PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version:

HIS HOLINESS MEETS WITH ARMENIAN STUDENTS

“THE LANGUAGE OF CONVERSATION BETWEEN
ARMENIANS SHOULD BE ONLY ARMENIAN”

SAYS HIS HOLINESS ARAM I

As part of His Pontifical visit to Canada, His Holiness Aram I met with the
young Armenian students of Toronto on September 30. The students of the
“Koloyan Elementary-Secondary School of the Armenian Relief Society (ARL)”,
as well as those of the “Babayan Kindergarten” prepared a special program to
commemorate the 1600th anniversary of the Consecration of the Armenian
Alphabet.

His Holiness first visited the “Babayan Kindergarten” with Prelate
Archbishop Khajag Hagopian, V Rev Fr Meghrig and the delegation accompanying
him from Lebanon. The youngest representatives of the new Armenian
generation put out a well-prepared performance in honor of the Catholicos.

The ceremony in ARL’s elementary and secondary school started with the
welcoming remarks of teacher Moushegh Karakashian, followed by a speech by
Haroutioun Shitilian, chairman of the educational committee.

The latter drew out a connection between the 1600th anniversary of the
consecration of the Armenian Alphabet, the 75th anniversary of the Seminary’
s establishment and the 10th anniversary of His Holiness’ enthronement.

Shitilian pointed out that the prominent individuals who have contributed to
the school’s success in the past and do so in the present are all graduates
of the Antelias Seminary.

The students then took to the stage, with representatives from the eleventh
and twelfth grades delivering speeches in Armenian and English about His
Holiness’ activeness and the achievements of his 10 year tenure.

“Nightingales of Kantsasar”, a children’s choir composed of students from
the second and third classes, entertained the audience with enthusiastic
songs.

Prelate Archbishop Hagopian delivered a speech outlining His Holiness’
international efficacy, particularly in the international ecumenical,
inter-faith and political fields.

His Holiness then delivered a lecture on the 1600th anniversary of the
Consecration of the Armenian Alphabet. He highly praised the students, the
administration, teachers and the board of trustees, emphasizing the
importance of remaining loyal towards Mesrob Mashdots and his work.

“Being an Armenian first and foremost means speaking in Armenian, reading
Armenian, writing in Armenian, singing in Armenian and opening to our
cultural values. Our nation receives its spiritual and national nourishment
from the Armenian language and culture,” said His Holiness.

“Therefore, the only language of conversation between us, Armenians, should
be Armenian. We will speak in various languages with foreigners, but we will
speak in Armenian with one another. Otherwise what value does this building,
which has been erected for you with such huge sacrifices, have? You give
life to this building with your pure Armenian language. Mesrob Mashdots
lives in this building when you speak with each other in Armenian,” he
continued.

His Holiness then blessed over 350 students with “Bahbanitch”.

His Holiness gave a press conference to the local Armenian and Canadian
media on the morning of September 30. The Catholicos focused on the role of
the church and the importance of finding better means of attracting the
youth.

Answering the questions of reporters, His Holiness also spoke about
advancing cooperation in the meeting places of religions and cultures in
multi-religious societies, in order to fight against globalization and its
threat to identities with united efforts.

##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the dioceses of
the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of the
Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenia Fund, Inc.
111 North Jackson St. Ste. 205
Glendale, CA 91206

Tel: 800-888-8897
Fax: 818-243-7222

Contact: Sarkis Kotanjian
E-mail: [email protected]

Armenia Fund Unveils 2005 Telethon Logo – Build a New Horizon
Thanksgiving Day Telethon Launched

Los Angeles, CA – Armenia Fund, Inc. launched Telethon 2005 – Build a
New Horizon – with a logo unveiling ceremony and reception on Wednesday,
September 14, at the Casa Adobe de San Rafael in Glendale, California.

The logo and the theme `Build a New Horizon’ was created by local
graphic artist Helena Gregorian. The orange and white logo features the
four key elements of Telethon 2005 – agricultural development,
construction of water distribution systems, health care and education.

Produced by Armenia Fund, Inc., since 1996, the Telethon has become a
Thanksgiving Day tradition for Armenians around the world. Through the
annual Telethons Armenians around the world are able to participate in
the important task of nation-building by supporting large-scale
infrastructure development and humanitarian projects in Armenia and
Karabakh.

The Telethon 2005 launch brought together representatives of all large
Armenian organizations and a number of local elected and appointed
officials of the cities of Glendale, La Canada, Pasadena and Burbank as
well as California State Representatives.

Elaborating on this years Telethon theme the Chairperson of Armenia
Fund, Inc., Maria Mehranian said: “This year our fundraising focus will
be on Martakert – the Northern region of Karabakh that has been the
hardest hit and is in the most need of revitalization. One of the most
urgent needs for the population of Martakert is Healthcare and that is
what our focus will be in the U.S. Western Region.’

Among other priority projects such as Drinking Water, Agricultural
Development and Education, this year’s Telethon will raise funds for the
Martakert Regional Hospital and Ambulance System that will service
20,000 in more than 50 villages in all five sub-regions of Martakert.

Ara Aghisian, Vice Chairman of Armenia Fund, Inc., announced upcoming
Telethon 2005 events and activities including a November 18 gala dinner
at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel featuring President of the Republic of
Karabakh, H.E. Arkady Ghoukasian and the Foreign Affairs Minister of the
Republic of Armenia, H.E. Vartan Oskanian.

Scheduled for Thanksgiving Day, November 24 from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
(PST), Telethon 2005 is a 12-hour, live broadcast airing in over 25
cities throughout the United States as well as Europe, South America,
the CIS and the Middle East.

For more information on Armenia Fund, Telethon 2005, please contact
Armenia Fund at 818.243.6222 or visit the newly updated website at

Armenia Fund, Inc., is a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation
established in 1994 to facilitate large-scale humanitarian and
infrastructure development assistance to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.
Armenia Fund, Inc. is the U.S. Western Region affiliate of `Hayastan’
All-Armenian Fund.

“RE-COG-NI-TION”

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| 17:38:53 | 03-10-2005 | Social |

The members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Youth Union
and students of different higher educational institutions organized
a march today to the EU office with cries “Off you go, Tur-key”,
“Re-cog-ni-tion”, “Con-dem-na-tion”.

The act of complaint was connected with the fact that today Turkey
starts negotiations of membership to the EU.

The act consisted of two phases. First they sent a letter to the
Embassy of Great Britain, and then to the EU office. “Why to the
Embassy of Great Britain? Because GB is the presiding country, besides,
being one of the efficient member-countries of EU it has opposed more
than once to the membership of Turkey”, member of the ARF YU Mkhitar
Margaryan says.

By the way, if the act has no results, the Youth Wing has decided to
organize a sit-down strike.

LUZHKOV TO CONGRATULATE

A1+
| 14:44:38 | 03-10-2005 | Social |

On October 8-9 Yerevan will celebrate its birthday party. By the
Government decision the second Saturday of October has been announced
“The Yerevan Day” instead of the previous Erebouni-Yerevan. “All the
capitals in the world have their birthdays, why mustn’t Yerevan have
one? ” deputy mayor Arman Sahakyan said.

On October 8 at 10:30 a.m. the Yerevan history museum will be
opened. At 12:00 in all the Yerevan communities events will take
place which will end with fireworks. At midday in the cinema Moscow
the annual photo competition “Yerevan by my Eyes” will initiate.

According to Armen Sahakyan, about 80-100 million ARMD will be spent
on the celebrations. 11 delegations from different country will arrive
in Armenia.

>>From Russia, the delegation of Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov will arrive.

By the way, on October 6 the Moscow days in Yerevan will be
organized. A Gala concert will be organized in which about a hundred
Russian actors and singers will participate

NEED FOR SPEED

A1+
| 14:23:05 | 03-10-2005 | Politics |

Today the NA plenary session started with the participation of 105
deputies. In 28 minutes they voted for 28 drafts, including those
remained after the previous sitting.

The Orinats Yerkir Party draft about the return of the deposits was
included into the agenda without any «against» votes. By the way, the
secretary of the Justice bloc Viktor Dallakyan spoke for it. According
to him, even if his draft has illegally been excluded from the agenda,
he calls people to vote for the Orinats Yerkir draft proceeding from
the importance of the issue.

–Boundary_(ID_VjBG7Ng02leMr8+owToIhg)–

CALL TO URGE TURKEY TO ACKNOWLEDGE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO BE CONVEYED TO EU URUGUAYAN OFFICE

Pan Armenian News
03.10.2005 04:32

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Thousands of signatures will be presented to the
Uruguayan EU Office in Montevideo today. The signatories call upon the
European Union to urge Turkey to acknowledge Armenian Genocide. The
action was initiated by Uruguayan MP of Armenian origin Lilian
Keshishian and various Armenian organizations. Vice President of
Uruguay, Ministers and MPs are among those to have signed the appeal,
RFE/RL reported.

RALLIES AGAINST TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP HELD IN ISTANBUL

Pan Armenian News
03.10.2005 02:37

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Mass rallies against Turkey’s EU membership were
held in Istanbul. Tens of thousands of nationalists marched along the
streets shouting out anti-European slogans like “We do not believe
EU”, “No to EU, no to U.S., long live to independent nationalist
Turkey.” The rallies proceeded without incidents and police did not
interfere. The special meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers held in
Luxemburg was fruitless, since the parties failed to agree on the
terms for Turkey’s accession to the EU.

The issue will be once again discussed today.

DESTROYING AGAIN

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| 15:50:29 | 03-10-2005 | Social |

On September 30 the court officers tried to evict the Hovhannisyan from
their house in Buzand 17. They even destroyed the roof of the house,
despite the fact that the very day the Hovhannisyans received the
document about the postponing the eviction till the Court of Appeal
makes a decision. The family has been living in the half-destroyed
house for the last 3 days and praying God for dry weather in order
not to soak.

The residents of the street did not allow the court officers to level
the walls to earth; they stood under the walls and did not move. And
the residents of Buzand 15 are terrified. They have no doubt that they
will be the next to be evicted. “I will do everything I can. If they
evict me with my two babies, I will apply to the UN Mothers office”,
announced Anahit Melqonyan.

Although Yervand Zakharyan had promised to revise the Buzand street
case, nothing has been done yet. On October 5 the residents of the
street will organize an act of complaint opposite the President’s
residence, and on October 6 another one opposite the Government
building.

MOST IMPORTANT DISCUSSION IN THE EMPTY HALL

A1+
| 16:57:07 | 03-10-2005 | Politics |

“Births must be supported by the state, every birth must have financial
support. There are many cases when young people do not want to create
a family because of financial problems”, announced NA President Arthur
Baghdasaryan during the discussion of the law on “State Pensions”.

Today in the Parliament the pack of social laws was discussed. It was
represented by the Minister of Social Affairs Aghvan Vardanyan. The
oppositional deputies also participated in the discussion. The
secretary of the Justice bloc Viktor Dallakyan offered to raise the
family pensions to the 70% of the minimal consumer basket.

“Not 70, but it will reach 60%”, claimed Aghvan Vardanyan. By the
way, there is also a point in the law which deprives the pensioner
of the pension for 6 months in case of finding false information in
the documents. Arthur Baghdasaryan offered to reduce the date to 3
months, but Aghvan Vardanyan said the date has already been reduced
from 1 year to 6 months.

Both the NA President and the Minister of Social Affairs noted
that it is an extremely important discussion. While saying these
words there were only 10 deputies representing the coalition in the
Parliament hall.

RASHID NURGALIYEV HIGHLY ASSESSED WORK OF CIS COUNCIL OF INTERIOR MINISTERS

Pan Armenian News
03.10.2005 13:16

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The sitting of the Council of CIS Ministers of
Interior was held in Yerevan. The participants focused attention at
combating terrorism, corruption and illegal migration, RA Interior
Ministry’s press service reported. When commenting on the outcomes
of the sitting Russian Interior Minister, Colonel General Rashid
Nurgaliyev said the Ministers discussed implementation process of the
joint anti-terror plan for 2005. In his words, operative and research
measures proved fruitful. “This March members of Islamic Jamaat were
detained in Dagestan, two suspects of terrorist acts in Tajikistan
were arrested in June,” he noted. Rashid Nurgaliyev also informed
that the CIS Ministries of Interior intend to hold joint anti-terror
exercise in Tajikistan in 2006. He reminded that a joint exercise with
the participation of Belarusian servicemen was held in the Russian town
of Smolensk and on October 10 a similar exercise will be conducted with
Armenian military in Krasnodar. The Russian Interior Minister paid much
attention to the struggle against corruption as well. “Corruption has
become a transnational phenomenon reflecting upon the economy of the
CIS member-countries. We should realize its danger and prevent its
spreading on the CIS territory, since corruption is immediately bound
with organized crime, terrorism, drug traffic and illegal migration”,
he noted. When touching upon the illegal migration Rashid Nurgaliyev
said that over 1300 foreign citizens have been deported from Russia
since the beginning of the year. He stressed that illegal migration
tells on the demographic, social and economic situation and provokes
crimes such as trafficking in people and contraband. In his words,
the Russian Ministry of Interior undertook a number of measures
for preventing usage of forged passports, migration cards and other
documents.