RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE OF POLITICAL CHARACTER TO ARMENIA
Yerkir
26.04.2006 12:08
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – The issue of recognition of the Armenian Genocide
in Ottoman Turkey is not of historical, but political character
to Armenia, Armenian President Robert Kocharian stated at a joint
news conference with his Lithuanian counterpart Valdas Adamkus in
Yerevan. In his words, Turkey’s non-recognition of the fact creates
obstacles to normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations.
”For a long rime the issue was an ideological trap for political
goals.
Armenia did not have independent statehood to fight for international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Today we have a state, a strong
Diaspora,” the President said. He also emphasized Armenians should
not become hostages of the past, but should work for normal relations
in the region.
The Armenian leader also thanked the Lithuanian Parliament for
adoption of a resolution on December 15, 2005, which recognizes the
Armenian Genocide.
–Boundary_(ID_ArqMluCo1pNMAp9b8hH0PA)- –

ARMENIAN LEADER DENIES LINKS BETWEEN KARABAKH SETTLEMENT, IRAN CRISIS
Mediamax news agency
25 Apr 06
Yerevan, 25 April: “I have not noticed links between the
intensification of the Nagornyy Karabakh settlement process and the
situation surrounding Iran,” Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said
at a joint news conference with Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus
in Yerevan today.
Kocharyan said that he did not “feel any additional pressure from the
USA in the settlement process”. He pointed out that the US, Russian
and French co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group “have a single position
and coordinate their work”.
Kocharyan also said that “the negotiating process at present is in
an active phase”, adding that this was not the result of pressure
exerted by the mediators.
“The mandate on the basis of which the mediators are implementing
their activity, does not imply putting pressure on the parties to
the conflict. The mediators are only facilitating the efforts of the
sides aimed at achieving a resolution,” the Armenian president said.

MANY CROWS DIED IN GYUMRI
A1+
[05:57 pm] 25 April, 2006
There are many cases of birds, especially of crows deaths in the places
“Lits” and “Avtokajan” in Gyumri.
There are many crow nests in these areas, and as it turned out the
death of the crows was determined by pecking.
Preventive measures against bird flu are being taken in Shirak
marz. The chief of the Shirak hygienic and anti-epidemic board Karine
Tairyan claims that they have been controlling the customs offices
since December.
According to the Shirak State Veterinary Department Board chief Gagik
Sargsyan they hold a thorough observation of each bird they find. So
far there have been no cases of bird flu. The food and goods sold in
the region markets are checked every day. The board only checks the
goods and food the owners of which have contracts with the veterinary
service. But there are places where illegal goods are sold, let us
take “the corridor of Lachin” for instance. Gagik Sargsyan deems it an
illegal territory which remains aside from their everyday checks.
TV channel of Gyumri
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Sunday, April 23, 2006
*************************************
DEFINING A GOOD ARMENIAN
******************************************
If a Ramgavar were to tell me a good Armenian is one who hates Tashnaks, I would be tempted to retort, “If we assume hatred to be a defining factor, then I must be a better Armenian than you because I hate both Tashnaks and Ramgavars for adopting and implementing the divide-and-rule tactics of our oppressors.”
*
If an Armenian were to tell me it is our patriotic duty to hate Turks, I would react by saying, “I must be a better Armenian than you because I hate not only Turks but also Germans, Russians, Americans, Patagonians or any other people you care to mention that at one time or another raped and massacred innocent human beings in the name of an ideology or religion based on a Big Lie whose ultimate aim is to label and dehumanize a fraction of mankind.”
*
How to define a good Armenian? It can’t be done. Every boss, bishop, and benefactor will have his own definition. But they will all agree on one thing: an assimilated Armenian cannot be a good Armenian because he is of no use to them.
*
What about the average Armenian? How does he define a good Armenian? No need to ask him. Watch his feet. If he can’t work and provide for his family in the Homeland or if he finds himself at the mercy of intolerant activists or corrupt operators in the Diaspora, he will say to hell with definitions and he will give up his identity before anyone can say Jack S. Avanakian.
*
If you were to ask me, I will say the most important thing in life is not to be a good Armenian but a better human being by making a contribution to the welfare of your fellow men. It follows, a Turk who does that is far superior to an Armenian whose number one concern is number one.
*
Wars and massacres are instigated not by good men but by charlatans who recycle a propaganda line based on a Big Lie. To an Armenian who believes he is god’s chosen and his brand of Armenianism is the only true one, and anyone who disagrees with him is a second-class citizen, perhaps even a traitor to the cause, I say, “I hope and pray you and your kind assimilate and are not heard from again, because the world will be a better place without your kind of bully.”
#
Monday, April 24, 2006
*******************************************
ZAROUKIAN ON ARMENIANISM,
OTTOMANISM, AND SOVIETISM
*****************************************************
The only reason some of my young readers are shocked, perhaps even outraged by my views is that they are not interested in Armenian literature and the chances are they have not read a single Armenian writer, except perhaps Saroyan (about whom see below). As a result, their so-called patriotism does not go beyond such clichés and slogans as “first nation to convert to Christianity.” I say this to stress the fact that none of my ideas is original. I only select and emphasize.
*
Today, for instance, I come across the following passage in Antranik Zaroukian’s THE LAST INNOCENT (Beirut, 1980). “Armenianism is one but Armenians are not. Some Armenians value freedom above everything else, others have Turkish souls, still others Bolshevik brains.”
*
Speaking of a certain type of Armenian leader, he further writes: “He was the kind of judge who pronounces a guilty verdict first then looks for a crime that will fit the verdict. And…he finds it.”
*
AGEE ON SAROYAN
*******************************
“Saroyan is an entertainer of a kind overrated by some people and underrated by others – a very gifted schmalz-artist. In the schamlz-artist strength and weakness are inextricably combined – the deeply, primordially valid, and the falseness of the middle-aged little boy who dives back into the womb for pennies.”
*
Elsewhere: “Saroyan’s brand of Christian anarchy I find about equally genuine, sympathetic, professional, and muddled.” For more on Saroyan, see James Agee, FILM WRITING AND SELECTED JOURNALISM (748 pages. Illustrated. Index. New York, 2005).
*
MEMO TO A REVOLUTIONARY
****************************************
Never start a fight you can’t win. But if you do, fight to the end. Do not abandon defenseless women and children at the mercy of the enemy you know to be bloodthirsty, racist, and ruthless. But if you do, have the decency not to wash your hands afterwards, absolve yourself of all responsibility, and spend the rest of your life blaming others, because that would be the height of cowardice.
#
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
*******************************************
The difference between my generation of writers and the one that preceded it is that we no longer think in terms of “occupying an immortal page in the history of Armenian literature” – an expression and similar ones pop up frequently in Antranik Zaroukian’s writings. Zaroukian’s generation took themselves seriously. We are more realistic. We take nothing seriously except the Genocide. Everything else we view as irrelevant and ephemeral.
*
Myself against our bosses, bishops, benefactors, and their assorted hirelings: it is as uneven a confrontation as that of our revolutionaries against the Evil Empire. But in my case, at least, I can always console myself by saying that no one but myself will suffer for my blunders, assuming of course I am on the wrong path and my “betters” on the right one.
*
What we say is not always what we believe, especially when it comes to saying what we really believe or our credo; and more often than not “we may believe that we believe, but we don’t believe” (Sartre).
*
We have two kinds of best-selling books: cookbooks and massacre books. The offspring of the starving Armenian now have fat bellies – too much pilaf, shish kebab, and baklava.
*
Russian proverb: “With cunning you can capture a lion; with force you can’t even catch a cricket.”
*
What am I doing to encourage the next generation of writers, I have been asked on one or two occasions. My answer: “What the nation needs more than writers is readers.”
*
Somewhere in his THE LAST INNOCENT Zaroukian sums up his philosophy thus: 5% of men are born good and will die good; 5% are evil and no power on earth will change them (“they are born to crawl not to fly”); the remaining 90% can go either way depending on conditions and circumstances. What he fails to add is that the evil ones are better at organizing themselves because lies and greed are more popular than self-sacrifice and truth.
#
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
**************************************
ON READING
***************************
A question that comes up once in a while: “If I can read Plato and Dostoevsky, why should I bother reading Armenian writers who comparatively speaking are no better than second-raters?”
The answer: Plato and Dostoevsky may teach you a great many things about human nature but they will tell you nothing about our situation.
*
Had our revolutionaries read less Plato and more Raffi they would have known that reliance on others (the West in our case) was wrong, and that mass exodus from the Empire (similar to what we see today in the Homeland) would have been a more realistic solution than isolated acts of terrorism and revolution.
*
Had they read less Hegel and more Baronian they would have known that after 600 years of subjection to the Sultan, the average Armenian was not about to shed his sheep’s clothing and turn into a wolf.
*
Had they read less philosophy and more history they would have known that without popular support a revolution couldn’t succeed.
*
They say, “Two pairs of eyes are better than one.” They also say, “None of us knows everything and everyone knows something we don’t know.” The aim of both sayings is to emphasize the importance of solidarity, consensus, and awareness — three essential commodities we lack.
*
I am not saying reading Armenian writers will solve all our problems, but I believe it may promote an intellectual and political climate in which fewer disastrous decisions are made.
#

UTAHNS DETERMINED TO TEACH ABOUT HOLOCAUST
By Deborah Bulkeley
Deseret Morning News , UTAH
April 25 2006
Litvack says some students not aware that it occurred.
Pat Drussel sees Holocaust awareness as a critical part of her language
arts curriculum at Dixon Middle School in Provo.
Jason Olson, Deseret Morning NewsMembers of the Armenian community
protest outside the federal building in Salt Lake City Monday, seeking
recognition of another genocide – the slaughter of more than a million
Armenians in 1915. She hopes her students get the message when she
tells them, “You have to learn acceptance and tolerance. …”
“It doesn’t matter what color people are or what religion they are,”
Drussel said. “We are just people.”
Today marks national Holocaust Remembrance Day. Utah’s official
remembrance ceremony will be held on Friday.
On Monday, about 50 Utah Armenians protested outside the
federal building in Salt Lake City seeking recognition of another
genocide. Monday was the 90th anniversary of the start of an Ottoman
Empire genocide that killed more than a million people. It has yet
to be acknowledged as a genocide by the either the United States
or Turkey.
“It definitely hurts to be forgotten,” said Yelena Ayrapetova of
Salt Lake.
Rep. David Litvack, D-Salt Lake, said there are students in Utah’s
schools who aren’t aware of the Holocaust or other genocides.
“It is definitely a problem, in my perspective, that we have a
population growing up that doesn’t know about the Holocaust,” Litvack
said. “It’s important that we are aware, that we are raising educated
citizens who are aware of what has happened.”
While Utah has no explicit requirement to raise awareness of the
Holocaust or other genocides, the state Office of Education encourages
teachers to incorporate the lessons learned from the Nazi systematic
extermination of 6 million Jews, along with other targeted groups.
Drussel is one of a handful of teachers nationwide finishing up
a yearlong educator fellowship with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial
Museum. As part of that fellowship, she recently held a training for
about 55 teachers.
Peter Fredlake, coordinator of the Memorial Museum’s teacher fellowship
program, said up to 15 teachers a year are selected to participate
in the fellowship. So far, 210 teachers have participated since its
inception, including three from Utah.
“People who apply for this program are the cream of the crop,”
Fredlake said. “They are dedicated and know what it means to work
hard. They’re not going to stop teaching at the end of the year.”
Fredlake said Utah is one of 24 states that don’t explicitly mention
Holocaust awareness as part of the curriculum. However, he said it is
implicit in other areas, such as a mention of national socialists. Only
seven states require Holocaust awareness training, he said.
It’s critical for any education program to include context, Fredlake
said.
“One of the most common mistakes is not having a clear rationale for
why you’re teaching it,” Fredlake said. “In a U.S. government class,
part of the rationale could be, ‘I want students to understand that
democracy is a fragile thing.'” Fredlake said one of the biggest
challenges he runs into through nationwide outreach is helping teachers
understand Holocaust awareness can be included in curriculum that
meets guidelines for No Child Left Behind.
“There’s almost no language arts standard that you can’t meet and
still talk about the Holocaust,” he said.
In Utah, Robert Austin, social studies specialist at the Office of
Education, recently attended a meeting hosted by the Memorial Museum
in Denver.
Austin said his office is working to ensure teachers have the
resources they need to teach the topic of the Holocaust and genocide
appropriately.
“It’s such a horrific event in history and such an important event,
it’s absolutely vital that teachers, when they teach on topics like
this, do it using best resources,” he said.
And many Utah educators are incorporating it. Drussel has been crafting
her own Holocaust awareness curri- culum for the past decade.
In addition to her fellowship, she has toured former concentration
camps in the Czech Republic and Poland with a Holocaust survivor.
“Hearing the words of a survivor explain to me what happened when
nobody helped,” she said. “It made it more clear to me to tell kids,
‘You have to be tolerant, you have to be accepting.'”

UNDERSTANDING OBL THROUGH THE LENSES OF THE PAST
By Habib Siddiqui
Al-Jazeerah.info, GA
April 25 2006
For more than four years, America has been searching for Osama bin
Laden (OBL), offering tens of millions of dollars in exchange for
leads as to his whereabouts. But no one has claimed the reward and
probably will never do.
OBL and his organization Al-Qaeda remind me of the Hashishyyin
(Assassins) or ‘hashish smokers’ of the Middle Ages and their
charismatic leader. The grand master of the latter group was Hasan-e
Sabbah, an Iranian who was born around 1048 CE in the city of Rayy
(not too far from today’s Tehran). He studied at Nishapur and in the
Dar-ul-Hikmat in Cairo. He was a very cultured and gifted man who
loved poetry. Legends of dubious origin claim that he was a companion
of the young poet Omar Khayyam (1028-87 CE).
In those days, the Isma’ili Shi’ite doctrine, to which Hasan Ibn
al-Sabbah belonged, was a dominant power in many parts of Muslim Asia
and Egypt. Iran was ruled by a Shi’ite dynasty of the Buwayhids who
were strong enough to bully the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad. Soon,
however, when Sabbah was in his youth, the situation reversed
dramatically. The Seljuks, upholders of Sunni orthodoxy, took control
of the vast territories to which Shi’ism had once ruled unrivalled.
With the changing political landscape, the Sabah family would pack up
and move around 1071 to settle in Egypt, the last bastion of Shi’ism,
ruled by the Fatimid Isma’ili (Batini) Shi’ites.
There, however, the young Ibn al-Sabbah discovered the painful fact of
impotency and vassal statehood of the Fatimid regime. The aged monarch
al-Muntasir was nothing more than a Seljuk puppet who dared not to
leave the palace without the permission of his Armenian vizier Badr
al-Jamali. In Cairo, Ibn al-Sabbah befriended many radical Isma’ili
Shi’ites who wanted to reform the Fatimid regime from its vassal
status and take revenge on the Seljuks.
With the active cooperation of the Fatimid Prince Nizar, in 1990 a
movement took shape with the idea of reviving the Shi’ite glory. Ibn
al-Sabbah, in essence, became its chief architect. With the intention
of establishing a base, he and some of his trusted comrades returned
to Iran and captured the hill fortress of Alamut, near Qazvin in
northern Iran. After capturing this center, situated in a practically
inaccessible region of the Elbruz Mountains near the Caspian Sea,
he set about establishing a highly disciplined politico-religious
organization, not hitherto seen in the history of the Near and
Middle East. All members underwent intensive training from religious
indoctrination to military training. They were ranked according to
their loyalty, reliability, knowledge and courage. Assassination of
people affiliated with the ruling Seljuk and Abbasid Empire became
their primary tactic to sow terror among their foes.
Their first assassination victim was Nizam-ul-Mulk (Order of the
Realm), the grand vizier of the Seljuk Empire. [He was responsible for
everything good and glorious with the Seljuk history, and conversely,
the downfall of the Isma’ili Shi’ite power. He was essentially the
pillar of the empire.] On October 14, 1092 he was killed with a stroke
of a sword. [His murder was a death-blow to the Seljuk Empire which
disintegrated soon.]
Soon after the murder, Ibn al-Sabbah’s comrades went underground.
Al-Afdal, the new vizier in Egypt, who had succeeded his father Badr
al-Jamali, mercilessly crushed the associates of Prince Nizar. The
latter himself was also killed.
Realizing that their goal to reviving a Fatimid empire would take time,
Ibn al-Sabbah’s surviving Nizari comrades revised their strategy,
and returned to the hill fortress of Alamut. From this center Ibn
al-Sabbah commanded a network of strongholds all over Iran and Iraq
wherefrom his zealous followers carried out deadly assaults against
the Abbasids and the Seljuks. Most of these activities were almost
suicidal in the sense that the perpetrators, called the Fidayeen,
carried the risk of being apprehended and executed. The ‘suicide’
squads comprised of 1 to 3 people, who disguised themselves mostly
as local merchants or ascetics. They liked publicity. As such,
their favorite venues were often mosques (especially on Fridays and
religious festivities), generally in the afternoons.
Marco Polo and other travelers related (a claim not confirmed by any
known Isma’ili source) that before setting out with their suicidal
attacks, the sect would take hashish, and hence the name Hashishyyin
(which was distorted into ‘assassin’) to induce visions of paradise.
I believe the calmness with which the sect carried out their deadly
attacks earned them that ill repute.
In the early 12th century, soon after the Crusaders had established
their control over Jerusalem, the activities of the Hashishyyin
extended to Syria and today’s Lebanon. Syria was then divided into
many city states. Ibn al-Sabbah sent a Batini preacher, an enigmatic
‘physician-astrologer’ in Aleppo who managed to win the unwavering
trust of its King Ridwan. The latter allowed Ibn al-Sabbah’s
adherents to converge on the city, to set up cells and preach their
doctrine. After the death of this mysterious envoy in 1103, the sect
immediately sent Abu Tahir, an Iranian goldsmith. His influence on
Ridwan was overwhelming, which greatly benefited the sect putting
it into prominence in public life. It was precisely because of such
power-wielding that the sect was hated by most Aleppans.
Ibn al-Khashab, the Shi’ite Qadi (judge) of Aleppo, became their
greatest critic and demanded an end to their meddling in official
matters. He also hated them for their sympathy for the Crusaders. [It
seems that the sect took the age-old doctrine of ‘the enemy of my enemy
is my friend’ to its heart. Since the Seljuks were their enemies,
the Crusaders became their friends. Ridwan was despicably appeasing
to the Crusaders at the behest of his Hashishyyin advisors.
To Ibn al-Khashab, such support amounted to treason.]
When Ridwan died in 1113, the Aleppans had enough of the Batini sect,
and killed nearly 200 members, including Abu Tahir. Other sect members
managed to flee and took shelter among the Crusaders or dispersed
in countryside.
Drawing lessons from their failure, the sect altered its tactics.
Under Ibn al-Sabbah’s new envoy to Syria – an Iranian propagandist by
the name of Bahram – the sect decided to halt all external spectacular
actions and become a secret organization. They lived in the greatest
secrecy and seclusion, changing dress and appearance so cleverly that
no one suspected their identity.
One of the sect members killed Qadi Ibn al-Khashab in the summer of
1125 when he was leaving the great mosque of Aleppo after Zuhr (midday)
prayer. It is worth noting that the Qadi not only had saved the city
from the Christian Crusaders but also prepared the way for leaders
like Salahuddin Ayyubi (R) to emerge later against the invaders.[1]
He had been the most intransigent opponents of the sect.
The next year, the sect killed Imam Abu Sa’ad al-Harawi, the splendor
of Islam, the qadi of qadis of Baghdad. As one of the leading Imams of
the Muslim world, he led the first manifestation of popular outrage
against the Crusaders in August of 1099. The Hashishyyin had stabbed
him to death in the great mosque of Hamadan and fled immediately,
leaving no clue behind.
On 26 November 1126 al-Borsoki, the powerful master of Aleppo and
Mosul, was killed by the Hashishyyin. He had gone to the great mosque
in Mosul to say his Friday prayers. The assassins, dressed up as
ascetics, were waiting in a corner without arousing any suspicion.
Suddenly they leapt upon him and struck him in the throat with knife
thrusts. His murderers were soon arrested and put to death. A few
months later, they killed al-Borsoki’s son, who had succeeded him.
The situation turned so bad that the city became insecure and
eventually fell to the Crusaders.
The situation in Damascus was no better. The Atabeg Thugtigin was
weak, aging and sick. He could not control the Hashishyyin, who had
their own armed militia. Even the city administration was in their
hands and the vizier their client. The latter was in close contact
with the Crusaders.
Hasan-e Sabbah died in Alamut retreat in 1142. Unfortunately, his
death did not stop the sect’s criminal activities. They assassinated
any notable authority who opposed their doctrine. The terror they
inflicted was so overwhelming that no one dared to criticize them
publicly, neither Amir, nor vizier, not Sultan, not even Imams.
>>From Masyaf, Rashid ad-Din as-Sinan, the Syrian grand master of
the Hashishyyin, more commonly known as the shaykh al-jabal, ruled
virtually independently of the sect’s headquarters at Alamut. His
commandos terrorized the entire territory.
The terrorism of the Hashishyyin sect continued until 1256 when
the Mongols under Hulagu Khan captured their fortresses in Iran
one by another, including their headquarters in Alamut. The Syrian
fortresses were gradually subjugated by the Mamluk Sultan Baybars
I and put under Mamluk governors. From then on, the sect ceased to
exist as a terrorist group and languished as a minor Shi’ite heresy.[2]
—-
The Muslim world is in a dire state of its existence because of
a plethora of reasons – some foreign and some home-grown. It is,
therefore, not difficult to understand the broad appeal of OBL who
reminds Muslims of the neo-Crusaders who are waging war against
Islam. “His most important ally is American foreign policy,” says
Michael Scheuer, former chief of the Central Intelligence Agency’s
bin Laden unit.[3]
As long as the West continues to prove him right through its illegal
interventions in Muslim countries, its criminal blockading of the
Muslim world through alliances, its vicious attack on the Prophet
of Islam, its threats of attacking Iran and its double-standards
in matters of democracy, freedom, equality and human rights, OBL’s
appeal would resonate loud and clear. His crowd becomes Spartacus –
each clamoring: “I am Spartacus.”
As Richard Rodriguez, one of the best essayists in America, once
said, “A historical figure ascends to myth when his life matches
some common pride or grievance or sorrow. Then history is subsumed
into myth. Spartacus, Joaquin, Che, Gandhi, Osama. America’s search
for Osama bin Laden in these mountain passes and crowded bazaars may
be necessary militarily and for reasons of vengeance and justice and
national pride, but it may also be beside the point. Dead or alive,
Osama bin Laden already is mythic. The grievances of millions of people
in the Middle East are joined to his name, and his name surely will
outlast his death.”[4]
How can an Empire that has no clothes fight someone like OBL when his
life is sung, and matches some common pride, grievance and sorrow of
hundreds of millions of people in the Muslim world?
NOTES
———————————— ——————————————–
[1] Amin Maalouf, The Crusades through Arab eyes, pp. 98-105, al-Saqi
Books. [Most of the information on Hasan-e Sabbah’s sect in this
essay is based on this book, which is gratefully acknowledged here.]
[2] The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, volume 1 (1989).
[3] Ben Laden Says West is Waging War Against Islam, NY Times, April
24, 2006.
[4] Villains or Heroes: Essay by Richard Rodriguez, PBS TV, January
14, 2003.
Dr. Habib Siddiqui, ([email protected]).
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERI, ARMENIAN SPEAKERS MAY TABLE GARABAGH IN RUSSIA
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 25 2006
Baku, April 24, AssA-Irada
The Azeri parliament speaker Ogtay Asadov may discuss the Upper
(Nagorno) Garabagh conflict with his Armenian counterpart Artur
Bagdasarian in Russia this week.
The meeting may take place during Asadov’s visit to St. Petersburg
to attend the 100th jubilee celebrations of the Russian State Duma
(parliament) due on Wednesday and Thursday, Russian media reported.
The event may be attended by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe president Rene van der Linden.

LITHUANIAN PRESIDENT PAYING OFFICIAL VISIT TO ARMENIA
Baltic News Service
April 25, 2006 Tuesday 3:06 PM EET
Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus left for a two-day official visit
to Armenia on Tuesday morning.
During the visit, Adamkus is scheduled to meet with Armenian President
Robert Kocharian, Prime Minister Andranik Margarian, the Lithuanian
presidential press service said.
According to the press release, the meetings are planned to focus
on prospects of bilateral relations, regional cooperation, Armenia’s
reforms and determination to achieve its Euro-Atlantic goals.
A bilateral agreement on the promotion of investments and mutual
protection will also be signed during the visit.
The agenda for Tuesday includes a meeting with National Assembly
Vice-Chairman Tigran Toroyanu and a visit to the museum of artist
Sergey Parayanov.
On Wednesday, Adamkus will meet with Catholicos of All Armenians H.
H. Karegin II, visit the Yerevan State University’s Institute of
Ancient Manuscripts, the Memorial of Genocide Victims, the Vault of
Treasuries and the Central Cathedral.
The president-led delegation is expected back in Vilnius on Wednesday
evening.

THE MINISTRY OF DEFENSE OF AZERBAIJAN OBJECTS TO THE REPORT OF PACE
Source: Voenno-Promyshlennuy Kuryer ¹ 15, 19 April, 2006, p. 12
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
April 24, 2006 Monday
About The Deaths Of Servicemen And Morale In The Army Of Azerbaijan;
Speaking with the journalists, Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan
General-Colonel Safar Abiev called the information in the report,
which was read out during the spring session of Parliamentary Assembly
of Council of Europe (PACE) concerning the existence in the army of
Azerbaijan hazing and duck-out, to be preconceived and malevolent. He
supports his words with the statistics concerning these matters.
Speaking with the journalists, Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan
General-Colonel Safar Abiev called the information in the report,
which was read out during the spring session of Parliamentary
Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) concerning the existence in
the army of Azerbaijan hazing and duck-out, to be preconceived
and malevolent. The head of the military department confirmed the
mass-media that the answer to this report will be given “on the high
level”. General-Colonel also remarked that the regime of cease-fire
is more often violated now, and the Armenian side “is carrying out
an intensive gunfire of all the positions of the Armed forces of
Azerbaijan in all directions of frontlines. Recently another service
man of ours has been killed”. That’s why, as it is stated by the
General-Colonel, the number of losses is constantly growing.
Answering the question concerning the retaliatory steps of
Azerbaijan, Safar Abiev one more time repeated, “The situation
has become aggravated. The way of further development of processes
and retaliatory steps, which will be taken by Azerbaijan, will be
determined by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief”. The death of a soldier
on the “opposition line” is not a single case. According to the data
of the Center of military research of journalists “Doctrine”, during
the first three months of 2006 the Armed forces of Azerbaijan lost
minimum 20 fighting men, which were killed or injured.
The study of the publications of print and electronic mass media,
which was made by “Doctrine”, showed that as a result of accidents
(car accidents, fires and carelessness) 8 servicemen died, 2 men
committed suicide. 8 servicemen, as it was declared, “died because
of Armenian bullets”. The majority of the men died (12 people) are
soldiers. As a rule, they served in the units of the ministry of
Defense. In the first quarter of the current year due to these or
those reasons 10 servicemen of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan
were injured. Two of them suffered from fire, 4-from “Armenian
bullets”. Another 4 servicemen were injured because of explosions
of shells and bombs. It is worthwhile mentioning that in comparison
with the corresponding period of the previous year, the number of
losses has increased (in the period of January to March of 2005 16
servicemen died, 34 were injured). The experts of “Doctrine” inform,
that taking into account the data of the current year, on the whole,
the losses of the Azerbaijan Armed Forces since the beginning of 2003
has reached 169 men. Among them 84 men are battle losses (Armenian
bullets and explosions), non-battle losses are 85 servicemen. The
number of the fighting men injured in the period of three years and
three months exceeded the number of one hundred. The statistics
shows that the overwhelming majority of injures is the result of
“shots from the enemy positions” (monitoring was based also on the
single reports of the press-service of the Ministry of Defense). (…)
The changes of the reasons of losses during the last years
haven’t escaped the experts. If year after year the number of
non-constitutional relations is constantly decreasing, the dynamics
of suicides is on the same level. And the number of accidents has
a tendency to grow. Some experts think that the real statistics of
losses in the army is much higher. Though, the Ministry of Defense
doesn’t give this information. The press-center of MD declares that
the defense department keeps count of all losses of personnel, but
due to some reasons that can’t be subject to speak about. That’s why,
as it is considered in the defense department, otherwise the fighting
spirit of servicemen would be undermined.
According to the data of Judge Advocate General of the country
General-Lieutenant Khanlara Veliev, in 2005 in the army there was
a decrease of the number of crimes, connected with suicides and
attempts of suicide (almost 30%), murder( 27.3%), and rowdyism as
well (50%). But in 2006 there were registered 12.4% more crimes than
during the same period of the previous year. The entire statistics
of the military crimes was represented by the Judge Advocate General
in percents, which can be explained by a military secret. The Judge
Advocate General remarked that in 2006 the number of crimes connected
with corrupt practices and neglect of official duty doubled. There
was a considerable decrease in the number of military absentees. In
comparison with the beginning of the nineties this number 6-7 times
decreased. In 2005 only three cases of duck-out was registered, and
during the period of three months of the current year-only one case.
In the previous year crime detection reached 99.8%. As a disciplinary
measure 12 members of the military prosecutor’ office were punished
because of the “duty mistakes”, and four members were fired from the
military prosecutor’s office. (…)
Answering the questions of the journalists, the Judge Advocate
General declared that in the army of Azerbaijan there is no “hazing”
in its classical notion. Still he didn’t object to the existence of
non-constitutional relations, which are accompanied by injures. (…)
–Boundary_(ID_hwHKmdraifgtR8j2EkTVrg)–

WHITE HOUSE OFFERS CONDOLENCES ON ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Agence France Presse — English
April 24, 2006 Monday 10:59 PM GMT
WASHINGTON, April 24 2006
US President George W. Bush on Monday remembered the exile and killing
beginning 91 years ago of some 1.5 million Armenians as “one of the
horrible tragedies of the 20th century.”
“This was a tragedy for all humanity and one that we and the world
must never forget,” the US president said in a statement released by
the White House.
“We mourn this terrible chapter of history and recognize that it
remains a source of pain for people in Armenia and for all those who
believe in freedom, tolerance, and the dignity and value of every
human life,” Bush said.
His remarks came on the 91st anniversary of what is considered the
beginning of the genocide carried out under the Ottoman empire.
Armenians claim some 1.5 million people died in the waning years of
the empire, from 1915-1922, while Turkey, which refused to recognize
the killings as genocide, puts the death toll at between 300,000
and 500,000.
Bush called for continued dialogue and “shared understading” between
the two sides, praising “the individuals in Armenia and Turkey who
have sought to examine the historical events of this time with honesty
and sensitivity.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress