1,600 YEARS FOR 38 LETTERS
By Naush Boghossian, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
Oct 5 2005
Language key to Armenian life
When Nicole Oganesian realized that her high-school Spanish kicked
in while she was trying to communicate with her great-grandmother –
but not the language of her ancestors – she knew it was time she
learned Armenian.
She saw her opportunity at the University of California, Los Angeles.
After five quarters, she was able to communicate in the language she
hadn’t learned growing up in an Armenian home.
“I felt a frustration – not being able to communicate with family
and grandparents,” said Oganesian, 26, a law student from Chino Hills.
“There was no reason for me not to know how. I almost felt a duty
to learn it. It just makes me feel like I can better interact, and
I felt like it just made me more in tune with the culture.”
Some 10 million Armenians worldwide this week are celebrating the
1,600th anniversary of their alphabet – which, along with their
Christian religion, serves as a key link to preserving their cultural
identity.
Armenians have long believed that their alphabet was destined for them
and came from a higher source, even ascribing its origin to mysticism.
Mesrop Mashtots, a cleric of the Armenian royal court, is said to have
dreamed the 38 letters in 405 A.D., writing them down when he awoke.
Mashtots, who was interested in translating the Bible into his native
tongue, is something of an icon for Armenians, with statues of him
erected throughout the homeland. Most Armenians-Americans today have
a poster or painting of the alphabet in their homes.
More than anything, Armenians believe that their language is the basis
of maintaining the culture – one that has been threatened over the
years by a genocide of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire
in 1915 and by life in the Diaspora.
In an effort to keep their language, values and customs alive in
America, Armenians over the past 40 years have built about 20 schools
in the Los Angeles area that serve more than 3,000 students.
Greg Tufenkian and his sister – who grew up in a household with an
Armenian-speaking mother and an Armenian-American father who spoke
only English – attended Armenian school and now send their children
to Armenian school in an effort to preserve the language.
“I think we’re so lucky to have a language and an alphabet as a people,
since there are so many people whose languages aren’t even spoken
anymore,” said Tufenkian, a Glendale resident who sells commercial
real estate.
“It seems through history we’ve always been an underdog; yet we’ve
always been able to regroup, refocus, survive and go forward. So
preserving our language for the next generations is the least we can
do to preserve our culture.”
High-profile attorney Mark Geragos said he speaks enough Armenian to
ask for more water, say thank you and ask how are you. But he talks
to his two children about the Armenian Genocide and sends them to
Armenian events, summer camps and church – to keep the culture alive
in future generations.
“The rule of thumb is that identification with your culture dies out
in three generations, and I’m determined not to let that happen.”
Armenian-Americans have been criticized as insular and ethnocentric,
but determination to keep the language alive is a byproduct of
historical tragedy, said Ed Finegan, professor of linguistics and
law at the University of Southern California.
“Because of our history – when you experience a calamity like a
genocide or holocaust – you are so insecure and so paranoid that you
are constantly fighting a war of preservation,” said Vahe Berberian,
an Armenian writer, performer and artist.
Stepan Partamian, the popular host of a controversial Armenian
public-access program, argues that there’s not much to celebrate
when, like Americanized Spanish or Spanglish, what’s being created
in America is “Armenglish.”
“Why should we celebrate 1,600 years of the Armenian alphabet when
we don’t utilize it today?” he said. “Learning it will one day become
more of a novelty than a necessity.”
But language in fact must change and adapt in order to survive,
Finegan said.
“In order for a language to remain vital, it has to grow and adapt,
so borrowing English or words from other languages doesn’t affect
the heart of the language,” Finegan said.
Despite the effort to preserve the language, some Armenians are
resigned to the probability that it will one day die in America. They
point out that once-vibrant Armenian communities have evaporated in
India, Rome and Singapore.
There are two ways a language can die, Finegan said: Its people are
eliminated, or the speakers give it up for another language. But the
language can survive by being used for functions more immediate to
the culture – as at home, church or heritage events.
“The more it can be preserved there, the more likely it will be to
survive,” Finegan said.
Oganesian would definitely want her children to learn Armenian.
“I think it’s a connection to their heritage,” she said. “It’s always
a good idea to know how to speak more languages, and any way you can
give yourself more avenues by which to express yourself, the better
off you are.”
Naush Boghossian, (818) 713-3722

SCATTERED PEOPLE STRIVE TO PRESERVE TRADITION
By Naush Boghossian, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
Oct 5 2005
In many ways, the behavior of Armenians in the Diaspora is most
similar to that of the Jews.
Without the language, you can’t maintain the culture in its
same richness, and you lose the sense of the literature and the
storytelling, said Caroline Allouche, who teaches Hebrew at a Jewish
nursery school in North Hollywood.
“If you go to a public school and learn English and English customs,
you’re going to lose what we teach them in private school: the
holidays, the values of the Jewish culture,” she said. “When you have
a background, you have to keep it. In America, it’s a melting pot,
and with so many different cultures it’s great to show we exist.”
But Koreans, for example, who have one grammar school in Los Angeles,
don’t find their identity in the world threatened.
Charles Kim, who serves on the board of directors of the Korean
Institute of Southern California, which operates the Korean Wilshire
Elementary School and 13 Saturday schools, said losing the language
is to be expected as new generations grow up in America.
Only one of his four children speaks Korean.
“They will become Americans. There’s a high probability my kids
may marry non-Koreans, and a few more generations and they’ll say
I’m one-eighth Korean,” Kim said. “Then I think they will play a
significant role in promoting different cultures. This is a country
where we can showcase all different cultures harmoniously.”

ASIM MOLLAZADE DISCUSSED PRE-ELECTION SITUATION WITH PACE PRESIDENT
Today, Azerbaijan
Oct 5 2005
Chairman of Democratic Reforms Party, deputy Asim Mollazade met with
President of Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe Rene Van
Der Linden yesterday.
APA was informed from the press service of Democratic Reforms Party.
The sides discussed the political situation in Byelorussia and
pre-election situation in Azerbaijan. Asim Mollazade informed the PACE
President about the latest processes ongoing in Byelorussia in detail.
He also informed Rene Van Der Linden about the pre-election situation
in Azerbaijan, authority-opposition relations, problems related
with the election process. PACE President stated that, he hopes the
elections scheduled to 6 November will be democratic.
“We are trying to send more observers from PACE, taking into
considerations the concerns and a number of requirements in
Azerbaijan. PACE will send a number of observers to Azerbaijan for
ensuring transparent, fair and democratic elections”.
The issues concerning the cooperation between the Azerbaijani and
Latvian delegations to PACE and cooperation between the parliaments
of these countries were discussed in Strasburg yesyerday. The sides
signed document on cooperation. It must be noted that, a meeting
will be held between Azerbaijani and Armenian delegations with the
participation of head of PACE subcommittee on Garabagh Lord Rassel
Johnston in Strasbourg today.
The discussions will focus on the issues concerning the resolution
of the conflict. The Azerbaijani delegation will be represented by
Asim Mollazade and Samad Seyidov.
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THE STATE DEPARTMENT: “THE USA HAS NOT CHANGED ITS POLICY ON THE NK”
Today, Azerbaijan
Oct 5 2005
A group of congressmen representing the USA-Armenia friendship group
has sent a letter to President George Bush.
Congressmen demanded the President to recognize the so-called “Republic
of Nagorno Karabagh”.
It is also demanded to render aids to the fake regime functioning in
the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, “The right of determining
the fortune of the people of Nagorno Karabakh should be respected
and they should be supported in this”.
The official of the USA State Department stated in the traditional
briefing given in the organization that the USA’s policy on the
Nagorno Karabakh remains unchanged.
The representative of the State Department underlined that, Washington
supports the mediation mission of the OSCE Minsk Group for the solution
of the conflict and has not changed its position in this context.
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DEVELOPING BUSINESS CAN’T SURVIVE WITHOUT DEVELOPING TECHNOLOGIES
By Tamar Minasian
AZG Armenian Daily #178
05/10/2005
According to the experts, only 30% of the US residents are sure that
the information they trusted to the electronic world is safe, while
70% of the consumers realize that the information of the electronic
carriers may be used against them. Tigran Bezjian, head of “Boomerang
Software” company said at “Informational Technologies in Everyday
Business” conference. He said that no one can do without online
services in today developing world, otherwise they will have to quit
business at all.
The discussion was organized within the framework of “DigiTech 2005”
exhibition by Incubator Foundation of Entrepreneurships and the
Union of IT Entrepreneurships. The Armenian and foreign specialists
represented a number of issues of electronic management, security of
informational technologies in business and banking system. The Western
specialists represented the current situation in the US Tigran Bezchian
said the informational technologies always have some drawbacks that the
hackers can use. “We close one door, while the hackers open another,”
he added.
In Armenia electronic trade and management are not largely used and
the criminal cases in the sphere are quite rare. “This issue is a
new one in the world. There are many opportunities for development
in Armenia,” Bagrat Yengibarian said in the interview to Azg. He said
that the clients refuse to use the electronic versions of the deals,
as they don’t want to apply a new approach in their business. While,
the developments testify to the fact that that the security issues
will increase, when the system enlarges.
The initiators of the conference believe that the conference helped
the Armenian specialists to get familiarized with the development
and new achievements of the sphere.

YOU MUST BUILD YOUR HOUSE
A1+
| 11:37:20 | 05-10-2005 | Regions |
For the last two years no state program of house-construction has
been realized in Gyumri. A variant of solving the problem of proving
people with houses was the allotting of certificates for buying
houses. Another variant is private house-construction.
This is 98 people have been allowed to build their houses. According to
the Municipality urban development department head Hrayr Karapetyan,
this year was unprecedented as so many people received permission to
build houses.
The reason is that no state program of house-construction has been
realized in for the last two years. According to the official, 98%
of the applications get a positive answer. The only exceptions are
the cases when the applicants want to build their houses in places
where no construction is allowed.

RA HOPES
A1+
| 22:01:40 | 04-10-2005 | Politics |
Today the EU-Turkey talks have opened. How does the Armenian Foreign
Ministry comment on the situation?
“The negotiations with Turkey applies a new quality to the EU-Turkey
relations. Drastic changed are expected to take place in Turkey.
Consequently Armenia hopes that the possibility of the EU membership
will urge Turkey to open the borders with Armenia and undertake
serious measures for securing the rights of the national minorities,
freedom of speech and other democratic values.
We also hope that Turkey will acknowledge the Armenian Genocide
as it was recognized as a precondition by the European parliament,
RA MFA Spokesman Hamlet Gasparyan said.

COALITION WILL NOT BREAK POLITICAL CONSENT
A1+
| 22:00:58 | 04-10-2005 | Politics |
“I think it is at least untimely to speak about the changed of power
now, when 1.5 year remained till the next state election”, Armenian
NA Speaker Artur Baghdassaryan stated during today’s press conference
when commenting on the possible development in case of failure of
the referendum and change of power.
He also noted that he does not see any reason to complain about the
draft alleging the clauses rated as progress. When touching upon the
NCTR and in part the A1+ issue Artur Baghdassaryan said, “At first
the members of the commission were appointed by the president, now
half composition of this body will be appointed by the parliament.”
The NA Speaker divided the society into 4 parts: supporters of the
constitutional amendments, opponents, those who are unaware and need
explanation and those, who try to derive profit from the issue.
The NA Chairman focused at the return of deposits, which is a
constituent of the Orinats Yerkir election campaign. He stated
that thanks to hard and consistent policy a political agreement was
achieved. He ruled out the possibility of breaking the consent by
his party fellows.
He also noted that the funds allocated for the return of deposits
will be provided by the state budget for the next year.
PARLIAMENT TO RECEIVE GUESTS
Artur Baghdassaryan also informed of the events scheduled for October.
120 international delegates, parliamentary delegations from 15 states,
members of over 20 international organizations and observing missions
will arrive in Armenia to take part in the Rose Roth NATO PA Seminar.
The sitting of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly will be held.
A sitting of parliamentary friendship groups will be convened.
The 15-th anniversary of the parliament will be celebrated in November.

SCIENCE STRUGGLES AGAINST NUCLEAR TERRORISM
By Ruzan Poghosian
AZG Armenian Daily #178
05/10/2005
“Nuclear and Radio Active Security and Struggle against International
Terrorism” international scientific conference is held within
the framework of “Science for Peace” NATO project in Yerevan. The
conference will last four days. Representatives of 16 countries,
including the US, Canada, France, Belgium, Germany, CIS and other
countries participate in the conference. The conference is organized
by the American “Brookhaven” National Laboratory and the Center for
Leading Sciences and Technologies.
Samvel Apikian, head of the regional office of the Center for Leading
Sciences and Technologies, said that lately, the issue of nuclear
terrorism bothers the whole world and it’s very urgent to hold
such conferences. All the countries struggle against the nuclear
terrorism in three directions, i.e. political, by force and the
scientific approach. He believes that at present the activities of the
scientists involved in nuclear power engineering becomes more and more
important. “The scientists really greatly contribute to this struggle,
as all their achievements belong to the state that uses the science
to struggle against terrorism. Science develops thanks to unanimous
discussions and this is a very important term for its development,”
he said in the interview to “Azg.”
Anita Nilsson, MAGATE representative, touched upon the 2006-2009
plan for nuclear security. The scientists represented their latest
researches, as well as the commitments and the projects of their
countries. It is envisaged that the conference will help the Armenian
scientists, too. They have the opportunity to communicate with the
leading specialists from other countries.
Vahan Hovhannisian, vice-chairman of RA National Assembly, our state
should care about the scientists dealing with the nuclear power
engineering, taking into account the fact that we have a nuclear
power plant. He added that our neighbors are very concerned about
this fact. “There are such terrorist groups that are ready to carry
out terrorist acts using nuclear weapon, ” he said.
The aim of the conference is to unite the scientists of the world,
the international and state structures in the struggle against
nuclear terrorism.

ANDRE’S NEW SHOW
A1+
| 21:39:05 | 04-10-2005 | Culture |
September 11 well known singer Andre will appear before the audience
in a completely new image. The concert will be staged with circus
and dance items, director of the State Philharmonic society Laert
Movsesyan said during today’s press conference.
October 13 the signer will perform in Vanadzor and October 18 –
in Gyumri.