Category: News

Rolling Stone
April 26 2004
System Honor Armenian Souls
Benefit seeks to raise awareness of genocide

Before System of a Down wrapped up their Souls 2004 benefit with the
song “P.L.U.C.K. (Politically Lying, Unholy, Cowardly Killers),”
frontman Serj Tankanian yelled from the stage, “I want to thank you
guys for making this one of the best fucking shows!”
The sold-out concert, held Saturday night at Los Angeles’ Greek
Theater, raised awareness of the World War I-era mass murders of
Armenians by Turkey’s Ottoman Empire, which Turkey and several other
nations, including the U.S., refuse to recognize as genocide.
System began with a five-song barrage that began with “Aerials” and
ended with “Chop Suey.” During a high-octane version of “War?,”
Tankian chanted “Bush is gonna let us all mother fuckers die” to
thunderous applause.
Guitarist Daron Malakian then addressed the crowd: “We ain’t fucking
around. We’re not gonna gyp you like all those fucking bands on MTV.”
Malakian surprised his bandmates by singing an Armenian love song and
concluding “P.L.U.C.K.” with a solo guitar version of the Armenian
national anthem that moved bassist Shavo Odadjian to tears.
It was one of two times on this night the bassist admitted to letting
his emotions go. “My grandpa walked backstage and when he was hugging
me he was crying,” he said backstage after the show. “And it made me
start bawling. He witnessed it. He had to eat grass for weeks. He
doesn’t know his age, we don’t know his birthday and we don’t know
our family trees. To be able to make our families and all these
people we don’t know feel this way is so important to us.”
If there was one downside for fans, it was that the band, which is in
the midst of writing a new album, due by the end of the year, didn’t
play any of the new songs. Odadjian said it wasn’t for lack of
material. “We have a lot of songs, but we’re not going to play them
and perform them until they’re really ready.”
System of a Down set list:
Aerials
Suite-Pee
Suggestions
Psycho
Chop Suey
Kitt
Soil
Forest
War?
Mind
Mr. Jack
Sugar
Chick ‘N’ Stu
Innervision
ATWA
Prison Song
Needles
Deer Dance
Toxicity
Science
Roulette
Unnamed Armenian Ballad
P.L.U.C.K.
STEVE BALTIN
(April 26, 2004)

Associated Press
April 26 2004
Clinton’s Memoirs to Be Released in June
HILLEL ITALIE
Associated Press
NEW YORK – The suspense is over, almost. Former President Clinton’s
memoirs will be published in late June, and promotion will begin a
few weeks earlier with a speech at BookExpo America, the industry’s
annual convention.
“It is the fullest and most nuanced account of a presidency ever
written, and one of the most revealing and remarkable memoirs I have
ever had the honor of publishing,” Sonny Mehta, president and
editor-in-chief of Alfred A. Knopf, said in a statement Monday.
“He talks with candor about his successes, as well as his setbacks,
looking at both his career in public service and his life.”
The book, for which Clinton received a reported $10 million to $12
million, will be called “My Life.” Knopf is planning a first printing
of 1.5 million, a realistic number given the success of “Living
History,” the memoirs of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Nearly 1.7 million copies of the hardcover of “Living History” are in
print and a 525,000 first printing was announced for the paperback,
which just came out.
If the former president should fail to sell more books than the first
lady, he won’t be alone. Memoirs by Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan
both proved less popular than those written by their wives.
No precise date has been set for the book, which Clinton is still
completing. Details on the book’s length, cover and promotional tour
are also being worked out. One event has been scheduled: Clinton will
speak at BookExpo America, which takes place in Chicago from June
3-6. Then-first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke at BookExpo in
1995.
Like Bob Woodward’s “Plan of Attack” and Richard Clarke’s “Against
All Enemies,” Clinton’s book will likely make its way into the
presidential campaign, especially if the former president defends his
record on fighting terrorism.
The book was edited by Robert Gottlieb, who has worked with such
Pulitzer Prize winners as Robert Caro, Toni Morrison and Katharine
Graham.
But it will be an admittedly hurried production, with Knopf having
just two months to convert the manuscript into a finished book, a
process that often takes several months.
If Bill Clinton turns out a first-rate memoir, especially about his
presidential years, he will be a true path breaker. The only highly
regarded presidential memoir is by Ulysses Grant, who devoted the
vast majority of the book to his triumphant Civil War military
leadership and wrote virtually nothing about his often disastrous
presidency.
Most presidential works have the dull, self-serving tone of a
prepared speech. They suffer from the impersonal hand of a ghost
writer or from the impersonal tastes of the president. The memoirs of
Herbert Hoover, for example, include balance sheets on food
assistance to Armenia and Lithuania and estimated totals of dried
fruit exports.
Timing and luck have kept some of the more eloquent leaders from
telling their stories. Four early, literary presidents – Thomas
Jefferson, James Madison and John and John Quincy Adams – never
published full-length memoirs largely because it was considered in
poor taste to dwell on one’s accomplishments.
Abraham Lincoln and John Kennedy were assassinated; Franklin
Roosevelt also died in office and Woodrow Wilson finished his
presidency in such poor health he never got past the preface of an
intended book.

Governors Office of Emergency Services and Partners Announce Disaster
Preparedness Conference
SACRAMENTO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–04/26/2004–Disaster experts from
California and around the world, including Taiwan, Japan, Turkey and
Armenia, will offer their insights and expertise at the upcoming
fourth annual Disaster Resistant California conference, being held May
3-5 at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento.
The conference, hosted by the Governor’s Office of Emergency
Services, in partnership with the Collaborative for Disaster
Mitigation at SJSU, brings together local, state, national and
international experts in disaster preparedness, response, recovery and
mitigation. The theme — Realistic Strategies — underscores the
conference’s aim to highlight best practices that can be easily
adopted.
More than 500 attendees from government, the private sector,
nonprofit organizations, and academia will share their knowledge on
how communities and businesses strengthen their resistance to natural
and human-caused disasters. The conference will feature more than 70
presentations, including talks on:
— The latest alert and warning system technology
— The strength of well-trained disaster volunteers
— The media experience during crisis
— Best mitigation practices in California adopted overseas
— Emergency survival for businesses
— The psychological aspects of surviving disaster
— Lessons learned from Southern California Fires
Also featured are more than 30 exhibitors, technology
demonstrations, DRC Community awards and professional development
courses. Participants will also have the opportunity to learn about
and comment on the draft State Hazard Mitigation Plan and hear from
cities about their progress on local mitigation plans, due in
November.
For a complete schedule and registration, visit
Media representatives: please register by contacting
the media contacts.
OES coordinates state-level emergency preparedness, response,
recovery and mitigation for a wide range of natural and human-caused
emergencies and disasters. As part of its responsibilities, OES
coordinates the California Mutual Aid System. Through this “neighbor
helping neighbor” system, resources from throughout the state can be
called on to support local governments, and work with other state and
federal agencies.
The Collaborative for Disaster Mitigation at San Jose State
University is a collaborative effort among local governments, the
private sector and academia. Its main focus is to limit loss of life,
injury and property damage from natural disasters, and to accelerate
economic recovery through implementation of mitigation measures.
CONTACT:Media Contacts/Reservations: OES Sheryl Tankersley,
916-845-8458 or San Leandro Dan Lunsford, 510-577-3332 or CARD Ana
Marie Jones, 510-451-3140
SOURCE: Collaborative for Disaster Mitigation
04/26/2004 14:06 EASTERN

Armenian Assembly of America
122 C Street, NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-363-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:
PRESS RELEASE
April 26, 2004
Contact: David Zenian
E-Mail [email protected]
PRESIDENT BUSH AVOIDS THE WORD “GENOCIDE” TO MOLLIFY TURKEY
WASHINGTON -The Armenian Assembly of America Monday expressed surprise and
disappointment in President Bush’s statement of commemoration on the
occasion of the 89th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide which used
language to clearly define the events but once again stopped short of using
the word genocide.
In his statement this year, the President said, in part:
“On this day, we pause in remembrance of one of the most horrible tragedies
of the 20th century, the annihilation of as many as 1.5 million Armenians
through forced exile and murder at the end of the Ottoman Empire.”
While the choice of words in President Bush’s statement were in effect a
textbook definition of the crime which many nations have acknowledged and
recognized as the first genocide of the 20th century, the statement this
year again fell short of his 2000 election campaign pledge when he said:
“The 20th century was marred by unimaginable brutality, mass murder and
genocide. History records that the Armenians were the first people in the
last century to have endured these cruelties. Armenians were subjected to a
genocidal campaign that defies comprehension… If elected President, I
would ensure that our nation properly recognizes the tragic suffering of the
Armenian people.”
But for the 4th Armenian Genocide commemorative statement since his
election, President Bush again failed to fulfill his election promise.
“It is deeply disappointing that our President chose to avoid historical
truth and the politically inevitable – U.S. reaffirmation of the Armenian
Genocide. With our northern neighbor last week joining the growing list of
nations that reject Turkish threats of retribution, the U.S. may well be the
last western nation to do what is right,” Assembly Board of Trustees
Chairman Hirair Hovnanian said.
The Canadian House of Commons last weeks joined France, Italy, the Vatican,
a number of other European countries and the European Parliament in
acknowledging this crime against humanity as genocide.
Also last week, the New York Times reversed decades of ambiguity by
declaring in favor of using the term “genocide” to describe the cataclysm of
1915. The Boston Globe adopted a similar policy change last year.
“The process of genocide affirmation is clear. When any reputable or
resolute government, journal or international body examines the facts, sets
aside politics and rejects Turkish intimidation, the Armenian Genocide is
reaffirmed,” Assembly Board of Directors Chairman Anthony Barsamian said.
Unlike President Bush, Democratic Presidential candidate Senator John Kerry
(D-MA) last week reiterated his often stated recognition of the Genocide and
called on “governments and people everywhere to formally recognize this
tragedy. Only by learning from this dark period of history and working to
prevent further genocides can we truly honor the memories of those Armenians
who suffered unjustly.”
The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide
organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian
issues. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.
NR # 2004-046
Following is the text of President Bush’s statement:
“On this day, we pause in remembrance of one of the most horrible
tragedies of the 20th century, the annihilation of as many as 1.5
million Armenians through forced exile and murder at the end of the
Ottoman Empire. This terrible event remains a source of pain for
people in Armenia and Turkey and for all those who believe in
freedom, tolerance, and the dignity of every human life. I join with
my fellow Americans and the Armenian community in the United States
and around the world in mourning this loss of life.
The United States is proud of the strong ties we share with Armenia.
>From the end of World War I and again since the reemergence of an
independent Armenian state in 1991, our country has sought a
partnership with Armenia that promotes democracy, security
cooperation, and free markets. Today, our Nation remains committed to
a peace settlement in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and is grateful
for Armenia’s continuing cooperation in the war on terror. By
advancing understanding and goodwill, free nations can help build a
brighter future for the world. Our country seeks to help Armenia
expand its strategic relations with the United States and our
European allies.
Generations of Armenian Americans have also strengthened our
communities and enriched our Nation’s character. By preserving their
heritage, faith, and traditions, Armenian Americans enhance the
diversity that makes America great.
I commend individuals in Armenia and Turkey who have worked to
support peace and reconciliation, including through the
Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission, and call on Armenia and
Turkey to restore their economic, political, and cultural ties. I
also send warm wishes and expressions of solidarity to the Armenian
people on this solemn day of remembrance.”
GEORGE W. BUSH

ArmenPress
April 26 2004
KOCHARIAN ATTENDS AZNAVOUR CONCERT, TO MEET WITH CHIRAC AND LEAVE FOR
WARSAW
PARIS, APRIL 26, ARMENPRESS: An Armenian delegation, led by
president Robert Kocharian, arrived on April 25 in Paris and on the
same day the president and his spouse, Mrs. Bella Kocharian attended
one of farewell concerts of famous singer Charles Aznavour at Paris
Palais de Congres. The concert was one of a series of 25 concerts
which Aznavour has planned to perform to celebrate his 80-th birth
anniversary on May 22. The packed house greeted the Armenian
president . Charles Aznavour thanked the Armenian president for
accepting his invitation and announced that he dedicated the concert
to Armenia and especially to its younger generation. The proceeds
from the concert, which amount to around $250,000, will be
transferred to Aznavour pour l’Armenie Foundation for implementation
of its charity programs in Armenia.
The same day president Kocharian met with the director general of
UNESCO Koshiru Matsura, who was also present at Aznavour’s concert.
Today Kocharian is scheduled to meet with president Jacques Chirac.
On April 27 the Armenian delegation is leaving for Warsaw to
participate in World Economic Forum, where Kocharian is scheduled to
meet, apart from Polish and Georgian presidents, also with his
Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev to discuss the Karabagh
conflict.

ArmenPress
April 26 2004
MARTIN BERBERYAN WINS EUROPE CHAMPION TITLE
YEREVAN, APRIL 26, ARMENPRESS: Free-style wrestler Martin
Berberyan from Yerevan (55 kg weight category) has snatched Europe
champion title beating in the final Russia’s Vadim Batayev in Ankara.
Another Armenian wrestler, Jirayr Hovhanesian, 66 kg, was the
fourth and three other wrestlers of Armenia had each one win in the
first round but lost battles in the second one.

ArmenPress
April 26 2004
ARMAVIA FLIES MORE PASSENGERS
YEREVAN, APRIL 26, ARMENPRESS: Armenia’s leading commercial
carrier, Armavia, said today it had flown 63,700 passengers in the
first quarter of this year with passenger turnover making 112,600,000
km, while cargo turnover was 600,000 km. Almost 86 percent of air
carriage was to CIS countries.
Armavia launched new, summer flight schedule from March 28 to run
until October 28. New regular flights will start operating with more
flights to Moscow and Novosibirsk, which will allow Armavia
passengers to reach any destination in Russia through Armavia’s
partner Sibir carrier.
The number of regular flights will increase against last year by
15 percent with overall 70 flights a week. Also flights will be
operated from the second-largest Armenian town of Gyumri airport to
destinations in southern Russia.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 26, 2004 Monday 9:10 AM Eastern Time
Armenia decides to send transportation platoon to Iraq
By Tigran Liloyan
YEREVAN
Armenia’s military leadership has decided to send a transportation
platoon to Iraq in order to take part in post-war reconstruction in
the country.
First Deputy Defence Minister Colonel-General Mikhail Arutyunyan,
chief of Armenia’s General Staff, said on Monday sappers’ unit and
three doctors are ready to leave for Iraq.
“We should not forget that the Armenian community lives in Iraq. We
should remember of our future and make our contribution to Iraq’s
restoration,” General Arutyunyan said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Ottawa Sun
April 26, 2004 Monday Final Edition
HISTORY OF HATE
BY PAUL STANWAY, EDMONTON SUN
Armenians around the world today commemorate the beginning of what
they view as the darkest period in their long history, which is
saying something for a people who have been subject to almost
constant invasion and persecution.
On Wednesday the House of Commons voted overwhelmingly (153 to 68) in
favour of a motion that “acknowledges the Armenian genocide of 1915
and condemns this as a crime against humanity.”
The history of Armenia is a litany of tragedy and suffering,
endlessly repeated. But it is also a story of survival, against all
the odds and in the face of every possible indignity and handicap we
humans are capable of imposing upon one another.
The Armenians are the oldest Christian nation on earth, a forgotten
remnant of the ancient world from a time before Islam conquered the
Near East. You may not think you know any Armenians, but unless
you’ve never heard of Cher (full name Cherylin Sarkissian), tennis
great Andre Agassi or chess master Gary Kasparov, you are wrong.
GREAT DIASPORA
They are all children of the great diaspora that followed the
massacre of Turkish Armenians in 1915 — the “crime against humanity”
deplored by a majority of our MPs. It began on April 24, 1915 with
the arrest of Armenian professionals and intellectuals, and ended two
years later with Turkey’s Armenian population having been reduced
from around 3 million to fewer than 200,000.
What happened to the missing Armenians is still a matter of hot
debate for our NATO ally, Turkey, which vehemently denies systematic
slaughter. Hundreds of thousands fled to Russian Armenia, and
thousands of others eventually made their way to Europe and North
America, but somewhere between 600,000 and 2 million died as a result
of forced relocation, starvation and the actions of Turkish troops
and civilians.
The actual number seems less important than the fact a brutal
slaughter took place, documented by eyewitness accounts from
survivors, and from credible reports by mostly American diplomats and
aid workers on the scene. There was no Auschwitz, no Treblinka, and
the weapons of choice seem to have been the bayonet and the knife,
but the massacre of the Armenians was in no way less systematic and
inhuman than the Holocaust. An entire population was driven from land
it had occupied since the beginnings of recorded history, and those
who were not killed were left to starve or die of exposure.
There is no little irony in the fact Adolf Hitler used this genocide
as a prototype for his own final solution, apparently noting that 25
years later no one remembered what had happened to the Armenians. But
at the time he was wrong. The story of the Armenians received wide
publicity in the years between the world wars, particularly in the
U.S., Canada and Britain.
There was even a time when the Turkish authorities themselves
acknowledged what had happened. Several of those responsible were
tried for their crimes by Turkish courts and executed. But as a
valuable ally during the Cold War years, as NATO’s bulwark against
Soviet Central Asia, there was a concerted attempt to forget and
finally to deny Turkey’s past.
SIMPLE HONESTY
What’s the point of remembering a regrettable slice of the past?
Apart from simple honesty, humanity is the accumulation of its
history and it is impossible to learn from events if we deny they
happened. In Turkey’s case, denying the massacre of the Armenians
guarantees the memory will fester.
Some Turkish leaders in 1915 were openly critical of their
government, others bravely refused to implement genocidal policies,
while ordinary Turks were summarily executed for trying to help their
Armenian neighbours.
The present Turkish government would do better to remember their
example than to deny history.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 26, 2004 Monday
US not intend to deploy military bases in South Caucasus – general
By Tigran Liloyan
YEREVAN
General Charles F. Wald, deputy commander of the U.S. European
Command, said the U.S. does not intend to deploy its military bases
in the South Caucasus.
After his talks with Armenia’s military leaders on Monday, General
Wald said the U.S. intends to have its partners in order to fight
terrorism, which continues to grow.
The U.S. intends to maintain cooperation with Armenia, Russia and
Azerbaijan in fighting terrorism, ensuring stability and other fields
of mutual interest, the general stressed. The U.S. is a witness of a
new world and it is ready to maintain partnership in this changing
world for new purposes, General Wald said.
The U.S. European Command is planning to conduct joint exercises with
all countries of the region, he said. The general noted Armenia’s
active participation in NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme.
First Deputy Defence Minister Colonel-General Mikhail Arutyunyan,
chief of Armenia’s General Staff, said, “The consultations on the
army reform in Armenia will be an important part of the talks.”
General Wald discussed prospects for cooperation between Armenia and
the state of Kansas in carrying out peacekeeping and medical
programmes and conducting joint exercises.
The consultations also focused on training of Armenian officers in
U.S. military schools, modernising the Armenian Armed Forces’
communication system and developing cooperation as part of NATO’s
Partnership for Peace programme.
Earlier in the day, Armenia’s Armed Forces and the U.S. European
Command signed an agreement on purchases and supplies. The agreement
will make it possible to provide logistical support to each other
during different exercises with the following compensation on a
mutual basis.
All obligations “are of mutual nature and allow the armies of the two
countries to establish ally relationship,” the Armenian general said.
General Wald said the agreement is very important both for the U.S.
and Armenia. The agreement envisions fuelling up of American military
planes at Armenia’s airfields. Armenian aircraft will be fuelled up
at U.S. military bases in Europe.