ONLY ONE MEDAL
A1+
[01:25 pm] 20 September, 2006
The European chess youth championship finished in Montenegro. Of all
the 17 representatives of Armenia only 17-year-old Zaven Andreasyan
won a medal. He took the second place with 6.5 points in the age
group 16-18.
Avetiq Grigoryan took the 8th place in the same group with 6
points. Samvel Ter-Sahakyan took the 6th place with 6.5 points in
the age group 12-14.
As for the girls, the best result was shown by 10-year-old Susanna
Gaboyan. She took the 7th place with 6.5 points.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIANS CAN PARTICIPATE IN THE 2008 DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY PROGRAM
A1+
[02:51 pm] 20 September, 2006
Applicants are encouraged to apply early in the two-month registration
period
Washington — Registration for the United States’ 2008 Diversity
Visa Lottery program (DV-2008) will be held October 4 to December 3,
the State Department announced September 19.
Applicants whose names are selected randomly will be eligible to
apply for one of 50,000 permanent resident visas made available
annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to
the United States.
The 2008 lottery will mark the fourth year in which the registration
process has been conducted entirely via the Internet. Persons
seeking to enter the lottery program must register online through
the designated Web site (), and digital photos
must be submitted with the registration form. Paper entries will not
be accepted, according to the DV-2008 instructions.
Natives of the some countries are not eligible to apply because
those nations sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the
United States over the previous five years: Brazil, Canada, China
(mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti,
India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, Peru, Poland,
Russia, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its
dependent territories, and Vietnam. Persons born in Hong Kong SAR,
Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible.
Registration is free. The State Department will notify winning entrants
for the 2008 lottery by mail between May 2007 and July 2007.

Sunday, September 17, 2006
***************************************
Whenever I am reminded by concerned friends that writing for Armenians is a waste of time (as if I didn’t know) the best explanation I can come up with is that America is a big country with big problems, and Armenia is a small country with bigger problems. Americans, moreover, believe in democracy. By contrast, our own attitude towards democracy is closer to that of Muslim fundamentalists, who will attack the Pope for quoting a medieval Byzantine emperor but will believe everything their mullahs tell them, even when they promise to be rewarded with a harem of virgins if they kill as many infidel dogs in the name of Allah as they can. Which is why the average letter to the editor by an average odar citizen in our local daily paper makes more sense to me than the long-winded and monomaniacal commentaries of our self-appointed pundits in our weeklies.
*
Being committed to democratic values means appreciating the importance free speech. One of our self-inflicted tragedies is that the overwhelming majority of our press and media in general, very much like our educational institutions, are in the hands of political parties, about which Gostan Zarian has said: “They have been of no political use to us, their greatest enemy is free speech.”
*
Where educational institutions are run by ideologues, the result will be an overabundance of dupes and a scarcity of individuals who can think for themselves. My guess is, for every thousand Armenians there may or may not be one dissident but even that one will be too many for our commissars. And if you think I am being too hard on our partisans, consider that for every ten million Soviets there was one dissident but even that one was too many for Stalinists; and for every one hundred million Muslims today there may or may not be one or more dissidents, but they are too intimidated to raise their voices and be counted.
*
Where the dominant ideas are rooted in ideology and theology, the result will be not truth but propaganda, and the dissidents will be treated not as critics with a valid perspective but heretics and blasphemers whose tongues should be cut out.
*
We prefer monologue to dialogue, speeches and sermons to an exchange of views, and propaganda to truth. The average Armenian today thinks tolerance consists in being tolerant only of people who parrot his sentiments and thoughts. As for the others, they might as well be that lowest form of animal life, pro-Turkish denialists. But free speech means to respect even the free speech of Turkish denialists. Try to explain that to our fundamentalists in whose view the Genocide is not history but theology.
#
Monday, September 18, 2006
**********************************************
CONFESSIONS OF AN INFIDEL DOG
************************************************
Once upon a time in the good old days when everything I wrote was printed in Armenian weeklies on the continent and in the Middle East, whenever I came across a positive remark about us, I would quote it in a review or an article, and needless to add, I would do the same with every negative remark about Turks. Much later I learned that this was exactly the method employed by anti-American propagandists in the USSR. If I remember correctly, it was Mike Wallace who exposed this fact during an interview with the editor who handled Pravda’s (may have been Izvestia’s) anti-American department. Asked to identify her sources, the young female editor showed him the latest issue of the NEW YORK TIMES. All she did, it became apparent, was to select and edit the negative news items — things like murders, rapes, strikes, riots, demonstrations, homelessness, corruption in high places, and so on. Result: the average comrade in the street was convinced he lived in a Soviet paradise, while Americans were condemned to burn in their own hell, and serve those blood-sucking capitalist bastards right. Like Moliere’s bourgeois who spoke prose (as opposed to verse) and didn’t know it, I was a practicing propagandist and didn’t know it. With one difference: unlike the young Russian editor in her tiny cubicle, I wasn’t paid for my work. I did what I did because I loved Armenia and hated Turks.
*
There are many things in life about which no one tells you anything. Case in point: no one ever bothered to tell me that the secret of living a comfortable life is to be a flatterer, not a critic, and that there is more money in kissing ass than in kicking it.
*
Some years ago, after Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa on Salman Rushdie, many publishers and bookstores around the world, including America, refused to have anything to do with his SATANIC VERSES. More recently, American newspapers were afraid to reprint the Mohammed cartoons in the name of political correctness. And the Pope of Rome, because he dared to quote the testimony of a medieval Byzantine emperor about Muslim militarism, has now been effectively neutralized and gagged. The message of jihadists is clear: “We set no value on human rights and the free speech of infidel dogs. Step out of line and we will riot, burn, and kill.” (Today’s victim: a young Catholic nun if Africa.) As for anti-jihadist moderates: I sympathize with their silence because I have learned the hard way that you cannot reason with fanatics who speak in the name of God and Country.
#
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
***************************************
To engage in dialogue means to be open to reason. To refuse to engage in dialogue means to condemn oneself to extinction. Case in point: When at the turn of the last century our revolutionaries refused to engage in dialogue with Armenians within the administration of the Ottoman Empire, they condemned the people to extinction. For more on this subject, see Pars Tuglaci, THE ROLE OF THE DADIAN FAMILY IN OTTOMAN, SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND POLITICAL LIFE (Istanbul, 1993).
*
And because Muslim fundamentalists today refuse to engage in dialogue with the West, they are moving in a direction that will make a showdown inevitable. As their genocidal threats towards Israel persist and their acts of terrorism and anti-Western riots increase in frequency and severity, the West will have no choice by to say to all Islamic states: “Recognize the universal validity of such democratic principles as freedom of speech, freedom of worship, and respect for fundamental human rights, or face annihilation.”
*
We too are moving towards a showdown and our adversary is not “social and political conditions beyond our control,” but our tribalism and contempt for democratic values and dialogue. We may pretend to be part of the Christian West, but as Nikol Aghbalian has pointed out, we are more like Kurds and Turks, thoroughly tribal. Our nationalism is a sham because tribalism means loyalty to the tribe, and the tribe is not the nation.
*
It is to be noted that Nikol Aghbalian (1873-1947) was neither a dissident nor a critic, but a political leader, an educator, and a literary scholar.
*
Aghbalian on democracy: “When man does not submit himself to the rule of law, he will have to submit himself to the rule of men, that is to say, cliques and gangs.”
*
Aghbalian on tribalism: “We Armenians are products of the tribal mentality of Turks and Kurds, and this tribal mentality remains stubbornly embedded even in our leaders and elites.”
#
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
**************************************
IF I WERE BUSH
************************
I would begin by democratizing friendly regimes, like the Saudis, even if it means twisting their arms and threatening them with annihilation; after which I would convince them to use their own money and personnel (of which they have more than enough) to democratize the rest of the Middle East. But after writing for Armenians for a good number of years, I have learned the hard way that if an idea makes sense, it will be universally rejected.
*
VOLTAIRE’S FRENCHMEN
*************************************
Voltaire used to divide his fellow countrymen into two distinct groups: “the enemies of reason and merit, the fanatics, the stupid, the intolerant, the persecutors and the calumniators,” and the others. And now, allow me to introduce that rarest of all beings, a concerned Armenian who was also a friend of reason, and as such would have enjoyed Voltaire’s full approval.
*
ARTIN DADIAN
****************************
He was a prominent Ottoman diplomat who in 1896 headed a commission appointed by the Sultan to resolve the conflict between the Empire and the Armenian revolutionaries. The following is a quotation from one of his letters to the Tashnak party: “I suggest that today we have nothing but patience and tolerance. First, Europe shows complete indifference and says there is no Armenian question as far as they are concerned. Second, the threat of complete annihilation of the Armenian nation has not yet entirely passed, and third, the people are tired of revolutionary deeds and are ready to patch up their differences with the government in order to remain safe from further terrible events such as have almost wiped out our people from the face of the earth. Fourth, various organizations are fighting different causes, each in their own way, and in the middle of all this stands one pitiful Artin Dadian, who on the one hand begs the Sultan for mercy by telling him that this would be the best thing for his empire, and on the other hand fights base individuals who in order to attain their selfish aims are even willing to sell their nation.” (See Pars Tuglaci, THE ROLE OF THE DADIAN FAMILY IN OTTOMAN, SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND POLITICAL LIFE [Istanbul, 1993]).
##

PRESS RELEASE
The Hamazkayin Central Executive of the Western USA
Contact:
Ara Oshagan/Oshagan Family Foundation at 818-679-2226
([email protected])
Hrayr Sherikian/Hamazkayin at 818-427-3916
([email protected]).
Elizabet h Grigorian at 818-546-2821 ([email protected])
The debut of Jamporte (the traveler) & A Day with Vahe Oshagan
A new book of poetry and a day-long international conference
September 17, 2006
Glendale, CA-On Friday evening and all day Saturday, September 22
and 23, two major events devoted to Vahe Oshagan-one of the Armenian
Nation’s most important literary figures of the 20th century-will
be held at the Glendale Public Library Auditorium. Friday will mark
the debut of Oshagan’s latest book of poetry, Jamporte, and Saturday
will feature a day-long international conference exploring Oshagan’s
literary work and life.
On Friday evening, Sept 22, 2006, at 7 p.m., a milestone publication
will be presented. Vahe Oshagan’s Jamporte (the traveler), a
100-page poetic oeuvre, will be presented and discussed by literary
critic and poet, Maroush Yeramian from Aleppo, Syria. This poem is
the culmination of Oshagan’s decades-long exploration of the human
condition, laying bare and probing in-depth his ideas of existential
man, the traveler through life, and his place in the universe.
The next day, Saturday, September 23, 2006, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
will be “A Day with Vahe Oshagan.” Scholars and speakers will examine
and discuss various aspects of Vahe Oshagan’s work and literary
ideas and artists in several media will present and interpret his
writings and life. The day will be spent not only analyzing
Oshagan’s work but also in hearing, seeing and experiencing his
literature and ideas.
“A Day with Vahe Oshagan” will feature some of the best literary
minds of our times as they consider Vahe Oshagan’s literary and
cultural oeuvre and his impact on Armenian literature. Krikor
Beledian-poet, novelist and literary critic-will reflect upon
Oshagan’s poetry. Gourgen Arzoumanian, LA-based editor and writer,
will discuss Oshagan’s prose work-short stories and novellas. Marc
Nichanian, literary critic and professor at New York’s Columbia
University, will speak about Oshagan’s theatrical works-an
understudied but crucial genre in Oshagan’s literature. Raffi
Ajemian, writer and literary essayist, will take up Oshagan’s
influential literary criticism and analysis-also a topic rarely
studied. And finally, Vrej-Armen Artinian, editor and critic from
Montreal, will explore Oshagan’s role as one of the Armenian
Nation’s preeminent intellectuals.
The day will include staged readings-by several actors and
readers-of Oshagan’s poetry, prose and theatrical work as well as
unique audio recordings of the author reading his own work. A
multi-faceted photographic portrait of Oshagan will be presented by
his son, photographer Ara Oshagan. Hrayr Anmahouni, artist and
filmmaker, will present a documentary about Oshagan’s writings and
life. Throughout the day, his presence will also be seen and heard
via short audio-visual presentations featuring him speaking about his
own life and work.
The publication of Jamporte is the first in a series of Oshagan’s
works to be published posthumously. And this day-long conference is
the first step in the process of understanding his crucial
contribution to 20th century Armenian literature and letters.
The presentation of Jamporte and “A Day with Vahe Oshagan” have been
initiated by the Oshagan Family Foundation and are sponsored by the
Hamazkayin Educational and Cultural Society of Western U.S.A.
Regional Executive. The organizing committee consists of Elizabeth
Grigorian, Hrayr Sherikian and Ara Oshagan.
The Oshagan Family Foundation, founded in 2006, is the repository of
the Oshagan family legacy. Its purpose is to publish, promote and
disseminate works of literature and art by the Oshagan family.
The Hamazkayin Educational & Cultural Society, founded in 1928,
continues to fulfill its worldwide endeavor to nourish those who
enrich the Armenian culture. The Western U.S.A. Regional Executive
appreciates your support and participation to celebrate the life of a
long time member, intellect and writer.
Admission to both events is free and the public is cordially invited
to attend. On Saturday, lunch will be served. Both events will be in
the Armenian language only. The Glendale Public Library Auditorium is
located at 222 E. Harvard St, Glendale, CA, 91205.
Ara Oshagan
818.679.2226
[email protected]
www.araosh agan.com

7-details/Papal+assass
in+warns+Pope+Benedict+his+ ‘life+is+in+danger’+if+he+visits+Turkey/artic
le.d o
London, Wednesday 20.09.06
Papal assassin warns Pope Benedict his ‘life is in danger’ if he visits
Turkey
20.09.06
Pope Benedict faces a growing chorus of demands to make an unequivocal
apology for remarks seen as portraying Islam as a violent faith, despite
attempts by Western leaders and churchmen to defuse the crisis.
The calls came as it emerged papal hitman Mehmet Ali Agca, who is
serving a life sentence for the attempted assassination of Pope John
Paul II in May 1981, has written to Pope Benedict XVI from jail, warning
him not to go to Turkey as planned in November in the light of his
remarks.
Agca, a Turk gave his ominous warning in a letter to an Italian daily
newspaper.
For many Muslims, the Pope’s attempt to explain himself on Sunday did
not go far enough and observers were waiting to see if he would speak
about it again at his general audience at the Vatican.
The Pope enraged Muslims in a speech a week ago in Germany quoting 14th
century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who said everything the
Prophet Mohammad brought was evil “such as his command to spread by the
sword the faith he preached”.
The leader of the world’s 1.1 billion Roman Catholics said on Sunday he
was ‘deeply sorry’ for the reaction caused – but stopped short of
apologising for his words or retracting them.
In a telegram to the order of an Italian nun killed in Somalia who may
be the crisis’ first victim, the Pope hoped her sacrifice would help
build “real fraternity among people with reciprocal respect of
everyone’s religious convictions”.
But the deluge of criticism and threats continued. Italian media said an
al Qaeda group in Egypt called for the German-born Pope, who is 79, to
be punished by strict Islamic sharia law for insulting their religion.
An al Qaeda umbrella group in Iraq has also vowed war on “worshippers of
the cross”.
Workers at Turkey’s Directorate General for Religious Affairs, or
Diyanet, petitioned for the arrest of the Pontiff when he makes a
scheduled visit to Turkey in November.
They held banners saying “Either apologise or don’t come”. The Pope’s
comments annoyed the Turkish government but there are no plans yet to
cancel the trip.
In Iraq, where an effigy of the Pope was burnt on Monday, parliament
speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani called his apology “inadequate and not
commensurate with the moral damage caused to Muslims’ feelings”.
The Grand Mufti of the Palestinian Territories, Sheikh Mohammad Hussein,
said the Pope must make “a personal and clear apology to 1.5 billion
Muslims in this world for the insult caused by his lecture…”
In his two page letter to leading Italian Rome based daily La
Repubblica, Agca, who was a member of the Turkish terrorist cell the
White Wolves, wrote: “Pope Ratzinger listen to someone who knows these
things very well.
“Your life is in danger. You absolutely must not come to Turkey. Pope
Benedict you must know that between 1980 and 2000 I was in contact with
various Western intelligence services and with the Vatican.
“In those twenty tears I learnt many things and I came into possession
of many classified secrets.”
The letter closed with Agca imploring Pope Benedict to resign for his
own safety he wrote: “For your own welfare you must make a grand gesture
of honour and resign.
“Then you must return to your native land (Germany) and in your place an
Italian cardinal can be elected Pope, possibly (cardinal Dionigi)
Tettamanzi or (cardinal Tarcisio) Bertone.
“Then the Vatican should become a centre of peace and fraternity. The
world has a need of this it does not need hatred and vendetta.”
Agca was jailed for his attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in
St Peter’s Square in May 1981 and in 2000 he was allowed to return to
Turkey to serve the rest of his sentence.
Earlier this year he was briefly freed from his life sentence after a
judge released him but after a huge outcry he was jailed again within
days and is now at Istanbul’s Kartal Maltepe jail and not due for
release until 2012.
In Italy, politicians and churchmen defended the Pope and said his words
were taken out of context and his explanation was quite clear.
Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano published it in Arabic on its
front page to try to clarify his meaning.
But while some Muslim clerics say the alleged insults are the latest
skirmish in a new Western ‘crusade’ against Islam, some Catholic
churchmen say the Pontiff’s words have been purposefully twisted by
militant Muslims.
“We pray for the Pope whose words have been maliciously interpreted,”
Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe said in Naples at the annual ‘miracle’ of
fourth century Saint Gennaro, whose blood turns from powder to liquid in
what is seen as a good omen.
The head of Australia’s 5.1 million-strong Catholic church went as far
as to say that violent reaction “justified one of Pope Benedict’s main
fears” about Islam.
Cardinal George Pell said this showed “the link for many Islamists
between religion and violence, their refusal to respond to criticism
with rational arguments, but only with demonstrations, threats and
actual violence”. Local Muslims called Pell’s comments ‘unhelpful’.
(c) 2006 Associated Newspapers Ltd

PRESS RELEASE
Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) – Yerevan Office
53-55 Pavstos Byuzand Street, 375010
Yerevan, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Inessa Grigoryan
Tel: (+374 10) 522076; 562068
Fax: (+374 10) 522076
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
Children of Armenia Fund – New York Office
630 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2100,
New York, NY 10111, USA
Contact: Anna Sargsyan
Tel: 212 – 994 – 8201
Fax: 212 – 994 – 8299
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
For immediate release
COAF Founder and Chairman Speaks at Armenia-Diaspora
Conference
Yerevan, Republic of
Armenia, September 18, 2006 ¾ Today, Dr. Garo Armen, founder and
chairman of the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) addressed the
delegates of the Armenia-Diaspora Conference. The plenary session
dealing with Rural Poverty Eradication Program was attended by over
1,000 delegates from around the world, including the United States,
Canada, South America, Europe, Eurasia, and the Middle East.
Dignitaries addressing this session of the conference included the
Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, as well as the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Agriculture, and the Minister of
Territorial Administration.
Dr. Armen led the delegates through a virtual journey through rural
Armenia, describing the conditions in most of the villages and
prescribing the exact formula for poverty eradication. Speaking from
his personal experiences, he described the crumbling and
heart-breaking conditions in which he had found Karakert a few years
ago. He also recalled the delegates’ experiences as they toured the
School of Lernagog [soon to be renovated as part of COAF’s Model
Cluster project] the day before. For Dr. Armen, the conditions in
which today’s children live, learn, and grow ¾ or the overall
wellbeing of the next generation of the Armenian leadership ¾ create
the most critical and unquestionable need that every Armenian must
focus on without delay. “The children of Armenia are our focal
point; they are the key drivers of our development program.”
Then, he delineated the key elements of what makes COAF’s rural
development program comprehensive and all-encompassing. Aside from
the reconstruction of the infrastructure, including the renovation of
public buildings, schools, kindergartens, community centers, and
health clinics, Dr. Armen articulated the importance of
simultaneously realizing economic, social, educational, and health
programs. “Even the softest of our social programs have a tremendous
positive impact on these communities. COAF has witnessed how its
cluster monthly Shrjadarts or its inter-village transportation system
created a few months ago has made an uplifting impact on the
villagers,” cited the speaker.
Dr. Armen also mentioned that what makes COAF’s program so strong in
accomplishments and sustainable results is its ability to mobilize
larger resources and engage other organizations in the implementation
of its program. Getting special recognition in his speech were the
organizations, with which COAF partnered for the implementation of
the first integrated rural development program: UNDP, USAID and the
World Bank, along with a dozen other partners. More importantly, Dr.
Armen stressed COAF’s partnership with the local municipality and
general population, highlighting the importance of community
participation, community ownership, and learning from the community.
# # # # #
–Boundary_(ID_z1CyNJp3NnI1A18xjpiGCQ)–

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, September 18, 2006
AGBU Argentinean-American School Exchange Thrives
On July 28, 2006, secondary students of the Buenos Aires’ Marie
Manoogian Institute welcomed a contingent of students from the
Manoogian Demirdjian School in Southern California. Part of an
ongoing exchange program begun in 2000, this visit marks the latest
success of a program created by Marie Manoogian’s English Department
Coordinator, Miriam Bogossian Tabakian and AGBU Central Board member,
Carol Aslanian, in order to improve English language instruction
to Argentinean students and to serve AGBU’s mission of uniting and
educating Armenian youth worldwide.
Witnessing the great success generated by the two visits to the Los
Angeles area by Marie Manoogian students in the last few years, the
Buenos Aires school invited their peers from the Manoogian-Demirdjian
School to the Manoogian Institute. Exceeding their expectations,
the program’s achievements encouraged organizers to plan a visit of
Argentinean students later this year.
During their stay, Manoogian-Demirdjian students participated in
establishing a Spanish course for foreigners at Marie Manoogian under
the supervision of Professor Elena Achdjian. They also contributed
their feedback to computer workshops in Armenian art and Armenian
design under the guidance of Professors Mariana Artinian and Tshjo
Guludjian. These student-oriented projects will greatly enhance the
level of instruction for future participants in the ongoing exchange
program.
AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School in Canoga Park, California, and AGBU
Marie Manoogian Institute in Buenos Aires, Argentina, are two of AGBU’s
leading Armenian day schools and together offer instruction to over
1,300 students. For more information on AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian
School, please visit For more information on AGBU
Marie Manoogian Institute, please visit
AGBU is the largest Armenian non-profit organization in the world
and AGBU preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage
through educational, cultural and humanitarian programs, annually
serving some 400,000 Armenians in 35 countries.

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
September 19, 2006
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]
COURT HEARS MOTION TO DISMISS GENOCIDE DENIERS’ CASE
Armenian Assembly Argues As “Friend of the Court”
Washington, DC – In U.S. District Court in Boston yesterday, Assistant
Attorney General William Porter argued for the dismissal of a lawsuit
brought by a Turkish group and others seeking to reinsert genocide
denial materials into the Massachusetts school human rights curriculum
guide. In support of the Attorney General’s position, the Armenian
Assembly filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief, and
argued for the rights of the defendants to recommend teaching the
facts of the Armenian Genocide.
The lawsuit, filed last year by the Assembly of Turkish American
Associations (ATAA), asserts that the Massachusetts Department of
Education’s decision to remove denialist materials in the school
curriculum guide amounts to “censoring” and therefore would be a
violation of the First Amendment. Yesterday in court, Assistant
Attorney General Porter, who represented the Commonwealth, argued
that the First Amendment cannot be applied to statements by the
government and said that the Statute of Limitation requires that the
case be dismissed.
Furthermore, the state pointed out that the plaintiffs have no
standing to sue since there was no harm suffered because students and
teachers may still independently access genocide denial information
from sources not recommended by the state’s curriculum guide.
The ATAA Web site, which the lobbying group seeks to include in a list
of educational sources, is available online although not sanctioned in
the curricular guide. Among the historical distortions on the site is
the statement that it is “….a fact that more than 2 million Turks
and Muslims were massacred by the Armenians…”
“If the plaintiffs succeed with this lawsuit, there will be no stopping
point for the demands anyone can make for the inclusion in curriculum
recommendations, no matter how flawed or outrageous,” said Attorney
Arnie Rosenfeld of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP, who
argued the Armenian Assembly’s Amicus together with Board of Trustees
Counselor Van Krikorian.
Rosenfeld and Krikorian warned that if the court accepts the
plaintiffs’ First Amendment claims, it would open the door for any
extremist group, such as Holocaust deniers, to challenge curriculum
matters in court.
Harvey Silverglate, a Boston-based lawyer representing the ATAA,
questioned the veracity of the crimes as the “alleged” Armenian
Genocide in a courtroom full of members of the Armenian community. In
so doing, he joined the ranks of genocide deniers who seek to question
the systematic extermination of the Armenians despite the fact that
there is no credible and scholarly evidence to support such claims.
Also, Attorney General Gabriel Wolohojian of Wilmer, Cutler, Hale
and Dorr LLP, represented an Amicus Class including the Armenian Bar
Association, the Armenian National Committee, the Irish Immigration
Center, the Jewish Alliance for Law and Justice and the NAACP.
  Armenian Assembly Board of Trustees President Carolyn Mugar, Vice
President and Counselor Robert A. Kaloosdian, and Executive Committee
Member Anthony Barsamian also attend the proceedings. Additionally,
representatives of the Armenian Bar Association, Armenian National
Committee, International Association of Genocide Scholars, Jewish
Community Relations Council, Irish Immigration Center, NAACP and the
American Jewish Committee, were also on hand.
In 1998, the Massachusetts State Legislature unanimously passed
legislation requiring the Board of Education to formulate
guidelines for a curriculum designed to provide instruction on
several well-documented human rights abuses, including the Armenian
Genocide. In compliance with this requirement, the Department
of Education prepared a draft guide and released it for public
comment. The plaintiffs were afforded opportunities to present their
materials to the Department of Education. Proposed revisions to
the draft were considered, in some cases adopted, and in some cases
rejected. A final guide was then prepared. The ATAA, having failed
to insert their web site replete with historical distortions and
inaccuracies, brought forth the lawsuit in another attempt to cover
up the facts of the Armenian Genocide.
  The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness
of Armenian issues. It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership
organization.
###
NR#2006-082
–Boun dary_(ID_r1yTXJxcuhZm3x7U/XjMaA)–

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
AGBU Karabakh Repopulation Project Opens School in Norashen and Begins Construction of Jrakn Village
On September 11, 2006, the opening ceremony of the new Norashen School
took place in Karabakh’s Hadrut region. With 32 pupils enrolled, the
elementary school, designed to accommodate 80 students, has eight
classrooms, one event hall, a teacher’s lounge and a principal’s
office. The official ribbon cutting was followed by the groundbreaking
ceremony of the nearby village of Jrakn, which was destroyed during
the war and is situated 200 meters away from Norashen. Both initiatives
are part of AGBU’s Karabakh Repopulation Project, which was initiated
in 2002 and has been helping to rebuild the war-torn villages that
remain abandoned following the 1988 to 1994 conflict with Azerbaijan.
Among the honored guests were AGBU representatives and Karabakh
authorities, including: Karabakh President, Arkady Ghoukassian; Deputy
Prime Minister, Ararat Danielian; Minister of Education, Culture
and Sport, Kamo Atayan; Minister of Territorial Administration and
Development of Industrial Infrastructures, Armo Tsaturian; Migration,
Refugees and Repopulation Department Head, Pavel Nadjarian; Head of
Hadrut Administration, Valery Gevorkian; AGBU Central Board Member,
Levon Kebabdjian; and AGBU Armenia Representation Director, Ashot
Ghazarian.
President Ghoukassian underscored the importance of such projects,
expressing his gratitude to all AGBU donors and supporters who are
committed to the reconstruction of Karabakh. “For many years now, AGBU
has been carrying out programs in Karabakh. Always standing by our
side, the Union, together with us, is facilitating the repopulation
of Karabakh. This must serve as an example to other organizations,”
he said.
Students welcomed the guests and thanked the donors that made it all
possible with a speech of gratitude. Sitting on the school bench of
the newly refurbished classroom, 13-year-old Khachik Hoveyan exuded
happiness and satisfaction. “I could have never imagined that I would
attend such a beautiful school. I have decided to study a lot, become
a doctor and come to work in the medical center of Norashen to help
my fellow villagers,” Khachik said.
The event was widely covered by local and Armenian mass media. At
the end of the ceremony, AGBU representatives presented the school
children with bags filled with school supplies, ensuring that students
have the proper tools to pursue their education.
The construction of the Norashen School is part of AGBU’s Karabakh
Repopulation Project, and AGBU’s Southern Californian District
Committee and Sydney Chapter, which contributed nearly $90,000 to
the project, financed the facility. AGBU Toronto also donated to the
project and AGBU Young Professional Groups raised the funds to help
furnish the institution. Additional financial support came directly
from private AGBU donors.
“The village was reborn before our eyes with a kindergarten, a
medical center and now a school. Thanks to AGBU, our village lives
and flourishes. I am very grateful both as a teacher and as a local
resident,” said Nuara Gevorkian, the only school teacher from Norashen.
The reconstruction of Norashen, located about 45 miles southeast
of Stepanakert, began in 2001. The village has 22 houses, and the
infrastructure of Norashen will also serve the neighboring Jrakn
village, which was initiated by AGBU Central Board member Michael
Ansour. Planned in two stages, the construction of the first 10 houses
will be finished by the first quarter of 2007. Another 10 houses will
be built by summer 2008.
Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City
with an annual budget of $34 million, AGBU preserves and promotes
the Armenian identity and heritage through educational, cultural and
humanitarian programs, annually serving some 400,000 Armenians in
35 countries.

OUTDOOR GRILLING AT RESTAURANTS IN GLENDALE A HOT TOPIC
By Eugene Tong, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Daily News
Article Last Updated: 09/18/2006 10:47:47 PM PDT
GLENDALE – The City Council could be sitting on hot coals tonight as
it holds a hearing on a proposed ordinance to allow outdoor grilling
at local restaurants.
Current laws require all commercial cooking to be done indoors.
But the prohibition has proved too restrictive for some
businesses, especially operators of local banquet halls that cater
to Armenian-Americans and use outdoor grills to prepare meals for
large parties.
Add residents who are leery of more smoke if commercial cookouts
are legalized, and the council could be ripe for a skewering from
all sides.
For Councilman Rafi Manoukian, it’s a chance to resolve the issue
by balancing the needs of local businesses with residents’ quality
of life.
“The ordinance is not anything new,” Manoukian said Monday, noting
that it’s a chance for businesses to abide by regulations of the
South Coast Air Quality Management District.
The proposed ordinance requires grill operators to register with the
agency. Also, businesses with grills larger than 10 square feet and
used within 200 feet of homes need to apply for a conditional-use
permit.
Planners also recommend allowing grills to operate from 10 a.m. to 11
p.m. if they are more than 200 feet from homes, with extended hours
for weekends as requested by the banquet hall owners association.
The group could not be reached for comment Monday. But Glendale
resident Margaret Hammond, who has been critical of noise and smoke
from such halls, said she believes that the council is legalizing
grilling at homeowners’ expense.
“Why should the law be broken just to suit a few people’s tastes?” she
said.
Grilling and barbecue – “khorovats” in Armenian – has been an
established part of the culture for centuries, said Irina Petrosian,
co-author of a book on Armenian cooking.
“It’s a part of joy,” she said. “They go out and talk, and the
way they fan the grill – all that is part of a ritual. It’s also
nostalgia. … It’s the taste of home.”