Is this Diyarbakir?
By MEHMET KAMIS
04.17.2006 Monday – ISTANBUL 17:04
Bedri Mermutlu has made interesting findings about cities in the
preface to the book titled, “Seyahatnamelerde Diyarbekir”
(Diyarbakir in Travel Books). These findings are about Diyarbakir in
particular. Contemporary Diyarbakir is a lost city as if it has been
shaken and destroyed by the trauma of modernity. It is impossible to
understand this city just by looking at it from its present state. He
drew a perfect picture of Diyarbakir in the past describing the
vineyards that, 40 years ago, used to exist around the city. The
people who lived in that period could never have imagined the
vandalism that has turned these wonderful vineyards into a modern
ugly Baglar district of the city. The modern people living in Baglar
district today can never imagine that there were wonderful vineyards
in Baglar district 40 years ago, if someone does not tell them about
that. Diyarbakir is a unique city which existed in its own authentic
world, but unfortunately, its silhouette becomes indistinct day by
day. There was a neatly dressed, conversational Diyarbakir gentleman,
whose attitude we used to watch in admiration and his dignity in
trying to know what time it was by looking at the chain watch he
carried in the pocket of his waistcoat. If the things we are saying
about Diyarbakir today are not about its culture, accumulation or the
things it wants to tell modernity, then what are they about? Burned
tires, stone throwing children, red-yellow-green flags and highly
politicized people… A cosmopolitan city of civilization, where
Turks, Armenians, Kurds, Syrians, Keldanis, Jews and even Greeks
could live altogether in the beginning of the 20th century,
Diyarbakir has now turned into a weird city which cannot tolerate the
existence of anything different from itself. Southeastern Anatolia is
between the paws of terrorism and conflict again. Ethnic terror in
the region, which was almost ceased after [terrorist leader] Abdullah
Ocalan was captured in 1999, has been on the rise since 2004. It
seems reforms implemented in the European Union (EU) process and
politicians taking initiatives for the betterment of the region did
not please the PKK. The recent positive developments in the region
falsify the views of the PKK that the people there are poor and are
cruelly treated. This situation, of course, undermines the views of
the PKK. In order for the PKK to maintain its power, the conditions
that keep it alive should remain in the region. For this reason, the
rights of the people in the region must be taken away from them. The
PKK wants the villages to be evacuated, people’s native languages
to be banned, the state of emergency to continue and all the people
in the region to be treated as “terrorists.” Kurdish
intellectual Umit Firat said in his remarks published in Radikal
daily: “The PKK cannot exist in an EU member country. Trying to
solve the Kurdish problem like the problems solved in the EU is
something that the “hawks” on both sides do not want.”
The old Diyarbakir ought to rid itself of politicization in a bid to
help the old orient emerge. That profound mysticism can only surface
in this way. Thousands of years of accumulation of knowledge can
direct the modern world in many directions. What great stories are
there about Ahlat, Ercis, Mardin, Hasankeyf, Mem u Zin and
Ishakpasha. The re-emergence of those stories necessitates an end to
over-politicization and chauvinistic nationalism. This end must come
regardless of the warlords. Then it will be understood that we have
many things to offer to the whole world. These wise lands will have a
better chance to express the accumulation of experience over the
human spirit and the lifelong spiritual journey. The excellent and
awe-inspiring sunrise over the Suphan Mountain and centuries of
friendship in Adilcevaz will all be open to observation. The whole
region is covered in the dust of the ashes left over from the fire
caused by terrorism here. Once cleared, we will, perhaps, discover
that Diyarbakir gentleman, who is serious, conversational and wearing
a chain watch… April 15, 2006

Zentralrat der Armenier in Deutschland
Armenische Gemeinde zu Berlin e.V.
PRESSEMITTEILUNG
Gedenkveranstaltung fur die
Opfer des Genozids an den Armeniern
24. April 2006, 19.00 Uhr in der
Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Markgrafenstraße 38
(Am Gendarmenmarkt)
10117 Berlin (Mitte)
Am 24. April 2006 findet in der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der
Wissenschaften um 19.00 Uhr die zentrale Gedenkfeier fur die Opfer
des Genozids an den Armeniern statt. Geladen sind Vertreter aus
Politik, Kultur und Wissenschaft.
Die Gedenkreden werden gehalten von Herrn Dr. Christoph Bergner MdB,
Parlamentarischer Staatssekretar beim Bundesminister des Innern, und
von dem Historiker Prof Dr. Norbert Frei (Universitat Jena). Sprechen
wird außerdem Frau Karine Kazinian, Botschafterin der Republik
Armenien. Die Gedenkfeier wird von dem Saxophonisten Koryun Asatryan,
der Pianistin Nare Karoyan sowie den Schauspielern Geno Lechner und
Werner Rehm kunstlerisch begleitet.
Weitere Gedenkfeiern in Frankfurt und Koln
Die Armenische Gemeinde in Hessen veranstaltet am 23. April um 15.00
Uhr eine Gedenkfeier in der Begegnungsstatte Weingarten, Am
Weingarten 18-20, 60487 Frankfurt am Main. Die Gedenkrede wird dort
gehalten von Frau Kristin Platt (Institut fur Diaspora- und
Genozidforschung an der Ruhr-Universitat Bochum). Zudem wird Dr.
Schawarsch Owassapian, Vorsitzender des Zentralrats der Armenier in
Deutschland, sprechen.
Die Armenische Gemeinde zu Koln gedenkt am 24. April 2006 um 20.00
Uhr in der Armenischen Kirche (Allensteiner Straße 5, 50735
Koln-Niehl) der Opfer des Genozids. Die Gedenkreden halten der
Schriftsteller und Publizist Dr. h.c. Ralph Giordano und die
Bundestagsabgeordnete Frau Ursula Heinen.
EIN TAG DES GEDENKENS, EIN TAG DER HERAUSFORDERUNGEN
Wenn in diesem Jahr am 24. April des Genozids an den Armeniern und an
den aramaischen Christen in der osmanischen Turkei gedacht wird, so
steht dieser Gedenktag immer noch unter den Herausforderungen von
Leugnung und Vergessen.
So ist auch heute jede armenische Gemeinschaft, in der weltweit der
Opfer des Genozids gedacht wird, damit konfrontiert, die armenische
Erfahrung erklaren zu mussen. Was jedoch noch gravierender ist: sie
ist nach wie vor damit konfrontiert, in einer westlichen Kultur, die
Diskurse der Versohnung entwickelt hat, eine zunachst als
unversohnlich erscheinende Haltung einzunehmen und Nein zu sagen:
Nein, es kann keine Annaherung geben, solange die Leugnung
aufrechterhalten wird.
Denn die Leugnung bezieht sich nicht auf die Tat allein. Die Leugnung
bezieht sich auf das west-armenische Heimatland (Ostanatolien), auf
die althistorische, die mittelalterliche und die moderne armenische
Kultur. Die Leugnung bezieht sich auf die Erinnerungen und
Erfahrungen der Armenier. Die Leugnung bezieht sich auf die
armenische Gegenwart.
So ist bis heute ein Gedenken an die Opfer immer noch nicht moglich,
ohne daß es konfrontiert ist mit der aggressiven Geschichtspolitik
der Turkei, die von den turkischen Medien und Organisationen auch in
Europa und in der Bundesrepublik getragen und propagiert wird. “Es
ist beunruhigend”, so Dr. Schawarsch Owassapian, Vorsitzender des
Zentralrats der Armenier in Deutschland, “dass ein aggressiver
Nationalismus, der nach den Schrecken des Nationalsozialismus aus
Europa gebannt werden sollte, nun uber eine absichtsvoll
unverarbeitet gebliebene turkische Vergangenheit zuruckzukehren
droht. Die Realitat dieses neuen alten Nationalismus zeigt sich nicht
zuletzt an der Moglichkeit, Menschen uber eine Leugnung des Genozids
politisch zu mobilisieren, so wie wir es an den Reaktionen auf die
Resolution gesehen haben, die der Deutsche Bundestag im Sommer des
vergangenen Jahres zum Gedenken an die Opfer des Genozids
verabschiedet hat”.
So fordern wir heute die turkischen Organisationen in Deutschland und
die deutschen Parlamentarier mit turkischem Migrationshintergrund
dazu auf, mit einer kritischen Haltung zur politisch
institutionalisierten Leugnung ein Beispiel zu geben, damit der
turkischen Gemeinschaft in Deutschland nicht langer ein kritischer
und reflektierter Umgang mit der eigenen Geschichte verwehrt bleibt.
Der 24. April, an dem der Opfer des Genozids an den Armeniern gedacht
wird, an dem der radikale Verlust einer Kultur und Geschichte
betrauert wird, hat bis heute keinen adaquaten Platz in den
Geschichtsbuchern Europas erhalten. “Der Nationalismus und Rassismus,
die moderne und systematische Gewalt, die die Ermordung der Armenier
begleiteten, sind heute nahezu vergessen”, so Vartkes Alyanak von der
Armenischen Gemeinde zu Berlin. “Die Strukturen der Tat sind ebenso
geleugnet, wie die Opfer, ja, wie die armenische Gegenwart in der
Geschichte und Gegenwart insgesamt.”
So stellt der 24. April nicht nur die Frage nach der Anerkennung der
armenischen Geschichte, sondern immer aufs Neue auch eine Frage nach
der Zukunft der armenischen Gemeinschaft.
Herzlich laden wir die Presse zu unseren Gedenkveranstaltungen ein.
Kontakt:
Vartkes Alyanak
Tel.: 030 / 3049292, Mail: [email protected]
–Boundary_(ID_aqhsZhXBJfXhaw7 8PO0qhw)–

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION
ANDREW GOLDBERG, FILMMAKER OF
‘THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE’
SPEAKS AT AGBU MONTREAL
IN THE 7th ANNUAL DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES
Montreal, April 17, 2006 – On Saturday, April 29th, AGBU Montreal will hold
its 7th annual Distinguished Speaker series event on genocide. The guest of
the event is the Emmy award winning documentary filmmaker Andrew Goldberg,
whose recent film ‘The Armenian Genocide’ was broadcast on the PBS network,
and on TVOntario.
The film will be screened in its Montreal premiere at the AGBU. After the
screening, the filmmaker will address the audience about his experience of
the making of this film. There will also be a brief Q&A period.
“The Armenian Genocide is a unique film”, said Viken L. Attarian, chairman
of AGBU, “not only because it documents one of the darkest moments in human
history, but also because it brings together a group of courageous Turkish
historians who critically address the history of the perpetrator of this
crime, the Ottoman Turkish government. That is one of the main reasons that
this film came under savage attack by the denialist propaganda machinery of
the Turkish government and its agents.”
“This film also presents, for the first time, rare footage with Raphael
Lemkin, the Polish jurist who defined the term genocide”, said Line
Abrahamian, member of the AGBU genocide commemoration committee, “Lemkin
clearly and specifically states how he was inspired by horrific genocides of
Jews and Armenians, and wanted to bring these crimes to the attention of the
world”.
This 7th annual Distinguished Speaker event will be held on April the 29th,
2006 at 7:00 p.m. at 805 Manoogian Street, Ville St. Laurent, in the Jirair
and Elise Dervishian hall of the AGBU center. Admission is free.
For press and media interviews with Mr. Andrew Goldberg, or for further
information, please contact the AGBU at 514-748-2428 or
[email protected]. Information about the AGBU Montreal and its events
can be seen on our website
___________________________ _______________________________________
Mr. Viken L.Attarian
Chairman
AGBU Montreal Chapter
Armenian General Benevolent Union Inc.
805, Manoogian street
Ville St-Laurent,PQ H4N 1Z5
Tel: 514-748-2428
Fax: 514-748-6307
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

UCLA Armenian Graduate Students Association
Graduate Students Association
c/o Armenian Graduate Students Association
Kerckhoff Hall Room 316
308 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Contact: Talar Chahinian
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
Fourth Annual, International Graduate Student Colloquium in Armenian Studies
at UCLA This March
The UCLA Armenian Graduate Students Association held the fourth annual,
international Graduate Student Colloquium in Armenian Studies at UCLA on
Friday, March 3, 2006. This day-long event brought together graduate
students from around the world to present their research and share ideas in
an academic setting. It was an opportunity to bring to light many issues in
Armenian studies to an audience of undergraduate and graduate students and
faculty from numerous institutions in Southern California, Armenian
scholars, and community members interested in the broad range of topics
being presented throughout the day.
This year the organizing committee continued the fine tradition that began
four years ago with the launching of the first-ever international colloquium
in Armenian Studies developed specifically for graduate students by graduate
students. UCLA, a premier institution for the growing field of Armenology
and a leader in interdisciplinary studies, hosted the event to foster the
development of Armenian Studies, facilitate interaction between graduate
students and faculty from various institutions, provide a medium for the
exchange of ideas, and contribute to the professional and academic
advancement of graduate students.
For those in attendance, the colloquium provided a unique opportunity to
learn more about Armenian studies and showcased future scholars and leaders
in these areas. It was also an occasion for young scholars interested in
Armenian issues to meet other scholars and to share ideas and common
interests. It was a great environment for the exchange of ideas and exposure
to new and different academic approaches.
In an effort to help mobilize an Armenian Studies community among students,
faculty and community members, the 2006 GSCiAS committee had planned a
series of events for the presenters to attend during the week preceding the
colloquium. These events included visits to Armenian Studies classes held
at UCLA, a visit to the Armenian collection at the research library at UCLA,
receptions where faculty and students could interact, and the opening for
the Genocide Posters Exhibit held at the Kerchkoff Hall, on campus. This
exhibit displayed both vintage and contemporary posters centered around the
theme of the Armenian Genocide and its denial. The opening night also
featured discussions with some of the LA-based artists of the posters. The
framing of the posters for the exhibit was made possible by the generous
help of ~SAn Art Studio~T.
Studies from multiple fields were presented, including literature, history,
art history, psychology and religious studies. Topics discussed ranged from
contemporary Armenian film and diasporan identity to the situation of the
Armenian Church in the 20th century and the issue of Ottoman marriage law as
it pertained to the Armenian millet. Presenters came from universities all
around the world, including UCLA, the Central European University (Hungary),
Haigazian University (Lebanon), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel),
Oxford University (UK), and multiple institutes in the Republic of Armenia.
This year, the organizing committee was led by Myrna Douzjian, a graduate
student from the Department of Comparative Literature. She was joined by a
number of graduate student veterans from the 2005 GSCiAS as well as faculty
advisor, Dr. Peter Cowe. Graduate students from across many disciplines were
responsible for the individual aspects of developing the event. This ranged
from financing to program scheduling, facilities and refreshments to travel
and accommodations, as well as both academic and media public relations.
Armenian Studies at UCLA began in 1960. The discipline was augmented in 1962
with the appointment of Dr. Richard G. Hovannisian, current holder of the
Armenian Educational Foundation Chair in Modern Armenian History. In 1965,
language and literature was established on a permanent footing with the
arrival of Dr. Avedis K. Sanjian, who guided the expansion of this are over
the next three decades. The Narekatsi Chair, founded in 1969 through the
efforts of the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research, has
the distinction of being the oldest endowed chair at UCLA. The first
chair-holder was Dr. Sanjian and in July 2000 Dr. S. Peter Cowe was
appointed as successor. Since 1997 regular instruction in Eastern Armenian
has complemented teaching in Western Armenian, instructed by Drs. Anahid
Keshishian and Hagop Gulludjian, respectively. In 1998, Armenian Studies was
officially recognized as an undergraduate minor.
The Graduate Student Colloquium in Armenian Studies is yet another step in
the development of the rich tradition of Armenian Studies at UCLA. Organized
by graduate students, for graduate students, it provides an opportunity for
students to actively and significantly contribute to the academic
environment on campus.
The colloquium was made possible, in part, by the financial contributions of
the departments, programs, centers, and funds at UCLA including the
departments of Art History, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Slavic
Languages and Literatures, the program in Indo-European Studies, the centers
for European and Eurasian Studies, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, and
Near Eastern Studies, the Graduate Students Association, the Graduate
Division of the UCLA administration, and the Campus Programs Committee Fund.
Off-campus sponsors included the Society for Armenian Studies, the UCLA
Friends of Armenian Studies, the Ararat Eskijian Museum, the National
Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), and private donors.
———Attachment #1 of 1: Group photo of colloquium presenters
/030306gscias-presenters.jpg

U. S. Department of State
18 April 2006
Educators Say Azerbaijan’s Culture Is More Important than Its Oil
Six Muslim women visit U.S. on State Department-sponsored program
By Vince Crawley
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington — Azerbaijani educators told a U.S. audience recently
that their small country on the Caspian Sea can contribute much more
than oil to the rest of the world.
Azerbaijan blends Islamic tradition and religious tolerance at a
geographic and cultural crossroad linking Europe, Asia and the Middle
East. While seeking more contacts with other nations, Azerbaijanis
also want to preserve their country’s unique balance of tradition
and tolerance, the educators said.
“We are all for integration. Not Westernization, but integration,”
said Sevinj Ruintan, a history professor at Baku State University. “We
do not think that we are the only ones who can learn” from cultural
exchanges with other countries, she said. “We think that others can
learn from us as well.”
Ruintan was among six Azerbaijani women scholars and teachers, all
Muslims, who visited the United States March 27-April 14 in a State
Department-sponsored International Visitor Leadership program, where
they looked at religion and education in this country.
During a March 29 roundtable discussion on Islam in Azerbaijan and
Europe, four of the six visitors wore traditional head scarves and
two wore Western-style business clothes. They said the majority
of Azerbaijani women lead a secular lifestyle and do not wear head
scarves in public.
ISLAM IN AZERBAIJAN
Azerbaijanis rediscovered their Islamic heritage after the fall
of the Soviet Union in 1991, yet the resurgence of religion has
not undermined the country’s acceptance of other faiths nor its
fair-minded treatment of women, members of the group said, speaking
through an interpreter. For example, they said, Azerbaijanis have
valued the education of women and girls for well over a century,
and many teachers and scholars are women.
“Azerbaijan has always been a very multiethnic nation,” said Naila
Suleymanova, a rare manuscripts researcher at the Azerbaijan Academy
of Sciences. Until the Soviet Union takeover in 1920, Muslims,
Christians and Jews lived together in Baku. “We have never had any
conflicts with non-Muslims,” Suleymanova said. “Everybody in a way
back in Soviet times fought for his or her faith. Communists were
closing mosques and churches and the synagogues.” Beginning in 1990,
“representatives of all the ethnic groups began to return to religion.”
Azerbaijan is bordered by Armenia, Iran, Russia, Turkey and the
Republic of Georgia. The country has an ethnic Turkic heritage that
also blends elements of ancient Persian culture. Despite shortcomings
during a presidential election in November 2005, U.S. officials
support democratic efforts in the former Soviet republic. (See related
article.) “Azerbaijan has a chance to emerge as a secular democracy
that has a predominantly Shiia population,” Assistant Secretary of
State Daniel Fried testified before the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee on April 5.
Thomas Goltz, a professor at the University of Montana who was a
journalist in Azerbaijan during the early 1990s, said the country’s
rediscovery of Shiite Islam once created the potential for an
Islamist revolution. “The most interesting thing to me is that it
didn’t happen,” Goltz said during a lecture in January at the Johns
Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington.
During the lecture, Goltz showed a film he made in 1994 documenting
the rise of Shiite Islam as Azerbaijanis cast aside 70 years of
Soviet dominance. “We preserved our religion like a precious flower,”
one Azerbaijani said in the film, which showed fervent gatherings
of worshippers. Goltz, who was an observer during the November 2005
elections, said the country has political flaws but appears to have
struck a balance between modernity and its cultural identity.
Although the government of neighboring Iran is dominated by theocrats,
even religious-minded Azerbaijanis say they are not interested in
Iran’s approach to Islam. “We are not on the level of Islam seen in
Iran,” Sevda Hasanova, editor of Hesabat, a social-political magazine,
said during the State Department roundtable. “Our people would never
want to live the kind of Islam as practiced in Iran.”
“The overall mentality of the Azeri people is clearly intertwined
with Islam,” said Ulduza Fataliyeva, an observant Muslim who teaches
ethics for the nonprofit Center for Religious Studies in Sumgayit,
north of Baku.
“That applies to all people, whether they adhere to the rules of
Islamic law or not,” said Fataliyeva. “As an ethnic Azeri, everyone
knows the rules of Islamic conduct. Whether we worship according to
the Islamic ritual or not, that doesn’t change our Islamic identity.”
Zakiyya Abilova, a rare manuscripts researcher for the Azerbaijani
Academy of Sciences, said she chooses to wear a head scarf as an
outward sign of her faith. “We can’t say people do not have any
religion if they do not pray,” Abilova said. “We all have God in
our heart.”
Abilova learned Arabic as part of her university studies, and she said
her doctoral dissertation was related to sharia, Islamic law. “Islam
is a true light that enriches the human spirit, and I am really proud
to be an Islamic scholar,” said Abilova.
The decision whether to wear a head scarf does not influence the way
women are treated in public, the educators said. “In our country,
whether or not you’re covered or uncovered, the attitude men have
toward women is good,” said Suleymanova, who is also a manuscripts
researcher at the Academy of Sciences.
NATION OFFERS “RICH CULTURAL HERITAGE”
In discussing what Azerbaijan has to offer the world, the women
were concerned that outsiders tend to view their country only in
light of its petroleum reserves. Azerbaijan became an important
oil-producing region more than 100 years ago and was a major oil
and gas supplier to the Soviet Union. In the 1990s, Azerbaijan
signed multibillion-dollar agreements with Western companies. The
1,610-kilometer $4 billion Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline — built with
U.S. backing — is scheduled to begin regularly pumping oil from
Azerbaijan to Turkey’s Mediterranean coast later this year.
“Unfortunately, the integration of Azerbaijan has started with
the oil agreements and it has ended with them,” said Hasanova, the
magazine editor.
She said she hopes the government of Azerbaijan will put its oil wealth
to work for the people. And she noted that some experts predict the
oil boom will last no more than 45 years before petroleum reserves
begin to run dry.
Azerbaijan lies on the traditional Silk Road and is a crossroad
between Asia, the Middle East and Europe. The Azerbaijan Academy of
Sciences includes unique volumes of Muslim medical texts, including 363
manuscripts that have been entered in the UNESCO “Memory of the World”
register, which preserves world heritage documents. (See related news
release on the Web site of the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization.)
“Much of the world could benefit from these global treasures,” said
Abilova, one of the Academy researchers.
Also, many well-known carpet styles from modern-day Iran use
Azerbaijani patterns, Ruintan said. In 1828, Azerbaijan was divided
between the Russian and Persian empires. The portion north of the Aras
River, which was ceded to Russia, eventually became today’s Republic
of Azerbaijan. A larger portion south of the Aras, to include the
city of Tabriz, remains an ethnic Azerbaijani region of Iran. Hence,
ethnic Azerbaijanis weave many Iranian carpets.
“So what we could give to the world,” said Ruintan, “is our rich
cultural heritage. We could try to present our culture on a global
basis.”
President Bush is scheduled to meet with Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev on April 28. (See related article.) For information on
U.S. policy in the region, see Caucasus.
Additional information on the International Visitor Leadership Program
is available on the State Department Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
)
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Glendale News-Press
Published April 18, 2006
Glendale man hit in drive-by shooting
Shooter targets young man on foot. Injuries not thought to be
life-threatening.
By Vince Lovato, News-Press and Leader
SOUTH GLENDALE — A young Glendale man was shot in the knee in a
drive-by shooting Monday afternoon while walking with a group of
friends at Adams Street and Elk Avenue, police said.
Two to four males in a green Toyota Camry passed a group of more than
a dozen teens and young adults who were walking south on Adams about
a block south of East Colorado Street, Glendale Police Officer John
Balian said.
The Camry started to turn west on Elk but stopped. A male in the
rear passenger seat pointed a hand gun at the group and fired, Balian
said. .
The bullet struck a young man in the knee. The wounded man limped
east across Adams, where he collapsed after realizing he was shot,
Balian said.
advertisement The young man was taken to Glendale Memorial Hospital,
Balian said. Police could not release the name of the victim until
family members were notified.
His injuries were not thought to be life-threatening, Balian said.
Witnesses said the Camry drove west on Elk as members of the group
walking with the shooting victim used cellphones to call 911. The
early 1990s Camry had no license plates, Balian said.
Police were still looking for leads Monday night.
“We have nothing right now but the good thing we have are a lot of
witnesses,” Balian said.
The victim’s shoe and T-shirt were still on the sidewalk as police
interviewed witnesses inside an area cordoned off with yellow police
tape as dozens of onlookers watched the scene.
Minutes before the shooting, which took place at approximately
3 p.m., the Camry drove past the group when they were near Orange
Grove Avenue and Verdugo Road, Balian said. A witness said a one of
the men in the car fired one shot into the air, striking no one.
The group thought the first shooting was a hoax and laughed it off, the
witness said. Police confirmed that there was an altercation earlier,
but could neither confirm nor deny that a shot was fired into the air.
Forensics investigators removed a bullet from a wall behind the area
of the shooting, Balian said.
Victor Hermosillo, a 28-year-old father who lives on Elk a few houses
west of the shooting, said he thought the shooting was part of a “turf
war” in the old, middle-class neighborhood, where racial tension has
been mounting.
“You see the racial tension between the Armenian kids and the Mexican
kids at school every day,” Hermosillo said. But Balian said beat
police haven’t reported any heightened racial tension in the area.
“We don’t have anything telling us that it was racially motivated,”
Balian said.
“And usually if it’s gang related it’s because of territorial issues
and it just happens that the suspects and victims happen to be from
different parts of the world and are not targeted by their race. They
are fighting over their area.”
Police are asking anyone with information about the shooting to
call Det.
Matt Irvine at (818) 548-3987 or the police’s crime stoppers number at
(818) 507-STOP where witnesses can remain anonymous and can receive
a $1,000 reward if they have information that leads to a conviction,
Balian said.
* VINCE LOVATO covers education. He may be reached at (818) 637-3215
or by e-mail at vincent.lovatolatimes.com.

POTSDAM: Engere Kontakte mit Armenien – Markische Allgemeine – Zeitung fur
das Land BrandenburgMarkische Allgemeine > Potsdam
18.04.2006
Engere Kontakte mit Armenien
Forderverein Lepsius-Haus plant Kooperation mit Akademie
ILDIKO ROD
Die Kontakte zwischen dem Forderverein Lepsius-Haus und der armenischen
Akademie der Wissenschaften soll sich kunftig eng gestalten.
“Wir wollen eine Kooperationsvereinbarung mit der Akademie hinsichtlich der
wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten im Lepsius-Haus treffen”, sagte
Generalsuperintendent Hans-Ulrich Schulz zur MAZ. Heute reist er als
Mitglied einer dreikopfigen Delegation des Lepsius-Haus-Vorstands zu einem
zehntagigen Besuch nach Armenien, gemeinsam mit Hermann Goltz, Professor am
Lehrstuhl fur orthodoxe Kirchen an der Martin-Luther-Universitat
Halle-Wittenberg, und Peter Leinemann, Geschaftsfuhrer des Evangelisch
Kirchlichen Hilfsvereins. Die Potsdamer sind Teilnehmer einer Studienfahrt,
die von der Evangelischen Akademie Sachsen-Anhalt mit ihren traditionell
guten Beziehungen zum Kaukasusland organisiert worden ist.
Wichtige Station der Reise ist Edschmiadzin. Im 50 Kilometer von der
Hauptstadt Jerewan entfernten religiosen Zentrum Armeniens befindet sich die
Residenz des Oberhaupts der armenisch-apostolischen Kirche, Katholikos
Karekin II., mit dem es moglicherweise ein Treffen geben wird. Den 24. April
– es ist dies der weltweite Gedenktag an den armenischen Volkermord durch
die Turken im Jahre 1915 – wird man in der Genozid-Gedenkstatte in Jerewan
begehen. “Es ist eine Kooperation zwischen unserem Verein und der
Gedenkstatte geplant”, kundigte Generalsuperintendent Schulz vor seiner
Abreise an. An Johannes Lepsius wird in der Gedenkstatte als einen
“Gerechten der Volker” erinnert. Als Begrunder des Armenierhilfswerks, das
nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg seinen Sitz in Potsdam hatte, genießt Lepsius noch
heute unter Armeniern fast den Status eines Nationalheiligen. In Lepsius’
einstigem Wohnhaus am Fuße des Pfingstberges soll kunftig eine Begegnungs-
und Dokumentationsstatte entstehen, mit dem derzeit in Halle untergebrachten
Lepsius-Archiv als wissenschaftlichem Herzstuck. Nachdem die Hullensanierung
2005 abgeschlossen wurde, bemuht sich der Verein nun um Gelder fur die
Innensanierung.
© Markische Verlags- und Druck-Gesellschaft mbH Potsdam
Realisiert von icomedias mit ico”cms
–Boundary_(ID_G1RDdAr2jSl9hZPIpdnWdQ)–

For Immediate Release
Armenian Library and Museum of America
65 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472
Website:
April 19, 2006
April 20–Reception for the Grand opening of the Armenian rug
exhibit.
On Thursday, April 20, Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA)
will host a reception for the grand opening of the Exhibit ~SArmenian
Rugs and Weavings: Textiles of Hearth and Heart~T. The exhibit
features a wide range of the weavings from the mountains of Armenia
and the Transcaucasus. The exhibit is unique in that it features
rare inscribed rugs from ALMA~Rs collection, as well as smaller woven
textiles and rugs from the newly acquired Offen-Alimian Collection.
Furthermore, a dozen exceptional rugs have been loaned to ALMA by the
members of the Armenian Rugs Society: these are publicly exhibited
for the first time.
The reception is scheduled for 6pm through 9 pm on Thursday. In
addition to ALMA trustees, members and friends, members of the
Armenian Rugs Society (ARS), who have loaned rugs for the exhibit,
are arriving from around the world especially for the exhibit. Among
them, Joe Bezdjian (ARS President), Mr. and Mrs. John Sommer, and
Carol Hoerner from San Francisco, Jack and Joan Agajanian Quinn from
Los Angeles, Harold and Janis Bedoukian from Canada, Yeran Megerian,
Valot Atakhanian, and Peter Balakian from New York, Loretta Boxdorfer
from Dallas, Berdj Achdjian from France, and Bob Bruner from Denver.
Daniel Shaffer and Lucy Upward from HALI magazine in London, UK will
be covering the grand opening of the exhibit at ALMA.
As part of the grand opening program, Professor Lucy Der Manuelian of
the Department of Art and Art History at Tufts will present a
lecture titled “Diamonds, Dragons and Crosses: The Story of Armenian
Rugweaving” at 8:00 pm. Professor Der Manuelian is co-author of
WEAVERS, MERCHANTS AND KINGS: THE INSCRIBED RUGS OF ARMENIA, the
catalog for the Kimbell Art Museum’s exhibit which was also shown at
the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Textile Museum of Washington,
D.C., the Worcester Art Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of
Fresno, California.
The reception and the presentation are open to public. ALMA is
located in Watertown Square (intersection of Rte 16 and Rte 20), at
65 Main Street, Watertown MA 02472. For more information please visit
ALMA~Rs website or call the office at 617.926.2562
ext. 3 .
Contact Person: Mariam Stepanyan
Phone: 617.926.2562 ext. 3
Fax: 617.926.0175
Email: [email protected]
Armenian Library and Museum of America, Inc.
65 Main Street
Watertown MA 02472
Tel: 617 926 2562
Fax: 617 926 0175
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
Nor Serount Cultural Association
440 W. Colorado Blvd. Suite 201
Glendale, CA 91204
T: 818-502-6580
F: 818-502-6543
Email: [email protected]
Turkish Scholar Keynote Speaker at Armenian Genocide Commemoration Event in Glendale
Rep. Schiff Will Update on US Congress Resolutions
GLENDALE — Increasing number of Turkish scholars believe that
the massacres of Armenians by the Young Turks from 1915 to 1917
were a case of genocide. One of these scholars is Ragip Zarakolu,
the keynote speaker of the commemorative event to be held at the
Glendale Community Church, on Saturday, April 22nd starting at 7:30
p.m. This event is organized by Nor Serount Cultural Association and
Organization of Istanbul Armenians.
Speaker Ragip Zarakolu is the director of Belge International
Publishers, in Istanbul, who for almost 30 years has exhibited
extraordinary courage by publishing books in Turkey that are about
taboo subjects related to the histories of the minority people of
Turkey – the Armenians, Kurds, Greeks.
Zarakolu has long faced harassment for publishing his books. In 1971
a military junta assumed power in Turkey that immediately convicted
and imprisoned him for three years. On his release Zarakolu refused
to abandon his campaign for freedom of thought, striving for an
â~@~attitude of respect for different thoughts and cultures to become
widespread in Turkeyâ~@~].
The Belge Publishing House, established in Istanbul in 1977 by Zarakolu
and his wife Ayse Nur, has been a focus for Turkish censorship laws
ever since. Charges brought against the couple – at one point there
were over thirty government-brought actions – resulted in imprisonment
for both Nur and Zarakolu, the wholesale confiscation and destruction
of books and the imposition of heavy fines. In 1995 the Belge
Publishing House offices were firebombed by an extremist rightist
group, forcing it to be housed in a cellar. Since his wifeâ~@~Ys
death in 2002, Zarakolu continued to face further prosecutions.
Since November of last year, Zarakolu has been facing new charges of
â~@~insulting and undermining the Stateâ~@~] under Artricle 301 of
the new Penal Code in Turkey. These charges stem from the publication
of two new books about the Armenian Genocide. If convicted, he could
face six-year imprisonment.
Zarakoluâ~@~Ys latest publication is the translation to Turkish
the memoires of Henry Morgenthau, US Ambasaador to Turkey from 1913
to 1916.
Last year, writer Peter Balakian shared his 2005 Rapahel Lemkin prize
from the Institute for the Study of Genocide with Zarakolu.
US House Representative Adam Schiff will be updating on pending
Armenian Genocide resolutions in the Congress (H. Con. Res. 195 and
H. Res. 316). Both these resolutions, for the first time in five
years, were passed by the House International Relations Committee
with overwhelming majority clearing the way for a historic vote
on the House Floor The Glendale Community Church is located at 333
E. Colorado Boulevard in Glendale. This event is free of charge and
all are welcome.
For additional information please call Harout DerTavitian (818)
502-3233
–Boundary_(ID_JdJm+3wQ4LzRgiKA/l7 APw)–

Pyunik primed for title defence
Tuesday, 18 April 2006
by Khachik Chakhoyan
from Yerevan
FC Pyunik got off to a flying start as the Armenian
Premier League season began with the title-holders
defeating newcomers FC Gandzasar Kapan 3-0. Arsen
Avetisyan scored twice with Levon Pachajyan adding the
third.
Fewer clubs
Pyunik announced their intentions at the onset of a
campaign that has seen the number of participating
teams drop from eleven to eight due to financial
problems. The Football Federation of Armenia had been
keen to increase the number of competing sides, but
that proved impossible, so each club will play its
rivals four times as in the last two seasons.
Ararat winner
Elsewhere on the opening weekend, FC Ararat Yerevan
overcame FC Banants thanks to Edgar Safaryan’s
solitary free-kick goal. FC Kilikia had to come from
behind against FC Ulis Yerevan after Gor Atabekyan put
Ulis ahead, Sagris Movsisyan equalising from the
penalty spot before Arman Minasyan grabbed the winner.
Meanwhile, FC Shirak managed a 0-0 draw against
much-fancied FC MIKA.
Pyunik dominant
Pyunik have been Armenian champions for five seasons
running, and have signed three players as they attempt
to make it six. Arsen Avetisyan and Eduard Partsikyan
have returned to their ranks from Russia’s second
division while 18-year-old Boris Melkonyan has joined
from Russian side FC Sochi-04.
MIKA primed
Pyunik’s main rivals are expected to be MIKA,
runners-up in the last two years. MIKA have five new
faces and held two training camps abroad in a bid to
improve their fortunes. The teams will get an early
chance to assess each other when they meet in the
Armenian Cup semi-finals on 19 April.
Turkish trips
Banants, meanwhile, have the experienced Nikolaj
Kiselev in charge and spent much of the pre-season in
Turkey. They also recruited nine players after a
series of trials, with six coming from FC Metalurh
Donetsk in Ukraine.
New boys
Finally, the top flight’s two newcomers, Gandzasar and
Ararat Yerevan, suggested they could cope with the
élite during previous cup campaigns, but while Ararat
have landed three Brazilians to keep compatriot Renato
Moraes company, Gandzasar will try their luck with an
all-Armenian squad.
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