Category: News

Samantha Power, Rwandan Genocide Survivors Address NCC Event
>From “Carol Fouke”
Date Mon, 26 Apr 2004 18:24:27 -0400
For Immediate Release
Samantha Power, Rwandan Genocide Survivors Address NCC”s April 23
Commemoration
By James N. Birkitt, Jr., for the NCC
April 23, 2004, LOS ANGELES – A commemoration of the 10th anniversary
of the Rwandan Genocide, held here today and sponsored by the National
Council of Churches USA, recalled the horror of the genocide and
offered a word of counsel and hope – genocide can be prevented.
Keynote speaker was Samantha Power, recipient of the 2003 Pulitzer
Prize for her book “‘A Problem from Hell’: America and the Age of
Genocide,” which focuses on the failure of America, other Western
governments and the United Nations to respond effectively to genocide.
Power called on United States to redefine its “Evital interests” to
include genocide. Currently, long-standing American policy permits
military intervention only when America’s security or economic
well-being is threatened.
Another positive step, she said, “would be for the U.S. to replace its
“all or nothing” diplomatic approach with a continuum of responses and
options that may stop genocide before it occurs. The failure of the
U.S. government to act is always an implicit signal to other
governments as well as a green light to the perpetrators of genocide.”
Power noted that such actions would be necessary to prevent a
repetition of this horror in Sudan. She pointed out that even the
slightest condemnation by the U.S. Government of policies of the
government in Khartoum results in the easing up of hostilities.
An eclectic gathering of religious leaders, educators, public policy
experts, students and activists attended the event, titled
“Remembering Rwanda: Ten Years After The Genocide.” Held at the
Fowler Museum in Los Angeles, the April 23 event featured
presentations by genocide experts, testimonies by survivors, and the
premiere showing of a documentary film on the Rwandan Genocide.
The 1994 Rwandan Genocide, the result of escalating violence between
Hutu and Tutsi peoples, began in April 1994 and led to the murder of
more than 800,000 Hutu and moderate Tutsi, and the rape of 250,000
Hutu women, during 100 days of terror.
Power’s research on the world’s failure to intervene in Rwanda notes
that the response of the United States and other Western countries is
shaped by decisions made prior to the start of genocide, rather than
in response to it. She also noted that a series of missteps and mixed
signals by the United States and the United Nations emboldened the
perpetrators of the Rwandan Genocide.
In her remarks, Power highlighted ways future genocides might be
prevented. In addition to calling on the U.S. government to expand
its definition of “vital interests” to include prevention and
intervention in genocide, Power called on journalists to focus world
attention on genocide, encouraged faith communities to raise their
voices, and suggested governments note “the early warning signals that
are always part of the cycle of genocide, including smaller massacres
that serve as trial balloons to test international response and the
demonizing of specific groups by the government or the media.”
Power also called on governments to find new ways to conduct
diplomacy. “Diplomats are so conditioned to be diplomats that they
consistently offer conventional responses in the face of
unconventional horrors. Governments must replace the pantomime of
response with robust, effective responses.”
The NCC event included the premiere of “God Sleeps In Rwanda,” a
documentary by filmmakers Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy Sherman. The
film highlights ways genocide decimated Rwandan families, destabilized
the culture, and contributed to the dramatic increase of HIV and AIDS
among Rwandan women and children.
During his remarks, Rev. Bob Edgar, General Secretary of the National
Council of Churches, noted, “It is important that we remember what we
failed to do, and that includes churches and church people. We must
ask forgiveness for our silence. Those of us in faith communities must
honor God’s call to love and care for the least of our brothers and
sisters.”
Dr. Richard Hrair Dekmejian, an expert on the Armenian Genocide and
professor of political science at the University of Southern
California, noted that despite the current international focus on
terrorism, “Terrorists have killed relatively few people when compared
with genocide.”
Dekmejian, noting the NCC program was being held on the eve of the
89th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, called for a three-point
commitment by faith communities and people of conscience to “bring the
perpetrators of genocide to justice, work for compensation for its
victims, and influence governments to prevent and intervene in future
genocides.”
Gerry Caplan, founder of the international coalition Remembering
Rwanda, suggested four groups who must be remembered one decade after
the Rwandan Genocide: “those who died; the victims who survived; the
perpetrators, most of whom were never brought to justice; and the
international community, or more accurately, international bystanders,
who actively chose not to get involved.”
Caplan laid broad blame for the failure to intervene in the Rwandan
Genocide on parties including churches within Rwanda, the governments
of the United States and Europe and the United Nations.
Also participating in the program was Rabbi Allen I. Freehling,
Executive Director of the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission.
Rabbi Freehling closed the program with words from the Hebrew prophets
exhorting all people to love their fellow human beings.
Two Rwandan Genocide survivors vividly described the destruction of
entire villages and towns, the use of rape as a tool of genocide, the
mass psychosis of genocide, and the lasting impact on survivors. In a
powerful and moving moment, one survivor said, “I recently looked
through my photo albums of my friends and family from Rwanda – and
realized that everyone in those photos is dead. Except for me. I am
called to bear witness.”
The “Remembering Rwanda: Ten Years After The Genocide” commemorative
event was held as part of the World Council of Churches’ Decade To
Overcome Violence.
Reflecting after the event, Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, the NCC’s
Associate General Secretary for International Affairs and Peace,
commented that “What was quite compelling was Samantha Power’s
assessment that the lessons of Rwanda could be applied today to
prevent another tragedy in Sudan. If we have learned anything as an
international community from our various commemorations of the Rwandan
Genocide, it is that we must apply these lessons to situations that
come before us. Otherwise, we will be resigned to saying yet another
time, ‘Never again!'”
-end-
NCC Media Liaison: Carol Fouke, 212-870-2252; [email protected];
James N. Birkitt, Jr., Director of Communication of
the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, Los
Angeles, filed this report.

26 April 2004
Report on CIS-7 Poverty Reduction Initiative Released
Initiative aims for economic growth in seven countries
Four international financial institutions (IFIs) released April 26 an
overview of economic trends and developments in the seven low-income
countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) that are the focus
of the CIS-7 poverty reduction and economic growth initiative — Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.
“The primary objective of the CIS-7 Initiative was to revitalize the
partnership between the countries and the international community, as well
as among the countries themselves, to achieve faster economic growth and
poverty reduction,” said an International Monetary Fund (IMF) press release.
A ministerial meeting in April 2002 in Washington formally endorsed the
initiative.
The IFIs agreed “to assess the continued relevance of the Initiative” in the
seven countries “compared with alternative cooperation mechanisms.”
In addition to the IMF, other institutions involved in the CIS-7 Initiative
are the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD), and the Asian Development Bank (AsDB).
The full report is available at:
Following is the IMF press release on the report:
International Monetary Fund
Washington, D.C.
April 26, 2004
IMF, WORLD BANK, EBRD AND ASDB RELEASE REPORT
ON CIS-7 INITIATIVE
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the Asian Development Bank (AsDB)
are releasing a joint review of recent trends and developments in the seven
low-income countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The
report
() focuses on growth and
poverty, debt and fiscal sustainability, governance and the business
climate, and regional cooperation. It also describes donor activities in
support of reforms in these areas. This report pulls together the results of
three years of work under the CIS-7 Initiative, as outlined below.
In early 2001, the staffs of the IMF and World Bank, in consultation with
the AsDB and EBRD, issued a report on the external debt and fiscal
sustainability situations in CIS countries eligible for concessional funding
from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA). The
report examined the causes and consequences of the large external debt
incurred by Armenia, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova and Tajikistan
since 1991 and concluded that they faced a difficult fiscal and external
outlook in the coming decade. While massive external shocks and inadequate
policy responses, combined with an overestimation of debt carrying capacity
by lenders (including IFIs), had contributed to this situation, corruption
and poor governance, lack of policy ownership, and weak implementation
capacity had exacerbated the problem. The report urged a strengthening of
adjustment and reform efforts, coupled with increased concessional
assistance and debt relief. The report attracted considerable interest from
the international community and led to calls for a broader examination of
the transition challenges facing these countries.
A second report in 2002 on poverty reduction, growth, and debt
sustainability in the low-income CIS countries featured a widening of the
analysis and added two IDA-eligible countries — Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.
This report was considered at a conference in London in February 2002, which
recommended the launch of a special time-bound initiative for the seven
countries.
The primary objective of the CIS-7 Initiative was to revitalize the
partnership between the countries and the international community, as well
as among the countries themselves, to achieve faster economic growth and
poverty reduction. Specific efforts were aimed at raising awareness about
the countries’ plight; improving donor coordination; increasing knowledge
services and delivery; building capacity; and promoting regional
cooperation. A ministerial meeting in April 2002 in Washington. formally
endorsed the Initiative.
A large body of analytical work was commissioned in 2002 focusing on the
transition experience and challenges facing the CIS-7 and the role of the
international community. This work, which was discussed at a second
conference held in Lucerne in February 2003, included wider participation of
countries and institutions, including international and CIS-7 non-government
organizations and academics. Since then a number of topical seminars in the
region have sought to foster capacity-building in key areas, including
participatory approaches to poverty reduction strategies; public expenditure
management; reforms in the energy sector; and in health, education and labor
markets; financial sector supervision; public debt management; and regional
public goods. Participants at the conference noted the increasingly
divergent performance of the CIS-7 countries, the growing importance of
other fora dealing with the agenda, and the difficulties in addressing
entrenched country and regional issues in the CIS-7 format. They agreed that
it would be useful to review the situation in 2004 to assess the continued
relevance of the Initiative compared to alternative cooperation mechanisms.
The four IFIs have recently completed such a review in consultation with the
CIS-7 governments, which is summarized in the report being issued.
Since the launch of the Initiative, donor awareness and coordination for the
benefit of the countries have become demonstrably stronger. Donors have
responded in some cases with debt rescheduling and more concessional
assistance, and supported a growing range of activities in knowledge
creation, cross-country dissemination, and capacity building. With
cooperation increasingly being focused at the sub-regional level and the
growing divergence in policies and performance across the CIS-7, several of
the countries would like to move beyond the Initiative. The IFIs will
continue to work with these countries to define new modalities of
cooperation on specific issues, involving sub-regional vehicles as
appropriate. Sub-regional efforts show signs of promise in Central Asia,
while Moldova is being drawn into the EU’s Wider Europe Initiative. Clearly,
the South Caucasus would benefit considerably from improved economic
relations among the three countries, and the international community is
expected to focus much more on fostering such relations.
There is considerable potential for enhancing the development prospects of
the CIS-7 through the Poverty Reduction Strategy process. For the countries
themselves, better progress is needed to define priorities and link them
closely with their budgets, while donors are expected to insist that their
assistance be framed within the context of country poverty reduction
strategies. Levels of assistance should be consistent with commitments made
with respect to attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in these
countries.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: )
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

California Courier Online, April 29, 2004
1 – Commentary
Kerry Says Genocide; Bush Doesn’t;
A Clear Choice for Armenians
By Harut Sassounian
California Courier Publisher
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2 – Haigazian Women’s Auxiliary to Host
May 20 Luncheon with Diva Baraydarian
3 – Glendale High School Armenian Clubs
Raise $10,000 for Ghapan Students
4 – Chamlian School Students Register
Success at L.A. County Science Fair
5 – Colorado Armenians Wrap Up
Armenian Ski Weekend in Vail
6 – Karen Kondazian’s Performances
Extend ‘Callas’ Play thru July 25
7 – Babaian’s ‘After Freedom’
Opens in Theaters, May 14
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1 – Commentary
Kerry Says Genocide; Bush Doesn’t;
A Clear Choice for Armenians
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
For the fourth year in a row, Pres. Bush has broken his promise to the
Armenian American community. Last Saturday, he issued yet another annual
April 24 statement that does not refer to the Armenian Genocide as
“genocide.”
During the 2000 presidential campaign, then candidate George Bush, in a
written statement, referred to the “genocidal campaign” perpetrated against
the Armenians and pledged to properly characterize it when elected
President.
Since the election, however, Pres. Bush’s handlers have not permitted him
to say “Armenian Genocide” in his annual April 24 statements. Instead, he
has used every other conceivable word in the English language except
genocide to describe what happened to the Armenians from 1915 to 1923.
Sadly, this charade keeps going on, year after year. Here is this year’s
selection of Pres. Bush’s evasive and euphemistic words: “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 finally, “this loss of life.”
To add insult to injury, Pres. Bush’s April 24 statement, most
inappropriately, includes praise for the discredited Turkish Armenian
Reconciliation Commission (TARC). The President’s “wise” advisers,
incredibly, may not have heard that TARC officially, and mercifully,
terminated its existence two weeks ago. This is the second year in a row
that Pres. Bush has plugged TARC. By doing so, he has left no doubt in
anyone’s mind that this is an American-funded and supported initiative.
Nothing is more damning for TARC than the fact that the Bush Administration
is its mastermind.
By not saying genocide, Pres. Bush also ignored the letters signed by 169
bi-partisan members of the House of Representatives and 22 U.S. Senators
(including Sen. John Kerry) urging him to use the term “Armenian Genocide”
in his annual commemorative statement.
To make matters worse, the Bush Administration continues to oppose a
pending congressional resolution that marks the 15th anniversary of the
U.S. implementation of the Genocide Convention, for the simple reason that
it includes a passing reference to the Armenian Genocide, along with the
Holocaust as well as the Cambodian and Rwandan genocides. Senate Resolution
164 currently has 38 Senators as cosponsors. A counterpart measure in the
House (Resolution 193) was unanimously adopted by the Judiciary Committee
last May and currently has 110 cosponsors. However, the Speaker of the
House, Dennis Hastert, at the instruction of Pres. Bush’s handlers, has
refused to allow a vote on this resolution by the full House. Speaker
Hastert has also broken the promise he made in 2000 to reschedule a vote on
the Armenian Genocide resolution that he pulled out of the House floor at
Pres. Clinton’s request moments before its assured passage. I hope the
voters would not ignore Speaker Hastert’s antagonistic stance on this issue
when he asks for their support in this year’s elections.
One may wonder why the President of the United States insists on issuing
these flawed April 24 statements year after year, thereby antagonizing the
Armenian-American community. Pres. Bush’s shrewd handlers probably hope
that by issuing these sugarcoated statements, they would be able to fool a
few politically unsophisticated Armenians and gain their support.
The Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry, on the other hand, had no
problem using the term “Armenian Genocide” in his April 24 statement. He
described the Genocide as “a systematic policy of ethnic extermination” by
the Ottoman Empire that “killed or deported over 1.5 million Armenian men,
women and children.”
In his statement, Sen. Kerry thanked “Armenian Americans for their
persistence in the struggle to gain international recognition of this
atrocity. By keeping the memory of this tragedy alive, Armenian Americans
remind us all of our collective responsibility to insure that such horrors
are not repeated. I am proud of my work with the Armenian American
community to gain broader recognition of the Armenian Genocide, including
fighting alongside Senator Robert Dole in 1990 for designation of April 24
as a national day of remembrance for this tragedy…. I join Armenian
Americans and Armenians worldwide in mourning the victims of the Armenian
Genocide and I call on governments and people everywhere to formally
recognize this tragedy. Only by learning from this dark period of history
and working to prevent future genocides can we truly honor the memories of
those Armenians who suffered so unjustly.”
Most Armenians are naturally skeptical about such campaign statements given
the fact that they have been misled before by Pres. Bush (senior), Pres.
Clinton, and the current President Bush. As candidates, they all promised
to recognize the Armenian Genocide, and after the election, they did the
exact opposite by actively lobbing against its recognition!
What makes Sen. Kerry hopefully different from these three presidents is
that before becoming a presidential candidate, he had an extensive track
record of supporting the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and
cosponsoring resolutions in the Senate on this subject. His 20-year long
history of supporting various Armenian causes gives us the confidence that
once elected, he will continue being supportive. Of course, it is up to the
Armenian American community to cultivate the necessary contacts within Sen.
Kerry’s inner circle in order to be able to counter all those who try to
undermine his favorable position on this issue.
The choice is therefore clear between Bush and Kerry. Those who want four
more years of broken promises on the Armenian Genocide can keep on backing
Pres. Bush. However, those who want the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide should support the candidacy of John Kerry.
A final word to those Turks who are ghoulishly rejoicing that once again
Pres. Bush has refrained from using the term “Armenian Genocide.” Only a
totally shameless people would jump for joy when the President of the
United States is accusing their nation of committing “the most horrible
tragedies of the 20th century, the annihilation of as many as 1.5 million
Armenians through forced exile and murder….” If the President of the United
States had accused my ancestors of such dastardly crimes, I would have been
in no mood to celebrate. Instead, I would have been terribly embarrassed
and ashamed!
British Envoy Lays a Wreath at Genocide Monument
Last week, we reported in this column the announcement of the British
Ambassador to Armenia, Thorda Abbott-Watt, that she would be absent from
Yerevan on April 24, while Armenians are commemorating the 89th anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide. She said in an e-mail that she would return to
Armenia on April 26. We attributed her absence to her possible intent to
avoid joining the diplomatic corps in Armenia on April 24 in laying a
wreath in memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide at the Genocide
Memorial Monument in Yerevan.
At the last minute, however, Amb. Abbott-Watt changed her plans. She
returned to Yerevan earlier than scheduled and managed to place a wreath at
the Armenian Genocide Monument on April 24.
Regardless of what prompted her to return to Armenia earlier than planned,
we are pleased that she had an opportunity to place a wreath at the
Genocide Monument with the following inscription: “We Will Remember Them –
British Embassy.” In an e-mail she sent on April 26, she explained her
actions as follows: “Successive British Ambassadors have accepted the
Armenian Government’s annual invitation to lay a wreath at the memorial in
Yerevan on 24 April. Whatever our differences on terminology, we have all
felt a deep sympathy with the Armenian people on this sad day, and chosen
to be there in person if we are in the country.” Even though she still
refers to the Genocide Monument as just “the memorial,” we view her
presence there on April 24 as an implied acknowledgment of the Armenian
Genocide.
We also noted among others the presence of U.S. Ambassador John Ordway at
the Genocide Monument in Yerevan. He kindly paid his respects on April 24
to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, even though his
government, just like Britain’s, refuses to acknowledge the Armenian
Genocide!
The kind gestures of these two Ambassadors re-confirm our initial position
that our quarrel is not with these diplomats who are doing their job to the
best of their abilities. Their presence at the Genocide Monument reflects
their personal sympathy for the plight of the Armenians despite the
denialist positions of their own governments.
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2 – Haigazian Women’s Auxiliary to Host
May 20 Luncheon with Diva Baraydarian
LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles opera lovers are excited about the May and June
performances of lyric soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian at the Dorothy Chandler
Pavilion in Los Angeles.
The Haigazian University Women’s Auxiliary will give fans an opportunity to
meet the diva close up at their May 20 luncheon at the Pasadena estate of
Dr. and Mrs. John Kassabian.
Four years ago, a young 26-year-old Bayrakdarian won first place in Placido
Domingo’s Operalia 2000 at UCLA’s Royce Hall, taking home $50,000 in the
world opera competition. She has held crowds spellbound ever since. In
addition to her onstage performances, she can be heard on the original
motion picture soundtrack of “Ararat” and the original soundtrack of “The
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.”
Bayrakdarian will appear in Los Angeles as Susanna in a production of
Mozar’s “Le Nozze de Figaro.” Four prime Founders Circle tickets to a
Bayrakdarian performance in Los Angeles will be raffled at the luncheon.
For additional information, contact Thelma Kevorkian, (323) 663-1951, or
Hilda Murachanian, (626) 510-9111.
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3 – Glendale High School Armenian Clubs
Raise $10,000 for Ghapan Students
GLENDALE – The Armenian Clubs from Glendale Unified School District High
Schools, under the guidance of Greg Krikorian, Vice President of the
Glendale Board of Education, raised over $10,000 to benefit schools in
Ghapan, Armenia on March 12.
“Hye Hopes: One Child at a Time” was an evening of song, dance and culture,
but most importantly, an opportunity for Armenian students in Glendale to
help fellow Armenian students living in Armenia. With over 1000 in
attendance, organizers were overwhelmed with the support from the schools,
families of the students and the community in general.
“We were shocked at the turn-out from every facet of the community,”
Krikorian said. “An effort like this, not only binds our community
together, but greatly benefits the children and schools of Ghapan.”
“A few months ago I had the pleasure of visiting Ghapan, Armenia along with
a delegation from the City of Glendale. That’s where I had the opportunity
to visit the schools of Ghapan and see first hand the need for us to reach
out and help. Since Glendale is the Sister City to Ghapan, it was natural
for us to help.”
“Glendale students came up with theme of ‘Hye Hopes’ and for us to generate
over $10,000 for the schools of Ghapan is a home run for the students,”
Krikorian added.
The Ghapan/Glendale Sister City Committee participated in the program with
a message from Glendale Mayor Frank Quintero, followed by a special message
from the students given by Lara Talvardian, CVHS Armenian Club President.
The evening also boasted 14 guest teachers from Armenia, visiting through
Junior Achievement of Armenia, including History teacher Gayane Alaverdyan,
of Ghapan.
Joseph Krikorian & his band entertained the audience, while the Zvartnotz
Dance group performed two breath-taking routines featuring one of its
members, Linet Amirkhanyan, President of Hoover High’s Armenian Club. The
evening closed with DJ Alfred Mazarian along with other special guests.
“We worked very hard to get the word out to our fellow students and
families. To see my classmates dancing and supporting this worthwhile event
was gratifying to me” said Narbeh Sahaghian, President of Glendale High
School’s Armenian Club.
“This was a great opportunity for us to help the children, teachers and
schools of Ghapan, who really need our help!” stated Gagik Galfayan,
President of Clark Magnet High School.
“We wanted to help the children of Ghapan while working side by side with
the students of our own high schools and students from Glendale Community
College. It was a step in the right direction for our youth,” stated
Argishd Parseklian, GCC ASA member.
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4 – Chamlian School Students Register
Success at L.A. County Science Fair
GLENDALE – Several students from Chamlian Armenian School walked away with
First, Second, and Third place prizes at the Los Angeles County Science
Fair, April 15.
Vahakn Papazian,. Talar Alexanian, Arman Hamamah, and Sako Bornazian were
awarded First place in Behavioral/Social Sciences, Chemistry, Microbiology,
and Environmental Management respectively.
Garen Gevorkian and Armen Perian received Second prizes in Earth/Space
Science and Biochemistry. Finally, Ari Injeyan was awarded the third place
in Engineering Research.
Alida Atinial, Pateel Krikorian, and Armen Artinian received Honorable
Mentions.
Special Project Awards were given to Sako Bornazian (Office of Naval
Research), Garen Gevorkian (Society of Petroleum Engineers), and Arman
Hamamah (Swift Instruments, Inc.) for their projects.
“This is truly amazing,” said Principal Vazken Madenlian.
“We are extremely proud of our students. We are positive that our students
will continue doing well in May when they represent the School’s colors in
the State Science Fair,” said Science Chairperson Lida Gevorkian.
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5 – Colorado Armenians Wrap Up
Armenian Ski Weekend in Vail
DENVER, CO – The SunSki 2004 Armenian Ski Weekend wrapped up the season
with its 2nd annual ski event held on March 24-28. Over 100 participants
from around the U.S. and Canada gathered in Vail, Colorado, rated #1 ski
resort in the country by the Ski Magazine. The participants stayed at the
newly renovated Vail Marriott Mountain Resort & Spa.
The SunSki committee, led by Alex Khadiwala, coordinated a weekend
beginning with a Meet & Greet party at Bogarts, one of Vail’s hot spot
bistro clubs. On Thursday evening, SunSki held a private dance party with
Philadelphia D.J. Jake Terkanian at the Marriott Hotel. Friday night
included another memorable party at Vail’s premiere club Sanctuary,
complete with a SunSki VIP room where participants could escape the dance
floor for conversation and drinks. On Saturday night SunSki hosted the
Barahantes with a Middle Eastern gourmet meal and music by D.J. Jake. The
weekend ended with an elaborate breakfast buffet on Sunday, and lots of
long “Armenian Goodbyes”.
In between, the participants enjoyed world class skiing with a variety of
conditions.
“Spring skiing in a fleece or a t-shirt is a great way to go”, says Jamie
Markarian of New York. The group enjoyed a number of impromptu Après ski
parties hosted by Denver’s own Dr. Garo Chalian. The daily excursions of
snowmobiling and tubing were also a big hit
“Vail has it all! The skiing at Vail can’t be beat”, says Lori Akian of
California, “I look forward to what SunSki 2005 has prepared for the next
year!”
For more information visit
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6 – Karen Kondazian’s Performances
Extend ‘Callas’ Play thru July 25
WEST LOS ANGELES – The Fountain Theatre’s critically acclaimed production
of Terrence McNally’s Master Class, which opened in Nov. 2003, and recently
concluded a thrice extended, five-month engagement, re-opens at the Odyssey
Theatre, West Los Angeles on April 30, at 8 p.m. (through July 25).
Starring Karen Kondazian as legendary opera star, Maria Callas, the play is
directed by Simon Levy.
Kondazian is considered the foremost interpreter of Tennessee Williams
leading ladies in Los Angeles theatre. William himself pronounced her
portrayal of Serafina in The Rose Tattoo as “staggeringly beautiful” and
for that performance she won the L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award. Other
awards include the Back Stage West Garland award, Ovation Award nomination,
and the L.A. Weekly award. A lifetime member of the Actors Studio,
Kondazian has studied with Lee Strasberg and Jose Quintero, and has
authored a book titled The Actor’s Encyclopedia of Casting Directors.
The performance schedule is Thursday, Friday & Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday
at 2 p.m. For reservations call 323-663-1525.
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7 – Babaian’s ‘After Freedom’
Opens in Theaters May 14
LOS ANGELES – The film “After Freedom” by Armenian-American filmmaker Vahe
Babaian will open in theaters on May 14. The film, which has been well
received by film critics, will open at the Glendale Cinemas in Glendale,
and at the Laemmle’s Music Hall in Beverly Hills.
La times critic Kevin Thomas stated that the films is “…a taut,
well-wrought drama…engrossing…” Filmmaker Atom Egoyan said the film is
“…sensitive and always entertaining…”
“After Freedom” was an official selection at the Avignon Film Festival,
Winner of Audience Award at the Method Fest Film Festival, and a
Participant at the Montreal World Film Festival.
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Azeri leader, British diplomat discuss Karabakh
Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
26 Apr 04

[Presenter] Britain’s special representative in the South Caucasus Sir
Brian Fall and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have discussed the
Karabakh conflict. Ilham Aliyev called on the international community
to be more active in settling the conflict.
[Correspondent, over video of meeting] The international community and
international organizations should do their best to make sure that the
Karabakh conflict is settled as soon as possible and refugees and
displaced persons go back to their homes, President Aliyev said at a
meeting with Sir Brian Fall, Britain’s special representative in the
South Caucasus.
The head of state expressed the hope that the British diplomat would
make his contribution to the development of relations and the
resolution of problems in the region. He said that despite
difficulties, Baku was doing its best to tackle social problems of
refugees and displaced persons. President Aliyev said that the
involvement of British companies in the region’s major energy projects
and the expansion of their activities in Azerbaijan were positive
factors.
Sir Brian Fall, for his part, shared the president’s views, adding
that London appreciates Azerbaijan’s steps in the settlement of the
Karabakh problem. The visitor expressed the hope that the
international community would step up its efforts to settle the
conflict and render humanitarian assistance to refugees and displaced
persons.
Mahsati Sarif, for Son Xabar.

A1 Plus | 17:26:09 | 26-04-2004 | Politics |
ARAMAZD ZAQARYAN KEEPS STRIKING
“Justice” Bloc member Aramazd Zaqaryan who went on hunger-strike in
“Yerevan-Center” Criminal-Executive establishment on April 24 keeps
striking.
Advocate of the arrested informed Zaqaryan has been hunger-striking for the
third day despite the persuasion of the head of the establishment to cease
it.
Let’s remind that Aramazd Zaqaryan was arrested within the criminal case
instituted against “Justice” Bloc and he was charged with calls for power
seizure and outraging the Authorities.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The New York Times
Jackson and His Legal Team Part Ways
By JOHN M. BRODER
Published: April 26, 2004
LOS ANGELES, April 25 – Michael Jackson has replaced his legal team just
days before he is scheduled to be arraigned on child molesting charges, the
departing lawyers said Sunday.
One of the lawyers, Benjamin Brafman, a New York criminal defense lawyer
hired by Mr. Jackson shortly after felony child molesting charges were
announced in December, said in an interview on Sunday that serious conflicts
had been brewing for weeks between Mr. Jackson’s legal team and a large
group of family members and others advising him.
“This is a decision that was unavoidable under the circumstances,” Mr.
Brafman said. “Mark Geragos and I are stepping down – or as the Jackson camp
is suggesting, being replaced. The fact is, this point was coming to a head
over a number of complicated legal and practical issues that it would be
inappropriate to discuss at this time.”
Mr. Geragos confirmed that he would no longer represent Mr. Jackson. He is
the lead defense lawyer in another prominent case, the murder prosecution of
Scott Peterson of Modesto, Calif. Mr. Peterson is accused of killing his
pregnant wife, Laci, in late 2002.
The Associated Press reported that Mr. Jackson’s defense would now be led by
Thomas Mesereau Jr., a Los Angeles lawyer whose best-known recent client was
the actor Robert Blake, who is charged with murdering his wife, Bonny Lee
Bakley, three years ago.
In February, Mr. Blake dismissed Mr. Mesereau, the third lawyer who has
represented him in the case.
In an interview on Sunday with The Associated Press, Mr. Mesereau declined
to answer questions. “I’ll have no comment on the developments until I
appear in court Friday,” he said, referring to a pretrial hearing where Mr.
Jackson is expected to be arraigned.
The indictment against Mr. Jackson is under seal until his arraignment, and
he is free on $3 million bail.
Mr. Mesereau, whose clients have also included the former heavyweight boxing
champion Mike Tyson, has reportedly been meeting with Mr. Jackson at a
compound in the Orlando, Fla., area, where the singer is staying with his
children.
The changes in Mr. Jackson’s legal lineup come just four days after a grand
jury in Santa Barbara, Calif., indicted him on charges of child molesting.
Members of his previous legal team had said late last week that they were
preparing to challenge the grand jury indictment on legal and procedural
grounds.
The authorities in Santa Barbara County charged Mr. Jackson in December with
seven counts of child molesting and two counts of administering alcohol to a
minor. The charges involve a then-13-year-old boy who was an overnight guest
at Mr. Jackson’s Neverland Ranch outside of Santa Barbara on several
occasions early last year.
The Santa Barbara grand jury handed up a sealed indictment of Mr. Jackson
last week after 13 days of closed-door testimony. At the Friday hearing, a
judge is expected to set a schedule for trial.
Mr. Brafman said that despite differences with Mr. Jackson and his camp over
legal strategy, he wished the singer well.
“I hope with all my heart that at then end of this ordeal he is in fact
exonerated,” Mr. Brafman said.
Mr. Jackson, 45, has long been surrounded by family members, including his
parents and his brothers, with whom he performed as a child as a member of
the Jackson 5 before starting his successful solo career. He has also, more
recently, been advised by leaders of the Nation of Islam and others who have
advocated a more aggressive response to the current allegations.

PRESS RELEASE
HAMAZKAYIN & DocuDays
113-7222 Beirut – Lebanon
Fax: 961-1-352256
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
Beirut, Lebanon
April 22, 2004
Arevag; Festival of Armenian Filmmakers.
An unprecedented film event organized by Docudays and Hamazkayin
Armenian Cultural and Education Organization of Lebanon and the central
committee, will take place in Beirut, presenting a collection of films
made by Karekin Zakoyan (Armenian), Garine Torossian (Canada), Serge
Avedikian , Stephane Elmadjian(France) and Nigol Bezjian (Lebanon).
The festival kicks off on April 26th and will continue for the next five
days ending it on April 30,2004.
Each filmmaker is given a night to showcase his/her films to Lebanese
public.
All are welcomed
Entry is free and open to all.
For more details of program, location and the filmmakers please visit

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th St. NW Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:
PRESS RELEASE
April 24, 2004
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
PRESIDENT BUSH FAILS TO HONOR PLEDGE TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
FOR THE FOURTH TIME
WASHINGTON, DC – President Bush, ignoring calls from over 190
U.S. legislators, failed, once again, to honor his campaign pledge to
properly characterize the Armenian Genocide as “genocide,” reported
the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
In a statement issued today, on April 24th, the annual day of
remembrance for the Armenian Genocide, the President again resorted to
the use of evasive and euphemistic terminology to obscure the reality
of Turkey’s Genocide against the Armenian people between 1915-1923.
This year’s statement praised the Turkish Armenian Reconciliation
Commission (TARC,) the failed State Department funded initiative
devised to derail progress toward international recognition of the
Armenian Genocide. The effort was universally rejected by Armenians
in the U.S., Armenia and around the world.
“We do appreciate that President Bush has, once again, taken the time
to mark April 24th as a day of remembrance. Armenian Americans,
however, remain deeply troubled that for the fourth year in a row,
despite his repeated calls for ‘moral clarity’ in the conduct of our
international affairs, he has allowed pressure by a foreign government
to reduce the President of the United States to using evasive and
euphemistic terminology to avoid properly identifying the Armenian
Genocide – an important chapter in America’s emergence as an
international humanitarian power – as what is was: a genocide,” said
ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “The President’s failure to
honor his campaign promise to recognize the Armenian Genocide is
compounded by the fact that, in this statement, he commends the
thoroughly discredited Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission, a
transparent partnership between the U.S. State Department and the
Turkish government to block the growing international recognition of
and justice for Turkey’s crime against the Armenian nation.”
“It is also plainly disingenuous for the President to ‘call on both
Armenia and Turkey to restore their economic, political, and cultural
ties,’ when it is the Turkish government that has illegally imposed a
decade-long blockade of Armenia, and it has been Armenia that has
called for the normalization of bilateral relations without
preconditions. This formulation suggests either a lack of
understanding of the region or a deliberate effort to artificially
play down Turkey’s belligerent posture while simultaneously devaluing
Armenia’s very meaningful contributions to regional stability.”
The Bush Administration is formally on record in opposition to
Congressional legislation recognizing the Armenian Genocide. For the
position of the Democratic Presidential hopeful John Kerry regarding
Armenian Genocide recognition, please visit
The text of the President’s remarks are provided below.
———————————————————-
The full text of the statement by President George W. Bush
———————————————– ———–
The White House
Washington
April 24, 2004
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
#####

A1 Plus | 16:31:30 | 24-04-2004 | Official |
ROBERT KOCHARYAN LEAVING FOR FRANCE
President Robert Kocharyan will depart for Paris on April 25. Armenian
Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Economic Development are in the
delegation headed by Kocharyan.
Armenian President will meet President Jacques Chirac in Paris. Robert and
Bella Kocharyans will be present for the concert of famous songster Charles
Aznavour.
On April 27 the Armenian delegation will leave for Warsaw to partake in the
European Economic Forum activity. Kocharyan will take part in the sitting on
“Caucasus”. In Warsaw he will meet Poland President Alexander Kwasniewski
and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Toronto Star
April 25 2004
Turkish historians facing Armenian facts
Scholars tearing away at Turkey’s `curtain of silence’ Most experts
agree 1915 killings were a case of genocide
BELINDA COOPER
NEW YORK TIMES
MINNEAPOLIS – Taner Akcam doesn’t seem like either a hero or a traitor,
though he has been called both.
Akcam, a Turkish sociologist and historian currently teaching at the
University of Minnesota, writes about events that happened nearly a
century ago in an empire that no longer exists: the mass killings of
Armenians in the Ottoman empire during World War I.
But in a world where history and identity are closely intertwined,
where the past infects today’s politics, his work, along with that of
like-minded Turkish scholars, is breaking new ground.
A slight, soft-spoken man who chooses his words with care, Akcam, 50,
is challenging his homeland’s insistent declarations that the
organized slaughter of Armenians did not occur.
And he was the first Turkish specialist to use the word “genocide”
publicly in this context – a radical step, when one considers that
Turkey has threatened to sever relations with countries over this
single word.
In 2000, for example, Ankara derailed a U.S. congressional resolution
calling the 1915 killings “genocide” by threatening to cut access to
military bases in Turkey.
“We accept that tragic events occurred at the time involving all the
subjects of the Ottoman Empire,” explains Tuluy Tanc,
minister-counsellor at the Turkish embassy in Washington, “But it is
the firm Turkish belief that there was no genocide but self-defence
of the Ottoman Empire.”
Scholars like Akcam call this a misrepresentation that must be
confronted.
Most experts outside Turkey agree the killings are among the first
20th-century examples of what the 1948 Genocide Convention defined as
acts “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a
national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”
During World War I, the government of the disintegrating Ottoman
Empire, fearing nationalist activity, organized mass deportations of
Armenians from its eastern territories.
In what some consider the model for the Holocaust, Armenian men,
women and children were sent into the desert to starve, herded into
barns and churches that were set afire, tortured to death or drowned.
The number of deaths is disputed: Armenians say it was 1.5 million;
some Turks insist it was more like 300,000.
In the official Turkish story, the Armenians were casualties of a
civil conflict they instigated by allying themselves with Russian
forces working to break up the Ottoman Empire.
In any case, atrocities were documented in contemporary press
reports, survivor testimony and dispatches by European diplomats,
missionaries and military officers.
Abortive trials of Ottoman leaders after World War I left an
extensive record and some confessions of responsibility.
A legal analysis commissioned last year by the International Center
for Transitional Justice in New York concluded that sufficient
evidence exists to term the killings “genocide” under international
law.
Yet unlike Germany in the decades since the Holocaust, Turkey has
consistently denied that the killings were intended or that the
government had any moral or legal responsibility.
In the years since its founding in 1923, the Turkish Republic has
drawn what Turkish historian Halil Berktay calls a “curtain of
silence” around this history at home and used its influence as a Cold
War ally to pressure Western governments to suppress opposing views.
—————————————————————-
`It is the firm Turkish belief that there was no genocide but
self-defence of the Ottoman Empire’
Tuluy Tanc, Turkish diplomat
—————————————————————-
Turks fear to acknowledge the crimes of the past, Akcam says, because
admitting that the founders of modern Turkey, revered today as
heroes, were complicit in evil calls into question the country’s very
legitimacy.
“If you start questioning, you have to question the foundations of
the republic,” he says, speaking intensely over glasses of Turkish
tea in the book-lined living room of his Minneapolis home as his
12-year-old daughter works on her homework in the next room.
Akcam and others like him insist that coming to terms with the past
serves Turkey’s best interests.
Their views echo the experience of countries in Latin America,
Eastern Europe and Africa that have struggled with similar questions
as they emerge from periods of repressive rule or violent conflict.
Reflecting a widespread belief that nations can ensure a democratic
future only through acknowledging past wrongs, these countries have
opened archives, held trials and created truth commissions.
Akcam thinks some headway is being made, particularly since the
election of a moderate government in 2002 and continuing Turkish
efforts to join the European Union.
And he is convinced the state’s resistance to historical dialogue is
“not the position of the majority of people in Turkey.”
He cites a recent survey conducted by scholars that appeared in a
Turkish newspaper showing that 61 per cent of Turks believe it is
time for public discussion of what the survey called the “accusations
of genocide.”
But his views and those of like-minded scholars remain anathema to
the nationalist forces that still exercise influence in Turkey.
Akcam has been building bridges since 1995, when he met Greg
Sarkissian, founder of the Zoryan Institute in Toronto, a research
centre devoted to Armenian history.
In what both men describe as an emotional encounter, they lit candles
together at an Armenian church for Sarkissian’s murdered relatives
and for Haji Halil, a Turkish man who rescued Sarkissian’s
grandmother and her children.
Akcam and Sarkissian say Halil, the “righteous Turk,” symbolizes the
possibility of a more constructive relationship between the two
peoples.
But like most Armenians, Sarkissian says Turkey must acknowledge
historical responsibility before reconciliation is possible.
“If they do,” he says, “it will start the healing process, and then
Armenians won’t talk about genocide any more.
“We will talk about Haji Halil.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress