Category: News

PUTIN PRAISES KAZAKH FORUM FOR UNITING EURASIAN MEDIA
Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency
22 Apr 04
Almaty, 22 April: Russian President Vladimir Putin has greeted those
attending the third Eurasian Media Forum, which opened in Almaty
today.
“Your authoritative association makes a remarkable contribution to
developing dialogue between the representatives of the media on the
(Eurasian) continent,” Putin noted in his message, the text of which
was read out before those present at the forum by Russian Ambassador
to Kazakhstan Vladimir Babichev.
“Such topical issues as humanitarian cooperation, forming a common
information space and the role of the media in modern global and
regional processes are in the centre of the forum’s attention,” the
head of the Russian state noted.
He also underlined the importance of discussing such issues at the
scheduled media forum as “bringing together the journalistic
profession to counter international terrorism, extremism and drug
trafficking”.
“Today, this joint work has very topical significance. I wish you
success,” Putin noted in his message.
OSCE Secretary-General Jan Kubis, Secretary-General of the Eurasian
Economic Community Grigoriy Rapota and the former Armenian prime
minister, Armen Sarkisyan, who attended the first Eurasian Media
Forum, also greeted from the rostrum those attending the Eurasian
Media Forum.
A video address by Prince Hasan Bin-Talal of Jordan was also shown to
the participants in the forum.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
April 22, 2004 Thursday 3:12 AM Eastern Time
US to back any Azerbaijan-Armenia agreement on Karabakh – diplomat
By Sevindzh Abdullayeva and Viktor Shulman
BAKU
U.S. co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk for Nagorno-Karabakh, Steven Mann,
said the major purpose of the U.S. government is to cooperate with
both warring sides in order to find a fair solution to the problem.
In his meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev on Thursday,
Mann said the U.S. supports any agreement that will be reached by the
sides.
Mann told journalists that his talks in Baku and Yerevan focused on
organising a meeting between the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents.
The Minsk Group is maintaining a dialogue with both sides at all
levels because these efforts will help overcome the deadlock, the
diplomat stressed.
He did not rule out that the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group may
visit the region shortly. The exact date of their visit will be
coordinated by the sides, Mann said.
The U.S. diplomat said he has very fruitful meetings with the
leadership of Azerbaijan and Armenia, but he declined to disclose the
details of his talks.
According to certain reports, the presidents of Azerbaijan and
Armenia may meet in Warsaw on April 28 as part of the European
Economic Forum.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
April 22, 2004, Thursday
Germany’s Fischer urges Armenia, Azerbaijan to settle Karabakh fight
YEREVAN
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer on Thursday stepped up
international pressure on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve the
long-running conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
Only with a genuine settlement could the Caucasus region as a whole
become stable, Fischer told Armenian President Robert Kocharyan in
Yerevan during a tour of the former Soviet Caucasus republics.
Germany and the European Union would assist the process, he said,
adding that “The main role, however, lies with the conflicting
sides”.
A shaky ceasefire has held in the ethnic Armenian enclave within
Azerbaijan since 1994, after upward of 25,000 people died in fighting
and a million were displaced.
The German minister also visited a memorial to the estimated 1.5
million Armenians who died during repressions by Turkish forces in
1915. Armenia has for years sought to have their deaths
internationally recognized as genocide.
Fischer visited Azerbaijan on Wednesday and was due to travel to
neighbouring Georgia later Thursday. dpa na cu
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Baltic News Service
April 22, 2004
ESTONIAN AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA PRESENTS CREDENTIALS
YEREVAN, Apr 2
Estonia’s Ambassador to Armenia Andres Unga on Tuesday presented his
credentials to President Robert Kocharian.
After the ceremony the president and Unga talked about bilateral
relations and Estonia’s accession to the European Union, spokespeople
for the Foreign Ministry told BNS.
Kocharian acknowledged Estonia’s progress in information technology,
underlining that the Baltic state’s e-governance system serves as an
example to his country. Unga and the president exchanged views about
future IT cooperation projects. They discussed also high-level visits
to intensify bilateral relations.
The ambassador is to meet in Yerevan also with Prime Minister
Andranik Markarian, Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian and parliament
Speaker Artur Bagdasarian.
Unga, 38, is a graduate of the Tallinn Technical University and the
Estonian School of Diplomacy. After graduating from the university in
1991, he worked till 1996 in the protocol department of the Foreign
Ministry, rising from deputy head to director general.
In 1996-2000 Unga headed the Estonian diplomatic mission in Sweden
and then returned to the ministry as head of the personnel
department. He has been serving as ambassador to Greece since April
2001.
Unga is married with two children.

Agence France Presse
April 22, 2004 Thursday 9:08 AM Eastern Time
US envoy re-affirms commitment to Karabakh peace deal
BAKU
The United States believes it is in its interest to help find a
peaceful solution to the conflict between the former Soviet republics
of Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh, the top US mediator said Thursday.
Stephen Mann was speaking during his first visit to the region after
being appointed as the US representative to the Minsk Group, the body
mandated by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe
to help tease out a peace deal.
About 35,000 people were killed and one million people made homeless
in a war before a ceasefire in 1994 left Armenia in de facto control
of over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated enclave inside
Azerbaijan.
But lingering tensions have caused instability in the Caucasus
region, an emerging key crossroads for oil exports from the Caspian
Sea to Western markets.
“My government has defined it as being firmly in our national
interest to work fully, to work energetically… to resolve these
problems and to give our full support to the governments of
Azerbaijan and Armenia to reaching a peaceful solution to the
conflict,” Mann told reporters.
“In coming to this job I… will be representing the United States’
national interest in these issues,” he said, adding that, “this is
not a problem that is going to be solved overnight.”
Washington is keen to develop the Caspian as an alternative source of
energy supplies to the Middle East, and is backing a major pipeline
project in the region.
Mann, who is also the senior US envoy for Caspian energy issues, met
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Elmar
Mamedyarov on Thursday. Before coming to Azerbaijan he had visited
Armenia and neighbouring Georgia.

Agence France Presse
April 22, 2004
Fischer urges concessions on Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia,
Azerbaijan
YEREVAN
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer Thursday called on Armenia
and Azerbaijan to make concessions in their dispute over the
Nagorno-Karabakh enclave during a tour of the Caucasus region.
“To achieve peace in the region, you have to make concessions,”
Fischer told reporters after meeting with Armenian President Robert
Kocharian.
“In Baku as in Yerevan, everybody speaks of conditions,” said
Fischer, who was in Azerbaijan the previous day.
“But eventually neighbors are obliged to find a consensus” on
Nagorno-Karabakh, he said.
Azerbaijan and neighboring Armenia went to war in the early 1990s
when Nagorno-Karabakh, mainly populated by Armenians, seceded from
Azerbaijan at the time of the Soviet Union’s collapse, and the two
Soviet Caucasian republics became independent.
More than 30,000 people were killed and another million were left
homeless before a ceasefire was agreed in 1994. But Azerbaijan and
Armenia remain in an undeclared state of war over the enclave.
The United States, along with France and Russia, is a co-chair of the
Minsk Group, a 13-nation grouping within the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that has been seeking to
mediate between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Lingering tensions over the conflict have caused instability in the
Caucasus region, an emerging key crossroads for oil exports from the
Caspian Sea to Western markets.
Separately, Fischer said he hoped that internal unrest in Armenia
“will be resolved in a peaceful manner.”
“Foreign investments are directly dependent on the political
situation in the country,” he warned.
Armenia’s opposition has continuously organized protests in Yerevan
during the past month, with the latest demonstration drawing between
10,000 and 12,000 people to Freedom Square.
The Armenian opposition says that Kocharian rigged a run-off
presidential vote in March 2003 to secure a second term in office and
is demanding that he either organize a national referendum of
confidence in his rule or step down.
On April 13, the police broke up an anti-government demonstration in
the capital Yerevan using water cannon and reportedly injuring dozens
of protestors.

