babayan studied in Soviet times
and began serving in the USSR.

[Nikolay Babayan, captioned as head of general staff of Armenian
air defence troops] Each country was going its own way. In 1995,
10 states made a historically justified decision to join their efforts.

[Correspondent] The location of the HQ of the single air defence
system of the CIS is yet to be decided. In any case, the Caucasus
ring, following the Russian-Belarusian air defence system, will be
the second step in creating a buffer air defence zone around Russia.

[Mikhaylov] The whole territory is under radiation control. The
airspace is very carefully protected. If there is control, there will
be a proper reaction to violators.

[Correspondent] [This is] the final stage of setting up a single
collective security system in the Central Asian region.

U.S.-TURKEY: AMERICAN LAWMAKERS TO VOTE ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

AKI, Italy
Feb 21 2007

Washington, 20 Feb. (AKI/DAWN) – The speaker of the US House of
Representatives Nancy Pelosi has scheduled a vote in April on a
resolution that accuses Turkey’s Ottoman Empire of perpetrating
"genocide" resulting in the death or displacement of nearly 2 million
Armenians between 1915 and 1923. Turkey is one of America’s closest
allies in the Islamic world and is also a member of the North Atlantic
Treaty Organisation.

Turkish-Americans have launched a campaign against the resolution
saying that it ignores most experts on the Ottoman Empire who reject
the Armenian allegation of genocide. They say that the resolution is
an attempt to pass judgment on a controversial piece of history and
it unfairly defames an entire people on discredited evidence.

They point out that the US State Department openly supported Turkey’s
2005 proposal to Armenia to establish a joint commission to research
and sort out this matter but the resolution ignores this.

On Oct 12, 2006, the French National Assembly passed a bill that not
only endorsed the Armenian claim of genocide but also made it a crime
to deny the genocide.

Like in France, Armenian and Greek lobbies in the United States are
playing a major role in pushing for this resolution as it allows them
to settle old scores dating back to World War I.

Bush administration officials, however, look at this move with alarm
as they fear that it has the potential to damage America’s vital
foreign policy interests.

They point out that Turkey’s cooperation in stabilizing Iraq, where
upwards of 140,000 American troops are stationed, is vital. Turkey,
they say, is a US ally of long standing and for many years, it was
the only Muslim nation in the Middle East to have trade and diplomatic
relations with Israel.

BAKU AGAINST EU SUGGESTION

A1+
[01:53 pm] 21 February, 2007

Official Baku turned down yesterday’s suggestion made by Peter Semneby,
EU special representative in South Caucasus. The Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Baku replied that adoption of relationships with Nagorno
Karabakh was impossible.

"Both Armenian and Azerbaijan inhabitants in Nagorno Karabakh are
citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Therefore the relationships between them should be equal to that with
other regions of the country, as far as in case of Nagorno Karabakh a
higher autonomy adoption is concerned. It means, that the territory
will have a special status in Azerbaijan," claimed Tair Taghizade,
head of Press Service of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan.

He also mentioned that Azerbaijan had claimed several times that
the relations would reestablish if some components of the conflict
were fulfilled.

"We cannot adopt relations and reestablish trust only with Nagorno
Karabakh region, unless the conflict resolution demands are carried
out. The latter issues are the disarmament of adjacent areas, mine
clearing of means of communication, the return of refugees.

Only afterwards will trust establishment programs start," stated the
representative of the Minisrty of Foreign Affairs in Azerbaijan.

ARTICLE 301 STILL ON ANKARA’S AGENDA

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 20 2007

Turkish Press Council Chairman Oktay Ekºi submitted the amendments
proposed by the Council concerning Article 301 of the Turkish Penal
Code (TPC) to Justice Minister Cemil Cicek.

This is the second time the Council has delivered the same proposal to
Cicek. Ekºi stated that they added a legal basis to their proposal and
they tried to ensure that the amendments to the article would increase
freedom of speech in Turkey. The Council’s proposal replaces the word
"Turkishness" with "Turkish Nation" and the word "denigration" with
"insult."

In the legal basis section, it is maintained that the word
"denigration" is problematic as it leaves too excessive room for
the interpretation of the article. The proposal also argues for
a re-introduction of the practice of "obtaining consent from the
Justice Minister to launch a probe on charges insulting Turkishness"
as stipulated under former Article 159, which was replaced by Article
301.The Council also asks for a reduction of the upper and lower
limits of prison sentences in the article.

Ekºi also submitted the proposal to the main opposition party,
Republican People’s Party (CHP). Yesterday, CHP Parliamentary Group
Deputy Chairman Haluk Koc was critical of the domestic politics’
focus on debates pertaining to Article 301. Reactions, similar to
those directed in connection with the freedoms in Article 301, were
not shown when there was a breach of the press’ freedom, Koc remarked.

Attending a panel concerning Article 301 and Armenian genocide at the
Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences, CHP Deputy Chairman
Onur Oymen said that their party was against the abolishment of Article
301. "If the abolishment of this article implies freedom to denigrate
Turkishness or insulting Turkey, Turkishness, and the Turkish nation,
our party is against it," Oymen maintained. Recalling that articles
similar to Article 301 are readily found in the legislation of
many European countries and a number of people have been tried and
sentenced under such articles, Oymen claimed that Article 301 of the
TPC is compatible with Article 10 of the European Convention on Human
Rights prohibiting denigration and insulting.

Oymen also alleged that the government’s move for amending Article
301 is guided by external powers. "What Turkey needs is not in the
laws, but in reforming the judiciary," Oymen said, and added, "and in
this connection, we demand that parliamentary immunities be abolished
and the practice of inclusion of a Justice Minister official in the
appointment of judges and prosecutors be halted."

–Boundary_(ID_kOv3Mz8ZH2oBPbYBl6dA Yw)–

ROBERT KOCHARIAN MEETS WITH JACQUES CHIRAC

Noyan Tapan
Feb 20 2007

PARIS, FEBRUARY 20, NOYAN TAPAN. RA President Robert Kocharian, paying
four-day official visit to France met with President of France Jacques
Chirac at the Elysee Palace of Paris on February 19. According to Radio
Liberty, after the meeting, inspite of the journalists’ expectations,
no briefing took place.

Robert Kocharian welcame the journalists just by a movement of the
hand, saying "Everything is right." The Armenia Sacra (Saint Armenia)
exhibition opened earlier on the same day in Louvre, with participation
of the Presidents.

Robert Kocharian was accompanied by Karekin II Catholicos of All
Armenians, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, other members of the
Armenian delegation. The Armenian President and First Lady will
participate on late February 19 in the banquet organized by the local
Armenian community.

ARMENIAN AND FRENCH PRESIDENTS MEET IN PARIS

Arminfo
2007-02-19 18:58:00

The meeting of Armenian and French Presidents Robert Kocharyan and
Jacques Chirac was held in the Palais de l’Elysee in Paris.

The presidents discussed the bilateral relations and touched upon
the Karabakh peace process.

Today, an exhibition entitled "Holy Armenia" opened in the Louvre
with participation of Jacques Chirac and Robert Kocharyan. Tomorrow,
the Armenian President will meet with the French Prime Minister and
the heads of the French Senate and the National Assembly.

GEORGIAN AZERBAIJANIS DETAINED BY ARMENIAN FRONTIER GUARDS RELEASED

Today, Azerbaijan
Feb 19 2007

Azerbaijani residents of Tezekend village, Georgia, Mehman Asgerov,
Kamandar Mustafayev and Sadakhli village resident Huseyn Mammedov,
who were detained by Armenian frontier guards, were released lat week.

No demands were offered for the release. No penalty was imposed
on them.

Officer of Azerbaijani embassy to Georgia Elkhan Polukhov told APA
that the Azerbaijanis have been released after the interference of
Georgian Foreign Affairs Ministry, Frontier Service and Ombudsman.

Armenian side warned that Georgian Azerbaijanis will not be released
if the action is repeated.

Mehman Asgerov and Kamandar Mustafayev were detained in the Armenian
region of Noyemberian on February 7 while cutting tree. Huseyn Mammedov
was detained in the disputed zone between Armenia and Georgia in the
border of Noyemberyan and Marneuli on February 10.

Armenian frontier guards tried to detain two Azerbaijanis gathering
brushwood in the disputed zone February 10 as well.

Husband and wife were lucky to have a mobile phone about them and
they contacted the village immediately.

Marneuli region administration and police chief interfered with the
case and didn’t let Armenians arrest the couple.

URL:

RIT PROFESSOR TO AID IN PEACE-MAKING EFFORT
Matthew Daneman – Staff writer

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, NY
Feb 18 2007

(February 18, 2007) – HENRIETTA – The nation of Georgia, on the
Black Sea between Turkey and Russia, has seen more than its share of
suffering and strife.

Roughly half the size of New York state, its history since the collapse
of the Soviet Union has included a coup, a revolution, a bloody civil
war and ethnic cleansing.

But next month, a Rochester Institute of Technology faculty member
is heading there in a peace-making attempt that he hopes could have
broader implications for ending fighting across the Caucasus region.

Spencer Meredith, assistant professor of international relations,
will spend four months in Georgia studying the role and influence of
clergy and then trying to enlist them in peace-making efforts.

The nation is overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian "and yet they’re
killing each other," said Meredith. "So what’s the role of the
priests in all this – are they fomenting conflict or are they trying
to resolve it?’

The second step in the project will be trying to recruit members of
the clergy to engage with Muslim leaders among the refugees from
neighboring Chechnya, to "see if it’s possible … for priests to
lead the effort to help these people," Meredith said.

He also will spend part of his four months teaching U.S. foreign policy
and international relations at International Black Sea University or
Tbilisi State University.

Close to 800 faculty members and professionals each year go to 140
different nations to lecture and do research under the Fulbright
Scholar Program, which is sponsored by the U.S. State Department. The
Council for International Exchange of Scholars, which oversees the
Fulbright program, receives roughly 2,000 applications a year, said
spokesman Nancy Gainer.

The idea, if it works, could resolve some of the ethnic strife in
Georgia, particularly involving Chechen refugees there. And ultimately
it could have implications for other conflicts in the region, such
as those between the Armenians and Turks and between the Azerbaijanis
and Armenians, Meredith said.

"It’s not going to solve the war on terror, but it might help this
one troubled region," he said.