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 18, 2006
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]
THE ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA
STATEMENT ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL CASE
Washington, DC – The Armenian Assembly of America has released the
following statement in the case of Griswold v. Driscoll et. Al. (the
Armenian Genocide Denial Case), which will be heard in U.S. District
Court in Boston today. 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 amounts to “censoring” and therefore would be
a violation of the First Amendment.
PRESS STATEMENT
OF THE ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA
AND OTHER ARMENIAN AMERICAN AMICUS CURIAE
FOR HEARING BEFORE CHIEF JUDGE MARK WOLF
OF THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
SEPTEMBER 18, 2006
The Armenian Assembly of America and the Armenian-American individuals
who have filed an Amicus Curiae Memorandum for today’s hearing on the
Motion to Dismiss the Complaint in the case of Griswold v. Driscoll
et al will point out to the Court in the oral argument scheduled
today that:
1. The Armenian-Americans who have filed this Amicus brief are
affronted that the Turkish interests and other plaintiffs who have
brought this lawsuit are seeking to have students in Massachusetts
schools be referred to websites which characterize the Armenian
Genocide as a “myth” and “as bogus as a three dollar bill.” In fact,
there is no credible argument that the massacres of Armenians during
and after World War One were not genocide and the overwhelming
historical and legal records supports the finding of genocide of the
Armenian population in Ottoman Turkey during and after World War One.
2. The choice of the Massachusetts Board of Education, in a sound
educational decision, to exclude the Turkish sponsored websites in
recommending what should be taught to students in Massachusetts
public schools without reference to the so-called denialist or
“contra-genocide” theory, fulfills the mandate of G.L. c. 276 of the
Acts of 1998;
3. When the Massachusetts Board of Education issued its curriculum
guide on teaching about the Armenian Genocide, it was government
speech and there is no First Amendment right to challenge such
government speech;
4. If the plaintiffs succeed with this lawsuit, there will be no
stopping point for the demands anyone can make for inclusion in
curriculum recommendations, no matter how flawed or outrageous.
5. No one’s First Amendment rights to receive information have been
denied since the plaintiffs, and anyone else, can obtain whatever
information they want about the Armenian Genocide from sources outside
the curriculum guide.
CONTACTS: Arnold R. Rosenfeld, Esq.
Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP
(617) 951-9125
[email protected]
Van Z. Krikorian
Attorney-at-Law
(914) 439-4333
[email protected]
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#2006-083

UPPER LARS CHECK-POINT TO OPEN IN TWO WEEKS
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.09.2006 14:17 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Repair works at Upper Lars check-point will finish in
two weeks, Armenian Ambassador to Russia Armen Smbatyan reported. In
his words, Russian representatives convinced him that Repair works at
the check-point will finish in two weeks. The Russian party closed the
check-point, which is the only legal point at the Georgian-Russian
border, on July 8, naming the need for repair works there as the
cause for closing.

THE SUCCESS OF “ADANA” IS SCOTLAND
A1+
[04:11 pm] 18 September, 2006
In the third match of the first qualifying phase of the UEFA cup
which took place in Scotland futzal champion of Armenia “Adana” beat
“Fair City” from Scotland 5:3 and topped the list of the third group
with 7 points.
In the next phase the champion of Armenia will play with “Sporting”
from Portugal, “Korzov” from Poland and “Alfa Parf” from Macedonia. The
games will take place on October 9-12 in Poland.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

STATE IS PUSHED TO SELL ITSELF
By Evelyn Iritani, Times Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times, CA
September 18, 2006
A bill on the governor’s desk mandates a new effort to boost foreign
investment and trade.
California produces some of the world’s finest foods, movies and
software, but unlike other states, it has no outposts abroad to market
its goods to eager buyers.
Unless you count Armenia, a former part of the Soviet Union, where
the trade office is funded by donations from California’s Armenian
American community.
ADVERTISEMENT The Golden State exported more than $116 billion
worth of goods last year and handled 40% of the country’s container
traffic. After Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took office in 2003, he
vowed to be a “super-salesman” for the state, whose $1.6-trillion
economy ranks among the world’s largest.
Now, a group of lawmakers and business leaders is prodding the governor
and the state to get back to promoting the state’s industries.
Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) successfully
pushed legislation requiring the state Business, Transportation
and Housing Agency to develop a strategy for attracting foreign
investment and trade. That bill, which was passed by a wide margin,
has been sent to the governor’s office.
Schwarzenegger has not taken a position on the legislation, said
Darrel Ng, a spokesman for his office.
The state once staffed a dozen trade offices abroad, including in
Tokyo, Shanghai and London. But during the budget crisis of 2003, the
Legislature shut down the California Technology, Trade and Commerce
Agency, which had a $13-million budget and 91 employees, and closed
11 of the 12 outposts.
State Sen. Jack Scott, a Democrat from the Pasadena area, which has
a large Armenian American community, was able to save the Armenia
office because it was privately funded.
Romero said state officials needed to determine whether they should
reopen offices abroad and if so, how they should be managed and
funded. The state also needs to look at the effects of tax policies
and other regulations on foreign companies, she said.
“We have been flying blind in California,” she said.
“We don’t have a trade policy.”
Garrett Ashley, a former Schwarzenegger aide whom the governor picked
to head the state’s international trade efforts, said California has
suffered because it lacked the resources to sell itself overseas.
“I think there’s no question that a state the size of California
and the significance of California needs to have a presence in the
international business arena and a way to promote itself,” Ashley said.
Jock O’Connell, a trade consultant in Sacramento, agrees that the
state’s trade strategy needs an overhaul. But he said foreign trade
offices were a waste of taxpayers’ money because they were too
difficult to manage from afar and often became politicized.
“The common point of view in the private sector is these trade offices
serve political, not commercial, purposes,” he said.
The state would be better off using its resources to modernize
California’s highway system, railroads and ports, O’Connell
said. Airports should be a high priority because more than 50% of
the state’s exports, including electronic components and perishable
commodities, are shipped by air.
The governor has asked voters to approve a $20-billion transportation
bond measure in November that includes $3.1 billion to facilitate
the movement of goods.
On trade missions to Japan, Israel and China, the governor used his
celebrity to hawk California wine, produce and other products. The
governor is taking another group of officials and executives to Mexico
in November.
After Schwarzenegger’s Asia trip, Air China signed multimillion-dollar
contracts with United Airlines to have its San Francisco maintenance
facilities service the Chinese airline’s Boeing 747 and 777 engines,
according to the governor’s office. Schwarzenegger also helped persuade
Virgin America, the new budget U.S. airline partly owned by British
entrepreneur Richard Branson, to locate its headquarters in the Bay
Area hub.
Famima, one of Asia’s biggest convenience store chains, decided to
expand into California after its chief executive saw a billboard in
Tokyo featuring Schwarzenegger, the governor’s office said.
In two years, Famima has opened six of its high-end convenience stores
in Southern California and plans to have a bunch more in place by
year end.
But some foreign employers have recently left the state for better
offers, citing high operating costs and taxes. Last year, Nissan Motor
Co. announced it was moving its U.S. headquarters, which employed
1,300 people, from Gardena to Nashville. Carlos Ghosn, chief executive
of the Japanese auto firm, said Tennessee’s “favorable business and
taxation climate” played a role in the decision to move.
The Organization for International Investment, a Washington-based
lobbyist for foreign firms, has asked the California Franchise Tax
Board to amend its “discriminatory” policy of taxing transactions
between those firms and their California-based subsidiaries, including
royalty payments and interest on loans.
The board has agreed to consider that petition at its meeting
Wednesday.
“I think this is a case of the state sending a mistaken signal of
hostility to these companies when it’s not intending to,” said Todd
Malan, executive director of the group.
State officials argue that they are only trying to collect taxes on
income that is legitimately tied to business within California.
But Alex Spitzer, senior vice president of taxes for the
U.S. subsidiary of Switzerland-based Nestle, said the state’s tax
policies were one reason his company decided to put a $359-million
factory in Indiana instead of California. The food giant employs
7,500 people in California.
The disputed tax policy, he said, “is reflective of the attitude
California projects that, ‘We love the jobs but not the businesses
that create them.’ ”
* [email protected]

ROBERT KOCHARIAN: “WE WERE CLOSE TO CONCLUDE AGREEMENT WITH AZERBAIJAN SEVERAL TIMES”
Today.Az
18 September 2006 [13:33] – Today.Az
“Nagorno Karabakh’s people has determined its fortune and is
establishing its independent state now,” Armenian president Robert
Kocharian said in his speech at the Armenia-Diaspora Armenian Forum.
He stressed that the heroic struggle of “Arsakh” and the negotiations
are the inseparable part of Armenia’s 15-year independence.
“There were a lot of rises and falls in the negotiating process. We
were close to conclude an agreement with Azerbaijan to ensure freedom
of Nagorno Karabakh people several times. Unfortunately, we failed,”
Kocharian said.
According to APA, Armenian leader said there is no need to respond to
Azerbaijan’s militarist statements mentioning that only the people
with high spirit and professional army will gain victory. Kocharian
also stated that prior duty of all Armenians is to make public the
independence of Nagorno Karabakh all over the world.

RAUF DENKTASH: “TALAT PASHA MOVEMENT IS TURKEY’S BEATING HEART AGAINST THE ALLEGED ‘ARMENIAN GENOCIDE'”
Today.Az
18 September 2006 [13:37] – Today.Az
The European Parliament will bring five issues on Turkey to a vote
at the meeting from September 25 to 28.
APA’s Turkey bureau reports the five questions have been included
into the agenda at the insistence of French socialists.
These issues demand reproaching the Talat Pasha Movement, abolishing
the Movement by the Turkish government, recognizing the alleged
Armenian “genocide” as well as establishing diplomatic relations with
Armenia without any conditions and open the borders.
In addition, the offer on recognition of the alleged Armenian
“genocide” for the continuation of the agreement between Turkey and the
European Union will be brought to a vote at the European Parliament.
French socialists demand inclusion of an item on Turkey’s deliberately
refusing to recognize the so-called Armenian “genocide” into the
document to be adopted.
The Talat Pasha Movement’s Consulting Council held an emergency meeting
in Pera Palas hotel in Istanbul related to the European Parliament’s
offers. The discussions focused on actions to be taken against the
plan of the European Parliament.
Head of the Consulting Council, first President of the Turkish Republic
of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Rauf Denktash underlined that the Talat
Pasha Movement is Turkey’s beating heart against the alleged Armenian
“genocide” calling for the Turkish media to make efforts to support
Turkey’s rightful position.
Denktash stressed the importance of coordinating the developments
wit the Foreign Ministry.
The Movement’s chief coordinator Ferit Ilsever said they will carry
on in Europe. He said they will distribute 250,000 books exposing
the alleged Armenian “genocide” and hold a press conference in
Germany soon.
The aim of establishing the Talat Pasha Movement was to make the
parliaments having recognized the alleged “genocide” annul the bill
and make public the truths.
The Movement staged mass demonstrations in Lozanna and Berlin in
protest against the false genocide claims.
The Armenian ‘Dashnaksutyun’ and ‘Hinchak’ terrorist organizations
benefiting from the Ottoman Army’s involvement in the World War
I attempted to separate the country. But their attempts failed,
these organizations were banned and, the activists were arrested in
1915. Prime Minister Talat Pasha issued a decree on May 27, 1915 to
deport Armenians to the southern parts of the Ottoman Empire.
Talat Pasha was murdered by Armenian terrorist Tehleryan in Berlin
on March 18, 1921.

ITALIAN MEDIA BESEECHES POPE NOT TO GO TO TURKEY IN NOVEMBER
Hurriyet, Turkey
September 18, 2006 13:39
Following the controversy over words spoken on Islam by Pope Benedict
in Germany, Italian newspapers are beseeching the leader of the
Catholic church not to go ahead with his planned November visit to
Turkey. This week the Italian “Libero” newspaper carried an article
asserting “Ratzinger don’t go to Turkey! Your life is in danger due
to fanatics and the made-up stories of the media. They have declared
war against you. They want to kill you!”
The same “Libero” newspaper wrote this week that Turkey had “massacred
1.5 million Armenians,” and also recalled the murder earlier in the
year of Priest Andrea Santoro in the Black Sea city of Trabzon.
Meanwhile, the Italian “Corriere della Sera” newspaper carried an
article this weekend noting that the Pope, if he did visit Turkey
in November, might not in fact meet with the Turkish head of the
Religious Affairs Ministry, Ali Bardarkoglu. One of the staunchest
critics of the Pope over the past week has been Bardakoglu, who has
called for the Pope’s immediate apology for his Islam comments.

GEORGIAN ECONOMY LAGS BEHIND ITS NEIGHBOURS
By M. Alkhazashvili
Messenger.ge
Monday, September 18, 2006, #176 (1196)
Regardless of the frequent bombastic pronouncements from the top of
the Georgian political tree concerning the leaps and bounds Georgia
is making economically, most of the population live on the verge
of crushing poverty, and the economic growth of Georgia is lagging
behind its Caucasian neighbours, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
World Bank just named Georgia the best reformer inn the world in
terms of the ease of doing business this year. But in spite of this
encouraging data, Georgian economic development is far from enviable.
Unemployment and underemployment is huge, with vast swathes of the
rural population basically engaged in subsistence agriculture. Though
the government has recently come up with some eye catching initiatives
to tackle this problem, it is unclear how well thought out they are,
and just how successful they will be.
Economic expert Emzar Jgerenaia thinks that in spite of introducing
some new reforms and simpler regulations, major problems exist in
implementing them effectively. Writing in the newspaper Rezonansi
expert Soso Archvadze points to the example of Georgia’s southern
neighbour Armenia, where annual GDP per capita is USD 4700, well
ahead of Georgia’s USD 3300.
The richest of the South Caucasus countries is Azerbaijan. Of course
Azerbaijan owes this wealth to its hydrocarbon reserves, and risks
becoming over dependant on this industry and succumbing to ‘dutch
disease’: the deindustrialisation of a country’s economy after the
discovery of natural resources.
However, over the past two years more than 200 000 new jobs have been
created in Azerbaijan and President Aliyev is promising still more.
Georgia’s current economic woes are very much conditioned by its
political instability. The conflicts in Azerbaijan and South Ossetia,
the Internally Displaced Person problem, and a history of forceful
changes of leadership are not exactly the stuff of which economic
success stories are made.
Georgia must pursue its reforms with more focus, and make sure that
they are implemented by a fait and independent judiciary, which at
present is lacking, otherwise Georgia will continue to lag behind
its neighbours.

RULING PARTY OF AZERBAIJAN EXPANDS INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS
Author: J.Shahverdiyev
Trend
Today 18.09.2006
The ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) is expanding international
relationships. The Deputy Chairman and the Executive Secretary of
the NAP, Ali Ahmadov, stated to a news conference held at the NAP
headquarters of the party on 15 September on the results of the 4th
General Assembly of the international conference of ruling political
parties of Asian countries organized in Seoul.
Ahmadov noted that the NAP prefers to cooperate with the parties in
power. “We cooperate with political parties functioning in different
countries, which hold political principles and political orientation
similar to ours. We expand the frames of such cooperation,” he
underlined.
the NAP Executive Secretary also noted that during the 4th General
Assembly he held meetings with heads of political parties. The
politician stressed his main objective was to inform them about
the truth on Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh
and expand the bilateral cooperation. Ahmadov presented material on
Armenia’s annexation policy.
A delegation of the NAP held meetings with the heads of ruling parties
Uri, Korea, Unified Russia, Russia, the Justice and Development,
Turkey, Otan, Kazakhstan, as well as the Secretary General of the
International Democratic Union.
The constituent Assembly of the NAP was held in Nakhchivan Autonomous
Republic on 21 November 1992.
Heydar Aliyev was elected the chairman of the Supreme Majlis of the
party. At present the chairman of the NAP is the Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev. The party unites over 400,000 people.

BULGARIA AND ROMANIA INCLUDED IN TRANSATLANTIC SURVEY
Polina Slavcheva
Sofia Echo, Bulgaria
Issue 37: Sep. 15-21 2006
LOVE-HATE: Bulgarians generally hold oppinions consistent with those
of EU countries and 37 per cent of people in the EU consider US
leadership in the world undesirable.
Five years after September 11 2001, the image of the United States
has not recovered from its steep decline after the war in Iraq,
the Transatlantic Trends 2006 survey said.
Decline was steepest in Germany, which showed 43 per cent of support,
down from 68 per cent in 2002.
The US-Germany cooling became even clearer on September 13 when
the head of the German investigation said that US policy in Iraq
had increased the terrorist threat around the world. German support
for NATO has fallen as well, as has support for the North Atlantic
alliance in Europe in general.
Italy, Poland and Turkey, countries traditionally perceived as
strong supporters of NATO, also show reduced figures of support. This
probably explains a certain isolationist trend among Americans that
the study identified.
The biggest twist, however, comes from Turkey. The EU candidate has
been cooling toward Europe and the US and warming toward Iran since
2004. On a 100-point thermometer scale, Turkish warmth toward the
US declined from 28 degrees in 2002 to 20 in 2006, and toward the
EU from 52 degrees to 45. Elif Shafak, the Turkish writer accused of
insulting Turkish national identity in a book about Turkish genocide
against Armenians, warned about that trend as well. On September 13,
she said that the case against her and other cases like hers could
actually stop Turkey’s negotiations with the EU.
And deepen Turkish orientation toward the Muslim world that the
study identified as well. Since 2004, Turkish warmth toward Iran
rose from 34 degrees to 43. As many as 56 per cent of Turkish people,
when asked if they minded Iran’s nuclear programme, said no.
“If I was asked to do that a month ago, I would not have been able to
predict such a result,” said the director of the Centre for Liberal
Studies in Bulgaria, Ivan Krustev.
For the first time, this year Bulgaria and Romania were included in
the Transatlantic survey as well.
The surprise coming from the Bulgarians, at least to Krustev, is that
Bulgarians generally hold opinions consistent with the line of EU
foreign policy, he said. At the same time, however, Bulgarians tend
to support Euro-isolationist views in the line of “the world should
leave the EU at peace”, rather than “the EU should try to fix the
world”, Krustev said.
Bulgarians see EU membership more as a way to escape the problems of
the world than a chance to solve them, he said.
In that, their opinions are closer to those of Slovakia than those
of other new and future EU members like Poland and Romania. The
new and future EU members are not a coherent block anyway, even if
their overall views on the EU and the United States do not differ
significantly from EU averages, the study said.
Seventy per cent of Romanians and 66 per cent of Poles support EU
global leadership and in that are closer to the 76 per cent EU average
than are Bulgaria and Slovakia. Only 56 per cent of Bulgarians and 50
per cent of Slovakians support strong EU leadership, and thus move away
from the EU trend to seek larger involvement in world affairs. European
support for a new EU foreign minister – one of the key reforms put
forth in the proposed constitutional treaty – is at a high 65 per
cent despite the French and Dutch EU “No” to the constitution.
And, contrary to public concerns about enlargement fatigue, Europeans
also see positive benefits from enlargement, which they connect
with the importance of encouraging democracy – a trend that will
increasingly find Europeans on the more active side, as opposed to
US citizens, researchers said.
When it comes to support for the policies of George W Bush, Bulgaria
and Slovakia are closer to the eight per cent EU average with their
20 and two per cent, respectively, of support than are Poland and
Romania, which score 40 and 42 per cent. Poles and Romanians, in fact,
show the greatest support of the US of all 13 surveyed countries.
Another peculiarity of Bulgarians is that they seem to be more
interested in what will be happening to Bulgaria in an EU context,
rather than what their and their country’s position in the world
should be, Krustev said.
For example, Bulgarians know little about the Bulgarian contingents in
Iraq and Afghanistan, and a lot about the case against the Bulgarian
nurses in Libya. This means that Bulgarian opinions on foreign policy
are still a reflex rather than a consciously taken position, he said.
Bulgarians also seem unable to form opinions as to whether Turkey’s
membership in the EU would be a good or a bad thing, Krustev said.
Most Bulgarians do not see Iraq as a threat, and evidence of that is
the marginalisation of the issue in Bulgarian media, Krustev said.
What is most striking, however, is the huge percentage of I-don’t-know
and I-can’t-answer responses.
Thirty-one per cent of Bulgarians could not answer if the US and
the EU have improved relations, even if that was a matter of general
knowledge, Krustev said.
This means that a third of Bulgarians have not thought on the issue
at all.
Transatlantic Trends is among the most influential public opinion
polls. It has been conducted since 2002 and is a project of the German
Marshall Fund of the United States and the Compagnia di San Paolo.
Additional support comes from the Fundacao Luso-American, Fundacion
BBVA, and the Tipping Point Foundation (Bulgarian).