Agence France Presse
April 22, 2004
Armenia welcomes Canada’s recognition of WWI genocide
YEREVAN
Armenia on Thursday welcomed the Canadian parliament’s recognition
that Turkey had committed genocide against Armenians during World War
I.
“The parliamentary resolution recognises the genocide of Armenians
and condemns (it as) a crime against humanity,” said Gamlet
Guasparian, spokesman for the Armenian foreign ministry.
“In doing this, Canada pays tribute to millions of Armenians who
suffered genocide under the Ottoman empire,” he added.
Canada’s parliament adopted a resolution late on Wednesday
recognising that Turkey committed genocide against Armenians in 1915,
drawing immediate protests from the Turkish government.
The massacres of Armenians during World War I is one of the most
controversial episodes in Turkish history.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen were massacred in
orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917.
Turkey categorically rejects claims of genocide and says that some
300,000 Armenians and thousands of Turks were killed in civil strife
during World War I when the Armenians rose up against their Ottoman
rulers.

The Moscow Times
Friday, Apr. 23, 2004. Page 8
Recognizing Armenia’s Past and Its Present
By Kim Iskyan
Saturday is the 89th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, a dark episode of
history indelibly carved into the souls of the 5 million people of Armenian
descent scattered throughout the world and the 2.5 million people living in
Armenia today. Armenians can never forget or forgive the slaughter of some
1.5 million men, women and children at the hands of the Ottoman Turks.
But while continuing to honor the memory of genocide victims, Armenia today,
along with its vast and powerful diaspora and those in the international
community who support it, needs to ensure that future generations of
survivors of the 20th century’s first genocide have more to live for than
feelings of outrage and injustice.
Defining what happened to Armenians in 1915-1923 has evolved into a game of
high-stakes geopolitical grammar, with implications that stretch far beyond
the tiny Caucasus country nestled at the intersection of the Middle East,
Europe and the former Soviet Union. Armenia points to a vast number of
eyewitness accounts describing the systematic atrocities perpetuated against
Armenians to eliminate them from the Ottoman Empire. A legal analysis by the
International Center for Transitional Justice concluded that the episode fit
the (admittedly broad) definition of genocide in the United Nations
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Turkey contends that Armenian deaths were an inevitable consequence of war
and preventive measures necessitated by security and political concerns, but
which had no genocidal intent. The notion of exclusive victimhood is
particularly galling to Turkey, which points to the deaths of an estimated
2.5 million Muslims during the same period.
This is not merely a question of semantics or national pride. Turkey
regularly threatens geopolitical retribution against countries that
characterize the events during the period as genocide. In October 2000, for
example, Turkey threatened to deny the United States access to a Turkish
military base used for launching air patrols over Iraq if the U.S. House of
Representatives approved a resolution accusing Turkey of genocide.
For fear of alienating a critical NATO ally, and despite heavy pressure from
well-organized Armenian-American lobbying groups, the U.S. government
studiously avoids the term “genocide,” opting instead for less politically
charged terms such as “murder.”
Why is this issue so important? For Turkey, admitting that the country’s
forebears were guilty of genocide would contradict generations of official
indoctrination and could lead to uncomfortable questions about the
foundation of the republic. It could also open the door to potentially
massive territorial and financial reparation claims.
Many Armenians are passionate in their insistence that the genocide be
officially recognized. The issue is comparatively inconsequential for
Turkey, whose population is 25 times larger than Armenia’s and whose economy
is roughly 180 times larger.
The cultural and ethnic identity of Armenians — particularly those in the
diaspora — is formed in no small part by the trauma of genocide passed down
through the generations. Armenians seek acknowledgment of their suffering, a
sense of closure and, possibly, compensation. They are rankled that the
Holocaust is accepted as historical fact, while they still struggle for
recognition of the Armenian genocide. To deny the Holocaust is an act of
intellectual savagery, while in some circles refuting the Armenian genocide
is considered evidence of evenhandedness.
For all that, it is imperative that Armenia confront the reality of Turkey
today. Since the early 1990s Turkey has blockaded its border with Armenia,
originally as a show of support for Azerbaijan during the Nagorny Karabakh
conflict.
The World Bank estimates that opening the border would give a 30 percent
boost to the Armenian economy. With this in mind, the Armenian Foreign
Ministry does not predicate relations with Turkey upon genocide recognition.
Istanbul is an occasional destination for wealthy young Armenians looking to
get away for a long weekend. Trade through mutual neighbor Georgia is
thriving.
Meanwhile, many elements of Armenia’s diverse diaspora remain focused on
genocide recognition, often at the expense of issues of more immediate
impact on the country and region today. Few diaspora organizations uttered a
whimper of protest, for example, when the government of Armenian President
Robert Kocharyan brutally suppressed opposition demonstrations this month,
demonstrating a blatant disregard for human rights.
Genocide recognition is critical, but so is a sustained and genuine focus
on, say, reducing the 50 percent poverty rate in Armenia so that the
country’s youth might have something more to look forward to than a one-way
ticket out of the country.
Armenians should not and will not surrender in their battle to earn
historical recognition for their suffering. So long as the plight of the
Armenians is ignored, the risk of history repeating itself will remain. But
Armenia, its diaspora and the world community should be careful not to allow
recognition of the genocide to undermine the future of the country and the
region.
Kim Iskyan, a freelance journalist and consultant in Yerevan, contributed
this comment to The Moscow Times.

Sydney Morning Herald
April 22, 2004 Thursday
Sympathy For The Devils
by Keith Austin
Builders often get a bad rap. Here’s their side of the story.
It’s time to confess. That was YOU who gave your builder carte
blanche to finish off the bathroom while you went on holiday (“just
keep it white and simple”) and then sued him when you didn’t like the
white and simple result, wasn’t it?
And it was YOU who fell out so badly with a builder that you banned
him from the house, wasn’t it? “I had to stand in the alleyway at the
back and shout instructions over the fence to the blokes. It was
ridiculous.”
As a builder once observed on the Channel Seven program Hot Property:
“Our biggest enemy in this work, apart from the weather, is the
client.”
Stories abound of the so-called shonky builder – not surprising,
given there are 160,000 licensed builders and contractors in NSW –
but does anyone take the time to get the other side of the story; the
one in which YOU are the villain?
Harry Hogan (not his real name) is a 44-year-old, fair-skinned (trust
me, it matters) plumber who has been in the job for 28 years. His
horror story happened when he was called to the home of couple who
were doing their own renovations.
“They were typical owner-builders in that they had no idea what was
involved in a job like that.
“When I went there at the end of the job to finish off the bathroom I
noticed there was a crack on a tile near the tap. I drew the wife’s
attention to it before I started putting the new taps on, but then I
heard her say to her husband, in Armenian, that the bloody plumber
had cracked a tile and she was going to deduct $200 from the bill.
“The thing is,” he laughs now, “I’m Armenian. But because I’m fair
and most Armenians are dark they didn’t know I could understand every
word. I thought ‘f– this, I’m off’, and started to pack my tools up.
Anyway, she freaked out when I called her an ‘effing bitch’ in
Armenian. It didn’t go down too well with the husband either. I just
walked away from it and didn’t hear from them again … They were
customers from hell.”
Then he quickly adds, “I’ve got to go now because I’m being paid by
the hour and if I’m not careful this customer will turn out like
those.”
The incident mentioned in the first paragraph of this story happened
in the eastern suburbs and cost the builder involved thousands of
dollars. “They took me to court and I lost. I had to rip it all out
and replace it; it cost me $10,000. Now I’m very careful about what I
do. I make sure everything is covered in the contract.”
Another story, from Crows Nest, involves a woman who went to a
bathroom showroom, chose a suite and got a local builder to install
it. “She was horrified when she saw it,” explains the builder’s
secretary, “because she could see the pipes! She wanted it to look
exactly as it had in the showroom where, obviously, there weren’t
pipes showing because they don’t need them.”
If the clients from hell aren’t enough, there is always the nightmare
neighbour to consider. Several builders recounted stories of
neighbours who don’t like the noise or the dirt emanating from next
door. “Yeah, I’ve had neighbours turn the hose on me a few times,”
said one. “A lot of them call the police, too.”
Another told how one set of neighbours, already angry at losing a
council battle to stop an extension going up next door, refused to
let the workers step onto their land: “We had to get a cantilevered
scaffold in and every time we set one foot on their land they called
the police.”
By far the most common complaint, though, is of clients who refuse to
pay the final bill. Elizabeth Crouch, NSW executive director of the
Housing Industry Association (HIA), says they deal with cases like
this every day.
“There’s also the issue of people who go for betterment on their
property, which means they go into a dispute with a builder in order
to effect more value out of the contract,” she says.
“I can think of one case where a couple of lawyers engaged in this
and effectively got their home finished by three successive builders
as a result of going in to dispute with each of them, and each time
they got a little bit more and each time they didn’t pay.
“That was possible under the old insurance regime because you could
go automatically to an insurer and get a claim made against someone
without that builder or contractor having the opportunity to come
back and fix it.
“That’s changed now but there’s still not a lot of protection for a
builder in tribunals. The best you ever get out of a tribunal is a
50-50 sort of thing. You very rarely hear of a builder winning.
“There’s definitely been [an increase] in the level of litigation and
so on. I think that’s just a symptom of us being a far more litigious
society. And I think consumers are a bit more savvy about how they
might get around these things.”
One of the examples the HIA gave as typical involves a builder who
had almost finished a job when the clients, who had been changing
their minds constantly, presented him with a list of more than 60
items that they said had to be attended to. Then, before he could
complete them, they threw him off the site and went to the Office of
Fair Trading. In the meantime, the builder is owed $20,000.
An HIA spokesperson said: “Even if they do go back, fix the defects,
[the client will] come up with another list. We have had several
examples of this, keep coming back and coming back, getting another
list, not getting paid.”
Many years ago, one builder even had an offer from late standover man
Tim Bristow to “sort out” a couple of lawyers who were refusing to
pay the final $15,000 instalment on their renovation work. “I got to
the point where I was tempted,” he laughs now.
Michael Pyers, an executive director with HIA who wrote some of its
dispute resolution courses, says he’s lost count of the number of
times builders have come to him and said, “I’ve built this lovely
house, there’s nothing wrong with it, but the people won’t pay me.”
Very often the problem is that people have borrowed $300,000 to build
a house, a few things happen along the way, and they run out of
money.
“The building of a home is an emotional process for both builder and
client. For the client, it’s the single biggest investment they’ll
ever make. Good builders pride themselves on their work and if you
accuse them of not doing good quality work, they do take it
personally. That’s why there’s a lot of emotion. Proper mediation can
get behind that and get to the real issues.”
In the 2002-2003 financial year there were 61,697 applications lodged
with the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal (CTTT), of which 5685
related to home building work.
In an effort to increase mediation in building disputes, the NSW
Government introduced the Home Building Service in July last year.
Operated under the umbrella of the Office of Fair Trading it was
created to license, regulate and investigate builders.
“In the first six months, 840 dispute resolutions have been carried
out by inspectors and the results have been outstanding, with 80 per
cent of the cases resolved by agreement,” says Reba Meagher, the NSW
Minister for Fair Trading.
It’s not all doom and gloom, though. Alfred Kittel, 50, a builder
based in Forest Lodge, once had a client who changed his mind on a
kitchen at the last moment. This is a common area of conflict: when
customers are unable to visualise what the plans will look like in
reality.
“The thing is, everything can be done, it just comes down to money,”
Kittel says. “It cost a few thousand dollars but [the client] was
prepared to pay for it. If he’d decided he didn’t want to pay for it,
we’d have had a sh–fight on our hands.”
See? It can be done. It’s down to you.
How to take the cuss out of customer
* Take time before the job to develop a good working relationship
with the client.
* Keep up to date with paperwork.
* Take notes and always record meetings by sending a letter
afterwards saying, “These were the issues discussed and the outcomes
agreed”.
* Don’t take it personally.
* Try to find out whether they have had building work done before and
what their experience was.
As of March 1 this year, builders and subcontractors in NSW have had
to take part in a “continuing professional development program” under
the auspices of the Office of Fair Trading. To renew their licence in
the future, they will have to certify that they’ve completed various
training courses and seminars each year. For more information check
the HIA website ().
Keith Austin’s tips on being nice to your builders
1. Make tea For some reason, all workmen thrive on tea, even before
they’ve done a skerrick of work. I suspect it’s psychological; they
might be working for you, but who’s making the tea, hmmm?
2. Move stuff before they get there There will be dirt, there will be
dust, so it’s best to relocate the silk Persian rug to save problems
later.
3. Put your spirit level away and do not hover – it makes them
nervous A watched kettle never boils, does it? At this stage in the
process, it’s time to trust them to do the job.
4. Which bring us to: time is money The longer you hang around asking
idiot questions, the longer the job takes.
5. Which brings us to: time is limited Every big building job is a
logistical puzzle, with each specialist an integral part of the
jigsaw. Slow the electrician down and you slow the plasterer who, in
turn, slows the tiler, who in turn …
6. Make more tea

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
CROSSROADS E-NEWSLETTER: April 22, 2004
89th ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
The various commemorations of the 89th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide by the Ottoman Turkish government will take place during the coming
few days and into next week. Archbishop Oshagan urges all of our faithful to
attend the commemorations to honor the memory of our martyrs. This year
April 24 falls on a Saturday, just as it did in 1915.
This afternoon Archbishop Oshagan will attend an intimate gathering in
the New York City offices of Governor Pataki to receive the Proclamation
issued by New York State.
Tomorrow evening, Friday, April 23, he will deliver the invocation at
ceremonies in New York City Hall, sponsored by the Armenian National
Committee of New York and the City of New York. Peter Balakian of Colgate
University and Robert Melson of Purdue University will be the keynote
speakers. The event is made possible by the sponsorship of New York City
Council members Melinda Katz and Speaker A. Gifford Miller. Buses will
depart from areas in Queens at 4:30 p.m., including Baruir’s Grocery in
Sunnyside, Holy Martyrs Church in Bayside, St. Sarkis Church in Douglaston,
the Iranian Armenian Center in Little Neck, and the Armenian Center in
Woodside.
On Saturday, April 24, His Eminence will preside at St. Illuminator’s
Cathedral in New York City. V. Rev. Fr. Anoushavan Tanielian, Vicar of the
Prelacy, will celebrate the Divine Liturgy and deliver the Sermon. A requiem
service for the martyrs will take place at the Martyrs Altar. The Divine
Liturgy will begin at 11 a.m.
On Sunday, April 25, Srpazan Hayr will deliver the invocation at the
Times Square gathering sponsored by the Knights of Vartan, beginning at 2
p.m. There is free bus transportation to and from Times Square from all of
the metropolitan area churches and centers. Contract your local church or
center for details about transportation.
On April 28, Archbishop Oshagan will deliver the invocation at
commemorative events on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, sponsored by the
Armenian National Committee of America.
NEW YORK TIMES CHANGES POLICY
ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
The New York Times has recently revised its guidelines for editors
regarding the Armenian genocide. The new policy says, After careful study of
scholarly definitions of genocide we have decided to accept the term in
references to the Turks mass destruction of Armenians in and around 1915.
The expression Armenian genocide may be used freely and should not be
qualified with phrasing like what Armenians call, etc. By most historical
accounts, the Ottoman empire killed more than one million Armenians in a
campaign of death and mass deportation aimed at eliminating the Armenian
population throughout what is now Turkey. While we may of course report
Turkish denials on those occasions when they are relevant, we should not
couple them with the historians’ findings, as if they had equal weight.
(Source: International Association of Genocide Scholars)
CANADA RECOGNIZES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
The House of Commons adopted a motion recognizing the Armenian Genocide
by a majority of 153 votes. The passing of this resolution was the
culmination of a 25-year process which encompassed similar resolutions being
passed by city councils, provinces, and the Canadian Senate. Canada now
joins a long list of nations including France, Switzerland and Russia which
have recognized the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
(Source: Assembly of Armenians of Europe)
MOTHERS DAY LUNCHEON
The Prelacy Ladies’ Guild’s annual Mothers’ Day Luncheon and Fashion
Show has become both traditional and anticipated in the tri-state area. The
luncheon, which is expected to attract a capacity attendance, will take
place Monday, May 3, at the Versailles Room of The St. Regis, Two East 55th
Street, New York City.
As in previous years the luncheon will feature a fashion show. The
Spring 2004 Collection will be presented by Neiman Marcus of Paramus, New
Jersey.
Above all else, the luncheon is an opportunity for mothers and
daughters, grandmothers and granddaughters, aunts and nieces to share an
afternoon, enjoying the company of new and old friends, amidst joyous,
congenial and elegant surroundings. The reception begins at 11:30 a.m., with
luncheon at 12:30 p.m.
MENK HAYEREN CHENK KEEDER
TO BE PRESENTED MAY 22
The Hamasdegh Armenian School will present, Menk Hayeren Chenk Keeder
(We do not know Armenian), by A. Saroukhan on Saturday, May 22, 7:00 p.m. at
Sts. Vartanantz Church, 461 Bergen Boulevard, Ridgefield, New Jersey. The
event is organized by New Jersey’s Nareg Saturday School. The production is
directed by Onnig Moutafian. The Hamasdegh School and Nareg School are
affiliated with the Armenian National Education Committee. For information,
201-461-1254.
ADULT EDUCATION SEMINAR
PLANNED FOR MID-ATLANTIC AREA
The Armenian Religious Education Council is planning an adult education
program for the Mid-Altantic region, June 25-27, at St. Mary of Providence
Center in Elverson, Pennsylvania. The main portion of the seminar will
explore Critical Issues of Life and Faith: An Armenian Orthodox Perspective
led by Vigen Guroian, Professor of Theology and Ethics at Loyola College in
Baltimore, Maryland.
The seminar will feature lectures, Bible studies, panel discussions,
small group discussions, and worship services. Topics discussed will include
issues of modern life including gay marriage, reproductive technology,
abortion, suicide, and cremation.
Watch for complete details next week on the Prelacy’s web page.
OOPS! JEOPARDY TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP IS MAY 23
One more time! The championship jeopardy tournament will take place on
Sunday, May 23 (not May 22 as reported last week), at St. Gregory Church in
Philadelphia. Sorry for the confusion. In the old days we would blame such
errors on the printers devil. I suppose these days we can blame it on that
old devil in cyberspace.
NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY
WILL CONVENE IN PHILADELPHIA IN MAY
The National Representative Assembly will convene May 19-21, hosted by
St. Gregory Church, Philadelphia. The NRA meets each May to review the past
year’s accomplishments and draft new directives for the coming year. The
host church’s web site provides complete details:
GREEN SUNDAY
This Sunday, April 25, the third Sunday of Easter is Green Sunday
(Ganach Giragee) also called World Church Sunday (Ashkharhamadoor). The name
Green Sunday most probably has its origins in an ancient folk holiday. Our
forefathers, seeing mother earth bloom after long winter months, glorified
the Creator with an act of thanksgiving, and celebrated by bedecking
themselves with greenery. Green is the color of life, freshness, and
promise. When nature is painted green by the brush of the Almighty after a
barren winter, it creates a deep awareness of hope, life and love.
It is also called World Church Sunday in the sense of the church
belonging to the whole world beginning with Christ and the Apostles who met
regularly to pray and partake of the Holy Sacrament of Communion.
The thought of the week is from poet Vahan Tekeyan, a genocide survivor:
We who survived, we who lived on after our companions, assuredly have been
spared to honor them, that neither their thoughts, nor their spirit, nor the
people who gave them life nor the land that nourished them might perish and
be lost forever. We who survived, live on to magnify their spirit, to give
life to their sacred dreams. We who survived, bear not joy in our hearts,
but scars of toil and sacrifice. And so we shall, we must continue to labor
for the sake of those who perished, for the realization of their dreams.
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress