Category: News

RIA Novosti, Russia
April 23 2004
RUSSIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES FRENCH SENATORS
MOSCOW, April 23 (RIA Novosti) – Vyacheslav Trubnikov, Russia’s First
Deputy Foreign Minister, received, Friday, a visiting delegation of
the French Senate’s foreign affairs and defence commission.
The agenda of the meeting was dominated by issues related to
cooperation within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS),
which is a priority direction in Russia’s foreign policy, reported
the foreign ministry.
The delegates were updated on the efforts Russia has been making to
promote economic ties with the CIS countries, step up integration
processes in different areas, and Russia’s bilateral relations with a
series of CIS nations.
The conferees also discussed the situation in Central Asia and
Transcaucasia, the Nagorny Karabakh and the Dniester region
settlement efforts. They also discussed further developments in
Afghanistan, particularly in terms of the fight against drug
trafficking. Apart from that, the conferees addressed the problem of
the Caspian Sea’s status.

A1 Plus | 15:53:11 | 23-04-2004 | Politics |
ARTHUR VARDANYAN TAKEN TO PROSECUTOR GENERAL OFFICE
A U.S. citizen Arthur Vardanyan was taken to the Prosecutor General Office
on Thursday as witness on the case against the opposition Justice alliance.
Vardanyan is the Justice leader Stepan Demirchyan’s friend, who was in
Yerevan and attended the opposition-staged rally.
As interrogation started he felt bad because a diabetic problem and was
rushed to a hospital.

A1 Plus | 15:17:09 | 23-04-2004 | Politics |
ARAMAZD ZAKARYAN TO ANNOUNCE HUNGER STRIKE
Justice Ministry Press Secretary Ara Sahgatelyan said Friday the Republic
party member Aramazd Zakaryan, who is Karabakh war veteran and disabled,
intended to start hunger strike tomorrow.
Aramazd Zakaryan was charged with insulting officials and will be kept in
detention two months while waiting his trial.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1 Plus | 18:19:59 | 23-04-2004 | Politics |
NEW REPRISALS AGAINST RALLY PARTICIPANTS
The police keep on persecuting political activists and opposition-minded
people. Justice alliance members say after Wednesday’s peaceful rally 22
were taken in police custody, 13 of them are to stand trial, 25 were fined,
100 were abducted and their present whereabouts are unknown.
Eyewitnesses say people are being captured in the street by men dressed as
civilians, then put in cars without license plates and taken in police
stations.
PM and Justice alliance member Viktor Dallakyan says Robert Kocharyan and
his administration have declared war against the people.
The alliance members have strongly condemned brutal attack on Socialist
Forces leader Ashot Manucharyan.

A1 Plus | 21:53:20 | 23-04-2004 | Social |
ECONOMIC COURT’S DECISION REMAINS UNCHANGED
The Court of Appeal left unchanged Economic Court decision on A1+ TV Company
suit against Radio and Television National Commission.
The company demands the commission to present justification for its refusal
to give A1+ broadcasting license at tender held in June and July of 2003.
The courts made their decisions in a clear breach of the law. It is
specified in the law that the commission ought to present written
justification for its denial to give license to any company within ten days
after the decision.

A1 Plus | 19:48:07 | 23-04-2004 | Politics |
HARUTYUN SHIKLANYAN UNHAPPY ABOUT BRITISH AMBASSADOR’S WORDS
Harutyun Shiklanyan, 81, has decided to return the medals received from
British Ambassador in 2003 for the bravery shown in World War II.
“I can’t come to terms with the fact of humiliation of my nation he said
referring to British Ambassador’s recent statement that the 1915 events
shouldn’t be called genocide. I think after such a statement several
thousands people had to gather outside the Embassy in a protest”, he says.

cgi?WAISdocID=7832582351+5+0
+0&WAISaction=ret rieve

REMEMBERING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
______

HON. BARBARA LEE
of california
in the house of representatives
Thursday, April 22, 2004
Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues in recognition of one of
the great tragedies of the 20th Century, the Armenian Genocide.
The Armenian Genocide occurred between 1915 and 1916. On April 24,
1915, it began when Armenian leaders were rounded up, deported and
murdered. One and a half million Armenians were murdered and hundreds
of thousands of others displaced and deported.
Today, we must reflect on those whose lives were taken as a result of
the Genocide. Many political leaders, scholars, and professional
organizations are becoming proactive in making sure everyone
acknowledges and remembers this devastating event to the Armenian
population.
This genocide is another significant example of the injustice,
torture, pain, and death that grows out of intolerance, cruelty, and
hatred.
There are still a great number of survivors of the genocide in
America and many of their children and grandchildren reside throughout
the country.
On this day we join them in remembering and acknowledging the heinous
act that victimized their families. If we let such atrocities be
forgotten, then we are in danger of letting them be repeated.

“Vigil remembers genocide”
Hymns and poems are used to commemorate the Armenian genocide that occurred
89 years ago.
By Aaron Burgin
Published: Friday, April 23, 2004 — USC Daily Trojan
Adrineh Khatchikian’s voice lifted the spirits of a somber crowd of
200 Armenian students, faculty and other onlookers commemorating the
genocide that nearly wiped out a population of Armenians almost 90
years ago.
Singing “Kroonk,” a hymn written by famed Armenian monk and songwriter
Komitas, Khatchikian was part of the annual vigil held at Hahn Plaza
created to inform people about the Armenian genocide, said Dina
Yadegarian, president of the Armenian Student Association
April 24 is the official memorial date for the estimated 1.5-million
Armenians killed between 1915 and 1922 at the hands of the Talaat
Pasha and the defunct Ottoman Empire.
Commemorations were held at USC on Thursday, however, to ensure that
most of the campus’ Armenian student population, mostly commuters,
could participate, Yadegarian said.
Some who participated in the vigil, such as Markar Markavian,
performed musical pieces for the event.
Markavian performed “Dele Yaman and “Kroonk” on the tar, a traditional
Armenian musical instrument, bringing some of the onlookers to tears.
Several speakers, including ASA chaplain Father Vazken Movsesian and
poet Lory Bedikian, addressed the crowd with a message of hope for the
future and a possible recognition of the genocide by the Turkish
government, which does not recognize the genocide.
Movsesian, known as “Father Vazken” to students, said that there was
an air of excitement surrounding the solemn occasion.
“It is a very momentous occasion, because, despite the atrocities, the
Turkish government’s plans were foiled just by the presence of
Armenians,” Movsesian said. “It just shows our strength as a people,
and our resolve to keep the memory of our people alive.”
Bedikian, a University of Oregon alumna, read two poems in honor of
her grandmother, Sion Abajian, who, at 100 years of age, is one of the
few living survivors of the genocide.
She urged passersby to stop to recognize the event and to read the
posters, brochures and pamphlets that told the story of the Armenians.
The “ghosts” she spoke about in her poem that haunt her grandmother
came from the lack of official recognition of the genocide.
“It makes you feel like being the victim of a crime,” Bedikian
said. “You feel alone and isolated.”
In his speech, Movsesian said that the lack of acknowledgement of the
genocide led to other genocides throughout the 20th century.
“It adds insult to injury because of what we’ve gone through, the lack
of recognition made the way for the Holocaust, Rwanda, Ethiopia and
all sorts of atrocities,” he said.
“Hitler himself said, ‘Who remembers the Armenians?'” Movsesian said.
In terms of recognition by the U.S. government, the House of
Representatives recognized the Armenian genocide on April 24, 1975 by
designating April 24 as a “National Day of Remembrance of Man’s
Inhumanity to Man.”
Student Senate also recognized the Armenian genocide on April 24,
1983.
Only with recognition, Movsesian said, can the healing process
actually begin, adding that only then could the Armenian deaths not be
in vain.
All of the speakers said the event was not meant to incite hatred
toward anyone, but to recognize the events that occurred and the
people who suffered and continue to recognize their legacy.
Armenians who attended the commemoration looked on with grave faces as
the speakers each addressed the audience with their words of
encouragement and remembrance of their ancestors lost during the
genocide.
Arpine Shakhbandaryan, a student who attended the vigil, said she
could only remember as far back as her great-grandparents’ generation,
something that her friends who were with her could relate to.
She said the main reason she was there was because too many of the
original survivors died without seeing any changes.
“I’m angry and frustrated because most of those who survived are
either of old age or dying without seeing justice,” she said. “We’re
going to continue to battle so that these memories aren’t forgotten.”
Vazken said he believes that the Armenians’ strong Christian faith and
belief in the resurrection will carry the day.
Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as its national
religion.
“We are the only nation who have adopted Christianity, never to enjoy
a day of peace in their existence,” Movsesian said. “We’ve always been
the object of persecution and opposition.”
“However, Armenians strongly believe in the Christian notion of the
resurrection, and we will always be strong and rise above all the
adversity that has befallen our people.”

“Going after recognition”
Schiff asks Bush to call deaths of Armenians at the hands of Ottoman
Turksa genocide.
By Gary Moskowitz, Glendale News-Press
April 24, 2004
,0,7785375.story?coll=3Dla-tcn-glendale-news
GLENDALE – To Sarkis Asatryan, remembering the Armenian Genocide today
is not enough.
Asatryan, a Hoover High School senior of Armenian descent, believes
people need to work hard to make sure that the 1.5 million Armenians
killed between 1915 and 1923 did not die in vain.
Since the Armenian Genocide began on the night of April 24, 1915,
today marks its 89th anniversary.
“My grandfather’s brother was killed because he wanted to buy bread
and the government would not let him, and he was beheaded,” said
Asatryan, 18. “I think the first step is to educate people not just
about the Armenian Genocide, but the genocide of Native Americans,
Cambodians, Serbs and Jews, and what an inhumane thing genocide is.
“I think we are truly making an effort to make the Armenian Genocide
known to the world. To me, we have to remember where we’ve been to
know where we are now. I think Armenians consider themselves a race
born to survive no matter what,” Asatryan said.
Armenians say the Ottoman Turks deliberately slaughtered some 1.5
million of their people between 1915 and 1923. Turkey denies the
charges of genocide, saying the Armenians were among the many victims
of a partisan war raging during World War I as the Ottoman Empire
collapsed.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Glendale) sent a letter to President George
W. Bush this week, calling on the president to recognize the
atrocities committed against the Armenian people by actually using the
term “genocide” in his annual statement commemorating the events of
1915.
Schiff was joined by Rep. George Radanovich (R-Mariposa), Rep. Frank
Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-Mich.) and more than 165
members of the bipartisan Armenian Caucus in asking the president for
formal recognition of the genocide.
“It’s enormously important for us to recognize the first genocide of
the 20th century,” Schiff said Friday. “I think it does further injury
to the survivors and doesn’t set the right tone for our commitment to
avoiding future genocides. We will keep working on it until we get the
job done, and I hopethe president lives up to recognizing it.
“I think Glendale feels this most keenly because a great many Armenian
families here have direct experience with the genocide. Imagine going
through a tragedy like that in your family and have your own country
fail to recognize that. Denial of genocide is a second injury,”
Schiff said.
The Canadian Parliament on Wednesday formally declared that Ottoman
Turks committed genocide against Armenians in 1915, according to news
reports.
The Parliament’s House of Commons voted 153-68 to support a motion
declaring the events of 89 years ago as genocide, despite a plea from
Foreign Minister Bill Graham not to aggravate NATO ally Turkey.
Razmik and Frida Aghourian, owners of Oven Fresh Bakery in Montrose,
normally would be open for business from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. today,
but decided to close in commemoration of the genocide.
The Aghourian family will attend an Armenian Apostolic Mass today
instead of working, Frida Aghourian said. The Aghourians are among
many local business owners who opt to close their doors every April 24
in commemoration of the genocide.
“It’s to respect all the people who suffered and died,” Frida
Aghourian said. “It’s to recognize and let everybody know something
horrible happened.”

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