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Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918 Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected]
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PRESS RELEASE +++ PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, May 2, 2006
Contact: Maral Habeshian
Tel: (818) 500-1918
ANCA Helps Raise Awareness on Southland Campuses
LOS ANGELES — In a variety of student-organized events commemorating
the Armenian Genocide, the ANCA joined southland Armenian Student
Associations (ASA) to not only provide historical background on the
issue, but also briefings about ongoing efforts of Armenian Genocide
recognition, the importance of activism, as well as Turkey’s ongoing
campaign of denial.
California State University, Northridge
On Thursday, April 22, ANC Professional Network Executive Committee
member Boghos Patatian, spoke at the annual candlelight vigil organized
by the California State University, Northridge ASA. His message
highlighted the duty of the college youth in seizing every opportunity
to advance the Armenian community and the community-at-large.
“This tremendous collection of young people should be commended for
their achievements. It is both overwhelming and satisfying that these
youth are not indifferent to the Armenian Cause. It is an honor to
those who were denied an education because they perished during the
Genocide, and the ANCA is proud to be able to help facilitate this
through its direction and resources,” noted Patatian.
“I appreciated his emphasis that April 24 is not just one day,
but that the Armenian Cause must be pursued every day of the year,”
remarked Terenig Topjian about Patatian’s address.
Topjian, an officer and event organizer with the CSUN ASA, explained
that when fellow students approach him asking about the Genocide,
his confidence in the impact and importance of such events is simply
reaffirmed. He stressed that the event received coverage by both the
CSUN daily newspaper the “Sundial,” and local television network KTLA.
All Armenian Student Association
ANCA Western Region board member Raffi Hamparian, delivered the keynote
address at the annual All-Armenian Student Association commemoration
on April 22. Organized by over a dozen ASAs throughout southern
California colleges, the event, with the theme “a call to action,”
was the subject of a lengthy article in Monday’s edition of the UCLA
Daily Bruin student newspaper.
University of Southern California
In addition to many community-wide events on April 24, the ANCA also
joined the University of Southern California (USC) for its annual
campus commemoration at Tommy Trojan, which featured ANCA Western
Region board chairman Steve Dadaian.
“Mr. Dadaian highlighted the Republic of Turkey’s continued campaign
of denial that not only targets our government, but our campuses as
well,” noted USC ASA officer Ruzan Antossyan, who was the day’s emcee.
The USC event featured exhibits covering the history of the Genocide
as well as ANCA prepared petitions to key members of US House
of Representative calling on a vote on pending Armenian Genocide
legislation. “We reached out to a broad campus audience.”
Fellow USC ASA officer Mercedes Aline Arslanian enthusiastically said
that nearly 300 petitions were signed. “When I see people genuinely
interested in the program, and expressing increased interest about
the Genocide and what they can do, I know we are succeeding.”
University of California Irvine
ANC Orange County member Ara Malazian delivered the keynote address
at the University of California Irvine (UCI) ASA’s annual candlelight
vigil that featured Genocide survivor Yeghsapet Garabedian, and drew
numerous non-Armenian students. Malazian highlighted the importance
of keeping the issue of justice for the Armenian Genocide at the
forefront of the community’s thoughts and actions.
Though the event was disrupted by a few Turkish students shouting
vulgar comments and waving the Turkish flag, campus police readily
maintained order. “It means we are making a difference and raising
awareness when they have to stoop to such levels,” said UCI ASA Vice
President Sarkis Abajian.
Pointing to Malazian’s address that emphasized Turkey’s failure in
attempting to destroy Armenians, Abajian said, “Sometimes we lose sight
of the fact that we did survive and now thrive.” And as a result,
he explained that Armenians have made progress in pursuing justice for
the Armenian Genocide. “There was more discussion and awareness about
the genocide on campus this year. There were a lot of non-Armenian
students who participated in the vigil. We are pushing forward.”
Not confined to college campuses, the ANCA also participated in a
number of commemorations at local high schools and youth organizations
including Grant HS, Calabasas HS, Ferrahian HS, and at the Homenetmen
Glendale “Ararat” chapter’s assembly.
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Sunday, April 30, 2006
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It is said that if you have mastered the art of learning, a single letter of the alphabet will teach you more than a thousand classics.
*
There is only one way to get even with detractors and that’s by using them as sources of inspiration.
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An Armenian was presented with a Japanese samurai sword so sharp that it would slice an apple by simply touching it, as if by magic. The Armenian returned the gift with the words: “Thanks, but I have no use for it. My tongue is sharper.”
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I have understood the nature of radical evil not by observing it in others but by analyzing it in myself.
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Two of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century were Heidegger and Sartre – the first supported Hitler, the second Mao.
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Wisdom is not a commodity that you look for and, if you are lucky, you find. Wisdom is something that you never find.
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Searching for wisdom is like peeling an onion. After you have peeled off all the layers of prejudice, ignorance, stupidity, evil, and fear, you end up with nothing.
#
Monday, May 01, 2006
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Some of our most fundamental assumptions and certainties have been foisted on us at a time when we could not yet think for ourselves. There you have the source of most conflicts.
*
We all want the same thing, to be happy; and we all behave as though the only way to be happy is by making others miserable.
*
All our problems stem from the fact that narrow tribal interests are placed above national interests; and all international problems stem from the fact that national interests are placed above the interests of mankind. Result? War and massacre.
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Killing a patriotic act? That’s like saying rape is an act of compassion.
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Cruelty parading as wit – that’s how Freud defined humor. If true, humor must be one of the most civilized ways of disarming aggression.
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TODAY’S QUOTATIONS
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On Karajan (a German of Greek descent): “…despite being narcissistic, nasty and Nazi, he was a superb conductor.”
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Saint-Beuve: “Speaking the truth is the best revenge.”
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Vassily Grossman (Russian writer): “We are not people. We are shit.”
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Lenin: “The capitalist is so greedy that he will buy even the rope with which we will hang him.”
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Tuesday, May 02, 2006
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One reason vegetarians in the animal kingdom are perennial victims of carnivores is that they develop a consensus only to run away.
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A career criminal in today’s paper: “I find the outside more scary than being inside.” He ought to know. The outside is at the mercy of people like him. Need I add that some of the worst serial child molesters have been Catholic priests, and some of the most dangerous serial killers have been statesmen?
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Benefactors share their money, writers their ideas. As a community, or a collection of tribes, we respect both money and ideas in equal measure, and the idea we respect most is that money is infinitely more important than ideas.
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What do we know about benefactors? Only how much they give. They are an extension of their capital. I once heard a benefactor deliver a short cliché-ridden speech in which he emphasized the importance of identity and culture. The same benefactor to a poet: “Desert people like Arabs may need poets. We don’t!” And to a writer: “I hire and fire people like you.”
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Wednesday, May 03, 2006
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Turgenev to Dostoevsky: “Russia’s only contribution to civilization has been the samovar and the knout – and even they were invented by somebody else.” Elsewhere ( I think in SMOKE), one of his characters says, if Russia were to disappear tomorrow, no one would miss it – and to think that he was talking about the Russia of Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky…. But Turgenev being Turgenev, I am interested in anything he has to say, even when what he says is against my own convictions. Because I for one would miss Russia, and if not Russia than Russian literature, including Turgenev’s intensely Russian novels, especially FATHERS AND SONS.
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Speaking of Pushkin: Reading him in English, including Nabokov’s English, is like viewing a cadaver. It has been a mystery to me why so many Russian writers worship him. Today I read a few of his lines in a Greek translation and I saw the light and felt the magic – the cadaver came to life, and what life! So much so that I am now planning to teach myself Russian.
*
Joe Queenan: “A good percentage of the British population are vulgar dimwits who care about nothing but shopping, alcohol, football and Posh Spice’s navel.”
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Armenian writers don’t dare to speak freely about their fellow Armenians except in private conversations, correspondence and diaries. As a result the average Armenian continues to cling to such clichés as first nation this and first nation that….
#

TWO CITIZENS EVADED THE TRAGEDY BECAUSE OF PROBLEMS WITH PASSPORTS
ArmRadio.am
03.05.2006 14:33
The Yerevan-Sochi airplane of the “Armavia” Company that crashed
this night had 113 passengers on board, including 5 children and 8
crewmembers. The list of the passengers has been already publicized. It
came out, however, that despite the fact that the names of Georgian
citizen Georgi Hakobyan and RA citizen Gagik Sahakyan were included
in the list, they were not allowed to fly because of problems with
their passports.

SWISS PROSECUTOR ASKS 6 MONTHS FOR PERINCEK OVER ‘GENOCIDE’ DENIAL
The New Anatolian, Turkey
May 2 2006
A Swiss prosecutor yesterday requested six months in prison for
Turkish Workers Party (IP) leader Dogu Perincek for his denial of
the Armenian genocide claims in a speech delivered in Winterthur,
Switzerland last year.
The prosecutor claimed that the speech Perincek made while denying
the genocide claims was “racist.”
Swiss law stipulates that those who deny, underestimate or support
genocide or other crimes against humanity are liable to fines or
imprisonment.
Following his statements in Winterthur, Perincek was detained last
July 23 and after testifying he was released.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKISH PARLIAMENT SPEAKER URGES FRENCH DEPUTIES
The New Anatolian, Turkey
May 2 2006
Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc yesterday sent a letter to his
French counterpart, asking him not to take sides in the controversial
Armenian genocide matter.
Underlining that judging history should be left to historians,
not parliaments, Arinc said that the French bill, which stipulates
punishing those who deny the Armenian genocide claims, is anti-freedom
of expression and thought, referring to the leading role played by
France in the implementation of basic human rights on the international
stage.
Armenian organizations in France announced last week that a bill
stipulating prison sentences would be brought by the Socialist Party
(PS) to the French Parliament’s floor for debate on May 18. Later last
week the bill also won the support of 100 deputies in the government,
which increased the possibility of Parliament’s approval.
In accordance with the French Parliament’s 2001 recognition of the
Armenian genocide claims, the law could punish “genocide” deniers
with up to a year behind bars.
In related news, the Turkish press reported Monday an exchange of
words between Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and his French
counterpart Philippe Douste-Blazy on the sidelines of last week’s NATO
foreign ministers meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria. According to reports,
Gul asked Douste-Blazy whether he would be punished for denying the
genocide claims. “What if I or the Turkish president were to visit
France and state ‘the Armenian genocide is a lie’? What would you
do? Would you put us in prison?” asked Gul, the press reported.

EU’S POLAND SUGGESTS MEDIATION BETWEEN TURKEY AND ARMENIA
ABHaber, Belgium
May 2 2006
Warsaw conveys to Ankara list of proposals aiming to assist
normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia. Turkish govt
welcomes Polish offer, which includes mediation between Turkish and
Armenian govts, conference on genocide claims with participation of
Turkish, Armenian and Polish scholars
AYHAN SIMSEK
Poland recently offered Ankara its services to act as a mediator
between Turkey and Armenia to overcome their differences over genocide
claims and to normalize relations, The New Anatolian learned yesterday.
Diplomats said that Warsaw’s proposals include the Polish government
acting as a mediator between the Turkish and Armenian governments,
organizing meetings and conferences between Polish, Turkish and
Armenian scholars and further sharing Polish experience in conflict
resolution and reconciliation with neighbors.
European Union member Poland is also an important ally to Turkey in
NATO. The Polish Parliament’s decision in April last year to adopt a
resolution backing the Armenian claims of genocide triggered a sharp
response from Ankara at the time. Later statements by Polish government
officials disassociating themselves from the resolution and further
steps by the two countries prioritizing their common foreign policy
goals brought relations back to an even keel. Poland has become one of
the main supporters of Turkey’s EU accession process, and Turkey has
offered humanitarian assistance as well as transportation to Polish
troops in Iraq.
According to diplomats, Polish Foreign Minister Stefan Meller, during
his visit to Ankara two weeks ago, conveyed to his Turkish counterpart
Abdullah Gul a list of proposals including mediation by Poland aimed
at a normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia. Foreign
Minister Gul reportedly responded positively to Meller’s ideas and
stressed that Turkey is willing to overcome differences over genocide
claims and normalize its relations with Armenia. Gul further said
that Ankara’s suggestions so far have not received positive response
from Yerevan but also added that he is willing to go forward with
the Polish proposals if they will facilitate proper grounds for the
normalization of relations with Armenia.
Diplomatic sources told TNA yesterday that due to talks of a new
coalition government in Poland and the foreign minister handing in
his resignation, Ankara now waits for the new government before having
more detailed talks on the issue.

DARFUR PROTEST IN WASHINGTON ELICITS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE COMPARISON
Hurriyet, Turkey
May 2 2006
At a Washington, DC protest to gather support for stopping the violence
and killing in Darfur, Sudan, an American pastor from the Evangelical
National Foundation, Richard Cizik, told crowds that there was a
similarity between what was happening in Darfur, and what Turkey had
done to the Armenians at the beginning of the 20th century. Said
Cizik, “The world remained silent before the genocides of the
Armenians, the Jews, the Cambodians, and the Rwandans. On the global
agenda, there can be no item more pressing than saving the people of
Darfur from extermination.”
The White House has already said that it acknowledges what is happening
in Darfur as a genocide, while the United Nations has not yet used
that term.

TURKISH COURT REJECTS EDITOR’S APPEAL
Hurriyet, Turkey
May 2 2006
An Armenian editor, who lives in Turkey and was found guilty under
article 301 of insulting Turkishness last year when he described
Turkish blood as dirty in relation to the so-called Armenian genocide,
has had his appeal turned down. Hrant Dink was given a six-month
suspended sentence last October for writing an article which discussed
the so-called genocide.
In February, the case was interpreted by the Appeals Court of which
the chief prosecutor stated that the remarks made by Dink were in no
way insulting, however, the court has ignored its previous statements
and now said that the charge is still valid.
Hrant Dink is said to be very distressed by the entire episode and has
even gone as far as saying should his name not be cleared in Turkey,
he would have to leave the country for good.
The case is being closely watched by the European Union, as it holds
concerns over Turkey’s freedom of speech laws. Something which will
need to be addressed as Dink is not the only person being scrutinized
under the infamous article 301.

OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS SET UP CONSULTATIONS IN MOSCOW
Author: E.Huseynov
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
May 2 2006
OSE Minsk Group co-chairs started consultations on the peaceable
resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in Moscow on 2 May, Russian
Ambassador Yuriy Merzlyakov, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair, told Trend.
The co-chairs from France, Russia and the United States, as well
as special envoy of the OSCE chairman-in-office, Andjey Caspzyk
are discussing the current stage of negotiation process and further
steps. The mediators will also mull the aspects of the next visit to
the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Earlier the co-chairs stated that after the Moscow consultations they
plan to tour Armenia and Azerbaijan.

VISIT OF ALIYEV TO USA SUCCESSFUL
AzerTag, Azerbaijan
May 2 2006
‘Visit of the Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev to the Untied States
of America has been successful. The Untied States has large and
constructive links with Azerbaijan and last week it became possible
to discuss these relations more widely, commenting the visit, Jason
Hyland, charge d’affaires of USA in Azerbaijan said.
Noting security, energy carriers and development of democracy as
major aspects in the USA-Azerbaijan relations, the diplomat stressed
necessity of expansion of ties in all spheres. ‘Should we deepen the
positive aspects of our ties, we would see that Azerbaijan is an
important partner in global combat against terrorism. Azerbaijani
soldiers serve within the international peacemakers in Iraq,
Afghanistan and Kosovo’.
Emphasizing necessity of strengthening of relations in all fields
after this visit, Mr. Hyland said: ‘I hope in the coming months the
sides will think over expansion of these relations’.
The American diplomat said after visit of President Aliyev, President
George Bush highly assessed the role of Azerbaijan in the field of
energy safety. ‘The BTC oil pipeline is about completions. This will
be historical date in region. Several years ago it was a mere idea.
And this is a reality today’, he stressed.
Jason Hyland conveyed gratitude of his country to Azerbaijan in
realization of the huge project. Currently, the world is interested
in development of other hydrocarbons in Caspian and delivery from
Azerbaijan to the world markets, he said, expressing confidence for
further decisive role of Azerbaijan in this cause.
Speaking of security of BTC, Mr. Hyland said the involved countries
would ensure security of the pipeline. “Safety of BTC is highly
ensured in the territory of Azerbaijan’.
Noting the human rights and development of democracy are the important
elements in the USA-Azerbaijan relations, the diplomat said their
cooperation would continue in this field. He estimated the meeting
of President Ilham Aliyev during his visit to USA with heads of NGOs
functioning in Azerbaijan as positive and constructive step.
Speaking of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Mr.
Hyland said the problem should be settled in the frame of OSCE Minsk
Group. ‘During the visit of Azerbaijan President, the United States
once again disclosed its position in this cause’.
Commenting the situation connected to Iran, the diplomat said after
the visit, both presidents announced they adhere settlement of the
problem by diplomatic means.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress