Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 17, 2006
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]
ARMENIAN CAUCUS REPS. PELOSI & HOYER ELECTED TO
DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP POSTS
House Republicans Also Select Leaders
Washington, DC – House Democrats and Republicans followed the Senate
this week in selecting their leadership for the next Congress.
Armenian Caucus Member Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was unanimously
selected as House Speaker while her Caucus colleague, Rep. Steny Hoyer
(D-MD), was elected Majority Leader.
Pelosi and Hoyer, both cosponsors of pending legislation (H. Res. 316)
to reaffirm the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide, will be the
first Caucus Members to serve in those positions when Congress convenes
in January.
“We congratulate the new leadership team for the upcoming Congress,”
said Assembly Board of Trustees Executive Committee Member Annie Totah,
who has had a longstanding working relationship with Pelosi and Hoyer.
“Representatives Pelosi and Hoyer have been steadfast in their support
of Armenian issues, and the Assembly looks forward to working with
them in their new leadership roles to advance issues of concern to
the Armenian-American community.”
On the Republican side, Ohio Congressman John Boehner was elected
Minority Leader, while Congressman Roy Blunt (R-MO) will keep his
position as Whip. The lawmakers are not cosponsors of H. Res. 316 or
H. R.3361, a bill that would bar assistance for a railroad bypass
of Armenia. However, Armenian Caucus Member Rep. Thaddeus McCotter
(R-MI), a cosponsor of the Genocide resolution and rail bill, was
elected as the Republican Policy Committee Chairmanship, while fellow
Caucus Member Eric Cantor (R-VA) was chosen as Chief Deputy Whip.
“The incoming leadership provides new opportunities on Armenian issues
from affirmation of the Armenian Genocide to economic development,”
said Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. “We look forward to
working to ensure a secure, prosperous and democratic Armenia.”
The Armenian Assembly is the largest Washington-based nationwide
organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian
issue. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.
####
NR#2006-101
Photograph available on the Assembly’s Web site at the following link:
/2006-101-1.JPG
Caption: Newly-elected House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) with
Assembly Board of Trustees Executive Committee Member Annie Totah at
the Assembly’s National Conference and Banquet in March 2006.

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Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918 Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected]
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
PRESS RELEASE +++ PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: November 17, 2006
Contact: Lerna Kayserian
Tel: (818) 500-1918
ANCA-WR Celebrates Remarkable Milestones during 2006 Annual Banquet
LOS ANGELES, CA – Over 700 Armenian American grassroots activists,
community leaders and federal, state and local legislators joined
the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR)
at its Annual Banquet on November 12th at the Marriott Hotel in Los
Angeles to recognize a year of remarkable achievement in advancing
the Armenian Cause.
“Our program this evening demonstrates the ANC’s accomplishments
and victories in service of our Cause, achievements which would not
have been possible without the moral and financial support of each
and every one of you,” said Banquet Chairwoman Aida Dimejian, in her
welcoming remarks.
“Together, we will continue our fight — in the House, the Senate
and in state capitols across the U.S. — confident in your support,
encouraged by your awareness, and inspired by your spirit, because
you are Hai Tahd, you are the ANC, and you are our future.”
Renowned French Armenian actor Simon Abkarian served as the evening’s
Master of Ceremonies. Abkarian is starring in the next James Bond
film “Casino Royale”, which will be in theaters beginning November
17. The program began with the presentation of the flags of the
United States and the Republic of Armenia by the Homenetmen Regional
Marching Band and the Los Angeles Chapter Scouts, followed by the
national anthems of United States and Republic of Armenia sung by
Mariette Soudjian. Banquet Benefactors Mrs. Kathy Saroukhanian and
husband Mr. Vacheh Marganian were joined by Banquet Patrons Mr. and
Mrs. Varant and Houri Melkonian in co-sponsoring the event.
ANCA-WR Chairman Steven J. Dadaian thanked all those who contributed in
making 2006 a banner year for the ANCA and especially those who worked
tirelessly to organize the annual banquet. In his remarks, Dadaian
emphasized the importance of the community working together to force
Turkey to once and forever remove the genocidal sword it has wielded
during most of the past century. “Genocide without justice turns the
idea of fairness on its head, leaving the cost of the crime to the
victim, and the victimizer free to enjoy the fruits of his offense,”
he said. “We must turn to the great task of securing justice – in
the name of those who perished, those who survived, and for those who
will follow. Working together with the ANCA, we can achieve this great
purpose – the noble work of our generation. To restore to our nation
what was so brutally taken, to prevent a second genocidal onslaught,
and to build a brighter future for our people.”
Dadaian also recognized those who have passed and whose legacy and
spirit have been preserved forever by their family and friends with
the establishment of memorial endowments, which will support ongoing
summer internship programs in Washington D.C. and in California. “Let’s
take this moment to remember Haroutune Kasparian, Aram Karamardian,
and Kourken Khanjian and honor their spirits by continuing to support
Hai Tahd.”
Special guests and community leaders joined the celebration in support
of the ANCA-WR, including Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate of
the Armenian Apostolic Church of America Western Region, His Eminence,
Republic of Armenia’s recently appointed Consul General Armen Liloyan,
ARF Bureau Member Vicken Hovsepian, ARF Western Region Central
Committee Chairman Avedik Izmirlian, Homenetmen of America Armenian
Athletic and Scouting Association – Western Region Chairman Steve
Artinian, Armenian Relief Society Western Region U.S. Chairwoman Sonia
Peltekian, and Armenian Youth Federation Western Region U.S. Chairman
Saro Shirinian.
Among public officials who attended the ANCA-WR Banquet were
Congressman Adam Schiff, California State Controller-elect John
Chiang, Assemblymember-elect Paul Krekorian, Assemblymember-elect
Anthony Portantino, Assemblymember-elect Mike Feuer, Los Angeles Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa, Glendale City Councilmember Rafi Manoukian,
Montebello City Mayor Bob Bagwell, LA City Council President Eric
Garcetti, LA Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, Los Angeles Unified School
District (LAUSD) Board member Jon Lauritzen, LAUSD Board member Julie
Korenstein, LAUSD Social Studies and History Director Herman Clay,
LAUSD Supertintendent’s Chief of Staff Vivian Ekchian, Glendale
Unified School District Board member Greg Krikorian, Glendale Police
Chief Randy Adams, Glendale City Councilmember Ara Najarian, Glendale
Community College President Dr. Audre Levy, Glendale Community College
Board of Trustees President Dr. Armine Hacopian, Glendale Community
College Board of Trustees member Dr. Vahe Peroomian, Glendale City
Attorney Scott Howard, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz, Glendale Police
Officer and Department Spokesperson John Balian, Glendale City Clerk
Ardashes Kassakhian, Montebello Police Chief Garry Couso-Vasquez,
and Montebello City Councilmember Norma A. Lopez-Reid.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Calls for a Fight Against the Hoagland
Nomination- Commends ANCA for Their Accomplishments
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa headlined the ANCA banquet,
praising the organization for its principled stand on issues and all
their accomplishments while calling for continued pressure on the
White House to withdraw Richard Hoagland’s nomination as the next
ambassador to Armenia because of his genocide denial.
Excerpts from the Mayor’s speech:
“We need to remember the events of the Armenian Genocide by fighting
the nomination of Richard Hoagland until he acknowledges the Armenian
Genocide as fact.
The ANC continues to reawaken our conscience and remind us of the
cruelty that man is capable of inflicting upon his fellow man through
their efforts to keep the memory of the Armenian Genocide alive. I’d
like us all to acknowledge the leadership of the ANC. They were at the
forefront of the campaign to stop the nomination of Richard Hoagland
and I am confident the ANC will continue to lead the way.
I applaud all of you for taking a principled stance you took and
standing up for what you believe in. I commit to standing with you
today, tomorrow, forever, and for as long as it takes, until that day
when the world acknowledges the Armenian genocide. When we all say
that genocide, whether it is in Darfur or in the Balkans or in Armenia
or anywhere in the world, is unacceptable. And we will work together.”
ANCA Salutes Ambassador John Marshall Evans as a True Patriot
Elizabeth Chouldjian, the ANCA’s communications director in
Washington, D.C., presented the Freedom Award in absentia to former
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans for his courageous stand in
recognizing the Armenian Genocide in 2005. Evans was subsequently
prematurely recalled this year as ambassador due to pressure from
the Turkish government. Richard Hoagland was nominated by President
Bush to replace Evans, but his nomination has thusfar been blocked
through the efforts of the ANCA and the grassroots activism of the
Armenian American community.
Excerpts from Chouldjian’s Remarks:
“As I look at the current situation in the State Department, I am
reminded of a quote by the first U.S. Secretary of State Thomas
Jefferson. Jefferson said, “In matters of style, swim with the
current; in matters of principle stand like a rock.” Is this the State
Department of Jefferson? Is this the legacy of Henry Morgenthau? Are
these the fundamental truths – the moral values – that this great
nation is built upon?
Our message to the State Department is clear – withdraw the Hoagland
nomination, come clean on the firing of Evans, and end the shameless
pandering to the Turkish Government. And if the State Department
doesn’t have the guts to stand by one of its own, to honor the man,
who tried to bring dignity and morality to American foreign policy,
then the Armenian National Committee of America will.
ANCA-WR Freedom Award recipient John Marshall Evans cannot be with
us this evening to accept his award – he is technically affiliated
with the State Department until November 30th – shackled to their
bankrupt policies for a few more weeks. But that won’t stop us from
standing up today in salute of a true American patriot. This is for
you, Mr. Ambassador.
LAUSD’s Bob Collins’s Honored as 2006 Man of the Year
-Collins Praised for Genocide Education Efforts in LAUSD Curriculum
This year marked a special milestone as the Armenian Genocide was
incorporated into two major high school history textbooks, which are
widely used in schools throughout the country. The Los Angeles Unified
School District (LAUSD) recently worked with publishers to ensure the
Armenian Genocide topic was adequately represented in the textbooks
as they prepared to make a major multi-million dollar purchase of the
books that will be used by all LAUSD schools for years to come. The
ANCA-WR worked with Mr. Collins in this major initiative and saluted
his persistence and principled approach to this critical issue by
honoring him as the ANCA-WR 2006 Man of the Year.
As he accepted the Man of the Year Award, Bob Collins recognized his
colleagues, LAUSD Board members Jon Lauritzen and Julie Korenstein
and Vivian Ekchian, Chief of Staff to the LAUSD Superintendent,
for their commitment to education.
Collins discussed the importance of understanding the pain and
suffering of genocide victims and about understanding the traditions
and customs of different cultures. “It is only in that way that we
can break down the barriers of prejudice and intolerance and ensure
that each and every young person truly appreciates their classmates,
their families, and the community in which they are apart of.” He also
expressed concern about the Armenian language and culture in the Los
Angeles Unified School Districts and public schools in general, calling
for both the language and the culture to be taught to all students.
“You have my eternal promise to continue to work to ensure that
history is history. It is to be faced, it is to be accepted, it is
to be understood, and it is to be taught as the fabric of what we do
in Los Angeles.”
VAHAN CARDASHIAN HONOREES
Each year the ANCA-WR honors special members of the community who have
spent their lives working for the Armenian Cause. Vahan Cardashian,
after whom the award was named, was the pioneer for American Armenian
political action during the early twentieth century and founded the
American Committee for an Independent Armenia (ACIA), the predecessor
to the ANCA. This year’s honorees were Serge Samoniantz of Montebello,
California and Khajag Sarkissian of San Francisco, California.
Serge Samoniantz
ANC San Gabriel Valley member Jack Hadjinian presented the 2006 Vahan
Cardashian Award to Serge Samoniantz. “Please join me in welcoming to
the podium a man who has traveled in the footsteps of Vahan Cardashian
– America’s first Hai-Tahd activist.”
Serge Samoniantz was first called on by the ANC to help organize
Armenian American grassroots efforts in 1984. Since then, Samoniantz
has traveled across the Western Region of the U.S. to organize town
hall meetings to educate community members on the Armenian Genocide
resolution pending in the Congress, traveled to Switzerland, along
with other Armenian activists from around the world, to encourage the
United Nation’s to approve a report citing the Armenian Genocide as
the first instance of genocide in the 20th Century, and has served
as the ANCA Western Region’s Executive Director both in 1981 and 1984.
Khajag Sarkissian
Khajag Sarkissian was one of the founders of the San Francisco Bay
Area ANC and has been a continuous and consistent member since the
1960’s. He has served as the Chairman of the chapter and also as a
member of the Western Region’s Board of Directors.
ANC San Francisco-Bay Area Chairwoman Roxanne Makasdjian presented
the 2006 ANCA-WR Vahan Cardashian to Khajag Sarkissian. “For those
of you who know him, you know that for Khajag, the Armenian Cause is
not a hobby or a past-time. It makes up the core of his life and his
lifestyle,” said Makasdjian, who has worked closely with Sarkissian
for decades.
ANCA: Securing Our Roots. Building for the Future.
Over the years a key feature of the ANCA-WR banquet has been a
video presentation that captures the spirit of the ANCA and its
unparalleled grassroots network. Banquet attendees viewed a dynamic
video presentation produced by Ara Soudjian and Zanku Armenian. The
film highlighted the ANCA-WR’s major efforts and accomplishments of
the past year defending the rights of the Armenian American community,
Armenia, Artsakh and continuing to fight for justice and recognition of
the Armenian genocide. It chronicled the ANCA-WR’s work in increasing
the Armenian American community’s political strength and the respect
it is achieving in government and media circles.
System of a Down’s New Movie “Screamers” Highlighted
The program included a trailer presentation of the recently released
documentary ‘SCREAMERS’, by Carla Garapedian. ‘SCREAMERS’ covers the
efforts of the Grammy-award winning band System of a Down in their
campaign to end the cycle of genocide. ‘SCREAMERS’ premiered at the
American Film Institute Film Festival in Los Angeles on November
2nd. Film Director Carla Garapedian, System of a Down Band Members
Serj Tankian, John Dolmayan and Shavo Odadjian, producers Pete McAlevey
and Tim Swain, sponsor Raffy Manoukian of the Raffy Manoukian Charity
joined hundreds of genocide recognition and prevention organizations,
including the ANCA and Save Darfur, and activists in the premier of
the film. ‘SCREAMERS’ will be released in Los Angeles theatres on
December 8 and on January 19, 2007 in New York, Chicago, Boston and
Washington D.C.
#####

EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICANEWS RELEASE
1 AMERICAN AVENUE
YEREVAN, ARMENIA
TELEPHONE (+374 10) 464700
FAX (+374 10) 464742
E-MAIL: [email protected]
November 14, 2006
U.S. Military Officials in Iraq Meet with Defense Minister Serge Sargsian
On November 14, U.S. military officials in Iraq, including U.S. General
George Casey, the Commander of Multinational Force – Iraq, met with Armenian
Defense Minister Serge Sargsian. Defense Minister Sargsian also met with the
Armenian contingent working to bring peace and stability to Iraq.
1406.php
Armenian Minister of Defense Serge Sargsian and U.S. General George Casey,
Commander, Multinational Force
Armenian Minister of Defense Serge Sargsian and Iraqi Minister of Defense
Qadir
Armenian Minister of Defense Serge Sargsian and the Armenian contingent
serving in Iraq
The Armenian contingent working to bring peace and stability to Iraq

Creamy labneh is perfect for breakfast
San Francisco Chronicle
Janet Fletcher, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, November 17, 2006
If you drain yogurt in a cheesecloth-lined sieve for several hours,
you have labneh, a creamy yogurt cheese eaten throughout the Eastern
Mediterranean and Middle East. The word is transliterated from the
Arabic in many ways — as lebni, labne and labna, for starters — but
all spellings refer to essentially the same product. Although you can
prepare labneh easily at home from your favorite yogurt, many people
apparently can’t be bothered, as packaged labneh is widely available
in the Bay Area’s Middle Eastern markets.
Labneh is made just like yogurt, by culturing milk with bacteria. Some
producers add cream or nonfat milk solids to the milk. The former
adds richness; the latter adds protein without adding fat. Some
add pectin or other stabilizers, and some add salt. In any case,
labneh is always thicker than yogurt because some of the whey has
been removed. Although the consistency varies slightly from one
manufacturer to another, you can expect labneh to be closer to sour
cream or soft cream cheese than to custard-like American yogurt.
Byblos, a popular brand made in the United States, has a pronounced
sour tang. The Pinar brand, which appears to be a Turkish import,
is salty, nutty, and more mellow, similar to thick creme fraiche. I
like them both.
In Lebanon, Armenia, Turkey and the other countries that ring
the Eastern Mediterranean, labneh is breakfast food. It will be
slathered on a flat plate, drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil, and
sprinkled with dried mint or za’atar, a seasoning blend. Flatbread,
olives, cucumbers and tomatoes are its usual companions, even at
breakfast. You can make a dramatic meze, or Mediterranean appetizer
course, by surrounding olive oil-dressed labneh with flatbread (pita,
lavash or the like), olives, scallions, radishes, whole mint leaves and
sprigs of fresh dill. Invite guests to tear off a piece of flatbread,
spread it with labneh, tuck in a few fresh herbs of their choice and
a length of scallion, and then fold it and eat it like a taco.
Delicious.
You can use labneh in dips in place of sour cream, or layer it with
honey and plumped dried fruit and toasted almonds for dessert. In an
appetizer context, a lean, high-acid white wine, such as an unoaked
Sauvignon Blanc, would be an ideal companion.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

November 17, 2006
The Student Newspaper of Rice University
6/11/17/armenian_genocide
November 17, 2006
Armenian genocide must not be denied
Mhair Dekmezian
On April 15, 1915, 250 Armenians, including doctors, bankers,
businessmen and even a member of the parliament, were rounded up in the
Ottoman capital of Constantinople and sent to their executions. This
incident began the final portion of a systematic attempt at the
complete annihilation of the Armenian race by the Turkish rulers of
the Ottoman Empire – an event that is to this day denied by modern
Turkey in addition to an active denial movement.
While the Christian Armenians, having lived in the area for thousands
of years, experienced limited discrimination by the Muslim rulers
over many years, the paranoid Sultan Abdulhamid took this to a new
level, effectively attempting to ban the very existence of the word
“Armenian.” He began in the 1890s with the bloody slaughter of more
than 200,000 Armenians, stopped only after a coup by the Young Turk
regime in 1909. With their promise that “under the blue sky we are
all equal,” most Armenians hoped this would mark a new era.
However, by 1914, the War Office began a propaganda campaign to present
all Armenians as “subversive elements,” justified by actions of two
Armenians leading czarist battalions, as Russia was engaged in war
with the Ottomans.
The actions of a few individuals were used to formulate a fictional,
widespread “revolutionary uprising,” used from that point as a
carte blanche for the destruction of an entire race, guilty only
of being Armenian. From there, entire villages were cleared of men,
women and children, who were often killed brutally on the outskirts
of their towns or “deported” to concentration camps in the Syrian
deserts. Along the way, they were robbed, raped and murdered by
their Ottoman guards. Caves, rivers and fields filled with mutilated
bodies were left in the wake. By the end of the war, about 1.5 million
Armenians were killed.
The historical factuality of these occurrences is not even remotely
in question – there is consensus among modern scholars of all
nationalities.
Countless foreign archives and Turkish documents detail the approval
of these violent massacres of Armenians by their Ottoman rulers. The
New York Times published 145 articles in 1915 alone detailing the
campaign of “systematic race extermination.”
Reports by Henry Morgenthau, U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman
Empire, confirmed a systematic, unprovoked slaughter under the
full knowledge and approval of the Young Turk leaders. He detailed
numerous frustrating conversations with Talaat Pasha, Minister
of Interior Affairs, who justified the attacks by saying, “[the
Armenians] innocent today might be guilty tomorrow,” and that he
“accomplished more toward solving the Armenian problem in three months
than Abdulhamid accomplished in 30 years.”
There were hundreds of other eyewitness accounts by foreign
missionaries, travelers and diplomats. Several of these witnesses were
Germans – then allied with the Ottomans – and some were Americans,
who were neutral with the Turks. All reports confirm a systematic
plan of annihilation under the guise of deportation. Today, people
only need to look for a few of the numerous mass graves scattered
across eastern Turkey to see with their own eyes the still-present
remnants of these mass killings.
By the end of the war in 1918, Turkish tribunals in Constantinople
convicted hundreds of the leaders of the Young Turk regime – including
in absentia top leaders Talaat, Enver and Djemal Pasha due to their
post-war flight to Berlin – confirming the disaster was a “result of
a premeditated decision taken by a central body . and based on oral
and written orders issued by that body.” However, the rise to power
of Mustafa Kemal Atatuerk, the ultra-nationalist founder of modern
Turkey, caused these trials to fade into obscurity as to present an
image of Turkish unity and independence from the post-war agreements
imposed by the Allied powers. Declaring the post-war treaty requiring
the war crime trials as treasonous, Atatuerk secured the return of
remaining captives awaiting trial through an exchange of prisoners
of war with Britain, several of whom became high-ranking officials
in the new government.
At the time, the term “genocide” had yet to be created: Raphael Lemkin,
a Polish Jew driven by the atrocities committed against the Armenians,
then embarked on his mission to find the word sufficient to describe
the absolute horror of what had occurred.
“I became interested in genocide because it happened so many times,”
he said in a 1949 CBS interview. “First to the Armenians – then after
the Armenians, Hitler took action.” The UN Convention on the Prevention
and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted in 1951, far too
late to try the original perpetrators.
Denial of the occurrences of World War I has led to serious
consequences for humanity. In World War II, the Third Reich modeled the
Holocaust after what was observed in Turkey, with Hitler declaring a
week prior to invading Poland, “The aim of war is . to annihilate the
enemy physically. It is by this means that we shall obtain the vital
living space that we need. Who today still speaks of the massacre of
the Armenians?”
Modern Turkey has shown itself unable to implement basic human rights
protections by continually attempting to destroy Kurdish heritage and
culture. Freedom of speech is explicitly banned, with Article 305 of
the Penal Code defining acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide as an
“anti-national plot.” Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk openly spoke of
the atrocities and was subjected to a hate campaign and prosecution
in 2005.
Turkish historian Taner Akcam in 1978 was sentenced to 10 years in
prison for his attempts to contextualize the genocide within Turkish
history.
International relations are also crippled, with most European Union
states demanding massive human rights reforms and genocide recognition
as a precondition for membership. Turkey to this day refuses to
establish diplomatic ties with the Republic of Armenia, despite
President Robert Kocharian’s offer to “establish normal relations”
without any pre-conditions, as only then can the two governments
jointly try to resolve historical issues. The offer still remains
ignored. Until Turkey acknowledges history, it well be impossible
for it to reconcile with the rest of Europe.
Modern day deniers of genocide are also complicit in the act itself.
According to Emory University Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust
Studies Deborah Lipstadt, denial, the final stage of genocide,
“strives to reshape history in order to demonize the victims and
rehabilitate the perpetrators.”
Rather than blindly ignore all factual evidence and scholarly
discussion, I invite genocide deniers to examine the vast body of
evidence themselves.
Visit the local Holocaust Museum for a small view of the continued
horrors that occur as a result of society’s collective inability to
recognize crimes against humanity – not just in the Ottoman Empire,
but throughout the world.
Mhair Dekmezian is a Brown College junior.

Ana sayfa
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Turkish Defense Minister’s words prompt French official to leave salon
Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, speaking at the opening of the 8th
Defense Industry Trade Fair, reportedly provoked French Military
Attache Lieutenant Jean Claude Gaey to leave the salon where Gonul
was speaking.
The French Military Attache Gaey was reportedly reacting in anger
to words spoken by Gonul which appeared to cast doubt on whether
French military officers had been invited to the trade fair: “We
were all upset by the parliamentary approval of the Amernian bill
in France. But we will of course continue our relations with France
in NATO and on other international platforms. We will come together
at other meetings too. The French Defense Minister is a valuable
government member. But the French Defense Minister has not been
formally invited here. We sent invitations to other countries.”
When a reported noted afterwards to Minister Gonul that the official
list of invitees included the French Defense Minister, Gonul responded
“I don’t know about the list you are holding; but when looked at the
list of people sitting to watch the cinevision, I was relieved not
to see the French in row 21. We don’t want to do the wrong thing.”
French Attache Gaey commented to reporters after leaving the salon
in the wake of Gonul’s speech: “An invitation came to me from the
retired General who heads the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation. But
after hearing the minister’s words, I realized that staying here for
meetings was useless. Which is why I am leaving.”
Earlier this week, General Ilker Basbug of the Turkish Land Force
asserted during celebrations for the founding of Northern Cyprus
that for now, Turkish and French formal military relations had been
“shelved.”

Chairman of UAR Murmansk Regional Community Killed
PanARMENIAN.Net
17.11.2006 14:50 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Chairman of Murmansk regional community of the
Union of Armenians of Russia, head of the Murmansk Church Council
of the AAC Artur Harutyunyan was killed next to his house November
16 at about 8 p.m. According to informal sources, he was shot into
face. Chief of the Murmansk regional police Victor Pesterev said
that Harutyunyan was killed at the entry of his house in Kolsky
Avenue. An investigation group was formed and search measures are
being carried out. Artur Harutyunyan was 42. He had a 17-year-old
son and a six-month-old daughter.
Artur Harutyunyan was also a famous entrepreneur, who possessed 70.054
per cent package of the Murmansk Social Commercial Bank (the rest
27.47 per cent belong to the Russian government via the Russian Fund
of Federal Property). Presently the state package is put up for sale.

RA MFA Hopes Murderers of 15-Year-Old Nairi Kocharian Will Be
Found Soon
PanARMENIAN.Net
17.11.2006 15:03 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian Foreign Ministry requested the Russian
MFA to carry out the investigation of the murder of 15-year-old
Armenian citizen in Moscow oblast, Acting Spokesman of the RA MFA
Vladimir Karapetian told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. The RA Foreign
Ministry watches the situation and hopes that the killers will be
found soon
November 11 a 15-year-old Armenian Nairi Kocharian was killed on a
railway platform of the settlement of Ivanteyevka (Moscow oblast). As
reported by the police, the boy was brought to hospital with knife
wounds and died some time later. According to the source, operative and
search measures are being carried out. The Union of Armenians of Russia
(UAR) says that Narek Kocharian, an attendee of a hairdressing course,
went out for a walk with his Russian friends that evening. At about 6
or 7 p.m. aggressive young men assaulted Narek. His friends escaped
while he was brutally beaten and knifed. The assassins also tried to
smother or hand their victim. A scarf with an image of a skull and
bones was found next to the killed boy thus clearly pointing to the
affiliation of the assassins to a fascist grouping.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenia does not use neighbors’ controversies in building regional policy:
Speech by President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan at the Bertelsmann
Foundation
Regnum News Agency
November 18, 2006
President of the Republic of Armenia Robert Kocharyan who is paying a
working visit to Germany made 16 November 2006 a speech at the Bertelsmann
Foundation. REGNUM introduces the full text of the speech published at the
Armenian President’s official website.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am delighted to join you here today. It is very natural that this talk is
taking place in the Bertelsmann Foundation. Describing the processes
unfolding in Armenia since independence, the most frequent word to be used
is ‘reform’ – economic, social, and political. There is virtually no domain
of life which would not undergo serious reform after the collapse of the
Soviet Union and transition of Armenia to democracy and market economy. We
restructured our institutions, reviewed policies, overturned the structure
of the economy. Everything was new and challenging.
Unfortunately, this process was complicated by the war imposed on us,
blockade, which still continues, and a severe energy crisis. We replied by
intensifying the speed of transformations, mobilizing resources, and
increasing the effectiveness of the governance.
Armenia is not rich in natural resources. However we are known for the most
important of them – the human one. It is first of all expressed in the
widely-recognized entrepreneurial and hard-working nature of the people. Our
characteristic feature is the high level of motivation among the people to
start private businesses.
To be able to fully benefit from these advantages, it is essential to
establish favorable environment for business-oriented people, and provide
safeguarded investment policies. This envisions liberalization of the
economy and of trade regimes, establishment of competitive conditions and
the minimization of the state’s interference in the business affairs.
As a result, we witness serious changes in the structure of the economy,
both in terms of its branches, and of property types. 85 per cent of the GDP
is produced in the private sector, with over 40 per cent in small and medium
businesses.
We are particularly proud of this last figure. The middle class is in the
process of formation. This seriously affects the public perception about own
future.
Obviously not everything is smooth yet. We particularly feel a pressing need
for a qualitative improvement of the tax and customs administration. The
fight against corruption needs to be intensified at all levels according the
action plan adopted by the government.
We also need to further develop the sector of financial services in Armenia.
For that we have a good potential in the form of efficient banking system,
which is being continuously upgraded.
While we see a serious increase in foreign direct investments in Armenia, we
know that there is still more to achieve in the upcoming future. In this
regard I have to fully acknowledge and express our sincere appreciation for
the technical assistance and direct involvement Germany has in this field in
Armenia. The programs of technical assistance and financial cooperation
implemented with KWF and GTZ bring a solid contribution in this regard.
Armenia’s accession to the World Trade Organization in 2003 pushed forward
our integration into the world economy and made relations with our partners
more predictable.
Last year a joint study by the Wall Street Journal and Heritage Foundation
placed Armenia 27th in its index of open economies globally. Effectiveness
of the reforms is reflected in figures. In the last six years the annual
growth of GDP averaged at 12.2 per cent. Foreign investments last year
totaled at 500 million US dollars.
Such progress allows our Government to address social problems, challenging
our society. I would like to particularly emphasize the Poverty Reduction
Program, which has been developed in close cooperation between the
Government, international financial institutions, and Armenia’s civil
society. That experience is used by the World Bank as a case study for the
development of similar programs in other countries.
This year our government has announced another priority, which shall result
in a systemic change in the society. We have launched a major program for
the development of Armenia’s rural areas. Currently there is a big gap
between the situation in the capital city and countryside. We have mobilized
available resources, as well as have called on our Diaspora structures to
take all the necessary steps to provide better quality of life to villages
of Armenia. In our view this will provide incentives for young people to
develop their regions, towns and rural communities.
Another competitive advantage we base our reforms upon is the high literacy
level Armenia has. We intend to develop science-reliant economy. We already
have 2 per cent of IT share in the GDP composition.
Meanwhile, we fully realize that it would be impossible to explore that
advantage without serious changes in our educational sector and in sciences.
That is exactly why Armenia has committed itself to active participation in
the Bologna process to adjust its education system to the European
standards. We are currently also developing a comprehensive strategy of the
reform for the fundamental and applicable sciences. In the difficult period
of transition, the need to invest in people was somewhat neglected, and
currently we attempt to make up for that delay.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have started my speech with the economic reforms and their impacts on the
social field, since we are deeply convinced that sustainable democracy is
strongly dependent on the state of economy. While we fully appreciate the
importance of political vision and leadership for rooting the democratic
values in the formerly closed society, we are strong believers of the
democracy from below. It is not enough to create democratic institutions:
without strongly motivated beneficiaries they would be rapidly corrupted and
altered. In our view those capable beneficiaries of democracy are the small
and medium businesses on one hand and the civil society on the other.
Today our government is deeply involved in the process of reforming our
judicial sector. The first phase of that reform took place at the wake of
independence. At that time we were just learning the rules of civil law in
conditions of private property ownerships and in the system of democratic
accountability of the state. Today we work towards deeper reforms, which
would allow for a higher level of independence of the courts, and deeper
respect for human rights. In close cooperation with German partners we now
develop the system of administrative justice, which would regulate disputes
between the state and citizens.
The years of independence have been marked by active involvement of the
civil society in the life of the country. We are encouraged by the
development of NGO sector. Today we witness more professional
non-governmental organizations, which bring people closer to the political
decision-making. All state institutions in Armenia have started to work
closely with civil society groups.
Meanwhile, it is true that we continue to witness the major problem of NGO
sector in any transitional democracy. NGOs, being relevantly a new
phenomenon, o ften continue to be grant-oriented, instead of being
goal-oriented, and have a political agenda, aligning with various political
parties.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Last fifteen years have been the period of statecraft. Our accession to the
Council of Europe five years ago provided framework for the legal reforms
and institution-building. WTO membership allowed for a quicker and more
motivated transition towards liberal economy. Thinking about continuing the
reforms, we watch the European Neighborhood Policy as a new benchmark. In
our perception the Action Plan signed lately in Brussels is the new roadmap
of our reforms. Armenia intends to develop an efficient cooperation with the
European Commission and strengthen bilateral ties with EU member-states.
This would allow for intensive political dialogue, more trade, active social
and public interactions, and higher mutual security involvement. We count on
German support and cooperation within this new framework.
Over the years Armenia has been consistently shaping its foreign policy,
based on the concept of advantaging from overlap of interests rather than
exploitation of disagreements existing in our region. This has allowed us to
combine perfect relations with Russia, EU, United States, and Iran. It is
also an important part of transformation of our country and society. For
decades, living in the Soviet Union, we were trained to watch the world as
black and white, representing enemies and friends.
The policy of complimentarity also applies to our security model. Armenia is
an active member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, and at the
same time has done a substantial progress on its cooperation with NATO. The
Individual Partnership Action Plan has been approved, setting the framework
for a long-term institutional cooperation.
Our vision of future of Armenia is that of a prosperous state in a friendly
stable environment. Armenia has four immediate neighbors in the region. Much
to our regret, with two of them we have no relations. Over centuries we
enjoy good neighborly relations with Georgia, and very much hope that recent
dispute between Russia and Georgia will be resolved shortly. We value our
efficient and stable cooperation with neighboring Iran, with whom we
cooperate in many spheres and have started significant infrastructural
programs.
In contrast to this, another major neighbor – Turkey keeps Armenian border
blocked. We even have no diplomatic relations with that country. In our
view, being a member of NATO and craving the EU aspirations, Turkey had to
shape more positivistic policy in the region. More than once we have
proposed to establish diplomatic relations and this offer is still pending.
We believe that neighboring countries should build-up their relations
without preconditions, and moreover, without conditioning those by demands
of a third state.
Armenia attaches great importance to regional cooperation. We believe that
the resolution of conflicts itself should not be regarded as a precondition
for establishing dialogue and cooperation. Rather, the regional cooperation
should be watched as a great trust-building measure, aimed at resolving
existing disagreements. It is obvious, that unresolved conflicts hamper the
process of natural development of the South Caucasus.
That is why we are committed to the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno
Karabagh conflict. OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs works hard to bring closer our
positions. Unfortunately, despite active negotiations underway, there is
little room for optimism.
Our principle stand is that the people of Karabagh have implemented their
right for self-determination. It has been done in full compliance with the
international law. Many currently independent states came into existence
after former empires perished. Independence of Nagorno Karabagh was attained
at the time of collapse of the Soviet Union. Moreover, it was the time of
the end of the grand ideological divide. Nagorno Karabagh has never been a
part of independent Azerbaijan. Through a successful construction of its
statehood Nagorno Karabagh Republic has proved its right for existence. It
regularly conducts democratic presidential and parliamentary elections. We
witness the development of the civil society. A generation has already grown
up, which considers itself to be the embodiment and safeguard of that
statehood. We do not recall any case of a nation willingly putting it down
independence it has been enjoying for over 15 years. No one has intention to
do it in case of Karabagh. We speak about irreversible changes that took
place in the people’s mentality.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I have outlined the main lines of the economic, societal, and political
change underway in the Republic of Armenia. Transition is a process, not an
event. It does have the beginning but never an end. In my view the viability
of a nation is rooted in its capacity to comprehend the need for a change
and its readiness to transform itself. We know that despite the existing
positive dynamic the transformation of our country is only in its early
stage. But we have vision for its goal and commitment to the process.
Thank you for your attention.”

One of Nairi Kocharian’s “Friends” Was Skinhead
PanARMENIAN.Net
17.11.2006 15:52 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ New facts are being revealed in Nairi Kocharian’s
case, head of the information department of the Union of Armenians
of Russia (UAR) David Babayan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In
his words, there emerged a version that the teenager who accompanied
Kocharian was a skinhead. “He could put his fellows on track,” Babayan
said adding that the police is carrying out a thorough investigation.
November 11 a 15-year-old Armenian Nairi Kocharian was killed on a
railway platform of the settlement of Ivanteyevka (Moscow oblast). The
boy was brutally beaten and knifed. The assassins also tried to
smother or hand their victim. A scarf with an image of a skull and
bones was found next to the killed boy thus clearly pointing to the
affiliation of the assassins to a fascist grouping.