Author: Zargarian Hambik

NAGORNO-KARABAKH REPUBLIC CELEBRATES TRIPLE HOLIDAY

Stepanakert, May 10. ArmInfo. May 9 Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
celebrated triple holiday – the Day of Victory in the Great Patriotic
War, of Liberation of Shushi and of Formation of NKR Defence Army,
reports ArmInfo’s correspondent in Stepanakert.

May 9 morning NKR President Arkady Ghukassyan, Parliament Speaker
Ashot Ghulyan, Prime Minister Anushavan Daniyelyan as well as Armenian
Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan and Defence Minister Serzh Sargsyan
laid flowers to the graves of the heroes of the Great Patriotic and
Karabakh wars. They also visited Shushi.

An army parade, meetings with veterans, concerts, exhibitions and
other festivities were held all over the republic.

JOINT SITTING OF ARMENIAN AND GEORGIAN BORDER DEMARCATION COMMISSIONS HELD IN TBILISI

ArmRadio.am
10.05.2006 17:55

May 9-10, 2006 joint sitting of the Armenian and Georgian Border
Demarcation Commissions was held in Tbilisi.

After the sitting Heads of Commissions Gegham Gharibjanyan, RA Deputy
Foreign Minister, and Georgi Manjgaladze, Deputy Foreign Minister of
Georgia, stated that the parties have agreed upon most part of the
Armenian-Georgian border outline and have arranged the future actions.

RA Deputy Foreign Minister Gegham Gharibjanyan had a meeting with Gela
Bezhuashvili, Georgian Foreign Minister, during which he conveyed
RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan’s greetings and presented the
results of the joint sitting.

Agence France Presse — English
May 8, 2006 Monday 1:04 PM GMT

Muslim candidate hits back at rising Greek nationalism

ATHENS

A Muslim candidate in Greece’s regional elections later this year
struck back Monday against a wave of nationalist rhetoric after her
bid was announced, insisting she was first of all Greek.

“I am Greek and I will not tire of saying it…. I am Greek and
Muslim by religion, I was born and raised in Greece, I studied at a
Greek university,” Kara Hasan Gulbeyaz said in an interview with the
left-leaning newspaper Eleftherotypia.

The head of the Socialist opposition George Papandreou announced last
week that Gulbeyaz, a 28-year-old lawyer, would be a candidate in the
October elections in the northeast Xanthi-Drama-Kavala region where
there is a large Muslim minority.

Gulbeyaz is from Greece’s Muslim Pomak minority, which counts some
35,000 members, primarily in the mountainous region bordering
Bulgaria.

Her candidacy has angered members of Greece’s nationalist and
ultra-patriotic rightwing, who have in the media accused the
candidate of being “an agent” for Turkey.

Salonica’s Orthodox Bishop Anthimos predicted Gulbeyaz’s candidacy
would cause “problems” and said: “We cannot be united with those who
do not share the Orthodox religion.”

“We are not going to offer Turkey co-administration of the region on
a plate!,” Conservative member of parliament Stelios Papathemelis
added.

The Conservative prefect of Salonica, Panagiotis Psomiadis, said
meanwhile he “wanted to hear” Gulbeyaz recognize “the genocide of the
Pontics (the Greek minority of the Black Sea) and Armenians”
committed by troops belonging to the founder of the Turkish republic,
Mustapha Kemal-Ataturk.

The leader of the Greek far-right, George Karatzaferis, has accused
Papandreou of wanting to change the administrative map of the region.

Daily Telegraph, Australia
May 7 2006

Envoy recalled over genocide remark
>>From correspondents in Montreal

May 07, 2006

TURKEY has recalled its ambassador to Canada following Prime Minister
Stephen Harper’s recent remarks calling the killing of Armenians in
1915 genocide, a Montreal daily reported overnight.

Ambassador Aydemir Erman has not been officially withdrawn but was
called back to Ankara to help formulate Turkey’s response to an April
19 statement by Harper marking the 91st anniversary of the killings,
The Gazette, an English-language newspaper, said.
“For us, this is a serious matter,” Yoney Tezel, an official with the
Turkish embassy, was quoted as saying. “The Armenian claims are a
direct attack on our identity, on Turkey’s history. We feel it’s
unfair.”

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen were slaughtered in
an orchestrated genocide in the final years of the Ottoman Empire,
mainly from 1915 to 1917.

Turkey categorically rejects claims of genocide, arguing that 300,000
Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when
Armenians began fighting for independence in eastern Anatolia and
sided with Russian troops invading the crumbling Ottoman Empire.

Mr Harper’s statement noted that both houses of Canada’s parliament
have passed resolutions acknowledging the slaughter as the first
genocide of the 20th century.

‘IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO IDEALIZE ANY STAGE OF OTTOMAN-ARMENIAN RELATIONS’
By Hakob Chakrian

AZG Armenian Daily
06/05/2006

Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople States at a Workshop in Kayseri.

A series of alternative workshops followed the controversial conference
“The Ottoman Armenians at the Decline of the Empire” that was held
last September.

The last one in the series titled “The Art of Coexistence in the
Ottoman Society on The Example of Turkish-Armenian Relations” was
organized by the Kayseri University on April 20-22.

Besides its scientific council the workshop had a council of honored
members that included former Turkish state minister, Kyamran Inan,
retired ambassadors Bilal Simsir, Syukry Elekdag, Nyuzhet Kandemir,
Omer Lutem, president of Turkish History Foundation Yusuf Halacoglu,
rector of Erjies University Jengiz Utas and others.

Members of both councils were all exclusively adherents of Turkish
official denailist stance on the Armenian genocide.

Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, Mesrop II Mutafian, held a
speech in the workshop in the status of an honored guest. Meanwhile,
the Patriarch had declined invitation of Prof. Metin Hulagul of Erjies
University and posted the refusal in the official website of the on
October 26.

Here is the Patriarch’s answer to the invitation: “The Armenian
Patriarchate of Constantinople is the spiritual center of
Turkish-Armenians. I don’t think it is right that this center shows
initiative in such issues that can be politicized and have potential
for tensions or take part in workshops that discuss sad events of
the past.”

The patriarch’s speech at the conference shows that the organizers
downplayed validity of his refusal. In other words, Mesrop II Mutafian
opted in the workshop against his will.

In his speech that Haytert published on April 26, Patriarch Mutafian
emphasizes the need of overcoming the impasse in Armenian-Turkish
relations, fostering good-neighborly relations between the two
peoples and settling urgent issues facing the both countries as well
as underscores the hollowness of sowing intolerance in Turkish society.

Patriarch Mutafian conditions improvement of Turkish-Armenian relations
by self-sacrificing and emphasizes the importance of guidance by
values common to all mankind meanwhile condemning manifestation of
xenophobia both in Turkish and Armenian societies.

Topicality of issues that the Patriarch raised adds to their
importance. Yet, the comments of these issues are arguable. More so
when taking up the issue of “moral criteria of the historiography”. The
Patriarch says about this issue: “It’s impossible to idealize any
stage of Ottoman-Armenian relations saying that the Armenians had
no problems. Yet we know that first contact between Armenians and
Turks goes back 1300 years. If Yeghishe indeed wrote the story of
Armenian-Persian war in the 5th century then these relations are
1500 years old. Between nations with such an old history of trade
and political relations cases of violence are rare.”

“The influence of national upsurge that the Great French Revolution
begot gradually spread in other countries including Turkey. Those
responsible for the tension in Turkish-Armenian relations in 19 century
are Germany, America, France, England and above all Russia as well as
Armenian political parties and the Armenian Patriarchate functioning
under the Ottoman Parliament. It is morally unacceptable that one of
the sides – no matter who is more responsible for the sore results –
admits all responsibility or shirk it blaming it on the other side.”

Our aim is not to comment on Patriarch Mutafian’s report. We simply
want to note that the first mentioning of the Turkic tribes dates
back to 7th century AD in Chinese sources in a pillage context. As to
the Turks, their ancestors, nomadic Oguz-Turks, penetrated the South
Caucasus only in 40s of 11th century. They penetrated the Asia Minor
from the Armenian Plateau after the battle of Manazkert in 1071. They
settled in the Asia Minor only in 13th century (according to Turkish
historian Osman Turan) and the settled lifestyle is a necessary
condition for a nomadic tribe to turn into a people. Thus, Patriarch
Mutafian’s figures are erroneous at best. Not only the Turkish people
does not have a history of 1500 years but also Oguzes and Turkmens
as the first mentioning of the Oguzes can be found in the sources of
9th century and in the 10th for Turkmens.

ARMENIA, RUSSIA AND KARABAKH BEGIN PUBLIC MOURNING FOR CRASHED AIRLINER’S VICTIMS

Armenpress
May 05 2006

YEREVAN, MAY 5, ARMENPRESS: Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Russia
have begun today mourning for 113 people who are presumed killed when
the Armenian Airbus-320 airliner crashed into the Black Sea near the
Russian city of Sochi on May 3 morning.

The majority of passengers were Armenian citizens on a flight from
Yerevan to the Russian city.

Flags are flying at half-mast in Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Russia
with public entertainment and sport events cancelled as a mark of
respect for the dead. Russian Itar-Tass said TV channels have changed
their schedules to drop entertainment programs on Friday.

The remains of the first 26 identified victims of the crash were
brought to Yerevan today early morning and transported to the city’s
main morgue for formal procedures and later transported to where
their relatives said they want to bury them. many of them are from
Armenian remote regions. Russian emergency officials said they had
spotted the second radio beacon at the site where the Airbus A-320
airliner crashed. Rescuers have also detected a big fragment of the
plane’s fuselage.

Russian transport minister Igor Levitin said Thursday evening Russia
wants help from foreign countries in raising from the seabed the “black
box” flight recorders. Levitin said Russia’s Black Sea fleet lacks
equipment for retrieving the black boxes from such a depth. The search
for bodies is continuing, with 50 retrieved as of Friday morning. Of
these, 41 have been identified – 31 of them Armenian and 10 Russian
citizens, according to Itar-Tass.

DNA samples have been taken from relatives who did not find their
loved ones’ remains, in the hope of identification at a later stage,
Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin was quoted as saying by
Itar-Tass. “The tests will be done by Russian experts at a request
by the Armenian side,” he added.

Levitin also said a monument will be erected in Sochi in memory of
the 113 passengers. He said the mayor of Sochi that has a very big
Armenian community promised to select a site for the monument as soon
as possible. He said the governor of Krasnodar province, where Sochi
is has also promised to help.

RUSSIA ON THE BRINK OF SEPARATION
Aram Abarahamian

Aravot.am
03 May 06

Those persons in Russia who are for “Russia for Russians” slogan and
encourage slaughters of foreigners perhaps are sincerely sure that they
assist in territorial integrity and power of their country. But it is
too easy to prove that they stimulize just the opposite process. When
an Armenian, Tajik or Azerbaijani is asked; “what do you do here,
go back to your country?” the … for Russia are simply economic; it
means that their production or construction where foreigners work,
will stop, as Russian nation can’t. But when the same is asked to
Tatars or Bashkirian or Yakuts who live in Moscow or in Tambov, it
is a serious threat to territorial integrity of the country because
if Russians want to live in Tambov themselves it will be very natural
that Tatars will want to in Kazan only themselves and it will be the
end of Russian state.

Russia has existed for centuries as an Empire. And national minority
should have a certain status in the Empire, perhaps not equal
to the “main” nation. When the major nation of the Empire begins
thinking that other nations disturb them, it is a /// of Empire
destruction. It happened to the Russian Empire at the end of 19th
century. In particularly Russian nationalists together with tsar
“okhranka” created and spread “The records of Zion wise men” for
slandering proposes. The Bolsheviks “internationalism” in the soviet
empire was imitated but it was an official ideology, which helped to
keep the empire for a while.

It is difficult to say with which it is possible to change
“internationalism”. But it is obvious that the primitive nationalism
is supported by the authorities leads the country to separation. By
the way it is possible that the enemies of Russia understand it that
sponsor fascist moods.

Here our authority cherishes hopes with this country, which is on
the brink of separation. That’s true, all these are too difficult
for them but making money and “keeping posts” is clear and obvious.

LITHUANIAN FORUM PARTICIPANTS DISCUSS SPREAD OF DEMOCRACY IN EAST

Vilnius BNS WWW-Text
03 May 2006

[“Participants In Vilnius Conference Discussing Western Policy Towards
East” – BNS headline]

VILNIUS, May 03, (BNS) – Famous political scientists, diplomats and
public figures who have gathered for an NGO forum in Vilnius are
discussing the trans-Atlantic community’s policy towards the East.

The NGO forum, held within the framework of Vilnius Conference 2006:
Common Vision for Common Neighbourhood, addressed the future of
democracy in Ukraine, the Caucasian countries of Georgia, Armenia and
Azerbaijan, as well as Russia and Belarus that have democracy problems.

The chairman of the Lithuania-based international historic justice
commission, MP Emanuelis Zingeris, noted the responsibility of
the European Union and the trans-Atlantic community for democratic
processes in Belarus, where authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko
had been reelected for a third term in presidential elections several
weeks ago, which were not recognized by the international democratic
community.

Much attention was given to Russia. Bruce Jackson, president of the
Project on Transitional Democracies, stated that the European Union
had been unable to pursue a principled policy of expanding democracy to
the East so far. He noted that, in terms of its definition, the policy
towards the East could not be anti-Russian, it could be anti-Putin
or anti-Kremlin, but an anti-Russian policy would not be successful.

Istvan Gyarmati, a famous Hungarian diplomat and expert in strategic
studies, said that relations with Russia had to be based on both
values and interests, as Russia would remain an important supplier
of natural and energy resources to Europe.

Boris Kuznecov, director of the St Petersburg-based Centre of
International and Regional Policy, said that the conference was
“anti-Russian.” He rhetorically asked where advocates of democracy were
over a decade ago when the then Russian president, Boris Yeltsin,
“stole an election victory,” and that international financial
assistance funds had allegedly been embezzled under his rule.

Andrei Illarionov, former economic adviser to Russian President
Vladimir Putin, strongly opposed him. In Illarionov’s words, on
the contrary, the Vilnius conference is very “pro-Russian,” as it
promotes significant values in Russia, which the country lacks, namely
democracy, human rights, freedom of press, free market and prosperity.

The NGO forum, the Agenda for Democracy in Europe’s East, is attended
by NGO representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, the Czech
Republic, Georgia, the US, Latvia, Poland, Lithuania, Moldova,
the Netherlands, Norway, France, Russia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden,
Ukraine, Hungary and Germany.

At the Heads of State Summit on Thursday, speeches will be made
by presidents of Lithuania, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Georgia,
Latvia, Moldova, Romania, Ukraine, the US vice-president, the EU high
representative for common foreign and security policy, other EU and
Eastern European government representatives.

The presidents of Lithuania and Poland, Valdas Adamkus and Lech
Kaczynski, are patrons of Vilnius Conference 2006: Common Vision for
Common Neighbourhood.

THE FUSELAGE OF THE AIRPLANE HAS BEEN FOUND

A1+
[02:41 pm] 04 May, 2006

The specialists of the RF Emergency Ministry found the place of the
main fragment of the “A – 320” airplane, fuselage, which is considered
to be the skeleton of the aircraft.

The French specialists of the company “Airbus” have already arrived at
the scene. At present they are near the site of the airplane’s crash,
on board the RF motor boat “Mangust.”

A Russian helicopter also joined the searchings. All the equipment
required for underwater searchings is on board the research ship
“Captain Beklemishev” and motor ship “Sportis.”

The already found bodies of the victims of the “A – 320” airplane will
probable be transported to Armenia tonight at 6 p.m. Many rescuers,
motor boats and helicopters continue their work in the scene. About
300 relatives of the innocent victims are receiving medical and
psychological assistance.

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

May 2, 2006
___________________

FR. ABDALIAN SPEAKS AT ANTI-GENOCIDE RALLY IN D.C.

As he stood before 15,000 people on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.,
Fr. Tateos Abdalian, pastor of the Holy Trinity Church of Cheltenham, PA,
thought about his father Manoog, a survivor of the Armenian Genocide.

Fr. Abdalian was representing the Armenian Church during a rally calling for
action to end the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. It was fitting,
he thought, for an Armenian to address the thousands of activists gathered
in the nation’s capital.

“The Armenian Genocide was the first genocide of the 20th century, and this
is the first genocide of 21st century,” he said sadly. “In 100 years
nothing has changed. We still kill each other. We have that connection
with Darfur, and as Armenian people, we need to learn the lesson of going
outside our selves to help our brothers and sisters.”

In Rwanda, a region racked by its own genocide, there is a museum dealing
with the on-going violence, Fr. Tateos said. And a wall in that complex
deals with the Armenian Genocide.

“These African people associate and identify themselves with us through the
evil of genocide. We need to do the same, not only with them but with all
the people who suffer,” he said. “It is Christ who compels us to do this.
We can’t proclaim being the first Christian nation unless we translate that
into action. And there’s no greater action than to try to stop genocide.”

CAMPAIGN TO STOP GENOCIDE

Organized by Million Voices for Darfur, the rally in Washington, D.C., was
joined by others throughout the world. Supporters of the quest to end the
violence were also encouraged to send postcards to President Bush and other
lawmakers, urging American action. One million postcards were sent through
the campaign.

Bishop Vicken Aykazian, legate and ecumenical officer of the Diocese of the
Armenian Church of America (Eastern), was actively involved with the
organizing of the campaign, though unable to attend because of a prior
commitment with the Midwest parishes.

Several Armenians from Washington, D.C., and nearby parishes, including many
members of the Armenian Church Youth Organization of America (ACYOA),
attended the rally on the National Mall. Before the day’s activities, Fr.
Abdalian celebrated a special Divine Liturgy at the St. Mary Church of
Washington. At the rally, Fr. Tateos delivered an invocation and then
briefly spoke to the activists.

“I stand before you on this day, humbled to be one among you who have united
in a collective voice of indignation crying out to the world against the
brutality of genocide,” he told the thousands of protestors. “With sorrow,
we testify that the spirit of hatred, the pure evil which is the genesis of
this crime against humanity does indeed exist in our word today, as it has
in the past.”

The stage was filled with speakers from the world of religion, politics,
academia, and entertainment. They spoke about the need for action and
compared the genocide in Darfur to other dark chapters in human history.

But for Fr. Tateos, the focus was on speaking as an Armenian, personally
touched by genocide. He highlighted the damage genocide does for
generations.

“The cruelty we are witnessing in Darfur and in other parts of the world is
just the latest step in a long and terrible journey for man, which began
when one brother found it possible to kill another,” he told the crowd. “I
myself am a survivor of genocide: the 1915 genocide of the Armenian people,
the genocide committed by the Turkish Ottoman government against its own
minority Armenian Christian citizens. That terrible episode still casts its
shadow over mankind 91 years later, and in a profound way.”

He urged the activists to follow in the footsteps of leaders like Martin
Luther King and Pope John Paul II, who relied on their hope-filled faith to
overcome evil.

“As people who are concerned over the continuing fact of genocide, we must
combat that darkness with weapons of light,” he said. “These weapons are
within the grasp of each person here, so long as we have the courage, the
resolve, the faith to uphold that light and shine it to the dark places of
our world.”

“Do not let the darkness of evil doers overshadow God’s light of love,” he
added. “Hold his lamp high. Do not be silent. Let your voices be heard by
the perpetrators of genocide, those of today and those of the past, so they
may be judged in this world and hereafter.”

Fr. Tateos’ three-minute remarks were interrupted by applause four times.

“It was one of the most humbling experiences I ever had in my life,” he said
afterward. “I was honored and I spoke as a survivor. My father was a
survivor, as was my father-in-law and mother-in-law. I spoke on their
behalf and on behalf of others I knew.”

During the rally Fr. Tateos connected via phone with young Armenians
attending the coinciding rally in San Francisco, CA. That group was
organized by Fr. Vazken Movsesian, priest at the St. Peter Church and Youth
Ministries Center, in Glendale, CA, who has traveled to Rwanda and spoken
out against the ongoing killing in Darfur.

“The Armenian voice was being heard from California to D.C.,” Fr. Tateos
said.

In the Sudan, the Janjaweed — a government-backed nomadic Arab tribe — has
raped, killed, and burnt the homes of black, non-Arab residents in the
nation’s Darfur region since 2003. The violence is an attempt to get them
to leave their lands, which the Arab government has promised to the
mercenaries. According to reports by the World Food Program, the United
Nations, and the Coalition for International Justice, 3.5 million people are
now hungry, 2.5 million have been displaced due to violence, and 400,000
people have died in Darfur so far.

For more on the rally or how to add your voice to end the genocide, visit

— 5/2/06

E-mail photos available on request. Photos also viewable in the News and
Events section of the Eastern Diocese’s website,

PHOTO CAPTION (1): Fr. Tateos Abdalian, pastor of the Holy Trinity Church
of Cheltenham, PA, is seen on a giant TV screen as he speaks about the
genocide in Darfur to 15,000 activists gathered on the National Mall in
Washington, D.C., on Sunday, April 30, 2006.

PHOTO CAPTION (2): Fr. Tateos and Yn. Margaret Abdalian with actor George
Clooney, one of the other speakers during the Darfur genocide rally in
Washington, D.C.

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