Category: News

SEISMOLOGISTS PREDICT NO MAJOR TREMORS
ArmenPress
Sept 17 2004
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS: Armenian seismological stations have
registered 29 earthquakes since the start of the year, the strongest
of which measured 3.4 points on Richter scale and was reported 70 km
north-east of the town of Ararat on January 4 and the lowest was 1.3
points on Richter scale, reported on July 19 near the town of Spitak,
the site of the destructive 1988 earthquake.
Judging by a set of indications, observed in the last 10 years,
Armenian seismologists predict that the possible strongest earthquake
that may hit Armenia will be no higher than 5-6 points on Richter
scale, saying its possible location may be in the southern-eastern
province of Syunik.
The national seismic service has already started a series of measures
aimed to raise the level of local population’s awareness concerning
earthquake risks. The Armenian government adopted in the last two
years two comprehensive programs on seismic risks, one encloses the
Law on Seismic Protection and the second lists the strategically
important facilities that need reinforced seismic protection.
Armenian national seismic service, included in the world seismic
networks, is considered one of the best services in Europe. The
service is cooperating closely with a German GFZ and US NASA and
UNAVCO organizations in identifying and registration of seismic risks.

70 DIASPORA ARMENIANS GRANTED THE RIGHT TO FREE EDUCATION IN YEREVAN
ArmenPress
Sept 17 2004
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS: Seventy young Diasporan
Armenians were granted this year the right to study free in Armenian
universities, while applications for paid education will be accepted
until October 31. According to an official of the education ministry,
the number of Diaspora Armenian studying in Armenia has doubled since
1997, which he attributed to the “purposeful policy of the ministry.”
Diaspora students granted the free education right are usually
majoring in Armenian linguistics and history. The majority of
students are from neighboring Georgia that has a 400,000 strong
Armenian community and local Armenian schools carry out the education
based on Armenia-developed programs, followed by Iran, Russia,
Turkmenistan, Syria, US, Canada, Ukraine, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan
and other countries.

DARFUR: ACTION NOT WORDS
Azg/am
18 Sept 04
America’s declaration that genocide is taking place in Sudan has
injected fresh urgency – and controversy – into the international
debate about what the UN unhesitatingly calls the world’s worst
humanitarian crisis. It was only to be expected that the Khartoum
government would reject the charge, but there has also been a lukewarm
response elsewhere to Colin Powell’s statement to the Senate foreign
relations committee. The US secretary of state says genocide is
taking place on the basis of evidence that black African villagers
in Darfur are being targeted with the specific intent of destroying
“a group in whole or part”. Human rights organizations have welcomed
the shift. Britain’s official response is that grave crimes are
being committed by the government-backed Janjaweed Arab militias and
that the UN should mount an urgent investigation. Is this a case of
diplomatic sensibilities masking a brutal truth? Is it right to have
reservations about using the G word?
Situations previously characterized as genocide include the Turkish
massacre of 1.5 million Armenians during the first world war and,
less controversially, the Nazis’ extermination of six million Jews
in the second world war, when the term was coined from the Greek
word genos (race or tribe) with the Latin word cide (to kill). It
has been widely applied to Pol Pot’s Cambodia of the 1970s and made
bloody reappearances in Rwanda in 1994 and in the aftermath of the
wars of the Yugoslavian succession. Slobodan Milosevic, the former
Serbian president, is facing a genocide charge at the Hague war crimes
tribunal. Radislav Krstic, a Bosnian Serb general, was convicted of
genocide for his role in the Srebrenica massacre of 7,000 Muslim men
and boys.
Sudanese officials will admit to nothing more than a humanitarian
crisis created by ethnic strife and have contemptuously accused
Mr. Powell of seeking black votes in the forthcoming US presidential
election. Khartoum also argues that the intervention will undermine
delicate peace negotiations with Darfur rebel groups in Nigeria. Most
of the facts, though, are indisputable: 50,000 people have died since
February 2003 and over a million have been displaced. Aid workers
yesterday reported a new mass influx of refugees into one camp in
southern Darfur. Harrowing images have been on our TV screens for
long enough to fuel demands for something that goes beyond agonized
handwringing and ineffective quiet diplomacy
It is true that behind the debate in the US lies guilt about
the shameful failure to act when the first reports of genocide
emerged from Rwanda a decade ago. That is only natural. The genocide
characterization may also be intended to galvanise the international
community-though targeted sanctions such as an assets freeze and a
travel ban on senior Sudanese officials would be more effective than
the oil embargo currently being proposed by Washington. That is opposed
by China, an importer of Sudanese oil and a security council member,
as well as by Pakistan and Algeria. And there is the familiar dilemma
that such sanctions are a notoriously blunt instrument, as the Iraqi
experience taught. But urgent though the crisis is, Washington and
London are still not trying the sort of heavy-duty arm-twisting they
tried when seeking a second UN resolution authorizing war on Saddam.
Mr. Powell’s intervention puts the US a step ahead of the EU, which
says it wants a UN investigation. But the real question is not about
a dictionary definition of genocide. No one can claim that Sudan
is not experiencing a terrible human tragedy. As Oxfam has been
warning in appeals for help to save lives: time is short and people
are dying. Recognizing the scale of human suffering is a prerequisite
to action. Words, however resonant, are not enough.
The Guardian/UK, 11 Sept. 2004

Thursday, September 16, 2004
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To speak of the wisdom of propaganda is like speaking of the shadow of a non-existent object in a dark room.
*
Fascists make good speechifiers, but I see more eloquence in the braying of an ass.
*
Two individuals from two different cultural environments do not speak the same language even when they speak the same language.
*
Confucius: “Clever talk and a pretentious manner are seldom found in the Good.”
A variant translation: “A garbage-mouth cannot harbor a golden tongue.”
*
I am not in the business of changing anything. I am in the business of understanding, and whenever I am allowed, to share my understanding.
*
When a reader tells me he hates what I write, I make an effort to be more hateful. I don’t write to entertain, amuse, and flatter.
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All censors are cowards because they are afraid of ideas, especially ideas that will expose them as cowards.
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Judge a tree by its fruit, a man by his ideas, and a belief system by its history.
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To say nothing is better than to call someone an ignoramus, especially if he is one.
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An easy riddle: “What does an Armenian with an opinion have in common with the Rock of Gibraltar?”
#
Friday, September 17, 2004
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AGAINST TURKISH MEMBERSHIP IN THE EU.
ON THE ORIGINS OF PROVERBS.
WAS KOMITAS A TURK?
THE FALLACY OF CENSORSHIP.
************************************************
In an interview published in LE POINT (Paris, August 12, 2004) Pierre Moscovici, a member of the European Parliament, cites the following three reasons why Turkey cannot be admitted into the European Union: “The role of the military on the margins of the regime;
the rights of minorities, notably that of the Kurds; and
the recognition of the Armenian genocide – this final point is for me decisive.”
*
If “to kill with words is also murder” (German proverb), who among us will dare to plead not guilty to the crime of massacre?
*
Anonymous: “Let not your tongue cut your throat.”
*
More and more frequently now, in English-language books of quotations, Armenian proverbs are identified as Turkish. Since no one has ever come forward and said: “I was there when this proverb was first spoken,” I suppose, any nation can identify a proverb as its own. The same applies to the origin of dishes and folk tunes.
*
I remember to have read somewhere that in some Turkish reference works Komitas is identified as a Turkish musician, I suppose, in the same way that Mikoyan and Khachaturian are identified as “Soviet,” Saroyan as “American,” and Adamov as “French.” But since present-day Turkey has disassociated itself from its Ottoman past and its many crimes against humanity, it would be more accurate to use the qualifier “Ottoman” in reference to Armenian proverbs and personalities who were active in Istanbul before World War I.
*
By silencing a writer and suppressing his testimony, censorship attempts to arrest the advance of time, but the best it can do is to slow it down and to postpone the final catastrophe.
*
Whenever I reflect that a fellow Armenian, who insults me or bans me from a forum, would have betrayed me to the authorities or put a bullet in my neck in a different time, place, and regime, I feel like celebrating.
*
To how many of my Armenian critics I could say: “Your aim is not to contradict but to murder with words.”
#
Saturday, September 18, 2004
***********************************
ON PROPAGANDA AND
RELATED ATROCITIES.
*********************************
Propaganda is the enemy of literature because literature is the enemy of propaganda.
*
Speechifiers and sermonizers are not used to being contradicted.
*
One of our elder statesmen once told me: “Why do you bother replying to your readers? F*** them!” To which I remember to have replied: “No, I refuse to adopt our leaders as my role models.”
*
I write brief sentences to fit the attention span of my readers. To write long paragraphs would be like serving gourmet dishes to addicts of junk food.
*
When a jackass brays he does not expect to have the applause of his audience. But if the jackass is an Armenian he is sure to think his braying is as good if not better than an aria from DON GIOVANNI or THE BARBER OF SEVILLE.
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I grew up among survivors of the massacres who spoke Turkish among themselves. They had no illusions about their fellow men regardless of nationality. They may have been functional illiterates but they had an instinctive understanding of the role of destiny in human affairs. They didn’t make a career of hatred and a full-time job of the massacres. If someone had said to them, by writing books, newspaper articles and letters to the editor, or by delivering speeches and sermons we may be able to persuade the Turks to apologize, they would have looked at him in silent astonishment as if to say: “Of the forty-four types of insanity I have heard about, this must be one of them.”
#

SAMVEL BABAYAN FREED
A1 Plus | 20:31:38 | 17-09-2004 | Politics |
On September 17 NKR President Arkadi Ghukasyan looked through the
applications on amnesty of the sentenced.
Under the decision of Arkadi Ghukasyan, NKR ex Defense Minister Samvel
Babayan and Erik Faramazyan who had attempted life of NKR President
on March 22, 2000 are among those granted amnesty.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
09/17/2004
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) Armenian, Azeri, Turkish FMs to Meet in New York 2) Ex-Bulgarian PM Appointed New OSCE Envoy to Karabagh 3) Former Karabagh Army Chief Released From Jail 4) Turkey Under Fire over Reform Delay 5) Putin, Saakashvili Spar at CIS Press Conference 6) First Day of School at Pilibos 7) Oshagan's Exhibit Explores Questions of Immigrant Identity 1) Armenian, Azeri, Turkish FMs to Meet in New York YEREVAN (Combined Sources)--A tripartite meeting will be held with the foreign ministers of Armenia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on September 17 to discuss ways of settling the Mountainous Karabagh conflict and Turkey`s possible contribution to those efforts. Azeri foreign minister Elmar Mamedyarov said in a statement prior to the meeting that issues between Azerbaijan and Armenia, particularly the Karabagh conflict, will be raised during the talks. Turkey`s possible contribution to the settlement of the conflict would also be taken up at the trilateral summit, Mamedyarov said, but he did not elaborate. Turkish officials declined to give details of the planned meeting's agenda. The foreign ministers of the three countries had earlier agreed to meet once again to discuss the issue at a previous foreign ministerial meeting held during a NATO summit at the end of June in Istanbul. 2) Ex-Bulgarian PM Appointed New OSCE Envoy to Karabagh VIENNA (Armenpress)--Former Bulgarian prime minister, Philip Dimitrov, was appointed special OSCE representative to the Mountainous Karabagh conflict on September 16. Several days prior to this appointment, another former top Bulgarian official, ex-president Petar Stoyanov, was appointed OSCE special representative to deal with the conflict between Moldova and its splinter region of Transdniester. 3) Former Karabagh Army Chief Released From Jail STEPANAKERT (RFE-RL)--Samvel Babayan, the controversial former commander of Mountainous Karabagh's army, was pardoned and set free on Friday more than four years after being imprisoned on charges of plotting to assassinate the president of the Armenian-populated republic, Arkady Ghukasian. An official in the Karabagh government said that Babayan, 39, was in a group of local convicts who were given an amnesty by a presidential decree. The official added that the amnesty granted to the once powerful general is a "partial" one, meaning that he will be on a one-year probation. He is legally barred from holding a senior government post in Karabagh for the next five years. A former car mechanic, Babayan became the commander of the Karabagh Armenian army from 1991-1994 during its war with Azerbaijan. Babayan lost power in late 1999 after his defeat in a bitter power struggle with Ghukasian. He was arrested in March 2000 just hours after an attempt on the life of the Karabagh president and was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment a year for masterminding the plot. Also sentenced were the two men who confessed to seriously wounding Ghukasian in a late-night ambush in Stepanakert. It is not yet clear who initiated Babayan's sudden release from a fortress jail in the Karabagh town of Shushi. Kocharian public hinted at the possibility of a pardon in November 2001. But Ghukasian has until now argued that Babayan does not qualify for an amnesty because he has not admitted his guilt. 4) Turkey Under Fire over Reform Delay ANKARA (Reuters)--Turkey's ruling party has came under fire from the European Commission over a decision to delay penal code reforms because of a row over its plans to criminalize adultery. The postponement, personally ordered by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, rattled Turkish financial markets and sparked incredulity among Ankara's diplomatic community. Leaders of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) discussed the problem behind closed doors, but it seemed inevitable that parliament would not now approve the reform package before the Commission's progress report on Turkey, due on October 6. "Just when things were going so well for them they seem to have shot themselves in both feet," said one EU diplomat on Friday. The AKP, which has roots in political Islam, withdrew the draft penal code late on Thursday after its drive to include the adultery ban was stymied by the center-left opposition. The proposal to jail cheating spouses had outraged women's rights groups and Turkish liberals and alarmed the EU. Earlier in the week the AKP had appeared to shelve the plans, only to try to revive them after Erdogan's return from a foreign trip. In Brussels, spokesman Jean-Christophe Filori said the Commission was concerned. "We understand this delay is due to attempts ... to reintroduce adultery as a criminal offense," he said. "Such provisions would certainly cast doubts on the direction of Turkey's reform efforts and would risk complicating Turkey's European prospects." Asked on his way to the mosque on Friday whether Erdogan's party might still reinsert the adultery ban into the penal code draft, AKP lawmaker Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat said: "There is no such decision at the moment." He made no further comment. DECEMBER DECISION The October 6 report will form the basis of a decision in December by the 25 EU leaders on whether to open long-delayed entry talks with Turkey, a Muslim country of 70 million people. Financial markets are nervous that prolonged political wrangling could damage Turkey's EU prospects. Turkish shares were down 1.6 percent to 21,356.55 points in afternoon trade and the lira weakened against the dollar on the uncertainty. "This (delay) is bad news for Turkey's EU accession bid...This increases the chances that the Commission will attach strings to any date they might give to begin negotiations," said Tim Ash, an economist at Bear Stearns International. Columnist Murat Yetkin of the liberal daily Radikal said Erdogan was trying not to upset the AKP's mostly pious and conservative voters. The EU diplomat said Erdogan had shown in the past--for example in tussles with Turkey's powerful secular establishment over religious schools--that he knew when to back down. "But this time he does not seem to realize how much ammunition he is handing to opponents of Turkey's EU bid," he said. European public opinion remains very wary about admitting the large, relatively poor Muslim country into a wealthy club whose religious heritage is predominantly Christian. But it was not all bad news for Turkey. Incoming European Commission president Jose Manuel Durao Barroso said in a paper published on Friday that "the ongoing process of reform in the political and civil life of Turkey is welcomed". 5) Putin, Saakashvili Spar at CIS Press Conference TBILISI (Civil Georgia/Interfax)--While speaking at a news briefing in the Kazakh capital, Astana, President Mikhail Saakashvili said that restoration of the railway link between Russia and breakaway Abkhazia was inadmissible, while Russian President Putin said that the reopening of the rail link was agreed with the Georgian side. Both Presidents were speaking at a joint news briefing of the leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) held in Astana on September 16. Vladimir Putin said the resumption of the Sokhumi-Moscow railway link was agreed during the talks in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi on March 6-7, 2003 between him and Georgia's ex-President Eduard Shevardnadze. "We agreed over simultaneous return of IDPs to Abkhazia and resumption of the railway link. The return of internally displaced persons is underway. Over 50-60 thousand refugees have already returned to the Gali district [breakaway Abkhazia]," President Putin said. However, the Georgian President said that those Georgian displaced persons who have already returned to the Gali district of Abkhazia "have no normal conditions to live" as well as no security guarantees. Saakashvili stressed the importance of resolving the problem of refugees. "Three-hundred thousand Georgian citizens, who are ethnic Georgians, were expelled [from Abkhazia] earlier, and some of them have returned to the Gali district today actually as slaves. They are being subjected to terror," Saakashvili said. "We are ready to discuss all current issues. Russia can and should play a positive role in settlement of post-Soviet conflicts. It is in Russia's interests as well," Saakashvili said. Putin has said he is convinced that all disagreements between Russia and Georgia should be resolved in a way that would meet the interests of all parties concerned. "An economic blockade, not to mention military pressure, do not result in resolving problems. This is not a road that leads to Church," Putin said, rephrasing a quote from a film by prominent Georgian moviemaker Tengiz Abuladze, which was extremely popular in the USSR in the late 1980s. Relations between Russia and Georgia have deteriorated as of late. Georgian parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze recently described Moscow's policy towards Georgia as hostile "because Russia is aiding Abkhaz and South Ossetian separatists." Meanwhile, high-ranking Russian officials have repeatedly said Russia favors Georgia's territorial integrity and called on Tbilisi to settle the problems of relations with Tskhinvali and Sukhumi via a peaceful dialogue. 6) First Day of School at Pilibos --35 years of Service to the Community HOLLYWOOD--On September 7, another chapter opened in the history of Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian school. For the 35th time in its history, the school welcomed students and faculty members to the new school year. Pride and joy could be seen on the face of each student entering the gates of the school. Friends, who had been temporarily separated by the months of summer, tightly embraced each other and shared their stories. New students were awestruck not only by the campus and its ark library and gymnasium complex, but also by the warmth and hospitality of the Pilibos family. Clinging to their parents and refusing to enter the halls of Kindergarten, the younger ones admittedly did not share the same joy. Some adamantly refused to let go of their parents. Others, comforted by the calm and kindness of their kindergarten teachers, relented, bid farewell, and embarked on the new journey that is the school year. After welcoming students and parents, Dean of students Charles Loussararian invited Reverend father Viken Vassilian to lead the opening prayer. Student Council president Ara Thomassian, led the pledges and gave a heartfelt welcome to students. On behalf of Archbishop Mardirossian and the Prelacy, the Very Reverend Vruyr Demirdjian, addressed students. A long time Pilibos family friend and community supporter, Senior Lead officer of the Los Angeles Police Department, Dikran Melkonian, addressed the importance of education and student activities in the development of one's academic and social life. Principal Viken Yacoubian, in his welcoming address, passed along his words of advice to the student body, and thanked those who have tirelessly supported the school and have been instrumental in its growth and expansion. He thanked the members of the Finance and Education committees and all those who have had their positive input in the development and enhancement of the school. After the brief program, students were directed to their respective homerooms, where they spent the entire day settling in and orienting themselves to their new teachers and classes. 7) Oshagan's Exhibit Explores Questions of Immigrant Identity >>From family retreats at Big Bear Lake, inmates in state prison in Blythe, and
church services in Pasadena, to demonstrations on the streets of East
Hollywood, a youth party in Studio City, a drug-rehab center in Palmdale,
and a
convalescent home in Eagle Rock, Ara Oshagan’s exhibit Traces of Identity: An
Insider’s View into LA’s Armenian Community 2000-2004, brings together the
strands of a diverse and vibrant Armenian presence across the breath of the
greater Los Angeles area. Though the works represent four years of work by
Oshagan with Armenians, they, nevertheless, addresses issues of identity and
displacement common to many immigrant communities.
The exhibit runs from September 24, to December 31, at the Los Angeles
Municipal Art Gallery in Barnsdall Park. The opening reception is slated for
September 26, 2:00 to 5:00pm.
Documentary in nature, the 40 large-format black-and-white photographs in the
exhibit explore questions of immigrant and Armenian identity from a
multiplicity of anglesthe religious, familial, political, as well as from the
fringes of society and alternative lifestyles. Traces of Identity, sponsored
by the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern
California and partially funded by grants from the California Council for the
Humanities and the Ignatius Foundation, is the first such photographic project
about Armenians in Los Angeles to be exhibited publicly.
“Armenians are an extremely diverse community in Los Angeles, although they
are united in the common tragedy of the 1915 genocide,” says project director,
Donald E. Miller. “Currently, Los Angeles is the largest concentration of
Armenians living outside the Republic of Armenia. Traces of Identity captures
both the vitality and complexity of this community and powerfully raises the
question, ‘What does it mean to be Armenian in the 21st century?’ ”
Oshagan’s photos are images of everyday life with a deep sense of
intimacy. “I
know almost everyone I photographif not personally, then through a familial or
community connection,” says the Beirut-born photographer. “This allows me a
unique portal into their lives and a shared intimacy.”
“Everything is about the relationships Ara creates with the people he
photographs,” says curator Charlie Hachadourian. “In that space, in that
tension that he shares with his subjects, is the ungraspable, ever-evolving
identity of the Armenians in LA. It is always present, that commonality of
sharing, the history, those traces that allow us to see ourselves as a
community, as a collective. Ara is constantly asking: how do we delineate our
identity as Armenians, how do we perpetually reinvent ourselves as a unique
ethno-specific component of a multifaceted and vast whole.”
As an insider to the community he documents, Oshagan’s work is ultimately a
well-polished mirrora multi-layered self-reflection used to explore questions
of being and identity. Sometimes fluid, sometimes truncated, Oshagan’s
photographs carefully balance the questions asked and answered in each image.
The answers he offers, finally, are questions: “Who am I? How do we define
ourselves as Armenians? Where do we stop and the others begin?”
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John Kerry is far too willing to dismiss our Coalition
Boston Brahmin Disses Our Allies
National Review
September 16, 2004
Time and again, John Kerry has been dismissive to the point of rudeness
toward this country’s Coalition allies. None of America’s 33 partners
ever had to send so much as a Q-Tip to support Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The fact that any nation assigns even one citizen to fight shoulder
to shoulder with U.S. GIs should elicit celebration and gratitude,
not the sort of ethnocentrism that a sneering Boston Brahmin might
expect to see gushing out of, say, Texas oil country.
Worse than a snotty host who snickers about guests who bring the
“wrong” wine to dinner, Kerry snarls about nations that toil with
America to build a safe, free, and prosperous Iraq.
In March 2003, Kerry dismissed these countries as the “coalition of
the coerced and the bribed.”
In September 2003, Kerry said that “this President’s pride has brought
us a coalition of the few, barely willing to do anything at all:
160 Mongolians, 43 Estonians, and 83 Filipinos isn’t a coalition;
it’s a cover-up.”
Last March, Kerry told CNN: “The fact is that those countries are
really window dressing to the greatest degree. And they weren’t there
in the beginning when we went in, and they’re not carrying the cost
of this war.”
Last April, Kerry virtually made America’s allies disappear. “To
do this right,” he said, “we have to truly internationalize both
politically and militarily. We cannot depend on a U.S.-only presence.”
On September 6, Kerry dismissed the notion that there are international
boots on the ground beside ours. He called this “the phoniest thing
I’ve ever heard.”
Kerry’s skinned-up nose would be ugly enough if non-American Coalition
soldiers frittered away the hours by barhopping in Baghdad. In fact,
they dine on hot lead with our boys and girls, too often in fatal
servings.
According to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count website, 124 overseas
soldiers have been killed in Iraq as of last week. This includes,
among others, 13 Poles, 19 Italians, and 66 Britons. Kerry’s sarcasm
must be uniquely soothing to their shattered families.
As for the living, the Heritage Foundation’s Nile Gardiner has
documented the extent to which America is not alone in Iraq and,
indeed, is ably assisted by nations from around the globe.
Despite the high-profile departures of Spain and the Philippines,
American GIs in Iraq serve with uniformed personnel from Albania,
Armenia (as of this month), Australia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Czech
Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Great Britain,
Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia,
Moldova, Mongolia, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia,
South Korea, Thailand, Tonga, and Ukraine.
These 26,487 troops represent 17.3 percent of forces in Iraq, compared
to the 126,500 U.S. soldiers who, it is fair to say, fill 82.7 percent
of positions there. While Americans have suffered 89 percent of the
war’s deaths, 11 percent of those killed were international soldiers.
“Faced with a barrage of misleading rhetoric, the American public
could be forgiven for thinking that the trans-Atlantic alliance no
longer exists,” writes Gardiner in his September 7 report, The Myth of
U.S. Isolation: Why America Is Not Alone in the War on Terror. “The
Coalition includes 21 nations from Europe, and nine from Asia and
Australasia. Twelve of the 25 members of the European Union are
represented, as are 16 of the 26 NATO member states.”
True, France and Germany are AWOL in this conflict. But neither
France nor Germany speaks for all of Europe, as both Napoleon and
Kaiser Wilhelm grew to understand.
President Bush should showcase this Coalition by hosting a White
House summit on Iraq with these countries’ chiefs of state or foreign
ministers. Publicly acknowledging their courage and sacrifice would
educate Americans before November 2.
Using Gardiner’s report and other data, I produced a chart that
identifies Coalition nations, their troop contributions, and fatalities
in Iraq.
One could argue that America should have even more overseas assistance,
or that blue-helmeted United Nations peacekeepers should be on
patrol. But John Kerry’s self-contradictory insistence that America
is both solo in Iraq and at the head of a coalition of the “barely
willing” illustrates, yet again, his trouble with the truth.

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:
September 17, 2004
___________________
YOUNG MUSICIANS FROM TWO PARISHES RECORD CD
On Sunday, September 12, 2004, parishioners at two parishes had
something extra to celebrate after the Divine Liturgy.
Young musicians from the Sts. Sahag and Mesrob Church in Providence, RI,
and the St. Mary Church of Washington, D.C., recently teamed up to
record a new compact disc ” Gloria in Excelsis — Park Ee Partsoons.”
The recording was officially launched with simultaneous ceremonies at
both parishes on September 12.
The CD features the parish Junior Choir from Providence and the Narek
Bell Choir of Washington D.C. — the first-ever CD recording of Armenian
spiritual music played by hand bells.
The recording has 21 tracks, which include excerpts from the Divine
Liturgy, Armenian Christmas hymns, and other traditional melodies.
“This music is inspiring and beautiful,” said Archbishop Khajag
Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America
(Eastern), who was recently presented with an advance copy of the CD by
the directors of the two choirs, Leon Khoja-Eynatyan from Washington,
D.C. and Providence’s Konstantin Petrossian. “And knowing this music is
being made by our young people, who are giving their time and talent to
learn these beautiful sharagans, makes this recording all the more
beautiful.”
The CD makes a perfect Christmas gift for any loved one and is now
available from the St. Vartan Bookstore for $18. Order yours today for
early delivery by going to or calling (212)
686-0710 ext. 52.
— 9/17/04
E-mail photos available on request. Photos also viewable in the News
and Events section of the Eastern Diocese’s website,
PHOTO CAPTION (1): Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Eastern
Diocese, receives a copy of the new “Gloria in Excelsis” CD, featuring
the Junior Choir of the Sts. Sahag and Mesrob Church of Providence, RI,
and the Narek Bell Choir of the St. Mary Church of Washington, D.C.,
from the two groups’ directors.
PHOTO CAPTION (2): “Gloria in Excelsis” is the new CD featuring the
Junior Choir of the Sts. Sahag and Mesrob Church of Providence, RI, and
the Narek Bell Choir of the St. Mary Church of Washington, D.C.
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Armenian paper says Astana talks made no difference in Karabakh settlement
Aykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
17 Sep 04
The third meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents that took
place in Astana yesterday [as received, actually, on 15 September]
mainly differs from the previous ones by the participation of Russian
President [Vladimir] Putin and by the excitement generated around it.
[Passage omitted: reported statements by officials]
Is it possible that any arrangement was made as a result of Russian
President Putin’s participation? Some analysts simply rule out such
an outcome and think that this meeting between [Armenian President
Robert] Kocharyan and [Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev, like the
previous ones, was not of any significance in the sense of driving
the negotiations out of the deadlock. The supporters of this viewpoint
are sure that the statements about the importance of the meeting are
made to create a certain impression. In reality, today the approaches
of the conflicting parties are so different that it is impossible to
come to agreement.
The Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents are forced to imitate agreement
and progress, as the world community presses them to hold new meetings
and continue peace talks. This viewpoint seems to be substantiated
because according to trustworthy sources, during the [Armenian Foreign
Minister Vardan] Oskanyan – [Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar]
Mammadyarov meeting [in Prague on 30 August], Azerbaijan’s foreign
minister set before Oskanyan the pull-out of Armenian troops from the
so-called occupied territories as a precondition for peace talks. (By
the way, when after the Prague meeting Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov tried to disclose some details of its content,
the Armenian party immediately denied them, saying that this was
the desire of the Azerbaijani party. This once again proves the fact
that no arrangement was made in Prague.) According to a trustworthy
source, at all meetings Ilham Aliyev raises firmly the problem of
occupied territories.
Thus, if Vardan Oskanyan’s enthusiasm after the 30 August meeting was
not imitation, this means that the Armenian authorities have agreed
to settle the Karabakh issue in accordance with the step-by-step
option. But many people think this option is unreal. On the other
hand, immediately after yesterday’s meeting, Ilham Aliyev did not
say it was of a great significance, and Robert Kocharyan said that
they could not boast of success. As for the participation of the
Russian president, according to analysts, it had the same PR meaning
as the whole fuss around the Astana meeting. Today Putin thinks only
about the Beslan tragedy and the image of the Russian Federation
because of that tragedy, and by taking the role of an intermediary
in the Kocharyan-Aliyev meeting Putin simply tried to raise Russia’s
authority.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azeri soldier wounded in Armenian truce violation
ANS TV, Baku
16 Sep 04
[Presenter] Armenia continues its aggression against Azerbaijan. The
Armenian armed forces fired on the village of Orta Qislaq in Agdam
District from the Armenian-occupied village of Sixlar in the same
district at about 1815 [1215 gmt] today. As a result of the fire from
large-calibre guns, soldier Ismayil Nabiyev who was called to military
service from Bilasuvar District in 2003 was wounded. According to
a report from the Karabakh bureau of ANS, he received two gunshot
wounds to his legs. The soldier is now at the Saricali hospital. The
Defence Ministry press service has not yet confirmed the report.
[Passage omitted: reported details]
Let us go over to the front-line now. Sahin Rzayev, an ANS
correspondent in Karabakh, is on the line. Good evening, Sahin. Where
exactly are you? What is the situation like there?
[Correspondent, by phone] Good evening, Aytan. We are now in the
village of Qapanli in Tartar District. According to local residents,
Armenians have stepped up activities over the past three days. This
village borders on the occupied village of Seyidsuvanli in Agdara
District. The distance between the villages is about 200 to 300
metres. According to the residents, Armenians have been subjecting
the village to intensive fire over the past three days. The Armenians
fired on the village for about 15 minutes at about 2200 [1800 gmt]
yesterday [15 September]. The case was repeated today. The enemy
again fired on the village from large-calibre guns for 10-15 minutes
at about 1915 [1515 gmt]. The Armenian positions are located higher
than the positions in Qapanli. For this reason, they can clearly see
the village. The village is fenced in order to protect it from the
enemy fire.
[Passage omitted: minor details]
[Presenter] Thanks Sahin.