ARMENIANS REMEMBER GENOCIDE
by Arin Gencer, Times Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times
April 25, 2006 Tuesday
Home Edition
About 2,500 join in annual protest held outside the Turkish Consulate
in L.A.
Waving Armenia’s flag of red, blue and orange, about 2,500 Armenian
Americans on Monday staged an annual protest of what they say was a
Turk-sanctioned genocide of their ancestors.
The rally, held in front of the Turkish Consulate in the 6300 block
of Wilshire Boulevard, was one of many events worldwide commemorating
April 24, 1915, the day Armenians say the mass deportations, arrests
and executions began.
Of the estimated 2 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire at the
time, Armenian Americans say, more than 1 million died between 1915
and 1923. The empire became the modern republic of Turkey.
In West Hollywood, city flags flew at half-staff. Last week, Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger declared April 23-29 “Days of Remembrance of
the Armenian Genocide.”
“We want all the world to know that this happened,” said Christine
Hovananian, 50, of Glendale.
“Turkey should say that ‘we have done this to Armenian people.’ ”
For her, that means acknowledging the 1915 murders of her aunts,
uncles and grandparents in the village of Van in eastern Turkey.
Hovananian’s father and mother escaped separately to Iraq, where they
eventually met and married.
For the three decades she has lived in Southern California, Hovananian
has protested every year in front of the consulate in her relatives’
memory.
“Their blood is asking us … get that ‘genocide’ name,” Hovananian
said.
The Turkish government does not recognize what occurred as genocide,
attributing the deaths to fighting between Turks and Armenians.
“Armenian allegations of genocide have never been historically or
legally substantiated,” Turkish Ambassador Nabi Sensoy said in a
statement in response to a PBS documentary aired last week. “Unlike
the Holocaust, the numbers, dates, facts and the context associated
with this period are all contested.”
More than 150,000 people of Armenian descent live in Los Angeles
County, according to the 2000 census.
The Armenian National Committee of America says there are as many as
60,000 in Los Angeles alone.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: OUTCRY: Protesters outside the consulate call on
Turkey to acknowledge the deaths of more than a million Armenians
between 1915 and 1923 as genocide. The Turkish government denies the
accusations. PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephen Osman Los Angeles Times.

FEDS SAY RUSSIAN/ARMENIAN MOB’S FRAUD RING BUSTED
By Jason Kandel, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Daily News
April 25 2006
Five members of a Russian-Armenian organized crime ring have been
indicted in connection with a $20 million Medicare fraud conspiracy
that operated out of clinics and labs in L.A., Glendale, Van Nuys
and Pasadena, authorities said Monday.
They have been charged with conspiracy, health care fraud, Medicare
kickbacks, making false statements to Medicare and money laundering.
“This case shows how criminal organizations seek to adapt over time
to Medicare’s fraud-prevention efforts,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce
Searby said. “Here, the defendants were able to outrun the government
for a while, but they did not count on the perseverance of Medicare
administrators and federal agents whose job it is to protect this
important program.”
The group allegedly was led by Konstantin Grigoryan, 56, of Altadena,
a former colonel in the Soviet army; his wife, Mayya Leonidovna
Grigoryan, 54; the Grigoryans’ son-in-law, Eduard Gershelis, 34, of
Los Angeles; Mayya Grigoryan’s brother-in-law, Aleksandr Treynker,
48, of Canoga Park; and Haroutyun Gulderyan, 36, of Tujunga.
The Grigoryans and Gershelis have been in federal custody since their
March 21 arrests. Gulderyan and Treynker have been released on bond.
The five suspects are scheduled to appear in court June 13. They were
indicted Thursday.
In court documents, Searby wrote that the case is connected to
Russian-Armenian organized crime that gutted Medicare of more than $20
million using a network of clinics, paid kickbacks to marketers for
patient referrals and billed Medicare for tests that were unnecessary
or went undelivered.
Gershelis’ parents were doctors in Ukraine, and he studied to be a
dental technician in Russia, said his attorney, Jerome Mooney.
Gershelis and his wife immigrated to the United States in 1994,
where they became naturalized citizens and had a daughter.
“Mr. Gershelis and his wife are hard-working people who established
their roots in Los Angeles and learned the language,” Mooney said.
“This is a very unfortunate circumstance.”
Attorneys for the other defendants did not return phone calls seeking
comment.
Court records provide the following details about the case:
Between 1997 and 2005, the group hired doctors to work at their
clinics so they could legitimately enroll in the Medicare program.
They then hired recruiters to fan out across the state and pay patients
with Medicare benefits to come to the clinics and submit to unnecessary
medical procedures.
The suspects allegedly concealed the source of their incomes by
funneling the money through a maze of “management” and “consulting”
firms, wiring the money to Armenian and Swiss bank accounts, and
buying residential and commercial real estate.
The case grew out of excerpts from a recording made by a cooperating
witness in an FBI investigation in 2000 and 2001.

MKRTCHYAN HEADS FROM ARMENIA TO AMERICA
By John Boyle
Thomas James Hurst / The Seattle Times
Seattle Times, WA
April 25 2006
Grant Lazarian, a junior at Newport in Bellevue, lost his father as
an infant and hasn’t seen his mother for more than three years.
Grant Lazarian is the first to tell you that his childhood has been
less than ideal.
The father he never knew, the mother he hasn’t seen in more than
three years. It hasn’t been easy.
“I would not like anybody to be in my situation, but you’ve got to
fight through and make the best of it when you are,” said Lazarian,
17.
So why is the Newport junior wearing such a big smile as he runs
around the soccer field at a recent practice?
Because on the soccer field, Lazarian is at home. Because that is
where he is happy.
“Soccer is just something I love a lot,” said Lazarian, his voice
escalating as his eyes widen. “For me it’s like the air I breathe.”
It’s when he talks about more serious matters that his smile fades.
Lazarian (pronounced MERK-a-chan), a native of Armenia, grew up never
knowing his father. Vahan died when Grant was 20 days old in a fight
over disputed lands with Turkey. Grant was raised by his mother,
Lenik, until he was 13, but health problems made it difficult for
her to care for her son.
In August 2002, Grant came to America to live with his aunt, Roza
Gazaryan, and her son, Emil Altunyan. Grant has not been back to
Armenia or seen his mother since, though they speak regularly on
the phone.
Through the good and bad, through adjusting to a new language and
new country, soccer has remained the constant in Lazarian’s life.
His story is a reminder that sports can be more than just games. That
at their very best, they transcend winning and losing and provide
much more than a varsity letter.
When he moved here, soccer provided Lazarian with an arena to make
friends, a second classroom for learning a new language and a sense
of familiarity in a foreign culture.
“Soccer has been very important,” said Lazarian, who played for
Interlake of Bellevue his freshman and sophomore years before
transferring across town to Newport. “The adjustment has been good
and soccer has helped that a lot. Every single person here is a great
person. They all love me, I love them. They all support me.”
Through soccer, Lazarian has become just another high-school kid,
one who makes friends easily and is quick to crack a joke.
“He’s really outgoing,” said senior midfielder Andrew Smith, who has
assisted on four of Lazarian’s team-high nine goals. “Coming to a
new school, he really fit in right away. It seems like he’s always
been with the team.
“He’s probably the funniest guy I know. He has nicknames for everybody,
but they’re not really appropriate for the paper.”
The camaraderie on his soccer team and the support of his aunt and
cousin have helped ease the adjustment to life without his mother.
Roza and Emil are working on bringing her to America.
“I’m waiting for her to come,” said Lazarian. “I miss her. I haven’t
seen her since I moved out here, but I’m fighting through all of
this. I call her, I talk to her. She misses me and I miss her. I
guess it’s not like most other people’s family life.”
As he says this, his voice softens and his gaze drifts to the ground.
He is grateful to his aunt and cousin for taking him in.
“They’re very special to me,” said Grant, who did not speak English
when he came here less than four years ago, but is fluent now.
“They’ve been treating me like their own son. My cousin, he tells me
what’s right and what’s wrong. He’s been like a father to me.”
Lazarian’s soccer skills have helped Newport to an early-season
turnaround. Since starting the season with a 1-3 record, the Knights
have gone 5-2-1 and are in third place in KingCo 3A. All nine of
Lazarian’s goals have come in wins, as have all three of his assists.
“He’s been a welcome addition,” said Newport coach Paul Mendes, who
thinks that Lazarian can play at the Division I level. “He’s filling
in very well. Even though he’s a junior, he’s already one of the key
leaders on the team with his play and also with his enthusiasm. His
tenacity, that’s what really helps this team.”
That tenacity that Mendes loves almost put Lazarian on the sideline
this year. In Newport’s season-opening win over Bothell, Lazarian
fractured a bone in his arm running into a pole while chasing a loose
ball near the sideline. Despite the injury, Lazarian has not missed
a game while wearing a cast.
“For me, it’s soccer all the time, even with a cast,” said Lazarian,
who wants to play professionally someday, but lists medical school
as another goal. “In my country, when I was a kid, I’d watch people
play and I loved it so much. And now it has helped me so much since
I’ve been here. I love soccer, it’s my life.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIANS COMMEMORATE ANNIVERSARY OF TRAGIC EVENTS OF 1915
ABHaber, Belgium
April 25 2006
Demonstrators marched in Yerevan, Armenia on Sunday to commemorate
the Armenians who died ib 1915 due to forced deportation and ethnic
conflict in the Ottoman Empire.
The Armenian diaspora also took to the streets in various cities in
the U.S. and several capitals in Europe over the weekend demanding
recognition for so-called genocide claims, while Turkish and Azeri
diaspora made counter-demonstrations.
Over the weekend New York’s famous Times Square played host to
Turkish counter-demonstrations. Turks living in the US organized a
rally entitled “End to Armenian Lies.”
Many Turks including Turkey’s Consul General to New York Omer Onhon and
Turkish Americans attended the demonstration held by the Federation
of Turkish-American Associations (FTAA) and Association of Young
Turks. “This march is Turkish society’s reaction to the constant
repetition of the Armenians’ baseless allegations,” said Onhon.
In related news, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in a letter
to Armenian diaspora members backed the genocide claims.
“In recent years the Senate of Canada adopted a motion acknowledging
this period as “the first genocide of the twentieth century,” while
the House of Commons adopted a motion that “acknowledges the Armenian
genocide of 1915 and condemns this act as a crime against humanity.”
My party and I supported those resolutions, and continue to recognize
them today,” Harper said.
Ankara and Yerevan are at odds over the Armenian claims of genocide.
To break the deadlock, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last
year suggested the establishment of a committee of Turkish and Armenian
historians to study the claims, in a letter sent to Armenian President
Robert Kocharian. But Kocharian refused Erdogan’s proposal, saying that
the two countries must first establish diplomatic relations and that
committees could be formed only within the process of normalization
of relations.

ARMENIAN YOUTH WANT FRESH START WITH TURKEY
By Selahattin Sevi, Yerevan
Zaman, Turkey
April 25 2006
Armenia leaves behind an eventful April 24 marking the 91st year of
the so-called genocide. There were traditional scenes of commemorative
ceremonies in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. Chairman of the “Union
against Genocide,” a Turkish organization in Germany, Ali Ertem’s
declaration calling on Turkey to recognize the so-called genocide is
being congratulated.
The Turkish flag is being set fire to at demonstrations organized
by the Armenian Tasnak Party Youth Branches in Opera Square, but the
opinions of Armenians about Turks and Turkey vary dramatically.
“Imagine you live in an apartment building where you speak with all
your neighbors except with one. Your relations with this neighbor are
not good and you do not know exactly why except that our grandfathers
had problems with each other years ago,” says Ali Ozinan, who was born
in Istanbul and came to Yerevan to complete his university education.
Ozinan is actively involved in the New Neighbors project aiming at
securing news and information between Turkey, Armenia, and Georgia.
“Our grandfathers were upset with each other, but at least we greet
each other… even if it is sometimes secretly.”
“They sometimes called us ‘infidels’ in Istanbul, and sometimes we miss
this because at least we remembered who we were. The identity of our
children living in France is disappearing,” 61-year-old philosopher
Agop Ardic complains.
The conscience test that asks, “Do you know the Armenian genocide?”
ends before it starts, Ardic harshly warns his friends. Zafer Atajanov
Nabijanovich, who came to Yerevan from Uzbekistan to study at a
university, is also saddened by the situation.
Everyone we met in Yerevan talks of their pleasant memories of Turks.
Offering us Turkish coffee at his house overlooking the only mosque
in Yerevan, Gok Mescit, 32-year-old Vazdges Abovyan says Armenians
prefer Turkish food stores over Russian’s in Moscow.
“Look at the shops in Yerevan, without fear, they clearly show that
the products they sell are from Turkey. That is because people are
aware of the quality of Turkish goods,” Abovyan says.
Harutyun Chilingarjan Azmenakovith, whose grandfather immigrated to
Abkhazia from the Turkish city of Ordu and who came to Yerevan to
study, talks about how Turkish youths saved him during an argument
with Russian youths in Moscow. Harutyun, who was taught that Turks
are bad and hostile, said, “But as an Armenian, I favor improving
our relations with Turkey.”
A 22- year-old master’s student at Yerevan State University
International Relations Department, Anna Kartashyan gives her
impressions about Turkey.
“It is weird, but I had positive impressions. Attitudes were kind,
and I was told that all the roads and cities were in the style of
European. I suppose however that Turkey will not become a European
Union member country if it does not recognize the so-called Armenian
genocide.”

ROBERT KOCHARYAN: I SEE NO RELATION BETWEEN IRAN AND KARABAKH
Lragir.am
25 April 06
Answering the question of the Lithuanian national TV channel reporter
in Yerevan, Armenian president Robert Kocharyan refuted the suggestion
that the United States is trying to please Azerbaijan in case of a
possible campaign against Iran, and presses Armenia for the Karabakh
issue. “There is no additional pressure, directly related with the
settlement of the issue. There are negotiations, and the work of
the co-chairs, which is not only the United States but also France
and Russia, is coordinated and cooperative. And the mandate of the
mediators suggests steps at facilitating the talks and not pressure
for resolution,” said Robert Kocharyan. He said the contacts and
the process are quite active now, but the president of Armenia
does not connect it with the plans of the United States concerning
Iran. “I have not noticed any relationship between the talks for
the settlement of the Karabakh conflict and the problem of Iran,”
stated Robert Kocharyan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARTUR BAGHDASARIAN: ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IS A CRIME NOT ONLY AGAINST ARMENIAN PEOPLE BUT AGAINST WHOLE MANKIND
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 25 2006
YEREVAN, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. RA National Assembly
Speaker Artur Baghdasarian sent a message on on the occasion of the
memory day of the Armenian Genocide victims. The message provided
to Noyan Tapan by RA NA Public Relations Department read: “Dear
compatriots, On April 24, the day of memory of the Armenian Genocide
victims, all Armenians and progressive mankind bend their heads before
the memory of 1.5 million innocent victims. The Armenian Genocide is
a crime not only against the Armenian people but also against the
whole mankind and the recognition and condemnation of the Genocide
is important not only for Armenia but also for all countries of the
world. Only through condemnation of such crimes it will be possible
to avoid their recurrence. The number of countries recognizing
and condemning the Armenian Genocide increases year by year, which
speaks about mankind’s realizing their responsibility towards the
generations. Only the realization and condemnation of the crime by the
international community, as well as by the Turkish state can exclude
its recurrence. Parliaments of different countries have adopted laws
and resolutions condemning the Armenian Genocide and we are grateful
to all the countries that support us in this issue. Again we bend our
heads before the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims and address
word of support to our compatriots that have experienced the Genocide”.

NKR FOREIGN MINISTER BLAMES INTERNATIONAL STRUCTURES FOR NOT RESPECTING NAGORNO KARABAKH PEOPLE’S RIGHT
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 25 2006
STEPANAKERT, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. At the April 21
parliamentary hearings on the subject “Prospects of Nagorno Karabakh
Settlement” held at NKR National Assembly with participation of RA and
NKR MPs, government members, representatives of NGOs, scientists and
experts, journalists, NKR Foreign Minister Georgi Petrosian blamed
the international structures for ignoring and not respecting the
Nagorno Karabakh people’s right. He said that in response to the
political demand addressed to the Azerbaijani authorities Artsakh
was exposed to ethnic cleansings by Baku. According to the Minister,
the official Azerbaijan has always tried to remove the issue of
self-determination from the legal plane to the military one. The head
of the NKR foreign political department emphasized that the current
proposals on the negotiations table more envisage liquidation of the
conflict consequences than all-embracing solution to the problem. “We
form an impression that the mediators try to solve the Nagorno Karabakh
problem within the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity,
which completely contradicts the interests of our people and, to put
it mildly, is not moral,” Georgi Petrosian declared. He regretted
to say that in the settlement process the international mediators
factually neglect the results of the referendum held in Nagorno
Karabakh in 1991. The Foreign Minister came up with a proposal to sign
an agreement among all parties of the conflict, which will enable
to give up the intention to apply force and it will become clear
for the international community, who is indeed against the peaceful
settlement of the conflict. The same day, as Noyan Tapan was informed
from NKR Foreign Ministry Information and Analytical Department, NKR
National Assembly’s Democracy, Homeland factions and ARFD-Movement-88
group have come up with a statement about the Azerbaijani-Karabakh
conflict. In the statement the NKR NA groups and factions fix that the
proclamation of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and all legal-political
steps of the republic proceeding from the NKR Declaration were
implemented in correspondence with the basic principles of the
former USSR legislation. The Artsakh parliamentarians emphasize that
Azerbaijan did not use the opportunity to solve all problems with the
proclaimed Nagorno Karabakh Republic through a dialogue but carrying on
a policy of ethnic intolerance, undertook illegal application of force
and does not give up the policy of solving the conflict in a military
way up to this day. Stating that they are loyal to the principle of
all-embracing settlement of the current problems through negotiations,
which will enable to exclude any hostility and attempts to change the
reached agreements through application of force in the future, the
Artsakh parliamentarians “qualify the 1991-1994 Azerbaijani-Karabakh
armed conflict as the aggression of the Republic of Azerbaijan against
the proclaimed Nagorno Karabakh Republic, NKR’s further steps as
application of the non-alienable law to undertake self-defence by a
people exposed to aggression, envisaged by Article 51 of UN Regulations
and the current events in the conflict zone as the consequences of this
aggression”. The authors of the statement consider that Azerbaijan as
an aggressor country bears responsibility for the war unleashed by
it and for its consequences, for the fate of the conflict parties’
hundreds of thousands of people who as a result of the warfare have
become refugees or internally displaced people, so it is obliged to
compensate the material and moral loss inflicted to them taking into
consideration the factor of loss of homeland by them, irrespective
of their nationality. Taking as a basis the 1994 Bishkek protocol
on ceasefire regime and the currently operating agreement adopted
in the same year, that were ratified by the signatures officially
recognized by authorized representatives of mediators of Nagorno
Karabakh, Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the final and other
documents of OSCE Budapest Assembly where Nagorno Karabakh was
recognized as a conflict party, the Artsakh parliamentarians “apply to
OSCE Council of Ministers with a mediation to respect Nagorno Karabakh
Republic’s competent participation in the negotiations process of
conflict settlement, without which no agreement achieved can have
a legal force”. The authors of the document give assurance that
the recognition of the independent, democratic and viable Nagorno
Karabakh Republic established as a result of the 1991 December 10
national referendum completely fits into the modern reality and will
become an important factor of regional stability and security. NKR
parliamentarians notify OSCE Chairman-in-Office, parliaments of
member-states of OSCE Minsk Group, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly,
Council of Europe, NATO, European Parliament about the adoption of
the statement.

HAMLET GASPARIAN: NO VISIT OF ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TO WASHINGTON ENVISAGED
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 25 2006
YEREVAN, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. No visit of the
Armenian President to Washington is envisaged. RA Foreign Ministry
Spokesperson Hamlet Gasparian declared this commenting upon the report
of Turkish “Zaman” newspaper, according to which in the interview
given to “Zaman” some days ago Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister
Arman Kirakosian said that, allegedly, the Armenian President will
probably pay a visit to Washington soon. “Drawing such a conclusion
from Deputy Minister Kirakosian’s answer I think is the consequence
of partial distortion of either the translation or his words,” Hamlet
Gasparian mentioned. According to him, “in the interview to “Zaman”
last Friday Mr Kirakosian spoke not about the visit of our President
after the visit of Azerbaijani President Aliyev to Washington but
mentioning very good relations with U.S. spoke about the possibility
of such a visit in general”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RAFFI HOVHANNISIAN: IT IS NECESSARY THAT REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA INSIDE ITSELF ALSO PURSUE ITS NATIONAL INTEREST ON THE FAIR BASIS
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 25 2006
YEREVAN, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Though the Republic
of Armenia makes certain, separate efforts for involving as many states
as possible in the issue of recognition of the Armenian Genocide,
this is not at the proper height. Raffi Hovhannisian, Chairman of
the Zharangutiun (Heritage) party, expressed such an opinion in his
interview to Noyan Tapan correspondent on April 24, at the memorial
complex to the victims of the Armenian Genocide. According to him,
this is not only a day of the memory of the past, but also a day when
we should assume commitments towards the future. And these commitments,
according to him, belong to the whole Armenian people, be it in the
Republic of Armenia, in Artsakh, in Spyurk and everywhere. “This
day is not only a day of estimating our losses, learning lessons
from the past but also a day when we should look in the direction
of the future,” R.Hovhannisian said. According to R.Hovhannisian,
we should build the modern Armenian history so that henceforth no
one, neither our enemy nor our neighbor, can “play on” the security,
sovereignty of Armenia and on the lives of its citizens. “This is
the problem of our generation, the problem of the whole Armenian
people. If our generation is able to fulfil this commitment, Armenia
and the Armenian people will be together, will be strong and legal,”
he mentioned. Meanwhile, according to R.Hovhannisian, it is necessary
that the Republic of Armenia inside itself also pursue its national
interest and commitment towards the future on the fair basis. “Thus,
the political, scientific and legal ways should be perfected, we
should unite our efforts and be higher than dissociation, we should
build our country proceeding from the national interest, sovereignty
of the state and the rights of the citizens,” the Chairman of the
Zharangutiun party added.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress