Category: News

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Jan 19 2005
INT’L `KARABAKH’ CHARITY FUND SET UP IN MOSCOW
[January 19, 2005, 19:01:50]
Recently, in Moscow, on the initiative of the Congress of World
Azerbaijanis (CWA), was held a constitutive assembly of the
International Charity Fund `Karabakh’. Representatives of the Federal
National Autonomy of the Russian Azerbaijanis «Azerros», the Moscow
Society «Azerbaijan», other Diaspora organizations, intelligentsia
and businessmen attended the gathering.
In the information received by AzerTAj, it is stated that goal of
creation of the Fund is to promote settlement of the
Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh conflict, as well as help
refugees and IDPs in Azerbaijan. The Fund will allow activation of
Azerbaijanis with great potential, and unification of all efforts in
settlement of the number problem of the country.
The compatriots attending the action spoke of importance of the
structure, stressed necessity of activation in the direction of
comprehensive informing the world community on the true reasons of
the conflict, its historical roots, attempts of the Armenians to
annex the indigenous lands of Azerbaijan, on the facts of
falsification which they use to achieve their goal.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian National Committee – Eastern United States
PO Box 1066
New York, NY 10040
917 428 1918
718 478 4073
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
January 19, 2005
Contact: Doug Geogerian
KENTUCKY DEMOCRAT BEN CHANDLER JOINS ARMENIAN CAUCUS
— Second term Congressman Serves on House
International Relations Committee
NEW YORK, NY — Representative Ben Chandler (D-KY) today became the
newest member of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Region
(ANCA ER). Representative Chandler’s entrance into the Caucus
brings its membership to one hundred forty-five.
Congressman Chandler was first elected to the U.S. House in a
special election in February 2004 to replace Rep. Ernie Fletcher,
who left his seat to successfully run for Governor of Kentucky.
Chandler was re-elected to office in November 2004, with 59% of the
vote. Congressman Chandler serves on the Committee on Agriculture,
the Committee on International Relations, and the Select Committee
on Homeland Security.
“We welcome Representative Chandler joining the Armenian Issues
Caucus and look forward to working with the Congressman on a number
of issues of special concern to his Armenian American
constituents,” stated Doug Geogerian, Executive Director of the
ANCA ER. “As a member of the Committee on International Relations,
we look forward to his support on gaining official recognition of
the Armenian Genocide, working to foster stronger U.S.-Armenia
bilateral relations, and obtaining a just settlement for the people
of Nagorno-Karabagh,” said Geogerian.
Founded in 1995, the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues is a
bipartisan forum for the discussion of policies to foster increased
cooperation between the United States and Armenian governments and
to strengthen the enduring bonds between the American and Armenian
peoples. Its two co-chairs are Congressman Joe Knollenberg (R-MI)
and Congressmen Frank Pallone (D-NJ).
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is the largest
and most influential Armenian American grassroots political
organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices,
chapters, and supporters throughout the United States and
affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA actively
advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad
range of issues.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Gazette (Montreal)
January 19, 2005 Wednesday
Final Edition
Other ethnic groups funded: Greeks and Armenians benefit from similar
arrangements, prominent Jews say
JEFF HEINRICH, The Gazette
Smarting from charges that their community bought special status for
its school system with payoffs to the Quebec Liberal Party, prominent
Jews yesterday chastised critics and also each other over the way the
affair has been “spun” in the news media.
Jews are not the only ethnic group to get 100-per-cent funding for
secular studies at their privately run schools; Greeks and Armenians
in Quebec also enjoy similar arrangements, and have for many years,
some noted.
It’s also no secret that Jews have long wanted full funding for their
schools – and almost got it a decade ago under another Liberal
government, others said.
“This is not the first time that this has been attempted,” said Barry
Rishikof, a former president of the Quebec Association of Jewish Day
Schools.
It’s also well established that the Jewish community has always been
a strong financial supporter of the Liberals, and raised campaign
cash for Jean Charest at numerous fundraisers before his party’s
election in 2003, others said.
But to imply that the Liberals agreed to better school funding only
after getting cash in their coffers is cynical and naive and feeds
old stereotypes of rich Jews buying their way to political privilege,
they said.
“The criticism is painful, and some of the sentiments implicit to the
criticism are troubling,” said Reuben Poupko, rabbi at Montreal’s
Beth Israel Beth Aaron synagogue.
“Jews exercise their right like all citizens to participate in the
political process through voting and supporting their candidates.
It’s a healthy expression of their involvement.”
Added Jack Jedwab, a past executive director of the Canadian Jewish
Congress in Quebec: “It’s perfectly natural for individuals to raise
issues (with politicians) that they believe to be important to their
constituencies.”
In a terse statement, the philanthropic organization Federation CJA
said it “neither contributes to, nor raises money on behalf of, any
political party.”
Its president, Sylvain Abitbol, did not respond to a request for an
interview.
Some Quebec Jewish leaders yesterday privately expressed exasperation
over how poor salesmanship of the idea of taxpayer-funded Jewish
schools led to the public-relations fiasco it appears to have turned
into.
The Liberals and their Jewish supporters blundered, they said, when
they sold the change from partial to full funding as a way to help
Jewish schools reach out and get involved with non-Jewish schools – a
“rapprochement fig leaf” that didn’t fool anyone, as one put it
yesterday.
Instead, they said, the change should have been touted for what it
really is: simply a way to reward schools that churn out some of the
most productive members of Quebec society.
Little wonder the approach was rejected, however, for that flattering
self-appraisal grates other Quebec ethnic groups who feel left out in
the bargain, including Muslims who don’t benefit from the same
privileged subsidies for some of their schools.
“I support the 100-per-cent funding of the Jewish schools, but the
government should be funding our schools in the same way,” said
Muslim community member Abdul Muttalib, who like many others gives
private donations to the non-subsidized Ecole musulmane de Montreal
private high school.
Allison Lampert of The Gazette contributed to this report

La Padania, Italia
martedì 18 gennaio 2005
Arrivano soldati armeni in missione umanitaria

EREVAN – Un gruppo di 46 militari armeni ha lasciato ieri Erevan per
il Kuwait, da dove proseguirà per una missione a carattere
`umanitario’ in Iraq, sotto il comando del contingente polacco. «E’
un giorno molto importante per le forze armate armene. Non possiamo
restare fuori dal processo internazionale per stabilità e pace nella
nostra regione», ha detto il ministro Serge Sarkissian. Il parlamento
aveva approvato a fine dicembre la decisione del governo di inviare
per la prima volta dei militari, non combattenti, in Iraq, anche se
l’opposizione e le organizzazioni della gioventù armena hanno
protestato, preoccupati che la diaspora armena in Iraq, circa 20.000
persone, venga esposta a vendette della guerriglia.

Prospect
January 20, 2005
Opinions: Truth aid
by Sebastian Mallaby
In the first days of January, George W Bush summoned his father (the
ex-president), his brother (the future president?), and even Bill
Clinton (the ex-president and maybe the future ex of a president),
directing them all to assist revving up America’s response to Asia’s
tsunami. Seldom has so much star power been so superfluous. Even
before the stars were activated, a spontaneous emotional earthquake
had occurred somewhere deep within the western psyche, and a tsunami
of money had begun rolling towards the Indian ocean. By 3rd January,
one week after the disaster, private US donations amounted to over
£87m; Britons had given £100m; Germans had come through with £107m.
On 6th January, the New York Daily News, a gossipy tabloid not known
for its interest in global poverty, plastered the number $ 103,474
across its front page-the amount the paper’s own appeal had raised in
a 24-hour period.
Why this incredible response? There has been much talk of Christmas
spirit, and of westerners’ ability to identify with a tragedy that
killed western beachgoers. But there was something deeper at work
here, and something quite ironic too. For the generosity reflected
the unspoken feeling that this crisis stood apart from other crises
in poor countries. The tsunami was unlike Aids, which seems to spread
relentlessly because developing country leaders won’t challenge
sexual taboo and social prejudice. The tsunami was unlike the
murderous wars in Sudan or Congo, for which the blame can be laid
even more clearly at the feet of local leaders. The tsunami was not
even like the general problem of global poverty, which most people
reasonably believe is tied up with corruption and bad policies,
making it at least partly impervious to western assistance. Instead,
the tsunami was a simple act of nature. It bubbled up from the sea,
and laid waste to half a dozen countries; it had nothing to do with
human greed or cowardice or corruption. And so westerners responded
generously, confident that an uncomplicated, unpolitical disaster
could be swiftly remedied with charity.
This was a return to a simple vision of disasters, one that has been
mostly absent since the first postcolonial relief effort in Biafra in
the late 1960s. Bob Geldof conjured the same vision in Ethiopia
briefly in the 1980s: the simple images of starving children swept
away the complicating political context, and the money flooded in.
But for the most part, the political view has dominated. Ethiopia’s
famine is now understood as a consequence of the Mengistu
dictatorship’s crazy agrarian collectivism, and disaster relief is
understood to have prolonged its grip on the country. Floods in
Bangladesh are viewed not only as natural disasters but as the
consequence of reckless logging; Caribbean hurricanes are understood
to cause more damage than they should because governments refuse to
prepare for them. Of course, these understandings kill the charitable
impulse. You would not give to a beggar if you think he has chosen to
be homeless, still less if you suspect your money will subsidise his
choice.
If the public view of disasters has grown weary and worldly, disaster
relief professionals have travelled even farther down this road.
Interviewing the veterans at American relief agencies in the
aftermath of the tsunami, I heard anguish as well as delight at the
outpouring of generosity: had people taken leave of their (political)
senses? And how would they react to the discovery that translating
their gifts into humanitarian progress is very hard? However touching
this moment of innocent giving, successful emergency efforts are
almost as much about fending off untutored charitable impulses as
about raising charitable money; relief workers have learned to
install incinerators at warehouses to dispose of unhelpful donations.
Julia Taft, a veteran of USAid and of the UN development programme,
told me how after the Armenian earthquake of 1988, the Armenian
diaspora in America was asked not to send anything initially. Relief
professionals feared that mountains of stale food and unwanted cuddly
toys would clog the distribution system. The instruction worked:
Armenians in the US waited, listened, and then gave just what was
wanted.
Moreover, there has probably never been a time when the public’s
open-walleted innocence could have been more awkward than now. For
the disaster-relief profession has evolved more or less in parallel
with its first cousin, the development business-many leading players,
from Oxfam to the World Bank to governmental aid agencies, are
involved in both disasters and development-and each of these
professions has grown wiser and humbler. They have come to an
understanding of what they cannot do as well as what they can. This
is why the prospect of millions of bright-eyed first-time
givers-supporters who donate dramatically in the expectation of
dramatic field successes-produces mixed emotions.
