Thursday, September 07, 2006
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IN PRAISE OF FREE SPEECH
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The first sentence of a commentary in our paper today that bears the headline, “Newspaper must provide a forum for free speech,” reads: “It is easier to love the theory of free speech than the practice of it.” And the final sentence: “And it is the responsibility of the citizen to accept that free speech includes not only the viewpoints that the citizen agrees with, but also those which cause gravest and most heartfelt offence.” John Roe, the author of this commentary is identified as “the Editorial Page editor.” I should like to see one of our own editors writing and publishing such a commentary. As for our pundits and academics who contribute regularly to our papers: I don’t remember any one of them raising his voice against censorship. John Roe is right: we may love the theory of free speech but we, all of us, (publishers, editors, pundits, and citizens) hate the practice of it. Either that or we define free speech as the freedom to spew anti-Turkish venom.
#
Friday, September 08, 2006
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TOWARDS A MORE BALANCED
VIEW OF REALITY
*********************************************
Chamfort: “Everything I learned, I have forgotten: the little I remember, I guessed.”
*
To understand one thing is to understand many other things.”
*
An objective judgment is better than a prejudiced one.”
*
By distorting reality, bias obstructs our path to understanding, and ultimately to consensus.
*
These may not be as good or original assertions as Descartes’ celebrated “I think therefore I am,” but they are far more accurate than their opposites.
*
Sooner or later all Armenians realize that to trust an Armenian on the grounds that he is Armenian is unwise. Among my friends and acquaintances I count several who began by trusting their fellow Armenians and ended by avoiding them like the plague.
*
As a child I believed everything I was told by my schoolteachers and parish priest. As an adult I know that trusting mullahs and propagandists (regardless of race, color, and creed) is to consent to be brainwashed.
*
To trust no one is as bad as to trust everyone. As an Armenian I may reject the Turkish version of the story. It doesn’t necessarily follow I accept the Armenian version.
*
Our nationalist historians tell us the Turks planned to exterminate us long before the actions of our revolutionaries. What they don’t even try to explain is why would Turks do that to their “most loyal millet” at a time when enemies from within as well as without threatened their very existence?
*
You don’t have to be a historian or a psychologist to recognize a contradiction when you see one. All you need is common sense, which, according to Descartes, is evenly distributed because no one complains that he doesn’t have enough of it.
*
Common sense tells us, to trust the judgment of an objective outsider is wiser than to trust the judgment of participants in a quarrel or controversy. The justice system of the civilized world is based on that assumption.
*
In addition to being one of the greatest historians of the 20th Century, Arnold J. Toynbee was also the first scholar to document the Genocide and to publish several studies on Turkish abuses of power. As an anti-nationalist he rejected both Turkish and Armenian versions of the story. In his version, the Genocide is undeniable fact. It is equally undeniable that by making unjustified territorial demands, Armenian nationalists were partly responsible in provoking it.
*
If you reject Toynbee’s version on grounds that he is just another cold-blooded, dehumanized imperialist witness with an impaired sense of compassion and justice, I invite you to consider the testimony of an old Armenian lady who was also a survivor of the Genocide: “The Turks are nice people, provided you don’t step on their tails.”
*
Is it conceivable that this traumatized old woman on her way to senility and death has a more balanced view of reality than all our pundits combined?
*
A German philosopher once said, “The Germans are the best people in the world, but the trouble is there are so few of them.” Our problem may well be that our “betters” are our worst.
#
Saturday, September 09, 2006
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Voltaire’s favorite prayer: “O Lord, please make all my enemies ridiculous.”
*
The intolerant have a sharp eye for someone else’s intolerance, never their own.
*
Once when I said that Germans had helped Turks in planning and executing the Armenian genocide, a German Armenologist reminded me that Germans had been the first scholars to establish the Sanskrit roots of the Armenian language. Academics!
*
Friedrich Schlegel: “Words often understand each other better than the people who use them.”
*
In his biography of Timothy Leary, of “Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out” fame, Greenfield writes: “Tim loved everyone as if they were his own children – except for his own actual children.” Another Saroyan!
*
It has been said, when women want to behave like men, they seldom behave like gentlemen. One could also say that when Armenians behave like Turks, they seldom behave like good Turks. I shiver to think what would happen if this type of Armenian were given a yataghan and unleashed against defenseless civilians who happen to disagree with him.
*
Only if you have lived in darkness may you see the light. This cannot happen to someone who assumes his darkness to be light.
*
“If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” Our history in a nutshell. It has been the perennial function of our academics to cover up this obvious fact.
#

—
PRESS RELEASE
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia
Contact: Information Desk
Tel: (374-10) 52-35-31
Email: [email protected]
Web:
~LNew Answers to Old Questions: Armenians in the 21st century¹ is the
title of a forum which will take place on the second and third days
of the Third ArmeniaDiaspora Conference to be held, from September
18th -20th in Yerevan.
More than a dozen international experts and an equal number of
specialists from Armenia will participate in the first-of-its kind
forum.
Following the first day¹s session which will deal with general
Armenia-Diaspora and the new Rural Poverty Eradication Program,
the forum will focus on the old issues of identity, culture,
belonging, homeland-diaspora relations, but from the point of view
of a transnational people living in a globalized 21st century world.
The first panel of the forum, to be held on Tuesday, September 19,
is entitled Nation, State and Identity in the 21st Century, and will
explore new approaches to understanding the evolution of culture and
identity in relation to the diaspora, as well as Armenia. Khachig
Tololyan, editor of the Toronto, Canada-based Diaspora, A Journal
of Transnational Studies, and a professor of Comparative Literature
at Wesleyan University, will open the forum and moderate this first
session which will consider such questions as whether diasporan
political and institutional development can occur without a homeland,
whether the homeland can develop independently of the diaspora,
and whether the diaspora can develop outside of its traditional
structures and institutions. The role of language, literature, arts,
religion and history will also be discussed in relationship to how
they define citizenship and culture.
Participating in this panel are Chandrashekhar Bhat of the Center
for the Study of the Indian Diaspora in Hyderabad, India and Tsypylma
Darieva of Humboldt University in Berlin. Challenges of Identity will
be presented from two perspectives: Gagik Harutyunyan, President of
the Constitutional Court of Armenia, will present a view from Armenia,
and Khatchik Der Ghougassian, a political analyst from Argentina will
present a view from the Diaspora.
The second panel will address the mechanics of diaspora-homeland
relations.
Reciprocal perceptions of Armenians from Armenia and from the Diaspora,
as well as the need to make both socio-economic and political relations
a two-way street will be addressed by Harutyun Marutyan of Armenia¹s
National Academy of Science¹s Institute of Archeology and Ethnography
and Gloria Totoricaguena from the Center for Basque Studies at the
University of Nevada, Reno. In the same panel, Yevgeny Kuznetsov, an
economist with the World Bank in Washington, will speak on Diasporas
bringing know-how and networks to the homeland.
Razmik Panossian, Director of Policy, Programs and Planning of Rights
and Democracy, of Montreal, will be discussing whether mechanisms
and approaches be created in the future to direct cultural and social
developments toward ideal Homeland-Diaspora configuration.
Repatriation and territory of common identity will be the theme of
the third session of the forum covering topics such as emigration,
repatriation, the role of government in these areas, and whether
existing trends might be reversed.
Edward Melkonian, a Historian at the Slavonic University in Armenia,
will be moderating the session. Armenuhi Stepanyan, from the National
Institute of Sciences¹ Institute of Archeology and Ethnography, will
talk about Lessons of Post-War Repatriation in Armenia. This year,
2006, is the 60th anniversary of the year when the largest number
of Armenians repatriated to Soviet Armenia, in the Stalin years. A
look at current international migration will be presented by Sossi
Kasbarian of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.
Gevorg Poghosian, Sociologist, will speak on the causes, consequences
and prospects for emigration from Armenia. Avetik Chalabian, a young
economist with the McKinsey Corporation, in Russia, will cover New
Migration, New Investments and New Diasporans.
In the same session, Judge Eduard Muratian of Armenia will speak
about the perspectives, prospects, promises and possibilities of
dual citizenship.
The final session of the forum will be held on Wednesday morning,
September 20, when four professionals from diverse backgrounds
will take a look at the Diaspora in 2020 and will explore possible
scenarios. This segment will look at what facts and analyses are
prerequisites to future programming and policies.
Moderator Noubar Afeyan of the US, one of the leaders of Armenia 2020,
will present four keynote speakers each of whom will present their view
of the Diaspora in 2020: Arman Jilavian, Editor-in-Chief of Nexion
Publications in Russia; Levon Abrahamian from the Armenian National
Academy of Sciences¹ Institute of Archeology and Ethnography; Bedros
Terzian of Petrostrategies in France, Lebanese-born, and a member
of the Board of Trustees of the Armenia Fund; and Tom Samuelian,
an American-Armenian who has been residing in Armenia for a decade
and heads the American University of Armenia Law Center.
Following each panel, a group of invited discussants representing
different communities, ages, and backgrounds, will comment on the
speakers¹ theses.
There will be simultaneous translation into four languages. Everyone
is welcome to participate. For more information and
last-minute registration, visit
< iaforeignministry.am> .
–Boundary_(ID_Rx29Jyqi1Ng8aEFcmtcJ0w)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Press Release
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
HIS HOLINESS ARAM I MEETS WITH THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GREEK
CATHOLIC COMMUNITY
His Holiness Aram I received the central committee of the Greek
Catholic community’s league in Bikfaya on September 5. They
consulted the Catholicos on the problems in Lebanon and the region in
general. They expressed their support for the Armenian opposition to
the participation of Turkey in the peacekeeping forces to be deployed
in South Lebanon.
“We completely support the position of the Armenian Community. Let’s
not forget that it was the same Turks who massacred Christian and
Muslim Lebanese,” said the chairman of the league.
His Holiness Aram I praised the brave stand of the Greek Catholic
community.
“The Armenians of Lebanon as a whole clearly and publicly expressed
their opinion and concerns regarding the participation of Turkey in
the peacekeeping forces in South Lebanon. As a spiritual leader, I
also expressed our viewpoints to the General Secretary of the United
Nations, the President of the Republic of Lebanon, its Prime Minister
and government. Our position was based on clear facts. In fact, how
can a country contribute to a peacekeeping mission when its past and
present are full of massacres, occupations, human rights violations
and trends that do not suit such mission,” said Aram I.
His Holiness and the delegation also discussed the possibilities
of strengthening the dialogue between the Christian and Muslim
communities.
##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates
of the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the
Ecumenical activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer
to the web page of the Catholicosate, The
Cilician Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is
located in Antelias, Lebanon.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RA OMBUDSMAN CONDEMNS THE INFRINGEMENT AGAINST MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES
ArmRadio.am
07.09.2006 18:12
RA Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan severely condemns the recurrent
infringement against media representatives.
The statement spread by Press and PR Department of the Human Right
Defender’ s Office notes that the attacks against the journalists badly
harms the reputation of the country and jeopardizes the full guarantee
of the freedom of speech and accessibility of information. Yesterday’s
assault against editor of ” Iravunk” newspaper Hovhannes Galachian
was the recurrent action against freedom of press.
The Ombudsman calls on law-enforcement bodies to be most consistent
and anticipates that corresponding bodies will disclose any step aimed
at disturbing the journalists’ activity and the guilty will punished
with the whole strength of law.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SENATE PANEL APPROVES NOMINEE FOR AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA
George Gedda
AP Worldstream
Sep 07, 2006
A Senate panel on Thursday approved the nomination of career diplomat
Richard Hoagland to be ambassador to Armenia, despite objections by
some senators to the Bush administration’s refusal to classify the
deaths of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 as “genocide.”
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee vote was 13-5. The nomination
will now be considered by the full Senate.
At his June 28 confirmation hearing, Hoagland declined to use the
word genocide to describe the 1915 killings, which occurred during
the waning days of the Ottoman Empire.
The tour of duty of the current ambassador, John Evans, reportedly
was curtailed because he referred to the killings as a genocide in
defiance of administration policy.
Turkey strongly objects to any such characterization. U.S. policymakers
are wary of antagonizing Turkey, an important NATO ally.
Armenians say that as many as 1.5 million of their ancestors were
killed in an organized genocidal campaign by Ottoman Turks, and have
pushed for recognition of the killings as genocide around the world.
Committee Chairman Richard Lugar said Hoagland’s nomination should
be sent to the Senate for final approval.
The Senate, he said, “should not withhold confirmation based on
disagreements with administration policy.” It would be “troubling”
if such a precedent were to be set.
He pointed out that Armenia is an important country with borders on
Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan. Rejection of Hoagland would mean that
months would pass before an alternate ambassador could be found.
Sen. Norm Coleman, a Republican, said he could not “be in a position
to support a nominee who is not in a position to recognize a historical
reality.”
Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Democrat, said she could not support the
nomination.
“I will today call it the Armenian genocide,” she said. “There is no
doubt about what happened. I believe is calling things by their names.”

MORALS AND MANNERS OF OUR COUNTRY
Aram Abrahamian
Aravot.am
07 Sept 06
As it is known, journalism isn’t one of the most dangerous
professions. It’s better to work as the head of district. You sit
at your residence; take bribes, pay others and you have nothing to
worry about. Being a customs or tax inspector isn’t also bad. But it
is also relative, as it was affirmed yesterday.
Our main newspapers /including ”Iravunq”/ have 3-4 publications,
which touch human interests, abuse and offend them. The offended person
has several ways to act: 1/ not to pay attention to the publication,
2/ try to answer, 3/ to turn to the court, 4/ to beat the author
or editor-in-chief.
This last way of reaction, which is illegal and immoral and which
was used against editor-in-chief of ”Iravunq” newspaper Hovhannes
Galajian, shows the morals and manners of our state.
Everyday we face to those morals and manners. For instance, our
newspaper published that Tatul Manaserian’s had left “Justice”. We
tried to speak to Mr.
Manaserian supposing that he would like to give explanations. But
the parliamentarian refused because he was offended. A person phoned
me in the same day instead and said that I MUST publish his article
defending Mr. Manaserian.
Threats and violence are used instead of civil way of solution.
As I understand, Robert Kocharian and Serge Sargsian are less
interested in using violence against journalists. Each case of
such violence is recorded in all kind of international reports as
the greatest “minus” of our state and authority. I don’t think that
Galajian’s attack is ordered by the highest authority. But we have all
reasons to accuse just the authorities for that violence. Because Hamo
from Bangladesh and ”Alraghatsi Lyovik’s” guard of Tzakhkadzor villa
have got light punishments for using violence against journalists
on May 5, 2005. Because the morals and manners of our country are
like this.
–Boundary_(ID_wMc4XhJ185ymR+Wx0tI0mA)–

ARMENIAN MEDIA MUST IGNORE AGGRESSIVE DISPLAYS OF CRIMINAL WORLD
Yerevan, September 7. ArmInfo. “Armenian Mass Media must ignore the
aggressive displays of criminal structures,” says Hovhanness Galajyan,
editor of the newspaper “Iravunk,” at the discussions on the topic
“Armenia at the pre- election stage and the violence wave with respect
to Mass Media representatives,” Thursday. To recap, H. Galajyan
was beaten up by the two unknown, Wednesday. H. Galajyan says the
criminals phoned and threatened to him last night. He explains the
incident with the fact that the criminal structures in Armenia are
sure that only violence may exert pressure on Mass Media.
He called journalists stop giving a way to fear for the pressure they
are subjected to brings no results.
In his turn, Tatul Hakopyan, the analyst of the Armenian Public Radio,
is sure that many groupings will do their best to take control over
many newspapers in the election race of 2007. He says that all those
interested in getting as many votes as possible may increase the
circulation of some newspapers up to 20,000 copies. He explains
that at present only newspapers tend towards free pluralism of
opinions. As regards e-media, including TV and radio companies, they
observe political ethics with respect to the incumbent authorities,
T. Hakopyan said.

SERGE SARGSYAN: I AM NOT USED TO RESPOND TO ANY STUPIDITY OF MISERABLE PEOPLE ADDRESSED TO ME OR TO PUNISH THEM
Yerevan, September 7. ArmInfo. “I am not used to respond to any
stupidity of miserable people addressed to me or to punish them,”
said Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan asked about his attitude to
the publications by some mass media saying that the editor of Iravunk
newspaper H. Galajyan was subjected to an attack because of his article
“Why the super minister is angry?.”
The article, particularly, says that President of Russia Vladimir
Putin allegedly informed President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan that
Serge Sargsyan cannot be his successor on the post of the president.
To recap, two unknown attacked H. Galajyan Wednesday when he came
out of the entrance of his building in Komitas street.

“HUMAN RIGHTS 96” PARTY EXPRESSES ITS SOLIDARITY WITH EDITOR OF “IRAVUNK” NEWSPAPER BEATEN THE DAY BEFORE
Yerevan, September 7. ArmInfo. The “Human Rights 96” party expresses
its solidarity with the “Iravunk” newspaper editor, Hovhannes Galajyan,
beaten the day before y the two unknown people, and states of its
readiness to assist to the disclosure of this case.
According to the party’s statement, received by ArmInfo today,
the present criminogenic situation in the Republic indicates that
the authorities do not control the situation in the country. “The
officials, called to assure the security of Armenia’s citizens,
deal with political activities instead of fulfilling their official
commitments, which results in the growth of crimes in the country “,
the statement says.
To be noted, the editor of “Iravunk” (“Right”) newspaper, Hovhannes
Galajyan, was attacked and beaten by two unknown people that day
before in the Komitas Street, on his way to the work. According to H.
Galajyan, the motive of the attack relates to his professional
activity, since he has no personal enemies. However, the journalist
found difficulty in saying which article exactly had caused
dissatisfaction of the attack clients.

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY WILL BECOME A PRIORITY SPHERE OF THE ARMENIAN ECONOMY
Yerevan, September 6. ArmInfo. In the nearest future the construction
industry will become a priority sphere of the Armenian economy, said
director of AEPLAC Tigran Jrbashian during the presentation of the
‘Armenian Economy – 2005’ annual report.
To the opinion of Mr. Jrbashian the construction market will swiftly
develop due to considerable demand – Armenia has disadvantage of
numerous CIS states in accommodation space per head. Mr. Jrbashian
said that the growth of the Armenian economy in the coming years
will mostly depend on the competitiveness of Armenian goods on the
foreign market. He said that the Armenian export should be enhanced
by developing the finance sector. The Armenian currency (AMD) will be
go on consolidating until the finance sector becomes able to transform
the population incomes into investment savings.