Armenians Inured to Spiralling Crime
ArmRadio.am
25.08.2006 18:42
Armenians Inured to Spiralling Crime
By Tatul Hakobian in Yerevan (CRS No. 354, 25-August-06)
Sergey Safarian, 46, returned from Soviet military service many
years ago an invalid. But his troubles worsened this summer when
his wife Gulnara was killed, leaving him unable to look after their
two daughters.
“I heard shots, ran out to the road, there were two people lying
dead there, one of them my wife, the other – a man. My wife was
hit by four bullets – in her hand, shoulder, stomach and forehead,”
Safarian recalled in his home in the village of Agarak.
“All the villagers flocked to where the shots came from. I took my
daughters and hurried home, so they didn’t see their mother covered
in blood.”
The tragic incident occurred on August 8. Businessman Alexander
Givoyev, who also headed the public organisation The Protection of
Children’s Rights, was the assailants’ other victim.
The tragic death of Gulnara and that of another innocent woman in a
similar contract-style shooting has highlighted a disturbing tendency
– the media and the public’s seeming avoidance of any real discussion
about spiralling violent crime.
Officials say serious crime is lower than in other CIS countries,
but recently revealed that figures for the first half of 2006 show
a 100 per cent increase over same period last year – and that 60 per
cent of cases involved firearms.
According to preliminary findings, Givoev, who was heading with his
family for the northern town of Gyumri, had stopped his Grand Cherokee
jeep at a roadside fruit stall. A red unmarked vehicle pulled up beside
him. Those inside it opened fire, killing him in front of his wife and
children – as well as the unfortunate stallholder Gulnara Karapetian.
Now Gulnara’s mother Kalipse Karapetian is worried that there will be
no one to support her granddaughters with their mother dead and their
father an invalid. “Look, the grapes, pears in the garden are ripe
now,” she told IWPR. ” Their mother was going to pick them and sell in
the roadside stall, in order to buy clothes for her student daughter.”
Gulnara was her family’s only breadwinner. Sergei Safarian’s pension
is only 5,000 drams (11 US dollars) a month. His twenty-year-old
daughter Narine, a deaf-mute from birth, gets the same allowance
from the state. His other daughter Marine is a student at Yerevan’s
medical college.
Grigor Zatikian, their neighbour and friend, said he was upset that
the fate of the grief-struck family had appeared to move no one but
neighbours and a few visiting journalists.
“Relatives and villagers helped organise Gulnara’s funeral and
committed her body to the earth with honour,” he told IWPR. “Today two
invalids and a student live in this house. It is sure to collapse. Come
here next year and you’ ll see! Gulnara shouldered all the household
chores. She did the work a man is supposed to do – she pruned trees,
dug the earth.”
On June 22, in another brazen daylight shooting, the son of a former
parliamentary deputy, Vahan Zatikian Sedrak, 26, was shot dead in
broad daylight in a crowded street in the Malatia district of Yerevan.
Twenty-four spent cartridges were found at the murder scene. One of the
bullets killed passer-by Karine Sargsian, 37, hitting her in the heart.
Karine Sargsian, who had been shopping, had bags of bread and
cabbage in her hands, when she was shot. She left behind three young
daughters. Several days after the murder, her husband Garush Antonian
published an article in the Azg newspaper, in which he said that
Armenian society was living by the law of the jungle.
Nikol Pashinian, editor-in-chief of the Yerevan opposition newspaper
Haikakan Zhamanak, wrote, “What was Karine Sargsian’s and her family’s
fault? Can an average citizen in this country feel he is a person
with rights, or is he just waiting to fall victim to criminals score
settling?”
Sona Truzian, press secretary at the general prosecutor’s office,
said the two murders were being investigated and she could not add
any new information, “I cannot say that these were contract killings
until the preliminary enquiry is completed.”
Contract killings are common in Armenia, but they get surprisingly
little coverage on television and radio, which is mostly government
controlled.
Gegham Manukyan, an adviser at the popular Yerkir Media TV Company
and a parliamentary deputy, disagrees that serious crime is overlooked
but admits that producers face problems airing such stories: getting
timely information from the police and the reluctance of victims’
relatives to be interviewed.
Well-known Armenian actor Sos Sarkisian said it was time the public
woke up to threat of violent crime. ” The people must stand up to
protest. Our people have become inured to such murders,” he said.
Psychologist Karine Nalchajian said the public are concerned about
gangsterism, but feel there’s nothing they can do.
“A family, people in a certain circle, may talk among themselves,
express their outrage at what is going on, but our society at large
is not responsive, it does not believe that it can achieve things by
speaking out. The discussion of these matters generally does not go
beyond the family circle or a group of friends,” he said.
Tatul Hakobian is a commentator for the Radiolur news programme on
Armenia Public Radio.
This article first was published at IWPR

EUROPEAN AND FRENCH UNIVERSITIES OF ARMENIA TO NO LONGER BE ABLE TO
PROVIDE MILITARY SERVICE DEFERMENT TO ALL OF THEIR STUDENTS
Yerevan, August 25. ArmInfo. The Armenian Government has decided that
this year the European and the French Universities of Armenia will
be able to provide the deferment of military service to only 30 and
70 students, respectively.
A source from the Armenian Education and Science Ministry says
that the universities got this right due to the patronage of the ex
speaker of the Armenian parliament Artur Bagdassaryan and the former
education minister Sergo Yeritsyan. The universities have no official
inter-governmental agreements with the Armenian Government, while the
memorandum on mutual understanding with the French University is not
enough for it to get the above right.
Meanwhile, the Armenian-Russian (Slavonic) University enjoys
deferment for all of its students in line with Armenian-Russian
inter-governmental agreement.
Each state university of Armenia has definite deferment quota.

ANALYST OF “IRAVUNK” NEWASPAPER: IAC NEVER PRESENTED ACTIUAL REASONS
OF CRASH OF ARMENIAN –320 LINER
Yerevan, August 25. ArmInfo. The Interstate Aviation Committee has
never presented the actual reasons of crash of the Armenian A-320
liner, which was carrying out Yerevan-Sochi flight May 3, the Yerevan
“Iravunk” newspaper writes today. In the opinion of the material
author, the Committee experts tried to blame the Armenian pilots
with which the Head of “Armavia” Company, Mikhail Baghdasarov,
categorically disagrees. In one his interview, Baghdasarov said:
“It is very easy to blame the pilots as they had died and there is no
witness”. Reading the IAC conclusion, one can make a conclusion that
the Armenian pilot started to make mistakes just from doing nothing.
What the IAC tries to represent us, is wrong”, Baghdasarov said.
According to “Iravunk” newspaper, a rather strange and awful situation
forms. In fact, the main purpose of the crash reasons investigation
was not punishment of the guilty but clarification of the crash
reasons. So, several months later after the air crash, the “Armavia”
owner does not know if he is guilty or not and if yes, what is his
fault and what to do for what happened not to repeat again.
The IAC conclusion had to give answers to these questions, which did
not happen. Moreover, the investigation of the air crash reasons
is evidently transferred to the political field and not without
IAC participation. Possibly, the delayed investigation of the crash
reasons became a reason of the followed crashes of A-310 in Irkutsk
and TU-154 under Donetsk, the author of the material said.

KARABAKH SOLDIER IS WOUNDED AS A RESULT OF ARMISTICE REGIME VIOLATION
ON CONTACT LINE OF AF OF NKR AND AZERBAIJAN
Yerevan, August 25. ArmInfo. A soldier of NKR AF is wounded as a
result of violation of armistice regime on the contact line of Armed
Forces of NKR and Azerbaijan.
As a competent source told ArmInfo correspondent, the soldier was
wounded in the shoulder. The armistice regime violation happened in
Martakert direction.

RA PARLIAMENTARIANS AND EXPERTS OF CE VENETIAN COMMISSION TO DISCUSS
REFORMS OF ARMENIA’S ELECTORAL CODE
Yerevan, August 25. ArmInfo. RA Parliamentarians and experts of the CE
Venetian Commission will discuss the supposed reforms of the country’s
electoral code.
As Galust Sahakyan, the leader of the Republican party of Armenia,
said in an interview to “Hayots Ashkhar”, the proposals of experts,
approved by Parliamentarians, will enter the draft changes. In
particular, the Venetian Commission proposed to bring back the
practice of using portable electoral boxes during elections, for
the invalids and the persons being in hospitals the election day,
could vote. This proposal is disputable, Sahakyan said as, in the
opinion of the opposition representatives, using of portable boxes
is an efficient mechanism for falsifications.
He also noted it would be interesting to know the opinion of
international experts regarding the issue of implementing a system of
electronic voting, which the opposition insists on. As for the issue
of ink marking of the voters’ fingers, Sahakyan said that it does
not protect the elections from a “roundabout” and delays the process.

Thursday, August 24, 2006
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If Beethoven is a revolutionary, Bach fully qualifies as a prophet. “Every piano concerto in the history of Western music,” writes James R. Gaines “has its antecedent in the fifth Brandenburg Concerto, when the lowliest member of the orchestra [the harpsichord] was turned loose to become Liszt.”
*
In music as well as in all the arts, ideologies, and religions, the medium is not the message, in the same way that the vestments are not the man. To confuse the medium (the packaging, the style, the rituals, and mumbo jumbo) with the message may even be said to be the source of all evil.
*
After saying all men are brothers, organized religions divide mankind into two camps, the Cains and the Abels. The message (all men are brothers) is thus perverted to: “Before the Cains kill us, let’s kill them!” In other words, after identifying themselves with Abel, the children of Adam adopt Cain as their role model.
*
A crook in denial thinks of himself as an honest man, and Cain in denial thinks of himself as Abel. It follows, to say “God is great!” justifies behaving like swine.
*
A few years ago an Armenian by the name of John Douglas published a book on Armenian history. When asked why the false name, he said out of fear of Turkish persecution. Shortly thereafter Vahakn Dadrian published his definitive study of the Armenian Genocide. What happened to him? His book was translated into Turkish and he was invited to Turkey.
*
We share this in common with Turks: we identify ourselves with Abel, and when we say Turks are bloodthirsty Asiatic savages, they tell us we are confusing the medium with the message, the message being they are just people like any other people. So are we.
*
Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, not only made history but, like Caesar before him and Churchill after him, he also wrote it. In a letter to a friend, he makes the following observation: “To write history is to compile the follies of man and the blows of fate. Everything runs on these two lines, and so the world has gone on for eternity.”
*
The quotations above are from EVENING IN THE PALACE OF REASON: BACH MEETS FRDERICK THE GREAT IN THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT, by James R. Gaines (New York, 2005).
#
Friday, August 25, 2006
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TWO SCHOOLS OF CRITICISM
**************************************
The two most popular schools of Armenian criticism are (one) censorship by editors, and (two) verbal abuse by faceless and anonymous bullies.
*
Editors exercise censorship because they have no choice but to follow a policy set by their publisher, whose aim is to maximize the number of subscribers and advertisers. If one or more readers or advertisers take a dislike at a writer or disagree with his views, that writer becomes persona non grata, that is, bad for business, and a publisher’s business, like America’s, is business. Gone are the good old days in Istanbul when an idealistic editor like Krikor Zohrab (1861-1915), who was also a highly respected author, statesman, lawyer, and a contemporary of Sultan Abdulhamid II and Talaat, who could say: “A newspaper is not a chameleon. It should not change its colors to please readers. It is bound to make enemies. I would measure the moral success of a newspaper by its willingness to make enemies.”
*
As for faceless and anonymous bullies who are active mainly in discussion forums on the internet: the reason why they refuse to identify themselves is that they are afraid by other anonymous and faceless bullies who may do to them what they do to others, which may be interpreted as an awareness of the fact that what they are doing is worse than wrong, it is also cowardly. There is only one kind of coward who willingly admits to being one, namely, a coward who is also a self-satisfied fool. Next time these bullies think of verbally abusing someone anonymously, I suggest they ask themselves the following question: Why should anyone take seriously the words of a coward and a fool who is not embarrassed to admit to being both?
*
Am I wasting my time on riffraff, as some of my friends like to remind me? Let me quote Zohrab again: “So-called important and unusual events leave me cold. I prefer to unmask the hidden meaning of every-day occurrences which tend to be ignored by the majority.”
#
Saturday, August 26, 2006
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UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
************************************
There is an old saying, “Even if a blunder were made of the most expensive fur, no one would want to wear it.” We don’t mind admitting that like all human beings we are fallible, but we hate to admit specific blunders, especially when they are of the catastrophic variant. This is true of all of us, including politicians. For a politician to admit an error amounts to admitting incompetence or bad judgment, both of which may be terminal to his career. This point is brilliantly dramatized in WITHOUT PRECEDENT: THE INSIDE STORY OF THE 9/11 COMMISSION, by Thomas H. Kean and Lee Hamilton (New York, 2006). The co-authors, who were also the co-chairs of the Commission, write: “The starting point for our report was that it would focus on facts. We were not setting out to advocate one theory or interpretation of 9/11 versus another.” But since the American people were polarized, the challenge they confronted consisted in reconciling two contradictory theories: “…there was no middle ground: either the response to 9/11 was heroic and as good as it could have been, or it was a terrible failure, and individuals had to be blamed.” In its efforts to cover up its failures, the Bush administration set up so many roadblocks that it soon became clear to the authors that the 9/11 Commission was “set up to fail.”
*
No one denies the facts surrounding our Genocide, in the same way that no one denies the destruction of the Twin Towers and the death of 3000 innocent civilians. It doesn’t necessarily follow we have all the answers. “Once upon a time we shed our blood for freedom; we are now afraid of free speech.” These are not the words of a dissident or critic but a darling of our establishment, Hagop Garabents (Jack Karapetian). And in a letter to a friend, Gostan Zarian said this about our political parties: “Their greatest enemy is free speech.” Why? What are they hiding? What is it that they don’t want us to know? In the minds of many Armenians, these questions remain unanswered.
#

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
—————————————— —-
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
Government House # 2, Republic Square
Yerevan 0010, Republic of Armenia
Telephone: +37410. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +37410. 562543
Email: [email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
24-08-2006
Minister Oskanian Meets with Jon Huntsman
On August 23, Minister Oskanian received a delegation headed by
philanthropist and entrepreneur Jon Huntsman, head of the US-based
Huntsman Corporation.
After welcoming guests, Minister Oskanian underscored with appreciation
the assistance provided to the Armenian people during the years since
the earthquake, by Jon Huntsman, his family and his corporation.
While Mr. Huntsman spoke of his impressions about the positive
changes he saw in Armenia, he also spoke about their future plans,
specifically regarding the opening of a cancer hospital and college
scholarships for United States education.
Minister Oskanian accompanied Mr. Huntsman to Gyumri in order to
visit the school and the residences which the Huntsman Foundation
had made possible.

PRESS RELEASE
“YERKIR”, UNION OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
FOR REPATRIATION AND SETTLEMENT
20 Bakunts str.,Yerevan, Armenia
Contact: Robert Tatoyan
Tel. +(374 1) 21 10 21
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST PHASE OF ARCHEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS OF THE CITY OF
TIGRANAKERT IN ARTSAKH
Yerevan, August 19, 2006
Through an initiative and the financing of the “Yerkir” Union of
Non-governmental Organizations for Repatriation and Settlement,
an expedition of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the
National Academy of Sciences (headed by Hamlet Petrosyan) achieved from
August 3-18, 2006 the first phase of the archeological excavations of
the city of Tigranakert and its surroundings, built in Artsakh by the
Armenian king Tigran the 2-nd, better known as Tigran the Great. Prior
to the excavation works themselves, the same team of researchers had
visited and studied the area in March 2005, to determine the exact
location of the city of Tigranakert.
Excavation works led to the discovery of the fortified outer wall of
a citadel, as well as the supporting wall of one of the terraces,
a basilica of the 5-6 centuries, and hundreds of archeological
artifacts. A church complex carved in the rock has also been studied
in the valley of Khachenaget, in the vicinity of the city.
The preliminary study of the findings has shown that since its
foudation in the 1-rst century B.C. until the 13-14 centuries A.D., the
city of Tigranakert has continued to exist without interruption. The
discovered buildings and pottery are similar to the ones found in other
Armenian areas, and in particular, to those discovered in the plain of
Ararat, a fact which corroborates once more the testimony of Armenian
medieval historians concerning the Armenian ownership, the Armenian
nature of the city of Tigranagert and of its surrounding areas. The
excavations also confirm that this area is part of our Homeland,
or in other words, part of that territory, where the Armenian people
has been formed and has built its history.
The findings have an exceptional historical, cultural and religious
value not only for Armenians, but also internationally speaking,
in terms of mankind’s patrimony. For example, the remains of the
early medieval basilica of the 5-6th centuries found in the inhabited
neighbourhoods of the city and the church complex carved in the rock
prove that Tigranakert has been one of the centers of the oriental
christian civilization.
The study of the findings will follow the excavation works, and the
results will be published in an illustrated book.
“Yerkir” Union will ensure the pursuit of the excavation works in
Tigranakert, as well as of the study of the findings.
To get Tigranakert excavation photos, please, visit
.

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR GENOCIDE AND HUMAN RIGHTS STUDIES
(A Division of the Zoryan Institute)
Toronto, ON, Canada M3B 3H9
Tel: 416-250-9807
Fax: 416-512-1736
E-mail: [email protected]

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Torrey Swan
DATE: August 24, 2006
Tel: 416-250-9807
Students at Zoryan University Program Explore
the Complexities of Genocide and Prevention
Toronto, Canada – Twelve instructors, many of them renowned scholars in
the fields of sociology, political science, history and international
law, and twenty international students were engaged in an intense
two-week graduate-level seminar on genocide and the challenges of
its prevention.
“How to prevent genocide is one of the most difficult, yet one of
the most crucial questions we face today,” stated Prof. Roger W.
Smith, Director of the internationally acclaimed Genocide and Human
Rights University Program. “It is influenced by the geo-politics
of the world’s major powers, their perceived national interest,
and a lack of awareness in society at large about the causes and the
terrible human toll of this crime,” he continued. “With backgrounds
from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North and South America,
the students came to realize that people are capable of committing
genocide in any society. Empowered by the knowledge imparted during
the course, the students wrestled with the task of trying to develop
effective ways and means for genocide prevention.”
One of Zoryan’s long-time supporters, Sara Chitjian, a second
generation survivor of the Armenian Genocide, made a special trip
from Los Angeles to assess the course and meet some of the students
personally. Moved by the breadth and depth of the program, and the
intense engagement of the students with the professors, she announced
to the class that as a retired teacher and genocide survivor she
understood the importance of this unique program and its potential
to bring about change in the hearts and minds of people to prevent
genocide. She then presented a cheque for $15,000 in support of the
work and publications of the institute.
Taner Akcam, Professor of Record for the University of Minnesota, the
GHRUP’s accrediting institution and partner with the International
Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, felt strongly that
“this program should be made available in universities all over world,
as only through such informed consciousness and understanding can
societies influence governments and structures of power to intervene
and prevent genocide from occurring.”
Ziya Meral, a student from Turkey completing his MS in Sociology
at the London School of Economics, observed that “the GHRUP offers a
brilliant opportunity for everyone who is interested in deepening their
understanding of the phenomenon of genocide and ways we can work for
its prevention. Its high academic standard, friendly and encouraging
atmosphere provide a great setting to tackle and process one of
the most destructive sides of human existence. I would thoroughly
encourage anyone with a background in genocide, reconciliation, peace
and human rights studies, or with an interest in working in the field,
to consider applying to this program.”
Mariam Matevosyan, a MA student from Armenia specializing in Peace
and Conflict Transformation in Norway, stated that “the debate on
the French bill penalizing the denial of the Armenian genocide and
its political, psychological, and sociological impact for Armenians,
Turks and European at large, was especially of interest to me given
the incredible tension generated in the class due to the clashing
priorities between legal mechanism to deter denial verse the need
to protect freedom of speech and expression. These sensitive and
emotional issues were dealt with in an academic setting providing a
solid intellectual context which interconnected history, narrative,
identity, and politics.”
The mission of the Genocide and Human Rights University Program is to
help develop a new generation of scholars to engage in research and
publication in the field of genocide and human rights studies. This
goal is achieved through a comparative and interdisciplinary analysis
of such cases of genocide as the Jewish Holocaust, the Cambodian
Genocide, and the Rwandan Genocide, among others, using the Armenian
Genocide, the archetypal genocide of the 20th Century, as a point
of reference.
For support and/or more information, contact the International
Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, 416-250-9807,
[email protected]

Armenian Library & Museum of America, Inc.
65 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472
Phone: 617-926-2562 ext. 3
Fax: 617-926-0175
Website:
Contact: Mariam Stepanyan
+++++++++++++++++++++++
August 24, 2006
PRESS RELEASE
Contact Person: Mariam Stepanyan
Phone: 617.926.2562  ext. 3
Fax:  617.926.0175
Email: [email protected]
Armenian Library and Museum of America
65 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472
Website:
ALMA PLANNING TRAVELING EXHIBIT ON WWI ARMENIAN LEGIONAIRES
October 2006 marks the 90th anniversary of the formation of the
Armenian Legion during World War I.  In celebration of this event,
the Armenian Library and Museum of America is preparing a traveling
exhibit, recognizing the volunteers of this unit.  The idea for the
traveling exhibit, which is scheduled to be completed next spring,
stems from the enthusiastic reception of an ALMA exhibit from the
fall of 2001, entitled, Forgotten Heroes: The Armenian Legion and the
Great War.
Recruitment In The Armenian Legion
  The Eastern/Armenian Legion (Legion d’Orient) was formed on
October 27, 1916, two years after the beginning of World War I,
through an agreement between Boghos Nubar Pasha, president of the
Armenian National Delegation, and the governments of England and
France.  Under the agreement, Armenian and Syrian volunteers were
recruited to fight alongside Allied forces.  At the same time, France
and Great Britain promised autonomy for the Armenians in central and
southern Turkey.  This area had been allocated to France according to
the secret agreements concluded among Allies to partition the Ottoman
Empire after the conclusion of the war.
  Armenian men from around the world, including 1,200 from the
United States, responded enthusiastically to the call for volunteers.
The most valuable contribution of the Armenian Legion during World
War I was its victory over German and Turkish forces at the Battle of
Arara on September 19, 1918.  This victory contributed to the success
of British General Edmund Allenby and the Allied Forces in Palestine.
  A traveling committee has been assembled to prepare this
exhibit, which will be available for display in Armenian and
non-Armenian venues. Those who have an interest in this exhibit or in
the Armenian Legion are encouraged to contact the Armenian Library
and Museum of America, 65 Main St., Watertown, MA 02472; 617-926-ALMA
(2562), [email protected].
–Boundary_(ID_2x69u/206OP/cSF1 Ck3llw)–