The path to humility for the development business began in the 1950s,
when development thinkers believed that capital would trigger
economic take-off in the ex-colonies. When capital transfers failed
to unlock progress, development agencies experimented with other
types of transfer. From the 1960s, they began to provide not just
physical capital (dams, roads, water systems) but human capital
(health, education). When that did not work as well as hoped, the
development people went after the next apparent bottleneck: they
spent the 1980s and early 1990s attaching ever more policy conditions
to their loans. But by the late 1990s, a new consensus was emerging.
Developing countries’ policies were indeed crucial, but aid
conditionality was too weak an instrument to affect them; Pakistan
signed 22 loan agreements between 1970 and 1997 promising to cut its
budget deficit, and failed to do any cutting throughout the period.
So the new development consensus acknowledged development aid’s
limited influence. Poor countries themselves were now said to be “in
the driving seat.” Development agencies focused on identifying the
best performers and concentrating money on them so as to accelerate
their progress.
The disaster relief business has followed a similar trajectory. In
the early days, charities responded with supplies, almost any
supplies: food, blankets, tents, medicines. Then, in the 1970s, they
began to reflect on the consequences: aid in kind could destroy local
merchants who supplied the same commodities, and who would be needed
to keep life going long after the aid agencies pulled out. Pretty
soon, this insight about the dangers of displacing local systems was
applied more broadly. Feeding camps, regarded by most agencies as a
logistical necessity, came to be seen as dangerous: they lured people
off their land and away from what little food there might be left to
harvest; they crowded people into unsanitary settlements where they
easily fell prey to cholera; they delayed a return to normal
subsistence agriculture when the rains returned. In Ethiopia in the
1980s, the US branch of Save the Children broke new ground when it
refused to work through feeding camps, investing in donkey trains to
bring food to remote villages.
Like the development business, however, the disaster business has
come to defer ever more devoutly to the role of locals. This is
partly because the long slog of post-disaster reconstruction depends
on local management. Last year a World Bank study of Hurricane Mitch
reconstruction in Honduras emphasised this point. Since the Honduran
economy is beset by overdependence on coffee, chaotic urban planning,
large debts and mistrusted rulers, it has been almost impossible for
donor-assisted reconstruction efforts to pay off. But the deference
to locals also holds for the immediate aftermath of a disaster. When
the hurricane or earthquake hits, it is local organisations that will
be there, and locals who will mount the first effort. It will be days
before foreigners jet in, and even then they will rely on local staff
to learn the ropes.
And so, to borrow the development jargon, locals are in the driving
seat. When I asked an old hand at Care, a leading American relief
charity, what struck her about the reports from the tsunami region,
she told me she had heard journalists complaining about the absence
of foreign relief staff-an absence she regarded as a hopeful sign,
given the unintended consequences of heavy-handed foreign charity.
When I called Michael Wiest, the chief operating officer at Catholic
Relief Services, he launched into a speech about his relationships
with foreign partners. In India, Catholic Relief has long-standing
relationships with local charities, and it quickly underwrote their
procurement of relief supplies. In Aceh, by contrast, a lack of local
counterparts was forcing it to fly in foreigners as a second-best
option. Even in Aceh, Wiest was pleased to have discovered a local
Jesuit with a relief operation that could benefit from extra cash.
The last thing any relief agency wants to do these days is to arrive,
as Wiest puts it, “like a triumphant invading army.” And yet a
triumphant army-or, more precisely, navy-has been one of the dominant
television images of the tsunami coverage: US naval helicopters have
been buzzing the remote portions of northern Sumatra, air-dropping
supplies to desperate villagers. It seems likely that this image of
brave western charity has fuelled the extraordinary giving: it has
made the fruits of generosity appear certain and tangible, brushing
away the normal doubts about aid’s effectiveness. But the helicopter
image is misleading. When relief agencies figure out a way to spend
the tsunami millions, they will do so through Indonesians and Indians
and Sri Lankans, and the results will depend on the competence of
these partners.
Bit by bit, the true nature of the relief effort will become
apparent. The tsunami region is not some sort of film set for heroic
western masters of disaster. Rather, it is what it always was before
the crisis: a collection of prickly, independent nations muddling
their way towards prosperity. India has a tendency to put its
national pride before its people’s welfare, which is why it refused
western assistance that could have saved lives on the remote Andaman
islands; Sri Lanka and Indonesia each face insurgencies, which were
brutal before the tsunami and will doubtless be brutal again now.
Western money will flow into these bubbling, imperfect societies and
some of it will be wasted, lost or stolen, and it will not usually be
possible to know exactly how or why. When this is generally realised,
the outpouring of western generosity will face its true test. Is it
premised on the illusion that the relief business is easy? Or can we
permit ourselves to hope that it is more durable than that?

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
January 19, 2005, Wednesday
THE COLLEGIUM OF THE ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY HELD A MEETING IN
YEREVAN
The Armenian Defense Ministry held the final collegium in Yerevan.
Colonel Seiran Shakhsuvaryan, press secretary of the Armenian defense
ministry, stated that the collegium concerned the army’s mobilization
and combat readiness in 2004, and the results of combat training. The
Armenian defense minister set up prior tasks for 2005. He noted that
every commander and officer is responsible for strengthening combat
readiness and establishing law and order in the Army.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Moscow News (Russia)
January 19, 2005
FEAR AND LOATHING IN MOSCOW
By Anna Arutunyan The Moscow News
UNPOLITICALLY INCORRECT
There seems to be a myth circulating around Moscow’s service sector
that goes something to the effect of “raising your voice won’t make
me do my job any faster.”
I’m sorry to betray the ideals of good cheer and love for all mankind
so soon after Christmas, but try commuting in a crowded Moscow subway
in a fur coat when a thaw has taken hold outside and turned all those
magical snowflakes into dark brown liquid goo. That’s when you start
to wonder: are Russians really rude, or is it just living in a
gigantic, sprawling megalopolis like Moscow, with a population
topping 11 million, that magically inserts a broomstick into the
posterior?
Russian rudeness, or russkoye khamstvo, has taken on the proportions
of a national attribute. Russian emigrants returning home recall it
with a masochistic nostalgia, and wax euphoric upon being cussed out
at the local cheburek stand for the first time in years.
And take that telling instance from the much-loved bastion of
national stereotypes, Mimino, a 1970’s film about a warm-hearted
Georgian pilot trying his luck in cold-blooded Moscow. After being
stood-up twice by a would-be girlfriend just for sport, losing all
his money and even landing in prison, our Caucasus highlander still
tries to retain his sense of human decency, leaving his last kopecks
for a tip to the waiter at the airport.
“I don’t need your change,” she tells him off curtly.
There seems to be an unspoken rule in Moscow: don’t try to be nice to
people it signals that you’re trying to be better than they are. An
acquaintance of mine once helped out a store-clerk by picking up a
bunch of cans. The clerk, apparently shoc-ked by such unusual
behavior, muttered a forced “thank-you”… and demonstratively
ignored the customer afterwards. You know that bored look: eyes
rolled up contemplating her excessive mascara…
Maybe there’s some truth to the stereotype after all. I haven’t heard
a lot of foreigners complaining about Russian rudeness, but Russian
emigrants seem to flaunt the words russkoye khamstvo along with the
disclaimer: “you try living in such harsh conditions for a while, see
if that doesn’t turn you into an animal.”
Apart from rudeness, there’s also a self-perpetuating cliche about
how hard it is to live in Russia, hence the khamstvo. If Russians
suddenly start being nice to everyone, that would mean that their
living conditions have improved. So to show everyone and themselves
how excruciatingly difficult their lives are, Russians are rude.
Granted, that’s a pretty racist generalization. But, considering my
own mix of Russian and Armenian blood, I’ll take this a step further.
You see, over the holidays I visited Armenia. Besides communism, this
tiny, landlocked, mountainous rock (something God dug out of his
pockets at the last minute, the Armenians say), has survived raids by
Tartars, Mongolians, and Turks, being conquered by Byzantines, and
Persians. and a genocide. Today, take a drive out of capital Yerevan,
and you’re steeped in dire poverty. Some people still live without
electricity. There’s no central heating. Ever.
That’s pretty harsh.
But that didn’t stop a cheery postal worker (I’m not making this up),
who was busy being flooded by a burst pipe from the second floor,
from wishing us a happy holiday and selling us two stamps one minute
after closing time.
What does it take to get a Moscow bank clerk complaining of buggy
computers as though it’s your own fault to make a withdrawal during
office hours? Try raising your voice. Despite what the clerk tells
you, the raised voice seems to have a mysterious medicinal effect on
the computer system.
But on a kinder, gentler note, where else can you yell at a clerk and
then both laugh about it a minute later?MN

ARMENIA THIS WEEK
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
In this issue:
U.S. Ambassador says Armenia relations in “very good shape”
More talks on Karabakh amid major crackdown in Azeri army

U.S. ENVOY SEES ARMENIA RELATIONS IN “VERY GOOD SHAPE”
The United States Ambassador to Armenia John Evans this week applauded
Armenia’s deployment with the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, adding that
“Armenian-American relations are in very good shape…. In particular,
our security relationship is growing in a very positive way.” Evans
spoke as he joined Armenia’s Defense Minister Serge Sargsian in a
seeing-off ceremony for the Armenian peacekeepers. The 46-person task
force comprising transportation, de-mining and medical personnel flew to
Kuwait on a U.S. C-130 Hercules this Tuesday and will later this month
join the Polish-led multinational division south of Baghdad. The
transportation and de-mining personnel are expected to be based with a
Polish transportation battalion in Al-Hilla and doctors will work at a
coalition hospital in Karbala.

Evans added that the United States appreciated that Armenia’s decision
“was not an easy one.” A large majority of the Armenia’s public are
concerned that the move might lead to more attacks against the Armenian
communities in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. Over the last
year, Armenians and other Christians in Iraq have come under repeated
attacks. Despite these concerns, however, the Armenian government was
able to win strong parliamentary support last month arguing that the
deployment was important for Armenia’s international stature.

This week Sargsian reiterated Armenia’s desire to help the international
community to stabilize Iraq. “We have chosen the most necessary way of
helping the Iraqi people: medical treatment, de-mining and cargo
shipments that pursue the noble task of saving human lives.” Evans
expressed confidence in Armenia’s contingent saying it was well
prepared. The transportation unit’s commander Major Hamlet Hovakimian
said his men will not engage in military operations unless they come
under attack. (Sources: Armenia This Week 1-10; Noyan Tapan 1-18; RFE/RL
Armenia Report 1-18)

KARABAKH TALKS DIFFICULT EVEN AS DIPLOMATS EXPRESS CUSTOMARY OPTIMISM
Armenian and Azeri Foreign Ministers met again last week to continue
what has since last year become to be known as the “Prague process.”
Vartan Oskanian and Elmar Mamedyarov, accompanied by their deputies, met
in Prague together with mediators from Russia and the United States.
Presidents of the two countries may also meet this summer (they last met
four months ago). Armenia’s Mediamax news agency observed that unlike
the past three years since the ultimately unsuccessful Paris and Key
West talks of 2001, there is now more optimistic official rhetoric over
chances for progress.

But, according to the agency, the sides appear to be speaking of
different peace processes. While Azeri officials contend that talks
focus on unilateral Armenian withdrawals from formerly Azeri-populated
districts, the Armenian side insists that the thrust of the negotiations
is where it was in 2001, formalizing Karabakh’s unification with
Armenia. The Mediamax analysis concludes, however, that considering
public attitudes in both countries, a continued status quo will be the
most likely mutually acceptable end result. The Azeri President Ilham
Aliyev for his part has already stated that he “was not in a hurry to
settle.” Aliyev has instead resorted to building a pan-Islamic,
pro-Azerbaijan, coalition at the United Nations and boosting military
spending.

Meanwhile, the Azeri press reported last week on a major crackdown in
the country’s military. Starting last month, dozens of army officers,
including those in command of Azeri military units along the Line of
Contact with Karabakh Armenian forces, have been arrested, dismissed or
demoted. The Azeri Defense Ministry confirmed that arrests have been
made, adding that the officers are charged with corruption. Recently
retired Azeri military officers claim that corrupt practices in the army
are commonplace and the officers were specifically targeted over their
alleged disloyalty to Defense Minister General Safar Abiyev. An
anonymous officer serving in the area indirectly confirmed this, saying
that military investigators were extorting larger bribes than in the
past.

The prosecuted officers are also linked to a senior army General Rovshan
Akperov, who is reportedly Abiyev’s main rival within the ministry. Two
senior generals close to Akperov were dismissed last year and have since
been appointed as defense attaches in Central Asia. (Sources: Armenia
This Week 4-9-04, 1-10; Zerkalo 1-13, 15; Mediamax 1-17)

A WEEKLY NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY THE ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA
122 C Street, N.W., Suite 350, Washington, D.C. 20001 (202) 393-3434 FAX
(202) 638-4904
E-Mail [email protected] WEB
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agence France Presse — English
January 19, 2005 Wednesday 1:12 PM GMT
Christian unity must be goal of every Catholic, says pope
VATICAN CITY Jan 19
Unifying the various branches of Christianity should be the goal of
every Catholic, Pope John Paul II told pilgrims at his weekly general
audience Wednesday as he promoted a week of prayer for Christian
unity.
He said the week of prayer was “dedicated to reflection and prayer on
the need for all the baptized to work for the restoration of full
Christian unity”.
“The pain of separation is felt with ever more intensity,” the
pontiff said, adding that the world awaited a “clear and unanimous”
worship by all believers in Christ — a veiled reference to the
strained relations between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.
Prior to the audience attended by 7,000 pilgrims, the pope
inaugurated a new statue of Armenia’s patron saint, Gregory the
Illuminator. The 5.6 metre (18 feet)-high, 20 tonne statue of the
third century saint was created by Armenian sculptor Kazan Kahtechik.
It stands on the right side of the exterior of St Peter’s basilica.

PanArmenian News
Jan 19 2005
“WILL PUTIN BE PAID?” HAYRENIK WEEKLY WRITES
19.01.2005 17:10
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Hayrenik weekly, the official body of ARF
Dashnaktsutyun of the US eastern coast published an article titled
“Will Putin be paid?” and dedicated to the latest developments of the
Russian-Turkish relationships making parallels with the film “Who
paid to Lenin?” Armenian people has experienced the bitterness of
being under pressure of Turkish-Russian relations”. Touching upon V.
Putin’s visit to Turkey and Erdogan’s visit to Moscow, the author
says that the warming of the relations between the two states is
tending to growth. In part, he mentions of Erdogan’s promise to
support Russia at the entry to the WTO and to conduct joint military
exercise. The article also cited Putin, who said that the two
countries can reach the level of relations existing in time of
Ataturk. “The warmth of the visits exceeded expectations”, the author
resumes.