A1+
OSKANYAN MET MERZLYAKOV
[07:05 pm] 21 April, 2006
On April 21 Moscow hosted a regular session of the Council of Foreign
Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
An important theme on the session’s agenda was consideration of the
questions concerning further improvements in the structure of the CIS
bodies and the enhancement of their effectiveness. In particular, a
report was heard on the progress in the implementation of the Decision
of the CIS Council of Heads of State on Perfecting and Reforming the
Bodies of the Commonwealth of Independent States, of August 26, 2005,
and on the Establishment of a High-Level Group on the Issues of
Raising the Effectiveness of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Meeting participants examined and approved the drafts of a number of
documents on humanitarian cooperation issues, namely an Agreement on
the Council for Humanitarian Cooperation among the Member States of
the Commonwealth of Independent States and a Program of Principal
Measures of Cooperation among the CIS Member States in the Field of
Culture Till 2010.
Same day Minister Oskanyan met the OSCE Minsk group Russian co-chair
Yuri Merzlyakov. No details of the meeting are given in the press
release of the Foreign Ministry.
Oskanyan will return to Armenia on April 22.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1+
NKR NA WILL SAY ITS WORD
[05:17 pm] 21 April, 2006
Today the NKR Parliament will start hearings about the Karabakh
conflict. As a result of the hearings the NKR Parliament will clear up
its approaches towards the settlement of the conflict. Asked the
question how the decisions of the NA will affect the settlement of the
conflict NKR President Arkadi Ghoukasyan mentioned, «We highly
appreciate the opinion of our NA».
By the way, Armen Roustamyan, the head of the RA NA Standing Committee
on Foreign Relations, deputies Hmayak Hovhannisyan and head of the
Democratic Party Aram Sargsyan will also participated in the hearings.
Experts have also been invited.
At the end of the hearings the groups and factions in the NKR NA will
make an announcement. With this announcement they will represent their
approach towards the coming negotiations, in particular the points of
view about the settlement of the conflict.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1+
ASSAULT ON ARAM KARAPETYAN
[04:48 pm] 21 April, 2006
Today at about 01:00 PM near the Police Erebouni department twelve
armed and masked unknown people stopped the car of Aram Karapetyan,
leader of the «New Times» Party. They got the drivers and bodyguards
out of the cars and took the cars to the National Security
Service. The aim of the check-up was to find out weapon.
According to the press service of the «New Times» Party, «the armed
people left Aram Karapetyan in the street and took the drivers and
bodyguards together with the cars in an unknown direction. The whole
action was recorded with several cameras. »
Let us remind you that last year this time the famous events of Sevan
took place when the head of the youth wing of the party was shot.
The Party expresses its indignation at the event qualifying it as
typical Armenian manifestation of political gangsterism. The Party
informs that `this kind of foul actions cannot break the revolutionary
spirit of the Party and its leader.’

Allston-Brighton TAB, MA
April 21 2006
Kaprielian, Koutoujian, Tolman: We must never forget the Armenian
genocide
By Rachel Kaprielian, Peter Koutoujian, Sen. Steven Tolman/ Guest
Columnists
E-mail article View text version View most popular
For Armenian Americans, April 24th is an important day: it was on
that date in 1915 that the Ottoman Turkish Empire began its slaughter
of Armenians. Over the next several years, more than a million
Armenians were murdered in a calculated campaign to rid Turkey of all
Armenians. In other words, the so-called Young Turk government
committed genocide against the Armenian people.

Among scholars and genocide experts, there is no doubt about this
issue. The International Association of Genocide Scholars (the
definitive group of scholars on the subject), the Institute on the
Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem, and the Institute for the Study
of Genocide have repeatedly affirmed the historical facts of the
Armenian genocide, as have Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel and
Pulitzer Prize Winner Samantha Power.

For those who are relatives of survivors there can be no doubt
about this crime. Yet, sometime in the next several weeks, a federal
judge in Boston will hear arguments in a suit brought by the
Association of Turkish American Assemblies and others that seek to
introduce materials into Massachusetts’ classrooms denying that the
Armenian genocide occurred.

How, after all these years, can this still be open to debate?
Because the Turkish government and its American affiliate continue to
deny that the Young Turks committed this grave crime. And they
continue to seek forums to push their denialist point of view.

Now they’re bringing this campaign to Massachusetts, home to one
of the largest Armenian populations in the nation. They claim that
the Massachusetts Department of Education trampled on the First
Amendment when it decided not to teach “the other side” of the
Armenian genocide, i.e., that the slaughter was just the unfortunate
byproduct of civil war between the Turks and the Armenians.

This claim, refuted by reputable genocide scholars, is an affront
to thousands of Armenian-Americans living here in Massachusetts whose
families were victims of the Turkish government’s murderous campaign.
And it is particularly offensive for people like 99-year-old John
Kasparian of Worcester and 93-year-old Armine Dedikian of Watertown,
two survivors of the slaughter.
Anyone interested in ascertaining the truth about this genocide need
merely to hear stories like Mr. Kasparian’s, whose family left its
home the night before the Turkish attack that took 200 of their
fellow villagers and whose brother died of starvation while the
family fled. Or hear Mrs. Dedikian, whose father was killed just
before she was born and who was separated from her mother soon after.
(Mother and daughter were eventually reunited when 15-year-old Armine
arrived alone at Ellis Island to meet her mother, whom she had
tracked down in the U.S., using newspaper ads and family
connections.)

Unfortunately, the U.S. government, afraid to offend Turkey, its
military ally, has not taken a stand on this issue. But all 12
members of our state’s congressional delegation – Senators Kennedy
and Kerry and the 10 representatives in the House – have signed a
resolution calling on the president to recognize the atrocity.

Now we in Massachusetts find ourselves being pulled backwards
into this debilitating debate over whether a genocide, long confirmed
by victims and historians, ever existed. It is even more than ironic
that this court case was filed in a year when genocide has once again
reared its ugly head in Darfur, where thousands have died at the
hands of the Sudanese army, and in a year when the Iranian president
has once again put Holocaust denials on the front page. As
unfathomable as the crime of genocide is, it continues to occur in
all its savagery. And as offensive as the official denials are, they
also continue, not only when the crimes occur but for years
afterward.

In 1939, when announcing his decision to begin killing Polish
men, women, and children, Hitler infamously uttered “Who, after all,
speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” He was counting
on the world to forget his atrocities, as he believed the world had
already forgotten the Turkish murders.
Fortunately, the world has not forgotten either the Nazi crimes or
the Turkish slaughter. But denialists continue to try to spread their
peculiar amnesia. We in Massachusetts, home to a significant Jewish
population and one of the largest Armenian-American populations in
the country, must never forget.

Today, Azerbaijan
April 21 2006
US against the military solution of Nagorno Karabakh conflict

21 April 2006 [22:53] – Today.Az

Attempts to solve the Nagorno Karabakh conflict militarily will
negatively affect the whole region and official Washington is against
such policy, the American Ambassador, Reno Harnish told at his
press-conference April 21, dedicated to the termination of his
diplomatic service in Azerbaijan.
“I never considered this conflict as “frozen” one and as an American
representative I announce that Washington is ready to render any
possible assistance in peaceful resolution of the problem,” the
Ambassador said.
Speaking about the military trainings at the occupied Azerbaijani
territories, the American diplomat told that “any initiatives or
attempts to escalate the situation in the region should be prevented
as they may lead to resumption of the conflict,” Harnish said.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have reached “some headway in the talks” in
the frames of the negotiating process. “US will continue to support
the long term resolution of the conflict,” the Ambassador stated,
according to Trend.

URL:
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Standard-Speaker, PA
April 21 2006

PBS effort to bridge controversy creates more
Presented with programs on Armenian genocide, stations react
differently
Armenian refugees in Ottoman Turkey are shown in a picture featured
in the recent documentary “The Armenian Genocide.”

Public television’s attempt to illuminate a dark period of European
history is demonstrating that in the world of documentaries, few
topics are black and white.
`The Armenian Genocide’ began airing this week on dozens of PBS
stations, including nine in the nation’s top TV markets. Through
tattered photos, letters and celebrity voiceovers, the documentary
created by New York-based filmmaker Andrew Goldberg depicts a Turkish
campaign of expulsion, rape, and murder that led to the deaths of an
estimated 1.5 million ethnic Armenians between 1915 and 1920.
To the filmmaker and most historians, the documentary covers settled
history, although Turkey continues to deny that it committed what
many consider the first genocide of the 20th century.
PBS said it accepted Goldberg’s film based on the `recognition that
the overwhelming majority of historians have concluded that a
genocide took place.’ But to appease a small contingent of critics,
the network commissioned Oregon Public Broadcasting, a partner on the
film, to produce a panel discussion comprising two historians who
back the film’s premise and two who dispute it.
Three stations, three approaches
PBS affiliates, which make their own programming decisions, took
different approaches with the programs, in some cases creating even
more unhappiness on both sides.
One of the nation’s premier PBS stations, WGBH in Boston, aired
Goldberg’s film but declined to show the panel.
`We chose to air `The Armenian Genocide’ based on its merits and
because we felt it was balanced and presented both sides of the
story,’ said Lucy Sholley, the station’s director of media relations.
`We felt the documentary stood on its own.’
KCTS in Seattle aired the film and the panel discussion. Program
manager Eric Maki said in a statement that the station wanted to give
viewers as much information as possible to `make an informed
decision’ and `better understand the world around them.’
KCET in Los Angeles, home to about two-thirds of the country’s 1.5
million Armenian Americans, declined to show both programs. A
spokeswoman said the station is airing programs on Armenian issues
throughout April and had earlier decided to show a French documentary
called `Le Génocide Arménien.’
On Monday, the day the French film aired, Goldberg screened his
documentary at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre before an audience
estimated at 1,000.
`I didn’t want this story to not have a chance to be shown to the
Armenians in Los Angeles,’ he said. `It’s a story that many of them
had taken part in, through their involvement or just being connected
with it.’
Panel adds to controversy
The PBS decision to host a panel featuring genocide skeptics has
angered Armenian activists.
`We commend PBS for airing the Goldberg piece. It’s a good
opportunity to educate their viewers with regards to the Armenian
genocide. But we felt that the panel that followed it in some areas
was completely unnecessary,’ said Elizabeth Chouldjian, spokeswoman
for the Armenian National Committee of America. `It was misleading.
Essentially, it presented the issue of the genocide not as a fact,
but as a debate.’
Chouldjian’s organization and others waged a letter-writing campaign
that flooded PBS and congressional offices with requests that the
network drop the panel.
The network stood its ground, however, saying the program’s `intent
is to examine the question of how historians can come to such
radically divergent conclusions about these events. An important part
of the mission of public television is to engender responsible
discussion and illuminate complex issues.’
More to the story?
The Turkish government and some historians maintain that Armenians
who died during the violent last throes of the Ottoman Empire where
victims of a civil war, not genocide.
Goldberg’s film presents a slanted historical account, according to
some viewers who wrote into PBS stations and a scholar who
participated in the panel discussion.
`If you only take one side and report their deaths, it seems like
genocide. But of course it wasn’t that,’ said Justin McCarthy, a
professor of history at the University of Louisville.
McCarthy, who acknowledges holding a minority view, believes
Goldberg’s film takes a selective snapshot of history and fails to
address the deaths of many Turks at the hands of Armenian militants.
“It was an inhuman, bestial time,’ he said. `There were wide-scale,
mutual massacres across eastern and other areas of (the Ottoman
Empire) – a mutual-extermination kind of war.’
PBS said it accepted Goldberg’s film based on the `recognition that
the overwhelming majority of historians have concluded that a
genocide took place.’ But to appease a small contingent of critics,
the network commissioned Oregon Public Broadcasting, a partner on the
film, to produce a panel discussion comprising two historians who
back the film’s premise and two who dispute it.
Three stations, three approaches
PBS affiliates, which make their own programming decisions, took
different approaches with the programs, in some cases creating even
more unhappiness on both sides.
One of the nation’s premier PBS stations, WGBH in Boston, aired
Goldberg’s film but declined to show the panel.
`We chose to air `The Armenian Genocide’ based on its merits and
because we felt it was balanced and presented both sides of the
story,’ said Lucy Sholley, the station’s director of media relations.
`We felt the documentary stood on its own.’
KCTS in Seattle aired the film and the panel discussion. Program
manager Eric Maki said in a statement that the station wanted to give
viewers as much information as possible to `make an informed
decision’ and `better understand the world around them.’
KCET in Los Angeles, home to about two-thirds of the country’s 1.5
million Armenian Americans, declined to show both programs. A
spokeswoman said the station is airing programs on Armenian issues
throughout April and had earlier decided to show a French documentary
called `Le Génocide Arménien.’
On Monday, the day the French film aired, Goldberg screened his
documentary at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre before an audience
estimated at 1,000.
`I didn’t want this story to not have a chance to be shown to the
Armenians in Los Angeles,’ he said. `It’s a story that many of them
had taken part in, through their involvement or just being connected
with it.’
Panel adds to controversy
The PBS decision to host a panel featuring genocide skeptics has
angered Armenian activists.
`We commend PBS for airing the Goldberg piece. It’s a good
opportunity to educate their viewers with regards to the Armenian
genocide. But we felt that the panel that followed it in some areas
was completely unnecessary,’ said Elizabeth Chouldjian, spokeswoman
for the Armenian National Committee of America. `It was misleading.
Essentially, it presented the issue of the genocide not as a fact,
but as a debate.’
Chouldjian’s organization and others waged a letter-writing campaign
that flooded PBS and congressional offices with requests that the
network drop the panel.
The network stood its ground, however, saying the program’s `intent
is to examine the question of how historians can come to such
radically divergent conclusions about these events. An important part
of the mission of public television is to engender responsible
discussion and illuminate complex issues.’
More to the story?
The Turkish government and some historians maintain that Armenians
who died during the violent last throes of the Ottoman Empire where
victims of a civil war, not genocide.
Goldberg’s film presents a slanted historical account, according to
some viewers who wrote into PBS stations and a scholar who
participated in the panel discussion.
`If you only take one side and report their deaths, it seems like
genocide. But of course it wasn’t that,’ said Justin McCarthy, a
professor of history at the University of Louisville.
McCarthy, who acknowledges holding a minority view, believes
Goldberg’s film takes a selective snapshot of history and fails to
address the deaths of many Turks at the hands of Armenian militants.
“It was an inhuman, bestial time,’ he said. `There were wide-scale,
mutual massacres across eastern and other areas of (the Ottoman
Empire) – a mutual-extermination kind of war.’
But among the holdouts for Turkey today are the U.S. and U.K., which
have strong economic and military ties to the nation.
Under recent Republican and Democratic administrations, the U.S. has
avoided using the `G-word,’ instead calling the Armenian deaths a
`tragedy’ or `atrocity.’
As they come of age, a growing number of Armenian Americans are
demanding the government recognize their ancestors’ deaths as
genocide. Filmmakers and Grammy-nominated bands with Armenian roots,
such as System of a Down, have staged benefits calling attention to
the issue. The band and other activists are scheduled to meet with
members of Congress next week to again press their case.
Is change near? Another look at history casts doubt: Nearly every
year federal legislation is introduced. All of the measures have
either died in committees or languished in the Senate.
© 2006 MSNBC Interactive

PRESS RELEASE
Senator Barbara Boxer
Washington D.C.
112 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3553
Dear Friend:
I would like to share with you my recent comments, which were
printed in the Congressional Record, commemorating the 91st
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
Sincerely,
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 91ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Mrs. Boxer. Mr. President, I take this opportunity to
commemorate the 91st Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on
April 24th. This anniversary offers an opportunity for us to
renew our efforts to achieve — finally — genocide recognition
for the Armenian people.
Ninety-one years ago, the Ottoman Turks began their systematic
effort to eradicate the Armenian people. From 1915 until 1923,
1.5 million Armenians were tortured and killed; men were
separated from their families and murdered; women and children
were forced to march across the Syrian desert without water,
food or possessions; many died of hunger or thirst or were
killed when they lagged behind during the forced marches into
the desert.
The brutality of the genocide was atrocious. But the
inhumanity continues today because the Turkish government
refuses to acknowledge the massacre as genocide. The wounds
cannot heal until the Armenian people receive recognition.
The Armenian Genocide was the first genocide of the 20th
Century. But as we have seen, it was not the last. As we
know, if we ignore injustice, we are likely to see it repeated.
In his justification for the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler said,
`Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the
Armenians?’ And today, we see ongoing atrocities in the Darfur
region of Sudan, with innocent civilians being murdered. In
the 108th Congress, I cosponsored a resolution declaring that
the atrocities in Darfur constitute genocide.
I am currently a co-sponsor of a resolution calling the
President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United
States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity
concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing,
and genocide documented in the United States record relating to
the Armenian Genocide and the consequences of the failure to
realize a just resolution. And I have signed onto a letter
urging President Bush to honor the United States’ historic
leadership in defending human rights and to properly
characterize the atrocities against the Armenian people as
genocide in his April 24th statement.
Every year, we move closer to recognition of the Armenian
Genocide. But every year we wonder how long it will take the
government of Turkey to acknowledge the genocide.
We need genocide recognition to honor those 1.5 million
Armenians who lost their lives and to honor the survivors who
are still with us today. We need recognition to send a message
to the 8-10 million Armenians worldwide that they have not been
forgotten. We need genocide recognition to remind the world
that crimes against humanity are crimes against us all. We
need genocide recognition because it is the right thing to do.
By acknowledging this genocide for what it is, I hope that we
are able to help create a more just and humane world.
Thank you. I yield the floor.
========================================== =======
For more information on Senator Boxer’s record and other
information, please go to:
To respond to this message, please click on the following link:
ck.cfm . This link
will take you to a webpage where you can respond to messages
that you receive from Senator Boxer’s office.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
April 21 2006

Armenian Patriarch: Blaming Only the Turks Unethical in Armenian Issue
By Kemalettin CANIM
KAYSERI (JTW) Istanbul Armenian Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan II said the
dilemma facing Turkish-Armenian relations can only be overcome by
dialogue and mutual respect, and no one should blame only the one
side. According to Mutafyan II, both Armenians and Turks had
responsibility in the tragedy of 1915 and before.
The Armenian Patriarch Mutafyan II also argued that the both sides
are repeating the same arguments and it is the time to break the
vicious circles. `We need a new perspective’ he added.
Reflecting the true nature of reality requires courage, said
Mutafyan. “In the unfortunate conclusion reached, it is unethical
attitude for both parties to ignore each other’s responsibility or to
completely put it on the other side.”
Both nations must be able to look at each other’s history without
prejudice, he added. “We have to change the mentality of degrading
the other.”
On Thursday, the Patriarch made a speech at the opening ceremony of a
symposium titled “The Art of Co-Existence in Ottoman Society: The
Case of Turkish-Armenian Relations” organized by Erciyes University
in the Turkish city of Kayseri.
Both countries have achieved important successes in historic social
and cultural fields; the respect of Armenians and Turks for each
other’s national and religious symbols is increasing, according to
Mutafyan.
Mutafyan said the incidents that occur during representative
independence celebrations are outdated, and maintained they sow seeds
of enmity.
“Instead of publishing books presenting the Turkish and Armenian
theses in different ways memorized by everyone, Turkish and English
translations of Armenian works that can make important contributions
in Turkish-Armenian relationships must be realized,” Mutafyan said.
Mutafyan, highlighting Turks and Armenians are people of the same
territory, said the expression, “The Turks and Kurds are essential
elements,” is discriminatory.
Calling himself a Republican child, Patriarch criticized the
understanding of secularism.
“The practice of ‘Jacobean secularism’ in our country sometimes
prevents Islam’s ethical dimensions and spiritual richness of meaning
from being adding to the analyses,” Mutafyan said.
The Armenian Patriarch called on Turks and Armenians to abandon the
narrow horizon of nationalism and said, “Replacing nationalism and
racism with hospitality is more appropriate to our ethical values.”
The symposium, where 125 academics from more than 40 universities
within and outside Turkey participated, will continue today as well.
Kemalettin CANIM
JTW, Hurriyet and Zaman

Indian Students Seek Justice in Vain
Hetq Online
[April 21, 2006]
I happened upon a huge crowd of Indian students walking up the
Baghramyan Street. I thought it was one of their national holidays; they
are always accompanied by processions and music. Well, I thought, the
procession would be a great part of a new project, Indians in Armenia,
that Hetq photographer Onnik Krikorian and I have launched recently.
But as soon as I approached, it became clear that the crowd gathering at
the National Assembly building was not celebrating a festival at all; it
looked more like a demonstration.
`What’s the gathering about?’ I asked one of the students, expecting to
hear some common Armenian university problem.
His answer was beyond all my expectations. It was something horrible.
Later in the several hours that I spent with them at the National
Assembly others added their stories to his tale, and gradually the whole
picture emerged.
Today (April 20, 2006) at around 13:00 pm, a third year student at the
Medical University, 21- year-old Prashant Anchalia fell out of a sixth
floor window in Building #7 of the Zeytun Student Dormitory. How and why
he fell are not yet clear. The students who rushed to him found him
lying on the ground covered with blood, screaming in pain. They called
an ambulance and their dean’s office.
Dean Anna Sarkisyan arrived fifteen minutes later. Although she is a
doctor, she made no attempt to provide emergency aid to the student, and
even forbade the other students to touch him or take him to hospital in
a taxi, rather than wait for the ambulance, which was slow to arrive.
Instead, she ordered them to wait for the police to get there.
The Police arrived and took some witnesses to the Kanaker Police Station
for questioning.
The ambulance arrived some 45-50 minutes after the call. According to
the students, it was in very poor condition and had no medical
equipment, not even an oxygen mask.
On the way to the hospital, Prashant Anchalia died.
The students went to the Medical University and asked to meet with the
rector, seeking an explanation for why their friend had been treated so
negligently. The response of the newly- appointed rector, Gohar Kialyan,
came as a shock. Out of the blue, she referred to Indian girls as
prostitutes, and showed the students the middle fingers of both her
hands, a gesture whose meaning is well known to even five-year old
kids.
Astonished by her behavior, the students decided to seek help in higher
places.
Several hundred students marched to the National Assembly, shouting,
`Help, President!’ and `We Want Justice!’ They were immediately
surrounded by the police, who forbade the students to move to the
Presidential Palace, faces frozen in dumb indifference.
`Man, I was supposed to go get my tooth fixed today,’ one of them
yawned, as he glanced significantly at the pavement. All the police
cared about was not letting the people cross the line between the
pavement and the street. I tried to find compassion in anybody’s eyes,
but in vain.
`What you want exactly? Tell me,’ said a policeman, apparently of some
high rank, not even bothering to wipe the ironical expression off his
face.
`We demand that the rector resign.’
`Justice.’
`Let them act like human beings, not like nationalists.’
`If it had been an Armenian lying there, would he have been treated the
same way?’
I heard it from all sides. They would ask and answer this question a
hundred times within several hours, to the politicians who appeared from
time to time, to the journalists, among whom there was no one from the
National TV.
`We will stay here until we get the rector’s resignation. We will
boycott our classes; we will go back to our country. Let her at least be
worried about losing the money she makes from 800 Indian students,’ the
Indian students said.
An elderly passer-by read their posters, which said in Armenian, `We do
not need her apology, we need justice!’ `Shame on the rector!’ `The
rector must resign!’ Learning the story behind them, she said, `My
dears, what you are doing makes no sense. She won’t go’don’t you know
who her husband is?’
A young man shrugged his shoulders and said, `Guys, this kind of thing
happens all the time. You’re not going to accomplish anything.’
The students formed a group of four representatives and sent them to the
National Assembly to meet with the vice-speaker, Tigran Torosyan.
Some time later, the vice-rector of the Medical University, Victor
Sahakyan, and the second secretary of the Indian Embassy arrived.
`Let them come to the University and speak there. We don’t solve our
problems on the street,’ he said.
Told that they had already been to the university, where they had been
insulted by the rector, Sahakyan explained, `They aren’t representing it
to you correctly. They did not interpret it the right way.’ He was
immediately interrupted by the Indians, who wanted to know how else the
gesture could be interpreted.
Earlier a policeman had told the students, `Guys, don’t worry about it.
She’s a woman. Maybe she didn’t know the meaning of the gesture.’
The Embassy representative, Mr. Bali, advised the students to disperse
and let them settle the matter the diplomatic way.
The Embassy told the parents of the dead boy that he had committed
suicide, without even waiting for the investigation to be concluded.
The students do not believe it was suicide.
`He was a balanced person. He had many plans for the future. He could
not have killed himself,’ they said.
The four-person delegation came back from the meeting with Tigran
Torosyan and said that Torosyan had asked them for two days to get
acquainted with the matter and decide what to do.
After that, Torosyan met with the Indian ambassador, Rina Pandei.
Ara Avetisyan, the deputy minister of Science and Education came to meet
the Indian students. In his view, the National Assembly was not the
right place for a protest, and oral demands were not the best method. He
advised the students to produce their demands in written form. The most
ridiculous thing was that no one could tell them who to write to.
And everybody kept saying that the students had to go back to the
university to speak to the rector and get her apology if she had done
something wrong. Completely ignoring the fact that that was not what the
students were after.
Red berets appeared at the building of the Parliament, surrounding the
crowd that was already surrounded by the police. As if the Indian
students there were dangerous criminals.
A man in civilian clothes standing with the police looked at the crowd
with frank surprise and asked, `There are more than a billion of them
now, right? What they are fighting for, one more, one less?’
The one cause for optimism in the whole situation was that there were
also few compassionate Armenians there ` two young girls, two students
from YSU who were with the Indians all that time and an old woman who,
when she heard story, knelt down to the Indian girls, hugged them, and
began to cry.
Some students brought lighted candles with them. During these hours I
managed to talk to most of them. The students would come up to me and
ask if I was tired, if I needed anything to eat.
`Look at this girl standing with the Chechen separatist,’ muttered a
young Policeman. The man I was talking to, the `Chechen separatist’, was
a Sikh who while living here had to remove his turban and cut his beard
(Sikhism does not allow to cut hair and shave off their beard), because
the core of Armenian society, the ` rabiz mass’ or `real Armenian guys’
as they prefer to be called, do not tolerate any other haircut but their
own crop, no style of dress but their black trousers and shirts. The
Indian students have problems with these Armenian guys all the time.
At around 10 o’clock in the evening the Ambassador, accompanied by
Tigran Torosyan, came out of the parliament building and took the
students to the Medical University. There, they had a private meeting
with Rector Gohar Kialyan. Off course the meeting yielded no results.
`She said she was sorry,’ one of the students said. `She said it without
any expression, any feeling. Then she suggested we arrange a delegation
to meet our dean and talk¦’
Friday morning the Indian students went to the First Hospital to pay
their respects to their friend. Iranian, Syrian and other foreign
students joined them. No Armenians were there.
Hasmik Hovhannisian
Photos by Onnik Krikorian

SOLEMN EVENT DEDICATED TO 40th ANNIVERSARY OF UNITED NATIONAL PARTY TO
BE ORGANIZED ON APRIL 24
YEREVAN, APRIL 21, NOYAN TAPAN. The 40th anniversary of foundation of
the United National Party will be marked on April 24 this year. In
this connection a solemn event will be organized at the Arno
Babajanian concert hall. Paruyr Hayrikian, Chairman of the National
Self-Determination Union, informed about it at April 21 press
conference. According to him, it is supposed that after getting
acquainted with some episodes of the history of the United National
Party founded in 1966 the participants of the event will adopt a
message in which they will call for posthumously giving the title of
the National Hero to UNP founder Haykaz Khachatrian and burying him in
the Pantheon after Komitas. Hayrikian said that starting 1965, April
24 has become a day of national awakening. According to the United
National Party’s program-regulations adopted in 1974, on April 24 the
UNP members kept the fast from morning to evening. And after the
sunset they marked the birth of the United National Party.
This year the UNP will start the series of events dedicated to April
24 from the Surb Sargis church, then the party members will visit the
Memorial to the Armenian Genocide victims, then will leave for
Echmiadzin for a liturgy, after which will visit the graves of Komitas
and Haykaz Khachatrian and will be present at the evening liturgy in
the Surb Grigor Lusavorich church.