Category: News

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Feb 25 2005
PROBLEMS & PROSPECTS OF AZERBAIJAN DIASPORA DEDICATED
[February 25, 2005, 21:17:13]
On the initiative of Azerbaijan-Netherlands friendship society, a
conference related to the activity, problems and prospects of
Azerbaijan communities and unions in Europe took place in Amsterdam,
AzerTAj reports.
Azerbaijan was represented by Chairman of the state committee on work
with Azerbaijanis living abroad Nazim Ibrahimov, heads of Azerbaijan
Diaspora organizations functioning in the European countries.
It was stressed the necessity of unification of Azerbaijan Diaspora
organizations for exposure of the Armenian aggressive policy, as well
as to hold the arrangement on the occasion of 13th anniversary of
Khojali Genocide.
Finally, on behalf of Azerbaijan communities and unions of Benelux
countries, a statement sharply condemn aggression of the Armenian
against Azerbaijan was adopted. The document was sent to the
international organizations of European countries.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SecondsOut.com
Feb 25 2005
Martínez to face Airapetian

By Juan Pablo Manfredi: On Friday March 4 in León, Spain, current IBO
super-welterweight champion Sergio Martínez will face Armenian Albert
Airapetian in a 12 rounder for the vacant WBC International title.
This fight will replace the awaited rematch for the European Union
title between Rubén Varón and Lukas Konecny, that was postponed due
to a hand injury sustained by Varón in his previous fight.
“Maravilla” Martínez, a fast, slick southpaw came from a series of
good wins in Britain, beating Richard Williams (twice) and Adrian
Stone. The Spanish based Argentinean has compilled a 32-1-1 (14)
record with his sole defeat against Antonio Margarito in Las Vegas,
five years ago.
Airapetian has an interest resume of 17-1 (8) that introduce him as a
dangerous opponent. Last year, he decisioned well regarded portuguese
Antoine Montero in his big win as today.
Teenage super-bantamweight prospect Kiko Martínez will top the
undercard.
More Spanish news:
Javier Castillejo, who hold the interim version of the WBC 154 lbs
title since May 2002 has been in Africa in the past weeks as a member
of a tv show. “El Lince de Parla” may put the full version of the
title on the line on May 21 against Ricardo Mayorga in the US.
Last Friday 18 in Vigo, European flyweight top contender, local Iván
Pozo knocked-out Chilean Julio Vargas in the fifth.
Now Pozo is 19-3-1 (11) and looks for another shot at Brahim Aoslum’s
title after dropping a close decision last year in France.

PRESS RELEASE
UCLA AEF Chair in Armenian History
Contact: Prof. Richard Hovannisian
Tel: 310-825-3375
Email: [email protected]
SAVE THE DATES, APRIL 1-3, 2005
UCLA CAMPUS MAP at
See also
FOR STORY AND PICTURES ON AMBASSADOR
EVAN’S VISIT TO UCLA SEE
UCLA International Conference Series in Armenian Studies
After Nine Decades
The Enduring Legacy of the Armenian Genocide
APRIL 1-3, 2005 ** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES
Friday, April 1, 7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m., AGBU Manoogian Center, Pasadena
Saturday, April 2, 9:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m., 100 Moore Hall, UCLA
Sunday, April 3, 1:30 p.m.-6:00 p.m., Court of Sciences 50, UCLA
___________________________________________________________
April 1, 7:30-9:30 p.m., Friday Evening Session in Armenian,
AGBU Manoogian Center, 2495 E. Mountain Street (at Altadena Drive),
Pasadena California
The Armenian Genocide in the Syrian Press
Nora Arissian, Damascus University
The Final Phase of the Armenian Genocide, 1919-1922
Karen H. Khachatryan, Institute of History, Erevan
Art and Testimony
Marc Nichanian, Wesleyan University
Will There Ever Be a Post-Genocide Era?
Raffi K. Hovannisian, Armenian Center for National and International
Studies (ACNIS), Erevan
UCLA–APRIL 2-3, 2005
April 2, Saturday, Moore Hall 100, UCLA, 9:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Morning Sessions: 9:30 a.m. -1:00 p.m.
Rethinking Aspects of the Armenian Genocide, 9:30-11:00 a.m.
The Enduring Legacy
Richard Hovannisian, UCLA
Rethinking Dehumanization in Genocide
Henry Theriault, Worcester State College
America’s Foreign Policy and the Armenian Genocide: A Legacy of Paradox
Suzanne E. Moranian, AIWA, Boston
Genocide and the Philosophy of History
Michael Papazian, Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia
Discussion, 10:45-11:00
INTERMISSION
The Armenian Genocide in Comparative Perspective, 11:20 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Comparative Media Coverage in English-Speaking Countries
Katia Peltekian, American University of Beirut
The Assyrian Genocide: Late-Nineteenth-Early-Twentieth Century
Anahit Khosroyeva, Institute of History, Erevan (in Armenian with English
summary)
The Greek Calamity in Asia Minor and the Pontus
Speros Vryonis, Jr., UCLA and NYU, Emeritus
Comparative Aspects of the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust
Tigran Matossian, Museum-Institute of the Armenian Genocide, Erevan
Discussion, 12:45-1:00 p.m.
LUNCH RECESS: 1:00-2:15 p.m.
Illustrated Lunch-Hour Presentation: 1:45-2:00 p.m.
The Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex in Deir-ez-Zor (Der-Zor)
Sarkis Balmanoukian, The Architect, Los Angeles
Afternoon Sessions ** 2:15 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
Genocide Education, Human Rights, and Prevention, 2:15-3:40 p.m.
No Mandate Left Behind
Nicole Vartanian, Fulbright Scholar, Washington, D.C.
Teaching the Armenian Genocide to a Non-Armenian Audience
Sara Cohan, Washington, D.C.
The Armenian Genocide and Education
Adam Strom, Facing History and Ourselves, Boston
Genocide in Virtual Space (Cyberspace)
Hagop Gulludjian, UCLA
Discussion, 3:40-3:55 p.m.
INTERMISSION
Artistic Responses to Genocide, 4:15-6:00 p.m.
Leon Tutundjian-Witness
Jean Murachanian, UCLA
Testmony and Witness: Armenian Artists in Los Angeles
Ramela Grigorian Abbamontian, UCLA
From Charles Aznavour to System of a Down
Jack Der Sarkissian, Kaiser Permanente Medical Group, Los Angeles
The Archaeology of Memory: Framing the Invisible
Hrag Varjabedian, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Discussion, 5:45-6:00 p.m.
April 3, Sunday Afternoon, Court of Sciences 50, UCLA, 1:30 p.m. -6:00 p.m.
History and Memory, 1:30-3:15 p.m.
Across the Chasm: From Catastrophe to Creativity
Barlow Der Mugrdechian, California State University, Fresno
James Joyce: Armenia and Armenians
Marc Mamigonian, National Association for Armenian Studies and Research, Boston
Historical Memory: Threading the Contemporary Literature of Armenia
Rubina Peroomian, UCLA
The Armenian Genocide and French Society
Phillipe Videlier, National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Lyons
Discussion, 3:00-3:15 p.m.
INTERMISSION
Prospects of Dialogue and Reconciliation, 3:40-5:30 p.m.
Amnesia, Truth, Reconciliation
Elazar Barkan, Claremont Graduate University
Turkish Liberal Historiography and Genocide
Bedross Der Matossian, Columbia University
Constructing a New Historiography of the Armenians in the Ottoman
Empire
and the Turkish Republic
Fatma Muge Goçek, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Anatomy of Post-Genocide Reconciliation
Simon Payaslian, Clark University
Discussion, 5:30-5:50 p.m.
A Retrospective, 5:50-6:00 p.m.
Richard Hovannisian
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC ** NO ADMISSION FEE
PARKING STRUCTURE NO. 2, HILGARD AND WESTHOLME
ENTRANCE TO UCLA
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

2005-02-25 10:59
HOW SAFE ARE RUSSIAN BORDERS?
MOSCOW (RIA Novosti commentator Vyacheslav Lashkul) – The Federal
Frontier Service was terminated a year ago, with its functions transferred
to the FSB. RIA asked Colonel General Vladimir Pronichev, first deputy
director of the FSB responsible for the border guards, about the reason for
this.
Vladimir Pronichev: It was not just a change of name. Our tasks
include the struggle against transborder crime, primarily drugs, and
international terrorism, which calls for security operations rather than
army methods. Border guards have become an integral part of the FSB, which
allows us to create joint databanks and collect and process information
about persons, above all terrorists, who pose a threat to the state.
Vyacheslav Lashkul: How many stations guard the border?
V.P.: Over 11,000 border patrols, dozens of coast guard ships, boats,
aircraft and helicopters guard Russia’s borders every day. Of the more than
61,000km of the state border, about 14,500km is marked on dry land.
V.L.: The state border commission has approved a concept of a new
system of protecting and defending the border. What are its new elements:
V.P.: It was created by researchers with the assistance of modern
industries and technologies. The key task now is to use modern equipment,
promptly transfer information and take adequate measures to guard the
border.
V.L.: Does this mean that border units will not guard the whole length
of the border?
V.P.: The old and tested methods will be used at the endangered parts
of the border, mostly in the North Caucasus. The Russian-Kazakh border will
be the responsibility of special representatives and their teams, who will
ensure close contacts with the local population. They will also monitor the
situation on the border, so that when they get information that a certain
(smuggled) cargo is moving towards the border, they would dispatch a unit
there to detail the violators.
Our border guards will be equipped with modern technologies, which are
being used to monitor the border on the Black and Azov seas. These
technologies entail permanent monitoring of the situation (in time and
space) with the help of modern surveillance equipment. When an unidentified
vessel enters our territorial waters, the signal is transmitted to the
control center, which orders the aircraft or coast guards to detain the
trespasser. We are using the same principle on land.
We plan to build, jointly with the Communications Ministry, a digital
transmission line in the North Caucasus. The new digital system will be
complemented with other technologies; we are working to create special
systems for this. The projects have been approved and factories are
implementing them.
V.L.: Will the ordinary recruits have the intelligence and skills to
use these technologies?
V.P.: In principle, we plan to abolish conscription to the border
guards. There are no conscripts on some parts of the western and
Russia-Kazakhstan borders, and we will not send conscripts to Kamchatka. The
crucial task now is to man stations on the northwestern borders with
contract servicemen, who will rely on intelligence projects and contacts
with the local population.
We also hope to revive the family tradition, when the border will be
protected by dynasties of guards. We have examples of this positive
innovation.
Border units will be formed comprehensively, so that career officers
will preclude attempts to turn the border into somebody’s gold mine.
Contract service will become the priority form; we plan to recruit only
contract servicemen to border units by 2010.
V.L.: Will you recruit also citizens from the CIS countries?
V.P.: We have not pondered the idea yet. The only units employing CIS
citizens are the border groups deployed in Armenia and Tajikistan, where
citizens of these two countries can serve. Over 40,000 Tajiks have served in
the Russian border units in Tajikistan, and over 80% of personnel of
thecurrent border department are local servicemen.
Tajikistan has expressed readiness to protect the border without
Russians, which does not mean that they will leave the republic. But the
form of our cooperation will change. We want the Tajik border to be tightly
sealed, as the drug barons are acting increasingly brazenly in the region,
often with the use of weapons. In fact, we are fighting a real war against
the international drug Mafia there. In the past two years, Russian border
patrols held nearly 200 battles. Last year, they detained over 5 tons of
drugs on the Tajik-Afghan border.
Now that the North Caucasian border is being reinforced, we will
redirect our attention to the Russo-Kazakh border. We must erect an
insurmountable barrier to drugs, illegal migration and smuggling there.
We are finishing the elaboration of a target federal program of border
development, which stipulates the construction of border settlements, above
all on the new, undeveloped parts of the border in 2005-2010.

PRESS RELEASE
February 24, 2005
Embassy of the Republic of Armenia
2225 R Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20008
Tel: 202-319-1976, x. 348; Fax: 202-319-2982
Email: [email protected]; Web:
State Trio of Armenia Performs in Washington, DC
On February 18, 2005, World Children’s Transplant Fund/Yerevan Chair, under
the auspices of the Embassy of Armenia held a charitable concert in the
Austrian Embassy Concert Hall in Washington, DC
The concert featured the internationally acclaimed State Trio of Armenia,
comprised of Lilit Zakarian (violin), Shushan Hakobyan (piano), and Vahan
Grigoryan (Cello). The Austrian Embassy in Washington, D.C. has graciously
provided its Concert Hall to this worthy cause, as part of long-standing
cooperation between the Embassies of Armenia and Austria.
The State Trio of Armenia traveled to Washington, D.C for the exclusive
performance at this charitable event. In addition to being laureates and
winners of several international music competitions in Austria, Italy,
Russia, Lebanon and Ukraine the State Trio of Armenia has become the First
Prize winner in the prestigious Pierre Lantier Competition in Paris in 2001.
The Trio has toured the United States in 1998-1999, performing in
Washington, D.C, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Providence, R.I. On April
25, 1999, the group performed at the Armenian Embassy in Washington at a
special event honoring Armenian President Robert Kocharian, in Washington
for the NATO 50th Anniversary Summit.
During February 18th Concert the Trio performed Sergei Rachmaninov, Arno
Babajanian and Astor Piazolla’s pieces.
The charitable concert at the Austrian Embassy was organized by World
Children’s Transplant Fund/Yerevan Chair. The Fund established its presence
in Armenia in 2001, and to date has successfully helped two Armenian
children in need of eye transplants. The Founder and Chairman of WCTF Mr.
Mark Kroeker and Vice-President of the Fund Valerie McCaffrey flew from
opposite parts of the country, New York and Los Angeles to participate on
this event and support Maria Yeganian, Executive Director of Yerevan Chair,
who organized the event.
The Concert has gathered representatives of the Armenian Community, U.S.
administration, World Bank and Diplomatic Community of Washington, DC. All
proceeds from the February 18 concert will benefit the children in Armenia
in need of life-saving organ transplants.

Armenia’s membership of CIS military bloc won’t impact ties with NATO – envoy
Mediamax news agency
24 Feb 05
YEREVAN
The terms of signing the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP)
between Armenia and NATO depend on the Armenian side, the special
representative of the NATO secretary-general in the South Caucasus and
Central Asia, Robert Simmons, said in Yerevan today.
NATO highly appreciates Armenia’s wish to sign the IPAP with the
alliance and is ready to render any kind of support to draft this
document, he said.
Nevertheless, it is up to the Armenian side to decide on the contents
and terms of signing the document, Simmons added.
He noted that NATO’s communications officer, Romualds Razuks, will
consult the Armenian interagency group which is working on the IPAP.
Although time is needed to draft the IPAP, Armenia is already involved
in the activities under the aegis of NATO, Simmons said. He informed
that a group of NATO experts on defence planning will visit Armenia in
the near future to meet the representatives of the Armenian Defence
Ministry.
Robert Simmons spoke highly of the Armenian servicemen’s participation
in the peacekeeping operations in Kosovo and Iraq. This testifies to
Armenia’s sincere wish to make a contribution to international
security, he said.
Answering questions from journalists, the special representative of
the NATO secretary-general said that Yerevan’s membership of the [CIS]
Collective Security Treaty Organization and close Armenian-Russian
relations will have no impact on the level of the NATO-Armenia
relations.
“We have very good relations with Russia. Apart from this, we have
frequently said that NATO is not building relations with countries on
the basis of rivalry or taking into account its membership of various
organizations or alliances,” Robert Simmons said.
From: Baghdasarian

Changes to OSCE “required and necessary” – Slovene chairman
STA news agency, Ljubljana
24 Feb 05
Vienna, 24 February: Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, the OSCE
chairman-in-office, on Thursday [24 February] addressed the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly to present the organisation’s current plans and
activities.
“These are interesting and dynamic times in the OSCE. Changes are
required and necessary,” he stressed.
According to Rupel, “the OSCE is facing a difficult moment or an
opportunity, depending on how you look at it. Significant changes in
Europe, with EU and NATO enlargement and new challenges to security,
have changed the way that we look at security in Europe and, as a
result, the role of the OSCE”.
The panel of eminent persons, which is expected to unveil proposals
for OSCE reform at the summer session of the parliamentary assembly,
will present its vision for a new impetuous for political dialogue,
explained Rupel.
“The panel met for the first time in Ljubljana last week and has
already begun to consider some fundamental issues. As the focal point
for the panel I have encouraged the seven members…[ellipsis as
published] to think outside the box and to consider root and branch
reforms for the OSCE,” he said.
According to Rupel, the panel was asked to consider the strategic
vision for the OSCE, how the organization can stimulate high-level
political dialogue, what participating states can do through the OSCE
that they can not do through other channels and the role of the OSCE
after EU and NATO enlargement.
The OSCE chairman also summarized his recent meetings with officials
in Ukraine, Russia, Serbia-Montenegro, Germany, Uzbekistan and
Kazakhstan, making special mention of the organisation’s active role
in determining a future status for Kosovo.
“Expectations are high among Kosovo Albanians about their political
future…[ellipsis as published] I impressed upon the Kosovo Albanian
leadership the importance of protecting the rights of non-Albanian
ethnic communities. At the same time I stressed to the Serb minority
the need to be involved in the political life of Kosovo,” he said.
The participants were also addressed by Austrian President Heinz
Fischer and President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Alcee
Hastings, while Rupel met with Armenian Parliament Speaker Artur
Baghdasarian on the sidelines of the meeting.

Who will follow the orange revolution’s example?: Apricot, aubergine or
amber, popular uprisings in the former Soviet republics will continue
The Guardian – United Kingdom
Feb 25, 2005

The revolution in Ukraine was orange, and in Georgia the previous year
it was rose. Velvet revolutions, with their promise of closer links
with the West for former Soviet republics, are on a roll.
>From Kyrgyzstan to Moldova, the spectre of democracy is haunting
politicians and dominating the media. Design-conscious commentators
are guessing which colour the next uprising will adopt: claret in
wine-growing Moldova; apricot in southern Armenia; aubergine in
Azerbaijan; perhaps even amber in the Kaliningrad enclave where a wave
of unrest has hit dock workers. In Chisinau, the Moldovan capital,
nationalist leader Yuri Roshka has already booked the main square for
the period following the election on March 6. Banking on electoral
fraud, he plans to stage a repeat of the orange revolution.
Georgia and Ukraine are tempting examples, having overthrown their
ageing elites to usher in a new generation of western-educated
politicians committed to change. They seem to have reached the second
stage in the process of rooting out communism. And none too soon. Some
12 years after independence most of the republics have made little
real progress towards democracy. Having escaped from Moscow’s control,
many countries sank into one-party rule or outright tyranny.
The same corrupt elites, out of touch with popular demands, still hold
the levers of power, flogging to death Stalin’s maxim, “It’s not who
votes that counts. It’s who counts the votes.”
Yet stuffing ballot boxes no longer works. In Ukraine and Georgia it
was the electoral fraud organised by the regimes in power that
triggered their fall. They wrongly assumed that voters were still
apathetic, whereas they switched roles and rose in protest.
“There will not be any rose, orange or banana revolutions in our
country,” the president of Belarus, Aleksander Lukashenko, assured the
press in January. Kyrgyzstan’s President Askar Akayev, facing a
general election on February 27 and a presidential election in
October, has criticised “attempts by provocateurs to prepare a velvet
revolution” in his country.
They have good reason to worry. In Kiev the young activists of the
Pora (It’s time) movement, which spearheaded the orange revolution,
are determined to spread the word across the former Soviet
Union. Carrying on where others started, they have contacted
opposition parties in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
Russia sees these regime changes as underhand manoeuvres orchestrated
by the West. In the middle of the crisis in Kiev, the Kremlin’s spin
doctor Vyacheslav Nikonov warned: “If we lose Ukraine the West will
treat us as a banana republic.”
Reasserting Russian influence over its closest neighbours was among
the priorities for Vladimir Putin’s second term. But events have not
gone his way and Ukraine and Georgia are determined to join the EU and
Nato, following the example of the three Baltic republics.
The root problem is that Moscow has little to offer former Soviet
republics, apart from increasing energy dependency and one-sided trade
agreements.

Kazakhstan: Russian minister urges more ties between NATO, Shanghai group
Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency, Almaty
25 Feb 05
ASTANA
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has come out in support of
stepping up cooperation between the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
[SCO; members are China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan, Russia] and NATO.
“The Collective Security Treaty Organization [CSTO; members are
Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia] has
already come up with the initiative to establish cooperation with
NATO,” the Russian foreign minister said today at a news conference
following a session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the SCO
member states.
“I think such cooperation could be also established between NATO and
the SCO.”
The Russian minister said that yesterday during the Russian-US summit
in Bratislava Russian President Vladimir Putin “drew the attention of
George Bush to the fact that such entities as the SCO and CSTO exist
in Central Asia”.
Lavrov said that: “The USA has interests in the region, and they
concern, above all, the fight against terrorism.” The minister
clarified that a threat emanating from Afghanistan was meant.
“Russia reaffirms its position on the need for cooperation with the
region’s countries and resolving the set tasks. Most importantly, this
cooperation should be transparent,” Lavrov said.

Armenian defence minister, Red Cross official discuss cooperation
Arminfo
23 Feb 05
YEREVAN
Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan today met Isabelle Barras,
head of the eastern European department of the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC).
During the meeting, the defence minister stressed the effective
humanitarian role of the ICRC, the press secretary of the Armenian
Defence Ministry, Col Seyran Shakhsuvaryan, has told Arminfo news
agency.
For her part, Isabelle Barras thanked the Armenian defence minister
for providing quick and operational information and expressed her hope
that this cooperation will continue. The minister stressed that the
Armenian side will continue taking such an approach and at the same
time, expressed the opinion that a similar approach by the Azerbaijani
side to the issue of providing operational information will promote
the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.
Ms Barras said that the ICRC’s working style is the same in its work
with all the conflicting sides. During the meeting, the sides
discussed the work of the standing commissions for missing persons
working in Armenia, Karabakh and Azerbaijan and the work of public
organizations cooperating with these commissions.
Taking into consideration the scale and importance of work on
searching for missing persons, collecting and processing information
and exchanging prisoners of war, the Armenian defence minister
specially stressed the importance of cooperation between organizations
which are working and being established in Azerbaijan and the Nagornyy
Karabakh Republic [NKR], will be dealing with the problems of
prisoners of war and missing persons and maintain daily contact with
the ICRC.
Isabelle Barras also promised that for its part, the ICRC will render
technical, consultative and training assistance for the fully-fledged
work of the structure.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress