Watertown TAB & Press, MA
April 28 2006
Rally campaigns come together to stop genocides
By Melody Hanatani/ Belmont Citizen-Herald
Friday, April 28, 2006 – Updated: 11:04 AM EST
A new coalition of diverse local ethnic groups kicked off an
anti-genocide campaign with a rally at the State House last Friday,
following the annual Armenian genocide anniversary commemoration.

The group, called kNOw Genocide, includes 10 organizations such
as Rwanda Outlook, the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association and
the Jewish Community Relations Council.

On his way from the ceremony to the rally, state Sen. Steven
Tolman, D-Boston, talked about why the coalition was formed.

“Today is a reaction of a diverse group to the lawsuit about the
denial of the Turks that this [genocide] even happened,” he said,
referring to a lawsuit seeking to introduce materials denying the
genocide into the statewide curriculum.

In listing the genocides that have occurred over the past 100
years, such as Armenia, Bosnia and Cambodia, U.S. Rep Edward Markey,
D-7th, called on President George W. Bush to recognize the genocides
in Armenia and Darfur.

“Don’t forget Palestine, Markey,” said one protester. “It’s been
too long for them, too.”

The protester was later escorted farther down Beacon Street,
where he continued to yell at the speakers.

Attorney General Tom Reilly, a Watertown resident and
gubernatorial hopeful, said the pending case in Boston is not about
limiting free speech. He said the only way to find a more just and
peaceful future is to face the “ugly truth of our past.”

State Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham, announced new “landmark”
legislation would be filed this week to force the state to divest
from any country where genocide occurs. He said the legislation would
be the first of its kind in the country, and hopes it will be a model
for other states.

Markey said earlier that the legislation would “ratchet up
pressure on the Bush administration to take a firmer stand in
Darfur.”

According to some humanitarian groups, about 400,000 people have
died in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Belmont resident Heather Krafian, a teacher at Muraco Elementary
School in Winchester, is a granddaughter of Armenian genocide
survivors. She spoke about the importance of teaching about the
genocide in the schools.
She spoke out against the denial of the genocide, and said it has
become the modus operandi of the Turkish government. She said there
is no doubt among scholars and experts that the Armenian genocide
occurred.

“The thread of lies Turkey has woven for 91 years is slowly
beginning to unravel,” said Krafian. “The fabric of denial has become
torn and tattered. The truth will not be killed, but will prevail.”

Watertown TAB & Press, MA
April 28 2006
Commemoration becomes cultural celebration
By Christopher Loh/ Staff Writer
Friday, April 28, 2006 – Updated: 11:19 AM EST
The message was clear last Sunday afternoon at the St. James Armenian
Apostolic Church – the Armenian culture, 91 years after genocide, has
survived and is thriving.

The performances and speakers at the commemoration ceremonies
were simple yet powerful in their message, and an audience of 800
people helped to ring that message forth.

Lalig Musserian, the master of ceremonies, said the commemoration
was to “underscore the survival” of Armenians.

“It’s an affirmation and a commemoration,” said state Rep. Rachel
Kaprielian, D-Watertown, who attended the event. “An affirmation of
the resilience of the culture.”

A representative of church leadership said the commemoration was
to be a positive celebration of the future and of Armenian survival:
“We’re still here, celebrating our culture.”

The culture was well represented through performances by the
Shushi Dance Ensemble of New York City and Sami and Solange
Merdinian, Armenian siblings from Argentina who performed in voice
and violin.

Musserian said the planning for the fourth annual commemoration
started immediately after last year’s event, especially when she saw
the Shushi dancers perform.

“We wanted them last year, but couldn’t book them,” Musserian
said, adding that she booked the ensemble for this year long in
advance.

The 48 members of the group, composed of children, were all
sponsored, room and board, by the church which raised nearly $5,000
for the entire commemoration.

Musserian said the planning for next year’s commemoration is
already in the preliminary stages as she thinks, “What do we do next
year to top this?” especially as the crowds grow significantly each
year.

“We were delighted with the turnout,” Musserian said.

A highlight of this year’s commemoration was the speech of Henry
Morgenthau III, whose grandfather was the United States ambassador to
Turkey during the 1915 genocide.

Morgenthau’s grandfather spoke out against the Turkish acts,
writing the book “Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story.”
Announcing that his grandfather’s book was recently published in
Turkish, Morgenthau said there is a “small straw in the wind that the
climate is changing” regarding denial themes.

Morgenthau spoke of the recently aired documentary “The Armenian
Genocide” on various PBS affiliates throughout the country.

While a controversy over a panel discussion carrying denial
themes to be aired after the documentary infiltrated the country,
Morgenthau called the panel “quite ridiculous.”

“In my 90th year, I am encouraged to live to see the day when the
Armenian Genocide is fully acknowledged,” Morgenthau said.

“We are here today not because of the path before us, but because
of the path behind us,” Musserian said to the crowd. “The path, once
filled with blood, with hatred and genocide.”

Musserian said the blood of countless Armenians “soils the hands
of the Turkish government. Our blood makes their hands unclean.”

“We live with the pain of our past,” Kaprielian said, “we have
risen from the ashes.”

Christopher Loh can be reached at [email protected]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Watertown TAB & Press, MA
April 28 2006
Armenians, legislators remember genocide
By Melody Hanatani/ Belmont Citizen-Herald
Friday, April 28, 2006 – Updated: 11:05 AM EST
It was a solemn day at the State House last Friday when local
officials and the Armenian community came together to commemorate the
91st anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

Generations of Armenians, many of whom are from Watertown and
Belmont, filled the House of Representatives chamber from top to
bottom for the annual ceremony sponsored by the State House Genocide
Commemoration Committee.

Several candidates for the upcoming statewide election, including
gubernatorial hopeful Deval Patrick, were among those in attendance.

State Rep. Rachel Kaprielian, D-Watertown, opened the event by
calling it a commemoration of “91 years of grief … 91 years of
resilience and survival.”

The Rev. Raphael Andonian of Belmont’s Holy Cross Armenian
Catholic Church gave the invocation, and the Rev. Antranig Baljian of
St. Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church in Watertown gave a requiem
prayer.

Many speakers called for the Turkish and United States
governments to recognize the atrocities in order to begin healing and
to prevent future genocides.

U.S. Rep Edward Markeym, D-7th, demanded that President George W.
Bush go on the record and recognize the killings as genocide.

Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey presented the Governor’s Proclamations to
four survivors, three of whom attended the ceremony. The son of Areka
DerKazarian accepted the proclamation on behalf of his mother, who
was unable to attend.

“Our country is richer because of you,” Healey said to the
survivors.

Healey was filling in for Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Belmont, who was in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Friday.

This year’s ceremony honored Dr. Taner Akcam, a visiting
professor at the University of Minnesota, who was one of the first
Turkish scholars to recognize the genocide.

For speaking out, Akcam received a 10-year prison sentence in
1976. He escaped after serving one year, and has lived in exile since
then.

For the past 20 years, Akcam has worked on human rights issues,
in particular the Turkish government’s denial of the genocide. He
said truth and recognition would deter further human rights
violations and abuse.
He called for Turkey and Armenia to work together to deal with their
pasts as part of the democratization process.

Dr. Henry Theriault, the keynote speaker, said an apology alone
could simply be “empty rhetoric.”

Theriault, who is the coordinator for the Center for the Study of
Human Rights at Worcester State College, said recognition must come
in the form of land and reparations.

In his closing remarks, state Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham,
talked about why the Armenian community continues to commemorate the
genocide.

He said the commemoration is not about dwelling on the past, but
understanding that the genocide was the first of many that occurred
over the past 100 years.

“We know the events of the past are important today,” he said.

Clara Mandasian of Watertown has lived in Massachusetts for the
past seven years and has attended the commemoration every year. She’s
been to similar ceremonies around the United States.

For Mandasian, the commemoration is a way for her to honor the
victims of past genocides. Her grandmother survived the Armenian
genocide.

“It’s very frustrating,” she said of the Turkish government’s
denial of the genocide. “It’s so painful to have a history, to know
what your family endured, and have the perpetrator deny it.”

It was a first-time ceremony for the younger generation of
Armenians. Araxie Poladian of Belmont brought her grandchildren for
the first time.

She hopes her grandchildren can keep the history alive.

“I hope people will tell other people that this shouldn’t happen
to anyone,” she said.

Interfax, Russia
April 28 2006
Karabakh will never be part of Azerbaijan – Armenian minister
STEPANAKERT. April 28 (Interfax) – Nagorno-Karabakh will never be a
part of Azerbaijan, said Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian.
“I don’t know what status the Nagorno-Karabakh republic will have,
but I know for sure what it will not be, namely, Nagorno-Karabakh
will never be within Azerbaijan. This is absolutely impossible,”
Oskanian said speaking at the Nagorno-Karabakh State University in
Stepanakert.
Oskanian is on a working visit to Stepanakert to hold consultations
with the leadership of the self-proclaimed republic.

PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT: Harout H. Semerdjian
April 27, 2006
617-489-1597
Web:
E-mail: [email protected]
BOSTON, MA – KNOW GENOCIDE, a multi-ethnic, non-partisan coalition was
formally launched on April 21, 2006 during a public rally outside the
Massachusetts State House following the annual Commonwealth of Massachusetts Armenian
Genocide Commemoration Ceremony in the House Chamber.
The coalition was founded to combat the ongoing denial of known instances
of genocide, including the Darfur, Bosnian, Cambodian, Jewish, Rwandan, and
the Armenian genocides. Members are united with the firm understanding that
genocide denial is the final stage of that crime and its penetration into our
schools, universities and other institutions are unethical and unacceptable.
Among the distinguished speakers at the event were Massachusetts Lt.
Governor Kerry Healey, Attorney General Tom Reilly and Congressman Edward Markey
(D-MA). Leaders of several coalition groups also spoke including Rabbi Moshe
Waldoks, Chairman of the Jewish Community Relations Council Holocaust Committee,
and Mr. Jean Nganji, Executive Director of Rwanda Outlook together with
community leaders Carolyn Mugar and Heather Karfian and Representatives Rachel
Kaprielian (D-Watertown), Peter Koutoujian (D-Watertown) and State Senator
Steven Tolman (D-Boston).
While KNOW GENOCIDE is a coalition in formation, support from the people of
Massachusetts and beyond has been overwhelming. Coalition members officially
announced at the event include the Armenian Assembly of America, Jewish
Community Relations Council, Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association, Genocide
Intervention Network, Irish Immigration Center, Massachusetts Council of
Churches, Rwanda Outlook, Armenian National Committees of Massachusetts, Center for
Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota and the
Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University.
`KNOW GENOCIDE was initiated for the purpose of exposing and countering
deliberate efforts at genocide denial,’ says Anthony Barsamian, oneof the
founders of the coalition and a Member of the Board of the Armenian Assembly of
America. `Denial of genocide has penetrated our state and nation with new
sophistication, and KNOW GENOCIDE will combat this immoral effort to uphold the
fundamental tenets of human rights, academic integrity and the historical
truth.’
For more information on KNOW GENOCIDE please log on to
#####

National Assembly of RA, Armenia
April 28 2006
Saint Petersburg Meetings

On April 28 RA NA President Artur Baghdasaryan met with Sergey
Mironov, Chairman of RF Federal Assembly Federal Council. During the
meeting an agreement was reached in autumn on holding Days of RA
National Assembly in RF Federal Assembly and a conference over the
inter-regional cooperation problems in any RF region full of
Armenians.
During the meeting of Rene van der Linden, PACE President and Artur
Baghdasaryan, RA NA President issues concerning the process of the
fulfillment of Armenia’s undertaken commitments were discussed. Both
sides touched upon the Electoral Code, highlighted the formation of
political consent around Electoral Code and holding the coming
general elections in conformity with democratic standards. The PACE
President Rene van der Linden expressed readiness to assist in the
name of the Council of Europe.
As BSEC President, the NA President Artur Baghdasaryan and RF State
Duma Chairman Boris Gryzlov signed a cooperation agreement between
PABSEC and European Economic Community Inter-parliamentary Assembly,
by which it is designed to promote the cooperation of two structures,
the formation of parliamentary dialogue between countries and
peoples.

RIA Novosti. Russia
April 28 2006
Suspect in Armenian student killing released from custody
17:27 | 28/ 04/ 2006

MOSCOW, April 28 (RIA Novosti) – A high school student detained in
connection with the killing of an Armenian teenager in Moscow last
weekend has been released from custody, a lawyer for the student’s
family said.
Sixteen-year-old Denis Kulagin had been detained for 72 hours in
connection with the fatal stabbing of Vagan Abramyants, a 17-year-old
student at a Moscow manager training institute, at Pushkinskaya metro
station in downtown Moscow on April 22.
But his attorney Simon Tsaturyan said, “Prosecutors found no grounds
to charge [the suspect], so he was released.”
However, he added the status of his client remained unclear, as
investigators had to establish whether he was a witness or suspect.
The lawyer, though, said the dropping of charges showed that
prosecutors were inclined to probe further into a race-hate version.
The other version under consideration was that a row had broken out
between the two young men over a girlfriend.
“Our version that the crime was racially motivated has taken the
upper hand,” the lawyer said, adding that prosecutors were pursuing
another line that a group of young men had carried out the fatal
attack.
“Whether Kulagin was a suspect or an eyewitness is a question that
investigation will have to answer,” the lawyer said.

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
April 28 2006
PRESIDENT MEETS WITH AZERBAIJAN COMMUNITY
[April 28, 2006, 17:35:55]
President Ilham Aliyev on 27 April in his residence in Washington has
met with members of the Azerbaijan community in the United States.
Ambassador of Azerbaijan to USA Hafiz Pashayev, opening the meeting
said Heydar Aliyev constantly took care of the Azerbaijan Diaspora
and regularly met with them during his visits to foreign countries.
Noting that currently the Azerbaijan state gives great importance to
relations with Diaspora, the Ambassador expressed gratitude to
President Aliyev to meet with compatriots. Hafiz Pashayev said the
compatriots had become very active last years, taken part at the 2nd
Congress of World Azerbaijanis in Baku, held a meeting of protest in
the United States, including on the Khojaly genocide.
President Aliyev gave speech at meeting, noting Azerbaijan is quickly
developing country. Its ties with world countries expand day by day.
Azerbaijan has efficient cooperation and with the United States and
these relations rapidly develops, he stressed.
President said along with diplomatic means Azerbaijan also needs
strong Diaspora to rise image and hold up Azerbaijan’s position over
the world.
Head of the Azerbaijan state said the main efforts are directed to
settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh conflict. He
stressed necessity of strengthening activity in this direction. To
this end, President of Azerbaijan said activity of the embassies in
foreign countries becomes very important. The establishments should
communicate the world with the truth about the conflict and its
sequences, the reason of the Armenian claims. `Our propaganda should
base on reality’, he stressed.
President of Azerbaijan also necessitated the close coordination
among the Azeri communities and act on common plan, from common
position.
President of Azerbaijan Society of America (ASA) Tomris Azeri,
President of America-Azerbaijan Council Ceyhun Mollazade, the
American representative of the World Azerbaijanis’ Congress and
others spoke of the importance of meeting, and told their
suggestions. President Ilham Aliyev appreciated the offer on creation
of America-Azerbaijan Federation.
The President once again emphasized the importance of coordination of
efforts for common goals, gave his recommendations to set in motion
the more and more people around the Diaspora.

BIA, Turkey
April 28 2006
Prosecutor Appeals Against Four Columnists
Bagcilar prosecutor’s office appeals against court decision dropping
charges for four prominent Turkish columnists for criticizing a
decision to ban 2005 Istanbul conference on Ottoman Armenians. Murat
Belge to be tried on June 8 under separate indictment
BIA News Center
28/04/2006 Erol ONDEROGLU
BÝA (Istanbul) – Istanbul’s Bagcilar district prosecutor’s office has
appealed against an April 11 court verdict dismissing a high-profile
controversial case against four prominent Turkish columnists who were
charged with attempting to influence the outcome of a trial though
their writings by criticising a court order halting a September 2005
Istanbul conference on Ottoman Armenians.
The court decided then that according to article 26 of the Press Law,
charges against the four were subject to statue of limitation due to
the time lapse between the date of alleged offence and when a case
was launched.
While it ruled to drop the charges against them, the court decided to
continue the trial of Radikal newspaper columnist and writer Murat
Belge as the only defendant in a new trial, concluding that the
statue of limitation did not apply to his case.
This week, the Bagcilar prosecutor’s office took the verdict for
journalists Hasan Cemal of the daily Milliyet and Haluk Sahin, Erol
Katircioglu and Ismet Berkan of the daily Radikal to the Court of
Appeals asking it to be overruled.
Belge himself is to stand trial under a separate indictment on June
8.
The four defendants were charged in December under Article 288 of the
Turkish Penal Code with “attempting to influence the outcome of a
fair trial” through their writing. All except Berkan also faced
prosecution under Article 301 for “publicly degrading the judiciary”.
If the trial had not been dismissed and they were convicted, all of
the defendants could have faced prison terms of six months to 10
years under the charges.
Belge Trial Details
Journalist Murat Belge’s hearing at the Bagcilar 2nd Court of First
Istance will be held on June 8, at 10.30 local time. Belge is being
charged with violating articles 288 and 301/2 of the Turkish Penal
Code.
He is geld responsible for a September 24, 2005 article titled “The
murder of law” and the October 15, 2005 dated commentary titled “A
Court Decision. ” While the first article was subject to statue of
limitations, the Bagcilar court had decided that he should stand
trial for the second one. (EO/II/YE)

Anatolian Times, Turkey
April 28 2006
Press Review
CUMHURIYET
LITHUANIA CALLS FOR `INSIGHT’ ON SO-CALLED GENOCIDE
Lithuania President Valdas Adamkus, currently visiting Yerevan,
Armenia, said yesterday that a Turkey which wants to enter the
European Union should act more `insightfully’ about the so-called
Armenian genocide. Adamkus said that if his country’s relations with
Turkey suffer due to Ankara’s current stance, they would call on
Turkey, an EU candidate country, to observe the principle of `mutual
respect.’ /Cumhuriyet/