Category: News

APOEL title goal still on course
By John Leonidou
Cyprus Mail, Cyprus
Nov 23 2004
CYPRIOT champions APOEL kept their title campaign on course with
a valuable 1-1 draw away to title rivals Anorthosis Famagusta in
a thrilling encounter which saw both sides come close to snatching
dramatic victories.
Anorthosis started the better side in the first keeping a tentative
APOEL side on the back foot and after David Chaladze and Timuri
Ketsbaia went close, the hosts were finally awarded for their efforts
when Georgian star Georgi Kinkladze flicked Savvas Poursaitides cross
past a hapless Michalis Morfis on the half hour mark.
APOEL’s response was quick and rather against the run of play with
Marios Neophytou, a former player of Anorthosis, saw his free kick
skim off the back of Loucas Louca and wrong foot Antonis Georgallides
before curling into the top left hand corner for the equalizer ten
minutes later.
If some argued that APOEL were fortunate in the a one-side first
half, there was no denying the champion’s dominance in the second
as both Georgos Vakouftsis and Demetris Daskalakis saw their efforts
cannon off the Anorthosis woodwork with APOEL controlling the play.
Anorthosis for their part could have pinched the winner but for poor
finishing from Greek striker Nicos Froussos who saw his header denied
by Morfis before missing a wonderful chance on 82 minutes with his
strike that curled narrowly wide with Ketsbaia unmarked to prod the
ball home.
Anorthosis keeper Georgallides believed any side could have bagged all
the points on the night, “It was a 50-50 game, a game of two halves
with Anorthosis controlling the first half and APOEL the second.”
Omonia got back to winning ways after a sluggish start to the season
with a comfortable 3-0 victory against Angel Kolev’s surprise side
this season Alki Larnaca. Captain Costas Kaiafas put Omonia on the
way with a sweet volley before Slovakian international Josef Kozlej
wrapped up the three points for his side with two second half goal,
one of them a penalty.
Olympiakos Nicosia’s recovery looked perkier as they ousted a 1-0
victory away to Dighenis Morphou with Armenian international Romik
Kachadryan scoring the only goal with a powerful free-kick whilst
Ethnikos Achnas fell deeper into relegation trouble with 3-2 home
defeat to AEP Paphos, a result which prompted the sacking of Coach
Slobodan Vucekovic. Vucekovic charismatically told a press conference
afterwards, “Vucekovic has been in Cyprus for 11 years, and he is still
here” when asked about his future in Cypriot football by reporters.
This year’s other surprise team Nea Salamina kept their winning ways
intact with a hard-earned 3-2 victory away to rock bottom side Aris
Limassol with Turkish-Cypriot striker Arif Ursuloi scoring the winner
In the other games, AEL Limassol fought back from two goals at home
to scrape a 2-2 draw against Enosis Neon Paralimniou and AEK Larnaca
and Apollon Limassol fought out at a dull 0-0 draw at the GSZ stadium
in Larnaca.

Holiday tree has deep roots in Valley
By Dennis McCarthy
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
Nov 23 2004
It had been a long time since Sadie Wolpert walked down Rhodes
Avenue to see her neighbors. She’s lived in the same home at the
end of the block since 1958, but rarely got up this way anymore —
until Monday morning.
“Here, it’s not much, but I wanted to give something,” she said,
handing George Herczak an envelope with a few dollars tucked inside.
The money will help pay the bill to light the Christmas tree in this
North Hollywood neighborhood, beginning this weekend.
“Thank you, Sadie,” said the keeper of Rhodes Avenue tradition,
taking his neighbor by the arm, and introducing her to the young
Latino family who’d moved into Dorothy Clemens’ old house in 1999.
“This is Walter and Judith Rivera, and their sons,” he said. “They’re
helping us keep our Christmas tradition alive.”
Across the street, there’s Pogos Zhamkochyan, who moved in with his
family four years ago, George said. Like most of the Armenian families
living in the neighborhood now, Pogos — everybody calls him Paul —
also was joining in the Rhodes Avenue tradition.
“Nice to meet you,” Sadie said warmly, then turned to walk back to
her home at the end of the block.
“You’re coming Saturday night, aren’t you, Sadie?” Herczak yelled
after her.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she said, smiling.
Nobody who’s lived on this stretch of Rhodes Avenue will.
How many neighborhoods get a chance to relive Christmas past, Herczak
thought Monday, standing in front of the 70-foot-high evergreen in
front of the Riveras’ home.
He was getting his old neighborhood back — the one where people
talked, and spent some time with each other. The neighborhood where
you knew who lived in every house, and how many kids and dogs the
family had.
Yeah, Rhodes Avenue in 2004 was beginning to feel a lot like Rhodes
Avenue in 1958, when he and his wife, Barbara, moved in, among the
original owners on this block of 30 homes.
His neighborhood was back, and it was all because of this old tree
that had neighbors talking — and meeting — again.
In the 1980s, this evergreen was one of the most popular trees in the
city at Christmastime. TV stations sent out camera crews to record
the lighting of the Rhodes Avenue Christmas tree.
Police were brought in for crowd control on the night after
Thanksgiving when a 5-foot star and more than 500 lights decorating
the tree were illuminated, kicking off the holiday season.
One year, police estimated more than 65,000 cars drove slowly down
Rhodes Avenue so the kids could see this beautiful, shining Christmas
tree reaching for the stars.
Then the neighborhood began to change. Original owners moved out
or died, and new owners moved in. Most, though, were too busy or
disinterested to care about a Christmas tradition.
Only a handful of families still lived on the block who remembered
Dorothy Clemens telling the story of how she knelt in the dirt in
her front yard 40 years earlier to plant a seedling that would grow
to become a neighborhood Christmas tradition.
But that tradition basically died when Dorothy moved in the ’90s,
and the new owners just didn’t care. The electricity bill and cost
of fixing the electrical wiring on the tree was just too much for
only a handful of neighbors to bear.
“How do you knock on new neighbors’ doors, neighbors you haven’t even
met, and ask them for money for a tree-lighting tradition they don’t
even know about?” George asks.
You don’t. You let the tree stay dark during the holidays, and just
shake your head.
“Then we got lucky — the Riveras moved in,” George said.
With three young boys — Alex, Carlos and Walter Jr. — it didn’t
take much convincing for the family to realize that Christmas would
be a lot more meaningful for everyone if that old tree out front was
lit up again.
“We want our sons to respect tradition, and when George told us how
much that tree had meant to the neighborhood, how it brought everyone
together, we said, let’s do it again,” Judith said.
George took up a collection and, last Christmas, the star on top was
fixed and illuminated for the first time in almost 10 years. This year,
the whole tree has been rewired by volunteers so more than 500 bright
lights will rise up to the star on top.
Only one thing has changed. Instead of turning the lights off after New
Year’s Day, the tree will stay lit through Jan. 6, Armenian Christmas.
“They are doing that to honor our Christmas, and we are all very
grateful,” Zhamkochyan said.
“George has opened a lot of doors on this street so people can meet
and learn we’re not all that different. We’re just neighbors who want
the best for our families.”
Whether it’s 1958 or 2004, George Herczak has his old neighborhood
back.

Azerbaijan seeking new UN resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh
Interfax
Nov 23 2004
Baku. (Interfax-Azerbaijan) – Azerbaijan is seeking a fifth resolution
on Nagorno-Karabakh to be passed by the United Nations, President
Ilham Aliyev said on Monday.
“We want a new resolution to be passed. The text for it is ready,”
Aliyev told reporters in comments on a planned debate on the Nagorno-
Karabakh issue at the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
“We are trying to obtain support from a larger number of countries,”
he said.
He said the purpose of debates on the problem in the United Nations,
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and other
international organizations was “to bring to the international public
the truth about Armenia and its aggressive policy.”
“We want the world public to know this problem and take part in trying
to solve it,” he said.
He dismissed claims by the Armenian government that, if the United
Nations intervenes in the conflict, Armenia will be left out of the
negotiation process and Azerbaijan will be forced to hold talks with
Nagorno-Karabakh instead.
“Armenia is a party to the conflict, and we are holding our
negotiations with Armenia. If Azerbaijan is left one on one with
Nagorno-Karabakh, the problem will be solved even more quickly by
other methods,” Aliyev said.
“If Armenia pulls aside, withdraws its troops, and stops financing
Nagorno-Karabakh from its state funds, we will resolve the conflict
by whatever means within a brief period,” he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Patriot-News, Pennsylvania
Nov 23 2004
A QUIET BOW
Ailing Vartan hands over duties to family
BY TOM DOCHAT
Of The Patriot-News
John O. Vartan, a nearly penniless immigrant who used his
entrepreneurial zeal to become one of Harrisburg’s most influential
businessmen, is ending his reign over multiple enterprises because of
poor health.
Although Vartan’s oldest son, Hovig, and wife, Maral, are assuming
chairman functions of Vartan’s many businesses, they are not taking
on his titles.
Vartan, 59, has been a patient in Harrisburg Hospital for three weeks
in his 15-year battle with throat cancer. He is “not responsive,” his
son said yesterday, explaining that his father can breathe on his own
but is using a ventilator. “He’s stable. He’s comfortable,” Hovig
Vartan said.
“We are not anticipating that Mr. Vartan will return to an active
day-to-day role in the company,” said Robert J. DeSousa, executive
president, secretary and general counsel for The Vartan Group Inc.,
the umbrella company for Vartan’s businesses.
Employees of Vartan’s companies were informed of the situation
yesterday afternoon in a memo. More than 200 people work in the
Vartan ventures, which include a bank, a restaurant, a building
materials company and a construction and real estate business.
Employees have an “intense loyalty” to Vartan, DeSousa said.
In the memo, the Vartan family said it hopes Vartan can “enjoy a few
more years of peace in the presence of his loved ones.” But, the
family added, “Even if he should fully recover, it is unlikely that
he will be able to throw himself into his work with the same passion
and perspicuity for which he is famous. For him, to live means to
work.”
Vartan has been a dominant presence on the Harrisburg scene since the
late 1970s, when he began his embattled development of a series of
office buildings off North Progress Avenue in Susquehanna Twp.
He later set his sights on Harrisburg, first becoming embroiled in a
legal fight with Harristown Development Corp. and Mayor Stephen R.
Reed before beginning a cordial relationship with Reed that led to a
series of Vartan buildings in the city. The latest of those sites is
the state Department of Labor and Industry facility, 1521 N. Sixth
St.
“It’s fair to say that, in our area, there were very few people over
the last three decades that believed as strongly in Harrisburg as
John Vartan did,” DeSousa said.
He has been a controversial figure.
Jack S. Pincus, a former Susquehanna Twp. commissioner and director
of Vartan’s bank, conceded that Vartan has had his detractors. Some
of them lived in the township that Vartan successfully sued a few
years ago when he was denied a permit for a concrete-manufacturing
facility at his Linglestown Road business.
“Without a doubt, he had opposition to everything he did,” Pincus
said. “I always said that if he would build a Fort Knox in the
township and give a $50 tax credit to every resident, they would
still have 80 people coming in to express their opposition.”
Vartan’s businesses include Vartan National Bank, Parev restaurant in
downtown Harrisburg and the Vartan Supply Co. along Linglestown Road
in Susquehanna Twp.
The restaurant enabled The Tuesday Club to continue operations in a
renovated facility along Pine Street in the city, DeSousa said.
“Vartan stepped into the void and built a five-star, first-class
facility” that opens at 5 p.m. for the public and is used by The
Tuesday Club during the day.
His vision for those businesses will continue to motivate them,
DeSousa said. “There is no dramatic or substantial change in the
structure of the companies,” he said. “Every one of the company heads
knows the vision that John had and knows the parameters within that
vision.”
Vartan has contributed heavily to charitable organizations, something
his wife and son will continue to oversee. He is also involved in the
Armenian Apostolic Church’s worldwide activities.
Born and raised in a Lebanese refugee camp, Vartan came to the United
States about 40 years ago to attend Michigan Tech, transferring from
the American University of Beirut.
After graduating with a degree in civil engineering, Vartan started
work at Gannett-Fleming, a Harrisburg engineering firm. He earned a
master’s of engineering degree at Penn State University.
Hovig said his father vowed to Gannett-Fleming that he would form his
own business five years after he started working there. In 1975, he
founded his first company.
“He’s our father, and we love him dearly,” Hovig said yesterday.
During Vartan’s battle with throat cancer, he suffered with a dry
mouth, causing him to always carry a bottle of water. His appetite
suffered, and his speech was difficult to understand at times.
“Of all the things he did, I think the way he handled his health
problem was the most amazing,” Pincus said. Calling Vartan “very
ambitious,” Pincus said, “He has a determination that most people
can’t compete with.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 23, 2004
Contact: Linda Yepoyan
Phone: 610-642-6633
[email protected]
BIRTHRIGHT ARMENIA ALUMNI PROGRAM CREATED
This past summer 40 diasporan volunteers representing the ACYOA,
Armenian Assembly of America, Armenian Medical Association, Armenian
Students’ Association-NY, Armenian Volunteer Corps, Armenian
Youth Federation and the Land & Culture Organization, experienced
unforgettable journeys of self-discovery to Armenia. Having benefited
from their host organizations’ leadership, meaningful job placements
and program activities, each had a further advantage of gaining a
deeper and broader understanding of the language, the country and
its people as participants of Birthright Armenia/Depi Hayk.
Birthright Armenia launched its pilot summer in the homeland this
year, by offering quality support services of in-country orientation,
Armenian language instruction, and weekly forums, excursions and
“havak” tie-in meetings for all 40 volunteers. “Each diasporan
volunteer talked about what motivating factors played into their
decision to visit Armenia, and those are different for each person,”
says Linda Yepoyan, the non-profit’s executive director. “There is
something that awakens within them when they get to Armenia-call it
their Armenian soul-and you can literally see the transformation taking
place every single day toward more ethnically aware and energized
individuals getting more and more physically and emotionally connected
to the land.”
One of the key indicators of Birthright Armenia’s success will be
the cumulative effect of sponsoring hundreds and then thousands of
young diasporans from around the world to volunteer, study, and live
in the homeland. The multiplier effect of having thousands in Armenia
and around the globe who are maintaining connections with their work
colleagues, homestay family members and other local counterparts is
bound to be significant. Keeping the ignited fire alive within each
young person who has been to Armenia is critical as the exposure
to assimilation is such a reality. Birthright Armenia realizes that
the challenge of doing so is tremendous, as the potential for young
students to return to their cities, universities, circle of friends
and to recommence with their lives as usual is high. Therefore,
Birthright Armenia has created an alumni program that can help keep the
volunteers of all the sponsored organizations active in things Armenia.
The organization is committed to putting human and financial resources
into ensuring that the veterans of this wonderful homeland experience
are not lost, rather they are motivated to remain engaged until such
time as they are ready to become community leaders themselves.
“Although we are focused on getting large numbers of youth to Armenia
so our impact will be strongly felt, having a significant diasporan
volunteer and student presence there is really just one piece of
the puzzle”, says Edele Hovnanian, founder of Birthright Armenia.
“To truly do this right, the post-program involvement piece needs
to be just as strong”, she continues. “In order for participants to
receive their travel fellowship reimbursement equivalent to their
roundtrip airfare, one of the most important requirements for them
to provide is a one to two page continuing involvement proposal in
which each volunteer explains how they propose to maintain a personal
connection with the homeland and what they commit to do back home in
the Diaspora to help inspire others to get engaged. We have 40 such
proposals from the 2004 summer volunteers and intend to contact them
now, three months after their return from Armenia, to see where they
are on making good on their intentions.”
As another part of the alumni program, the organization custom built
a bulletin board that makes communicating and sharing of photographs
amongst the alumni as simple as a click of a button. The board is
posted to the Volunteers & Alumni section of Birthright Armenia’s web
site and is password protected to allow the volunteer alumni privacy
in sharing their common experiences and sentiments.
Updated weekly on the site is also the “Get Involved” section, which
is information tailored to list interesting volunteer opportunities
and community events scheduled to take place around the world. This
makes it easy for alumni to read about what is taking place in their
hometown on a weekly basis and to participate in the activities that
interest them the most.
For those interested in learning more about Birthright Armenia, please
visit or email: [email protected].
# # #

NATIONAL PRESS CLUB DEMANDS THE AUTHORITIES TO PUT AN END TO LAWLESSNESS IN ARMENIA
A1 | 17:20:19 | 23-11-2004 | Politics |
On Tuesday Armenian National Press Club came up with a statement
condemning “another terrorist attack on independent press”.
On Monday, Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper car blew up just outside the
newspaper office.
National Press Club expresses solidarity with the newspaper editorial
board and voicing alarm at growing atmosphere of impunity and
lawlessness in the republic demands the authorities to track down
and prosecute masterminds and perpetrators of the act.
Attacks on independent media journalists became dangerously commonplace
and their lives are under constant threat in Armenia, the statement
says.
the Club says time had already come to restore law observance in the
republic. Otherwise, mounting violence can inflict irreparable damage
to the republic.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
375010 Telephone: +3741. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +3741 562543
Email: [email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
22 November 2004
Termination of the application of Jackson-Vanik Act to Armenia
On 19 November, the US Senate adopted a Miscellaneous Trade and
Technical Corrections Act that includes a provision on granting PNTR
(permanent normal trade relations) status to Armenia. The House of
Representatives passed the same act earlier this year.
Establishment of Armenia – US permanent normal trade relations
effectively repeals application of Jackson-Vanik amendment, and
Armenia-US trade relations will from now on be regulated by not only
bilateral, but also international agreements including WTO ones.
The volume of Armenia – US trade relations, including Armenian exports
to the US, have already started to grow. According to the US Department
of Trade, Armenia’s exports to the US during January – September of
2004 amounted US$33.2 million, a 42 percent increase compared to the
same period of 2003.

PRESS RELEASE
Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-689-7810
Fax: 212-689-7168
e-mail: [email protected]
Website:
Contact: Iris Papazian
November 23, 2004
REQUIEM SERVICES WILL MARK ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
OF THE PASSING OF ARCHBISHOP MESROB ASHJIAN
NEW YORK, NY – The first anniversary of the passing of His Eminence
Archbishop Mesrob Ashjian, the former Prelate of the Eastern Prelacy,
will be marked with solemn requiem services in all parishes under the
jurisdiction of the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church
of America on Sunday, December 12, after the Divine Liturgy.
Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, the Prelate, has announced that His
Eminence Archbishop Souren Kataroyan, Prelate of Aleppo, Syria, will
officiate during the Divine Liturgy and Requiem Service in New York
City’s St. Illuminator’s Armenian Apostolic Cathedral, 221 East 27th
Street. Madagh will be offered following the requiem service.
Archbishop Mesrob, the longest serving Prelate of the Eastern Prelacy,
passed away while on a visit to New York last December. He served as
Prelate from 1978 to 1998. He served as the Executive Secretary of the
1700th anniversary commemorative committee from 1995 to 2000. From
2000 to his death he organized, supported and presided over a host
of programs that benefited Armenia and Artsakh through his St. George
Charitable Fund, Inc.
The Faithful are invited to attend the service at St. Illuminator’s
Cathedral or in local parishes, in remembrance of Mesrob Srpazan and
as a tribute to his extraordinary life and service.
# # #

OFFICIAL VISIT OF RA PRESIDENT TO ITALY SCHEDULED FOR LATE JANUARY 2005
YEREVAN, November 23 (Noyan Tapan). An official visit of RA President
Robert Kocharian to Italy is scheduled for late January 2005. It was
mentioned during the November 23 joint press conference of Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Vartan Oskanian and Deputy Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Italy Margerita Boniver. The Deputy Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Italy said that the purpose of her arrival in
Armenia is to prepare the visit of President Kocharian to Italy. The
sides highly estimated the level of the Armenian-Italian relations both
in terms of the political dialogue and in the sphere of economic and
cultural relations. Accoridng to M. Boniver, Italy not only strives
for the further development of bilateral relations with Armenia,
but it is interested in the deepening of cooperation within the
framework of the European Union. “We think that the “New Neighborhood”
program will be useful both for the countries of the South Caucasus
and for the countries-members of the European Union,” said Margerita
Boniver. As for the settlement of the Karabakh conflict she said that
Italy is for the peaceful settlement of the conflict and supports
the mission of the OSCE Minsk Group. Both diplomats gave assurance
that the upcoming visit of Robert Kocharian to Italy will become an
additional stimulus for the development of the bilateral relations.

Armenian foreign minister unhappy about Karabakh discussion in UN
Mediamax news agency
23 Nov 04
Yerevan, 23 November: Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said
in Yerevan today that the fate of the Prague process on the Karabakh
settlement, which had kicked off this year, would for “100 per cent
depend on whether or not the Azerbaijani draft resolution “On the
situation on occupied Azerbaijani territories” be adopted by the UN
General Assembly.
Replying to a question from Mediamax news agency, the Armenian foreign
minister said that if “a session of the UN General Assembly adopts
the Azerbaijani draft resolution, then the Prague process will prove
dead”. In this case, official Baku will have to conduct negotiations
with the legitimate authorities of Nagornyy Karabakh, Oskanyan said.
If the session of the UN General Assembly manages to pass another,
compromise option of the resolution, Armenia will agree to continue
negotiations on the basis of the Prague process, Oskanyan said.
“Given this, we shall immediately be ready for the second phase of
the negotiations,” Oskanyan said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress