A ug 6 2006
Armenian Activist Reports from Anti-War Protest in NYC

Photo by Aramazt Kalayjian On Saturday 8/5/06 at 4 pm, an Anti-War
protest took place in Times Square, NYC. The rally was sponsored by
Al-Awda, NY; the Arab American Muslim Federation; Defend Palestine
NY; International Action Center; NJ Solidarity Activists for the
Liberation of Palestine; Jorge Marin, Martin Luther King, Jr,
Bolivian Circle; Josue Renaud, NE Human Rights Org. For Haiti, Chuck
Turner of Boston City Council.
The attendance was much more significant then at the previous rally
held in front of Israel’s Mission to the UN, not only because it was
held on a weekend day but also due to the fact that the outreach
through emails had been more effective and widespread. The relative
small attendance by the Arab community can be ascribed to this group
having been so closely monitored and persecuted by the US authorities
that many are now afraid (especially those with a precarious visa
status) to be seen as supporters of any Arab cause.

The protesters were easily in excess of a thousand. The Armenian
contingent was made of about 12 individuals, almost all familiar
faces from the Armenian and the Left Conference. Many held signs that
said “Armenians in solidarity with Lebanon.” We discussed the current
political situation, exchanged information, as well as listened to
the speakers.
As was the case with the previous protest-rally, this one too was
packed with energetic slogans and chants. The speeches came from
various ethnic, religious, and human rights groups and the speakers
expressed their solidarity with the Lebanese and Palestinian people
while condemning Israeli and US policies. There were speakers
representing Iranians, Cubans, Palestinians, Arabs, LGBT, Filipino,
African-Americans, Orthodox Jews, etc. as well as those representing
the various leftist organizations that sponsored the rally.
The most memorable and poignant speeches were those by Rashid Khalidi
and Ramsey Clark. The latter asked that we cut US military budget by
70% so the US can offer better education and universal free health
care to children rather than kill children with US made bombs.

Unlike the Boston rally on 8/2 there were no Armenian speakers in NYC
— something that needs to be changed. The rally ended with a march
to the Exxon-Mobile building.
Maro Matossian

A ug 3 2006
Armenian Activist Speaks at Boston Rally for Lebanon
Boston, MA – On August 2, around 200 demonstrators gathered in Copley
Square in front of the monument dedicated to the Lebanese-American
poet Gibran Khalil Gibran, to demand an immediate ceasefire in
Lebanon. This was the third rally held at Copley Square in the past
three weeks. The protestors lined Dartmouth street for several hours,
waving Lebanese flags and chanting “stop the bombing now! ceasefire
now!” or “not another nickel, not another dime, no more funding for
Israel’s crime!” and – for those of you who speak Arabic, “bassita,
shou sar, lubnan metl el nar!”
The first speaker was Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner. Then a
number of young people recently returned from Lebanon spoke about
their experiences of this latest war. The last speaker was one of the
organizers of the Armenians and the Left conference. Her rousing
speech, reproduced below, was one of the best received at the rally.
The protest ended with a candlelight vigil.
Thus spoke Alik:
I am a Lebanese-Armenian-American, and I have five questions to
president George Bush.
Mr. President,
Why is it that you endlessly bring up Israel’s right to exist to
support its barbaric attacks that are destroying Lebanon and the
Lebanese people?
Is it because you think Lebanon does not have that same right to
exist?
Why is it that you are so excited about this UN Resolution 1559 that
you so enthusiastically support Israel’s illegal war on a whole
nation?
How come you and your predecessors didn’t give a damn about UN
Resolution 425, which called for the withdrawal of Israeli Forces
from Southern Lebanon for 22 years, and which was finally imposed by
force by the people whom you call terrorists.
Is it because you think the rights of the Lebanese do not matter?
Why is it that the killing of more than 800 Lebanese civilians does
not move you enough to call for an immediate cease-fire?
Is it because they are dark-skinned?
Is it because some of them wear headscarves?
Or do you think that they were used as human shields and therefore
were responsible for their own deaths?
Why is it that you so easily believe that the Lebanese are able to
use their own family members as human shields?
Why do you so easily believe that the Lebanese sacrifice their women,
children and elderly like sheep?
Is it because you do not think they are human?
And finally, Mr. President,
If the bombing of Israeli civilians is terrorism, why is it that you
call the aerial bombing of a minibus driving Lebanese civilians to
safety COLLATERAL DAMAGE?
What about the bombing of Lebanese children who were sleeping in a
shelter, thinking they were safe?
What do you call the bombing of an ambulance with a giant red cross
on its top?
Why isn’t THAT terrorism?
Is it because the lives of innocent Lebanese civilians are less
valuable than those of Israelis?
Or is it because you are RACIST?
And to us, the people who are horrified when they witness the loss of
innocent human lives, the people who are angered when they witness the
destruction of a whole nation, the people who are outraged when they
witness the indifference of world leaders, here’s what Martin Luther
King Jr. would have probably said to comfort us:
“The arc of history is long, but it bends towards Justice.”

“If We Can’t Use Our Fleet at a Time of Crisis, What’s the Point of
Keeping It There?”

ArmRadio.am
12.08.2006 14:12
Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee and the head of
the State Duma Working Group on Legislative Support for the Operation,
Financial Welfare and Social Guarantees of Military Servicemen,
Civilian Personnel and Their Dependents, Mikhail Babich, speaks in an
interview with Gazeta correspondent Madina Shavlokhova about how the
legislative branch plans to solve the problems facing the military.
Q: How many military bases does Russia have in the near abroad now?
A: There are three to four bases in Central Asia. There are bases in
Armenia, Belarus and Ukraine. The Russian Black Sea Fleet is stationed
in Sevastopol.
Q: Has the status of our bases outside the country been determined?
A: Yes. There are international agreements ratified by the parliaments
of all countries where we have our military contingents. Everything is
all right with their legal status. But there are some problems in
details.
Q: Where do we have most of all problems?
A: In Ukraine. But politics have nothing to do with this. There are
other reasons that come to the fore. For example, the size of the
lease payment for the use of the Black Sea Fleet’s base.
Q: Wasn’t the size of the lease payment determined in the middle of
the 1990s when the agreement on the division of the Black Sea Fleet
between Russia and Ukraine was signed?
A: It was. We divided the Fleet in accordance with the previously
agreed-upon terms. The size of the lease payment was determined in
1997. But today our Ukrainian colleagues say the economic situation
has changed and the lease payment should be much higher. This is wrong
because Russia, as a legal successor to the Soviet Union, assumed many
obligations and honors them. Our position is clear: increasing the
lease payment for the Black Sea Fleet’s base is out of the
question. One must not forget whose financial resources have been
invested in the development of this base and who paid Ukraine’s debts
to the European Union for the use of the Black Sea.
Q: Is this where our disagreements with Ukraine end?
A: I wish it were so! There are many disagreements over social
guarantees to military servicemen, the privatization of their housing,
and dual citizenship of our military. The State Duma Defense
Committee, jointly with the Defense Ministry of Russia, has prepared
two bills: “On Social Guarantees for Military Servicemen Undergoing
Military Service in Military Units of the Russian Federation Stationed
in the Territories of the Republic of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and
Kyrgyzstan, and Civilian Personnel of These Units” and “On the Terms
of Mandatory Pension, Social, and Health Insurance of Civilian
Personnel, Members of Military Families within Military Units of the
Russian Federation Deployed in the Territories of CIS Member States.”
The first bill has gone through all stages approval in the government
and will be submitted to the State Duma this fall. The draft budget
for 2007 already envisages funds for its implementation. The second
bill has not yet been discussed with ministries.
Q: Several years ago our ships stationed in the Sevastopol Bay were
not let out to take part in military exercises. Has anything changed?
A: We no longer have such acute situations. But then, the Fleet is
different and Russia’s policy is tougher. I can hardly imagine any
forces trying to prevent our Fleet from carrying out its missions. And
yet from time to time there emerge different frictions over the use of
military infrastructure, airspace or training ranges.
Q: Can the Russian Fleet be used for psychological pressure in an
international conflict, for example in the Georgian-Abkhazian
conflict?
A: This is one of the disputable issues. For example, there is an
emergency situation where the Fleet has to be used for its direct
purpose. Our Ukrainian colleagues think that if Ukraine assumes a
neutral position in such a conflict, Russia may not use its Black Sea
Fleet. And if Russia does otherwise, Ukraine will press for an early
withdrawal of the Russian Fleet from its territory. A fleet or any
military unit is deployed in a certain place in order to be used in
the interests of the state wherever necessary. There are relevant
international practices. If we cannot use our fleet at a time of
crisis, what’s the point of keeping it there.”
Official Kremlin Int’l News Broadcast
August 10, 2006 Thursday

Senator Reid “Extremely Concerned” over Hoagland’s Reluctance to Acknowledge
Genocide

ArmRadio.am
12.08.2006 14:38
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), in a
letter to the Armenian National Committee of Nevada (ANC-NV),
reported that he is “extremely concerned” by the reluctance of
Richard Hoagland, the Administration’s nominee to serve as the next
ambassador to Armenia, to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.
Senator Reid’s public stand follows the August 2nd announcement by
Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) that he will vote against the Hoagland
nomination because of the nominee’s refusal to properly recognize
the Armenian Genocide as a “genocide.” Sen. Coleman serves on the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“The opposition of Senator Norm Coleman and concerns raised by
Harry Reid – the Senate’s Democratic Leader – reflect the growing
bipartisan opposition to the approval of a U.S. envoy to Yerevan
who refuses to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide,” said ANCA
Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We continue to work in
communities around the nation to explain to Senators the damage to
U.S-Armenia relations – and, more broadly, to America’s standing on
genocide prevention efforts worldwide – that will be done by
approving a nominee that has actually denied the genocidal intent
of the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide.”
Responding to grassroots concerns raised by Nevada’s growing and
increasingly active Armenian American community, Senator Reid noted
that this refusal is “particularly troubling in light of the State
Department’s dismissal of the last Ambassador to Armenia, John M.
Evans following comments he made during a February 2005 tour of
Armenian-American communities in which he recognized the Armenian
Genocide. As you may know, the State Department has offered no
explanation for Evans’ dismissal.”
As reported by the Associated Press, Senator Coleman has explained,
“As someone of the Jewish faith, I bring a heightened sensitivity
to the reality of genocide and mass murder, and the importance of
recognizing it for what it is. I was brought up believing you
never forget the Holocaust, never forget what happened. And I could
not imagine how our ambassador to Israel could have any
effectiveness if he couldn’t recognize the Holocaust.”
On August 1st, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee delayed
consideration of Ambassador Hoagland’s nomination, following a
request by the Committee’s Ranking Democrat Joseph Biden (D-DE) and
Senator John Kerry (D-MA). Also voicing support for the delay were
Senators George Allen (R-VA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA). The
Committee is set to consider the matter during its regular business
meeting on September 7th.
To date, more than half of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
including Senators George Allen, Joseph Biden, Barbara Boxer,
Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Christopher Dodd (D-
CT), Russell Feingold (D-WI), John Kerry and Paul Sarbanes (D-MD),
have contacted Secretary Rice or questioned Ambassador-designate
Hoagland directly regarding the Armenian Genocide. Senators Edward
Kennedy (D-MA) and Jack Reed (D-RI), along with over sixty members
of the U.S. House have also expressed serious concerns to the State
Department on this matter.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Kocharian Visited Lori

ArmRadio.am
12.08.2006 14:44
Armenian President Robert Kocharian visited the Armenian province of
Lori and got acquainted with the construction works of individual
houses in the village of Shirakamut (former Nalband) which was the
epicenter of the 1988 destructive earthquake. The funds for the
construction of the houses have been released from the Armenian state
budget.
The earthquake destroyed 701 houses in the village.Until 1997 with
different funds 356 houses were built, in 2004 by the catholic health
program 73 houses were built, in 2005 the government released 26.1
million drams from the state budget for the construction of 7 houses,
this year 70.5 million drams have been provided and 11 houses are
being constructed. The governor of the Lori province, who was
accompanying the president, said that 180 families are still living in
wagon-houses. He also said that gas, water and electricity issues have
been solved in the village.
The villagers, on their turn, complaint that only one first-aid post
is acting in the village and there is a necessity to construct a
hospital. President Kocharian noted that gradually all the problems
of the village will be solved. The construction of the houses will
continue during the next years as well, a sport gym of the village
school will also be constructed.
He said the solution of the problems of the rural areas is a priority
for the Armenian authorities.

HAKOB SIRUNI’S “AUTOBIOGRAPHIC NOTES” BOOK PUBLISHED IN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, AUGUST 11, NOYAN TAPAN. Hakob Sirunu’s memories and memory
sketches collected under the title “Autobiographic Notes” contain the
history of life of an intellectual who had seen the Genocide and
exile, his literary, scientific and public stormy activity. Henrik
Bakhchinian, the Art and Literature Museum Director presented the
collection in this way at the presentation taken place on August
11. According to him, Siruni was gifted with a special talent of
writing memories. During different periods of time he wrote
autobiographic notes, memories about a number of his
contemporaries. But, as the museum director mentioned, with his
numerous literary and scientific works, a part of his memories as well
were lost. H.Bakhchinian mentioned that H.Siruni came to the literary
and scientific arena in 1905-1907s, presenting himself as a poet,
historian, playwright, prose-writer, philologist, translator,
orientalist. He edited dozens of periodicals, correspond with more
than 100 titles of Armenian, French, Romanian newspapers and
journals. First in Turkey where he was born, and from 1922 to his
death in Romania, H.Siruni promoted a wide national-public activity as
well, presented himself as a publicist, lecturer, orator. It was also
mentioned that the Art and Literature Museum published the
“Autobiographic Notes” book under the patronage of Siruni’s brother
Grigor Jololian’s sons, Patrice, Claude and Eddie Jololians.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SECOND STAGE OF RETRAINING COURSES FOR TEACHERS STARTS IN KAPAN

KAPAN, AUGUST 11, NOYAN TAPAN. 95 teachers teaching the “Armenian
Language and Literature,” “Mathematics” and “Informatics” subjects at
comprehensive schools as well as primary school form masters underwent
retraining at the Kapan branch of the National Institute of
Education. The second retraining course has started at the branch from
August 7. 172 teachers of the same subjects participate in it. As
Magda Gevorgian, the branch director informed the Noyan Tapan
correspondent, teachers having undergone retraining will hold lessons
using new methods starting from the new academic year.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CAMP FOR COMPUTER COURSES ORGANIZED IN KAPAN WITH USAID ASSISTANCE

KAPAN, AUGUST 11, NOYAN TAPAN. The Kapan “Youth Scientific-Cultural”
public organization and “Center for Community Assistance of
Charentsavan” organizes five-day summer computer school-camp at the
Kapan office of the interneT accessibility and teaching program. The
“Competitive Private Sector in Armenia” program of the U.S. Agency for
International Development assisted organization of the event. During
the courses, 11 pupils of 8-9th grades from different schools of Kapan
who were chosen by a competition, have a possibility to deepen their
computer knowledge and to get acquainted with new programs. As Karen
Arzumanian, the Chairman of the “Youth Scientific-Cultural”
organization informed the Noyan Tapan correspondent, Peace Corps
volunteers, who have a great experience in the sphere of teaching
computer and information technologies, also assist implementation of
the program.

EXPERT OF YOUTH PARTY OF ARMENIA TO APPLY TO COURT AGAINST “LIBERTY”
CORRESPONDENT

YEREVAN, AUGUST 11, NOYAN TAPAN. Edgar Hakobiab, an expert of the
Youth Party of Armenia intends to present a claim to the court against
Narek Galstian, the reponsible for the “Maxliberty” program of Radio
Liberty. The expert informed about it at the August 11
press-conference, accusing the journalist of slander. E.Hakobian
disproved the news stated by the radio station that, as if, he is a
police agent with the nickname “Gayl” (Wolf), and led the pursuits
carried out by the Kentron police towards Narek Malian, the Chairman
of the “Nor Zhamanakner” (New Times) party. According to E.Hakobian’s
word, Radio Liberty “that has always been known for its impartiality,
now became a mean for expressing its journalist Narek Galstian’s
personal sympathy and antipathy.” According to E.Hakobian’s word, the
reason of false roumors circulated during the last 2-3 months is the
fact that he stated about the pro-government orientation of the
“Miasin” (Together) public initiative founded by him and expressed
readiness to assist the RA authorities in the issue of settlement of
the NKR problem.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

250 DIASPORAN ARMENIAN ENTRANTS PRESENT APPLICATIONS FOR STUDYING IN
HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF ARMENIA UP TODAY

YEREVAN, AUGUST 11, NOYAN TAPAN. By the RA Government’s decision, 70
places for free education were allocated this year at institutions of
higher education of Armenia for Diasporan Armenian entrants. Amalya
Kocharian, the senior specialist of the Department on Ties with
Diaspora of the Department on International Cooperation and Diaspora
of the RA Ministry of Education and Science informed the Noyan Tapan
correspondent about it. She mentioned that those places will be given
to higher educational institutions having Armenological professions
and art ones: mainly to the Yerevan Kh.Abovian Pedagogical University,
YSU, Yerevan State Academy of Art, Komitas Conservatory, Yerevan
Istitute of Theater and Cinematogtaphy. A.Kocharian also informed that
Diasporan Armenian entrants’ applications are accepted till August 17,
and entrance exams will be held in late August. According to her
words, those entrants who will not pass the envisaged “positive
threshold” may study at the preparatory department of the given
institution of higher education. A.Kocharian mentioned that 250
entrants, mainly from Georgia, Russia as well as U.S., Holland,
Cyprus, Israel, Iraq and Lebanon, presented up today. The RA Ministry
of Education and Science implements Diasporan Armenian entrants’
purposeful entrance starting from 1999. According to A.Kocharian’s
words, its goal is to assist keeping of the Armenian education in
Diaspora and formation of Armenian children’s identity. 2960 Diasporan
Armenian students study at present in institutions of higher education
of Armenia.